Class _i.^__^_A,^_/ GpiglrtlS?' COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 7^ / Svcrq-Bati Mlh in India. ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS. BY/ REY. A. D. ROWE. M. A., AUTHOR OF "TALKS ABOUT INDIA," AND "TALKS ABOUT MISSION WORK IN INDIA." .1%. AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. / ? ^ / COPYRIGHT, x88i, BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. Contents. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE 7 INTRODUCTION 9 L THE PEOPLE 11 IL GENERAL APPEARANCE AND HOME LIFE- 25 m. RELIGION OF THE HINDUS 32 IV. CASTE: A SACRED INSTITUTION 41 V. CASTE— IN ACTUAL LIFE 52 VL EDUCATION 64 VIL SCHOOLS AND PUPILS 74 VIIL THE OLD STYLE HINDU SCHOOL 82 IX. WOMEN 89 X. MARRIAGE - 97 XL CHILD-LIFE 109 XIL MEDICINE AND THE SICK 118 XIIL BEGGARS AND CHARITY 124 XIV. MERCHANTS AND MONEY-LENDERS 130 XV. AUSPICIOUS DAYS AND OMENS 138 XVL THE POOR 143 XVH. THE INDIAN VILLAGE 149 XVm. HINDU FESTIVALS 159 XIX. AMUSEMENTS 179 6 CONTENTS, XX. NIGHT LIFE 185 XXI. TRAVELLING 192 XXn. SERVANTS 202 XXin. THE DEAD 213 XXIV. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS 222 XXV. TREES 227 > XXVL FARMERS 237 XXVn. FARMING 244 XXVIII. INDIGO 254 XXIX. OTHER INDUSTRIES 266 XXX. ANGLO-INDIANS - 279 XXXL EURASIANS - 301 XXXn. THE GOVERNMENT 303 XXXIIL D. P. W. - 308 XXXIV. MODERN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS 314 XXXV. THE TRAVELLED HINDU 322 XXXVL ON A COAST STEAMER 332 XXXVn. THE FAMINE OF 1877-78 339 XXXVin. MISSIONARY EFFORT 35° XXXIX. THE PROSPECT 363 XL. CASTE AND CONVERTS 369 XLL BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA --- 377 ( I. Routes to India, Outfits, etc. 395 APPENDIX \ (2. Glossary 401 ILLUSTRATIONS. COMMON HIND U TEMPLE ■«• frontispiece VILLA GERS IN ORDINAR Y DRESS page 27 EDUCATED BRAHMANS- 43 HIGH-CASTE SCHOOL-BO YS 67 AN OLD STYLE SCHOOL Z^ ZENANA TEACHING 91 CHRISTIAN BRIDE AND GROOM 103 BRAHMAN SCHOOL-GIRL 113 HIGH-CASTE WOMAN 113 MERCHANTS IN THEIR STALL 133 HINDU VILLAGE 151 PILGRIMS TO THE GANGES 161 FAKIRS 169 RIDING IN A PALENKEEN 193 BULLOCK COACH - 199 BULLOCK BANDY' 199 TOWER OF SILENCE - 217 THE BANYAN-TREE 229 PLOUGHING 245 MILKING 245 WEAVING 267 SPINNING 267 CARPENTERS 273 GOLDSMITHS --. 273 AN ANGLO-INDIAN HOME 285 HAWKERS 297 MISSIONARY TENT-LIFE 351 PARIAH SCHOOL-MISTRESS 373 NATIVE CATECHIST 373 WOMEN AT THE WELL 389 INTRODUCTION. There is an India of the books and there is a real India, and so different are the two that the student of the one would scarcely recognize the other, if without a guide he should suddenly find himself in a Hindu village. Many of the pop- ular books on India have been written by European travellers, who necessarily had to confine their observations to the cities and larger towns, where they saw but little of real, undis- guised Hindu life. A European traveller in India is in the greatest danger of getting false impressions. A Hindu is never himself in the presence of a foreigner. He is shy, secretive, and an adept at doing and saying what he thinks will please you. Along the routes of travel, moreover, Hindu life has become somewhat Europeanized and has lost much of its native simplicity. The traveller's ignorance of the language of the people is also against him. " May he not have an interpreter ?" Cer- tainly, but the Hindu who has learned sufficient English to be an interpreter has also been in the company of Europeans or of Europeanized natives sufficiently to learn their likes and dislikes. He will skilfully conceal what he thinks might dis- please or annoy you, and put special emphasis on what he knows will interest you. Unfortunately, it is the general im- pression that what is most distinctively native is most unin- teresting to a European and ought to be concealed from him. Whatever may be the cause, we make no groundless asser- tion when we say, that many of the books on India seem to have been made with the aim of astonishing rather than of instructing the reader, and they leave on the mind the im- pression that India is a country where women are caged up like parrots, where widows are burned alive, and children are hung up in baskets to be eaten by birds, or thrown into the Ganges to be eaten by crocodiles ; that it is inhabited chiefly by voluptuous native princes, self-torturing religious devotees, 10 INTRODUCTION, pow-wowing Brahman priests, jewel-bedecked dancing girls, and ferocious Bengal tigers. Of the millions of sober-minded, toiling, fellow human beings with hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, sympathies and ambitions like ourselves and in common with the rest of mankind, we are told but little. The school children of America know more about the burning of widows and the drowning of infants in India, about Thuggism and the bloody goddess Kali, than do the fathers of an ordinary Hindu village ; and the extraordinary accounts contained in many books on India are as surprising to the young Hindu as they are to the young American. We do not say that these accounts are literally untrue, but we claim that the average English book on India gives the reader an unsymmetrical impression of the country as a whole, by putting too much stress upon characters and topics which are of comparatively little consequence in the general make- up of the life of the masses. Such subjects as historical and theoretical Hinduism, the origin of caste, Brahmanism, Devil- worship, Thuggism and Sutteeism, which usually take up a large part of European books on India, have but a small share in the daily life of the people, and their discussion is purposely omitted in the present book. Any standard cyclopedia will give the reader full and trustworthy informa- tion on these topics. The usual chapters on the location, size, and natural features of the country are likewise omitted, and for them the reader is referred to his " Common School Geography." The writer has also departed from the custom of closing every chapter with a " moral," for which omission he hopes those of his readers who are able to draw conclusions for them- selves will kindly excuse him. The reader will also please bear in mind that it has not been so much the writer's inten- tion to describe in detail the country, its people, and their customs, as it has been to give the reader such impressions of life in India as he would probably himself receive by familiar and friendly intercourse among all classes. Every-Day Life in India. I. THE PEOPLE. What shall we call them ? If we say " Hindus," the statisticians will tell us that one-fourth of them are not Hindus but Mohammedans, while the historians will add that the low-caste people are not Hindus proper. If we say " East-Indians," we shall be understood to mean a small and special class — the descendants of mixed parentage. If we say *' Indians," the name is common to the red man of North America and to the natives of the West Indies. We have, therefore, before us the alternative of using the awkward expression " the people of India," or of adopting one of the other terms as a general name. We prefer the latter and shall use the word "Hindus" as an equivalent to "the natives of India," including Mohammedans and Pariahs as well as Brah- mans and Sudras. In rpatters of religion or other distinctions worthy of notice, we shall make the neces- sary exceptions. 2 12 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. THEIR CHARACTER. The most diverse estimates of the character of the Hindus have found their way into print. Abul Fazl, the great Akbar's minister, said of them : " They are rehgious, affable, courteous to strangers, prone to inflict austerities on- themselves, lovers of justice, given to retirement, able in business, grateful, admirers of truth, and of unbounded fidelity. Their character shines brightest in adversity. Their soldiers know not what it is to flee from the field of battle. They have great respect for their tutors ; and make no account of their lives when they can devote them to the service of their God. They believe in the unity of the Godhead, and although they hold images in high veneration they are by no means idolaters, as the igno- rant suppose." The English historian. Mill, says that the higher castes in India are generally depraved and capable of every fraud and villany; that they more than despise their inferiors, whom they kill with less scruple than we do a fowl ; that the lower castes, are profligate, guilty on the slightest occasion of the greatest crimes, and degraded infinitely below the brutes; that the Hindus in general are devoid of every moral and religious principle ; cunning and deceitful ; addicted to adulation, dissimulation, deception, dishonesty, falsehood, and perjury; disposed to hatred, revenge and cruelty; indulging in furious and malignant passions fostered by the gloomy and malignant principles of their reli- gion ; perpetrating \'illany with cool " reflection ; in- . . THE PEOPLE. 13 dolent to the point of thinking death and extinction the happiest of all states ; avaricious, litigious, insensible to the sufferings of others, inhospitable, cowardly ; con- temptuous and harsh to their women, whom they treat as slaves ; eminently devoid of filial, parental, and con- jugal affection. Alas for the bewilderment of the poor reader who should encounter these two historians in succession, or for the impression of the still more unfortunate one who should form his estimate of Hindu character from either of them alone. Both statements are far too strong, and the truth probably lies near a mean between the two. Possibly a company of respectable, devout Hindus might be collected in any part of India who would answer the favorable description of Abul Fazl. So likewise might a gang of robbers, scoundrels and lewd fellows be easily collected who would be true to Mr. Mill's picture of Hindu character ; but neither of these could properly be called "the Hindus." On account of the vast differences which exist be- tween the extremes of society, it is very difficult to speak of the people of India in general terms, and who- ever does so must admit that the exceptions endanger the rule. Those foreigners who have seen most of India, who have lived in the closest connection and sympathy with the people, are the last to speak in strong and general terms of the Hindus as a whole. The writer who finds it comparatively easy to say this or that is so in regard to Americans, Englishmen or 14 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. Frenchmen, will find himself confused with the endless variety of character which he meets in India. Of distinct races and tribes, languages and dialects, religions and castes, there seems to be no end. In the same village live those whose habits and sympathies are as distinct and as different as those of the inhabi- tants of different hemispheres. We give, therefore, a friendly caution to the reader, not to be in haste to draw conclusions beyond what is written. If we tell you that we saw a basket-maker or a village watchman preparing a dish of rats, or a crow-stew, do not fly to the conclusion that " the Hindus " are fond of crows and devour rats like the Chinese. If we tell you that a Brahman never eats a meal without attending with great care to his religious cere- monies, do not infer that a Pariah concerns himself equally much about religious observances, or that he ever thinks of praying except once a year when his village is threatened with cholera or smallpox. It is exceedingly difficult for us to form a proper estimate of the moral character of the Hindus, just as it is well-nigh impossible for them to form a correct estimate of the moral character of Europeans. We find in them such a strange combination of qualities — • moral and otherwise — that we are quite bewildered in coming to a conclusion ; our tendency probably being to let what we consider bad overshadow what is really good. When we find, as we frequently do here, gentleness, docility, industry, faithfulness in service, and politeness THE PEOPLE. 15 to superiors, combined with lying, flattery, jealousy, ingratitude and avarice in the same individual, we are at a loss to give an opinion as to his moral character. As lying is abominable and ingratitude contemptible in our eyes, we are content to let the gentleness, docil- ity, industry, faithfulness, and politeness, go for naught as we vote our subject a lying, sneaking, ungrateful wretch. Perhaps the best we can do by way ol indicating Hindu character, is to point out such peculiarities as prominently attract the notice ol a foreigner. There are some special traits of character which continually impress themselves upon us in our intercourse with the people of India, and we make no rash assertion when we say, that many Europeans spend the greater part of their life here without getting beyond these special and sometimes incongruous peculiarities, in their study of Hindu character. THE HINDUS ARE RESPECTFUL TO FOREIGNERS, AND TO THEIR SUPERIORS AMONG THEIR OWN COUNTRYMEN. To new-comers this is very noticeable. To the European who has long lived in the country it becomes a commonplace matter of lact. He receives the outer marks of respect from natives with the same equanimity as he does the light and heat of the sun, and with as little appreciation. It is only when they are denied him that he takes any notice of them. Then he flies- into a rage and feels himself deeply insulted. What- ever else this state of things may prove or indicate, it at 1 6 £ VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. least shows that the natives of India, as a rule, are re- spectful to Europeans. Those among them of lower caste or position seldom show that pride of " equality " which is so common in western lands. The idea of all men being created equal is altogether foreign to India. It is directly opposed to all their religious precepts and social usages. This, no doubt, has something to do with the profound respect which superiors either by birth or by position receive from those less favored. THEY ARE PATIENT AND EVEN-TEMPERED. The patience ot the Hindu has reached a world- wide fame, and his mildness has become a proverb. His detractors call his patience a compound of apathy and laziness, but to this mode of reasoning we object. If a diagnosis of a man's anger or of his lying propen- sity does not excuse him for the fault, neither must an analysis of his good qualities rob him of their virtue. We say the Hindu is patient — a hundred times more patient than the European. Patient under delays, under disappointments, and under the most irritating provocations and annoyances. For his patience he receives the daily reward which this virtue brings, and from his impatient, nervous, strong-tempered European judges, he deserves an unbiased and favorable verdict on this point. THEY ARE PEACEABLY DISPOSED. Barring the verbal warfare in which Hindus gener- ally delight, they are exceedingly peaceful. Of such a THE PEOPLE, 17 thing as a fist fight among Hindus we have never heard. Even among street boys quarrels ending in blows are very rare, and that the nation as a whole is the very reverse of warlike, history clearly attests. The Hindu has a profound respect for authority. He apparently loves to be governed, and is as proud of the dignity of his rulers as the rulers can well be them- selves. Though he may not have any well-defined doctrine about the divine right of kings, he shows no more uneasiness even under his foreign rulers that il they had been placed over him by express command of his gods. The peaceful disposition of the Hindus is clearly brought to light by contrast with the warlike spirit of their northern neighbors, the Afghans, as the British have lately had occasion to learn, not altogether to their satisfaction. THEY ARE TEMPERATE AND SIMPLE IN THEIR HABITS. Although the use of intoxicating liquors is somewhat prevalent among the lower castes, drunkenness is by no means as common in India as it is in Europe and America. The high caste Hindus and the Mohamme- dans have strong religious objections to the use of intoxicating drinks, and one of the saddest features of European influence in India is the increase of drunk- enness. One cannot but admire the simple habits of the Hindus. Their houses, their clothing, their food, are 1 8 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . all of the plainest, simplest kind. While we could wish to see them bestow more care upon their houses for the sake of having pleasanter homes, we deprecate any " civilization" which will create luxurious wants of food and dress. Notwithstanding, " The civilized, the most polite, Is that which bears the praise of nations For dressing eggs two hundred fashions ; Whereas at savage nations look. The less refined, the less they cook," it Is an open question whether the knowledge of dress- ing eggs in two hundred fashions, and having a special taste for each, is a gain or a loss. We have often envied the Hindu his undisturbed satisfaction with his simple "rice and curry" from January to December ; and have we not times without number heard European ladies exclaim, with a sigli, " Oh, that we could dress like these Hindu women, always the same, yet ever so graceful, and be spared the endless vexation of latest styles and changing fashions." If any one can prove to our satisfaction, or to the satisfaction of a bench of unbiased judges, that a dozen courses at dinner and for-ever-changing styles of dress are a blessing, either to Individuals or to nations, we shall confess that Hindus deserve our pity for their simple tastes and meagre wants; but until then we shall remain of the opinion that their condition in this respect is a most desirable one, and one which we shall THE PEOPLE. 19 do well to encourage rather than to despise among ourselves. On the other hand, there are some traits of character which readily attract the attention of the new- comer, but which impress him less favorably. Promi- nent among these are the following. WANT OF TRUTHFULNESS. Truth, whether in the abstract or in the concrete, is far less honored in the Orient than in western countries. To a European, truth and right are the highest stan- dards. From these there is no appeal. To the Hindu and to the people of the East generally, custom and ex- pediency are of more importance than truth and right. This is a strong charge to bring against a great portion of the human family, but we think the facts in the case warrant our conclusion. The evil effects of such a state of popular thought and feeling can scarcely be over-estimated. It blocks the way to national progress, and makes the path of individual integrity a very hard one. The Hindu religion, which sanctions falsehood under certain cir- cumstances, is to blame in no small degree for the low standard which truth occupies in India to-day. The lying, deceiving, intriguing gods of the Hindu pantheon have had a large share in the banishment from the country of that high and sacred regard for the truth which we find in Christian lands. It would be uncharitable and probably untrue to say, as some writers have done, that "all Hindus are liars ;" but this is certain, that the European resident in 3 20 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, India finds lying so common among all castes and classes, that he soon gives but little weight to the word of any native whose personal interests might tempt him to depart from the truth. It is equally certain that natives among themselves trust one another as little or even less, when their personal interests and the truth are at variance. This is a dark stain on the Hindu character and one which repels Europeans. Whatever other derogatory opinions Hindus may have of Euro- peans, they are well aware that we stand by our word and abhor a lie. A European's word is as good as a hundred promissory notes by a native, among natives themselves. " You said so," " You promised it, sir," Is a kind of due-bill which but few Europeans can evade, and the Hindus know it. SELFISHNESS. However much we may lament the selfishness prev- alent in Christian countries, we can form no idea of what utter and unmitigated selfishness means until we see it as it prevails in India and other non-Christian lands. Selfishness has extinguished every spark of uninterested philanthropy, of zeal for the public good, and even of patriotism, in India. The Hindu has a directly selfish aim in every act of charity, and in his very offerings to the gods. The caste system has en- couraged and fostered exclusiveness in small circles and selfishness in individuals, until the social atmosphere stands at a freezing temperature. The rule among all THE PEOPLE, 21 classes seems to be, " Look out for yourself, but never do to others that for which you are not likely to be repaid." One who is well, offering to do the work of a neighbor who is sick ; one man lending a helping hand to another simply as a matter of accommodation ; one traveller helping to carry the burden of a fellow-trav- eller — such acts of kindness are almost unknown in India. It does not seem to strike the ordinary Hindu as belonging even to the proprieties of life to help one another. In case of a fire breaking out in a village, it is only when the flames actually reach his own house that a man feels called upon to put it out. During a late conflagration in the city of Poona, the policemen and other ofiicials begged of the bystanders to help in arresting the spread of the flames ; but instead of a hearty response with buckets of water, they coolly replied, " Why should we ? these are not our build- ings." In all the departments of life and among all classes, this heartless, chilling selfishness prevails to an extent utterly unappreciable by an American Christian who has not seen it. Whatever the Christian religion may have done or may have left undone in the character of Americans, it has at least made them, as a nation and as individuals, more unselfish than Hinduism has made its followers. Having no such disposition themselves, it seems a thing incredible to the Hindus that Europeans should voluntarily give of their hard-earned savings for such charities as the spread of the gospel and famine relief in 22 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, distant countries. Notwithstanding his inability to give a satisfactory explanation, the average Hindu even to this day believes that missionaries and their supporters have some hidden, selfish motive in their efforts for the spread of Christianity. THE LOVE OF MONEY, is inordinately strong in Hindus. Of all the gods of India, the rupee has the most numerous and the most devoted worshippers. Rupees, annas, and pice, it is safe to say, form the subject of three-fourths of all the talk of India. A controversy over a single pice (one- fourth of a cent) is enough to throw a dozen people into a quarrel and to keep them wrangling for half a night. For the sake of heaping up rupees a rich man will live in a dreary, windowless mud-hut all his days, and make his life and that of his family as rayless as is his dingy house. The Hindus' strong love of money seems the more unreasonable because they prize the money itself rather than any rational enjoyment which it might bring them. There is some fitness of things in a man's seeking wealth in order that he may beautify his home, cultivate his mind, educate his children, and make him- self a more useful citizen ; but when the love of money ends in itself, it is a base passion which consumes the better nature of the owner, while it brings no good to the community. While we do not wish to intimate that all the misers of the world are confined to India, we do believe that this country has a more than just propor- tion of souls whose highest ambition never rises above THE PEOPLE. 23 the current coin of the bazaar. So prominent is the greed for gain, and so readily and so frequently are truth, honesty, and uprightness bartered for silver, that we cannot be wrong in classing an inordinate love for money among the unenviable qualities of the Hindus. WANT OF FRANKNESS. There is about Hindus a want of frankness which acts as an almost insurmountable social barrier between them and Europeans. A native gentleman may be your intimate acquaintance; he may visit you week after week and sit by you for hours ; he may converse with you about all conceivable subjects, and reveal to you his joys and sorrows, hopes and fears ; he may bring you presents and receive favors in return, flatter you to your face and extol your virtues in the presence of your friends ; yet you can never be quite sure that he is truly and thoroughly your friend, and that he would stand by you in adversity, or when such a course would interfere with his own interests. Whether frankness, free, open-heartedness, has been to some extent denied the Hindus by nature, we are not prepared to say ; but this we know, that whatever degree of frankness the children in India have, in com- mon with youths in other parts of the world, is oblit- erated by social and religious training before they reach the age of manhood. Their religion lays no foundation for genuine and sterling friendship. We make no attempt to exhaust the list of national characteristics, either good or bad. We have men- 24 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, tloned only a few of the most prominent and such as readily attract the attention of every European. Just as the foreign resident in India generalizes other national peculiarities by detached incidents as they come under his observation from time to time, so may the reader complete his conception of Hindu character by facts and incidents connected with the details of daily hfe as scattered throughout the following pages. APPEARANCE AND HOME-LIFE, 25 n. GENERAL. APPEARANCE, DRESS, AND HOME-LlIFE. There is considerable variety in the general ap- pearance of the natives of India, not only in different sections of the country, but also in the same village. A Pariah is seldon mistaken for a Brahman or Sudra, even without his dress distinctions ; while about a Mohamme- dan there is a stern, defiant look which unmistakably indicates his class. Yet on the whole there is a strong resemblance among them all, which marks them as much more closely allied in origin and descent than Brahmanical lore would have us believe. In color Hindus are of all shades from a light brown to a deep jet. The lower castes are generally darker than the higher, but to this there are many exceptions ; and we have seen Brahmans as black as charcoal. A light color is preferred by all classes, and even among Pariahs a " black " bride is not considered so desirable as a "red" one. The features of the Hindu face are not so very different from our own. Especially are the nose and mouth of European cast. They have no such marked distinguishing characteristic as the high cheek-bone of the North American Indian, or the thick lips and curly hair of the Negro. They are commonly classified as a branch of the Caucasian family, and there is nothing in their physiognomy to disprove their right to this rank. 26 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, THEIR DRESS, Especially that of the women, is graceful and becoming. This consists of one piece of cloth, from six to nine yards long, and a yard and a quarter wide. One end is wrapped around the waist, gathered into folds in front and secured by tucking in, while the other end is thrown across the breast over the shoulder, drawn around the waist and secured at the side by tucking under. When required, this end may be readily loosed and thrown over the head as a covering. This is in fact the only headdress ever seen on a Hindu woman. Not a stitch of sewing is required in making the dress, and not a pin, hook, button or string is required to keep it in place. Beautifully inwoven borders make up for frills and flounces. A tightly fitting jacket with short sleeves and body reaching halfway to the waist is now generally worn in connection with the cloth. The dress of the men is in two pieces called the "upper" and "lower" cloths. The lower cloth is about three yards long, is tied about the waist and falls over the knees. The upper cloth is about the same length and is thrown loosely across the shoulders and drawn around the waist. Coats are becoming very popular and are fast dis- placing the upper cloths. The turban or head cover- ing is made by folding a piece of cloth, from seven to ten yards long and a yard wide, in a peculiar way so as to fit the head and remain in its place. It is very becoming and well adapted to protect the head from the sun. The "head-cloth" is the article of native VILLAGERS IN ORDINARY DRESS. APPEARANCE AND HOME-LIFE. 29 clothing longest retained by those progressive Indian youths who indulge in European styles of dress. Women, as already said, wear nothing on their heads except a fold of the single cloth which constitutes their whole dress. A few showy and expensive cloths for holidays, weddings and other special occasions, are as necessary in India as a " best suit " in any other part of the world. Sandals and decorated slippers are worn by men; but women, however well dressed otherwise, seldom wear anything on their feet. Stockings are altogether unknown. Jewelry is worn by both sexes, but more profusely by women. Rings on the fingers and toes, bracelets without number on the wrists, bands of gold and silver on the arms, rings and pendants in the nose and ears, chains about the neck and across the head, and circular plates on the hair, are the principal forms of jewelry upon which Hindu women set their hearts and which in popular language are called their "joys." They have yet other ways of adorning themselves ; such as washing the face, arms and feet with saffron water, which gives them a yellow color, painting the outer edge of the eyelids with a solution of oil and lampblack, and reddening the tips of the fingers and nails with a dye of henna leaves. If there were any "disputing about taste" there would be ample room for questioning whether some of these operations do really add adornment; but as long as Hindu women think so, they have as good a right to practise them as 4 30 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, their fair sisters of the West have to indulge in similar fancies. HINDU HOME-LIFE. In speaking of Hindu home-life we shall have to say what it is not rather than what it is, for the Chris- tian idea of "home," with all its pleasant and ennobling associations, is but little known in India. The Hindu's idea of home seems to be a secluded place, where the light of the sun, the breezes of heaven, and passers-by shall be effectually shut out. If it afford him security against thieves, privacy for prepar- ing and eating his meals, a dark corner for his siesta, and a warm place for sleeping at night, he cares little for situation, drainage, ventilation, adornment and beautiful surroundings. That almost universal desire among Europeans for a pleasant home, both as regards external surroundings and internal comforts, seems to be wanting among Hindus. Even the rich, who could well afford to adorn their homes and surround them- selves with domestic comforts, are not disposed to do so, at least they do not strive after what we should consider home comforts. The interior of the average native house is even more unattractive than its rude exterior. Chairs and tables there are none. A low stool, a rude cot always shorter than a man and without mattress, a loose mat for the accommodation of visitors, a box or two for storing away jewels, best clothing and other valuables, and innumerable earthen pots for holding rice and other provisions, complete the stock of furniture, but APPEARANCE AND HOME-LIFE, 31 not all the- other stock. Cows, calves, buffaloes, bul- locks and fowls are received upon terms of the greatest familiarity in the ordinary Hindu house, and generally occupy a conspicuous place in the very bosom of the family. There is a growing desire among all classes for European furniture, and the day is not far distant, we trust, when there will be a great improvement in the homes of even the humbler classes. There are, how- ever, other things needed besides tables, chairs, and sofas, to convert the Hindu house into a home. It must be made inviting, pleasant for the mind as well as comfortable for the body. There must be more genial social intercouse between husband and wife, parents and children. Such a thing as social games or other entertainments in the home circle, with and for the chil- dren, are almost unknown. Parents would consider such unbending unbecoming their dignity and subver- sive of their authority. Here as elsewhere among Hindus, fear is the motive power, and until this is replaced by love as the ruling principle, home will not be the sacred happy place which God designed it to be. We do not say that Hindus are devoid of parental, filial, and conjugal love; by no means, but we do say that these are not made the basis of family influence and home happiness as they ought to be. 32 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, III. THE REIxIGIOK OF THE HINDUS. The Hindus are preeminently a religious people. They eat religiously, bathe religiously, shave religious- ly, dress religiously, marry religiously, die religiously, are burned or buried religiously, and for years to come on certain days are remembered religiously. From morning to night, from day to day, from year to year, and from generation to generation the Hindus are controlled in almost every act of their lives by their religion. The huge and tyrannous caste system, which holds every man in its iron grasp from the day of his birth to the hour of his death, is but a part of the Hindu religion. MORALITY. It must not be supposed that Hindus are moral in proportion as they are religious, or even that morality is a very important part of their religion. Religion and morality in India have long since, alas, parted com- pany, the former continuing to make a grand show, receiving homage, applause, and respect, while the latter has been neglected, ill-treated, and allowed to find a home and friends as best she could. Morality without religion is cold and unsatisfactory, but religion without morality is a loathsome blasphemy. By way of illustration on this point I give a few in- stances which have come under my personal observation, RELIGION OF THE HINDUS, 33 In 1878 a temple was being built in the village of Got- tipadu. Hindu temples are generally built by wealthy individuals who erect them for "merit." It is seldom that the villagers join together to build them. In this case, however a number of the prominent men of the village were interested in the erection of the temple, and one day when they wanted charcoal for the black- smith who was doing the iron-work for them, they con- cluded the cheapest way to get it would be to appro- priate a certain tree which belonged to public land, and burn it. After they had cut down the tree and taken it away, a policeman unfortunately came that way and inquired what had become of the missing tree, whereupon the temple-builders declared upon oath that a certain poor man whom they named had hewn it down and carried it away. The poor man was arrested, thrown into the police station, and would have been sent to jail but for the timely interposition of a Christian teacher, who knew the circumstances of the case and appeared in his behalf At another village not far from my home, a woman had a temple erected. She had called a stone-mason from Ongole — sixty miles to the south — and when he had done his work she neglected to pay the balance of wages due him. From week to week and from month to month she put him off. Meanwhile she heard of an old debt which the poor man owed to a distant relative of hers, and sending for his creditor she soon arranged for the cancelling of both debts. The poor stone- 34 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. mason was in great distress and away from his home. On this last occasion he had already waited fifteen days in the hope of getting what was yet due him. When the old debt was turned in against him, he begged that she would give him only enough to buy his food until he could reach his home. To this request the pious devotee replied that if he came in ten days she would give him road expenses to go home ! A case was lately brought before the High Court in Madras, in which a wealthy Zemindar was accused of instigating the robbery of a man who had acquired a considerable sum of money as a laborer on a foreign island, and who had just returned to his native coun- try with his hard-earned savings. The circumstance brought out during the trial to which we call attention is, that one sum of money consisting of 211 rupees was divided among ten men engaged in the robbery, giving each one twenty-one rupees and leaving one rupee over. This odd rupee was piously set aside for their god, HINDUISM. What is Hinduism? Like an immense glacier slowly descending from the mountain, gathering up and incorporating stones, earth, and debris of whatever kind comes into its way, but at the same time accommoda- ting itself to the configuration of the mountain side, so has Hinduism come down through the ages, gathering up and incorporating whatever gods and goddesses, heroes and saints, religious theories and doctrines, rites and ceremonies came in its way, and accommodating RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 35 itself at the same time with remarkable flexibility to whatever influences were too powerful to be overcome by it. What Hinduism is theoretically it is not our object to discuss. Any standard cyclopedia will furnish the reader with this information better than he could learn it by a lifetime's intercourse among Hindus. Not one in a thousand of them can give an intelligent idea of what he beHeves, or can state a reason why he observes certain and innumerable rites and ceremonies, beyond the all-sufficient one that " it is our custom." So flexible is Hinduism and in a certain way so tolerant, that Christianity, its deadly foe, could at once be incorporated into this huge system, if Christians would but consent to have Jesus Christ regarded as one of the innumerable gods of the Hindu pantheon, form a caste sub-division by themselves and pay proper homage to the Brahmans. Regarded in its widest, popular sense, we can give no other definition of Hinduism but that it is the religion of the Hindus. THE ANCIENT VEDAS. What of the ancient Vedas or sacred books of the Hindus, whose praise has resounded throughout the whole civilized world ? No more than you clu find the pure, sparkling rivulet, which was Its source, In the muddy, filthy stream as it lazily finds Its way, a mighty river, Into the sea, can you find in modern practical Hinduism the pure and exalted teachings of the ancient Vedas. 36 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, The millions of India know as little about the Vedas as they do about the Bible, or even less. It is not from those grand old books that they have gotten their many gods, their idolatrous rites, their superstitious obser- vances and their abominable caste. So far as they relate to a Divine Being, many of the hymns of the early Hindu Vedas are exceedingly pure and sublime, worthy of the admiration of all thoughtful minds. Of late years efforts have been made in certain quarters by intelligent and devout Hindus to lead the nation back to the pure religion of the Vedas^ but so far their success has not been very encouraging. BRAHMANISM. Hinduism and Brahmanism are not interchangeable terms, though they are sometimes used thus. Brahmanism is only a part, but a very important part of the whole system of Hinduism. Hinduism has been affected and moulded by Buddhism, Mohammedan- ism, the demon-worship of the Aborigines, and possibly by Christianity, but it has taken its chief coloring from Brahmanism. Brahmanism rests not upon the ancient Vedas, but upon the later Hindu so-called sacred writings, and to it must be ascribed the origin and maintenance of caste, the subtile pantheistic theology and the gross polythe- istic idolatry of India, the doctrine of the transmigra- tion of souls, and the sacerdotal hierarchy. Brahmanism is utterly selfish, being constructed and maintained in all its features solely for the interests of RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 37 one class— the Brahmans. To elevate and benefit the masses it has no lessons nor influences. Never was more consummate wisdom displayed by a crafty priest- hood, than was shown by the Brahmans, who thus per- fected a system which should at once secure its own perpetuation and the social and religious supremacy of its founders. WORSHIP. Real, spiritual, heart-worship is, we fear, but little known among the Hindus. Wherever found among them it exists in spite of, and not by virtue of, their system of theology. Their prescribed rites and ceremonies are observed in a routine way as matters of duty ; their numerous festival days are regarded as holidays rather than as occasions of worship or thanksgiving ; their pilgrimages and works of charity are performed confessedly for merit ; their offerings to the gods are made in payment of vows, or to appease their anger, and their prayers are almost invariably set phrases or vain repetitions. The names of the gods, as "Rama, Rama, Rama," are repeated hundreds of times in succession, and the account registered by means of a rosary. So efficacious is the repeating of the names of the gods considered, that even when by mistake or accident sounds resem- bling the names are uttered, blessings are said to follow. Such a thing as meeting together with one accord in one place for the united spiritual worship of God, is unknown among the Hindus. The caste sub-divisions and the utter selfishness of the people would make such Life in India. ^ 38 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . assemblies at present impossible, and it is probable that the want of this feature in the Hindu religion has con- tributed in a great measure to bring about this deplo- rable isolation among the people. HINDUISM AND THE TRUE GOD. It has been the fashion with books of a popular style to speak of Hinduism only with ridicule and contempt, while the Hindus have been put upon a religious level with the savages of Africa and the South Sea Islands. A late English writer, whose book has been republished in America, speaks of the Hindus as " Millions of heathen idolators, living without God and hope in the world — knowing not the Giver of every good and per- fect gift," etc. Such language, we hold, can do no good, because it is not true. It may admit of *' interpretation," but we fail to see the necessity of writing on so plain a subject in language which needs a commentary. We are not called upon to defend Hinduism — no sensible man can defend modern Hinduism — but in taking hold only of its ridiculous features and holding these up before the public as Hinduism, we stultify ourselves, deserve and receive the contempt of thoughtful Hindus, and do no good in the way of reformation. Hinduism as a religious system may deserve our righteous indignation, but if it be only the silly, flimsy, pitiable affair we see so often portrayed in its name, how is it that we have not long since with all our zeal and learning ridiculed it out of existence ? RELIGION OF THE HINDUS, 39 Hinduism is no doubt in the main a system of error, but it is a gigantic system and has just enough of truth and utiHty in it to cement together its spurious parts ; and until we apply ourselves to the work of pointing out to the Hindu what use he can make of the valuable parts of his own endeared system, in the building up of a new and better one, we shall utterly fail to do him religious good. We must endeavor to put ourselves in his place. He looks upon us as a people with " no religion," while we, in pitiable contempt, turn to him and call him a heathen with no knowledge of the true God. It is utterly unfair to say that Hindus do not know the true God. They may not have a true and full knowledge of God ; their devotion may and does spring from fear rather than from love; they may not have that sweet communion with God which springs from a knowledge of him as " Our Father," and they may be without hope and faith in Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour; they even may and do ascribe to God acts and attributes which are unworthy of God as the Christian knows him ; but to deny them in Mo a knowl- edge of the true God is unjust and brings no good either to the Christian or the Hindu. INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON HINDUISM. Of all the forces with which Hinduism has ever had to contend none has been so strong and vital as Christianity. Christianity is to-day influencing Hinduism in ways undreamed of by Hindus, and to an extent scarcely 40 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. credible to Christians themselves. Christian preachers, mission schools and western books are changing and purifying the whole theological atmosphere of India. The believers in a plurality of gods are fast disappear- ing, and audiences which were once delighted with the fabled stories of the silly exploits of Rama and Krishna, now laugh at them. The acts of murder, adultery, theft and intrigue which their sacred books ascribe to the hero gods, are now explained away or kept in the background by the defenders of Hinduism. Some go so far as to reject all the later sacred books and claim as their religious guide only the ancient Vedas, declaring that these teach a spiritual God and salvation by faith. A discussion has of late been going on among edu- cated natives in Madras, advising the introduction into Hindu schools of a systematic study of Hinduism as taught in the ancient Vedas, in order to compete with mission schools on the score of religious instruction. The "Brahmo Somaj," or theistic church of India, with its cry of " India for Christ," while its members hold fast with both hands to the ancient Vedas and to many doctrines and reservations incompatible with the gospel, is but an outgrowth of Christian influence upon Hinduism. All these efforts at religious reformation on the part of Hindus themselves are the fruit of Chris- tian missionary effort, fruit, however, which, like the sickly apple ripening before its time, is stunted, diseased and tasteless and not to be compared with that which is yet to ripen for Christ and his church in India. CASTE. 41 IV. CASTE: A SACRED IHSTITUTIOK. We introduce this subject by a few extracts from the Institutes of Manu. These Institutes or Laws of Manu were written 700 or 800 years before the birth of Christ, and they form the most complete and important work on Hindu law extant. " Hindu law," it must be borne in mind, has a much wider signification than the term English or Roman law, for it comprises not only political but also social, religious, and moral laws. Though we introduce these ancient records in re- gard to caste, it is not our object to trace the rise and progress of this unique institution, nor even to give a picture of caste as found in the ancient sacred books. Learned volumes on each of these subjects abound, and the discussion does not fall within the scope of this book. Though this gigantic system is gradually and surely losing its hold upon the milhons of India, it is yet by no means a thing of the past only. Hindu caste differs fundamentally from social class distinctions in other countries, in that it is emphati- cally a religious institution; one, moreover, which is inherent in birth, prescribes a man's course through life, follows him into the future world, and holds him with such unrelenting fetters that no power either from within or from without can change his position in the caste scale. It is an institution which has a mighty hold upon 42 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. the people, and it must pass away almost as gradually as it grew up. We give the following extracts from Manu to show our readers that this same system of caste which so puzzles Western people was in full force twenty- five hundred years ago ! These Laws, which were written about that time, had nothing to do with making caste rules, any more than a society journal has to do with making rules of etiquette. Manu, if we may use this word to denote the writer, simply codified what w^ere then the generally understood laws and regula- tions in regard to caste. Long before his time, caste may have been only a social institution, and in the time of the early Vedas, written a thousand years or more before Christ, there was no Hindu caste, such as had grown up in the time of Manu and has extended in its main features down to the present day. The five distinct classes of human beings which enter into the caste list are the Brakmans, or holy teachers ; the Kshatriyas, or soldiers and kings of the nation ; the Vaisyas, or farmers and traders ; the Sudras, or servants of the three other classes ; and the Out-castes, who, though strictly not belonging to the caste list, may be placed on it by virtue of the relation which they sustain to the others. Of these various classes Manu says : The very birth of Brahmans is a constant incarnation of Dharma, God of Justice ; for the Brahman is born to promote justice, and to promote ultimate happiness. Book I. : 98. When a Brahman springs to light, he is born above the world, the chief of all creatures, assigned to guard the treas- ury of duties, religious and civil. Book I. : 99. EDUCATED BRAHMANS. CASTE. 45 Whatever exists in the universe is all in effect, though not in form, the wealth of the Brahman ; since the Brahman is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and eminence of birth. Book I. : loo. The Brahman eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, and bestows but his own in alms; through the benevolence of the Brahman, indeed, other mortals enjoy life. Book I. : loi. Although Brahmans employ themselves in all sorts of mean occupations, they must invariably be honored ; for they are something transcendently divine. Book IX. : 319. The first part of a Brahman's compound name should indicate holiness; of a Kshatriya's, power; of a Vaisya's, wealth ; and of a Sudra's, contempt. Book II. : 31. Servile attendance on Brahmans learned in the Veda, chiefly on such as keep house and are famed for virtue, is of itself the highest duty of a Sudra, and leads him to future beatitude. Book IX. : 334. Pure in body and mind, humbly serving the three higher classes, mild in speech, never arrogant, ever seeking refuge in Brahmans principally, he may attain the most eminent class in another transmigration. Book IX. : 335. Of the out-castes or non-castes it is said : Their abode must be out of town ; they must not have the use of entire vessels; their sole wealth must be dogs and asses. Book X. : 51. Their clothes must be mantles of the deceased; their dishes for food, broken pots ; their ornaments, rusty iron ; continually must they roam from place to place. Book X. : 52. Let no man who regards his civil and religious duty, hold any intercourse with them, let their transactions be confined to themselves, and their marriages only between equals. Book X.: 53. 46 E VERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. Let food be given to them in potsherds, but not by the hands of the giver ; and let them not walk by night in cities or towns. Book X. : 54. The Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas all belong to the holy " twice-born," and wear the sacred thread, so that for practical purposes they are all classed together in these degenerate days by outsiders, though among themselves they, of course, keep up what they consider necessary distinctions. The Sudras having now gained a standing in soci- ety by the acquisition of wealth, and in many cases of learning, they also are commonly spoken of as " high- caste" people, in distinction from the Pariahs and other out-castes, who are spoken of as "low-caste" people. So great has been the change since the days of Manu that the Sudra, whose chief duty was then said to be " servile attendance on Brahmans," is now classed with his lord, as " high-caste." In the case of the out- castes, the improvement is equally marked. Their abode is still in a manner "out of town," but they use what vessels they please, and own what lands, houses, catde, and other property they can acquire, without any reference to the ancient legal restriction which for- bids them all but " dogs and asses." Their clothing is as good and costly as they can afford, and their orna- ments are of glass, silver, and gold, but seldom of the prescribed "rusty iron." Let it not be supposed, however, that the infringe- ment of the ancient customs on the part of the low- CASTE, 47 caste people is a matter of indifference to the higher castes. Quite otherwise. Inch by inch the ground has to be fought by the lower castes or by their friends. Their procuring of land, of comfortable houses, of schools, etc., is persistently opposed by the higher castes. Even their clothing is a matter of which the latter are yet very jealous, and during the late Afghan war, when many English officers were withdrawn from local duty and sent north, the Brahmans circulated re- ports that the English would soon all be driven out of India, and then affairs would revert to their old state. One of the first reforms, they told the low-caste people, would be that they would not be allowed to wear upper clothes, nor any clothing at all except such " mantles of the deceased" as are allowed by the ancient law. Such a change would, of course, be utterly impossible in these days, even if every European influence were withdrawn from India, but the incident shows that the old jealousy is not yet altogether dead, even on this point. In the native state of Travancore, where Brahman influence has retained its hold the longest, there have of late years been even bloody riots and lawsuits ex- tending to the high courts, solely because the low-caste Christian women refused to appear in public with the upper part of the body uncovered. It was only after strong and repeated representation on the part of the Madras government, that the native prince who rules Travancore agreed to issue a procla- mation which gives legal freedom to the Christian women to appear before high-caste people with their bodies 6 48 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . above the waist covered with an "upper" cloth. In that proclamation it was distinctly stated, however, that the cloths thus used are to be made of coarse material. This incident reminds us of two things, namely, the tenacity with which the natives, from the peasant to the prince, hold to their ancient caste usages, and the de- vastation which British rule and Christianity are slowly but surely making of those same usages. The British government is nominally neutral in matters of religion. It does nothing to harm caste and Hinduism from a religious point of view. It is only when these interfere illegally with the liberty of the subjects that the govern- ment takes any notice of the case. However, in introducing schools and colleges with Western literature and science, in introducing Western railways, telegraphs, and steamboats, in introducing Western systems of medicine and sanitary laws, and in a thousand other ways the influence of the government is to undermine caste. In other words, we might say it is light in conflict with darkness^ and as sure as dark- ness has to flee before the morning sun, so surely must caste flee before the learning and the religion of the West. Many thoughtful Hindus are aware of this and admit it. To some it is a matter of deep concern, to others of sheer indifference. Thousands of educated young men have lost all faith in the authority and necessity of caste rules, but to maintain the peace of their homes and the good will of their neighbors, they have not yet forsaken the outward observances. Every decade brings forth wondrous changes in caste: - 49 public sentiment. When railway travel was first Intro- duced the Brahmans said, " We cannot use the cars, for we are not allowed to sit on the same seat with a low- caste man, or even on a seat which has ever been used by a Pariah." Now these objections have all dis- appeared, and we find the third-class cars literally packed with natives of all castes, from the holy Brah- man down to the greasy Chuckler. With missionary schools the Brahmans had a simi- lar quarrel. " How can we come, sit on the same bench and recite in the same class with low-caste boys?" was their momentous question. The missionaries calm- ly informed them that as this was a difficulty of their own making or discovery, they must also find a solu- tion. Meanwhile the mission schools could afford to do without the Brahmans better than they could afibrd to do without the schools, and the consequence is that now we find all classes, Brahmans, Sudras, Mohamme- dans, Christians, and Pariahs, seated in the same class and reciting the same lesson, which often may be even a Bible lesson. Sanitary regulations also come into contact with caste rules. To the credit of the caste system it must be said that on the whole it Is on the side of health and cleanliness. Its contact with sanitary regulations arises chiefly from the exclusive and selfish features of caste as restricted to the higher classes. The following extract from a late work on India* illustrates our point : * "The Trident, the Crescent, and the Cross," by Rev. James Vaughan. 50 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, " Some years ago the Municipal Commissioners of Calcutta determined to bring pure water into the city. Up to that period the inhabitants had been drinking the foul water of the river Hoogly, or the not less foul water of tanks in their com- pounds. The municipal water was to be brought, after being thoroughly purified, a distance of sixteen miles through pipes. The pipes were to be connected with hydrants planted along the streets, out of which the people might draw the water. ' But,' said the Brahmans, ' it is impossible for us to make use of the water. As all other castes are to have access to the same hydrants, we, to avoid contamination, must stand aloof.* So said caste ; but pure water and health were mightier than caste. To save appearances the Brahmans convened a coun- cil of learned heads to deliberate the pros and cons of the case. There was no doubt in any one's mind as to the result. The report of the pundits was all that any tender conscience could wish ; they fished out of the Shasters a few convenient texts which sufficiently settled the point. One text, as if borrowing the words of a better book, said, * To the pure all things are pure;' therefore orthodox Hindus had only to assume their personal purity and drink to their heart's con- tent. Another text, breathing a spirit of muscular Hinduism, said, 'Health first, religion next.' Another declared that ' All flowing water is pure.' But the downright practical and clinching passage came at last : ' Impure objects become pure by paying the value of them.' Argument : * We pay the water- rate ; ergo, the water to us becomes pure.' This argument, we imagine, was not less satisfactory to the municipal author- ties than to the Brahmans. Thus followed another blow to caste. At this day, without scruple or protest, the Brahmans quaff the water of the hydrants along with all the other castes." Caste as a sacred religious institution is doomed. The social lines which now separate the various classes will not soon be obliterated, neither do we see any CASTE, 51 special necessity for this. Even Christianity wages war mainly against the religious features of the caste system, and though some reformers clamor loudly for general sociability, intermarriage, etc., we fail to see what special good can come from such a course. Let all be free to choose in such matters ; but lay compulsion — even moral compulsion — on none, else our cure will be as bad as the disease. 52 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, Y. CASTE: III- ACTUAL LIFE. As Europeans living in India, caste attracts our attention less as a vast system than as the source of numberless strange and to us inexplicable acts — acts, some of which command our sincere respect, while others appear to us ridiculously silly and childish. At first, too, we are at a loss to distinguish the members of the various castes at sight. Gradually we get over this last difficulty, and though we may not be able to state clearly the distinguishing marks, we seldom mistake a Brahman for a Vaisya, or a Sudra for a Pariah. The face, the skin, the dress, the language, the manners, all come to our aid; and after several years' residence in India and free intercourse among the people, a European may usually with certainty tell the caste of a native — though he may be utterly unable to lay down any rules for guidance in the matter. NUMEROUS SUBDIVISIONS. It must not be supposed that the four original classes — Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras — constitute a complete classification of castes as we find them now. The subdivisions are almost endless. They vary somewhat in different parts of India, but in almost any section of the country probably a hundred minor caste subdivisions might be enumerated. These CASTE, 53 subdivisions are based upon various grounds, as occu- pation, religion, language, birthplace, etc. Among Brahmans, for instance, there are a number of subdivis- ions, distinguishable to outsiders chiefly by the reli- gious marks on their foreheads and their name-endings, as sastri^ row^ puntulu, ayar^ etc. Among the Sudras the subdivisions are based chiefly, though not altogether, upon employment, as weavers, goldsmiths, carpenters, farmers, etc. Writers upon caste have sometimes mistaken social standing in connection with employment for caste, and have spoken of the " water-carrier caste," " gardener caste," ** butler caste," etc. This is scarcely a proper use of the term, if we wish to retain its original religious meaning. Such subdivisions are not castes, but guilds or trades. Thus while it is true that a butler or even a gardener would consider the work of a water-carrier beneath him, and would beg or starve rather than do it, his objection does not arise from caste prejudice, but from social pride. Though a European's staff of a dozen servants may all be of the same caste, they will object vehemently to interchanging work, and this has led some foreigners to conclude that for each work there must be a separate caste, which is not the case. It is true, however, that in time, some of these subdivisions become very far separated and take to themselves many of the distinctions which formerly separated only the original castes. They refuse to eat together or to inter- marry, while each party claims to be as good as, and a little better than, the other. 