The Gladiators of India.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 573, 22 January 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Gladiators of India.

Anotiieii sort of combat, much more terrible than those already mentioned, and which ia only to be seen nowadays at Baroda, i8 the ; that is to say, • fight with claws.' Here the combatants, almost naked, but adorned with crowns and garlands, ear each other with claws of horn. These claws were formerly of steel, and caused certain death to one or other of the combatants; but they have been abolished as too barbarous for modern times. Those now in use, are, as I have said, of horn, and are fixed on the closed fist with thongs. I was only once present at a combat of this kind, for my heart was so moved by the horrible spectacle that I refused to go again. The wrestlers, intoxicated with bang — liquid opium, mixed with an imfusion of hemp — sing at f they rush upon one another ; their faces and heads are soon covered with blood, and their frenzy knows no bounds. The king 1 , with wild eyes and the veins of his neck swollen, surveys the scene with such passionate excitement that he cannot remain quirt, bat imitates by gestures the movements of the wrestlers. Ihe arena is covered with blood ; the defeated combatant in carried off, sometimes in a dying condition ; and the conqueror the skin of his forehead hanging down in strips, prostrates himself before the kinp, who places around his neck a necklace of fine pearls, and covers him with a garments of great value Oneepisodj moreover, disgusted me to such an extent that, without any heed of the effect my sudden departure might have upon the G-uicowar, I at once withdrew. One of the wrestlers, whom the bang had only half intoxi cated, after receiving the first few blows, made a show of winhing to escape ; his antagon Bt threw him, and they rolled togther on the ground before us. The victor, seeing the unhappy wretch demand quarter, turned to the king to know whether he shoald let the other rise ; but, inflamed with theßpectaele, the monarch cried out, ' Maro ! maro /' (strike ' stHke') and the scalp of the unfor'unate fellow was torn without m*rcy. tfhen he was taken away ho had lost all consciousness. That same day, the king distributed amongnt the victorious wrestlers necklaces and money to the amount of more than four thousand pounds.— Roussdet's * India and Its Princes.'

A follower of Fanst, named Budd, w*i paying hit addreues to a young lady named •toss. After a while he popped the question, ' Kose, wilt ttaou b» mine ? Ro«e answered, ' I am sorry it cannot b«, for a Ro»e cannot be turned into a Budd.' It ii not the corraot thing for a gentleman 10 wink ,at a lady. Xt U alwaji (h« lady't plM* to wink flrfti