r elegant female dancers appeared
dressed in muslin, ornamented with gold and silver, and loaded with
jewellery,--ears, forehead, neck, breast, loins, hands, arms, feet,
in short, every part of the body was covered with gold, silver, and
precious stones; even the toes were ornamented with them, and from
the nose, a large ring with three stones hung over the mouth. Two
of the dancers first commenced. Their dance consisted of the same
winding movements which I had already seen in Benares, only they
were far more animated, and twisted their fingers, hands, and arms
about in every conceivable manner. They might well be said to dance
with their arms but not with their feet. They danced for ten
minutes without singing, then they began to scream, without however
keeping time, and their motions became more violent and wild, until
in about half an hour both strength and voice failed, they stopped
quite exhausted, and made way for their sisters, who repeated the
same spectacle. Dr. Rolland told me that they represented a love
story, in which every virtue and passion, such as truth, self-
devotion, hate, persecution, despair, etc., played a part. The
musicians stood a little behind the dancers, and followed all their
movements. The whole space which such a company requires, is at the
most ten feet in length and eight broad. The good Hindoos amuse
themselves for hours together with these tasteless repetitions.

I remember having read in books that the Indian female dancers were
far more graceful than the European, that their songs were highly
melodious, and that their pantomime was tender, inspiring, and
attractive. I should scarcely think the authors of such books could
have been in India! Not less exaggerated are the descriptions of
others, who affirm that there are no dances more indelicate than
those of the Indians. I might again ask these people if they had
ever seen the Sammaquecca and Refolosa in Valparaiso, the female
dancers of Tahiti, or even our own in flesh-coloured leggings? The
dresses of the females in Rajpootan and some parts of Bundelkund are
very different from those of other parts of India. They wear long,
coloured, many-folded skirts, tight bodies, which are so short that
they scarcely cover the breasts; and, over this, a blue mantle, in
which they envelop the upper part of the body, the head, and the
face, and allow a part to hang down in front like a veil. Girls who
do not always have the head c