/ \ r ' 
 
 / 
 
 1 
 
 "S. 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Purchased by the Hammill Missionary 
 
 Fund. 
 
 Division S Ar 1. S 
 
 Section • ^5 
 
 
 Number . 
 
 

Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/womanstalksaboutOObrit • 
 
(L;ur.<i about mtoui. — ^rontispuce. 
 
 A VillM^e in Itulia. 
 
A 
 
 WOMAN’S TALKS ABOUT INDIA 
 
 “KARDOO,” ‘^SHOSHIE,” “SCEXES of every day life in AFRICA,” ETC 
 
 UEVISKU FOR THE COMMITTEE OF rUBLICATlON. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 American Sunday-School Union, 
 No. 1122 Chestnut Stkeet. 
 
 New York: S and 10 Bible House, Astok Plaor. 
 rHicAoo: 7.1 Randolph St. 
 
 THE DOMESTIC HABITS AND CUSTOMS 
 OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 \ 
 
 HARRIET L. .5RITTAN, 
 
 AUTHOE OF 
 
Entered ticcordinij to Act of Congress, in the year 1880 , by the 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, 3 
 
 Chap. I. — Extent, Population, &c., of In- 
 dia, 9 
 
 “ II. — Life at Madras, ... 17 
 
 “ III. — Calcutta and Climate of India, 46 
 
 “ IV. — Homes and Home Experiences, . 55 
 
 “ V. — Shopping and Servants, . . 82 
 
 “ VI. — Marriages and Weddings, . 102 
 
 “ VII. — Animals and Insects, . . 112 
 
 “ VIII. — Churuck Poo.ta, or Hook-swing- 
 ing, 130 
 
 “ IX. — Religion, “ Holy Men,” and Fes- 
 tivals, 148 
 
 “ X. — A Cyclone, 172 
 
 “ XL — Brahmins and Caste, . . . 180 
 
 “ XII. — Superstitions, .... 192 
 
 “ XIII. — The Sacred Ganges, . . . 203 
 
 Index, ... . 211 
 
TO THK 
 
 TOUI^G FRIENDS OF MISSIONS 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
 The kind reception given to a former little 
 book of mine has encouraged me to prepare 
 this one. If it likewise is welcomed, I may 
 write another of a similar character, giving 
 further experiences in heathen lands not usually 
 found in works relating to missions. 
 
 When you go to a foreign land, it takes a 
 long time to learn the peculiar ways and habits 
 of the people ; unless, indeed, you read many 
 books on these subjects. My object in this 
 volume is to tell you what I have seen in 
 India, and not what others have said or written 
 about it ; though I shaU now and then do this. 
 
Vni TO THE YOUXG FRIEXDS OF MISEWXSl. 
 
 when they describe customs or things like those 
 I have witnessed. 
 
 I trust that the more you learn of heathen 
 lands, the more grateful you will be for the 
 blessings you possess, and the more earnest 
 you will become in your efforts to send similar 
 blessings to these dark lands. 
 
 That this book may aid in accomplishing 
 this end is the sincere prayer of your friend, 
 
 Harriet G. Brittan. 
 
TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER FIRST. 
 
 EXTENT, POPULATION, RELIGION, AND CASTES OF INDIA. 
 
 I N these clays, when steam navigation and 
 the telegraph are bringing the most distant 
 parts of the earth so close together that 
 those on the opposite side of the globe are 
 becoming our neighbors, we should take every 
 opportunity to improve our acquaintance with 
 the people, their manners, habits, and customs. 
 
 Come with me, then, as we start on our first 
 voyage to India. As we have a very long 
 journey before us, let us freshen our memories 
 with regard to the land to which we are bound. 
 Many persons have very vague ideas concern- 
 ing India. They think it is a very large coun- 
 try, intensely hot, where the people are all 
 
10 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 heathens and in a state of semi-harharism, 
 where there are immense jungles full of ele- 
 phants, tigers, and snakes. This is about all 
 they know of that country. 
 
 Now let us examine it more closely. It is 
 truly a very large country ; so large that, like 
 our own United States, it has every variety of 
 temperature and climate, from the intense heat 
 of the torrid zone under the equator to the 
 regions of perpetual snow in the Himalaya 
 Mountains. The inhabitants of India, unlike 
 those of China and Japan, are not one people, 
 under one rule, with one language and one set 
 of customs, habits, and religion. India resem- 
 bles a vast continent inhabited by a number of 
 different nations and peoples, composing one- 
 sixth of the population of the whole world. 
 One portion of these are Mohammedans ; the 
 rest, though mostly heathen or idolaters, are 
 as varied in their customs and modes of wor- 
 ship and languages as are the different nations 
 of Europe. Now we should think a traveller 
 very inaccurate who described the religious 
 rites, ceremonies, social customs, and habits of 
 Russia or of Wales, and then should say that 
 
CUST031S AND HABITS. 
 
 11 
 
 those were the customs and habits alike of 
 Europe. Therefore, travellers in India should 
 be careful to say, they do thus and so in Bom- 
 bay or in Bengal (different parts of India), in- 
 stead of saying, they do so in India, leaving 
 the reader to suppose that such is the custom 
 all over that vast country, when it probably is 
 confined to one part only. 
 
 There are thirty-six distinct spoken lan- 
 guages in India ; and wherever you find a dis- 
 tinct spoken language, there you will find the 
 customs, both social and religious, distinct also. 
 Some tribes are in a state of almost total barba- 
 rism, others again in a high state of civilization. 
 The Mohammedans, about five hundred years 
 ago, conquered a large portion of India*, and it 
 is that part chiefly that is now under British 
 rule. Many large tracts are, however, yet 
 under the rule of their petty kings or rajahs, 
 whilst others hold their possessions partially 
 tributary to the English. 
 
 Thus, you will find, there are a great variety 
 of peoples in India ; and even in the same sect- 
 ion, the caste system which prevails almost 
 everywhere makes a marked distinction be- 
 
12 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 tween people of the same tribe ; and as no man 
 can ever change his caste, hut must always con- 
 tinue the same as his ancestors have been, this 
 distinction between the barbarous and refined 
 has continued from age to aa’e. 
 
 The Mohammedan invasion brought with it 
 some improvements in architecture, but little 
 or no beneficial results in anything else ; cer- 
 tainly not in morals. The East India Com- 
 pany’s government Avas very little better. 
 Under that rule men Avent out to enrich them- 
 selves, not to benefit India; and it Avas a proA"- 
 erb among the Hindoos before the mutiny, 
 “ If every Englishman left India, they Avould 
 leave no traces behind to mark that they had 
 been here but piles of empty bottles.” Since 
 the days of the mutiny, noAV over twenty years 
 ago, things have much changed. The East 
 India Company has been abolished ; the Queen 
 has ruled India through her viceroys ; and 
 much has been done for the improvement of 
 the condition of the country and its inhabit- 
 ants, though still much, very much, remains 
 to be done. Good roads, bridges, railroads, 
 and telegraphs are becoming common in all 
 
XAME OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 13 
 
 l^arts of Iiulia; and sights, scones, and places, 
 once entirely closed against the so-called “ pol- 
 luted ” Christian, are now rpiite familiar to the 
 western traveller, none daring, with a few rare 
 exceptions, to forbid his going where he pleases. 
 
 The name of this country (India) was given 
 to it by the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. 
 It was so called after the Indus, one of its 
 largest rivers. In the Sanscrit, the most 
 ancient language of the country, it is known as 
 Bharat r India is also often called Hindu- 
 stan, or IIindoostan,in America and Europe ; but 
 Europeans living in that country, and natives, 
 use this name to designate that portion only of 
 India which lies north of the river Nerbuddah 
 or its latitude, except, perhaps, Bengal. Hin- 
 dustan is derived from two Persian words — 
 Hindu, blacks, and sian, place or region, and 
 hence means “country of the blacks.” The 
 extreme length of India, from Cape Comorin 
 to the northern limit, is nearly two thousand 
 miles, and its extreme breadth, from the Indus 
 to the Brahmapootra, is upward of fifteen hun- 
 dred miles. It covers an area of 1,360,000 
 square miles, or greater than that of all the 
 
14 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 United States east of the Mississippi Uiver ; 
 and its population is estimated at about 
 175,000,000. The whole of India may be 
 divided into six natural physical divisions ; 
 1. The great mountain chain, on the north, 
 known as the Himalaya, the highest mountains 
 in the world. 2. The valley of the Indus, on 
 the west, including the Punjaub, or the “coun- 
 try of the five rivers.” A part of this valley 
 or plain, south of the Punjaub, is a sandy 
 desert, called the desert of Scinde. 3. The 
 plain of the Ganges, on the east, which includes 
 the most fertile, best cultivated, richest, and 
 most pof)ulous portion of all India. The city 
 of Calcutta is in this district. 4. The high- 
 lands of northern India, a triangular region, 
 whose base is among the Vindhya Mountains, 
 and its apex near the noted city of Delhi. 
 5. The Deccan, a term originally applied to 
 the whole of India south of the Nerhuddah 
 River, but later only to that portion between 
 the Nerhuddah on the north and Kishnah on the 
 south, a tableland, some portions of which are 
 twenty-five hundred feet above the sea level. 
 Within this district was the famous kingdom 
 
LANGUAGES. 
 
 15 
 
 of Golconda, so noted for its trade in diamonds. 
 In this division lies the city of Bombay. 
 6. Southern India, including the great city of 
 Madras. This comprises the warmest parts of 
 the country, and is celebrated for its tropical 
 fruits. India has three rivers, each of which 
 exceeds two thousand miles in length — the 
 Indus, Ganges, and Brahmapootra — and three 
 or four others of about a thousand miles each, 
 from their mouths to their sources. The Eng- 
 lish government has extended its sway over 
 most of India, and controls it from the three 
 great commercial centres of Calcutta, Madras, 
 and Bombay. 
 
 Among the more important of the many lan- 
 guages of India is the Sanscrit, once a spoken 
 tongue, but now a dead language like the classic 
 Greek and Latin. All the sacred books and 
 ancient literature of the Hindoos are written in 
 this tongue, and a knowledge of this language 
 is a necessary part of the education of all well- 
 trained Brahmins. Besides the Sanscrit are 
 the Tamil, the Teloogoo, the Mahrathi, the 
 Bengali, the Hindi, the Sindhi, the Panjaubi, 
 the Hindustani, and many others less known 
 
16 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 to American readers.'^ Originally and theoreti- 
 cally there were four great ranks or castes : the 
 Brahmins or priests, the Kshatruyas or war- 
 riors, the Vaisyas or traders, and the Shudras 
 or servants. The second and third, as pure 
 castes, are now held by the Brahmins to be ex- 
 tinct. The other castes have, however, been 
 broken up into a great number of mixed ranks 
 or castes of various kinds. The Brahmins are 
 estimated at 10,000,000 or 12,000,000 ; they 
 hold most of the offices, act as soldiers, and 
 hold that it is lawful to engage in any of the 
 occupations of lower and mixed castes, but if 
 one eats with or touches certain food of the 
 other classes, even accidentally, he forfeits his 
 caste, and becomes an outcast. 
 
 * The modern Aryan languages of India, according to 
 recent authorities, are besides the Sanscrit seven in number, 
 viz. : Sindhi, Panjaubi, Mabrathi, Guzerati, Hindi, Oriya, 
 and Bengali. The Dravidian family of languages consists of 
 Tamil, Teloogoo, Canarese, Malayalam, Tooloo, Coorg, Tooda. 
 Gond, Ku or Koo, Rajmahal, and Oraon. 
 
Calks about |nbia. 
 
 A Palanquin. 
 
 p. 23. 
 
CHAPTER SECOND. 
 
 LIFE AT MADRAS. 
 
 ATAMARANS. — Our ship dropped an- 
 
 chor about two miles from the shore at 
 Madras, as the surf is so high that it is dan- 
 gerous for vessels to approach any nearer. A 
 sudden breeze springing up might dash the 
 ship on shore, where she would be very quickly 
 broken in pieces by the force of the waves. A 
 sudden storm often arises, and ships that are at 
 anchor must weigh anchor and put out again to 
 sea, sometimes even for days, to escape being 
 wrecked. The English government has for 
 years been at work trying to build a break- 
 water and a pier for the landing of goods and 
 passengers, but these are almost useless. Al- 
 ready many thousand pounds have been spent 
 in the work, and years of labor, but the most 
 experienced captains have no faith that it will 
 ever be of much service. No sooner had our 
 ship dropped anchor than we were surrounded 
 
18 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 by a number of little katamarans. These are 
 most singular little boats. They are generally 
 composed of three logs of wood, fastened to- 
 gether, flattened at the upper side, and slightly 
 scooped out, and the ends bent up a little like 
 a snow-shoe. On this these natives generally 
 sit, with a large basket containing fish, shells, 
 cocoa-nuts, and the like, which they bring for 
 sale. The two men at either end propel the 
 boat by paddling ; the one in the centre fishes, 
 or takes care of the fish when caught. They 
 kneel on this queer little raft, sitting back on 
 their heels, the water washing completely 
 over their frail bark and their lower limbs at 
 every stroke ; and the slightest overbalancing 
 would submerge them instantly in the water. 
 This seldom occurs, however, and when it does 
 it is a matter of no consequence, except the 
 loss of their fish, as they are just like ducks in 
 the water, and have no clothing to be spoilt, 
 as they wear nothing but a small strip of cloth 
 around their loins. In an instant they right 
 their little boat and mount it again. Numbers 
 of these boats surrounded the ship, and the 
 natives on them made loud cries, scolding and 
 
NATIVE BOATS. 
 
 19 
 
 wrangling — for they can do nothing without a 
 great noise — trying to sell their fish to the cap- 
 tain, These men were fully as dark as negroes, 
 only they had straight black hair, aquiline 
 noses, and thin lips. 
 
 Masoolie Boats. — In a few moments we 
 saw six boats of another kind coming towards 
 us. Each one was propelled by ten or twelve 
 oarsmen, with a man at “^he stern to steer. 
 These were the masoolie, or ‘‘ surf boats,” by 
 which everything, including passengers, is 
 landed from, and brought to, vessels. They 
 are very curious-looking boats, the sides rising 
 from six to eight feet above the surface of the 
 water, and the boards of which they are con- 
 structed are not nailed or screwed, but sewed 
 together with a species of cane, and the inter- 
 stices calked with straw, hemp, and cocoa-nut 
 fibres. No common boats would stand the 
 pressure of the surf, but these are more elastic. 
 They look very dangerous, as they are tossed 
 up and down by the furious boiling of the surf 
 waives ; but the natives are very skillful in 
 managing them, and it is seldom that an acci- 
 dent occurs, except in a severe storm. The 
 
2U 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 steersman watches with a keen eye, and gives 
 the word of command to the men at the oars, 
 so as to take the greatest advantage of the 
 rolling in and out of these big waves, one of 
 which will sometimes land you high and dry 
 on the beach ; but it is done with so much shout- 
 ing, screaming, and gesturing, that it strikes 
 you at first with the greatest alarm. And in 
 fact no one would ever wish to land at Madras 
 merely for the pleasure of the trip to the 
 shore. 
 
 Hard Beds. — I had expected to enjoy my 
 first night’s sleep on shore very much, but 
 was disappointed. I suppose excitement, the 
 strangeness of the place, and above and beyond 
 all, the excessive hardness of the bed and pil- 
 low, made it impossible for me to get any rest. 
 These hard beds and pillows are the fashion 
 in India. The hardest square pillow on an 
 old-fashioned hair-cloth sofa is beautifully soft 
 compared with most of the pillows there. I 
 suppose these pillows are to secure coolness ; 
 but I never could get used to them ; and always, 
 wherever I went in India, if I wanted to get a 
 night’s rest, I carried my pillow with me ; and I 
 
MORNING SOUNDS. 
 
 21 
 
 would advise all travellers from this land to do 
 the same. Just at daybreak I was falling into 
 a doze, when I was aroused by a peculiar sound, 
 which, after listening attentively, I was sure 
 must be the note of a bird. It was a prolonged 
 “ keer, keer,” not a shrill sound, but peculiarly 
 soft and soothing. I found afterwards that it 
 Avas the note of a species of small kite, of pecul- 
 iar beauty, called the Brahmin kite, from its 
 superiority in appearance to all other species 
 of kites. 
 
 CiiOTA IIadjeree, or “ Little Breakfast.” — I 
 was just getting into a doze again when I heard a 
 low sound hissed into my ear, “ Ma’am Sahib !” 
 I started up in my bed with a loud cry of fright, 
 when a voice said, “ It only I, Ma’am Sahib 
 (madam) . I bring your coffee. I ayah” (waiting- 
 Avoman). And I saw a dusky form clothed in 
 Avhite, Avith a nice little tray, on Avhich was a cup 
 of coffee and a sKce of toast. She repeated, “ 1 
 bring your chota hadjeree, Ma’am Sahib,” and 
 laying the tray on the bed, she disappeared. 
 All over India this is the invariable custom, to 
 have a slice of toast and a cup of tea or coffee 
 In’ought to your room before you leave it, as it 
 
22 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 is considered very injurious to breathe the 
 morning air upon an empty stomach, and the 
 general hreakhist in most families is never 
 served before nine o’clock, more frequently at 
 ten or eleven. 
 
 Ghosts. — I never could get over the nervous 
 feeling I always had at the ghost-like appear- 
 ance of the native servants in India. Though 
 there are doors to the rooms, they are seldom 
 closed ; and curtains, or “ purdahs,” about six 
 feet in length, are hung in the doorways, for 
 the purpose of allowing a current of air to pass 
 above them from one room to the other. Conse- 
 quently the native servants, going barefooted, as 
 they always do, can slide in and out under the 
 curtains without there being the noise of any 
 door to open or shut. I have frequently been 
 alone in my sitting-room, working, writing, or 
 reading, with everything perfectly still around 
 me, when suddenly I would hear close at my 
 elbow a deep gruff voice saying, “Ma’am Sahib.” 
 I would turn with a half shriek, and see before 
 me a tall, ghastly figure, enveloped from head 
 to foot in a white sheet, with only a very 
 small part of a dark face peeping out; for 
 
Calhs about ^nbia 
 
 A Palkee Ghang, or Indian carriage. p. 23. 
 
PUBLIC CONVEYANCES. 
 
 23 
 
 in the cool season, in the evening, they cover 
 themselves up thus completely in a sheet. In 
 all the years I was in India I never could 
 overcome the start this apparition would give 
 me. 
 
 Ghangs. — One thing that struck me very 
 comically in Madras was the conveyance called 
 the palky ghang. This is common all over 
 India, indeed is the most general means of 
 conveyance. The palky is a black box, about 
 six feet long, three feet high, and two and a 
 half feet broad, which, instead of opening at 
 the top, opens at either side Avith sliding doors. 
 It has a thin cushion inside, and you can either 
 sit up or lie down inside. A pole projects 
 from each end, and four persons carry this on 
 their shoulders, two at either end. A palky 
 ghang is one of these, minus the poles, set on 
 wheels, with a box in front for the driver, and 
 a box in the centre for you to put your feet in, 
 instead of lying down. These conveyances 
 are intended for two persons sitting vis-a-vis^ 
 but sometimes four can crowd in. They are 
 classed as first, second, and third class, and the 
 price and respectability of them varies, of 
 
24 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 course, according to the class. An accurate 
 description of the latter can hardly he made. 
 It is the most crazy, rickety machine you ever 
 saw, looking as if it would fall to pieces or 
 totter over every instant. Every vestige of 
 paint is worn off, and the wood is all blistered 
 bv the sun. The sliding doors are either 
 pushed completely hack or have slid away 
 altogether. Within you see four dusky, almost 
 black figures, — for the lower class are very 
 dark ; they are nearly nude, for the only gar- 
 ment worn by them is a strip of cloth wrapped 
 round them, and descending from the waist to 
 the knees. This is of cotton cloth, which was 
 white once, hut now is hardly distinguishable 
 in color from the form which it enfolds ; while 
 projecting from the place where the doors 
 should be you perceive four long, lean black 
 legs in most grotesque positions. This vehicle 
 is drawn by one or two native horses of a small 
 species, not much larger than ponies, and which 
 appear to be in the last stages of consumption, 
 having been educated in the school of that 
 man who taught his horse to live upon one 
 straw a day. They are fastened to the ghang 
 
DRIVERS AND BEASTS. 
 
 25 
 
 by ropes, rotten and dirty, tied together with 
 many knots and pieces of twine; and the ‘‘jehu” 
 is mounted on a broken box, from which you 
 fear he will fall every moment. He is generally 
 a youngster from fourteen to sixteen years of 
 age ; his costume is pretty much the same as 
 that of those he drives, except being, if pos- 
 sible, a shade dirtier and more ragged ; his 
 hair — he wears no head-gear — is sticking out 
 all round his head, thick with filth ; and in his 
 hand he holds a long bamboo cane, with which 
 he keeps striking the poor beasts all the time, 
 kicking his feet to keep time with his arms, 
 and constantly shouting and screaming most 
 vociferously either at his horses or at his fel- 
 lows whom he meets. It is altogether such a 
 turnout as would attract thousands of specta- 
 tors in any of our cities ; but you see it all over 
 India. 
 
 Rubbing with Oil. — One reason why the 
 natives are so black is this : when an infant is 
 born it is rubbed all over with mustard oil, a 
 very dark oil, and is laid in the sun to dry, and 
 this is done every day till the child is a month 
 old; and among the poorer classes they con- 
 
 3 
 
1^6 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 tiime to do this in the cold season to keep 
 them warm. 
 
 New Year’s Customs. — They have a pretty 
 custom here on New Year’s day. The natives 
 go and see their friends, taking with them a 
 lime and a wreath of yellow flowers ; sometimes 
 they gild the lime. There is an old Tamil 
 proverb that a lime is the most acceptable 
 present for a rajah, and the yellow flowers, 
 being the color of gold, are therefore the most 
 valuable. The man will throw the wreath over 
 your head round your neck, make a most pro- 
 found salaam, and depart. 
 
 Toddy. — One day I w^ent wdth Mr. H. to see 
 a native temple a few miles outside of the city. 
 On our way we passed a large cocoa-nut grove, 
 which w’as used not to obtain fmit, but for the 
 manufacture of toddy. Getting out of the car- 
 riage, we went into the grove, while Mr. H. 
 explained the process. The toddy is used as 
 we use yeast for raising bread, and after it fer- 
 ments it becomes an intoxicating drink. At 
 the entrance to the grove we passed an object 
 lying on the ground. I started back, for it 
 looked in shape just like a dead body rolled in 
 
®alks about Inbia. 
 
 Indian Toddy Gatherers. 
 
 p. 2G. 
 
COCOA-NUT TODDY. 
 
 27 
 
 a white sheet so that not a particle of the body 
 was visible. I saw that Mr. H. was passing it 
 very unconcernedly, so I asked what it w^as. 
 “ Oh,” said he, “ it is only a man asleep ; they 
 roll themselves up tight like this, to prevent 
 mosquitoes and other insects from attacking 
 them, and mother earth is the softest resting- 
 place they require.” 
 
 The process of getting toddy was this : the 
 cocoa-nut tree, as you know, grows up very 
 straight and tall without branches, but at the 
 top there is a canopy of leaves or branches, 
 and directly under these the nuts grow in clus- 
 ters or bunches. Just at the season of the 
 year when the buds are starting to form the 
 nuts, a man ascends the tree, by what the boys 
 call ‘^‘shinning up,” peels the skin from the top 
 of the bud, and ties a jar beneath it. The next 
 morning he ascends, finds the jar full of liquid, 
 peels off again the fresh skin that has formed 
 in the night, and tying a fresh jar to the spot, 
 he again leaves it for twenty-four hours. This 
 tree of course never produces fruit, but it will 
 continue thus to give forth its sap for months. 
 This sap they boil and get a coarse black sugar 
 
28 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 from it, of which they are very fond, I used 
 this as an illustration once in mission work. 
 
 You are aware that the women of India are 
 as ignorant as little children of natural history, 
 and all the processes of nature. One day I 
 was teaching in one of my zenanas, and as 
 usual, besides my pupils, there Avere a number 
 of other women sitting around, listening to all 
 I said. Amongst them w^as one with a very 
 bright, intelligent countenance, but whom I did 
 not remember to have seen before. To some- 
 thing I said in my teaching, this woman called 
 out, “ I won’t believe that. I can’t understand 
 it ; it is contrary to my reason, and I will not 
 believe it.” I replied : But there are many 
 
 things that you believe, that you cannot under- 
 stand or explain.” “No!” she exclaimed, “ I 
 Avill not believe anything that I cannot under- 
 stand.” For a minute or two I could not think 
 of any illustration, so I told the woman who 
 had been reading to go on with the lesson. 
 Then, on looking up, I saw Avhat I Avanted. 
 Over the roof of the house, at a short distance 
 aAvay, I saAV a tall cocoa-nut tree and a man 
 ascending to get the toddy. 
 
BELIEVING AND UNDERSTANDING. 29 
 
 I started forward most eagerly, and pointing 
 to the tree, said : Look yonder ; what is that 
 
 man doing?” All rose to look, and began to 
 tell me about the man going up to get toddy, 
 and the woman I mentioned was most eager to 
 explain. I looked at her very earnestly while 
 she was talking, and when she had finished I 
 pretended to be very angry, and in a stern 
 voice demanded of her how she could tell me 
 such an untruth ? Did she think, because I 
 was a stranger in the country, she could so 
 impose on me and tell me Avhat was utterly 
 false? Then she and all the other wmmen 
 were most earnest in their reiterations that it 
 was true, indeed it was true. I replied : It 
 
 is not true ; the man deceives you ; he never 
 can bring down water from the top of the tree, 
 and I will show you how impossible it is. We 
 have not had a drop of rain for four months, 
 and if we had, the rain would not have settled 
 up in the top of the tree ; its leaves are shaped 
 like an umbrella, and the rain would instantly 
 fall down. Then you never saw water run up 
 the outside of a tree ; water runs down, not up ; 
 and if you cut a tree down (they had recently 
 
30 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 had one cut down, and the trunk was lying 
 across the court), you will never find a drop of 
 water therein ; it is quite dry.” Then looking 
 very hard at the Avonian, I said : “ I can’t 
 understand it, I won’t believe it, it is contrary 
 to my reason.” Immediately all the women 
 clapped their hands, burst out laughing, and 
 pointing to the woman, said, “ Now you’ve got 
 it, you’ve got it.” It was a most conclusive 
 argument to them, as they knew nothing of the 
 processes of nature in generating sap. 
 
 Temple near Madras. — After leaving the 
 cocoa-nut grove, we rode off for two or three 
 miles to see one of the largest temples in the 
 neighborhood. A very high wall surrounds a 
 piece of ground of about twelve acres, in a 
 square form, inside of which are three temples. 
 No Christian may enter this enclosure, as it is 
 considered very sacred. These temples have 
 spires something like our temples, only they 
 are larger around, and the whole of the outside 
 of the buildings is covered over with very ugly 
 and grotesque figures, while inside they have 
 sixty-two gods, of which the priests take great 
 care. Outside the wall is a very large tank. 
 
IDOL GODS. 
 
