of this
respectable branch of knowledge, and turning their swords, if not into
ploughshares, at least into as peaceable and innocent a mode of gaining
a livelihood. An exhibition which took place during our short stay at
Sehwan made many of the "greenhorns" amongst us gape, and impressed them
with a very high notion of the favour in which the professors of the art
are held by his Satanic Majesty. Returning one day from the bazaar, I
observed a crowd of soldiers and natives assembled near the lines of the
Artillery. Elbowing my way through them I found a conjuror at his
tricks, and from the expensive and elaborate nature of the paraphernalia
by which he was surrounded, at once perceived that his pretensions were
of the highest order. He was attired in loose flowing robes, covered
with mystic characters; and a long white beard descended to his waist,
contrasting oddly with his jet black locks and piercing hazel eyes.
Surrounded by the various emblems and accessories of his art, he looked
a very imposing figure, and every movement which he made was regarded
with as much interest as if destiny really rested on his fiat. His only
assistants were a man who beat a _tom-tom_, or drum, to collect an
audience, and a beautifully formed girl about five or six years of age,
whose supple and graceful movements excited general admiration. Having
made a clear space of about thirty feet in diameter, the conjuror took
an oblong basket, about two feet in length, and one in breadth, the
interior of which he exhibited to the spectators, in order to convince
them that nothing was concealed in it. After performing a variety of
common-place tricks, such as balancing a sword upon a pipe and then
swallowing the blade, he suddenly turned towards the child and addressed
her in an angry tone of voice. She made some reply which appeared to
make him still more choleric, for his features became swollen with rage,
and his eyes shot glances of fire. The discussion continuing in the same
violent strain he appeared no longer able to control his fury, and
suddenly seizing the child by the waist, he opened the basket and
crammed her into it. The half stifled cries of the girl were distinctly
heard, but they only appeared to enrage him the more. Snatching a sword,
which lay near him, he plunged it to the hilt in the basket, twice or
thrice, and every time he drew it out it was reeking with gore. The half
smothered groans and sobs of the dying child at length c