86 COLONEL T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.I.E., ON RESEMBLANCES 
every one knows that in this priest’s shrine enormous numbers, 
of animals are sacrificed to the goddess Ivali or Bhavani, the 
favourite deity of the Bengalis. 
I think that many of our ideas connected with sacrifice are 
erroneous. As ordinarily practised it is devoid of cruelty. 
The head of the victim must be cut off with a heavy sword 
at one blow. I have several times seen goats sacrificed at 
Amber, the ancient capital of the Jeypore state. At the 
appointed hour the person who made the sacrifice stood in 
front of the image sword in hand. The goat was then led in 
by an attendant. It was usually decked with a garland of 
flowers, and was happily eating some food. It was placed in 
the proper position, and then suddenly, with a single blow of 
the sword, its head fell, and with the blood, which was 
dexterously caught in a bowl, was placed before the idol. The 
rest of the body was taken away to be used as food. At the 
Durga Puja, or Festival of the goddess Durga or Ivali, on one 
of the principal days many animals are slain. The young 
Kajput nobles show their prowess before their chief by cutting 
off the heads of buffaloes. Any man who fails to sever the 
head of the huge beast at one stroke, spoils the sacrifice, and 
disgraces himself. Perhaps no other mode of killing an 
animal is so devoid of cruelty. There are, however, cruelties 
attached to sacrifice amongst the wild tribes, as to the manner 
in which it is done, and there are also, in all parts of the 
country, objectionable ideas connected with it, as, for example., 
human sacrifice, which was common enough when Hinduism 
was unchecked ; and the familiarity with blood which 
accompanies the universal practice of the rite is in itself most 
harmful. It must not be forgotten that Mohamedans also- 
sacrifice on certain occasions. 
I now turn to the scape-goat. We are familiar with the 
Jewish ideas on the subject. There is a general belief that 
disease is the result of (1) a man’s own sins in the present life, 
(2) of his sins in a previous birth, and (3) of the sins of his 
parents. With the position of the physician in respect to these 
opinions I shall have more to say later on. Associated with the 
subject there are, however, two further ideas, viz., that a disease 
of the body, and the sin which caused it, may be transferred to 
an animal which becomes a scape-animal — usually a bull or 
bull-calf — or secondly, that it may pass into some other object 
through which it may be transmitted to some other being. 
I was present with Maharaja Takht Singh of Jodhpore 
during the performance of many such ceremonies which took 
