med her eyes full of salt, and, because she had shed tears, pronounced her positively a witch; thrown her into a tank, and, as she did not sink instantly, believed her to be a terrible one; flogged her with the branches of a certain tree; and, when she cried out with pain, they called her the very devil. Therefore she was brought to the patell to have her nose cut off, or to be tried and executed. I never heard such a hubbub as her accusers made. Our patell was about a century before his countrymen in the growth of his brain : he did not believe in witchcraft; he did not absolutely deny it; but he knew that it was his wisest plan to keep his doubts to himself; for, if it had been known that his superstitious creed had such a rent in it, he would have lost caste, and been pronounced a philosopher. However, he saved the old woman by a stratagem, although she, in the state of frenzy to which they had reduced her, acknowledged, and believed herself possessed of supernatural power. She was asked if the winds and spirits of the air obeyed her? Her answer was a positive affirmation that they did; yet, by her own account, she had never done any one the least harm; and

many of her friends were present who swore that she had cured them of diseases, and increased their wealth by her power, although she was herself miserably poor. Indeed her appearance indicated the extremity of wretchedness. Contradiction and uproar now began to spread. One party were for cutting off her nose, another for burning her alive, and a third for letting her go home. I thought there would have been a battle royal; as many of the disputants were armed with short swords, targets, and spears, whilst others carried bows and arrows: but, at a critical moment, the old witch raised her voice to an amazingly loud pipe, and vociferated" Hunnymaun! Hunnymaun!-there he is!-I see him among you.— He will eat you all." Instantaneously an indescribable panic prevailed; and one man tumbled over another till they all lay in a curious but confused heap; some shouting, "Oh, murder! you are smothering me;" whilst those who could run took to their heels, leaving swords, targets, and bows behind them. Hunnymaun is the monkey deity; and he was the god of the old woman's idolatry. That she saw him in the wild mind's

eye, I have no doubt; and the anecdote shows how much alike the people of all countries are at different stages of civilization. Such scenes have occurred in all parts of Europe in the dark ages. The spirited relation of the witch frightening a whole synod of presbyterian clergymen as beautifully given in the first volume, I believe, of Waverley-from fancying that she saw the devil seated among their reverences, will instantly occur to the reader.

Well, when the people came to look upon each other, they began to laugh, and shake their beards, and ask, "What! did you see any thing?".

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Why did you knock me down? I was not in the least afraid." This put them into goodhumour; and the patell, taking advantage of their return to temper, told her accusers that he would punish the witch provided they submitted to undergo the same ordeal as she. "I shall cause you and her to be thrown into a tank: now, if you all instantly sink, like stones, the devil cannot be in you; but if she, or any of you, come to the surface, and struggle for life, why I shall cut off your noses; for certainly you must be very dangerous

people." This mode of trial the patell had learned from a British civilian, who had opened his eyes to many of the superstitions of his country.

I need not tire the reader with more of this. We had trials for robbery; the punishment for which is in general restitution and fine. There were cases of seduction and crim. con., in all which the wives and daughters were put to death, if the fathers and husbands pleased, and the paramours banished, fined, or confined. Some of the female witnesses could not appear in public on account of custom, jealousy of husband, or usage of tribe. These were sworn behind a purdah, or in a close palankeen; and I often amused myself in guessing what sort of a lady the invisible might be from the sweetness, or harshness, shrillness, or softness of her voice. There is a secret charm in imagination when roused by what is unseen. The reader has experienced my feelings if ever he attended divine service in the Bethesda Chapel in Dublin. The penitent female singers sit at a distance behind a green curtain, and ravish your ears like nightingales. Their voices are actually dangerous to repose. She who says “Amen”—has a pipe

like a round, mellow, octave flute. It is tremulous with emotion, but you trace manner in it, and feel convinced that the invisible bird is not inclined to be a nun. So I thought, and felt often when I heard the love-tones from the close palkee and thin purdah. "That lady would have no objection to be looking about her," said I to myself.

We had a few trials for murder in the course of twenty years; but this crime is not frequent in India. Private poisoning is said to be often one of the atrocities which characterize the state of Indian society; but this dark crime can seldom be dragged into open day. The sentence on a conviction for murder is "The accused is guilty: he shall pay the price of blood." It is then left to the raja, and the friends of the deceased, to commute the punishment for a sum of money, if the parties can agree. When a Brahman is the victim, commutation is not allowed: the murderer is then trampled to death by an elephant, or hung up in an iron cage to starve, &c. Beheading is also common in the upper provinces. The condemned is not laid on a block, as with us: his exe