AN INDIAN WOMAN.
They met many natives, and the boys were impressed with the oddity of the appearance of many of them. The quantity of jewellery worn by the women surpassed what they had seen in Ceylon, or in any of the countries hitherto visited, and one of them remarked that people in India were willing to suffer much inconvenience for the sake of fashion. As he said so he pointed out a woman who had a ring at least two inches in diameter thrust through one side of her nose in such a way that it hung down over her mouth, and reached to the level of the base of her chin. It certainly appeared as though it would be a great hinderance to eating and drinking, but the woman seemed proud of her adornment, and probably would have been unwilling to part with it.
It was further observed that she had her ears pierced with several holes, and each hole contained a ring. The whole front of the ear was filled with rings. As if this were not jewellery enough, she had a double string of beads on her neck, a great necklace of silver coins that hung to her waist, and a couple of ornaments on each arm. Bells tinkled as she walked, and, on glancing at her ankles, Frank and Fred observed that they were beautified with heavy rings of silver.
AN INDIAN MAN.
The fondness for jewellery was not confined to the women by any means, as the boys had occasion to remark before they had finished their discussion of the wearer of the many rings. They saw several men whose ears were pierced in the same way as those of the women, but they were content with filling the holes with delicate pearls. A few of the wealthiest of the native men had diamonds in their ears, but the lower classes could not afford such a luxury.
In front of the principal hotel of the city there was a group of natives around a performer who appeared to be doing something interesting. Our friends stopped to see what the attraction was, and found that a snake-charmer was exhibiting his power over a cobra-di-capello. As the boys had not yet seen a snake-charmer in India, the Doctor motioned to the man to bring his serpent near the veranda of the hotel, where the strangers took their seats. Accordingly the performer brought forward a small basket, about the size and shape of an ordinary cheese, and then squatted in front of it.
