1 52 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
punished^ hut its skull was too hard to be cracked 
with the blow of a fist. 
This defeat of the bear was followed by an exhi- 
bition of a different order. A slight but firm ladder, 
composed of bamboo, was placed upright on the 
ground within the area, a strong pole crossing the 
top at right angles ; from the end of this pole two 
stout cords depended, which were tightened to stay 
the ladder, the ends being staked into the ground 
in such a manner that the apparatus could not give 
way. A small muscular Hindoo was then introduced, 
naked to the waist, dressed only in a pair of short 
white trousers, which extended half way down his 
thighs. The muscles of his arms were of prodigious 
size, while those of his legs were small in the compa- 
rison. He wore no turban, but a gay skull-cap com- 
posed of yellow and pale blue silk. From each ear 
depended a large plain gold ring. 
Upon entering, the little man made his salaam to 
the audience ; then, rubbing his palms together for a 
few moments, he bounded towards the ladder, and, 
grasping the first bar above his head with both 
hands, mounted with astonishing activity, keeping his 
feet all the while perfectly motionless, and at least 
six inches from the frame. Having raised himself by 
his hands alone to the transverse pole, by a sudden 
jerk of his body he threw his feet upward, and was in 
a moment seen resting upon his head with his arms 
crossed over his bosom and his legs closed, forming an 
inverted triangle from the shoulders to the toes. He 
continued in this position for upwards of a minute 
without the slightest motion, appearing as if he had been 
