may be the caufe, it is certain that death is regarded with lefs horror in India than in any other country in the world. The origin and the end of all things, fay the philofophers of India of the prefent times, is a vacuum. A ftate of repofe is the ftate of greatest perfection and this is the ftate after which a wife man afpires. It is better, fay the Hindoos, to fit than to walk, and to fleep than to wake; but death is the best of all.

According to the Gentoo laws, criminals fentenced to death are not to be ftrangled, fuffocated, or poifoned, but to be cut off by the fword; because without an effufion of blood, malefactors are fuppofed to die with all their fins about them; but the fhedding of their blood, it is thought, expiates their crimes. The unjuft punishment of Nundcomar, who was hanged on a gibbet, against the laws of his country, and even by an poft fado English law, was aggravated by that circumftance of horror, that he died without an effufion of blood.

The Hindoos are well acquaint ed with the nature of fimples, and apply them judiciously either in performing cures which require not amputation, or in effecting death by quick or flow poifons. They have been for ages, in the practice of inoculating for the finall-pox; on which occafion, as well as on others, they have recourse to the favourable mediation of charms or spells.

Although the practice of Hindoo women burning themfelves on the funeral piles of their husbands, and embracing in the mean time their dead bodies in their arms,

be not fo general now as it has formerly been, yet does it still prevail among fome of the wives of men of high caft and condition : and although this effort of frantic love, courage, and ambition, be deemed an aggrandizement of the family and relations of both hufband and wife, but efpecially of the wife's, yet their friends and relations conftantly endeavour to diffuade the women who declare their refolutions of burning, from carrying them into execution. Even the Brahmins do not encou rage this practice.

་

The caufes which inspire Hindoo women with this defperate refolution, are, I imagine, the following:

In the first place, As the wife has from her earliest infancy been betrothed in marriage to her hufband, and from that time has never been permitted to fee another man; as fhe is inftructed to believe that he is perfectly accomplished, and taught to respect and honour him; as after confum-. mation she is shut up from the company, converfation, and even the fight of other men, with still greater care if poffible than before, being now debarred from feeing even the father or elder brother of her husband, the bonds of her affection must needs be inconceivably strong and indiffoluble To an European lady the zenana naturally appears in the light of an horrible prifon; but the daughters of Afia never confider confinement to the zenana as any hardship. They confider it as a condition of their exiftence, and they enjoy all the happiness of which they have any conception; their whole defires being D 3

concen

concentred and fixed on their hufband, their food, jewels, and female attendants.

In the fecond place, If the wife furvive her husband, the cannot marry again; and is treated as an inferior perfon, and an outcaft from her family. Nay, he is obliged in her mournful and hopelefs widowhood, to perform all the offices of a menial fervant.

In the third place, She is flattered with the idea of having immortalized her name, and aggrandized her children, and her own and husband's families.

Laftly, She is rendered infenfible to the pains and horrors of what fhe is to fuffer, by thofe intoxicating perfumes and mixtures which are adminiftered to her after she has declared her final and unalterable refolution;-I fay her final refolution, because one or two declarations of an intention to die with her husband is not fufficient. The ftrength of her refolution undergoes a probation. There is a certain time prefcribed by the Gentoo law, during which her family and friends exert their utmost influence in order to diffuade her from burning; and if fhe perfifts in her refolution to the end of that period, it is not lawful to ufe any more perfuafions with her to abandon it. If fhe fhould alter her purpofe after that period, he would be punifhed with the lofs of all cafes, and live in a state of the moft complete inifery and contempt. Nay, if an European or Chriftian does but touch her very garment with his finger when he is going to the pile, an immediate ftop is put to the ceremony, fhe is forced to

live an outcaft from her family, and from the Gentoo religion.

