Iron County register., 1888-01-26
CUTTING OEE NOSES
Strange Happenings in the Land of tn,
Nawab of Junasadh.

Strange Happenings I'm the Land of the
Nawab of Junagadh.
The Nawab of Junagadh is a Mus.
sulman. and is the premier chief in
kathiawar. The capital town is also
called Junagadh, and is considered by
many to be one of the quaintest cities
in India, while it yields to none in an
tiquity and historical interest The
'uparkot," or citadel. is of great age,
and is known to have been a strong
hold three hundred years before the
Christian era. The city is just on the
borders of the Cir. which is a long
strip OF country. densely covered by
prlmeval forests, which. apart from
other things. are renowned Us afford
ing nearly the last retreat to the lion
in Northwestern India. From the
nature of the country side it is hardly
surprising that from the earliest
times the district has been a place
of refuge for lawless men. Quite
recently the Mekranis, an outlawed
class, have given much trouble. They
rob, assault and kill peaceful traveller,
whenever they can. and one of their
favorito amusements is to deprive their
victims of their noses. and thus stamp
them forever with the mark of the
Mekranis' power. ''When we were in
Junagadh," writes Surgeon-Maj ajor
Lewis A Irving, 'there were quite
dozen noseless patients in the hospit-
al there, and the Parsee doctor was
hard at work fitting them with nasal
appendages derived from their own
cheeks and foreheads. Great precau-
tions were taken during His Excellen-
ey's visit, to prevent any unpleasant
surprise. Guards were posted at every
turn while we were exploring the
neighborhood.
Outside the city the Girnar hill
rises out of the Cir forest 1t is up
ward Of three thousand feet in height
difficult to climb, and was place of
pilgrimage centuries before Christ A
number of Jain temples crown its
summit, while beyond them roars into
the sky a great rocky crest, called the
Bhairava Jap, or Alteration of the
Terrific One from which, IN days
gone by, multitudes of people have
cast themselves down in the hope of
realizing eternal happiness. Should a
man survive, however, it was assured
that he would rule the world. The
drop is sheer for fully one thousand
feet Not more than twenty years
ago three persons took the leap, and
a short time since an ascetic was bent
on following their example, but
was stopped by the au-
thorities. The temples, like all
Jain temples. are spotiessly clean; the
Jain may not enter them without
first bathing, and are not allowed in
any way to detile them. At every
point of vantage along the road up
the hill we came on posts of Wild
looking men, variously armed, and
on the lookout for possible Mekranis.
The J ain never take the life of any
animal if they can avoid it; place
cloths over their mouths in case they
should swallow fly, and before they
sit down brush the seat carefully in
order to remove careless crawlers. In
their towns also they establish bird
refugees where grain and water are al
ways provided for any feathered Wis
itors. AT Ahmedabad the streets are
full of these shelters, and birds and
squirrels find no lack of entertain
nent, thanks to the offerings of pIous
JainS ~ TOnHO,a SDect0fOr