that it is caused by the anger of God towards the people of the earth;
others say the moon is in debt, and many other equally odd conceits exist
amongst the ignorant people, and among them only. Yet a sensation of awe
is felt by most; and where is the intelligent creature who can view an
eclipse or any other phenomenon of Nature without the same feeling of awe,
although all are not equally ready to express the sensation?

Loud cries from the mixed population, Mussulmauns and Hindoos, announce
the commencement of an eclipse, whether it be of the sun or the moon. The
voice of the Mussulmaun is distinguished by the Namaazies'[35] call to
prayers--'Allah wo uckbaar![36] (God alone is great!) To this summons the
faithful attend diligently, and they are generally occupied in the form of
prayer appointed by Mahumud until the shadow has passed over the sun or
moon eclipsed.

The ladies prepare offerings of corn, oil, and money to be distributed
amongst the poor. The gentlemen give presents to the needy. The astronomer
who predicts to his royal or noble master the exact period of an eclipse,
is rewarded, when it is over, with money, a dress, and a crescent of pure
gold in some instances. A bride elect sends sutkah[38] to her intended
husband, accompanied by a goat or kid, which must be tied to the leg of
his bedstead during the continuance of an eclipse: these offerings are
afterwards distributed in charity. Women expecting to become mothers are
carefully kept awake during an eclipse, as they declare the infant's
security depends on the mother being kept from sleep; they are not allowed
to use a needle, scissors, knife, or any other instrument during an
eclipse, for fear of drawing blood, which would be injurious at that
period, both to the mother and child; neither are the animals in a similar
state neglected; a mixture of cow-dung and drugs is rubbed over the belly
of such animals, whether cows, sheep, goats, &c., and all these are
securely housed until the planet is again resplendent: they fancy that
both the animal and its young would be endangered by exposure during the
time of the eclipse.

The power of the moon on wounded persons is believed universally to be of
dangerous tendency. I have heard many extraordinary relations by people
who, as they tell me, have suffered from exposure to the moon whilst a
wound was fresh. One person had received a severe sabre-cut on his arm;
the place was sewed up by the barber (the only