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INDIA 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 SUBLIME 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIDICULOUS 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 my 
 {JAr. and Mrs) W. J. Tiogers 
 
 Fourth edition, revised 
 

 
.r4 
 
 Preface, 
 
 We have no apologies to ofer for the 
 following pages. Many of the chapters 
 were written while we were in India, and 
 we were directly connected therewith. 
 They are true to life generally in that 
 land. A number of the articles have ap- 
 peared in American papers. 
 
 At the request of friends, we publish 
 this book. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Rogeirs. 
 
 Oct. 1, 1916, Oakland, Calif. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I Americans Complimented . 9 
 
 II Village Meeting Echoes .• 12 
 
 III A Strange Occurrence . . 16 
 
 IV The Taj Mahal . ... 18 
 V A Hindu Wedding ... 23 
 
 VI Isaac 30 
 
 VII At Lover's Lodge .... 32 
 
 VIII Thats What Gets Me ... 38 
 
 IX The Devil in the Well ... 39 
 
 X Officers at Igatpuri ... 42 
 
 XI Superstition Defeated . . 46 
 
 XII Among the Tombs .... 48 
 
 XIII Why She Became Queen . . 53 
 
 XIV Beggars at Igatpuri ... 55 
 XV Pardevi 58 
 
 XVI The Mistri 62 
 
 XVII Hindus' Incineration Grr5und 70 
 
 XVIII Nanahar's Translation . . 75 
 
 XIX The Dhobi 78 
 
 XX Little Assuria 85 
 
 XXI A Marvel 90 
 
 XXII Grinding at the Mill ... 93 
 
 XXIII A Christmas Across the Deep 96 
 
 XXIV Bible Scenes in India ... 100 
 
 '''',.. . 105 
 
 ^v^ 
 
 XXVI An Old Man's Sacrifice . . 110 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 Americans Complimented. 
 
 NOT many days ago we were occas- 
 ioned to go to Bombay and bring 
 supplies for the mission. We went 
 to the station, purchased our ticket, and 
 entered our compartment in the railway 
 carriage where we noticed a dark-faced, 
 heavy set, elderly native sitting in a cor- 
 ner, and took a seat by his side. Conver- 
 sation ensued. The train left the station 
 and we were soon going at full speed to- 
 ward our destination. As it takes about 
 three hours to make this journey, it gave 
 us quite a while to talk over some relig- 
 ious and secular subjects. 
 
 We were about to finish our colloquy 
 when the aged-faced man looked up into 
 
JO INDIA FROM THE SUBLIMll 
 
 my face and said, ^'I judge you are an 
 American missionary, are you not?" 
 
 ""Yes, my friend, I am." 
 
 "Well, sir, I am glad we could make 
 this trip together. I always like to talk 
 to Americans." 
 
 '^I am glad to hear that, but do you not 
 like to chat with people from other coun- 
 tries ^ ' ' 
 
 ''Oh, yes; but I like Americans best." 
 
 ''But why do 3^ou like them best, may I 
 askr' 
 
 "Well, sir, because I have lived many 
 vears and have never known one of them 
 
 to smoke or swear." 
 
 f ^ ^ f ^ ^ 
 
 The train entered Victoria Terminus, 
 which is considered one of the most elab- 
 orate railway stations in the world, and 
 we parted, but before parting we gave 
 our new friend an invitation to call at the 
 mission on his return, for w^hich he 
 thanked us and promised to come. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 11 
 
 w 
 o 
 
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 !> 
 
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 l-H 
 
 o 
 
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12 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Village Meeting Echoes. 
 
 WE talk of the ^^poor ignorant 
 heathen/' — yes, we sing, '^The 
 heathen in his blindness bows 
 down to wood and stone," and this for the 
 most part is true, yet the people of India 
 think, and many think deeply — dig deep 
 doAvn into the depths of their marvelous 
 metaphysics, — men, women and children 
 too, who seem to be born philosophers. 
 
 But we grant, there are classes. En 
 masse, however, as in this land, are those 
 to whom the question of '^What shall we 
 eat and what shall we drink?" are of in- 
 finite moment, and yet, beneath it all, 
 they think some too, as we have ofttimes 
 proved in a village meeting. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 13 
 
 For instance, the man we ran across in 
 our jungle work who was about to con- 
 clude to worship the sun. One of the low- 
 est casts, poor, downtrodden — in appear- 
 ance, not capable of thought beyond that 
 of rice. ^'But," says he, 'Svhay you say 
 sounds very good, padre sahib (preach- 
 er), though the Mohammedan declares he 
 is right; the Brahmins say, ^Brahm is all, 
 and all is Brahm,' and you tell us of Jesus 
 Christ, the only Saviour. Whom shall I 
 believe "? Why should I bow to any of 
 your prophets ? I do not know what to do 
 else I worship the sun. He gives me light, 
 he gives me heat, he makes my grain to 
 grow and thus feeds me. Why should I 
 not worship him"?'' 
 
 Of course, we pointed him beyond the 
 creature to the Creator and he bowed, 
 but no sooner had he done than another 
 volley of questions came from the crowd. 
 ^^What is the real meaning of the word 
 son'?" ^'In what sense is Jesus the son 
 of God?" Can God have a son in mortal 
 shape ? " 
 
 We answer: Christ did not first become 
 the Son of God when he assumed a mortal 
 
14 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 shape. He was the Son of God from all 
 eternity; not in a physical sense, but as 
 the object and reciprocator of the Fath- 
 er's love. 
 
 Returning again to our message, some 
 one quickly catches up another thread of 
 it. '' You say Father, Son and Holy Ghost 
 are three in one. Can that great one be 
 divided 1 H not, why not?" And still we 
 answer,^ ' God is spirit and hoAv can you di- 
 vide spirit *?" Seeing the point, ''Agreed," 
 shouts out one from another direction, 
 "We cannot divide spirit." This is ac- 
 cording to Vedanthic philosophy, though 
 they have yet to really find the relation of 
 matter to spirit. However, they argue, 
 ''There is only one great entity existent 
 and that is a sort of vague, misty, imper- 
 sonal substance — spirit. All else is delus- 
 ion. Everything we can sense, even our 
 own existence and individuality is a mere 
 mirage, a shadow. Just as the virtual 
 images of the sun reflect in thousands of 
 bodies of water, so are the souls of men 
 unreal, and only illusionary reflections of 
 the one eternal soul,- — the One who fills 
 all space and pervades all beings. No 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 15 
 
 human ego. I do not exist for the thing I 
 call I is only an infinitesimal drop in the 
 sea of infinitude. When we arrive at this 
 conviction we disappear from view, ab- 
 sorbed into the one original." Hence the 
 idea that there is no sin, since all apparent 
 action is unreal. No sin, no salvation, for 
 what need of a Saviour"? ^, 
 
 Oh! how sickening all this. Surely 
 nothing less than the power of the Holy 
 Spirit can convince men and women with 
 such views, of sin and their need of a 
 Saviour. But we remember the preach- 
 ing of the cross is not without effect, and 
 we continue to tell the story, for there are 
 some that have never heard; and right 
 there that eventide were some standing 
 and asking, ^' Where is your Lord and 
 Christ now^" whose pleading counte- 
 nances the plaint of Job, '^Oh, that I knew 
 where I might find him, that I might 
 come even to his seat." We reply, ^^I 
 dwell in the high and holy place, with 
 him that is of a contrite heart, ' ' and some 
 find him — yes, really find him whose eye 
 runneth to and fro through the whole 
 earth. 
 
16 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 In some places whole villages have 
 turned to the Saviour. We knoAv one 
 missionary whom three decades back, the 
 Methodists called the white horse of the 
 conference there, because he had so little 
 success, but recently he won a whole vil- 
 lage to the Saviour, and unlike so many 
 missions in India, the converts largely 
 support the work, Ps. 2:8. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A Strange Occurrence. 
 
 EVEEAL days ago a young man 
 friend of ours needing some 
 change, asked his mother for one 
 rupee, whereupon she brought the amount 
 and laid it on their table. After a short 
 conversation, both mother and son left 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 17 
 
 the room and a little later returned to get 
 the rupee, when behold, it had vanished! 
 
 During their absence there had been no 
 one in the room save a Hindu who was 
 employed as a servant, and he was speed- 
 ily summoned into account. 
 
 ^^Boy, where is that rupee we left on 
 the tabled' 
 
 The servant replied, ^*Ham ko ne ata/* 
 which literally says, ^'It does not come to 
 me," meaning he did not know. 
 
 ^^Yes, you do, boy. Now, tell the 
 truth." 
 
 ^'No, I don't," he rejoined, '^and if I 
 do, I'll lose one of my fingers before morn- 
 
 nig. ' ' 
 
 Nothing more was said. The servant 
 was sent on an errand to the bazaar. On 
 his return to the bungalow, a dog came 
 running after him and bit off one of his 
 fingers. The young fellow was much 
 frightened and ran to the bungalow with 
 his hand paining and bleeding, confess- 
 ing his theft. 
 
 A strange occurrence, yet ever and 
 anon sin will out, for has not God said, 
 *^Be sure your sin will find you outf" 
 
18 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTEEIV. 
 The Taj Mahal. 
 
 HE Taj Mahal— that wonderful 
 star of architecture — at one time 
 rated as one of the seven \Yonders 
 of the world and may be yet for aught I 
 know. Here it stands, a great glare of 
 grandeur. The beauty is perhaps most 
 perfect immediately after sunset or un- 
 der the moonlight, but every change of 
 light seems to lend new graces to it. 
 
 It is a great white marble sepulchre, 
 the tomb of the Pride of the palace, as we 
 read in Indian literature; however, the 
 king Shah Jehan, who erected the monu- 
 ment to his wife, lies there also. 
 
 Mumtaz-i-Mahal was the grand-daugh- 
 ter of a Persian who came to India to seek 
 his fortune, and finally rose to power in 
 that land. She was married to Shah 
 Jehan at an early age and died when the 
 
20 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 eighth child was born. They laid her in 
 the garden where the Taj stands until the 
 mausoleum was built. According to Tav- 
 ernier, who records that he saw both the 
 commencement and the completion, the 
 Taj cost over ten million dollars, and it 
 took seventeen thousand men twenty-two 
 years to build it. It is made of white 
 marble excepting what is inlaid with 
 precious stones, and doors here and there 
 which were silver but later were replaced 
 in sandal wood. 
 
