BY ORDEAL. £gl 



He muft remain under water till the two men who went 

 to fetch the arrows are returned; for if he raife his head 

 or body above the furface before the arrows are brought 

 back, his guilt is confidered as fully proved. In the 

 village near Bandres, it is the practice for the perfon, 

 who is to be tried by this kind of ordeal, to (land in 

 water up to his navel, and then, holding the foot of a 

 Brahman, to dive under it as long as a man can walk 

 fifty paces very gently. If before the man has walked 

 thus far the accufed rife above the water, he is con- 

 demned; if not, acquitted. 



IV. There are two forts of trial by poifon. Firft, the 

 Pandits having performed their hdma, and the perfon 

 accufed his ablation, two rettis and a half, or {cvtn 

 barley-corns, of vifhandga, a poifonous root, or ot fan- 

 c'hyd, (that is, white arfenick,) are mixed in eight 

 ma/fia's, or fixty-four retti's, of clarified butter, which 

 the accufed mult eat from the hand of a Brahman. If 

 the poifon produce no vifible effect, he is abfolved ; 

 otherwife, condemned. Secondly, the hooded fnake, 

 called ndga, is thrown into a deep earthen pot, into 

 which is dropped a ring, a feal, or a coin. This the 

 perfon accufed is ordered to take out with his hand; 

 and if the ferpent bite him, he is pronounced guilty; if 

 not, innocent. 



V. Trial by the CdJJia is as follows: The accufed is 

 made to drink three draughts of the water in which 

 the images of the Sun, of Devi, and other Deities, have 

 been waffled for that purpofe ; and if within fourteen 

 days he has any ficknefs or indifpofition, his crime is 

 confidered as proved. 



VI. When feveral perfons are fufpected of theft, 

 fome dry rice is weighed with the facred (tone called 



fdlgrdm ; or certain /Ideas are read over it; after which 

 the fufpe&ed perfons are fevcrally ordered to chew a 



quantity 



