the quick. A most disagreeable sight it is, to see the blood and
yellow fat oozing out in the broiling sun from these great punctures!
Our elephant was an excellent one, when he did not take obstinate
fits, and so docile as to pick up pieces of stone when desired, and
with a jerk of the trunk throw them over his head for the rider to
catch, thus saving the trouble of dismounting to geologise!

Of sights on the road, unfrequented though this noble line is, there
were plenty for a stranger; chiefly pilgrims to Juggernath, most on
foot, and a few in carts or pony gigs of rude construction.
The vehicles from the upper country are distinguished by a far
superior build, their horses are caparisoned with jingling bells, and
the wheels and other parts are bound with brass. The kindness of the
people towards animals, and in some cases towards their suffering
relations, is very remarkable, and may in part have given origin to
the prevalent idea that they are less cruel and stern than the
majority of mankind; but that the "mild" Hindoo, however gentle on
occasion, is cruel and vindictive to his brother man and to animals,
when his indolent temper is roused or his avarice stimulated, no one
can doubt who reads the accounts of Thuggee, Dacoitee, and poisoning,
and witnesses the cruelty with which beasts of burthen are treated.
A child carrying a bird, kid, or lamb, is not an uncommon sight, and
a woman with a dog in her arms is still more frequently seen.
Occasionally too, a group will bear an old man to see Juggernath
before he dies, or a poor creature with elephantiasis, who hopes to
be allowed to hurry himself to his paradise, in preference to
lingering in helpless inactivity, and at last crawling up to the
second heaven only. The costumes are as various as the religious
castes, and the many countries to which the travellers belong.
Next in wealth to the merchants, the most thriving-looking wanderer