 Marble screens, so delicately sculp- 
 tured as to represent a most beautiful net 
 work of lace, surround the tombs. The 
 central marble platform on which the 
 tomb stands is 18 feet high and 313 feet 
 square. At each corner is a minaret of 
 white marble 137 feet high. The tomb it- 
 self measures 186 feet on each side. The 
 height of the walls and parapet over 
 them is 108 feet. At each corner above 
 them rise smaller marble domes, and on 
 the center soars the great central dome 
 which rises to a height of 187 feet, the 
 metal pinnacle adding yet 30 feet to the 
 whole. 
 
 1 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 21 
 
 As we walked into this dome, a guide 
 called out, ** Allah/ ^ the Mohammedan's 
 word for God. The echo floated round and 
 round the walls and gradually rose high- 
 er and higher, fainter and fainter, until 
 after about five minutes it seemed to pass 
 out through the top of the dome in the 
 smallest whisper. Even a whisper in the 
 dome travels at a great rate and reminds 
 one of the Scripture, telling us that ^Svhat 
 is whispered in secret shall be proclaimed 
 on the housetop. ' ' 
 
 All the spandrels of the Taj, all the 
 angles and more important details are 
 heightened by being inlaid with precious 
 stones. These are combined in wreaths 
 and scrolls and frets exquisite in design 
 and beautiful in color. They form the 
 most unique and precious style of orna- 
 mentation ever adopted in architecture. 
 This mode of ornamentation is lavishly 
 bestowed on the tombs themselves. They 
 pointed out to us the place in one of the 
 inlaid designs on the Queen's tomb, from 
 which the British took the diamond that 
 we saw in the crown of Queen Victoria 
 then ruler of England. 
 
22 
 
 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 We eould write and write and yet no 
 pen can describe a visit to the Taj, for in 
 our visit all around the world and through 
 the different countries of earth, there is 
 nothing in architecture that we found to 
 compare In beauty and grandeur with 
 this wonderful mausoleum. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 23 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 A Hindu Wedding. 
 
 FROM before sunrise in the morning 
 until after midnight, the drums 
 have been beating and the bagpipes 
 have not ceased to peal forth their pecul- 
 iar melody. We see the people running 
 to and fro in the village street carrying 
 green branches, and stopping in front of 
 Mochi's place of business, for Mochi is a 
 shoemaker. With these branches and 
 some sticks, they are erecting a sort of an 
 arbor which projects part way across the 
 street. 
 
 As drums and horns and most any and 
 every kind of music and noises are com- 
 mon at feasts, shows, and the burial or 
 burning of the dead, we think all this 
 
24 
 
 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CATCHING TODDY 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 25 
 
 tamasha so far nothing strange; but as 
 various other things take place one after 
 another and all at the same time, our cur- 
 iosity is aroused and we ask, ^^What is go- 
 ing on at the shoe shop^'^ 
 
 The answer comes from our always 
 well-informed ayah (native nurse), for 
 she is ever the village gossip, ^^A Hindu 
 wedding." Being the first we had heard 
 of at our station since our arrival in this 
 wonderland of the East, we could not re- 
 frain from asking the privilege to attend, 
 and were gladly granted the same. 
 
 Here we go. ^^ Shall we be in time?'' 
 Well, as it lasts for several days, we shall 
 be in time for some of it at least; and I 
 should like you to see it with us. 
 
 We arrive at the bungalow and hear 
 shouts, singing and the same old music 
 rolling on. A group of women and girls 
 are in the rear of the scene, while men and 
 boys make merry out under the arbor. All 
 sit on the ground, which serves the pur- 
 pose of a floor in India, especially among 
 the common and lower castes. The men 
 are drinking a light-colored liquid and 
 from the way they act, I am inclined to 
 
26 
 
 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 think it is some strong drink. (Prov. 20: 
 21.) 
 
 A certain native discovers the Ameri- 
 can guests standing near the doorway and 
 welcomes us with smiles and kind words, 
 though we can scarcely hear what he 
 says, owing to the musicians going at full 
 speed, who have evidently espied us also 
 and are displaying their skill. 
 
 After a short interview, our friend 
 calls the father of the bridegroom, who 
 seems to be boss of the whole affair — I 
 presume it is because he pays the bills, 
 and I must add, these are costly days. In- 
 deed, weddings mean many days — yes, 
 years of hard labor, and oftentimes more 
 than the savings of a lifetime are spent in 
 a single day for the occasion. The cost 
 varies considerably. Some spend one 
 hundred rupees, while others spend many 
 times that amount. A continual feast is 
 carried on for days. Opium and intoxi- 
 cants are greatly indulged in, and an 
 elaborate display of fireworks is expected. 
 
 However, the father reaches us, throws 
 up his hands and begins to shake his fists, 
 the result of which reminds one of a throt- 
 
TO THE EIDICULOUS 27 
 
 tie on a railway engine, — as soon as the 
 throttle is moved, the train begins to 
 ^^slow up." Almost immediatel}^ the noise 
 was hushed. 
 
 '^ Would you like to have your pictures 
 taken'?" we asked, for we had taken our 
 camera with us. ^^ Whatever is your wish, 
 sir," he replied. So arrangements were 
 made, and before we got through, the 
 whole multitude wanted to be photo- 
 graphed — quite unlike the jungle folks, 
 who, when we turned our camera upon 
 them, took to their heels lest they should 
 be killed. There were father, brothers, 
 uncles, aunts, in fact, as aforesaid, all the 
 wedding guests march into the street and 
 a picture is taken and nobody injured. 
 
 To the right stands the father ; near the 
 center is a young man with a chadar, a 
 piece of cloth draped in the shape of a 
 cross over his breast. This is the bride- 
 groom with his bride, a little girl of about 
 nine years old, at his right. 
 
 She wears a red sari (dress) decorated 
 with white fancy work; a necklace worth 
 twenty-one rupees (seven dollars) 
 around her neck; four rings on her toes. 
 
28 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 two in each ear, silver bracelets on her 
 arms and wrists, and a large nosegay. 
 She appears quite fancy in her bridal hab- 
 iliment, which has been given her by the 
 bridegroom. 
 
 Look at her — a mere child, with many 
 responsibilities of a full grown person. 
 The ceremony was officially performed 
 the third day of the feast, but the w^ed- 
 ding is not yet over and three days have 
 passed since then. She has not been al- 
 lowed to rest since the first day of her 
 wedding — she nor her husband. 
 
 But the great day of her life is on — in 
 India as in America — the day all girls 
 look forward to— the wedding day. Yet, 
 alas, how^ vastly different! The consent 
 of the parties vitally interested in this 
 marriage and most others here has never 
 as much as been thought of nor consid- 
 ered. Perhaps having never met before 
 the vv^edding day, they take each other 
 for better, for worse because of their par- 
 ent's agreement in the matter. 
 
 As for love, the rule in India is, ^^ Marry 
 first and love will come after;" and gen- 
 erally speaking, it does, at any rate, on 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 29 
 
 the side of the young wife, who is said to 
 be the essence of devotion to her lord and 
 master. 
 
 ''Her faith is fixt and cannot move, 
 She darkly feels him great and wise, 
 And dwells on him with faithful eyes, 
 'I cannot understand: I love.' " 
 
30 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Isaac. 
 
 ISAAC is industrial after the oriental 
 method, — that is to say, he is always 
 doing something, but is economical 
 of energy rather than time. 
 
 If there are more ways than one in do- 
 ing a thing, he has an unerring instinct 
 which guides him to choose the one that 
 costs the least trouble. He is a fatalist in 
 philosophy, and this helps him too, for in 
 transplanting a rose bush, he breaks off 
 the root to save him the trouble of dig- 
 ging deeper, for — ^if the plant is to live, it 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 31 
 
 will live; if it is to die, it 
 will die, for do not some 
 plants live and some 
 plants die"? This is when 
 Isaac serves as a mallee. 
 
 Yes; some plants live 
 and some plants die, but 
 more disappea r — and 
 when I mention the mat- 
 ter to Isaac, he treats me 
 as a dreamer of dreams 
 and declares we never had 
 such. However, I find out 
 later that he carries on a 
 small nursery and seed 
 
 business of his own; so decide to let him 
 
 go. 
 
32 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 At Lover's Lodge. 
 
 ES, here we are, where ^^the spicy 
 breezes blow soft o'er Ceylon's 
 Isle," — back in a grove of cocoa- 
 nut palms — Lover's Lodge they call it, 
 and well-named it is, for one feels as 
 though he would like to spend the rest of 
 his life here, after the long, wearisome 
 journey out from England. 
 
 We spring from the rickshas with de- 
 light ; a Singhalese servant meets us at the 
 door and directs us into the spacious 
 drawing room. These are the first few 
 hours we have spent on land since going 
 ashore at Suez, and how refreshing it is! 
 The host and hostess are very pleasant, 
 and make everything as delightsome a,s 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 33 
 
 possible for us. He is a government offi- 
 cial and relates many deeply interesting 
 incidents of life here. 
 
 How strange it all seems! Truly, we 
 are in a different world, we think, after 
 our tete-a-tete especially, and filled with 
 wonder, we retire to our room where we 
 anticipate sleeping once again in a bed 
 that stands still. This night we are not 
 to be ^'rocked in the cradle of the deep," 
 where we so often failed to 4ay us down 
 in peace to sleep,' for indeed, we had aw- 
 ful storms at sea, tossed about at a terri- 
 ble rate in a condemned vessel; actually 
 lost for three hours, and when the Cap- 
 tain got his bearings, which were deter- 
 mined by a certain star that appeared 
 toward morning, we found ourselves just 
 off the island of Perim where the poor 
 China sank. Only a little while and we 
 saw her mast rising out of the water. 
 
