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LATE accounts from India state, that at the last procession of Juggernaut, there were scarcely persons sufficient to draw the Car; whereas, formerly, numbers were ready to throw themselves under its ponderous wheels, while the infatuated people threw cowries or small shells on their bodies. The temple is a stupendous fabric, and truly commensurate with the extensive sway of the horrid king. As other temples are usually adorned with figures emblematical of their religion, so Juggernaut has representations, numerous and various, of that vice which constitutes the essence of HIS worship. The walls and gates are covered with indecent emblems, in massive and durable sculpture. The grand Hindoo festival of the Rutt Jattra, takes place on the 18th of June, when the idol is to be brought forth to the people; but twelve or thirteen pilgrimages are made to it every year. It is calculated that the number who go thither is, on some occasions, 600,000 persons, and scarcely ever less than 100,000; and that at the lowest calculation in the year 1,200,000 persons attend. Now, if only one in ten died, the mortality caused by this one idol would be 120,000 in a year; but some are of opinion that not many more than one in ten survive, and return home again.

Dr. Claudius Buchanan who resided many years in India, has fully described these horrible ceremonies. "We know," says he," that we are approaching Juggernaut (and yet we are more than fifty miles from it) by the human bones which we have seen for some days strewed by the way. At this place, Buddruck, we have been joined by several large bodies of pilgrims, perhaps 2,000 in number, who have come from various parts of northern India. Some of them, with whom I have conversed, say that they have been two months on their march, travelling slowly in the hottest season of the year, with their wives and children. Some old persons are among them, who wish to die at Juggernaut. Numbers of pilgrims die on the road; and their bodies generally remain unburied. Or a plain by the river, near the pilgrim's Caravansera at this place, there are more than a hundred skulls. The dogs, jackals, and vultures seem to live here on human prey. The vultures exhibit a shocking tameness.

The obscene animals will not leave the body sometimes till we come close to them. This Buddruck is a horrid place. Wherever I turn my eyes I meet death in some shape or other. Surely Juggernaut cannot be worse than Buddruck.

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Many thousands of pilgrims have ac

companied us for some days past. They cover the road before and behind as far as the eye can reach. At nine o'clock this morning, the temple of Juggernaut appeared in view at a great distance. When the multitude first saw it, they gave a shout, and fell to the ground and worshipped. I have heard nothing to-day but shouts and acclamations by the successive bodies of pilgrims. From the place where I now stand, I have a view of a host of people like an army, encamped at the outer gate of the town of Juggernaut: where a guard of soldiers is posted to prevent their entering the town, until they have paid the pilgrim's tax. I passed a devotee to-day who laid himself down at every step, measuring the road to Juggernaut by the length of his body, as a penance of merit to please the god.

A disaster has just occurred at the As I apouter gate of Juggernaut. proached the gate, the pilgrims crowded from all quarters around me, and shouted, as they usually did when I passed them on the road, an expression of welcome and respect. I was a little alarmed at their number, and looked round for my guard. A guard of soldiers had accompanied me from Cuttack, the last military station; but they were now about a quarter of a mile behind, with my servants and the baggage. The pilgrims cried out that they were entitled to some indulgence, that they were poor, they could not pay the tax; but I was not aware of their design. At this moment, when I was within a few yards of the gate, an old Sanyassee (or holy man,) who had travelled some days by the side of my horse, came up and said, "Sir, you are in danger; the people are going to rush through the gate when it is opened for you." I immediately dismounted, and endeavoured to escape to one side; but it was too late. The mob was now in motion, and with a tumultuous shout pressed violently towards the gate. The guard within seeing my danger opened it, and the multitude rushing through, carried me forward in the torrent a considerable space: so that I was literally borne into Juggernaut by the Hindoos themselves. A distressing scene followed. As the number and strength of the mob increased, the narrow way was choked up by the mass of people; and I apprehended that many of them would have been suffocated, or bruised to death. My horse was yet among them. But suddenly one of the side posts of the gate, which was of wood, gave way and fell to the ground. And perhaps this circumstance alone prevented

