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when expelled from his capilal, and defeated by his enemies, passed 
through a golden cow, in hopes of better fortune: and two brah- 
mins, whom he sent as ambassadors to England, were, on their 
return to Hindostan, compelled to pass through the sacred yoni, 
or female lingam, made of the finest gold. After performing this 
ordeal, and making valuable presents to the brahmins, they were 
restored to the privileges of their caste; which they had lost, by 
the impurities contracted in travelling through so many polluted 
countries. The celebrated Sevajee, in the seventeenth century, on 
the day when he assumed the Mahratta sovereignty, was publicly 
weighed against gold; his weight was equal to that of sixteen 
thousand pagodas; which, wi t h a hundred thousand more, were 
distributed among the brahmins. 
Herodotus mentions, that Mycerinus, king of Egypt, having 
lost his daughter, an only child, it caused him the greatest afflic- 
tion; and wishing to honour her funeral with more than ordinary 
splendour, he enclosed her body in an heifer made of wood, and 
richly ornamented Avith gold. 
The Malabar brahmins, more ignorant and less tolerant than 
their northern brethren, assume greater consequence than 1 ever 
met Avith in other parts of India: Avhen travelling, they have always 
precursors to clear the road; Avho make a loud noise, and compel 
all of inferior degree to retire: even Avhen their provision is carried 
along the highway, the same cry is made; and the vulgar are under 
the necessity of hiding themselves, or falling doAvn Avith their faces 
to the earth, that the atmosphere may not be polluted by ple- 
beian breath, Avhile the food of a brahmin passes by. Even the 
king himself is obliged to alight from his elephant, horse, or palan- 
