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oaks, their awful shades, and holy retreats; the Brahmins have 
their venerable trees, favourite tanks, and consecrated rivers; to 
which, at appointed seasons, they repair with their followers, to 
perform ablutions, to drink of the hallowed stream, and deck the 
banks with flowery oblations. There is something awful in the 
gloomy shade; it naturally inspires religious reflections; and there- 
fore the Druids, and pagan priests, always held them in venera- 
tion: but nothing in this respect equals the banian-tree, that rural 
fane, which is so fully described in a former chapter. 
The Hindoo religion requires frequent ablution, which is a 
custom wisely introduced in a warm climate, where cleanliness is 
very conducive to health: these ablutions are performed in the con- 
secrated tanks near the temples; but in most of the principal cities 
are hummums, or public baths; and people of fortune, espe- 
cially among the Moguls, have these conveniences in their own 
houses. Bathing sumptuously was a great luxury among the 
Greeks and Romans; and the buildings appropriated to this pur- 
pose, constitute some of the most magnificent remains of antiquity. 
The hummum, or warm-bath, is equally the delight of the Asiatics; 
as is the subsequent anointing with aromatic oils. The Hindoo 
women perfume their hair with oil of cloves, cinnamon, sandal, 
mogrees, and other sweet-scented flowers; and those who can 
afford it, use the oil, or ottar of roses: this delicate and costly 
perfume is made in Persia, and the northern provinces of Hindos- 
tan: it is the pure essential oil of roses, rising in small particles 
on the surface of newly-distilled rose-water. In Persia, whole 
fields are covered with the Damascus-rose, or the scripture rose of 