the loss of lives. Notice of the event was immediately communicated to the superintendent of the temple, who re paired to the spot, and sent an additional guard to the inner gate, lest the people should force that also; for there is an outer and an inner gate to the town of Juggernaut; but both of them are slightly constructed. Mr. Hunter told

me that similar accidents sometimes occur, and that many have been crushed to death by the pressure of the mob. He added, that sometimes a body of pilgrims, (consisting chiefly of women, and children, and old men,) trusting to the physical weight of their mass, will make, what he called, a charge on the armed guards, and overwhelm them; the guards not being willing, in such circumstances, to oppose their bayonets."

Dr. Buchanan himself saw, and thus describes the procession. "I have return ed home from witnessing a scene which I shall never forget. At twelve o'clock of this day (June 18th,) being the great day of the feast, the Moloch of Hindostan was brought out of his temple, amidst the acclamations of hundreds of thousands of his worshippers. When the idol was placed on his throne, a shout was raised by the multitude, such as I had never heard before. It continued equable for a few minutes, and then gradually died away. After a short interval of silence, a murmur was heard at a distance: all eyes were turned to wards the place, and, behold, a grove advancing. A body of men, having green branches, or palms, in their hands, approached with great celerity. The people opened a way for them; and when they had come up to the throne, they fell down before him that sat thereon, and worshipped. And the multitude again sent forth a voice like the sound of a great thunder.' But the voices I now heard, were not those of melody or of joyful acclamation; for there is no harmony in the praise of Moloch's worshippers. Their number indeed brought to my mind the countless multitude of the Revelations; but their voices gave no tuneful Hosanna or Hallelujah; but rather a yell of approbation, united with a kind of hissing applause. I was at a loss how to account for this latter noise, until I was directed to notice the women; who emitted a sound like that of whistling, with the lips circular, and the tongue vibrating as if a serpent would speak by their organs, uttering human sounds.

"The throne of the idol is placed on a stupendous Car or tower, about sixty feet in height, resting on wheels which indented the ground deeply, as they turned

slowly under the ponderous machine. Attached to it were six cables, of the size and length of a ship's cable, by which the people drew it along. Thousands of men, women, and children pulled by each cable, crowding so closely that some could only use one hand. Infants are made to exert their strength in this office: for it is accounted a merit of righteousness to move the god. Upon the tower were the priests and satellites of the idol, surrounding his throne. I was told that there were about one hundred and twenty persons upon the Car altogether. The idol is a block of wood, having a frightful visage painted black, with a distended mouth of a bloody colour. His arms are of gold, and he is dressed in gorgeous apparel. The other two idols are of a white and yellow colour. Five elephants preceded the three towers, bearing towering flags, dressed in crimson caparisons, and having bells hanging to their caparisons, which sounded musically as they moved.

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His

"I went on in the procession, close by the tower of Moloch; which, as it was drawn with difficulty, grated on its many wheels harsh thunder. After a few minutes it stopped; and now the worship of the god began.-A high priest mounted the Car in front of the idol, and pronounced his obscene stanzas in the ears of the people, who responded at intervals in the same strain. These songs,' said he, are the delight of the god. Car can only move when he is pleased with the song.' The Car moved on a little way, and then stopped. A boy of about twelve years was then brought forth to attempt something yet more la civious, if peradventure the god would move. The child perfected the praise' of his idol with such ardent expression and gesture, that the god was pleased, and the multitude emitting a sensual yell of delight, urged the Car along. After a few minutes it stopped again. An aged minister of the idol then stood up, and with a long rod in his hand, which he moved with indecent action, completed the variety of this disgusting exhibition. felt a consciousness of doing wrong in witnessing it. I was also somewhat appalled at the magnitude and horror of the spectacle; I felt like a guilty person, on whom all eyes were fixed, and I was about to withdraw. But a scene of a different kind was now to be presented. The characteristics of Moloch's worship are obscenity and blood. We have seen the former. Now comes the blood.

