The Birmans in their features resemble the Chinese. The women, especially those belonging to the northern districts, are fairer than the Hindoos, but less delicately formed, being generally inclined to corpulence. Their hair is black, coarse, and long. Both sexes color the teeth, the eyelashes, and the edges of their eyelids, with black. When women are in full dress, they stain their nails and the palms of their hands red, and strew their faces and bosoms with powder of sandal-wood, or of a bark called _sunneka_. The hair is usually tied at the top of the head, and the fillet worn by people of rank is embroidered, and adorned with jewels. A long piece of silk or cloth is fastened round the waist, and falls to the feet, sometimes trailing on the ground. The upper part of the person is covered by a loose jacket, with long tight sleeves; but the lower garment being open, it is impossible to walk without exposing the limbs, in a manner that would be regarded as very indelicate by Europeans. Wealthy women wear shoes, that turn up with a pointed toe; the peasantry go barefoot. Girls are taught at an early age to invert their arms, so that the protruding joint of the elbow comes inside, and gives the arm the appearance of being broken. The Birmans have less personal cleanliness than the Hindoos, who, though they seldom wash their garments, consider frequent bathing a religious duty. Though separated from the Hindoos only by a narrow range of mountains, they are strikingly unlike them in character. The Birmans are lively, active, and impatient. Their wives and daughters are allowed the same degree of freedom in social intercourse with men, as prevails in European society. Marriage is a purely civil contract, over which the priesthood have no jurisdiction. The law allows but one wife; but the wealthy usually keep a number of mistresses, who reside under the same roof with the wife, and are subject to her control. When she goes abroad, they attend her, bearing her betel-box, fan, &c.; and when the husband dies, they become the widow’s property, unless he has specifically emancipated them. The formalities of courtship and marriage are similar to those of India. If the first private proposal be well received by the damsel and her parents, the relatives meet to agree concerning her dowry; the bridegroom sends a present of dresses and jewels, according to his wealth; the parents of the bride give a feast, and written contracts are signed; the new-married couple eat out of the same dish; the bridegroom presents the bride with some pickled tea, she returns the compliment, and thus ends the ceremony.