countries may be similar, the agents employed in the East are so
different, that a description of them will to many European readers
have all the gloss of novelty.

The two principal sects in Bengal are known as _Soneeassees_ and
_Byrâgees_. The former _exclusively_ worship Mahado. 'They are not
to inhabit houses or temples,' say their scriptures; 'but to live in
woods and forests, under the wide expanse of heaven, _there_ to
meditate upon the greatness of the Creator, and contemplate his
beautiful works.' An infant who is to become a Soneeassee has from
his birth the badge of Sheva upon him: no razor ever touches his
hair, and his locks are matted and dishevelled, when other
children's are neatly combed and anointed. When he approaches
manhood, he takes the vow of celibacy, he receives from the hand of
the Brahmin the _muntra_ or mystical creed, the dried skin of an
antelope, and a piece of coarse, unbleached cotton, stained yellow
with ochre, which he can use as a plaid, it being seven feet long;
upon the skin he is supposed to sit and sleep, and the cloth
overshadows the shoulders of the young enthusiast. Even after these
are worn out, as it is supposed that the devotee is pretty well
broken in to the hardships of his situation, they on no account may
be renewed. These Soneeassees seldom adhere to the letter of their
religion in the present day, although it is said that in times gone
by some of their class have sat absorbed and abstracted until their
spirit held communion with the great god--their bodies wasting away
from neglect, and their nails growing like claws. In the present
day, prayer and meditation are given to the winds, and they may be
seen fat and sleek, perambulating the streets of the towns and
villages, smeared over with ashes and ochre, and great coils of
matted hair, which some tastefully wind like a turban round their