head. They take care also to display, in glaring red and white
paint, upon their foreheads and arms, the various insignia or marks
of Sheva, such as the trident. Occasionally one also flourishes
about a _steel_ trident, which the figure of Mahado always wields in
his hand, and which is also placed on the summit of his temple. The
Soneeassees are the most impudent and importunate of beggars. There
came under my notice a band of three, who used regularly to visit
the town twice a week. These men had made a vow to collect a certain
number of rupees to build a temple, and for this purpose infested
the doors of the wealthiest of the Hindoo community, and followed
and persecuted them even in their drives with continued cries. It is
astonishing how soon superstition enabled them to fulfil their vow,
and how the extortioners were allowed to escape the punishment their
impudence deserved.

The Byrâgees are not so intrusive a sect. They frequently live in
the open air, though not prohibited from seeking other shelter.
Their heads are differently treated from those of the Soneeassees,
for both men and women have the crown shaved quite smooth. Both
sexes wear a piece of cloth checked like shepherd's plaid. They have
great strings of wooden beads, or _malâhs_, turned out of the stalks
of the holy toolsie, round their necks; and they generally collect
their rice and cowries in a dried gourd-shell. Persons of this sect
at their death are placed in an upright position in a deep grave,
and so consumed with fire. In former times, the widows used to burn
themselves with their lords. The Byrâgees, when they attain years of
discretion, may choose their wives from any caste they please. Some
of the Byragins, therefore, are said to be far cleverer than the
everyday Hindoo women, having been selected from a class which are
looked down upon by the others, but who are taught high