In one of these caverns I met with an aoed Seoassee, under 
very strict vows of abstinence and austerity, which he had observed 
for many years among those subterraneous regions; with no other 
companion than a lark and a parroquet: fruit and water were, 1 
believe, the only aliment of the family; nor was the head of it 
incumbered with furniture, apparel, or any of what are usually 
deemed the comforts of life: the people of Marre revered him for 
his sanctity, and religious Hindoos resorted to his cave from a 
great distance; his most constant visitors were the monkeys, who 
seemed in possession of ail the surrounding territory. 
Not far from these sacred caverns, was a spot set apart for 
swingers, a set of very extraordinary Hindoo fanatics, to be met 
with in different parts of the country: particular villages are ap- 
propriated for this ceremony, where the swingers assemble at 
stated seasons. In the centre of an area, surrounded by numerous 
spectators, is erected a pole, from twenty to thirty feet in height, on 
which is placed a long horizontal beam, with a rope run over a 
pulley at the extremity: to this rope they fix an iron hook, which 
being drawn through the integuments of the devoted swinger, he 
is suspended aloft in the air, amidst the acclamations of the mul- 
titude: the longer he is capable of this painful exertion, and the 
more violently he swings himself round, the greater the merit: from 
the flesh giving way, the performer sometimes falls from his 
towering height, and breaks a limb; if he escape that accident, 
from the usual temperance of the Hindoos the wound soon heals: 
this penance is generally voluntary, in performance of a religious 
vow; or inflicted for the expiation of sins committed, either by 
himself, or some of his family. 