 At such a time one cannot help being 
 reminded of Pat's answer when he was 
 psked which he would rather be in, — a 
 wreck on land or at sea. After thought- 
 fully scratching his head, he replied: 
 '* Faith, and I should prefer to be in a 
 
34 
 
 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 wreck on land, for then, there you are; 
 but, and if you are in a wreck and go to 
 the bottom of the sea, then Avhere you 
 SLveV 
 
 But I must not dwell on that dreadful 
 night for we are now preparing to retire 
 
 COLOMBO STREET SCENE 
 
 and are soon in bed, right in the veranda 
 window, where fresh, cool air comes pour- 
 ing in — -happy, content, ready for dream- 
 land, when we feel a strange sensation in 
 our limbs. What a queer streak our cir- 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 35 
 
 / 
 
 THE COBRA 
 
36 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 culation has taken! Reminds one of 
 blood trickling through some lower vein 
 of the limb. Surely it will pass off soon, 
 we think, when behold! it becomes violent 
 and even more violent, till we are 
 alarmed — and finally such a wriggle 
 comes that we do not take time to think 
 farther or conclude, but out through the 
 mosquito netting which has so quietly 
 tucked us in for the night, we find our- 
 selves upon a chair shouting out to the 
 rest of the house to come and see what is 
 in the bed. 
 
 The hostess comes smiling through the 
 door, for true to the Orient, nothing wor- 
 ries her. 
 
 ^^I forgot to tell you to watch for 
 snakes,'' said she. ^^They are common 
 with us here," and walking over to the 
 bed, they saw the fellow crawling out 
 along under the sheet, making for the 
 veranda window — yes, that very window 
 which we appreciated so much upon re- 
 tirement. Needless to add, that we had 
 bad dreams that night whenever we took 
 time to dream. Oh, that wriggle! We 
 shall never forget it; and even though 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 37 
 
 ''all the world does love a lover," we must 
 say in warning, that there may be things 
 about any lover's lodge that are not alto- 
 gether lovable, especially in this part of 
 the world. It seems that there is ever 
 something lurking around the corner 
 seeking your life. Ne fronti crede. 
 
 ii-ii ^ lii 
 
 /. 
 
 //. //*. . /v. 
 
 A & 
 
 o y, v//. vni. 
 
 V. 
 
 
38 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 *^That^s What Gets Me.'' 
 
 NOT long since, a missionary friend 
 of ours while on his way to our 
 station, met a Brahmin, and dur- 
 ing the course of their conversation, he 
 approached the subject of Christianity. 
 
 The Brahmin remarked that he had 
 been educated in a Christian mission 
 school and had learned much of the Bible. 
 
 At this our friend asked the high-caste 
 Hindu (for that is what a Brahmin is) 
 what he thought of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Brahmin said: ^^Of course, I do not 
 believe in Jesus Christ as you Christians 
 do, but I must confess he did some things 
 I cannot but think about. '^ 
 
 ^'May I ask w^hat some of them are'?" 
 queried our friend. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 39 
 
 '^Yes," replied the Brahmin, '^you 
 know when they went to kill him, he said, 
 ^Father, forgive them.' That's what gets 
 me." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Devil in the Well. 
 
 IN OUR mission compound we have 
 three wells. Two of these are very 
 shallow and do not amoimt to very 
 much. If they did, they would probably 
 have some history like the third one 
 which is in our front yard, a little to the 
 right of the front door of the bungalow. 
 Several years ago a few natives were 
 hired to dig the ^^front well," agreeing 
 faithfully to dig it wide and deep, and 
 give the owner a fine one so he might 
 
40 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 have water the year round and not sufer 
 lack during the dry season. 
 
 The work is begun. They dig about 
 two feet down and find nothing but rock. 
 At this discovery they bring crowbars, 
 dynamite, etc. I might say right here 
 that our India folks have not modern im- 
 provements on every line; in fact, most 
 everything is done in a primitive manner. 
 We dig through rock with muscles and 
 crowbars; blast by attaching a lighted 
 candle to the end of a long stick or pole so 
 as to reach from a distance the powder 
 for the process. 
 
 The combat is on. Pounding and blast- 
 ing are heard. Pieces of rock ascend and 
 lay on the surface of the ground above. 
 After days of labor, the workmen reach 
 a depth of about fifteen feet when all of a 
 sudden the noise ceases, and they are 
 climbing out of the well. 
 
 ^^Why are you not working?" asks the 
 owner of the place. 
 
 ^'0 Sahib, devil in the well!'' 
 
 ^^You men go to work and keep your 
 contract. There is nothing of the kind 
 in the well.'' 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 41 
 
 a 
 
 Oh yes, there is, Sahib. We have dug 
 until we have come to flint rock and that 
 is a sign that Shaitan (Satan) is in the 
 well." 
 
 ^*I must have it deejoer and if you do 
 not work, what shall I do '^ ' ' 
 
 ^'We will work, Sahib; but we must 
 
 THE BUNGALOW 
 
 first go and offer sacrifice to our gods.'' 
 '^Very well, go. Don't be long." 
 ^^We won't be long. Sahib: but you 
 must give us a cock and a lamb for the 
 sacrifice." 
 
 ^ ' Nay, nay ; I '11 never give you nor any- 
 one else such things for offerings to stone 
 and wooden gods," concludes the Sahib, 
 
42 INDIA FROM THE SULBIME 
 
 and the men leave — yes, leave — and to 
 this day the old well stands as it was then 
 left. We have explored the bottom of it 
 and find dirt, old tin, rags and all sorts of 
 filth; but the only life, however, that we 
 ran across was in frogs, eels and numer- 
 ous flies and insects. 
 
 The devil is not in the w^ell; he resides 
 in the millions of stony hearts and wells 
 that hold not the ^ living w^ater." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Ofl&cers at Igatpuri. 
 
 INDUSTAN not only has her beg- 
 gars, naked, half-starved, illiter- 
 ate people, but also possesses offi- 
 cials, well-clad, well-fed and educated 
 folk. Here we have a picture of the offi- 
 cers at Igatpuri, for you. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 43 
 
 The two men holding canes, sitting in 
 the front row, are the magistrate and his 
 assistant, who are the chief officers. The 
 registrar, chief constables, pleaders, mu- 
 nicipal secretary and land clerk make up 
 the rest of that row. 
 
 The second is composed of court clerks, 
 and in the third row are the armed police 
 and court peons. 
 
 The learned men of this country, such 
 as seen on the front row, are probably the 
 most difficult class to deal with on relig- 
 ious lines. We wonder not at the state- 
 ment of Rev. W. T. Walker, who said he 
 had to deal with ^'men of keen powers of 
 intellect, whose subtle reasoning made 
 one look at the foundation of one's own 
 faith." 
 
 Passing strange, is it not, that men of 
 this rank should believe in and worship 
 idols? But we remember ^^lot many 
 mighty, not many noble are called, but 
 God chose the foolish things of the world, 
 that he might put to shame them that are 
 wise.'' 
 
 These officers carry on about the same 
 kind of work as those of our homeland. 
 
INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS ' 45 
 
 They rank from the lowest to the highest 
 caste, but all intermingle in business. 
 Some of them feel as important over their 
 offices as some other folks we know of, 
 and put on as many ^^ airs'' as some of 
 our Enghsh officials. 
 
 As we neared the courtyard a few days 
 ago we noticed one of these men with a 
 sort of a red silk robe on. We started 
 toward him, but how quickly he vanished 
 from our sight ! Upon inquiry, we learned 
 that he had just taken a religious bath 
 which rendered him quite pure and holy, 
 according to his views, and as he feared 
 we might come in touch with and in some 
 way pollute him, he hastened away as he 
 did not want to bother with another ab- 
 lution that morning. 
 
46 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 Superstition Defeated. 
 
 NE day when one of our native 
 preachers was in the bazaar, a 
 high-caste Hindu challenged him 
 to make a trip to Ghoti, a village about 
 five miles distant, on a full moonlight or 
 a '^full dark" night. The high-caste 
 promised the preacher ten rupees if he 
 accepted and carried out this challenge. 
 
 Let it be understood that the majority 
 of Hindus believe Satan is out on very 
 light or dark nights to injure the kali log 
 (black people) ; therefore, they believe it 
 dangerous to stroll at length under these 
 conditions. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 47 
 
 The challenge, nev- 
 ertheless, is accepted 
 with the understand- 
 ing that the acceptor 
 is to go to Ghoti on 
 the coming night and 
 call on a certain other 
 Hindu, from whom he 
 is to bring a letter 
 stating the fact that 
 he has made the mid- 
 night visit. 
 
 Mght came. It was 
 intensely dark, but 
 the preacher lighted 
 his lantern and start- 
 ed on his ten-mile 
 journey. He arrived 
 at Ghoti about mid- 
 night, made the re- 
 quired visit and re- 
 turned to Igatpuri at three o'clock in the 
 morning. The high-caste was awakened; 
 evidence was given that the challenge 
 had been carried out. The Hindu lost his 
 ten rupees, and the devil failed to catch 
 the preacher of Jesus Christ. 
 
48 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Among the Tombs. 
 
 AMONG the places frequented by vis- 
 itors who come to Igatpuri, is the 
 Mohammedans' cemetery. It is 
 quite different from the burning ghat 
 where nothing can bee seen after a funer- 
 al service except an ash heap. Here we 
 find bodies stored away in tombs. The 
 white monuments over these tombs, which 
 are erected in memory of the departed, 
 give the place a modern aspect. 
 
 These often have an ornamental design, 
 but inscriptions, which go to make up a 
 place of this kind in the homeland, are 
 one of the missing links here. It would 
 be difficult and next to impossible to do 
 any engraving or use the chisel on these 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 49 
 
 stones, for the inner composition is only 
 mud dried or burned in the fire, which is 
 afterwards slightly coated with cement 
 and whitewashed. Of course, during the 
 rains the whitening washes off, but as the 
 cool season is ushered in, they are whit- 
 ened again. 
 
 As we write, we are reminded again of 
 our Saviour's words, ^'Whited sepul- 
 chres, which indeed appear beautiful out- 
 ward, but are full of dead men's bones 
 and all uncleanness." 
 
