and in another quarter, some loose fellows are encouraging two rams to fight by dashing their heads at each other; and, to complete the village diversions, here comes a man with a learned cow, and another with a bear in a string, and two or three monkies riding on its back. The serious business of the village, appears to be transacted by the oil-man, driving his bullock round to crush the seed; by the distiller; by the shop-keeper, who exposes to sale sweetmeats, oil, spices, wood, betel, tobacco, &c. and by two scolds, proclaiming all the secrets of their families; but, though spent with fury, they never come to blows.

The insect called the fire-fly exhibits a beautiful appearance in this country, in a dark evening. When a vast number of these flies settle on the branches of a tree, they illuminate the whole tree, and produce one of the most pleasing appearances that exists in nature. The birds-nests hanging on trees are among the most curious productions of instinct I have ever seen: one kind, which is mostly suspended on the branches of the talu tree, contains a long round entrance from the bottom to the middle room, and at the top of that is the nest, inclosed and supported by a belt. Another kind has actually a trap door to it, which the bird lifts up with its beak as it enters, and which falls down of its own accord after the bird has entered or flown out. Another of these hanging nests, equally curious if not more so, is made with fine moss and hair, and inclosed in large leaves, actually sewed together with fibres by the bird, certainly with the greatest propriety, called the taylor bird.—The hornet, bee, and wasp, in this country, often make their nests in trees, though they are to be found also in other situations. One species of ants also makes very large nests in trees.The great bats, called by the Hindoos vadoorů,* are very numerous in some parts of Bengal; and devour some kinds of fruit so eagerly, as to leave scarcely any for the owner. Some pools are so full of leeches, that it is dangerous to bathe in them, and I have heard of the most painful and ludicrous effects taking place on the bodies of persons who have descended into them.

*Many of the lower casts eat the flesh of these bats, aud others fasten the bills and feathers to their bodies, to drive away diseases.

SECTION IV.

Proverbial Sayings and Descriptions, illustrative of manners.

A beautiful female described.

WHAT a beautiful form! The very image of Lukshmee!-In beauty and excellent qualities she resembles the goddess of prosperity.-A female richly adorned with ornaments, is compared to Suchee, the wife of Indru, or to the lightning.

Dress, Features, &c.

What beautiful hair! It hangs down like the tail of the cow of Tartary, like a skein of silk, like the thatch of a house, like the image of Kalee: it is black as darkness itself, black as the clouds, shining as oil itself. The hair tied up into a bunch, is compared to the figures of the water-lily made by blacksmiths in certain kinds of work, or to the round box in which women keep essences.-The round dot of paint which women make in the centre of the forehead, is compared to the moon, to a star, and to the coloured rays of the rising sun.-The parting of the hair on the forehead of the female, they compare to the dragon, with his mouth wide open, ready to swallow the moon.-The eyes, according to their shape and colour, to those of a deer, to the water-lily, to the Soondhee* flower, or to the appearance of the stone in an unripe mango;-the nose, to the tilŭ flower, the bill-hook, the beak of a parrot, and to a flute ;+—the face, to the moon, and to the water-lily;—the lips, to the fruit of the télakoochu‡ fruit ;-the teeth, to the seeds of the pomegranate, to pepper-corns, to the flower of the koondă, and to a row of pearls; and, when made red with pană, to a row of corals;-the eye-brows, to a bow ;-the ears, to those of the red-throated vulture; the chin, to a mango;-the mouth, or rather, excellent speech, to the water of life, to sugar, and to honey;-the breasts, to a box containing essences, to a * Nymphæa cyanea, and esculenta.

+ The pearl in the nose-ring of females is compared to the evening star, or to the fabulous bird which ap proaches the moon to drink the nectar. Momordica monadelpha. § Jasminum pubescens.

U

pomegranate, to the vilwa* fruit, to the bud of the water-lily, to an unopened bunch of plantains, to a couple of crabs;—the fingers, to the petals of the chumpat flower; -the nails, to the half-moon;-the loins, to those of a lion, or of a wasp, to the middle of the musical instrument dŭmboorů; or to the width of a span;-the thighare compared to a plantain tree, or to the trunk of an elephant;-the feet, to the lotus-a fair complexion, to split pease, or ochre.

Other properties of the sex.

A woman walks elegantly when her gait is like that of a goose, or an elephant; another who is quick in her motions, is compared to a bobbin, or spool used in spinning, or to a lark;-a woman who cooks well, to Lukshmee.

Remarks on Children.

When a beautiful child is seen sitting on the knee of its mother, they say-Ah! see that water-lily bud; or, he is the very picture of the infant Kartikŭ, or Krishnй, or Bălu-Ramu, or a dancing boy! When a beautiful child is seen in the arms of a deformed and dirty woman, a spectator says, See! a lotus has sprung up amongst cowdung! See, gold in the ear of a monkey! When an ugly child is seen in the arms of a beautiful woman, an observer says, Behold the spots on the face of the moon. the boy is lusty, he is compared to Gŭnéshō; if he is a great favourite, he is nicknamed Doolală; if very small and weak, Naroo. Gopală; if he creeps swiftly on his hands and knees, he is compared to a play-ball. An infant of very dark complexion, is called a young crow or cuckow.

