made to understand or
enjoy.

I have said water is the only beverage in general use amongst the
Mussulmaun Natives. They have sherbet, however, as a luxury on occasions
of festivals, marriages, &c. This sherbet is simply sugar and water, with
a flavour of rose-water, or kurah[27] added to it.

The hookha is almost in general use with females. It is a common practice
with the lady of the house to present the hookha she is smoking to her
favoured guest. This mark of attention is always to be duly appreciated;
but such is the deference paid to parents, that a son can rarely be
persuaded by an indulgent father or mother to smoke a hookha in their
revered presence;--this praiseworthy feeling originates not in fear, but
real genuine respect. The parents entertain for their son the most tender
regard; and the father makes him both his companion and his friend; yet
the most familiar endearments do not lessen the feeling of reverence a
good son entertains for his father. This is one among the many samples of
patriarchal life, my first Letter alluded to, and which I can never
witness in real life, without feeling respect for the persons who follow
up the patterns I have been taught to venerate in our Holy Scripture.

The hookha, as an indulgence of a privilege, is a great definer of
etiquette. In the presence of the King or reigning Nuwaub, no subject,
however high he may rank in blood or royal favour, can presume to smoke.
In Native courts, on state occasions, hookhas are presented only to the
Governor-General, the Commander-in-Chief, or the Resident at his Court,
who are considered equals in rank, and therefore entitled to the privilege
of smoking with him; and they cannot consistently resist the intended
honour. Should they dislike smoking, a hint is readily understood by the
hookha-bahdhaar[28] to bring the hookha, charged with the materials,
without the addition of fire. Application of the munall[29] (mouth-piece)
to the month indicates a sense of the honour conferred.

[1] _Mahall._

[2] _Parda._

[3] _Jhilmil, chiq,_ the Anglo-Indian 'chick'.

[4] _Shatranji_, see p. 19.

[5] _Sozani_ (_sozan_, 'a needle'), an embroidered quilt.

[6] _Razai_, a counterpane padded with cotton.

[7] _Dopatta_, a double sheet: see p. 26.

[8] See p. 24.

[9] _Dastarkhwan_, see p. 108.

[10] 'Ayishah, daughter of Abubakr, third and best loved wife of the
Prophet, though she bore him no child. The tale of the scandal abou