75 
always kept in a retired part of the house, employed in embroidery 
or other feminine occupations; and at this day, the Indian females 
are never seen by those who visit the master of the family; they 
know but little of the world, and are not permitted to eat with 
their husbands or brothers, nor to associate with other men. 
After the girls are betrothed, the ends of the lingers and nails 
are dyed red, with a preparation from the mende} r , orhinna shrub, 
already mentioned as a principal ornament of the Asiatic gardens. 
They make a black circle round 1 ho eyes with the powder of anti- 
mony, which adds much to their brilliancy, and heightens the 
beauty of the eastern ladies. 
The houses of the rich Hindoos and Mahometans, are generally 
built within an inclosure, surrounded by galleries, or verandas, 
not only for privacy, but to exclude the sun from the apartments. 
This court is frequently adorned with shrubs and flowers; and a 
fountain playing before the principal room, where the master re- 
ceives his guests; which is open in front to the garden, and fur- 
nished with carpets and cushions. 
Education in general among the Hindoos, is attended with verv 
little trouble: few boys in the subordinate tribes are taught any 
thing more than to read and write, with the rudiments of the trade 
or profession, they are intended for; but many of the Brahmin 
youth are instructed in astronomy, astrology, and physic; and 
acquire some knowledge of the civil and religious laws. Nothing 
can be more simple than a Hindoo school; which is usually under 
a thatched shed open on three sides, with a sanded floor, on which 
the boys learn to write, and go through the first rules of arithmetic, 
in which science some of them make a great progress. 
