Title
A Voyage to the East Indies: Page 57
Description
Three of us only in a small House had no less than forty black Fellows of various denominations in waiting, exclusive of Cooleys to carry Burdens. Long Custom seems to have made this necessary. The black people here are very numerous & it seems as tho’ their Religion had an Eye to their Numbers, when it forbad many Casts from eating Meat, so that Rice which they get in great Quantities to the Northward is their principal Food. They have another Grain call’d Doll, resembling our pease. They are very fond of things greacey or hot & as they have Buffalo Butter & Chili peppers in great Quantities, they are never at a loss for it. They all Chew the Beetle Leaf & Nut, with a small piece of Chenam, or Oyster shells calcin’d and mixt with water. The Beetle is held in high Esteeme; At the Procession an old Priest from the Carriage, who sits as it were supporting his God, distributes Beetle Leaves to the Crowd. At the New Moon and other public Festivals, Girls dance before the Images of the Gods all Night, which is a curious solemnity well worth seeing. They writhe & contort their Limbs in a Variety of surprizing Forms, which would be admired even at Sadlers Wells. The dance seems to be a regular successions of steps & Motions which must be gone thro’ from the simplest to the Most Complex, & I have seen little Girls perform it, With surprizing Agility. At this Solemnity they put Wreaths of Flowers highly perfum’d, round the Neck of the Spectators. [end page 57]