 31 
 
 A tank is an excavation dug six to twelve 
 feet deep and then walled round, to collect and 
 retain the rain, which at one season falls very 
 heavily. This tank appears like a pretty little 
 lake, and in the middle of it a small square 
 house is built, open at the sides like a summer- 
 house. This, too, is profusely ornamented with 
 grotesque figures. Here two or three times a 
 year, on their grand feast days, the people 
 bring all the gods out of the temple, and give 
 them a washing and put on their new clothes. 
 Crowds of people stand on the shore to see this, 
 though no one dares touch the water except 
 the Brahmin priests. After the gods are all 
 washed, the poor people pay a little money to 
 the priests for some of the water, which they 
 then sprinkle upon themselves, and think they 
 are very holy. A tree very near the tank was 
 pointed out as having risen from the roots of 
 one in which the god Siva had at one time been 
 hid. The story they tell is this : 
 
 The Holy Man and Siva. — A Brahmin had 
 once become so holy, by the practice of severe 
 penances and austerities, that he could com- 
 mand the gods to grant him whatsoever he 
 
32 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 might desire. He therefore called upon Siva and 
 demanded of him that he should grant him the 
 power, that upon whomsoever he should lay his 
 right hand, the person touched should be burnt 
 to ashes. Now Siva, being a god, could look 
 into the holy man’s heart, and he perceived what 
 the holy man’s desire was, that as soon as he 
 received the power, he should lay his hand 
 upon the god himself and burn him up. Now, 
 though he knew this, the god was obliged to 
 give him the power. As soon, therefore, as 
 the holy man had received the gift, he began 
 to pursue the god that he might lay his hand 
 upon him. Siva had to flee, and in flying 
 changed himself into different shapes again and 
 again, to enable him to escape his pursuer. 
 He fled from one city and place to another, till 
 at length, when he came down here, Siva was 
 almost wdthin the saint’s grasp. To avoid this 
 he jumped into a tree, and changed himself into 
 the kernel of one of its fruits. The fakir’s 
 head was turned away at the minute, so that 
 he did not see which way the god went. He 
 turned round, but the god had disappeared ; he 
 was in great perplexity, as nothing was to be 
 
OUTWITTED. 
 
 33 
 
 seen in the whole plain hut this one tree and 
 a ploughman at work Avith his oxen. At last 
 he called to the ploughman, to ask him wdiich 
 way the god had gone. This placed the poor 
 ploughman in a Amry hard position. He knew 
 if he did not tell the saint, he would punish 
 him ; and if he did tell him, then the god would 
 afterwards punish him ; so he thought at length 
 that he would avoid both by not saying a Avord, 
 and simply pointing Avith his finger to the fruit 
 in Avhich the god lay concealed. The fakir 
 noAv sat himself doAvn under the tree, and as it 
 was too high for him to climb to obtain the 
 fruit, he determined to wait patiently till it 
 should fall. 
 
 Now the god Vishnu, seeing the trouble in 
 which his brother god was, changed himself 
 into the form of a beautiful woman, and thus 
 appeared before the fakir, Avho immediately fell 
 in love with her and wanted to marry her. 
 She agreed, but told him that as she AAvas a 
 high-caste Brahmin Avoman, he must go through 
 the ceremonies of the Avorship of Vishnu first. 
 This he directly proceeded to perform, forget- 
 ting that in one part of it he had to lay his hand 
 
34 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 on his head. He did this suddenly, and imme- 
 diately he himself was burnt to ashes, and thus 
 the god Siva was released from his imprison- 
 ment. Siva turned directly in great fury on 
 the poor ploughman who had pointed with his 
 finger at the fruit, and told him he should have 
 that finger chopped off. The wife of the poor 
 man, who had just come into the field bringing 
 her husband’s dinner, knelt before the angry 
 god, and imjjlored him not to maim her husband, 
 for if he did so, not only would the man suffer, 
 but she and her children would starve to death, 
 as he would he unable to work to obtain them 
 food. She besought him to take her finger in- 
 stead. The god consented, upon the condition 
 that not only should she lose her finger, but 
 that every woman of her family, on the occasion 
 of the marriage of her first daughter, should 
 have the forefinger of her right hand chopped 
 off, and this was to continue to all generations. 
 I have seen two women said to belong to that 
 family who have been thus maimed. They are 
 of the coolie caste. It is very sad to know that 
 these poor people believe these ridiculous legmids 
 as firmly as we do the revealed word of God. 
 
EDUCATION AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Boys’ School Examinations. — While at Ma- 
 dras, I attended the examination of the boys’ 
 school of the Free Kirk of Scotland. It is a 
 day school, and has collected many hundreds of 
 heathen and Mohammedans. We heard them 
 examined in Scripture, geography, and Euclid. 
 I could not help thinking, as I looked at the 
 boys and remembered their surroundings, how 
 much more people expect from the labors of 
 missionaries than they ought to expect. At 
 home, if boys are taken out of degradation, and 
 removed entirely from the sights, scenes, and 
 companions of their former vicious courses, and 
 have everything done to elevate them, we do 
 not think time or money has been wasted, though 
 none may become professing Christians while 
 in the institute to which they have been taken. 
 We think a vast deal has been done in training 
 them in good habits, in teaching them the let- 
 ter of the Holy Word — which assuredly, at 
 some time, brings forth fruit — and in giving 
 them the means of earning an honest livelihood. 
 Though praying for greater and for spiritual re- 
 sults, yet we are not dissatisfied with these. 
 Strange that we should feel that there ought 
 
36 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 to be such different results in heathen lands. 
 For, notwithstanding all the enticements and 
 persecutions of friends, all their former heathen 
 training, and the scenes that are constantly 
 around them, the natural enmity of the heart 
 of man to the holiness required by God, and the 
 strong efforts put forth by Satan to retain pos- 
 session of his stronghold — in spite of all this, 
 Christians seem to expert that every heathen 
 to whom the gospel is preached will immediately 
 embrace it. You look to read of numbers join- 
 ing the church, and if you do not see this you 
 think that nothing nas been done. But the 
 seed is being sown now; the harvest will be 
 hereafter. Is it nothing that now in all heathen 
 lands, hundreds and thousands are being taught 
 the pure Word of God ? Yes, but, some will 
 say, what good does that do as long as they do 
 not renounce entirely their idolatries ? Stop, 
 my friend ; look at homt : go into one of our 
 large, fashionable congregations. There are a 
 thousand people. Out of that number, how 
 many are nominally professing Christians ? And 
 how many of those again are really earnest, de- 
 voted ones ? Judge ye : what, then, are the 
 
A FAITHFUL FEW. 
 
 37 
 
 others ? It is true, they have been benefited 
 and elevated to a high degree by their intel- 
 lectual knowledge of the doctrines of the cross ; 
 but each one retains his or her own idol, not as 
 palpable as those of the heathen, hut still an 
 idol which is worshipped. With one, it is him- 
 self, wdth another, wealth, fame, or friends, 
 which holds the supreme place God alone should 
 have ; and when we think of this, remember 
 that, here, to be called a Christian is a title 
 of respect, and might tempt many to hypocrisy 
 for gain ; while among the heathen it is a dis- 
 grace and a cause of much bitter persecution, 
 and therefore far less likely to be insincere. 
 Did we think rightly on this subject, our won- 
 der would be, not that there are so few, but 
 that there are so many, professing Christians 
 in India. 
 
 The God’s Mark. — I noticed that many of 
 the Hindoos whom we met had marks of dif- 
 ferent kinds on their foreheads, painted red and 
 white. These are the distinguishing marks of 
 the particular god to whose Avorship they have 
 devoted themselves. They are very careful that 
 these marks should be perfectly correct, so that 
 
38 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 no mistake shall be made about them ; and they 
 are particular to have them renewed eA^eiy 
 morning. Should not this be a lesson to Chris- 
 tians to be careful that they bear about with 
 them the marks of the Lord Jesus, and to re- 
 member his promise, that “bis name shall be 
 in their foreheads”? 
 
 The Henxa. — T his is a plant with which the 
 ATomen dye the fingers and toes, thinking it a 
 decoration A'ery pretty and becoming. I cannot 
 say I agree with them. The plant has a A^ery 
 pretty white floAver AA’hich has a sweet perfume. 
 The leaf resembles that of the fuchsia. These 
 leaA'es are pounded into a paste, and then a 
 portion is laid on each nail and on different parts 
 of the hands and feet. After the paste is re- 
 moved, the parts first turn yellow and then red. 
 It wears or Avashes off very gradually, so that 
 it requires to be renewed about once in ten days. 
 
 Paun. — All the natives, male and female, 
 here have a habit of chewing paun. It is com- 
 posed of the betel-nut, chopped up very small, 
 mixed Avith lime and then rolled up in a leaf. 
 It is made up into a small roll, just large enough 
 to go into the mouth. It is very pungent and 
 
FOOD AND DRINK. 
 
 39 
 
 somewhat stimulating in its properties. Tliis 
 decays the teeth, eventually turning them quite 
 black. And it is very disgusting, for it fills the 
 mouth and covers the teeth, wdiile they are 
 chewing it, with a fluid resembling blood ; and 
 they expectorate with it about as offensively as 
 a tobacco chewer. The first one I saw using 
 this I was frightened, thinking the woman was 
 spitting blood. 
 
 Food. — The people of India,” says Allen, 
 “ eat little meat compared with those of the 
 United States. The Brahmins and Jainos re- 
 ligiously abstain from meat of every kind. They 
 will not eat even eggs, saying there is a germ 
 of life in them. Some classes will eat no meat 
 but fish. Hindoos of all classes abstain from 
 eating beef ; but the great body of them wall 
 eat fish, fowls, goats, and sheep. They use 
 these kinds of food sparingly.” 
 
 Drink and Stimulants. — “Water is the com- 
 mon drink, at meals and other times. Tobacco 
 is chewed and smoked (mostly smoked); but 
 the quality of the Indian plant is not as strong 
 as the American tobacco. All classes chew an 
 aromatic leaf called betel, with anca-nut, lime, 
 
40 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IXDIA. 
 
 and spices mixed together. The use of spirit- 
 uous liquors is prohibited to Brahmins, and is 
 disreputable among all higher classes. Some 
 people, generally of the lower classes, use arrack, 
 and other kinds of intoxicating liquor ; and some 
 smoke and in various ways use the intoxicating 
 and stupefying vegetable called ganga, or Indian 
 hemp {Cannabis sativa). Opium is eaten and 
 smoked, and a liquor made from it is drunk. 
 Drunkenness is most common in places which 
 have grown up under the patronage and protec- 
 tion of the English government, and Avhere the 
 European population is the largest.” See Al- 
 len’s India, p. 488. 
 
 Tradition. — One of the missionaries of South- 
 ern India was telling me, to-day, of some curious 
 traditions of the people he has been among 
 nearly thirty years. He states : The Moham- 
 medans say that, for the next few years, there 
 are to be great troubles all over the world — 
 wars, earthquakes, &c., &c. ; but after these are 
 over, their tenth and greatest Iman is to appear. 
 Then all the wicked are to be cut off, and he is 
 to reign in righteousness over all the earth. 
 The Hindoos also state that there has been a 
 
TALIPOT TREE. 
 
 41 
 
 recent incarnation of Vishnu ; that he is now a 
 child, somewhere in Cashmere ; that he is . to 
 be thoroughly educated, and, as soon as he ar- 
 rives at man’s estate, he will proceed to Delhi, 
 where he will be placed on the throne of his 
 ancestors. Immense treasures are still hidden 
 there, which he, by his divine wisdom, will soon 
 discover. Before this, however, there will be 
 dreadful plagues, famines, and wars ; and the 
 strangest sights will be seen, both in earth and 
 heaven. Kings and queens will come from all 
 parts of the earth to bring presents to him and 
 to worship him, and those who do not he will 
 destroy ; all those who are very wicked will 
 die, but the good will live and be very happy 
 while his reign shall last, which will be many 
 thousands of years, so they think. 
 
 Talipot Tree. — In the Botanical Garden, at 
 Madras, there is a very singular tree, a species 
 of palm, called the talipot tree. It grows to a 
 great height, and has an immense leaf on each 
 branch, sometimes from twenty to thirty feet 
 wide. The tree blooms once in ninety years. 
 Dr. Winslow, who was in India over forty years, 
 never but once saw one in bloom. The flower 
 
 4 
 
42 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 is an enormous cone, fifteen feet high and eight 
 feet in circumference, composed of an almost 
 infinite number of small flowers. When the 
 cone first appears it is covered with a pod, 
 or cuticle ; this remains on it till the buds are 
 all neady to open ; the sheath or pod then bursts 
 open with a report like thunder. The flower 
 remains in bloom only a few days, then both it 
 and the tree that bore it die. 
 
 Irrigation in Madras. — The way of raising 
 water here is as follows : At one end of a tank 
 they place a strong, tall, upright post, about 
 twenty-five feet high. This is split just at the 
 top and a cross-piece inserted, the centre rest- 
 ing in the split. This beam is about as long as 
 the other is high. At one end of it a leather 
 bucket is attached by a long rope. One man 
 stands ready to empty the water from this 
 bucket into a trough by the side of the tank, 
 by which it is carried all over the field or gar- 
 den ; and one or two men are continually walk- 
 ing up and down on the cross-beam, thus raising 
 or lowering the bucket. It is a most ancient 
 way, but looked to me very tedious and danger- 
 ous, for the beam was not very broad, and the 
 
PUNKAHS. 
 
 43 
 
 men had to keep a perfect balance or they 
 would have fallen off and been hurt severely. 
 It seemed much like rope-dancing. I sup- 
 pose this was the ancient way of ‘^watering 
 with the foot.” 
 
 Punkahs. — There is one thing that strikes 
 every foreigner on his first arrival as very curi- 
 ous, in the houses of all the English inhabitants 
 and in the churches ; and that is the punkah, 
 or the large fan which cools all that sit in the 
 same room at once. The punkah is suspended 
 from the ceiling by cords about six feet in 
 length. It is generally made of a coarse kind 
 of cloth, stretched over a frame of wood, and 
 then whitewashed. It will vary in length Jrom 
 eight to fifteen feet, according to the size of the 
 room ; and is usually from three to four feet 
 deep. A line is fastened to the centre of this, 
 which passes over a pulley and out through a 
 hole in the wall ; and a servant sits in the outer 
 room or veranda and pulls the line backwards and 
 forwards. This keep*s a constant current of air 
 in circulation and mitigates the intense heat. 
 On this account the ceilings are aU very lofty, 
 being from eighteen to twenty feet high. In a 
 
44 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 clmrcli there will be from twenty to thirty of 
 these punkahs going at a time. Of course, it 
 destroys all the architectural beauty of the 
 building ; and at first, till the preacher becomes 
 accustomed to it, it is a great source of annoy- 
 ance. Another method of cooling the rooms, 
 says Dr. Allen, “ is to hang curtains of bamboo 
 and other materials before doors and windows ; 
 and these being kept constantly wet, the air 
 passing through them is cooled. Another plan is 
 to place a yentilator, constructed somewhat like 
 a winnowing machine, in some central part of 
 the house, and, by working it, and hanging wet 
 curtains over the doors, the air is kept moist 
 
 and cool. Some such means for cooling the at- 
 
 ♦ 
 
 mosphere are as necessary for people, in health 
 and in sickness, in India, as fires in stoves and 
 furnaces are for comfort in the United States 
 in the winter season.” — Allen’s India, p. 5. 
 
 Khurd-Khan. — In the parts of India where 
 the hot winds prevail, blowing periodically in 
 one direction, they have another mode of cool- 
 ing the atmosphere, and that is by using what 
 are called Khusa Kuss Tathes. The khuss- 
 khuss is a species of grass that grows in the 
 
KEEnXG COOL. 
 
 45 
 
 jungles. The roots of this grass are very long 
 and the fibres thick and strong. They weave 
 these together into a thickness of several inches, 
 and then put the mat into frames that just fit 
 the doors or windows, and it is the duty of one 
 of the servants, the beshtie, or water carrier, 
 to keep this constantly wet ; the rapid evapora- 
 tion keeps the air of the room down to a mod- 
 erate temperature. When it is fresh, the khuss- 
 khuss has a most agreeable odor. 
 
CHAPTER THIRD. 
 
 CALCUTTA, AND THE CLIMATE OF INDIA. 
 
 FTER remaining two or three weeks in 
 
 IMadras, I proceeded to Calcutta, which 
 was to be the scene of my future mission labors. 
 My principal design in this book is not to tell 
 you of our mission work, but to give you, if 
 possible, a correct idea of the habits and cus- 
 toms of the people themselves among whom we 
 have labored. You will thus see how grateful 
 we ought to be to God, who has given us his 
 holy book, Avhose entrance giveth life, and how 
 much need there is that we take it to those 
 “ who are sitting in darkness and the shadow 
 of death.” The Hoogly is one of the mouths 
 of the sacred river Ganges, and Calcutta is 
 situated on it, about one hundred and twenty 
 miles above where it empties into the Bay of 
 Bengal. The Ganges, as you know, is the 
 sacred river of the Hindoos. It has many 
 mouths by Avhich it empties into the bay, but 
 

 r 
 
(Talhs about Inbia. 
 
 chft]). iii. 
 
 A n ox cart of Indhi, 
 
CALCUTTA. 
 
 47 
 
 the Hoogly is considered the most sacred ; and 
 just where it joins its waters to those of the 
 sea, there is a large island called Sanger Island, 
 and this is an especially sacred spot. The Hin- 
 doos hold a festival here once a year, in the 
 month of January, and thousands and tens of 
 thousands come to attend it. They come down 
 the river for hundreds of miles in their boats, 
 and here they worship their god Gunga, the god 
 of the river. In former days it was here that 
 mothers used to throw their babes to be de- 
 voured by the sharks and alligators. The 
 British government has tried to stop this, and 
 soldiers and policemen are appointed to attend 
 this festival and prevent these murders. Doubt- 
 less many are still thrown in secretly. 
 
 The scenery of the river is tame, but the fo- 
 liage is very beautiful and luxuriant, with rough 
 rude huts scattered here and there amidst the 
 dense jungle. As soon as you drop anchor, 
 your vessel is surrounded by a crowd of boat- 
 men, each eager to gain the few pence Avhich 
 will be given to convey you to shore. The 
 steamers now anchor down a little below Gar- 
 den Reach, about three miles from the city 
 
48 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 proper, but you will find plenty of polky ghar- 
 ries in waiting to convey you to any part of the 
 city. You drive along a road, by the side of the 
 river, past Fort William, which is considered a 
 very strong fortification and capable of holding 
 several thousand troops. This fort is situated 
 at the centre of the Maiden, which is a large 
 plain a mile and a half in length. At one end 
 is the Government House, the High Court and 
 Treasury Office, at the other the Cathedral. 
 On one side is the river, on the other a hand- 
 some street filled with English dwellings. 
 
 There are a number of roads through this 
 Maiden, shaded by fine trees. You might call 
 this place really the lungs of Calcutta, and here 
 the whole city (all but the poor native women) 
 turn out to breathe in the evening. The most 
 fashionable part of the drive is along the bank 
 of the river. There you Avill see carriage after 
 carriage rolling along, with their native drivers 
 and native footmen in cool and most picturesque 
 costumes or liveries — the viceroy’s carriage 
 and four with his outriders, ladies and gentle- 
 men on horseback or driving, native gentlemen 
 (but never native ladies) of every rank and 
 
CALCUTTA. 
 
 49 
 
 every hue, from the prince or rajah, or the rich 
 merchant, covered with gold and jewels, down 
 to the most ordinary and common-looking Ori- 
 entals in vehicles corresponding to their riders’ 
 appearance. All the life of Calcutta is here at 
 this hour. Near the Government House is a 
 music stand, and just at sundown a band plays 
 for an hour; as it grows dark the carriages 
 congregate here, and then Calcutta goes home 
 to dine and the jackals come out to howl, 
 and certainly you never heard sounds like 
 these ; it is just the music you could imagine 
 of a pack of fiends. These jackals, however, 
 with the adjutants and the vultures, are the 
 scavengers of the city. 
 
 Those houses of the English people you see 
 on the other side of the Maiden are large, gene- 
 rally square houses, two or three stories high, 
 with front verandas close shut in with Venetian 
 blinds. They each stand in the middle of a 
 little garden or compound, as it is called, with 
 a high wall all round it, the ugliness of the wall 
 generally, however, redeemed by being covered 
 by some beautifully flowering creeper. Here 
 the English residents live in great luxury. 
 
50 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 everything being done to make life easy in this 
 debilitating climate. 
 
 The Bore. — Last evening, as I was returning 
 home, I passed over a small stream, a branch 
 of the Hoogly, which runs down one side of the 
 city. I heard a great noise and saw a crowd 
 of people collected on the bridge and on the 
 hanks looking down on the stream, and soon I 
 perceived that the waters were rolling in one 
 great wave up the stream. On asking what 
 this was, I was told that it was the Bore — a 
 great tidal wave which appears each month at 
 a certain time of the moon. It seems to he a 
 tremendous wave of the sea, which rolls up the 
 Ganges and its branches for hundreds of miles ; 
 hut only one wave ; it is never followed by a 
 second. No one can account for it, but it fre- 
 quently does a great deal of mischief, even at 
 this distance from the sea — one hundred and 
 twenty miles — in dragging ships from their 
 moorings and in swamping all small boats that 
 have not been well secured. The wave last 
 night they said must have been full ten feet 
 high. It was most singular in its appearance, 
 looking like a great moving Avail of water. I 
 
HOT WEATHER. 
 
 51 
 
 could not but think that very much like this 
 must have appeared the walls of water to the 
 Israelites in the Red Sea. They tell me that 
 this same phenomenon occurs in the Irrawaddy, 
 the Orinoco, and the Yang-tse-kiang. 
 
 Heat. — This is the month of May, and the 
 heat is something terrible, the thermometer 
 standing often at 110° in the shade. And the 
 way you perspire here — well, it is something 
 “ pro-di-gious !” as Dominie Sampson would say. 
 You may put on a clean white dress, and in two 
 hours it is not fit to be seen ; all the stiffening 
 gone, and the w^aist at any rate perfectly dab- 
 bled. The big drops of water stand out and 
 roll down you, and you are just in the condition 
 of the panes of glass in a window on a densely 
 foggy day. Certainly I should think this 
 human machine of ours requires good food to 
 keep up the steam. 
 
 One of the minor evils with which one is 
 afflicted here — and yet for the time it does not 
 seem a very little one — is the terrible pricJthj 
 heat with which almost every one is troubled 
 at the commencement of the rainy season that 
 has just set in now. There is scarcely one 
 
52 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 person — old or young, rich or poor — but what 
 is troubled to a greater or less degree with it. 
 It comes out in a thick rash, with intense itch- 
 ing, and if you try to relieve that by scratching, 
 you produce small boils or sores instead. So 
 you see there is plenty here to grumble about, 
 for people who are so disposed. At this season 
 of the year (the month of June), the commence- 
 ment of the rains, it does not seem hardly 
 like rain, but as if the heavens opened and let 
 down an immense sheet of water; and it is 
 marvellous what an amount will come down in 
 a few minutes. 
 
 Rains. — There is no use in grumbling about 
 the weather. It is towards the end of August, 
 in the rain, and oh, the weather really is some- 
 thing to he dreaded. The constant showers, 
 with the intense heat of the sun after them, 
 always cause a great deal of sickness among all 
 classes of the people. There is scarcely a house 
 where there are not some ailing. There is no 
 air stirring ; everything you touch is “ a damp 
 (without the cold), moist, unpleasant body,” 
 including yourself — to use Mens. Mantalini’s 
 expressive words — and everything becomes 
 
RAIXS. 
 
 53 
 
 mildewed and smells mouldy. It is no wonder 
 that there is so much sickness. 
 
 A country nearly two thousand miles in ex- 
 tent from north to south, and of various degrees 
 of elevation, from the plains on the sea-coasts 
 to the loftiest mountains on the globe, must 
 have a great variety of climate. Over half of 
 India lies within the tropics, and hence the cli- 
 mate is generally hot ; in some portions, very 
 hot. ‘‘ In the northern provinces, snow and ice 
 are frequent in the winter months but the 
 heat of the sun is more intense throughout 
 India than on the same latitude in the United 
 States. Foreigners from Europe and America 
 cannot safely attempt many kinds of labor and 
 exertion which would he quite harmless in 
 their own land. In the hot districts, such 
 labor and exposure soon bring on prostration, 
 disease, and possibly death. The mean tem- 
 perature in January at Calcutta is 67° ; at 
 Madras, 77° 5 at Bombay, 78°. In May the 
 mean at these places is 83°, 87°, and 85° re- 
 spectively, and it frequently reaches 100 ° to 
 110 ° in the shade, or an average of about fifteen 
 degrees hotter than in Boston or New York in 
 
54 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IKDIA. 
 
 the mouth of July. The climate of India is 
 considerably affected by the winds called mon- 
 soons. which blow about half the year from the 
 southwest and the other half from the north- 
 east. The first monsoon begins early in June, 
 bringing with it from the Indian Ocean floods 
 of rain. This rainy season continues until near 
 the end of September, and the total rainfall 
 amounts to from fifty to sixty inches. The 
 other monsoon begins about the middle of Oc- 
 tober, and brings rain from the Bay of Bengal, 
 along the Coromandel coast, until into Decem- 
 ber ; but during this period the opposite coast 
 has fair weather and northerly breezes. The 
 dry, hot season lasts from December until May 
 or June. 
 
CHAPTER FOURTH. 
 
 A ZENANA, HOUSES, DRESS, DOMESTIC CUSTOMS. 
 
 ZENANA. — Literally the word means 
 
 woman’s apartment, but the word now is 
 generally used to designate the houses of the 
 high-caste gentlemen, where they koep their 
 wives shut up or entirely secluded. These are 
 built just like two large hollow squares, one 
 immediately behind the other, each having a 
 large open court in the centre, the court open 
 to the sky ; and it is from this that most of the 
 rooms receive their light and air. The building 
 is generally from three to four stories high, 
 with a veranda facing on the court running 
 round each story, the stairs or staircases open- 
 ing into these verandas, and the doors and 
 windows of the different rooms all opening into 
 them. Indeed, in the woman’s jiart of the 
 building — the zenana proper — all the doors and 
 windows open into the verandas, and the 
 rooms receive their only light and air from the 
 
56 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 open court in the centre ; they have no windows 
 that open into gardens or streets, though in the 
 men’s apartments they have. In the men’s 
 part of the building, one end of the veranda 
 is raised a few steps higher than the rest, and 
 at the time of any Poojah (festival to the gods), 
 marriage, or any other feast, this part of the 
 veranda is called the god’s house. Here the 
 figure of the god is placed, and here all cere- 
 monies are performed, while the audience al- 
 ways remains in the court below. The audience 
 is always composed of men, for the women may 
 not even mingle with the men, with the excep- 
 tion of the dancing girls, who are always bad 
 characters. This god’s house is always placed 
 at the end of the men’s building, where it joins 
 the women’s, and in the upper part of the wall 
 there are several windows or openings ; but 
 instead of being filled with glass, they are filled 
 with a close lattice-work of bamboo or cane, 
 like our cane-seated chairs ; and the only part 
 the women may ever take in any festivities is 
 the looking down through this screen upon what 
 the men are doing, and preparing the sweet- 
 meats for the feast. In the gentlemen’s part 
 
WOMEN’S APARTMENTS. 
 
 of the building they have many large and lofty 
 rooms, several of them furnished with a large 
 amount of elegant European furniture, pictures, 
 mirrors, &c. Other rooms, which they more 
 generally occupy, have the floor covered with 
 either matting or carpet, and on that a large, 
 very thick mattress, from six to twelve or fif- 
 teen feet square, covered with a clean white 
 sheet, and innumerable bolsters and pillows of 
 all sizes and shapes, with a large punkah sus- 
 pended over it ; and here their lordships sit or 
 loll about at their ease, reading, smoking, gam- 
 bling, &c. They have very fine libraries of 
 English books. The women’s apartments are 
 in great contrast to this. Each woman has her 
 own room — a small, dark, miserable apartment, 
 with a cold brick floor, bare of either matting 
 or carpet; a wooden pallet, more like a low 
 table, with a piece of matting in most cases laid 
 on it instead of a mattress ; a little wooden box 
 for her clothes, and a brass drinking-vessel. 
 This completes the number of her luxuries. 
 This is the magnificent manner in which the 
 wives of the rich Babas, or native gentlemen, 
 live. Polygamy exists but very little amongst 
 
58 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IXIJIA. 
 
 them, hut they live in the patriarchal style — 
 all the sons for four or five generations bringing 
 their wives home to the father’s house. Thus 
 there will he a very large community, hut all 
 of one family, living in one house, and all bound 
 to obey the commands of the head of the house, 
 and his wife as the female head. When the 
 patriarch dies, his oldest son takes the com- 
 mand. The staircases up and down to these 
 verandas are always of brick, and generally in 
 a very dilapidated condition. In fact, many of 
 the houses, even of the wealthiest, seem to be 
 literally dropping to pieces ; they never think 
 of making any repairs, except what are abso- 
 lutely necessary. To do a thing because it 
 would look tidy, or clean, or neat, never seems 
 to occur to them. Most of their houses are 
 merely large square buildings, without any 
 architectural adornments, either within or 
 without. 
 
