20 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
The great charm of the Indian dances consists 
almost wholly in those elegant attitudes which they 
allow the dancer to display. You see no prodigious 
springs, no vehement pirouettes, no painful tension of 
the muscles or extravagant contortions of the limbs ; 
none of that exquisite precision of step and pedal dex- 
terity which constitute the chief charm of European 
artists. You see no violent sawing of the arms, no 
unnatural curving of the limbs, no bringing of the legs 
at right angles with the trunk ; no violent hops, and 
jerks, and dizzy gyrations. The nautch girl advances 
gracefully before her audience, her arms moving in 
unison with her tiny naked feet, which, although not 
like snow in hue, still “ fall on earth as mute,” gliding 
through the evolutions of a simple figure without any 
of that exertion inseparable from European dances as 
exhibited before public audiences. She occasionally 
turns quickly round, by which the loose folds of her 
thin petticoat are expanded, and the heavy silk border 
with which it is trimmed opens into a circle round 
her, showing for an instant the beautiful outline of 
her form, draped with the most becoming and judici- 
ous taste. Although in description the perfections of 
this style of dancing may appear but negative, their 
effects are nevertheless positive upon the beholder. 
The ornaments worn by these women are often of 
considerable value. Their throats are usually encir- 
cled with several necklaces, sometimes composed of 
pearls, sometimes of gold curiously wrought. A 
large jewel hangs from the right nostril, suspended 
by a plain gold ring. On the forehead, just be- 
tween the eyebrows, they always wear an ornament. 
