162 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
and it was difficult to guess upon which side the 
advantage was likely to turn,, so equally did they 
appear to be matched. Every now and then they 
mutually produced a short clapping noise by striking 
the palm of the left hand upon the muscles of the right 
arm. This was frequently repeated; and although 
several minutes elapsed before any decisive blow was 
struck, yet it was by no means uninteresting to see 
the activity which they displayed; and the fine mus- 
cular development of their well-proportioned limbs as 
they moved before each other with the intense earnest- 
ness of men seeking to obtain superiority in manual 
skill. 
An opportunity was at length afforded to one of the 
combatants; who; rushing upon his adversary, hit 
him a smart blow upon the cheek, laying it open to 
the bone. The wounded man suddenly stooped and 
lifted his adversary in the air, when he received 
another blow upon the crown from the csestus, which 
in a moment covered his neck and shoulders with 
blood. He, however, succeeded in throwing his man, 
who in rising received in his turn a gash on the 
temple, that again sent him backward. The ra- 
pidity with which he sprang upon his legs was sur- 
prising. Both the men now closed and planted seve- 
ral successful blows, by which they were shortly so 
disfigured that it made me quite sick to behold them ; 
when the Bajah, at the anxious solicitation of one of 
the company, in which we all eagerly united, gave 
the signal for them to desist. They were both libe- 
rally rewarded for the skill and courage they had 
shown, with which they were so well satisfied, that one 