54 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. CASTE AMONG NON-CASTES. One of the strange features of this caste system is that it has extended with all its severity even to the lowest out-castes. The greasy, odorous, carrion -eating Madigar; the unwashed, uncombed, and often un- clothed Mala; the thievish, nomadic, mouse-eating Hindu gypsy — these all hold to caste as tenaciously as the holiest Benares Brahman. In dealing with our low- caste Christians we have often been amazed at the wonderful hold which caste rules and regulations have upon these people. When we remember, however, that intelligence is not a neces- sary nor even a very desirable component part of the caste system, we are, after all, not so much surprised. LOW-CASTE PEOPLE DEFEND THE SYSTEM WHICH DEGRADES THEM. This in our eyes is very marvellous. We should think the low castes and the out-castes would have a quarrel with the institution which thus degraded them in the human scale. Not so. Their view of the matter is from a very different point. They look upon the whole system as of divine origin, and their being down low in the scale is their fate^ and with fate is is useless to quarrel. An intelligent Sudra — the Headman of a village — in a friendly conversation with me on this subject ex- pressed himself thus : " As God has not created all the beasts alike, but has made some horses, some cows, some sheep, and others dogs and cats, so he also crea- CASTE. • 55 ted different classes of men, making some Brahmans, some Sudras, and others Pariahs," On another occasion, when I remonstrated with a Pariah for holding to caste distinctions, he said, " Look at my body. Has not God made a difference in strength and skill between my right hand and my left ? Has he not made one part of my body a leg, another an arm, another the chest, and another the head? So has he created different castes of men." I do not say that it is difficult to find suitable an- swers to such foolish statements, but the incidents show how settled is the hold which caste has even upon those who suffer most from its unjust restrictions. INDIVIDUALS CANNOT RISE NOR FALL FROM ONE CASTE TO ANOTHER. Caste being a distinction inherent in birth, indi- viduals can neither rise nor fall in the scale except during successive transmigrations. A Brahman holds his dignity irrespective of houses, lands, gold, or learning. He may be a beggar or an idiot, but he is still a Brahman and must not be touched by a Pariah, though the latter should happen to be learned and* wealthy. Neither will any amount of wealth, intelligence, influence, or power raise an indi- vidual in the caste scale. There is such a thing as expelling members from caste, but this consists rather in withholding all caste privilege from the individual, and neither he himself nor his friends consider that he has actually become a 7 56 E VER Y'DA V LIFE IN INDIA . non-caste man, in the sense of having lost his inherent caste distinction. These remain, though he has been deprived of his caste rights and privileges. Except in the case of Christian converts such rights are generally restored. Fines and penances are not only convenient but all-powerful agents in the restora- tion of caste. CASTE WINKS AT DIRT AND IMMORALITY. Though there are in the Hindu sacred books pre- scribed means of discipline for immorality as well as for breaking caste rules, yet it is a well-known fact that a Brahman, in these days, may be a liar, a thief, an adulterer and a scoundrel of the vilest kind, and yet retain his caste without remonstrance on the part of his fellow castemen. Let him, however, take a drink of water from the hand of a Pariah, and in a moment his family, neighbors and friends will be up in arms against him. Among the low castes a Mala may eat his fill of carrion if he is so inclined, or he may live solely on what he can steal by night from the farmers' fields, and his caste-fellows see no harm ; but let him sit down to a meal, however clean and palatably, prepared by a Madigar, and before he can get food, water, fire, and the other necessaries of life in his village, he must pay the prescribed defilement fine and be restored again to caste. Brahmans by the hundred will bathe in their sacred tanks, sit on the banks to clean their teeth, and spit CASTE. 57 into the water profusely, wash their clothing in it, and then drink the water and call it clean, whereas they will refuse to drink even the purest filtered water in the houses of Europeans. Should an unholy Pariah foot come near that "sacred tank," the water would in an instant become defiled, and endless costly ceremonies would be required to purify it again. Such is caste in some of its strange and ridiculous features. In some of its other manifestations the seri- ous, objectionable features of the system become ap- parent. CASTE IS A BARRIER TO MUTUAL HELP AND SYM- PATHY. But for caste, the Hindus might be a free, indepen- dent and self-governed nation. As it is, they are now and have been for centuries governed by foreigners. Their present rulers confess that caste jealousies, more than military force, contribute to the stability of Brit- ish rule in India. Whether the Hindus were better or worse off without British rule is not the question before us. The fact which we state is, that even to repel an invader or a foreign foe the Hindus cannot combine. This same feature of selfishness which caste fosters, becomes more shocking when we see it in the daily life of the people. A Pariah in distress would be allowed to perish like a dog, perish of sheer hunger and exposure, before a Brahman would touch, feed or shelter him with his own hands. 58 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . Likewise a Brahman would be allowed to suffer very severely before a low-caste man would dare touch or help him. In extreme cases some Brahmans might take food from low-caste hands, but most of them would prefer death to such defilement. During the late famine we saw many instances of this. Among the lower classes caste dissipates all ambi- tion for healthy improvements, while among the higher it fosters pride and arrogance. The Brahman school inspector refuses to take a slate or a book from the hand of a low-caste schoolboy. The low-caste client throws his petition from a distance at the feet of the Brahman lawyer or magistrate. And thus in a thou- sand ways the low-caste man is reminded of his unhap- py " fate " from childhood to old age. CASTE REPRESSES INDUSTRY. By law, that is, by Hindu sacred law — the Brahmans are forbidden to engage in manual labor. They are taught, and by their influence the whole nation has been taught, that it is more honorable to beg than to work. The effect in this respect is very deplorable. In another way the consequence is still worse; intellect and labor have thus become estranged, and India has been for thousands of years at a stand-still in skilled manufacture and the inventive arts. So disastrous has been the effect of having education thus separated from manual labor that the very faculty of invention seems to have become almost wholly lost to the Hindu mind. CASTE. 59 Caste also, by prescribed laws and penalties, forbids foreign travel, and thus restrains commercial enterprise. By proscribing leather as unclean it relegates a most important branch of industry to the very lowest and most ignorant out-castes, and thus in numberless ways it hangs as a monstrous weight upon the nation and upon every individual. CASTE HAS DESTROYED THE MORAL COURAGE OF THE HINDU. Though intelligent Hindus may see and own that caste is a national curse, they have not the moral cour- age to break away from its fetters. To us this is most inexplicable, and it is a phenomenon which must be ascribed to that influence of caste itself which has taught the Hindu to regard custom as greater than truth and right. At a public meeting in the interest of female educa- tion an intelligent native said, " We must use the reason which God has given us. We have already abandoned many usages derived from our ancestors, and many others we must give up, and among them this cursed caste which they have handed down to us." A Hindu newspaper, the " Indu Prokash^' relieves itself thus on the subject of caste : " The tyranny of caste extends from the most tri- fling to the most important affairs of Hindu life. It cripples the independent action of individuals, sows the seed of bitter discord between the different sections of society, encourages the most abominable practices and 6o E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . dries up all the springs of that social, moral, and Intel- lectual freedom which alone can secure greatness, wheth- er to individuals or nations. It has pampered the pride and insolence of the Brahmans, by teaching them to look upon themselves, notwithstanding their weak- nesses, as the favorites of the gods, nay, the very gods on earth, who are to keep the lower orders in a state of utter degradation and illiterate servitude. Such is our caste system ; so unjustifiable in principle, so unfair in organization, and so baneful in its consequences to the highest interests of the country." The strangest part of all this is that the very men who thus publicly abuse caste, privately and in their social intercourse bow implicity to all its tyrannous mandates. CASTE IS OPPOSED TO CHRISTIANITY. From what we have already said it will be evident to the reader that the spirit of caste is directly opposed to the spirit of the gospel of Christ. Caste knows nothing, and wants to know nothing, of the universal brotherhood of man. Its obligation to love extends barely beyond the family circle and certainly not be- yond a very limited class circle. It is therefore now and always has been the greatest obstacle to the spread of Christianity in India. When arrayed against a Christian convert from its ranks it equals in fierceness the persecutions of the famous Inquisition, though from open violence it is restrained by the British government. The caste convert, like CASTE, 6i the victim of the Inquisition, is assailed from without, but what is perhaps even more distressing, his foes are also those of his own household. Unless he has suc- ceeded in reconciling parents, wife, and children, to the new step before he receives baptism, he will find him- self deserted by his dearest loved ones ; and even his own children, whom he would gladly train up, shelter, and protect, are taken away from him by violence, and he can have them restored to his home again only by long, tedious, and expensive suits in courts of justice. The ordeal which the Christian convert from the higher caste has to undergo is indeed a severe one, and yet we are not prepared to say that this is all against the cause of Christianity. Is any one ready to assert that the persecutions of the early Christians were not for the good of the church? Hindus are exceedingly anxious to do what will please their superiors and what they think will win them favor, and if it could be done without any material sacrifice on their part they would consent in a moment to embrace the religion of their rulers. Such an event, if it were possible, would be more deleterious to the good of the church in India, than all the persecutions which can be arrayed against her. Could anything more subversive of the good of the church be imagined than for thousands, ay, millions of ignorant, superstitious idolaters to proclaim them- selves Christians? Where low-caste communities, out of religious indif- ference rather than out of conviction, have come over en masse to be enrolled as Christians, what has been 62 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. the result? A misapprehension of Christian truth, a low standard of morality, disgrace to the Christian name in the midst of the heathen, and endless vexa- tion to the missionary whose duty it was to bring order out of the confusion. If, then, in mass conversions on so small a scale the danger to the purity of the church is not inconsiderable, what would it have been if the Hindus as a nation had professed themselves Chris- tians ? and so far as we can see, this they would have done under the circumstances but for the restraining influence of caste. As it is, the Christian church has the finest oppor- tunity for preserving her purity, and for converting the intellect as well as the heart of the Hindu nation. While we, therefore, admit that caste is a barrier to the spread of Christianity, we hold also that it Is a wholesome barrier, and one which the infant Christian church in India could ill afford to spare. Caste has not been an unmixed evil. Notwith- standing all the bad effects and the evil influences which are traceable to the system of Hindu caste, we cannot agree with those who can see nothing whatever of good in It, either in the past or in the present. Something even worse than this caste system might have befallen India during the past three thousand years of isolation and seclusion. However weak in its restraining influence caste may be at present, it has for many centuries acted as an inexpensive system of police — political as well as moral — keeping its members in check, and restraining CASTE. 63 them from lawlessness, with which no modern system can compare for efficiency. It has preserved a learned class among the people when learning was encouraged neither by state influ- ence nor by the great and wealthy, and when it would otherwise no doubt have fallen into utter decay. By strictly forbidding the use of intoxicating liquors, it has served India as an efficient prohibitory temper- ance law, and has kept the higher castes almost totally from drunkenness. It has made the Hindus contented with their lot — whether good or bad, high or low — and in doing so has provided a kind of universal happiness, which if not of the highest kind, was better than none. Even now as it is passing away and justly so, we have firm faith that the God of all mankind, who permitted this wondrous institution to grow up and flourish for thou- sands of years, will overrule it for good. 64 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, YI. EDUCATION. The educational system of India is not of indige- nous growth but of foreign construction. It is fostered, not by the felt wants and aspirations of the people, but by external influences, supplied by the government and missionary societies. Its strongest efforts have been heretofore expended in the higher English education of a comparatively small number, while the masses have been scarcely at all affected, except as they have been called upon to pay the expenses. To stimulate the establishment of schools through- out the country, the government gives grants-in-aid, either by partially paying the salaries of teachers, the cost of buildings, etc., or by paying result grants regu- lated according to a fixed scale and based upon the yearly examinations passed by the pupils. The latter is best adapted to elementary schools, while institutions of a higher grade and more permanent character avail themselves of the former provision. Besides these aided schools there are numbers of strictly government schools and colleges established in places where pri- vate enterprise was not sufficient to meet what, in the eyes of the government, was considered the educational demand of the times. As a rule, the larger towns are well supplied with EDUCATION. 65 schools, but throughout the villages the percentage of school children is very small. The school for a village of a thousand or more inhabitants consists generally of about a dozen or twen- ty boys — the sons of Brahmans and merchants — who learn to read, write and cipher in order that they may carry on the business which falls to their caste, but with little thirst for knowledge or aspiration beyond this. The thousands, ay, millions, of toiling farmers and coolies have not yet even an idea that book-knowl- edge could in any way contribute to their happiness or usefulness. It is with utter amazement that they listen to de- scriptions of the home-Hfe of farmers and day-laborers in Europe and America. That a farmer should spend his leisure hours in reading, or that a day-laborer should have, anything to do with books, is to them an incom- prehensible enigma. With them, and we may say with all classes in India, education is looked upon as a marketable com- modity. The farmer says, " How will reading and writing help my boys and girls to weed my fields and plant my corn ?" The merchant says, " I must teach my boys to read and write, so that they can keep accounts, but as for my girls, they have no such need." The modern Brahman says, " I must pass the examinations so that I may get a position under government." , Missionary societies have done something in the way of encouraging elementary education among the lower castes, and not a litde in stimulating both Eng- 66 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . lish and vernacular education among all classes; but until the people themselves acquire a thirst for knowl- edge, and seek it as a means of making themselves more useful and happy, we cannot look for the bene- ficial results which the well-meant schemes of govern- ment and missionary societies were expected to pro- duce. The passing of examinations is the Indian student's highest aim in life ; this -accomplished, his efforts to improve his mind are at an end. If he fails in this from year to year, as is often the case, he sinks in de- spondency and becomes a burden to himself and to his friends. If he succeeds, he holds those who educated him responsible to secure him a position. However difficult it may be for my readers to believe, it is a fact that the Indian student, after he has passed his exami- nation, counts himself grievously wronged if those who have helped him to his education do not also supply him with a means of making a living by it. "You have educated me ; now you must show me a suitable means of liveliliood," is a sentence with which govern- ment officials and missionaries are but too familiar. If such a youth could be referred to the farm or the workshop for the solution of his difficulty, the matter would be very much simplified, but such a suggestion would be considered as adding insult to injury. In India |he conception is deep rooted that manual labor is debasing and degrading, unworthy of one born of respectable parents, or of a low-born man if educated. EDUCATION, 69 It will thus be seen that HIGHER EDUCATION in India is not without attendant evils and difficulties. It is a subject which has excited considerable interest both here and in England of late years, and we can perhaps do our readers no better service than to furnish them a few extracts from writers on the subject. In favor of the present system are of course all the general arguments which belong on the side of higher education as a means of progress and enlightenment. Its very presence shows that in the estimation of the government it is worthy of support, and by many soci- eties it is encouraged as an important department of missionary effort. It does not follow, however, that all government officials or all missionaries are heartily in favor of it. The first extract we give is from an able article in an English Review by H. J. S. Cotton, Esq., of the Indian Civil Service. " The narrow sphere in which alone the educated natives find it possible to move is dangerously over-crowded. The exigencies of a foreign government exclude them from holding the higher offices of state. Social prejudices, the, strength of which it is impossible to exaggerate, forbid them ' to resort to manual work. Numbers of young men yearly issue from our institutions who find that they can obtain neither practice in the law courts nor places in the public service. They look back on all the mental toil they have endured, and are chagrined in discovering that in but too many instances it leads to nothing-. This accounts mainly for the discontent and restlessness which are perceptible in the rising generation." 70 EVERY'DA V LIFE IN INDIA. " It is evident in such a condition of things that the gene- ral sense of the population of the country is not prepared to acknowledge the priceless boon of education befittingly. The cry for compulsory education which rang through England and forced Parliament into action is a convincing proof— if one were needed — that there is among the people of the West a worthy instinct, a popular craving for educatian demanding satisfaction, and not an obstinacy requiring that it should be thrust upon them. An English artisan, who is not worn out by excessive toil, may, as well as the wealthy, indulge in intellec- tual pursuits throughout his life : he becomes in virtue of his acquirements a more useful member of the community in which he lives. In India this is not so. It is notoriously the case that when a poor peasant has been raised from his own position in society and taught to read, write, and to keep accounts, his hands forsake the hoe, the plough, and the fish- ing net, and he struggles through life, mayhap as a humble I scribe in the office of the village landholder, or as a hireling accountant or law agent, or he simply degenerates as often happens into a lazy and expensive encumbrance upon the other members of his family. There is no national demand for the spread of education. -€)ur efforts are premature. And in the meantime the injury we are likely to inflict on a poor and backward country by encouraging a distaste for manual labor is excessive. Already we have fostered an impression among our subjects that the office and the pen are nobler employments than the shop or plough, and that genteel pov- erty has a kind of inherent claim to be petted, and rewarded, and exalted above the honest sweat of the ryot or artisan." " A policy of inactivity is demanded in this crisis. It is the peculiar privilege of man to guide progress, to stimulate action, where necessary to refrain from interference. And from the government point of view a policy of inaction is often the most desirable." The next is from a native writer who has himself had the advantages of higher English education. EDUCATION 71 In one of a series of articles in the " Madras Times,'' 1879, he says: "Great hopes were entertained that higher education would make the people happier, wealthier, and more prosper- ous. Nothing can be a more deplorable delusion. In the history of all nations, wealth comes first, and then only learn- ing. Wealth gives a people leisure and comfort ; these again are employed on the improvement of taste and the cultiva- tion of the fine arts, literature and science. Why should the case be reversed in India ? Instead of enriching the country, higher education has just the opposite effect ; it impoverishes it. From time to time opinions to the following effect were announced in University Convocations before the graduates : ' Ye scholars are possessed of extraordinary gifts and prodi- gious talents ; with those go and utilize the material resources of the country, which, for want of men like you, lie wholly useless.* Unfortunately those gentlemen who had the special privilege of uttering such nonsense entirely forgot the nature of the education that had been imparted to the graduates before them, and that the prodigies thus exhorted and liber- ally flattered were the very persons wholly incapacitated for the task both physically and by taste. " Higher education greatly demoralizes the people of this country instead of benefiting them. The ideas of religion and morality of our educated youths are known to us. This being out of place here I shall not touch upon them. Higher education has had the worst effects upon the mind and body of the pupils. As ' pass ' is the be-all and the end-all of the literary ambition of the Indian student, he is forced to sacri- fice his health and comfort before he could pass successfully through a series of rigid examinations in a foreign and diffi- cult tongue. Incessant drudgery, reading, pent-up rooms and midnight lamps weaken his system, which is not made of iron. He generally becomes weak or sickly, sometimes sink- ing into an untimely grave. " While the pressure of higher education has a depressing 72 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. influence upon the constitution of our youths, it perverts their taste also. All their activity ends with their examinations, and then they sink into mental and bodily indolence. It is the Oriental fashion to think it very honorable to be free from manual labor, and the boasted enlightenment of West- ern learning without removing and improving this silly idea rather confirms and greatly extends it. If there were one man indolent from taste without higher education, there are now half a dozen men who are so with higher education. I am really curious to know what must be the fate of the host of students flocking to our schools and colleges. Almost every one of them is aspiring to become a collector or judge or lawyer. How can this be realized ? How is the govern- ment able to provide these men with employment, while the supply far exceeds the demand ? This aversion to physical labor was formerly the characteristic of only a small minority of the higher classes, but it now is greatly spreading among the lower classes also. The son of the trader, farmer, or manufacturer thinks it beneath his dignity to follow his father's profession, and would idly lounge and hang about public offices with an application for a vacant post with hundreds of others like himself. The evil arising from the annual increase of these hungry, disaffected office-hunters must, in course of time, grow to an alarming extent. Their situation is most deplorable. They reject their father's occupation, they are not able to help themselves, nor is there any possibility of others helping them. These intelligent but indolent men must be a great burden upon the country, society, and their relatives. All their intelligence and industry are wholly lost to the country." Our experience and observation incline us to fall in strongly with those who claim that the present need of India is in the line of trained farmers and mechanics rather than in that of idle mathematicians and discon- tented rhetoricians. EDUCATION, 73 Encourage elementary education and industrial institutions, making the son of a potter a better potter, the son of a carpenter a better carpenter, and the son of a farmer a better farmer. A thousand times rather by judicious training turn a Brahman into a manual laborer than by higher book-education withdraw honest toilers from the farm and the workshop to swell the ranks of idle, useless, disappointed, " educated na- tives." FEMALE EDUCATION In India has made wonderful progress within the last few years. The old prejudice against it is fast dying away, and where ten years ago the very mention of a school for respectable girls was hooted, may now be seen caste girls by the score, if not by the hundred, wending their way with primer and slate in hand to the schoolroom. According to the latest published reports there are 21,000 girls, out of a total of 640,000 pupils, in the schools of Bengal. In the Madras Presi- dency the proportion of girls in school is better yet, being 28,000 out of 280,000 pupils, or 10 per cent. The greatest obstacle in the way of female education / is the custom of child marriage, which withdraws the / girls from school just when they have begun to be interested in their studies. 74 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, YII. SCHOOLS AKD PUPILS. Passing along the streets of an Indian town which has been made a municipality, and has received the modern educational impetus, one hears at almost every corner a strange, buzzing, monotonous chorus of human voices — sounds which are not singing, chanting, talk- ing, nor any other common vocal performance, and yet the listener is convinced that the voices he hears are those of a company of boys. A few steps forward, or the turning of an angle in the street, will reveal to him the mystery, as he sees a score or two of Hindu boys squatting on the floor of a veranda or on the ground in an open shed. In their midst on a solitary chair sits a Brahman, or it may be, in these degenerate days, a man of lower caste, and the scene which he beholds is a " Result's Grant School." The buzzing noise was the "loud studying" of the pupils. This audible study- ing of Hindu pupils is a feature which it is almost impossible to banish from the schoolroom. . Even boys and young men in the higher classes will insist upon going over their history or philosophy lessons in a chanting, sing-song tone during study hours. The result of such a lip-study, as one might easily suppose, is learning by rote. For this, Hindu youths are famous. They have wonderful memories, and will prepare lessons by the book with remarkable facility. From the day they enter school at five or six years of SCHOOLS AND PUPILS, 75 age, they begin to prepare for examinations. Every year the government school inspector examines them, and if they "pass," their teachers' ambition as well as their own is satisfied. As laid down in the government rules, the lowest standard includes : 1. Vernacular Reading: a certain number of lessons in a prescribed book. 2. Writing, in large hand, short words out of the reading-book. 3. Arithmetic: Notation to thousands, easy Addi- tion, and the Multiplication Table to five times five. English figures to be used in all cases. This standard is generally passed the first or second year, and the grant to the teacher for every boy thus passed is two and a half rupees. The next higher standard includes as follows : 1. Vernacular Reading: additional lessons in a pre- scribed book, and meanings of words to be given. 2. Writing, from dictation, short sentences out of the reading-book. 3. Arithmetic: Subtraction, Multiplication, and Di- vision. The Multiplication table to twelve times twelve. For every boy passed satisfactorily in this examina- tion, the teacher receives a government grant of four rupees. These grants, together with such fees as the teacher can get from his pupils make up his salary. For girls, the grants are somewhat more liberal, and they also receive an additional allowance for sewing. Except in the case of mission schools for lower castes, 76 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. and of dancing-girls, who are not generally admitted into the respectable girls' schools, and must therefore resort to the boys' schools, there is no co-education of the sexes in India. Standards of study, ranging from the simple ones indicated above to the matriculation or university en- trance examination, are prescribed by the government and conscientiously adhered to by teachers and pupils. It will thus be seen that not only the immemorial cus- tom of " loud studying," but also the very system of instruction and examinations under which Hindu pupils are trained, tend to make them learn by rote. If any . youths in the whole world need a system to counteract this tendency, it is the Hindu youths, for perhaps in no others is originality so little developed by nature. The effects of this rote -system become ridiculously prominent in some of the answers which are yearly found in the matriculation examination papers. We give a few of the kind, taken from last year's list. These questions and answers show as well the defect of the system of examination as of the pupils. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Question. What is a " dapper man "? Answer, ist. A man of superfluous knowledge. " 2d, A mad man. QuES. What is a " democrat " ? Ans. I St. Petticoat government. " 2d. Witchcraft. '' 3d. Half-turning of the horse. SCHOOLS AND PUPILS, 77 QUES. Define " Babylonish jargon." Ans. ist. A vessel made at Babylon. " 2d. A kind of drink made at Jerusalem. " 3d. A kind of coat worn by Babylonians. QuES. What is meant by a " Lay Brother"? Ans. ist. A bishop. " 2d. A step-brother. " 3d. A scholar of the same godfather. QuES. Define the expression, '* Sumpter mule.'* Ans. a stubborn Jew. QuES. What is a " Bilious-looking fellow" ? Ans. ist. A man of strict character. " 2d. A person having a nose like the bill of an eagle. PETITIONS AND LETTERS. Many of these, from the English -learning school- boys, and petty officials, which find their way into the hands of Europeans, are curiosities of literature which attract considerable attention. Here is a specimen of which I was made the honored recipient some years ago: " Most Honorable Reverend : I hear that you are high noble man and there are none but you. As I am always en- gaged in business I never made your honor's visitation. " I pray your honor regarding a thing, viz.: My Priest came from Trichinopoly, that is to say Sreeraugam. If your honor please favor me your kindness, I shall be obliged to request you. My Priest is richest. The people say by usage that he is born to God, and also that he is the Son of God. *' He will not return to Guntoor until 30 years ; but I cannot sure say that I can alive until he comes. My main prayer is 78 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. to only photograph him upon the photograph. If your honor allow me to come to your presence; I shall be obliged to come to your presence, I request you only this assistance but none other. " Your most obedient scholar, "M. V. RAUGACHARLU. " 17th March, 1875." HIGH SCHOOLS. Besides the numerous elementary Result-schools above referred to, there are schools of a higher grade in all the principal towns where pupils prepare for the more difficult examinations and special tests, which, if passed, render them eligible to minor appointments under government as clerks, pleaders, teachers, etc. Comparatively few pursue the higher courses of studies prescribed by the Indian Universities, and which entitle them to the various literary degrees, as given in Europe and America. Within the last twenty years, in the Madras Presi- dency alone, 21,000 candidates for matriculation have been examined. In 1878, when the examinations were unusually severe, out of 2,500 applicants only 250, or 10 per cent., passed. About half-a-dozen girls in various parts of India have also passed this examination, and have been highly applauded for their success by the friends of education from the Viceroy down. The Universities are turning out every year B. As. and M. As. by the hundred, and LL. Ds. by the score, and India no more than Europe, America, or China will hereafter be without tided literary men. SCHOOLS AND PUPILS. 79 THE RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE Of the government schools in India has of late years been a subject of public discussion. In accordance with the general policy of the government these schools are neutral in matters of religion. It has been claimed, therefore, that while by introducing Western literature and science they destroy the faith of their pupils in Hinduism, they fail to give anything in its place, and thus strand them in infidelity and atheism. This non-religious feature is altogether new, and not entirely satisfactory to the Hindus themselves. The breaking up of old faiths and forms is not without attendant evils. A native writer speaks of it thus : " The defective systems of higher education and competi- tive examinations cause a subversion of all order and disci- pline in individual families, just as they do in society. Of late there has been a good deal of crimination and recrimination between the government and missionary educationists about the evil effects of higher education upon the rehgion and morality of native youths. The truth is that they both con- tribute to the same evil, but in different degrees. Generally speaking, all regard to age, sex, and religion, is passing away from educated youths. It is my painful experience that young men in my own immediate family circle are generally becom- ing addicted to new kinds of rascality arising from want of fear either of God or of man, while they share other frailties and vices equally with other men. They often mistake im- pertinence and impudence for courage and independence, and slanders and scandals for fair and generous criticism. Their treatment of their elders is revolting, their criticisms upon government are seditious, their remarks upon our vir- gins and matrons are most outrageous. They become dis- obedient to their parents, uncourteous to their seniors, and impertinent to their superiors." 8o E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. Missionary societies, by keeping abreast with the educational movements, and teaching the Bible in all their schools, claim to supply the moral and religious instruction which government schools lack. Mission schools are also doing an excellent levelling work in admitting pupils from all castes. Legally, gov- ernment schools are obliged to do the same, but prac- tically the law is a dead letter. Unless specially looked after by a European, it would be utterly impossible for a low-caste boy to endure the persecution to which he would be subjected — passively on the part of the teach- ers, and actively on the part of the pupils — if he attempted to enter and retain a place in a government school where the teachers are all natives. So fiercely are the higher castes opposed, not only to associating with low-caste pupils, but to their being educated at all, that it is with the greatest difficulty we can obtain sites for Christian schools in the villages, if the high-caste people can throw impediments in our way. MARRIED PUPILS. A peculiar feature of Indian higher schools is that most of the pupils are married — many of them even >■ being fathers. This is an evil which in many ways 7 interferes with their progress. We are glad to see that the evil is recognized, and that steps are being taken to remedy it. In Calcutta a meeting of upwards of four hundred students was lately held, at which the following resolu- tion was passed : SCHOOLS AND PUPILS. 8i "That in the interest of students, and with a view to pro- mote their welfare both as students and as men, this meeting resolves to organize a united movement among students to put down the pernicious custom of child-marriage." The pledge of membership proposed is as follows : "I hereby solemnly bind myself not to marry or allow myself to be given in marriage before I have attained the age of 21 years, my present age being — ." When evils of this nature are once felt by the class whom they affect, we may hope for speedy reform. lO 82 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. YIII. THE OLD STYLE HIUDU SGHOOIx. Under the influence of the modern system of ex- aminations introduced by the government the old style Hindu school is fast passing away. The following description of this venerable institution is furnished by a Hindu and the engraving is from a painting. The exercises of the school are begun with an invo- cation to the god of wisdom. This having been sung, lessons are prescribed to the children which they learn by rote. The school is not divided into classes, but all the pupils are jumbled together and all simultaneously vociferate their various tasks, making a harsh, discor- dant jargon. If their roars grow faint, if their lips cease to move, the rod of the master falls on their backs. An hour before closing the school, the pupils are all made to stand up in a line; and with their hands applied to their hearts, they repeat the multiplication table, the alphabet, and the sacred hymns or slokas, at the end of each one of which their hands are raised to their foreheads and their bodies bowed in reverence to the god in whose honor it was said. The master then instructs them in a long and tedious catalogue of frivo- lous duties to be discharged in their houses, to which they all assent by loudly shouting, " Yes, yes." After this they prostrate themselves before the teacher and are dismissed to their respective homes. The teacher OLD STYLE HINDU SCHOOL. 85 must be a Brahman. The wealthy and respectable will never condescend to have their children educated by one of a lower caste. The system of education practised in these schools is very defective, and the children make but little prog- ress ; they take a month or more to learn the alphabet, a year or two to learn to read and still longer to write. Much time is wasted also in learning useless arithmeti- cal tables. The master is slothful, and, like all Brah- mans, fond of sleeping by day. In the afternoon, after the boys have collected for work, he considers his duties over until five, and so indulges in a sound sleep. Meanwhile the pupils must get along as best they can, but the teacher must not be disturbed. It may be he is snoring furiously, but who will dare arouse him ? It may be he has chewed tobacco and drank bhang (the leaf of delusion) and is intoxicated, the eyes of the tyrant being closed and his frown relaxed. If so, the children make merry, their lessons are discarded, and all their attention is given to their prostrate master. Hisjuttu — long tuft of hair — is scattered over his bloated face, he snores in a stentorian tone, and his limbs are fantastically stretched out. The young critics about him are possessed of great and ready humor, and their remarks on his conduct and appearance are amusing in the extreme. But a change comes over the scene. The master awakes ; his eyes are red as fire and his hair dishevelled. He takes a glance over the schoolroom and is pleased to find that his pupils have kept their respective places 86 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. during the hours of his very refreshing sleep. In this way passes many an afternoon. The parents never think of inquiring after their child's progress. It is wholly and implicidy intrusted to the teacher. He sleeps when he ought to teach, and even when awake neglects his charge. He is a great chatterbox and wastes hours in idle gossip with idle caste-fellows. He is continually going out to dinner, when, giving the school into the charge of a boy, he runs to fill his stomach with cups of ghee, wheat-cakes, and sweetmeat dishes. Again, his wife has to perform some silly cere- mony, his daughter must be betrothed, or his son is to be initiated into the Brahmanical mysteries, or he must consult the stars, so the school is coolly closed, while he remains in his house to sleep away the day or to spend it in frivolity and feasting. The punishments inflicted on the children are various. For a slight fault they are beaten on the palm of the hand or are made to stand up and sit down a number of, times in succession, holding their ears with their hands. \ At other times they are made to stand for some time In a bent posture, holding the big toes with the hand, and when the fault is a grave one, a number of slates are put on the back of the offender while he is in this position. A pebble is also placed on his neck, and if by the slightest movement the slates fall or the pebble rolls off, the master's rod falls heavily on him. It Is a very cruel punishment. Others will not bear specification. The master is cruel and his character is stained with many other foul blots. His conversation is revolting in OLD STYLE HINDU SCHOOL. 87 the extreme, every wicked expression disgraces his Hps, his most trivial statements are confirmed by some horrid oath, and the name of God Is invoked without awe to confirm the darkest Hes. Unsatisfied with the fees he gets from his pupils he shamefully filches their pocket- money on the flimsiest pretexts. His conscience does not sting him, for It is dead, and should a pupil refuse to slip a copper into his greedy hand, how cruel is his fate. Innocent recreation is denied to the children. The teacher considers play the road to beggary, and the parents agree with him. They are pleased when they see their tired children in the evening squatted in the veranda with folded arms, or sleeping in the cool garden, instead of running about and sporting among the branches of the banyans or climbing up into the shady mangoes. This is one reason why Hindus usually grow up so weak and indolent, preferring lying down to the easiest toil. Their luxuries are eating, drinking, and sleeping. The cruelty of the old-time Hindu schoolmaster has given rise to many curious proverbs, which make him the butt of ridicule and which are manifestly the pro- duction of children of intelligence and not of grown-up men. They are clever and amusing, but very few of them would admit of publication. The teacher's moral Influence upon his pupils Is very bad. They know him to be a liar, a swearer, a thief, and yet at the same time he is to be regarded also as a god. Whatever falls from his lips Is divine and is to be // / 88 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. carefully stored in the memory. His actions, manners, tricks, conduct, and conversation are carefully imitated with pride by his pupils. The deceptions he practises on them they in turn practise on their brothers and sisters. The teacher, however, is great on the subject of caste — on what should be eaten, what abstained from, on idolizing the Brahmans and avoiding the Pariahs, on his genealogy, his rights, his privileges, and on the mean origin and low position of other castes. He is ever eloquent on the necessity of feeding, clothing, and sheltering Brahmans, and of subscribing to the marriage of their sons and daughters, and is ever mourning in melancholy terms that the native rule has departed and with it the Rajahs, who, supplying all the wants of the Brahmans, left them nothing to do but to eat, drink, and sleep. WOMEN. 89 IX. WOMEU. Such extraordinary accounts of the condition of Hindu women have found their way into EngHsh print that the European new-comer's greatest surprise is to find them so much Hke their sisters in other parts of the world. He observes in them many of the graces, virtues, and whims which belong to women in European countries. Their complexion may be dark, their dress of a different style, and their jewelry not to our taste, but they have the same inborn longing for fine appear- ance and personal adornment which belongs to women wherever found. They are smaller and weaker, more timid and modest than the men; as girls they are shy and retiring; as mothers they are devoted to their children, and as wives they are helpful and true. Many of them are ground down with hunger, family cares and hard work. But few of them have ever learned to read, or have aspirations beyond their daily wants; and fewer still have any idea of what a salutary home-making influence lies dormant in their womanly natures. Still, they are not the slaves — the miserable victims of men and of gods — which our early reading led us to picture them. It is true that women do not receive that respect and consideration here which they meet with in European countries, but it does not follow that they are unhappy in consequence of the neglect. With them it is not 90 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. considered a neglect, and a sudden change of man- ners to such as we observe in the West would be as disagreeable to the women as it would be revolting to the men. Whatever changes in the social condition of Hindu women are really needed will gradually take place under the influence of increased popular intelli- geftce and the further spread of Christianity. Hasty change is to be deprecated, and it will probably be found that many of our Western ways and manners are no more suited to the tastes and requirements of the women of India than are high-heeled boots, fur caps, and black silk dresses. We have heard endless tales about the misery of being shut up in a zenana, but so far from considering it a misery it is the respectable Hindu woman's pride that she is secluded and not exposed to the gaze of all passers-by. It must be remarked here, too, that only a very small proportion of the women are confined to zenanas. The great mass of the people are Sudras and castes below these, and in general their women go and come with the same freedom as European women. They are seen, not only about their homes, but on the streets, in the market-place, and in the fields. The comparatively few who are confined to secluded homes consider their lot a very exalted one, removed above the commgn drudgery and the public gaze. Occasionally, to make a show of great respectability, native women who have never been secluded, when visited by European ladies pretend that they are not allowed to be seen. WOMEN, 93 Notwithstanding all that may be urged against such a system of seclusion, and we admit that from our point of view there are many serious objections to it, it is a question whether India is not better off with it than without it. Of one thing we are quite sure, that if Eu- ropean ladies had to live in the midst of a closely- packed Hindu town, the very first "improvement" asked for would be to raise yet higher the walls whfch separate them from the dust and clatter of the streets and the idle, vulgar gaze of the public. Although to the Hindu mind the seclusion of the zenana has other uses and advantages, there can be no doubt that one of the causes which originally led to its introduction was the natural desire of Brahman women for privacy, for a place where they might be free from the profane stare and the idle remarks of their low-caste neighbors. Instead of having degraded woman, the seclusion of the zenana has preserved to India a degree of womanly timidity and modesty, and of respect for woman, which is very desirable. To compare the intellectual status of Indian women with that of European w^omen and ascribe the defect to the zenana system, is folly. The comparison must be between zenana women and others in India and the only question to be decided is whether India, with all the cir- cumstances taken into consideration, is better or worse off for this system. We have dwelt somewhat at length upon this point because it has been and is yet the thoughtless fashion to speak without measure of the evils of the Hindu zenana system. As a rule, II 94 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, HINDU WOMEN ARE IN SUBJECTION TO THEIR HUSBANDS, Though here, as in other countries, there are not want- ing instances of husbands who are in thorough subjec- tion to their wives. On this point the sacred books are very clear. The Padma Puran Shaster says, •"A woman has no other god on earth but her husband. The most excellent of all the good works she can perform is to gratify him with the strictest obedience." " Her husband may be crooked, aged, infirm, offensive in his manners. Let him also be choleric, dissipated, irregular ; a drunkard, a gambler, a debauchee. Suppose him reckless of his domestic affairs, even agitated like a demon. Let him live in the world destitute of honor. Let him be deaf or blind. His crimes and his infirmities may weigh him down, but never shall his wife regard him otherwise than as her god. She shall serve him with all her might ; obeying him in all things, spying no defects in his character, giving him no cause for disquiet." " When in the presence of her husband a woman must not look on the one side and on the other. She must keep her eyes on her master to be ready to receive his commands. When he speaks, she must be quiet and listen to nothing be- sides." " Let all her words, her actions, and her deportment give open assurance that she regards her husband as her god. Then shall she be honored of all men, and be praised as a virtuous and discreet woman." The famous laws of Manu teach in like manner, and in scarcely less forcible language, the subjection of wives to their husbands. Practically, Hindu wives do not regard their hus- WOMEN. 95 bands as "gods," but they have a profound regard for them — a regard which is founded upon fear and custom more than upon love and respect. Even a low-caste woman will speak of her husband as " the lord," " the master," " he," and " him," but never mention his name. In the Christian marriage ceremony it is with much coaxing and persuading that we can get the bride to say," I, Sarah, take thee, Abra- ham, to be my wedded husband." "I, Sarah, take thee — " then comes a hesitation which is exceedingly difficult to get over. Even in reading a verse of Scripture in which the husband's name occurs, the wife will hesitate and betray a timidity in pronouncing it. Although the Hindu sacred writings are rather hard on women, and have made a deep impression upon the national mind, the laws of humanity which God has written upon every heart, and the practical require- ments of daily social and domestic life have greatly modified the application of the written laws. Neither must it be supposed that nothing touching or beautiful about women is found in those ancient Sanskrit records. Even in regard to the names of women, Manu says, " They should be agreeable, soft, clear, captivating the fancy, auspicious, ending in long vowels, resembling words of benediction." The Mahabharatha says : " A wife is half the man, his truest friend, A loving wife is a perpetual spring Of virtue, pleasure, wealth ; a faithful wife Is his best aid in seeking heavenly bliss ; 96 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, A sweetly-speaking wife is a companion In solitude, a father in advice, A mother in all seasons of distress, A rest in passing through life's wilderness." Another writer says : " A mother exceeds in value a thousand fathers." The foulest slander ever conceived against any por- tion of the human family is the intimation too often seen in English print, that Hindu women, as a class, are devoid of virtue and unfaithful to their husbands. Here as elsewhere, the women are more faithful to the marriage tie than the men, and we can not but think that some European writers have widely under-estimated the standard of morality in India in this respect. Amid the general wreck of truth and uprightness in India, God has wonderfully preserved the sacredness of the family relation. For this let all the well-wishers of this great land be thankful. In this the Christian reformer will find the foundation for Christian homes. These are what the women of India need to give them a nobler happiness, a wider influence, and an opportunity for the healthful development of those womanly graces and virtues which they hold by nature in common with women in other lands. MARRIAGE. 97 X. MARRIAGE. Marriage, among Hindus, is the greatest of all social and religious events. To make a brilliant display upon the marriage of their children, is the Hindu pa- rents' highest ambition. To accomplish this they fre- quently involve themselves and their families in debt for the remainder of their lives. Neither in the making of these debts nor in the selection of their partners, have the bride and groom — who are but children — any say, although they too often have to bear the unfortunate consequences of both. While marriage is the most brilliant occasion of a Hindu's life, it is only one of a series of religious cere- monies, all of which are equally binding. A full account of the various performances in con- nection with all of these would form not only a very long, but also a very tedious chapter, and would weary and confuse, rather than instruct the reader. Especially would this be the case with the five-days' marriage ceremony. Omitting, therefore, foreign words and use- less repetitions, we give a brief account of them, such as may furnish our readers a clear idea without taxing their patience. PRELIMINARY CEREMONIES. The first ceremony is that of receiving the child into his caste. It is performed either on the day of his 98 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, birth, or on the eleventh day after. It consists of touch- ing the child with the hand, and making an offering of bran and mustard-seed to the god of fire. The second ceremony is that of giving the child a name. A child is named in three ways: i. By the star under which it is born ; 2. By the month in which it is born ; 3. By a local name by which the child is usually called. This ceremony is to take place on the eleventh day. The third ceremony is performed the day on which the child begins to eat solid food. The fourth ceremony is that of tonsure or shaving the head. It takes place in the third year and is per- formed as follows : The Brahman priest touches the head of the child with Cusa grass five times, that is, on each side, on the back, the front and the top, after which an offering is made to fire, and the child's head is shaved except a tuft of hair on the back of it. The fifth ceremony is that of putting on the sacred thread. It is performed in the eighth year, and by it the boy becomes a " twice-born one ;" and after this ceremony he is considered a pure Brahman and fit to engage in all religious performances. It is as follows : The boy is shaved, a wire is placed in his ear preparatory to an ear-ring; he is bathed, and the "sacred" cotton thread is put around his body over the shoulder by his parents, or, in their absence, by some near relative who is entided to take their place. Offerings are made to the gods, texts from the Vedas are repeated, and vari- ous other religious acts performed, the whole extending over four days. It concludes, as ought all orthodox MARRIAGE. 99 ceremonies, with a feast to Brahmans. The sixth cere- mony, and the one on which concentrate the greatest interest, attention and expense, is that of MARRIAGE. An auspicious wedding-day, having been selected, the previous day is set apart for a ceremony of the bridegroom, which indicates that he has completed certain studies of the Vedas since he received the sacred thread. Offerings are made to fire, and the locks of hair which were supposed to be left standing at the five places on his head at the former ceremony, are removed. Then follows a make-believe performance, in which the bridegroom pretends to be seeking for a bride, and as he finds none, prepares himself to go to the sacred river Ganges. Then a friend of his comes forward with a promise that he will give his sister or daughter in marriage to him. The bridegroom then stops the preparation for his journey to the Ganges and says he is ready for the wedding. A few hours before the mar- riage, the bridegroom's father sends a beautiful cloth for the bride and one for some other person in the house. This is the conclusion of the betrothal. The bridegroom then sets out with all his male rela- tives and friends and marches in brilliant procession to the house of the bride. After he has been received, the bridegroom and the bride are seated in the midst of the assembly on a wooden stool made for the occasion. The family priests of both parties and other aged lOO E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, and learned men then repeat a number of texts from the Vedas, and also the names of the ancestors of the bride and bridegroom. After this, the bride's father, or whoever gives her away, washes the feet of the bridegroom with water and milk. A yoke is then brought and is caught by two men and held above the head of the bride, while the bride- groom repeats a few texts from the Vedas and pours some water on her head. Then follows the tying on of the tali or marriage badge. This is a thin circular piece of gold tied to a string and worn around the neck. It is first passed around, and all the guests touch it, wishing happiness and prosperity to the young couple. The husband then ties it to the neck of the bride, while he repeats, " I tie this to your neck ; It is the sign of my life ; May you, too, have long life." Then two large plates of rice are brought, which the family priest takes ; and while he repeats sacred texts, he puts the rice, first into cocoanut shells and then upon the heads of the bride and the bridegroom. The cloths of the bride and the bridegroom are then tied together and while the family priest is repeating sacred texts, they make offerings to fire. On the even- ing of the first day of the marriage, while another ofTering is made to the gods, the bride and the bridegroom walk around the fire and in seven steps come to a certain stone which they together touch with their feet. This MARRIAGE, loi is a symbol that they are to live together until death. These are the principal parts of the ceremony performed on the first of the five days over which the marriage extends. In the main the rest of the performances consist in offerings to the gods, repeating sacred texts, distribu- ting food and money to Brahmans, and marching along the streets in brilliant processions. Every part of the ceremony has a meaning, and many of the rites, togeth- er with their interpretations, are very appropriate and interesting. This is the first and principal marriage, and takes place while both bride and groom are very young. After a number of years when they go to live together as husband and wife, another marriage ceremony, ex- tending over three days, follows, which is very much like this one, though less showy and expensive. The above description answers more particularly to the marriage ceremonies as observed by Brahmans. Among low-caste people, also, marriage is made a great occasion, but it is attended with less brilliancy and fewer rites. Marriage takes place only between persons of the same caste, and frequently only within very limited family circles. Between uncles and nieces and between first-cousins marriages are very common, much to the detriment of the Hindu nation. As marriage is considered a necessary religious ceremony, such classes of persons as bachelors and maids are unknown in India. Only such adults as are 12 I02 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. greatly deformed or hopelessly diseased remain unmar- ried. Even lepers who are betrothed before the dis- ease develops extensively, hold their partners to their marriage vows, becoming even in some cases parents of a family of children who in turn inherit their parents' misery and imprudence. We have seen very sad cases of healthy women bound for life to loathsome leper husbands. If on the other hand the wife should be- come, after marriage, a loathsome leper, the husband would probably desert her and go to some distant village. The tali or marriage badge which every woman wears while her husband lives, proclaims her at once and everywhere as a married woman and as having a protector. It also insures her attention and respect where a woman without the tali might receive neither. WIDOWS. The widow's lot in India is still a hard one, but it does not seem to be so miserable as formerly. Wid- ow-burning has long since been prohibited by law, and to the present generation of Indian youths such an act would seem as cruel and revolting as to us. Among the higher castes, widows may still be known by their shaved heads and plain attire, but many of the hard restrictions relating to eating and social intercourse seem to have been relaxed. Among the lower castes the restrictions are still less" noticeable, and frequently the only distinctive mark of a widow is the absence of her marriage badge. ^t^^^.