18 The Mátres having their faces as those of asses and camels, rove at great distances from him; and are fond of feeding on the flesh and fat, and drinking the red hot blood of bodies as their wine. They have the fragments and members of dead bodies, hanging about their persons as strings of pearls. 19. They reside in the hollows of hills, in the open sky and in other regions also; they dwell also in the holes underneath the grounds, and like to abide in cemeteries and in the holes and pores of human and brute bodies. 20. There are the goddesses known under the names of Jayá and Vijayá, jayantí and Aparajitá; and again siddha Raktá and Alambushá, and also another bearing the name of utpatá. 21. These eight are denominated the Nayikai of leaders, of the whole body of Mátrikas; the others are subordinate to these, and there are others again subordinate to them. 22. Among all these venerable Mátres, there one by name of Alambushá, that is the source of my birth; and this I have revealed to you on account of your great favour to me, by your kind call to my cell. 23. She had the crow by name of Chanda for her vehicle, which had its bones and bills as strong as the bolts of Indra's thunder; it was as dark as a mountain of jetblack or blue agate, and served her goddess as Garuda served the consort of Vishnu. 24. This octad of Mátri goddess were once assembled together, and bent their course in the ethereal firmament on some of their malevolent purposes. 25. They made their merry makings and religious revels in the air, and then turned their course to the left side where they halted at the shrine of Tumburu, which was sacred to Siva. 26. They there worshipped the forms of Tumburu and Bhairava, which are adored in all the worlds; and then regaled themselves with a variety of discourses, seasoned with drinking and to ping. 27. Then they look up the topic among other subjects of their conversation, as to whether they were slighted and disliked by their paramour--the spouse of Umá, who is taken to share one half of his body. (In the shape of androgyne--Umá--Maheswara or Hara--Gaurí; having the male and female bodies joined in two halves in one bisex forms). 28. We shall now show him our prowess, that he may never think of despising our great powers even by a contemptuous look, for though the god feigns to be single and naked, yet we know he is bipartite with his consorts Umá forming his better half. 29. Thus determined the goddesses overpowered on Umá by some potent charm of theirs, and by sprinkling a little water upon her, as they do to captivate a beast, which they are going to sacrifice before the altar, and by this spell they succeeded both to change the fine features of Durga, as also to enervate her frame. 30. They succeeded also by their power of enchantment, to detach Umá from the body of Hara, and set her before them, with an imprecation of converting her fair form to their meat food.