The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1856-10-02
The JmggIers of India.

From the first of a series of interesting articles
titled, sc Sketches of India, published in the Cra-
g0n we extract the following -
One morning after had passed some days at Mad
ras went to the garden house, of one of my Eng
lsh friends, to see an exhibition by juggers,
who had been sent for the night before to up
from the Black Town The juggers of Madras are
famous the best in India. They form caste by
themselves Their skill is the result of the practice
of successive generations, and their art is hereditary
one. 1t about six O'Clock in clear September
morning. and our party consisted of five or six specta
tors Coffee having been served, we took our seats
on the veranah the shady side of the house, while
the juggers, Of whom there were fifteen or twenty,
men, women, and children, ranged themselves before
us the grass at the further side OF the avenue, ten
twelve feet wide that run between us and them.
Behind them was a green field, which at some dis
tance grew a few trees and towering shrubs. There
nothing them that could afford hiding place
or shelter. The men nothing but tight cloth
aFgat teis lois '*-'o of tHorr 0ro very oid with
white boards lying upon their dark skins. The women
clothed in the bright, loose dress of the
lower classes and the little children quite naked.
The implements of the art, their musical instruments,
and the fat circular baskets in which were their
snakes, for the juggers also snake charmers by
profession, lay around about upon the grass.
One of the young men began the exhibition, with
some common tricks of sleight of hand, remarkable
only from the fact that his dress and the ground af-
forled him no aids Then another came forward and
throwing four brass balls into the air, kept them in
constant motion, now making them circle round his
his arms and over his shoulders, now chasing with
another never missing the instantaneous chance,
with incredible quickness of eye and quickness of
hand, with ineomprehensible delicacy making them
wheel about him if they the Obedent servants
OF his will Such exquisite skill makes ones own
hands seem utterly clumsy and inefficient. All the
while that this juggler playing so beautifully
with the gttering brass balls, of his companions
beat upon a dull drum, while the others looked on,
and now and then, ut peculiarly successful or
long sustained flight, broke out with q murmur of
encouraging applause. Then followed in quick sue
cessiOn other less remarkable feats of renTth
agility, and skill-feats poles, with swords, with
ribbons-eas, indeed of all sorts, and all done with
apparent ease that made them not less pleasant
than wonderful to see The jugglers seemed subtitle
and 1.-THE spirits,
"Not tied manacled with joint limb
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bone,
But the most wonderful performance that yve saw
this morning, feat OF pure juggling, of which
have never been able to find any solution. One OF
the old men came forward upon the grayeled and
hard-trodden avenue, leading with him a woman
He made her kneel down, tied her arms behind her
and bind-folded her eyes. Then bringing a great
bag net made with open meshes of rope he put over
the woman, and laced up the mouth fastening it ith
knotted entertaining cords in such a way that it
seemed an impossibty for her to extrcate herself
from it. The man then took closely woven wicker
basket that narrowed toward the top, lifted the
IN the net from the ground, and placed her in it,
though 1t not without the exertion of some force
having succeeded in getting her into the basket in
which, from Its small size, she necessarily in
most cramped position, he put the cover upon it. and
threw over 1t wide strip ofcloh hiding it completely
in a moment, placing his hand under the cloth he
drew out the net quite united and disentangled He
then took long, straight sharp sword muttered
words to himself while he sprinkled the dnst
upon the cloth, and put upon his forehead then
pulled off and threw aside the covering, and plunged
the sword suddenly into the basket Prepared as in
some degree for this, and knowing that it
was only deception, it yet impossible to see it
without cold creeping of horror The quiet and en-
ery with which he repeated his strokes driving the
sword through and through the basket, while the
other Juggers locked on, apparently much inter
ested as ourselves, very dramatic and effective
stopping after he had riddled the basket he again
scattered dust upon its top, lifted the lid took up the
basket IRON the ground, showed it to us empty and
thre" lt away AT the same moment we saw the
sohah approaching US from clump of trees at dis
lance OF at least fifty or sixty feet.
Throughout the whole of this inexnlicahIe feat the
o u anu the woman were quite removed from the
resi- oI tner party The basket stood by itself on the
nara earth, ana so much beneath the verandab ON
"nlch we were sitting, that we could easily SEQ all
around 1T. By what trick our watebfnl eyas Iveyo
closed, or by what means the woman ;nvisihI es
Gape1 was an entire mystery, and remains unsolved
he ieat is not very uncommon one but no one who
nSo seen 1t ever gave clue to the manner in
which 1t was performed.