﻿176 A DESCRIPTION 



except human. They even eat animals that have died 

 a natural death ; but, in consequence of not being 

 used to the taste of ghee, they have such an antipa- 

 thy to this article, that if they discover the least 

 smell of it in their victuals, they have no relish for 

 them. It is not their custom to veil their women ; 

 for even the wives of the Raja do not conceal their 

 faces from any person. The females perform work 

 in the open air, with their countenances exposed and 

 heads uncovered. The men have often four or five 

 wives each, and publicly buy, sell, and change them. 

 They shave their heads, beards, and whiskers, and 

 reproach and admonish every person who neglects this 

 ceremony. Their language has not the least affinity 

 with that of Bengal '*. Their strength and courage 

 are apparent in their looks ; but their ferocious man- 

 ners and brutal tempers are also betrayed by their 

 physiognomy. They are superior to most nations in 

 corporal force and hardy exertions. They are enter- 

 prizing, savage, fond of war, vindictive, treacherous, 

 and deceitful. The virtues of compassion, kindness, 

 friendship, sincerity, truth, honour, good faith, 

 shame, and purity of morals, have been left out of 

 their composition. The seeds of tenderness and hu- 

 manity have not been sown in the field of their frames. 

 As they are destitute of the mental garb of manly qua- 

 lities, they are also deficient in the dress of their bodies. 

 They tie a cloth round their heads, and another round 

 their loins, and throw a sheet upon their shoulder; 

 but it is not customary in that country to wear turbans, 

 robes, drawers, or shoes. There are no buildings of 

 brick or stone, or with walls of earth, except the gates 

 of the city of Ghergong, and some of their idolatrous 

 temples. The rich and poor construct their habita- 



* This is an error : young Brabmens often come from Asam to 

 NaJiya for instruction j and their vulgar dialect is understood by 

 the Bengal teachers. 



