ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 289 



as of no account. The cotton was in a perfectly usable 

 condition as it came out of the man's mouth, apparently 

 no more affected by being there than were the powders ; yet 

 his mouth looked the same as other people's. Contrary as 

 one would suppose these little exhibitions (like the mango 

 trick) to be to the inherent nature of things, nevertheless it 

 was done by the juggler. I have no explanation to offer ; I 

 only submit a statement of facts, or, I should say, of facts 

 as they appeared to us. 



I have tasted rice that I saw boiled on a boy's head, the 

 boy meanwhile laughing because he had been bribed with 

 a rupee to let his head be used as a fireplace ! 



The juggler began by asking for rice and an earthen pot 

 such as natives use in their own cooking. These require- 

 ments having been brought, he invited some one of our 

 servants to take part in the exhibition ; but they all hesi- 

 tated, till we bribed a stable-boy to submit to the ordeal, 

 he being assured that not a hair of his head should be hurt. 



First, the juggler removed the boy's turban, and substi- 

 tuted for it a pad for the steadying of a small iron plate to 

 hold the fire, which he then neatly built up of sticks and 

 charcoal. Wind-fanned, it very soon kindled, and he set 

 the pot of water on to boil. The instant it did so he threw 

 the rice into it together with a pinch of salt, and then we 

 had to wait the necessary fifteen or twenty minutes while 

 it was cooking — no magic about that. 



Meanwhile the face beneath the fire was an interesting 

 study. Having begun by expressing fear coupled with 

 greed for the promised rupee, as the boy, so to speak, 

 warmed to his work, a smile gradually broadened across it 

 when first the crackling sticks and then the bubbling water 

 gave assurance of a brisk fire well alight on the top of his 

 head, yet causing him no discomfort. 



In orthodox fashion the juggler cook now tested a grain 

 of the rice betwixt his finger and thumb, and finding it was 



T 



