Hamilton’s account of the east indies.

3 r 9

^The poor miracle-monger loft his head in the fray. That fpoiled his journey to Ama-dabant, and, which was worfe, brought great fcandal on the whole order.

I was one day walking by the fide of a great tank or pond near Surat , in company withan Englifh lady, and feeing a young Jougy fitting by the tomb of a celebrated Cutte-ree, who are a fed! that bury their dead, the youth feemed to be very devout in prayer;but, by the lady’s order, I interrupted •him, and afking him why he prayed there, andto whom did he direct his prayer, he anfwered that he prayed to God to make him asgood a man as he was who lay interred there. I afked him where God was, at whichhe feemed to finile, and afked me, where is he not ? and fo continued a little fpace inprayer, and when he had done, he took fome flowers and grain, with a little water,and befprinkled the tomb, and making fome decent cringings towards the tomb, tooka formal leave to go his way.

Chap. XIV.— Is a Continuation of my Obfervations of the Religions and Cujloms ufed in

Surat and the adjacent Country.

THE great God , whom all adore, they call Ouedaa; but they have many inferiordeities, and of them Mahadow, or as they exprefs it, Maadow, is the fecond in placeand dignity. Ramm is the third, and Brahma the fourth. And Parvette is a goddefsmuch venerated, and is fuppofed to be the wife of Maadow. The inferior deities orfaints are very numerous; but the images of Gunies, Jagarenat, Ruftum, and Gopalfamiare moft worfhipped in their temples, as reckoned to have molt intereft with the fu-perior deities.

The marriages of the Gentiles in India , are celebrated with much pomp. They be-gin in the iorenoon to fend a long train of people with covered dilhes or balkets ontheir heads, with prefeats from the bridegroom to the bride, and before the prefentmarch hautboys, drums, and trumpets. After the prefents march fome female flavesfor the bride and bridegroom’s ufe. After the flaves comes an empty pallankeen totranfport the bride from her houfe to her hoflband’s. At night the bride and bride-groom are carried in ftate through the town, with torch-light and mufick before them,and fireworks played off as they pafs in the ftreets, and the parents of the marriedcouple fend prefents to their friends. They have no choice in their marriages, for thatis left to the parents or neareft relations ; and they are married before they can be ca-pable either to choofe or refufe, being often married at fix or feven years of age; butthey do not cohabit before the bride be about twelve, and the bridegroom fixteen. Asto their burials, fome burn and fome inter; but children under four years of age areall buried. And the wives are not permitted to burn with their hufbands ; but, whenonce Ihe is a widow, fhe never can marry again, but lives to bewail her widowhood,and perhaps her virginity, all her days.

They marry but one wife, except in cafes of barrennefs or adultery, though thereare no laws againft polygamy. They abhor buggery and fodomy, and the Mahome-tans for that account, becaufe they ufe them. They eat twice a day, but the huflbandand wife eat feparate; and they vvalh before and after meat. And the Europeansthere follow that cleanly cuftom.

The Parfees are numerous about Surat and the adjacent countries. They are are mnant of the ancient Perfians, who rather choofe to be banifhed their country thanchange their religion; for in the feventh century of the Chriftian sera, when Maho-ttietifn* oyer-rail Perfia, the fpirit of perfection came there, and fome 4 or 500

families