 Huts of the Poor. — Intermingling every- 
 where with the large houses of the wealthy, 
 you will find the villages, as they are called, 
 of the poor; a village standing on about as 
 much ground as one house of a wealthy native. 
 
HOMES AND DRESS. 
 
 59 
 
 and probably occupying adjoining squares. 
 Each village consists of a number of most 
 miserable huts, huddled together without any 
 appearance of order, the spaces between the 
 huts filled in with cows, goats, buffaloes, pariah 
 dogs, chickens,, and naked children ; and the 
 odors ! well, the less said about them the 
 better. The ground on which these huts are 
 built is generally separated from the main 
 street by a deep ditch or open drain, five or 
 six feet wide, which has a plank thrown across 
 it here and there to serve for a bridge. In the 
 day the odors, and at night, when they are all 
 cooking, the smoke, make it anything but 
 agreeable to live near any of these villages. 
 
 Dress. — The dress of the natives is very 
 picturesque. The native dress of a Bengali 
 Baba is, I think, beautiful. lie wears a dhoti; 
 this is a piece of white muslin, with a narrow 
 colored border put on width-ways. From the 
 waist to the ankles it is wound once or twice 
 round the body, and then one end is brought 
 from the waist behind, passed between the legs 
 and tucked in at the waist in front; this draws 
 the muslin up, forming a sort of pantaloons. 
 
GO 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IXDTA. 
 
 Over this is worn a short -white muslin jacket 
 or shirt, coming a little below the Avaist, and 
 then thrown carelessly over the shoulder is a 
 strip of fine, thin, Decca muslin (called a chud- 
 dah), which floats in the slightest breeze, and 
 looks cool and pretty. His hare feet are thrust 
 into a pair of Oriental slippers turned up at the 
 toes, and his head covered with a fine turban 
 of white muslin. Those who have become par- 
 tially Anglicized wear white pantaloons, and a 
 frock-coat of white shirting muslin, and stock- 
 ings and patent-leather hoots or shoes, and keep 
 the Avhite turban and the white chuddah, in the 
 cold season exchanging this for black cloth pan- 
 taloons and frock-coat, and a handsome Indian 
 shaAA'l. The very low caste, or coolie men, Avear 
 nothing at any time but a filthy strip of cloth 
 around the loins. 
 
 The Avomen of all classes wear Avhat is called 
 a sari'ee, a straight piece of cloth from five to 
 six yards in length, just Avound round the body 
 and then passing up over the head and shoul- 
 ders. This is of finer or coarser material, ac- 
 cording to the circumstances of the Avearer. It 
 is of all colors, but that most generally worn is 
 
THEIR TOILETS. 
 
 G1 
 
 of white, with a narrow border, of about an inch 
 in wddth, of some bright color. They never 
 wear under-garments, nor shoes or stockings, 
 but a variety of ornaments. It is very seldom 
 that the costlier jewels are worn even by those 
 that possess them, but imitation ones, and all 
 classes wear a variety of bracelets or bangles 
 made of different-colored glass. The Moham- 
 medan women up the country dress differently. 
 
 The Toilet. — As you pass along the streets, 
 in any or all parts of the city, English or native, 
 you Avill see the native men performing their 
 toilets, without heeding, in the slightest, the 
 gaze of the passers-by. One standing near the 
 river, or a tank, or a hydrant, with a large 
 jar of water, holding it high above his head, 
 pouring it down over his person, wearing noth- 
 ing but a strip of cloth around his loins. This 
 he will afterwards exchange for a dry strip, 
 and as he passes along the street, he will hold 
 the wet one in his hands like a flag, to dry. 
 The next person you meet may be performing 
 another part of the toilet, namely, rubbing 
 himself over, neck, back, face, shoulders, with 
 mustard oil. A third may be sitting on the 
 
62 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 ground, cleaning his teeth. This is done by 
 first chewing the twig of a tree, till the fibres 
 separate, and then scrubbing the teeth well 
 with it. Another, again, is sitting under the 
 barber’s hands. He not only shaves off the 
 heard, and the hair of his head, but with a pair 
 of tweezers he will pull out every hair that 
 might grow in the nose, ears, &c. There are 
 very few sidewalks, and all this is done in the 
 midst of carriage and foot passengers. 
 
 Bhistie. — The duty of several of the servants 
 here strikes you as very singular. Here is the 
 hhistie, or water-carrier. His duty is to bring 
 all the water that is needed for the use of the 
 family, whether for cooking, bathing, cleaning, 
 or for the use of the horses. He often has to 
 bring it from quite a long distance, from the 
 different tanks that have been constructed for 
 this purpose in different parts of the city. But 
 the thing in which he carries the water is the 
 most singular. It is called a mussork, and must 
 certainly he the ancient bottle of Scriptime. 
 It is made of the skin of a young buffalo, not 
 fully grown. The legs are fastened to straps, 
 which pass over the bhistie’s shoulders, thus 
 
«Talhs about |nbia. 
 
 A Bbistie, or Water Carrier. p, 62. 
 
 p. 17. 
 
 A Katamaran 
 
WA TER- CA RRTERS— SHOES. 
 
 63 
 
 holding the mussork firm on his back. The 
 water is poured in and out through the neck ; 
 and, though the bod}^ is only sewed up, it does 
 not leak. They are very expert in watering 
 the streets with this, squirting it out with the 
 skill and regularity of machines. You can im- 
 agine, however, how the process of fermenta- 
 tion going on in one of these old bottles would 
 cause it to burst, just in the way which our 
 Saviour says. 
 
 Shoes. — One day, on going into the house, I 
 was surprised to see a number of pairs of shoes, 
 sandals, and clogs on the front steps. The clogs 
 were of wood — just a thick sole with a large 
 knob of wood, like a big nail, at the top ; this 
 is passed between the big toe and the second, 
 and is thus carried along. I should think it 
 would greatly impede, instead of helping, the 
 progress. Others of the shoes seemed to be 
 of woven straw ; and others, again, of leather. 
 The Mohammedans wear the leather, and the 
 Hindoos the other kind. It looked funny to 
 see all these shoes, and I inquired why they 
 were there. I found it was pay-day. The lady 
 of the house was paying her servants, and, as 
 
64 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 it is disrespectful for an inferior to come into a 
 superior’s presence with his shoes on, they had 
 to leave them at the door. Their customs seem 
 strange at first. It is disrespectful to have 
 covered feet or an uncovered head — just the re- 
 verse to our own rules. 
 
 Tippoo Sahib’s Descendants. — I have been 
 introduced to Prince Golam and his son — the 
 son and grandson of Tippoo Sahib. The elder 
 one is as ugly and villainous an old man as I 
 ever saw. Both he and his son had strongly 
 marked Jewish countenances. He would have 
 passed weU in the Bowery for Mr. Moses 
 Abraham. They were, for some time, held as 
 prisoners, but are now permitted to go about as 
 they please ; only, always with a British officer 
 attending them, who keeps a sort of surveillance 
 over them. The old man asked to be introduced 
 to me, spoke in very good English, asking a 
 great many questions about America ; said he 
 had been to England many times ; that he liked 
 that climate better than this ; with a great deal 
 more to the same purpose. He and his son 
 were dressed alike. They had on patent-leather 
 boots, very loose pantaloons, made of a very 
 
TIPrOO SAHIB. 
 
 65 
 
 thin material, like blue muslin. Over this, a 
 garment, made like a gentleman’s dressing gown, 
 which came below the knees and was buttoned 
 all the way down. This was made of satin, 
 worked with gold thread. Over this he had a 
 sort of cloak, made of cashmere, the shawl pat- 
 tern ; it came below the knees, was cut straight 
 and gathered into a band at the neck. But the 
 caps must have been of immense value. They 
 were small skull-caps, made of purple velvet, 
 with a border round the head, about two inches 
 wide, set with emeralds and diamonds. A large 
 emerald in the centre, about the size of a three- 
 cent piece, formed the centre of a star, the points 
 of which were formed of diamonds ; these were 
 set in a row all round the band, forming stars 
 about the size of a quarter-dollar piece, and 
 then, at each edge of the band, there was a row 
 of alternate emeralds and diamonds to finish the 
 border. On his fingers the old man had two 
 rings, each formed of a magnificent solitaire dia- 
 mond, almost as large as a five-cent piece. I 
 have found that the natives do not care about 
 the cutting of a stone, so it only covers a large 
 surface. 
 
C6 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 Khansarmer and Cook. — I witnessed a most 
 amusing scene, one day, between the cook and 
 kliansarmer, in the house where I was boarding. 
 You are obliged to have a great many servants 
 in India. It will there take eight or ten to do 
 the work that one would do here, as their caste 
 forbids each one to do more than one certain 
 kind of work. Thus, a sweeper could on no 
 account bring wmter ; neither might a bhistie, or 
 water-carrier, touch a broom. These things 
 are very troublesome, requiring you to have so 
 many about you ; but then their wages are small, 
 and they do not eat your food, but provide 
 their own; so that, if you reckon the board 
 and wages of one servant, the actual cost of 
 ten there is hardly more than of one here. 
 Well, the cook, of course, is the one who pre- 
 pares the food. The kliansarmer is the table 
 servant — the one who waits, who sees that all 
 things are right, and who goes to the bazaar 
 each day to purchase the food for the family. 
 These men who attend to the table and the 
 cooking are always Mohammedans, as it would 
 break the caste of a Hindoo if he should touch 
 our food. Even if he should touch one of the 
 
COOKS. 
 
 67 
 
 dishes on which onr food had been, after it had 
 been washed perfectly clean, it would break his 
 caste ; consequently, we are always obliged to 
 have Mohammedans, and these men are always 
 great rogues and cheats. The last few days 
 our hurra maam (lady at the head of the house) 
 has been watching the khansarmer pretty close- 
 ly, and made him bring the marketing to her, 
 so that she might see that he did not charge 
 her for twelve eggs when he only brought eight, 
 &c., &c. Of course, this has cut down some of 
 his usual depredations, and he is quite cross. 
 The morning of which I speak he did not bring 
 his marketing to show her, and she forgot it. 
 Presently we heard a great row, outside, be- 
 tween the cook and the khansarmer. At length 
 the cook rushed in, carrying a chicken in his 
 hand (they are always bought alive there), 
 which he showed the hurra ma’am as one which 
 the khansarmer had brought him to cook for 
 our dinner, and he pretended to be very indig- 
 nant about it. The poor bird was ill with a 
 disease they call here chicken’s small-pox, and 
 which is as infectious among fowls as the same 
 disease is among human bipeds. It was really 
 
68 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 very ill, and had lost one eye by the disease ; 
 and this was what we were to have had for our 
 dinner. We wondered very much that the cook 
 should have shown this, as the servants, gener- 
 ally, help one another to cheat, instead of ex- 
 posing their tricks. We found out the cause, 
 however, afterward. The khansarmer has been 
 in the habit of giving the cook, each day, 
 about three cents, as his share of the cheating 
 process ; but recently he had not been able to 
 cheat quite as much, and so had cut down the 
 cook’s share, which he would not stand, and 
 consequently the row in the kitchen. 
 
 Dhabi. — All over India, I believe, the clothes 
 are washed by men ; and they have a very cu- 
 rious way of doing it. They carry the clothes 
 away from your house in large bundles on their 
 own backs, or tied up in two bundles and thrown 
 over the back of a cow, like panniers. Then 
 they take them to a tank or pond of water, and 
 in that they place a broad, flat stone, in shape 
 like the washboards we use here. They stand 
 this slanting in the water, part in and part out ; 
 then, dipping the garment to be washed in the 
 water, they beat it on the stone, again and again. 
 
WASHERMAN— L UNCII. 
 
 G9 
 
 to cleanse it, and then the hot sun bleaches it. 
 You would hardly believe how clean and white 
 they become. But if you should have happened 
 to have any buttons on your clothes, you need 
 never expect to see them again. This process 
 is, as you may imagine, very good for trade, as 
 the washing wears them out more than the 
 wearing ; and the climate being so hot, you are 
 obliged to have them washed very frequently. 
 There is one comfort, however : they do it mar- 
 vellously cheap. You can afford to change as 
 often as you like. A dhobi, or washerman, will 
 do all the washing for one person, by the month, 
 as many pieces as you like to wear, at three 
 rupees (a dollar and a half ) a month. 
 
 Tiffin. — We were invited to take tiffin (or 
 lunch) in one of the native houses or zenanas 
 yesterday, and though I dreaded it, yet I felt 
 that we had to go, or it would give offence. The 
 ladies, of course, could not eat with us, as it 
 would break their caste to eat anything we had 
 touched, or even to eat anything off a dish that 
 we had once touched ; so, as I found after- 
 wards, if they even brought us anything on an 
 earthen platter, they had to break it after we 
 
70 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IKBIA. 
 
 were gone, but if it had been placed on a brass 
 plate, that they could purify so as to be able to 
 use it again. Well, now to our feast! There 
 was an English lady and myself. They placed 
 in front of us two large wooden stools, on each 
 of which were three earthen plates of different 
 sizes. One stool, with what was on it, was for 
 each of us, and the contents of the plates for 
 each were exactly similar. On one of the three 
 plates was a fish about the size of a herring — 
 this appeared to have been fried in ghee (melted 
 butter, which is often kept till it is quite ran- 
 cid), some strange A^ege tables cut in bits (I do 
 not know what they Avere), and about six large 
 round pancakes, all cold. They never, or rarely 
 ever, eat anything hot. On another plate were 
 different kinds of sweetmeats, as they call them, 
 mostly prepared Avith sugar and meat, and some 
 of them w'ere fried in ghee, and sAvimming in 
 it. Then on the third plate there Avere a num- 
 ber of different kinds of fruit, enough in all for 
 a dozen people, and Ave Avei'e expected to eat it 
 all. We could not get off without at least tast- 
 ing everything. When they found that Ave 
 could not possibly eat all, they insisted upon 
 
EATING. 
 
 71 
 
 our taking it home ; but we compromised the 
 matter by taking home the fruit and asking 
 them to give the rest to two of our native 
 Christian teachers who were present, as they 
 would not mind eating things that had been on 
 the plates that we had touched. The zenana 
 ladies seemed perfectly surprised at this, and 
 more so when our teachers asked them to give 
 them the earthen plates instead of breaking 
 them, as by washing they could make them 
 perfectly clean. Poor women, they thought 
 that they would be perfectly defiled to eat from 
 anything we had touched ! You remember how 
 our Saviour teaches that it is not that which 
 we eat or drink that defiles us, but those evil 
 things that proceed from the heart •, it is those 
 which defile. 
 
 Snakes. — In a house where I called to-day, 
 an ayah was walking round the compound (en- 
 closed garden) with a little English child, under 
 some very high trees, when suddenly two small 
 snakes fell at her feet. They were entwined 
 together, but were dying, whether from the fall 
 or that they had been fighting could not be told. 
 They were a very deadly kind, though small ; 
 
72 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 their touch even, they say, is poisonous. To 
 such dangers are we constantly exposed in this 
 land. 
 
 Servants. — There is a A^ery strange custom 
 here amongst the English people. When they 
 invite you out, if it is only to dinner, you are 
 expected to take your own servant with you. 
 If you do not, you are likely to fare Amry scant- 
 ily ; and if you stay all night he stays Avith 
 you and sleeps on the mat outside your door, 
 and then he is in readiness to do anything for 
 you you may Avish. You must always, how- 
 ever, in such a case pay him a little extra each 
 day to buy his food. This seems a very sin- 
 gular custom, but your servants never expect 
 to Avait upon your guests. It is not the habit, 
 they say, and you have a great deal of trouble 
 Avith them if you make them do it. All who 
 travel out to India should understand this. If 
 they are guests at a place, if it is only for a 
 day, they should immediately get one of the 
 servants of the house to provide them a ser- 
 vant (this can always be done at a minute’s 
 notice), for if they do not do this for them- 
 selves, the mistress of the house has to do it, 
 
SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 73 
 
 and then, of course, she has to pay the extra 
 servant. 
 
 The Tuckoo Mah. — I saw a most singular 
 performance the other day in a house where I 
 was teaching. A number of the ladies were 
 sitting round me, and I was giving them a Bible 
 lesson, when a very old woman, whom I had 
 never seen before, came in and sat down. Im- 
 mediately three of those I had been teaching 
 went and knelt in front of her, put their two 
 hands together, and with their foreheads touched 
 the ground. Upon inquiry afterwards about 
 this I was told that she was the “ Tuckoo 
 Mah,” that is, the mother of the house. She 
 rules the female portion of the household : 
 there is no appeal from her word. The hus- 
 band cannot save his wife from anything the 
 Tuckoo Mah may order. She is treated with 
 most profound respect by all the women, and 
 her daughters-in-law, when they see her for the 
 first time each day, pay to her the obeisance I 
 have just described. It is when those whom 
 we are now teaching the religion of J esus come 
 to fill this position that we shall hope to see a 
 marvellous change in India. 
 
 fi 
 
74 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 Sickness. — In visiting a house the other day 
 I found one of the women quite sick. I asked 
 if she had had a physician. ‘‘Yes/’ was the 
 answer, “ one educated at the Medical College.” 
 On asking if the doctor might see his female 
 patient — “ Oh, no !” she replied ; “ a curtain is 
 suspended in front of the bed, and through a 
 hole she puts out her hand for him to feel her 
 pulse, and through a slit she puts out her tongue. 
 The doctor asks questions of a female servant, 
 which she repeats to her mistress, and the an- 
 swers are delivered in the same way.” But 
 even this having a physician at all is a great 
 step, as two or three years ago they would not 
 allow one to attend female patients. 
 
 Cruel Customs. — “ The tender mercies of the 
 wicked are cruel.” One day in visiting one of 
 my zenanas I was told that one of the women 
 had a dear little baby boy, just two days old. 
 I asked if I might see her, and receiving an 
 affirmative answer, was about to go to her room, 
 when one of the women said, “Not there, she 
 is not in her room ; follow me — I will take you 
 to her.” I followed the old woman down stairs, 
 and there, pointing across the open court, shar- 
 
CRUEL CUSTOMS. 
 
 75 
 
 ing the cow-shed with the cow — which she was 
 to continue to do for the next three weeks — 
 I found the mother with her babe. The woman 
 came to the door of her shed to show me her 
 little boy, just two days old. Poor little thing, 
 it was very light colored, but the face, arms, 
 hands, and chest were very red, as if it had had 
 a bad blister. I asked what was the matter. 
 The mother answered, “Nothing is the matter. 
 It is our custom, when the child is a day or two 
 old, to light a large stick of wood and hold the 
 baby over it, so that the head, arms, chest, &c., 
 get very much scorched.” “ But,” I exclaimed, 
 in intense pity, “ does not the little one cry 
 very much ?” The reply was, “ Yes ; but then, 
 you know, it hardens them and makes them 
 strong.” Is it any wonder that so many babies 
 die here ? They must, indeed, be tough little 
 things that can live through all this. 
 
 Moorghees. — I made a most ludicrous mis- 
 take the other day. You know the people here 
 all believe in the transmigration of souls ; that 
 when a person dies he is judged according to 
 his works, and after a time he is born again 
 into this world ; if he has been good, he comes 
 
7G 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 back in a better position than he was before ; 
 if he has been bad, he comes back in a worse 
 position, or as one of the lower animals. Now 
 I do not know why, but they think chickens 
 are down, down very low indeed. Well, my 
 dhahi, or washerman, has been giving me a great 
 deal of trouble lately. Instead of bringing my 
 clothes back every week, he has kept them two 
 or three, and in one instance four weeks ; and 
 considering the number of clothes you have to 
 wear here on account of the weather, this is 
 exceedingly annoying ; but he is always ready 
 with excuses : one week his mother was dead, 
 another time his brother was dead, another time 
 his child — all falsehoods ; I found he had not 
 lost one. At last I got so cross with him that 
 I went to tell him he need not make that excuse 
 to me any more, for I was sure by this time all 
 his friends must be dead. I meant to say the 
 word moorghier (dead), and instead of that I 
 said the word moorghees (chickens). Fancy 
 the consternation of the poor man at my telling 
 him that I was sure all these dear friends whom 
 he was so sorely lamenting had become chick- 
 ens ! His wrath knew no bounds. He thought 
 
BOVS' SCHOOL. 
 
 77 
 
 I had heaped upon him the sorest abuse, and I 
 was just as much amazed at his anger, for I had 
 not the least idea what I had said to occasion 
 it. But at length a lady who was standing by, 
 convulsed with laughter, explained it to us both 
 and set matters straight. Yet I believe the 
 dliahi bore me a grudge for a long time, thinking 
 I intended it. 
 
 A Boys’ School. — I have described to you a 
 zenana. In the men’s part of the building, at 
 one end above the court, the veranda is used 
 as a god’s house, at the time of any Poojah, or 
 festival. In one house that I visited to-day, I 
 saw that a better use was being made of it : it 
 is turned into a temple of learning. As we 
 entered the narrow passage leading to the court, 
 we saw lying round a great many pairs of shoes, 
 and our ears were saluted by a tremendous din 
 of human voices ; for the teacher thinks that no 
 scholar is studying unless he hears his voice, 
 and the poor little youngster that keeps quiet 
 is very apt to get a rap over the head from the 
 master’s cane, for inattention. When we en- 
 tered, we saw a schoolmaster, a Brahmin, seated 
 in the god’s house, while squatted around him. 
 
78 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 and down in the court below, were a number of 
 dirty urchins, who were commencing to climb 
 the steep hill to the temple of knowledge. 
 Many of the wealthy Baboos now will pay a 
 Brahmin priest to come for two or three hours 
 a day, and their servants, children, or any of 
 the poor around may come to be taught gratis. 
 Each boy brings an ink-horn, with a wooden 
 style, and some cocoa-nut leaves, instead of 
 paper, to write on, and a small piece of matting 
 rolled up under his arm, on which to sit. This, 
 with an old ragged book, is his school equip- 
 ment, for very little is taught here except to 
 write and read. I saw one little fellow come 
 in, and as soon as he had made his salaam (act 
 of recognition or obeisance) to his teacher, he 
 placed his old book and his ink-horn on the 
 ground, and then prostrated himself before 
 them, with his forehead touching the ground. 
 I asked what he was doing, and they told me 
 he was paying poojah to his book — that is, he 
 Avas asking the book to he so kind as to let his 
 lessons be easy. I thought of the words “ they 
 offer incense to their own net and worship 
 their drag.” When the boys go out, you may 
 
CnOLEBA. 
 
 79 
 
 depend there is a great time, each one finding 
 his own shoes ; those who go out first running 
 off with or misplacing those belonging to the 
 others, and each one screaming, yelling, and 
 shouting at the top of his lungs. It is far 
 worse than it is with us, where each boy is 
 looking for his own hat. I find that to-morrow 
 is a festival to the goddess of wisdom, and then 
 there can be no school, as no one must touch a 
 book or a pen, or anything that relates to 
 learning, on that day. 
 
 Cholera. — The lady who was to take charge 
 of the European asylum arrived some weeks 
 ago from England ; then the lady who had 
 charge of the Scottish orphanage (of native 
 children under the care of the Scotch kirk) 
 came to me and told me she was very ill and 
 the doctor had ordered her away for a change. 
 So she asked me if, while she was gone, I would 
 not stay at the orphanage and superintend 
 matters there, as it would not interfere with 
 my zenana work. I am here, entirely sur- 
 rounded by native children, but several of them 
 have been very ill, and diseases are so sudden 
 and fatal in their effects in this country that I 
 
80 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 feel more timid than I did at having such a 
 charge, especially as the native children are so 
 different from English children. When any- 
 thing is the matter with them, it is hard to 
 make them tell you, or explain it to you. I 
 went one day to my little school and to some 
 zenanas, and came in about two o’clock. My 
 old washman was then apparently perfectly 
 well. About four o’clock one of the other ser- 
 vants came to me and told me that the old man 
 seemed quite ill. It appeared to me that he 
 had symptoms of cholera. I gave him some 
 medicine (he was a Mohammedan, and so could 
 take what I gave him), and afterwards some 
 brandy. Then I did not know what to do. I 
 thought he had cholera, but he had no pain. 
 I begged him to go to the hospital, as no doctor 
 will come to the house to see the poor natives ; 
 they insist upon their being sent to the hospital. 
 But he would not go there. It seems if they 
 go to the hospital and die there, their own 
 people or caste will not perform any funeral 
 rites for them ; in fact, they often have to be 
 buried before their own friends even know that 
 they are dead, so they have a great horror of 
 
CHOLERA. 
 
 81 
 
 going there. I feared that his was one of the 
 worst forms of cholera, painless cholera, as it is 
 called, and it proved so. Two of the other 
 servants staid up all night with him, but could 
 do little for him. Very early in the morning, 
 I called out of my window to see how he was. 
 They said better ; he had asked for some sago. 
 I hurried to dress, to go down to see him, but 
 in a few moments one of the servants came to 
 say that he was dying. I flung my dressing- 
 gown round me and went down, but he was 
 already gone ; poor old man, yesterday so well, 
 to-day in eternity. Surely in this land we may 
 well say, “ In the midst of life we are in death.” 
 I had to send for some Mussulmans to come and 
 bury him, and had to pay them ten rupees for 
 taking him away. He had a wife and children 
 somewhere up the country, so the other ser- 
 vants said, though they did not know where. 
 He had no money, nor other effects of any kind. 
 
CHAPTER FIFTH. 
 
 SHOPPING AND SERVANTS. 
 
 HOPPING. — I had a few little purchases to 
 
 make for summer wear, and, as I was told 
 that there was a native bazaar where they kept 
 every kind of English goods, and sold them at 
 a far cheaper rate than at the English shops, I 
 concluded to go there first and see for myself; 
 particularly as it would afford considerable 
 amusement. To reach China bazaar, the place 
 to which we were bound, we had to pass through 
 another bazaar, where they sold all sorts of 
 things for the use of the natives. Each little 
 shop is more like a stall, or rather like an open 
 veranda, and the goods are all displayed on a 
 succession of steps in this veranda; and here 
 the shopkeeper sits in the midst of his goods, 
 his little stall being about ten or twelve feet 
 square. In one stall you will find all sorts of 
 native confectionery — to our taste “horrible,” 
 but the natives are very fond of them. They are 
 
snorriKG. 
 
