The reputed wealth and fertile soil of Hindostan have attracted foreigners from all parts of the world. Some entered as conquerors, some sought refuge from persecution, and others went there for commercial purposes. The peculiar manners of these different nations have become too variously modified to be particularly described. The Mohammedans, who obtained certain districts by conquest, are extravagantly fond of pomp and splendor. The nabob Asuf gave a proof of this in the wedding of his adopted son Vizier Aly. The bridegroom was about thirteen years of age, the bride ten. The prince could hardly move under the weight of his jewels. The procession consisted of about twelve hundred elephants richly caparisoned, of which one hundred in the centre had _houdas_, or castles, on their backs, covered with silver. In the midst was the nabob himself, within a _houda_ covered with gold and set with precious stones. On both sides of the road was raised artificial scenery of bamboo-work, representing arches, minarets, and towers, covered with lighted glass lamps. On each side were carried platforms, covered with gold and silver cloth, on which were musicians and dancing girls superbly dressed. The ground was inlaid with fireworks, and at every step of the elephants, rockets and fiery serpents shot forth, kindling the night into day. Three thousand flambeaux were likewise carried by men hired for the occasion. The palanquins in which the wealthy are carried are sometimes very magnificent. They are painted and gilded, ornamented with gold, silver, and jewels, with cushions and coverings of crimson velvet. The religion of Brama, as well as that of Mohammed, forbids women to appear in public; but the lower classes of Hindoos do not attempt to comply with the inconvenient requisition. The Mohammedan women, on the contrary, are extremely punctilious on this point; even the poorest never venture out of doors without being enveloped in a cotton veil made like a bag, with a slight net-work over the eyes and mouth. Those who cannot afford to travel in palanquins, ride astride on a bullock, which has a bell suspended to the neck, and a bridle passed through the nostrils. A more uncouth or unpleasant sight cannot well be imagined, unless it might be a shrouded corpse thus mounted.