human about him. This man was travelling; throughout Hindos- 
tan, and being unable to help himself with food, women of dis- 
tinction among the Hindoos contended for the honour of feeding 
this holy person wherever he appeared. 
I saw another of these devotees, who was one of the phallic 
worshippers of Seeva; and who, not content with wearing or 
adoring the symbol of that deity, had made a vow to fix every 
year a large iron ring into the most lender part of his body, and 
thereto to suspend a heavy chain, many yards long, to drag on the 
ground. 1 saw this extraordinary saint, in the seventh year of his 
penance, when he had just put in the seventh ring; and the wound 
was then so recent and painful, that he was obliged to carry the 
chain upon his shoulder, until the orifice became more callous. 
I could recite many other facts; with a variety of superstitious 
as well as indecent riles and painful ceremonies, which these mis- 
taken votaries practise, in hopes of appeasing the deity. Such 
austerities ought to make us more highly prize the pure and holy 
tenets of the Christian religion; and should fill our hearts rvith 
love and gratitude to Him who brought life and immortality to 
light through his gospel; and offered Himself as a complete atone- 
ment for the sins of a fallen world! 
The Brahmins at the Hindoo temples seldom wear a turban, 
and the upper part of their body is generally naked; but they 
never appear without the zennar, or sacred string, passing over 
them from the left shoulder; and a piece of fine cotton is tied 
round the waist, and falls in graceful folds below the knee. Their 
simple diet consists of milk, rice, fruit, and vegetables; they ab- 
stain from every thing that either had or could enjoy life, and use 
