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mon method for the Indians of different castes to take water from 

 each other. Pouring water over the hands to wash, instead of dip- 

 ping them into a bason, has been always an oriental custom; we 

 frequently meet with it in ancient manners. Elisha poured water 

 upon the hands of his master Elijah: Moses washed Aaron with 

 water, and poured the anointing oil upon his head, to sanctify 

 him. When I dined with the Dutch governor at Cochin, three 

 female slaves, neatly dressed, attended each of the guests before 

 the dinner was put on the table; one girl held a silver bason 

 decked with flowers, to contain the water, which another poured 

 upon his hands, from a silver vase; and a third offered a clean 

 napkin on a salver. At the English tables two servants attend 

 after dinner, with a gindey and ewer, of silver or white copper; 

 the former is adorned with fresh-gathered flowers, stuck in a per- 

 forated cover, to conceal the water which is poured from the lat- 

 ter over the hands of each guest. 



Whether the Hindoos annex any sacred idea to salt, I am not 

 certain; the Mahomedans assuredly do throughout Asia. It is 

 common among all the castes of India, and adopted by the Eng- 

 lish, to say of an ungrateful or perfidious man, that " he is not 

 worth his salt." It is a sacred pledge of hospitality among all the 

 followers of the prophet. Numerous instances occur of travellers 

 in Arabia, after being plundered and stripped by the wandering- 

 tribes of the desert, claiming the protection of some civilized Arab, 

 who, after once receiving him into his tent, and giving him salt, 

 instantly relieves his distress, and never forsakes his guest until he 

 is placed in safety. The tale of the forty thieves in the Arabian 

 Nights Entertainment, presents a singular instance of the effect of 



