e interval
between the sowing and reaping of the spring crops, that is, between
November and March, a very large portion of the Hindoo landholders
and cultivators of India devote their leisure to this pious duty.
They take their baskets and poles with them from home, or purchase
them on the road; and having poured their libations on the head of
the god, and made him acquainted with their wants and wishes, return
home. From November to March three-fourths of the number of these
people one meets consist of this class. At other seasons more than
three-fourths consist of the other two classes--of persons hired for
the purpose as servants, and those who carry the water for sale.

One morning the old Jemadar, the marriage of whose mango-grove with
the jasmine I have already described,[2] brought his two sons and a
nephew to pay their respects to me on their return to Jubbulpore from
a pilgrimage to Jagannath.[3] The sickness of the youngest, a nice
boy of about six years of age, had caused this pilgrimage. The eldest
son was about twenty years of age, and the nephew about eighteen.

After the usual compliments, I addressed the eldest son: 'And so your
brother was really very ill when you set out?'

'Very ill, sir; hardly able to stand without assistance.'

'What was the matter with him?'

'It was what we call a drying-up, or withering of the System.'

'What were the symptoms?'

'Dysentery.'

'Good; and what cured him, as he now seems quite well?'

'Our mother and father vowed five pair of baskets of Ganges water to
Gajadhar, an incarnation of the god Siva, at the temple of Baijnath,
and a visit to the temple of Jagannath.'

'And having fulfilled these vows, your brother recovered?'

'He had quite recovered, sir, before we had set out on our return
from Jagannath.'

'And who carried the baskets?'

'My mother, wife, cousin, myself, and little brother, all carried one
pair each.'

'This little boy could not surely carry a pair of baskets all the
way?'

'No, sir, we had a pair of small baskets made especially for him; and
when within about three miles of the temple he got down from his
little pony, took up his baskets, and carried them to the god. Up to
within three miles of the temple the baskets were carried by a
Brahman servant, whom we had taken with us to cook our food. We had
with us another Brahman, to whom we had to pay only a trifle, as his
principal wages were made up of fees from families in the tow