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Show HINDOO WOMEN. The Hindoo women, when young, are delicate and beautiful, so far as we can reconcile beauty with the olive complexion. They are nicely proportioned, their limbs small, their features soft and regular, and their eyes black and languishing; but the bloom of youth soon decays, and age makes rapid progress before they have seen thirty years. This may be accounted for from the heat of the country, as they are often mothers at twelve years of age. No women can be more attentive to cleanliness than the Hindoos; they take every method to render their persons delicate, soft, and attractive. Their dress is peculiarly becoming, consisting of a long piece of silk or cotton tied around the waist and hanging in a graceful manner to the feet; it is afterward brought over the body in negligent folds, then they cover the bosom with a short waistcoat of satin, but wear no linen. Their long black hair is adorned with jewels and wreaths of flowers; their ears are bored in many places and loaded with pearls; a variety of gold chains, strings of pearls and precious stones, fall from the neck over the bosom; and the arms are covered with bracelets from the wrist to the elbow. They have also gold and silver chains round the ankles; and an abundance of rings on their fingers and toes; among those on their fingers is frequently seen a small mirror. I think the richer the dress the less becoming it appears, and a Hindoo woman of distinction always seems to be overloaded with finery, while the village nymphs, with fewer ornaments, but in the same elegant drapery, are more captivating - although there are few women, even of the lowest families, who have not some jewels at their marriage. |