 83 
 
 mostly composed of sugar, spices, and the curd 
 of milk. In another stall you will see oranges, 
 figs, limes, bananas, and cocoa-nuts. In a third, 
 all sorts of pots and pans, such as the natives 
 use. Another, perhaps, will be a jeweller. At 
 another they will sell wood ; this is sold by 
 weight. At another stall they will have vege- 
 tables ; and so on, ad infinitum. This will be 
 on either side of several long streets. There 
 are no sidewalks, but horses and carriages, men, 
 women, and children, and dogs jostle each other 
 at every step. The people never seem to 
 trouble themselves the least to get out of the 
 way of the horses. They appear to swarm here 
 like ants ; and to think that not one of them 
 knew anything of a better, a higher, and a 
 holier life, seemed terrible. We passed on, 
 however, to China bazaar. Here the shops are 
 more like our own, with the goods all kept 
 stowed away in the back part. But oh, what 
 a scene we beheld ! and, in fact, in which we 
 had to be a part ; for, from the very moment 
 that you turn into one end of the bazaar till 
 you leave, you are surrounded by the merchants, 
 who rush from their shops to extol their wares, 
 
84 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 to decry their neighbors, and, if possible, seize 
 a purchaser and drag her into their shops. Talk 
 of bedlam ! you never saw anything like this ; 
 scolding, vociferating, and abusing each other 
 in Bengali and Hindoostani; then, in broken 
 English, each one trying to attract the lady’s 
 attention : “ What you want. Ma’am Sahib ? 
 You my old customer.” (It is the first time the 
 lady has ever been there, but no matter.) “ This 
 your old shop. I got plenty nice things.” Then 
 another pulls open the ghaine door on the other 
 side : Ma’am Sahib, don’t you hear him. He 
 
 only a broker. He no shop his own. I got 
 best goods. Only look, ma’am. Come see !” 
 At length, to escape the dreadful din, you take 
 refuge in one shop, while the disappointed mer- 
 chants will crowd round the doorway, waiting 
 for your reappearance. Then you have to sit 
 down and commence to bargain, for you will be 
 asked twenty-five rupees [a rupee is about 46 
 cents] for what the merchant will eventually 
 take six. It will be in this way : you want a 
 piece of longcloth ; you see some you like, and 
 you know the proper sum should be about ten 
 rupees for the piece ; you ask the price. Mer- 
 
SHOPPING. 
 
 85 
 
 chant replies, quite boldly : “ Thirty rupees, 
 Ma’am Sahib.” 
 
 The lady says, “Nonsense, Baboo. I am in 
 a hurry. I will give you ten rupees.” 
 
 Merchant (whispering) — “ Ma’am Sahib, you 
 want to know the asking price or the taking 
 price : 
 
 Lady — “ Why, of course I want to know the 
 taking price.” 
 
 Merchant — “ Well, now, Ma’am Sahib, proper 
 taking price twenty-five rupees.” 
 
 Lady — “ Now, Baboo, look here : I have no 
 time to waste. I will give you ten rupees ; not 
 one 2 )ice (about a cent) more.” 
 
 3Ierchant — “ Oh, Ma’am Sahib, that not my 
 cost price — now, twenty rupees, no less.” 
 
 Lady (rising) — “Very well. Baboo; I must 
 go. I will not give more than ten.” 
 
 Merchant (with clasped hands, imploringly) — 
 “ No, no ; sit down, Ma’am Sahib. You my old 
 customer ; I have no good luck, you go out of 
 my shop without buying anything.” Then in 
 a confidential whisper, “ I let you have it for 
 fifteen rupees; but don’t tell other ladies.” 
 
 The lady persists in her first offer, and finally. 
 
86 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IXDIA. 
 
 after a little more higgling, she has it at her 
 own price. Now, this is amusing the first time 
 you Avitness it; but it has to be gone through 
 with every article you buy, and every day, and 
 when you feel that you are wasting so much 
 time it becomes very annoying and bad for you 
 if you should be ignorant of the real value of 
 any article you may desire, for then you are 
 sure to be cheated. 
 
 Cabul Traders. — A t the cold season of the 
 year, you meet a number of men about the 
 streets Avith Avalnuts, dates, figs, and grapes for 
 sale. The grapes are put up in small boxes, 
 like our round salt-boxes, Avith one or two layers 
 of cotton ; and each grape (AA'hite) picked from 
 the stem and laid by itself on the cotton ; some- 
 times there Avill not be more than tAventy good 
 grapes, but they charge a rupee a box for them. 
 The men, however, are Amry strange and 
 peculiar, and I never see them but I think 
 of the Gibeonites who came to deceive Joshua. 
 They Avear Turkish troAvsers, a loose, full dress, 
 Avhich reaches to the knee, with very large, full 
 sleeves, all made of a very coarse cotton cloth, 
 Avhich Avas Avhite when it Avas first put on. 
 
CABUL TRADERS. 
 
 87 
 
 Around the waist they have a loose girdle of 
 the same, with long ends, and round the head 
 several yards of the same cloth, not made into 
 a turban, but twisted into rolls, and then wound 
 round the head loosely ; hut between the rolls 
 will he seen long, straggling, bushy hair. Their 
 beards and whiskers are long and unkempt, look- 
 ing as if they might be thoroughly stocked Avith 
 ’ inhabitants. Their garments, they say, are gen- 
 erally new when they start from home, but are 
 never taken off, night or day, or washed from 
 the time they leave home till they get l>ack. 
 j So you may imagine what they look like. I 
 ! should think, from appearances, that the men 
 never wash their faces or comb their hair in all 
 j that time either. Their shoes are worn and 
 i! clouted. Yet they are a very large, athletic 
 ! race, and certainly would be fine looking if they 
 I' were only clean. They come down from Cobul 
 ; every cold season, bringing their fruit for sale 
 a long distance, over fifteen hundred miles. 
 
 I Formerly they used to come all the Avay on 
 their camels, but now they leave their camels 
 I up at Delhi or Allahabad, and come the rest of 
 I the way by the railroad. 
 
88 
 
 TALES ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 Cheating. — In this country you must be con- 
 stantly on the watch against petty depreda- 
 tions. The natives seem too cowardly to com- 
 mit any great theft, but small articles you must 
 watch. You might leave your watch or a 
 twenty rupee piece about with perfect safety, 
 but a fewjo/ce (a pice is a copper coin of a little 
 less value than a cent), or a pocket-handker- 
 chief, or a pair of stockings, or any such thing, 
 if left about, would soon “ find legs and walk 
 off.” I often think, with these natives, of that 
 doggerel in Mother Goose about the Welsh : 
 
 “ Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief, 
 
 Taffy came to my house and stole a leg of beef ; 
 
 I went to Taffy’s house, Taffy was not at home, 
 
 Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow bone,” &c. 
 
 It is in small peculations that they are so expert. 
 If a servant buys anything for you he always 
 considers that he must have his distoor or cus- 
 tom. The fair allowance is considered one anna 
 out of each rupee (there are sixteen annas in 
 a rupee). Thus, for instance, if a khansamer 
 goes to market he pays for you for a piece of 
 meat three rupees, and the butcher gives him 
 three annas. Of course this comes out of your 
 
CHEATING. 
 
 89 
 
 pocket, for the butcher, knowing he has to pay 
 this, charges him so much more for the meat. 
 The cook buys the wood or charcoal for the 
 fire ; he gets his distoor, or commission, on 
 that. The hearer buys the oil ; he gets his 
 commission on that, and so with everything. 
 This has come now to be such an understood 
 thing that very seldom masters or mistresses 
 make a complaint about it, as long as they 
 only take what is considered lawful ; but it is 
 very seldom that you find one honest enough 
 to content himself with this. Perhaps you will 
 say, “ Why do not people make their own pur- 
 chases themselves ?” You are then worse off 
 still ; for the natives are all in league, and they 
 will make you pay far more than your servants 
 charged you. You can’t help yourself This 
 is one of the things wherein you have to try 
 “ to possess your souls in patience.” But there 
 are some other things you must be constantly 
 on the watch for, or you would lose everything. 
 The former lady superintendent of the Euro- 
 pean orphanage here had to leave suddenly, 
 and so the ladies came to me and urged that I 
 would come and live here just to look after 
 
 7 
 
90 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 things a little till another lady could come out 
 from England. This institution is only for the 
 orphan daughters of the British soldiers, so I 
 am here for a little while. Well, the bearer 
 here (by degrees you find out all the different 
 servants, and what they do ; the bearer trims 
 lamps, pulls the punkah, dusts the rooms) is a 
 very good natured man, but a great rogue. The 
 diirmon is the gatekeeper round the large houses 
 or establishments here ; there are high walls 
 with iron gates ; these walls enclose the house, 
 the gardens, the stables, the servants’ little 
 houses, &c., &c., and it is called the compound. 
 Well, it is the durmon’s business always to sit 
 at the gate, for his little house is there, and 
 see every body who goes in or out, and to 
 watch that no servant steals or carries any- 
 thing away. It is a very responsible position, 
 and is often occupied by Brahmins, as the other 
 servants always will obey a Brahmin ; our dur- 
 mon is a Brahmin. To-day the durmon caught 
 the bearer carrying off' a quart bottle of oil, 
 under his dress. He seized him just as he got 
 outside the gate, and a policeman, who was 
 standing near, helped him to bring the culprit 
 
PILFERING. 
 
 91 
 
 to me. The poor fellow acknowledged taking 
 the oil, but he made a most ingenious defence. 
 He said that each day he was allowed to take 
 for himself all the oil out of the lamps that had 
 not been consumed the previous night, there- 
 fore he declared he was not stealing. The ma- 
 tron, who had to look after the housekeeping 
 (I had nothing to do with that), had never dis- 
 covered this wholesale pilfering. The police- 
 man said of course he must take him to prison, 
 as he was caught in the act. He quite fright- 
 ened me by flinging himself flat on the ground 
 and seizing tight hold of my feet, supplicating 
 me to plead for him. It was with great diffi- 
 culty I could get my feet away from his grasp; 
 but though I felt very sorry for him, I could 
 do nothing, as the policeman saw him caught. 
 He was put in prison for three months. All 
 the servants would feel very sorry for him. It 
 was no shame to do the deed; to be caught was 
 the only shame. Indeed, it is no easy work I 
 find to keep house in this country. In the 
 large cities you very seldom buy or keep on 
 hand a store of anything, for you have no good 
 store-room, and the insects are so troublesome. 
 
92 
 
 TALKS ABOUT IKDIA. 
 
 especially the little red ants, that, Ayith the 
 exception of a few things, such as sugar, cotfee, 
 tea, and rice, everything is bought each day 
 for the day’s consumption. When it is brought 
 home from the bazaar the housekeeper must 
 see every thing to observe that the khansamer 
 does not charge her for things he did not bring. 
 When the baker comes she must count the 
 loaves ; she must count every pat of butter ; 
 she must have the cow brought to the door to 
 he milked, and give the man her own empty 
 measure to have it milked into, or he would 
 bring too small a measure, and with water in 
 it ; then she must sit by herself, or have one of 
 the family do so, to see that he does not put 
 water in while he is milking. Then, if a horse 
 is kept, you must not only measure out his food, 
 hut see him eat it, else some of it will be stolen ; 
 and when the horse is shod you must have that 
 done before you, or they will pretend to put 
 a new shoe on the horse and never do it. In 
 fact, there is no end to the constant vigilance a 
 housekeeper has to keep up, unless she is rich 
 enough to aftord to be continually robbed, and 
 would rather lose a good deal than take all this 
 
PILFERING SER VANTS. 
 
 93 
 
 trouble. This does make it very hard for mis- 
 sionaries, for generally the best servants are the 
 most accomplished rogues, and consequently 
 they do not like to live with those whose means 
 are small, a)id who are obliged to keep a strict 
 watch of their things. With government offi- 
 cials, where they are constantly giving large 
 dinner parties, the khansamers generally be- 
 come quite rich. A lady friend of mine, whose 
 husband is pretty high in office, told me that 
 they had to give dinner parties on an average 
 once a week. She says : “We have a splendid 
 khansamer ; he knows how to get up the most 
 beautiful little dinner parties ; every thing will 
 be perfect — the arrangement of flowers, &c. 
 I have only to tell him how many I expect to 
 have, and I know everything will be done just 
 as I like, without my needing to give myself 
 the least trouble.” (Her health is very poor, so 
 that it is only by the greatest care she can live 
 in India.) “ But, oh, his cheats are most dread- 
 ful !” she said. “ What do you think he had 
 the impudence to tell me the other day ?” she 
 continued. “ I had been scolding him for cheat- 
 ing me so, and I said to him, ‘Now look here, 
 
94 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 khansamer, what I "will do if you will promise 
 me that you will not take more than your pro- 
 per distoor, one anna in each rupee you spend 
 for me : I will just exactly double the salary I 
 at present give you, for I hate to feel I am be- 
 ing cheated so.’ ” The khansamer came to her, 
 with hands put up together and his body bent in 
 most submissive attitude, and replied, “Ma’am 
 Sahib ! indeed, Ma’am Sahib ! I can’t do it. 
 Why, I make more than that out of one of your 
 dinners.” “ Think of the man’s impudence to 
 tell me this !” “ Well,” said I, laughingly, “ at 
 
 any rate, he was honest there ; hut what did 
 you do ? Surely you did not keep him !” 
 “Yes, I did,” she replied. “What could I do? 
 You know how wretched my health is — that 
 the least thing throws me on my bed, and each 
 time the doctor threatens to send me to Eng- 
 land, and, oh, I would rather do anything than 
 leave my husband. He is obliged, by his offi- 
 cial position, to have these dinner parties. I 
 am not present at half of them, hut he must 
 have them. And when I told him what the 
 khansamer had said, and that we must send him 
 away, he only laughed and said, ‘ No, my dear. 
 
NICE JELLY. 
 
 95 
 
 he does his work well ; you are thoroughly 
 satisfied with that. If you were to get another 
 he would probably cheat you just as much, 
 without your having the same comfort. You 
 might be constantly troubled, and your health 
 is worth more to me than all he steals.’ So, 
 you see, he is here still.” 
 
 I tell you this to show you the pleasures of 
 housekeeping in India. 
 
 Nice Jelly. — If you want to be able to eat 
 anything here, you had better keep clear of the 
 cook-room. That is always out some little dis- 
 tance away from the house. It is impossible 
 for any European here, even of the very lowest 
 position, to do their own cooking ; the heat of 
 the^ fire, with the heat of the weather, would 
 ' quickly kill them ; and you really cannot super- 
 intend it, as you would faint in a very few 
 minutes in the cook-house. All you can do is 
 to give directions ; and it is really wonderful 
 i what good dishes they will make, with the 
 simple cooking utensils they have. If we were 
 ; set down in a kitchen with the few implements 
 i they have, and told to prepare a dinner, we 
 I should say it was impossible. They have no 
 
96 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 table, or chair, or stool. The cook sits on his 
 heels, and spreads a clean piece of matting on 
 the floor for a table. We do not now generally 
 have to teach the cooks, or in fact any of the 
 servants, much. By their religion, every man 
 must be of the same calling as his father 
 (and all the servants, except the nurses, are 
 men) : even if a man should have ten sons, if he 
 is a cook, they must all be cooks ; thus as each 
 boy is old enough, the father teaches him his 
 trade or profession, and when the English first 
 came here they taught the servants how to do 
 things as they liked them. The servants pre- 
 fer, too, if they can, to have places in English 
 families, as they get better paid. Though they 
 can make things generally to taste pretty well, 
 yet I should advise all, new comers especially, 
 to “ eat what is set before them and ask no 
 questions,” not, as St. Paul said, “ for conscience 
 sake,” but for their' appetite’s sake. A friend 
 of mine was telling me a little story yesterday. 
 He said that, a young officer, a friend of his, 
 who had not been long in this country, was up 
 the country living in a tent, in a little out-of- 
 the-way place. He had a Jcitmutgher (table 
 
NICE JELLY. 
 
 97 
 
 servant) who could speak tolerable English — a 
 necessity to him, as he did not yet know the 
 language. The young officer had been quite 
 sick for several days with low fever, and could 
 eat nothing ; one day he thought he would like 
 a little jelly. He had the materials for making 
 it, so he called the kitmutgher and told him to 
 make him some, and began to tell him how to 
 do it. Oh, I know, sahib” (sahib is a title of 
 respect equivalent to sir), know.” ‘‘Very 
 Avell,” said the gentleman, “ make me some, and 
 then come to me for a piece of flannel to strain 
 it.” The gentleman forgot all about his jelly 
 till in the evening ; then he thought he should 
 like some. He called the servant, and said, 
 “ Did you make my jelly ?” “ Yes, sahib, I go 
 
 bring him.” The gentleman took it and tasted 
 it. He said, “ It tastes pretty good, but it does 
 not look nice ; it ought to look quite clear ; this 
 looks so muddy.” Then, recollecting himself, 
 he said, “ I told you to come to me for a piece 
 of flannel to strain it; jelly can’t be clear and 
 good unless it is strained ; why did you not 
 come to me for the flannel ?” “ Oh, sahib, I 
 
 strained it ; for true, sahib, I strained it, sure.” 
 
98 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 “ But it should have been flannel ; I told you 
 to come to me for that.” “ But, sahib, I did 
 strain it, indeed I did.” “Well, come, I insist 
 upon knowing what you strained it through.” 
 Still he was tasting and tasting of the jelly. 
 At length, very reluctantly, the servant an- 
 swered, “ Well, sahib, I strained it through one 
 of your stockings.” The gentleman let the 
 glass of jelly fall from his hands, and started 
 up in a rage. “ Why, you rascal, you !” he 
 exclaimed. The poor frightened servant fell 
 on his knees, and joining his hands together in 
 a most supplicating attitude, cried, “ Oh, sahib, 
 sahib, don’t be angry, sahib ; it wasn’t a clean 
 one !” You can imagine whether the rest of 
 that jelly was enjoyed ! 
 
 *Cruel Trick. — It is an absolute necessity for 
 every European here to have some sort of con- 
 veyance to go about in the street. In the first 
 place, no one but natives are expected to walk, 
 and the streets are not made for them to do so. 
 In the next place, the heat of the sun is so 
 intense that no one would dare to walk even a 
 few blocks in it, for fear of sunstroke. A con- 
 veyance is therefore as necessary as to have a 
 
TRICKS. 
 
 99 
 
 roof over your head. But one great comfort is 
 that it is not very expensive to keep one. I 
 have a little palky gharrie, such as I have de- 
 scribed, and such as all the ladies use here for 
 zenana work, and the food of my horse, coach- 
 man’s wages, shoeing, &c., or the whole cost, is 
 hut about twenty-five rupees (not twelve and a 
 half dollars) a month. Please remember when- 
 ever we speak of servants’ wages, that we do 
 not feed them; they provide their own food out 
 of their wages, so that the cost of servants here 
 is very little. Well, to-day my old coachman 
 wanted a holiday, but did not just know how 
 to get it, for a native never can do anything in 
 a straightforward way; instead of coming to 
 me and asking right out if I would spare him 
 a few hours, he thought that the surest way 
 was to do something to the horse to make him 
 unfit to be used. So he came and told me that 
 the horse had a very sore place on one of his 
 feet, and ought not to he used. And as the horse 
 could not be used, would I give him a holiday? 
 He thought I would tell him to bring the horse 
 for me to look at. I did not do this, as he 
 expected, but told him I would go out to the 
 
100 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 stable to see the horse, and ordered him to wait 
 and go with me. Directly he began suppli- 
 cating and beseeching me not to go ; that the 
 sun would hurt me, that the stables were 
 dirty, &c. His entreaties were so earnest for 
 me not to go that it immediately led me to 
 suspect that something must be wrong. So I 
 would not let him go on before me, but made 
 him go right with me to the stable. I soon 
 found his reason for not wushing me to go there. 
 He had tied a rope very tightly round one of 
 the poor animal’s hoofs, and then tied that fast 
 to a post, and the horse in his efforts to get 
 loose had rubbed the skin off where the rope 
 was tied, and of course had a very sore spot. 
 The man had supposed that, instead of my 
 going out to the stable, I would order the 
 horse to be brought to me ; then he could 
 shoAV me the sore, and tell me the horse had 
 kicked himself. When I saw what he had 
 done, you may depend I was quite angry, 
 and turned indignantly to the man. He did 
 not attempt to make any excuse ; he could 
 not, he saw he was caught ; but he pros- 
 trated himself on the ground, humbly beseech- 
 
TRICK DETECTED. 
 
 101 
 
 
 ing my pardon. I, however, ordered him to 
 bring the poor animal round in front of the 
 window where 1 was sitting, and caused him to 
 make a little wood fire there on the ground, 
 and keep heating some water to bathe the sore 
 leg, and this 1 made him do all day long ; and 
 each time he took fresh water, he had to bring 
 it to me to feel that it was not too hot. So the 
 old man did not make much that time by his 
 cruel and deceitful act, and I told him that the 
 next time anything was the matter wdth the 
 horse I should instantly dismiss him. This 
 will make him very careful, as they have a 
 great dread of losing a good place. 
 
CHAPTER SIXTH. 
 
 MARRIAGES AND WEDDINGS. 
 
 M arriage customs. — in a former lit- 
 tle book (Kardoo) I gave a description of 
 a wedding ceremony. This is only slightly varied, 
 according to the caste or different parts of the 
 country where the parties reside. Marriage in 
 itself is looked upon in India as an absolute ne- 
 cessity ; and a man who is not married is be- 
 lieved really to be breaking a divine ordinance. 
 It is supposed that when a Hindoo dies the 
 spirit unseen Avalks about the house until some 
 of the male members of the family perform cer- 
 tain funeral rites ; and the soul can never be 
 perfectly happy unless those rites are performed 
 by a son. Hence their intense desire for male 
 children, and the permission given by the shas- 
 ters that if a man have no children, or only 
 daughters, he may marry a second, or even a 
 third, w'ife. And a stepson may perform the 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 103 
 
 funeral rites for his stepmother, and they will 
 he equally valid. 
 
 There is no fixed age at which a man must 
 he married ; but, if he he a Brahmin, he must 
 not be married under twelve years of age. The 
 marriages of the girls, however, take place, gen- 
 erally, between the ages of five and ten. The 
 parties themselves have nothing to say in the 
 matter. It is all an arrangement made for them 
 by the heads of their respective families. Thus, 
 when a girl has reached her fifth or sixth year, 
 her father engages a barber — one belonging to 
 his own caste, and who is, therefore, well ac- 
 quainted with all the different families of that 
 caste — and he tells him to look out and find a 
 young man of suitable position for his daughter. 
 When this is done, the old people of each house 
 meet together to arrange matters, sending the 
 barber and barberess to examine the proposed 
 bride and groom, so as to see if they have any 
 personal defect or blemish, &c. If both parties 
 are satisfied, they enter into a written agree- 
 ment, respecting everything connected with the 
 marriage. The family priests draw up this 
 agreement ; and an astrologer is called to con- 
 
104 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA, 
 
 suit the stars, that a propitious day may be ap- 
 pointed for the ceremony. There is no need of 
 any preparations for housekeeping, as the little 
 bride is always carried home to her mother-in- 
 law’s house, and a room there is prepared for 
 the newly-married pair. Indeed, a newly-mar- 
 ried wife there is only just fit to go to infant 
 school, instead of into housekeeping. As the 
 bridegroom leaves his mother’s house to be 
 married, his mother: — or, if she be dead, his aunt 
 — comes to him and says : “ My son, where are 
 you going ?” He replies : “ To bring you a fe- 
 male servant, mother.” And such is, indeed, 
 the fate to which they are brought. Should 
 the husband die, even a few days after the mar- 
 riage, she is condemned to perpetual widowhood 
 — a state of continual suffering and misery. 
 “ A Brahmin once, in conversation with Mr. 
 Allen, not long since, said he thought this prac- 
 tice a very good one, and necessary to the ob- 
 jects of matrimony, and particularly to the com- 
 fort and safety of the husband. Were it allowed, 
 he said, for a woman to marry a second time, 
 it wmuld be impossible to tell what excesses of 
 evil she might commit, when she became dis- 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 105 
 
 satisfied with her present lot. She is his cook, 
 hut not his companion at the table, and would 
 find it an easy matter to administer poison, quit 
 his house, forsake her children, and involve the 
 family in distress. But while perpetual widow- 
 hood, accompanied by disgrace and misery worse 
 than death itself, is held out as the only pros- 
 pect of a wife, she is made to feel that the com- 
 fort and preservation of her husband is more 
 precious to her than her life.” Widows of the 
 higher castes only, however, are prohibited from 
 again marrying. We hear some people talk, 
 in a Christian land, of the dignity of human 
 nature ; this is human nature untaught by the 
 gospel. The Shastras allow widows to marry, 
 if they please, among nearly nine-tenths of the 
 people. The ceremony of the second marriage 
 is more simple and less expensive than that of 
 the first marriage. 
 
 Courtship. — I saw a very amusing scene the 
 other day, but I was obliged to hear my part 
 ill it with becoming gravity : I was acting in a 
 new role, that of matchmaker. The orphan 
 girls are kept here till they marry, which usually 
 takes place when a girl is fifteen or sixteen. 
 
 8 
 
106 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 A girl of that age is as old here as one with ns 
 is at nineteen or twenty. The way in which 
 the marriages are brought about is this : Chris- 
 tian native men come here, with letters of recom- 
 mendation from their clergymen, asking to be 
 allow^ed to choose a wife. We have now only 
 three girls here of the right age. Two of them 
 most indignantly refuse to be married^ and refuse 
 to see any men who may come. Well, the day 
 I mention, a very nice-looking young man came, 
 with excellent testimonials as to Christian 
 character. The two girls said they would not 
 see him ; the third said she would. I had to 
 take her and perform a sort of introduction. 
 They neither of them spoke to the other. After 
 looking at her for a few minutes, he said he 
 would like to have her ; he said this to me, not 
 to her. I then asked her if she would like to 
 have him ; she said “ Yes,” and so the matter 
 was concluded. I then told the man that I 
 would leave them to talk to each other a little 
 while ; but, before five minutes were over, he 
 sent to me to say he was ready to go. They 
 will be married in about two months. I told 
 him he might come and see her on Saturday 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 107 
 
 afternoons, if he liked. He hardly thought it 
 would be necessary to see her more than once 
 before the marriage took jdace. Then, after 
 wishing me good morning, Avithout speaking to 
 or looking at the bride-elect, he walked off’. 
 Enthusiastic love-making, that ! 
 
 Bridal Procession. — One evening, on coming 
 home from church, we met a bridegroom being- 
 escorted to the bride’s house. There was a 
 crowd, carrying flaming torches and red and 
 blue lights, and making a great noise with drums, 
 trumpets, &c. In the midst the bridegroom 
 was seated, in a chair of state Avith a canopy 
 over it ; the Avhole covered most gaudily Avith 
 tinsel. This was borne on eight men’s shoulders. 
 Sometimes he rides on a horse ; or, up country, 
 on an elephant. Ills dress and hat appeared 
 to be of red satin, Avorked Avitli gold thread. 
 They moved along very sloAvly, making a hideous 
 din. The torches Avere carried in a Avay to 
 throAV as much light as possible on his person, 
 so he might be Avell seen. I found out some 
 other things about their marriage customs. 
 
 A Wedding. — I attended a Avedding last night 
 Avhere the ceremonies were far more ridiculous 
 
 / 
 
108 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 than at the one already described. It seems 
 that the different castes conduct their religious 
 ceremonies somewhat alike, and yet with more 
 or less superstition. You never know at what 
 hour the bridegroom may arrive ; it depends 
 upon Avhat hour the astrologer or family priest 
 may tell his father is most propitious, and this 
 must not be known to any one but the father, 
 or, in case of his absence, to the one who is at the 
 time acting as father to the groom. In no case 
 must those at the bride’s house know at what 
 time he will come; all they do know is that it 
 will be after dark. At the other wedding I 
 attended, the bridegroom had arrived before I 
 got there. Now at this we waited some time 
 before he made his appearance ; it must have 
 been nearly ten o’clock ; and here again I was 
 struck, as I am so constantly, with the antiquity 
 of their customs. How they illustrate Script- 
 ure ! While I was talking to the ladies, sud- 
 denly I heard the loud blast of a trumpet, 
 followed by drums, fifes, &c., then a great blaze 
 of light, which, even though we were in the 
 zenana, came to us by the open court in the 
 centre. Then we heard a loud shout outside ; 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 109 
 
 this was taken np by all within the house, even 
 by the women that were with us. What they 
 said was, ‘‘ Look ! look ! the bridegroom conieth ! 
 he comes !” I could only think of the day when 
 the Great Bridegroom shall come, with the 
 sound of the trumpet, and the light and the 
 sound shall pierce then even into the gloomy 
 prison-house of the grave. May we be pre- 
 pared to meet him ! 
 
