377
that their valor would be put to this issue. Each
prepared himself with an intoxicating dose of
bhang, and the quarrel ended in the frantic at-
tempt which has been noticed." The writer adds
in a foot-note that bhang is the leaf of the Canna-
bis sativa.
The other instance is by the same writer, Vol.
3, pages 237-238, one of the editions published
about 1812 or 1817, to be found in the library of
the Bowring institute in Bangalore. The incident
referred to occurred at the siege of Seringapatam,
February 10th, 1892. He writes as follows :
— " When the allied armies were before Seringapa-
tam, a detachment of cavalry sent by Tippu Sultan
to kill Lord Cornwallis mistook the tent of Colo-
nel Duff, commander of the artillery, and charged
that, but were repulsed. * * * The use of
bhang or opium among the horsemen of India is a
familiar preparation for a desperate charge, mis-
chievous at the best even for that single purpose,
but utterly ruinous on any service requiring self-
possession. I am disposed on inquiry to concur
with those who attribute the failure on this occa-
sion to intoxication." In a foot-note, Colonel Wilks
defines bhang "as the leaf of the Cannabis sativa
(hemp plant) used in various forms, green and
dried, and sold as an intoxicating substance in
every bazaar in India. I certainly would not state
the fact if I supposed public brewers to be ignorant
of this article of the Materia venenata."
There is still another instance related to me by
the District Munsiff of this place concerning a
relative resident in the same house with him-
self in Berhampur, who died insane from the
result of an excessive use of bhang. He had been
a man of superior intelligence, of very enter-
taining conversation, and pleasant manners. He
was a writer in the Madras Bank and contracted
the habit. His custom was to macerate the leaves
in water to form a paste ; then to mix this with
milk, sugar, dried ginger and aniseed and spices,
pouring the whole from one vessel to another, and
skimming off with his hand the foam that re-
sulted. When it had got thoroughly mixed he
drank it. He gradually increased the dose, lost
his situation, but still persisted in the awful habit.
He raved like a maniac when deprived of it, and
threatened to kill whoever interfered with the
exercise of his indulgence. At last he became
violently insane, and had to be tied with ropes
to keep him from injuring himself and others. He
could not put two intelligible words together. He
could not distinguish food from filth. He lost
the gift of speech and the power of his limbs, and
became like some helpless animal. He would use
a ball of the paste the size of a man's fist each
day. Latterly he mixed dhatura seeds with the
other ingredients. He died from the effects of his
debauchery.
There is another case in which a waterman in
my own employ, who was addicted to ganja, im-
poverished his wife and family and left them in
order to follow the life of a wandering sanyasi and
is now on the road. The immediate cause of his
dismissal was violent and threatening behaviour
induced by excess in ganja smoking.
Mr. Davis, of Cocanada, reports that one of his
preachers, an otherwise kindly, docile, and intelli-
gent fellow, entered his bed-room one night shout-
ing like a mad man. He was under the influence
of ganja. He had to be tied up at another time
to keep him from killing his wife. He was finally
dismissed. He had previously been a sepoy, and
contracted the habit in the army. The same
authority declares that of other two whom he
VOL. VI.
knew both died, one a carpenter, the other a
house servant ; the latter took it for asthma.
Another is still living, but is perfectly useless— a
moral and a mental wreck. In this last case
opium has as much to do with the man's sad con-
dition as ganja.
There is still another case in which I remem-
ber a travelling sanyasi or ascetic rushed into the
bed-room of the wife of one of our missionaries
when I first came to the country. He was evi-
dently under the influence of ganja or bhang, and
it took about six of his disciples to hold him, he
was so violent.
Beyond these I know of no other cases.
49. There is a belief amongst young men—how
extended I cannot tell— that the use of bhang
boiled in ghee and mixed with sugar to make a
sweetmeat, if eaten regularly, will increase their
virile power. This compound is called
M a z u
. What foundation there is for the belief I cannot
say ; but the practice certainly exists, as I know
from very reliable sources.
I am, on the other hand, informed that men
who smoke ganja to excess lose all sexual desire ;
and from the fact that religious ascetics use it for
that very purpose, I am inclined the believe the
statement. However there may be individual
exceptions.
5 3 . S e e § 4 5 .
55. Most certainly complete stupefaction can
be so induced. One young man told me that a
drink of bhang administered by a fellow-student
put him into a deep sleep in fifteen minutes, from
which all possible efforts on the part of his
parents could not rouse him for several hours.
56. The case of the District Munsif's uncle
mentioned in 45 was possibly aggravated by ad-
mixture of dhatura.
57. Ganja is sometimes mixed with poppy seeds
and eaten, but cannot describe its effects.
62. The belief of the people that the Govern-
ment are opposed to the cultivation of the plant
is a strong preventive. If the fear of the people
is incited by an occasional arrest for cultivating,
the production locally will be fairly well con
¬trolled.
63. As a body the missionaries of the two Ca-
nadian Baptist Missions, representing fifteen
stations, and some forty-five missionaries, and the
native communicants, who number over 3,000, are
opposed to the license for public sale of any such
drugs. If a man is a known consumer, if any
of them even moderately, he is not received into
church membership, and if he becomes a member
without knowing that the habit is contrary to the
church discipline, he must give it up or suffer ex-
pulsion from the body. In order, however, that
the members of the Commission may understand
our position, it might be well to add that the use
of opium and liquor ( i.e ., alcoholic drinks) equally
debar from such membership. Not that there is
any rule to that effect in the church; but the
sentiment is very strong that the use of any such
drugs or drinks is not consistent with the practice.
of a Christ-like life. I have been unable to secure
a very general expression from the body as to the
relative ill effect of hemp drugs, opium, and alco-
hol; but, in so far as I can gather, all are united
in the belief that in these parts any way hemp
drugs are thus far the least injurious, and that
opium and alcoholic drinks are not only much
more extensively used, but much more baneful in
their effects.
3E