Page:Report of a Tour Through the Bengal Provinces of Patna, Gaya, Mongir and Bhagalpur; The Santal Parganas, Manbhum, Singhbhum and Birbhum; Bankura, Raniganj, Bardwan and Hughli in 1872-73.djvu/107

Rh against propriety, but the idea of the man living to trumpet it forth to the world is insupportable. And, again, the dwelling together of the wife and the mistress under the same roof is not considered an impropriety, while for the woman to stride over a man's dhoti is considered very indelicate, if not actually a crime. In connexion with this idea, I may allude to a custom prevalent in Northern India, for the husband, when going away from his home for a long time, to leave his trousers with his wife, in order that when desirous of having children, she may, by putting them on, obtain her wishes. I may also allude to the legend, to be given further on, where the smelling of a saint's langoti was found efficacious in obtaining a child. I may further allude to the custom of tying chillas with a like intent at various holy spots. The idea that underlies those customs is evident, and need not be put in plain words; but the unmeasurable distance between modern Western ideas of propriety and Indian ideas, even of the present day, is evident: the one tries to provide against the awakening of even a passing impure thought by an unguarded word or gesture, the other not only does not attempt to preserve purity of thought, but does not even guard sufficiently against purity of conduct. In short, the circumstances alluded to bear out the conclusion one would naturally draw from Hindu sculptures, that female morality during the Hindu period was of a very low standard.

It is interesting to note also that gambling as a profession is not a modern institution; the village Juafar is said to have been so named from having been the head-quarters of professional gamblers.  

Siláo is a large village about 3 miles from Baragaon. It is at the present day noted for a kind of native sweetmeat, and for its parched rice, and from personal knowledge I can bear out in regard to these items the fame it enjoys. It is, however, not devoid of objects of interest, as there are two tombs and a masjid with numerous inscriptions in Persian and Arabic characters. The masjid is of the ordinary kind, without cloisters attached; it is built of stone and mortar, and the floor in front is paved with stone. The whole of the stone was derived from Hindu buildings. The pavement is indeed one mass of imbedded pillars, and proves that the buildings destroyed to furnish the profusion of materials 