ouches his
hair, and his locks are matted and dishevelled, when other
children's are neatly combed and anointed. When he approaches
manhood, he takes the vow of celibacy, he receives from the hand of
the Brahmin the _muntra_ or mystical creed, the dried skin of an
antelope, and a piece of coarse, unbleached cotton, stained yellow
with ochre, which he can use as a plaid, it being seven feet long;
upon 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'