NATURAL HISTORY. 11.3 



after passing Lapor, arid the kingdom of Cashmire, 

 the women have no hair on any part of the body, and 

 ihe men have hardly any beard. According to Theve- 

 not, the Mogul women are tolerably fruitful, though ex- 

 ceedingl y chaste. They likewise suiter little from the 

 pains of child-birth, and are often known to be abroad 

 the day following. He adds, that in the kingdom of 

 Decan they are allowed to marry, the husband by his 

 tenth, and the wife by her eighth year ; and at that 

 age they very often have children. The women who 

 become mothers so soon, usually cease bearing, how- 

 ever, before they arrive at thirty ; and by that period, 

 they appear wrinkled^ and marked with all the defor- 

 mities of age. 



The customs of the different nations of India are all 

 very singular, if not whimsical. The Banians eat 

 nothing which has life in it; and they are even afraid 

 to kiii the smallest reptile, however offensive to them. 

 They throw rice and beans into their rivers as food for 

 the fishes, arid grain of different kinds upon the c-arih 

 for the birds and insects. When they meet with a 

 huntsman, or a fisher, they beg of him instantly to desist 

 from his employment. If he remain deaf to their in- 

 treaties, they offer him money for his gun, or his nets ; 

 and when no persuasion, no offer, will avail, they 

 trouble the water, in order to frighten the fishes, and 

 cry with all their might, to put the birds and other 

 game to flight. 



In Ceylon there is a species of savages, denominated 

 Bedas, who occupy a small district on the north part 

 of the island, and seem to be totally different from all 

 the nations around them. The spot they inhabit is en- 

 tirely covered with wood, amidst which they keep 

 themselves so closely concealed, that it is with greai 