You will, doubtlefs, my friend, have curiofity to know in what manner, after all thefe ftimulatives to perfeverance, the tender fex among a foft and effeminate people, fuftains the near approach of a scene so full of awe and horror. Amidft her weeping relations and friends, the voluntary victim to love and honour alone appears ferene and undaunted. A gentle fmile is diffused over her countenance: fhe walks upright with an eafy but firm ftep; talks to thofe around her of the virtues of the deceased, and of the joy with which fhe will be tranfported when her fhade shall meet with his; and encourages her forrowful attendants to bear with forti tude the fight of thofe momentary fufferings which the herfelf is about to feel. Having afcended the funeral pile, the lays herself down by the body of her husband, which the fervently embraces. A dofe of narcotic mixtures is then adminiftered for the last time; and inftantly the person whose office it is, fets fire to the pile.

Thus the moft determined refolution of which we can form any conception, is found in the weaker fex, and in the foft climes of Afia. It is to the honour of that fex and thofe climes, that the greateft courage they exhibit, is the effect not of the furious impulfes of rage and revenge, but confcious dignity and love.

It might naturally be imagined by an European, that the feveral wives of one man (for polygamy is general throughout all Afia) would regard one another with

mutual

mutual jealoufy and averfion; and that they in reality do, has been afferted by writers of high reputation. The fact, however, is quite otherwife; they visit one another with great friendship and cordiality; and if they are of the fame cafte, will occafionally eat together. The husband is refrained from eating with his wives, either by a regard to cuftom, or, as I have been informed by fome of the Gentoos themselves, by a precept of their religion.

Notwithstanding the extreme antiquity of moft Indian nations, I am told that in India beyond the Ganges, on the confines of Aracan and Pegu, there is a people (if folitary favages roaming thro' woods in queft of prey, deferve the name of people) that appear to be in the very firft ftage of fociety. They are the only people in the known world that go abfolutely naked, without the fmalleft covering on any part of their bodies. They live on fruit, which grows fpontaneously in the uncultivated deferts they inhabit in great abundance, and on the flesh of animals, which they tear alive and devour raw. They fit on their hams, with their legs and arms. difpofed in the manner of monkeys. At the approach of men they fly into the woods. They take care of their offspring, and live in families; but feem to have no ideas of fubordination of rank, or civil government. I have never had occafion to fee this race of mortals myself, but I have converfed with feveral perfons who have seen them; all of whom concur in the general account of them, which I have now given you. I am, &c. &c.

Defcription of the different Nations in the Prefidency of Bombay-of the Natives of the Malabar Coaft -their Marriages-of the Manners and Customs of the Hindoos, &c. From the fame Author.

I

KNOW not any place in the world where there is a greater medley of different nations than there is in the presidency of Bombay. This region being conveniently fituated, not only for commerce by fea with all maritime nations, but alfo for communication by land with the Perfian empire; part of which having been conquered by Timur-Beg, is now a part of the Mogul empire. Here, befides Europeans of all countries, you meet with Turks, Perfians, Arabians, Armenians, a mixed race, the vileft of their fpecies, defcended from the Portuguefe, and the outcafts from the Gentoo religion, &c. The Turks that refort to this place on account of trade, are like the reft of their countrymen, ftately, grave, and reserved; and honeft in their dealings, though merchants. The Perfians are more gay, lively, and converfible; but I would trust less to their honefty in matters of trade, than I would to the faturnine Turks. The Arabians are all life and fire, and when they treat with you on any subject, will make you a fine oration in flowing numbers, and a mufical cadence; but they are the most dishonest of all.

The Armenians are gene rally handfome in their features, mild in their tempers, and in their nature kind and beneficent. They are a kind of Chriftians, and an honour to that fect. The Turks and Perfians are, for the most Ꭰ 4..

part,

part, ftout-bodied men; but the Arabians are of a smaller ftature, and flender: yet these last are accounted the best foldiers. I have been a witness to their agility; and I am told their courage is equal to their activity. I faw a kind of war pantomime between three Perfians and three Arabs: they naturally fought in pairs. The Perfians kept their ground, and warded off the blows that were aimed at them in the beft manner they could. The Arabians, on the contrary, when a ftroke was aimed at them, fprung up in the air to an incredible height, and inftantly made an attack on their antagonists. In the mean time, both Perfians and Arabs were finging, or rather muttering fome fentences, which I did not underftand. The Perfians, I was told, were finging the exploits of ShahNadir; and the Arabs were invoking the affiftance of their prophet.