 On the northwest corner of this plot of 
 land is a native house with three rooms. 
 One room is used for storing implements 
 and tools ; another, the center room, is for 
 the public to use for drinking, smoking, 
 eating opium or anything else, sleeping, 
 and for the purpose of offering special 
 prayers to the devil. The third room is 
 the quarters of two men w^ho wait upon 
 the visitors and give information as to 
 where the dead are buried. Both of them 
 are darweshes and lead what is called a 
 holy life. One is quite old and worships 
 the devil. If a Mohammedan has a de- 
 mon, he visits this devil worshipper and 
 inquires what he shall do to be relieved, 
 
50 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 At this request, the old man goes and gets 
 a book, which he has filled with his ovYn 
 hand-writing, and reads from it in Hin- 
 dustani in a sort of a buzzing manner, 
 then tells the inquirer he can capture the 
 demon for him. 
 
 Of course, the poor, deluded fellow 
 asks what he shall do. The reply is heard, 
 ^^ Bring me some limes (small lemons), 
 some camphor, a stick of incense and 
 some money." 
 
 'Tis brought. The old man burns the 
 cam^phor and incense, takes a lime in his 
 hand and prays to the devil, after which 
 he passes the lime to the inquirer and 
 tells him to take it home and put it in his 
 bed, near the head, and the devil will flee. 
 If this promise comes to pass according 
 to the inquirer's mind, he makes the sec- 
 ond gift. 
 
 Some people take copper or brass lock- 
 ets and have the old man Avrite something 
 on a bit of paper, which they enclose 
 therein. They then string the locket 
 around their necks, with the belief that 
 no evil spirit can harm them. Others, in- 
 stead of putting the writing in the locket^ 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 51 
 
 enclose a bit of pig's hair, believing this 
 to have the same effect in frightening 
 devils away. 
 
 Among the tombs there is a plot where 
 nothing can be seen excepting four old 
 wooden posts, which serve as legs to hold 
 up a covering made of corrugated iron. 
 Under this covering lies the body of a 
 priest, who requested that no tombstone 
 be erected over his grave, and told the 
 people that whosoever might desire any- 
 thing after his death, they might come to 
 his grave and Avorship him and he would 
 grant their desires. 
 
 Under one of the trees one will notice a 
 large jar which contains water. On top 
 is a small cup used in dipping water from 
 the jar and filling the tins that can be 
 seen on the box. 
 
 The Mohammedans use these tins of 
 water in washing their mouths, hands 
 and feet after they have buried a body, 
 being very particular to thus purify 
 themselves before entering the house. 
 
 When we visited these grounds, we 
 Avere welcomed by darweshes, Avho took 
 great pride as well as care in showing us 
 
52 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 around. We had just finished our visit 
 when it began to rain, and we were in- 
 vited to come into the house — that center 
 room. A number of people were prepar- 
 ing opium to smoke. Sitting down on a 
 mat which lay on the floor, we began to 
 preach Christ, a Saviour for all. 
 
 They listened well to the Gospel news, 
 but what the outcome of that message 
 will be in the hearts of these opium fiends 
 and devil worshippers, we know not. We 
 leave that with the many other questions 
 attendant our service for the Master ^^ un- 
 til the day dawn and shadows flee away." 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 53 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Why She Became Queen. 
 
 EVEEYTHING great and good in 
 Hindustan has some traditional 
 origin as does every atrocity and 
 absurdity. One of the famous traditions 
 concerns the late queen of England, viz: 
 why she was so good and kind. It is sup- 
 pos'^ed that in years agone she was a frog, 
 and the story of her transmigration is 
 this : 
 
 A wealthy king and his servants were 
 tiger shooting in the jungles. At camp 
 one day they left a deksha (pan) of milk 
 open, which a cobra espied and crept into, 
 
54 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 quite concealing Ms deadly presence. A 
 frog sat near by and became much 
 troubled, for she thought of how the king, 
 when he returned weary and thirsty, 
 would go to drink the milk and be at- 
 tacked by the cobra. 
 
 Pondering how to save the king's life, 
 the happy thought seized her to jump into 
 the milk just as she should see him com- 
 ing. This, she knew, would end her life, 
 for the frog is considered unclean, and of 
 course, her presence would defile the milk 
 and the king upon seeing her in it, would 
 angrily dash the milk, herself and all tj 
 the ground. 
 
 And so he did, but upon seeing the 
 cobra spring from the bottom of the 
 deksha, he shuddered at the thought of 
 how near death's clutches he had been, 
 and instead of further cursing the frog 
 for what he at first thought a dastardly 
 deed, quite understanding her motive and 
 appreciating her sacrifice of life for him, 
 poured forth blessings upon her, and 
 said she should become a great and good 
 queen, and such she became, 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 55 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Beggars at Igatpuri. 
 
 HERE they come! Who are they? 
 They are the lame, the halt, the 
 sick and the blind. They vary in 
 size as well as age. Some are mere babes 
 facing a life of poverty and misery, while 
 others are in old age and have eked out a 
 mere existence to the present and will 
 until death comes to relieve them. 
 
 How did they become halt, lame and 
 blind"? Some were born that way and 
 others were made so by their parents in 
 order to excite sympathy. Being in this 
 condition, some are compelled to carry 
 sticks or crutches, others are cra\fling on 
 their hands and other parts of their 
 
56 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 bodies. This is a horrible sight! Surely 
 we have ^^the poor with us." 
 
 How filthy! Half naked — yes, many of 
 them more than half and this is the cool 
 season. A soldier's wife just out from 
 England, exclaimed to a missionary, 
 "My, how these people dress!" and the 
 missionary responded, '^My, how they 
 don't dress!" 
 
 Did you say they had vermin'? Yes, 
 and plenty. As they approach, w^e notice 
 that a couple of them have fallen out of 
 line. One sits on the ground while the 
 other extricates the live stock from the 
 field of hair. Shortly this execution is 
 ended and these with the rest of the crowd 
 have entered the mission compound. 
 They gather at one corner of the bunga- 
 low and are ready for service. The meet- 
 ing opens with a song something like this : 
 
 Jai, jai, jai! Masih ki jai, 
 
 Maslub jo hua liai; 
 Be-hacld liai uska p'yar a jib, 
 
 Jai, jai! Masih ki jai. 
 
 In substance they are singing: To Je- 
 sus is the victory. He was crucified for 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 57 
 
 US. Surely Ms love is wonderful. After 
 the song, a missionary offers prayer and 
 then comes the message. While that is 
 being given, some seem more inclined to 
 fight than listen; however, the preacher 
 stills his congregation and finishes his 
 discourse. Now questions are asked and 
 answered, and they are dealt with in re- 
 gard to their souls. 
 
 Lastly, the rice question is on. ISTot all 
 are given rice — only those who are dis- 
 abled, and they receive one cup each, af- 
 ter which they return to their shelter 
 provided by the towns-people. Some of 
 them have accepted Christ as their Sav- 
 iour, and with these, others have aban- 
 doned their caste ideas and labor with 
 their hands, making an honorable living. 
 
58 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Pardevi. 
 
 AMONGr the twelve villages visited 
 by our mission is Pardevi. It is 
 a small willage with, perhaps, not 
 much over fifty inhabitants, and is situ- 
 ated on a large rock on the northeastern 
 slope of one of the peaks of the Western 
 ghats, about three miles from the mis- 
 sion. 
 
 Although not far distant, yet on ac- 
 count of its rough and crooked path, it 
 takes as much time and strength to reach 
 it as it does those of a greater distance. 
 There is no wagon road leading to it — 
 nothing but a narrow footpath filled with 
 rocks, and during the monsoons that is 
 crossed by numerous rivulets. In some 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 59 
 
 places it is almost perpendicular and so 
 narrow that two persons can hardly pass 
 each other. As we come to the summit of 
 this mountain path, we are invariably 
 ready for a rest, and after taking that, we 
 go down a steep incline and on through 
 what is known as ^^ tiger jungle." 
 
 This jungle is filled with gloom. After 
 one enters he cannot see much of any- 
 thing but animals, reptiles, shrubbery, 
 and the sky above. The tiger frequents 
 this jungle during the hot season when 
 water is scarce. Only recently a doctor 
 from England shot a tiger in it. The 
 hooded cobra, India's king of snakes, a 
 most venomous viper, has his den here 
 also. We often see him on our journey 
 to and from the village. 
 
 It is generally about eight o'clock in 
 the morning Avhen we arrive at Pardevi. 
 The meetings are opened with song while 
 the natives gather. Usually there are 
 about thirty-five at the service. There 
 would be more but generally some are 
 working in the field or caring for the buf- 
 faloes. All that attend listen eagerly, as 
 a rule, and ask many questions about our 
 religion. 
 
60 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 The first time we went to this village, 
 we began our meeting near an old wood 
 pile, when an elderly native invited us 
 into an old Hindu temple. The invitation 
 was accepted. We entered and found it 
 empty with the exception of a remnant 
 of a stone god. From that first visit, 
 which was many months ago, we have 
 used this temple for Gospel services. 
 
 Pardevi is one of the most receptive 
 villages we are evangelizing. They feel 
 the need of a faith that oSers more to 
 man than theirs does. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 61 
 
62 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 The Mistri. 
 
 THE MISTRI, and surely he is a 
 mystery in very fact. We tried 
 to do without him more than once, 
 but like so many other things in this 
 world, he seems to be a necessary evil at 
 times in India. However, evil or no evil 
 (as unlikely as the latter may be) he is 
 necessary and we must not be ironical. 
 He is to be appreciated, indeed. 
 
 Well, there are mistries and mistries. 
 There are some that when we get them, 
 Ave can do nothing but dismiss them, and 
 this is not only hard on them, but a dis- 
 count to ourselves as well; for every dis- 
 missal weakens our position, and in the 
 morning conference in the bazaar among 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 63 
 
64 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 the servants, none holds so low a place as 
 the sahib (master or gentleman) who has 
 had five cooks in six months. In fact, he 
 who parts with his servants lightly can 
 scarcely retain a good servant. Only 
 loafers will come to him and he must pay 
 them a good price. 
 
