Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/156

Rh Over it is clasped a jewelled belt. On his bare arms, above the elbow, are armlets of pure gold beautifully wrought. On his broad shoulders, fragrant with sandal paste, is a priceless necklace of brilliant pearls, besides a wreath of flowers. Around him stand a group of sturdy warriors, his trusted Captains, heroes who had captured many a fortress or slaughtered fierce elephants in battle, veteran chiefs, whose coats of mail have been battered and bruised in many a fight. Actors and minstrels and lute-players display their skill in the presence of the monarch and receive chariots and elephants as presents.

In the cool hours of the evening, the noblemen drive out in splendid chariots drawn by horses, each attended by a number of his footmen who run by the side of the chariot. They are clad in red coloured garments. Their swords hang by their sides, in scabbards ornamented with gold, and on their breasts are wreaths of flowers. Their ladies wearing sounding ankle rings and golden bracelets, appear on the high terraces, of their mansions, and their perfumes spread fragrance through the streets. The public walks are filled with a motley throng of chank-cutters, beadmakers, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, tailors, weavers, painters and dealers in perfumes and flowers, who move about the streets and dispose of the things they have brought to sale. The hotels and restaurants are all now crowded by visitors who feast upon luscious fruits such as the jack, mango or plantain and on sugar- candies, tender greens, edible yams, sweetened rice or savoury preparations of meat. Above the hum of voices is presently heard a flourish of trumpets and other instruments of music, which summons the people to their evening worship. Women wearing glittering jewels, accompanied by their husbands and children, carry incense and flowers to the Buddhist monasteries. In the retreats of the Brahmin ascetics, which are like excavated blocks of rocks, is heard the chant of Vedic hymns. Nigranthas crowd the cool cloisters of the monks of their sect, the walls of which are exceedingly high, and painted red, and are surrounded by pretty little flower gardens. Others visit the Brahminic temples and offer the evening sacrifices to the gods, “the chief of whom is He