Manchurian Books

I remember having read in books that the Indian female dancers were
far more graceful than the European, that their songs were highly
melodious, and that their pantomime was tender, inspiring, and
attractive. I should scarcely think the authors of such books could
have been in India! Not less exaggerated are the descriptions of
others, who affirm that there are no dances more indelicate than
those of the Indians. I might again ask these people if they had
ever seen the Sammaquecca and Refolosa in Valparaiso, the female
dancers of Tahiti, or even our own in flesh-coloured leggings? The
dresses of the females in Rajpootan and some parts of Bundelkund are
very different from those of other parts of India. They wear long,
coloured, many-folded skirts, tight bodies, which are so short that
they scarcely cover the breasts; and, over this, a blue mantle, in
which they envelop the upper part of the body, the head, and the
face, and allow a part to hang down in front like a veil. Girls who
do not always have the head covered, nearly resemble our own peasant
girls.


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