s repertoire.

_The Bunder Boat._

Our next trick--so called because the toy boat used is intended to be
a miniature of the harbour or "bander" boat used in Bombay--is a trick
which depends entirely on natural principles, and only needs a careful
eye to time its required patter. It is a trick that is more commonly
shewn in the Bombay districts than elsewhere, though there is no
reason why it should not have travelled throughout India since its
invention countless years ago.

[Illustration: Small hole out of

which the water pours into the boat while the bottom of the mast is
free of the water in the boat.

Cocoa-nut shell full of water

Hollow mast

Hole through which the water leaks. This leakage is not observed owing
to the careless(!) spilling of the water referred to in the text.]

A piece of wood cut into the shape of a boat is placed on the ground,
and a mast about 12 inches high is fixed into its one and only seat by
being firmly pressed into the hole cut through the seat. To the top of
the mast is affixed a cocoa-nut shell which has a small hole cut into
it about one third of the way up. Prior to the fixing of the mast and
the shell, the boat and the shell are filled with water. The bottom
of the mast--which is hollowed down its centre--just touches the top
of the water in the boat. While filling the articles with water the
performer carelessly--very carelessly--spills some on the ground all
round the boat. He then blows his "bean." After a short interval he
orders water to pour out of the hole in the shell. It does so until he
tells it to stop. He again blows his "bean." Again he orders the
water to pour out of the shell. Again it pours out until told to stop.
And so on until the shell is quite empty and the trick is at an end.

Wonderful isn't it? Marvellous! Mahatmaism!

Now let us have the explanation.

The cocoa-nut shell is full of water. It has only one outlet, the
small hole in its side. This is so small that the air cannot get in to
let the water out. The only way the air can get in is up the hollowed
mast, the bottom of which is immersed in the water in the boat. There
is a small hole in the bottom of the boat through which the water in
it leaks away. This lowers the water until it has cleared from the
bottom of the mast through which a puff of air goes up into the shell,
allowing some of the water in the shell to pour out into the water in
the boat. Now the water from the shell p