515 



miah and Ezra said unto the people, this day is holy unto the Lord 

 your God, mourn not, nor weep ; go your way, eat of the sacrifice, 

 and drink the sweet ; and send portions unto them for whom no- 

 thing is prepared : for the day is holy, and the joy of the Lord is 

 your strength !" 



I sometimes frequented the jatterahs, or religious festivals, at 

 the Hindoo temples of Zinore and Chandode ; or rather I mingled 

 with the motle} r crowd who then assembled under the sacred groves 

 on the banks of the Nerbudda. It is unnecessary to repeat the 

 religious ceremonies, or the sports and pastimes of the Hindoos, 

 who, in astonishing numbers, resort to these consecrated spots on 

 such occasions. At the jatterah of Cubbeer-Burr, near Baroche, 

 the pilgrims, of various descriptions, often exceeded an hundred 

 thousand, without reckoning the comedians, dancing-girls, snake- 

 charmers, jugglers, and those of similar professions, who came to 

 amuse them. I have elsewhere mentioned some feats of the Indian 

 jugglers; at Zinore I saw one which surpassed every thing of the 

 kind I had before witnessed, I mean the swallowing a sword up to 

 the hilt. Had I not afterwards met with the same set on the island 

 of Salsette, exhibiting before the English Chief at Tannah, I should 

 have doubted the evidence of my senses. 1 witnessed the fact 

 more than once, and was convinced there was no deception. Find- 

 ing my tale generally disbelieved in Europe, I suppressed it; but 

 having since read a clear and satisfactory account of this extraordi- 

 nary transaction, drawn up by Mr. Johnson, surgeon in the navy, 

 who in the year 1804, was an eye-witness of the performance, and 

 havino- described it as a professional man, I shall transcribe the 