 Another Wedding. — Each time I go to one 
 of their weddings here, I observe something 
 that did not strike me before, and see many 
 things that are illustrative of what we read in 
 Scripture. Yesterday I was at the wedding of 
 another of niy little pupils, and I find that 
 among many of the wealthy people it is the 
 custom at a wedding, or any other festival, for 
 everybody that is known to the family or their 
 servants to be invited, but a distinction is made 
 ill the different parts of the house where they 
 are entertained, according to the different rank 
 of the guest, or the degree of intimacy existing 
 between him and the family. F or instance, a 
 guest on his entrance remains in the inner 
 court, that which is in the centre of the build- 
 
110 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 ing, until some member of the family approaches 
 him and tells him where to go. The seat of 
 honor is in the upper veranda, just opposite the 
 god’s house, where most of the ceremonies take 
 place, and all the rooms on that floor are appro- 
 priated to the Brahmins, and to the most in- 
 timate friends of the family and the most 
 distinguished guests. The lower rooms and 
 verandas are for the guests of the second 
 quality, and the court itself for the servants 
 and any of the menial class from outside. An 
 English lady went with me to attend this wed- 
 ding, and a young baboo of the family came 
 forward at the entrance of the court, as soon 
 as he knew of our arrival, and most courteously 
 conducted us up stairs to the seat of honor in 
 the veranda. A moment afterwards one of the 
 elder gentlemen of the household was speaking 
 to me, when he suddenly interrupted himself, 
 saying, most politely, “ Pardon me an instant, 
 madam.” He then called a servant, and point- 
 ing down into the court, said, “ There is Baboo 
 Gepal; go and call him up here directly.” 
 Then, as he turned round, he caught sight of a 
 man standing near us. He looked at liim most 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 sternly from head to foot, and then said, very 
 angrily, ‘‘ What are yon doing here, fellow ? 
 your place is down there.” The man slunk 
 away most sheepishly, amidst the laughter of 
 those around. I thought of our Saviour’s 
 words, “ When thou art bidden of any man to 
 a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; 
 lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden 
 of him ; and he that bade thee and him come 
 and say to thee. Give this man place ; and thou 
 begin with shame to take the lowest room. 
 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in 
 the lowest room ; that when he that bade thee 
 cometh, he may say unto thee. Friend, go up 
 higher : then shalt thou have worshij) in the 
 presence of them that sit at meat with thee.” 
 (Luke, 14 : 8, 9, 10.) 
 
CHAPTER SEVENTH. 
 
 ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 
 
 HE elephant, wild or tame, has been found 
 
 in all parts of India. The wild ones fre- 
 quent the forests and jungles of Malabar and 
 Assam. The native iirinces formerly kept a 
 number of the largest and best trained of ele- 
 phants, and on great state occasions caused 
 them to be richly caparisoned, and rode upon 
 them. Elephants were also considered very 
 useful in war. In the army of one prince, 
 Porus, who opposed Alexander the Great when 
 the latter invaded India, there were two hun- 
 dred war elephants. The Rajah of Lahore 
 opposed the invader Mahmoud of Ghuzni with 
 three hundred and fifty war elephants ; while 
 the latter is said to have brought into the field 
 fifteen hundred fighting elephants, and to have 
 been the possessor of about five thousand of 
 these wonderful animals. 
 
 The largest and fiercest tigers in the world 
 
®alhs about |nbia. 
 
 The Serpent Charmer of India. chap. vii. 
 

 t 
 
 
 
 
 JiCt 
 
 4 
 
ANIMALS. 
 
 113 
 
 come from the thick jungles in lower Bengal, 
 and near the months of the Ganges. These 
 are known as the royal Bengal tigers. The 
 hunting of these tigers was a favorite sport 
 with native princes and Europeans, but it 
 is a most dangerous species of amusement. 
 More commonly the leopard is now the game 
 sought by the lovers of hunting adventures ; 
 but as this animal is also very fierce and 
 powerful, the hunter often has his anticipate*! 
 sport turned suddenly into the greatest peril to 
 limb and life. 
 
 The Ad.jutant. — This is a most singular bird. 
 It is of the stork tribe, and stands from four to 
 five feet high when it holds its head erect, 
 and, when flying with outstretched wings, 
 will measure thirteen feet from tip to tip. 
 It makes a great rustling noise as it passes 
 through the air. The feet are placed so far 
 back that, when standing, it is almost as up- 
 right as a man, and when stalking along with 
 a slow, measured tread, it very much resem- 
 bles a little old man with a swallow-tailed coat, 
 with his hands under his coat tails. The breast 
 is white, and the rest of the body, tail and 
 
114 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 wings, are of a glossy black. The neck is long 
 and destitute of feathers, with a long pouch 
 hanging from it like a long outside crop, in 
 which it can deposit its food, such as snakes, 
 frogs, fish, bones, and then devour them at 
 its leisure. Its bill is very large and strong, 
 and from twelve to fourteen inches in length. 
 It makes its appearance in Calcutta about the 
 beginning of June, and is always welcomed, as 
 its coming is a sure sign that the rains are not 
 far distant, and as soon as the rains are over 
 it takes its flight for parts unknown. Some 
 few, however, have become domesticated in 
 Calcutta, and remain there all the year round. 
 They rest upon the tops of the highest build- 
 ings, and sometimes will stand so motionless 
 for hours there on one leg, that you might sup- 
 pose that they were pieces of sculpture. As 
 they are very good scavengers, it is a crime, 
 punishable by law, to injure them. 
 
 Scavengers. — I find the principal scavengers 
 of India are the adjutants, the vultures, the 
 crows, and the jackals. The adjutants have 
 been described. The vultures abound too. You 
 will generally find them roosting in the neigh- 
 
sc A VENGERS. 
 
 115 
 
 borliood of the meat market, the Burning Ghat 
 (the place where the dead bodies are burnt), or 
 by the side of the river Ganges, where people 
 bring the sick and lay them down to die. Or 
 you often see a group of these hideous birds 
 apparently floating down the river. At first 
 you cannot understand what they are resting 
 upon, but at length you see what it is that they 
 are fighting over. It is the dead body of a 
 poor Hindoo ; for, though the English govern- 
 ment has made a law now forbidding any body 
 or corpse to be thrown into the river, yet, as 
 that river is many hnndreds of miles in length, 
 it is impossible to watch it the whole distance, 
 and many of the people are so poor that they 
 could not possibly find money to buy the wood 
 for a funeral pile. So at night time, when no 
 one is about, they carry their dead down to 
 some lonely place on the stream, and, after 
 singeing the face with a wisp of lighte’d straw 
 (for they believe the soul will not be happy 
 unless the body has been burnt in some way), 
 they throw it into the river, and you can gener- 
 ally trace its course downwards by the vultures 
 which are fighting over it. Then, another of 
 
116 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 our race of scavengers is the crow. These 
 little black creatures are almost innumerable. 
 They are the most impudent little fellows ima- 
 ginable — not the least bit afraid of you. They 
 are everywhere — on the verandas, the house- 
 tops, the trees — and their little black, bright 
 eyes are ever on the watch. If you turn your 
 l)ack for a minute they will fly in at the open 
 window and seize anything on the table. They 
 swoop down quickly and take a cake out of a 
 child’s hand ; and once, when I was standing 
 under a portico talking to a gentleman — who 
 was patting a favorite horse, and had a piece of 
 bread in his hand to give him — he turned to 
 look at me for a moment while speaking, and 
 a crow came down, snatched the piece of bread 
 out of his hand and made off with it. They 
 are intolerably impudent, but they are of 
 very great use, as they eat up all the garbage 
 or refuse that really might breed disease, par- 
 ticularly in the native part of the town, for the 
 natives are very uncleanly in their habits. 
 What they do for the city in that way by day, 
 the jackals do by night. These animals are 
 very much like a fox — a sort of cross between 
 
BIRDS AND INSECTS. 
 
 117 
 
 the fox and the wolf. They burrow under 
 ground, and remain in their holes by day, com- 
 ing out to seek their prey at night. They go 
 in troops of from twenty to thirty. They feed 
 upon small animals and carrion. They never 
 will attack man unless they are mad; then their 
 bite will produce hydrophobia, the same as that 
 of a dog. If a little child, however, should be 
 found by them, as is not uncommon, they 
 will eat it. There they go, “ making night 
 hideous ” with their yells. You could readily 
 imagine the noise was produced by a pack of 
 fiends. Their noise is awful. One begins with 
 a low wail, another takes it up on a higher key, 
 then another and another, till at last they come 
 in with a full chorus of shrieks that — well, it 
 cannot be described ! Their screams must be 
 heard to be appreciated. 
 
 The Vermin. — This is a very old house we 
 are in. In a month or two it is going to be 
 thoroughly repaired, for it is inhabited in every 
 hole and corner. The vermin of all sorts and 
 kinds that are in it are very remarkable. It 
 does not seem as if I could possibly remain 
 in it till it is repaired. First come the rats ; 
 
118 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 they get into every box and drawer, unless it 
 fits perfectly tight. They come into every 
 room, np stairs and down, aii4 up upon every 
 table. Snakes, centipedes and scorpions ahonnd 
 in the compound and lower veranda. Then there 
 are lizards of all sorts and sizes, particularly 
 those large, ugly ones called ‘‘ blood-suckers,” 
 running about all over the house, hut more par- 
 ticularly in the dining-room, to our great dis- 
 gust. They and the rats together are under- 
 mining the house. The white ants are eating 
 all the woodwork. The jackals have a burrow 
 under the compound, and every night we have 
 a serenade from them ; and then, last and least, 
 but by no means least in the discomfort they 
 cause, the fleas — well, they are real pests ! 
 Last evening, while sitting reading, I thought 
 how dreadfully tormenting the mosquitoes were, 
 particularly to my feet (I had slippers on) ; 
 when I went into my bed-room I picked off 
 twenty-seven fleas. I had open-wmrked stock- 
 ings on, so I suppose they came to me the 
 more on that account. Skinning eels is noth- 
 ing, they say, when you are used to it; per- 
 haps some day I shall get used to this. Down 
 
PARROTS. 
 
 119 
 
 in the children’s dormitory there is another 
 species of little animal ; they are — oh, no ! we 
 never mention them” to ears polite! — but at 
 night the walls seem almost black with them. 
 It really is something dreadful. I suppose it 
 is those that have brought so many lizards into 
 the house to devour them. At any rate, I 
 would rather have the lizards than those. But 
 really, there are enough live animals in the 
 house to carry us off bodily. 
 
 The Hindoo’s Parkots. — I was reading an 
 account of a poor Hindoo who had two parrots, of 
 which he was very fond. One day he was seen 
 bathing in the Ganges and performing the same 
 kind offices for his parrots, ducking them under 
 again and again, very much, apparently, to their 
 disgust. Upon being asked why he did so, he 
 replied, ‘‘ These birds have probably been men 
 some time, and will be men again. Now, if 
 bathing in the Ganges will be a merit to me, 
 and wash away a part of my sins, why should 
 it not be good for them and help them the next 
 time they come on earth ?” Oh, how I longed 
 to teach that man of the living stream in which 
 he might wash and be clean ! 
 
120 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 Reptiles and Insects. — These classes of the 
 inhabitants of India every stranger Avho arrives 
 has to become acquainted with, for they will all 
 call upon him more or less frequently ; and they 
 force their company upon you and care not 
 whether they intrude or not. The insects cer- 
 tainly are the pests of warm climates, but I sup- 
 pose they have their uses. I have already killed 
 two centipedes and a scorpion in my bed-room, 
 and now, just as I sat down to write, I saw a 
 third centipede making its way across the floor 
 towards me. In this country they are terribly 
 ugly -looking insects — more like small snakes. 
 There ! that fellow is dispatched, and I have 
 put him in a bottle of spirits to send home for 
 a curiosity. He is twelve inches long, over an 
 inch bi’oad, and of a dark-mahogany color. 
 The sting of both scorpion and centipede here 
 is very unpleasant, the pain and smart lasting 
 for days ; but it is not fatal. IIoweA^er, I do 
 not want to make any closer acquaintance with 
 them than I have done. While I am writing, 
 an immense cockroach flies upon my book. 
 This is of a reddish-brown color, from two to 
 three inches long, and the most disgusting and 
 
INSECTS. 
 
 121 
 
 disrespectful of animals, for, as if in utter con- 
 tempt of your opinion, they will fly in your 
 face, and flap their broad wings against your 
 nose in derision ; they have not the slightest 
 respect for your dignity. And just think how 
 discouraging ! you have been sitting biting your 
 pen, hoping to be able to remember some inci- 
 dent, so that you may (as kind friends at home 
 continually suggest to missionaries) interest 
 people in mission work, and you are just prid- 
 ing yourself on getting hold of some brilliant 
 practical idea, with which you are going to 
 wind off in a well-turned period, when flop ! 
 comes one of these little beasts,” as the 
 Frenchman called them, right in your eye ! 
 Down drops your pen directly, and up goes 
 your hand to protect your face, for it gener- 
 ally gives you two or three buffets before 
 it is routed. When it goes it generally 
 leaves you a souvenm on everything it has 
 touched to remind you of it, namely, a strong 
 odor — well, it is not the attar of roses ! but, 
 alas ! alas ! it has carried off all your beauti- 
 ful thoughts. For, only fancy the absurdity 
 of sublime and beautiful thoughts and cock- 
 
122 
 
 TALES ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 roaches together ! So, good friends, when mis- 
 sionaries’ ideas are not expressed with exqui- 
 site sublimity and pathos, attribute it to the 
 cockroaches, not to want of talent on their part. 
 
 Ants. — If Solomon had lived in this country 
 he would not have needed to say, “ go to the 
 ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be 
 wise,” because one here has only to lie quietly 
 still in his bed, or to lounge at his dinner-table, 
 and the ants will come to him by scores, 
 of all sorts and sizes, and he can study them 
 at his leisure. They will soon make their 
 presence and employments known to him, and 
 they will be perceptible to more senses than 
 one. Last night I was advised to put a little 
 cocoa-nut oil on my head, as it would pre- 
 vent my hair from falling out so much. But I 
 shall never try that experiment again. I was 
 awakened in the night with an intense itching 
 in my head and aU over my body, and all night 
 long I was distressed with it. I thought I had 
 prickly heat of the very worst kind. This 
 morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, 
 I found that there were swarms of the little 
 red ants in my bed, and two or three regular 
 
ANTS. 
 
 123 
 
 processions of them to my pillow. My head 
 was full of them, and it was not until I had taken 
 a thorough hot bath, and washed my head well, 
 that I could get rid of them. I cannot under- 
 stand this either, as the natives constantly use 
 cocoa-nut oil on their heads, yet they say the 
 ants do not trouble them. 
 
 White Ants. — I made acquaintance with an- 
 other little insect the other day, in a manner 
 that was not very agreeable. I had bought 
 some white muslin to make me a dress, and it 
 was cut out and partly made j but I had no 
 time just then to finish it, so I put it away in 
 a wooden box in my bath-room, and it was full 
 two weeks before I could get it out again, just 
 to finish off the little that wanted doing to it — 
 putting on buttons ; but when I opened the 
 box, what a sight Diet my eyes ! The dress 
 which I had so recently purchased was riddled 
 through and through with small holes — you 
 would almost have thought it a piece of lace- 
 work — and as I attempted to take it up, it 
 literally dropped in pieces. I hardly knew at 
 first which to do, to laugh at the ridiculousness 
 of the thing or to cry at the disappointment. 
 
124 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 for I really wanted the dress to put on ; at first 
 I could not imagine what had done it, but upon 
 calling a servant to look, he immediately ex- 
 claimed, White ants ! white ants /” and upon 
 looking farther in the box, 1 discovered a 
 number of almost transparent white worms or 
 maggots (I should never have taken them for 
 ants), and the bottom of the box was perforated 
 through, like the dress. The box was on the 
 brick floor of the bath-room, and I should never 
 have dreamed of their getting to that, but it 
 seems nothing is safe from them. Their prin- 
 cipal abodes are under the earth, and they 
 never come out of those places except as each 
 one carries with him a small piece of mud in 
 his mouth ; with this they build a small covered 
 way before them, until they reach the place 
 Avhere they commit their depredations. Then, 
 under this covered way, they pass to and fro, 
 carrying what they have obtained to their 
 homes. If they cross a floor or go up a wall 
 they have this covered way, and it is often 
 so small that it entirely escapes observation ; 
 nothing but constant sweeping and dusting will 
 keep them away, and no wooden box, unless it 
 
AXTS. 
 
 125 
 
 is placed upon stones or on water, should he 
 left in one place more than a day or two. The 
 large pieces of furniture must be upon rollers, 
 and the chairs constantly moved about, for the 
 ants will come up between the bricks, where they 
 are joined together under the bottom of a box, 
 and in a few hours they will eat through the 
 hardest wood and destroy everything in the 
 box. Nothing escapes them — silk, linen, cotton, 
 leather, books — everything they will attack but 
 metal. How they find out where the things 
 are is a marvel, for you never see one of them 
 out on an exploring expedition, as you do the 
 other species of ants. They must always go 
 in the dark, and under cover of their galleries. 
 Sometimes in one night they will build one of 
 these galleries several yards in length, going 
 all the way from the floor to the ceiling. If 
 you break this gallery, you will find a great 
 many of these little creatures hurrying back- 
 ward and forward, some with mud in their 
 mouths to lengthen the gallery, others with 
 wood or cotton, or whatever substance they 
 have been committing their depredations on, 
 carrying it back to their nest; but the very 
 
126 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 instant you break their gallery they are much 
 frightened, for the moment they are exposed 
 they are seized by the small red ants (which 
 we also have here in millions, always roaming 
 round in search of prey), who carry them off to 
 their holes to devour them. The white ants 
 have soft bodies, which the little red ants can 
 easily get hold of, and they have no power to 
 defend themselves. If the white ants succeed 
 in making a gallery to one of the rafters of the 
 ceiling undiscovered, they may eat one end of 
 the beam entirely away, leaving nothing but 
 a shell, as they will never work out to the 
 light. Then in some unlucky moment that 
 rafter may fall upon your head, without your 
 having been in the least aware that it was at 
 all unsound. This it is that necessitates the 
 constant watching of the houses in India. An 
 architect has to come every two or three years 
 to examine every beam, to see if it is sound. 
 Thus the rafters of all the ceilings, even in the 
 most elegant houses, are all exposed to view, 
 so that they may be always watched ; for 
 though this little insect is so small, it is one 
 of our most destructive foes. We learn here 
 
INSECTS. 
 
 127 
 
 that moth and rust cloth corru^jt, and thieves 
 break through and steal.” 
 
 Mosquitoes. — The Brahmins think that it is 
 a dreadful sin to take animal life. Even to 
 kill the smallest insect accidentally is a great 
 crime. It is very well for me that I am not a 
 Brahmin — for, oh! what penances I should have 
 to endure. I am very fond of animal food, but 
 I like it w^ll cooked and prepared, and though 
 my propensities are carnivorous, they are by 
 no means insectivorous. Yet I am often com- 
 pelled to swallow animal food, and that not only 
 uncooked but often alive 1 Sometimes, of an 
 evening, the air is so full of mosquitoes that, if 
 you draw a long breath, or gape, you will draw 
 two or three in with the air that you inhale. 
 They stick at the back of the throat, give you 
 a fit of coughing, and you finally get rid of them 
 by swallowing them — by no means pleasant 1 
 The multitudes of mosquitoes are almost be- 
 yond belief ; they are in swarms like flies, espe- 
 cially at some seasons of the year. I find one 
 can never sleep all the year round without a 
 mosquito-net; and you must see that that is 
 well tucked in under the mattress. Then, as 
 
128 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 you get in you must lift it very carefully, or 
 you will have hundreds accompan}^ you, which 
 will prevent any repose. You must watch care- 
 fully, too, that no little hole has been torn by 
 your dhali (or washerwoman), for if there is 
 one only as large as the top of your little finger, 
 these expert little things will find their way 
 through in crowds. 
 
 Lizaed’s Eggs. — Last evening one of the 
 children (the orphans) brought to me a number 
 of eggs, and asked me what bird’s eggs they 
 were. I told her I could not tell, and asked 
 her where she had found them. They were 
 about the size of a pigeon’s egg, and were quite 
 soft and warm. She said, “ I was digging at 
 the root of a tree, and found them in the 
 ground.” One of the other children took one 
 in her hand, and, squeezing it slightly, gave a 
 loud shriek, for a live creature came out. At 
 first I thought it was a little snake, but upon 
 examining it I saw it had legs. We found then 
 that it was a young blood-sucker — a very large, 
 ugly species of lizard — with a head of a deep 
 brick-red color, the body a dingy black. It has 
 a very long tail, and is said to destroy sheep 
 
ANIMALS. 
 
 129 
 
 and goats by sucking their blood when they 
 are asleep, particularly the young of those ani- 
 mals. I do not know whether this is true or 
 not, but the natives believe it. There is an- 
 other very much smaller species of. lizard, that 
 often lives inside our houses, and eats flies, 
 ants, and similar insects. They are about as 
 long as a man’s little finger and of a brown color, 
 with bright little beads of black eyes. There 
 is one little fellow that pays me a visit every 
 evening. I have quite got used to him, and 
 rather like him. A few minutes after the lamp 
 is lighted he makes his appearance on the wall 
 near by (where he comes from I cannot tell), 
 and there he stays, lying in wait for his prey 
 — the numerous little insects that are always 
 attracted by the light and many of whom settle 
 on the wall. It really is quite amusing to see 
 him catching them. This morning the gardener 
 brought me a large blood-sucker. It has coarse 
 hair or bristles standing up on the back part 
 of its head and neck. It is about ten inches 
 long, from its nose to the root of its tail, and 
 then its tail is a good deal longer than its whole 
 body. It is, indeed, an ugly animal. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHTH. 
 
 ‘ CHURUCK POOJA, OR HOOK-SWINGING. 
 
 W 0 days ago was the festival of the Churuck 
 
 Pooja, or Hook-swinging. The government 
 has i:)ut a stop to this being done now in the 
 public streets of Calcutta, but they cannot pre- 
 vent its being done on persons’ own premises, 
 if they choose so to torture themselves. From 
 very early this morning we were annoyed by 
 an incessant clamor of drums, trumpets, gongs 
 and bells, from a native village at the back of 
 our house. It was Sunday, and coming back 
 from church I found myself in a dense crowd, 
 so that the palkie could not move on. Upon 
 looking out to see what was the matter, I saw 
 a man who had been going through the torture 
 of the hook-swinging, and not content with that 
 he was adding to his torture, and receiving the 
 plaudits of the multitude. He wms now being- 
 taken home by his friends, and they had passed 
 ropes through the holes in his back, and Avere 
 
110 OK-S WINGING. 
 
 131 
 
 drawing him through the streets by them. It 
 was a sickening sight, and almost made me 
 faint even to see it. It is the belief of the 
 Hindoos that the only way really to obtain the 
 favor of the gods is by self-inflicted suflerings. 
 This is shown in all their religious ceremonies. 
 A gentleman told me that he had seen a man 
 offer a prayer to Siva, standing on his head. 
 
 The Churuck takes place about the fifteenth 
 of IMarch. It is in honor of the god Siva and 
 his wife Kuli. About the first of the month a 
 number of men come to the temple of the god, 
 and proclaim that they are going to make skun- 
 nasJiees, or victims, of themselves. From that 
 time they are fed by the offerings which are 
 brought to the temple, and then they continu- 
 ally bathe and oil their bodies, whilst they are 
 thinking over and planning new forms and 
 modes of torturing themselves. These shun- 
 nashees are generally fropi the lowest castes, 
 who do these things hoping to gain so much 
 merit by them that the next time they return 
 to this world it may be as a Brahmin. It is 
 seldom that a Brahmin will inflict these tortures 
 on himself, as he already considers himself very 
 
132 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 holy, but he will do everything he possibly can 
 to encourage others in self-torture. They are 
 of those who lay heavy burdens upon men’s 
 shoulders, but will not touch them themselves^ 
 with one of their fingers. On the day before 
 the regular Pooja, some of these men begin the 
 suffering by making holes and then passing 
 bamboos through their arms, legs and tongues ; 
 then taking out the bamboo, they will pass a 
 live snake through the tongue. Then they will 
 go to the houses of some of the rich native 
 gentlemen and dance, and they will give them 
 a little money. A native gentleman thus de- 
 scribes this Pooja : 
 
 “ In the morning all the shim-nashees go to 
 bathe, and after rubbing themselves wdth cocoa- 
 nut oil the}" assemble in front of the temple 
 where the Jhap is to be performed. Here a 
 sort of platform is erected on bamboos, or rather 
 three platforms, one above the other ; the high- 
 est one is generally from twenty-five to thirty 
 feet high. The devotees who are to go through 
 this performance climb up the bamboos, and 
 stand on the different platforms, the spectators 
 standing all round. At either side of the plat- 
 
no OKS WINGING. 
 
 133 
 
 form are beds — one of fire, the others some sort 
 of mattresses stuffed with leaves, dry grass, &c., 
 and then knives and spikes placed upright in 
 them ; the devotees then jump down one after 
 another upon them, and as they fall they scatter 
 raw rice, bananas or flowers upon the crowd 
 below, which is eagerly sought for and each 
 scrap highly prized. This is all done amid the 
 deafening shouts of the crowd and the sound 
 of the trumpets. Sometimes these poor devo- 
 tees are very much cut and injured, but always 
 afterwards they are holy beggars, and it is a 
 great act of merit to give to them. On the 
 afternoon of that day the hook-swinging com- 
 mences ; before going to this, the devotees ask 
 permission of the god, and he grants it by 
 giving a nod, but this nod is only seen by the 
 priests. They then put some flowers on the 
 head of the idol, and if one falls down it is in- 
 terpreted as the god’s permission being given 
 for them to begin. Sometimes, however, the 
 flowers do not fall; then the priests say the 
 god is angry — that one of the devotees must 
 have broken the rule which commands them 
 all to fast on that day — that one of them must 
 
134 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 have eaten or drunk something, and therefore 
 Siva will not accept them till they have been 
 punished. The priests therefore take hold of 
 the devotees, bind them, and then severely 
 beat them in front of the idol. The air stirred 
 by this beating will often cause a flower to flill. 
 Then all is right; they will dance round the 
 temple, clap their hands, embrace and shout. 
 They then form a procession and march to the 
 Churuck Garcli (or swinging tree). This is a 
 very long wooden pole set up perpendicularly, 
 with one end deep in the ground, and another 
 beam like the main yard of a ship on its top ; 
 this can be turned round either way. Then a 
 man, one of these poor, besotted devotees, lies 
 down on the ground, while another draws up 
 the flesh under the shoulder blades, and then 
 the blacksmith forces two iron hooks through 
 the flesh ; sometimes the hooks are more than 
 ten inches long. Occasionally you will see one 
 man with greater powers of endurance, who 
 will have four hooks passed through different 
 portions of his body, to show his greater love 
 for the god ; there are then strong cords fast- 
 ened to the hooks, and the man is drawn up to 
 
HOOK-SWINGING. 
 
 135 
 
 one end of the beam. To keep the balance, a 
 man hangs to the rope which is attached to 
 the other end of the beam. Thus hung, the 
 victim turns round the ‘ SAvinging tree’ from 
 ten to fifteen minutes, then he is released, and 
 another takes his place. 
 
