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II IN DOCS. 
drawn b}? several hundreds of men. Thus the wretched devotees 
are instantly crushed to death. Others devote themselves to the 
dames, to sh^w their regard to some of their idols, or to appease, the 
wrath of one whom they thought to be offended. 
A certain set of devotees are named Pandaranis ; and another, 
on the coast of Coromandel, are named Cary Patra Pandarains : the 
former rub themselves all over with cow-dung, running about the 
country singing the praises of the god Sheevah, whom they worship ; 
the latter go about asking charity, by striking their hands together, 
for they never speak. They accept of nothing but rice, and when 
they have got as much as will satisfy their hunger, never give them- 
selves any trouble about more, but pass the rest of the clay in the 
shade, in a slate of such supine indolence as scarcely to look at any 
Object whatever. The Tadinuns are another sort of mendicants, who 
sing the incantations of Vishnou. They have hollow brass rings 
round their ankles, which they fill with pebbles, so that they make 
a considerable noise when -they w'alk ; they beat likewise a kind of 
tabor. 
The Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay contain a 
paper by Sir John Malcolm, on the Hindoo festival of Dusrah, the 
ceremonies of which were formerly attended by a mystery of great 
wickedness. It was not uncommon on these occasions to immolate 
human victims at the altar of one of their goddesses; and upon 
inquiring of a brahmin as to the truth of the report. Sir John Mal- 
colm was assured that his information was perfectly correct ; and, 
moreover, that the unhappy persons wdio were selected as sin-offer- 
ings to the sanguinary divinity, were usually closely connected with 
the individual whose hands deprived them of life. The particulars re- 
lative to this horrible sacrifice were communicated to Sir John Malcolm 
nearly as follows. The brahmins of the tribe of Kurradee w'ere for- 
merly accustomed to immolate yearly a young brahmin to Kula De- 
wary, an infernal goddess ; this deity is supposed to delight in human 
blood, and is usually represented with three fiery eyes, and covered 
with red fiow^ers ; holding in one hand a sword, and in the other a 
battle-axe. The prayers of her votaries are offered to her during the 
first nine days of the Dusrah feast ; and in the evening of the tenth 
day a grand repast is prepared, to which the whole family is invited, 
An intoxicating drug is secretly mixed with the food of the intended 
victim, who in many cases is a stranger, whom the master of the 
house has for several months, perhaps years, treated with the great- 
est kindness and attention ; and sometimes, to lull suspicion, gives 
him his daughter in marriage. As soon as the poisonous and intoxi- 
cating drug operates, the master of the house, unattended, takes the 
devoted person into the temple, leads him three times round the idol, 
and, on his prostrating himself before it, takes this opportunity to 
cut his throat. He collects wdlh the greatest care the blood in a 
small bowl, which he first applies to the lips of the ferocious goddess, 
and then sprinkles it over her body ; and a hole having been dug 
at the feet of the idol, he deposits the corpse in it with the greatest 
cafe, in order to prevent discovery. After the perpetration of this 
horrid act, the Kurradee brahmin returns to his family, and spends 
