The office of *Hookah-Burdar* is common both to Hindoos and
Mussulmans, though more prevalent among the latter. The dress is
the same as that of the *Kedmutgars*, many of whom occasionally
attend at table, and prepare the *Hookah*. The wages are generally
from six to ten rupees monthly; many receive much more; indeed,
I have heard more than one gentleman boast, that their smoking
expenses did not come within an hundred rupees. Some even keep
two *Hookah-Burdars*, to attend them by night as well as by day.

The *Hookah* apparatus consists of the glass, or composition
bottom, equal to about two quarts, which should be two-thirds filled
with clear cold water. The snake, or pliant tube, is about ten feet
long, made of a particular kind of bark, resembling that of the plane,
or sycamore, bound round a skeleton of pewter wire, and ultimately
covered with calico and *cobbradool*, generally black or purple. At
one end a mouth-piece of agate, or composition, fixes on a small
wooden socket, and the other end fastens by the like means to a
bamboo tube, which joins to another that is immersed in the water
about three inches: on this last, which rises a foot or more perpendi-
cularly, stands an earthen receiver, which supports a piece of tile,
or *towah*, having on its bottom the tobacco, made into a cake by
means of molasses, plantains, &c. This tile is kept a little above the
edge of the receiver, or *chillum*, so that the air may draw freely
through the water into the empty part of the *Hookah* bottom. On
the *towah*, or tile, four half balls of a kind of charcoal, peculiarly
prepared from burnt rice, are placed, red hot; these cause a smoke
to arise from the tobacco on the bottom of the *towah*. A silver

PLATE XII.

MARQUIS WELLESLEY'S DANDY, OR BOATMAN, IN
HIS LIVERY.

THE person exhibited in this Plate must not be viewed as the
ordinary *Dandy*, or boatman, employed in the vessels trading
throughout the country; these being generally poor naked wretches,
whose avocation is, perhaps, the most laborious of any yet known,
and whose depravity and thievish habits are absolutely proverbial.
The uniform in which the subject of this Chapter is habited, is the
distinguishing dress of the boatmen employed by Marquis Wellesley,
the late Governor General of India, on board the Honourable Com-
pany's State Yacht, the *Soonamooky*, and its attendant *Wheel-Cherrah*,
or light barge, the head of which is ornamented, or rather constructed,
with the resemblance of the fore parts of an Elephant; whence its de-
signation. The *Soonam*, implying "the appearance of gold," was
built by Mr. Hastings, while Governor, of teak wood, sheathed with
copper, and was fitted up in a style suited to the dignity of a Vice-
roy. If my memory serves me right, this vessel, which is a strange
mixture of European and oriental naval architecture, cost no less
than forty-five thousand rupees. It can row about thirty oars; but,

PLATE XIII.

AN EUROPEAN LADY GIVING INSTRUCTIONS TO HER DURZEE, OR NATIVE TAILOR.

THE dress of Europeans being so very different from that of the natives, and a large stock of linen being necessary for the purpose of shifting twice in the day, occasion the necessity for every family, indeed for every individual, to retain a tailor in the house. They are all men, and receive wages in proportion to their ability. They find their own thread; which is very fine cotton, spun into small bundles. At least a quarter of every tailor's time is occupied in twisting four or five threads together, it being too slight to bear any stress singly. A Durzee in the employ of a bachelor, where there is no extraordinary work to do, beyond cutting out, making and repairing the linen of his master and his lady behind the curtain, usually receives from five to eight rupees monthly. Such as are capable of making ladies' dresses are in great requisition, and often receive extraordinary wages: I have known them as high as thirty rupees!

Being always in the house, and generally very neat in their dresses, as also having to measure the ladies occasionally, in particular for various articles required to fit them about the neck and body

PLATE XIV.

A DANCING WOMAN, OF BENGAL, EXHIBITING
BEFORE AN EUROPEAN FAMILY.

A WIDE distinction exists between the dancing women of Bengal Proper, and those of the Upper Provinces: the latter are in the greater estimation among Europeans. Not, indeed, that much can be said by this meretricious tribe in general. The beauty of individuals, and the grace with which they dance, or accompany their songs, usually establishes the fame of the set to which they appertain. For the greater portion are either slaves, bought by adventurous bawds, during times of scarcity; or are deluded girls, that have been seduced from their families at a very early age; probably, when only five or six years old, and trained up to this infamous calling.

We must not, however, estimate reputation on the same scale by which it is valued among us. The immense number of young women retained among the natives in their *harams*, or seraglios, as well as the common practice among Europeans of having native housekeepers, renders that desultory cohabitude, so much condemned among European nations, rather enviable than infamous. Such women as are celebrated for perfection in this line, often rise to very

PLATE XV.

A DANCING WOMAN, OF LUEKNOW, EXHIBITING
BEFORE AN EUROPEAN FAMILY.

LUÉKNOW being the capital of the Nabob Vizier of Oude, at
whose court all the luxuries of the East abound, and where most of
the rich natives have either a residence or an agent, that city natu-
rally becomes the resort of such persons as are celebrated in their
several callings, or who possess a liberal spirit of adventure. Ac-
cordingly, we find many *tuffahs*, or sets of dancing girls, at Lucknow,
eminent either for their personal charms, or the superior elegance of
their accomplishments. The natives, however, are not so liberal to
these Cyprian devotees as formerly; nor indeed, all things consi-
dered, do they, by any means, retain the splendour and munificence
which, some years back, were their peculiar characteristics. The
people of Hindostan have undergone a change of character, within
the last thirty years, in consequence of the introduction of Eu-
ropeans and their customs, among the superior classes of the
natives. Whether from that circumstance, or the great influx of
young officers, &c. that arrived from Europe, between the years
1778 and 1785, it is certain, that the prime sets of dancing girls
quitted the cities, and repaired to the several cantonments, where

PLATE XVI.

