At Surat, there is an hospital for animals, supported by the superstition of the Hindoos; not only quadrupeds and birds are received into it, but it has also wards for bugs and other vermin, which are carefully nourished ; this is, perhaps, an extreme instance of the superstitious dread which the more rigid Ilindoos entertain of destroying ani mal life; but the practice of sweeping the ground care fully, and very gently, in order that no living being may be trod upon, and of constantly keeping gauze before the mouth, that no insect may be inhaled by the breath, are by no means uncommon among the more devout Brah mins.
The religion of the Hindoos strongly enjoins marriage as a sacred duty ; but as strongly reprobates the marriage of any of the younger branches of a lamily before the elder: marriages usually take place when the children are I L years old. Polygamy is permitted, but seldom practised, except where the wife is barren. As a powerful religious prejudice or feeling prevails in favour of. leaving a repre sentative, a third marriage is even allowed ; and if all are unfruitful, a child is adopted. The marriages of the Hin (loos are celebrated with great pomp and expencc, and are attended with a vast number of ceremonies : the most ma terial part of the ceremony consists in the bride's taking seven steps, for the marriage is not complete till the seventh step is taken. In the evening the bridegroom points out to his bride the polar star, as an emblem of stability ; for three days they remain in the house of the bride's father, where the marriage is celebrated ; and then a formal entry into the bridegroom's house takes place : many ceremonies attend this, the principal of which is the liberation of a cow, which had been tied up in the northern side of the apartment, by a barber, who attends for that purpose, and exclaims, " the cow the cow !" The Hin doos make presents to the fathers of their brides, instead of receiving dowers. All persons bearing the sixth de gree of affinity, or even the same family name, are forbid den to intermarry.
As it is deemed of such high importance to have child ren, the wife, during her pregnancy, is attended to with great care ; when she has attained the seventh month, a particular festival is celebrated, and another when she is delivered. As soon as the child is born, it is bathed with cold water : information is immediately sent to the magis trate, in order that it may be added to the list of those who compose the caste to which it belongs: its birth day is also entered by the Brahmins, in registers kept by them in the temples, of births, marriages, and deaths. The astrologer next forctels its destiny. On the 10th day after the birth, when the period of purification is complete, a name is given to the child, from the elements, plants, or stars, or from the symbols by which they are represented. On this
occasion, there is a burnt-offering of wood, rice, and butter. Water is consecrated by the Bramins, and with this the child, and every person that is present, is sprinkled. If the parents are too poor to pay a Brahmin, the name of the child is performed by the chief of the caste. New cere monies, with presents to the Brahmins, take place when boys arrive at the age of seven or nine,—the period at which the three first castes receive the string, which is one of their distinguishing marks. In cases of adoption, the child is placed on a large brass plate, in the house of the person who means to adopt it ; and after the husband and wife have repeated a certain form of words, the cere mony is finished by their drinking water mixed with saf fron, and pouring part of it on the feet of the child; if they afterwards have children, the adopted child retains his rights, as if he had been their own, and first born.
There are schools in almost every village, for teaching reading, writing, and accounts ; the children sit in the open air, under the shade of a cocoa nut, or other tree, and trace on the sand, with the forefinger of the right hand, the ele ments of the alphabet, and then smooth it with the left hand. This mode of teaching, like all the other customs and practices of the Hindoos, is very ancient, being men tioned by Megasthenes. The village schools are only day schools ; each child pays one or two anal per month. In opulent families teachers are retained as servants, as the children of respectable Hindoos seldom go to school. Persian and Arabic are taught for the most part by mola vies, who frequently have a few scholars in their houses, whom they support as well as instruct. When the child ren have made a tolerable progress in writing on sand, they begin to write on paint leaves, with an iron pen, or style. When the teacher enters the school, his pupils throw them selves down at full length bt fore him, and place their right hand on their mouth, from which it is not ilithdrawn till he gives them permission to speak. In some parts of Hirt dostan, there are schools supported by voluntary cm.tribu dons, Or by the produce of land. In the 24 Pergunnalls. a small district in Bengal, which contains only about 882 square miles, there are 190 seminaries of this description. in which Hindoo laws, grammar, and metaphysics, are taught ; the annual expellee is estimated at 19,500 rupees. When the education of a Hindbo is completed, he com mences the business of his father.