28 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
as he was living in a state of voluntary penance, far 
better became his spiritual condition than the pam- 
pering luxuries in which the generality of his caste 
too commonly indulged. Though bigoted in the last 
degree, he still was not without humanity, and gave his 
uninvited guest all the information he required, put- 
ting him in the best way to make the shortest journey 
to the place of his destination. The deserter made 
an effort to persuade him to abandon his recluse and 
miserable life, and take up his abode with such 
among his kindred as would receive him gladly. 
" No,” he replied ; “ I have nearly summed up 
the amount of my days, and I came here to die. I 
have but one wish in this world, and that is when 
my spirit shall be released from this withered trunk, 
that the frame which enshrined it here be committed 
to those sacred waters which shall bear it to the gates 
of the eternal paradise.” 
The soldier quitted the Yogue with a sigh of com- 
passion at the moral degradation to which a fanatical 
superstition had reduced a naturally humane but 
morbid mind. He proceeded towards the place of 
his destination with the utmost despatch, travelling 
by night and hiding himself in thickets during the 
day. There was, however, little chance of his being 
discovered, as none of his own countrymen were to be 
found in the districts through which he passed, ex- 
cept at some of the towns near the banks of the 
Jumna ; and the natives could have no motive for 
betraying him even should they be aware that he was 
a deserter. He suffered greatly from constant ex- 
posure to the weather in a climate to which he was 
