The day being fixed, the elders, male and female, of the two families, invite their several relatives, friends, and acquaintances to assemble, according to their means and convenience for entertaining visitors. The invitations are written in the Persian character on red paper, describing the particular event which they are expected to honour. During the week previous to Sarchuck, both families are busily engaged in sending round to their several friends trays of ready-cooked dinners. Rich and poor share equally on these occasions; the reason assigned for which is, that the persons' nuptials may be registered in the minds of those who partake of the food, who in the course of time, might otherwise forget that they had ever heard of the young couple's nuptials. The mother of Bohue Begum actively employed the intervening time, in finishing her preparations for the young lady's departure from the parental roof with suitable articles, which might prove the bride was not sent forth to her new family without a proper provision. There is certainly too much ostentation evinced on these occasions; but custom, prided custom, bids defiance to every better argument; and thus the mother, full of solicitude that her daughter should carry with her evident marks of parental affection, and be able to sustain her rank in life, loads her child with a profusion of worldly goods. The poorest people, in this instance, imitate their superiors with a blameable disregard to consequences. Many parents among the lower orders incur heavy debts to enable them to make a parade at their children's wedding, which proves a source of misery to themselves as long as they live. It may be presumed the Sumdun Begum prepared more suits of finery than her daughter could wear out for years. A silver bedstead with the necessary furniture, as before described; a silver pawn-dawn,[8] round, and shaped very like a modern spice-box in England; a silver chillumchee[9] (wash-hand basin), and lota (water-jug with a spout, nearly resembling an old-fashioned coffee-pot); a silver luggun[10] (spittoon); silver surraie[11] (water-bottle); silver basins for water; several dozens of copper saucepans, plates and spoons for cooking; dishes, plates, and platters in all variety needful for the house, of metal or of stone. China or glass is rarely amongst the bride's portion, the only articles of glass I remember to have seen was the looking-glass for the bride's toilette, and that was framed and cased in pure silver. Stone dishes are a curious and expensive article, brought from Persia and Arabia, of a greenish colour, highly polished; the Natives call them racaab-puttie,[12] and prefer them to silver at their meals, having an idea that poisoned food would break them; and he who should live in fear of such a calamity, feels secure that the food is pure when the dish of this rare stone is placed before him perfect.