I83l j Origiri and Ceremonies af the Mohurrum, 32# 



least offence given to her worthy: c'onsort on tiie score of 

 his age or infirmity is immediately reaented by the lady 

 or Met with a suitable remonstrance. , The. old inan, oa 

 the other hand, remains always silant.— 'He maintains 

 a^citnrnity as profound^ as if he had been denied the 

 lilMwer of utterance ; though if I am not greatly mistake 

 frj, he is master of more languages than are taught at tlie 

 College of Fort Saint George. 



\ \2th. lb Shou-bala. (Ayoungbride?): A hand- 

 it)me boy, or a beautiful girl is selected for this char®j4 

 ter — this is a true female character—the female in this 

 case is rosy and sprightly— she isi attired in at most #6- 

 gant dress, happily fancied and gracefully displayedrr-rj 

 she sits swinging upon an elevated situation, such a 

 Baicony or a pundal. During the exhibition, she: i| 

 grave. The spectators joke, and the Mohurrgm fa- 

 keers using strange and uncouth gestures, dance; and. - 

 jump around her^ and relate laughable stories, in order 

 to elicit- a- smile, if tkey cannot persuade her to laugh o ' 

 But her compbsnre is not to be disturbed : no attempt 

 then c succeeds . with her, though, at other times, her 

 Itiee "i^ arTayed in smiles and covered with dimples. 

 The 'whofe iscene around this lovely object exhibits: 

 marks of playfulness^ gaiet y, harmony and good feii^ 

 lpQUT:i' ::j„.,.: ; , - .. 



I cannot close this part of my observations, without 

 slafingy-that at the Mohurrum anniv.ersary^ there is not - 

 pgly a representation of character irx almost every pro-" 

 fession known, whether in this country or elsew here^ 

 but that numbers, some distinguished by their elegance 

 and grace and others by their terrific acc0mpaniinent,s, 

 and by their hideousness and deformity, appear in" thil : 

 mimic scene dancing, jumping and running about the 

 streets, — -considered merely as a masquerade, I "mky 

 reiijark^ that in point of number, diversitv. and excel? 



