The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-06

! what | had come all this way for-afid
that is Something IN the performance Of
my own art. / have already described at
some length tricks that are as old as. the
hills, which--howeyer c1everly done-nay
be detected at once by the experienced eye.
What lends the most peculiar Interest to
them is the surroundings, the strange
faces one sees, the nomad population, the
foreign cline, the fact that they are done
in the open air, unexpectedly.
From this point of view, the Indian
fal1r is more interesting than our ordi-
nary vaudeville conjurer. II is somewhat
different from entering the regular audi
forum and being mystineu at SO much a
head. n
But had one treat still in store for me
in India. | had heard vaguely long be-
fore | reached here, (and have mention
ed it in previous ietters), that there was
a band of the Yogi-the so-caIled Scanti-
fed Yogi-somewher up in the northern
part of India, away from Bengal proper
a sect in fact who, not for mere living,
but apparently from religious conviction.
/ still had my doubling cap on however.
was perfectly aware that directly q sect
of any sort starts anywhere in the world
whether it be civilized or otherwise
| miracles are a necessary accompaniment
| of sanctihcation. The prophets of all time
have not been averse to settling their doc
| trines upon the credulous by means of in
carnations and visible mysteries that puz-
| zled their hearers.
But the trip to India would certainly
not be complete unless saw with my own
| eyes the acme of fakirism. And So
though 1 was told 1t would take me at
| least a week to accomplish my purpose
j started one night from Delhi, (and left
| a very good hotel there), northward for
the unknown. twas very long Jour-
ney. but one that is undertaken every
| year by the more wealthy people-the
| English, particularly, who, during, the
| winter manage TO survive this cloying,
| deadening climate. On this slow railway,
| II took one day to reach Simla, and from
| there the voyage was more or less preca-
rious. Trains were few and connections
| very infrequent
The population grew less dense, the peo-
/ pie more hardy We gradually got into a
| hilly country where barbarism still sur
vived; that is to say the severe impact
I of European civilization which distin-
/ guished the lower part of the country
seemed TO fade away, and we got more
into the native, genuine and historic In
/ diaism English Cficials were fewer and
/ one only saw an occasional trooper Now
| and then soldiers invaded the third class
section of the train, but they were all
natives No Englishman at all did see,
excepting an occasional officer. And,
without dllating on the tediousness and
the annoyances Of a very long trip, / got
| at last to the foot hills of the Himalayas,
a little village with an unpronounceable
name, from which we took horses for
thirty mNes further into the Interior, and
/ then, as the route grew more precipitous,
mules. An occasional inn was found but
the country had almost completely lost
its English character.
We Travelled on higher and higher
| had the map well routed out for me- and
/ was told / could make no mistake as
to my destination. Toward sunset Of the
second day my courier pointed out TO me
In the lowering distance a small congre-
cation OF huts surrounding a principal
edihce of stone There said he lis the
abode of the Yogi"
had been careful to provide myself
with irst-cass recommendations, and So
felt no fear OF any refusal on their part
to enter the sacred precinct. Making our
way through a tortuous delie down the
mountain side, we passed a sparse popti.
latlon, finally TO reach the gate OF what
looked not unlike a monastery OF the me.
diaeval times. Absolute silence refgned
there. and ! was puzzled how TO enter
There was no bell. no knocker; only a
huge wooden gate made Of unhewn logs
but n very respectable barrier In itself
NV Interpreter informed me that the door
man only came every half hour, and tina.
should have 10 walt until he made his
rounds So, allowing the mules 20 grazc
at leisure, sat with my companion upon