At all the bathing-places the sexes intermix promiscuously; each being in their usual cloathing: this does not, however, relate to women of a superior class, who are not suffered to go abroad except in close vehicles, and who, were they voluntarily to shew their faces to any male, except their husbands, would be in danger of losing their heads: such never bathe in the river but under ample precautions. A spot is selected, where the water shoals gradually, and where the bather cannot be overlooked from any height, &c. There, an area is enclosed, by means of _kanauts_, supported to the height of perhaps eight feet, or more, by means of bamboo poles, kept in their places by ropes fastened to stakes, or to poles driven into the sand. The lady is carried to an overlap, or opening, in the _kanauts_, mostly in a covered carriage, of which the driver retires, taking with him the oxen, and leaving the machine enclosed within the area, where it serves the purpose of a dressing-room. The female servants attend the interior, while the exterior is guarded by centinels, or perhaps by eunuchs, on the land side; and, towards any navigable channel a boat is stationed, to prevent the approach of strangers. But few Mahomedan women bathe in this manner; they, as well as their husbands, generally content themselves with having five or six large pots of water thrown over their heads; the generality of Europeans ordinarily bathe in this way daily during the hot season; and, on some occasions, even the pious Hindu resorts to the same domestic ablution; though it is held far inferior to immersion in the Ganges, or in such stream as should, by being within a reasonable distance, preclude all pleas of inconvenience. Bigots will often travel several miles to be laved by the holy fluid; while others will scarcely go as many yards to enjoy that reputed blessing. All, however, must conform, to a certain extent, to the law; and it is but justice to say, that, whether owing to habit, or to veneration, the number of trespasses is very, very limitted. We may suppose, that, in so hot a climate, bathing must be a luxury; this should be taken _cum grano salis_; for, at some seasons, the waters are by no means inviting: I have often gone into a bath in December and January, when the sensations were truly painful.