 ‘‘ Once, in my grandmother’s village, a scene 
 more terrible than even this occurred : a man 
 swung round the pole nearly fifteen minutes, 
 with his head doivnwards and four hooks in his 
 flesh. His long hair was waAdng in the air, and 
 his hands were beating a drum which was hung 
 round his neck. It is true, he did not make 
 very good music. As each victim comes down 
 from the ‘ swinging tree,’ he receives the bless- 
 ing of the priest, Avho gives him a flower from 
 the god’s head as a holy relic. These men are 
 generally coolies, who often return to their 
 work in a few days, as soon as their wounds are 
 healed. They do this hoping to please their 
 gods, and so lay up a store of merits which will 
 help them in the other world.” 
 
 Oh, Christian friends ! should not these poor 
 heathen teach us a lesson of diligent effort to 
 please our God ? During the time of these 
 
136 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 tortures, the}^ continue the hideous din of drums, 
 trumpets, and tom-toms, to prevent the least 
 sound of a moan or groan being heard, because 
 it is considered that these sufferings will not he 
 acceptable to their gods if they complain or 
 murmur under them. The gods require that 
 these things should be done voluntarily and 
 cheerfully ; that they must not think of the 
 present sufferings, but look to the benefit or re- 
 ward that they hope to obtain thereby. 
 
 There is one peculiarity which I have found 
 to exist during the time the devotees are pre- 
 paring for and enacting this Pooja. All the 
 devotees seem joined together like a band of 
 brothers. They exhibit an affection for each 
 other that they would never dream of at any 
 other time. If one of the band should die during 
 the time, all put on mourning according to the 
 Hindoo custom. An insult to one is felt by all; 
 for do they not all, for the time, belong to Siva ? 
 They look upon the badge they wear round 
 their necks as a sign of brotherhood. They will 
 not eat together or drink together, because they 
 are of different castes ; but in all else, for the 
 time being, they are brothers. The command 
 
no OK-S WINGING. 
 
 137 
 
 to Christians is, “ Love as brethren,” and “ By 
 this shall all men know that ye are my dis- 
 ciples, if ye have love one to another.” 
 
 Another account of this festival is taken from 
 the pen of the Rev. Dr. Duff, the venerated 
 missionary of the Free Kirk of Scotland, as it 
 was witnessed in the streets of Calcutta, not 
 more than twenty-five years ago. He says : 
 ‘‘ This festival is held in honor of Siva and his 
 consort. Kali.” After describing the hook- 
 swinging, as above, he says : This is regarded 
 
 as one of the holiest of acts, and the longer a 
 man can endure the torture the greater the 
 pleasure conveyed to the deity whom he serves, 
 and consequently the brighter his prospect of 
 future reward. Of these swinging posts there 
 are hundreds and thousands simultaneously in 
 operation in the province of Bengal. On one 
 tree from five to ten or fifteen may be swung 
 in the course of a day. They are always erected 
 in the most conspicuous parts of the towns and 
 villages, and are surrounded by vast crowds of 
 noisy spectators. On the very streets of the 
 native city of Calcutta many of these horrid 
 
 swings are annually to be seen, and scores 
 
 10 
 
138 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 around the suburbs.” He adds : “ At night 
 numbers of the devotees sit down in the open 
 air and pierce the skin of their foreheads, and 
 in it, as a socket, place a small rod of iron, to 
 which is kept suspended a lamp that is burning 
 till the dawn of day, while the lamp-bearers re- 
 hearse the praises of their favorite deities. Be- 
 fore the temple, bundles of thorns and other 
 fire-wood are accumulated, among which the 
 devotees roll themselves uncovered. The ma- 
 terials are next raised into a pile and set on 
 fire. Then the devotees briskly dance over the 
 burning embers, and with their naked hands 
 hurl them into the air and at each other. Some 
 have their breasts, arms, and other parts stuck 
 entirely full of pins about the thickness of small 
 nails or packing needles. But it were needless 
 to pursue the diversity of these self-inflicted 
 tortures in all their details. There is one, hoAV- 
 ever, of so singular a character that it must not 
 be left unnoticed. Some of these deluded vo- 
 taries enter into a vow. With one hand they 
 cover their under lips with a layer of wet earth 
 and mud ; on this they deposit some small 
 grain, usually of mustard seed. They then 
 
no OK- S WINGING. 
 
 139 
 
 stretch themselves flat on their hacks, exposed 
 to the dripping dews by night and the blazing 
 sun by day. And their vow is, that from that 
 fixed position they will not stir — will neither 
 move nor turn, nor eat nor drink — till the seeds 
 planted on the lips begin to germinate.* This 
 vegetable process usually takes place on the 
 third or fourth day ; after which, being released 
 from their vow, they arise, as they imagine and 
 believe, laden with a vast accession of holiness 
 and supererogatory merit.” 
 
 Dr. Duff then describes the city of Calcutta, 
 and a visit he once made to witness the Pooja 
 again. I give you his own words : ‘‘ To the 
 south of Calcutta is a spacious, level plain, be- 
 tween two and three miles in extent, and a 
 mile and a half in breadth. On the w'est it is 
 washed by the sacred Ganges, on whose mar- 
 gin, about the middle of the plain, Fort William 
 rears its battlements. Along the north is a 
 magnificent range of buildings — the supreme 
 court, the town hall, and, in the centre, the 
 government house. Along the whole of the 
 
 * I have seen this even within the last three years. — H.G.B. 
 
140 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 eastern side, at short intervals, is a succession 
 of palace-like mansions, occupied as the abodes 
 of the most opulent European residents. In 
 front of this range, facing the west, and between 
 it, therefore, and the plain, is the broadest and 
 most airy street in Calcutta, well known under 
 the name of Chowinghee. Chiefly to the north 
 of the plain, and beyond the ranges of European 
 offices and residences, lies the native city, 
 stretching its intricate mass of narrow lanes 
 and brick houses, and hive-like bamboo huts, 
 over an extent of many miles, and teeming with 
 over half a million of human beings. At a 
 short distance from the southeast corner of the 
 plain, across a narrow belt of low, suburban cot- 
 tages, lies the celebrated temple of Kali-Ghat. 
 The grand direct thoroughfare towards it, from 
 the native city, is along Chowinghee road. 
 Thither, before sunrise on the morning of the 
 great day of the Churuck festival, we once 
 hastened to witness the extraordinary spectacle. 
 
 From all the lanes and alleys leading from 
 the native city, multitudes were pouring into 
 the Chowinghee road. The mere spectators 
 could easily be distinguised from the special 
 
no OKS WINGING. 
 
 141 
 
 devotees. The former were seen standing or 
 walking along, with eager gaze, arrayed in their 
 gayest holiday dress, exhibiting every combina- 
 tion and variety of the snow-white garb and 
 tinsel glitter of Oriental costume. The latter 
 came marching forward in small, isolated groups, 
 each group averaging in number from half a dozen 
 to twelve or fifteen. Most of the party had thin 
 loose robes, and foreheads plentifully besprink- 
 led with vermilion or rose-pink. Two or three 
 of them decked in speckled or party-colored 
 garments were uttering ludicrous, unmeaning 
 sounds, and playing off all sorts of antic gestures. 
 Two or three had garlands of flowers hanging 
 about their necks or tied round their heads ; 
 these have their sides transpierced with iron 
 rods, which project in front and meet at an an- 
 gular point, to which is affixed a small vessel 
 in the form of a shovel. Two or three, covered 
 with ashes, carry in their hands iron rods of 
 different lengths, small bamboo canes or hookah 
 tubes, hard, twisted cords, or living snakes, 
 whose fangs had been extracted. Two or three 
 more are the bearers of musical instruments — 
 horned trumpets, gongs, tinkling cymbals, and 
 
142 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 large hoarse drums, surmounted by towering 
 bunches of black and wliite ostrich feathers, 
 which keep waving and nodding like the plumes 
 of a hearse — all of them laboring hard, as the 
 idea is that the louder the noise, the more dis- 
 cordant the notes, the better and more charm- 
 ing the music. On looking behind, one group 
 wms seen following another as far as the eye 
 could reach ; on looking before, one group was 
 seen preceding another as far as the eye could 
 reach, like wave after wave in interminable 
 succession. 
 
 Besides these groups of worshippers, who 
 are reckoned pre-eminent in holiness and merit, 
 there are others that advance in processions, 
 bearing various pageants, flags, banners, models 
 of temples, images of gods and other myth- 
 ological figures. Hundreds of these processions 
 spread over the plain. 
 
 At the extremity of Chowinghee, the road 
 towards the temple narrows considerably. The 
 throng is now' so dense that one is literally car- 
 ried along. On approaching the precincts of the 
 sacred shrine, it is found surrounded by a court 
 and a high wall. After entering the principal 
 
no OKS WINGING. 
 
 143 
 
 gate, which is on the western side, the temple 
 is in full view. To the south of it is a spacious 
 open hall or portico, deviated several steps above 
 the ground and surrounded by a flight of steps, 
 above which rise a range of pillars that support 
 the roof. Between the portico and the temple 
 is a narrow pathway, along which the stream 
 of spectators was flowing ; while the groups of 
 devotees marched round the side farthest from 
 the temple. Being of the number of the spec- 
 •tators, we mingled with the teeming throng 
 that pressed on, with maddening frenzy, to get 
 a glimpse of the idol. Here one or another 
 would start aside, and knock their heads against 
 the temple wall or brick pavement, muttering 
 incantations, to command the attention and at- 
 tract the favor of the goddess. . It may here be 
 noticed that a temple in India is not like a 
 Chiistian church, a place for the disciples to as- 
 semble in and engage in reason.able worship ; 
 but it is designed merely as a receptacle for the 
 senseless block of the idol, aiid a company of 
 Brahmins as its guardian attendants. Hence, 
 as there is not much occasion for light, there 
 are few or no windows. The light of day is 
 
144 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 admitted only by the front door when thrown 
 open. Darkness is thus commingled with light 
 in the idol cell, and tends to add to the mys- 
 teriousness of the scene. The multitudes all 
 congregate without ; but there is no preaching 
 — no devotional exercises to raise the soul on 
 the wings of heavenly contemplation ; no in- 
 struction in the knowledge of the true God 
 and the plan of salvation ; no exhortations 
 to the cultivation of virtue and piety ; all 
 is one unchanging round of sacrifice and 
 ceremony, of cruelty and sport and lifeless 
 form. 
 
 Standing immediately opposite the temple 
 gate, we saw on either side-station, as usual, a 
 party of Brahmins to receive the proffered gifts. 
 On one side lay a heap of flowers that had been 
 consecrated by being carried within and pre- 
 sented to the goddess ; on the other side, a 
 large heap of money — copper and silver and 
 gold — that had been contributed as free-will 
 offerings. To the spectators, as they passed 
 along, the Brahmins were presenting conse- 
 scrated flowers, which Avere eagerly carried off 
 as precious relics, and in exchange for them 
 
SELF TORTURE. 
 
 145 
 
 the joyous votaries threw down what money 
 they possessed. 
 
 “ Passing now to the eastern side of the 
 court, we soon saw Avhat the groups of devo- 
 tees Avere to be engaged in. ToAvards the Avail 
 there Avere stationed several blacksmiths Avith 
 sharp instruments in their hands. Those of a 
 particular group, that carried the rods, canes, 
 and other implements, noAV came fonvard. One 
 Avould stretch out his side, and getting it in- 
 stantly pierced through, in Avould pass one of 
 his rods or canes. Another Avould hold out 
 his arm, and getting it perforated, in Avould 
 pass one of his iron rods. A third Avould pro- 
 trude his tongue, and getting it bored through, 
 in Avould pass one of his cords or serpents. 
 And thus all of a certain group Avould have 
 themselves variously transpierced and perfo- 
 rated. When these had finished, another group 
 Avas wmiting in readiness to undergo the cruel 
 operation ; and then another and another, ap- 
 parently Avithout end. 
 
 ‘‘ Several groups then, returning, mounted 
 the steps of the portico in front of the temple, 
 to prepare for their most solemn act of Avor- 
 
146 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 ship ; but how impotent is human language to 
 attempt to convey an impression of the scene 
 that followed ! Those of the different groups 
 that carried in front the shovel-shaped vessels 
 already referred to now ranged themselves 
 around the interior of the colonnade. All the 
 rest assembled themselves within this living 
 circle (of course, only a few groups could do 
 this at one time). On a sudden, at a given 
 signal, commenced the bleating and the lowing 
 and the struggling of animals slaughtered in 
 sacrifice at the farthest end of the portico, 
 and speedily the ground was made to swim 
 with sacrificial blood. At the same moment 
 the vessel-carriers, having placed burning coals 
 in their vessels, threw now upon those burning 
 coals in the vessels handfuls of Indian pitch, 
 which ascended in columns of smoke and flame, 
 the iron rods which held the vessels and were 
 passed through the sides becoming almost red 
 hot. The musical instruments sent forth their 
 loud, jarring, and discordant sounds, and those 
 who were transpierced began dancing in the 
 most frantic manner, pulling backwards and 
 forwards, through their wounded members, the 
 
no OKS WINGING. 
 
 147 
 
 rods, the canes, the tubes, the cords, and the 
 writhing serpents. All this was carried on 
 simultaneously ; and that, too, within a briefer 
 period of time than has now been occupied in the 
 feeble and inadequate attempt to describe it. 
 Again and again would ascend from the thou- 
 sands of applauding spectators loud shouts of 
 ‘ Victory to Kali ! Victory to the Great Kali!’” 
 I have given this in full, that the reader may 
 have an idea of what Hindoo worship really is. 
 And yet these are the intellectual people to 
 whom some Christians even say that there is 
 no need to send the religion of Jesus ! These 
 millions are worshippers of Satan, and fast 
 bound in his chains. And these things are 
 not of the past. It is not permitted to make 
 these public exhibitions of cruelty now in the 
 city of Calcutta, as it might shock the sensi- 
 tive feelings of thousands of professing Chris- 
 tians there ; but it is still done in the towns 
 and villages where English people do not live. 
 Is it of no conse(|uence that others suffer, if 
 we do not witness the suffering ? Oh, when 
 will Christians see that it is their duty to con- 
 quer the world for Jesus ? 
 
CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 IIELIGION, HOLY MAN, AND FESTIVALS. 
 
 ENRY MARTIN’S CHURCH.— The first 
 
 Sunday I was in Calcutta, I attended 
 service at the Old Church, as it is called. It 
 is very singular in form, having been formerly 
 a house, to which additions have been made as 
 occasion required. It was, I believe, the first 
 place in which divine worship to the only true 
 God was publicly offered in Calcutta ; and also 
 where Henry Martin first preached. The 
 building has never been consecrated, as it had 
 been used many years before there was any 
 bishop in India. When Bishop Heber was ap- 
 plied to to perform the ceremony, with a 
 beautiful humility, becoming the follower of the 
 meek and lowly Jesus, he said: ‘‘No; it has 
 been fully consecrated by Martin and the other 
 devoted men who have followed him. Any- 
 thing /can do after them cannot make it any 
 more sacred.” 
 
MISSION WORK. 
 
 149 
 
 It is a very sad sight to see here the drunken 
 European sailors on Sundays, strolling about 
 the bazaars, drinking, swearing, and fighting. 
 These are far the most numerous specimens of 
 “ Christians” that the poor natives see. If we are 
 to judge of a tree by its fruits, what must they 
 think of Christianity ? For these poor drunken 
 fellows would be ready to knock any one down 
 who should say they were not Christians. 
 
 Rev. Mu. Weitureck. — I find that I am oc- 
 cupying the room in which the sainted Weitbreck 
 breathed his last. He was a missionary of the 
 Church Mission Society. This was not his 
 station ; he was only here on a visit at the time 
 of his death. It was reading his life, and his 
 earnest call for more laborers among the heathen, 
 that made my dear mother at length yield a re- 
 luctant consent to my giving myself to that 
 work. But little did I then think that my feet 
 would ever tread where his had been ; or that 
 I should live in that house from vvhich his 
 sanctified spirit took its departure to the 
 realms of light.” Conversing about him to- 
 day, I was told, by one who was present, that 
 his last sermon, on Sunday evening, was, for 
 
150 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 the most part, on the joys of heaven ; and as 
 he spoke, those who heard him fancied that his 
 countenance, always lovely, assumed an almost 
 angelic appearance, as he descanted rapturously 
 on the bliss prepared by the love of God for 
 his people. His appearance and sermon were 
 long remembered. He was apparently quite 
 well while preaching ; about an hour after he 
 Avas seized with painless cholera, and morning 
 daAvned on him in heaven. “Let me die the 
 death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
 like his.” 
 
 “ He set as sets the morning star, 
 
 AVhich sinks not down behind the darkened west, 
 
 Xor hides obscurely ’midst the tempests of the sky, 
 But melts away into the light of heaven.” 
 
 Pollok, Course of Time. 
 
 Coolies in B.a.za.ar. — I saw another Bible 
 illustration to-day. If you go into the bazaars 
 or market places, no matter at what hour of 
 the day, you will see a number of coolies (day 
 laborers) sitting or standing about, waiting to 
 be hired. They are ready to carry burdens, 
 run errands, in fact, do any kind of Avork that 
 may be required of them ; and their usual pay 
 
MOHAMMEDAN TRADITION. 
 
 151 
 
 is about four annas (equal to eleven cents) a clay. 
 Asking one of the men if he had had no work 
 all day, he replied, in Scripture words: “No; 
 for no man hath hired mo.” 
 
 Mohammedan Idea of Satan’s Fall. — I 
 have been teaching one of the servants for 
 some time. He could speak a good deal of 
 English, and seemed to comprehend more than 
 he could speak, and was very anxious to learn 
 to read English ; so I have been teaching him, 
 and he has progressed very nicely. To-day he 
 was reading in Peep of Day. He always asks 
 a great many questions, and I encourage him to 
 do so, as I want him to understand thoroughly 
 all he learns. We were reading about Adam 
 and Eve, and Satan’s desire to possess their 
 souls. So he began to question me about 
 Satan, and when I made him understand who 
 that evil spirit is, he said, “ Oh, yes. Ma’am 
 Sahib, I know, I know Satan (I expect all in 
 this country know him too intimately). Mus- 
 sulman he tell me. May I tell you. Ma’am 
 Sahib, what Mussulman say ?” “ Oh, yes ; go 
 
 on,” I replied. “ Well, Mussulman he say Satan 
 one time helive in heaven, then he be best {first) 
 
152 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 man there, be very happy there. Then one 
 time God say Mohammed he shall be best man. 
 Then Satan say, I won’t serve you any more ; 
 if I can’t be best (first or greatest) man I won’t 
 serve you. But God say to Satan, You must 
 make salaam to Mohammed.” This salaam is 
 made from an inferior to a superior. “ But 
 Satan say. No, I will not make salaam to Mo- 
 hammed. So, Ma’am Sahib, God he not want 
 to make a fuss, but he think to himself, I make 
 him do it. So God build a splendid house for 
 Mohammed in heaven — it very grand big house 
 — and then God say. All angels come see Mo- 
 hammed. On one day he have big reception 
 day. Now God make the door of the house 
 very big, but the door that go into the room 
 where Mohammed sit that quite small. God 
 think Satan very big man, and when he come 
 to this door he have to bow his head to go in.” 
 In making a salaam the inferior always bows his 
 head. “But when Satan come to that door he 
 see he have to bow his head to go in, and he say. 
 No, I not do that. So what yon think he do. 
 Ma’am Sahib ? He sit down on the ground and 
 wriggle himself in. Then God very angry, so 
 
MOHAMMEDAN TRADITIONS. 
 
 153 
 
 he sent him out of heaven.” Such, you see, 
 are some of the absurd notions of the Moham- 
 medans. How little they think of God as the 
 High and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity ! 
 I told him that Satan had lived in heaven and 
 been cast out from thence before the creation 
 of the world, and that Mohammed had lived 
 more than four thousand years after. But I 
 passed quickly from that to tell him of the 
 Saviour who came to save Adam and Eve, and 
 all who want to believe in him of every nation, 
 kindred, and clime. What my servant said to 
 me of the Mussulman’s ideas of Satan’s rebel- 
 lion struck me very forcibly. My own suppo- 
 sitions (I do not know whether any one else 
 has the same or not) of the origin of Satan’s 
 rebellion are these : That at or previous to the 
 creation of the world, the second person of the 
 Trinity, Jesus, took upon him the form of a 
 man, and that it was after that image, or like- 
 ness, that man was created ; that then the 
 Father presented him to the hosts of heaven, 
 and said, “ Let all the angels of God worship 
 him and that then Satan, seeing one whom 
 he thought, in appearance at least, inferior to 
 
 11 
 
154 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 himself — for we must remember he was a great 
 archangel — refused his homage to the Son of 
 Man. His pride cast him out of heaven. Such 
 is my thought. 
 
 Works, not Faith. — I was talking to one of 
 my zenana ladies one day, and she told me that 
 she did not worship idols any longer, hut that 
 she only believed in and prayed to the one true 
 God. I told her that to please God she must 
 love him and obey him, and believe on his Son 
 Jesus Christ, so that she might be received into 
 heaven at last. “Yes,” she said, “yes, it is 
 weU for you, you can go about teaching poor 
 people about God, and doing much good so you 
 can gain heaven, but how can I ?” There you 
 see it is as ever with our poor human nature — 
 works ! works ! — simple faith in Christ is too 
 easy a doctrine ; we must do something our- 
 selves to merit heaven. I tried to explain to 
 her that she could serve God just as acceptably 
 where she was placed, if her heart was only 
 right ; it is not the kind of work that we do, 
 but the wdlling obedience; that our works did 
 not gain us heaven, but that Jesus had pur- 
 chased heaven for us, and all we had to do was 
 
MISSION WORK. 
 
 155 
 
 to accept it as a free gift 5 then we should try 
 to do all he wished us to do, not to gain heaven, 
 hut to show our love to him who had done so 
 much for us. I do not think she quite under- 
 stood it — it is hard for us to believe that all 
 we have to do is Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” 
 
 Good Sermon. — We had a good sermon to- 
 day. The missionaries of the Church Mission 
 Society are true evangelical preachers ; they 
 are generally very sound in the faith. They 
 really seem as if they had come out here among 
 the heathen with the fixed resolution of St. 
 Paul Avhen he said, ‘‘ I determined not to know 
 anything among you save Jesus Christ, and 
 him crucified.” In this heathen land we have 
 so many trials and temptations which you little 
 know or think of at home, that we are con- 
 stantly made to feel our own weakness and in- 
 efficiency, and that we do need to be fed with 
 the “pure milk of the word.” Our pastor to- 
 day showed us our own nothingness, and yet 
 our perfect completeness in Christ and his per- 
 fect love to us. I am completely discouraged 
 when I hear a minister (as some do) striving 
 
156 
 
 TALES ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 to show US what man ousht to be, and Avhat he 
 should endeavor to make himself, and praising up 
 the dignity of human nature. Such preaching 
 may do very well for those who do not feel them- 
 selves to he great sinners, or who feel strong 
 in themselves to do that which is right and to 
 resist temptation ; but for those who need to 
 pray every day for forgiveness for doing that 
 which they ought not to have done, and for 
 leaA'ing undone many things Avhich they ought 
 to have done — who feel that they are so prone 
 to evil and so utterly devoid of strength to 
 resist temptation, or to do one single thing that 
 is right — such preaching does not suit; it 
 makes you hopeless. I cannot belieA’e in this 
 doctrine of sinless perfection. I have seen 
 many people who thought they had attained to 
 it, hut certainly as I understood the word of 
 God, as to the real nature of sin in his sight, 
 they were far, veiy far, from having attained 
 to it. The Pharisees kept the outward letter 
 of the law, hut our Saviour said, except your 
 righteousness shall exceed these, you will have 
 no part in the kingdom of heaAmn. Now our 
 Saviour says he came to save sinners, and 
 
MISSION WORK. 
 
 157 
 
 therefore I want to consider myself as one of 
 those whom he came to save, and that I need 
 that salvation just as much to-day as I did 
 yesterday. To one who feels how constantly 
 her footsteijs slide, it is a comfort to be re- 
 minded of one who is able to keep you from 
 falling utterly. When jmu feel like the sainted 
 Apostle, that when you would do good evil is 
 present with you, oh ! then it is refreshing to 
 know that you have trusted your all to him, 
 and that he will be made unto you not only 
 Avisdom, and righteousness, and redemption, but 
 sanctification also. It is his holiness I must 
 be clothed Avith, not my OAvn, if I ever enter 
 heaven. 
 
 “Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind ; 
 
 Sight, riches, healing of the mind, 
 
 Yea, all I need in thee to find. 
 
 Oh ! Lamb of God, I come.” 
 
 This is the kind of preaching I like. If Christ 
 came to save the righteous, then I should be 
 in despair ; but as the “ Saviour of sinners,” I 
 can claim him as mine. It is Avhen Ave look 
 round at these poor heathen, and call to mind 
 that such were our ancestors — such Avere all 
 
158 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 the nations upon earth — that we realize the 
 greatness of the Saviour’s condescension and 
 love, in leaving his throne of glory to die for 
 such as we. 
 
 Hindoo Festivals. — In passing along the 
 streets one day, we found ourselves in a great 
 crowd of people, and as we approached the 
 river the crowd seemed to increase. We found 
 it Avas the celebration of a great Hindoo fes- 
 tival, Avhich only occurs -once in thirty-five 
 years. The poor people believe that Avhoever 
 bathes himself that day in a certain spot in 
 the Ganges directly opposite Calcutta will he 
 immediately cleansed from all his former sins. 
 When he dies he Avill only have to account for 
 sins committed after that bath. We were told 
 that over 380,000 people had come from all 
 the surrounding country for that ceremony. 
 As Ave passed along to church (for it was Sun- 
 day), the streets were crowded Avith people 
 going and returning from the river, some car- 
 rying children, others helping to bear or lead 
 the aged, infirm, or blind. Those coming from 
 the river Avere decorated Avith garlands, and 
 their faces covered with Avhite clay in honor of 
 
HINDOO FESTIVAL. 
 
 159 
 
 their god. I could but think, as I watched 
 these poor deluded ones hurrying to the stream 
 for purification, of our own more favored land, 
 and of that great feast which God has prepared 
 for those that love him, in commemoration of 
 the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. 
 But, oh, how different it is, often, where that 
 feast is being celebrated ! Do we see old and 
 young, rich and poor, by their eagerness to 
 partake, proclaiming to others their knowledge 
 of their infirmities, and their need of being 
 cleansed in that sacred stream ? Do we not 
 rather see multitudes of those who frequent 
 the house of God turn away from that feast, 
 thus proclaiming that they are good enough 
 and need no atonement ? Not that that feast 
 itself will cleanse them, but that thei‘e they 
 proclaim their own needs, and their belief in 
 the efficacy of the cleansing stream. And 
 even with those who profess themselves to 
 feel their need, do we see that diligent, earnest 
 effort to bring beloved ones to its purifying 
 influence ? We may learn many lessons of the 
 heathen. 
 
 Pollution. — My zenana ladies brought me 
 
160 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 to-day some sweetmeats of their own make — 
 the only kind I like — a preparation of cocoa- 
 nut and curds, which is very good. While I 
 was eating — my lessons were all over — one of 
 the Avomen, avIio I think is very fond of me, 
 was sitting Avith her arms around me, and her 
 little boy, about five years old, Avas standing 
 beside her leaning upon her lap, but looking 
 very Avistfully at Avhat I Avas eating. Without 
 thought I broke off a piece, and Avas about to 
 put it in the child’s mouth ; the mother quickly 
 drcAV him aAvay Avith an expression of intense 
 horror. It Avould be a most fearful pollution 
 for one of them to eat anything I had once 
 touched. A groAvn up person Avho did so Avould 
 lose caste immediately ; but a little child 
 Avould become unclean, and Avould have to go 
 through a ceremonial purification, Avhich Avould 
 cause a great deal of trouble. I find that if a 
 person loses caste here, they can buy it back 
 again of the Brahmin priest, by going through 
 a number of observances, and by paying a cer- 
 tain sum to the priest. This can be done in 
 every case except Avhere a person has been 
 baptized; nothing can then repurchase his caste. 
 
