The ceremonies which are practised in cases of illness, which it is anticipated will ptove fatal, are numerous, and some of them of such a nature as seem intended, as they are certainly calculated, to hasten the death of the patient ; their professed object is to secure his salvation. After these ceremonies have been performed, it is deemed un holy to liVe ; and the patient, if he does survive, loses his caste, and becomes a pariar. At the approach of death, he is laid on cusa grass, in the open air, for it is deemed un holy to die in the house ; or, if the Ganges is near, he is carried to its banks, and there bequeaths part of his pro perty to the Brahmins. Water and mud from this river are thrown upon him and the salagrama stone, already de scribed, is placed near him. Several other ceremonies are performed till he dies, when another set of ceremonies com mence. All the relations repair to the house of the deceased. Cries, lamentations, dishevelled hair, beating of breasts, and rolling themselves on the ground, are common among the women. After all the ceremonies are performed, pre parations are made for the funeral: the body is washed ; the sign of the caste is marked on the forehead, and betel is put into the mouth. It is carried to the place of funeral by pariars ; and when it arrives there, the nose and stomach are pinched, water is flung in the face, and tomtoms and trumpets are sounded, to perceive if it be really dead. The funeral ceremonies are always performed at night. The followers of Siva bury their dead, whereas those of Vishnu burn them. The burying grounds are out of the towns, generally near a river or tank. Each caste has their separate burying place. As a dead body is supposed to pollute not only the house in which it is, but also the neighbourhood, all who live in the same street abstain from food till it is removed. It is not carried out by the door, but through a hole in the wall made for that purpose, in a sitting posture. After the funeral, the nearest relation returns to the house of the deceased, preceded by a person bearing a staff, to drive away evil spirits. A variety of ceremonies are then performed for a few days ; and till these ai e completed, all the relations are restricted to one meal a-day ; and in cases where the body has been burnt, they are not permitted to sleep on a bedstead, or adorn or perfume their persons till the ashes are gathered. This cannot be done till food has been offered to the manes of the deceased, the Brahmins have been fed, and the officiat ing priest received his fee. The ashes are gathered ac cording to a prescribed form, ind then thrown into the water. Ninety-six formal obsequies are performed in the course of the year, besides daily oblations to the manes.
The mourning of the Hindoos is very simple, and in some respects resembles that of other Asiatic nations. It con sists in shaving the hair ; covering the head with the linen which they usually wear on their shoulders ; and abstain ing from the use of betel. As this last is deemed very an noying, the abstinence lasts only for a few days.
The customs of the Hindoos which we have described are immediately derived from, and intimately connected with, their icligion and superstitions. There are others, however, to which we must briefly advert. The extreme fondness of the Orientals lor brutal and minute ceremo nies in their interviews with each other, is well known. The most important of these ceremonies, practised espe cially among the Mahratta tribes, is called milling. A detail of would be tedious and uninteresting. It takes place only bctwecn two persons of equal rank, and generally hen they arc in the field with their troops. A
spot mid-way between their camps is selected for the in tt ; and towards this spot two splendid and magnifi cent cavalcades set off, as nearly as possible, at the same time. As soon as they come in view of each other, the ti tles, rank, &c. of the parties, are solemnly and loudly pro claimed by officers kept for that purpose. The person to whom the honour is intended then first lights from his ele phant, and mills with all the attendants of his visitor. The ceremony consists in embracing ; laying the head first over the right, and then over the left shoulder, and making a salute by lifting the hand up to the forehead. No business is transacted on these occasions. When the chiefs visit each other in their respective camps, valuable presents are given ; and on all occasions of visiting among people of all ranks, betel is invariably served round : without it no per son ever leaves the house of the person he visits.
There are some customs of the Hindoos which bear a striking resemblance to some of the customs of Eu ropeans. During the festival of Huli, whidh is held in the month of March, the custom of what we call making April fools is practised ; and on one of the festivals of Bhavani, which occurs about the beginning of May, the caste of cow-keepers erect a pole adorned with flowers, round which they perform certain ceremonies, very simi lar to those which are performed round the Maypole in Englnd.
The Hindoos are much addicted to gaming, especially cock-fighting ; besides cocks, quails and other birds are trained for this purpose. At these games, the Hindoos will frequently lose all their ornaments, and even part of their dress. Chess is a favourite play with them, and ap pears to have been played in the most remote periods of their history, but in a much more complicated form than at present. The mode of playing it, in use among the modern Hindoos, very strongly resembles the European mode. Dancing, tumbling, slight of hand tricks, and wrestling, are favourite amusements with the Hindoos. Dancing, however, is not permitted, except to a particu lar caste, who are trained to the art. The dancing-girls, or devadassi, are generally of agreeable persons and coun tenances; their motions display great grace and ease, but are not always scrupulously decent. They devote them selves to the honour of the gods; but this does not pre vent them from hiring themselves out to those who wish for their exhibitions ; and accordingly their dancing forms part of all great entertainments. They are adorned with jewels ; and their robes, which are made not to impede their motions, and to display their persons to the great est advantage. are hung with little bells There are also male dancers, but these confine themselves to pantomimes. Surat is fanious for its dancing-girls. The feats of the jug glers far surpass any that are practised by those of Europe; in connection with them may be mentioned the exhibition of dancing snakes, which are handled without the least danger. The feats of the professed wrestlers arc very surprising, exhibiting a degree of strength and agility, and at the same time of elegance and grace in their atti tudes, of which, it is said, those who have not witnessed them can form no adequate Idea. But the most favourite amusement of the Ilindoos consists in hearing the recital of poems or hi,tories. These are recited by persons who make it a regular business ; sometimes they merely re cite; at others, a kind of recitative is performed.