Travels in India. 



Part. II. 



Idolaters account thesnfelves happy, and their Houfes to be fill'd with the 

 benedictions of Heaven, when they have any of thefe Faquirs for theit Guelts, 

 which the more auitere they are, the more they honour : and it is the glory of 

 the Troop to have one among them that does fbme confiderable act of Pe- 

 nance. 



Thefe Crews of Faquirs many time joyn together to go in Pilgrimage to the 

 Principal Pagods, and publick Warnings, which they ufe upon certain days in the 

 year in the River Ganges, whereof they make the chiefeft account ; as alfo in 

 that which feparàtes the Territories of the Portugais of Goa from the Dominions 

 of the King of Vifefour. Some of the moft auitere Faquirs live in little pitti- 

 ful Huts neer their Pagods, where they have once in four and twenty hours fbme- 

 thing to eat beftow'd upon them for God's fake. The Tree whereof I have giv'n 

 the defcription, is of the fame fort as that which grows neer Gomron, which I have 

 defcrib'd in my Perfian Relations. The Franks call it the Bannians-lvçç • becaufe 

 in thofe places where thofe Trees grow, the Idolaters always take up their quar- 

 ters, and drefs their victuals under them. They have thofe Trees in great re- 

 verence, and oft-times build their Pagods either under or very neer them. That 

 which the Reader fees here defcrib'd, grows at Sur at -, in the trunk whereof, 

 which is hollow, is the figure of a Monfter, reprefenting the face of a deform'd 

 Woman, which they fay was the firft Woman, whofe name was Màhrknha ; thi- 

 ther great numbers of Idolaters every day refort : neer to which there is fome 

 Bramin or other always appointed to be ready to fay Prayers, and receive the 

 Alms of Rice, Millet, and other Grains which the charitable beftow upon them. 

 The Bramin marks the forhead of all, both Men 'and Women., that come to pray 

 in the Pagod, with a kind of Vermillion, wherewith he alfo befmears the Idol j 

 for being thus mark'd, they believe the evil Spirit cannot hurt them, as being then 

 under the protection of their God. 



Number I, is that part where the Bramins paint their Idols ; fuch as Mama- 

 niva, Sita, Madedina, and others ; whereof they have a great number. 



Numb. 2, is the figure of Mamaniva, which is in the Pagod. 



Numb. 3, is another Pagod neer the former. There.ftands a Cow at the doory 

 and within ftands the figure of their God Ram. 



Numb. 4, is another Pagod, into which the Faquirs, that do Penance, often re- 

 tire. . , 



Numb, is another Pagod dedicated to Ram. 



Numb. 6, is a Hut into which a Faquir makes his retirement lèverai times a 

 year, there being but one hole to let in the light. He ftays there according to the 

 height of his devotion, fometimes nine or ten days together, without either eat- 

 ing or drinking ; a thing which I could not have believ'd, had I not feen it. My 

 curiofity carried me to fee one of thofe Penitents, with the Prefident of the Dutch- 

 Gompany, who let a Spy to watch night and day whether any body brought him 

 any victuals. But he could not difcover àny jreTief the Faquir had, all the while 

 fitting upon his Bum like our Taylors, never changing his pofture above leven days 

 together, not being able to hold out any longer, by reafbn that the heat and ftench 

 of the Lamp was ready to ftifle him. Their other forts of Penance out-doing 

 this, might be thought incredible, were there not- fo many thoufand witnelfes 

 thereof. 



• Numb. 7 is the figure of another Penitentiary, over whole head lèverai years 

 havepaft ; and yet he never flept day nor night. When he finds himfelf fleepy, 

 he hangs the weight of the upper part of his body upon a double-rope that is 

 fafttn'd to one of the boughs of the Tree ; and by the continuance of this pofture, 

 which is very ftrange and painful, there falls a humour into their legs that fwells 

 them very much. 



Numb. 8, is the figure of two pofturés of two doing Penance; who, as 

 brig as they live, carry their arms above their heads in that manner; which cau- 

 fes certain Carnofities to breed in the joynts, that they can never bring them down 

 again. Their hair grows down to their wafts, and their nails are as long as their 

 fingers. Night and Day, Winter and Summer they go always ltark naked in the 

 ' f am 5 pofture, expos'd to the heat and rain^ and the ftinging of the Flies ; from 

 which they have not the ulè J of their hands to rid themfelves. In other 



1 necefc 