 But they come — some one, always — as 
 soon as it is found out the sahib is in need 
 of a mistri. 
 
 Here is Rama, a jack of all trades, 
 whom we afterward employed as mallee, 
 dhambar-wallah and most any other kind 
 of a wallah (wallah meaning most any- 
 thing here) that we needed, for whatso- 
 ever we needed on the line of a servant, 
 Eama dressed to suit the occasion and ap- 
 peared before us for the position; always 
 ready for work but never had any, at 
 least, for long at a time — even if he 
 should, he was ever for finding an easier 
 place. Poor Rama! he was not a tile 
 short in the upper story when it came to 
 lying, stealing, shirking, and so on; in 
 fact, nulli secundus in all these graces ( ?) 
 characteristic of the Hindu, But to look 
 at him, he was a most unsuspecting crea- 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 65 
 
 ture, whether he appeared as a Hindu, 
 Christian or Mohammedan, for indeed, 
 he was whichever suited his convenience 
 pro tern. 
 
 However, we found we could ill afford 
 to keep him, so along came the prophet- 
 looking old Mohammedan with his 
 whiskers dyed in red, signifying he had 
 made a pilgrimage to Mecca, visited the 
 kaaba stone and paid his rites to Moham- 
 med. He does very well as a cook, but all 
 of a sudden one day he flies into a rage at 
 the bheesti (a Hindu water carrier) which 
 culminates in his chasing him all around 
 the place, with the carving knife, after 
 which he ushers himself into the presence 
 of the mistress of the house and informs 
 her that he is quite ready to beat every 
 servant on the place, gesticulates in such 
 a manner as to include her ladyship and 
 the sahib also, if his honor required it. 
 
 Of course, he leaves, and a Groanese 
 comes on the scene. This descendent of 
 Goa wears a black coat, with continua- 
 tions of checked jail cloth, and a hat 
 which he removes at the gate as he enters 
 the compound. He has good chits (recom- 
 mendations), but despite those, we know 
 
66 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 that Christmas has a certain fatality for 
 him — and then, too, his cardinal vice is 
 cruelty, not the passive Asiatic cruelty 
 either, but that ferocious brand which 
 generally marks an infusion of European 
 blood. True, it is rather a weak infusion 
 after having filtered through so many 
 generations, but it shows itself in one way 
 and another, especially in the torture of 
 crows and in the killing of chickens by 
 the inches. With all this intelligence, we 
 hardly care to try him, but we do even 
 though he soon disappears. 
 
 Next comes the Madrassee with his 
 spherical turban, and his remarkable 
 command of English. He is supposed to 
 prepare that famous luxury, ^* Madras 
 curry,'' and we engage him. 
 
 He appears neat as the average, but 
 that is not saying much. His studio is 
 fitted with a few small fire places, and 
 furnished with copper dekshas (pots or 
 pans), a chopper, some tin spoons, a co- 
 coanut shell ladle on the end of a stick, a 
 curry-stone, a rickety table whose undul- 
 ating surface is chopped, hacked and 
 scarred, besmeared, begrimed, and 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 67 
 
 stained with all sorts of juices. On this 
 he minces meat, chops onions, raisins, 
 rolls out his pastry and sleeps. He has 
 always to make toast for breakfast, which 
 operation he performs by holding the 
 bread between his great and next great 
 toe, up to the fire to brown. 
 
 He uses many tea towels or dusters as 
 we call them here, but the most common 
 in use is the tail of his shirt, which he al- 
 ways conveniently wears outside his 
 pantaloons. 
 
 Though he has a table, he persistently 
 washes the dishes on the earthen floor, 
 never using any soap, but a handful of 
 earth or most any kind of dirt now and 
 again during the process. Truly, the poet 
 is right when he says : 
 
 ** Where ignorance is bliss, 
 'Tis folly to be wise," 
 
 and especially, when we consider the 
 cook-house. To think of the nice looking 
 dishes the average cook can set before one 
 from such a kitchen, makes us marvel. 
 One can never tell what process the food 
 has gone through before it reaches the 
 
68 
 
 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 THE BHEESTI 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 63 
 
 table. No matter what gets into it in the 
 way of filth, insects, worms, etc., so long 
 as it can be strained out. 
 
 But before laying the pen down, we 
 must tell you of a certain Englishman 
 who had just found a treasure of a cook. 
 The English are very fond of good colfee, 
 and this particular one was telling his 
 friend about the delicious drink his cook 
 could prepare, and invited him over to 
 sample it. 
 
 He came. The coffee with some biscuits 
 was ordered. After the usual time 
 elapsed, in came the cook with the air of 
 any of his kind. 
 
 The guest tasted the coffee and ex- 
 claimed: 
 
 ^^ Fancy! How delicious! Simply su- 
 perb! How does he make it, pray'?" 
 
 The host called the cook, saying, ^'Boy, 
 tell the gentleman how you prepared the 
 coffee." 
 
 Of course, this touched his vein of 
 pride and he began in his pidgin English: 
 
 '^Me takes some water and puts the 
 coffee into it, and me biles and biles it. 
 Then me break one egg into it, and then 
 
70 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 'istrain it thro' my master's sock — and, — 
 
 ^^hat?" shouted the Master,— 
 ^Svhaf?" and ere he could go farther, the 
 cook cried out consolingiy, ''0 sahib, it 
 was a dirty one, it was a dirty one." 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Hindus' Incineration Ground. 
 
 IN INDIA we have more than one way 
 of disposing of the dead. Some are 
 burned, some are laid on towers to be 
 devoured by vultures, some are buried 
 and some are thrown into deep wells. 
 
 The Hindus burn; yet not all of them. 
 Only the Brahmin (priest caste), banyah 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 71 
 
 (grain dealer), deshmuk (warrior) and 
 tlie Marathi (coppersmith, goldsmith, 
 etc.) are allowed to burn, and that is with 
 the provision that they are married. This 
 rule stands good regardless of age. Years 
 ago w^hen human sacrifice was in vogue, 
 when a priest died, his wife was burned 
 alive with his corpse. 
 
 You will excuse us if we take a look 
 into the home of a dying Hindu, who, in a 
 few hours will be dead and carried to the 
 burning ghat. It is said that he would 
 not be dying were he not possessed of a 
 demon, and the process to get rid of the 
 demon is begun. It would be bad, indeed, 
 should he die in demon possession. In- 
 stead of sending for a doctor, they sum- 
 mon the devil catcher. 
 
 He solemnly enters the home and after 
 some deliberation, requests that sweet- 
 meats, chicken, cocoanuts, red cloth, and 
 two or three rupees be put into the bas- 
 ket. This he takes and tosses three or 
 four times in front of the dying man, 
 claiming to have power to persuade the 
 demon to take his departure and go and 
 have a square meal. 
 
72 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 The basket, with its contents, is or- 
 dered to be taken to the jungles or where- 
 ever the devil catcher may suggest. After 
 an hour or so, he tells some one to go and 
 see if the sweetmeats, etc., are in the bas- 
 ket. They go and invariably the basket 
 is found empty. 
 
 During the hour or two that has inter- 
 vened the devil catcher has employed an- 
 other of his caste to go and empty the 
 basket. The relatives of the dying man, 
 however, are ignorant of this, and seeing 
 the food gone, believe the demon has tak- 
 en his flight and gone to have a meal 
 therefore, the afflicted will ^^die good,' 
 as they express it. 
 
 Death comes. The remains are placed 
 on a bamboo carry-all, and by the aid of 
 four men, borne to the place of cremation. 
 
 Wood and oil are taken for the fire. If 
 relatives can afford it, oftentimes ghi, a 
 sort of clarified butter, is used with the 
 oil. On top of the pile of wood the corpse 
 is carefully laid. Whatever oil or grease 
 they have is now poured on the heap, and 
 it is ready for the match and flames. Who 
 will start the fire? If the departed has 
 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 73 
 
 left a son, he will do it ; if there are two or 
 more sons, it falls to the lot of the eldest. 
 Should there be no sons, the oldest bro- 
 ther performs it, and if no brother, then 
 the wife ; and if no wife, then the nearest 
 remaining relative. 
 
 At any rate, the fire is started. Flames 
 ascend high in the air. This makes quite 
 a sight, especially when it takes place at 
 night. Not long ago, one evening at about 
 nine o'clock, we could see the mentioned 
 flames from our rear mission windows 
 
 Those attending a cremation service are 
 supposed to stay till the head bursts 
 open; then go and wash in a well or river, 
 else perhaps, the town tank. In Igatpuri, 
 they stay the i3roper time, then rush for 
 the tank located near the municipal 
 school, and have a bath. 
 
 The relatives must now stay in the 
 house for ten days. After that, the ashes 
 of the corpse are thrown in the river. 
 Hurrah for a big dinner! As everything 
 demandent on them in connection with 
 this death, has been accomplished, they 
 believe they must have a feast or Maha- 
 dev (a heathen god) will become angry 
 
74 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 witla them, and they will never get to the 
 Hindus' heaven, which is commonly sup- 
 posed to be Nirvana, a state of non-exist- 
 ence. The highest state of being is not to 
 be, they think. 
 
 Every year, the first day after the new 
 moon in August, they gather at the cre- 
 mation ground and eat chapatties (un- 
 leavened cakes or bread), dhal (lentil 
 seed or pulse) and rice in memory of 
 these occasions. 
 
 A striking incident took place with a 
 very stout man who died near us. When 
 his body was taken to be burned, his rela- 
 tives bought fifteen gallons of kerosene 
 oil and the same amount of ghi and used 
 for the fire. The fire became extremely 
 hot; the burning body sat up amid the 
 flames and shortly after, came rolling out 
 toward the bewildered, frightened crowd, 
 for they thought the dead had come to 
 life. At this crisis, they took to their 
 heels and left the burning corpse to him- 
 self. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 75 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Nanahar^s Translation. 
 
 NANAHAR, a boy nine years of age, 
 who has been an active little 
 worker in one of our Sunday 
 schools, has recently gone to glory. He 
 was taken ill on Thursday night, with a 
 high fever and passed away on the fol- 
 lowing Saturday. 
 
