Moreover, If In
Going Out, He Hears Any One Sneeze, If It Seems To Him A Good Omen He Will
Go On, But If The Reverse He Will Sit Down On The Spot Where He Is, As
Long As He Thinks That He Ought To Tarry Before Going On Again.
Or, if in
travelling along the road he sees a swallow fly by, should its direction
be lucky he will proceed, but if not he will turn back again; in fact
they are worse (in these whims) than so many Patarins![NOTE 4]
These Abraiaman are very long-lived, owing to their extreme abstinence in
eating. And they never allow themselves to be let blood in any part of the
body. They have capital teeth, which is owing to a certain herb they chew,
which greatly improves their appearance, and is also very good for the
health.
There is another class of people called Chughi, who are indeed
properly Abraiaman, but they form a religious order devoted to the Idols.
They are extremely long-lived, every man of them living to 150 or 200
years. They eat very little, but what they do eat is good; rice and milk
chiefly. And these people make use of a very strange beverage; for they
make a potion of sulphur and quicksilver mixt together and this they drink
twice every month. This, they say, gives them long life; and it is a
potion they are used to take from their childhood.[NOTE 5]
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