There is a race of mortals in this country that they call Caffres, that are flaves to every other tribe: they have black woolly hair, and came originally from Ćaffraria, in the fouth promontory of Africa. I converfe fometimes with thefe poor devils, for I think that the opinions and fentiments of all men, however abject their ftate, deferve attention. They tell me, that the Moor mans are better mafters than the Chriftian mans. They are fenfible of their inferiority in education, at least, if not in nature, to Moors, Hindoos, and Chriftians; and feem contented with their fituation. They are fo habituated to flavery, that I am perfuaded they have loft all deare of freedom; and that they

are happier in the fervice of a good mafter, who is their pro tector and their God, than they would be in a state of independ ence in the fame manner that a dog would leave the greatest abundance of food in a defert, and joyfully perform with his owner, even though he should sometimes beat him, a long and tedious journey, fubjected to the pain of hunger and of thirst.

The natives of this country are more flim, and generally of a shorter ftature than Europeans. It is a curious fight to fee their children running about naked, and fpeaking by the time they are half a year old. I was aftonifhed to be faluted by thefe little figures, who, after giving me the falam (putting their hands to their foreheads and bowing to the very ground) would afk for fomething: for all the children of the lower cafts are great beggars; and they go ftark naked until they are nearly arrived at the age of puberty. Their mental faculties, as well as their bodily powers, arrive much sooner at maturity than thofe of Europeans do; yet it is not true, as is commonly believed, that they fooner decay. Eaftern luxury, which affects novelty only in the zenana, feeks for new wives, and foon difcards the old; but many fine women are deserted in this manner; and in general, the women of thirty or forty in this country, are as well favoured as women of that age are in Europe. A native of India, who confiders a woman merely as an inftrument of pleasure, would be infinitely furprised at the condefcenfion of a good hale man of fixty walking with a wife up

wards

wards of fifty, hanging on his

arm.

Children are all taught reading and arithmetic in the open air. They learn to diftinguish their letters, and the figures they uie in their arithmetic (which, I have been told, is a kind of Algebra) forming them with their own hands, either in the fand or on boards.

Marriages are contracted by boys and girls, and confummated as foon as they arrive at puberty; that is, when the men are thirteen years of age, and the women nine or ten. The marriage ceremony is performed three times; once when the couple are mere infants; a fecond time, when the gentleman may be about eight or nine years old, and the lady five or fix; and the third and laft time, at the age I have already fpecified. Between the first and second marriage ceremonies, the young couple are allowed to fee one another: they run about and play together as other children do; and knowing they are destined for each other, commonly conceive, even at that early period, a mutual affection. But after the fecond time of marriage, they are feparated from each other; the bride, efpecially if fhe be a perfon of condition, being fhut up in the womens apartment until the happy day of the third and laft ceremony, when the prieft fprinkles on the bride and bridegroom abundance of rice, an emblem of fruitful

as

nefs.

Thefe early contracts are undoubtedly well calculated to infpire the parties with a mutual and lafting affection. The earliest part of life is in every country the

I had once the honour to be present at the wedding of a Perfee of good condition. Of this I fhall give you a minute defcription. Important matters you will. find in the writings of grave historians; what I fhall relate, will be fuch trifling circumstances as are below the notice of those perfonages, but which, nevertheless, curiofity might wish to know.

In Hindoitan, the expence of clothes is almoft nothing; and that of food, firing, and lodging, to the natives I mean, very trifling. The Hindoos are not addicted to any expenfive vices, their paffions and defires being gentle and moderate. Yet they are frugal and induftrious, and as eager to amafs riches as any of the natives of Europe. A jew, a Dutchman, or a Scots pedlar, is not more attentive to profit and lofs. What is the reason of this? They are lovers of fplendor and magnificence in every thing, but particularly in what relates to their women. It is in their harams, but efpecially on occafion of their marriages, that they pour forth the collected treatures of many industrious years.

The Perfee at whose wedding I

was