49 



dressed, as a mark of distinction to an officer of higher rank, and 

 ar much greater command, but of a lower caste; who accepted it 

 respectfully, and ate it with pleasure: no such return could on his 

 part be offered to the brahmin; who, in whatever outward condi- 

 tion, would be degraded and polluted by tasting, or even by 

 touching the food from one of an inferior class. ' 



As it is not common for Europeans to eat with a brahmin, or 

 even to see them at their meals, I shall give a description of a 

 brahmin dinner, not only from my own observation, but with the 

 assistance of a medical friend, who lived much among them, and 

 was sometimes invited to partake of their repast. 



When the dinner is prepared, the brahmin first washes his body 

 in warm water; during which operation he wears his dotee, or that 

 cloth which, fastening round his loins, hangsdown tohis ancles: when 

 washed, he hangs up the dotee to dry, and binds in its place a piece 

 of silk, it not being allowable for a brahmin to wear any thing else 

 when eating. If a person of another caste, or even a brahmin Avho 

 is not washed, touches his dotee while drying, he cannot wear it 

 without washing it again. After going through several forms of 

 prayer and other ceremonies, he sits down to his food, which is 

 spread on a table-cloth, or rather a table-cover, formed of fresh- 

 gathered leaves, fastened together to the size wanted for the com- 

 pany. The dishes and plates are invariably composed of leaves; 

 a brahmin may not eat out of any thing else: tin vessels, or copper 

 tinned, may be used for cooking, but a brahmin cannot eat out of 

 them. 



The food, after being prepared in the kitchen, is placed in 

 distinct portions, on dishes of different size, form, and depth, on 



VOL. II. H 