^ MARRIAGE, 105 Educated natives in many parts of India are putting forth efforts to break down the popular sentiment against widow marriage. Associations for this purpose have been formed in the larger cities, and in Western India a number of such marriages have recently taken place. Among native Christians they are not un- common. BLUSHING BRIDES. It is considered the proper thing for a bride — we speak now of adult marriages — to feign great timidity and even grief during the marriage ceremony. If she can gracefully burst into tears, all the better. That it is only a matter of form and not of feeling, the follow- ing case illustrates. We recently had an application for a bride from a widower of a neighboring mission. The applicant, as usual, left the matter of choice entirely to us. He had no objection to taking a widow, provided she was "strong, industrious, and willing to help on the farm when necessary." We knew of just such a woman — Rachel, a Christian widow of thirty summers — living in a village twenty miles to the east of us. We sent her a message to which she replied inperson post haste, having walked the whole distance on a sin- gle march. Notwithstanding the promptness with which she appeared and which rather indicated an interest in the project on hand, Rachel presented herself before us with a sad countenance. When we playfully suggested to her that this was a time for joy rather than for sor- row, her grief became uncontrollable and she burst into Io6 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. a flood of tears. She was not utterly inconsolable, however, and within a month the wedding was over and with a light heart she left us for her new home. Widow marriages, and even adult marriages, are yet the exception in India — being confined principally to native Christians and Mohammedans. The pernicious system of CHILD-MARRIAGE. with its attendant evils is yet prevalent, though there are not wanting signs of uneasiness and at least of a desire for improvement in this respect among educated natives. We are not prepared to say that child-mar- riage has not served also a good purpose in preventing temptations to immorality among the weak and igno- rant, but this advantage, if ever it may be put to its credit, counts but little in offsetting the enormous evils which the system has brought upon India. In the first place, and what strikes us as most unfair as well as unwise, is the binding together for life of two persons who themselves have had no voice in the matter. Such a bond of union may by external means be made strong, but it is not likely to be tender. Until husbands and wives in India are allowed some choice in the selection of life partners, we need not look for that dear and sacred family relation which is so well known and so highly prized in Christian lands. Early marriages are the most formidable obstacle in the way of female education. Just as girls become interested in school instruction they are removed, and MARRIAGE, 107 their attention is taken up with home and family cares. The same is true to a great extent with the education of boys and young men. At a time when their whole attention ought to be given to mental training, they become entangled in family and parental cares which seriously affect their progress. So serious has this disadvantage become in this age of schools -and test examinations that students' unions have been formed to repress the custom of early marriage. As a result of the early marriage system there are in India innumerable fathers and mothers who are mere children themselves, and lack the ripe judgment and good sense needed to train children. Their offspring are weak and feeble in both body and mind, while the unfortunate child-mothers are frequently ruined in health and become prematurely old. This system is also responsible for a large proportion of the unhappy widows of India. Should the boy- husband die after the marriage ceremony has been per- formed, his young wife becomes a widow it may be at the age of six or seven years. Henceforth her life is at best one of sorrow, drudgery, and disappointment. DIVORCE. Divorce among the higher castes is unknown. A Brahman may refuse to live with his wife and may put her away, but he will not consider himself free or irre- sponsible for her support. Among the lower castes there are many separations which virtually amount to a divorce. The divorce io8 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. suits in such cases are very simple. The dissatisfied parties appear before the village puyichyat or " council of five," and if both parties are agreed to a separation the wife gives back to the husband her marriage badge. This done in the presence of witnesses is sufficient and final. If, however,- either of the parties is not present or objeets to the separation, reasons for it are heard and considered by the village officials in connection with the punchyat, and if granted a "writing of divorcement" is given. Divorces are not frequent. One check to them is the expense which has to be incurred in another marriage. If a young wife after betrothal, but before joining her husband, chooses to elope with another man, the matter is generally settled by paying' the deserted husband a sum of money equal to that which he spent on the marriage. The marriage expenses more than the wife seem to form the basis of grief in such cases, as also in those where a young wife dies. Many times have we had bereft husbands come to us with a mournful complaint like this : " Behold, sir, my first wife died before she joined me, and now my second wife has left me and gone away with another man. Here I am a poor man, having had to pay two mar- riage expenses, and yet I have no wife. Please sir, show me how I can make this man who took away my wife give me back the money I spent on her mar- riage. Had I that money I might marry again." CHILD LIFE. 109 XI. CHILD LIFE. One of the most interesting things to the traveller — if he be a lover of the little folks — is the observation of national traits in the children of various countries. Al- though the doings of children throughout the world have more similarity in them than the habits and cus- toms of adults, yet there are exceedingly interesting differences in the performances of groups of youngsters in Central Park, New York, Hyde Park, London, the Champ Elysees, Paris, and the bazaar of a Hindu town. The close observer will have no difficulty in detecting the frank American, the staid Englishman, the gay Frenchman, and the mild Hindu, even in their infantile representatives. The Hindu child possesses in a remarkable degree that patience for which the nation is noted. To call it apathy, in both parents and child, were perhaps unkind, at least ungracious. Let that be as it may, patience or apathy, the Hindu child even as an infant possesses it to a marvellous extent. All day long will the poor coolie woman's child cling to her hips — tired, hungry, and sleepy — but seldom will you hear from it a murmur of complaint or fretfulness. The Hindu baby will lie for hours on a hard cot in a dingy room, tormented by flies and mosquitoes, supremely contented apparently, in the contemplation of its dusky litde hands. The good-naturedness of I lo EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. Hindu babies is a matter of remark among European ladies in India, and I take great pleasure in adding my own favorable testimony to this very important sub- ject. For the boys and girls, too, I have a good word. They have a joyous, innocent look and a frank behav- ior which makes us love them. Their unfortunate surroundings, however, soon rob them of both, and with the years, come a coarse, sensual look and a de- ceitful behavior which make us wish they might always remain children. " Heaven lies about us in our infancy ! Shades of the prison-house begin to close About the growing boy." Hindu children are timid and, as a rule, respectful to their elders, obedient to their parents, and well- behaved in public. They are less active and boisterous than European children. The boys do not engage so freely in outdoor sports, and among the girls such rec- reations are almost unknown. Those who have an opportunity to go to school learn readily. In subjects which require the use of memory they excel, and the facility with which they " learn by heart" is surprising. In all intellectual work the children of those who have in past generations belonged to the learned class are much more ready than those of the illiterate castes, but even among Pariah boys there are some with extraordinarily bright minds. Hindu parents are CHILD LIFE. Ill FOND OF THEIR CHILDREN. Though they like the boys better, it does not follow that they dislike the girls. The disappointment which is felt at the birth of a daughter is not so much because it is a daughter as because it is not a son. It i^ not that they like the daughters less, but that they like the sons more. A boy is the Hindu parents' greatest earthly delight. The boy it is who will support them in old age, who will kindle the sacred fire when their bodies are con- sumed, and who, after they are gone, will minister to their departed spirits and hasten their entrance into a better state. Children are always spoken of as the special gift of God, and to be childless is considered a grievous misfortune. THE HARDSHIPS OF POOR CHILDREN. The mortality among the children of the poorer classes is very great. Their food is of the coarsest kind and often utterly unfit for human consumption. During times of scarcity we have known poor children to sub- sist for months on wild roots and berries, the pith of corn and millet stalks, a few raw heads of grain, and an occasional bowl of bran and water. As a consequence of insufficient and Improper food the children of the lower castes have a lean, pinched appearance, and are generally very small for their age. Among them the use of soap and water is also shamefully neglected, rendering not only their appear- ance unsightly and their presence disagreeable, but sub- 13 112 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, jecting them also to numerous kinds of skin diseases which must often make their very existence a burden. THEIR CLOTHING. As for clothing, none whatever is thought necessary for children under seven or eight years of age. It does not seem to have entered the mind of even well-to-do Hindus that a certain amount of clothing might not be out of place even on small children simply for decency's sake. It is no rare sight to see children — boys and girls — whose sole clothing consists of a necklace, a charm, and a string around the waist with a few bells attached. One of their proverbs says, " Children and the legs of a stool do not feel cold." So far as the climate in most parts of India is con- cerned, there is only a small portion of the year when clothing is really necessary as a protection against the cold ; but even at this time the children are often cruelly neglected. It is no uncommon thing to see parents well wrapped up while their unprotected children are shiver- ing with cold. When remonstrated with, they say, ** Oh, children do not feel the cold." Children of the wealthier classes are often dressed in gorgeous silks and covered with valuable jewels. Gold coins of all kinds, English, French, and American, as well as their native coins, are in great demand and are strung together as necklaces. I have counted as many as fifty " Sovereigns" and " Napoleons" on the necklace of boys not more than ten or twelve years old. The CHILD LIFE. 115 silly custom of loading down small children with valu- able jewelry leads to many cases of kidnapping and child-robbery. The poisoning or otherwise KILLING OF CHILDREN as a mode of revenge, is not unknown in India. We have known several such instances. In one case a child was deliberately thrown down a well by a woman who had a petty quarrel with its father. Recently two chil- dren were brought to the Guntoor Hospital who had been poisoned out of revenge. Infanticide prevails to some extent in all countries, and India is no exception. It is to be doubted, however, whether this sinful practice is as rife here as in some Western countries. As for the offering of children to the gods, throwing them to crocodiles, hanging them out in baskets, etc., we have never either heard or seen anything of it. We do not say that such things have never taken place in India, or that they may not even now occasionally occur in certain places, but we are quite sure that they have always been the exceptions rather than the rule, and that they have received their full share of attention on the part of European writers. The most cruel treatment of children which we have ever seen in India, or which could well be imagined, consisted in starving them during the late famine. Many children were subjected to extreme privation by heartless wretches who claimed to be their parents, and who hoped by this fiendish process to gain a comfort- able livelihood for themselves. Il6 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. Strong men and women, who were able to earn a livelihood for themselves and those dependent upon them at the government relief-works, wandered about the country carrying miserable skeletons of children whom they thrust into your presence to excite your sympathy. Others were instructed in pitiful stories of distress, which they were told to repeat before the European houses and in the market-place. Children of eight or ten years old would rush up to you and, with tears streaming down their cheeks, declare that both their father and mother had died of cholera along the way while they were in search of work and food ; that now they were left utterly helpless and must die in the streets unless they could get help. If you felt very compassionate towards the " poor little things" and offered to place them in an orphanage or send them to the relief-camp, they replied that they would be only too glad to come, but first they must go and get a bundle which they had left under a tree by the roadside. If you felt less concerned for their future welfare and sent them away with a silver coin, they were exceedingly happy, and so were their parents, who were anxiously awaiting in some concealed place, the result of the painful story which they had put into their chil- dren's mouths. We could wish that lessons of deceit on the part of parents to their innocent children were confined to the late famine. This kind of training, on a smaller scale and in a milder form, is, alas, too common among all classes. Truthfulness, honesty, and uprightness, are CHILD LIFE, 117 lessons which are not sufficiently impressed upon the children of India. The parents, by precept and example, with sadly few exceptions, teach them directly the reverse. The home training of the young is very deficient, and the lessons of deceit, strife, selfishness, hatred, and indecency learned there are not easily counteracted by schools and churches, except as these gradually reform, elevate, and purify the whole family, and give that sacredness to home which is known only in Christian lands. 1 18 EVERY-DAV LIFE IN INDIA, XII. MEDICIUE AHD THE SICK. The knowledge of medicine has been of all studies the most neglected by the Hindus. Several circum- stances combined to render scientific investigation on this subject unpopular. There were, first, the errone- ous teachings of the Shasters in regard to the constitu- tion of the human body ; and although the knowledge of the senses might flatly contradict the " written law," yet to propagate the truth would be to incur such dis- pleasure and persecution as Hindus are but little able to bear. If we are surprised at this, we can find even more wonderful instances of the same in connection with the development of medical science in countries farther west. The Hindus' objection to bleeding the living, and their horror of touching the dead, have also operated against medical research in India. The deeply-rooted idea of Fate — that "a man will die when his time comes" — has also paralyzed and does still paralyze all efforts at medical reform and sanitary regulations. Under all these adverse circumstances, the neglected state of medical science and the lav/s of health is not much to be wondered at. We do not say that the natives of India have no effective cures whatever for diseases. By experience they have learned that certain medicines relieve certain diseases, but of human physiology and anatomy native MEDICINE AND THE SICK, 119 doctors know absolutely nothing, and their doctoring is nothing more than vague experimenting, which is in most cases either useless or disastrous to the unfortu- nate patient. The medicines employed by them are often of the most dangerous kinds, and we have seen num- berless cases of patients who were hopelessly ruined by vile drugs which had not the least bearing upon the diseases for which they were administered. Crude mer- curjr is a great favorite with them, and its victims may be counted by the score in almost every community. DOCTORS abound. Every second man is willing to be consulted as a healer of the body, to take a fee, and prescribe a remedy. The pretension of curing diseases by means of charms and " powwowing," or mantram-saying, is uni- versal, and as a natural result the priests are also doc- tors. The profession is, however, by no means con- fined to them. Everybody else who is either too lazy or too stupid to succeed in other employments can, as a last resort, set himself up as a doctor ! Next to the mysterious charms and mantrams, DIETING, or, rather, we should say, starvation, holds the most honorable place in the Hindus' practice of medicine. Fevers, especially, are starved away. The cure is certain, too, because when one of these skilful doctors has once been called and the patient delivered to him, 1 20 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . he will prescribe starvation, starvation, starvation, for three, four, seven, eleven, or even twenty days ! If, meanwhile, the poor patient dies from sheer exhaus- tion, as is not unfrequently the case, it is not for a mo- ment to be suspected that it was the cure which killed him. Had he but lived a few days longer, the wise doctor would certainly have triumphed over the fever. During confinement women are also cruelly starved. For three days after the delivery of the child the mother is not allowed to take a particle of food, and should there be the least symptom of fever, the starvation is kept up a much longer time. We have known of such cases where food was with- held for eleven days. In one special instance the resi- dent British physician and other European friends used every effort to induce the parents and husband of the young mother to give her food. Suitable food was sent to the house with instructions for giving it, the poor patient begged with all the strength she had for only a single mouthful, the European physician declared that nothing ailed the woman but want of nourishment ; yet so obstinately did the parents, backed by their native doctor, cling to their superstitious views, that for thir- teen days and nights they starved that poor, weak young mother of only sixteen years ! She had become delirious, and was scarcely able to speak above a whis- per, and it was only with the greatest care and the ap- plication of gentle tonics that she was gradually restored again. The dieting idea has been so deeply rooted in the MEDICINE AND THE SICK. I2i native mind that it is almost impossible to expel it or to replace it by anything more reasonable. Give a man a sticking-plaster for a sore on his foot, and after he has carefully applied it, he will ask you with unfeigned gravity, "What about diet?" The same important question has been asked of me times without number after such critical operations as apply- ing a few drops of glycerine for earache, a littie ammo- nia for toothache, soap -liniment for a sprain, or a cold- water bandage for a trifling wound. Burning with a hot iron is another cure, second in importance only to dieting. The two may and often do go together, and there is scarcely a man, woman, or child, to be found who cannot show upon the face, breast, or other parts of the body, the permanent scars of the burning-iron. THE SUPERSTITIOUS NOTIONS connected with the cure of diseases are of the most di- verse and surprising kinds. Not long ago a Brahman came running after me as I was riding through a vil- lage, and asked me for medicine for what I thought from his description might be dyspepsia. I told him I had no medicine with me just then, but that in a week or so I should come that way again, when I would bring him some. When I returned the next week he came running to my tent, and with great joy informed me that the very co7iversation which I had with him had cured his disease y and he was now well again. The idea seems to be prevalent that there is some 14 122 EVERV-DAV LIFE IN INDIA. efficacy transmitted from and through the person who gives the medicine, and for this reason people have often begged me to give them the medicine with my own hands, instead of sending it or intrusting the giving to some native assistant. As a rule, natives have the utmost confidence in the medical knowledge and skill of missionaries. Hun- dreds of them will take medicine and instruction from us who would rather die than go to one of the public hospitals which have been so kindly established by the government, and where European physicians are in attendance. The same medicines which, by personal attendance, they can obtain free at the hospitals, they will buy of us ; and no better test of a Hindu's sincerity can be devised than to make him pay for what he asks. In our travels through the villages we are thronged with applicants for medicine. Old people, blind from their birth, hope to receive their sight; the deaf ask us for medicine to restore their hearing ; and diseases of many years' standing it is supposed may be cured by a day or two of treatment. Whatever medicine we give them they take without hesitation, but when we advise them to go to the hospital, they put on a doubtful look, and gen- erally remark, " Why not die at home ?" The reason for their prejudice against the hospital cannot lie in the treatment which they receive there, for under the supervision of European physicians these in- stitutions are generally most carefully managed. One part of their objection arises from caste prejudice ; and another, though a most unreasonable one, comes in this MEDICINE AND THE SICK. 123 way: Hindus being very averse to leaving their homes, they can seldom be prevailed upon to go to the hospi- tal until their case becomes hopelessly bad. Then they say, " Well, if I must die anyhow, I may as well try the hospital as a last chance." As might be supposed, a large percentage of such patients die in the hospital. They are beyond recovery when they go there. The news spreads throughout the villages that this man and that man went to the hospital and died there. The effect upon their unreasoning minds is to make them still more afraid. Now and then cases of this kind are, as it were, snatched from the jaws of death under the skilful hospital treatment, and these go to create confi- dence among the people and counteract in some meas- ure the other influence. Gradually these well-meant Institutions are growing in public favor. Calomel and quinine are asserting their superiority over charms and starvation. By means of municipal sanitary regulations, health primers in the vernacular languages, and native apoth- ecaries trained in the government medical colleges, the laws of hygiene are becoming popularized, and one of the greatest benefits which British rule and missionary effort combined are at this day conferring upon India is a European knowledge and practice of medicine. 1 24 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, XIII. BEGGARS AHD CHARITY. The Hindus take pride in calling India " The Land of Charity," and with great propriety and perhaps more truth they might add, " and of beggars." The hordes of beggars which throng every street in the cities, and every village in the couiltry, are one of the first objects to attract the attention of a new-comer. If he be compassionately inclined, their piteous wails and their apparently wretched condition cannot fail to draw from him pity and, what is of much more conse- quence to them, sundry small coins. So well up are they in their profession, that even the blind among them seem to be able to detect in an in- stant the newly-arrived European. In him — and yet more especially in her — they delight^ and from them they receive their princely donations. The old Anglo-Indian is proof against their wails and their wiles, and so well do they know this that he is seldom annoyed by them. There is perhaps no other country in the world where begging is so respectable as in India. The Brah- mans, by precept and example, have made it one of the honorable professions. The laws of Manu say, Brah- mans may live by gleaning and gathering, by what is given them unasked for and by alms received for ask- ing; also by traffic and money-lending when deeply distressed, but service for hire and manual labor gener- BEGGARS AND CHARITY. 125 ally must be by all means avoided. In regard to Brah- man students, these same laws definitely declare as fol- lows : " He who for seven successive days omits the ceremony of begging food, and offers not wood to the sacred fire, must per- form penance, unless he be afflicted with illness." Chapter II.: 187. " Let the student persist constantly in such begging, but let him not eat the food of one person only: the subsistence of a student by begging is held equal to fasting in religious merit." Chapter II. : 188. This duty of a mendicant is ordained by the wise for a Brahman only ; but no such act is appointed for a warrior or for a merchant. To bestow charity on Brahmans is said to insure certain merit in a future state, while to deny them alms is criminal and sinful. With such teaching and such example before them, we ought not to be surprised to find multitudes of beg- gars of all castes and classes among the people of India. Tell a beggar that he " ought to be ashamed to beg," and he will look at you with mingled wonder and con- tempt. Ask an able-bodied Brahman beggar to work for a living, and he will at once appeal to his religion, and tell you that it is not only a disgrace, but a sin for him to work. We have known cases of well-to-do people sending out a cripple or otherwise disabled member of the fam- ily to beg. In former times, when grain was exceed- ingly cheap, it was considered the reverse of a misfor- tune to have a near relative who could pass as a beggar. 1 26 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . His income was enough to support the rest of the family in idleness. With the decay of Hinduism, begging is becoming not only less honorable, but also less remu- nerative, and from the Brahmans down to the Pariahs it is beginning to dawn upon the people that possibly the beggar's office has been unduly magnified. We say it is beginning to dawn upon the people. It is yet by no means a general impression. The present genera- tion and perhaps another must pass away before the beggars will find their proper level in society. The Hindu, according to his religion, believes that for every handful of rice or copper coin given to a beg- gar, he receives so much merit to his credit with the gods ; and the Brahman whom you turn away empty- handed pities you for wasting your privileges, rather than himself for having been denied alms. The incongruous ideas and THE EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCES of some beggars in India are marvellous and amusing. " Beggars on horseback" are by no means unknown here. A leper on horseback makes his periodical visits along the streets of Guntoor, and occasionally honors us by a call at our bungalow. Others, unable to walk, have themselves wheeled about in litde wagons. It requires, of course, an able- bodied man or woman to pull the wagon ; and when asked why this one does not by honest industry secure food for both of them, they pretend to be utterly unable to understand such delicate reasoning, and move away BEGGARS AND CHARITY. 127 muttering imprecations. Of these imprecations the Hindus are very much afraid, and rather than incur the displeasure of a beggar, especially if he be a priest, they will give away their last handful of rice. Beggars here, as in other countries, are of various grades and ranks. Far above the common street-beg- gar, to whom he would scarcely deign to speak, is the ash-covered, paint-bedaubed priest, who carries an old guitar and plays while he sings from door to door. Equally far above this one again is the " very respecta- ble" Brahman priest who expects to live principally on the unasked-for alms of his well-known friends. Even among the common street-beggars the most astonishing ideas of caste and dignity prevail. Noticing one day a bright-looking girl of eight or ten years among a group of beggars, I inquired who she was. Her father, a blind man, was pointed out to me, and I was told that she was leading him about. At the same time I observed a still smaller girl — her sister. I then told the father that his girls, if brought up in this way, would certainly become worthless beggars, and that if he consented to it I would take one of them, put her into our school, teach her to read, and instruct her in useful work. In this way she might become able to support both herself and him. I explained further, and also told him that when she had grown up he might come and take her away. To this he replied, with becoming gravity, that if he were to allow his daughter to enter our school and eat with the Christian girls, she would defile her caste, and 128 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. could never again be received back by him into his family. Festivals, holidays, and weddings are feast-days for beggars. At such times they are on hand early and late, and by their importunities make you understand that they enter into the spirit of the occasion. Prompt- ed by their desire for religious merit, the Hindus are at all times liberal to beggars, and especially on the occa- sion of great religious ceremonies. From a daily paper we quote a random item which illustrates the deference paid to beggars, and especially to Brahmans : "Three hundred thousand rupees (^150,000) were spent upon the funeral of the late Maharaja of Burdwan. The origi- nal allotment was two hundred thousand rupees, but the Ma- harani (queen), who is reported to be a very kind-hearted lady, raised the grant to three hundred thousand. It is re- ported that about 130,000 beggars collected to receive alms, to whom were doled out three seers (quarts) of grain and an eight-anna piece per head. " Brahmans were invited from both Lower and Upper Ben- gal ; and the highest gift to Bengal Brahmans was one hun- dred rupees per head, and to Benares, or Upper India Brah- mans, one hundred and fifty rupees per head, besides travel- ling allowance." It is this very liberality on the part of Hindus which has flooded the country with useless, annoying beg- gars. They give away of their means for the simple sake of giving, without any consideration for the effect which their charity may have upon the country at large or upon the recipient himself. BEGGARS AND CHARITY, 129 The public provisions for this class of people are very defective. With few unimportant exceptions in the larger cities, THERE ARE NO ALMSHOUSES, no workhouses, no vagrant-laws, no restrictive or re- formative regulations of any kind. Even the insane — of whom there are, however, comparatively few — are for the most part allowed to roam about at large. There is another form of public institution which has by no means been neglected by native benefactors. This is the Choultry, or public resthouse. This seems to be a favorite object for them to spend their charities on. Scarcely a village is without a public resthouse, and many of the larger towns are superabundantly supplied. The excavations of tanks and the building of tem- ples are the two other most common forms of expend- ing large charities. 130 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, XIY. MERCHANTS AUD MOKEY-LEHD- ERS. Said a thoughtful Hindu to me one day, "We do not know our merchants. Although they are our coun- trymen and live among us, they are a class wholly by themselves, and have but little in common with the rest of us." Even Europeans cannot fail to notice the secretive nature of the merchant class, and though they may live in India many years before knowing very much of the inner life and feeling of any portion of the native com- munity, they will probably know least of all of the komities or merchants. The Hindu merchants proper belong to the Vaisyas, or last of the three higher castes. They wear the sacred thread, and are reckoned among the " twice-born." They are the wealthiest and at the same time the most superstitious class in India. Their ruling passion is the acquisition of wealth. To this end they subordinate everything else — truth, honesty, com- fort, and culture. Learning, beyond what is required to keep accounts, has no charms for them. The im- mense profits which many of them make are hoarded up in jewels, spent on dancing-girls, foolishly thrown away on Brahmans, or superstitiously devoted to idola- trous worship, but seldom are their gains turned to no- bler account in the improvement of the mind, the beau- MERCHANTS AND MONEY-LENDERS. 131 tifying of home, the encouragement of learning, or the unselfish amelioration of distress. The late fearful famine proved a rich harvest for the merchants and money-lenders, and well did they make use of their opportunities to devour their fellow - men. By their extensive combinations and heartless mach- inations the price of grain was run up to enormous rates, and kept there out of all proportion to the actual scar- city. By storing up vast quantities of grain they helped to make a scarcity, and the peculiar Hindu custom of one class never turning to the employments of another was greatly in their favor. As a consequence, not only money, but jewelry, household furniture, cooking and farming utensils, cattle, deeds for houses and lands, all flowed in a stream toward the merchants and money- lenders. These were bought for a trifle, or money was loaned on them at exorbitant rates of interest. Day by day the bloated, well-fed komities sat in their stalls, scrupulously painted with religious marks, happy in direct proportion as others were miserable. The world over it would perhaps be hard to find another class of men so wholly given up to the getting of money as the Indian merchants. Of their caste prej- udices they are more jealous than even the Brahmans. Omens, signs, and auguries find with them a ready ac- ceptance, while at the same time they believe implicitly in Fate — so much so as to ascribe their very lying and cheating to the gods. '* What can I do when god puts it into my mind to tell a lie ?" said a merchant to me 132 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, one day when I reproved him for glaring falsehood in connection with the sale of some goods. They are timid and cowardly, shy of government officials, and especially of Europeans. Municipalities with their heavy taxes, market inspection and sanitary regulations are an abomination in their sight. In the hope of having their taxes reduced, it is not uncommon for well-to-do merchants to appear with their wives and children before the assessors in tatters and rags, and putting their hands to their stomachs declare that, instead of being rich and prosperous, they are in a starving condition. So fearful are they of losing favor with the gods, that they hesitate to turn away a single beggar from their stalls, lest his imprecations should bring them ill- fortune. Of Brahmans especially they have a supersti- tious fear, and these "divine personages" know well how to turn this fear to their own advantage. In all their transactions a certain percentage is set down to the credit of the gods, and it is from the merchants that the religious institutions of the country receive their chief support. EUROPEANS CANNOT COMPETE WITH THEM. If necessary the native merchants can live on a very small income, and on this account it is impossible for Europeans to compete with them. Where a European must have at least two hundred rupees a month, the native can live on ten. While the European must have a decent room as a place of business, the native sits on MERCHANTS AND MONEY-LENDERS. 135 the ground in an open shed, with his wares lying in heaps around him. While the European is planning showcases^ counters, drawers, and glass shop-fronts, the native procures a dozen baskets at an anna apiece, piles his goods into them, arranges them about him on the veranda of his go-down, and sets up business. His establishment and household expenses being very lit- tle, he can sell at a small profit, and still save what is to him a handsome income. As a consequence, many arti- cles of English manufacture, as steel pens, pencils, ink, penknives, needles, pins, etc., are sold cheaper in Indian bazaars than in London. The diiference between whole- sale and retail prices is for the same reason very little. In fact, Indian merchants have a peculiar way of raising the price of an article if you ask for it in large quanti- ties. A European merchant, on the other hand, is always ready to sell cheaper under such circumstances. The native's idea is, that the larger the quantity asked for, the greater the buyer's need and the greater the probability that he will buy even at a higher price. It is a short-sighted policy, and one which has often both . amused and annoyed us. THE MONEY-LENDERS have of late been the most thoroughly abused class of men in India. " Extortioners," " Hindu Shylocks," " incarnate curses," and the like, are the not over-eupho- nious titles which have been profusely applied to them both in public and private. The famine, the impover- ishment of the country, the decrease of agriculture, and 136 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN INDIA, innumerable other evils, have been wildly ascribed to them. It requires, of course, but little intellectual ability or moral courage to heap abuse upon a class of men who have no chance of replying, and who would not reply if they could. To us it seems a silly performance alto- gether. Without wishing to excuse the inordinate greed and rapacity of the money-lenders, it must still be clear that they can carry their extortion only so far as the laws of the country and the weakness of the people allow. If the money-lenders have acquired undue power in India, the sad state of affairs must be ascribed no less to the imperfection of legislative statutes and the im- providence of the people, than to the inborn wicked- ness of this particular class of the community. If India has virtually fallen into the grasp of the money-lender, as it is claimed with too much truth, some deeper sys- tem of reform than public and private abuse of this shrewd character is called for. That Indian money-lenders are hard masters we do not doubt, and that they have a wily way of drawing the poor farmers into their remorseless coils we are well aware ; but, after all, they are doing only what any of the rest of their fellow-countrymen would do if they had the opportunity. The Indian money-lender's rates of interest are very high, ranging from 1 8 to 50 per cent, per annum, and in special cases even more. As the interest has to be paid monthly or quarterly, the burden does not fall so heavily MERCHANTS AND MONEY-LENDERS. 137 at once upon the borrower, and though he might not be able to refund the whole amount of the principal at any one time, he soon pays it over and over again in the form of interest. This is the strategic point with the money-lender, and the improvidence of the ordinary Hindu works greatly to his advantage. In easy times, when the debtor might be able to re- fund the principal or a part of it, the lender uses every art to dissuade him from doing so. The principal is precisely what he does not want to have back. Wheth- er or not he ever gets it is a small matter to him so long as he gets it many times over as interest. Should the borrower be inclined to pay up the principal, the wily lender will offer to lower the rate of interest, profess utter indifference as to when it is paid, and in every possible way induce him to rest unconcerned about the matter. As soon, however, as hard times overtake the bor- rower, and he has difficulty to pay even the interest due, the lender's tone changes. Then he asks for the prin- cipal, or in lieu of it a higher rate of interest. Knowing full well that the borrower cannot refund the debt, he har- asses him continually. " I am offered by others a much higher interest than you are giving me," says he, *' and unless you can return your loan you must give the same I am able to get elsewhere." Thus, when the poor farmer or mechanic has once fallen into the hands of the money-lender, the chances are that not only he but his children and children's children will suffer the ruinous consequences. 138 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. XV, AUSPICIOUS DAYS, OMEHS, KTC. Although the Hindus believe in auspicious days and seasons ; in signs, omens, and auguries ; in fortune-telU ing and the interpretation of dreams ; in ghosts, witches, and demons — they are not so much taken up with these superstitions as one might suppose. The Chinese excel them by far in their attachment to matters of this kind. Auspicious days for marriages, journeys, and other special undertakings are always insisted upon, and the selection of these days and seasons is an important part of the duties of the Brahman family priests. An illus- tration of the hold which the belief in auspicious times has upon the mind of even educated Hindus was fur- nished by the late Raja of Vizianagram during the visit of the Prince of Wales to India. He was exceedingly anxious to attend the durbar given by the prince in Calcutta, but because his astrologer assured him there was no auspicious day on which to begin the journey in time to reach the durbar, he had to forego the pleas- ure and honor of meeting the prospective Emperor of India on that occasion. This man, it must be remem- bered, was a good scholar himself, a patron of Western as well as of Oriental learning, and one of the most pro- gressive and enlightened of India's native princes. The belief in mantrams or powwowing for the cure of diseases, the restoration of stolen property, the exorcising of demons, and the chastisement of those AUSPICIOUS DA YS, OMENS, ETC, 139 who offend the mantram -saying priests, is also general ; but the stronghold of witchcraft, ghosts, and spiritual- ism in general is among the Shanar demon-worshippers of Southern India. The various hill tribes are also more addicted to these beliefs than the Hindus proper. Of the gross demon-worship of the Shanars, with all its accompanying absurdities, such full and disproportion- ate accounts have been published as might give the impression that the mass of Hindus are demon-worship- pers, which is not the case. The following instance, showing the popular belief in mantrams, has lately come under our observation. A personal friend and former neighbor of ours, a col- lector, had four hundred rupees stolen out of his cash- chest, and suspecting that one of his servants was the thief, he used every means he could devise to find out the criminal and recover his property. He confined all the servants, offered rewards, threatened punishments, and proclaimed amnesty, but all to no avail. Finally, at the suggestion of a native friend, he called a man- tram-man, to whom he offered a small reward if he should recover the money. The mantram -man arranged the servants in a line, made each one in turn take hold of one end of a bam- boo pole, while he held the other and repeated the magical incantations. This performance over, he made the simple announcement, " Now I know the thief, and unless he returns the money within twenty-four hours he will be a corpse." That night the four hundred ru- pees were safely deposited on the collector's dining-table. 16 I40 E VERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. There is a general belief in ghosts, which, here as elsewhere, is strong in proportion to the ignorance of the believer ; while fortune-telling and the interpretation of dreams hold a place in the popular mind very much the same as in Europe and America. A Brahman friend, well versed in this kind of super- natural lore, has furnished me the following interesting information : " If a man, upon deciding to do a certain act, hears the sound of musical instruments, it is a good omen. " If, after having decided upon a certain act, he comes in contact with fruit, flowers, white rice, rice-milk, a young girl, or a dancing-woman, it is a good omen. " Also, meeting an elephant, a horse, a bull, a dead body, an army, a large flame, full pots, fish, or a seller of bangles, is a good omen. " If a man wishes to start on a journey, and his dress should be caught as he is about to leave, or some one should say to him, * Do n't go,' * Go after meals,' ' t will accompany you,' or, 'Where are you going?' he must consider it as a bad omen. " Having started on a journey, should he meet a gray head, new pots, a widow, a single Brahman, a bundle of firewood, or a dust-storm, the journey must be abandoned. " In starting on a journey, should the traveller meet a man with a bandaged head, red hair, or with untied hair, the jour- ney will not be a joyful one." The common house-lizard, a harmless little reptile, elsewhere described, is a fruitful source of omens. This animal makes a peculiar thumping noise, which if heard on the left side is an evil omen, but if on the right side a good one. If the sound of the lizard is heard over the doorway, it foretells the arrival of rela- tives or friends; if the traveller hears it on his right AUSPICIOUS DAYS, OMENS, ETC. 141 hand the omen is good, if on his left, bad. By a sys- tem of combinations and permutations the hzard-omens become almost endless. The points of the compass, north, northeast, northwest, south, southeast, southwest, east and west, the eight watches of the day and night, and the number of times the sound is heard — from one up to twenty — enter into these prognostications. For instance, the sound proceeding from the west and being heard in the first watch a single time, portends some- thing ; if heard in the same direction but in the second watch, or a different number of times, it betokens some- thing else. Thus for the points of the compass and the eight watches alone the variations, with corresponding omens, amount to sixty-four, and if the number of times the sound is heard be taken into consideration, the varia- tions amount to twelve hundred and eighty — a list ra- ther longer than any of us would care to read, write, or observe. But this is not all. As the lizard in scamper- ing over the walls and roof or ceiling of the house in pursuit of flies and other insects, frequently loses its foothold and tumbles down, THE FALL OF THE LIZARD furnishes a lengthy catalogues of omens. Thus — " The fall of the lizard on the middle of the head foretells sickness ; on the right side of the head of any one of the fam- ily, harm to the elder brother ; on the left side of the head, harm to the younger brother ; on the forehead, the arrival of guests ; on the right eye, evil ; on the left eye, wealth ; on the nose, sickness ; on the right ear, good ; on the left ear, evil." 142 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, The performances of the ''blood-sucker" — a larger lizard which frequents bushes and hedges — are also classified as omens. SNEEZING comes in for extraordinary significance. Sneezing once, or twice ; when and where ; standing on one foot or on two ; sitting, standing, walking, or running ; while cough- ing or expectorating ; by those who are well, sick, low caste or high caste; by the lame, blind, or dumb; by various workmen, as burden-bearers, washermen, oil- sellers, tailors, etc., each and all have their various sig- nifications. The involuntary twitchings of the muscles in vari- ous parts of the body are also said to foretell events, good, bad, or indifferent, as the case may be, according to the wisdom and foresight of those to whom such things have been revealed. We have by no means exhausted the Hindu cata- logue of omens, but we have already mentioned many more than are commonly known or heeded among the people. While the priests, whose business it is to give inter- pretations of such matters, are never in want of the right kind of information, the mass of the people them- selves have more practical work to attend to, and con- cern themselves probably no more about signs and omens than people of their grade of intelligence in Western lands. THE POOR. 143 XYI. THE POOR. In no other respect is there so great a dififerencc between Christian and non- Christian nations as in their treatment of the poor and helpless. Christianity infuses a spirit of brotherhood which is altogether foreign to the religions of the East. There is here no attempt to raise up the poor and unfortunate, such as we find in Christian lands. The only occasion on which the well-to-do concern them- selves about the condition of their less-favored brethren, is when they feel called upon to repress them in their efforts at improvement. " Their brethren," did I say ? Here is the rub. The higher castes in India disown the rest of their fellow-countrymen as brethren. They look upon them as beings as different from themselves in origin and destiny as dogs and donkeys, and treat them accordingly. Hinduism, with all Its boast of not taking the life of crawHng worms and venomous reptiles, is a cruel, heart- less, human-life-devouring system as it affects the poor and helpless. By its very precepts, all who are born outside a limited circle are doomed to misery here and hereafter. Not only are they in theory thus classified with dumb brutes, but every attempt on their part to rise to a higher plane is stoutly resisted, even to vio- lence, by the higher castes. Through the benign influence of the British govern- 1 44 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . merit in India, the condition of the low-caste people has been wonderfully improved, but it is still sad enough. In the native states, especially where Brahmanical influ- ence is strong, their liberation has not been so rapid. Still, as all the native princes are in a manner subject to British power, its influence has been felt even there. Among those whose oppression has been sorest and longest continued, are the Pulyars, in the native state of Travancore. Not because it is altogether singular, but because it shows of what oppression Hinduism is capa- ble even thus late in the nineteenth century, when not forcibly restrained by government, we give an extract from a late work* on Travancore, showing the condition of these poor out-castes : " Their very name expresses the idea of impurity ; it is derived from the word * pula ' — funeral pollution. With re- gard to his personal comfort and deportment, the only dress of the degraded Pulyar is a piece of coarse cloth fastened round the loins, and a small piece tied around the head as a headdress. To the women, as well as to the men, it was forbid- den until 1865 (when through the benevolent interposition of the British government the restriction was removed) to wear any clothing whatever above the waist. Their ornaments must be no more valuable than brass or beads. Umbrellas must not be used to shelter the body from the scorching heat of the sun, nor shoes to protect the feet from the thorns and sharp stones of the jungle paths. ** The Pulyar has no education, for who would be found willing to teach or even to approach the impure one ? The language which he is compelled to use is in the highest de- gree abject and degrading. He dare not say ' I,* but * adiyen,* * " The Land of Charity," by Rev. Samuel Mateer, F. L. S. THE POOR. 145 'your slave ;' he dare not call his rice 'choru,' but ' karikadi,' ' dirty gruel.' He asks leave, not to take food, but * to drink water.* His house is called ' madam,' a hut, and his children he speaks of as ' monkeys' or ' calves ;' and when speaking he must place the hand over the mouth, lest the breath should go forth and pollute the person whom he is addressing. ** The Pulyar's home is a little shed which barely affords shelter from the rain and space to lie down at night, destitute alike of comfort and furniture. It must be built In a situation far from the houses of all respectable persons. Let him dare attempt the erection of a better house, and it will immedi- ately be torn down by the infuriated Sudras. Very rarely has the Pulyar land of his own. It belongs to the Sudra mas- ter, and the poor slave is liable to be expelled from the land which he occupies and from his means of living, if he claims the freedom to which he is now entitled by law. I have known Sudras even talce forcible possession of waste land which had been cleared and cultivated by Pulyars. " In the transaction of the ordinary business of life, the dis- abilities of the low-caste man are grievous. The Pulyar is not allowed to use the public road when a Brahman or a Sudra walks on it. The poor slave must utter a cry of warning, and hasten off the roadway into the mud on the one hand or the briers on the other, lest the high-caste man should be polluted by his near approach or by his shadow. The law is (and I was informed by legal authority that it is still binding) that a Pulyar must never approach a Brahman nearer than ninety- six paces, and he must remain at about half this distance from a Sudra. I have often seen the Sudra master shouting from the prescribed distance to his slaves toiling in the fields. " Until a late order of government, which legally removes the disability, a Pulyar could not enter a court of justice, but had to shout from the appointed distance, and take his chance of being heard and of receiving attention. " As he cannot enter a town or village, no employment is open to him except that of working in the rice-fields, and such kinds of labor. He cannot even act as a porter, for he defiles 146 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. all that he touches. He cannot work as a domestic servant, for the house would be polluted by his entrance ; much less can he, even were he by some means to succeed in obtaining education or capital, become a clerk, schoolmaster, or mer- chant. " Caste affects even his purchases and sales. The Pulyars make umbrellas and other small articles, place them on the highway, retire to the appointed distance, and shout to pass- ers-by with reference to their sales. If the Pulyar wishes to make a purchase, he places his money on a stone and retires to the appointed distance. Then the merchant or seller comes, takes up the money, and lays down whatever quantity of goods he chooses to give for the sum received— a most profitable mode of doing business for the merchant, but alas for the poor purchaser ! " Reference might be made further to the rites of religious worship in which the Pariahs and Pulyars are' not allowed to unite with the holy Brahmans ; and of times of sickness and distress in which no aid will be rendered by those best able to assist. Were fifty Pulyars drowning in a river, the Brah- mans and other caste men would stand aloof and witness their dying struggles with perfect indifference, and would never put forth a hand to touch and to save their wretched and despised fellow-creatures." The same spirit of oppression, which is still so rife in this native state, is not dead in other parts of India ; but for fear of the strong arm of the government it hides itself as much as possible and works the more vigor- ously in underhanded ways. Instead of devising means of relief for the poor, as is common in Christian lands, the rich and powerful glory in oppressing them ; instead of pointing out means of livelihood for the deserving poor, the rich hinder them in all their attempts at ob- taining honorable employment. Instead of aiding them THE POOR. H7 in obtaining an education, they throw into their way all conceivable obstacles. Although the government schools are legally open to all castes, practically it is utterly impossible for low-caste children to attend them. In the lower courts of justice, where the presence of Europeans does not check partiality, the poor out-caste has a slim chance of receiving his due. Although the judge might be inclined to decide fairly, he is frequently so blinded by inborn prejudice and so befogged by in- triguing pleaders that he is unable to mete out even- handed justice. It is no unusual thing for the poor man's pleader to be bought over to the rich man's side, even while he pretends to be serving the former. The man who is poor, whatever his caste, stands a slim chance of win- ning in the ordinary Indian courts. The moment he is driven to law he must begin "to fee" his way. The man who writes him his petition must be well paid, or he will do his work indifferently ; the peons who guard the door of the court-room must be bribed to let him in, unless he. chooses to wait for days without; every policeman who had anything to do with the case, even to the summoning of witnesses, looks for a gratuity ; and the witnesses, as a rule, from the least unto the greatest, are ready to depose on the side which pays the better. Thus situated, our readers can readily see how ut- terly helpless the poor man is, even under the best laws, so long as his greedy, selfish countrymen are moved by no sympathy for his wretched condition, but hold him 17 1 48 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . in cruel, slavish bondage simply because he is poor and helpless. Great changes are, however, going on in India, and these changes are for the most part favorable to the poor man. The reformation will necessarily be a gradual one. The poorer classes, with manliness, individuaHty, and all noble aspirations well-nigh crushed out of their natures by long ages of oppression, are as little prepared for sudden liberation and elevation as are their tyranni- cal neighbors to grant them such a boon. The most effective help for the poor and despised of India comes at present through Christian missions. These missions acknowledge, however, that without the salutary laws of the British government and the protec- tion which it affords them, their efforts would have to be much less successful. On the other hand, it is grat- ifying to the friends of missions to find the value of mis- sionary operations appreciated by the government itself. In the latest " Census Report of the Madras Presidency" we find the following testimony to the beneficial results of missionary work among the lower classes : *' The native Christian community has been recruited very largely from the out-caste races and inferior castes of Hindus, and nothing can be more gratifying than to see what educa- tion has done for this despised section of the people. " The native Christians constitute only about one-sixtieth part of the population, but in the last fifteen years they have furnished about one -twelfth of the successful candidates for the university entrance examination, a result that cannot but be extremely gratifying to the laborers in Christian mis- sions, and which shows also what may be done in the im- provement of the status of the inferior castes of Hindus." THE INDIAN VILLAGE, 149 XYII. THE IHDIAH YILLAGE. Hindus live in villages and only in villages. We should as soon expect to find the cells of the honey-bee scattered singly here and there, as to find Hindu dwell- ings isolated and scattered throughout the country as is the custom in other lands. A farmer will go to and from his fields for miles, but in the village he must and will live. The reason generally given for their objec- tion to living in isolated places is that they are afraid of robbers ; but India is not more given to this kind of outlaws than other countries, and there must be some other reasons for this universal custom, the strongest of which probably is the custom itself The ordinary Hindu village consists of two distinct sections, which may be separated by only a wide street or by a number of fields. The larger and better section is regarded as the village proper, and in it live the high-caste people, including Brahmans, Sudras, Mo- hammedans and others of equal caste grade. In the smaller and poorer section live the Pariahs and other out-caste and non-caste people. Formerly the inhabi- tants of this despised section were not allowed to enter the streets of the village proper, but latterly caste dis- tinctions are by no means so strictly observed. APPEARANCE. Hindu villages are all made after the same pattern. Though rarely well shaded, almost every village has in 156 E VERY-DA Y UFE IN INDIA, and around it a number of palms, banyans, margosas or other trees, on account of which, when viewed from a distance, it presents a beautiful and inviting appear- ance. This is emphaticaHy one of the scenes where distance leads enchantment to the view. The beauty vanishes in direct proportion as we come nearer, until dust, dirt and stifling odors make us eager to retrace our steps or to pass quickly by. No sanitary regula- tions disturb the serenity or tax the pockets of the village fathers. No garbage wagons disturb the early slumbers of housekeepers, and even the farmers are too stupid or too listless to utilize the refuse of the streets in fertilizing their fields. The houses are of one story, mud walls, and thatch or tile roof. The latter is an extravagance which only the comparatively rich can afford. By way of decora- tion, the front walls of the houses are sometimes painted in vertical stripes about a foot wide, red alternating with white. More commonly, however, utility takes precedence of ornament, and the front of the house is covered with cakes of cow manure, stuck there for dry- ing in the sun so as to become fit for fuel. But little attempt is made at cultivating shade-trees or flowers. The small space surrounding the house is occupied as cattle-stalls and grain-bins. The village tank, a large reservoir not far away, for watering "cattle, washing clothing, and irrigating fields, the village well, which only those of the higher castes are allowed to approach, the " bazaar " or market-place, where the few commodities required by the frugal resi- THE INDIAN VILLAGE. 153 dents are sold, a few stray donkeys grazing on the commons, a scrawny, forlorn pony, which for some mysterious reason is hobbled, an occasional mangy, starving Pariah dog, and numberless dusky youngsters in nature's garb, all enter into the picture of an ordinary Hindu village. GOVERNMENT. The village rules and regulations are unique and interesting. In former days and for thousands of years in succession, the village administration of India was a marvel of peaceful working and quiet stability. Every detail was regulated by custom which had come to be law, every individual had his place, knew it and kept it. The present government being more vigilant over the rights of individuals, and having no hesitancy in interfering with established usage where improvement is called for, the influence of village oflicials has been considerably lessened, and the even tenor of the old Indian village system has been somewhat disturbed. Under the latest orders the village oflicials have been made salaried oflicers, receiving their pay direct from government. It was thought this arrangement would inspire them with more fear of the higher author- ities and have a tendency to check oppression and bribery. It has probably some advantages, but it cannot be denied that the repeated interference on the part of government has to some extent destroyed the influence of the local officials and the peaceful admin- istration of former days,, when the Headman's word 1 54 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. was final law, and the clerk's bribery more public but less oppressive. The old village system had much more community of goods and servants, and much stronger cohesiveness than we should have expected to find compatible with the rigid caste distinctions of the people. The officers were these, and to a great extent they are still the same. 1. The Munsif ox Headman, who has Hmited magis- terial authority by law, and much more by custom. He is held responsible for the general good behavior of the whole village, must report delinquents to the police or magistrate, is expected to furnish supplies to travellers and government officials, ^d give information concern- ing the assessment and collection of taxes. We have observed that he is generally the largest man in the village, his house the best, and his family the most influential. He is usually one of the farmers, and can seldom either read or write. 