Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1885-09-26
HlNDOO CHARACTERISTICS.
Washing n Jampanny-SmeIls and
Noises OF India

the New York san:
l could stand it no longer, and | sent
for Mughy Gan, the chief servant of the
house, and a Hindoo.
"Mughy Can" l said, "the jampan-
mics are too dirty. want you to wash
them
wash the j~ampannies7' exclaimed
the man, in an astonishcd tone.
eyes" | answered. They must have
a bath. You must attend to it, SO that
it will be we'll done
Every well, Mem Sahib, it shall be
done at once, > was the answer.
He was in the court yard a few min
utes later.
''Seis Lok," he was saying to the
h~ousckecper, ''Seis Lok, sone soap |
Yantm
''Soap7 Some soap" exclaimed the
old woman. Why, what does Mughy
Can want some soap for, What for,
Nnghy CAM
ITO wash the dandics it is wanted,
most excellent Scis Lokr'.
"Oh, to wash the dandics, Did you
ever hear of such a thing bcforcI'
OF course, Mughy Gan had never heard
of washing a jampanny, ard no ono else
had ever heard of it. A j~ampanny, or,
as the IIindoos say, a dandy, is a Sikh
who carries ladies about in jampans in
the hills. They are merry fellows, as
full of fun as children; and, work
ing in this way during the summer, they
retire to their mountain home with the
coming Of winter, there to enjoy a dolce
far nicntc life Of several months. They
are greasy and dirty, and | made arrange.
ments for their cleanliness after having
endured them a fortnight.
BY and by, when | went out to be car
ricd for my afternoon excursion, | found
cfOrr on the vcranda, their faces
shining with soap and broad grins, and
wearing the shamcfaced expression of a
little boy who is conscious of new boots,
and longs yet half fears to hear them re
marked upon.
"Bravo" | said to Mughy Gan by way
of commentator.
"Ies-washed! :" he said hesitatingly.
''But, M'ship, you cannot keep them so.
Such will always be dirty
Verify. The gospel Of cleanliness is
not for India. DO begin to argue1 |
nm told that "a virtue of Guatama
Buddha was his dirty iacc." And yet a
bath IS a llindoo's frequent practice.
But the use OF mustard oil overbalances
oil ADDITIONS. \ native always polishes
his skin with mustard oil before bathing.
ut prevents the water from entering the
blood through the skin, Gauga tells me.
1t makes the presence Of a native any
thing but agreeable, fer the amounting
having greatly diminished the power of
the water, the suns action upon the Gu
taneous surface is such that the smell has
actually the effect Of inJuring the health
OF Europeans who nave to inhale it for
many hours daily in the katcherrics and
courts of law.
If you say to one of these objectiona-
ble-smclling parties, "You would do
well to take a bath he will answer
spitefully
II am n Ilindoo,' This, being inter
pretcd, means that the man scrupulously
observes the many washings thai his law
c%njoins. But those washings are some
thing like the mumbling Of a formal
prayer. Indeed, the high caste HindoO
may not, like the Pharisee of old, eat
except he wash.
But | was disappointed in the jam
pannles. | thought a clean Jam pannv
would I've 4 real dandy, in the English
sense of the word, and that a clean
Jampannv would smell sweet, espe.
clally AS | had taken care that their gar
ments came direct from the laundry.
But, alas, they smell as Sikhs usually
do. There was the odor of ghce-thc
common ingredient of Diet among the
natives, and nothing is more self assert.
ing OF nas;incSS. Another sniff Gar.
lie! Native cookery is nothing without
Chcc, garlic and mustard oil. Another
sniff, ! think Of the smell Of rrooms,
and | get near the truth. The BOYS had
been hathcd At the stables where The
saises had tainted the air. and the new
~ Numbered garments with the smoke
that arises in the stable ward from til,
burning Of the stable sweeping. a dut,
OF the sails that our gardeners woulc
esteem sinful. But again sniff sniff
The hookah, Now, a hookah Is not
narghileh. a mccrschaum. or a dudeen
but IT Is n pip" with 4 reed stem and
bowl that is made of a coarse yellow pot
terry. And the tobacco is fearful. 1t i
rank and coarse, and is STEPPED N blacE
molaSses with <undry other herbs. Th,
smoke is abominablc. OF course. tn,
lo-l.-. LII 4.l-.