Rama and his brother Lachhman are
impersonated by boys, who are seated on thrones in state. The
performance concludes by the burning of a wicker image of Ravana, the
demon king of Lanka (Ceylon), who had carried off Rama's queen, Sita.
The story is the leading subject of the great epic called the
Ramayana.
11. The _Lathyrus sativus_ is cultivated in the Punjab and in Tibet.
Its poisonous qualities are attributed to its excessive proportion of
nitrogenous matter, which requires dilution. Another species of the
genus, _L. cicer_, grown in Spain, has similar properties. The
distressing effects described in the text have been witnessed by
other observers (Balfour, _Cyclopaedia_, 3rd ed., 1885, s.v.
'Lathyrus').
12. One of the tent-pitchers one morning, after pitching our tent,
asked the loan of a small extra one for the use of his wife, who was
about to be confined. The basket-maker's wife of the village near
which we were encamped was called; and the poor woman, before we had
finished our breakfast, gave birth to a daughter. The charge is half
a rupee, or one shilling for a boy, and a quarter, or sixpence, for a
girl.
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