and the hook extracted from his lacerated loins. He fell panting on the earth. Water being given him, and his back rubbed with some dirty-looking stuff, he, to my astonishment, arose and walked home as composedly as if nothing of the kind had taken place.

streams.

On the banks of the rivers Jumna and Ganges I have witnessed the sick brought by their relatives, and there left to be devoured by alligators or swept away by the waters of those sacred Not unfrequently the mouth of the sick man is filled with mud, being considered highly beneficial to him to die with so agreeable a mouthful; this, preventing his breathing, often produces death, where otherwise the patient might have a chance of recovery. Travelling near Allahabad, I was informed a suttee was about to take place. On enquiry I learned that a Brahminee woman had lost her husband, and that, according to the custom of her family, she considered herself bound to sacrifice herself on the funeral pile.

She was young

I obtained a sight of the extraordinary woman. and handsome, surrounded by Brahmins and relatives. She walked with a firm and collected step. The pile was ready at a distance, whilst the wailing of the mourners, crying 'Rugoonath, Rugoonath!' (the name of the deceased) added to the terrors of the scene. I kept my eyes fixed on the unhappy widow, who, dressed out with the mogree1 flowers, was employed in slowly divesting herself of her ornaments, giving them one by one to her female relations. Some there were who appeared anxious to dissuade her from her horrid purpose; and she seemed, the nearer A species of sweet-smelling jessamine.

she approached the pile, to be less firm in her purpose; but the wily Brahmins, who surrounded her, took care their victim should not escape they sang hymns, yelled, and preached; and ere the victim was prepared pushed her into the pile, which was soon in a frightful blaze.

One faint scream did the hapless creature utter, and then of her I saw no more. Nought could be seen but flames and smoke, which, from the addition of oil and ghee, now raged furiously, shedding their deadly gleams on the unfeeling countenances of the murderous Brahmins, who still chanted their hymns unmoved, undisturbed by the awful sight which made me shudder.

Thus ended a ceremony which, had I not witnessed, I never should have believed; many other sights did I see, but none so horrid as the suttee. Chance brought me to this city, and I was beginning to turn my thoughts on Yezd, when, in one of the public streets, I beheld to my amazement Yasmin and Yusoof, whose astonishment fully equalled my own. They related to me their adventures, and I also informed them of all I had undergone since we parted.

We all agreed that our ill success was attributable to our own folly; and as we must now subsist on charity, determined, when we received alms, to impose upon ourselves the tedious ceremony of prostrating ourselves thirty times at the feet of the donor. Our utmost wishes are to accumulate money sufficient to carry us back to Yezd, where Yusoof and myself intend to renounce Sufiism for ever.

The third beggar having concluded his history, Aurungzebe bestowed upon the unhappy men money sufficient to convey them

back to Yezd; desiring, however, he might be informed by letter of their condition on their arrival, and whether their friends had received them. They promised obedience, received the money, and each prostrated himself before the mighty Emperor thirty times. When the beggars had quitted the city the Emperor amused himself by talking over with his Vizier the adventures of these singular men. He laughed at the vanity of Yasmin, and the troubles in which it had involved him, and expressed his belief that in the tale of that man the strict truth had been adhered to; but, in commenting upon the blind beggar's story, he would say, 'I believe it to be all a lie from beginning to end, but the fellow deserves some credit for his talent of invention.'

'True,' observed the Vizier; though I wonder his experience did not suggest to him the danger of trying such an experiment before your Majesty. But if his tale strikes your Majesty as an entire fabrication, surely the history of the third beggar is no less so.'

'No, truly,' observed the Emperor. What he has stated it is very probable may have occurred; it is evident the fellow has resided among the Kookies, or he could not have given any account of that singular race of people. And it is also clear he has wandered through the greater part of Hindústan. At any rate, as I demanded their histories, I must be content with what they have given me; but I confess I am anxious to hear how the rascals get on in Yezd.'

In about a year after the departure of the Persians from Delhi the Emperor received a letter from Yusoof, the one-eyed beggar, wherein he mentioned having, with his friend Mohabet Ali, reached Yezd, having encountered great difficulties on the road

owing to the treachery of Yasmin, who, in the plains of Belochistan, robbed them of the bounty of the Emperor and decamped, and they had never heard of him since. Yusoof proceeded to state that he had succeeded in inducing his father to become reconciled with him, and, having renounced Sufiism, was engaged as a partner in his father's mercantile transactions.

Mohabet Ali, having no father living, was unable to move the hearts of his cousin and other relatives, notwithstanding he had from his heart abjured the abominable doctrines the adherence to which had caused him so much misery. The letter concluded with expressions of heartfelt gratitude for the Emperor's beneficence, which, but for the avarice and wickedness of Yasmin, would greatly have facilitated their journey to their own dear Yezd, in which city having at length arrived, they determined quietly to remain.

'Here,' said Kuzl Bashee, the dyer, 'end my tales, which I trust have amused ny illustrious hearers.'

The Nuwab confessed that the dyer had far exceeded his expectations, and dismissed him apparently well satisfied.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

TELLS HOW THE STORIES WERE DISCONTINUED.

THE dyer received the congratulations of his friends on his apparent success; but the butcher felt a large portion of envy rising in his breast as he contemplated how he had been outdone, notwithstanding the aid he had received from the mysterious old woman, his relation. The course of tales was now interrupted by the approach of a grand festival, at which the Nuwab was accustomed to attend.

It was with displeasure he observed he was not so cordially received this year as he was wont to be. As he sat in his splendid howdah, on the back of a lofty elephant, he espied amongst the crowd a Persian; all his fears, all his doubts again crowding on his mind, he commanded the procession to halt. This order was, owing to the din of trumpets and drums, with difficulty obeyed, and ere the Nuwab could give orders for the arrest of the Persian he was nowhere to be found.

The disappointment vexed the Nuwab exceedingly, and he continued throughout the day thoughtful and melancholy, and in a very bad humour. Moye-ed-din ventured to propose the continuation of the tales on the following day, to which the Nuwab gave a sullen assent. In consequence the remainder of the story