HOLY MAN. 
 
 161 
 
 Fakir, or Holy Man. — The other day I 
 saw a very holy man, as the people think him, 
 a fakir or Jugee. He has made a vow that 
 he will never take his arm down from one 
 position over his head. Other people feed him 
 and give him all he wants, because they think 
 he is holy. He was a most disgusting looking 
 object, for his arm was all withered and looked 
 just like a thin piece of stick, as if the skin 
 was just stretched over the bones. His nails 
 are more than an inch long, just like great 
 bird’s claws, while his hair and beard have 
 grown very long, and are matted together with 
 filth. I don’t su})})Ose, now, it would be possi- 
 ble for him to move his arm without breaking 
 it; he has held it so long in that position. He 
 sat by the roadside begging, and many as they 
 passed would throw him a small coin, since it is 
 considered a very meritorious deed to give to 
 these holy beggars. They are not nearly as 
 numerous in the large cities as they formerly 
 were, for the natives are becoming educated, 
 and do not believe in the holiness of these 
 religious mendicants, therefore do not gi\e 
 to them as they formerly did. 
 
1G2 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 Mohammedan Festival. — To-day commences 
 the great feast of the Mohurrum ; it is the 
 greatest of all the Mohammedan festivals, and 
 lasts about ten days. The last three days, 
 however, are considered the most important. 
 During the whole of this time, any one who has 
 the misfortune to live near one of the Moham- 
 medan villages cannot expect to get an hour’s 
 sleep or quiet. They keep up a continual din, 
 night and day, but more especially those last 
 three days, with drums, trumpets, tin kettles, 
 bells, fifes, bugles, whistles — anything that will 
 make a noise. This feast is in honor of the 
 two brothers, Houssein and Hossien, the grand- 
 sons of Mohammed. On the first day the mou- 
 lahs, or priests, go about among their people, 
 reading or reciting an account of the exploits 
 and sufferings of these two brothers. This is 
 a brief account of them : They were the sons 
 of a favorite daughter of Mohammed. Their 
 father. Caliph Ali, was assassinated, and the 
 assassin then took possession of the throne of 
 iSIohammed, after searching in vain for those two 
 sons to kill them. At length the usurper died, 
 and his son, whose name was Yezzed, succeeded 
 
MOHAMMEDAN FESTIVAL. 
 
 163 
 
 to the throne. Then some of the friends of the 
 late Caliph Ali sent to ITonssein, who was at 
 that time at Medina, and told him that if he 
 would now attempt to regain the throne of his 
 father they would do all that they could to 
 help him. Some few at once rallied round 
 him ; his brother Hossien and some other mem- 
 bers of his hmiily accompanied him. As soon 
 as the usurper Yezzed heard of his departure 
 from Medina, he sent an army of ten thousand 
 men, who encamped between Iloussein and the 
 river Euphrates, and thus all supply of water 
 was cut off from his devoted band of followers. 
 Though small, his little l)and were most brave, 
 and performed some most marvellous deeds. 
 But at length, on the tenth day, they were en- 
 tirely surrounded and every one of them slain. 
 They cut off Houssein’s head and carried it to 
 Yezzed, who ^ was at that time in Damascus. 
 It is these ten days of sufCering of this little 
 band that is commemorated at the feast of the 
 Mohurrum. There are processions each day, 
 with mock fights, and on the last day they 
 carry about representations of tombs and towers. 
 In some of these processions they have the 
 
164 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 finest Arabian horses that can be found, most 
 gorgeously caparisoned, and adorned with gold 
 and gems. These are to represent the horses 
 of Houssein and Ilossien. On parts of the trap- 
 pings, and stuck on the faces, are round glass 
 beads to represent the tears of the horses mourn- 
 ing for their masters, and a number of the men 
 and boys in the crowd are beating their breasts 
 and, apparently in the bitterest grief, shouting 
 out the names of Houssein and Hossien. A stran- 
 ger at first could hardly be persuaded that it 
 was not real grief. The last night they are 
 going about the streets almost the whole night 
 long, carrying these tombs — some of them 
 really very beautiful, but all made of bamboo 
 and tinsel paper. They then have images of 
 horses, covered with gashes and stuck all over 
 with arrows ; and they will also carry a lot of 
 turbans, dresses and swords covered with blood. 
 The things are all thrown into some water the 
 next day. But during the procession the men 
 become so excited and even frantic in their sham 
 fights that they often wound themselves very 
 severely, and the sham fight ends in a real 
 one, in which many are very severely injured, 
 
JUGGERNA UT. 
 
 1G5 
 
 and often slain. In the larger cities, at the 
 time of these processions, the English have a 
 large police force appointed to attend them to 
 prevent any such outbreak. 
 
 Juggernaut. — Yesterday was the great feast 
 of Juggernaut. The root of this word means 
 king of the world.” This idol at Puri is a 
 wooden block in the shape of a cucumber, the 
 upper portion representing a hideous human 
 face. The streets were crowded with all 
 sorts of people in holiday garb, and every- 
 where images of the god Avere for sale. In 
 many streets, as you passed along, you saAV 
 small imitations of the great car of Juggernaut 
 being drawn along by a crowd of men and boys. 
 It did seem simple baby play, as the cars were 
 none of them more than ten feet high, many of 
 them not more than tAvo feet. They are all 
 made in the same form. Those that are about 
 ten feet high Avill have a platform nearly ten 
 feet square, from Avhich rises a smaller one 
 surmounted by a dome. The back and sides 
 are covered Avith some kind of red cloth, deco- 
 rated Avith tinsel and numerous small flags. 
 Inside this upper story the idol is placed, 
 
166 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 varying in height from two feet to four inches. 
 He has an immense head and body, but no 
 arms or legs. He is dressed in crimson silk, 
 and glittering in mock gold and jewels. Just 
 in front of him piles of flowers, arranged in 
 Avreaths, are laid. These the priests bless 
 and sell to the natives. Where it is large 
 enough six or eight priests stand on the lower 
 platform, or, Avhere the car is not large enough, 
 walk beside it, distributing the flowers to the 
 crowd. Just in front of the car, but placed so 
 as not to touch the ground, are the figures of 
 two horses and their drivers made of clay. A 
 motley croAvd of so-called musicians attend 
 each car, making a hideous din as it passes 
 through the street. And this is supposed to 
 be worship acceptable to God. How different 
 the way our Saviour tells us to Avorship ! ‘‘God 
 is a Spirit : and they that worship him must 
 worship him in spirit and in truth.” 
 
 Decrease of Idolatry. — Two gentlemen 
 called on me to-day. They have been travel- 
 ling for the last fifteen months over India and 
 Burmah for the express purpose of finding out 
 the true state of religious and educational 
 
FEASTS. 
 
 167 
 
 affairs. They are Englishmen, belonging to 
 the Society of Friends. They expressed them- 
 selves as well pleased with the progress made, 
 the decrease of idolatry, and the rooting out of 
 old prejudices. In one place an old Brahmin 
 told him that the people were ceasing so widely 
 the worship of their idols that they (the priests) 
 hardly knew what to do for a livelihood. 
 
 The Feast of Lanterns. — As we came home 
 from church last night we saw all the streets 
 very prettily illuminated, that is, in the native 
 part of the city, and everywhere we found 
 numbers of sweetmeat venders with their tem- 
 porary stalls. They set their lamps in long 
 rows ; they are very small, but they have a 
 very pretty effect. These little lamps appear 
 as if they might he the same that were in use 
 thousands of years ago. The lamp is a little 
 brass saucer with a lip to it, the wick being- 
 only a strip of rag, and when the saucer is filled 
 with oil this wick just hangs out at the edge 
 of the lip. This feast is held in honor of Agni, 
 the god of fire. The worship of any of these 
 gods scarcely ever consists in prayers or invo- 
 cations, but simply in offering to them what 
 
168 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 they think the gods will be pleased with. 
 Xow, as Agui is the god of fire, it is thought 
 that he will be pleased with all these lights, 
 and then all the gods are supposed to be de- 
 lighted with the dancing of the Mautcli (dance) 
 girls, so that dancing, and their barbarous 
 music, all night long accompanies all these 
 festivals. All the baboos of anv wealth or re- 
 spectability keep up as many of these feasts as 
 they can, as it is meritorious at these times to 
 invite and feast as many Brahmins as they 
 possibly can, and give them the pleasure of 
 witnessing the Mautcli. Then, too, all the 
 poor people that can crowd in may see it, and 
 may sometimes come in for a share of the feast 
 that the Brahmins cannot possibly eat. It is 
 in this way that the people here spend their 
 money. 
 
 Thinking Men. — I had a conversation, a day 
 or two ago, with a pundit (literally, “learned 
 man;” generally applied to a teacher of the 
 Bengali language). lie is a deist, but longs 
 for the old customs of Hindooism to be done 
 away. Especially does he bewail the lack of 
 female education. He said ; “ You wiU find. 
 
THINKING MEN. 
 
 169 
 
 madfim, that thousands of the young men of 
 India are Christians; that is, in head belief; 
 for the beauty, the truthfulness, and the purity 
 of the Christian religion must commend itself 
 to every educated mind. It is not our heads, 
 but the affections of our hearts, that keep us 
 from an open profession of Christianity. Were 
 we to do this, we should become outcasts from 
 our father’s house ; we should be cursed by our 
 mothers ; forsaken by our wives and little ones 
 (for they are considered to belong to the family 
 more than to ourselves, and they would be re- 
 tained and taken care of by the family), and 
 these little ones whom we love would be taught 
 to hate us. Though we believe with our intel- 
 lects, few of us have the courage thus to leave 
 all for Christ’s sake. It is our women that keep 
 up Hindooism. When they become educated, 
 as we men are, then you will see a mighty 
 change. But should we become Christians, 
 we not only have to give up all family ties — 
 all that are near and dear to us — but we have 
 to give up all share in property also, and we 
 have to descend to be beggars and outcasts.” 
 I said : “ I acknowledge this is very hard ; 
 
170 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 still, in all ages there have been found men 
 brave enough to do even this.” He turned 
 upon me hastily and said : “ Madam, I ask you 
 in all fairness, were such laws to be made to- 
 day in your Christian land, that if men who are 
 already professing Christians — who know the 
 truth well — should remain professors, they 
 should lose all we do by making a profession, 
 how many do you think would recant? Do 
 you believe that, by this time next month, there 
 would be half the number of professing Chris- 
 tians in the United States there are to-day? 
 They still might be intellectual Christians, 
 but would they be professing Christians?” 
 With shame I had to confess that I believed it 
 would be as he suggested. Persecution and 
 trial test the true Christian. How little Chris- 
 tians at home realize the difficulties of a hea- 
 then making public profession of Christianity ! 
 They wonder that every one who hears the 
 Word and sees the beauty of the faith of 
 Jesus does not immediately embrace it. How 
 many thousands of professing Christians at 
 home are unwilling to give up worldly amuse- 
 ments, theatre, opera, for Christ’s sake ? And 
 
THINKING MEN. 
 
 171 
 
 yet they wonder that the poor heathen are not 
 willing immediately to give up all — all that this 
 life can give — for Christ. Strange, strange in- 
 consistency ! May God teach us to see things 
 more clearly ! 
 
CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 A CYCLONE. 
 
 "OU have often heard of the terrible storms, 
 
 hurricanes and cyclones that visit this 
 land. We have just experienced one. Peo- 
 ple speak of it as the most fearful calamity 
 that has ever visited Calcutta, and yet, thank 
 God, we are all alive and unharmed. This 
 part of India is generally visited every few 
 years with a severe gale or hurricane, which 
 the inhabitants have been expecting now for 
 some time past. It has come at last, and was 
 the severest cyclone that has been known here. 
 It began on the 4th, with high winds and tor- 
 rents of rain, and continued till the 5th, when 
 it arose to the fury of a hurricane, blowing in 
 every direction. All the windows of the Euro- 
 pean Orphanage, where I was living, are like 
 large glass folding-doors, fastened, when shut, 
 with strong iron bars. Outside of these are 
 strong Venetian doors, twice the size and thick- 
 
A CYCLONE. 
 
 173 
 
 ness of ours at home, fastened with strong iron 
 bolts. These open outwards, the glass doors 
 open inwards. We soon found that the wind 
 w'as tearing them in pieces, and although we 
 barricaded them and tied them with ropes, they 
 snapped like sticks and broke like threads. 
 The heavy wardrobes were dashed across the 
 room, while the glass from the windows flew in 
 all directions. 
 
 I cannot tell you how I felt here ; I had a 
 flock of seventy-four little ones to he protected. 
 At first I thought they would he safer down- 
 stairs, but in a few minutes all our lower rooms 
 had water over a foot deep. I then collected 
 the children in the hospital, which is a separate 
 building over our little church, connected with 
 the house by a covered gallery. There I 
 thought they would he the safest, as the main 
 building in some measure sheltered them just 
 then. I left them there for a little time, while 
 I tided to see what could be done for the build- 
 ing. The upper story was the most exposed. 
 We soon found the outer doors were torn com- 
 pletely away, but Ave tried, by piling beds, bu- 
 reaus and Avardrobes against the inner ones, to 
 
174 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 keep them closed, for we feared if the wind got 
 in the roof would be taken off. The elder girls 
 meantime carried all articles of value down 
 stairs. We soon found, however, that all our 
 efforts there were useless. The iron bars of 
 the windows were snapped or wrenched from 
 their sockets, and came flying into the room 
 with the furniture we had piled against them, 
 and the glass was scattered about in every 
 direction. We deemed it safer to leave that 
 story to its fate, and not risk life and limb any 
 longer there, fearing lest the roof would be 
 blown off; as the doors and windows Avere op- 
 posite each other, and this made a free SAveep 
 for the wind. We did all Ave could to secure 
 the loAver rooms, and then I went back to the 
 children. 
 
 Poor, frightened little flock ! they gathered 
 around me, each one eager to touch my dress, 
 all beseeching me not to leave them. I told 
 them that Ave Avere in a fearful gale, but that 
 Ave had done all we could to make things 
 secure ; that God had told us that we must 
 work and pray, and noAV, haAung done what 
 Ave could, Ave must commend ourselves to our 
 
A CYCLONE. 
 
 175 
 
 heavenly Father’s care, without whose permis- 
 sion not a hair of our heads could he hurt, 
 although the house might fall to pieces. The 
 more timid ones who were sobbing now hushed, 
 then we sung a pretty little hymn commending 
 ourselves to Almighty protection. I asked the 
 children all to kneel with me, while I prayed to 
 our heavenly Father, and I was deeply affected 
 to hear every voice, even the baby’s (not two 
 years old), repeating each sentence of the prayer 
 after me. The singing and prayer seemed so 
 to calm those little ones that I did not hear 
 another word of fear expressed, while later in 
 the afternoon some of them said, “ We have not 
 felt the least fear since we prayed, for we know 
 God will take care of us.” 
 
 We had hnrdly risen from our knees when a 
 tremendous blast came, bursting open some of 
 the windows and causing the whole building to 
 rock. Some people say we had a slight shock 
 of earthquake at that time. We contrived, by 
 great effort, to get the doors closed, and forced 
 tables, benches and iron bedsteads against them ; 
 but as the wind had veered round this side, I 
 felt that tlie children were no longer safe here. 
 
176 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 In the main building there was one room en- 
 tirely dark; but there would be no broken glass 
 flying about in it, and I saw it was our last 
 place of refuge. It was with intense anxiety 
 that I saw the children again cross the gallery, 
 for at the moment the full force of the wind 
 came in that direction, taking us off our 
 feet. It was impossible to have a light in the 
 dark room, on account of the furious blasts of 
 wind ; but croAvded as the dear children Avere 
 together in much discomfort, with nothing to 
 cat from seven in the morning, not a word of 
 complaint did I hear. At 6 P. M. the storm 
 began to abate, and about seven Ave could have 
 a little food brought in from the cook-room ; it 
 had been ready before, but they could not bring 
 it to us, and Ave never keep prepared food in 
 the house from one meal to the next. We 
 Avere truly thankful thiit the storm had sub- 
 sided before night. The sight out-of-doors wms 
 sad in the extreme. Beautiful trees, the growth 
 of a hundred years, Avere torn up by the roots, 
 and not a plant or shrub Avas left in the garden. 
 The trees fell across the compound Avail, and on 
 three sides it is level Avith the ground. Provi- 
 
A CYCLONE. 
 
 177 
 
 (lentially they did not fall against the house — 
 another mercy to be thankful for. After the 
 storm was past, it took the wind a long time to 
 sigh and sob itself to sleep, like a naughty child 
 when its passion is over. 
 
 Oh, what a scene of desolation the sun rose 
 on the next day ! The streets and roads were 
 completely blocked up by the fallen trees 
 (they seem to have gone everywhere) ; it made 
 me heart-sick to look on every side. It will 
 take a century to make Calcutta look as it did 
 before the storm. To add to our trouble, the 
 Health Commissioner sent us word that all the 
 branches and leaves of the follen trees must be 
 cut and carried away, as their decay would pro- 
 duce fever. We could perceive the necessity of 
 the order, as in a very few hours the air became 
 excessively heavy with the odor arising from 
 them. But it was a very unfortunate time for 
 getting anything done, as it was the season of 
 the great Hindoo festival of the Dougla Poojah, 
 when all business is suspended, and there is a 
 general holiday for ten days. We finally suc- 
 ceeded in getting the compound cleared, by 
 giving all the branches, wood, &c., to any one 
 
178 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 who would come and take it away, and, as the 
 poor people had suffered less in the country, 
 they flocked in from thpre to get the wood. 
 
 The desolation seemed very great on shore, 
 but the loss of life was comparatively small 
 to that on the river. The sight on the strand 
 the day after the storm was sad enough. Al- 
 though the banks of the river are from ten to 
 twelve feet above the water, one hundred and 
 eighty ships have been carried twenty, thirty 
 and fifty feet on the shore, while twelve have 
 sunk. We passed eight of the English and 
 China steamers, as large as the Cunard steamers, 
 all on land, badly injured. On the opposite side 
 of the river there are two places where ships 
 have been crushed in heaps on the banks, while 
 the number of smaller vessels and boats that 
 have been dashed in pieces cannot be estimated. 
 It is impossible to describe the spectacle the 
 river presented, with numbers of dead bodies 
 floating in it upon which the crows and vultures 
 were feeding. It was a perfect cyclone, the 
 Avind appearing to blow from all points of the 
 compass at once. The city looks as if it had 
 been visited by an earthquake, for there is not 
 
A CYCLONE. 
 
 179 
 
 a single house left uninjured, and in many places 
 the small houses of the poorer natives have 
 been prostrated by whole villages together. 
 The fiercest part of the storm spent itself in 
 Calcutta and its environs, within a circuit of 
 fifty miles, and is about as fearful a calamity 
 as I have ever heard of. Language is power- 
 less to convey its extent. Along the whole 
 length of the river banks, from Gorder Reach 
 to Diamond Harbor, were human bodies which 
 had been washed on shore. A gentleman 
 coming up the river counted five thousand. 
 The papers say, ‘AVe are threatened with fa- 
 mine on the one hand and pestilence on the 
 other.” I could tell you much more of the fear- 
 ful effects of this storm, but I fear I have al- 
 ready wearied you with the description. 
 
CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 BRAHMINS AND CASTES. 
 
 ET me give a condensed account of what 
 
 Brahminism is. The Brahmins are the 
 priests of the Hindoo religion. It is by them 
 that the holy books are preserved, and by them 
 all their religious rites and ceremonies are per- 
 formed, consequently their whole religion has 
 for its object the elevation of themselves on 
 the degradation of all the other classes. They 
 say that Brahma was the great god — the 
 creator — that he, in creating man, made four 
 distinct castes — the Brahmins, who sprung 
 from his mouth ; the Kshatriyas, or Rajahs, or 
 soldiers, came from his hands ; the Yasiyas, or 
 merchants, came from his loin ; and the Sudras, 
 or cultivators, Avhich are the lowest. These are 
 each again subdivided innumerably, but no man 
 can ever change his caste. If, by any means, 
 he happens to have the misfortune to break or 
 lose his caste, he does not descend into a lower 
 
chalks abont Jnbia. 
 
 p. 181 . 
 
 Eating in India. 
 
 pp. 180 , 1 » 1 . 
 
 A. Silversmith, 
 
CASTES. 
 
 181 
 
 one, but he becomes an outcast. This is simply 
 to be excommunicated, for -svliile he is in this 
 condition no one will speak to him, no one will 
 buy or sell to him, or hold any business or 
 social relations with him, and if he dies in this 
 condition, he is forever excluded from any 
 blessedness hereafter, and will always be asso- 
 ciated with unhappy and evil spirits. Even if 
 he has broken his caste involuntarily or been 
 forced into it, it is of no consequence, he is 
 still an outcast, and he can only be restored 
 again by paying large sums of money to the 
 Brahmins, and performing w'hatever penances 
 they may see fit to inflict. The subdivisions 
 of the different castes have become so numer- 
 ous now that each distinct trade or calling is 
 called a distinct caste or class, and every man 
 must remain in the class of his father and fol- 
 low his occupation. Now the whole system of 
 the Hindoo worship is the work of the Brahmins, 
 who, in their holy writings, have placed them- 
 selves far above the kings. One class only of 
 these Brahmins are priests, and they perform 
 all the religious rites and ceremonies ; they are 
 called Gums. It is, of course, considered the 
 
182 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 highest act of merit to give presents, &c., to a 
 Giirn ; but it is highly meritorious to feast or 
 give presents to any Brahmin. The poor 
 Hindoos have a great fear of all Brahmins, 
 and especially of their Gums. They believe 
 that the blessing of a Giirn can pardon all 
 their sins, and that the curse of a Gurn can 
 condemn them forever to hell. Their holy 
 hooks are full of fables that tell of the most 
 wonderful and marvellous power of the Brah- 
 mins, and which fills the minds of the people 
 with fear and dread of them. And the attend- 
 ants or servants of a Guru, or other holy man, 
 do not hesitate to tell the greatest lies of the 
 wonderful power of their master, which they 
 themselves pretend to have seen. 
 
 The Shasters, or holy books, contain the code 
 of laws by which the Hindoos are governed. 
 I will give you a few quotations from them. 
 Much that is written therein is so indecent that 
 I could not possibly give it to you, but you will 
 see by these that the laws were all made for 
 the benefit of the Brahmins. 
 
 A Brahmin could not be put to death for any 
 crime whatever ; he might be imprisoned, fined, 
 
BRAHMINS. 
 
 183 
 
 banished, or have his head shaved, but his life 
 could not be touched. 
 
 The fines paid to them from the religious 
 ceremonies are greater than the tributes paid 
 to the kings. I will give you a little list of 
 these hereafter. 
 
 If a Sudra dared to wear the Brahmincal 
 badge or the sign of a Brahmin, he must be 
 heavily fined. 
 
 If he in any way molested a Brahmin, he 
 must be put to death. 
 
 If a Brahmin should steal one of the Sudra 
 race, he must be fined ; but if a Sudra stole a 
 Brahmin, he must be burnt to death. 
 
 If a Sudra sat on a Brahmin’s carpet, even 
 by accident, the magistrate must brand him 
 with a red-hot iron, and banish him from the 
 kingdom. 
 
 If a Sudra spat upon a Brahmin, his lips 
 must be cut off. (By a Sudra in these cases 
 is meant any one not a Brahmin.) 
 
 If he pulled a Brahmin’s hair or beard, or 
 seized his neck, the magistrate must cut off 
 both his hands. 
 
 If he listened to reproaches against a Brah- 
 
184 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 min, he must have hot lead poured into his 
 ears. 
 
 If a Brahmin beat or struck a magistrate, 
 he must be fined; but if a Sudra did this, 
 he must have an iron spit run through him and 
 be roasted alive. 
 
 And these same Shasters teach that not only 
 will they be thus punished on earth for any 
 disrespect to the Brahmins, but the direst pun- 
 ishments will follow after death. 
 
 For any one to perform the most menial 
 offices for a Brahmin is highly meritorious. 
 
 To present gifts to the Brahmins at the hour 
 of death is spoken of in the Shasters as a work 
 of merit, destroying all sin, and followed in the 
 next world with great happiness. It is con- 
 sidered a great privilege to drink water in 
 which a Brahmin has dipped his toe. And 
 many low-caste men will do this daily, think- 
 ing thus to purify themselves, or to remove 
 some disease. 
 
 To tell a lie to serve a Brahmin is an act of 
 duty. If a Brahmin is reading the Veda, or 
 holy books, aloud, it is sacrilege for any one 
 even to listen, unless he orders him to do so. 
 
FEES OF BRAHMINS. 
 
 185 
 
 Fines and Fees to Brahmins. — The follow- 
 ing account of these is taken from “Ward’s 
 India,” one of the best books on their manners 
 and customs. He says, “ It is evident that this 
 whole fabric of superstition is the work of the 
 Brahmins for their own especial benefit. No 
 person may teach the Veda but a Brahmin; a 
 spiritual guide must be a Brahmin ; every 
 priest must be a Brahmin ; the offerings to the 
 gods must be given to Brahmins.” 
 
 No ceremony is meritorious without a fee to 
 the officiating Brahmin. 
 
 Numberless ceremonies have been invented 
 to increase the wealth of the Brahmins. Three 
 times, before the birth of a child, a Brahmin 
 must repeat certain formulas, when he is feasted 
 and receives a fee. This must be repeated at 
 the birth ; then when the child is eight days 
 old ; again when it is six months old ; when it 
 is two years old ; once more at eight or nine ; 
 and again at marriage. 
 
 In sickness the Brahmin is paid for repeat- 
 ing forms for the restoration of the patient. 
 After death, his son must perform the Shard, 
 the offerings and fees at which are given to the 
 
 13 
 
186 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 Brahmins — twelve times during the first year, 
 and then annually. 
 
 If a Hindoo meets with a misfortune, he 
 must pay a Brahmin to read incantations for its 
 removal. If his cow dies, he must pay a Brah- 
 min to make an atonement ; if he loses a piece 
 of gold, he must do the same. If a vulture set- 
 tles on his house, he must pay a Brahmin to 
 purify his dwelling. If he goes into a new house, 
 he must pay a Brahmin to purify it. If he dies 
 on an unlucky day, his son must employ a Brah- 
 min to remove the evil effects of it. If a man cuts 
 or digs a pool or a wmll, he must pay a Brahmin 
 to consecrate it ; if he dedicates a temple or a 
 tree to the gods, or a new idol, he must do the 
 same. 
 
 At the time of an eclipse, or on certain lunar 
 days, gifts must be presented, to the Brahmins. 
 During the year about forty ceremonies are 
 performed, when the Brahmins are feasted and 
 receive fees. Besides these, there are numerous 
 times wdien the Brahmins receive fees and are 
 feasted — as, if a person supposes himself to be 
 under the influence of an evil planet, or if any 
 special vow is made. A ceremony is performed 
 
FEES OF BRAHMINS. 
 
