The Red Cloud chief., 1880-10-21

After our examination
al ourselves in the yeranda OPP
l4ee the door, while some Of Runjeet
Singh's people dug away the mud wall.
and one of his officers broke the seal
and opened the paddock. When the
door was thrown open nothing but a
dark room was To be seen. Runjeet
Singh and myself then entered il. in
COMPANY with the servant of the Fakir.
and, a light being brought, We de-
scended about three feet below the
floor of the room, into a sort OF cell,
where a wooden box about four feet
long by three feet broad, with a sloping
roof, contained the Fakir, the door Of
which had also a paddock and seal sim
liar to that on the outside. On opening
it we saw a figure inclosed in q bag of
white linen, fastened by a string over
the head, on the exposure OF which a
grand salute was fired, and the sur
rounding multitude came crowding 10
the door TO see the spectacle. After
they had gratified their curiosity, the
Fakir's servant putting his arms into
the box, took the figure out, and, clos
ing the door, placed it with its back
against it, exactly as the Fakir had
been squatting Qike a Hindu idol) in
the box itself. Runjeet Singh and
myself descended into the cell, which
was so small we were only able to sit
on the ground in front Of the body, and
SO close to il as TO touch il with our
hands and knees. The servant then
began pouring warm water owe the
figure, but as my object was TO see if
any fraudulent practices could be de-
tected, | proposed to Runjeet Singh TO
tear open the bag and have a perfect
view of the body before any means OF
resuscitation were employed. l ac-
cordingly did SO; and may here remark
that the bag when first seen by us
looked widowed, as If it had been
buried some time. The legs and arms
of the body were shrivelcd and stiff,
the face full, the head reelined on the
shoulder like hat of a corpse. / then
called TO the medical gentleman who
was attending me to come down n
inspect the body, which he did, but
could discover no pulsation in the heart,
the TEMPLES, or the arms. There vas
however, a heat about the region OF
the brain which no other part exhib-
tied. The servant then commenced
bathing him with hot water, and,
gradually relaxing his arms and legs
from the rigid state in which they were
contracted, Runjeet Singh taking his
right and | his left leg, to aid by friction
i'm restoring them to their proper ac-
ton, during which time h servant
placed a hot wheaton cake, about an
inch thick. on the top of the head-a
process which he twice or thrice re-
peated. He then pulled out of his
nostrils and ears the wax and cotton
with which they had been stopped, and.
after great eXertion, opened his mouth
by inserting the point of a knife be-
tween his teeth. and. while holding his
Jaw open with his left hand. drew the
tongue forward with his right,
in the course of which the
tongue flew back several times
to its curved position upward, in
which it had originally been. so as to
close the gullct. He then rubbed his
eyes with ghee Tor clarified butter) for
some seconds, till he succeeded in open
ing them. when the eyes appeared quite
motionless and glazed. After the cake
had been applied for the third time
to the top of the head the body was
violently convulsed, the noStrils became
inflated, when respiration ensued, and
the limbs began to assume a natural
fulness; but the p~ulsation was still
family ~perceptible. The servant then
put some of the ghee on his tongue
and made him swallow it. A few
minutes afterward the eyeballs be-
came dilated. and recovered their nat
ural color. when the Fakir recognized
Runjeet Singh sitting close to him, and
articulated i'm a low, ~sepulchral tone,
scarcely audible: DO you believe me
nowP' Runjeet Singh replied in the
affirmative, and invested the Fakir with
a pearl necklace aud n superb pair of
gold bracelets, and pieces of silk and
muslin, and shawls, forming what is
called a khelat. such as is usually con-
ferred bv the Princes of India on per-
sons of distinction. share entirely in
the apparent incredibilitv of the fact of
a man being buried alive and surviving
the trial without food or drink for
various periods of duration; but. how
ever incompatible with our knowledge
of physiology, in the absence of any Wis
ible proof to the contrary. l am bound
to declare my belief in the facts which
| have represented, however impOsSi-
BILE their existence may appear to others.
-IoDdo,a KeIc0r1Dh.