Ranera is an unimportant place. I was here offered
a cow-stall to sleep in. It was indeed kept very clean; but I
preferred sleeping in the open air.
Till a late hour of the night this town was very lively:
processions of men and a number of women and children followed the
noise of the tam-tam, which they accompanied with a wild, howling
song, and proceeded to some tree, under which an image of an idol
was set up.
We had on this day to cross several ranges of low hills. The
uncultivated ground was everywhere scorched up by the sun; {209}
nevertheless, the plantations of poppies, flax, corn, and cotton,
etc., grew very luxuriantly. Water-dykes were let into the fields
on every side, and peasants, with their yokes of oxen, were engaged
in bringing water from the wells and streams. I did not see any
women at work.
In my numerous journeys, I had an opportunity of observing that the
lot of the poorer classes of women in India, in the East, and among
coloured people generally, was not so hard as it is believed to be.
In the towns where Europeans reside, for example, their linen is
washed and prepared by men; it is very seldom that it is necessary
for women to take part in out-door labour; they carry wood, water,
or any other heavy burdens only in their own houses. At harvest
time, indeed, the women are seen in the fields, but there also they
only do the lighter kind of work. If carriages with horses or oxen
are seen, the women and children are always seated upon them, and
the men walk by the side, often laden with bundles. When there are
no beasts of burden with the party, the men carry the children and
baggage. I also never saw a man ill use his wife or child. I
heartily wish that the women of the poorer classes in my own country
were treated with only half the consideration which I saw in all
other parts of the world.
20th February. Udjein on the Seepa, one of the oldest and best
built towns of India, is the capital of the kingdom of Sindhia, with
a population of more than 100,000 souls.
The architecture of this town is quite peculiar: the front walls of
the houses, only one story high, are constructed of wood, and
furnished with large regular window openings in the upper part,
which are securely closed by beams, instead of glass. In the
interior, the apartments are built very lofty and airy: they have
the full height from the level of the ground to the roof, without
the interruption of an intermediate arch. The outer walls and beams
of the houses are painted with a dark brown oil colour, which gave
to the town an indescribably dusky appearance.
