hborhood of Vargaon, that the
Mahrattis seized Captain Vaughan and his brother, who were hanged after
the battle of Khirki.

Next morning we drove to Chinchor, or, as it is called here, Chinchood.
This place is celebrated in the annals of the Dekkan. Here one meets
with a repetition in miniature of what takes place on a larger scale
at L'hassa in Tibet. As Buddha incarnates in every new Dalai-Lama, so,
here, Gunpati (Ganesha, the god of wisdom with the elephant's head) is
allowed by his father Shiva to incarnate in the eldest son of a certain
Brahman family. There is a splendid temple erected in his honor, where
the avatars (incarnations) of Gunpati have lived and received adoration
for over two hundred years.

This is how it happened.

About 250 years ago a poor Brahman couple were promised, in sleep, by
the god of wisdom that he would incarnate in their eldest son. The boy
was named Maroba (one of the god's titles) in honor of the deity. Maroba
grew up, married, and begot several sons, after which he was commanded
by the god to relinquish the world and finish his days in the desert.
There, during twenty-two years, according to the legend, Maroba wrought
miracles and his fame grew day by day. He lived in an impenetrable
jungle, in a corner of the thick forest that covered Chinchood in those
days. Gunpati appeared to him once more, and promised to incarnate in
his descendants for seven generations. After this there was no limit
to his miracles, so that the people began to worship him, and ended by
building a splendid temple for him.

At last Maroba gave orders to the people to bury him alive, in a sitting
posture, with an open book in his hands, and never to open his grave
again under penalty of his wrath and maledictions. After the burial
of Maroba, Gunpati incarnated in his first-born, who began a conjuring
career in his turn. So that Maroba-Deo I, was replaced by Chintaman-Deo
I. This latter god had eight wives and eight sons. The tricks of the
eldest of these sons, Narayan-Deo I, became so celebrated that his fame
reached the ears of the Emperor Alamgir. In order to test the extent of
his "deification," Alamgir sent him a piece of a cow's tail wrapped in
rich stuffs and coverings. Now, to touch the tail of a dead cow is the
worst of all degradations for a Hindu. On receiving it Narayan sprinkled
the parcel with water, and, when the stuffs were unfolded, there was
found enclosed in them a nosegay of white syringa