178 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
harm is there in feeding upon it when it is necessary 
to procure health and strength ?” If this passage does 
not go so far as to prove that the Buddhists are can- 
nibals, it is at least a justification of cannibalism. 
Dr. Leyden, in his dissertation on the language and 
literature of the Indo-Chinese nations,* gives an ex- 
traordinary account of anthropophagy practised in the 
island of Sumatra, where the people in general are 
by no means uncivilized. 
" When a man becomes infirm and weary of the 
world, he is said to invite his own children to eat 
him. In the season when salt and limes are cheapest, 
he ascends a tree round which his offspring and friends 
assemble ; and, shaking the tree, they join in a dirge, 
the burthen of which is this : — the season is come, 
the fruit is ripe, and it must descend ! The victim 
descends, when those who are nearest and dearest to 
him, deprive him of life, and devour his remains in a 
solemn banquet.” 
The landscape between Lucknow and Juanpoor, 
especially near the former city, presents at times the 
same artificial appearance as an English park. Upon 
our approach to the latter town, several fine old 
mosques for which it is remarkable, rose sublimely in 
the distance, affording an agreeable relief to the un- 
varying aspect of the surrounding scenery. As we 
approached the bridge they opened in full view before 
us, and forced from us an exclamation of involuntary 
admiration. The Atoulah kau Musjid is one of the 
most highly finished structures of its kind in Hin- 
dostan. It is only second in magnificence and in the 
* Vide ninth volume of the Asiatic Researches. 
