Storia do Mogor 262.4

262.4

About these four kinds of women the Hindus have a number of curious statements, and they possess a book four fingers thick from which these details may be learnt. They are distinguished by the different signs they bear upon their bodies. According to the position of these, their humours and dispositions may be recognised. In my preface to this section (see III. 90), I have said that several persons have written upon the manners and customs of the Hindus. To this I have to add that the reader must remember that any difference found between what is said by me and by others is due to the difference in the places we have visited and the peoples we have come across. For the East is an extremely large region divided into many provinces widely separated from each other, divided also by many mountain ranges. The inhabitants of these places differ in their customs, as well as in their mode of life, the ceremonial at their temples, and the doctrines of their religion. It should be remembered that what I have recorded refers to the manners and customs of the Hindu subjects of the Great Mogul and the Malabaris, these being the countries I have seen and through which I have travelled. [Pages 136-143 of the Text are blank ; on page 144 the narrative is resumed in Portuguese instead of French.]