465 



tertainmenls in meeting with travellers of various descriptions. 

 The gurry, or little fortress, situated near the fords of the Ouze, 

 and the pandauls, or open sheds for the collectors of customs, at 

 the pass of the Ore, the two Bhaderpoor rivers, were the general 

 rendezvous of travellers, in their way to the eastern hills, or com- 

 ing from the interior to the sacred shrines of Guzerat, and on the 

 latter account very much frequented by Hindoo devotees, and pil- 

 grims of every caste. There I beheld, assembled in the same pan- 

 daul, or reposing under the friendly banian-tree, the Gosannee 

 in a state of nudity, and the Yogee with a lark or paroquet, his sole 

 companion for a thousand miles; the Guroo, of the first rank in 

 the brahminical hierarchy, travelling with oriental pageantry to 

 visit the temples and superintend the seminaries, meeting the brah- 

 macharee, with a covered mouth and nostrils, that he may not in- 

 hale an animalcule; and a soft broom in his hand to sweep the 

 ground, that he may not tread on an insect. There also were reli- 

 gious enthusiasts reduced to a skeletonby abstinence, or almostburst- 

 ing under a vow of swallowing so many maunds of consecrated ghee. 

 One resting from turning over his body in a rolling posture, ano- 

 ther imploring food from others, by having rendered himself in- 

 capable of lowering or moving his arms in consequence of super- 

 stitious devotion. But it would be endless as well as needless 

 to enlarge further on these enthusiasts, so often mentioned in 

 these memoirs; except that in the eastern parts of my districts, 

 attracted no doubt by the sacred fanes at Dhuboy and Chandode, 

 they were more abundant than I ever saw them elsewhere, and 

 seemed to have acquired an unusual degree of consequence. The 

 annexed engraving exhibits two of these singular characters, drawn 



VOL. II. 3 O 



