When an unmarried boy attains his seventeenth or eighteenth year, numbers of professional men called _Ghatucks_ or match-makers come to the parents with overtures of marriage. These men are destitute of principle, they know how to pander to the frailties of human nature; most of them being gross flatterers, endeavour to impose on the parents in the most barefaced manner. As they live on their wits, their descriptive powers and insinuating manners are almost matchless. When the qualities of a girl are to be commended, they, indulging in a strain of exaggeration, unblushingly declare, "she is beautiful as a full moon, the symmetry of her person is exact, her teeth are like the seeds of a pomegranate, her voice is remarkably sweet like that of the cuckoo, her gait is graceful, she speaks like the goddess _Luckee_, and will bring fortune to any family she may be connected with." The Hindoos have a notion that the good fortune of a husband depends on that of the wife, hence a woman is considered as an emblem of _Luckee_, the goddess of fortune. This is the highest commendation she can possess.[15] If the qualities of a youth are to be appraised, they describe him thus: he is as beautiful as _Kartick_ (the god of beauty), his deportment is that of a nobleman, he is free from all vices, he studies day and night, in short, he is a precious gem and an ornament of the neighbourhood. The Hindoos know very well that the _Ghatucks_ as a body are great impostors, and do not believe half that these people say. From the day a matrimonial alliance is proposed, the parents on both sides begin to make all sorts of preliminary enquiries as to the unblemished nature of the caste, respectability and position in society of the parties concerned. When fully satisfied on these points, they give their verbal consent to the proposed union, but not before the father of the boy has demanded of the father of the girl a certain number of gold and silver ornaments, as well as of _Barabharun_, _i. e._, silver and brass utensils, couch, &c. exclusive of (with but few exceptions) a certain amount of money in lieu of _Foolshajay_.[16] Before proceeding further, I should observe that of late years a great change has taken place in the profession of the _Ghatucks_. The question of marriage, though not absolutely, yet chiefly, is a question the solution of which rests with the females. Their voice in such matters has a preponderating influence. Availing themselves of this powerful agency a new class of female _Ghatucks_ or rather _Ghatkees_ have sprung up among the people. Hence the occupation of the male _Ghatucks_ is nearly gone, except in rare cases where nice points of caste distinction are to be decided. The great influences of _Shibi Ghatkee_ and _Badnee's_ mother--two very popular female _Ghatkees_,--is well known to the respectable Hindoo community of Calcutta. These two women have made a decent fortune by plying this trade. Though certainly not gifted with the imaginative