Morning Star

THE HINDOOS.
From a late foreign work we are able to furnish some curious specimens of the customs of the Hindoos. They are great observers of form and ceremony, varying, according to the rank of each individual. The compliment paid to equals is by standing erect, and merely bringing the hand gracefully forward, and then touching the forehead. This is the simple "salam." When the body is bent, and the hand is brought up from near the ground, the compliment is termed "tusleem," and this is observed by all acknowledged inferiors, and is returned by the "salam."
When a person entitled to sit, enters the room, and salutes the company, they all rise, and after returning the compliment, do not sit again till the last comer is seated. Any neglect of this ceremony would, among Mahomedans in particular, produce a quarrel.
The seat of honor is at the upper end of the room, and the gradation of rank descends as that situation approaches the door. In some families formalities are carried to such a length that sons must stand till their fathers desire them to be seated. Children and some domestics, instead of saluting their parents or masters walk up to them and put both hands on their feet, a ceremony likewise observed by all Hindoos towards Bramins. On these occasions the person whose feet are thus touched puts his hand on the head of the one who is bending down and blesses him.