 The last Sunday he attended Sunday 
 school he seemed extra cheerful and was 
 anxious to quote the golden text of the 
 lesson, which ran thus: ^^In my father's 
 house are many mansions, if it were not 
 so I would have told you. I go to prepare 
 a place for you." 
 
 This boy was unusually bright, and 
 truly a worker for Jesus. He was among 
 
76 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 the first to go out into the streets and ga- 
 ther others into the Sunday school. Less 
 than a day before he passed away he said, 
 ^^I will take six new boys to Sunday 
 school next Sunday/' 
 
 When the news came to the mission 
 that Nanahar had gone, sorrow filled our 
 hearts. We went to his home and there 
 laid the little lifeless form with nothing 
 but a piece of thin cloth under it, on the 
 damp mud floor. He had little clothing 
 and no bed. His parents were too poor 
 even to have a lamp that would give light 
 enough so we could see around the room 
 in which he lay. His home was made 
 mostly of mud, and had no windows. In- 
 deed, it was a dark, dismal place. A can- 
 dle was brought and lit enabling us to see 
 where we were. 
 
 The casket in which the body was after- 
 ward laid, was made of cheap wood and 
 covered with white cloth. A bouquet of 
 white flowers tied with white ribbon, was 
 placed on top of the little form. A short 
 service was held after which the remains 
 were taken and buried to await the great 
 resurrection. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 77 
 
 We miss Mm. He is now with Jesus. 
 His translation has given the school a 
 deeper interest in heaven. Thank God 
 for open doors in India, to missions, and 
 for the glorious opportunity to reach 
 these children born in heathenism, and 
 teach them the way of Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. 
 
78 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Dhobi. 
 
 THE DHOBI is the washerman of 
 India. In America we speak of 
 the laundry, a place where clothes 
 are washed, while in India we speak not 
 so much about the place or room as we do 
 about the man who does the work. In 
 Igatpuri, we have a number of houses 
 given over to dhobi occupants. The dhobi 
 enjoys living near others of his caste; 
 therefore, where one is others will be 
 found. 
 
 India's washerman has some utensils 
 that Noah left. He uses mud stoves, 
 rough sticks for racks, and any rough 
 stone will do for a washboard. Before we 
 left New York city for India, we pur- 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 79 
 
 chased a small washboard with hopes of 
 introducing something better than a 
 stone in washing clothes. Onr hopes thus 
 far have been blighted, as they are not 
 slow to give us to understand, though it 
 is in a meek, mild way, that what is good 
 enough for their renowned ancestors is 
 good enough for them. 
 
 The dhcbi commences his wash in a pe- 
 culiar way. He has a brass vessel two 
 feet in diameter and eight inches deep 
 which is nearly filled with water. Then 
 some soap or khar, a sort of salt mineral, 
 is added to the water, and the vessel 
 placed on the mud stove and securely ce- 
 mented in with mud. A few sticks are 
 placed across the top of the vessel and the 
 soiled clothes piled upon them, oftentimes 
 reaching as high as five feet. Covered 
 over with many blankets, the fire is start- 
 ed, and in this way the clothes are 
 steamed for about five hours. 
 
 When the steaming process is complet- 
 ed, the clothes are taken to some brook 
 and beaten upon stones. He takes them 
 bv one end and bringing them over his 
 head, lets them come down at a rapid rate 
 
80 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 on the stone thus removing the dirt, which 
 he has taken in hand to eradicate from the 
 garment. But the one is so closely ming- 
 eld with the fibres of the other — the one 
 is impalpable, the other bulky and sub- 
 stantial, and so the torrent of his zealous 
 rage unconsciously turns against the 
 very substance of that which he sets him- 
 self lovingly to purge and restore to its 
 primitive purity. Indeed, we sometimes 
 find that while he has wrecked the gar- 
 ment, he has overlooked the dirt! Great- 
 er and better men have been employed in 
 the same way. 
 
 Such are consolations of philosophy, 
 
 ''There was never yet a philosopher 
 Who could endure the toothache patiently," 
 
 SO what can we expect from our dhobi 
 even in patient Hindustan f 
 
 Howbeit, let us go on with the wash. 
 The bluing is carried on in the same man- 
 ner as in America, and the starching as 
 well, though our starch is made from rice. 
 Racks and lines are used in holding the 
 clothes for drying, the latter being so ar- 
 ranged that there is no need of clothes 
 pins which we deem necessary in the 
 
to THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 81 
 
 THE PHOBI 
 
82 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 homeland. There is a certain twist they 
 give it through which one end of the gar- 
 ment can go, which twist takes the place 
 of pins. 
 
 One day as we were walking through a 
 field near the mission, where several 
 dhobies had lines filled with clothes, it be- 
 gan to rain. We noticed each dhobi run 
 toward his lines, and beginning at one 
 end they ran the length of each, taking 
 every garment as they ran. Since the 
 poet says, 
 
 ''The Englishman hustles the Aryan brown, 
 And the Aryan hustles the Englishman down," 
 
 we would scarcely imagine that land of no 
 ambition excelling Europeans, much less 
 hustling America, in anything. But this 
 clothes line is certainly better for India 
 than those of western nations would be, 
 for when a heavy storm comes up during 
 the monsoons, had the dhobi to remove 
 pins he would never have time to get his 
 clothes in before the rain caught them. 
 
 Well, the dhobi is an interesting per- 
 sonage. Someone has likened him to a 
 puppy rending slippers, a child tearing 
 up his picture books, a mongoose killing 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 83 
 
 twenty chickens to feed one, a free think- 
 er demolishing ancient superstitions, — 
 saying lastly: '^What are all these but 
 dhobies in embryo'?" and we feel quite 
 the same as this writer does evidently 
 about him, especially as we open up the 
 battered garments he has just brought 
 from his torture chamber, w^hich have 
 been ploughed through with his big char- 
 coal iron lengthwise, crosswise, slantwise 
 and every ^^ otherwise" — with now and 
 then a glimpse of long black streaks and 
 spots where glowing cinders have 
 dropped on their tenderest places. 
 
 But we shall not worry over this for, 
 perhaps, the next time before the dam- 
 aged articles reach their homes, they will 
 have gone the rounds and some kind little 
 body will have mended them up nicely, 
 while we content ourselves by wearing a 
 substitute that the same good dhobi has 
 bestowed upon us because of having no 
 education to enable him to read the mark- 
 ings or to remember which is which (even 
 though he has marked most of them him- 
 self right in the most conspicuous place, 
 w^ith an everlasting ink). 
 
84 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 Then the dhobi has a trick of hiring out 
 clothes. You cannot evade the necessity 
 for clean shirt fronts, ill able as your pre- 
 carious income may be to meet it. In this 
 or any other connection, the dhobi finds 
 you garments of the best quality at so 
 much an evening, and you are saved all 
 risk and outlay of capital. In this way, 
 the wealth of the rich helps the want of 
 the poor, without their feeling or even 
 knowing it (usually) — an excellent ar- 
 rangement, of course. 
 
 A missionary missed some articles of 
 clothing, especially a blouse. She had ex- 
 pected to wear it at a gathering in the vil- 
 lage in the evening, but lo, it could not be 
 found when the dhobi brought the clothes. 
 However, she donned another blouse and 
 on her way to the gathering, found a na- 
 tive woman quite well dressed strolling 
 along, and thinking she saw something 
 familiar about the woman, looked closer 
 and found her wearing the missing 
 blouse. 
 
 Well — done, undone, ripped, torn, 
 patched — salaam. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 85 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 Little Assuria. 
 
 MY LITTLE Assuria! Let me show 
 him to you. Only a tiny Hindu 
 child — once the pet of the family; 
 but the famine came, that dread famine 
 with no mercy right nor left — grasping 
 everything in its reach. Among the other 
 thousands, Assuria 's home was stricken 
 and one's heart wreaks with pain as he, 
 between sobs, rehearses the terrible inci- 
 dents relative to the family. 
 
 Sisters sold for a few pice each, and 
 sent away to be used for immoral pur- 
 poses. Torn from their famishing loved 
 ones, the few pice buys a few^ more ounces 
 of rice for a day or so more of life; then 
 
86 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 death clutches the remainder of the fam- 
 
 iiy. 
 
 Assuria remembers the last pile of hu- 
 man bones he saw the government ser- 
 vants rake up and burn at that village; 
 and well he should, for his mother, though 
 a Hindu, fond as any mother of her baby 
 boy, was in the burning. 
 
 It is all too dreadful. The bones 
 crackle, sizzle, burn; and he and his elder 
 brother realizing what it meant to the 
 full, started out in search of something to 
 sustain life — but for the most part, to 
 steal away from the sound of that horri- 
 ble fire that stole all there was left of 
 their mother dear. 
 
 Only a few mornings before she had 
 crept around as best she could on hands 
 and knees and picked up grass seeds for 
 their breakfast — none for herself — but 
 oh! I must stop talking about her. Im- 
 agine the worst — it is none too terrible 
 for those famine times. 
 
 For several days these two little famine 
 waifs subsist on the few remaining leaves 
 of the tree and grass seeds that they find 
 now and again, but at last the brother 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 87 
 
 succumbs, and little Assuria (for I have 
 yet to tell you he was scarce more than 
 five years old) wends his way alone. 
 
 Finally, gnaived with pangs of hunger, 
 famishing of thirst, for there was a fam- 
 ine of water as well as of bread, he begins 
 to eat dirt, earth, anything — and lays 
 down to die. 
 
 But we found him. Yes; barely more 
 than a bundle of bones, with the skin 
 drawn down tightly over them; a mass of 
 sores — ^his stomach filled with stones — 
 in the last stage of starvation — feet and 
 limbs swollen, reminding us of a passage 
 in Holy Writ which reads like this: 
 ^^ Forty years didst thou keep them in the 
 wilderness, so that their shoes waxed not 
 old and their feet swelled not.'' 
 
 But Assuria was not one of those for- 
 tunate ^^^ept" ones. He had never heard 
 of the One who ''keeps." His heathen 
 god was one that destroyed rather than 
 ''kept" — one that loved a human sacri- 
 fice above all other offerings — thirsty al- 
 ways for blood. 
 
