Page:Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian.djvu/239

 220 also earrings of iyotj, but only such of them do this as are yery wealthy, for all Indians do not wear them. Their beards, Nearchos tells US| they dye of one hue and another, according to taste. Some dye their white beards to make them look as white as possible, but others dye them blue ; while some again prefer a red tint, some a purple, and others a rank green. § Such Indians, he also says, as are thought anything of, use parasols as a screen from the heat. They wear shoes made of white leather, and these are elaborately trimmed, while the soles are yariegated, and made of great thickness, to make the wearer seem so much the taller. I proceed now to describe the mode in which the Indians equip themselves for war, premising that it is not to be regarded as the only one in yogue. The foot-soldiers carry a bow made of equal length with the man who bears it. This they rest upon the ground, and pressing against it with their left foot thus discharge the arrow, having drawn the string far backwards : for the shaft they use is little short of being three leg is the Dhoti. It is from 2^ to 3^ yards long by 2 to 3 feet broad It is a costume much resembling that of a Greek statue, and the only change observable within 3,000 years is, that the Dhoti may now be somewhat broader and longer." — Mrs. Manning's Ancient and MedUcBval India, vol. II. pp. 356-8. § Perhaps some of these colours were but transition shades assumed by the dye before settling to its final hue. The readers of Warren's Ten Thousand a Yea/r will remember the plight of the hero of the tale when having dyed his hair he found it, chameleon-like, changing from hue to hue. This cuetom is mentioned also by Strabo.