ney is said to have shaken him so much
that he found his end approaching, and sent a messenger to the
princess in these words: 'Aya tore, chale ham'; that is, 'Death came
for thee, but I go in thy place'; and he told those around him that
she had precisely five years more to live. She is said to have caused
a tomb to be built over him, and is believed by the people to have
died that day five years.

All these things I learned as I wandered among the tombs of the old
saints the first few evenings after my arrival at Meerut. I was
interested in their history from the circumstance that amateur
singers and professional dancers and musicians should display their
talents at their shrines gratis, for the sake of getting alms for the
poor of the place, given in their name--a thing I had never before
heard of--though the custom prevails no doubt in other places; and
that Musalmans and Hindoos should join promiscuously in their
devotions and charities at all these shrines. Manohar Nath's shrine,
though he was a Hindoo, is attended by as many Musalman as Hindoo
pilgrims. He is said to have 'taken the _samadh_', that is, to have
buried himself alive in this place as an offering to the Deity. Men
who are afflicted with leprosy or any other incurable disease in
India often take the samadh, that is, bury or drown themselves with
due ceremonies, by which they are considered as acceptable sacrifices
to the Deity. I once knew a Hindoo gentleman of great wealth and
respectability, and of high rank under the Government of Nagpur, who
came to the river Nerbudda, two hundred miles, attended by a large
retinue, to _take the samadh_ in due form, from a painful disease
which the doctors pronounced incurable. After taking an affectionate
leave of all his family and friends, he embarked on board the boat,
which took him into the deepest part of the river. He then loaded
himself with sand, as a sportsman who is required to carry weights in
a race loads himself with shot, and stepping into the water
disappeared. The funeral ceremonies were then performed, and his
family, friends, and followers returned to Nagpur, conscious that
they had all done what they had been taught to consider their duty.
Many poor men do the same every year when afflicted by any painful
disease that they consider incurable.[5] The only way to prevent this
is to carry out the plan now in progress of giving to India in an
accessible shape the medical science of Europe--a plan