The Irish standard., 1893-10-28
INDIAN JUSTICE.
Trial by Ordeal Among the 8rah-
MINIS of Mahratta.
a Remarkable Story bout . N~tivs
Postal Thief and the Singular
Manner OF His Con-
YlttiOn.

The Times Of India publishes good
story of trial by ordeal. The narrator
of it some years ago had charge of a
postal division on the western coast.
parts of which had seldom if ever been
visited by European officer The
people were for the most part simple
country folk and very superstitious.
One morning the narrator received in
formation that considerable sum of
money, forming part of the contents OF
the mail from head to a suboffice.
had been stolen on the road The
whole affair was wrapped in mystery.
The only clew the police had been able
to obtain was that one runner, whom
we shall call Rama. had since the theft
paid off certain debts in the village
which had long pressed upon him. but
there were no other suspicious circum
stances. and the man had ten years
good service. As last resource it was
determined to resort to trial by ordeal,
and for this purpose an aged Brahmin,
who was supposed to possess occult
powers and to be in daily communion
. with the gods, was consulted, and
readily undertook to discover the thief.
ALI the runners-a goodly array of
sturdy Mahratta peasants-were sum-
moned> to the Office and, under the
!, guidance of a cheyla or disciple of the
old Brahmin, we all proceeded to a
small deserted temple of Mahadeo. sit
uated at some distance from the vii
lage. 1t was desolate spot and bore
81
to some act of Dissertation in the past,
had been abandoned and was almost
| buried among weeds and tangled
brushwood.
The hour selected was about six p.
M. and the long twilight shadows gave
the place weird, uncanny look. The
old Rrahmin was awaiting us, and as
we approached appeared to be busy
muttering incantations The runners
all seemed to be more or less under the
spell of the hour, but the look OF real
fright on Rama's face was quite dis
tinct. The Brahmin, having finished
! his incantatfons, rose and, addressing
the men, said: You are about to face
the gods; to the innocent the trial will
be nothing, but to the guilty much. LII
the temple a magic wand has been
placed on the altar. Each of you must
go in by turns, take up the wand and
turn round three times, repeating the
name Of Mahadeo; the wand will stick
to the hand of the guilty one" BY
this time it was nearly dark Iglaneed
in through the door OF the temple. A
solitary oil buttee threw ftful
light on the altar, on which an ordi-
! nary bamboo stick about two feet long
reposed among grains of uncooked
rice and cut lines, the whole sprinkled
with red powder. A curtain was drawn
across the door, and the men entered
one at a time. AS each one appeared
the. R1ahmin seized his hands and
raised them to his forehead. and then
allowed him to pass on and join his
fellows. Coming. to-, Rama he went
through the same pantomime. but in
stead of allowing him to pass on babe
him stand aside: When the last man
had gone through the ordeal the
Brahmin turned to Rama and said,
quietly: Tell the sahib how you
stole the money
To my utter amazement, continues
the writer, Rama fell on his knees.
confessed that he was the thief and
offered to show where he had hidden
the balance of the money. He had
succeeded in opening the mail bag
without seriously disturbing the seals.
The postmaster had not really exam
med them and SO their having been
manipulated had escaped notice. Need
less to say, the Brahmin was rewarded
and poor Rama was sent to repent at
leisure in the district jail. Now the
; natural question is: How was it
done?" Very simply. The temple, the
! lonely glen. the uncanny hour, the in
carnations, all were merely accessories
to appeal to the superstitions of the ig-
norant peasants. The magic wand
was thickly smeafed with strongly
scented sandalwood oil. Rama's guilty
conscience prevented him from touch
!! ing it, as he firmly believed the wand
would stick to his hands. and his. Of
course, was the only hand that did not
smell Of the oil.
Queer Phenomena % Falling Bodies
I am unable to say who first noticed
Tho ,ooo,,1;or IF c<nn 0r