30 
BUKHARS. 
marriage. This is celebrated with three days’ feasting, as they do 
great annual festivals. The evening before the wedding, a company 
of young girls meet at the bride’s house, and divert themselves till 
midnight, playing, dancing, and singing. Next morning the guests 
assemble, and help her to prepare for the ceremony. Then, notice 
being given to the bridegroom, he arrives soon after, accompanied by 
ten or twelve of his relations. These are followed by some playing 
on flutes ; an Abus, a kind of priest, who sings, while he beats two 
little timbrels. The bridegroom then makes a horse race, which 
being ended, he distributes the prizes, six, eight, or tvvelve in number, 
according to his ability. They consist of damask, sables, fox-skins, 
calico, or the like. The parties do not see each other while the 
marriage ceremony is performing, but answer at a distance to the 
questions asked by the priest. As soon as it is over, the bride- 
groom returns home with his company ; and after dinner carries them 
to the bride’s home, and obtains leave to speak to her. This done, 
he goes back, and returns again in the evening, when he finds her in 
bed ; and in presence of the women, lays himself down by her in his 
clothes, but only for a moment. The same farce is acted for three 
days successively, but the third night he passes with her entirely, 
and the next day carries her home. 
Although the prevailing religion throughout all Little Bukharia is 
the Mahometan, yet all others enjoy a perfect toleration. The 
Bukhars say that God first communicated the Koran to mankind by 
Moses and the prophets ; and afterwards Mahomet explained and 
drew a moral from it, which they are obliged to receive and practise. 
They hold Christ to be a prophet, but have no notion of his suffer- 
ings. Yet they believe in the resurrection, but cannot be persuaded 
that any mortal should be eternally damned : on the contrary, they 
believe, that as the demons lead men into sin, so that the punish- 
ment w ill fall on them. They believe, moreover, that at the last day, 
every thing but God will be annihilated ; and, consequently, that all 
creatures, the devils, angels, and Christ himself, will die. Likewise, 
that after the resurrection, all men, excepting a few of the elect, will 
be purified or chastised by fire, every one according to his sins, 
which will be weighed in a balance. They say there will be eight 
different paradises for the good ; and seven hells, where sinners are to 
be purified by fire ; that they who will suffer most are liars, cheats, 
and others of that kind ; that the elect who do not feel the fire will 
be chosen from the good, viz. one out of one hundred men, and one 
out of one thousand women ; which little troop will be carried into 
one of the paradises, where they shall enjoy all manner of felicity, 
till it shall please God to create a new world. It is a sin, according 
to them, to say that God is in heaven. God, they say, is every w here ; 
and therefore it derogates from his omnipresence to say that he is 
confined to any particular place. 
They keep an annual feast of thirty days, from the middle of July 
to the middle of August, during which time they taste nothing all 
day; but eat twice in the night, at sun-set and midnight; nor do 
they drink any thing but tea, all strong liquors being forbidden. 
Whoever transgresses these ordinances is obliged to emancipate his 