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"After the tower had proceeded some way, a pilgrim announced that he was ready to offer himself a sacrifice to the

idol. He laid himself down in the road, before the tower as it was moving along, lying on his face, with his arms stretched forwards. The multitude passed round him, leaving the space clear, and he was crushed to death by the wheels of the tower. A shout of joy was raised to the god. He is said to smile, when the libation of blood is made. The people threw cowries, or small money, on the Dody of the victim, in approbation of the deed. He was left to view a considerable time; and was then carried to a place a little way out of the town, called, by the English, Golgotha, where the dead bodies are usually cast forth, and where dogs and vultures are ever seen. There I have just been, viewing his re

mains.

"I beheld another distressing scene at the place of sculls, a poor woman lying dead, or nearly dead; and her two children by her, looking at the dogs and vultures which were near. The people passed by without noticing the children. I asked them where was their home. They said, they had no home, but where their mother was.' Oh, there is no pity at Juggernaut! no mercy, no tenderness of heart in Moloch's kingdom.

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"As to the number of worshippers assembled here, at this time, no accurate calculation can be made. The natives themselves, when speaking of the numbers at particular festivals, usually say that a lack of people (100,000) would not be missed. I asked a Brahmin how many he supposed were present at the most numerous festival he had ever witpessed. How can I tell,' said he, how many grains there are in a handful of sand?"

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Our engraving contains a correct view of this death-dealing temple.

many times revived, after having remained in an apparently lifeless, dry state for a considerable period. The most common animalcule procured from the paste of flour, possesses this quality. The gordius, or horse-hair eel, is also endowed with it: this, while it is in water, is one of the most restless of all animals, for in this state it never has been observed to be one single instant without motion of some sort; but, if the water be dried up, its slender body shrivels, and it soon loses every appearance of life: how long it might be preserved in this condition without extinction of life, or how often it might admit of being revived, has not been ascertained; but it is certain, that after being kept for a long time in a state of complete arefaction, upon being returned to its natural element, its body soon resumes its former appearance, it begins to move, and shortly becomes as brisk and as lively as ever.

A kind of disease sometimes prevails in wheat, which, in its character, differs wholly from smut, or rust. Grain thus affected, is denominated rachitic, or rickety. Water, when poured upon rachitic wheat, soon moistens it, and brings to life, in various stages of their growth, numbers of eel-shaped animals, which had there taken up their residence, while, the grain was yet in its succulent state, and thus occasioned the disease. As the grain ripened, these animalcules were arrested in their progress, life was totally suspended, and their destructive operations upon the corn of course obstructed so long as it remained dry. No sooner, however, does this grain become soft, in consequence of being moistened with water (whether after being sown in the ground or otherwise), than these creatures are restored to life and activity; they feed upon the grain while it is moist, and, if not impeded by another desicca

ON THE REVIVIFICATION OF tion, quickly lay their eggs (for they are

ANIMALS.

(For the Mirror.)

IN No. 77 of the Mirror, under the above head, we mentioned that some of the minute objects of animated nature are capable of being preserved in a dry state for an indefinite length of time, liable to be revived at pleasure by being moist ened with water; and we now offer, according to our promise, a few facts in illustration of this assertion.

There are numbers of the animalcula infusoria, those small microscopic objects that are observed in the watery extracts obtained from the infusion of most dry plants and many other substances, which are known to possess the property of being

oviparous) and go through the ordinary evolutions of nature. The young, when hatched in the corn that was sowed, after living upon it for some time, begin to eat their way up the growing stalk, and establish themselves at length in the grain itself while it is advancing towards maturity, where they are interrupted in their course in the manner already described, when it is fully ripened.

This instance is attended with a greater degree of certainty than is that which precedes it, with regard to the length of time that the animalcule can be preserved alive in a quiescent, dried state, for the experiment is stated to have been tried for nearly thirty years, after the lapse of which period, the animalcule of the

rachitic wheat was found to revive as readily as if its vital functions had been thus suspended only for one day.

