The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-08-01
ARABIAN NIGHTS IN THE 10TH
CENTURY.

ARABIAN NIGHTS IN THE 18TH
CENTURY.
When the breeze of joyful dawn
blew free in the silken sails of child
hood who had not wandered into that
delightful fairy land of the Arabian
nights? The golden prime" of good
Haroun AIraschid is no more many q
revolving lustre has come and gone
since his ''goodly time;" but years have
wrought little change III the habits OF
the east its gorgeOusness IS as rich as
ever, and still it showers on its kings
"barbaric pearl and gold" Railways
intersect the land of the sun, and the
bulbul is startled by the shrek of the
locomotive; the competition wallah re-
poses under the solemn palms ''un-
wood of summer wind :" the Union
Jack has for many a day foated in the
blue of "the deep sphere overhead ;"
colleges for the training of young In
dian aristocrats have been established,
and are well attended, yet immemorial
customs not only linger but live all over
the east, Notwithstanding the western
light which system, and rule, and col
lege, and travel have borne over the
Indian ocean or waited across the tide
less sea.
marriage took place towards the
close of April in the town of Bhownug-
CUR, in the Kattywar peninsula, which,
illustrates the pertinacity of customs
in India, and gives Us at once curious
and interesting picture of native life.
Bhownu9gur Is a town distant from
Bombay about 200 miles, is the capital
of state bearing the same name--a
state whose ruler is his Highness Tux
hutsingh Juwuntsing, whose official ii
tie is Thakore. The Thallore completed
on the 10Th of April his seventeenth
year, and Is consequently a minor ac-
cording to British notions, and, there
fore, holds his state under administra-
tors. But according 20 native ideas he
is every inch a man and a ruler, and
hence the poor young fellow had to
marry four wives on the very day he
came of age To marry four wives
even in the east on the same day is q
most unusual thing, and the reason why
he was bound to take four better halves
viii be made plain by and by. Mean
while let us attend the ceremony ana
hasten to Bhownuggur.
It IS the 10Th of April, and we can
scarcely move in Bhownuggur for the
crowds who are making holiday, and
rejoicing with gayety of demeanor
and richness of cOloring that make a
Roman carnival seem tame. And well
may there be this huge con. estion of
festivity-sounds and sights of Joy on
all sides, and stretching and vibrating
far-for the rejoicing is produced by
fourfold action, and four brides are be-
ing honored to-day. The Thakore mar
ries % the daughter of the Great Chief
of Wudwa "A princess fourteen years
old (2) the sister of the heir apparent
of the Gondul dynasty, who Is only
fifteen years old; 81 the sister of the
father of the reigning Chief of Nanka-
neer, aged twenty-five ; and a. the
daughter of very opulent landowner
of Dank, at Talaja, aged only ten or
eleven years. Wudwan was the first wife,
as in her veins there flowed the " bluest
blood" while Gondul, the second, is
not only the Notwithstanding brought
an immense dowery-but the most
pleasant to her husband. Wonderful TO
relate, she can tread a little English
and desires to learn TO play on the
piano" Long before this suspicious
18th dav of April the festivities con-
nected with the fourfold wedding COM
menced, the brides having to be brought
from their respective homes by the
trusty retainers despatched with all due
formality by the young Thakore. Then
came the professions and marches and
conference.-the by sunlight and star
light, and the torches blazing, and the
long bray of the heralding horn, and
behind the dancers dancing in tune. J"
What picture Millais would have made
of it all The Thakore's mounted and
foot guards; the huge elephants, fling
ing about their trunks and staggering
under their howdahs of blue and gold !;
/ the camels and palfreys the drummers,
with their tom toms the royal chariot
/ followed by an interminable line of car
riages, and on all sides the masses of
/ Bhownugger admiring the rich robes of
/ the courtiers, their gold and tinseI flash
/ ing and Pickering in the sun, the horses
/ and camels dyed of various hues and
patterns, fantastic or grotesque, the
/ flags fiounting the blue sky, the gar
/ lands and plates of gold on vermilion-
| streaked buffaloes which drew the lesser
/ nobility. But there were many things
| the crush of Millais would be power
! less to render in this Oriental scence,
and he would have to ask the imagina
ton Of the spectator to supply tho buzz
| of myriad voices, the shrieks of pipe
( and twang of guitar, the bray of the
trumpet, the trump of the drum, the
laughter and gay talk of the courtiers
1 and of the Rajah himself, who seems to
[ be q very pleasant fellow. There was
/ the same tumult and color and gorge
business about all the professions
about those despatching the ENJOYS and
those which attended their reappear-
ance.
In the midst of the rolling crowds
came the closely -curtained cars of the
bridges, drawn by oxen having their
horns encased in thick plates of gold,
/ the silver bells depending from the gar
/ lands round their Threats tinkling as
they trotted along. All Bhownuggur
| has come out to meet the bridal process
! sion aims are layished on the poor
silks and gold on the 1ich the people
are frantic with Joy and excitement
rose-W alter misses gently through the
air garlands are flung hither and
thither altar of roses and sandal falls
1 as thick as if there was a thunder storm
of clouds made up of exhaled purfume.
! The brides, following native etiquette,
camped outside the walls OF the city
until the happy day, when at high noon,
under the waving palms and quivering
| tamarinds, a procession, headed by the
| young bridegroom laughing and joking,
| goes to fetch bride No. l. She, too,
/ has set out. See Her rath, or car,
comes in sight, and the eager and gal
liant Thakore throws himself from his
| splendid steed, rushes forward, enters
I the rath, and seats himself beside the
princess-an innovation, 1t being the
custom hitherto for the bride to sit at
the feet of the bridegroom on his enter
ing the car, in order to indicate her sub
SCI viency. The cortege now proceeds
to the house of a relative of the Tha-
kore, where, in the centre hall, in the
presence of about a hundred of the
noblest Ragpoots of Kattywar, the mar
rage ceremony is performed. The rite
is simple 4 few flowers are strewn
after and pan distributed the Deity S
blessing invoked; the bride authenti-
Gated and then the sacred cattaa is re-
moved, and the brio egroom for the first
time catches a glimpse of the girl he
has married ! Immediately the young
bridegroom went out to show himself
to the cheering crowds, and then took
his young bride to the palace. To make
long story short, he went forthwith
and did likewise to the three other
brides. But it would be a mistake to
suppose that when the fourth marriage