78 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
blunt chisel upon the joint, and with one stroke of a 
heavy hammer off flies the divided member, whilst 
the sufferer seems to think no more of the matter 
than she would of a corn being cut. In spite of this 
clumsy method of operating, it is surprising how 
soon the wound heals ; a poultice of turmeric is ap- 
plied, and in a few days the hand appears relieved 
from all pain or inconvenience. So pure is the state 
of blood in these people, that the severest wounds 
heal in an incredibly short space of time. Such a 
thing as mortification is seldom or never heard of. 
They are, however, very subject to tetanus, from 
slight punctures in the feet, which invariably proves 
fatal. 
The tribe to which I have just referred is, I ima- 
gine, confined to two or three districts of the Mysore, 
and perhaps do not altogether embrace a population of 
twenty thousand souls. I believe they are a low caste, 
and associate with no one out of their own commu- 
nity. When a girl is betrothed, should she happen to 
be an orphan, the mother of the affianced husband is 
obliged to submit to the loss of her finger -tops, pro- 
vided she has not already undergone the necessary 
mutilation. When that is the case, any further mem- 
bral disfigurement is dispensed with, though, such is 
the excess of joy evinced by parents at the marriage 
of their children, that had the mother fifty fingers, 
and the law of superstitious custom prescribed that 
she should leave the tips of every one of them in the 
shop of the village blacksmith, she would cheerfully 
undergo the mutilation, to see her daughter provided 
with a husband — the greatest earthly blessing in the 
