Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 356

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CHAPTER
XIII
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The Outward Appearance of Brahmins and other Hindus. Their
Remarks on the Kakrdaks or Albinoes, as
Physical Defects.
described by Naturalists, who are not allowed Burial after Death.
Other Hindus to whom the same Honour is denied. Exhuma-
tion of Corpses.
The Feeble Physique of the Hindus. The same
Feebleness and Deterioration to be observed throughout the Animal
and Vegetable Kingdoms. Weakness of the Mental Faculties of
Hindus. The Language of the Brahmins. Their Costume. Their
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Houses.
Having given a sketch of the moral character of the
Brahmins, I will now say a few words about their physical
appearance. Many of the characteristics of this kind that
I am to mention do not, however, specially pertain to
them, but are common to Hindus of other castes. Faces
and figures vary, as they do in every other caste but
;
there are certain physical deformities common enough in
Europe which are much more rarely seen in India. Thus,
for instance, one seldom meets persons who are hump-
backed or lame, unless they have become so by accident.
If a child is born with any bodily defect, it is attributed
to the evil influence of two unlucky constellations which
must have been in conjunction at the time of birth, or to
some eclipse of the sun or moon that took place at that
moment. On the other hand, blindness is very common.
No doubt the chief cause of this is to be found in the habit
that poor people have of going about in nature's garb,
with their heads exposed to the burning rays of the sun
and it is doubtless in the hope of preventing, as far as
possible, the terrible scourge of ophthalmia that they so
frequently anoint their heads with castor oil or oil of
;
sesamum.
The Hindus,
like every other race, have certain physical
characteristics which are peculiar to themselves.
Except
for their colour, however, they seem to me to be more like
Europeans, especially in their physiognomy, than any other
Asiatic race. Generally speaking, they have glossy black hair,
narrow foreheads, and dark, or occasionally grey \ eyes.
1
They do not at all admire the blue eyes of Europeans. They con-
them a deformity, and call them cats' eyes.' Dubois.
sider
'