LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[My old friend Shah Mahommed, aged 87 years, son of Ghaus Mahommed, who died aged 75 years, and grandson of Nur Mahommed who died at the age of 78 years, All three were itinerant conjurers and had never seen the rope trick][Front]
[Shah Mahommed singing Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay between two experiments]Facing page[10]
[Shah Mahommed with two assistants for the Ring on the Stick]Facing page[28]
[Preliminaries of the Restored Rope, the only rope trick that I have ever seen performed in India]Facing page[46]
[Shah Mahommed performing the egg bag trick]Facing page[52]
[The Dancing Duck, performed with an enamel bowl instead of the cocoa-nut shell]Facing page[54]
[The preliminary stage of the mango tree trick as shewn by Shah Mahommed]Facing page[60]
[Conclusion of the mango tree trick]Facing page[62]

INDIAN CONJURING

CHAPTER I

A COMPARISON

Since the world began Magic and wizardy seem to have held a great fascination for mankind, an example being in the story of the Witch of Endor. That this tendency has in no wise altered is clear from the popularity of conjurors, illusionists, and so called magicians who still, be it East or West, attract an audience so easily and so surely. This little volume is written in the hopes that it may prove of interest to the thousands who reside in India, and those other thousands who, visiting its coral shores from time to time, often discuss in wondering amazement how the Indian conjuror performs his tricks. It is also written to uphold the reputation of the Western conjuror against the spurious ascendancy held by his Eastern confrere.

Before describing the many well known tricks that are shewn by the "house to house" Jadoo-wallah, and explaining how they are done, we will compare the average Indian conjuror with his mystic friends in Europe, America and China.