within a certain area, or even treading on that carpet whereon she were eating, should pollute the whole of the viands; and occasion their being thrown to the dogs, or given to some ma-tranny, or other equally debased character? It really becomes a very serious question, I believe hitherto overlooked, under what plea a woman can allow her child, born under such a connection, to participate in her meals ? But, reason is one thing, and maternal affection another! Still, though it may require no great sophistry for a woman to find an apology for such a decided inconsistency, it seems unaccountable how she is suffered to escape that vigilance, with which the priesthood, and others of her sect, watch her every act. I can ascribe it only to a certain deference, which has habitually sprung up in favor of all relating to Europeans, and regarding their domestic concerns. This, doubtless, saves many from those punishments, ordinarily attendant upon the most trifling dereliction of religious or civil ordinances.

The following description of the private lives and customs of those native women that are secluded from the public eye, was furnished to me by a friend, whose extensive researches have rendered him conspicuous as a Member of the Asiatic Society. I give it in his own words as a faithful detail, which cannot fail to prove interesting.