CUSTOMS. 253 



a guilty conscience operating' at the same 

 time, suppresses the natural flow of saliva 

 to the mouth, without which; the hard par- 

 ticles of the rice bruise and cut the gums, 

 causing them to bleed, which they themselv es 

 are sensible of, and in most instances confess 

 the crime. 



A Gold Mohur that had lain a long time 

 in an open writing desk being missing. I or- 

 dered a Brahmin to be sent for to find out 

 the thief; he came, and wrote down all the 

 names of my servants, as a preliminary step 

 to their undergoing the rest of the ceremony, 

 however it became unnecessary, for in the 

 morning the Gold Mohur was replaced in the 

 box. 



At another time a large glass mortar was 

 broken, and none of my servants would con- 

 fess having done it, I therefore threatened 

 to deduct from all their wages the value of 

 the mortar; my head bearer, [who in India 

 is often a kind of house keeper and considers 



