P o ü s t .
T OBACC Q,
;L e t me add, that from the poppy was prepared the fatal
draught called Poujl, which the Emperors employed to deftroy
Tuch perfons whom they did not dare to take off in public.
Such were the means which Aurengzebe ufed to difpatch his
nephew Sepe Cbekoub, and others, his relations, in the fortrefs
of Gualior. “ The PouJlJ fays Bernier, book i. p. 167, “ is
“ the firft thing brought to them in the morning, and they
“ have nothing given them to eat till they have drunk a great
“ cup full of it. This emaciates them exceedingly, and maketh
“ them die infenfibly, they loling little by little their ftrength
“ and underftanding, and growing torpid and fenfelefs.”
A n o t h e r vegetable narcotic, Tobacco, found its way into
Hindoo/Ian about -the year 1617, introduced by the Portuguefe,
who originally received it from the Brazils. The reigning
Emperor Jehangir Thought it fo prejudicial to the health of
his fubjedts, that he prohibited the ufe o f it throughout his dominions*.
It is lingular that a cotemporary monarch, our
James II. lhewed perhaps a greater dillike to this herb. Be-
fides his famous book the Counter-blaft to Tobacco, he publilhed
a ftrong proclamation againft the ufe, and at the fame time laid
on it a tax equal to a prohibition. But neither in Britain nor
in India, could the love o f this filthy plant be fupprelfed.. Before
our fatal American war, Virginia,alone fent us five hundred
and fifty thoufand hoglheads of a jthoufand pounds each. It is
univerfally cultivated in Hindoojlan, and in both countries brings
A vaft revenue to the ftate. It is faid, that not fewer than
* .Memoir of Jehangir,p. 4.2.
thirty
thirty thoufand oxen, loaded with Tohacco pafs annually
through one province, Coimbetore, in its way to Pondigory,
near Calicut, where there are immenfe magazines of that beloved
drug. It is ufed in Hindoojlan in all the modes it is in
Europe. It is commonly fmoked in Segars, or fin all twilled
rolls. Perfons o f rank, and even the ladies in the Zenanes, indulge
in the praétice. The apparatus is often very magnificent:
hoopers, of the moft exquifite. fillagree work. This luxury is
committed to the care of. a particular fervant, called a Hooka*
hadar.
Hindoojian-hss, in ufé another drug,- equally pernicious in its
effedls -as the opiums The pretence: of taking it is to exhilarate
the mind,, to drive away care, like the Nepenthes o f old, and to
procure pleafing fleep; but the reverfe is the confequence,
drunkennefs like ideotfy, or the. moft furious madnefs- enfues.
An individual rendered mad with an excefs o f this drug,, will!
fometimes take it into-his head to run a muck, i..e. draw his
dagger,.run ftraight forward like a: mad dog, and ftab every
body he meets-; much mifchief has-been .done by thefe'fellows.
I have heard o f one who was transfixed by a fóldier, with his
long lance he forced the -whole length of the weapon through»
his body,.till :he had reached .the foldier, and .added him to the.
number of the íláim .
T h i s drug is called Bangue^ it is extrafted from the leaves
and the feeds-of: the Cannabis. Indie a of Linnaüs, or Hemp, the
very lame plant which has fpread itfelf from India all- over
Europe, and is fo well ’known in our manufactures of ropes,.
cables,.andfail cloth.. Acojla, p. 290, c. 54, defcribes it under
the:
B a n g u e .