Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-03-17
BURIED ALIVE.
HOW THE HEATHER HINDOO CAN SuS-
PEND ANIMATION,

Captain Osborne, in his work entitled
1.-THE Court and Camp of Runject Sing,'
gives an account of a Fakir who processes
to have an extraordinary power of suspend
ing animation in his body for great
length of time, during which he allowed
himself to be kept in a burial vault, apart
from any supply CT air and food. The
monotony of our camp life, he says, was
broken this morning by the arrival of d
very celebrated character in the Punjaub,
{ a person we had all expressed great ankle
ty to see, and whom the Maha- Rajah had
ordered over from Umrutser on purpose.
He is fakir by name, and is held in ex-'
traordinary respect by the Sikhs, from his
alleged capacity OF being able to bury him
self alive for any period OF time. So many
stories were current ON the subject, and SO
many respectable individuals maintained
| the truth of these stories, that we all felt
curious to see him. He processes to have
been following this trade, if so it may be
called, for some years, and a considerable
time ago several extracts from the letters
of individuals who had seen the man in
=
OF his extraordinary powers, were at the
time, naturally enough, looked upon as
mere attempt at a hoax upon the in
habitants of Calcutta. Captain Wade, po-
Htlcal agent at Ludhiana, told me that he
was present at his resurrection after an in
terment of some months; General Ventu-
IA having buried him in the presence of
| the Maha- Rajah and many Of his principal
sirdars; and, as far as [ can recollect,
| these were the particulars as witnessed by
General Ventura
| After going through reg ular course of
preparation, which occupied seven days,
and the details of which are too disgust
| ing to dilate upon, the fakir reported him
self
READY FOR INTEKME Mt
in vault which had been prepared for the
purpose by order of the Maha-l2ajah. On
the appearance of Runject and his court,
he proceeded to the final preparations that
were necessary in their presence, and after
stopping with wax his ears and ostrils, he
was stripped and placed in a linen bag
and the last preparation concluded by
turning his tongue forwards, and thus
closing the gullet, he Immediately died
away in a kind of lethargy. The bag was
then closed, and sealed, with the Rule cts
seal, and afterwards placed in a sm;tn box,
which was also locked and sealed. The
box was then placed in vault, the earth
thrown in and trod down, and crop Of
barley sown over the spot, and s,antries
placed round it.
The Maha-Rajah was, however very
skeptical on the subject, and twice in the
course of ten months he remained under
ground, sent people to dig him up, when
he was found to be in exactly the same jpo-
sition, and in state Of perfectly suspen-
ded animation.
At the termination of the ten months,
Captain Wade accompanied the Maha-
I Rajah-to see him disinterred,, and states
that he examined him personally and min
utely, and was convinced that all ANNA
ton was perfectly suspended. He saw the
locks opened and the seals broken by the
Maha-Rajah, and the box brought into the
open air. The man was then taken out,
and on feeling his wrist ard heart,
NOT THE SLIGHTEST PULsATIoN WAS
PERCEPTIELE.
The first thing towards restoring him
to life was the forcing of his tongue back
to its proper position, which was done
with some little difficulty by a person in
serting his finger and forcibly pulling it
back, and continuing to hold it until it
gradually resumed its natural place. Cap
tain Wade described the top of his head
to have been considerably heated; but all
other parts Of the body cool and healthy
III appearance. Pouring quantity of
warm Water upon him constitutes the only
further measure for his restoration, and
in two hours time he is as we'll as ever.
On my return to Simla, accident placed
in my hands the appendix to medical
topography o. Ludhiana by DR.. Macgreg-
or of the Horse Artillery, by whose per-
mission have extracted the following:
A fakir who arrived at Lahore engaged
to bury himself for any length of time shut
up in box, and without food OF drink
Runject naturally disbelieved the mans
assertions and was determined to put them
| to
THE TEST.
| For this purpose the fakir was shut up
in a wooden box, which was placed in a
small apartment below the middle of the
ground there was folding-door to his
box, which was secured by lock and key.
Surrounding this apartment, there was the
garden-house, the door of which Was like
wise locked, and outside the whole a high
wall, having it's doorway built up with
bricks and mud. In order to prevent any
one from approaching the place, liae of
sentries was placed and relieved at regular
intervals. The strict'est watch was kept
up for the space of forty days and forty
nights, at the expiration of which period
the Maha-Rajah, attended by his grandson
and several OF his sirdars, as well as Gen.
eral Ventura, Captain Wade, and myself,
proceeded to.disinter the fakir. The bricks
and mud were removed from the outer
doorway the door Of the garden-house
was next unlocked and lastly, that of the
! wooden box containing the fakir the lat
ter was found covered with white sheet,
on removing which the figure of the man
presented itself in sitting posture his.
legs and arms were pressed to his sides. his
legs and thighs crossed. The first step of
the operation of resuscitation consisted in
pouring over his head quantity of warm
water; after this hot cake OF otta (wheat
! fiour) was placed on the crown Of the head;
a plug OF wax was next removed from one
OF his nostrils, and on this being done, the
man breathed strongly through it. The
month WAS now Onnnad and +ho +on.,o