﻿470 AN ACCOUNT OF THE BAZEEGUHS, 



ings, never thinkinf^ of to-morrow ; all Jieir views 

 are concentrated in the enjoyment of tlie jjresent mo- 

 ment, and tb.at enjoyment consisting- wholly in ex- 

 cessive intoxication, and the grossest indnlgencc of 

 the sensiral aj)petites. 



A reference in their dispntes is never made beyond 

 tlieir own sect, and if of so serious a nature tliat a 

 sm.iU Piinchaet cannot accommodate the matter, the 

 Biira Surdar convenes a general assembly, but Mhich 

 asscLibly never enters on business until a quantity of 

 spirits equal to the importance of the cause has been 

 ]>ro\ided by both plaintiff and defendant. The per- 

 son non-suited has ultimately to bear the expence, 

 unless, as it fiequently occurs, (all parties during 

 the discussion being indulged iji a free participation 

 of the licpior,) that the judges, plaintiff, and defen- 

 dant should forget every idea of tlie case before tbem, 

 but of that M-hich contains the spirits. The sequel 

 may be easily conjectured. The Punchaet disperses 

 by degrees, and the contending parties, when aroused 

 from the torpor of intoxication, frequently awake 

 only to regret tiicir own folly. 



These people in the upper province^ of Hindoo- 

 stan, are known by the appellation of Kur/jura, 

 whence a particular friend of mine, in speaking on the 

 subject, conjectured might be derived our term Co?2- 

 jurer. Were not so great an authority as Johnson, 

 with those scholars who derive it from conjuro * in 

 our way, I should almost be inclined to agree with 



him 



* The Latin, however, has no such term from that source to express 

 the person in question ; and there \vi:s nothing to prevent the modern 

 langu;iges of Europe from adopting this and other vocables from the 

 Gipsies, at the period they were wandering over it in the capacity of 

 conjurorsf &c. That derivatives are used by the moderns, which the 

 ancients had no idea of, may safely be granted, without invalidating 

 the consistency or probability of the present conjecture. In fact, the 

 study of etymolo?y, as a ratioral science, is still too much in its in- 

 fancy to warrant the hasty condemnation of particular opinions, on the 

 derivation of certain words, as some that at present will appear whim- 

 sical enough, may yet prove hereafter to have been v/ell founded. 



