256 A Visit to the Pearl Fishery Coast. which had been the means of his salvation. The descendants of these good pilgrims are many in number; I have known several of them who are exemplary priests. Foremost among my reminiscences of this Christmas Day is that of the Indian martyr, Deva Sagayen. Vadakenkoulam possesses the turban he wore, and the chains taken off at his death ; the reliquary containing them was opened for us, and we were allowed to inspect these precious relics. Deva Sagayen was a general in the army of Travancore about the middle of the last century. He was a man of high waste, and was converted by a French officer, receiving Baptism from the priest of this village. After his conversion he was the means of gaining several of his fellow-officers to the true faith ; his zeal enraged the Brahmins, who, by dint of intrigue and calumny, contrived to induce the King to sentence him to death. But upon ‘the gods being consulted, the augurs announced that his death would bring misfortunes on the kingdom, and the execution was consequently postponed for three years. These three years were a period of indescribable suffering to the ex- general. Sometimes he was placed upon a buffalo, his hands tied behind him, and thus paraded through the towns where he had formerly passed with the pomp of a conqueror. Every day he was scourged with thorny rods until his flesh was torn to pieces ; then on the raw and bleeding wounds a powder, con- sisting of mustard, pepper, and pimento, was sprinkled, and in this condition the unhappy victim was forced to march some distance, in a state of almost complete nudity, under a burning sun.
256