﻿A SECT COMMON r.V DF.VOMINATED NUTS. 4^9 



it *, Tills ceremony heiiiinj performed, the bride- 

 groom le.l-ds the bride into the liouse, where slie is 

 received by the old lady with many welcomes, who 

 promises it' she but conducts herself like a good wife, 

 that she shall have all her goods and chatties when 

 she dies. The men now assemble in front of the house. 

 The women remain within ; and a feast being pre- 

 pared, the same scene of immoderate intoxieation 

 suceeeds. When evening arrives, the l)ride goes, or 

 is conducted, if there be a female of the party suf- 

 iiciently steady to accomj)any her, to the hut allot- 

 ted for her. — Such of the company as are able, now 

 depart, whilst the rest, among whom the bridegroom 

 may generally be numi)ere(l, pass the night on tlie 

 plain in beastly insensibility, leaving the solitary 

 bride to her own sober reflections. From the time 

 their children are five or six months old, they are 

 accustomed to imbibe strong spirits ; indeed it may 

 be said they draw it in with their mother's milk. 

 They appear to be a most inconsiderate race of be- 

 ll 11 3 ings, 



lie roads, fortifications, ditches, garden walks, and marginal borders, are 

 freqnently prt-pared in Ind'ia^ upon principles which unite expedition, 

 elegance, and strength, in one verdant sward, which, to people unac- 

 quainted with the rapidity of vegetation in these climes, has almost 

 the appearance of enchantment. Every lover of agriculture and rural 

 economy at home must regret, that this charming plant has not yet 

 been fairly tried in Europe^ where it would probably yield both protic 

 and pleasure to all its admirers. The roots are esteemed medicinal by 

 the natives, and there can be little doubt of the nutritive quality of the 

 whole plant considered as the food of animals. It is so well known to 

 the llindoostaneesy and probably so often the object of attention, in the 

 rural sports and excursions of the people or their children, that the ex- 

 pression dc9b ka ch,hull(7y a ring of doob, is frequently introduced in 

 their stories, to express that a petitioner did not even receive a doob 

 ring from the person solicited, or what we might render, he did not 

 even see the colour of his coin. As rings are exchanged at weddings 

 by the partifs, it is possible rheir poverty may sometimes cause tliem 

 to substitute, at least pro tempore, those formed of the grass in question. 

 * This circular motion, so common on such occasions in this coun- 

 try, is termed 'cUdrwa to sacrifice, and probably, from the con vert ibil it/ 

 of « with 1',', a mere d^jviation from mama to kill. 