2. The Kurna^n or Clerk. This office is nearly always in the hands of Brahmans, the reason for this being that formerly they were the only class able to read and write. The village clerk has an important post, and though his nominal pay is small, rupees, houses and lands gravitate towards him in a remarkable manner. His position subjects him to many temptations to bribery and oppression, while his moral character is usually such as to afford him litde resisting power. His chief business is to collect the revenue and pay it over to the government. He is also the private THE INDIAN VILLAGE, 155 secretary of everybody in the village who needs one. He has to write all the letters, complaints and petitions of the villagers. For this he receives fees and presents, but what is of more value to him, he knows everybody's secrets and is a witness whom it is worth while to buy. 3. The Motart is an official of inferior rank. His business is to assist the Munsif and the Kurnam in carrying out their orders. His position carries with it some dignity, a small salary, and a few perquisites. 4. The Vettymen are the lowest village servants. They run hither and thither at the bidding of the other officials, act as scavengers when necessary, show the way to passing travellers, and make themselves gener- ally useful to the village in a menial capacity. 5. The Watchman is a functionary of considerable importance, though since the introduction of the mod- ern police system his glory has somewhat departed. The watchman was formerly the guardian of boundaries public and private ; he was the chief of police and was expected to know all suspicious characters, and in case of theft find the stolen property or trace the thief to the boundary of his township. Then there is the money-changer, who supplies the villagers with coins, large or small as may be required, and lends them small sums of money at a high interest; the goldsmith, who keeps the jewels in repair and makes new ones when required, is ready to prepare a tali or marriage badge whenever a wedding comes off, and, turning his hand also to coarser work, supplies brass vessels for household use; the carpenter, the pot- 156 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN INDIA. ter, the shoemaker and the washerman, who are all indispensable and are considered in a manner village servants. The same is true of the barber, who com- bines with his tonsorial profession that of a surgeon. He is supposed, riioreover, to be a sort of intelligence office ready to retail all the news of the village, whether good or bad, general or personal. Another group of servants, whom for dignity and importance we ought to have mentioned earlier, are the priests for performing religious ceremonies, the schoolmaster for instructing a few favored youths, the astrologer for prescribing auspicious times, the physi- cian for watching over the health of the community, and the genealogist, who is the standard authority on family trees. All these are considered village functionaries, living and laboring for the good of the community, and ready at all times to receive a present from any one in recog- nition of their public services. The village Punchyat or " Council of Five," is an institution worthy of notice. It consists of a commit- tee — either permanent or temporary — of five of the chief men in the village, to decide cases of a moral nature, and especially those relating to a violation of caste rules. They fix punishments of fines and penan- ces, and the offenders have no alternative but to ac- quiesce. Should the action of the council be disre- garded in such cases, the moral suasion which follows is of a very serious kind. The offender is deprived of caste privileges. No one is allowed to give him work, THE INDIAN VILLAGE. 157 water, food, or fire, nor is any one allowed to converse with him until he relents. The same orders are at once communicated to his caste-fellows in other villa- ges, and whoever disregards them becomes a partner in his crime. It is a punishment which few have the courage to face, and the decision of the punchyat is therefore generally implicitly obeyed. Such a council is also sometimes called to report in connection with the Munsif on cases of sudden death, robbery, etc. Elphinstone in his history of India pays the follow- ing encomium to the Hindu village system : " The village communities are little republics, hav- ing nearly everything they can want within themselves, and almost independent of any foreign relations. They seem to last where nothing else lasts. Dynasty after dynasty tumbles down ; revolution succeeds to revolu- tion; Hindu, Patau, Mogul, Mahratta, Sikh, English, are all masters in turn ; but the village community re- mains the same. In times of trouble they arm and for- tify themselves ; a hostile army passes through the coun- try ; the village communities collect their cattle within their walls and let the enemy pass unprovoked. If plun- der and devastation be directed against themselves, and the force employed be irresistible, they flee to friendly villages at a distance ; but when the storm has passed over they return and resume their occupations. If a country remain for a series of years the scene of con- tinual pillage and warfare, so that the villages cannot be inhabited, the scattered villagers nevertheless return whenever the power of peaceable possession revives. A 18 158 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. generation may pass away, but the succeeding genera- tion will return. The sons will take the places of the fathers ; the same site for the village, the same positions for the houses, the same lands will be reoccupied by the descendants of those who were driven out when the vil- lage was depopulated. This union of the village com- munity, each one forming a separate little state in itself, has, I conceive, contributed more than any other cause to the preservation of the people of India through all the revolutions and changes which they have suffered, and is in a high degree conducive to their happiness and to the enjoyment of a great portion of freedom and independence." HINDU FESTIVALS, 159 ZYIII. HINDU FESTIVALS. Hindu festivals, of more or less importance, are common all over the country. In Northern India, however, they attain their greatest size and importance, and it is with special satisfaction that we present to our readers the following account of the character and ap- pearance of a Hindu festival on the banks of the Gan- ges. It has been kindly contributed to this book by the Rev. A. Rudolph of Lodiana, North India, whose more than forty years' residence in the country gives him special familiarity with the subject. THE GANGES. "The Ganges is to the Hindu a holy object, to which he offers divine worship, and in whose waters he bathes in the hope that there all his sins shall be washed away. This magnificent stream, therefore, is an object of adoration throughout its whole length, for upwards of 1,500 miles from its sources in the Himalayas down to its mouth in the Bay of Bengal. Gangotre, the foun- tains; Hurdwar, where the river leaves the mountains and flows into the broad plains of India; Allahabad, where it is joined by an auxiliary, the Jumna ; Hajee- pore, where the Gandhak flows into it ; Benares, hard on the banks of the stream — are to the Hindu the very gate of heaven ; and these and many similar localities 1 60 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . are noted places of pilgrimage, where, at stated seasons of the year, thousands of people from all parts of the land congregate for the purpose of viewing the river, as they express it, of sipping its waters, and bathing in its floods. "Weeks, sometimes months, before the appointed time, Brahmans and fakirs travel through the land from town to town and from village to village, and invite the people to follow them to the holy shrines, and thus to gather merit and to obtain mukti (salvation). Par- ties of from twenty to fifty and more are met day by day on the highways, on foot and in ox-carts, on ponies and elephants, all eagerly pressing forward towards the supposed fountains of bliss. The nights, whether dry or wet, are spent in the open air by the side of the road, often far from any human habitation. An open plain and a well by the roadside are all the accommodation they claim, though groves and, still more, sheltered places in villages and towns, are made use of if they come in their way. With the earliest dawn these com- panies break up, to leave the encamping-ground of the past night, for another long, tedious journey must be accomplished before evening sets in. Thus are weeks, sometimes months, spent in travelling ; for the longer the journey and the greater the fatigue, the greater is the merit gained. At last, after many a weary march and many a night spent in discomfort on the bare ground, they reach the end of their journey, hungry and thirsty, foot-sore and fatigued, covered thickly with dust. But Mother Ganges has no comfortable accom- HINDU FESTIVALS. 163 modation in hotels or inns, no soft beds, no well-cooked meals to offer them. Nothing but muddy water and a vast sandy plain by the banks of the river, that has been overflowed during the rainy season, and that has since been dried again by the rays of an Indian sun, has this goddess to offer to her votaries. No shrub, hardly a blade of grass, is to be seen ; a few stunted trees may be scattered over the vast plain, but these have been secured in time by Brahmans, who invariably occupy the nicest spots that can be found in India. " As soon as a party of pilgrims arrives and views the longed-for object — the Ganges — one of them 'calls out to his companions, " Bolo !" (shout), and all with one accord shout at the top of the voice, " Ganga it ki jai" (victory to the Ganges). This, in fact, had been the watchword all along since they started on the jour- ney, but now it is uttered with greater energy than ever before. A coarse cloth is spread on the ground ; those who can afford it set up a few bamboo sticks, spread a blanket or piece of cotton cloth over them, and this forms the habitation for the people by day and the only shelter for the night while the mela lasts. " New parties now arrive in quick succession, and in a very short time the sandy banks of the river are cov- ered for miles by an immense multitude of people. Thus these silent waters become suddenly, as by the wand of the magician, the scene of life and activity. At the common yearly festivals the pilgrims are counted by thousands, but on the return of the kuinb (the mela that occurs every twelfth year), they are numbered by hun- i64 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. dreds of diousands, and have sometimes amounted to millions. " On arrival, the thickest dust is shaken out of the clothes and wiped off the face. A short rest is taken, and then the men, leaving the women squatting together in parties, chatting and laughing, screaming and quar- relling, walk about to look up acquaintances, to see sights, and amuse themselves as best they can, for though the object of the mela is the adoration of the Ganges, this, as well as all other heathen worship, is quite consistent with most childish frivolities, and even sinful amusements and excesses. FAKIRS AND THEIR SELF-TORTURE. " There is a crowd of people running to meet a com- pany of naked fakirs marching along in procession. They are viewed with special interest, and admired as the holy men of India. Their bodies are covered from head to foot with ashes, or, if a high degree of holiness is attained, with dung. For years their long, entangled hair has not been combed. It is clotted together with dirt, and has of course become the harbor of vileness that a civilized man abominates. One carries around his shoulders a tiger's skin ; another has stuck a bunch of peacock feathers in his hair; another has wrapped himself in a quilt composed of rags of the most incon- gruous stuffs and colors ; another carries in his hand a pair of immense fire-tongs, for he is a fire-worshipper ; another wears a huge devil's cap on his head ; and in- deed if you wished to make an image of the evil one, HINDU FESTIVALS. 165 you could hardly choose a more befitting pattern. If the external appearance of these fakirs is hideous in the extreme, their proud, wanton look betrays a mind as filthy and hideous as their bodies. But why should not they be proud ? If the Ganges is adored as a god- dess, they are worshipped as gods ; for they have the power to curse, as well as to bless. You are provoked to believe them devils incarnate, and you wish them anywhere rather than here, where they expose their vile bodies to the gaze of women as well as men. If public opinion, now, and the disapprobation with which the government is known to regard entire nudity did not force them to wear a rag of cloth six inches long and four inches broad, they would gladly dispense with even that much of covering, as they used to do only a few years ago. "There is a pilgrim who is just coming in. He made the vow to go on a pilgrimage to the Ganges, but not in the ordinary way ; he was to measure the way from his distant habitation to the banks of the Ganges by the length of his body. Look ; he has just risen from the ground; carefully he steps up to the mark he has drawn with his finger on the sand ; now he prostrates himself on the ground with his face in the dust, draws another line in the sand along by his head ; rising again, he places his feet near the stroke on the ground, and again lays himself down to make another mark. Several months ago he commenced this mode of travelling, and now he has finished the journey, and is just in time to take part in the mela and receive the i66 EVERY'DA V LIFE IN INDIA. homage of the people, for henceforth he is a saint and entitled to the good things of the earth that will now be offered to him freely. " Let us go and see what that booth contains. It seems to be a great centre of attraction, for it is sur- rounded continually by crowds of sight-seers. A dozen fakirs sit in state ; they are self- tormentors, each of whom has held up one of his arms vertically until it has dried up to a stick. The joints at the shoulder and elbow have lost their use, so that the arm cannot now be brought down again to its natural position. The nails have never been trimmed since the arm was elevated, and have outgrown the length of the fingers, and in some instances have grown fast to the flesh in the palm of the stiff and shrivelled hand. " You pity the poor cripple who stands on one leg leaning with folded arms upon a low crotchet ; the other leg hangs down lifeless and dried up by the side of its partner. But this is not the way the man came from the hand of the Creator ; nor was it an accident that deprived him of the use of the Hmb. Ten years ago he vowed to stand for sixteen years on one leg ; six still remain till he shall have paid his vow in full. In the summer, when a fierce Indian sun is trying the consti- tution even of a native of that sunny land, he causes five fires to be kindled around him ; and in winter, when the nights are sometimes sharp and cold in Northern India, he causes the people to carry him into a shallow tank, where he spends the night, standing in the water, lean- ing upon his crochet. His only food is cow's milk HINDU FESTIVALS, 167 now, and this is freely brought to him by people who say that he has now almost become Parmeshwar (God). " The question may be asked, What induced these men to choose a life like this ? Was it a deep sorrow that drove them to it ? Was it the smiting of conscience that gave them no rest and made them thus try to atone for past sins ? Did they feel it to be their duty to cru- cify the flesh, and did they therefore choose this method of mortifying it ? Is it peace of heart that they thus seek to obtain? Their looks do not denote this; we can read nothing but utter stupidity or inveterate pride on their countenances, a vain gratification at being gazed at and admired. We stand before a problem which we cannot solve. A whim, a fit of passion, a quarrel in the family, a supposed wrong inflicted, is often sufficient to make a native of India throw away his life and commit suicide : but more is needed to give these self - tormentors that persevering determination which deadens them to bodily pain, and enables them to bear discomfort of the most revolting kind. Even the strongest desire to become great and to be adored as a god does not fully explain the mystery. *' A few paces up the hill brings us into the presence of another abominable sight. A stark-naked fakir lies with spread-out arms and legs, and with closed eyes, upon a bare, sloping rock, without the least motion of a limb, from early dawn till late at night, and, if we are to believe the people, all night through. Women as well as men prostrate themselves before him and ofler 19 I68 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. their copper coins. He makes a good business of it, and yet he pretends to be dead to the world and to the things thereof. I step up to him, call him a great sin- ner, a deceiver, a lazy-bones, that ought to use the sound limbs his Maker has given him to earn an honest livelihood. I hope to rouse his anger at least, if I do nothing better, to prove to the people that he is not quite as unlmpressible as he pretends to be ; but there is no sign of life. His features betray no displeasure. I might as well scold the rock on which he lies. The bystanders now speak for him, and tell me that he has been lying there till the rock is worn away. But I point out to them the marks of the chisel with which the rock has been hollowed out to admit the body so as to keep it from sliding down the hill. They smile and admit the fact, but for all that they continue to worship him and to bring their offerings. We turn away and find another fakir hung up by the feet from the branch of a low tree, head downward, swinging slowly over a smoking fire of cowdung. And again, another is squat- ting down on the ground, who has accustomed himself to swallow his breath. A gurgling noise in the throat and violent, spasmodic movement of the neck and upper part of the body, are enough to send you away from so disgusting a sight, but only to cast your eyes up to a fat, naked fakir riding on a huge elephant caparisoned with beautiful gold-embroidered, scarlet coverings, while another from behind is fanning him with a large palm- leaf Voluntary poverty and untold wealth thus go hand in hand with this class of saints. But heathenism HINDU FESTIVALS, 171 is made up of inconsistencies, and we cease to wonder at anything after a while. BRAHMANS AND THEIR TRICKS. " If the eye refuses to look any longer at loathsome sights as exhibited here, the ear is no less tried with the filthy, noisy, unbecoming conversation that is going on. Abusive language grates upon the ear everywhere. A number of Brahmans, with large books under their arms, are lining the road and are watching for new pil- grims coming in. Two of these gentlemen have de- scried a well-to-do party travelling in ox-carts, and are trying to outrun each other so as to meet them first. Each one insists that the forefathers of the family whom he accosts are registered in his book, and each insists on receiving now a fresh registering fee. They are not sparing in mutual abuse, each one calling the other a liar and a deceiver, and no doubt both are right. There is, however, no way of escape ; both must be paid off with a gift, and the party is glad enough to get off so cheaply ; but they will soon fall into the hands of oth- ers equally grasping. A WONDERFUL MEDLEY. " There are long rows of booths erected, in which merchandise of every kind is offered for sale ; for though the primary object of the mela is a religious one, the opportunity for speculators is too good to be lost. A large bazaar, therefore, offers all that a native thinks worth bringing. There are articles of clothing, shawls. 172 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. jewelry, trinkets, shoes, pipes, tobacco, idols, books, pictures, food, confectionery, all thickly covered with dust ; for dust is an article you get here in abundance, whether you will have it or not. A dozen carrousels^ or merry-go-rounds, overburdened with men, women, and children, are swinging round vigorously, and for want of oil, make an unbearable squeaking noise. Rope-dancers, snake-charmers, jugglers, bear-wards, monkey-leaders, all draw large circles of spectators, who seem to be quite unconscious of the inconvenience they create in obstructing the passages, while men, women, children, fantastically dressed-up fakirs, fat Brahmans, dancing-girls, policemen, soldiers, ox-carts, elephants, camels, horses, donkeys, half-starved dogs, pass back and forward in wild confusion. What pen could draw a complete picture of all that passes before the eye, and of the bustle of the hundreds of thousands, shouting, laughing, vociferating, quarrelling, to be out- done only by that ear-splitting, most disharmonious, monotonous music that heads procession after proces- sion? One must have seen such scenes to form an idea of what a mela in India is. "The noise is insufferable and the air suffocating. A fearfully hot Indian sun is pouring down a continu- ous stream of fire, not to be moderated, even for a mo- ment, by a passing cloud or the shade of a tree. The umbrellas with which we try to protect our heads are twisted into all sorts of shapes. Scarcely have we got disentangled from one throng, when we are involved again in another. Is there no quiet place here where HINDU FESTIVALS. 173 we may again collect our thoughts and once more be masters of our senses ? Yes, there at the edge of the vast encamping ground ; come, let us seek rest there. THE MISSIONARY AND THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF RELIGION. " But who is coming in there ? A European ; and there is another. You know them at once by their for- eign dress and their complexion. They are men of grave countenance ; from a distance they look at the spectacle, but it seems to make them sad. They too look up a spot suitable to pitch their camp, but not in the midst of din and noise, for they need quiet, not so much for themselves as for the business they are going to do here at the mela. Their ox-cart has arrived, a tent is taken down and pitched ; boxes, one, two, three, are carried into the tent. They contain articles of clo- thing, food, cooking vessels, dishes for the use of these foreigners ; also a folding-table, two camp-chairs, and a something with four legs, by courtesy called a bedstead. Two heavy cases are still on the cart ; with the aid of some helping hands from the crowd they are taken down and carried to the door of the tent. * No,' shouts the foreigner, ' not into the tent ; we will put them down here outside the tent. They are not for our use, they are for the people.' " On their signboard you read, * Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Where- 1 74 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, fore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labor for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diHgently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.' These two heavy cases contain Scriptures and tracts ; those two foreign- ers are missionaries, who have come to this mela with a commission from their Master, * Go ye and teach all nations. Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.' " The missionary, his dress, his tent and its belong- ings, have all long been scrutinized by the crowd, and are made the subject of remark without any reserve. To draw attention away from these things and to direct it to the main object of his visit, the missionary pulls from his pocket a large colored sheet, and unfolding it he reads out, in the language of the people, ' The five elements of religion.' The figure five is an important one to the Hindu. He believes the universe to be con- structed of five elements, earth, water, fire, air, and the heavens. The missionary now proclaims ' the five ele- ments of the true religion:' i. God is Lord; 2. Man is a sinner ; 3. Punishment of hell awaits him ; 4. Jesus is Saviour; 5. Faith is the condition.' He explains more fully the meaning of these five points ; he shows up the folly of idolatry, the wickedness of sinning against a holy and righteous God, the danger of encountering the wrath of the living God. He speaks of the helping hand that is stretched out toward the sinner in sending Jesus Christ to save him from sin, and insists on the importance of repentance and faith in that Saviour. As HINDU FESTIVALS. 175 soon as the one is tired the other missionary takes up the subject, and then follow the native assistants with their discourses. Preaching is thus kept up till even- ing. The boxes of books and tracts have been opened in the meantime, and the contents are offered for sale at a nominal price. Thus many a pilgrim carries in his hand to a distant home, that may never have been reached yet by a messenger of the truth, the testimony on the printed page, and in his heart conviction of sin, afid in his mind a doubt of the all-sufficiency of the Ganges. The missionaries and their catechists thus work day after day, while the mela lasts, from morning till night, each one taking his turn. A MOTLEY CROWD. ** There is no lack of hearers ; but the audiences change in the course of the day a hundred times. You watch the different countenances ; some evidently hsten with much interest, some appear quite indifferent ; some seem to be deeply in earnest, others walk away with a smile of contempt; some nod approval, others in going off call it a lie and the preacher a cheat. Brah- mans now take up their weapons of defence ; they begin to fear that thus the walls of Jericho may become under- mined after all ; their craft is in danger. The attacks of the missionary are directed as much against them as against their religious system. They force him into a discussion, and though they are beaten off on one point, they have a hundred others in reserve. They know lit- tle of the rules of propriety, and their remarks are sea- 176 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. soned with bitter invective, calculated to vex the Chris- tian preacher, and to take him off his guard and provoke him to angry retorts. A Mohammedan, though in prin- ciple agreeing with all that the missionary says against idol-worship, is yet filled with envy at seeing the crowd listening to the preaching of salvation through Christ. " The great day of the feast has come, and it is the last day. The multitude is now swelled to an incredi- ble size. All press eagerly forward to the banks of the river for the last time. Once more every one bathes in the muddy water, the men almost entirely naked, the women with a sheet around them. The face Is turned toward the sun ; both hands being filled with water are raised above their heads, and the water is allowed to flow slowly down into the river. The body Is rubbed down ; once more it is dipped down in the water, a dry cloth is thrown around the shoulders, the wet one that has dropped underneath is washed and wrung out, and away the bathers go, chatting and laughing as they came. " At the large festivals the throng in the water Is so great that the older and weaker people have a hard time in getting back to dry ground. They are pushed farther and farther into the stream, and there have 'been Instances where such were carried away by the current. What does it signify ? Is not this the gate of heaven ? He that dies here obtains mukti — mukti, that undefined good ; exemption from a painful existence In some low animal after death, absorption in the deity, without self- consciousness, as the drop is absorbed In the ocean. HINDU FESTIVALS. 177 "■ The Brahmans are still busy, eager to gather gifts, to give counsel, and to strip the poor. An old woman totters down the bank and opens a knot in the corner of her garment. A few pieces of bone and an old de- cayed tooth are deposited in the bed of the river ; they are all that remained after the body of her lord had been burned. The Brahmans are around her and ease her, if not of her sorrow, of her money certainly. She has none to defend her. " There lies a poor wretch in praying attitude before a cow, to whom he has offered some yellow flowers. Be- hind her are the Brahmans preparing some nasty pills of the five products of the cow, which the man is to swallow in order to be restored to his caste, from which he has been suspended for touching unwittingly some forbidden food, or drinking from the waterpot of a low- caste man. Another in a similar prostrate position is receiving absolution for a horrible crime committed. His cow had been sick, and he was advised to get her bled. He had called in a Mussulman veterinarian to perform the operation. After this the cow seemed to get better, rose up, and ate ; but two days afterward she dropped down and died. The village Brahman pro- nounced the owner guilty of cow-slaughter, and sen- tenced him to go on pilgrimage to the Ganges, with two hundred rupees to pay the Brahmans who hold the keys of heaven and hell, commencing of course with the village Brahman. He had not the money, but could borrow it at 24 per cent, interest, and in doing this had to mortgage his house and fields to the money-dealer. 20 178 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, " There are Brahmans who ought to have been here at the mela, but have failed to make their appearance. They had been commissioned by some relations of a deceased person to take the few remaining pieces of bone to the Ganges. They started with all due cere- mony, but buried the bones in the next grave, and are sitting at ease in a neighboring village waiting for the proper time to return. The people themselves will show you with a smile the little mole-hills where the bones are buried, and tell you their origin. " The throng has grown thicker and thicker, the noise greater and more oppressive, the heat more in- tense, the minds of the pilgrims more besotted, their pockets more empty, and those of the Brahmans more heavy. But these go home with a light heart and a cheerful countenance. They can afford to pass by the tent of the missionaries with a contemptuous sneer, ignoring the efforts of these faithful preachers of right- eousness, seeing that the whole world had been here to pay homage to the Ganges. " A few articles are now gathered up by the pil- grims, tied in a bundle, and thrown over the shoulder ; but each one carries in his hand a large bottle of Gan- ges water. It is stored carefully away at home, for it is good in cases of sickness, it is required in idol-worship, it is needed for the dead and the dying." AMUSEMENTS. 179 XIX. AMUSEMENTS. To say that Hindus are fond of amusements is but to say that they are Hke the rest of mankind. We have never yet known any race, tribe, or nation — no, not even an individual in his right mind, who was not fond of amusements. It does not follow, however, that all are amused by the same thing, and this is true of nations as well as of individuals. The Hindus' idea of amusement is bound up with show, noise, and a crowd. The expressive word tamasha which is used all over India, meaning show, display, pomp, and what we have to express by such phrases as "a brilliant performance," and "a grand occasion," carries with it the Hindus' idea of amusement. To quiet indoor games or social family amusements the Hindus are but little addicted. Though they are not altogether without these, it is a question whether they do not consider sitting quietly on the doorstep or sprawling full length on a palm -leaf mat a much greater source of enjoyment than chess, checkers, backgammon, and similar games can furnish. But let a marriage- procession, with its ear-rending music, come along, or a native rajah, with his retinue of superannuated elephants, lame camels, and skeleton horses enter the town, and every man, woman, and child will be on tiptoe. The American circus would strike the very keynote of a Hindu's enjoyment, and the enterprising Yankee l8o EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. who gets up a cheap and showy "world renowned moral exhibition" of this kind for India, will make his fortune. The numerous RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS of India are little more than merry-making occasions for the mass of the people. The religious feature of these festivals takes but little hold upon them. On these days — and their name is legion — the houses are decorated, work is suspended, and all, from the least to the greatest, put on their costliest jewels and gaudiest attire and have " a good time generally." If the occa- sion demands a special offering to the gods or some other unusual religious ceremonies, these are performed in a routine manner which affects but little the general merrymaking of the day. The periodical gatherings at sacred shrines, when thousands of people come from near and from far, are also of the same amusement- yielding kind, and it must not be supposed that the thousands of devoted pilgrims, of whom we hear so much, are heavily oppressed by the solemnity of the occasion. Among the most prominent, therefore, of the Hindus' amusements are their numerous religious feasts and festivals. FIREWORKS AND NAUTCHES delight a Hindu crowd immensely. Weddings, festi- vals, and other special occasions generally reach their culmination in a grand display of fireworks. Among their great yearly festivals is one called the AMUSEMENTS, l8l Lamplighting Festival, which throws into the shade even the American Fourth of July pyrotechnical dis- plays. Then little earthen lamps illumine every house in every street of every village throughout the land, while the air reechoes with the noise of rockets, fire- crackers and fireworks of a thousand other devices. Nautches — that is, the performances of dancing women — are so thoroughly appreciated by the natives themselves that they can think of no higher honor to their European friends than to invite them to an enter- tainment of this kind. To most Europeans, however, the angular movements, unnatural contortions, and dis- cordant screaming of these dancing women are monoto- nous and disgusting — not to say anything of the objections to such entertainments on moral grounds. WRESTLING. Though Hindus do not engage much in athletic sports of any kind, yet when a wresthng match comes off — a not unusual affair in the larger villages and towns — the people turn out by the thousand to see it. The excitement is intense. Wagers are laid, and the victor receives a handsome prize. The defeated wrestler retires from the field in disgrace, slinks quietly out of the crowd and appears on the streets of the town where he was vanquished never again or as seldom as possible. ACROBATIC PERFORMANCES are common and exceedingly well done. Companies of acrobats — men, women, and children — travel from place 1 82 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. to place carrying with them the poles, ropes, etc., needed for their performance. Wherever a paying audience can be made up they perform. Their feats are very much the same and quite as skilful as those of gymnasts in other countries. JUGGLERY. The Indian jugglers are far-famed, and justly so. They stand, probably, at the head of their profession the world over. Most of our Western legerdemain tricks are ridiculously clumsy in comparison with the perfor- mances of the Indian juggler. His tricks are the more wonderful and the less explainable, because he has scarcely any clothing on with which to assist himself. What explanation can you offer when a man with bare arms, bare legs, and bare body, except a narrow cloth about his loins, appears before you, shows you his hands which you admit to be empty, reaches down and picks up a few pebbles, rubs them for a little while in the palms of his hands and then instead of the pebbles throws down a silver rupee ? He shows you his bare hands again, picks up the rupee, pretends to break it in two, and then shows you a complete coin in each hand. Thus he goes on increasing the number of rupees until he has eight or ten, when he lets you examine them to satisfy yourself that they are genuine coins. One of their favorite performances is the " Basket Trick." A basket is produced which is apparently empty. It is turned upside down, and after a litde speech or a song by the performer, it is lifted up, when . AMUSEMENTS. 183 a cat jumps out. The cat is caught and put back under the basket. The song or speech is repeated, the basket is again Hfted, when, lo, a httle dog appears, and no cat is. visible. The dog is put back under the basket and after a few minutes he comes forth as the mother of a Utter of puppies. Next the mysterious animal appears as a jackal or it may be as a goat or pig. The Indian juggler's tricks are many and "dark;" they are performed in the open air, on the ground at the very feet of his audience, and without the aid of curtains, tables, boxes, clothing, etc., which are so neces- sary in Western lands. Snake- charming is an impor- tant branch of the Indian juggler's business, and in this also he is an adept. SONGS AND STORIES are a source of popular amusement worth mentioning. These generally relate the exploits of some gods, reveal the wisdom of some ancient sage, the uprightness of some famous king, or the folly of certain courses of life and conduct. While many of these songs and stories are coarse and even indecent, others are exceedingly interesting and striking, conveying precepts in a form easily remembered. In a country where but few com- paratively can read, a peculiar interest attaches to pop- ular exercises of this kind. Except in the cities and larger towns dramatical performances are not common. Hunting as an amusement is almost totally unknown among Hindus, and their horror of taking life is so deep- rooted and so strong that the Englishman's propensity 1 84 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . for hunting as an amusement is utterly incomprehensible to them. Among children the amusements very strikingly resemble those of Western lands. There is this dis- tinction, however, that the more manly outdoor games of boys are almost unknown here. Marble-playing is very common; "Pussy wants a Corner," "Hide and/ Seek," "Blind Man's Buff," "Suggins," "Odd and' Even," etc., are played here by the youngsters very much as in Europe and America. NIGHT-LIFE. 185 XX. HIGHT-LIFE. The night-life of India is a feature both new and in- teresting to the European. The days being for the most part exceedingly hot and oppressive, while the nights are cool and refreshing, it is not strange that the latter should receive much of the life and activity which in other countries belong to the former. The beautiful moonlight, charming beyond description, and clear enough for reading and writing, is both a wonder and a delight to us of northern latitudes. Night in India is not only the time for sleep, but also for eating and for travelling. The heaviest meal of the day is the evening meal. The preparation of this is often not begun until after dark, and frequently it is not eaten until near midnight. Among Europeans, too, the chief meal of the day is the dinner, which is seldom over much before nine o'clock. The evening meal over, travellers, burden-bearers, bandy-drivers, and all others who have a journey before them, get ready to start, and soon along the public highways may be heard the plaintive chant of the palen- keen-bearers, the harsh creaking of loaded carts, the monotonous tolling of bullock-bells, the boisterous vo- ciferation of bandy-drivers, and now and then the melo- dious tinkling of the fleet-foot post-runners' bells. The activity of the night is by no means confined 21 i86 EVERY'DA V LIFE IN INDIA. to travellers. Dogs and cats, Brahmani bulls, don- keys and stray buffaloes, hyenas and jackals, bats and frogs, snakes and lizards, gnats and mosquitoes, are especially wide awake between sunset and sunrise, and add in various ways their portion to the music of the night. The resident soon becomes familiar with this state of things, and quite unconscious of the discordant sounds, he sleeps as calmly, with mice and bats and lizards frisking about his bedroom, as ever he did in his infant cradle. To a new-comer, however, the confusion of sounds and the familiarity of some members of the animal king- dom are intolerable. A late eminent English visitor to India* records his first experience of night-life in an Indian camp as follows : " With difficulty I gain the border-land between conscious- ness and unconsciousness. What is that sound, half snort, half snuffle, close to my head ? I start and sit up. Can it be the Brahmani bull which I saw iust before dinner roaming about at large in full enjoyment of a kind of sacred indepen- dence ? Cautiously and guardedly I open my mosquito-cur- tains, intending to seize the nearest weapon of defence. Clink, clink ! clank, clank ! Thank goodness ! that must be the guard parading close to my tent ; and, sure enough, there are sounds of a rush and a chase, and a genuine bull's bel- low, which gradually diminish and fade away in the distance. Again I compose myself, but as night advances begin to be painfully aware that a number of other strange sounds are intensifying outside and inside my tent — croaks, squeaks, grunts, chirps, hums, buzzes, whizzes, whistles, rustles, flut- * Monier Williams' " India and the Indians." ' NIGHT-LIFE, 187 ters, scuffles, scampers, and nibbles. ' Harmless sounds pro- ceeding from harmless creatures !' I reason with myself. A toad is attracted by the water in my bathroom, a rat has scented out my travelling biscuits, mosquitoes and moths are trying to work their way through my curtains, a vampire bat is hanging from the roof of my tent, crickets and grasshop- pers are making themselves at home on my floor. ' Quite usual, of course,' I say to myself, * in these hot climates, and quite to be expected.' Ah, but that hissing sound ! Do not cobras hiss ? The hissing subsides, and is succeeded by a melancholy moan. Is that the hooting of an owl ? No ! the moan has changed to a prolonged yell, increasing in an alarm- ing manner. Yell is taken up by yell, howl by howl. Awful sounds come from all directions. Surely a number of peas- ants are being murdered in the adjoining fields. I am bound to get up and rush to the rescue. No, no, I remember. I saw a few jackals slinking about the camp in the evening." As a rule, Europeans' bungalows are wide open at night. Fastened windows, barred doors, locks and keys are unknown. Doors and windows stand wide open to admit of the free passage of air. During the greater part of the year the punkah-pullers may be seen squatting on the verandas, who, while they fan the sleeping inmates, act also as a kind of mild guard to the house. One or two servants may also be sleeping within calling distance ; but precautions against house- breaking, burglars, thieves, and tramps, such as are needed in some Western countries, are not even thought of by European residents in India. Our security rests not so much upon the honesty of the people as upon their general fear of Europeans. The houses being thus open, it may be imagined that animals of a domestic turn of mind, such as dogs, 1 88 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . cats, mice, bats, frogs, lizards, snakes, scorpions, and mosquitoes, make themselves readily at home with us. So they do, and the night adventures which the old Anglo-Indian can relate, or the number of such adven- tures which any company of Anglo-Indians can furnish to while away an after-dinner hour, can scarcely be out- done by " snake-stories " in any other part of the world. One has had his finger-tips eaten away by hungry mice ; another has been horrified to find a cobra sus- pended from the thatch roof above his bed ; another has woke up to find a hyena standing before his bed ; while to have heard the tread of cows, bullocks, or buffaloes, in various parts of the house is too common an occur- rence to be worth relating. A lady of our acquaintance awoke to find a huge Pariah dog dragging her infant out of its crib, and another one was almost suffocated by a monstrous bat which had taken the liberty of light- ing on her face. The writer himself had a huge black scorpion for a bedfellow one night; and a friend of his awoke one morning to find a snake comfortably coiled upon his breast ! The ubiquitous, independent, self-supporting, ever- cheerful MOSQUITO here as elsewhere carries off the palm as a night-pest. This animal has a sore grievance against punkahs. When these are swinging, as they are for about half the year in Europeans' houses, the business of the mosquito is at a low ebb. Unless he can during the day hide NIGHT-LIFE, 189 himself under the bedding, and stealing" out at night ambush about in such a manner as to escape the cur- rents of air, he is soon carried away. Sitting on the tip of your nose — his favorite seat — is quite out of the question. But the wily creature is not to be daunted. For six long months will he sit, night after night, with open, watchful eyes, waiting for the punkah-puller to drop asleep or the rope to break, when in the twinkling of an eye he lights on his beloved prey, breaks forth in songs of joy, and makes the best of his opportunities, until the sleeping punkah-puller has been aroused or the defective machinery put right. During the cool season, when punkahs are not need- ed, the battle has to be waged by means of curtains, sulphur fumes, and kerosene. RED ANTS. Another most annoying night-pest Is a little red ant, which, though not gifted with wings, has a marvellous instinct for finding its way into the presence of sleeping people. The punkah has no terrors for it. Its bite is out of all proportion to its size, and unless caught and demolished, a single one of these diminutive creatures may keep a large man from sleep a whole night. Their number is not limited to one or to one dozen. The facility with which they can recruit their ranks from one or two to as many thousand is an entomological study. To make a break in the highways of these lit- tle enemies to human rest and quietness it Is necessary to have the legs of cots set in dishes of water, or to have I90 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. them bound with strings dipped in strong-smelling oils. These ants, like the mosquitoes, seem to have genu- ine Hindu patience, and will wait in quiet readiness any length of time in the hope of finding the corner of a sheet or blanket which may accidentally reach to the floor, when their train is at once set in motion, and they begin their march with all the decorum and eagerness of an army marching to battle. Night is the lavorable time for PROCESSIONS. Then, with the torchlights, the music, the idol-car, and the motley boisterous crowd, the Hindu seems to be in an ecstasy of delight. Some of these night processions are brilliant beyond description, and during the more important festivals they are kept up for many nights in succession. But, festival or no festival, procession or no procession, the tom-tom is seldom silent. Poor in- deed must be the Indian village which cannot afford one or more of these, while in the towns they seem to be innumerable, and those who beat them never weary. To the new-comer the monotonous drum-drum of this instrument is very annoying, and we have known deli- cate European ladies to be driven into hysterics by its unending dolorous noise. For a while it is sure to keep one awake through the early part of the night, but residents soon become used to it, and in fact get to like it when accompanied by other musical instruments. It is much the same with all the strange sights and sounds of India, whether they belong to the day or to NIGHT-LIFE. 191 the night. At first they surprise, annoy, or please, as the case may be, but soon they lose their novelty, we accommodate ourselves to inconveniences, and after a few years' residence it is only by calling in memory to aid us in drawing a comparison that we are enabled to call anything strange or peculiar. 192 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA , XXI. TRAYELIxINa. Railroads and canals are fast taking the place of the old forms of travelling in India. Still, the modes peculiar to the country are yet sufficiently prevalent to warrant us in giving a chapter to thei;: description. On account of the heat and glare of the sun during the day, travelling is done principally by night. Espe- cially is this the case on the part of Europeans. For- merly considerable travelling was done by means of elephants and camels, but except in the hill districts or fo'r the purpose of display on the part of native princes, this mode of travelling is obsolete. THE PALENKEEN, which ranks next in respectability and expense. Is still used extensively by well-to-do natives and Europeans. In some parts of the country it is the only conveyance available for Europeans. The palenkeen is simply a long box with poles at both ends. It is from six to seven feet in length, about three feet wide, and three feet high. The poles extend about five feet beyond the box at each end, making a total length of sixteen or seventeen feet. It is carried on the shoulders of men — three or four being required at each end under the terminal poles. To protect their shoulders they use small pads. The body of the palen- keen has sliding doors at the sides for entering it, while TRAVELLING, 195 the top is waterproof. If necessary the whole can be securely closed against rain and dust. On the floor are laid a mattress, pillow, etc. The occupant can lie down or sit.up at pleasure, 'but he cannot rise to his feet. If the bearers are well trained there ought to be but little rocking of the palenkeen. Except a gentle sway- ing from side to side there is but little motion to disturb the traveller, and after he gets used to the peculiar sing- song noise which the bearers keep up, he can go quietly to sleep as he is borne along at the rate of five or six miles an hour. Ten or twelve coolies, besides the torch- bearer, are required to carry a palenkeen when the journey is a long one. They do not all carry at the same time, but change about, some carrying while the others run along and — rest. In the way of remunera- tion each bearer gets a dub (about one cent) a mile by the usual rates. Europeans generally supplement this by a present when they have been well served. The new-comer cannot free himself of the idea that there is something cruel in this mode of travelling, and the mournful chant of the bearers helps to emphasize this impression. The way to look at it, however, is from the coolies' side, and if they do not regard it as cruel, but on the other hand are glad of the employment which furnishes food for themselves and their families, there is no reason why any one should shun palenkeen travelling out of consideration for the bearers. Owing to the large number of bearers required, palenkeen travelling is rather expensive. A cheaper and more convenient conveyance for short distances is 22 196 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. THE TONJON. This is also carried by bearers, but being much lighter, a smaller number is required. It has also the advantage of allowing the occupant to sit up more»com- fortably than he can do in the palenkeen. It is like the latter in having poles at each end, but the box or frame in which the traveller sits is constructed after the manner of an easy-chair. Curtains are provided on each side which can be drawn at pleasure to exclude the sun or rain. The tonjon is much used for travelling short distances, as in making calls, going to and coming from office, going shopping and the like, but for long journeys it is not so well suited, as the occupant cannot lie down in it. THE PUSH-PUSH. This is a vehicle on wheels, pushed by one or two coolies, and is used only for short distances on good roads. It has four wheels, and the body of it is con- structed like a buggy. It will carry two persons com- fortably. This is one of the least expensive of Indian travelling conveyances, and it is rapidly finding favor among European residents to whom the saving of money is a consideration, as well as among natives. THE BULLOCK-BANDY is after all the great stand-by and the strictly orthodox conveyance. The ordinary two-wheeled country cart, resembling on the whole the common stone-cart of America, is frequently used even by Europeans. A cover- ing is made of palmyra-leaf mats tied over bamboo bows, TRA YELLING. 197 and thus prepared it reminds one of the well-known Pennsylvania emigrant wagon. Having only two wheels, the " bed" is, of course, much smaller. A deep layer of straw answers the purpose of springs, and as bullocks are exceedingly moderate in their speed the jolting is not very annoying unless the roads are un- usually bad. Such a cart holds only one traveller com- fortably, and it can make a journey of twenty or twenty- five miles in a night without a change of bullocks. If speed is desired, relays of bullocks are arranged along the route, six or eight miles apart. With such relays and a liberal amount of beating, threatening, coaxing, exhorting, twisting of tails, and sundry other incentives to activity on the part of the driver, a bullock- bandy may be taken along good roads at the rate of four or five miles an hour. A style of bandy called, by considerable stretch of imagination, A BULLOCK COACH, is much in use among Europeans. Like the common cart it has two large wheels, but unlike it, it has springs, a permanent top, and various other details of comfort and convenience which raise it quite out of the company of common bandies, and which are supposed to entitle it to the high-sounding name of " Coach." The cover- ing, besides being water-proof, is also made as much as possible sun-proof by means of thick layers of cotton. The seats are so arranged that by a little unfolding they are changed into a comfortable bed. Various boxes, drawers, and sacks for storing books, provisions, and 198 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. other travelling necessaries also find a place in the first- class bullock-coach, and thus provided and supplied it is altogether the most comfortable mode of travelling in India, and preferred by most people to the palenkeen. Among natives various other devices of locomotion are in use. Riding a horse or pony, no matter how miserably lean or crippled the animal may be, is con- sidered a very honorable mode of travelling. In fact anything is honorable which keeps them from walking, and some of the patched-up, rickety conveyances which are kept up as a sign of the respectability of the owners would be a valuable addition to .Barnum's world-re- nowned wonders. Good horses are imported into India from Australia and other countries, but they are kept principally for pleasure driving and riding. Horses are far inferior to bullocks for night travelling, and are consequently but little used in India for long journeys. Railroads, which now connect all the principal cities and towns, are ex- tensively patronized by natives of all classes, but THE CANAL-BOAT seems far better suited to their wants, nature and habits. A native is never on time, and he abhors all institu- tions which work on time. Now, a canal-boat in India never either starts on time, runs on time, or arrives on time. If perchance such a thing should happen as one starting on time, the left passengers can run after and overtake it. With railroad- cars it is different. The BULLOCK BAND^. ^^^^ft^^^^^s-:^^^ BULLOCK COACH. TEA VELLING. 20l canal-boat in all its features suits a Hindu. He can dreamily sit gazing into the water for hours, which of itself is one of his choice enjoyments. No distracting hurry, fuss, and worry belong to the canal. No shoving, crowding, pushing, and starvation such as he encounters in railway travel. If the boat sticks fast in low water he considers it a pleasant variety, and he is far too phil- osophic to vex his soul by fretting over a wasted day or even over a lost week. TRAVELLERS' BUNGALOWS deserve a mention in this connection. These are buildings erected along the main highways, owned by government and reserved for the use of European trav- ellers. A servant is kept in charge of the building, and when a traveller arrives he throws open the doors and windows and gives him the use of the room and such furniture as may be on hand. In consideration of which the traveller pays a small fee, and goes away grumbling on account of the imperfect accommodations, or thank- ful for even so much shelter, according as he may be inclined to look either upon the dark or the bright side of life. 202 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, XXII. SERYAKTS. Europeans living in India are obliged to keep a great number of servants. We say they are obliged to do so. It is not an extravagant luxury, but a sort of necessary evil from which most residents would gladly be freed if it were possible. What we mean is, that most of them would prefer a few good, all-manner-of- work servants to the whole company of Indian ser- vants whose ideas on the division-of-labor problem are too refined for Western appreciation. Even a very small family, living in quiet seclusion, must have at least half a dozen of these dusky attend- ants, while one which entertains and makes an attempt at stylish living must count them by the score. As Indian servants board and clothe themselves, and receive comparatively low wages, the cost of the whole troop of them is scarcely more than that of two or three domestics in Europe or America. What makes the keeping of so many servants a ne- cessity here is, first, the impracticability, owing to cli- mate, customs, etc., of Europeans doing much manual labor either within or out of doors ; and secondly, the immemorial custom which forbids a servant to do more than one particular kind of work. Over the first of these causes we have little or no control, and over the second one it is most foolish to fret ourselves. SERVANTS. 203 The annoyance which having to do with such a number of servants causes us, we ought cheerfully to bear for the sake of being able to feed the greater num- ber of hungry mouths. In a country like India, where life among the poor means little else than a struggle for food, and where the laborers are so many and the in- dustries so few, it is a kind charity to provide work for the greatest possible number. To introduce labor-sav- ing machines or labor-saving customs, except for good economical reasons, is an unnecessary cruelty to the poor, willing laborers of the land. We look upon this matter of a multiplicity of ser- vants in a more favorable light, and rejoice in the com- bination of circumstances which makes it possible for one European family to furnish food for half a hundred mouths,* and for a dozen servants to share in peace and harmony the work which two would do in Europe or America. The servants of Europeans are as a rule Pariahs, Christians who have come from the Pariah classes, and Mohammedans. Very few female - servants are em- ployed, and the general term by which a servant is called, irrespective of age, size, or dignity, is " boy." The following is a somewhat full LIST OF SERVANTS, such as would be required by a high-grade European official with a family. The head-boy, cook, waterman, * A dozen servants are supposed to represent, with their wives, children, and other dependants, at least fifty persons. 204 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . sweeper, gardener, washerman, tailor, and ayah are absolutely necessary in all families. 1. The Butler. This individual is rather more for ornament than for use. He is king over the rest of the servants, and at the same time a sort of prime minister to his master. In his own eyes and in those of the other servants he is an exalted personage. His chief business seems to be to walk to and from the bazaar carrying an umbrella as an emblem of greatness, write the household accounts, and appropriate a percentage of all money which passes through his hands. As for making himself useful in meaner ways, he would rather be flayed aHve or killed on the spot than degrade his dignity by washing dishes or carrying a market-basket. The butler is not particularly popular with European residents, and is frequently dispensed with. 2. The Head-Boy. In the absence of a butler, the head-boy is chief among the servants. He is in fact a butler, but having a less pretentious name, he does not venture to put on such grand airs. He also is con- cerned about his dignity and influence, but will conde- scend to make himself somewhat useful. He goes to market — ^but of course carries no basket — makes pur- chases, writes up the accounts, superintends the kitchen, waits on the table, and makes himself generally useful in all " respectable business " about the house. 3. The Maty. He is a sort of under head-boy, who dusts the furniture, cleans the plate, lays the table, waits at meals, and looks forward to the happy day when he , will be a head-boy or butler. SERVANTS, 205 4. The Under-Maty is still a step lower in the scale, and his business is considered a little less respec- table, being to wash dishes, attend to the lamps, scour the knives, clean boots, etc. 5. The Cook. This individual is of real practical use, and every household tries to secure a good one. He confines his attention chiefly to the kitchen. Where the number of servants is limited, he goes to market and assists about the house generally. Indian cooks are remarkably efficient, considering the difficulties un* der which they learn and carry on their work. With no stoves and the most primitive of cooking utensils, it is a wonder they can produce anything fit to see or eat* Notwithstanding all this, they get up the most dainty European dishes in a style which puts many a Western cook to shame. 6. The Scullery-maid. Even this '* maid " is fre- quently a " boy." Generally, however, a woman, and the only one about the kitchen, is employed for this purpose. Besides washing cooking utensils, cleaning up about the kitchen, and keeping hot water ready at all hours, this servant looks after the poultry and assists in the care of the cows. 7. The Waterman. He supplies the whole house- bathrooms, kitchen, and filters— with water. This he carries himself or brings on a bullock. 8. The Tailor. Except in the large cities there are no public tailoring establishments. Every European family keeps a tailor as a regular servant. Indian tai- lors are adepts at making up after a pattern. In a coun- 23 206 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. try where light clothing is worn and changed daily, the tailor finds not only plenty to do in making up new clothes, but also in mending the old. This latter work he is furnished abundantly by 9. The Washerman, who takes your clothing to the tank, and by soaking it in Hme-water and afterwards striking it on rough stones, washes out at the same time dirt, color, and fibre with wonderful facility. The wash- erman is so important a character in our Indian life that we elsewhere devote a longer paragraph to him. 10. The Dressing-Boy. This servant is frequently a half-grown boy. His principal requisites are neatness of person, a good memory, and a quiet, pleasant de- meanor. He has charge of his master's wardrobe, keeps accounts with the washerman of all clothing taken and returned, lays out his master's linen needed for the day, sees that the dressing-room is kept in order, that towels are clean, the bath ready at the proper time, brings his master his cheroot and fire to light it, puts the daily pa- per on the desk or in the easy- chair, and in every way attends to his master's personal wants. 