Very charming do they look in their
Christianized simplicity and self-contained demeanor as they walk
quietly, and at a becoming Sabbath-day pace, two by two, down the Chandni
Chouk. They present an instructive comparison to the straggling groups of
heathen damsels who watch them curiously as they walk past and then
proceed to chant idolatrous songs, apparently in a spirit of wanton
raillery at the Christian maidens and their simple, un-ornamented attire.
The fair heathens of Delhi have a sort of naughty, Parisian reputation
throughout the surrounding country, and so there is nothing surprising in
this exhibition of wanton hilarity directed at these more strait-laced
converts to the religion of the Ferenghis. The heathen damsels, arrayed
in very worldly costumes, consisting of flaring red, yellow, and blue
garments, the whole barbaric and ostentatious array of nose-rings,
ear-rings, armlets, anklets, rupee necklaces, and pendents, and the
multifarious gewgaws of Hindoo womankind, look surpassingly wicked and
saucy in comparison with their converted sisters. The gentle converts try
hard to regard their heathen songs with indifference, and to show by
their very correct deportment the superiority of meekness, virtue, and
Christianity over gaudy clothes, vulgar silver jewellery, and heathenism.
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