Juggling in the East.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 674, 7 October 1876, Page 6 (Supplement)

Juggling in the East.

Just as luncheon had been finished, the dubash, Ramaswammy, entered the room, and announced that the jugglers were in attendance in the verandah. The jugglers' party censistedof two men, a woman, alad. and a child of about four years of «ige. They had with them a largo basket, containing their stock in trade, and, with the exception of the woman, they were but scantily clad. Tho latter had a small Indian tabor before her, which she occasionally snatched up and struck with the tips of her fingers, to add expression to some of the wild chants which were introduced during the phases of the exhibition. A leathern strap was unrolled and laid on the ground open to view : a subdued choral incantation followed . there was a slight but perceptiple nervous twitching motion in tho when one of the performers, crying out, ' Coyer him up j cover him up, or he will bite us ; ' placed a wicker-work basket, called a tapah, over it, and covered ifc with a cloth ; then seizing a strange-looking musical instrument, the body of which consisted of a small dry gourd, he produced a succession of | wild, droning notes, not unlike the treble of a bagpipe. Hit companion removed the basket, and, in lieu of the leathern strap there was an enormous cobra, a hooded snake wi.h crest erect, darting out its double tongue, and swaying about a foot of its body from side to side, the rest being arranged in a close coil. All drew back their chairs in undisguised alarm. Meanwhile the snake, though evidently charmed by the music, kept his bright eyes directed on the movements of tho party, whom he seemed to regard as his natural foes. The woman was the first to attack her ancient enemy by slily attempting to nip his tail. Be I hissed forth his displeasure, and made a dart at her hand, but she was too quick for him. With equal success the lad and the man, who was not play*ng, continued to provoke the reptile for a minute or two, but he at length bit the latter in the hand. The blood trickled slowly from the wound, but the man drew from a small bag about his person what appeared to be a small, dark coloured, flat stone, and pressing it upon the wound left it there, for it appeared to have adhesive and styptic properties. In about two minutes the blood ceased to flow and the quasi stone dropped off. A. small basket was then put before the snake, into which he quietly glided and was hid from sight One of the jugglers then brought forth a ball of fine twine, and unwound about fifty yards of it in a coil in his hand : this coil he cut through with a knife at each end of its diameter : then again and again repeated the operation till the twine had been divided into pieces not exceeding four inches in length. Taking up these disjecta, he i put them into the lad's mouth, and bade him swallow them, which, after some eflort, he to all appearance did Then asking one of the company for a. sharp penknife, the man obviously made an incision in the skin of the lads stomach. From this he picked out with the point of the knife the end of a thread : this thread he pulled forth, at first gently, then faster, then hand over hand, until he had coiled down on the ground a continuous length of about one hundred yardsof wet sewing thread. This if deception was a marvelous one, for the operation had all the appearance and tokens of reality, since the skin of the stomach was slightly raised round orifice through which the thread the was being ovidently drawn. Our friends were fairly puzzled, and to add to their perplexity the operator cut off the thread close to the skin, and

