performs her ablutions, purifications, and offerings; and never goes beyond the threshold of her house without the express permission of her husband. * * * * * To conclude this chapter, I shall here subjoin some Samscred verses, which relate to the illicit amours of the Indians, and which place the morality of these people in a very advantageous point of view. Ròguinì, Reggiasuàlá, Garbhanni, Dhrdàvrda, Ràgia vargida brshya, Lagida, Bhayàdhara. Ittaram èszuvidham strìgenanghele Cennu Satvaram parigrahicìduvan yògyamalla. That is: “It is unworthy of a man to make use of the following kinds of women: 1st, A sick woman, _Ròguinì_; 2d, One who has her monthly purifications, _Reggiasuàla_; 3d, One who is pregnant, _Garbhannì_; 4th, One who has been divorced, _Drdhàvrda_; 5th, One who has been proscribed, or excluded from her cast, _Ragia vargida brshya_; 6th, One who has no shame, _Lagidà_; 7th, One who is afraid of the mysteries of love, _Bhyadharà_.”--Could any one have expected among these Pagans such pure and sound morality? I must also observe, that the marriage-ceremonies, which I have here described, are every-where practised in the same manner throughout _Malayalam_, that is, Malabar; in the kingdom of _Pandi_, or _Madura_; in _Maïssur_, _Congao_, and _Carnàdage_ or _Carnate_. I will not, however, assert that they are generally used in districts where the ancient religious system of the inhabitants is not preserved in its original purity. In the northern part of India, which has been exposed to the hostile incursions of the Persians, Greeks, Arabs, and Tartars, many things may perhaps be established on a different footing; but I cannot speak of this with any certainty, as I never had an opportunity of visiting those parts of the country[162]. CHAPTER III. _Laws of the Indians_[163]. The principal laws which the Indians have to observe, may be reduced to twelve, and relate to the following points: 1. _To kill no one._--He who commits murder renders himself guilty of one of the five mortal sins, which the Indians call _Mahàpàva_, and for which, as we shall hereafter see, the severest punishment has been appointed. In those provinces where the Pagans have the superiority, he who kills a cow is punished as a murderer. I once saw five natives of Malabar suspended from a tree in a forest near _Ambalapusha_, on account of this supposed crime. As the cow is a very useful animal, and as every one knows, that, according to the Indian mythology, she is considered as a symbol of the goddess _Lakshmi_, this law might in some measure be justified; but there are Indian philosophers and priests who wish to extend it to all kinds of animals in general. It may, however, be readily understood, that animals used for sacrifice or offerings form an exception.