CiiAr. XXV. STEEET GROUPS. 
109 
clean, snug-looking cottage, the clay walls nicely po- 
lished, a shutter of reeds placed against the low, 
well-rounded door, and forbidding intrusion on the 
privacy of life, a cool shed for the daily household work, 
— a fine spreading alleluba-tree, affording a pleasant 
shade during the hottest hours of the day, or a beau- 
tiful gonda or papaya unfolding its large feather- 
like leaves above a slender, smooth, and undivided 
stem, or the tall date-tree, waving over the whole 
scene ; the matron in a clean black cotton gown wound 
round her waist, her hair neatly dressed in " chokoli " 
or bejaji, busy preparing the meal for her absent hus- 
band, or spinning cotton, and at the same time urging 
the female slaves to pound the corn ; the children 
naked and merry, playing about in the sand at the 
" urgi-n-dawaki " or the " da-n-chacha," or chasing 
a straggling stubborn goat : earthenware pots and 
wooden bowls, all cleanly washed, standing in order. 
Further on a dashing Cyprian, homeless, comfortless, 
and childless, but affecting merriment or forcing a 
wanton laugh, gaudily ornamented with numerous 
strings of beads round her neck, her hair fancifully 
dressed and bound with a diadem, her gown of 
various colours loosely fastened under her luxuriant 
breast, and trailing behind in the sand ; near her a 
diseased wretch covered with ulcers, or with ele- 
phantiasis. 
Now a busy " marind," an open terrace of clay, with 
a number of dyeing-pots, and people busily employed 
in various processes of their handicraft : here a man 