11. The Ayah. Where there are ladies and chil- dren, one or more ayahs are required. The ayah takes care of the children, and is to the mistress of the house what the dressing-boy is to the master. If sufficiently indulged, as is frequently the case, the ayah puts on dignity and airs, vying even with the butler. If kept in her proper place, treated kindly but firmly, a good ayah is a most useful servant, and does much to make the children cheerful and home pleasant. In most fam- SERVANTS. 207 illes, especially if there be more than one child, a second or under-ayah is employed. 12. The Sweeper. Sweepers are a class by them- selves, and ordinary Pariahs would starve rather than degrade themselves by doing this work. The sweeper, generally a woman, sweeps the house and attends to the bathrooms. 13. The Horsekeeper. Turning to the stables, we shall want a horsekeeper for every horse. This is a point upon which the Indian servant strongly insists. One man will by no means consent to take care of more than one horse. However unreasonable this may seem to us, it does not strike the Indian horsekeeper in that light. In his eyes nothing could be more unreasonable than that he should be asked to concern himself about a second horse. 14. The Coachman. Where there is the least pre- tension to style, a coachman has to be kept in addition to the various horsekeepers. Besides driving, he looks after the carriage and harness. 15. The Gr ass-Cutters. For each horse there must be a grass-cutter, whose business it is to gather a bundle of grass every day. 16. The Bullock-Man. For each yoke of bul- locks there must be a man, whose business it is to feed them, rub them down, and drive them when required. 17. The Dog-Boy. Many Europeans in India keep a few English dogs. If so, a small boy is employed to prepare their food, wash them, and take them out for a daily walk. 208 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . 1 8. The Punkah -Pullers. During about half the year, both day and night, punkahs are required. One puller is necessary for the day and two for the night. 19. The Gardeners. In the plains the raising of vegetables and the cultivation of flowers are attended with great care and difficulty. Water has to be poured on the plants daily, and frequently they have to be shel- tered from the sun. One or more gardeners are there- fore required to look after the garden and compound. 20. The Herdsman. A man is required to look after the catde. He attends them while grazing, pre- pares their food and bedding, milks the cows, and makes the butter. THEIR QUALITIES. Indian servants are good, bad, or indifferent, accord- ing to the standard by which they are judged. If com- pared with ideal, faultless servants, they are bad; no doubt; if their good points are contrasted with the weak points of Bridget and Mike, they are paragons of perfection ; if on the whole they are compared with ser- vants in other countries, the result will not be unfavora- ble to them. One in search of defects can find them ; but one in search of good qualities will find a longer list. Indian servants are easily spoiled, and to manage quietly and well a whole dozen or more of them is not a chance accomplishment. Injudicious indulgence ruins them. By this we do not mean kindness. They are susceptible of kindness, but it must be very judiciously directed. Giving a meal SERVANTS. 209 to a servant travelling with you when he is tired out and in want, is a kindness which he will appreciate and serve you better for it. Giving him milk, bread, and sugar while at home, is an indulgence which he will commem- orate the next day by stealing the same. Giving him medicine and rest in sickness is a kindness for which he will be grateful. Letting him loaf about the bazaar when he ought to be serving you is an indulgence for which he will think you silly. Faying him promptly and fully for his services is his due, and will encourage him. Praising him for simply doing his duty unsettles his mind and makes him think of higher wages. The idea that he is of any special use to you, which could not be as well supplied without him, is an unsafe one for him to entertain. He serves you best as long as he considers himself an " unprofita- ble servant." For this reason it is not well to ask a servant to remain with you who shows the least inclina- tion or intention to leave your service. The two prominent faults of Indian servants are lying and stealing. Even in these vices it is not the quality so much as the quantity which annoys. The lies in which they delight are not deep-laid schemes which are to end in the destruction of your hfe, fortune, or happiness. They are "litde" lies, which seem to spring up in spontaneous thoughtlessness to hide a fault or gain a point. The stealing is of the same mild form, and as con- stant. It is very seldom, and only of careless masters, that Indian servants steal money or articles of great 2IO EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. value. It is a handful of sugar, a cupful of rice, a little oil, and a spoonful of ghee daily. At the end of the year it would, no doubt, foot up considerable, but from day to day it is so little that your annoyance is divided between the unpleasant task of having to quibble over such trifles and of knowing that the constant drain is going on. Over-charging in accounts is the second favorite way of increasing their gains. It is almost impossible for Europeans to do any of their marketing themselves, and should they venture into the bazaar to make their own purchases the merchants would at once add to their charges more severely than the servants. The matter of purchases must be left to a great extent to your ser- vants, and you must make the best of it you can. In hiding their attempts, both at peculation and speculation, they are adepts. You may be morally certain that you are being robbed and cheated a dozen times a day, but to prove the matter is a different thing and a very difficult one. In no other case have we ever felt our boasted " Yankee sharpness " of so little consequence as in trying to search out the devious ways of the "subtle" Hindu servant. So much for the dark side of the picture. In jus- tice to our subject let us look also at the bright side. Indian servants — we speak now of the rule and not of exceptions — are anxious to please their employers. To do this they will put themselves to the greatest incon- venience, ti ouble, and even pain. No matter how tired SERVANTS. 211 or indisposed a servantmay be, he never thinks of him- self or his own wants until his master has been served. They are good-tempered. It is a rare sight to see a servant show signs of anger, irritability, or even impa- tience in the presence of his master. Although they may be wronged, it is a most unusual thing for them to " talk back." They are respectful. A servant may by repeated ill-usage on the part of a master ask for his discharge, but even under the most trying circumstances he will scarcely be disrespectful. Ordinarily with masters whom they like they are the very perfection of respect- ful politeness. They are neat and quiet. The neatness of appearance and the quiet gracefulness with which the servants of a well-ordered European home in India attend to their various duties, call forth the astonishment and admiration of all new-comers. Whether servants shall excel in this depends very much upon their master and mistress. Where they are properly encouraged by precept and example their proficiency in these qualities challenges universal admiration. They are remarkably trustworthy when made respon- sible for any property, the delivery of a message, etc. It is only when the chances of his power to hide the theft are strong, that the Indian servant's temptation to steal overcomes him. A poor cooly, though not owning a rupee himself, may be trusted to carry a thousand for his master. Indian servants are attentive in sickness. Many of 212 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, them are good nurses and will watch with a sick master or mistress day and night for weeks with the greatest care and patience. This, too, with a quiet demeanor and an unobtrusiveness which would distinguish a Christian servant of Western lands. Europeans in India owe more of their daily comfort and happiness to their servants than they know how to appreciate or care to acknowledge. But for these faithful attendants life in this trying climate would be intolerable to us. The readiness with which they are found and the willingness with which they serve both tend to make us less appreciative of their efforts, and we should know their real worth only by being deprived of them. THE DEAD. 213 XXIII. THE DEAD. The Hindus have not that sacred reverence for the dead which we should expect to find in connection with so religious a nature as theirs. Although there is no lack of religious ceremony in connection with the disposing of the dead among the higher castes, there are but few evidences that the memory of the departed is a subject over which those who remain delight to linger. Among the lower castes the utter unconcern for the dead after they are once out of sight is simply shameful. One searches in vain for quiet, beautiful cemeteries where loving hands keep green the graves of departed loved ones. Even native Christians are slow to take that reverent interest in the resting-place of their dead which characterizes Christians in other lands. There is however among them a growing appreciation of seclu- ded and well -cared -for graveyards which contrasts most favorably with the general apathy on this subject. Most, though not all, high-caste Hindus burn their dead. The place where this ceremony is performed is generally some desolate spot a short distance away from the village and contiguous to the general burying- ground. Instead of being enclosed and decently indi- cated as a place where the living perform the last service for their dead, it is strewn with bones and char- coal and is nightly visited by packs of jackals who are 24 214 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN INDIA. ever on the watch for the "remains" of the newly burned. The funeral ceremonies preceding the crema- tion of a Hindu are tedious and childish, but when the fire has once been kindled the body is soon consumed. From a sanitary point of view, cremation is far prefera- ble to burying, and the revulsion which we feel towards this mode of disposing of the dead is altogether incom- prehensible tat|ie Hindu. In his estimation burning is by far the more decent and honorable mode, and many of the poorer people bury their dead only because they cannot afford the expense of firewood to burn them. Only the very wealthy can be honored with a sandal-wood funeral pyre, and fewer still can have their ashes carried to the sacred Ganges. With a few important exceptions, such as goldsmiths and Sanyasis, the burying among Hindus is confined to the lower castes, and is done in the most careless and irreverent manner. No mark is made to indicate the grave, and no regularity is observed in the place of interment. A hole is dug — it may be for the hundredth time on the same spot — the body is cast in, slightly covered and left to the mercy of Pariah dogs and jackals. The Mohammedans, who also bury their dead, make some show of indicating the graves by means of rude stones, but of all the desolate, forlorn, and uncared- for places in the world, Mohammedan graveyards stand prominent. No fences to enclose them, no mounds over the graves, no walks, no flowers, no grass, no THE DRAD. v 215 inscriptions, no white marble slabs, no painted boards, no — nothing except the bare, dark, rough headstones, lying, inclining and standing around in such neglect as to give the place the appearance of rejected waste land. This is the average Mussulman graveyard. Occasion- ally one is found containing a monument erected to some worthy follower of the prophet. In it are niches for burning lamps, and in the larger cities where there is a large and well-to-do Mohammedan population, their graveyards with the numerous burning lamps are a striking and interesting sight on a dark night. Cemeteries for EUROPEANS are kept up by government at all the principal stations throughout India. These are well cared for and remind the foreigner at once both of his past and of his future home. The Parsees' mode of disposing of the dead, by means of their TOWERS OF SILENCE, is at once unique and interesting. Owing to the fact that but few visitors are allowed to come near these towers, very conflicting accounts of their nature and use have found their way into print. Mr. Monier Will- iams, Sanskrit Professor at Oxford, was specially favored during his late visit to India in being admitted into the gardens surrounding the towers, and that while a funer- al was taking place. We can do no better than give a few extracts from his graphic account. 2i6 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. The Parsee population of India is confined princi- pally to Bombay, and it is near this city that these famous "Towers" are situated. Monier Williams says, *' Imagine a round column or massive cylinder twelve or fourteen feet high and sixty feet in diameter, built throughout of solid stone except in the centre, where a well eight or ten feet across leads down to an excavation under the masonry containing four drains, at right angles to each other, terminated by holes filled with charcoal or sand. Round the upper surface of this solid circular cyhnder, and completely hiding the interior from view, is a stone parapet ten or twelve feet in height. This it is which, when viewed from the out- side, appears to form one piece with the solid stone- work, and being, like it, covered with chunam, gives the whole the appearance of a low tower. The upper surface of the solid stone column is divided into sev- enty-two compartments, or open receptacles, radiating like spokes from the central well, and arranged in three concentric rings, separated from each other by narrow ridges of stone which are grooved to act as channels for conveying all moisture from the receptacles into the well and into the lower drains. " Each circle of open stone coffins is divided from the next by a pathway, so that there are three circular pathways, the last encircling the central well ; and these three pathways are crossed by another pathway from the solitary door which admits the corpse-bearers from the exterior. In the outermost circle are placed the THE DEAD, 219 bodies of males, in the middle, those of females, and in the inner and smallest circle, nearest the well, those of children. " The parapet of each tower possesses an extraordi- nary coping which instantly attracts and fascinates the gaze. It is a coping formed, not of dead stone, but of living vultures. These birds, on the occasion of my visit, had settled themselves side by side in perfect order and in a complete circle around the parapets of the tow- ers, with their heads pointed inwards, and so lazily did they sit there, and so motionless was their whole mien, that, except for their color, they might have been carved out of the stonework. "While I was engaged with the secretary in exam- ining the model of the main tower, a sudden stir among the vultures made us raise our heads. At least a hun- dred birds collected around one of the towers began to show symptoms of excitement, while others swooped down from neighboring trees. The cause of this sud- den abandonment of their previous apathy soon re- vealed itself. A funeral was seen to be approaching. When the corpse -bearers reached the path leading by a steep incline to the door of the tower, the mourners, about eight in number, turned back and entered one of the prayer-houses. ' There,' said the secretary, ' they repeat certain prayers, and pray that the spirit of the deceased may be safely transported on the fourth day after death to its final resting-place.' The two bearers speedily unlocked the door, reverently conveyed the body into the interior, and unseen by any one laid it 220 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . uncovered in one of the open stone receptacles. In two" minutes they reappeared with the empty bier and white cloth, when a dozen vultures swooped down upon the body and were rapidly followed by flights of others. In five minutes more we saw the satiated birds fly back and lazily settle down upon the parapet. They had left nothing behind but a skeleton. " Meanwhile the bearers were seen to enter a build- ing shaped like a huge barrel. There, as I was in- formed, they changed their clothes and washed them- selves. Shortly afterwards we saw them come out and deposit their cast-ofl" funeral garments on a stone recep- tacle near at hand. Not a thread leaves the garden, lest it should carry defilement into the city. Perfectly new garments are supplied at each funeral. In a fort- night, or at most four weeks, the same bearers return, and with gloved hands and implements resembling tongs place the dry skeleton in the central well. There the bones find their last resting-place, and there the dust of whole generations of Parsees commingling is left undisturbed for centuries. " The revolting sight of the gorged vultures made me turn my back on the towers with ill-concealed ab- horrence, yet I could not help thinking that however much such a system may shock our European feelings and ideas, our own method of interment, if regarded from a Parsee point of view, may possibly be equally revolting to Parsee sensibilities. The exposure of the decaying body to the assaults of innumerable worms may have no terrors for us because our survivors do THE DEAD. 221 not see the assailants ; but let it be borne in mind that neither are the Parsee survivors permitted to look at the heaven-sent birds. Why, then, should we be sur- prised if they prefer the more rapid to the more linger- ing operation? and which of the two systems, they may reasonably ask, is the more defensible on sanitary grounds ?" 222 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, XXIY. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. India possesses every variety of climate and tem- perature — ranging from tropical heat to arctic cold — and is therefore in one part or another adapted to sus- tain any and all of the vegetable and animal produc- tions of the globe. Probably no more interesting field for the student of nature, whether as zoologist, botanist, or mineralogist, is presented anywhere in the world within so narrow a compass. Of well-known animals, there are found in various parts of India elephants — wild and domesticated, cam- els, the rhinoceros, wild-boar, tiger, lion, panther, leop- ard, hyena, jackal, bear, deer of various kinds, from the giraffe down to the diminutive " Ceylon deer," goats — among which is the Cashmere goat, which furnishes the wool for the far-famed India shawls, sheep — wool-pro- ducing and non-wool-producing kinds, the latter being raised extensively for slaughtering — wild cattle, among which is the famous Arnee, found near the base of the Himalayas, and said to be the largest kind of cattle known — as also domestic cattle, including the buffalo. The Indian cow has a large raised hump on the back over the fore-legs, and a wide dewlap which al- most reaches to the ground. These cows yield less milk than American cows, and always insist on having the calf suck for a few moments at each milking. Oth- erwise they positively refuse to give the milk. The NA TURAL PRODUCTIONS. 223 same is true of the buffalo, which is also kept for milk- ing purposes. The milk of this animal is extremely- rich and yields a surprising quantity of butter. Buffa- loes being cheaper and more easily fed than cows, they are much more numerous. In appearance they are the most ungainly animal nature has ever produced^ — the rhinoceros excepted. The finest-looking and most favored among domes- tic animals is the Brahmani bull. Consecrated to the gods when young, allowed to roam wherever he pleases, and to appropriate whatever comes in his way, he feasts on the fat of the land and makes himself an unmitigated nuisance. Horses of a small and degenerated kind are native to India, but the better breeds are all imported. There is scarcely any demand for them as beasts of burden* Oxen take their place, and are in every way better adapted to the country and to the people. Donkeys abound everywhere, and seem to have but little to do except to graze along the roadside and stare at passers-by. They are generally owned either by washermen, who are said to use them for carrying bun- dles of clothing to and from the tanks, or by nomadic basket and mat makers, who use them for carrying bur- dens from village to village. The common dog of India, called by way of re- proach " Pariah dog," is a poor, mean, starved, despi- cable creature, which looks as if all the curses of the brute creation had centred on him. He is said to be destitute of all those noble traits of character which be- 25 224 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, long to his Western relative — but no wonder, when we consider how his training has been neglected for many- generations. Monkeys are plentiful, and are held in religious es- teem for the services which they are said to have ren- dered Rama, the hero-god. The mongoose is a small squirrel-like animal, which is noted for its ability to attack the deadly cobra. How it escapes the venomous bite or its effect, which to all other animals is fatal, is not known. It is thought by- some to feed at once when bitten upon an herb which counteracts the poison. This animal is easily domesti- cated, and serves a good purpose in guarding sleeping children against snakes and vermin. Squirrels, chip- mucks, rats, mice, bats, hares, and rabbits, abound ev- erywhere. Among reptiles the crocodile is the largest, and the cobra de capello the most deadly. No antidote for the poisonous bite of this snake has yet been discovered. It is found everywhere, exceedingly dreaded by all, and is a common object of worship. Rice, flowers, cocoa- nuts, and other articles, are offered to it at its haunts, and idols in imitation of it are plentiful. The object of this worship is to appease, propitiate, as is in fact the object of Hindu worship generally. Scorpions of various species and sizes abound. Their sting is exceedingly painful, and one soon learns to be cautious when fumbling about in the dark. Scor- pions are timid, and run away if they have a chance to do so, but if touched, or in any way put on the defen- NATURAL PRODUCTIONS, 225 sive, It does not take them long to make up their minds what to do. BIRDS. The birds of India, though perhaps less splendid in plumage and not as musical as we should expect to find the feathery tribe in a tropical country, are nevertheless worthy of more notice than our limits allow us to give them. Some of them resemble our American birds both in plumage and song. Among the most common are the various kinds of crows, parrots, kites, sparrows, swallows, thrushes, quails, snipe, and doves. The oriole and the wood- pecker are found here; and the mina, an interesting little bird, in manner and shape reminds us of the robin. In some parts of India there are birds which attract attention on account of their peculiar forms, as the horned pheasant of Nepaul, the horned turkey of Ben- gal, the lammergeyer, or bearded vulture, of the Hima- layas, and the Malabar shrike, with its tufted plume. Others are noted for their peculiar disposition, as the jocose shrike, with its lively and amusing manner, and the paradise grakle, which, when kept near the farm- yard, acquires the various cries of ducks, geese, sheep, pigs, etc. FISH. The streams of India are well supplied with fish of all varieties and sizes, and these form an important arti- cle of food for the meat-eating classes. Not only ordi- nary streams, but rice-fields when inundated, temporary 226 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. ponds in low places, and even ditches along the road- side, swarm with diminutive fish, which are eagerly caught and consumed by the lower classes. Oysters, lobsters, and mussels, are found along the coast, but they are of inferior quality, and not valued as an article of food by the natives. The insect world is exceedingly well represented in India, and the entomologist in search of a paradise — scientifically considered only — ought to wend his way hither. The vegetable kingdom furnishes the same interest and variety as the animal kingdom ; and the minerals of India, as represented by gold, silver, and precious stones, have an historic and world-wide fame. A simple enumeration of species and varieties would be uninter- esting, and any extensive discussion of these subjects does not fall within the scope of this book. The large and stately trees, however, are objects of such special interest that we cannot pass them by unnoticed. TREES, 227 XXY. TREES. To a lover of nature, the fine, stately trees of India are objects of great interest. In the hottest season of the year, when the earth lies parched and brown, many of these put on their robes of freshest green, and thus endear themselves to us the more. Of the endless species and varieties of trees which adorn the landscape with their beauty, refresh the plains with their shade, and benefit the teeming milHons with their products, we can mention only a few. If asked which of the magnificent Indian trees we love most, we should at first be embarrassed for an an- swer ; but our choice, if choose we must, would proba- bly fall upon THE NEEM OR MARGOSA TREE. This is the Azadiracta Indica of the botanies, and the name is said to be derived from the Persian A 2 ad Du- rukht, " the excellent tree." It is closely related to the Melia Azaderach^ or Persian lilac of North America, which is also found in some parts of India. The flowers of this tree are not showy, but its foli- age, which is deepest in the hot season, is exceedingly beautiful, and forms a grateful shade for man, bird, and beast. When full grown, the tree is very large, and generally symmetrical as a picture. It is common all over India, and is as useful as ornamental. The timber 228 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, is hard and durable, fit even for ship-building. The bark has a remarkably bitter taste, and is used as a medicine in intermittent fevers and rheumatism. Out of the leaves are made poultices, which are administered with good effect in various diseases of the eyes, ears, teeth, etc. The pericarp of the seeds yields, either by boiling or expression, a useful lamp oil, while from the kernel is made a hair-wash. THE BANYAN. The fame of this tree has spread all over the world. There are many species of it in India, but the most remarkable two are the Ficus Indica^ or regular Ban- yan, and the Ficus religiosa^ or Sacred Fig-tree. Whoever has read of India has read of some of the huge banyans found in various parts of the country. Every schoolboy knows about the famous one at the village of Mhow in Western India, with its sixty-eight stems descending from the branches, and its capacity to shade from a vertical sun twenty thousand men ! While of such giants there are probably not many in India, banyans of more moderate size, yet very large as compared with other trees, abound everywhere. From time immemorial they have been planted along the public roads, where they form a pleasant shade for travellers. Along old public highways we have driven for miles under banyan-arched roofs, and have grate- fully blessed, not only the noble old trees, but also the hands — now long forgotten — which placed them there. The timber of the banyan is white, light, porous, TREES. 231 and almost useless. The leaves are stitched together as " leaf-plates," from which high-caste people eat their food. Passing along the road where banyans abound, weak old men and women and small children are seen gathering up the fallen leaves. These they take to their homes or sell them in the bazaar. They get but a trifle for them ; but as the work is specially light and simple, such members of the family as can do nothing else en- gage in it. The " Sacred Fig-tree " is also very common, but does not yield so dense a shade. The branches do not root, as is the case with the common banyan, but they are frequently of enormous length, so that they break off by their own weight. This tree is much respected .by the natives, who are unwilling to cut it down at any time. The leaves tremble somewhat like aspen leaves, which motion, the Hindus say, arises from the presence of the god Vishnu, who was born among its branches, and to whom the tree is therefore held sacred. Another remarkable tree, closely related to these, and very useful in many ways, as well as stately and beautiful, is THE INDIAN JACK-TREE. The botanical name of this tree is Artocarpus inte- grifolia, and it is the nearest known relative of the fa- mous bread-fruit tree of the South Sea Islands. (Ar/os, bread, and carpos, fruit.) The fruit of this tree grows to an enormous size, weighing from twenty to fifty pounds, and measuring as much as twenty inches in length and ten inches in diameter. Its size is no more 232 EVERY'DA V LIFE IN INDIA. remarkable than its situation on the tree. It hangs to peduncles which spring directly from the trunk and the thick branches, or in the case of old trees, from the roots ! The outside of the fruit is covered with a coarse, green, prickly skin. Inside of this are numerous small pulpy fruits packed in a viscid fibre around the central axis, each of which contains a small nut. Natives are fond of this fruit, but Europeans are generally repelled from it by its strong smell. The timber of this tree is very valuable. It is yellow when cut, but turns to vari- ous shades of brown with age. When well polished, it is said to be superior in color to mahogany. At the very head of the useful timber trees stands the teak, strong and durable ; but as this flourishes best in the mountains and is not as graceful in appearance as many other trees, we have not mentioned it before. The mango -tree is also large, and prized scarcely less for its shade than for its delicious fruit. Ornamental shrubs and flowering trees of various kinds are numerous; especially the abundance and gaudiness of the latter will surprise and delight the European new-comer. Some one has said that every picture of India must have a palm-tree in it, and our reference to trees would indeed be very incomplete without THE PALM. There are a number of species of palm in India, but the most important are those popularly known as the Betelnut, the Cocoanut, and the Palmyra Palms. TREES, 233 The first yields the arecanut, improperly called **betelnut" by the natives, because it is chewed with the betel-leaf. This is the most graceful and elegant of the palms, but it is not so common in all parts as some of the others. The cocoanut palm thrives best near the sea. It is not so straight and tall as the others. Its feathery leaves resemble gigantic plumes swaying gracefully in the breeze, and form a covering, as it were, to hide the pre- cious fruit, which lies close to the trunk, just under this crown of leaves. The most important of all the palms, and one which has been called the " prince of trees," on account of its great usefulness, is the Palmyra palm {Borassus /label- liformis). This tree is common in dry, sandy soil all over India, but is found most numerously on the Mala- bar coast and from Madras southward. Southern Tra- vancore alone has nearly three millions of these trees, while in Tinnevelly they are equally numerous. When young, that is, until fifteen or twenty years old — which period ought perhaps to be called its in- fancy — this tree has no grace or beauty. It is covered from the root upwards with the remains of old leaves which have been cut off" some distance from the trunk, leaving ugly and dangerous projections. These leaf- stalks when green are soft and easily cut, but after they become dry they are almost as hard as horn, and a per- son running againt such a tree by night or accidentally is sure to retire wounded. After the tree becomes older all these remains of former leaves disappear, and the 26 234 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. straight trunk emerges, smooth and clean, as if it had been artificially trimmed and polished. It rises to the height of from sixty to ninety feet, and is considered in its youth during its first hundred years. In fact, the timber is almost worthless till the tree is sixty years old. I have never been able to detect that beauty, either in single trees or in groves of palmyras, of which some writers speak. This tree can, however, well afford to do without either admiration for its beauty or praise for shade-giving qualities. In usefulness it challenges the trees of the world. A Hindu poem is said to enu- merate eight hundred and one uses to which the va- rious parts of the palmyra are applied. Any one who observes the many and ingenious ways in which a native makes this tree serve him, cannot fail to be impressed with both the tree and the man. The fruit, which is of a dark color, globular, and four or five inches in diameter, contains, besides pulp, two or three good-sized seeds. This pulp having been eaten, the seeds, which are hard nuts, are planted near the house until they begin to sprout. They are then split open with a knife, and the tender kernel is secured. This kernel has a very agreeable taste, and serves to slake the thirst when good water is not obtainable. It is considered somewhat of a dainty, and I have often had it brought to me by native friends when travelling in the villages. The young sprout is likewise turned to use, being boiled, roasted or dried, and ground into meal. But the fruit of the tree is of very small impor- tance compared with some of its other products. TREES. 235 The leaves are of use to the people in innumerable ways. Each tree furnishes about a dozen new ones every year. These leaves are very large, the stem being from three to four feet long, and the fanlike ex- pansion about three feet in diameter. They are used for fuel, for thatch, for mats, for baskets, for cords, for fans, for umbrellas, for tobacco pouches, for books, etc. The most profitable product is the sap or " palm- wine." This is drawn twice daily during a period of about seven months in the year. It exudes from the unex- panded flowering stalk which is near the crown of the tree. It has therefore to be climbed twice a day, and the skill with which the regular " climbers " do this is a marvel in our eyes. This " palm-wine," if drunk fresh, is a very pleasant drink and harmless, but if fermented or distilled into spirits it becomes intoxicating. Much of the sap is boiled into sugar. This coarse sugar, or jaggery as it is called here, is used in many ways : as a cheap article of food, in medicine, in first-class mortar (to which it gives strength and tenacity), and it is said to have been exported to England to be used as an excellent manure. When the tree is cut down for its timber, the cen- tral leaf-bud at the crown is taken out and pickled. This is said to be very tender and delicious. There is a common proverb, referring to the palmy- ra, which says, " If you plant it, it will grow a thousand years ; and if you cut it, it will last a thousand years." The second part of the proverb has, no doubt, more truth in it than the first. The wood of the tree, that is, 236 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . the outer circle, is very hard. It being an endogen, the centre is filled with soft, spongy, useless pith ; but around this there is a cylinder of wood, easily spHt and polished, which, if carefully preserved, hardens with age, and may last even a thousand years. It is used for building pur- poses, farming implements, bed-frames, bows, etc. "A native," says a writer, "may build an entire house, wanting no nails or ironwork, with posts, plates, roof, and covering, of the palmyra-tree. From this tree he may store his grain, make his bed, furnish his pro- visions, kindle his fire, draw or bring his water; and also, by the help of only an earthen pot set on three stones, cook his food, sweeten it if he chooses, procure his wine, and live day after day dependent only on this tree." FARMERS, 237 XXYI. FARMERS. The most respectable class of people in India are the farmers. We use the word " respectable " in the sense of being worthy of respect, and not according to its common usage in India, where it means being born of high caste in a wealthy family, or in one especially devoted to learning and religion. They are also the most important class of people, notwithstanding the claims of the Brahmans. India could spare the Brah- mans and all they produce without any serious loss, but to take from India the farmers and their services would reduce the country to beggary. Without the farmers — the great body of whom are Sudras by caste — the Brah- mans would starve in their pride, and the Pariahs in their indolence would degenerate into hopeless savages. By way of giving honor to whom honor is due, we ought to say in this connection that in some parts of India Brahmans are taking to farming, not only as proprie- tors, but also as laborers in the fields. To such be all honor and praise. We do not say that the average farmer is either in- telligent or enterprising, but he is industrious, contented, law-abiding, and peaceful. He not only furnishes food for himself and the rest of his countrymen, but he pays to a great extent his country's taxes. His toil and econ- omy make it possible for so poor a country to support 238 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . so expensive a government as Great Britain has im- posed upon India. In matters of Religion the Indian peasant is yet in bondage to the Brahman, and so well does the latter know the value of his hold upon his disciple, that he guards it most carefully and opposes most vehemently any encroachment upon his ground. The Indian ryot shows an appreciative and some- times an intense interest in the preaching of the Chris- tian missionary, but as soon as the preacher is out of sight the old faith is speedily restored and refortified by the Brahman priest, upon whom the unsuspecting peas- ant has been taught to look as the source of all wisdom. In his Home-life the ryot is exceedingly simple, and we can do our readers no better service than by giving them a picture of a farmer's home as drawn by a native* himself (The Reddis are a subdivision of the Sudras, and they may be regarded as the representative farmers of India.) " There is not much, we fear, to be seen by way of a home. A hut, some twelve feet square, of mud walls, surmounted by a pyramid-shaped roof of thatch or pal- myra leaves on a framework of bamboo, palmyra, or other inferior country timber, with a doorway four feet high by two broad, flanked on either side by pials of clay baked hard in the sun, about eighteen inches from the ground, the whole exterior mudwork of the struc- * " Pen and Ink Pictures of Native Indian Life, by a Hin- du." Madras Times, 1S79. FARMERS, 239 ture being painted in alternate perpendicular streaks of chunam and red earth, a foot's width to each streak, and a couple of triangular niches (to place lamps in) in the front wall ; on either side of the doorway a roughly- carved representation of the trident mark that distin- guishes the followers of Vishnu; with the conch and discus, also emblematical of that deity, traced on the lintel — such is about as complete a description as can be given of the chief external features of the Reddi's abode. Stooping low under the narrow doorway, we enter the house, which consists only of a single apart- ment, redolent of cowdung and confined air, of smoke too, and stale currystuff. To your left, as you enter, near the door, are three or four primitive fireplaces, built sufficiently high (or low) to allow of cooking in a sedentary posture. At the angles of the wall, and in close proximity to the fireplace, are tiers of pots, the lowermost ones being of a size big enough to be used as a bathing-tub, and tapering upwards to the tiny little chatti, almost the size of a thimble. These vessels of country pottery contain the household stores, such as rice and other grain, salt, or tamarind. Then there are a few slings of coarse rope netting suspended from the smoke-darkened rafters, in which are placed vessels holding ghee (clarified hVi\X.^x), jaggari (rough sugar), and other similar articles liable to be attacked by ants and rats. Conspicuously arranged are the cooking utensils, also of the coarse earthenware of local manu- facture, kept as clean, however, as is compatible with the material they are made of A few pieces of rough 240 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, matting, a strong box or two, a stout wooden pestle, heavily shod with iron at both ends, and a stone mortar and handmill (both in two parts each), in company with a rough granite slab for grinding currystuff on, he against the bare walls of the house, which are further embeUished (?) by pieces of rope strung across to do duty for the clothes-horse. There are also a couple of large wicker-work cylinders which are receptacles of grain, and a rude bedstead, perhaps of coir rope net- work on a frame and legs of jungle-wood. Add to these a couple of spinning-wheels, and our inventory of the Reddi's house {mimis live stock) is complete. "As is the case with all those who have to work, and work pretty hard with their hands for their daily bread, the Reddi is a very early riser. After partaking of a good quantity of cold (or, rather, decomposing) rice gruel, well mixed with soured buttermilk, and with a few green chillies {capsicuin Indicus) for a * relish,' the Reddi will set out, plough on shoulder and staff in hand, to the fields at a distance, returning home late in the evening. The women and children, or at least such of them as are either not old enough or strong enough for out-door labor, will stay at home, attending to cook- ing, fetching water, sweeping, and other similar house- hold occupations, or will work at the spindle, turning out no small quantity of yarn, which is either sold, or given to the village weaver to be turned into clothes for the use of the family. Some of the women, too, go to the nearest market-town, weekly or oftener, to dispose of what home-produce they may have in the shape of FARMERS, 241 vegetables, milk, curds, or ghee^ returning home laden with such articles of household consumption as are not procurable in their own village. The most serious part of the day's business in a family such as that we are describing, is the cooking of the mid-day meal. A good portion of the food then prepared is at once taken to those members of the family working out of doors, carried in a basket on the head, or just as often in pots slung to a pole that is carried on the shoulders. After eating, fol- lows the traditional siesta^ in which even out-door labor- ers indulge ; and, after awaking therefrom, there will be the usual routine of domestic duties gone through, ter- minating with the preparation of supper. In the midst of her culinary operations, the Reddi's wife will rise to perform what is perhaps the only act approaching to worship in a homestead such as hers : namely, the light- ing of the lamps. Washing her hands, face, and feet, and smoothing her hair, she will light a wick, put it in a little saucer of oil, and prostrate herself before it with arms outstretched, and the hands joined together in the well-known Hindu attitude of worship, calling the while on the names of the family or village deity, or just as often on the goddess Lakshmi, the source of all tempo- ral welfare. Anon the evening meal is ready, and those at home anxiously await the return of those who are still outside. When the latter approach the house, they are presented with a vessel of water to wash their feet, washing away thereby, as it were, all evil that they may have brought with them from without, before entering the house. 27 242 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, " After supper, betel and nut will be chewed and to- bacco smoked, and one by one the several members of the Reddi family will go to sleep, thus bringing to an end one of the usual uneventful days of their ordinary existence." THE POVERTY of the Indian farmer has of late attracted a great deal of attention both in India and in England. Several emi- nent English travellers and philanthropists have taken up the subject and have given the public no end of in- formation as to his desolate condition. What a bless- ing, for once, that he cannot read ! That the Indian peasant pays an enormous tax for the privilege of being governed by her majesty the queen of England and empress of India, is true. That he would have to pay more if he were left to the greed of native princes is also true. That famine occasionally overtakes him is a fact, but whether he will gain or lose by such a visitation depends altogether upon whether he be a "large" or a "small" farmer. That money- lenders harass him and extort from him a good propor- tion of his hard-earned savings is indisputable, but the fault is very largely his own, and one which no external remedy can cure. That on the whole he has a fair share of human ills we are willing to admit, but that as a class the Indian farmers suffer more from poverty than tillers of the soil in others countries, we very much doubt. Of this we are quite sure, that the European traveller cannot form a correct judgment of the matter from merely passing through the country. FARMERS. 243 In the first place, it must be remembered that all natives plead poverty in the presence of Europeans. To this we have never seen an exception. The ryot not only pleads poverty verbally, but he acts poverty. To be considered rich by those who levy his taxes he would consider a lamentable misfortune. Though he may have his gold-embroidered holiday clothes laid up in a box, and a thousand rupees buried in the earthen floor of his house, he will appear before the government officials with tatters about his loins and tears in his eyes, because he has not been able to make up the deficiency in his taxes / The European resident soon learns all his ways, but the new-comer cannot fail to be melted to pity at the sight of the poor fellow who, without a cloth to cover his nakedness, is thus hunted down for taxes by a heart- less government ! He lives in a small, inexpensive house, it is true, but if you were to build him a palace, he would be- grudge the ground it occupied, and still prefer his win- dowless hut. The fact that the ryot who owns his thousands, and adds yearly to his already useless gains, lives in the same kind of house, and dresses in the same style of clothing as his poorer neighbor, shows conclusively that the difference which the traveller observes be- tween the European and the Indian peasant in these respects cannot be ascribed to poverty. 244 E VER Y'DA V LIFE IN INDIA, XXYII. FARMING. India is preeminently an agricultural country, and yet intelligent, enterprising farming is almost unknown. The common farming implements are of the most prim- itive, inconvenient, and inefficient kind. The plough — called so by a considerable stretch of imagination — is simply an iron-plated, tapering stick, held at a proper angle by being fastened into a crooked beam to which the bullocks are attached and by which the farmer guides it as it scratches along the surface of the ground. It throws up no furrow and seldom penetrates beyond five or six inches. The harrow is generally a bunch of brushwood, while the drill, from its intricate construction, defies description. Some laborious genius did once set about describing this wonderful instrument, and at the risk of being prosecuted for violating copyright laws, I give that description verbatim, not so much by way of infor- mation, as in confirmation of what I have already said, that it defies description : " The common drill machine has three pieces of sticks that make scratches about an inch and a half in depth, and the seeds drop into the scratches through three hollow bits of bamboo, that are immediately behind the scratching sticks. These bam- boos are united to one rude vessel at the top, containing the seeds. The larger seeds are sown by means of a bamboo fastened to the drill by a string, and having a PLOUGHING. BUFFALO COW— MILKING. FARMING, 247 little cup upon the end. A woman attends to this bamboo, holding it directly over any one of the three scratches into which she wishes the seed to fall, with one hand, and dropping the seed into the cup with the other. The covering plough follows, which is a horizon- tal stick drawn along by two bullocks, and by being pressed against the ground, covers the seed with mould. The operation of sowing requires the attention of four persons and the labor of four bullocks." The few re- maining implements are of the same clumsy kind. Of late years the government has made some effort to introduce American ploughs and other improved agricultural implements, but its efforts have not been crowned with much success. The Hindu holds tena- ciously to that which is old and tried. If his fathers tilled the soil with these simple appliances, why should not he? What was good enough for his renowned ancestors ought surely to be good enough for him in this degenerate age, he reasons, not only with regard to religion and education, but also in regard to ploughs, drills, and reapers. Some years ago the government undertook to en- courage the introduction of American cotton in place of the inferior kinds now common in many parts of India. So conservative were the ryots, that although the seeds were furnished them gratis they in many cases refused to take them. Others, more afraid of displeasing the well-meaning officials, took the seeds and boiled them thoroughly before planting, in order that they might report " did not grow" in their reply to the government. 248 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, The manure which ought to go to the soil to restore its productiveness is burned as fuel, and if it were not for the peculiar climate of India, which during certain por- tions of the year is exceedingly favorable to the growth of all vegetation, farming would long ago have come to a standstill. In Europe or America the best soil, treated as in India, would in less than ten years, refuse the farmer a living. In the superficial ploughing and in the utter exhaustion of the soil may be found one of the causes of the oft-recurring famines in various parts of India. The growth of crops must depend more and more upon favorable moisture and a proper temperature, while the soil is helpless to furnish the least resource in case of unfavorable outward circumstances. The Chinese are infinitely ahead of the Hindus in their knowledge and practice of agriculture, and we could wish for a slight immigration of Celestials in this direction, to teach their Hindu neighbors how to make the best use of refuse matter in the restoration of the soil, and various other items of successful farming. Cultivation in India is of two kinds — wet and dry. WET CULTIVATION. Rice, that is the better species, known to botanists as oryza sativa, is an aquatic plant and requires wet cultivation. Saffron and sugar-cane, both of which are grown extensively in Southern India, also require wet cultivation, and so do several other crops, among which are some coarse cereals. The water for these is supplied from canals, tanks, wells, and flowing streams. Where FARMING. 249 canals or natural streams cannot supply the demand for water, large tanks, often many miles in circumference, are constructed. As high a spot as practicable is selected, and strong banks of earth are thrown up to confine the water which collects during the periodical heavy rains. By means of gates, this vast body of water is then gradually drawn off and distributed over the adjoining fields as required. When the fields cannot be reached by water from tanks, wells are dug, from which the water is drawn by various appliances. One of the most common forms of drawing water is as follows : A large beam, sometimes the trunk of a tree, is balanced on an upright post or frame so near the well that one end of the beam is directly over it. To this end is attached a large bucket. One man then mounts the transverse beam and walks backward and forward on it. His weight raises and lowers each end of the beam in succession and thus at every round he brings to the surface an immense bucket of water. Another man at the mouth of the well guides the water into a channel prepared for carrying it into the field. By a change of hands this simple sweep is kept going day and night, supplying water for a con- siderable area. In the same way water is also lifted from rivers and smaller streams. In some cases bullocks are used for lifting water. The appliances in such cases are also of the simplest kind, consisting generally of a huge leather bucket which is drawn up by a rope and pulley — the bullocks having to return backwards while the bucket descends to be refilled. 250 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. The process of wet cultivation varies for different crops. In the case of rice, the fields are ploughed under water, and the soil is converted into liquid mud — the fields having been partitioned into small portions not more than a few rods square, by little ridges rising scarcely above the surface. "^ While the fields are being prepared in this way, the rice seed is sprouting in nurseries. When about forty days old the seedlings are taken from the nursery and planted in these mud ponds. This affords employment for a great number of poor people to whom rice planting is a rice harvest. With cloths tucked up, a bundle of seedlings in one hand, while with the other they thrust two or three at a time into the mud — bending and stooping with the fierce sun on their backs and their feet in the mud — they toil from morning to night, resembling ants not only in their industry but also in appearance, when viewed from a distance. The rice plant grows very rapidly and requires to be kept well under water until the ears approach maturi- ty, when the water is drained and the crop is allowed to dry. During the growing season, a large expanse of rice- fields presents a most beautiful and interesting appear- ance. From five to seven months are required for the crop to ripen. Then begins another busy time — the reaping. This is done with an instrument resembling very much the old-fashioned sickle, well remembered and still sometimes used in America. After the ear has had time to dry out, the threshing begins. This is FARMING, 251 sometimes done by manual labor, but generally the grain is trodden out by cattle. The rice in this state, that is, after threshing and with both husks on still, is called /aa'^. As it decays more readily if pounded or unhusked, it is stored away in this condition and even sold in the market as paddy. When required for use the outer hu§k is first ground or pounded off. In this operation it loses about half its quantity, and the husk which comes off is of no use, except as fuel when mixed with other combustibles. Before the rice is ready for cooking it must be pounded again, to remove the inner coating or bran. This may be used as food for poultry and cattle, and during times of scarcity it is mixed with water and eaten by the poor. There are almost num- berless varieties of rice — not less than one hundred and sixty having been enumerated in Ceylon alone. DRY CULTIVATION. Another species of rice, oryza Nepalensis, is exten- sively cultivated as a dry crop. In appearance it re- sembles the other rice, but it is considered inferior as an article of food. Although " rice" has become a syno- nym for food in India and has generally been spoken of as the staple upon which the millions of Hindus subsist, recent inquiries have shown that the poorer people depend mainly upon what are called coarse grains for their food supply. These are cheap and at the same time more nutritious than rice. About twenty per cent, of the cultivated land in Southern India is under wet cultivation, and the rest is 28 252 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, used for dry crops. Among these, large and small millet, maize, wheat, and barley hold a prominent place. Cotton and indigo are extensively cultivated in many districts, and to the latter we devote elsewhere a separ- ate chapter. Opium culture is confined principally to Bengal. Various species of pulse, used as food for man and beast, tobacco, hemp, flax, betel, red pepper, cori- ander, and onions are cultivated in almost every sec- tion of India. Of the last-named three articles enormous quantities are consumed throughout the country in curry. The red pepper enters not only into the expen- sive and delicious curries of the rich, but a handful of chillies — as the pods are called — is also the last resort of the poor who can afford nothing else to make their meals savory. Cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, and various other vegetables are raised in large quantities by farmers, both for their own use and for the market. A small, bitter kind of cucumber is brought by wagon-loads to market and sold extremely cheap. During times of scarcity it is almost the only food of the very poor. One feature of farming in India which readily attracts the attention of a European, and which might possibly be worth our careful study, are the mixed crops; that is, the growing of different grains and vegetables on the same field at the same time. As an example, large millet, a tall pulse, a low trailing pulse, and cucumbers are often growing together. Before the tall pulse is developed sufficiently to require all the room, the millet ripens and is removed. Likewise the cucumbers FARMING, 253 are gathered and the vines dry away by the time the trailing pulse is ready to occupy the whole surface. This leaves yet two crops on the field, neither of which interferes with the other. Rather, they are useful to each other. The tall stalk, with its spreading branches throws a cooling shade over the creeper at its feet, and the creeper in return, by densely covering the earth, retains the moisture so greatly needed by the roots of the larger stalk. Various other crops are mixed up in similar ways to the great advantage of the farmer. In favorable years, two and sometimes even three succes- sive distinct crops are reaped from the same field, thus affording the industrious peasant a chance to pay his taxes with ease and store up grain in anticipation of a famine year. 254 E VER Y'DA V LIFE IN INDIA, XXYIII. IKDIGO. The manufacture of this valuable dye is one of the most important industries of India. Judging by the number of " indigo vats " wnich are found in all parts of the country from Nepaul to Ceylon, we should think the amount of indigo exported must be something enor- mous. Comparatively little of the yearly produce is used in this country, dark colors being almost univer- sally eschewed in native clothing. The indigo planta- tions of Bengal have a world-wide fame ; but in South- ern India the cultivation of the plant, while it is also very common, is generally confined to a proportionate place among the other yearly crops. Thus the ryot who cultivates fifty acres may see fit to devote ten of them to indigo. One factory answers therefore the purpose of a very large neighborhood. The individual ryot may either sell his leaves to the owner of the fac- tory, which is generally the case, or he may enter into an agreement with him for the 'use of the factory or for the expression of his leaves. Where the plant is cultivated in this limited manner, the modes of manufacturing the dye from the leaf are much more primitive than those found on the extensive plantations of the North. The cultivation of the plant and the manufacture of the dye on an indigo plantation are thus graphically described by an English planter :* * "Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier," by Maori. INDIGO, 255 "The ground having been prepared and arrange- ments* having been made for a supply of seed, we are ready for sowing. Drills are got out, overhauled, and put in thorough repair. On a certain day when all seems favorable— no signs of rain or high winds— the drills are set at work, and day and night the work goes on till all the land under cultivation has been sown. "After some seven, nine, or perhaps fifteen days, according to the weather, begin to appear in long lines of delicate, pale, yellowish -green the young, soft shoots. This is a most anxious time. Should rain fall, the whole surface of the earth gets caked and hard, and the deli- cate plant burns out, or, being chafed against the hard surface-crust, it withers and dies. If the wind gets into the east, it brings a peculiar blight, which settles round the leaf and collar of the stem of the young plant, chokes it, and sweeps off miles and miles of it. If hot west winds blow, the plant gets black, discolored, burnt up, and dead. A south wind often brings caterpillars — at least this pest often makes its appearance when the wind is southerly ; but as often as not caterpillars find their way to the young plant in the most mysterious manner, no one knowing whence they come. In some places the seed may have been bad or covered with too much earth, and the plant comes up straggling and thin. If there is abundant moisture, this must be resown. In fact, there is never-ending anxiety and work at this sea- son ; but when the plant is an inch or two high, the most critical time is over, and one begins to think about the next operation, namely, weeding. 