New-York daily tribune., 1851-07-14
A rroUEER's CURSE.

As,oayy the many strange VoJceeS
Hs,,shman meets with in India, there are
g sshich tend so much to upset ms equs"1"''''
v,s;t from wandering fuqueeT.
Sr .Jvent of one Of these gentry IN an Eng
- ss,,lement is regarded with much the same
~, of feeling as a vagrant cockroach' "heii nc
maases his appearance unannounceo 10 hioeelh
.a,.,;n,. room II we could imagine the afOre-
:J .nct roach brandishing his horns In the face
s@ ,hc horrifed inmates, exuitlng IN the disgust
h,cb his presence creates, and ntlmatlng, WIN
nonreited swagger, that, IN virtue OF his ugi-
rsss he considered himself entitled TO some cake
and wine. perhaps the analogy would De more
complete. .,s;,. f.;.x ~. r,a;.
II. Owns no superior wears no clothing; per-
so,ns no work; despises everybody and every
sing sometimes pretends TO perpetual fasting;
and lives OR the fat OF the land.
There is this much, however, to be sand Tor
Kim that when he does mortify himself Tor the
Good Of the community, ne does 1t 10 some pur.
eeose lenten fast, or penance OF parched
pPoss IN his shoes. would be mere bagatelle 70
Lin We have seen fuqueer who was never
.. ..hnownv . TO eat at all He carried small black
.,one about with him. which had been presented
10 his mother by holy man. He pretended that
NV sucking this stone, and without the aid OF any
sort of nutriment, he had arrived at the mature
age offorty; yet he had nest OF supplementary
cSins. and protuberant paunch, which certainly
did great credit to the fattenlng powers of the
HACK stone Oddly enough, his business was TO
collect eatables and drlnkables; but, like the
Scottish gentleman who was continually beg
ring birthstone, they were no for hlssel, but tor
neebour" When saw him he was soliciting
offerings Of rice, milk, fish, and ghee, for the ben
eft of his patron Devi These offerings were
nightly laid upon the altar before the Dew, who
was supposed to absorb them during the night,
considerably leaving the fragments to be dis
tributed among the poor Of the parish. His god:
ship was very discriminating In the goodness and
freshness OF these offerings for he rejected
such as were stale TO be returned next morning.
with his maledictions, TO the fraudulent donors
Sometimes iuqueer will take it into his head
that the community Will be benefited oy his
trundling himself along, like cart-wheel, tor
couple Of hundred miles or so. He ties his
wrists to his ankles, gets a tire, composed OF
chopped straw, mud and cOw-dung, laid along
the ridge of his backbone a bamboo staff passed
through the angle formed by his knees and his
elbows, by way of an axle, and oil he goes a
brazen cup, with bag, and kubble-tubbte, hang
like tassels at the two eXtrcmities OF the axle.
Thus accouterd, he often starts on Journey
which will occupy him for several years like
hllton's iend,
"Oer bog, or steep, through straight, rough, dense,
With head, hands, feet or wings, pursues his
way"
On arriving in the vicinity of a village, the popu-
iatlOn turn out to meet and escort HIM with due
honOrs TO the public well or tank the men beat
ing drums and the women singing through their
noses. Here his holiness unbends, washes OFT
the dust and dirt acquired by preambulatlng sew
eral miles of dusty road and after partakIng Ol
a slight rcfreshment, enters into conversation
with the assembled villagers Justs as IT he
were an ordinary mortal; making very par
ticular inquiries concerning the state OF their
la eli toht aS
morals OF course every one is anxious 10
have the honor OF entertaining man so
holy as TO roll to their presence doubled up INTO
a hoop and disputes get warm as to who is to
have the preference. Whereupon the tuqueer
makes a speech, IN which he returns thanks pr
the attentions shown him, and intimates that he
intends taking up his quarters with the man who
ismost capable oftestitying his appreciation OF the
honor. After some higglng he knocks himself
down decided bargain, to be the guest OF the
highest bidder, in whose house he remains, giving
good advice TO the community, and dltiuSng an
odor of sanctity throughout the whole village.
When the supplies begin to fail he ties his hands
20 his heels again, gets fresh tire put on and
Is escorted out OF the village with the same for
malities as accompanied his entrance.
Like other vermin OF his class, he Is most apt
20 attach himself to the "weaker vessels of hui
mani,y, with whom he is generally prodlglous
iayorite. He is not, certainly, indebted to his
hideousy ugly race OF men Is seldom met with.
As If nature had not made him sufficiently re-
pulsive, he hgh.ens his hldeousncsS by cncg-
cling his eyes with bands OF white paint daub-
my his cheeks rch mustard yellow white
streak runs along the ridge OF the nose, aud
another forms circle round his mouth, his ribs
are indicated bv corresponding bars OF white
pant which give highly venerable cross bones
effect TO his breast When add, that he wears
no clothes. and that the OF soap Is no part OF
his religion, some idea may bc gained of the ct-
feet the first view OF hlm occasions IN the mind
Of a European.
On the afternoon OF very sultry day IN June,
| had got a table cut IN the vcrandah OF my bun
galow, and was amusing myself with galvanic
apparatus, giving such Oi my servants as had the
courage u taste of what they called HWld'Ce
so,njet, (English lghtning,) when long gaunt
figure, with his hair hanging IN dlsorderod masses
over his face, was observed TO cross the lawn
On arriving within few PAGES of where STOOD
he drew himself up m al imposing at,ltude-one
Of his arms akimbo, while the other held out
toward me what appeared TO be a pair OF tongs
with brass dish al the extremity OF IT,
"W no are YOU ?" called out
"Fuqneer," was the cultural response
"What do YOU want ,"
"Bheek,' (almS)
'Bheekr' | exclaimed. "Surely YOU arc
okng-a great stout fellow like YOU cant be
wanting hheek I"
The tuQueer paid not the slightest attention,
but continued holding out his tongS with the
dish at the end of lt
You had better he of" sand " never give
bheek to people who are able 10 work"
We do Khooda's work, replied the tuQucer
with svagger
ooh YOU do--then, answered, "you had
better ask Khooda for bheek." So saying, |
turned tc the table, and began arranging the ap-
paratus for making some experiments. Happen
ing TO loos up about five minutes after, observed
that the tuqueer standing upon one leg, and
struggingto assume as much majesty as Was
consistent with his equilibrium. The tones and
dish We're SSH extended While his left hand suS-
tanned his nght foot across his abdomen |
turned 10 the table, and tried TO 90 on with my
work hut I .tuudered aufnlly hr,ka "a rlass