placed a piece of sticking p. aster over it, leaving it to be inferred that the supply of thread was unlimited, and could be drawn upon 'to order I .' ' Master, give mo one piece of money,' said he wbo appoared td be the }<rindu pal juggler, suddenly speaking in JSnglish to Mr. Hawthorne. ' Why ?' asked the latter, taking a rupee from hia pocket and handing it to the man. ' Good rupee,' said the man, jerking the coin into the air with a sharp fillip of hia thumb nail, and drawing the true ring from the metal. ' Good rupee ! Master sure can hold him tight his hand, so as cannot run away.' ' To be sure I can,' replied the young gentleman. ' Master, try then,' said the juggler, taking Mr. Hawthorne's left hand and placing the rupee on the palm of it. He then requested the gentleman to place the palm of his right hand over the coin, to close both hands tightly, and not let the money by any means escape. Thoroughly determined on the point, our young friend pressed his hands together till he was red in the face. ' Master quite sure got money in hia hand ?' asked the juggler. ' Quite/ was the reply. ' Can feel Mm, master ?' ' Yih.' The juggler tookthegentleman's two hands between his own, and muttered some cabalastic words ; then blowing upon them and giving ttem a heavy shake, he asked, with a grin : ' Can you feel him now, master ?' Starting from his chaiir with a bound, the youug Englishman, with an affrighted look unclasped hi* hands, and there fell on the floor beneath, not the rupee, bat a lively, struggling little brown snake, about fifteen inches long, which made immediately for the legs of Captain M Turk. Now this gentleman, who under ordinary circumstances was as | brave as a lion, by no means relished, I or was prepared for, an encounter with 1 the evil one, of whom he doubtless believed the approaching reptile was an incarnation, so hastily tossing both legs up in the air, the worthy Captain lost his balance, and, together with the chair, came heavily to the groudd, though fortunately with no serious consequences beyond a broken back — of the chair, we mean. The worthy skipper soon picked himself up, and seeing that the snake had been captured by the lad, round whose arm it was no iv entwined, joined in the general laugh, and seated himself again in .mother chair that was placed for him. ' Master, tako bis rupee again ?' said the juggler, offering the coin to Mr. Hawthorne, with, it must be confessed, a regretful look. ' So,' said the gentleman, 'you have fairly earned it ; besides ' 'It might turn into a snake again in your pocket, you were going to add Hawthorne,' said Mr. Kemp. An empty flower-pot was now placed upon the floor by the juggler, who requested that his comrades might be allowed to bring up some garden-mold from the little plot of ground below. Permission, being accorded, tho man wont, and in two minutes returned with a small quantity of fresh earth tied up in a corner of his handkerchief, which was deposited in the flower-pot, and lightly pressed down. Taking from his basket a dry mango-stone, and handing it around ta tho company that they might examine it, and satisfy themselves that it was really what it seemed to be, the juggler scooped out a little earth from tho center of tho lloworpot and placed the stone in the cavity. He then turned the earth lightly over it, and, having poured a little water over the surface, shut the flower-pot out of view by means of a sheet thrown over a small triangle. And now, amid a full chorus of voices and rat-tat- tat accompaniment of the tabor, the stone germinated ; presently a section of of the cloth was drawn aside, and gave to view the tender shoot, characterised by two long leave 3 of a blackish-brown color. The cloth wasre-odjusted, and the incantation resumed. Not long was it, however, before the cloth was a second time drawn aside, and it was then seen that the two first leaves had given place to several green ones, and that the plant now stood nine or ten inches high. A third time, and tho foilage was much thicker, the sapling being about thirteen to fourteen inches in height. A fourth time and the little miniature tree, now about eighteen inches in height, had twelve mangoes, about the size of walnuts hanging about its branches. Finally, after the lapse of three or four minutes, the cloth was altogether removed, and the fruit, having the perfection of size, thought not of maturity, was plucked and handed to the spectators, and, on being tasted, was found to be approaching ripeness, being sweetly acid.

A baldheaded friend of a phlegmatic temperament was accosted by a funny acquaintance with, ' Tom, why is your head like the Arctic regions ?' — 'I givo it up.' — 'Because it is a white hear place.' 'Mamma,' asked a precious youngster at the tea-table the other evening, after a long and yearning gaze toward a plate of doughnuts, ' Mamma, do you think I could stand another one of thoso fried holes ?' She thought he could. 'Papa, did God have time to get arouad all the churches after staying to hear Mr. 's prayer, or aid he leave before it ended ?' is what a Massachusetts younester asked the other Sunday, after churck The Congregationalisms little boy was badly to blame when he went to an Episcopal church, for the first time, to hear his uncle preach, for erclaimiug as the minister came out in his white robes: Papa, does Uncle Joseph sleep here P'