518 



look up my abode in the town, during a short visit in the rainy 

 season. The inclemency or' the weather then compelled me to 

 live in a Hindoo house, situated near the lofty bank of the Ner- 

 budda. Unlike an oriental durbar, this building was little more 

 than a pendall, or open hall, with two small chambers, formed of 

 mud and unbnrnt bricks, between a frame of wood; an elevated 

 bench, composed of the same materials, surrounded the front veran- 

 da, which, with the floors, and the whole interior of the house, was 

 always washed over with a thick wash of cow-dung and water ; 

 which, when perfectly dry, had a neat and cleanly appearance ; 

 and from having no glare, was. at least in that respect, preferable 

 to a white-wash. A cotton carpet, camp-chair, and table, were 

 my only furniture; my travelling palankeen formed my bed, its 

 purdoe or chintz covering my curtains. The women and children 

 decked this humble tenement with mogrees and fragrant flowers, 

 and brought the little necessaries I wanted. There I sometimes 

 passed a few days very pleasantly among those innocent and 

 simple people. 



Under that description I do not include the zemindars, and 

 officers in the revenue department, with whom I was under a ne- 

 cessity of passing the morning in public business : their oppressive 

 conduct was an alloy to every gratification I should otherwise have 

 enjoyed. The wives and daughters of these zemindars, and espe- 

 cially the higher classes of the brahmin women, impressed a very 

 pleasing idea of the female character ; mild, gentle, and affection- 

 ate, they seem formed to make good wives and good mothers : 

 ignorant of the world, and the various temptations to which Euro- 

 pean females are liable, religious and domestic duties engross their 



