The upper parts of the arms are adorned with semi-circular ornaments, made hollow, but filled up with melted rosin; the ends are furnished with loops of the same metal, generally silver, which admit silken skeans, whereby they are secured to their places. The above trinket is called a baujoo-bund.
The wrists are always profusely decorated: the more ordinary classes wear rings made of kaunch, or chank; (i.e. the common sea-conch,)[sea-conch,)] cut out, by means of very fine saws, into narrow slips which, when joined very accurately, give the whole an appearance of being formed from the most circular part of each shell. This is, indeed, sometimes done; but such entire rings are very scarce, and are usually preserved in their original pure whiteness with much assiduity. The city of Dacca, so famous for its muslins, carries on a large intercourse with Chittagong, and the coast of Aracan, for conchs, which are used for beetling the finer cloths, manufactured in that populous and rich emporium of cotton fabrics. The noise made by chanking the cloths, which, being laid many folds thick upon a large board, are beat with conchs, wherein handles are inserted, is peculiarly distressing to an unaccustomed ear; especially as the operation continues night and day, without intermission: to those interested in the trade, it may perhaps be highly agreeable! The small process, or button, at the base of each shell, is sawn off, and, after being ground to a shape resembling that of a flat turnip, is perforated, for the purpose of being strung. When so prepared, these receive the name of kuntahs; of which, two rows, each containing from thirty to forty, are worn round the neck of every Sepoy in the Company’s service, as a part of his uniform. This simple ornament affords a pleasant relief to the sable countenance of a native, and serves to fill up a space, that would otherwise appear extremely naked, between the collar-bones and the chin.
The rings made from the sea-conch, are called kaunch ke t’choory, or t’choories made of conch; in contra-distinction to a common kind of t’choories, made, by persons who follow that profession only, from a species of silicious clay, which speedily vitrifies, forming a semi-transparent mass, that is worked into rings of about a line in diameter; but having rather quadrangular than circular surfaces; so that the inner circumference may be rather easy to the wrist, and the upper part, (or outer circumference,) be sufficiently flat to exhibit various embellishments, given by aid of gold leaf, and little enamelled, or lacquered specks, &c., applied thereto, and afterwards burnt in. It is inconceivable how expert the women who vend the t’choories, and who are thence called t’chooríaens, are in applying these ornaments; which, after being once passed over the hand, often are found to fit the wrist admirably: persons unacquainted with the dexterity of these women, would, on seeing the rings before they were on, consider it impossible to get the hand through; yet, by means of a little oil, or even of water, and compressing the very flexible member into a suitable form, the rings are successively made to glide over the joints with tolerable facility; very few, in proportion, being broken during the operation. It is to be remarked, that, as probably forty or fifty t’choories are to be worn upon each wrist, those appropriated to the thicker part of the arm, being, of course, the first to pass, the hand becomes gradually suppled, and disposed to receive each succeeding ring, which is imperceptibly of less diameter than its predecessor. To say the most of t’choories, they have a very heavy appearance, and are always highly uncomfortable to Madam’s most intimate acquaintances, in consequence of their being peculiarly brittle.
Some ladies wear a massy ring of solid silver on each wrist, weighing, perhaps, from three to five ounces: these are commonly hexagonal, or octagonal, of an equal thickness throughout, and terminated by a knob at each end, the same as in the haunseah. Being of pure silver, this ornament, which is called a kurrah, may be opened sufficiently to be put on, or off, at pleasure; the ends being brought together by an easy pressure of the other hand.
A bracelet, formed of small pointed prisms of solid silver, each about the size of a very large barley-corn, and having a ring soldered to one of its sides is in very common use. These prisms are strung upon black silk, as close as their pointed, or perhaps rounded, ends will admit, in three or four parallel rows, and then fastened, the same as the baujoo-bund. Some of the bracelets, which bear the general name of poanҫhies, are of gold, intermixed with pearls; affording a very rich appearance: they are certainly more ornamental than t’choories, which are, in the end, very expensive, on account of the immense numbers that give way in the wearing.