 Poor child! How often the first few 
 days — yes, weeks, the little lamp of life 
 
88 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 seemed to be flickering its last, but with 
 careful nursing and a morsel of food now 
 and again (for we gave but little lest we 
 should overfeed him), we brought him 
 back to life. A year passes by, a few 
 months more and he stands at my side, a 
 round, bonny face and big bright eyes 
 that bespoke sorrow. He was among the 
 number that I never remember seeing 
 smile, though he was one of our best 
 Christians. 
 
 It was next to impossible to keep him 
 from storing away a portion of his food. 
 With his appetite half satisfied, he would 
 steal away to his cot, and tucked down in 
 under the little blanket would be found 
 enough food for a meal or so ahead. He 
 lived ever expectant of famine. His 
 brown eyes often filled up with tears as 
 we remonstrated with him over this hab- 
 it, and it was one of his greatest griefs if 
 one of the boys stole his hidden treasure 
 from the cot. 
 
 In devotional exercises in school, in 
 Sunday school, church and village meet- 
 ings he was very attentive, and gave ev- 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 89 
 
 ery evidence in daily life of being a Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 One of our pleasures those days was to 
 hear him tell how he turned from idols to 
 serve the living God, and hear him repeat 
 in his native tongue one of his favorite 
 passages which seemed ever to be his 
 thought in summing up w^hat Christ had 
 done for him: '^For I w^as an hungered, 
 and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and 
 ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and 
 ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me." 
 We seemed then to lose sight of the long, 
 tedious, weary hours we had spent in 
 watching and caring for him, and fore- 
 cast the time when the Saviour would say 
 something of the same to us when we 
 stand around the great throne. 
 
 IN THE HOSPITAL 
 
90 
 
 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 A Marvel. 
 
 HAVE you ever seen a twenty-five 
 pound stone lifted by the eyesf 
 We have. A native juggler came 
 to our door one morning to perform. He 
 says, ^^ Sahib, if you will give me four 
 annas, I'll lift that patthar (stone),'' 
 pointing to it, ^^with my eyes." It was 
 not the lightest load for one to carry to 
 the steps where he stood, but we brought 
 it. 
 
 He pulled a strong fish cord from his 
 pyjamas, fastened it firmly round the 
 stone, slipped the other end in back of his 
 eyes, secured it there and began slowly, 
 slowly to pull upward. 
 
 We were just about to have him give 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 91 
 
 up the attempt, for fear he would injure 
 his eyes permanently, when, believe me. 
 
 we saw the stone had been raised a foot 
 from the ground! 
 
92 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 With a triumphant, heroic look, gladly 
 enough he let it down again, slowly — 
 brought his hands forward (which mean- 
 while had been folded back of him), re- 
 moved the cord and pushed his eyes back 
 into the sockets. They were somewhat 
 bloodshot but otherwise quite all right, 
 which was one of the greatest wonders 
 we had yet run across in this half -hatched 
 civilization. 
 
 He earned his four annas (eight cents) 
 in a comparatively short time as that is 
 the average day's wages for a good work- 
 man. 
 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 93 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 G-rinding at the Mill. 
 
 EIXDINGr at the mill is no new 
 topic before the world. It has 
 been heard of and seen from thou- 
 sands of years back up to the present. 
 Samson experienced it while in the pris- 
 on at Gaza; Isaiah prophesied it as a 
 judgment to come on the daughters of 
 Babylon and Chaldea. Jesus Christ our 
 Lord has said: ''Two women shall be 
 grinding at the mill; the one shall be tak- 
 en and the other left." 
 
 ''Grinding at the mill" has been given 
 over to the women. It makes no differ- 
 ence whether the grinding is for the home 
 circle or for the merchants in the bazaar, 
 it is a sort of "Let the women do the 
 
94 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 work.'' The masculine sex feel them- 
 selves above this particular line of labor. 
 
 Low wages are attached to this as well 
 as all other native employment^ especially 
 since women are the employees. In Bom- 
 bay Presidency we pay for grinding at 
 the rate of one cent for two pounds of 
 wheat or corn, one and one-half cents for 
 two pounds of rice, one-half cent for two 
 pounds of dhal. Should the grinders be 
 working by the day, they receive about 
 six cents. 
 
 Grinding stones vary in size. Some 
 are made for one woman to operate, and 
 again some which are used during festiv- 
 ities require as many as fifteen women to 
 turn them. 
 
 Along the streets during the heat of the 
 day the grinders may be seen at work, 
 seemingly not minding the tropical rays 
 of the sun. As the old mills grind, they 
 send forth weird sounds which are often 
 accompanied by minor strains from their 
 human propellers, for indeed, most of In- 
 dia 's music is in the minor key. 
 
 Mothers Avith their babes in their laps 
 grind as well as others. The babes enjoy 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 95 
 
 the '^ sound of the grinding'' (Eccl. 12:4) 
 giving the old mill a look now and then, 
 Avith a few winks between, and fall asleep 
 as though rocked in a cradle. 
 
 All that some folks see as they gaze at 
 the grinding of the mill is wheat, rice, 
 dhal, etc. Others' attention is drawn to 
 the turning, the peculiar sounds, the ope- 
 rators, the babies, etc., but there are still 
 others of us who notice not only all the 
 above and more, but seem to hear the old 
 mill stones crying out, ''Be ye also 
 ready."— Matthew 24:44. 
 
96 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 A Christmas Across the Deep. 
 
 JUST as the clock strikes twelve an- 
 other Christmas peeps into our lives. 
 The midnight hour gives way. We 
 are in the weights of slumber. The eyes 
 are still heavy. Yet we must awake, 
 though the previous day has been one of 
 toil, as this season of the year is the time 
 of house cleaning, whitewashing, prepar- 
 ing presents, and many duties attendant 
 a holiday of this kind. Awake'? Yes. 
 What awakes us? Are we in the home 
 land"? What do we hear? It sounds like 
 a male quartette in America. But our 
 surroundings are like that of India. 
 Listen! 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 97 
 
 ^'Wliat more can he say than to you 
 
 He hath said, — 
 To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled," 
 
 floats out upon the night air. It is a sur- 
 prise to us, for we did not know that four 
 of our native Christian boys were so well 
 versed in English, but they sing in excel- 
 lent harmony and continue to sing, 
 
 '^ While shepherds watched their flocks by night 
 All seated on the ground," etc. 
 
 We are awake and up for the day. The 
 morning sun is welcomed. We are all 
 dressed in white ; nature is clothed in her 
 green; the air carries an unusual frag- 
 rance; the people are remarkably happy. 
 This is Christmas in India. 
 
 Bring the hammer and we'll open the 
 box sent from America to the mission. 
 The whole village is interested. Here is 
 the postman, the sweepers, cooks, bakers, 
 policemen, washerman, water carriers, 
 school teachers, masons, shoe makers, 
 carpenters, merchants, ayahs (native 
 nurses), in short, they all come. We soon 
 learn that '^this is the missionaries great 
 day," and we are expected to make gifts 
 
98 • INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 to all who ask in remembrance of the 
 birth of our Saviour. We will do the best 
 we can with what is at hand. 
 
 The box, which is much appreciated, is 
 opened. Presents sent to the native 
 Christians and fellow missionaries are 
 distributed first. Our hearts are made 
 glad and knit closer to our home people. 
 The wayfarers and villagers receive their 
 portion. It is not only a time of giving 
 temporal things, but 'mid the giving are 
 proclaimed the glad tidings of a Saviour, 
 who was given to redeem mankind. 
 
 The Sunday school children have not 
 been forgotten. Thank God! there was a 
 suitable gift for each dusky face. The 
 naked were clothed, the hungry fed. 
 Their little faces beamed with joy; they 
 laughed, they sang, they leaped. 
 
 The church doors swung open and the 
 house was soon filled to the full. Christ- 
 mas services were held. Our aged native 
 minister preached the sermon, which was 
 full of life, hel|)ful and very instructive. 
 Seed was sown in many hearts which will 
 tell in years to come of its fruitage for the 
 Christ of Bethlehem. After the service 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 99 
 
 scores of children ran through the village 
 lanes declaring what they had heard. It 
 was a wireless message and soon reached 
 the station of every human soul round 
 about. 
 
 The day is far spent and we are now 
 ready for the Christmas dinner, which 
 awaits us in the dining room. Look at the 
 spread, so different from the regular rou- 
 tine: Canned peaches from the United 
 States, a plum pudding from England, a 
 fruit cake from a Eurasian friend, suet 
 dumplings from a Groanese, mutton chops 
 from a Mohammedan, buffalo milk from 
 a Hindu, and la-st but not least all sorts of 
 India sweets from our native Christians. 
 We are well filled and there is food to 
 spare. 
 
 Retiring to the drawing room, the even- 
 ing is spent in visiting, after which we 
 enter the evening circle of prayer and are 
 greatly blest again from the throne of 
 God. Good night. 
 
100 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Bible Scenes in India. 
 
 1. CAERYIXG BEDS. 
 
 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy 
 bed, and go thy way into thine house. — 
 Mark 2:11. 
 
 The majority of India's people carry 
 their own beds with them. On the streets, 
 in the fields, in the trains, in the hotels, 
 in the ditches, yes, everywhere we find 
 that bundle. As a rule, their beds weigh 
 from one to ten pounds, so they can easily 
 be carried. Even as invited guests, we 
 take our beds with us and be sure of 
 a place to sleep when night overtakes us. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 101 
 
 2. TOWERS. 
 
 And he fenced it, and gathered out the 
 stones thereof, and planted it with the 
 choicest vine, and built a tower in the 
 midst of it. — ^Isa. 5:2. 
 
 To try to find a planted field in India 
 without a tower, would be as great a task 
 or greater, than trying to find a needle in 
 a large hay stack. The towers are made 
 of bamboo, straw, sticks, palms and the 
 like. The capacity of these towers is to 
 hold one person. The watchmen from 
 these elevated huts are heard in the night 
 seasons crying, ^^ram, rice, ghi," etc., and 
 by so doing expect to keep away thieves. 
 The missionaries, as they look upon these 
 towers, are often reminded of the saying 
 of the Psalmist, '^The Lord . . . my high 
 tower." 
 
