New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-06-07
An EAST INDIA WxpDrNo.
lThe following description Of an East India nals
riage ceremony d from lady, resident Of Nsw o.
Inaana q

riage ceremony d from lady, resident Of Nsw o.
leans
BoMAY, INDIA, Feb. ~, 1863
=; Dear Aimira- Hoping you win receive the two
etters hsve already sent from Bombsy-sincs here,
warm weather snd the hot suu, ths dusty streets,
ana ~ the darkies the number Of ssTysuts one sees
following after chiiSfen, the houses ai built ont Of
aooss-that ah galleries. Window, docn; in fact,
9nl and stupid, feeling entirely unlike what felt IN
England, for, you zee, We missed last summer; now
Me aie having i here in India India! hers 10 India
d.' Ms. .nd dftpss thing happsn7 Henry :nd me r n
day, cannot realas where am. We feel the Ioas
OF our national protector, the Minnesota - which
lert last koadsy for nnseat In Arabia: Some Of the
and me TO seyeyM places md one procured % ID in.
vitation to HD6oo betrothaI. or course great It.
tention was shown 10 The frgate BY the natives and
some Of the Englisb officers here.
There are not many Americans IL Bombay: ouIv
one American business hcuse, md the partner In that
is Parsee. The American il Young man from
Boston, been here one year, said he always wanted 70
come TO India, went out TO Calcutta two yeam aeo,
bat found too many Americans there cane 10 tSis
place with the firm intent Of going into business per.
severed, and is now established; has spent m even
ing with us on ship, and was telling us how be got
along; that thing You call peyseveTanCs viii accom-
plish great things.
But must tell you Of that Hjndoo affair We wers
at The invitation came In Hindco on one side, traas-
lated into English on the other, ssyng there was also
TO be nauch d0nce, to commence Ut eight and con-
tinue until two On going to the ApoLdo BUdee,
found carriage in waiting, got inr and the driver
asked oar Lieutenant II he must drive him where
those Other cffeers cith The coats had gone; and on
telling him yes we started, and after short time we
came 70 torchlight procession. The music and the
lights and the crowd blocked up the street 10 that
we had 70 turn to another then. we soon came TO
kind Of court, where all the lower caste were Here
we left the carriage and walked into anoiher court
around which were benches and filing up with peo
pie. Then we ascended . few steps. and phced our
feet in the inner court, the grand place OF all tie
inner court, which was carpeted and sofas al around
the room, as l call it. But this inner couyt Wss
erected for this particular occasion BY the old grand
father, and cost about $4,000. The roof Wae AZ
painted glass, and the pillars supporting il were ths
same, and set with different colored stones or ah0gf
the size Of silver dollars and the lights Of thoua
lamps rejecting on these brilliants dazzled our eye1
with their splendor and magnifcence. WswsIked;
IS well as We could. For my part. I was ~ seruck
with the appearance OF the place thought q IA
stumbled into palace in some Of the places of The
Arabian Nights Entertainmentsp The frst thing
knew We were all bowing and scraping Salaam,r
and BY the time we were seated here came waiter
Of bouquets, which we took Of Immediately, fol-
lowed by an ever Of rose water, with topke pepper
bottle sprinkling heads and bouquets Then came
waiter Of little things threecornered, covered with
gold leaf, which we took and found out to be the
betel nut, which the natives chew like the Americans
90 tobacco. Thinks to myself, what is coming
90 put it in my pocket and brought it home. /
looked around to If every one had been treated
as we had been, and found every twirling bou-
quet and their heads wet with rose water. After it
was somewhat quieted, for there was something Of Q
stir on our going in, took view on all Sides and
found to my astonishment that were the only Ia
dies, either white or black. present. But such an
array of black legs and red turbans! In the center
Of the court were the three dancing girls and behind
them three musicians with their Instruments one of
which was tom tom as to the Others, couldn't
understand their names, and shouldn't know how to
spell them even if / did The music commenced and
the girls began to dance and sing, making motions
with their hands, and looking straight at u.s. though
1t was intended for US and us alone. The company
appeared much entertained at the dancing and mu-
sic, which continued without variation for sometime
and when they would stop man would play the yio-
lin, which thought was far preferable to the other
music. Time was going. and we had seen nothing Of
the bride, etc We asked if we were not to them
The reply was, "Oh, yes oh, yes come directly, 10
o'clock" After awhile, in the outer court, the drum
began to beat, the trumpet began to blow, and the
other Instruments chimed in when every one rose
The which followed is perfectly indescribable
torchlight procession, carriage Of flowers which
they strewed in the wav, fireworks the bride and
groom mounted on two white horses, the noise, the
confusion OF languages, the great uproar, ALL all,
everything reminded me of don't know what-of
nothing ever saw before-a real Oriental scene AT
length the little ones were led around, and all shook
bands, and the poor little boy looked scared when
he come to see us dressed strangely He was eight
years old, dressed in gold cloth long coat and his
cap was worth $4,000 Then came the bride, all
covered with scarf just one eye Peeping out. She
was live years old; her arms; ankles and toes were
covered with jewelry. This was her fathers dowery
to her. After seeing them we were privileged to
leave, after being almost saturated again with rose
water. forgot to mention that the first thing the
little ones did on entering the court was to come to
knee at their grandfathers feet, and he gave them
his blessing by putting his hand on their heads. We
left and as the guests all leave each one is presented
with cocoanut they say for good luck to the bride
their different homes and don't each other again
unti ten years, when he goes to her fathers house
and brings her to bis home, The band played cyan.
kee Doodle" in honor to officers present from the fri
gate about fifteen in number, "Wait for the Wagon"
"The Girl left behind Me-, and several other Ameri-
can tunes. or course, you don't take my word, as
my knowledge of tunes is very Indifferent. But 1
India at Hindoo betrothal. We saw nothing of the
ceremony, that occurred at the girls house. and
but few are permitted to witness it, particularly no
Christian The affair reminded me of the parable of
the "Ten Virgins" who went forth at II o'clock to
meet the bridegroom.
We went to the Governors house one evening" and
to an old temple, built perhaps hundreds Of years
since and another evening to the lighthouse, from
which place We had fine panoramic views of all Bonn.
bay island, etc. It overlooked the English cemetery,
and military funeral was just going in. So we
hastened down from our elevated point and followed
to the place OF burial just in time to hear the clergy-
dust ashes to ashes The prayer was then offered the
soldiers fired three rounds, and the poor soldier was
left food for worms in land far distant from his
native home; and we could not but remark that the
next mail would carry the news Of mourning perhaps
to already sorrowing hearts, for 1 never saw SO
much Grape on hats as while in England, and was
told it was for friends fallen in India. The mutiny
was in the east Of India, but Bombay was well
guarded at the time, as have been told Everything
is very quiet again but think these natives are
like the Mexicans-not well to trust them too far.
We have been to very beautiful house and garden
Of rich Parsee, whom the Queen has created ba-
ronet, "Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeeboy." The gardens are
very beautiful and the house is large and airy with
mating on the floor and more easy chairs settees,
and everything to make one comfortable in q warm
climate, and the greatest retinue of servants rich
people have here. This same man is very benevolent
gives much to the poor, and has built hospital, in
which people of every creed and color admitted
which, for Parsee, is very benevolent act for the
different nations people here very rigid in all
their religious rites and ceremonies. We can pass
their Mahommedan temples, but we cannot entes-not
even by taking of our shoes no Christian enters
them nor does the male and female enter at the
same time. The Hindoos are marked on their fore
heads fresh every day; priests in the temples and
in different places, and have kind Of colorad paint
and mark the people as they pass along. You can.
ofYiu bntry