GHAZIPORE. 
55 
It is strange indeed that the Hindoos, who will la- 
vish lahks of rupees upon the construction of a temple 
or a ghat , and who during many generations have had 
before them the magnificent models of the houses, or 
rather palaces of the Mussulmans, shall still continue 
to inhabit the very meanest and most miserable abodes. 
They are wonderfully ingenious in architecture, their 
public buildings are as well adapted to their purposes 
as they are infinite in their designs; the Hindoos them- 
selves are fond of ease and luxury ; their lives when 
relieved from their religious restraints are devoted to 
pleasure ; their wealth is sacrificed to ostentation and 
public display ; and yet their dwellings are mere huts 
devoid of every sort of comfort. The opulent Hindoo, 
who is boastfully dedicating the overflowings of his 
treasury to the erection of monstrous pagodas and in- 
terminable flights of steps, contentedly surveys the pro- 
gress of the work from the door of his narrow hovel ; 
consisting perhaps of only a single wretched apartment 
for the accommodation of all his family ; while the 
Mussulman with half this wealth is raising superb pa- 
laces and lordly mansions, wherein to dwell in state, 
his comforts reduced and coffers impoverished, for the 
sake of the outward display of a handsome fa9ade. I 
have more than once made remarks, and have expressed 
my surprise upon the subject, to rich men and those of 
high caste among the Hindoos. They allow that reli- 
gious prejudice has nothing to do with it ; though en- 
joined to be simple in their manners and abstemious in 