AN EUROPEAN LADY, ATTENDED BY A SERVANT
USING A HAND PUNKAH, OR FAN.

THERE are various kinds and sizes of the hand *Punkah*. The largest are such as we generally find accompany palankeens, being carried by one of the bearers in lieu of an umbrella. These are formed of a staff about five feet long, near the end of which, a circular frame, of perhaps twenty-eight or thirty inches diameter, is affixed to the side, forming somewhat the shape of the letter P. The frame is covered with any coloured or printed calico, on both sides, and is furnished with a very full flounce, all the way round, of about a foot or more in depth, of the same stuff. The staves are lackered generally in broad rings, of various colours, strongly contrasted.

Other *Punkahs* are made from the branches of the *palmirah*, or
toddy tree; which, being very large and solid, answer this purpose
admirably. The leaf, which is crimped exactly like a lady's fan
when half open, grows upon a very substantial branch, which, being
split, forms an excellent handle or staff. Thus a *Punkah* may be
made of any size, with the singular advantage of the whole being but
one piece. The smaller kinds are literally hand *Punkahs*, they being

PLATE XVII.

AN EUROPEAN LADY AND HER FAMILY, AT-
TENDED BY AN AYAH, OR NURSE.

THIS occupation is generally followed by such as, in the first
instance, become wet nurses to the children of European ladies, who
always avoid rearing them personally, on account of the extreme
relaxation and peculiar inconvenience, to which they would else be
subject. No children are put out to nurse: the *Dhood-Dhye*, or wet
nurse, is invariably accommodated in the house, where she assumes
no small degree of consequence, especially if she thinks her services
indispensable. In the course of time she becomes one of the family,
and changes from wet to dry nurse. Many of these women, whose
first entrance into the service of Europeans is quite accidental,
retain their situations for a great many years, and amass very com-
fortable independencies.

The *Ayahs* are commonly fond of children, as indeed the native
women in general are; and this is not to be wondered at, for that
attachment is a principal source of amusement. A total deficiency
of education, the absence of every kind of rational recreation,
except the game of *patcheess*, which is highly interesting, and pos-

PLATE XVIII.

KAUT-POOTLIES, OR PUPPETS, EXHIBITED BY
NATIVE JUGGLERS, FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF
EUROPEAN CHILDREN.

THE Jugglers of India stand acknowledged, by all who have seen them, as the most complete of their profession: their several legerdemain tricks, exclusive of some astonishing feats peculiar to themselves, are managed with such adroitness, as could not fail to call forth the approbation of even our most celebrated exhibitors! Their puppet-shows possess more humour than our's, and are managed with more regularity and neatness. A sort of booth is erected, having a theatrical front and stage for the display of the *Kaut-pootlies*, literally implying "wooden infant." The operators, for there are generally two or more, are concealed behind a cloth, over which they direct the movements of the puppets, and give vocal imitations suited to the representation, in which the devices of thieves never fail to bear a principal share.

No people in the world are better calculated to give a faithful idea, of all that relates to furtive operations, than the Jugglers; they being commonly notorious thieves, who, under the cloak of display-

PLATE XIX.

A NATIVE GENTLEMAN SMOKING A GOORGOORY,
OR HOOKAH, IN HIS PRIVATE APARTMENTS, AT-
TENDED BY HIS DANCING GIRLS

THE *Goorgoory* is formed on the same principles as the *Hookah*; but, for the sake of convenience, has, in lieu of a long pliant snake, a curved pipe of bamboo, at the end of which the mouth-piece is fitted. The bottoms, or water vessels, are made of composition, but smaller than the *Hookah* bottoms, and more of an urn shape in general. The smoker usually holds the *Goorgoory* in his hand. The lower classes of natives all smoke the *Goorgoory*, made of a cocoa nut, with only a straight bamboo pipe, serving as a snake, and without any mouth-piece. This apparatus, indeed, is an indispensable part of the travelling baggage of even the poorest among them: and to such a pitch is their passion for smoking carried, that it is common to see a *Goorgoory* slung to some part of a gentleman's palankeen, when he is going but a few miles from home. When resting, or waiting for their master, the bearers obtain some lighted charcoal, and soon put the *Goorgoory* in motion, passing it round in high style, and playing at patcheess, on the ground; where, by means of pieces of brick, stones, &c. they continue to get through

PLATE XX.

MARQUIS WELLESLEY AND HIS SUITE, AT THE
NABOB OF OUDE'S BREAKFAST TABLE, VIEWING
AN ELEPHANT-FIGHT.

THE mention of two elephants contending, naturally raises
ideas of the most sanguine nature, and excites our curiosity to
behold a combat, which, from the bulk and powers of the animals
engaged, we pre-suppose must be replete with interest. In this,
however, the spectator is grievously disappointed; for, except that
the instigated beasts now and then press against each other's heads,
and clash their teeth, there appears little effort, and much less of
skill, in either party. Sometimes, indeed, one of the elephants will
run off, in which case the other follows for a short distance, but soon
relapses into his wonted placidity. The late Nabob of Lueknow,
*Asoph al Dowlah*, whose intellects were as heavy as his enormous
head, derived much pleasure from such spectacles; and often ex-
pressed his surprise, that our Governor-General did not amuse
himself and his court in a similar manner. He might have learnt,
from experience, that the British government was intent on contests
of much greater importance!