One other instance shall suffice. In this, nature evinces a still more extraordinary mode than any we have yet noticed of suspending animal life, and preserving existence in an inert state. Among the animalcula infusoria has been discovered one which, from its having the power of exhibiting the appearance of a kind of rotatory motion, by means of certain organs placed on each side of its head resembling a pair of wheels, has been denominated the wheel insect. This little creature may generally be found in any pool of water on the tops of houses, or otherwise, wherever a cavity (in lead especially) is to be met with. When a drop of this water is placed on the glass of the microscope, the animalcule, which is capable of assuming a considerable diversity of forms, is seen moving about with great activity. But, in proportion as the water evaporates, it contracts itself more and more, shrivels up, and becomes, when dry, like a piece of parchment. It, however, is not dead. In this state it may be preserved for many years without suffering the smallest change; being moistened with water, it will resume its pristine form, and after a while becomes as lively and active as ever. The experiment in this case is represented to have been carried so far, as to deaden and revive the insect eleven times, and there was then no appearance of the vital powers being nearly exhausted.

It is worthy of remark, that if this creature be put into pure water, and that water be once evaporated, it dies entirely, and can be revived no more. For the preservation of its life, a little earth must of necessity be mixed with the water; it then buries itself in the mud, and when thus dried, and only thus, it acquires the faculty of that species of immortality which we have noticed. Mixed with the dust in the form of an imperceptible atom, it is blown about by the winds, and though it be deposited upon the tops of houses, and exposed to ardent heat, or severe cold, its existence is not thereby endangered. It is stated to have been, for the sake of experiment, subjected while in this state to a heat of fifty-six degrees on Reaumur's thermometer, and to a cold of nineteen, after which it was equally susceptible of revivification as in any other case. It is only in its torpid condition, however, that it can bear these extraordinary vicissitudes; while in its live state, if the water in which it swims

• The Vorticella Rotatoria of Muller

be exposed to a very moderate degree of heat, or cold, it is effectually killed.

Many more instances of this kind might be adduced; but it is enough to have mentioned these few, as examples of the means that have been adopted by the Almighty Creator of all things, for preserving animal life under circumstances which usually prove destructive to it. Vegetable life has been found in several cases to be governed by similar laws; but, lest our article should become too lengthy, we shall for the present close the subject (which we may possibly resume at a future opportunity) exclaiming with the Psalmist, O Lord, great are the wonderous works which thou hast done." LIOLETT. +

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No. 77, Lislett.
This signature was printed by mistake, in

Erratum. No. 77, page 213, column 1, line 27, for dissection read desiccation.

THE TEMPLE OF BELUS, AND HANGING-GARDENS OF BABYLON.

THE temple of Belus and HangingGardens, were the great works of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The wonderful tower that stood in the middle of the temple, is said to have been built many ages before his time; that, and the famous tower of Babel, being, as is commonly supposed, one and the same structure. This tower is believed to have been composed of eight pyramidical ones raised one above the other, and by Ierodotus, said to have been a furlong in height; but, as there is an ambiguity in his expression, it has been disputed whether each of the towers was a furlong in length, or the whole of them taken together. Even on the latter supposition, it must have exceeded the highest of the Egyptian pyramids by 179 feet, though it fell short of its breadth at the base by 33. The way to go up was by stairs on the outside round it; whence it seems most likely, that the whole ascent was, by the benching in, drawn in a sloping line from the bottom to the top eight times round it; and that this made the appearance of eight towers, one above the other. Till the time of Nebuchadnezzar, it is thought by some that this tower was all the temple of Belus; but he made great additions, by erecting vast edifices round it, in a square of two furlongs, on every side, and a mile in circumference, which exceeded the square at the temple of Jerusalem by 1800 feet. Nothing was more wonderful at Babylon than the HangingGardens, which Nebuchadnezzar made in complaisance to his wife Amyitis; who,

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