3 5 4 VICTORIA n ’y ANZA. [1858.
abandoning the proper road : there certainly could be
no more danger on the one side than on the other, and
all would have been equally glad to have had me. It is
true that I should have had to pass through his enemies’
hands to the other brother, and such a course usually
excites suspicion ; but, by the usual custom of the
country, Kurua should have been treated by him only
as a rebellious subject, for though all three brothers
were by different mothers, they are considered in line
of succession as ours are, when legitimately begotten
by one mother. Some time ago the eldest brother
made a tool of an Arab trader, and with that force on
his side threatened these two brothers with immediate
destruction unless they resigned to him the entire
government, and his rights as senior. They admitted
in his presence the justness of his words and the folly
of waging war, as such a measure could only bring
destruction on all alike; but on his departure they
carried on their rule as before.
Bombay, talking figuratively with me, considers
Kurua’s stopping me something like the use the
monkey turned the cat’s paw to ; that is, he stopped
me simply to enhance his dignity, and gain the minds
of the people by leading them to suppose I saw justice
in his actions. PombAbrewing, the chief occupation
of the women, is as regular here as the revolution of
day and night, and the drinking of it just as constant.
It is prepared from bajdri and jowari (common millets):
the first step in the manufacture is malting in the same
way as we do barley; then they range a double street of
sticks, usually in the middle of the village, fill a number
of pots with these grains mixed in water, which they
place in continuous line down the street of sticks, and,
setting fire to the whole at once, boil away until the
mess is fit to put aside for refining: this they then do,
leaving the pots standing three days, when fermentation
takes place and the liqour is fit to drink. It has
the strength of labourers’ beer, and both sexes drink
it alike. ^ This fermented beverage resembles pig-wash,
but is said to be so palatable and satisfying—for the
dregs and all are drunk together—that many entirely
subsist upon it. It is a great help to the slave-masters,
for without it they could get nobody to tiff their
ground; and when the slaves are required to turn the
earth, the master always sits in judgment with lordly
dignity, generally under a tree, watching to see who
becomes entitled to a drop.
In the evening my attention was attracted by small
processions of men and women, possessed of the Phdpo
or demon, passing up the palisaded streets, turning into
the different courts, and paying each and every house
by turns' a visit. The party advanced in slow funereal
order, with gently springing, mincing, jogging action,
some holding up twigs, others balancing open baskets
of gram and tools on their heads, and with their bodies
arms, and heads in unison with the whole hobbling-
boblmg motion, kept in harmony to a low, mixed
droning, humming chorus. As the sultan’s door was
approached, he likewise rose, and, minglihg in the
crowd, performed the same evolutions.