T h e Engfflb riling fem^wifhia Fort St, .George,
has from the fea a rich and beautiful appearance j the houfes
being covered with a ftucco called chunam, which in itfelFis
nearl7 as Compaq as the fineft marble, tod, as it bears as
high a polilh, is equally fplendid with that elegant' material.'
The ftile of the buildings .is. jn. general haindfome. They
conlift of long colonades, with open porticoes, and flat roofs;
and offer to the eye an appearance fimilar to what we may-
conceive of ar Grecian' city in theagfe of Alexander. The
clear, blue, cloudlefs Iky, the polilhed white buildings, the
bright fandy beach^ and the dark green fea; preferit a combination
totally new to the eye of an Engiilhman, juft .arrived
from London, who, accuftomed to the light of rolling malfes
of clouds floating in adamp atogolphere, cannot but con-"
template the difference with delight: and the eye being thus
gratified, the mind loon affumes a gay and tranquil habit,
analogous to the plealing objefts with which it is. b o u n ded.
S o m e time before the Ihip arrives at her anchoring ground,
fhe. is hailed by the boats of the country filled with people of
bufincfs, who come in crowds on board. This is the moment
in which an European feels the great diftindion be-
tween Alia and his own country. The ruffling of fine linen,
and the general hum of unufual converfation, prefents to his
mind fer a moment the idea, o f an affembly of ,females.
When he afcends upon the deck, he is ftruck with-the long
muffin dréfles*} ansi black. faces ?j” iadorfiedwith very large
gold ear-rings and white turbans . The firft falutation he receives
from thefe ftrangers is by [bending their bodies very
low,. touching die deck with the back of the hand, and the
forehead three times.
. . . T h e natives firft feen in India by ,to.;;EurQpean voyager,
are Hindoos, the original inhabitants of the Peninfula. In
this part of India they are .delicately' framed, their hands £ in
particular axe more like-thofe ,o f;tender females; and do>npt
appear to be, what is confidered a; .proper proportion to the
reft of the ;perfon, which .is ufuafly above the . middle, flffe*
Gorrefpondent to this delicacy o f appearance are their man-
* T his drefs is in India ufually worn both' by Hindoos and Mahomedans,
and is called-Jammah; whence the drefs-wejl known imEngland, and worn
by children, is ufuallyxalled a jam.
• •t T he compfexions '-of die' people on the Coaft of Coromandel and to the
fouthward, are conliderably darker than thófe to the- nottiiward. It is alfo to
be obferved, that the native Hindoos arc generally darker than tbeMufliilman,
who originally came from Tartary and Perfia. The latter may in fad: be
called a fair people ; and I have even feen many of them' with* red hair; and
florin CoihpleXions. ■- It is a well-known fad, that when a Tartar or Perlian.
family has refided in India for a- few generations, their complexions have con*-
fiderably deepened. The Mogul family of the hoüfe of Timoor, I underhand,
are of a deep olive complexion.
J I t has been obferved of the arms frequently brought to this country, that
the gripe of the fabre is too fmall for moft European hands. -
b 2