The independent., 1907-04-04
THE MANY TRICKS IN INDIA.

AS commonly described in travel
ers' tales, the tree growing trick of
the Indian jugglers might seem impos-
sible of explanation, but if the specta-
: tor expects to see a seed placed in
the ground, the leaves starting up
above the SOIL the growth increasing.
the shrub spreading and the fruit ap-
pearing and ripening directly under
his eyes, he will be grievously disap-
pointed" says Nine. Adelaide Herr
mann.
"The Indian juggler or fakir makes
little heap Of moist earth perha ps
six or eight inches high. on the stone
steps or carriage drive in front or the
hotel where the traveller is staying
The Juggler, dressed only in a loin
cloth, squats on the ground behind the
heap, places in it nut, usually that
or the mango tree, and spreads a
cloth over the whole After a short
time, during which he waves his hand
III the air or assumes to call upon
some pagan divinity, he snatches
away the cloth and two or three
tender leaves are seen appearing above
the soil He spreads the cloth again
over the whole, the plant appears 10
be growing rapidly and pushing the
cloth up. The juggler again snatches
the cloth away, and a large and wide
spreading shrub is seen, it's leaves
covered with dew.
When the leaves are just visible
above ground, the juggler lifts the
plant from the earth and shows the
spectators how the nut has apparent
ly swollen and terminated, pointing
to the rootlets that extend from the
nj fhrnI oh ft,o
when it is fully grown, there Is no
fruit on the little tree, the juggler
once more covers the plant with the
cloth, after short interval removes
it, and discovers two or three mangoes,
which he breaks off and presents to
the spectators. This is what the spec
tator usually sees.
What l saw in Madras was this:
When the juggler apparently placed
the new mango nut in the earth, he
really placed an old, split nut there,
palming each nut in turn. AS he first
spread the cloth, he dropped the whole
nut into fold of his loin cloth, bring
ing back in his palm a small plant,
two or three inches long, or a little
tWig of mango, to the end of which is
the root of some other plant. This he
completely buried, removing the cloth
and showing the mound of earth.
'As he returned the cloth he in
serted the mango tWig in the split
mango nut, allowing it's two or three
leaves to appear above the surface
When he again removed the cloth,
there was the 'sprouting' tree and, as
he removed it from the earth with one
hand to show its roots, he took with
his other hand a piece of branch fully
a foot and a half long from his loin
cloth, concealed it behind his arm and
with a swift movement slid 1t under
the cloth while apparently replacing
the small plant The big branch,
which was at least half an inch In
diameter, was we'll provided with
leaves and twigs, closely bound down
with wet cloth. While spreading
the larger or cover cloth, he un-
wrapped the branch, spread out it's
leaves and twigs, stuck it in the soil,
squeezed the water from the wet cloth,
and palmed the little plant as he with
drew that hand. All this time, of
course, he was using the other hand in
gesticulations calculated to distract
the spectators attention.
'In the same manner he slipped the
fruit under the cloth, twisting the ENDS
of each stalk around one of the
lWlSS. w uei ic puiitu Lilc lIult ne
was careful to break the stalk close
to the fruit.
II might as we'll confess that while
] saw most of this, much was told me
by one of the caste, upon whom I
made an impression with little of my
own sleight of hand. But it is literally
true with the Indian fakirs that | saw
that the hand is quicker than the eye,
and even IL the average layman knew
exactly how the trick was done. he
would be unable TO catch the fakir