INDIA. 



109 



all occasions of visiting among people of all ranks, be- 

 tel is invariably served round : without it no person 

 ever leave* the house of the person he visits. 



There are tome customs of the Hindoos which bear 

 a striking resemblance to some of the customs of Eu- 

 ropeans. During the festival of Huli, which is held in 

 the month of March, the custom of what we call mak- 

 ing April fools is practised ; and on one of the festi- 

 vals of Bbarani, which occurs about the beginning of 

 May, the caste of cow- keepers erect a pole adorned 

 with flowers, round which they perform certain cere- 

 monies, yry similar to those which are performed 

 round the Maypole in England. 



The Hindoo* are much addicted to gaming, especial- 

 ly cock-fighting ; beside* cocks, quails and other birds 

 are trained for this purpose. At these games, the Hin- 

 doo* will frequently lo*e all their ornaments, and even 

 put of their dress. Chess U a favourite play with them, 

 and appear* to have been played in the mort remote 

 periods of their history, but in a much more complicat- 

 ed form than at present. The mode of playing it, in 

 use among the modem Hindoos, very strongly resembles 

 the European mode. Dai.cing, tumbling, slight of 

 hand trick*, and wrestling, are favourite amusements 

 with the Hindoo*. Dancing, however, is not permitted, 

 except to a particular .caste, who are trained to the art. 

 The dancing-girls, or devadassi, are generally of agree- 

 able persona and countenances; their motions display 

 great grace and ease, but are not always scrupulously 

 decent. They devote themselves to the honour of the 

 god* ; but tbi* does not prevent them from hiring them- 

 selves out to those who wish for their exhibition* ; and 

 accordingly their dancing form* part of all great enter- 

 tainments. They are adorned with jewels ; ami their 

 robes, which are made not to impede their motion*, and 

 to display their person* to the greatest advantage, are 

 hung with little !!!-. There are also male dancer*, 

 bat these confine themselves topstrtomime*. Sarmt is 

 famous far its dancing- girls. The feats of the jugglers 

 far cnrpats any that are practised by those of Europe; 

 in connection with then may be UMUliuucd the exhi- 

 bition of dancing make*, which are handled without the 

 least danger. The feat* of the proftmd wrestlers are 

 very surprising, exhibiting a degree of strength and 

 agility, and at the same time of elegance and grace, in 

 their attitude*, of which, it M said, those who have not 

 witnessed them can form no adequate idea. But the 

 most favourite amusement of the Hindoos consist* in 

 bearing the recital of |>ofni* or histories. These are 

 recited by persons who make it a regular busings* ; 

 sometime* they merely recite, at others, a kind of re- 

 citative i* performed. 



The general character of the Hindoo* varies much 

 iferent parts of India. Even under the Bengal 

 presidency, there are two distinct descriptions of 

 doos. Berar Patna, the Bengalese, a* they are called, 

 are weak in body, and timid in mind ; and that timidi- 

 ty i* accompanied, a* usual, by servility and fraud. 

 Tins class seem to diminish, both in their bodily 

 strength and mental qualities, as they approach tin- 

 coast ; those below Culcutta being reckoned the most 

 abject and imbecile in body and mind, of all the Hin- 

 doos, subject to the British government. A* soon, 

 however, a* Bahar is entered, or rather the district of 

 Benares, a different race appeart . Throughout all the 

 territories in that quarter, subject to the Company, and 

 the Nabob of Oude, the Hindoo inhabitants are dis- 

 tinguished, not more by their lofty stature and robust 

 frame of. body, than by their courage, and mental quaji. 



ties. The great part ot the army on the Bengal 

 Establishment, is composed of these men ; and it is re- S-PP 

 markable, that there are few corporal punishments in 

 it, the slightest reproach being felt as severely as the 

 greatest punishment is, among soldiers of European na- 

 tions. On the coast of Coromandel, the Hindoo is 

 inferior, both in bodily and mental qualities, to the 

 Bengalee ; the other inhabitants vary much in their 

 character. The Mahrattas a:o bold, active, and insi- 

 dious ; among the higher classes, and especially among 

 the Brahmins, there is frequently displayed a very ex- 

 traordinary degree of urbanity, proceeding, not from 

 feeling, or even politeness, so much as from hypocrisy. 

 Their command of temper and countenance is indeed 

 astonishing. 



One of the peculiarities of the Hindoo?, recorded by Fod, 

 Arrinn, &c. is their not eating animal food ; and this 

 peculiarity still exists. Throughout the southern parts 

 of India, however, fowls are a common article of diet 

 with the lower castes; but in the northern parts, they 

 are seldom eaten except by the Mahomedans and Euro* 

 peans. Fish is eaten even by some of the Brahmins, as 

 has been already noticed ; but in all cases where fowls 

 or fish are eaten, they are mixed with a very large por- 

 tion of spice*. .Vegetables are their principal diet, in 

 all cases most plentifully mixed with vegetable oils. 

 Wheat is used by some of the natives of northern Hin- 

 dostan, but in no great quantities. Rice, barley, and 

 different specie* of pulse, made into cakes, is the usual 

 food in Hindustan Proper and the Decan ; raggy, in 

 Southern India. Mr-. Oraham thus describes the mode 

 of making rice rake: After the rice had been pound- 

 ed by a mill already noticed, the woman, whom Mr>. 

 Graham observed, carefully washed every vessel, though 

 apparently clean before, " and then mixed her rice- 

 flour with milk, water, and salt, when she beat it be- 

 tween the palms of her hands till it was round, and 

 then baked it on a round iron plate, such as is used in 

 Scotland for oat cakes. Besides these cakes, she pre- 

 pared a few bead* of maize, by rubbing off the chaff, 

 and laying them in the fire to roast for the family sup- 

 per. At the next hut, the woman was grinding mi- 

 sala, or curry stuff, on a flat smooth stone, with another 

 shaped like a rolling-pin. Less than an English half- 

 penny procures . of turmeric, spice, salt, and 

 ghee, to season the whole of the rice eaten in a day by 

 a labourer, his wife, and five or six children. The ve- 

 getable* and acids he require* are found in every 

 hedge." Journal, p. 20. The Hindoos eat their food 

 generally from dishes made of the leaves of the plan- 

 tain. In Bengal, a single leaf i* sufficiently Urge for 

 this purpose ; but in places where they are not of a 

 proper sue, they are fastened together by people cal- 

 led barhi, who make it a particular business, are to be 

 found in every village, and receive their allowance of 

 wages from the Zemindar and Ryot, in the same manner 

 as the Brahmin, bard, &-c. The potter, also, who makes 

 the earthen vessels used for cooking the food, or hold- 

 ing wster, receive* his allowance of grain or of money. 

 Mater is the only drink of respectable Indians; toddy 

 and other intoxicating liquors are seldom drank except 

 by the very lowest caste*. In such a hot climate, it is 

 absolutely necessary to cool the water and other liquids 

 before they are drank. The vessels used for this pur- 

 pose are made in most parts of India, but principally 

 in Guserat. Smoking is very general in the northern 

 parts of India ; but in the Carnatic, and other parts of 

 the south, it i* held in great disrepute. Here, taking 

 muff is much more common than in Bengal The 



