140 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
looked like monstrous claws. The whole appearance 
of the man was squalid and repulsive in the most 
odious degree. His hair was long, matted, and filled 
with filth ; his shaggy beard, tangled and thick with 
the revolting accumulation of years, covered his meagre 
chest, which was smeared with cow-dung and ashes. 
His eyes glared with an expression of hardened and 
reckless impiety, induced doubtless by the supposition 
of his claims to a blessed immortality. He scowled 
upon all around him who did not seem disposed to 
administer to his wants, among whom were my com- 
panions and myself; and the silent arrogance of this 
unwholesome beggar, for to beg he was not ashamed, 
was truly disgusting. 
