the skin he is supposed to sit and sleep, and the cloth overshadows the shoulders of the young enthusiast.  Even after these are worn out, as it is supposed that the devotee is pretty well broken in to the hardships of his situation, they on no account may be renewed.  These Soneeassees seldom adhere to the letter of their religion in the present day, although it is said that in times gone by some of their class have sat absorbed and abstracted until their spirit held communion with the great god—­their bodies wasting away from neglect, and their nails growing like claws.  In the present day, prayer and meditation are given to the winds, and they may be seen fat and sleek, perambulating the streets of the towns and villages, smeared over with ashes and ochre, and great coils of matted hair, which some tastefully wind like a turban round their head.  They take care also to display, in glaring red and white paint, upon their foreheads and arms, the various insignia or marks of Sheva, such as the trident.  Occasionally one also flourishes about a steel trident, which the figure of Mahado always wields in his hand, and which is also placed on the summit of his temple.  The Soneeassees are the most impudent and importunate of beggars.  There came under my notice a band of three, who used regularly to visit the town twice a week.  These men had made a vow to collect a certain number of rupees to build a temple, and for this purpose infested the doors of the wealthiest of the Hindoo community, and followed and persecuted them even in their drives with continued cries.  It is astonishing how soon superstition enabled them to fulfil their vow, and how the extortioners were allowed to escape the punishment their impudence deserved.

The Byragees are not so intrusive a sect.  They frequently live in the open air, though not prohibited from seeking other shelter.  Their heads are differently treated from those of the Soneeassees, for both men and women have the crown shaved quite smooth.  Both sexes wear a piece of cloth checked like shepherd’s plaid.  They have great strings of wooden beads, or malahs, turned out of the stalks of the holy toolsie, round their necks; and they generally collect their rice and cowries in a dried gourd-shell.  Persons of this sect at their death are placed in an upright position in a deep grave, and so consumed with fire.  In former times, the widows used to burn themselves with their lords.  The Byragees, when they attain years of discretion, may choose their wives from any caste they please.  Some of the Byragins, therefore, are said to be far cleverer than the everyday Hindoo women, having been selected from a class which are looked down upon by the others, but who are taught high accomplishments, and are devoted to the temples of the gods.  In his begging excursions the Byragee carries a pair of cymbals or a small gong; and singing the songs of Krishna, and his courtships among the milkmaids, he delights the hearts of his Hindoo hearers, and makes them lavish of their gifts.