256 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, " The coolies are again in requisition. Each comes armed with a small metal spatula, broad-pointed, with . which they dig out the weeds with amazing deftness. Sometimes they may inadvertently take out a single stem of indigo with the weeds : the eye of the mate, z. e., the man in charge of the coolies, espies this at once, and the careless coolie is treated to a volley of Hindu Billingsgate, in which all his relations are abused to the seventh generation. By the time the first weeding is finished, the plant will be over a foot high, and if ne- cessary a second weeding is then given. After the second weeding, and if any rain has fallen in the inte- rim, the plant will be fully two feet high. *' It is now a noble-looking expanse of beautiful green, waving foliage. As the wind ruffles its myriads of leaves, the sparkle of the sunbeams on the undula- ting mass produces the most wonderful combinations of light and shade ; feathery sprays of a delicate pale green curl gracefully all over the field. It is like an ocean of vegetation, with billows of rich color chasing each other, and blending in harmonious hues ; the whole field look- ing a perfect oasis of beauty amid the surrounding dull brown tints of the season. " It is now time to give the plant a light touch of the plough. This eases the soil about the roots, lets in air and light, tends to clean the undergrowth of weeds, and gives it a great impetus. By the beginning of June the tiny red flower is peeping from its leafy sheath, the lower leaves are turning yellowish and crisp, and it is almost time to begin the grandest and most important INDIGO, 257 operation of the season, the manufacture of the dye from the plant. THE FACTORY. " Indigo is manufactured solely from the leaf. When arrangements have been made for cutting and carting the plant from the fields, the vats and machinery are all made ready, and a day is appointed to begin manufac- ture. The apparatus consists of, first, a strong service- able pump for pumping up water into the vats ; this is now mostly done by machinery, but many small facto- ries still use the old Persian wheel, which may be shortly described as simply an endless chain of buckets, working on a revolving wheel or drum. The machine is worked by bullocks, and as the buckets ascend full from the well, they are emptied during their revolution into a small trough at the top, and the water is conveyed into a huge masonry reservoir or tank, situated high up above the vats, which forms a splendid open-air bath for the planter when he feels inclined for a swim. Some of these tanks are capable of containing forty thousand cubic feet of water or more. " Below, and in a line with this reservoir, are the steeping vats, each capable of containing about two thousand cubic feet of water when full. Of course the vats vary in size, but what is ealled a pucca vat is of the above capacity. When the fresh green plant is brought in, the carts with their loads are ranged in line opposite these loading vats. The loading coolies jump into the vats, and receiving the plant from the cartmen. Stack it up in perpendicular layers till the vat is full. A 26o EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. up the liquor into the air. The quantity forced up by the one cooHe encounters in mid-air that sent up by the man standing immediately opposite to him, and the two jets meeting and mixing confusedly together, tumble down in broken frothy masses into the vat. Beginning with a slow, steady stroke, the coolies gradually in- crease the pace, shouting out a hoarse, wild song at intervals ; till, what with the swish and splash of the falling water, the measured beat of the beating-rods, and the yells and cries with which they excite each other, the noise is almost deafening. The water, which at first is of a yellowish-green, is now beginning to as- sume an intense blue tint ; this is the result of the oxy- genation going on. As the blue deepens, the exertions of the coolie increase, till with every muscle straining, head thrown back, chest expanded, his long black hair dripping with white foam, and his bronzed, naked body glistening with blue liquor, he yells and shouts and twists and contorts his body till he looks like a true ' blue devil.' To see eight or ten vats full of yelling, howling blue creatures, the water splashing high in mid-air, the foam flecking the walls, and the measured beat of the rods rising weird-like into the morning air, is almost enough to shake the nerve of a stranger, but it is music in the planter's ear, and he can scarce refrain from yelling out in sympathy with his coolies, and shar- ing in their frantic excitement. Indeed it is often ne- cessary to encourage them if a vat proves obstinate, and the color refuses to come — an event which occasionally does happen. It is very hard work beating, and when INDIGO. 261 this constant violent exercise Is kept up for about three hours (which is the time generally taken), the cooHes are pretty well exhausted, and require a rest. " During the beating two processes are going on simultaneously. One is chemical — oxygenation — turn- ing the yellowish -green dye into a deep intense blue; the other is mechanical — a separation of the particles of dye from the water in which it is held in solution. The beating seems to do this, causing the dye to granulate in larger particles. " When the vat has been beaten, the coolies remove the froth and scum from the surface of the water, and then leave the contents to settle. The fecula or dye, or mall as it is technically called, now settles at the bot- tom of the vat in a soft pulpy sediment, and the waste liquor left on the top is let off through graduated holes in the front. Pin after pin is gradually removed, and the clear sherry- colored waste allowed to run out till the last hole in the series is reached, and nothing but dye remains in the vat. By this time the coolies have had a rest and food, and now they return to the works, and either lift up the Tnall in earthen jars and take it to the mall-tank, or, as is now more commonly done, they run it along a channel to the tank, and then wash out and clean the vat to be ready for the renewed beating on the morrow. When all the mall has been collected in the mall-tank, it Is next pumped up into the straining- room. It is here strained through successive layers of wire gauze and cloth, till, free from dirt, sand, and im- purity, it is run into the large iron boilers, to be subject- 262 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . ed to the next process. This is the boiHng. This oper- ation usually takes two or three hours, after which it is run off along narrow channels till it reaches the strain- ing-table. It is a very important part of the manufac- ture, and has to be carefully done. The straining-table is an oblong shallow wooden frame, in the shape of a trough, but all composed of open woodwork. It is covered by a large straining-sheet, on which the 7na// setdes, while the waste water trickles through and is carried away by a drain. When the mall has stood on the table all night, it is next morning lifted by scoops and buckets and put into the presses. These are square boxes of iron or wood, with perforated sides and bot- tom and a removable perforated lid. The insides of the boxes are Hned with press cloths, and when filled these cloths are carefully folded over the ma//, which is now of the consistence of starch ; and a heavy beam, worked on two upright three-inch screws, is let down on the lid of the press. A long lever is now put on the screws, and the nut worked slowly round. The pressure is enormous, and all the water remaining in the ma// is pressed through the cloth and perforations in the press- box till nothing but the pure indigo remains behind. '' The presses are now opened, and a square slab of dark moist indigo, about three or three and a half inches thick, is carried off on the bottom of the press (the top and sides having been removed), and carefully placed on the cutting-frame. This frame corresponds in size to the bottom of the press, and is grooved in lines somewhat after the manner of a chess-board. A INDIGO. 263 stiff iron rod, with a brass wire attached, is put through the groove under the slab, the wire is brought over the slab, and the rod being pulled smartly through brings the wire with it, cutting the indigo in much the same way as you would cut a bar of soap. When all the slab has been cut into bars, the wire and rod are next put into the grooves at right angles to the bars and again pulled through, thus dividing the bars into cubical cakes. Each cake is then stamped with the factory mark and number, and all are noted down in the books. They are then taken to the drying-house ; this is a large airy building, with strong shelves of bamboo reaching to the roof, and having narrow passages between the tiers of shelves. On these shelves the cakes are ranged to dry. The drying takes two or three months, and the cakes are turned and moved at frequent intervals, till thor- oughly ready for packing. All the little pieces and cor- ners and chips are carefully put by on separate shelves, and packed separately. Even the sweepings and refuse from the sheets and floor are all carefully collected, mixed with water, boiled separately, and made into cakes, which are called 'washings.' "During the drying a thick mould forms on the cakes. This is carefully brushed off before packing, and, mixed with sweepings and tiny chips, is all ground up in a hand-mill, packed in separate chests, and sold as dust. In October, when manufacturing is over and the preparation of the land going on again, the pack- ing begins. The cakes, each of separate date, are care- iuUy scrutinized and placed in order of quality. The 264 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . finest qualities are packed first, in layers, in mango- wood boxes. The boxes are first weighed empty, re- weighed when full, and the difference gives the net weight of the indigo. The tare, gross, and net weights are printed legibly on the chests, along with the factory mark and number of the chest, and when all are ready they are sent down to the brokers in Calcutta for sale. Such briefly is the system of manufacture. " During manufacturing time the factory is a busy scene. Long before break of day the ryots and coolies are busy cutting the plant, leaving it in green little heaps for the cartmen to load. In the early morning the carts are seen converging to the factory on every road, crawl- ing along like huge green beetles. Here a procession of twenty or thirty carts, there clusters of twos or threes. When they reach the factory the loaders have several vats ready for the reception of the plant, while others are taking out the already steeped plant of yesterday, staggering under its weight, as, dripping with water, they toss it on the vast accumulating heap of refuse material. " Down in the vats below, the beating coolies are plashing and shouting and yelling, or the revolving wheel (where machinery is used) is scattering clouds of spray and foam in the blinding sunshine. The firemen, stripped to the waist, are feeding the furnaces with the dried stems of last year's crop, which forms our only fuel. The smoke hovers in volumes over the boiling- house. The pinmen are busy sorting their pins, roll- ing hemp round them to make them fit the holes m.ore INDIGO. 265 exactly. Inside the boiling-house, dimly discernible through the clouds of stifling steam, the boilermen are seen with long rods, stirring slowly the boiling mass of bubbling blue. The clank of the levers resounds through the pressing-house, or the hoarse guttural ' Hah, hah !' as the huge lever is strained and pulled at by the press- house coolies. The straining-table is being cleaned by the table ' mate ' and his coolies, while the washerman stamps on his sheets and press-cloths to extract all the color from them, and the cake-house boys run to and fro between the cutting-table and the cake-house with batches of cakes on their heads, borne on boards. The plash of water, the clank of machinery, the creaking of wheels, the roaring of the furnaces, the shouts and yells of the excited coolies ; the vituperations of the drivers as some terrified or obstinate bullock plunges madly about; the objurgations of the 'mates' as some lazy fellow ceases his stroke in the beating- vats ; the cracking of whips as the bullocks tear round the circle where the Persian wheel creaks and rumbles in the damp, dilapidated wheel-house; the dripping buckets revolving clumsily on the drum; the arriving and departing carts; the clang of the anvil, as the blacksmith and his men ham- mer away at some huge screw which has been bent ; the hurrying crowds of cartmen and loaders with their bur- dens of fresh green plant or dripping refuse— form such a medley of sights and sounds as I have never seen equalled in any other industry." 266 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . XXIX. OTHER INDUSTRIES. Ranking with the farmers in general worth and usefulness, and equally entitled to our respect for their honest industry and peaceful conduct, are the various classes of artisans. Among these, as among the farmers, we are first of all surprised at the rude instruments with which they do their work. To us the contrast between the nature of the tools employed and the quality of the work pro- duced by them is marvellous, and we are quite sure that no European artisan would hope to produce such results with so few and such simple implements. The looms which manufacture the world-renowned cotton, silk and camels' hair goods of India would not be considered fit to weave the coarsest sackcloth in America, and the contents of a first-class goldsmith's tool-chest in India would be quite insufficient for a trav- elling tinker in Europe. WEAVERS. Owing to the introduction of European piece goods and the establishment of weaving mills in some parts of India, the poor native weavers with their hand-looms are being gradually starved out of their employment. This is true especially of those who depend for a liveli- hood upon the demand for plain goods. The ordinary *' cloths " are being replaced by piece goods from WEAVING A BLANKET. SPINNING COTTON. OTHER INDUSTRIES. 269 Europe, and even bordered cloths after the native patterns for men and women are now manufactured in Manchester and sold in the Indian market. The best English and American calicoes are so much inferior both in texture and coloring to the native article that this kind of goods has so far found but little favor among natives. The native washerman, with his lime and rough stone process, sends our Western " fast colors" to the winds, and our "sizing" — well — size is about all that is left of European calico after the first washing, and the second finishes up even that. Coun- try-made calicoes, on the other hand, are much stron- ger and keep their beautiful colors as long as there is a shred of them left. The finer fabrics of India will yet for a long time be able to command sale on account of their superior qual- ity, and even when the imported articles shall rival them in this respect, there will still remain a local prejudice in favor of the old and country-made which will insure a market at home. It will be a long time before wealthy conservative Hindus of the old school consent to wrap their sacred bodies in cloths of foreign make. It is partly this stanch adherence to custom which keeps the weaving industry from utter collapse, and a fortunate thing it is. It is a pitiable sight to see the weavers thus gradually reduced to beggary without their being able to comprehend the cause. " Formerly," say they, *' we lived happily by our looms, having food for ourselves and families. Now we have no work and no rice. We have not learned to do cooly work, and 30 270 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN INDIA. even if we bury our shame and turn to this we cannot earn enough for our daily wants." CARPENTERS AND BLACKSMITHS have a brighter prospect before them. With the new and increasing demand for chairs, tables, cots and other articles of European furniture, added to the steady call for house-building, boat-building, wagon-making, etc., their occupation promises to become one of the most desirable. As a rule, a man combines carpentry, cabinet- making, blacksmithing and wagon-making in one trade, and considering the clumsy tools he has — not to say any- thing of the way in which he uses them — he turns out very fair work. The process is a slow one, and although a Hindu carpenter will work at eight annas (twenty-five cents) a day, by the time his job is completed his bill amounts to as much as an American carpenter's at two dollars a day. It is the general custom for artisans of all classes to sit on the ground while working. The carpenter, while sawing a board or cutting a stick with the right hand, holds it in its place with the toes of the foot and the left hand. His tools are few and primitive. The princi- pal one is a small adze, which answers also as a hammer and hatchet. A rude plane, a chisel and a wimble com- plete the ordinary stock. When our carpenter turns blacksmith he has, of course, to bring into requisition other tools, a pair of pincers, a hammer, a mallet, and a file. His forge he speedily sets up anywhere. The OTHER INDUSTRIES. 271 bellows are small and easily carried about. Wherever required they are laid on the ground and directed towards the temporary hearth. A man or a boy sits by and works them whenever a blast is required. POTTERS. The pottery of India is not only very rude and coarse, but it is exceedingly fragile, and in keeping up the supply of the earthen vessels of all sizes, sorts and descriptions, which are so extensively used and so read- ily broken, the potters do a thriving business. They mould the earth on a wheel which they set in motion with the hand. Making tiles, with which all the better class of houses are covered, forms an important branch of the potters' work. They also burn brick; but throughout the' villages there is but little demand for these, as nearly all the houses are built of mud. After the clay has been moulded into the proper shape, whether water- pot, tile, or brick, it is dried in the sun for a while and then burned in a kiln of the simplest kind. Glazed pottery, so far as we know, is not made in India. GOLDSMITHS are a numerous class of artisans, who, notwithstanding the reputed poverty of India, seem to be steadily em- ployed. With very rude tools they turn out exquisite work in gold, silver, and brass. Hindu women are exceedingly fond of jewelry, and to supply the steady demand for ornaments of this kind furnishes the main occupation of the goldsmiths. But their work is not 272 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA. confined to jewelry ; they make also brass and copper vessels for household use, and some of them, like Deme- trius of Ephesus, gain a livelihood by making idols. WASHERMEN. These are a class by themselves, and though not at the foot of the caste ladder, their occupation is consid- ered a mean one. For some unexplained reason they act also as palenkeen bearers, and in some parts of India, at least, no others can be found to do this service. Though a Mussulman or Sudra washerman would scorn to eat food with a Pariah servant, the latter would consider himself sorely humiliated if he were compelled to wash his master's clothing. It is not the custom for any except washermen to wash clothing. Even beg- gars turn.their clothing over to them for washing. A poor cooly family may be idle a whole month for lack of work, and yet it would never strike them as a proper thing for them to go to the tank and wash their cloth- ing, instead of giving it over to the washerman and paying him his fee. The washing is done in streams or tanks by beating on stones, steaming over and over and bleaching in the sun. The washerman, standing up to his knees in the water, with the stone rising just above the water's surface before him, plunges the garment to be operated upon under the water, gathers it up at one end and, holding it with both hands, swings it around his head and brings it down upon the stone with the whack and CARPENTERS AT WORK. GOLDSMITHS. OTHER INDUSTRIES, 275 the grunt of a professional woodchopper. The ends are occasionally reversed, and the process is continued until the foreign elements are expelled. Lime-soap and even pure quick-lime are extensively employed as a facilitating agent, and the havoc which the whole process makes with color, fibre, and buttons, is sad to behold and pay for. There is no more useful servant in a European's whole establishment than the dhoby or washerman, and no other one is so fruitful a source of irritation. In a late book on India the washerman is put in a chapter with ants, fleas, bugs, mosquitoes, and scorpions, for no other reason that we can see except that the author must have regarded him as one of the pests of the country. Occasionally natives — especially those of the ser- vant fraternity — may be seen going about with a gen- tleman's shirt for a coat, or a linen table-cloth for a pu7icha. Lately we saw one proudly parading the streets on a holiday decorated with a huge antimacas- sar, which in former times graced the back of some lady's rocking chair. Most articles of this kind come into the possession of servants and their friends by being "lost in the wash," and as Europeans are con- stantly changing from station to station it is an easy matter for servants afterwards to pass them off as "a present from the gentleman who has gone." Unless the strictest watch is kept on the accounts, towels, sheets, napkins and the like disappear in the most mysterious manner. Many articles also are 276 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . "late," having meanwhile done good service to some form less fair. In the larger towns the washermen do a lucrative business in renting out ladies' and gentlemen's clothing to fashionable East Indians, and their loaning out native cloths everywhere is no secret, the only- remedy being for the owners to have them returned as speedily as possible. Notwithstanding his weakness for getting the ac- counts confused and his propensity for breaking but- tons, bleaching out colors and consuming the fibre of your best linen garments, the Indian washerman as he serves the European resident has also some good points. He does his work well. Ladies white dresses with frills innumerable, gentlemen's cuffs, collars and other linen he does up in a style worthy of a Parisian laundress. He does his work cheap. The amount of washing required by a European family in India is something extraordinary. From six to eight hundred pieces a month is no unusual number for a family in which there are several children. All these the faithful washerman " does " for a salary of from, seven to ten rupees a month. A native family allows the washerman from four to eight annas a month and an occasional present. The laws of Manu, which mix up things little and great in a remarkable manner, give this wholesome advice to washermen : " Let a washerman wash the clothes of his employ- ers by little and little, or piece by piece, and not hastily, on a smooth board : and let him never mix the clothes OTHER INDUSTRIES. 277 of one person with the clothes of another, nor suffer any but the owner to wear them." Oilmen, fishermen, toddy -drawers, tanners, shoe- makers, basket-makers, mat-makers, confectioners and various other classes of people ranking as artisans might be named. Large numbers of men are employed by govern- ment as MAIL-CARRIERS. This service they perform with greater speed and regularily than it could be done with horses. The maximum weight for a man is about thirty pounds, and with this load he runs along at the rate of six miles an hour. The "banghy post," which corresponds to our " express " in America, is carried in the same way where there are no railroads, and is delivered almost as quickly as the mail. The Madras mail is carried all the way by post-run- ners and delivered in Guntoor, a distance of 250 miles, in less than three days. Thousands of men, women and children are employed by the Department of Public Works in making and repairing roads, digging canals and tanks, building railways, constructing government buildings, etc. Then there is the large class of government servants in offices and about offices — peons, writers, accountants, overseers, policemen, magistrates, tahsildars, munsiffs, etc., and a class, equally as large or larger, who are 278 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. idly waiting and fondly hoping to find an entrance into the paradise of government service. This last class is a very large one and is yearly growing in numbers and discontent by the addition of the hordes of young Brah- mans who issue from the English schools of the country with only two things before them — a respectable situa- tion, w^hich means some kind of employment other than manual labor, or respectable loafing, which means living on other people's industry. With this brief review of the chief industries of India before them our readers will see that however romantic that country may look from a continent thousands of miles away, when we approach it and form an acquain- tance with the toiling millions who are the very life of the country, we find them engaged very much in the same pursuits as people in other lands; and though their outward customs and circumstances may be some- what different from our own, their inner longings, strug- gles, hopes and fears are much the same as those of the sturdy toilers in other parts of the world. ANGLO-INDIANS, 279 XXX. AHGIxO-IRDIAHS. Many years ago, when the Angles, Saxons, and oth- ers, migrated into Britain, the Angles for some reason succeeded in having the country named after them- selves — Angle-land — England. In like manner this word. Angle, has taken the precedence in India, and European residents generally, whether borri in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, America, or in India itself, are spoken of as Anglo-Indians. This word must not be confounded with East In- dian or Eurasian, which means a person of mixed pa- rentage — European and Asiatic. The great majority of Anglo-Indian residents are persons connected with the government of the country. The rest are mainly missionaries and commercial agents. THE ORDINARY INDIAN STATION contains a collector or sub-collector, a judge, a civil surgeon, a police superintendent, an executive engineer, a pension paymaster, and one or two missionaries. If it be a trade centre, one or two European commercial agents probably belong to the foreign community. Mil- itary stations and the larger cities have numerous Eu- ropean residents of various titles, professions, ranks, and grades, who, according to written and unwritten social laws, are assigned to their respective strata in society. In a community of a dozen European ladies and 31 2t8o E VER V-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . gentlemen, separated from the rest of the world and surrounded by a people with whom they have not the least social affinity, one would expect to find the warm- est cordiality and the closest friendship. We should suppose that the brotherhood of a common fatherland, language, and social training, a common religion, and a common exile, would at once draw the members of such a community into the closest friendship, and make selfish isolation and cliquism a thing unknown. To find the very reverse of this in many Indian stations is one of the surprises and sorrows of the new-comer, especially if he be an American, unused to the icy regulations of English society. Deep and lasting friendships are almost unknown in Anglo-Indian society. The chief reason for this is probably the ever-changing nature of the community. The government officials are being constantly removed from one station to another, scarcely ever remaining in one place longer than one or two years, and frequently only a few months. When one leaves a station he is succeeded by another of equal rank, who takes up not only his office-work, but also his place in the social life of the station, and the departing one has scarcely found his new home before he is forgotten in the old. One soon makes up his mind to this kind of social life, and scarcely expects to form any lasting friend- ships. It is a sad feature of life in India, but it is not the one which causes the heartburnings and "mis- understandings" so common in Indian stations. Can you guess, dear American reader, what is the fruitful ANGLO-INDIANS, 281 source of contention among these European children in the woods ? It is — let me whisper it — who is to go in to dinner first, second, third, fourth, and so on ! Alas for the poor host who, unwittingly or maliciously, puts fourth before third or second before first. Here it is called PRECEDENCE, and is considered a matter of sufficient importance for the heads of government to revise and print from time to time the "Warrant of Precedence." This prece- dence business may have other and higher uses in a political sense, but as it affects the smaller Indian sta- tions, it resolves itself into the order of marching into the dining-hall or ballroom. The social distinctions in India are sharp and se- verely drawn, and much more rigidly observed, it is said, than even in England. Each man depends upon his position in the public service, and each woman de- pends upon the rank of her husband; and however incredible, it is a fact that it is the wives, and not the husbands, who get into all sorts of unseemly social skir- mishes over their proper " places." Those who do not belong to the government service have no rank what- ever, and they bring up the rear. Wealth, culture, beauty, go for naught unless you can write "C. S." (Civil Service) to your name, or are so divinely favored as to be a captain in the army. Precedence is not con- fined to marching in to dinner, but it permeates the whole social fabric, and fortunate is the griffi^i who in his unsophisticated simplicity does not become hope- 282 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. lessly entangled in the multitudinous folds of Indian social red-tapism. Never to be forgotten was my ex- perience in this matter. It was on this wise : Soon after our coming to India a new cabinet organ for our church arrived. Among the resident ladies there were several who could play the organ, but Mrs. J., the bank agent's wife, was acknowledged by all to be the best player. As a matter of course I supposed she would be the one to play for us in church, and innocently said something to that effect to her one day. Shortly after, in con- versing with Mrs. P., the pension paymaster's wife, I said, " The music will be left in the hands of the ladies, and I hope you will arrange everything satisfactorily." To this she replied that she would be most happy to see to the matter. The next day, while Mrs. S., the judge's wife, was taking out my wife for an evening drive, she hinted rather jealously that it was very strange Mrs. J. had been asked to play the organ ; she being only a bank agent's wife, had no social standing, while such a matter ought to go according to prece- dence. The same night a friend of mine was dining at the civil surgeon's, and had the pleasure of hearing me soundly abused — in a polite way, of course — for asking Mrs. P. to arrange the music without consulting the hostess, Mrs. T., who claimed to be ahead of Mrs. P. in precedence. Alas, alas, what had I done ? What was I to do ? I said to myself, " Now as to the judge's wife, she certainly will not play since she knows I have asked Mrs. J. ; so I will write her a note and ask her to play. Then, after she has had the honor of declining, I can ANGLO-INDIANS. 283 offer the same honor to Mrs. T., the surgeon's wife, and as she makes no pretensions to play, she will also most probably decline. Then I can in some way divide the honor between the remaining two, Mrs. P. and Mrs. J." Away went the boy with the note to Mrs. S. In a few minutes he returned with the, to me, very unsatis- factory reply that she would be most happy to comply with my request. Then, where was my well-laid plan ? What was I to say to Mrs. J. and Mrs. P., who had already not only understood it so themselves, but had, each of them, informed their friends and the station in general that I had formally and unreservedly asked each of them to play the organ ? I found that the more I tried to explain, the worse the matter got mixed up, so I withdrew in silence, vowing that henceforth I should consult the "Warrant of Precedence," published by order of the Indian government and approved by the secretary of state for India, before saying anything more than "Good evening" or "Good morning" to my fair neighbors. Even at social games you are to bear in mind who " precedes," and before tossing the ball across the Bad- minton net, you are to give it such a turn as will send it to the lady " entitled" to begin. After the play, when all sit down for a few minutes' social chat, woe be to the lady who, wishing to go home to her crying baby, rises to take leave before the " head of the station" sees fit to start the usual bowing and hand-shaking. Should a lady of a lower place in the social scale be so bold as to assume such a prerogative, she is quiedy marked for 284 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . the silent social arrows of her "superiors." Not a word may be said, but she is made to feel her punishment in various ways all the more. The fact is the whole thing is so childish and ridicu- lous, that if it were admitted as a subject for rational discussion, it would at once collapse and become a laughing-stock ; but so long as it can be kept in silent awe, it retains its mysterious power. COMFORT AND RECREATION. Servants being cheap and plenty in India, British officials with their handsome salaries can surround themselves with a degree of personal comfort and out- ward show which would be considered extravagant lux- ury in Europe or America. It must be considered, however, that what might jusdy be considered a luxury there, may be only a necessary comfort in a tropical country. The climate of most parts of India is extremely try- ing to European residents, producing not only bodily debility, but also mental irritability. The fierce sun and the hot winds, as they affect our bodily comfort, are not our worst enemies. By means of swinging punkahs, dripping cuscus tatties, and revolving thermantidotes, we can to some extent protect ourselves against these, but against bodily debility and mental irritability what protection can we devise ? The effect which a tropical climate has upon the mind of Europeans is too fre- quently left out of the account in reckoning the discom- forts of such a residence. Nervous irritability, brought ANGLO-INDIANS. 287 on by living in India, is to-day consuming the life and happiness of one half the British officials in this country. Not only does the climate tend to make one nervous and irritable, but it also dulls the mind, making one dis- inclined to mental effort. With endless leisure on their hands, English ladies in India — and there are many of fine culture among them — have added but little of value to literature or art. The same may be said of those sinecure officials who are found in almost every station. Not only this, but even sohd reading becomes distasteful, so that the daily paper, a few magazines, and an occasional novel, seem to supply sufficient mental food for the average Anglo- Indian resident. As a consequence, the social talk is generally of the smallest kind, scarcely doing credit to the chosen representatives of the most cultured and en- lightened countries in the world. I say this, not to the discredit of European residents in India, but in illustra- tion of the depressing influence of the climate. To guard against this depressing influence, Euro- pean residents engage in frequent out-door games and sports, such as croquet, cricket, rackets, archery, polo, and especially the favorite Indian game of Badminton. Here early in the morning or late in the afternoon, all who can possibly do so meet for recreation and amuse- ment. The effect of such an exercise upon both the body and the mind is most beneficial. Upon the play- ground, office and household cares are forgotten, dig- nity is laid aside, and the staid generals and judges, doctors of law, of medicine, and of divinity, with their 288 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, matronly wives, are boys and girls again. This hour the European residents may be thus unbent, while, the next, one may be gravely weighing judgment in a mat- ter of life and death, another may be amputating a limb, and a third preaching the gospel to an eager crowd in the bazaar. SOCIABILITY WITH NATIVES. Between Europeans and natives there is no free, hearty, social intercourse. This is the fact, undisputed by all and lamented by many. The causes of the social gulf between the two classes, and the means of bridging over this gulf, have been ex- tensively discussed in public prints of late years, but so far to but little advantage. The separation still remains and is likely to remain for many years to come. Euro- peans and natives work well together in an official ca- pacity, but when it comes to matters of a social nature they act upon each other Hke oil and water. By out- ward pressure they may be made to commingle tempo- rarily, but when left to themselves they separate as by the laws of gravitation. It is the fashion to start out in the discussion of this subject with, " The fault Hes with" this party, that party, or with both. First of all, we question whether there is any special /^e^// about it. We may love the Hindu as our neighbor, in accordance with the gospel injunction, without being fond of him as a social companion. We may even yearn over his spiritual condition, and be willing to sacrifice our own means and comfort for his ANGLO-INDIANS. 289 welfare, without feeling any desire to be intimately asso- ciated with him personally. No doubt the social separation between the Hindus and ourselves is greatly to be regretted, inasmuch as it acts as a barrier to our best efforts for their welfare, but even this does not justify us in calling it a fault for which either party is to blame. If we put the case into milder language, and ask what are the reasons for this separation, we should say they are many and various. In the first place, Europeans and Hindus are differ- ent by nature, and yet much more so by social and re- ligious education. There are natures even of the same nationality so diverse in all their qualities that they in- stinctively shrink from each other. Does an honest, frank, sincere man form close friend- ship with a fawning, double-faced flatterer ? No. Nei- ther will Europeans, as long as they have the blood of the Franks in their veins, be able to form close friend- ship with deceitful, designing Orientals. Whatever may be the virtues and the vices of either party, on this point Europeans and Hindus act on each other like the different poles of the magnet. The European wants a friend who is a friend to the heart. The Hindu is satisfied with a show of friend- ship. The Hindu in his heart likes the European no bet- ter than the European likes him, but in accordance with his insincere nature he would be quite willing to keep up, in his own way, a semblance of the closest friend - ,32 290 E VER Y-DA V LIFE IN INDIA . ship. This the European scorns to do, and with a haughtiness which does him no credit he ignores the Hindu altogether. Again, so long as Hindus refuse to dine with Euro- peans and affect a silly caste sanctity, so long must they expect Europeans to regard them as becomes their su- perstitious bigotry. We have known a few natives— men who had been educated in England and had broken away from their caste prejudices, debasing idolatry, and Oriental du- plicity — whom we could greet as hearty friends, whom we could trust and love, and to whom we could even confide a secret. In our friendship with them no thought of race or color ever intruded, and it is our firm conviction that whenever the natives of India rise above these three — caste, idolatry, and duplicity — Eu- ropeans will bury their pride of race and will meet them on a common social level, giving them all the consider- ation, respect, and confidence to which their education and general worth may entitle them. ETIQUETTE. Social forms are strictly observed among all classes, from the viceroy's court down to the very lowest repre- sentatives of European society. In court circles ladies are gravely informed by published cards on what occa- sions they may appear without " trains," and on what occasions they will be required to wear such appenda- ges. The dress for European gentlemen and natives is likewise prescribed in cautious detail, and none but ANGLO-INDIANS. 291 those who have the "wedding-garment" on are admit- ted to receptions by public officials. In their adherence to custom — simply because it is custom — the rulers of India are not far behind the ruled. The Hindus, in their world- renowned blind following of the customs of their ancestors, are guilty of but few more ridiculous and unreasonable acts than the Eng- lishmen's practice of wearing high silk hats and broad- cloth coats in a seething tropical country, because it is " the thing " in London and Paris ! It is easy to deride the young Hindu for his lack of courage in not breaking away from the customs which he knows are silly and unreasonable, but show us the young civilian or the brave subaltern who has the cour- age to appear at an evening party in a dress becoming the cHmate of India. What a beautiful spectacle of freedom, of thought-emancipated manhood, the en- lightened European presents to his custom -bound be- holders, as at mid-day, with a fierce tropical sun over his head, he goes forth encased in patent-leather boots, broadcloth suit, kid gloves, and a high silk hat, to make social (?) calls upon a circle of friends, every one of whom would consider it the greatest kindness not to be disturbed at this hour of the day. Why at this unbe- coming hour ? and why this suit of black in a country where man and nature abhor black? Custom, unso- phisticated reader, custom ! India is noted for custom. Among other social forms with which the new-comer has at once to acquaint himself, is the order of making calls observed in most parts of India. On this subject 292 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . the rules are reversed. The new resident must call on the old ones first, and not wait to be sought by them, as he might do in England or America. Should he conclude to do the latter, he would not only be severely let alone, but he would be considered guilty of having slighted the community to which he socially belongs. Soon after arriving in a station, the new-comer is expected to call upon all the residents with whom he expects to be on social terms. In a small station this generally includes all the European residents, and if any are left out of these first calls, they do not feel par- ticularly pleased over it. After the new-comer has called on the residents in this manner, the gentlemen return his calls, or if social rules are not too strictly observed, the ladies will accompany their husbands if the new arrival be a married man. After this the new- comer makes another call around the station in com- pany with his wife, when the initiation is over, the ac- quaintance complete, and the friendship about as strong as it usually grows in Indian stations. The official rank of a resident is supposed to regu- late his style of living and amount of entertaining. In the olden days, it is said, social entertaining among Anglo-Indians was carried on much more extravagant- ly, as well as more extensively, than at the present day. The cost of living is much greater now than formerly, while the salaries of the officials, owing to the deprecia- tion of the silver rupee, are much less. This may have had a repressing influence upon social entertaining, but we must not be understood to say that the ordinary ANGLO-INDIANS, 293 Indian station of the present day is without a good share of this kind of recreation. With the numerous "quiet" dinners and chota hazaris, or "Httle break- fasts," the occasional station-dinners, and the almost daily Badminton, croquet, or other garden parties, the modern Indian station cannot be said to be devoid of entertainments. SUPPLIES. In India this word " supplies " means a great deal. It has even become vernacularized, and the village munsif who knows no other English word, knows what the collector, engineer, or missionary means when he •asks for " supplies." It means, in short, everything and anything needed for use, comfort, or convenience. Eu- ropeans in India depend for their clothing, and to some extent for their food, upon imported articles, or what native shopkeepers call " Europe goods." American and European canned meats, fruits, and vegetables, are extensively used by those who can afford such luxuries, but in the main the European has to depend upon the local bazaar for his daily food. Mutton, fowls, eggs, coffee, sugar, native fruits, and vegetables, are to be obtained in all the towns and vil- lages where there is a demand for them. The famous Bass beer is imported and consumed in enormous quantities. From a British point of view no dinner is complete without beer, and none is considered drinkable but that which comes from " home." Beer, however indispensable, is by no means suffi- 294 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, dent for British dinners. Two or three kinds of wine at least, with " brandy and soda" as an optional reserve, are also considered indispensable to a respectable din- ner. Consequently, wines and liquors of all conceiva- ble names, descriptions, and qualities, are imported from Europe, and the liquor-trade of India, by its vast- ness, prominence, and respectability, shocks the Amer- ican new-comer, who has been taught to look upon such a business as falling scarcely within the province of respectable dealers. Column after column of the daily papers you find filled with advertisements of the various brands of wines and liquors for sale by Euro- pean and native firms. With scarcely an exception, outside of the missiona- ries, European residents feel called upon to keep on hand a complete stock of beer, wines, and liquors, for their own use and for the entertainment of their friends. " Our liquor bills are our heaviest drain, and they for ever keep us poor," is the cry of many a European res- ident in India. This country has not yet caught the spirit of temperance reform, and the total abstainer is looked upon as a weak-minded, goody-goody ex- tremist. We trust the tidal -wave of temperance reform, which has long since made liquor-drinking and liquor- selling disreputable in America, and is now beginning to work the same glorious effect in England, may also find its way to India, and there attach such a stigma to the social cup as shall make the importation of foreign liquors an unprofitable and undesirable business, and ANGLO-INDIANS. 295 thus save the life, health, and money, of many a British official and the honor of the Christian name in a hea- then land. * For clothing, the European is dependent almost wholly upon imported materials. In the cities he can obtain these from either European or native tailoring establishments with the same facility that he can get them in London or Paris, though with scarcely the same ** set." The latest and best outfit in Madras or Bombay seems strangely out of style when displayed in Hyde Park or on the Champs Elysees. Residents in the up-country stations have an occa- sional opportunity of replenishing their supply of dry- goods and notions from a travelling hawker's box. The Indian hawker is a permanent institution and one not to be altogether despised. To deal with him to your own advantage requires time, patience, good- humor, and experience. Indian hawkers speak Eng- lish — such as it is, and they all seem to have been made after the same pattern. Approaching your house, they introduce themselves by yelling, '' Hawker, mam, hawk- er, sar; got plenty fine goods, children's clothing, misses' dresses, masters' tweeds, stockings, handkerchiefs, pep- permint-lozenges, soap, needles, pins, flannels, writing- paper superfine, envelopes all sizes, steel-pens, odi- klone" (which means eau de Cologne) "and — " By this time he has brought somebody to the door, who either orders him away or tells him to come in. If al- lowed to come in, he unhitches the litde bullock which draws his small two-wheeled cart, speedily deposits two 296 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. or three large trunks on your veranda, squats on the floor beside them, and begins to unpack, meanwhile keeping up the description of his wonderful goods. His stock is generally composed of unsalable auc- tion goods which he has secured at a trifling cost, but which he insists upon are " first-class, new Europe goods come by last steamer through Suez Canal and very cheap" — at three times their value. For asking high prices and reducing them to effect a sale, the Indian hawker quite outdoes the Jew. To ask three rupees a yard for goods, and finally sell them for half a rupee, is no extraordinary feat ; and while the buyer is congratulating himself upon the liberal reduc- tion which he has received, he has greater need of ma- king sure that he is not taken in after all. The Indian hawker, though an utter stranger to truthfulness, and preeminently a man of one idea, and that only the size of a silver rupee, is nevertheless often a welcome visitor at the Anglo-Indian bungalow, where he supplies trifling necessities not easily procured else- where, and where his lively presence is not unfrequently hailed with satisfaction, simply because it breaks the dead monotony of Anglo-Indian home-life. TENT-LIFE. Camping out, not for pleasure, but for business, is a peculiar feature of European life in India. Except a few "Travellers' Bungalows," which are situated only along the main roads, there are no houses available for Europeans in their travels about the country. ANGLO-INDIANS, 299 Collectors, sub-collectors, and other revenue officers, engineers, overseers, and Public Works' Department officers generally, police superintendents, and mission- aries, are required to travel about the country a great part of the year. They must supply themselves with tents; there is no alternative. Their food they must have brought from the nearest station where there are European residents. In an ordinary village not so much as a pound of sugar or a package of tea can be procured. Articles of native consumption, as milk, rice, fowls, and eggs, may by considerable trouble be gotten in most villages. Tent-life in India is not pleas- ant during the greater part of the year, and for some months, during the rainy and hot seasons, it is well- nigh unendurable. It is, however, a necessity which many Anglo-Indians have to meet, with all its attend- ant inconvenience and discomfort. SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. One of the saddest features of European life In India is the separation of families which it entails. European children, after they are from seven to ten years of age, cannot be kept in India without great dan- ger to them, physically, morally, and intellectually. If they are at an early age transferred to hill sanitaria, and are not allowed to associate with natives, the danger of deterioration is lessened, but even such an arrangement cannot take the place of a European home and sur- roundings, while the separation from parents which it necessitates is scarcely less. 33 300 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . Whatever those may think who have no experience in the matter, the European residents have no doubt that it is their duty, however sad a one, to send their children away from India at a very early age. The pale, sickly, colorless faces of European chil- dren in India startle the new-comer, and show him the deadly nature of the climate. The evil effects of the association of children with servants and other natives are scarcely less dreaded than their physical deterioration. Filthy language and na- tive ideas of the most objectionable kind, notwithstand- ing the greatest precaution on the part of parents, are sure to become familiar to children who have been kept long in India. All their surroundings tend to make them haughty, indolent, and worthless. The climate, moreover, dulls the mind, so as to make intellectual effort a burden ; and under the most favorable circum- stances the education of children brought up wholly in India is narrow and unsatisfactory. Often it becomes necessary for the mother to return with the children ; but whether she remain with them or with her husband, the family is separated and some of the dearest family ties are broken or weakened. That joy and satisfaction which parents feel in an unbroken family circle, that delightful association of brothers and sisters, parents and children around one common hearth, and above all, that tender influence which parents have or ought to have over their children as they arrive at years of responsibility, are for the most part denied to European residents in India. EURASIANS, 301 XXXI. EURASIAHS. One very important element in the conglomeration of races in India is the Eurasian or East Indian com- munity. The Madras Presidency alone contains about twenty thousand of these unfortunate people. We call them " unfortunate " advisedly. Sprung originally from in- termarriages, and more frequently from illegal connec- tions between the women of the lowest classes in India and their British conquerors, it is not to be wondered at that their position is a peculiarly unenviable one. As a rule, they are thriftless in the extreme, too proud to work, but not ashamed to beg. It is a com- mon saying in regard to them, that " they have inherit- ed the vices of both parents and the virtues of neither." Considering manual labor beneath them, the aver- age Eurasian youth prefers to starve on a salary of ten rupees a month as a clerk, to learning and following a trade at which he could earn a comfortable livelihood. In speaking of what all must admit to be the rule, we must not overlook the praiseworthy exceptions. There are also men among the Eurasians who by in- tegrity, industry, and perseverance have risen to high and honorable places as merchants, professional men, and government officials. Those who have done so deserve the more credit for having overcome the obsta- cles to which most of their class succumb. It is unfor- 302 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, tunately the case that Eurasians who have risen to places of eminence and influence too often deny the class to which they belong, and make but little effort to raise those of their brethren who are below them. We confess that it is much easier to give advice on this subject than it would be to practise it, if placed in the position of the Eurasian who has risen above his fellows, and we incline to the doctrine that, of all men, the British themselves are the ones to take by the hand and lead upward these their unfortunate sons and daughters. Within the last year vigorous efforts in behalf of this class have been put forth in various parts of India. " Eurasian Associations " have been formed in several centres, with the object of inducing the members of this class to turn to useful employments, as farmers, artisans, messengers, etc. The leaders, who in this case are Eurasians themselves, have great difficulties to contend with, and they ought to be heartily encouraged both by British residents and by the government. THE GOVERNMENT, 3^3 XXXII. THE GOYERHMEKT. The government of India is constituted as follows : 1. The Secretary of State for India, with his council of fourteen or fifteen members, and headquarters in London. 2. The Viceroy and Governor- General, assisted by his council of about six members, at Calcutta. Subordinate to the Viceroy, are the Governors of Madras and Bombay, and the Lieutenant-governors of Bengal, the Northwest provinces, and the Punjaub, each of whom has his separate council to assist him in the government of his province. In addition to the ordinary members of council, there are honorary additional members to make " Laws and Regulations," who are selected from the general public, European and native, official and non-official. By this means natives of position or culture, and Euro- peans or Eurasians of distinction in any line of life are associated with the government in the legislative departments. The different departments into which the governing machinery is divided are the Financial, the Revenue, the Judicial, the Military, the Ecclesiastical, the Educa- tional, and the Department of Public Works, or the Engineering Department. The officials of the first three are members of the " Covenanted Indian Civil Service," and taken all in all, form the finest bodies of 304 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . public servants to be found anywhere. They are well paid for their services, and to be admitted into the Civil Service of India is considered by young Britons a very desirable beginning of life. There is also an un- covenanted Civil Service, whose members occupy the lower ranks of the Revenue and Judicial departments, and as a rule cannot rise beyond a certain well-defined line. With the exception of the Financial department and the British troops doing duty in India, each presi- dency has its several departments entirely distinct from those of the other presidencies ; that is to say there is a Bengal Civil Service, a Bengal Native Infantry, etc., quite distinct from the Madras and the Bombay services. The presidencies are subdivided into districts ; and each district is supervised by a collector, who not only has the revenue in all its ramifications under his con- trol, but exercises magisterial functions, and is in fact a small governor in his way. Under him are the sub- coUector and joint magistrate, a head assistant, and one or more assistants (all belonging to the highly paid Civil Service, or " heavhen born," as they are some- times called), all of whom must be prepared at any moment to do anything, from quelling a rebellion to examining a griffin in any of the vernacular languages. In passing it may be said, that if the government is ever at a loss for a postmaster-general, a director of public instruction, or a controlling spirit in any line, recourse is had to the Civil Service list, which is always able to furnish a man willing, and generally one able, to supply the want. The other day a member of the THE GOVERNMENT. 305 Bengal Civil Service (who has risen to the position of " Governor of Bombay"), after superintending the rapid construction of a railway from the confines of India into Afghanistan, sat down to write an exhaustive report on the condition and efficiency of one of the brigades now on active service, and it may be added that his report has met with unqualified approval from military critics. But to return to the district. In addition to the collector and his assistants, every district has a sessions judge, whose powers extend to the extreme penalty of the law, there being a right of appeal to the high court of the presidency town. In civil suits the right of appeal extends in the last resort to the Privy council of the British home government. Besides these members of the favored service there are native, Eurasian, and European deputy collectors, who have to do with the revenue; sub-magistrates, who dispense justice in small criminal cases; district munsifs, who deal with civil cases only ; and tahsildars, whose office it is to be a sort of factotum, in revenue and petty magisterial mat- ters, for their Taluks (or divisions of a district). *Each district, morever, has a police superintendent, with an assistant, who may be either military officers, employed in police work, or civilians. When the present police system was first introduced, about fifteen or seventeen years ago, it was considered expedient to officer the force by borrowing from the military depart- ment, and many of these officers are still on the police, though of late years the government have filled up vacancies by employing young civilians, who are sup- 3o6 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . posed to enter the force first as inspectors and so acquire a thorough practical knowledge of their work. This rule is not stringently insisted on, especially when the aspirant to police honors is a relative of the governor, or has interest in high quarters. By the way, speaking of the multifarious duties which members of the Civil Service are expected to perform, the new poHce system was inaugurated by a member of the favored Civil Ser- vice, who qualified himself for the post of first inspector general of pohce by spending his two years of furlough in Bow street, London, studying the details of England's detective machinery, and walking the streets of London as an amateur constable. Anomalies of this sort are common in India. The present director of pubHc in- struction in Madras is a colonel in the Madras army, and a man whose abihty to fill the post worthily is un- questionable, but, as one of the daily papers remarked the other day, he is like the fly in amber — we can only wonder how he got there. ENGLAND'S RESPONSIBILITY. History tells the story of Britain's conquest of this large and fair dominion. That story is not in all points creditable to conquerors calling themselves Christian, but it is not our object to discuss here the question of Britain's right to India. England's power in India is at present undisputed and respected, if not universally loved. Her duty is more with the present than with the past. In governing and educating her more than two hundred millions of Indian subjects, England has THE GOVERNMENT. 307 assumed a moral responsibility, such as perhaps no other power in the world ever assumed. In saying this, we make no hasty statement. England has undertaken to do for India what no other conquerors ever under- took to do for so vast a conquered people. She has not only made these millions her nominal subjects, but she has undertaken to educate them in poHtics, in science, in art, in literature, and indirectly in religion. What the result will be, a century hence will tell. We of the present are not in a favorable position to act as judges. The influence of England upon India to-day is an interesting study, but the result of that influence as it will affect the destinies of both nations a hundred years to come will be far more interesting. The present is a time of,breaking up the soil and of seed-sowing. The years to come will bring forth the harvest. If ever a government had special need of God's guidance, it is the British government in India. While the Christian world at large may not be willing to sanction all the acts of this government as being strictly in accordance with the spirit of the gospel, it must be gratifying to lovers of righteousness everywhere to see that devotion to the best interests of the people of India which is manifest not only in the acts of Her Majesty the Queen Empress herself, but also in those of her chief representatives in India. 34 3o8 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, XXXIII. D. P. W. In officiar circles these well-known initials are said to stand for " Department of Public Works." Popu- larly they are understood to mean " Department of Public Waste." To reconcile these conflicting opinions and to give an expressive name to this institution, we suggest the addition of another " W " and a rearrange- ment as follows : D. W. P. W., so that it may read, " Department of Waste on Public Works." For, while we cannot deny the waste, we must also admit that it produces some useful public works. This department of government seems to be encum- bered with too many officials and to have been laid out on a scale far too vast and expensive for the present needs and resources of India. The size of the country and the improvements which could be made, rather than the wants of the people and the public works which are absolutely needed, seem to have been the basis upon which it was planned. Last year, when retrenchment was the only alterna- tive for bankruptcy, the government made an attempt to cut down the enormous expenditure of this depart- ment, but with very unsatisfactory results. British officials have exalted ideas of their " dues," and when once taken under the wing of government they consider it a grievous wrong to be removed from their comfortable shelter. " Once a government ser- D. P, IV, 309 vant, always one," seems to be their motto, and the gravity with which the "Supreme Government" re- moves a poHce constable, and the perseverance with which the mjured man holds on to his "claims," are, to an American, sights both novel and ridiculous. As the day-laborers were the only parties whom it was both safe and easy to remove in the retrenchment reformation, the D, P. W., as worked at present in most parts of India, presents the comic spectacle of half a dozen poor, emaciated coolies superintended by an equal number of well-dressed and highly-paid supervi- sors, overseers, engineers, and paymasters, who in turn superintend each other according to their rank, while their pay increases according to such a beautifully as- cending series, that even the extra travelling allowance of one of the higher officers for a single day far exceeds the earnings of a poor coolie for a whole month. PUBLIC WORKS NOT APPRECIATED. Aside from its expensiveness , the department is unpopular with the average Hindu, because he fails to appreciate the improvements made. As for metalled roads, he says his bullock-cart, not being able to cut deep ruts into them, goes to this side and to that, worrying the bullocks and preventing him from sleeping all the night through, as he used to do when it was impossible for the wheels to get out of the ruts. As for bridges over streams which can be forded, they only give him the additional trouble of having to unyoke his bullocks to take them to water. 