In no country is it so essential that the body, in the case of a supposed crime, should be not only produced, but identified, as in India. An Englishman who was ascending the Hooghly nearly suffered the extreme penalty of the law through ignorance of this axiom. He had left his ship at Diamond harbour and hired a native boat to take him on to Calcutta. The boatmen greatly exasperated him by their laziness, and he applied his stick to them so vigorously that three jumped overboard. Their comrades declared that they were drowned, and burst into loud lamentations. On reaching shore they charged him with murder. He was arrested forthwith, and committed to gaol. Ere long he was duly arraigned, and on the oath of the boatmen who had been eye-witnesses of his offence he was convicted without the slightest hesitation. While he lay in gaol, however, under sentence of death, he was visited by a native, who promised him that on the payment of a substantial sum the drowned boatmen should be brought to life. The money was gladly paid, and next day the charge of murder entirely broke down by the reappearance of the missing men. It seemed that they were expert divers, and having gone at once to the bottom they rose again at a considerable distance from the boat, and swam ashore. Their comrades were fully aware of the fact, and the conspiracy was formed so that the English stranger, when in peril of his life, might be induced to pay a large ransom to escape. It is clear from such cases as these that the police of India have to be always on their guard against being led into traps.