custom in India; it implies that the person who
goes round, sacrifices his life at the shrine of the love, prosperity
and health of the beloved object.

[168] The _kazi_ is the judge and magistrate in Asiatic cities; he
performs the rites of marriage, settles disputes, and decides civil
and criminal causes. As the _Muhammadan_ laws are derived from their
religious code, the _Kuran_, the _kazi_ possesses both secular and
ecclesiastical powers.

[169] All good _Musalmans_ bathe after performing the rites of Venus,
hence the purport of the princess's _simple question_ is obvious
enough.

[170] Called _warku-l-khiyal_; it is made from the leaves of the
_charas_, a species of hemp; it is a common inebriating beverage in
India; the different preparations of it is called _ganja, bhang_, &c.

[171] Literally a "weighty _khil'at_," owing to the quantity of
embroidery on it. The perfection of these oriental dresses is, to be
so stiff as to stand on the floor unsupported.

[172] The _paisa_ is the current copper coin of India; it is the
64th part of a rupee, and is in value as nearly as possible 3/4 of
our halfpenny, or a farthing and a-half.

[173] The word _kafir_ denotes literally, "infidel," or "heathen." It
is here used as a term of endearment, just as we sometimes use the word
"wicked rogue."

[174] Literally, "_lakhs_ of rupees." In India money accounts are
reckoned by hundreds, thousands, _lakhs_ and _crores_, instead of
hundreds, thousands, and millions, as with us. A hundred thousands
make a _lakh_, and a hundred _lakhs_, a _crore_. As the Indian
mode of reckoning, though simple enough, is apt to perplex the
beginner, let us take for example the number 123456789, which we
thus point off,--123,456,789; but in India it would be pointed as
follows:--12,34,56,789, and read 12 _crores_, 34 _lakhs_, fifty-six
thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

[175] The _muwazzin_ is a public crier, who ascends the turret or
minaret of a mosque and calls out to the inhabitants the five periods
of prayers; more especially the morning, noon and evening prayers.

[176] This is a proverb, founded on a short story, viz.: "A certain
Arab lost his camel; he vowed, if he found it, to sell it for a dinar,
merely as a charitable deed. The camel was found, and the Arab sorely
repented him of his vow. He then tied a cat on the camel's neck, and
went through the city of _Baghdad,_ exclaiming, 'O, true believers,
here is a camel to be so