The thumb of each hand is generally destined to bear an ornament called inah, (or looking-glass,) formed of a ring fitting upon the thumb, and having a small mirror, about the size of a half-penny, fixed upon it by the centre, so as to accord with the back of the thumb. Each finger is provided with its quota of angooties, or rings, of various sorts and sizes, generally of gold; those of silver being considered mean. The inah should correspond in this particular; but, on account of the quantity of gold required wherein to set the glass, many content themselves with silver mounting. That a small looking-glass may, at times, be commodiously situated at the back of the thumb, we will not dispute; but what shall we say to that preposterous custom, which I have absolutely witnessed, of wearing a similar ornament on each great toe!!!
A lady, at all priding herself on the splendor of her dress, must have a pair of very substantial kurrahs, or rings of silver, not weighing less than half a pound each, upon her ancles. She must also have a pair of paum-jebs, made flexible, and ornamented with little spherical bells, all of which tinkle at every motion of the limb. The ordinary pattern of the paum-jeb, is mural, each piece being kept in its place by wires, passing through its two ends vertically. The toes have likewise their rings, called chellahs, usually of about the fifth of an inch in breadth and very thin; these have, for the most part, beaded edges.
The women of Portugueze extraction, wear their hair in a large top knot, secured by an immense silver pin, or rather a skewer; the broad part of which is either fillagreed, enamelled, or engraved. The Hindostanee ladies wear no ornament of that description; they comb down their frontal hair, while abundantly moistened with tissy, that is, the mucilage obtained by steeping linseed in a small quantity of water; and causing it to part from the centre in two diverging sweeps, or crescents, that come down to the exterior corners of the eye-brows, falling in immediately above the ears, they thus render the whole smooth, compact, and glossy. All the hair appertaining to the hinder part of the head, is braided together for its whole length, and ultimately blended with black ribbon; which continues the braid for many inches, or even for a foot or more, so as to render it doubtful, at a certain distance, whether the hair does not occupy the whole length. This is a point of the utmost importance with a native lady, who values her locks beyond even her virtue. Whether it were the cause, or the effect, is difficult to say; but certain it is, that, one of the greatest punishments a judge can inflict on a woman, is to have her head shaved. Query, Did their high estimation of the hair, induce to making its privation a punishment? or, did that estimation take place, in consequence of the want of hair being considered disgraceful? I am inclined to favor the first opinion. It is very common for a native to cause the hair of his baundy, or female slave, to be taken off, for any trifling offence.
Coral beads are in high estimation throughout Hindostan, as applicable to the construction of necklaces and bracelets for women. Notwithstanding they are manufactured from the red coral, fished up in various parts of Asia, these beads are very costly, especially when they run to any size. They are generally sold by the sicca-weight, or tolah; that is, by their weight in silver, two and a half rupees weighing about one ounce; or eighty to the seer of nearly two pounds avoirdupoise. A tolah of high colored, sound beads, as large as a marrow-fat pea, may commonly be had for about three, or four, rupees; sometimes cheaper: consequently, an ounce of coral beads, called moongahs, will cost near a guinea. This, which is four times the value of silver, appears to be a high price, considering the low wages of laborers, and proves that coral cannot be advantageously imported from India to England. The ladies of Asia are very particular in often steeping their moongahs in pigeon’s blood; under the firm belief of their color being heightened by such immersions! This recipe may, however, be matched by many, of equal efficacy, highly valued among ourselves.
The lowest, and most poverty-struck woman in Bengal, would consider herself truly wretched if she could not, now and then, anoint her head with oil, of some kind. The ladies of affluence invariably use scented oils, of which those impregnated with the bale, the jasmine, and sandal, are most in use. Doubtless, custom reconciles ‘the rancid fragrance’ to the nostrils of an Asiatic; but, to an European, nothing can be more offensive. A full dressed Hindostanee lady is the living type of that sarcastic couplet of Swift.