3IO EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. As for canals, he admits that they are not altogether useless in times of drought, and that they afford a means of travel more rational and suitable than railroads ; but that the locks should be built of dressed stone brought from a distance, and the gates of costly teak- wood im- ported from Burmah, seems to him wilful extravagance, fit only for his foreign rulers. THE GRIEVANCE OF THE COOLIES. The poor coolies who eke out an existence by hard labor under the D. P. W., also have a grievance, which inclines them to be otherwise than friendly and satis- fied. The heartlessness with which the lower native officials exact a proportion of the coolies' earnings, and the diabolical manner in which avaricious contractors cheat them out of their just dues, are almost incredible, and quite incomprehensible to those Americans who have no proper conception of the utter selfishness which prevails in this country. So averse are the poor people to work under this department in many parts of India, that it is with the greatest difficulty laborers can be obtained for its ser- vice when other work is available. It must be said to the credit of the English officers in the department, that they -do the best they can to break up the system of extortion and oppression, but they are so far removed from the coolies, and the flee- cing is done so skilfully and under such intimidations, that they are to a great extent unable to prevent it. D. P, W, 311 PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. During the famine of 1877-78 I had considerable personal experience in D. P. W. matters, having then employed hundreds of coolies as a means of famine relief The manner — at once so subtle and so effective — in which my plans for the good of the poor people and for the encouragement of the work were frustrated by the subordinate native officials with whom I had to deal, was a marvel, a study in human nature, and — something more. Let me, by way of detail, give a single illustration of how such matters are worked. Among other work I had engaged to break a thou- sand cubic yards of stone. My object was to furnish work to people who needed relief, but at the same time I was not prepared to lose much money by the operation. The English officer in charge gave me every encour- agement, and promised me good rates. As the cooHes had to be paid each day sufficient to get their food, I had to be careful so as not to overpay them for the work actually done. The stones being some miles away from my home, I could see the coolies only occa- sionally, and for the inspection and measurement of the work, I had to depend upon the D. P. W. subordinate native officials. As they could make nothing out of my coolies, and much less anything out of me as a con- tractor, it was evidently to their advantage to throw all possible impediments in my way, so that I might the sooner retire from the field. On one occasion when the coolies reported eighty- 312 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, seven yards of stone broken at a certain place, I asked the officials in charge to inspect them and report to me so that I might pay the coolies in full. After much de- lay I received word that the stones were all right, and that the supervisor had approved them. When I in- sisted upon having a writing to . secure me against loss, the gomaster sent me a paper stating that the eighty- seven cubic yards of stone had been satisfactorily bro- ken. I then paid the coolies, and that settied the mat- ter between them and me. By some mysterious manipulation this particular lot of stone was left out of my bill. When I sent the go- master's paper up to the next higher authority, I was informed that a gomaster had no business to give such a document, and that the stones must be approved in writing by the supervisor. Meanwhile several months passed away. The matter was referred to a higher officer, who promised to go and see the stones himself, which he also did after repeated reminders from me, just eight months after the work had been first present- ed for payment. He then reported to me, in the po- litest language possible, that of the eighty-seven cubic yards for which I claimed payment only nineteen and a half could be found ! What became of the rest, wheth- er they were stolen, washed away, blown away, or whether they had never been there, I did not think it worth while to inquire. A lifetime is scarcely long enough to get through with the official correspondence which such an investigation in India involves, and as I was glad to forget the famine with all its accompani- D. P,W. 313 nlents, I took the pay for the nineteen and a half yards, and resolved that I would never enter into D. P. W. speculations again, nor advise any of my friends to do so — which was precisely the lesson which the native officials wanted to impress upon my unsophisticated mind. One of their own brethren would have gotten the matter through without further trouble by "loaning" them a few rupees, and he would in the end have come out much better than I did, as my readers will perceive. From this single illustration they may infer, too, why poor people are willing to give small bribes rather than incur the displeasure and opposition of Indian sub- ordinate native officials. Notwithstanding the distrust with which the people view this department of government, and the difficul- ties under which its work is carried on, the D. P. W. has done and is still doing much good for India. The substantial roads, with their beautiful shade- trees on either side; the handsome bridges, with their evidences of engineering skill; the numerous canals, with their facilities for irrigation and communication; the elegant public buildings, with exquisite taste and eminent utility combined — are all monuments which will perpetuate the English name in India ; and when British judges, collectors, and generals shall have beei^ forgotten in this land, the works of the British civil en- gineer will remain — a memento of the good intentions and of the mechanical skill of India's present rulers. 314 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, XXXIY. MODERH PUBLIC IMPROYE- MEKTS. India has railways, telegraphs, a local and foreign mail service, and other modern public improvements, but many of these, like her schools and colleges, are not so much an outgrowth of a felt, popular want, as an indication of the wishes and spirit of her foreign rulers. They are for the most part a heavy drain upon the gov- ernment treasury, and consequently a burden upon the taxpayer. The great bulk of the people have but little use for railways and postoffices, and still less for telegraphs. To the government, European residents, and a small section of the native community, these institutions are a necessity, and the government is no doubt justifiable in keeping them up even at considerable expense. Hav- ing been called into existence as government machin- ery, rather than by popular demand, and being con- trolled chiefly by government orders, railway and tele- graph rules and regulations have a peculiar conservative spirit about them which contrasts strangely with West- ern private enterprise. For instance, instead of the American rule, " Night messages at half-price," the Indian order says, " Night messages double rates." Instead of devising means for running fast express trains by night, the Indian govern- ment is at present contemplating the discontinuance of MODERN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 315 night trains altogether on the South India railways, on account of their heavy expense and poor patronage. All the larger cities, as Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, and Hyderabad, are now connected by railways, and in case of famine in any part of India, or a sudden disturbance among the people which might make the presence of troops necessary, these lines of railway are of Immense value to the government. They are also extensively used as a means of travel- ling by all classes of natives, but as they almost Invari- ably travel " third class," the receipts from this source are comparatively small. The cars — or " carriages," as they say east of the Atlantic — are of the English style, and are arranged for first, second, and third-class passengers. The fares av- erage (In U. S. money) about the following: first-class travelling, four and a half cents a mile ; second class, two cents, and third class, one cent. This makes third- class travelling very cheap, but no cheaper than it is uncomfortable, while the first-class passengers have to pay rather heavily for their special accommodations. Even then they look In vain for drinking-water, water- closets, and other conveniences of American railways. The " iron horse," as he speeds his ponderous train past — or it may be over — these sleepy Indian villages, is a wonder no less to the thoughtful European than to the bewildered Hindu. How many thousands of years would have had to elapse before India herself would have produced a steam-engine? What would be the fate of railways and other public Improvements If given 35 3i6 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, over altogether to native management ? When would the trains get ready to start ? When would they arrive, if ever ? How soon would all the time-tables be lost, the switches forgotten, and the last train come to grief? Such are some of the thoughts which crowd upon the European as he looks upon railways in India. The native, on the other hand, is not so greatly affected by the sight as one might expect. His religion teaches him to be never either greatly grieved, pleased, or sur- prised, and he acts out its precepts to perfection. The equanimity with which the natives of India ac- cept railways, telegraphs, steamboats, and all other Western improvements, is amazing and sometimes an- noying. He looks upon them as a matter of course, belonging to Europeans much as silk hats and black coats belong to them, being just the thing for Euro- peans to invent and use ; but as for their being objects of wonder, an exponent of national greatness, or an evidence of superior culture — such intricate reasoning does not disturb his complacency. In rural districts not one man in ten knows or cares to know of what use telegraph-wires are. That they are something for which the " rulers " have use, and that when they work them a buzzing noise is heard (especially when the wind blows), is the extent of the villagers' knowledge of tele- graphy. The philanthropist who should attempt to enlighten them on this interesting subject, as they are gathered in their bazaars, would probably soon find himself without an audience. Such is the thirst for knowledge in rural Indian villages ! MODERN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 317 In the cities and towns native merchants are begin- ning to make a free use of the telegraph. This was especially the case during the late famine, when for- tunes depended upon the fluctuating prices of grain in neighboring districts. The system of telegraph rates is not based upon dis- tance here as in America. A message of six words may be sent for one rupee between any two stations in India. To send messages between India and Burmah or Ceylon the rates are somewhat higher. Wonderful changes has this nineteenth century wrought even here in India. Less than fifty years ago it took the greater part of a year to send a message to America and re- ceive a reply to it. Now we may converse with our friends in Philadelphia, our agents in London, and our fellow-missionaries in China, all in the same day ! From any ordinary town in India messages may be sent to any part of the civilized world, and the doings of this afternoon in Calcutta may be read in this morning's papers in New York, printed and read before by appa- rent time they have taken place ! The only check to this kind of talking is its expen- siveness, in which it exceeds even that of popular lec- tures in America. Each word to Europe costs $1 25 ; to the United States of America, $2 25 ; to China, $2 50 ; and to Lima in Peru, $8, which is the highest rate I find on the whole list. All government and press messages are sent at spe- cial rates. 3i8 EVKRY-VA Y LIFE IN INDIA, THE POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS of India are also very satisfactory. The local postage is only half an anna — a cent and a half — for letters of one-fourth ounce weight and under. Post-cards at a quarter of an anna have lately been issued and are rap- idly finding public favor. The foreign postage to Europe and America has within the last three years been reduced by more than half. Via Brindisi, which is the quickest route, letters are carried now for four and a half annas. This is, however, more than twice the rate of postage on letters to India from America, which is only five cents. Why it should cost so much more to carry \^\Xexsfrom than to India, the British postal authorities in connection with the "Postal Union" can probably explain to their own satisfaction, if not to that of European residents in India. The inland mails, as well as the " Parcel Post," which carries packages of fifty pounds and under, are con- veyed, where there are no railways, by coolies. These " Tappal Runners," as they are called, are a unique In- dian institution. On the main roads you cannot go far, either by day or night, before meeting some of them. They are generally small, light men, such being better adapted to quick travelling. Their only clothing con- sists of a turban or headdress and a cloth about the loins. On a stick across the shoulder hang the mail- bags. To the same stick are tied a number of small bells, which keep time to their running, and always re- mind us of sleigh-bells in America. MODERN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 319 The object of these bells is to warn travellers of the approach of the runners, so that their progress may not be impeded, to give evidence to all within hearing dis- tance that they are running at a good speed, and thus doing their duty, and to assist the runners in keeping up spirit, upon the same principle as martial music and regular time aid soldiers in making quick and long marches. On the through-mail routes one man runs from six to ten miles, when he is relieved and a fresh runner takes his place. In this way the mails are car- ried at the rate of five or six miles an hour over roads where wheeled vehicles could not pass at all, and where horses or any other beasts of burden could in no wise compete in either speed or economy with the fleet- footed tappal runners. Another peculiarity of the Indian mail service is that no mail-bags are locked. They are simply tied up, and sealed in such a manner as to make the least attempt at opening them apparent. Chests of silver, gold, and other valuables, are sent under the same pre- caution from place to place, and it is in many respects more secure than the lock system. MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. The principal circulating coin of India is the silver rupee. In size and weight it resembles our own Ameri- can silver half-dollar and the English half-crown. Its par value is two English shillings, but at present It is depreciated, and sells on exchange at only about one shilling and eightpence. 320 E VERV-DA Y LTEE IN INDIA. Sixteen annas make a rupee, and twelve pice make one anna. An anna is therefore roughly valued at three cents, and a pice at a fourth of a cent. Copper coins of the value of one pice, three pice, and six pice, are in circulation ; also silver two-anna, four-anna, and eight-anna pieces. India has no gold currency at present. English sovereigns, French napoleons, and old Indian pagodas and mohrs are occasionally exchanged in business trans- actions, but they are not generally recognized as cur- rent coins. The government has also in circulation " currency notes," ranging from five rupees upwards, but they are not generally used by the people through^ out the villages. Merchants frequently use them for transmitting money through the mails. This is done by cutting the notes into halves, and then sending each piece separately, waiting until the receipt of the first has been acknowledged before the second is sent. After both halves have been received, they are pasted together again by laying a piece of thin paper over the back. In this way the banker's commission is saved. The native states are gradually dispensing with their own coinage and are adopting the British currency of India. There is even now great simplicity in the cur- rency of India, and the uniformity promises to become still more complete. With weights and measures the very reverse is the case. It would probably be difficult to find so great a variety and confusion in this respect in any other coun- try of equal size in the world. MODERN PUBLIC IMPRO VEMENTS. 321 The yard, the pound, and the gallon, are all un- known in India, and almost every village has its own standards of weight and measurement. We might say for " long measure " every man has his own standard, being the cubit, or the length of his arm from the fin- ger-tips to the elbow. The metrical system of weights and measures has been adopted by the government of India, but so far no attempts have been made at practically introducing it. The tola — 180 grains, or nearly the weight of a sil- ver rupee ; the viss — nearly 3 lbs. ; and the maund — 25 lbs. in Madras and 82 lbs. in Calcutta — are the most common denominations of weight. The native markets are, however, by no means confined to these. In dry and liquid measure the confusion is bewil- dering. The seer, which is^of almost any size from a pint to a gallon, is the most common. To arrive at some standard, however unsatisfactory, the government has decided that a seer of rice must weigh two pounds. We trust the government will take active steps to introduce the metrical system in all its forms through- out India. It is greatly needed, and would be not only a convenience to trade and a check to fraud, but also an honor to the government which should be able to induce its subjects to make a change which, though for their own good, is attended with so many difficulties. 322 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. XXXY. THE TRAVELLED HIUDU. As this is a subject preeminently suited to be seen through native eyes and discussed from a native point of view, we shall let a Hindu, not a " travelled one," but a clever stay-at-home Hindu, be our spokesman :* " We do not agree with those who object to a visit to England per se, whether it be one of business or pleasure, but we do certainly think the practice, unfor- tunately becoming common every day, of adopting foreign customs and manners to the utter exclusion of our own simpler and more suitable ones — in a word, the consummate folly of our Anglicizing ourselves — is one against which it is impossible to speak in terms too strong, as it is one not only supremely ridiculous, but even ruinous to our prospects of national advancement. " Without further preface, we may proceed to say that, as there are different types of the same stock to be met with in the animal and vegetable creation, so, too, there are different types of the particular class whose collective designation we have chosen as the title of this paper. There is, for instance, Mrs. Mary Joseph (as she dearly loves to hear herself called), a devout mem- ber, of long standing, of a certain establishment in India. In her younger days Mrs J. was known by the name, far more familiar to Hindu ears than her present one, of * From a series of " Pen and Ink Sketches of Native Character by a Hindu," in the Madras Times, 1879. THE TRAVELLED HINDU. 323 Adi Lakshmi : and was not a bad-looking ayah (child's maid) in the service of the missionary at * our station ' in the mofussil. * Her naturally intelligent mind,' we quote from the Society's Report of Missionary Labor in Foreign Lands, * soon laid itself open to the teach- ings of Christianity ;' and, accompanying the aforemen- tioned missionary's family on their voyage home by way of the European continent and the British Isles, she returned home, after a stay of several years, a full- fledged ' Native Christian Lady ' ! She is now the ma- tron, we believe, of the * Girls' Boarding School,' and we have more than once had the privilege of listen- ing to her conducting what she called ' meeteen ' {An- glice, meeting), one part of the proceeding being the singing of an English hymn. Mrs. Joseph also occa- sionally introduces certain very sensible changes in her costume, such as the putting on of a thick pair of boots in cold or wet weather, not omitting to pull on a woollen night-cap over her head and ears before she retires to rest every night. " Then, there is our friend Ramasami, with whom, we fancy, some at least of our Anglo-Indian readers must be famihar. He is another personage to whom the term ' travelled Hindu ' might strictly be applied, in his professional capacity of cook or body-servant along with some Anglo-Indian Officer on the latter's final return home; and he holds not a few testimonials speaking of his character in terms of the highest praise. You will be simply overpowered if you just ask him one question regarding his English experiences, so 36 324 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. ready and willing is he to hold forth on particulars connected with what there can be no doubt has been the greatest event of his life. We might also name our other friend, the Rev. Mr. Rangasami, as a third indi- vidual whom we might class under the * travelled Hin- du ' heading. It is true he did not go to England (or Scotland I forget which) as a delegate from missions here, any more than he travelled thither as 'boy' or bearer to his missionary superior; nor did he do much, if anything, by way of taking such audiences by storm as assemble at Exeter Hall or similar arenas; but still he has been across the * black water ;' and his predilection for England and English things generally is as sincere and strong as it is of the most undisguised character. " None, however, of the three people we have men- tioned come up to our idea of the travelled Hindu par excellence ; because, though there is no doubt they have travelled, they are not very representative characters ; nor does their influence extend or make itself felt to any degree of importance. The kind of travelled Hin- du to whom we purpose confining our remarks on the present occasion is a very different person, every way, from Mrs. Joseph, or Messrs. Ramasami and Rangasa- mi. His visit to England has been at a time and under circumstances wherein he could see not a little, and judge for himself a good deal ; and, moreover, has ex- tended over a pretty considerable period — so consider- ' able a period indeed as to metamorphose him into an Englishman in everything except the color of his skin. Leaving his native land, comparatively unaccustomed THE TEA VEILED HINDU. 325 to associate with Europeans of any social standing, and almost wholly unacquainted with the interior economy of English domestic life, our travelled Hindu returns, brimful of English fashions, fastasticalities, and foUies, and either cannot or will not find it possible to resetde himself down into the quiet, homely and, on the whole, comfortable groove in which he had been moving ere he left these shores. The palate that has become ac- customed to taste bacon and eggs, washed down with claret or coffee at breakfast, to sandwiches and sherry at luncheon, and to roast beef, accompanied perhaps by champagne at dinner, must find ' curry and rice ' rather tame. The hmbs that have been encased for a couple or three years in the dainty, ' stylish ' productions in the tailoring line of Poole et id genus omne, must no doubt feel considerably uneasy in the graceful, light, and suita- ble waist cloth. But we ask, how did our travelled friend feel when he first tasted English cooking or first wore English costume? Surely it must be easier to revert to the habits one has been used to for years, and which fit in perfectly with one's circumstances of birth, position, and climate, than to keep to habits but recendy acquired, and acquired only in adapting one- self to a foreign and particularly trying situation of a very temporary character. Our travelled Hindu friends, however, we regret to observe, think otherwise. At all events, it looks, if we are to judge of them by their deeds, as if they think otherwise. Nothing with them can at all approach excellence, not to say perfection, that is not English ; while, on the other hand, every- 326 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN INDIA. thing native that should commend itself to them on the ground of early association (if no other) is looked upon as ' coarse/ * vulgar,' or perhaps ' barbarous ' ! Let us, however, pay one a visit at his house. You will have no great difficulty in finding it, for he takes as good care that it is in a fashionable {i. e., European-peopled) locality, as he does to have a sign -board up with his name at the gate. Some time after your card has been taken in, you will probably get an invitation to come into the 'office-room,' 'master' (whose master?) evi- dently not being sure whether your visit is one of busi- ness or of compliment. The first question, therefore, which our 'travelled Hindu' will probably ask you, when he makes his appearance, will be that most annoy- ingly impertinent one which not a few Anglo-Indians are so used to put — ' Well, sir, what can I do for you ?' Should you disabuse his mind of any notion that may there exist of his being able to do anything for you, he will probably apologize, or at all events relax con- siderably ; and if you at all come up to his notion of a person fit to associate with, he will probably ask you to come into the drawing-room, and order the punkah and a cup of tea for you. Should you be * somebody,* there will also be the chance of an introduction to his wife, who, if she is not a * travelled ' lady herself, is one most strongly and unmistakably Anglicized. Sooner or later the conversation will turn upon England ; proba- bly every article of ornament in the room is a * direct importation' from 'that glorious, wonderful country;' and there may also 'hang tales,' neither few nor short, THE TEA VEILED HINDU. 327 to each such momento. See how eloquent our travelled countryman will wax as he dilates on the * coundess benefits ' and * incalculable advantages ' that he believes will result from a visit to England; and mark how gravely he will put his hand on your shoulder as he closes with the words, ' My dear fellow, take my advice, and send your boy off to England as soon as you can possibly manage it. There 's nothing like it.' " If, however, you wish to see the travelled Hindu at his best, you must do so on the occasion that he entertains his European or ultra- Anglicized friends at his ' Lodge * (or whatever may be the absurdly English name he may give his dwellinghouse). See how com- placently and self-satisfiedly he bows and smiles, as he displays himself— most elaborately, and, we have no doubt, most uncomfortably dressed in a * swallow-tail,' white * choker,' and other component elements of what he will tell you, with a faint half-pitying smile at your own ignorance, is costume de rigueur for an evening par- ty ! We fear we put him out considerably when we told him that black, while a 'gentlemanly color' (if colors are to be chosen according to their descent), and well enough for a white man, looked simply horrid when worn by one of his complexion, as we did when we suggested, amiably enough, that he should do something to get rid of the holes in his ears which every Hindu has bored for him or her at an early age, and the tattooed mark on his forehead, since they scarcely were in keeping with the rest of his * would-be-Briton ' appear- ance. Well, as we talk, the guests begin to arrive* 323 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, They include a few typical Europeans, the family doctor, for it wont do for one who has been to England to be without an expensive attache of this kind to his estab- lishment, and an attorney, as much to have the profes- sions represented as out of courtesy to that particular profession, which by far the great majority of travelled Hindus in this presidency at least belong to. These, with a few travelled (or otherwise highly Anglicized) natives, are the persons whom you will meet; and it is a sight worth seeing, certainly 'as good as a play,' how our * travelled Hindu' friend will go to work * handing ' his lady guests out of their carriages, and * leading ' them within doors. Verily, would the ghost of our good old Manu shudder, could he but see a descendant of those for whom he framed his ' code ' thus aping, perhaps, the most incongruous and even to the popular native mind indecorous manners and customs of the mlecheha (foreigner), pollution from the worst contact with whom, according to the laws of Manu, could only be removed by cutting off so much of the body as had been touched by the unclean being! In due course, however, the several guests are ushered in ; and present- ly there will, most probably, be a division among them as to billiards or croquet ; for our ' travelled Hindu ' is an ' adept ' with the mallet, as well as the ' cue.* Ac- cording to English ideas, so at least we are obliged to suppose from what we see, it would seem that neither of these games can go on without certain stimulants unto the playing thereof in the shape of iced and intox- icating drinks. Hence, we find a table laid out in the THE TRAVELLED HINDU. 329 veranda with such delicacies (?) as ham, sandwiches, and claret cups, side by side with cakes and confections of a more homely make, whose outlandish and unpro- nounceable names we will not inflict on the reader. One of the would-be-British ladies presides over another table, playing at making tea or coffee; and even, per- haps, indulging in a mild flirtation to complete the Englishism of the whole scene. We sorely wish space would allow of our recording a few dialogues from the conversation going on. They would make the very flesh creep of those Indophiles with whom a residence in England is looked upon as the only means for reform- ing the Hindu character and the Hindu people. In our humble opinion it is a reformation, indeed, and one with a vengeance ; but certainly far from being the kind of reformation that a patriot or a philanthropist would desire for his country. We are, however, digressing. From billiards, cro- quet, and the veranda tables, the step is but a short and easy one to the drawing-room, where the company will remain till dinner is formally announced by a Pariah butler. That announcement duly over, and the guests having paired off* dining-roomwards, let us take a brief and hurried glance at some of them as they are seated around the travelled Hindu's hospitable mahogany ! The host himself we have already de- scribed, at least we have described how he dresses. At his right is a young Englishwoman, the guest /«r excel- lence of the evening. She came out, we think, in the same steamer in which her present host returned to 330 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA , India, to be engaged In educational work ; but she has given that up for a much snugger little berth, being en- gaged to be married to one of the Europeans to whom we have already alluded. Next to this lady's espoused husband, who, of course, sits by her, is a native lady of the ultra-Anglicized school, one, that is, who is a Hindu in nothing more than color and by the accident of birth. Of tolerably fair intelligence, and very credit- able Industry, she does not conceal that she is a bit of a blue-stocking, while it is a truth only too painfully self-evident that. In dress and manners, she runs pretty close on the heels of that much-abused female charac- ter in English society, the ' girl of the period.' Oppo- site her is her representative In the ruder sex, the ultra- Anglicized Hindu young gentleman. He is a raw young lad, yet In the lower regions of the college, but eagerly awaiting the time when he is to be shipped off to England to compete for an appointment in the Cov- enanted Civil Service. He too dresses, talks and gen- erally behaves as a young Englishman of his age, as do all the others of his class, with this Important excep- tion, that, whereas the Englishman does now and then give a thought to the masses around him, the travelled Hindu, and those of his countrymen with whom he associates, so far from thinking of, and feeling for, and trying to improve their less-favored brethren, do their very best by word and by deed to keep themselves as far aloof as possible from others, from what cause or with what profit we will not undertake to say. "We wish we could, with truth, have drawn a THE TRAVELLED HINDU. 331 brighter picture, and have exhibited our travelled fellow- countryman in a light more favorable than that which we have just represented him in. We wish, we repeat, we had it in our power to say that by far the great majority of such natives of this Presidency as we know who have visited England were persons of known and acknowledged good principles ; and that, as much as in them lay, they were anxious to promote the good of their fellow-beings. Such, however, we con- fess, and we do so with the utmost regret, has not been our experience ; and it is because we have had so pain- ful an experience that we have been induced to write at such length, and with such severity as we have, regarding a character in Hindu society of the present day, against not one of the representatives whereof we have the slightest ill-feeling. Should, however, any of our travelled Hindus feel themselves aggrieved by what we have said of them, perhaps they will be kind enough to favor us with such particulars as may show wherein we have wronged them. Till some such vin- dication (if at all possible) is made, we fear we must hold that the travelled Hindu is an almost utterly useless element in Hindu society, and that it is any- thing but advisable to have the species largely increased, at all events for some time to come." 37 332 EVER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. XXXYI. on A- COAST STEAMER. It is seldom that one gets so favorable an opportu- tunity for studying native character, especially that of the higher classes, as on a coast steamer. Here they are like fish out of water. Everything is new to them and unlike anything to which they are accustomed in their homes. It was on a calm, beautiful June morning that I found myself, with about a score of high-caste natives, in a pinnace at the dock at Masulipatam, starting for the steamer which lay in the roads about seven miles distant. This same Masulipatam has the name of being one of the worst landing ports in the world, and with my experience in the matter I shall hold to this con- clusion until convinced to the contrary by competent, experienced judges. However, on this particular occa- sion, the sea was not remarkably rough and the wind was favorable. I have therefore no thrilling "landing experience " to relate in connection with this morning, such as I could relate in connection with other occa- sions, and such as many other persons who unfortu- nately have had to get off and on steamers at this port could relate. Being the only European in the boat, the master gave me a seat in the stern under a canvas awn- ing, where I made myself comfortable and kept very quiet. I had the whole company in view, and, nothing would have been easier for me than to enter into spirit- ON A COAST STEAMER, 333 ed conversation with some of those near me, and attract the attention of all. This would have been agreeable to them too, for they felt awkward — it being the first sea- voyage for all except a few of them — and nothing would have delighted them more than some object upon which to bestow their attention. The delicacy of their situa- tion was increased by the fact that most of them were Brahmans, whose wives seldom appear in public, but who were now not only brought out into a promiscuous company, but were necessarily huddled into rather close quarters with people of lower castes and of no caste at all. Then, too, everybody knew that it was a thing of doubtful religious propriety for Brahmans to ^ke a sea-voyage at all. All these thoughts flashed upon me in a moment after I had taken my seat in the boat, and I was deter- mined to say little, but see much. To see the more, I had, of course, to pretend to see nothing but the waves of the sea and the steamer lying in the distance, while it was also to my evident advantage not to appear to understand anything that might be said in Telugu. Though it was early in the morning, I noticed, some- what to my surprise, the large paint-marks on the fore- heads of my fellow-passengers, which are a sign that a full meal has been taken. Rather, I should say, the paint-marks are a sign of the devotion or worship which has taken place in connection with the meal. This was unusual, as Hindus do not generally take a full meal so early in the day, and consequently do not have these marks so fresh and large until about noon. 334 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, My curiosity on this point was solved by a conversa- tion which I overheard between two Brahmans near me. They were rather old men, but neither had ever ven- tured on a sea- voyage before. With a nervous uneasi- ness I heard one of them say, " And what arrangements have you made about eating ?" " Well," replied the other, " we all ate as much as we could before starting, and we have brought along some cakes and fruit, so that we shall not need to cook anything on the ship. As we shall reach Madras to-morrow, we thought we might get along in this way. In this manner, too, they say we can take the journey without violating our (caste) laws." I was much impressed with this man's sincere re-, spect for his religious laws. Though as a Christian I might not believe in their necessity, I could not but admire his devotion to what he thought right in the sight of God. My attention was soon drawn from these sedate Brahman fathers to a young government official — also a Brahman, but one of the new school — who had evi- dently " travelled before." I have seen many railroad conductors and ship-captains in my time whose whole life had been one of travel, but among them I have never yet seen one who could rival this young Hindu in putting on an air of having travelled before, and of showing to those around him, in a patronizing way, the exquisite pleasure which his experience afforded him. This young man made several attempts to draw me into an English conversation, but soon gave it up as a ON A COAST STEAMER, 335 fruitless undertaking. He spoke English fluently, and wore a coat. In so far he was Anglicized. He took snuff, chewed betel-leaf, wore the native head-cloth, loin-cloth, and sandals. In so far he adhered to the customs of his fathers. He is what we call a half- An- glicized Hindu, and that he is so not only outwardly, but inwardly also, is further corroborated by what he afterwards told me of his religious belief. We had gotten only a few miles away from the shore when we had another evidence, besides the paint- marks, of the full breakfasts which had been taken by our Brahman passengers. Alas, the gentle rocking of our boat and the breakfasts could not agree; so the latter went to feed the fishes, while their late owners presented a picture of utter desolation. The different views which the affected and the non-affected take of seasickness is one of the remarkable things of this world. While I really pitied these poor people — espe- cially the delicate Brahman women, to whom the expe- rience must have been very trying — this wicked humor in me was stirred up all the more as I thought of the full early meal which had been so religiously stored away, in the hope that it might do good service for the greater part of two days. Natives, as a rule, travel as "deck passengers." This is convenient for them in many ways. It is very cheap, and affords them nearly all the personal com- forts they have at home. Or to put it another way : as they do not need chairs, tables, beds, etc., even in their homes, they are not put to inconvenience by the want 33^ E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, of them as deck passengers. They bring along a few eatables and drinking water sufficient to last them for a few days, if the voyage be a short one ; and if it be a long one, they provide their own cook and make some arrangement with the steward for the use of a fireplace, etc. In no case will caste people touch either the food or the water provided by the ship. Our half- Anglicized Hindu was true to the name we have given him even in his treatment of the ship's ac- commodation. He took a cabin, but boarded himself. I was thus soon thrown into further contact with him, and as he was inclined to be talkative, we soon became well acquainted, and before the day was over I knew where he was born, in what schools he was educated, what had been his employment since he left school, what Europeans were his personal acquaintances, what was his present business, his salary, and his prospects for promotion in the future. My readers must not suppose that I had any very great trouble to get all this information, or that it was anything unusual for me to get it so speedily. The subjects named above, and kindred ones, form the sta- ple of conversation between Europeans and natives of this class. While they would not think it proper to ask such questions of you, they are quite ready to give you their own history, and will generally do it even un- asked, if you will only listen. This young man had been educated in a mission school, and spoke with great respect of his former teachers, of the Bible, and of Christianity. He said : ON A COAST STEAMER, 337 caste rules were nonsense, and Hinduism a corrupt sys- tem of religion ; that there was only one God, and he a Spirit, etc. " Then how is it," said I, "that you still make those huge paint-marks on your forehead, and refuse to eat with us here on the steamer?" To this he replied what many others of his class have said to me under similar circumstances : " We must do these things as matters of expediency, to preserve the peace of our families and the good-will of our relatives." Of course you can then make your best speech on duty, moral courage, and reform, but it does not follow that you will convince your hearer. I must tell you something more about our steamer and its general appearance. The Indian coast steamers are all fine, large, English -built vessels, and belong to an immensely rich company, called the "B. I. S. N.," or, in full, " British-India Steam Navigation Company." This corporation has been largely patronized by the 'government, having a contract to carry all government supplies and the mails between Indian ports. Having also so far a monopoly of the passenger travel along the coast, the rates are exorbitantly high, and it will be a great convenience to the travelling public if, as rumor says will be the case, a competition line of steamers be put on the Indian seas. The passengers and crew of one of these steamers are an interesting ethnological study. The officers are probably English, Irish, or Scotch ; and whichever they are, they are strongly, for it seems seamen preserve their 338 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, nationality better than most other classes of travellers. The common sailors are generally a motley crowd of Mohammedans, Bengalis, Malaysians, with a Chinese carpenter, while the servants are probably Madrasees. Among the deck passengers, but having food supplied by the steward, may probably be found a number of Eurasians with ill-fitting clothing, pinched faces, and a general appearance of want and thriftlessness, which here as elsewhere make them special objects of pity. The many boxes, packages, and bundles which it is necessary for the native passengers to carry, give the deck the appearance of an emigrant ship; but when you remember that these are Hindus — who would rather die than emigrate — you may be assured that appearances are deceitful, and that the next port will probably find all these and their owners gone, having reached terra firma again, and having performed a feat in the way of voyaging, which to many of them is one of the great experiences of a lifetime. THE FAMINE OF 1S77-78. 339 XXXYII. THE FAMIHE OF 1877-78. The cause of the late terrible famine in Southern India was, in short, drought — the failure of the periodi- cal rains in 1875 partially, in 1876 almost totally, and in 1877 again partially. With this main cause must be coupled two minor causes: first, the improvidence of the masses, which makes them content with sufficient for the day; and secondly, the fact that the millions of India live almost wholly on grain. In regard to the first of these minor causes we may say that the unconcern for the morrow which the average Hindu manifests is simply incomprehensible to us Saxons. It makes us nervous even to imagine our- selves in his condition, while he sees no cause for alarm. The parents say, when reasoned with, " Our children will take care of us when we are old," and as for the children, they quite acquiesce in this custom. I shall never forget the look of mingled incredulity and aston- ishment which came over his face, when I once incident- /ally mentioned to a low-caste man that in America, as a rule, parents assisted their children in getting a start in business, and even gave them property at their death. It is this almost universal Improvidence on the part of the lower castes which greatly helped to bring on the famine. 38 340 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . The second minor cause mentioned is also of more importance than might at first appear. The Brahmans are rehgiously forbidden to eat meat, eggs or anything that has or has had animal life in it. The next great class, the Sudras, eat fowls and mutton, but no beef. They also consider the cow a sacred animal and shrink from eating its meat. The lower castes eat all sorts of meat when they can get it, but on account of their poverty they seldom get any except such as has " died of itself" As a consequence of this state of affairs the country is full of cattle — and before the famine was yet more so. The bullocks are used as beasts of burden, and the cows for the milk and ghee which they yield. This may work tolerably well in ordinary times but even then the large herds are often a great strain on the produce of the village. In times of great scarcity of grain and grass, prudence would suggest the slaughter of some of the cattle for food. This would give relief in two ways — both by furnishing provision for man and by saving the grain which is required to keep the cattle alive. Such a thing was, however, not to be thought of, and the farmer and his herds drifted together to the verge of starvation. If the cattle were then abandoned, they were of but little use even to the Pariahs. The first unfortunate circumstance in connection with a great drought in India is the loss of the usual employment of the farm coolies. These depend to a great extent upon the grain which they earn from day to day in the fields. When the crops fail, this employ- THE FAMINE OF 1877-7^- 341 ment falls, while at the same time the price of grain rises. During 1877 the price of grain rose to four times the old rates, while the fields refused to furnish even sufficient for their owners. The farm laborers were, therefore, the first to feel the distress severely ; but as the second year passed by without rain, the distress extended upwards, and the poorer farmers had to sell their cattle, their farming utensils, and even their fields. The poorer Brahmans, who are religiously forbidden to work with their hands, had to resort to begging — to which employment, how- ever, they turn very readily. The farm laborers and poorer farmers having sold their all, began to wander, singly or in companies, northward in search of*work and food. At this junc- ture the government came to their assistance by estab- lishing " Relief Works" on a large scale, where people could earn their daily food. These works consisted chiefly of making new roads and digging canals and tanks. The labor was simple, but very hard for those who had never been used to this kind of work. The people took to it very reluctantly, partly because of the nature of the work, and pardy because they feared the diseases, such as cholera and smallpox, which were generally prevalent among the coolies. Still, great numbers had to resort to these works as the only means of subsistence, and in September, 1877, the number thus employed in the Madras Presidency alone was nearly a million. Besides these there remained a large class of utterly 342 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, helpless people, consisting of the very old, little children and the sick, who had to be provided for in other ways. For. these government relief camps were established at various points, where they were fed gratuitously. Many who were debiHtated by starvation were admitted tem- porarily, and sent away to the "Works" as soon as they had gained sufficient strength to handle a pick or carry a basket of earth. During the same month, that is September, 1877, while government was superintend- ing a million coolies on the Relief Works, it was also feeding gratuitously in these relief camps a million and a half helpless men, women, and children. At this time the work of private famine relief received a new impetus through what was known as the Mansion House Famine Relief Fund.* Sometime in July a large meeting, at which the Governor presided, had been held in Madras, when it was resolved to draw up an appeal for private help and telegraph it to England. This was accordingly done, and the contributions which came in response to this appeal exceeded by far the expectations of the Com- mittee. We may safely say, too, that they exceeded anything else on record for prompt and hearty charity. Nearly seven hundred thousand pounds sterling came from Great Britain alone, while the colonies added yet another hundred thousand making the entire fund about ;^8oo,ooo. * So called because the headquarters for collections were at the London Mansion House under the patronage of the Mayor of London. THE FAMINE OF 1877-78. 343 As this fund was to be kept separate, and distributed independently of the government aid, there was naturally some difficulty in finding the most suitable channels for its distribution. Europeans in India are comparatively few in number, and natives to whom it would be thought prudent to intrust large sums of money for distribution under such circumstances are equally few in number. However, a general committee was formed in Madras, and local sub-committees, composed of Europeans and native gentlemen, were formed in all the principal towns of the famine district. The general committee received all the contributions and distributed them among the various sub-committees. Much freedom of action had to be allowed to the latter, as rules framed for one sec- tion might not be suitable for another. One main object of the private relief was to reach such cases as were needy, but could not be reached by the govern- ment relief The children were especially recommended to this charity, for, be it observed, however unnatural it may seem in our eyes, the children were the first to suffer. Strong, healthy fathers and mothers starved their children to elicit aid for themselves, and it was no uncommon sight to see a well-fed man or woman, or wretch, as we ought to call such a creature, with one or two children starved to skeletons. To the relief of the children and the sick, to distri- buting clothing, to giving road expenses to " wanderers" returning to their homes, to the repairing of houses which had been pulled down and sold for food, to buy- ing back looms, farming utensils, and other working 344 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . tools which had been pawned for a few rupees, to sup- plying destitute farmers with seed-grain and in some cases with labor to sow their fields after the rains came, to these and similar modes of relief the Mansion House Fund was to a great extent applied. As the missionaries of the various societies were scattered, more than any other Europeans, throughout the country, they were among the most prominent members of the various sub-committees. " Day-nurseries" is the name which was generally given to the feeding arrangements for the children. I say "feeding arrangements," because this expresses more clearly the thing which was actually done. There was but little of the nursery idea about it. It was my privilege and pleasure to superintend for a while the feeding ol about five hundred children in seven different villages. The way it was done is this : In a village where there were, say sixty destitute chil- dren, we supplied daily about thirty pounds of rice and a pound of salt. The rice was boiled in two or three large earthen vessels with a good supply of water. Having been salted and well stirred it was distributed among the children, who sat in a row, each behind his Httle earthen dish. Each child received about a quart of the mixture — congee^ and this was considered suffi- cient to sustain life and strength for one day. It was plain fare, it is true, but it was a good deal better than nothing, and the children were exceedingly glad to get it. The cost, notwithstanding the high price of the rice, THE FAMINE OF iZ-Jl-lZ. 345 was very small. Thirty pounds of rice — the kind we used — at famine rates cost about two rupees or one dollar. The cook's wages and the firewood cost four annas or twelve cents. This leaves us yet a margin of eight cents for the salt to make our bill one dollar and twenty cents, or two cents for each child for one day's subsistence. One naturally asks, how then could there be a famine when a child could get a meal for two cents ? We answer, just for want of these two cents a day, hundreds and thousands of children wasted away and are no more. It is because people can be fed in India at a comparatively small cost that it was at all possible to grapple with the famine by means of money. The cost of the government for feeding a famine pauper was probably not more than four or five cents a day on an average, and yet the famine cost the Imperial treasury about ;^ 11,000,000. What then would it have cost if prices of food had been the same here as in Europe or America ? The greatest praise is due to the British government for the heroic manner in which it grappled with this famine. From the Viceroy down to the humblest Public Works overseer, every official seemed to feel the responsibility of the situation, and did all in his power to save the lives and to relieve the sufferings of the destitute. Their task was a difficult one and in many cases a thankless one, but they performed their duty with a devotion worthy of all praise. To meet the demand for officials in Southern India, all furlough, except on medical grounds, was suspended, officers on 34^ E VER Y'DA V LIFE IN INDIA. leave were recalled, and a great number of men were sent to Madras from Bengal. Contagious disease, ex- posure to the sun, and overwork struck down many of these faithful officers, and they found untimely graves in the land whither they had gone to save the lives of others. THE FOOD SUPPLY. At one time it was feared that the supply of grain could not be kept up. At a low estimate, ten millions of people had to be fed on imported grain. This grain, at the rate of 3,500 tons a day, was landed principally at the port of Madras by sailing-vessels and steamers bringing it from Burmah and Bengal. The lines of railroad extending from Madras into the interior were taxed to their utmost in carrying this grain. The prov- ince of Mysore alone required a thousand tons daily. Locomotives were brought from Northern India, extra grain-trains were run day and night, passenger- trains were discontinued, and even the telegraph de- partment was so overworked by the grain-traffic, that private messages, except such as related to famine re- lief, were for a while refused at the Madras offices. Notwithstanding all these effi)rts to relieve the dis- tress, the number of deaths by the famine was enor- mous. The number has been variously estimated at from two to five millions. In March, 1878, by order of government, a census was taken in several portions of the Madras Presidency, with a view to ascertaining the loss. Three sections were selected : one a severe fam- ine district, one a mild famine district, and the other a THE FAMINE OF 1^77-7^- 347 no-famlne district. The result showed a loss of nearly 25 per cent. In the severe district. The following table shows very clearly the effect of the famine in reducing the population In a few of the worst districts. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF DEATHS AND BIRTHS. Districta. Total popula- tion. Average of leaths before 1876. In 1877. Increase of deatlis. Decrease of births. South Arcot - - Bellary -- Salem 1,755,817 1,668,006 1,966,995 2,498 3,207 3437 10,462 15,148 16,515 7,564 11,941 13,078 743 1,744 2,580 The sad effects of the famine are still to be seen In many places, not only In the half-ruined, desolate con- dition of villages, but also In the demoralization of the people. Many able-bodied men and women, who be- fore the famine lived by honest industry, were driven to beggary and theft, and having fallen Into this demoral- ized state, they seem either unable or unwilling to re- sort to their former honest livelihood. The prison system was an ill-suited punishment for petty offences during the famine. It worked the wrong way. The prisoners were the best fed poor people in the country, and the jails were filled to overflowing. The Guntoor jail, for Instance, with ordinary accommo- dations for 120 prisoners, had at one time no less than 500! I experienced in a very practical way the sentiment of the poor people on this subject of prison punishment. Having advanced some money to a number of poor 39 348 EVERY-DA V LIFE IN INDIA, . weavers, in order that they might buy thread and weave cloths to sell again, and thus find employment, I was not a little annoyed by their non-appearance at the promised time. They were to bring the cloths to me, and I was to assist them in finding sale, taking back at the same time the money I had advanced to them. I sent for them again and again, but every time they sent me an evasive answer. At last I threatened to send them to jail for breach of trust in case they did not ap- pear at once. To this they sent me the cool reply, " We are very sorry, sir, but we have eaten up all the money you gave us, and we have made no cloths. We are in a starving condition, and if you will only send us to jail we shall get something to eat." Much theorizing has been going on, both here and in England, as to the causes of famines in India and the best modes of preventing them. The government, hav- ing apparently come to the conclusion that famines are to be a permanent institution in India, has appointed a " Famine Commission," and has set apart a portion of the revenue as a " Famine Insurance Fund." One healthy sign is that while formerly people were content to regard famines as indications of God's wrath and displeasure, they are now beginning to consider them as indications of man's laziness and improvidence. To the new theology we give our preference, and we feel very confident that when India awakes to a sense of her duty and her privileges as one of the great na- tions of the earth, when that life-destroying tyrant, Caste, shall so far let go his hold that the sons and daughters THE FAMINE OF iZti-^^. 349 of India may cheerfully and honorably go forth to all kinds of honest industry, and may stimulate one an- other not only in passing examinations in meaningless text-books, but also in the arts of tilling the soil and of manufacturing the various articles of consumption for which she now sends millions of her money to Europe — then, and not till then, will famines cease. India will become richer, not by sending away her sur- plus population, as some have proposed, and much less by sending away her money, as is now being done on an enormous scale, but by so developing her national resources that her poor may find constant employment ; and we cannot but think that half the money spent on famines would do infinitely more good if spent by the British government in encouraging agriculture and manufactures within the bounds of the Indian empire. 350 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . XXXYIII. MISSIOHARY EFFORT. Missionary operations in India are a reality, and in a comprehensive view of the country these claim a share of our attention. To discuss the subject we have no need to indulge in cant, sentimentality, or prophecy. The past we know as history, the present we see as a fact, and the future we leave to God. It is something to the credit of the cause of missions that this point has been reached, and that whatever else skeptics may do or say, they can no longer relegate missionary operations and their re- sults to the visionary dreams of adventurers and enthu- siasts. There is in India a native Christian church scattered throughout the cities, towns, and villages, from the Him- alayas to Cape Comorin — a church which has not only numbers, but also influence, power, and all the elements of growth and self-propagation. We do not say that she has these desirable qualities in as great a measure as we could desire, but she has them in a certain degree and to such an extent that, humanly speaking, even without foreign men and money she would be able to live and prosper. The number of foreign missionaries — European and American — laboring in India, Ceylon, and Burmah, is estimated at six hundred. Native la- borers, ordained and unordained, are counted by thou- MISSIONARY EFFORT. 