 187 
 
 at the time of the smallpox ; when people fast ; 
 for the removal of cutaneous diseases ; at the 
 daily offering of worship to the family god ; 
 when the farmer reaps his harvest; when a 
 tradesman begins his business ; when a fisher- 
 man builds a new boat, or begins to fish in a 
 new place — these, and many others too numer- 
 ous to mention. At different festivals, perhaps 
 a hundred feasts will be given at one village on 
 the same day. The cooks must all be Brah- 
 mins who have been paid for their services in 
 getting this all ready by the masters of the 
 house, and they must only stand by and look 
 on while their guests eat, and then dismiss 
 them with presents. At the house of a Rajah, 
 at particular festivals, sometimes as many as 
 twenty thousand Brahmins are feasted. 
 
 ‘‘ Thus, you see, every form and ceremony 
 of religion, all festivals, and every accident and 
 concern of life, draws a fee from the poor Hin- 
 doo to the Brahmin.” It is the most onerous 
 system of oppression that ever existed, but the 
 poor Hindoo’s belief in it is as firm and deep- 
 rooted as superstition, ignorance, and terror can 
 make it. Do you wonder that it is so difficult 
 
188 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 to bring the gospel of Jesus to the acceptance 
 of the people ? The Brahmin, ^Tith all his 
 pride, haughtiness and self-sufficiency, is very 
 loth to give up his dominion, absolute as it is, 
 over the bodies, souls, and property of his fel- 
 low men, and to be placed on the same level 
 with the poor sudra, who hitherto has almost 
 worshipped him, as a poor, guilty sinner before 
 God, and rvho equally needs the atoning blood 
 of Christ with this poor fellow whom he has 
 hitherto despised. Oh, what a deep humbling 
 of the pride of the human heart this is ! Men 
 brought up in a Christian land cannot realize 
 it. For the greatest king on earth to place 
 himself on a level with the lowest and most 
 degraded beggar in his land, and not only to 
 consider himself but to have every one else 
 consider him really and truly on that same 
 level, would not be half as revolting to him as 
 it is for a Brahmin to consider himself, and to 
 be considered by others, and even by God him- 
 self, on the same platform as the lowest sudras. 
 Oh, dear friends, it is nothing but grace, mar- 
 vellous grace, that can ever work such a mira- 
 cle as this ! And then, the poor ignorant 
 
CASTE. 
 
 189 
 
 people have always looked up to these men as 
 demigods. In fact, they are thought even more 
 po’werful than the gods, for they believe that 
 they can force the gods to do what they please. 
 Do you wonder that they do not accept a 
 religion, the receiving of which, or even lis- 
 tening to wdiich, draw's down upon them the 
 most terrible curses of these men to whom they 
 have always looked up wdth such reverence, 
 respect and fear ? The longer I remain in In- 
 dia the more I look upon each native Christian 
 as a miracle of divine power. Surely, this re- 
 ligion is Satan’s masterpiece for the destruction 
 of human souls. It seems impossible that any- 
 thing more diabolical could have been invented. 
 
 Caste Customs. — What a heavy burden this 
 caste must be upon the poor people here ! 
 Yesterday a poor woman, one of the very lowest 
 caste, who was cutting grass in the compound, 
 was suddenly seized wdth cholera (she was dead 
 in a few hours). One of the servants came in 
 a great hurry to tell me. I immediately took 
 some chlorine — which the doctor had told me 
 always to keep in the house for any such emer- 
 gency — and went out with it to her ; but she 
 
190 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 would not take it because I had touched the 
 vessel that contained it. Poor thing ! she lost 
 her life in consequence ; as of course the dis- 
 ease got thoroughly hold of her before anything 
 could be done, since they had to carry her home, 
 and then get her some native remedies. 
 
 To-day the housekeeper called the hearer 
 several times, but he neither came nor answered; 
 so she went out to his little house to see if he 
 was there, and she found him eating his dinner. 
 He immediately rose and came to me in a great 
 rage, and with bitter complaints demanded 
 money, not onl}’ to buy fresh food, but also to 
 replace his cooking utensils, which he had been 
 obliged to break and throw away. For Mrs. G. 
 had gone into his room and stood on the same 
 floor with his food ; therefore it had become so 
 polluted that not only must he throw that food 
 away, but the vessels must be destroyed, as it 
 would break his caste to eat food that might 
 even be cooked in them again. What bondage ! 
 Surely Satan is a hard master. 
 
 In one of my zenanas I have two women who 
 have been quite sick — one with a low fever — 
 for some time. I found her better to-day ; her 
 
CASTE. 
 
 191 
 
 fever had left her, but she was very weak and her 
 pulse very feeble. Her mother asked me what 
 she should give her to eat. I could not think, 
 as 1 knew they would not touch beef tea or 
 chicken broth. At length I suggested some 
 arrowroot with port wine. “ Oh, no ; port 
 wine she must not touch ; it is against her 
 caste.” Then I told her how to make a custard. 
 But again she must not touch a chicken’s egg. 
 Yet strange to say, 1 found that though they 
 may not touch a chicken’s egg, they may a 
 duck’s eggs. They could give me no reason 
 why this should be so, only it is so. I then told 
 her to use a duck’s egg, and to take a stick of 
 cinnamon and boil it in the milk to take aAvay 
 the strong taste of the duck’s egg. It really 
 must be hard for them to remember what they 
 may or may not eat. I do trust that the day 
 is not far distant when they shall learn that it 
 is not in meats or drinks that we serve God, 
 but in righteousness and true holiness. 
 
CHAPTER TWELFTH. 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 YING MAN. — Yesterday I was passing 
 
 through one of the little villages of native 
 huts that are scattered up and down throughout 
 the city. The people of one class or caste gen- 
 erally cluster together in one place. All in this 
 village, though poor, are of very good caste, 
 but the women are not permitted to be seen. 
 The houses are small and poor, not much more 
 than mere mud huts, with a little spot of ground 
 as a sort of court attached to each. This is 
 enclosed by a mud wall, or a sort of fence made 
 of matting, to screen the female inmates of the 
 house from the other inhabitants of the village, 
 when they may be obliged to be in this court, 
 for it is here that they perform all their culinary 
 operations. I pity the women, Avho are of good 
 caste, who have to. IHe in these poor villages, 
 for they are even worse olf than those in the 
 larger zenanas, as tlieir quarters are so much 
 
SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 193 
 
 closer and more stifling. Yet I teach in several 
 of these, but not in this village ; I had never 
 been here before, but I was opening a girls’ 
 school near by, and wanted to see if I could 
 not get some scholars here. I know more of 
 these places in the city already than many 
 English ladies who have lived here most of 
 their lives. Few will penetrate into these places, 
 but I have no fear, consequently I was the first 
 white woman that most of these women had 
 seen, and so was an object of much curiosity. 
 As I passed along, I saw a poor man lying on 
 the ground outside one of the lints, in a high 
 fever and wildly raving in delirium, two men 
 holding him. He Avas very ill, and yet lying 
 out in the broiling sun. I begged them to take 
 him into the house in the shade, and put ice or 
 cold water on his head ; but they said, “ No ! 
 that was not their custom. They Avere sure 
 he Avas going to die, and they Avere only Avaiting 
 till his brother should come, then they Avere 
 going to take him doAvn to the Ganges, and lay 
 him by that sacred river to die there. They 
 had been afraid that he might die before the 
 brother came, and so they had brought him out 
 
194 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 of the house and laid him there, as some dread- 
 ful misfortune would be sure to happen if they 
 allowed him to die in the house.” I again 
 begged them to place him in the shade and 
 give him some water. They would not listen 
 to me. ‘‘ It was not their custom.” Surely, 
 surely, “ the tender mercies of the wicked are 
 cruel.” Unchristianized humanity is as the 
 brute that perisheth. 
 
 Ghost Story. — I went over to Bishop’s Col- 
 lege the other day, to spend the evening, and 
 
 I met there a Mr. F , one of the students. 
 
 He is an Italian. He was a Roman Catholic 
 priest — a friar of the Capuchin order — in Sicily. 
 About five years ago he became a convert to 
 Protestantism, and now he is studying for a few 
 months before he is ordained in the Episcopal 
 Church. He says he has had a sore trial in 
 being disowned by his family, since his profes- 
 sion of the Protestant faith. He cannot hear 
 from one of them ; but more especially he feels 
 it with regard to his mother. Oh, what an in- 
 fluence for good or for ill a mother wields ! 
 To see the strong, middle-aged man bow down 
 at thoughts of his mother, where nothing else 
 
SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 195 
 
 will move him, should be a lesson, indeed, to 
 mothers of how they use their influence. He 
 was telling us of some of his experiences as a 
 friar. Among other things he said : “ In my 
 convent under the Capuchin monastery in the 
 island of Sicily,'*" we had very extensive cata- 
 combs, laid out in different corridors and gal- 
 leries. Some were for the rich gentlemen of 
 the island, others for the ladies, and others, 
 again, for children. These passages and gal- 
 leries would receive light and air from above, 
 so that, though under ground, yet they were 
 perfectly lighted and ventilated. One of these 
 galleries was exclusively devoted to the recep- 
 tion of the remains of the friars of the convent, 
 and here they had been buried for several hun- 
 dreds of years. When a friar died — and the 
 same mode was observed with all others brought 
 here — the body was embalmed and placed in a 
 box ; then a deep hole was dug in the convent 
 
 * On my last return to this country, our steamer stopped 
 at Palermo, in the island of Sicily, and I went on shore and 
 visited these Catacombs, and I saw everything exactly as he 
 described it — even to the old fellow who had so frightened 
 him. 
 
196 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 grounds, and the box was put upright into the 
 hole, with a large stone covering the top. The 
 bodies here dried up, leaving the entire skeleton 
 with a skin like parchment over it. At the 
 end of the year the body was disinterred, the 
 habiliments of the grave were taken off, and it 
 was re-dressed — the friars in the habits of their 
 order, the rich ladies and gentlemen in costly 
 apparel, as though they were going to some 
 grand entertainment. These, as I saw them, 
 appeared to me far more ghastly than the friars. 
 In the galleries devoted to the ladies and 
 gentlemen the bodies Avere lying on shelves 
 Avith a Avire netAvork in front of them. Many 
 of the ladies in blue, Avhite, or pink satin ball 
 dresses, Avith Avhite satin shoes on, and Avhite 
 kid gloves hanging loose on the bony, fleshless 
 hands, and on the grinning, fleshless skull, 
 Avreaths of artificial floAvers. Oh, it Avas, indeed, 
 a mockery of death ; the most ghastly, hideous 
 spectacle it Avas possible to behold. Each one 
 had his or her name, Avith the date of death, 
 on a metal label hanoing round the neck. The 
 dates of some Avere over three hundred years 
 old ; others not three years ago. Imagine 
 
SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 197 
 
 friends coming to gaze at tlieir loved ones 
 in this state ! As I looked at the sad proofs 
 of the triumphs of our great enemy, how I 
 thanked God for the gospel of Jesus, which 
 teaches us that ‘ Death is swalloAved up in 
 victory and that when we lay the mortal re- 
 mains of our loved ones to sleep in the dust, Ave 
 can feel that he is not here — he is risen. 
 How very little Homanism is superior to 
 heathenism ! The friars, however, dressed in 
 the habit of the order, are placed each one 
 in a niche in the Avail, in an upright position, 
 held so by means of cords round the Avaist and 
 neck, fastened to hooks behind in the niche. 
 There are tAvo or three very long galleries ap- 
 propriated exclusively to these friars. The pas- 
 sages or galleries are about six feet Avide, and the 
 niches with the figures in them line the Avhole 
 passages on either hand ; a tall man, standing in 
 the centre, could stretch out his arms and touch 
 the figures on each side. Here, in this ghostly 
 company, many of the more devout friars go 
 to pray ; and on certain days, the friends of 
 the deceased Avere alloAved to come and light 
 candles in trout of them, and there pray for the 
 
198 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 repose of their souls. A light also was kept 
 burning all night, for the benefit of those 
 wfiio might choose to come and watch and pray 
 at that time ; for, like the heathen, they think 
 the greater the suffering the greater the merit. 
 It was the duty of the young noAuce to go down 
 every evening, just at dark, to light this lamp. 
 
 One evening one of the other novices and 
 myself were sent to perform this duty. As we 
 Avent we Avere laughing and chatting to keep 
 up our spirits, for you must know that Ave 
 Avere all of us in the convent very superstitious, 
 and firm believers in ghosts. I Avas standing 
 on a step-ladder and about to light the big lamp 
 Avhich hung from the ceiling, Avhen I cast my 
 eyes in the corner of the gallery, and there, 
 only a feAv feet from Avhere Ave stood, I saAv 
 one of these old friars, Avho had been dead for 
 many years, nodding his head, and shaking it 
 from side to side. Imagine my horror. I can 
 hardly now recall my feelings Avithout shud- 
 dering. Clutching my companion’s shoulder, 
 I pointed out to him the horrid sight. He 
 screamed Avith terror, and let fall the lantern 
 from his hands, thus leaving us in total dark- 
 
SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 199 
 
 ness. Who can describe our agonizing terror as 
 we sought to regain the entrance, particularly 
 as we were compelled to pass this object in that 
 narrow passage on our way out! We fancied 
 every moment a hand would be stretched out 
 to seize us. In our fright we mistook the way, 
 and were, therefore, a long time in getting out. 
 Had there been one only instead of two of us, 
 he certainly never would have come out alive ; 
 terror would have killed him. Our screams, 
 as we fled up the stairs after we did find the 
 entrance (it is a very long flight), soon sum- 
 moned the holy brotherhood, the abbot amongst 
 them. It was some time before we could re- 
 cover ourselves sufficiently to tell the cause of 
 our distress. The abbot then ordered the old 
 sacristan to take a light and go down and ex- 
 amine into the matter, telling us that if he 
 found we had been deceiving him, he would 
 impose a heavy penance upon us. The poor 
 old sacristan, it was evident, did not like the 
 duty imposed on him. He Avent down the 
 steps very slowly and carefully, holding the 
 light high above his head ; but he had scarcely 
 reached the entrance ere he uttered a frightful 
 
200 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 yell, and came tearing up the stairs at a very 
 different pace from that at which he had de- 
 scended. As soon as he could recover breath 
 he exclaimed, ‘ The devil is there ! the devil is 
 there !’ And most loudly he confirmed what 
 we had seen. The abbot then sent for a vase 
 of holy water and a censer of incense, and 
 armed with these to drive away the evil one, 
 the whole body of friars descended, many of 
 them bearing lights. They paused ere they 
 reached the entrance, all those that had torches 
 or lights holding them aloft, so that they might 
 throw their light upon that one poor old figure. 
 But they were all nearly as much frightened 
 as we had been when they perceived the poor 
 old head shaking from side to side, and nod- 
 ding violently at them. The abbot threw his 
 vase of holy water at the poor mummy, mut- 
 tering some incantations, but the actions of the 
 head only seemed to become more frantic. You 
 almost wondered that it was not shaken off the 
 body by the violence of the motions. At length 
 one, a little braver than the rest, went a little 
 nearer to take a closer inspection, and then he 
 quickly found out the cause of this strange 
 
SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 201 
 
 phenomenon. When buried, the face of this 
 corpse had not been properly tied up, and the 
 lower jaw had fallen, leaving the mouth wide 
 open, but he had a long beard and mustache. 
 By some strange chance a rat (whether bent 
 upon some wise anatomical discovery or not I 
 cannot say) had crawled up the body and into 
 the open mouth, but when once there he could 
 not turn round or get out again (a strange rat- 
 trap), and his wild efforts to free himself 
 caused the motions that had excited our alarm. 
 His tail had so mingled with the hair of the 
 beard that at a distance we had not seen it.” 
 I dare say many another rat before and since 
 has been the veritable hero of a ghost-story. 
 The Italian told us many other incidents of 
 convent life, none, however, tending to in- 
 crease our idea of its holiness. One penance 
 which these novices had to perform when they 
 talked too much was to scrape their tongues 
 along the ground for a distance of about a hun- 
 dred yards. It was a cruel punishment, but 
 one which effectually prevented them from 
 committing the same offence, — for some days 
 
 any rate. He told us that there was scarcely 
 14 
 
202 
 
 TALES ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 one Italian priest that had ever seen any more 
 of his Bible than what was found in his rosary. 
 It is sad to know this fact. In many places 
 these are the only professing Christians that 
 the heathens have ever seen. 
 

 r 
 
 I 
 
 * '}. i 
 
 
 t-. 
 
 
 
 I • 
 
^alKs about Jnbia. 
 
 p. 
 
 A boat on the Ganges. 
 
CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. 
 
 THE SACRED GANGES. 
 
 D ying by the Ganges.— i had a pupil 
 
 in one of my zenanas, to whom I had be- 
 come quite"^ attached. She was a high-caste 
 woman, but one day, when seeing after the 
 cooking, she let a billet of wood fall upon her 
 foot. At first she did not think much of it, 
 though it was very painful. The pain continued 
 to grow worse and worse, and to extend further 
 up the leg, and, as was discovered afterwards, 
 she had broken the bone, and a terrible abscess 
 formed. I begged them to have a doctor, but 
 they would not consent ; till at last she was 
 suffering so frightfully that they sent for an 
 English doctor, and hiding her behind a cur- 
 tain, they let her put her foot through, that he 
 might see it. He said it was too late, he could 
 do nothing, gangrene had set in. Every time 
 I went there she seemed glad to see me, and I 
 always tried to point her to the Saviour, who 
 
204 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 had prepared a home in heaven for her if she 
 would only accept it. The last time I Avent 
 there she was unconscious, but her daughter- 
 in-law told me that she had been praying to 
 the one great God ; she would not look at one 
 of her idols, or call on one of their names. And 
 who shall limit the tender mercies of the Most 
 High ? He requireth from a man that which 
 he hath, not that which he hath not. The 
 brazen serpent in the wilderness has been a 
 great comfort to me in my work here, for I feel 
 that if one look at that could save the Israelite 
 who had been bitten by the fiery serpents, 
 surely one look at the cross of Christ will be 
 sufficient to save those who have been so sorely 
 bitten by the old serpent, the devil. She con- 
 tinued in this unconscious state for two or three 
 days, and then they thought she Avas dying. 
 So the old people insisted upon carrying her 
 down to the Ganges to die. She was laid upon 
 a cliorpoy (a sort of low bedstead) . The legs and 
 side posts of it are made of bamboo, and a sort 
 of sacking is made by interlacing twine across. 
 On this the sick or dying person is placed, 
 without mattress or pillow ; only a sheet being 
 
THE SACRED GANGES. 
 
 205 
 
 thrown over them. This woman was taken to 
 the river, the feet of the clioi'poy being placed 
 in the water. Two servants were left to watch 
 her, and to give her water if she should want 
 any. Ttvo were left to watch, so that when 
 she did breathe her last, one might remain with 
 the corpse, while the other returned to give 
 notice to the family. She lay there in this 
 state of unconsciousness for twenty-four hours, 
 and then quietly passed away. The servant 
 immediately informed the family, and the son 
 directly went down to see his mother burnt, 
 and to perform the funeral shrad. In a few 
 hours nothing remained of her but a little heap 
 of ashes. Does not heathenism destroy every 
 vestige of humanity ? Here was a tender, 
 loving mother left in her last moments to die 
 without one of her loved ones near her. The 
 Lord hasten the day when the love of God 
 shed abroad in their hearts ” shall teach them 
 true love to one another ! 
 
 The Sacred River Ganges. — The Ganges is 
 nearly two thousand miles in length, and varies 
 in breadth from a quarter of a mile to a mile 
 and a half. The river is very sacred, and, in- 
 
206 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 deed, is considered one of their greatest divin- 
 ities. It is called the great goddess Gunga. 
 Their Shasters, or holy hooks, tell them that 
 the touch of the Ganges water takes away all 
 sins, however great. Morning and evening the 
 Hindoos like to bathe in this river to remove 
 the sins of the night or of the day. Those who 
 live far away from its holy waters will give 
 large sums to obtain a bottleful, and many men 
 walk hundreds of miles to fetch jars of it, and 
 then sell it at a very high price. 
 
 In Ward’s India he gives a long account of 
 this river. I select a few sentences from it 
 that you may see how its waters are prized. 
 He says : ‘‘ The Hindoos are extremely anx- 
 ious to die- in sight of the Ganges, that their 
 sins may be washed away in their last moments. 
 A person in his last agonies is frequently 
 dragged from his bed and his friends, and car- 
 ried, in the coldest or hottest weather, from 
 great distances to the river side, where he lies, if 
 a poor man, without a covering day or night 
 until he expires. With the pains of death upon 
 him he is placed up to the middle in the water 
 and drenched with it. Leaves of the toohey 
 
THE SACRED GANGES. 
 
 207 
 
 plant are put in his mouth, and he is told to 
 repeat the names of different gods, as Vishnoo, 
 Siva, Gunga. The relatives or attendants 
 will then take up some of the mud of the 
 river and daub his forehead, breast, and body. 
 If a person choose to die at home his memory 
 becomes infamous.” Another authority says : 
 “ It is estimated that upon an average one 
 thousand sick persons per day are brought to 
 the Ganges to die.” Formerly, when a sick 
 person was once taken to that river to die, he 
 was regarded by the Hindoo law as dead al- 
 ready. His property was taken possession of 
 by his heirs, and if he did recover, which some- 
 times happened, he became an outcast. He 
 was not allowed to re-enter his home, and no 
 one would give him anything to eat or do any- 
 thing for him, and he generally died at length 
 of starvation. Now, the English government 
 insists, when such a person recovers, that he 
 shall be taken back to his own home, but in 
 that case they have to pay a large sum of money 
 to the Brahmin priests to prevent the family 
 losing caste. When a person dies without 
 having been brought to the Ganges, friends will 
 
208 
 
 TALKS ABOUT INDIA. 
 
 try to have him burnt near this river; and 
 when they cannot bring the whole body, they 
 will frequently bring a single bone and cast it 
 into the river, under the hope that it will help 
 the soul of the deceased. 
 
 One of their old and sacred books, called 
 Kriya-yogusaru, has this story in it : “A Brah- 
 min, who had been guilty of the greatest crimes, 
 was devoured by wild beasts ; his bones only 
 remained. A crow took up one of these bones 
 and was carrying it over Gunga (the river 
 Ganges), when, another bird darting upon it, 
 the crow let the bone fall. As soon as the 
 bone touched Gunga the Brahmin sprung to life 
 and was ascending to heaven, when the messen- 
 gers of Guma (the judge of the dead) seized 
 him as a great sinner. At this time Nara- 
 yunu’s (Narayunu is one of the names of Vish- 
 noo) messengers interfered, and pleaded that 
 the sins of this man, since one of his bones had 
 touched Gunga, were all done away. They 
 then appealed to Vishnoo, who decided in the 
 Brahmin’s favor. The Brahmin immediately 
 went to heaven.” 
 
 Dear friends, might we not impress a lesson 
 
THE SACRED GANGES. 
 
 209 
 
 by this Hindoo fable ? A sinner, no matter how 
 vile he may be, if with the slightest faith — the 
 smallest particle of faith — he can but touch 
 Jesus, all his sins, no matter how vile, are in- 
 stantly removed ; and although “ the accuser 
 of the brethren” may rise up against him and 
 bring all his sins to his remembrance, he can 
 say triumphantly, “ The blood of Jesus Christ 
 cleanseth from all sin,” and he can rest assured 
 that he Avill enter heaven. Pray that these 
 poor Hindoos, as a nation, may soon learn to 
 know of that “ fountain ” which is open “ for sin 
 and for uncleanness.” 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adjutant, .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 113 
 
 Animals and Insects, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 Ants, ..... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 122 
 
 Ants, White, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 123 
 
 Beds, Hard, .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 Bhistie, ..... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 Boats, Masoolie, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 Bore, The, .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 Brahmins and Castes, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 16, 
 
 180 
 
 Brahmins, Fines and Fees of. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 185 
 
 Breakfast, Little, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 Bridal Procession, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 107 
 
 Cahul Traders, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 86 
 
 Calcutta, .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 Caste Customs, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 180 
 
 Cheating, . • . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 88 
 
 Cholera, .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 79 
 
 Chota Iladjeree, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 Church, Henry Martin’s, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 148 
 
 Churuck Pooja, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 130 
 
 Coolie in the Bazaar, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 150 
 
 Courtship, .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 105 
 
 Customs, Cruel, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 74 
 
212 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Customs, Marriage, ....... 102 
 
 Customs, New Year’s, ....... 26 
 
 Cyclone, A, 172-179 
 
 Dhabi, 68 
 
 Dress, 59 
 
 Drink and Stimulants, ....... 39 
 
 Dying by the Ganges, 203 
 
 Examinations, Boys’ School, 35 
 
 Fakir, or Holy Man, ....... 161 
 
 Festival, Hindoo, 158 
 
 Festival, Mohammedan, ...... 162 
 
 Fines and Fees, . • 185 
 
 Food, 39 
 
 Ganges, Sacred River, ....... 205 
 
 Ganges, Dying by the, 205 
 
 Ghangs, 23 
 
 Ghost Story, 194 
 
 Ghosts, 22 
 
 Heat, .......... 51 
 
 Henna, The, ......... 38 
 
 Hindoo Festivals, ........ 158 
 
 Hook-swinging, ........ 130 
 
 Idolatry, Decrease of, ...... . 166 
 
 India, Extent of, ........ 10 
 
 India, Heat of, . . . . . . . .51 
 
 India, Languages of, 11, 15, 16 
 
 India, Name of, 13 
 
INDEX. 
 
 213 
 
 PAGE 
 
 India, Mohammedan Invasion of, 12 
 
 India, Population of, 14-16 
 
 India, Rains of, ........ 52 
 
 Jelly, Nice, 95 
 
 Juggernaut, . . . . . . . . .165 
 
 Katamarans, . . . . . . . . .17 
 
 Khansamer and Cook, ....... 66 
 
 Khurd Khan, . . . . ... . .44 
 
 Lanterns, the Feast of, . . . . . . .167 
 
 Lizard’s Eggs, ........ 128 
 
 Madras, Irrigation in, . . . . . . .42 
 
 Madras, Life at, . . . . . . . .17 
 
 Man, Dying, . . . . . . ' . . . 192 
 
 Mark, The God’s, ........ 37 
 
 Men, Thinking, ........ 168 
 
 Moorghees, ......... 75 
 
 Mosquitoes, 127 
 
 Oil, Rubbings with, 25 
 
 Palkee Ghang, ........ 23 
 
 Parrots, The Hindoo’s, 119 
 
 Paun, .......... 38 
 
 Pollution, ......... 159 
 
 Poor, Huts of the, 58 
 
 Procession, A Bridal, ....... 107 
 
 Punkahs, ......... 43 
 
 Rains, . 
 
 Reptiles and Insects, 
 
 . 52 
 
 . 120 
 
214 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Satan’s Fall, Mohammedan Idea of, . . . . 151 
 
 Scavengers, 114 
 
 School, A Boys’, 77 
 
 Sermon, A Good, 155 
 
 Servants, ........ 62, 72, 88 
 
 Shoes, 63 
 
 Shopping, 82 
 
 Sickness, 74 
 
 Siva and Holy Man, 31 
 
 Snakes, . . ' . . . . . . . .71 
 
 Stimulants and Drinks, . . . . . .34 
 
 Superstitions, 192 
 
 Talipot Tree, 41 
 
 Temple near Madras, 30 
 
 Tiffin 69 
 
 Tippoo Sahib’s Descendants, 64 
 
 Toddy, 26 
 
 Toilet, 61 
 
 Traders, Cabul, ........ 86 
 
 Tradition, 40 
 
 Trick, A Cruel, 98 
 
 Tuckoo Mah, ........ 73 
 
 Vermin, The, . . . . • . . .117 
 
 Washermen, ......... 68 
 
 W ater-carrier, 62 
 
 Weddings, ........ 107, 109 
 
 Weitbreck, Rev. Mr., 149 
 
 Works not Faith, ........ 154 
 
 Zenana, A 
 
 55 
 
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