Note 159 — LETTER IV.
Reading edition
The Banian hospital at Surat is a most remarkable institution. At my visit, the hospital contained horses, mules, oxen, sheep, goats, monkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety of birds. The most extraordinary ward was that appropriated to rats and mice, bugs, and other noxious vermin. The overseers of the hospital frequently hire beggars from the streets, for a stipulated sum, to pass a night amongst the fleas, lice, and bugs, on the express condition of suffering them to enjoy their feast without molestation. Forbes's Oriental Memoirs.