Page:The Travels of Dean Mahomet.djvu/283

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34
THE TRAVELS OF


poſſeſs a ſpot of ground in India; but the Chineſe, from its deſtructive qualities, forbid, under the Penalty of death, the cultivation of it, and demoliſh any houſe, in which it is expoſed for ſale.

It is uſed by the people of every claſs, among the Hindoos and Mahometans: the lower order take it, when they enter on any arduous enterpriſe, to render them inſenſible of the danger; and the gentry, who are fond of every thing that tends to a gratification of the paſſions, conſider it as a great luxury. It's effects, however, arevarious, according to the manner of preparing it. Opium in it's original ſtate, is the produce of a ſpecies of poppy, the

root