353 sands, while the number of baptized Protestant Chris- tians Is reckoned at 500,000. In the TInnevelly missions, which are the oldest and strongest, the number of foreign laborers has been greatly reduced ot late, and their places have been as- sumed by a native ministry. Foreign aid Is also being gradually withdrawn ; and in accordance with a fixed scale of reduction, the stronger missions are to be thrown entirely upon their own support within twenty years. While there are but few missions In India sufficiently advanced for such a step, it Is what all are looking for- ward to, and the fact that in some It Is being success- fully carried out gives hopeful promise to all. To throw the missions suddenly and without proper precautions upon their own responsibility, would be to endanger the best results of long and weary labor ; nor has the Christian church in Europe and America any need or desire to do so. THE FORMS of effort employed in missionary work are various, but they all converge to the same point — the proclamation of the gospel of Christ. To this end the missionary engaged In direct evan- gelistic work travels from village to village, and while preaching the gospel cultivates the friendship of the people by making himself useful to them In all honor- able ways. He gives them medical advice and medi- cine, directs them, when appropriate. In matters of law, suggests to them improvements in agriculture and the 354 ^ y^R y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. mechanical arts, and not unfrequently becomes a peace- maker in local and domestic quarrels. In cases of oppression he intercedes for the op- pressed, and in times of distress he is the first to devise means of relief. The missionary engaged in educational work, that he may have the golden opportunity of implanting gos- pel truths in young and tender hearts before the pomp of idolatry and the cares of life shall have forestalled him, is willing to devote many hours and days — ay, even nights — to the drudgery of schoolroom work, in a climate where such work is especially wearisome to body and mind. That the early impressions may not be effaced, he follows his pupils with letters, prayers, and counsel, after they exchange the school for the duties of active life. For this same end the lady zenana -laborers go forth through heat and dust into the filthy streets and dingy huts, carrying in one hand the Bible and in the other a primer, a package of needles and thread, a picture, a piece of embroidery, or some other article of comfort or adornment which suggests at the same time the difference between a Christian home and a Hindu house. In the prosecution of this same work — the procla- mation of the gospel — will the medical missionary give his time and skill and energy to the sick of all ranks, castes, and creeds. That he may show them the life, as well as the creed of the gospel, he shrinks not from MISSIONARY EFFORT. 355 the most loathsome leper or the filthiest beggar who may need his care. Such are the character and the variety of effort put forth by the Christian church for the spread of the gos- pel in India. They are legitimate. They are Scriptu- ral. They are appreciated by the people, and they are blessed of God. RESULTS. Some of the grandest results of missionary effort in India cannot be put into figures and set up in statistical tables. It is a glorious triumph for the cause to have secured a visible Christian church, with hundreds of thousands of upright members ; to have a respectable and respected native ministry, raised up for the most part from the lowest grades of society ; to have a grow- ing Christian literature for young and old; to have churches and schools in every section of the country : but it is scarcely a less glorious triumph to influence for good in indirect ways the whole Hindu nation, and the British government itself, as Christian effort has done and is doing to-day. In summing up the results of missionary work in India, it is not inappropriate to call attention first to the changed attitude of the government of the country to- wards this enterprise. It was only through the indefat- igable perseverance of missionaries and the friends of missions, in Europe and America, that the presence of missionaries was at all tolerated in India less than a hundred years ago / 356, E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, Those who are at all acquainted with the history of missions will remember the almost insuperable obstacles thrown in the way of the first Indian missionaries — how they were even interdicted from leaving the shores of England, as if they were spies or outlawed criminals ; how they had to find their way to Holland or America, and thence be smuggled into India as if they were con- traband goods; how Carey and his fellow-laborers, after arriving at Calcutta, were not allowed to remain on British soil, but had to find refuge in a Danish set- tlement ; how the early American missionaries, Judson, Newell, and others, were driven hither and thither, wor- ried and shunned in turn, as if they were dangerous wild beasts. By whom ? By the British government of India ! Those were indeed dark days. Those were the days when the nominally Christian rulers of India openly encouraged idolatry for the sake of gain, when the great Hindu temples, the festivals, and pilgrimages were made a source of revenue for the state ; when regi- ments of British soldiers, with their splendid equipage, were called out to give eclat to idolatrous festivities. Those days are past, and the Britons who represent their gracious Queen in India to-day are heartily ashamed of them. Brighter days have come. Missions, missiona- ries, and the native Christian church are now recog-. nized and honored by the government; educational grants are made to mission schools all over the coun- try ; the government and missionary societies join hands in the erection of school buildings, which are solely under mission control. When any important MISSIONARY EFFORT, 357 changes in educational matters are contemplated, mis- sionaries are consulted, and their advice is not unheed- ed; when any consensus of opinion upon important matters of general interest is desired, missionary so- cieties are certain to be favored with the documents of government. The change in the attitude of the natives themselves is scarcely less marked. Personal violence to mission- aries and native Christians is seldom heard of; native officials pay the highest respect to the missionaries, and are glad to number them among their personal friends ; the mission schools throughout the land are crowded, and importunate applications for more have to be re- fused. These schools are opened with, religious exer- cises, the Bible is studied in them, all castes are admit- ted upon an equality, and freely associate with one an- other. Shade of Manu ! Horrible defilement ! Reasonable notions of God are becoming prevalent. In remote villages the missionary still finds those who believe in many gods, and the absurd fables con- cerning them with which the priests formerly delighted their rude audiences. In more accessible places, where the mission preacher's voice has been frequently heard, and where mission schools have exerted their enlighten- ing influence, intelligent ideas of God and of our rela- tion to him prevail even among non -Christians. Improved theological and moral ideas, due to the presence of Christian teachers, are gradually saturating the whole nation, even without their knowing or admit- ting the source. 40 358 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, The true character of Hindu priests is revealed. There is great variety among what may be called Hindu priests. There are some among them of whom we ought to think and speak charitably — men of devout minds, who have a desire to rise nearer to God and to direct others in spiritual things. These are worthy of honor and sympathy. Unfortunately they are the ex- ceptional few. The majority of so-called Hindu priests are filthy, useless, lying beggars, whose highest aspi- ration centres on their daily rice, and who are ever ready to resort to the foulest devices to secure their end. The character of such "teachers" is strikingly brought to light by comparison with the conduct of Christian missionaries and their native helpers, whose every effort is for the temporal and eternal welfare of the people. Hindus are quick to see this difference, and in the Telugu country two sayings in regard to Hindu priests are common : " Ours are not," say they, " mela (good), but mila (dirty) priests." Again, " Ours are not boda (preaching), but bada (troubling) priests." The play upon the words in the vernacular is very amu- sing as well as striking, and the proverbs indicate the sentiment of the people. Indifference to Hinduism and decay of Brahman- ical influence is another indirect result of missionary effort. " What do you think by this time of caste ?" we have often said to intelligent, friendly Hindus, and as often have received the reply, "It is doomed and must MISSIONARY EFFORT. 359 go." This is the general impression among thoughtful natives. Some go so far as to ridicule and denounce it, together with the whole system of Hinduism of which it is a vital part. "But," say they, "we are so situated that we cannot singly break loose and face the conse- quences. We must wait for a gradual dissolution." The temples everywhere are crumbling to pieces. New ones are seldom built, and never by the united efforts of the people. The great festivals are less nu- merously attended. Idols are regarded not, as formerly, with devout veneration and unmingled awe, but with a suspicious superstition which must soon give way to contempt and indifference. The priests, ever ready to accommodate themselves to passing events, say that this is the "iron age," in which we must expect such sinful degeneracy in regard to religion, and that, moreover, the decay of caste is foretold in their sacred books, and that — in thirty years we have heard some say— caste distinctions are to be utterly abolished. Of this there is no doubt, that Brah- manical influence is fast losing its mysterious hold upon the people. There are yet other salutary effects traceable to the influence of missionary effort, among which is the ame- lioration of the condition of the poor out-castes. For no other reason than because the higher castes scornfully reject the efforts of the missionary in their behalf, are the lower castes reaping the first great bene- fits of the gospel. That they are reaping such a benefit, no one who is at all conversant with the facts can deny. 36o E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, The last " Census Report of the Madras Government," an official document, referring to the condition of the poorer classes on the Malabar coast, says : " Slavery is now illegal in British India, but nevertheless a large part of the population of the lower castes is in a state infinitely worse. These miserable people are agricultural laborers, and the tyranny of their Hindu landlords is bound- less. Nor is this all ; the mere approach of the poor wretches involves ceremonial pollution to their masters, and men and women are also forced to go almost naked. Their only hope is in the Mohammedans or Christians, who can give them a religion worthy of the name, and also remove their reproach of caste ; but this their masters will not allow. Their gross fetishism is encouraged ; but if they turn to a purer faith, they are ejected at once from their plots of barren ground, which are their chief means of subsistence." Vol. I., page 172. Notwithstanding the opposition of the higher castes, many of the poor " slave-castes " in Malabar and other portions of India have embraced Christianity, and in doing so have broken away to a great extent from their bondage to the higher castes. New hopes, new desires, a new life has taken hold of these long-despised and sorely -oppressed people. For the first time for thousands of years they have in the missionary a friend who will listen to their story of wrongs, show them how to obtain redress, and point them to manly and upright courses of conduct. Un- less these classes have such a friend, all the laws which the most benign government can frame for their relief will do them no good. The missionaries' influence in this respect is of course greatest among the native Christians, but it is not confined to them. The news MISSIONARY EFFORT. 361 that a certain low-caste community refuses to work without wages, objects to being beaten at the pleasure of its high-caste neighbors, demands a proper remune- ration for eggs, fowls, and other property, taken from it to supply passing travellers or petty government offi- cials, and hesitates to pay the ever-recurring presents to village authorities and policemen — this news spreads quickly and is contagious in its influence. " What oth- ers of our caste-fellows are doing and enjoying, we also can do and enjoy," is the verdict of those to whom the news comes, and from that day their yoke sits heavily upon them. As the oppressed thus rise to a consciousness of their manhood they ask for yet more light, and the desire for education in many parts of India is to-day greater among the Pariahs than among the Sudras. In the out-caste portion of many a village may be heard the hum of children learning their letters and the echoes of merry school-children, while the " village proper" is content to remain in ignorance. Nor does this desire to read, which has taken so strong a hold upon the castes from which the native Christians have chiefly come, spend its force within them. It powerfully affects the higher castes also. It has a reflex influence upon them, and out of very self- defence, if they wish to protect their standing and re- spectability, they must educate. With education, even if it be only of a very elemen- tary character, comes light and a capability of appre- ciating more light. 362 E VER Y'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. Thus these low-caste Christian communities act as a lever for influencing the whole nation. The value of missionary effort in this and similar directions is not easily put into statistical form, while it may be conveniently overlooked by such as are inclined to put a low estimate upon its results. THE PROSPECT, 365 XXXIX. THE PROSPECT. However interesting to the student of history may. be the weird past of India, to the observer of current events the wonderful changes going on at present in that great country, and its probable future, are matters of still greater interest. The probable political future of India is now and has been for years an absorbing topic of discussion among European statesmen. In the religious future of India America has a more direct interest. Considering the influence which the religion of a people has upon its national development, we regard the religious future of India as of more vital interest to the world at large than any prospective political changes can possibly be. For the last half century the Christian churches of Europe and America have, with scarcely an exception, taken a deep interest in the spread of the gospel in India. Although this is a very short period in which to look for great religious changes among a people so conser- vative as the Hindus, yet " Watchman, tell us of the night What its signs of promise are," is a reasonable inquiry for the church to make. We have elsewhere referred to the indirect changes which are being produced in India through the influence of the gospel. In order to appreciate the progress which 364 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. has really been made, we must understand, better than we fear the church at home generally does, the nature of the warfare which the Christian church wages in India. The church in Europe and America has always been lavish of sympathy with and for her foreign mis- sionaries. We regret to say that much of this sympathy has been misdirected. The real obstacles and dis- couragements being often unknown, missionaries have been pitied and commiserated for things unworthy of their manliness and the cause which they represent. Our friends have supposed that because we live in a country where we cannot get as good bread and butter as they can at home, where we have to go about the country in ox-carts instead of travelling in Pullman Palace-cars, and because we live in a land famous for tigers, cobras, lizards, and scorpions, we must be very uncomfortable, and must be continually longing to get home. I assure my readers that so far as I have known the foreign missionaries in India they are not such babes that they must be confined to any particular kind of delicate food ; they are not such hothouse plants that they cannot endure a little physical hardship, and they are generally men and women of sufficient good judg- ment to keep out of the way of wild beasts and danger- ous reptiles. More than that, I take the liberty of saying in their behalf that they do not thank you for sentimentality of this kind. You insult their manliness when you intimate that they care for these things, or that they had not better counted the cost of their THE PROSPECT. 365 undertaking. Our difficulties and discouragements are of a very different nature ; and in order that the church at home may have an intelligent interest in the work, they ought to be better understood. As missionaries, we go to India with hearts full of love and zeal. We go there with a message — glad tidings of great joy for all the people — and we naturally expect a response from them somewhat commensurate with our interest in them. In this we are disappointed, though we ought to have foreseen its improbability. In the first place, they are self-righteous and satisfied. They do not want a new and purer religion. " Chris- tianity," they say, " may be just the thing for you white people of Europe and America, but as for us we have our own religion and we do not want any other. This was good enough for our renowned ancestors, and it is certainly good enough for us." They are suspicious of our motives. Hinduism is selfish — utterly selfish. Unmitigated selfishness is one of the dark stains on the character of the Hindus, and they cannot give us credit for unselfishness in our efforts for the spread of the gospel among them. They talk over the matter among themselves, and say, " How much do these missionaries get for each convert?" Then they speculate on the subject and decide among themselves that for each high-caste convert we must get a good price — say a hundred rupees — while for a low- caste one we get only two or three rupees. Our school- boys sometimes in good faith ask us how much we get for a convert. It may not be difficult to explain such 41 366 E VER Y'DA V LIFE IN INDIA. matters satisfactorily so far as we have an opportunity of doing so, but to dislodge such suspicions from the minds of thousands and milHons of people is neither an easy nor a speedy task. They are indifferent as to the future. The theory of the transmigration of souls — which is a vital part of the Hindu religion — is not calculated to inspire either hope of reward or fear of punishment to a very great degree. It leads rather to indifference. What is not attained in one birth may be made up in another throughout the successive generations. We do not say that the mass of the people understand the theory of metempsychosis, or that they are even able to account for their indifference with regard to the future ; but the whole nation has nevertheless been influenced by it and the Christian teacher finds the pernicious effects of the doctrine a very great obstacle to his efforts to arouse the people to a sense of their relation to a future life. They are not impressed with a sense of guilt. This too may be ascribed largely to their pernicious system of belief. Their pantheistic philosophy has washed away the very foundations upon which the Christian teacher comes to build. Pantheism, by making every- thing God, including even man himself, who according to the Hindu theory is finally to be absorbed again in the great being Brahm — must necessarily annihilate the distinction between a personal God and a personal self ; and in doing so it must destroy also the sense of per- sonal responsibility. How can we be accountable to a being of whom we are a part? A Hindu ordinarily THE PROSPECT. 367 talks very reverently about God. He says, " By God's blessing I am well to-day;" " If it be God's will I shall come to-morrow;" and the new missionary, as he observes this reverence of speech and sees the multi- form outward religious ceremonies which enter into a Hindu's daily life, almost feels as if he had mistaken his calling in coming hither to teach him religion. Let him, however, search for a heartfelt sense of sin, for a humiliating burden of guilt, let him probe for a sensitive and restraining conscience, a truthful character, an un- selfish and beneficent life, and he will search and probe in vain. These and others of a similar nature are the real difficulties and discouragements which enter into mis- sionary work in India. They are not of a physical but of a spiritual nature. Nor are they such as we should shrink from. We ought rather to welcome them as foemen worthy of our steel. What merit, what glory, what honor to its divine Founder if Christianity had won India by a litde mortification of the flesh on the part of its teachers ? None ! The Hindu devotees themselves excel all Christendom in mortification of the body. For physical endurance of hardships Protestantism claims no merit, and the world Is never to be brought to Christ through It ; but if the gospel can overcome these vasdy greater, these spiritual difficulties, if It can restore not only the heart degraded by sin but also the intellect distorted by false systems of philosophy which have held in their subtle grasp and swayed for thousands of 368 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. years the thought of millions of fellow human beings — if the gospel can overcome these obstacles, it wins a triumph worthy of its claims, a triumph which must be acknowledged by individuals and by nations. This the gospel of Christ is doing to-day in India, and is doing it with a rapidity never before witnessed in the history of moral and religious reformations in any age or coun- try. Within the last five years upwards of eighty thousand persons have been received into the Christian church in India. Will India ever become a Christian country ? As- suredly so. We are not prepared to say that the millennium will dawn in India before it does in Europe and America. We have no more reason to hope that every man, woman, and child in India will become a devoted follower of Christ than we have to hope for such a blessed consummation in lands already Chris- tianized ; but in the sense that America is to-day a Christian country, will India also be such before another century will have passed away. Long before that time Christ will have sincere followers and teachers in every Hindu village — epistles known and read of all men; and his gospel will be " a savor of life unto life or of death unto death" throughout the length and breadth of India as it is to-day throughout America and Europe. CASTE AND CONVERTS, 369 XIx. CASTE AKD CONVERTS. There is a class of people — noisy, rather than large — ^who seem to find especial delight in depreci- ating missionary work. Without any very sacred re- gard for the truth, they make statements to suit the conclusions which they wish to draw ; and among such statements a favorite one is, that Hindu converts are all drawn from the out-caste classes and have changed their religion from temporal motives. We give here the official statement of the Madras Census Report for 1871 — the last one published — as showing the comparative number of converts from the various castes in Southern India. TABLE SHOWING THE CASTE ORIGIN OF NATIVE CHRISTIANS. Brahmans 3,658 Kshatriyas 4,535 Vaisyas -- 3,444 Cultivators 35,742 Shepherds 2,462 Artisans 5,2x6 Weavers 5,027 Agricultural laborers 90,852 Shamars 26,724 Mixed castes 6,861 Fishermen I4,459 Other Hindus • 49,389 Pariahs 131,367 This shows simply what the missionaries have al- ways affirmed and claimed : namely, that while the ma- 370 E VER y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, jorlty of converts have come from the lower castes, all, from the Brahmans down, are represented in the Chris- tian church in India. It being granted, then, as a fact that the accessions to Christianity have been largely from the ranks of the lower castes, though not exclusively so, as is sometimes asserted, what view are we to take of the matter ? Are we to regard it as a sign unfavorable to the character of Christianity, or to the nature of the missionary work done ? We incline to a different view of the matter. As a preliminary thought, it is well enough for us to bear in mind that we cannot reasonably expect a sudden and universal change on the part of the people of India from their old idolatrous systems to the Chris- tian religion. We cannot expect this when we consider the people themselves, and we cannot expect it when we consider the ways in which God has built up his church in the past. We are impatient, and God's ways seem slow in our eyes. If we had lived in the olden days, we should have pronounced it a sheer waste of time to keep the children of Israel in bondage for hundreds of years, and how we should have fretted over the weary waiting from Samuel to Simeon ! How we should have discoursed learnedly on the failure of prophecy, and on the effete- ness of the Jewish religion ! No doubt it is well that we were not born before our time. Viewed in connection with the history of the church thus far, our impatience with the present progress of the gospel in India and other heathen countries is most un- CASTE AND CONVERTS, 371 reasonable. We have heard something of Christian nations being born in a day, and the idea clings to us that we ought to see something of the kind with regard to India. Except God set aside the means which he has hitherto employed in all ages to build up his church, and by a stupendous miracle work so wondrous a change, we need look for no such sudden and universal transformation. In the gospel the church is spoken of under the similitude of a house which is gradually being built ; of a tree which grows steadily and slowly from a very small seed; of leaven which quietly but effectually spreads its influence until the whole lump is leavened. We ought not to look, therefore, for a sudden and gen- eral turning from heathenism to Christianity, but rather for a steady, gradual advance of the gospel. Moreover, owing to the institution of caste in India, which so widely separates the different classes of the community, we ought to expect Christianity to advance more rapidly in the line of one or more of the various castes, than among all classes simultaneously. This being admitted, the question arises, which were preferable, that the higher castes should come first, or that the lower castes should come first ? We present several evident reasons why it seems better for the cause of the church herself that the low- caste people should accept the gospel first and the higher castes afterwards. I. Great differences exist between the various grades of society. These differences are not of a social char- 372 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. acter only, but also of a supposed religious character, being inherent in birth and blood, and therefore inerad- icable by education and culture. In no other country in the world is there so little sympathy and so little intercourse between the two ex- tremes of society. Wherever Christianity has found its way, its influence has been to elevate its adherents intel- lectually, as well as morally. In India it has now, and is destined to have in a yet greater degree, the same effect. If, then, the higher castes, who are already far re- moved in intelligence above the lower castes, had been the first to embrace Christianity and benefit by it, the vast gulf between the two extremes of society would have been increased, instead of lessened. If, however, as is actually the case, the lower castes are benefited, elevated socially, morally, and intellectually, by the Christian religion, this vast difference is by so much decreased. That such an effect is really being pro* duced, we have abundant evidence in the fact that na- tive Christian pastors and teachers who have come from the lower castes are admitted on terms of social equality by many liberal-minded persons of the higher castes. 2. If the gospel had made such a manifest improve- ment in the condition of the higher castes as it is ma- king among the lower castes, the change would have counted for nothing in the eyes of the lower castes. We mean, it would have been no evidence to them of any superior or divine quality in the gospel itself They have" from time immemorial been taught to consider themselves of ho value as human beings, beyond hope CASTE AND CONVERTS, 375 here and hereafter, until every aspiration beyond their daily needs has been crushed out. However great a change for the better the gospel might have made among the high -caste people, the lower castes would have looked upon it as something natural and to be expected, while they would not have aspired to the same good for themselves. If they had given it a thought at all, which is doubtful, it would have been this : " Oh, yes, it is all very well for the Brahmans, but it is nothing to us." Thus one of the most tangi- ble evidences of the truth of Christianity, as a divine institution, would have been lost upon the mass of the people. As it is, the ennobling influence of the gospel first shows itself upon the lower castes, and in doing so it cannot fail to be recognized by all. 3. Caste is in direct opposition to the spirit of the gospel. It can never be tolerated in the church of Christ. If it cannot be tolerated in the church, the only safe course is not to admit it, but to make the renunci- ation of caste a requisite for admission into the church. It will be seen at once that if the higher castes had become Christians first, the renunciation of caste could never have been made a practical test of admission. There would have been no lower castes for them to as- sociate with within the church ; and as for the lower castes, it would simply have flattered their vanity to be afterwards admitted into a body which at once raised them apparently to the standard of the higher castes. Within the church the subsequent admission of the lower castes could not fail to bring endless strife and 42 37^ EVERY'DAY^ LIFE IN INDIA. confusion. We have seen examples of this kind where Roman-catholic missionaries had first received high- caste members — allowing them to bring with them all their caste distinctions — and afterwards received low- caste converts. The strife was something fearful, and was compromised only by the priests dispensing with the "assembling together" of the saints, and letting each party or individual come to church at whatever hour of the day was most convenient. When the lower castes are the first to enter the church, all subsequent comers are of course put to the wholesome test of re- nouncing caste before professing themselves Christians. 4. If the higher castes had been the first to espouse Christianity, it would have given the finest opportunity to unprincipled men among the Brahmans to continue their tyrannical priesthood under the guise of the Chris- tian religion. Christianity in all countries is shaped in its external administration to a great extent by sur- rounding circumstances and customs, and we can well see how it might, under a Brahmanical priesthood, be- come little more than a colored Brahmanism. If the first caste to become Christians had been the Brahmans, as a matter of course the teachers for them and for all other classes would have come from among them, and such a course would have been more dam- aging to the yoiing Christian church in India than was even the plague of Gnosticism in the early church. Let these few thoughts suffice for at least a silver lining to this cloud which has so long been considered very dark, and only dark. • BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA . 377 XLI. BIBLE SCEKES IN IHDIA. In our dally life in India we notice many customs which call to mind words and passages in the Bible. This seems but natural when we remember that the Bible was written in the East, and that on account of the stationary character of Eastern people, there is but little change in their customs even in thousands of years. It is probable, too, that at the time the Bible was written there was considerable communication be- tween Egypt, Syria, and India, and that these countries had many customs in common. There are even many points of resemblance between the religion of the Hindus and that of the ancient Jews. Turning to Bible language, we are frequently reminded of passages like these : "TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK." Mark 2:11, 12. . In the Bible we read a number of times of persons taking up their beds and walking, as if their beds had been something which they could easily carry from place to place. Our idea of a bed includes bedstead, mattress, pil- lows, blankets, etc., altogether more than one man could well carry ; but in Eastern countries beds are much more simple. Going along the bazaars or principal streets in an Indian town, we may see at any hour of the day peo- ple who have taken up their beds and are walking — • 378 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, walking along as unconcernedly as you would with an umbrella under your arm. These "beds" consist sim- ply of a light palm-leaf mat, about six. feet long and half as wide, or a rough blanket, or it may be the skin of some wild animal. Especially travellers, pilgrims, beggars, etc., carry such beds along with them, and they continually remind one of the Bible references. In their houses, those who can afford it use low rope cots, but these are also without " bedding," such as mat- tresses, pillows, etc. Some of the more enterprising and wealthy Hindus are beginning to introduce En- glish-style bedsteads ; still there is no danger that these will soon replace the old Eastern style of beds to which we have just referred. "EMPTY, SWEPT, AND GARNISHED." These words occur in Matt. 12 : 44, and refer to a house prepared to receive a guest. Were we to refer to a house in Europe or America which had been pre- pared to receive a guest, we should say " it was com- fortably furnished, properly heated, well lighted," etc. ; but here in India we could find no words more appro- priate than " empty, swept, and garnished." The houses here generally consist of but a single room. Into this room are crowded not only men, wom- en, children, pots, cots, looms, spinning-wheels, and other working implements, but also cows, buffaloes, dogs, and fowls. This, I say, is the case ordinarily with the houses of the poorer and middle-class people ; but BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA. 379 if a guest is expected, as, for example, should the mis- sionary come to see a Christian family, that little room will soon present another appearance. First of all, it is emptied. Children, catde, fowls, cots, pots, and working utensils are all removed, and the house is completely emptied, or as nearly so as possible. Next comes the sweeping. With a rude wisp made of palm-leaf or of grass, every corner, the inside walls and floor are nicely swept. Water is sprinkled over the floor and walls, and the operation is repeated until the inside of the house seems perfectly clean. Then comes the garnishing. A large space around the outside of the door having also been swept and sprinkled, the women take powdered lime in their hands, and with great skill drop it gently from the back of the hand between their fingers, thus making straight white lines, curves, circles, etc., at pleasure, until the ground around the doorway, inside and outside, pre- sents a very pictured appearance. But this is not all. The walls of the house are painted in upright, alter- nate stripes of red and white. Each stripe is from eight inches to a foot wide, and extends from the roof to the ground. The paints most frequently used are simply a cheap red earth and lime-water, or common "white- wash." A house thus emptied, swept, and garnished, if it has a good roof, is not a bad place to be in on a hot day. Having thick mud walls and no windows, it is far cooler than a tent. 386 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. "SET A HEDGE ABOUT, . . . AND BUILT A TOWER" IN THE MIDST OF THE VINEYARD. Mark 12:1. In travelling about the country we are continually reminded of these words. On account of the scarcity of wood, stones, and iron, there are no fences around the fields in India such as you see in America. The only kind of fences here are hedges — living, growing hedges of various kinds of plants, such as cac- tus, aloe, and bamboo. As these hedges are often in- complete and insecure, and as many fields are altogether without fences of any sort, it becomes necessary to have guards or watchers, and therefore the farmers build small towers, watch-towers, in the midst of their fields. When the crops are ripening, watchers sit on these towers day and night, occasionaliy calling out with a shrill cry, to frighten away straying cattle, kites, crows, parrots, and sneak-thieves of the human kind. There is something pleasant and cheering in the tones of these watchers, as you hear them calling -out in field after field as you travel through the country near harvest-time ; and one of the most melancholy sights during the late famine, when the earth refused to give her increase for a few successive years, was the silent desolation and gradual decay of these watch-towers in the midst of the fields. "THE SHADOW OF A GREAT ROCK IN A WEARY LAND." ISA. 32 : 2. By a weary land, I suppose the ancient writer meant a land where people become weary readily on account . BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA, 381 of the excessive heat. In this sense India, during a part of the year, is emphatically a weary land, and at this time the shadow of a great rock is about the only shade that is dense enough to be refreshing or sheltering. In temperate climates, the full force of this figure can scarcely be appreciated. There one is not likely to notice a great difference between the shade of a bush or a tree and that produced by a rock. Here this dif- ference is very marked ; the rays of the sun are so fierce that the shade of a tree gives but little, shelter. Besides, the glare of reflected hght under a tree is almost as painful to the eyes and as injurious to the head as di- rect rays. Europeans, therefore, very seldom resort to the shade of trees as a protection from the sun. The shadow of a rock, especially a great rock, is, however, very refreshing, and forms a secure shelter from the direct rays, while it also most probably breaks off the reflected glare from one or more sides. COMPELLING PEOPLE TO DO CERTAIN KINDS OF WORK. We read in Luke 23 : 26, that as they led Jesus away to be crucified, " they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus." In America such an act of compulsion would seem very unnatural, and probably no one passing along the road on his own business would consent to be impressed into the service of others. He would consider such an act as an interference with his personal liberty ; and 382 E VERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA, while he might be willing' to assist those in need of help, as a matter of accommodation, he would scarcely con- sent to be " compelled." Such is not the case here. Compelling people to work is of daily occurrence. Should a traveller be pass- ing through a town and want a change of carts, palen- keen-bearers, or burden-carriers, he writes a note to the nearest government official, who sends out a peon and impresses for service the first carts, bearers, or coo- lies he may meet. We have frequently found cart-dri- vers, many miles away from their homes, who had been taken out of their course and away from their work, altogether without their own consent. It is a practice which ought scarcely to be encouraged, and when it is known that one is willing to pay for the service required, it can generally be obtained without resorting to gov- ernment officials and compulsion. There are, however, exceptions, and but for this custom, which reminds one of the Scripture passage quoted, Europeans would sometimes be put to great inconvenience. ' SITTING AT THE FEET OF TEACHERS. Paul, speaking to the Jews in Jerusalem (Acts 22 : 3), says he was brought up "at the feet of Gamaliel." In an article written by a Hindu, which I have just read, the following expression is used : " The rich and the great will never consent to sit at their feet and re- ceive knowledge from their lips " (having reference to low-caste teachers). In looking into a Hindu schoolroom, this expres- BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA, 383 sion, " sitting at the feet of teachers," is forcibly called to our minds. The only chair or stool in such a room is occupied by the teacher. The pupils all sit around him on the earthen floor, and thus literally are sitting at his feet. For any boy to bring a stool from home and sit on it in school in the presence of the teacher, would be considered very disrespectful, and so careful are Hindus to show proper respect to their superiors in rank or sta- tion, that under no circumstances would one of their boys do such an unbecoming act. FALLING DOWN AT THE FEET OF OTHERS. In Luke 8 : 41, it is said that when Jairus came to meet Jesus, he fell down at his feet and besought him that he would come unto his house. Cornelius also fell down at the feet of Peter. Here we see daily examples of this custom, and it is in cases like those mentioned above that it takes place. It is not at All unusual for persons, even persons of con- siderable respectability, to throw themselves full length on the ground at the feet of one from whom they are asking some great favor. With beggars it is a very common practice. POSSESSED WITH DEVILS. Throughout the East the notion seems to be com- mon that people become possessed with devils, and that by certain processes these devils may be cast out. It is very difficult to explain all the circumstances connected 43 384 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. with such an event as we see it here, and the fact that these cases remind us of the ones mentioned in the Bible makes the subject all the more interesting. The " casting out of a devil " is a performance which occurs now and then in an Indian village, but not very frequently. When it does occur, it is an event of so much importance that it absorbs the attention of the whole neighborhood; and the spectators, whether old or young, eagerly relate the affair in all its details years afterwards. Persons who are said to be possessed with devils scream violently, run to and fro, utter oracular sayings, and are frequently subject to convulsions and contortions of the body. This may go on for several days in succession, the patient meanwhile refusing to eat, drink, or sleep. Steps are now taken to drive out the evil spirit. A *' doctor'' is called in, who, as is usual with his class, first applies mild, immaterial remedies, in the shape of incantations, or what is known in America as " powwowing." Should he not succeed in dislodging the demon by this process, he then gives the patient a drink which contains, among other things, cow-manure. If the evil spirit still remains, the " possessed " per- son is then thoroughly whipped — beaten with a rattan, a bamboo stick, an old shoe, or whatever may chance to be at hand. Meanwhile, if the spirit seems inexora- ble, a meal of boiled rice, brown sugar, etc., is prepared by which to allure him away. As soon as he shows any signs of yielding his hold upon the person, the prepared meal is quickly carried BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA. 385 in a large pot to some neighboring hill, a grove, or some other secluded place. The spirit is supposed to follow and there feast upon the meal. As demons, how- ever, eat only in spirit, the meal is afterwards appropri- ated by the exorcist. As long as the demon remains in the person, the beating is ignored, however severe it may be, nor does the patient profess to know anything of what has taken place. Sometimes the ceremony of casting out devils is attended with hideous noises on all sorts of musical instruments. THRESHING. " Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn," i Cor. 9 : 9, and the figure used in the gospels, " Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner," Luke 3: 17, are both suggested by the mode of threshing grain common here. A dry, eleva- ted, level plot of ground is selected as the "floor.'* Generally the heads of grain only are subject to thresh- ing — these having been broken ofl" the stock. These are then spread in a thick layer upon the floor, and oxen are used to tread out the corn, i. e., the grain. I have often noticed the oxen on these occasions, but in- variably found them muzzled by means of a little basket tied over the mouth. The heads having been well threshed in this way, the process of separating the chafl" from the grain be- gins. I have never seen any large fanning mills in India such as you see in America. While one person 386 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. lifts up into the air, as high as he can reach, a basket or shovelful of grain and chaff, and then drops it so that it may fall to the ground, a second person, with a large fan in his hand, sets a current of air in motion in the direction of the grain. This air, in passing through the falling grain and chaff, carries away the latter, while the former falls to the ground. The operation has to be repeated several times before the floor is thoroughly purged. In case a strong wind blows, the fan may be dispensed with. At such times the persons pouring the grain and chaff generally stand on a high stool, so as to admit of a longer falling distance. VAIN REPETITIONS. "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do," Matt. 6 ; 7 ; and, " When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast," ver. 16. In passing along the streets of a town, you fre- quently see men with long strings of beads about their necks, and as you come near to them you hear them muttering the name of some god, as ** Rama, Rama, Rama," or it may be a prayer of a few words. Mean- while they are passing the beads quietly through their fingers. The Sanskrit name of these bead strings means literally " muttering chaplet," which seems much more appropriate than "rosary," the name given to them in European countries. By means of these beads the wearer can ascertain the number of times he has BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA. 387 said the name of his god or any other prayer. The merit is supposed to be in proportion to the number. Some also make an effort to call upon their gods by as many different names as possible, and it is said that for Vishnu there are one thousand, and for Siva one thou- sand and eight names. Some Mohammedans also wear "muttering chaplets." These are generally made of one hundred date stones. The fakirs and other de- votees, who go about the country covered more exten- sively with ashes and long uncombed hair than with decent clothing, are disreputable hypocrites. Hindus themselves have no faith in their holiness, and they are preeminently the characters who disfigure themselves that they may appear unto men to fast. GIRDING THE LOINS. This figure is extensively used in both the Old and New Testaments to denote preparation and readiness for active work. Having the loins girded also implies additional strength and endurance. In India girding the loins is a common custom among active workmen, and the full beauty of the Bible figures is thus brought to view. A palenkeen bearer, before starting on a journey, invariably takes his loose "upper cloth," and, having folded it into a narrow strip about eight inches wide, ties it securely about his loins. Other burden-bearers do the same. Men who run long distances, as public or private letter- carriers, and even ordinary travellers who have a long walk before them, tighdy gird their loins. So do 388 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . also servants and other workmen occasionally, when specially preparing for some active work. The support afforded by the operation is very great indeed, and the practice is one which deserves to be copied more ex- tensively in western countries. WOMEN AT THE WELL. From the Bible references it appears that drawing water and carrying it away on the head or shoulders in stone or earthen pots was especially the work of the women. So it is also in India. Early in the morning, large companies of women may be seen going to, com- ing from, and gathering around the wells. Now and then a few men may be seen among them, but as a rule the water-carriers are women, and as they file away with their large brown earthen pots, we cannot but think of such scenes as Moses' meeting with the young woman who afterwards became his wife, Saul's inquiry about the seer, of the maidens who came to draw water, and the woman of Samaria at the well. "MAKING A TINKLING WITH THEIR FEET." In the third chapter of Isaiah we have some intima- tions of the fashions among the " daughters of Zion " more than two thousand years ago. From the profu- sion of ornaments mentioned there, it appears that the fair Jewesses of those days were not far behind th^ fair Christians of our time in devising ways and means of adorning the body. It does not seem, however, that their efforts and ingenuity in this direction were partic- BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA. 391 ularly pleasing to God, for he threatens to " take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, their chains, bracelets, mufflers," etc. Again, the Apostle Peter exhorts the Christian wo- men to seek not so much after outward adornment as after the " ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." Among the Jewish ornaments were the feet-jewels. This is a kind of jewelry not worn by European and American ladies — probably not for any want of disposi- tion on their part, so much as on account of the imprac- ticability of wearing it in connection with our style of foot covering. In India, however, feet-jewelry is com- mon, and its " tinkling " cannot fail to remind one of the words of Scripture we have above quoted. The ornament which makes the noise consists of a circular, or rather an elliptical wire, which encircles the foot above the ankle, and to which are attached a number of small closed bells — perhaps fifteen or twenty — and as the foot strikes the ground, these make a clattering noise. One being attached to each foot, a monotonous tramp, tramp, tramp is sent out in all directions as a full-jewelled woman passes by. These tinkling feet- jewels are worn principally by high-caste women when in "full dress," and by dancing girls. This latter class wear them in great profusion, and are very skilful in adapting their sound to the music which may be played while they perform what is called dancing in this country. Others — even cooly women — often wear rings without bells about the ankles, and 392 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . ** rings on their toes," as many as they can find room for. GIVING PRESENTS WHEN PAYING A VISIT. When the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, she brought for him "very much gold and precious stones, and of spices very great store," i Kings lo: 2, 10, and Solomon gave her many presents in return. Giving presents when paying a visit, and even on other occasions as a mark of friendship, is an Oriental custom which extends from the highest prince down to the poorest cooly. Queen Victoria has to be continu- ally sending costly presents to her dependent Indian Princes in acknowledgment of similar tokens of friend- ship received from them. Not long ago the Viceroy of India sent the rather cumbersome present of seven elephants to the Khedive of Egypt. Following the custom which is thus extravagantly carried out by princes, the poor cooly who comes to you for a favor, or to pay his respects to you, will bring you an orange, or a bit of sweetmeat. Especially a man who is a little elevated in the social scale, as a village or other govern- ment official, will never think of visiting you without bringing a small present of fruit, cakes, or sweetmeat. These presents are of no practical value to you, and cost him but little. Their object is to show and culti- vate friendship, and they remind us of the stability of Eastern customs; for not only in connection with the Queen of Sheba, but in many other places in the Bible, we find traces of the same custom many centuries ago. BIBLE SCENES IN INDIA, 393 SERVANTS UPON HORSES. The Preacher (10:7) tells us, by way of illustration, that he has seen "servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth." In America this illustration loses its force, for there you may any day see servants on horses, and great men — if not actual, tided princes — walking upon the earth. In the East, and especially in some parts of India, you may live from youth to old age without seeing either. Even horse-keepers, and much less other servants, are never seen on horses. A horse-keeper may run after you as you ride along at the rate of five or six miles an hour for twenty miles, and then, as often happens, when you go on by some other conveyance, and send the horse back to the place from which you started, the horse- keeper leads the animal, but never rides him. The same is true in case a servant brings a horse to meet you, or when he has to take the animal out for exercise, as is necessary in this country. Though a Hindu might be a horse-keeper all his days, it is not probable that it would ever enter his head to put him- self astride the animal after whose wants he looks, and whose meal of grain he too often clandestinely shares. It is not the custom, and that is law enough for him. As for princes or other natives of high social stand- ing "walking upon the earth," this sight is almost as rare as servants on horses. Walking is considered infra dignitatem, and a "respectable" man will ride a scrubby, half-starved pony, not any heavier than him- self; he will hang on to a ridiculous, awkward and 44 394 EVERY'DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. uncomfortable bullock-cart ; he will be carried in or on anything from a palenkeen down to a board, by poor coolies, but walk he will not. Surely the Preacher gave a striking illustration of things out of place, according to Oriental notions, when he spoke of ser- vants on horses and princes walking upon the earth. APPENDIX. 395 APPENDIX I. ROUTES TO IKDIA, OUTFITS, ETC. For the present, the quickest and at the same time the cheapest route to India, for Americans, is by way of Europe. The westward route is attended with great expense, many changes and possible delays between China and the Indian ports. However, these obstacles are not insurmountable, and if there be any strong rea- son for selecting this route, aside from speed and the conveniences of travel, it may be taken and made to yield much interest and information. Since the opening of the Suez Canal, the eastward route is rendered comparatively easy, and it may be made within six weeks, if the traveller is pressed for time. It is better, however, to allow at least three months for the journey, so as to be able to take a rest in London, and to have a glimpse of Europe on the way. Having crossed the Atlantic, the India-bound traveller has a choice of steamers and ports. From London he can sail almost any day of the week for India. If he is in search of the most fashionable and expensive steamers, he wends his v/ay to Southampton 396 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . and embarks on a " P. & O.," which means, a steamer of the "Peninsular and Oriental" hne. The London steamers are cheaper than these, and some of them equally comfortable. The sea-voyage may be shortened by embarking at Marseilles, Trieste, Naples, Brindisi, or some other Mediterranean port. This route costs but little more, while it affords the traveller an opportunity of passing through Paris and over the Continent. At the other end of the journey the sea-voyage may likewise be shortened by landing at Bombay and pro- ceeding thence by railroad, instead of going by steamer around to Madras or Calcutta. This is Hkely to entail expense and inconvenience, especially if there be much baggage. In case any short sea-voyage is decided upon, all heavy baggage ought to be sent direct from London or Liverpool to the Indian port nearest your destination. The expense is trifling, and the trouble saved incalculable. In making up packages of goods either for the jour- ney or for use in India, small cases are to be preferred to large ones. All ought to be tin-lined, securely closed, and legibly marked, not with labels, which may be knocked or washed off, but wztA letters printed on the cases. WHAT SHALL I TAKE WITH ME TO INDIA? This question is sure to suggest itself to missiona- ries and others who look forward to a residence in that country. If asked what things it is necessary to take APPENDIX. * 397 along for use in India, we may answer that it is not ab- solutely necessary to take anything. The larger cities of India can supply everything needed by European residents, but it does not follow, therefore, that it is not advisable to take some things with you from home. Indian prices for European goods are very high, and the articles to be obtained are too often inferior in quality. The Indian merchants carry on their business under many disadvantages. It is not necessary for us to recount them here, but the European resident will soon learn to appreciate them, and to understand why Indian prices of imported goods are necessarily very high. It is advisable therefore to take along to India a supply of certain articles, and these are not always what one would suppose, a priori, would be needed. We have known people who imagined going to India meant going into a rude wilderness, where they would never more have need 9f a " best suit," or any other accessory of civilized life. It may, therefore, not be out of place to say that the European resident in India needs to be provided with evening dress -suits of the best quality, and these are advantageously brought from home. The material ought not to be heavy, but otherwise there is no distinc- tion between the dress required for an Indian station- dinner and a full-dress party in London or New York. Another matter worth mentioning is, that flannels, above all ot;her fabrics, are useful in India. The chan- 398 EVERY-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. ges In temperature are very sudden, and the wearing of flannel next the skin is a necessity. A gruff Indian physician is reputed to have said that he " would not throw good medicine away upon any fool who would not wear flannel." In India, flannels are dear, or if cheap, they are old and damaged in proportion. A good supply ought to be brought along. Thin white for under-wear, and heavy white for morning suits, will be found service- able. Light tweeds, for gentlemen's wear, and lawns, linens, and other light material, for ladies' dresses, will be found a good investment. A few pairs of woollen blankets will repay their cost in any part of India. A good supply of shoes will not come amiss. Im- ported shoes are very dear, and country-made ones are very poor. Stockings, handkerchiefs, linen collars, cuffs, under- clothing of all descriptions, table-linen, sheets, and tow- els, are needed in abundance, and are rapidly torn to pieces by the native washermen. If a good supply of material is brought, these articles can be made up here with the aid of native tailors very cheaply. Except to bring woollen blankets, it is not necessary to trouble about bedding. American drill, cotton, and everything else needed to make mattresses, pillows, etc., are found at all Indian stations, and are soon put to- gether by the native tailors. Several pieces of fine bleached muslin will come into advantageous use in almost any Indian house- hold. APPENDIX. 399 A stock of American canned fruits, vegetables, and meats, will be found very agreeable during the new- comer's early stay in India. He has to become used, not only to a new climate, but to new food, and of the table supply of the ordinary Indian station it would not be difficult to give too favorable an account. Gradu- ally we accommodate ourselves to the situation, but too sudden a transition tends in some people to bring on a disease known as homesickness. If one should not too strongly object to much pack- ing and many boxes, we should say he would not go wrong in bringing from home kerosene-lamps, a din- ner-set, goblets, tumblers, etc. They must of course be well packed, but if this be done they will be found cheaper and much more satisfactory than those for sale in India, Cutlery and plated silverware ought by all means to be brought along. Solid silverware ought never to be put into the hands of Indian serv^ants; their moral character is not equal to the situation. Persons who expect to be permanently located at one place will find it a good investment to bring a cooking- stove with all its appliances. It ought to be taken apart and packed in sawdust. A sewing-machine and a cabinet organ are as much needed in an Indian as in an American home. So are chromos, brackets, and other articles of household ornament, and they all ought to be brought along. Frames for chromos and other pictures are not easily obtained here at moderate prices, and ought likewise to be brought along. Expensive and frail household 400 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA. ornaments ought not to be brought. They are in dan- ger of being spoiled by servants and of being destroyed by insects. But, more than anything else, does the European need to bring to India a good constitution, a cheerful disposition, moderate habits, sympathy for his fellow- men, of whatever country, creed, or color, faith in him- self, love for his work, and trust in God. GLOSSARY OF FOREIGN TERMS. 401 GLOSSARY OF FOREIGN TERMS USED. Anna : a silver coin worth one-sixteenth of a rupee, or about three cents. Ayah : a nurse-maid. Bandy : a cart or carriage. Bangles: armlets. Bazaar : the market or market-place. Bungalow: a dwellinghouse. The term is applied to the large, airy houses occupied generally by European resi- dents, but not to native huts. Chuckler: oiTe belonging to the shoemaker caste. Chunam: lime. Compound : a yard or enclosure about a house. Congee : gruel made of rice or other grain. CooLY : a laborer ; also applied to his visages, as, " His cooly is three annas a day." Curry: a savory dish composed of meat or vegetables, onions, salt, pepper, cocoanut, ghee, etc., and to be eaten with rice or other boiled grain. Cuscus : a kind of fragrant roots. CUTCHERY : an office or court. Dub : a piece of money equal to four pice or one cent. Durbar : a court where a levee is held. Fakir: properly a Mohammedan devotee or beggar; the word is also used for Hindu devotees or sanyasis. Ghee : clarified butter. GoDOWN : a warehouse or storeroom. Gomaster : an agent or clerk. Griffin: a descriptive title of a foreigner during his first year in India. Jungle : a forest or thicket. 45 402 E VER Y-DA Y LIFE IN INDIA . KOMITIES : native merchants. KuRNAM : the village clerk. Madigar : one belonging to the shoemaker caste. Mala : one belonging to the weaver caste. Mantram : a charm or incantation. Mela : a festival. MoFUSSiL : rural districts. Motart : an inferior village official. Munsif: the village headman. Nautch : a peculiar Indian dance. Paddy : rice in the husk. Peon: a footman, constable. PiALS : small mounds of earth, often used as seats. Pice: a copper "coin of the value of one-twelfth of an anna, or one-fourth of a cent. PuNCHYAT : a council of five. Pundit : a learned man. Punkah : a large fan suspended from the ceiling. Rajah : a native prince or king. Rupee : a silver coin of the value of half a dollar. Ryot : a tenant or farmer. Sanyasi : a Hindu devotee. Shaster : a treatise on Hindu sacred laws. Tahsildar : a revenue officer, inferior to subcollector. Tali : the marriage badge. Tamasha : display, pomp, etc. Tank : a pond or lake. Tappal: post for letters, or banghy. Tattie : a mat. Tonjon : a travelling conveyance. Vedas : the Hindu sacred books. Vettymen : menial village servants. Zemindar : a land-holder. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 006 731 140 1