Smoking tobacco is almost the only luxury.
Drunkenness is confined to damp countries, such as Bengal, the Concans, and some parts of the south of India. Opium, which is used to great excess in the west of Hindostan, is peculiar to the Rajputs and does not affect the lower classes. Some kinds of fruit are cheap and common. Assafoetida is a favorite ingredient, as giving to some of their richer dishes something of the flavor of flesh. The caution used against eating out of dishes or on carpets defiled by other castes gives rise to some curious customs.