_Tortured Fakirs_.--Fakirs that submit themselves to tortures are very numerous. Some of them perform exercises analogous to those of the Aissaoua. Mr. Rousselet, in his voyage to the Indies, had an opportunity of seeing some of these at Bhopal, and the following is the picturesque description that he gives of them: "I remarked some groups of religious mendicants of a frightfully sinister character. They were Jogins, who, stark naked and with dishevelled hair, were walking about, shouting, and dancing a sort of weird dance. In the midst of their contortions they brandished long, sharp poniards, of a special form, provided with steel chains. From time to time, one of these hallucinated creatures would drive the poniard into his body (principally into the sides of his chest), into his arms, and into his legs, and would only desist when, in order to calm his apparent fury, the idlers who were surrounding him threw a sufficient number of pennies to him." At the time of the feast of the Juggernaut one sees, or rather one _did_ see before the English somewhat humanized this ceremony, certain fakirs suspended by their flesh from iron hooks placed along the sides of the god's car. Others had their priests insert under their shoulder blades two hooks, that were afterward fixed to a long pole capable of pivoting upon a post. The fakirs were thus raised about thirty feet above ground, and while being made to spin around very rapidly, smilingly threw flowers to the faithful. Others, again, rolled over mattresses garnished with nails, lance-points, poniards, and sabers, and naturally got up bathed in blood. A large number cause 120 gashes (the sacred number) to be made in their back and breast in honor of their god. Some pierce their tongue with a long and narrow poniard, and remain thus exposed to the admiration of the faithful. Finally, many of them are content to pass points of iron or rods made of reed through folds in their skin. It will be seen from this that fakirs are ingenious in their modes of exciting the compassion and charity of the faithful. Elsewhere, among a large number of savage tribes and half-civilized peoples, we find aspirants to the priesthood of the fetiches undergoing, under the direction of the members of the religious caste that they desired to enter, ordeals that are extremely painful. Now, it has been remarked for a long time that, among the neophytes, although all are prepared by the same hands, some undergo these ordeals without manifesting any suffering, while others cannot stand the pain, and so run away with fright. It has been concluded from this that the object of such ordeals is to permit the caste to make a selection from among their recruits, and that, too, by means of anesthetics administered to the chosen neophytes.