Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 352

UNNATURAL VICE
312
with which the Hindu can gratify his passions
in a country where courtesans abound
renders these disgusting practices less common
but it by
no means prevents them altogether. In the larger towns
in India there are generally houses to be found given over
One sometimes meets in the
to this odious form of vice.
streets the degraded beings who adopt this infamous pro-
The
facility
in a natural
manner
;
They dress like women, let their hair grow in
the same way, pluck out the hair on their faces, and copy
the walk, gestures, manner of speaking, tone of voice,
fession.
demeanour, and affectations of prostitutes. Other secret
crimes are also carried on in India, and especially among
but decency will not allow me to speak
the Mahomedans
of them.
They are the same as those which are mentioned
in the Bible (Leviticus xviii and xx), and which brought
down such terrible punishments on the inhabitants of
Canaan who had been guilty of them.
Being hardly able to believe in the possibility of such
abominable wickedness, I asked a Brahmin one day whether
Far from deny-
there was any truth in what I had heard.
;
ing the stories, he smilingly confirmed them
nor did he
appear to be even shocked at such iniquity. Indeed he
seemed to be quite amused at the confusion and embarrass-
ment that I felt in asking him such questions. At last
I said to him
How is it possible for one to believe that
such depraved tastes exist, degrading men as they do to
a far lower level than the beasts of the field, in a country
On that
where the union of the two sexes is so easy ?
point there is no accounting for tastes,' he replied, bursting
out into a laugh. Disgusted with this reply, and filled with
contempt for the man who was not ashamed to speak thus,
I turned on my heel and left him without another word.
From the earliest ages these unnatural offences have
been common in the East amongst heathen nations. In
the laws that God gave the Israelites, He warns them to
be on their guard against these detestable vices, which
were known to be very prevalent amongst the inhabitants
of the countries they were going to take possession of,
and which were one of the chief reasons for their total
extermination.
If the Christian religion had done nothing more than
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