Old women, &c.

If

A woman with a large face and long legs, is compared to Tarika, a female titan ;she who sows dissention, is called Pootina, the female who wished to destroy Krishnă with her poisoned nipples;-a female of wicked disposition, is compared to the edge of a razor; on account of her loud and cracked voice, to a braying ass. A widow, who wanders from house to house, is compared to a bramhunge bull, which has no owner, and wanders from street to street. An ugly and filthy woman is called a

will-o'th-whisp; if she blinks with one eye, she is compared to an owl, or a female monkey; if she is stout, to a pumpkin;-a filthy woman, is called an evil spirit which feeds on carrion. A person of very dark complexion, is compared to a leech, or to soot, or to darkness itself, or to the bottom of a kettle, or is called an African. If a woman is very dark and thin, she is compared to a bat ;-if her head is small and her body large, she is said to resemble a leathern-bottle;--if her head is large, a bunch of talu* fruits on a thin stalk, or a bunch of grain with the straws tied close together. The head of a woman with rough hair, is compared to a crow's nest;-a scold to the tempest, to a shower of bullets, or a shower of rain, to one snake-catcher furiously challenging another :t they say, She has mounted the stage of the snakecatcher; her tongue and arms are said to move like the arms of persons swimming for a prize. If her eyes are inflamed with anger, they are compared to the fruit kūrūnju.‡ A loquacious person is compared to the mina,§ or to the noise made by these birds when two of them quarrel. Of a fury, they say, she is an incarnation:|| or, they compare her to the harlequin on a stage, who is daring enough to venture upon any thing; or to the old woman introduced into their pantomimes as the author of every kind of mischief. An old woman whose head shakes with age, is compared to a lizard.

Old men, &c.

A very old person, is called Markŭndéyů, who lived through seven kŭlpůs. A person who remembers the events of ancient times, is called Bhoosundee, a famous crow. The head of a man with only a few hairs on the top of it, is compared to a pumpkin with its slender stalk, or to a cocoa-nut;-the body of an old person, to the burnt fruit of the egg-plant, or to a cage of bones. A man with a withered body is said to hang his arms in walking like a sarus* spreading out its wings. An infirm old man, is compared to an unformed image which has received its first coating of clay, to an earthen vessel corroded by salt. An old man sometimes says, I call this my body no longer, but my burden; or, I am like a ripe mango hanging on the tree, ready to fall by the first breeze of wind; I am like a broken bank, waiting its fall; I am like the image, made to-day, to be cast into the river to-morrow.

Borassus flabelliformis.

+ See page 156.

Carissa Carandas.

Turdus tristis.

Some idea may be formed from this, which is a very common comparison, of the respect which the Hindoos bear towards their incarnate deities.

Ardea Antigone,

Religious comparisons.

The departure of the soul, is compared to the flight of young birds when they leave the nest, or to the snake casting his skin;-the body after death, to the bed, which the person, awaking from sleep, has left;-death is called the great journey; the long sleep ;-the world, for its vanity, is compared to a bubble; to a dream; to the tricks of a juggler ;-a person who neglects the great object of his existence, is said to sell himself for the price of an earthen pot; to scatter jewels in a jungle;-he who sets his heart on the world, is said to act the part of a mother who throws her child into the arms of a daină, viz. a witch; or of him, who rejects the water of life, and swallows poison; or of him, who ties the knot in the corner of his garment, but leaves out the gold;* or of him, who not only sells without profit, but loses the very article itself. In this world, men are like travellers meeting and passing on the road; or like those who meet at a market ;-men bound by the cords of worldly anxiety, are compared to persons swinging with hooks in their backs on the chŭrăkă; or to straws in a whirlpool;-the man who is absorbed in worldly cares, is compared to the bullock in the mill, with a cloth over its eyes; or to the silk-worm, wrapped in its own web. Religion is compared to a companion in a dreary journey, or to a shady resting-place amidst the toils of a journey, or to a friend;-an enemy, to a disease;-youth, to the flood-tide;--every union is dissolved ;-every elevation is succeeded by depression;-the transmigrations of the soul are like human footsteps, or the motions of a leech, which always lays hold of another blade of fore it quits that on which it rests; so, the soul does not quit one body till another is ready for its reception;-as a person obtaining a new garment rejects the old, so the soul, quitting an infirm body, enters into a new one.

Unhandsome features, &c.

grass be

When an ugly man is married to a beautiful female, they say, Ah! they have given the moon to be devoured by the dragon, the ripe mango to the crow, the honey of the lily, to the worm born in ordure. The face of a person strongly marked with the small pox, is compared to a comb of wax, or to a piece of wood devoured by worms. Large breasts are said to resemble pillows or pumpkins;-a broad waist,

The Hindoos have no pockets attached to their clothes; they therefore fold up their money in the edge of that part of the garment which comes round their loins, or tie it up in one corner of the garment.