 3. TREADING OUT THE COEK 
 
 Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the 
 ox that treadeth out the corn. — 1 Cor. 9:9. 
 
 Over 3,350 years have elapsed since the 
 above command was given. To this pres- 
 
102 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 ent day the ^4and of the trident'' uses the 
 walking machines for threshing the grain 
 the same as onr forefathers in the time of 
 Moses. A stick is set quite firm in the 
 ground; around the stick is strewn the 
 grain that is to be threshed; one or more 
 oxen are tied to the stake, which march 
 round-and-round and tread out the corn, 
 helping themselves to a mouthful now 
 and then. Though the ox may eat many 
 morsels per day, yet according to 1 Tim. 
 5:18 it is all right for the laborer is wor- 
 thy of his reward. Of course, our brother 
 preacher sees a point in this scene. 
 
 4. SALUTING FOEBIDDEN. 
 
 Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in 
 thine hands, and go thy way: if thou meet 
 any man, salute him not ; and if any man 
 salute thee, answer him not again. — 2 
 Kings 4:29. 
 
 The government peons that carry the 
 British India mail to villages that are not 
 situated near a railroad, run on a '*dog 
 trot" style to villages. They are not sup- 
 posed to salute any one — that is, shake 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 103 
 
 hands, bow, hug, kiss or talk. If one sa- 
 lutes another that much time is lost, and 
 in carrying mail there is no time to lose 
 for the ^^ king's business requires haste." 
 
 5. EOCK m A WEARY LAND. 
 
 As a shadow of a great rock in a weary 
 land. — Isa. 32:2. Lead me to the rock 
 that is higher than I. — Ps. 61:2. 
 
 The great rocks are like wayside inns 
 to the weary traveler, for there is no 
 shade like that of a rock. Shade under a 
 tree is oftentimes dangerous, as a tree is 
 not as able to shade one from the tropical 
 rays of the sun. The shadow of a rock is 
 cooler than that of a tree. It is no infre- 
 quent sight to see natives, who live in the 
 western ghat region, resting their weary 
 bodies in a rock's shadow. We have 
 Christian natives who flee to these shad- 
 ows for rest and prayer after a hard bat- 
 tle with the enemy. 
 
 6. EMPTY, SWEPT, GARNISHED. 
 
 He findeth it empty, swept and garn- 
 ished.— Matt. 12:44. 
 
104 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 ' Everything is removed from the house, 
 it is entirely emptied; then they take a 
 harsh, stiff broom and sweep it, after this 
 and unmentionable processes of cleaning, 
 the house receives all sorts of markings 
 with lime and chalk which is the oriental 
 garnishing. 
 
 7. UNDER THEIE OWN VINES. 
 
 They shall sit every man under his own 
 vine and under his fig tree. — Micah 4:4. 
 
 The jungle huts are built near each 
 other, very frequently with vines over 
 the front entrance and a fig tree in the 
 yard. This enables every man to sit un- 
 der his vine or tree and visit with his 
 neighbors. Many times have we sat un- 
 der a vine or tree in the village meetings 
 and witnessed those of the surrounding 
 huts as they gathered under their respec- 
 tive places to listen to the truth of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 105 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Bible Scenes in India. 
 
 8. WOMEN AT THE WELL. 
 
 The woman saith unto Mm, Sir, thou 
 hast nothing to draw with, and the well is 
 deep. — John 4:11. 
 
 It is no infrequent scene to find a num- 
 ber of native women at the wells of our 
 India cities, especially so in the morning 
 and evening hours. Where we lived there 
 were a number of wells. Some were giv- 
 en over to one caste of people and some to 
 another caste. There have been times 
 when we were quite thirsty, nevertheless, 
 we did not dare to take water out of cer- 
 tain wells because we did not belong to 
 the Marathi caste. We might have forced 
 
106 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 our way and taken the water, as it has 
 been done in some cases to our knowledge, 
 but desiring to see the people saved, did 
 not feel at liberty to cause any trouble; 
 therefore, went thirsty for several hours. 
 As a rule, the women go to the wells to 
 get the water for the native homes. They 
 carry their own bucket and rope to draw 
 the water. If we were there and desired 
 a drink, about the first thing we would 
 hear (if we did not have a bucket and 
 rope), ^^Thou hast nothing to draw with 
 and the well is deep." The next we would 
 be informed that we were Americans and 
 Christians, and should have no dealings 
 with the Hindus. The third information 
 is at hand and w^e are told that if Chris- 
 tians should touch their vessels it would 
 defile them. It is a sort of a case of 
 'Houch not, taste not, handle not." At 
 this point the missionary opens the good 
 Book to John 4:3-23 and cries aloud that 
 there is ^ ' a well of water springing up in- 
 to everlasting life." 
 
 9, MOTH, RUST, THIEVES. 
 
 Lay not up for yourselves treasures 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 107 
 
 upon earth, where moth and rust doth 
 corrupt, and where thieves break through 
 and steal. — Matt. 6:10. 
 
 It may seem strange to class the three 
 under one head, especially at first 
 thought. Yet, it is not. They all belong 
 to the same order of undesirable Knights. 
 They all take what belongs to other peo- 
 ple; they all go where they are not want- 
 ed; they all come, many times, when one 
 is not expecting them; they all cause mul- 
 tiplied trouble; and leave behind a record 
 not to be desired. 
 
 The Trident possesses a moth that is 
 gifted with the ability of organizing. 
 They come in armies and conquer before 
 one is aware that they have arrived. Rust 
 arrives and is no small factor on the scene. 
 In our locality during the monsoons, pins 
 rust in a man's vest, hairpins rust in lad- 
 ies' hair; hat pins rust so they cannot be 
 used; yes, everything that is of iron or tin 
 goes into the rusting business. 
 
 Thieves, last but not least, are there. 
 So many are ^^born to be thieves." There 
 is no one quite like the fellow that is born 
 to steal. Born to steal may be put in oth- 
 
108 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 er words — stealing religiously. If we 
 should ask, ''Why do you steals' the an- 
 swer would be, ^^I am born to do that, 
 and it is no sin unless I am caught at it." 
 In Bombay there is what is known as 
 chor (thief) bazaar. This is where the 
 thieves take their stolen goods and dis- 
 pose of the same. The white face may be 
 seen at this bazaar seeking his lost goods, 
 and, if found, the same may be purchased 
 for the second sum of rupees (money). 
 We all think that we do well to pay for 
 our belongings once; twice over is once 
 too often. 
 
 10. CLAY USED AS MORTAR. 
 
 Draw thee water for the seige, fortify 
 thy strong holds: go into the clay, and 
 tread the mortar, make strong thy brick- 
 kiln. — Nahum 3:14. 
 
 About the first thing to do when there 
 is a wall to be made, sheds to be erected, 
 houses to be built, floors to be put in, is to 
 draw water. The next in order is to get 
 baskets to carry the clay in and coolies to 
 carry the baskets. With hoe, water, clay, 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 109 
 
 baskets, sticks, stones, and the like, we 
 are ready to build. When the natives of 
 the land find their walls, houses, sheds or 
 fences getting a little weak, they get some 
 more clay and water and mix up the same 
 with their feet and repair the weakened 
 parts. This is going into the clay and 
 treading the mortar. We have noticed m 
 some of our journeys that all of the clay 
 is not burned in the kiln. To burn all the 
 clay and make burnt brick would be too 
 costly; so only those used on the outside 
 walls, houses, etc., are burned; those that 
 are used on the inside are only dried m 
 the sun, something similar to that of the 
 adobe of our own land. 
 
110 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 An Old Man^s Sacrifice. 
 
 ALL DAY long the people had been 
 coming with their offerings to the 
 goddess Kali. Lambs had been 
 slain by hundreds — the best of the flock, 
 without spot or blemish if possible, be- 
 fore this great goddess who demands the 
 sacrifice of blood, — for blood she must 
 have, even to the blood from the veins of 
 her devotees. 
 
 The missionary stands rolling it all 
 over in his mind, thinking of what such a 
 faith must mean. He thinks of how many 
 pilgrims have tramped through long, 
 weary journeys, measured their length 
 for hundreds of miles to reach this god- 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 111 
 
 HINDU FAKIR 
 
112 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 
 
 dess and appease her anger toward them. 
 
 As he muses there is a jostle and the 
 crowd pushes aside. The air is filled with 
 excitement. The missionary moving to- 
 ward the path that leads from the temple 
 gate to the idol, stops and looks. The 
 priests, who fall heir to the offerings, 
 draw up closer to the idol, greedily watch- 
 ing the object before them. 
 
 It is a pitiful sight. An old man — bent 
 with age — decrepit, his hands clasped as 
 though holding something very precious, 
 he comes nearer, nearer and nearer the 
 idol. This surely must be a precious offer- 
 nig, thinks the missionary, as he sees the 
 benighted old man with slow, feeble step 
 Hearing the idol. 
 
 Eyes of all are turned upon the scene. 
 He comes, comes still nearer and finally 
 reaches the altar — with tears falling, de- 
 votion beaming in his eyes, hands still 
 clasped. He bows, falls on his knees, un- 
 clasps his hands, and what should fall out 
 before the idol but his tongue, all covered 
 with blood! He had cut out his tongue — 
 yes, his tongue — as an offering to this 
 goddess to appease her anger, ever typical 
 
TO THE RIDICULOUS 113 
 
 of the heathen's offerings to their gods. 
 They offer the very best of whatever they 
 have to offer. If a lamb, the best lamb; if 
 too poor to offer only a flower, it is the 
 best flower. 
 
 The missionary's heart was broken as 
 he saw the disappointed, look on the old 
 man's face, after his offering to the god- 
 dess. He turned to him, saying: 
 
 ^'I know you can't speak, but if you 
 have never heard of Jesus Christ, kindly 
 shake your head three times," and with 
 tears still streaming down his face, the 
 old man's head slowly moved from side to 
 side. He had never heard. 
 
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