Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/332

 "The Brahmanical method of computing time, which is generally followed all over India, is this:—

"60 Nimeshu, or twinklings of the human eye, are considered equal to one Pal.

"60 Pals equal to one Ghurī.

"60 Ghurīs to one day and night.

"60 Days and nights one Ritu.

"6 Ritu (seasons of two calendar months each) one solar year.

"60 Solar years one cycle.

"And during that period they believe that a complete revolution of terrestrial circumstances takes place. The only method of measuring the ghurī is by the simple clepsydra, formed of a brass cup, perforated with a single hole in the bottom, and placed in a vessel of water: the cup floats on the water, filling and sinking by degrees; when full the cup sinks, and the hour is completed. The cup is merely of brass or copper, beaten out very thin, without any marks or gradations upon it. When the cup sinks, the hour is struck upon a gong, which is generally hung upon three bamboos. The ghurī, or copper cup, floats usually in a vessel of coarse red pottery filled with water, called a nān."

In the plate entitled "The Thug's Dice," figure 1 represents a sipahī, with the stick in his hand, watching the brass cup, which is just on the point of sinking; the moment it disappears, he will strike the gong; a spare cup is on the ground, by the side of the nān, or large earthen vessel that holds the water.

I have received a present that pleases me greatly, a sitar, a musical instrument, in general use all over India; it was made at Lucnow from a hollow gourd, and is very beautifully put together. It has four strings; the first is of steel wire, the two next are of brass wire, and the fourth and smallest of steel. It is played with the first finger of the right hand alone, on which is placed a little steel wire frame, called a misrāb, with which the strings are struck; the left hand stops the notes on the frets, but you only stop the notes on the first string; the other three strings produce a sort of pedal sound as the misrāb passes over them, from the manner in which they are tuned. The instrument is most elegantly formed.