Note 19 — CHAPTER 6
Reading edition
This mode of being rid of enemies is firmly believed by the Rajputs, and several other instances of it are recorded in this work. Of course, it must be by porous absorption; and in a hot climate, where only a thin tunic is worn next the skin, much mischief might be done, though it is difficult to understand how death could be accomplished. [See p. 728. ] That the belief is of ancient date we have only to recall the story of Hercules put into doggerel by Pope:
——“He, whom Dejanire
Wrapp’d in th’ envenom’d shirt, and set on fire.”
[“The Wife of Bath,” 380-1. The tragical death of Prithi Singh is still the subject for songs of the bards (Temple, Legends of the Panjāb, iii. 252 ff.).]