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66 we are crabbing, but we can pull up the anchor, and the tide will take us nearly to where he is digging. He can't say anything, if we do that, for we have a right to drift."

"Yes, and then we can see if he has a boat," added Sammy. "I guess that's the best plan. But what about these crabs, Bob? Won't your mother want them for dinner?"

"No, she's going to make them into a salad for supper. We fellows will have to cook 'em, and pick 'em out of the shells, I expect. There will be time enough when we get in. Let's trail this old man now."

Accordingly the small pronged anchor, that held the boat from drifting while the crabbing was going on, was hauled up, and put in the bow. Then, while pretending to be busy with their crab lines, the boys let their craft drift with the tide over toward the shore.

The old man was still digging away, but he had moved his position and was now deeper in the clump of trees.

"I'm sure he's after pirate gold!" exclaimed Sammy, in a whisper, for he knew sounds carry very distinctly over water, and he did not want the digging man to hear him.

"He's after something, right enough," agreed Frank. "What it is we can find out later."

"There's a boat, anyhow," put in Bob, pointing to one partly hidden under some brush and seaweed not far from the shore.

"That's right!" cried Sammy. "That shows he came from some other part of the Cove. We'll follow him!"

But, for the present, the man did not show any sign of being about to leave the clump of trees. He was digging away, paying no attention to anything around him, save to glance up now and then. If he saw the boys, as he must have done, he gave no sign.

Bob and his two chums, now that they were where they


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Rh has cooked?”—or, “If you let such a person touch the prepared pastry which you are about to eat, how can his touch render impure another sort of food?” But caste it is said destroys all social feelings,—we have something analogous to quote in illustration. In the —th regiment, now in India, there are, or were not long ago, two brothers, one a commissioned officer, the other in the ranks: should these be found dining together, the former would be liable to be dismissed the service, although the rule would not, probably, be pushed to such an extreme. The commissioned officer was himself formerly in the ranks, and, of course, lived in social intercourse with his brother, which, by the strict rules of the service, he must renounce on receiving his commission. What are all these peculiarities which govern the intercourse of the different ranks and classes with one another among us, but caste? Yet, although they may have some portion of evil, they are found beneficial on the whole, and society would be worse, were they abolished.

We are ready enough to taunt the Hindus with the iniquitous anomalies of their rules of caste, according to which a man may be guilty of theft and perjury, or other crime, with impunity; but if he should be found eating with a virtuous friend, he becomes an outcast. We forget how very similar our own customs are. A man may seduce his friend’s wife or sister, and follow it up by murdering his friend, without losing his place in society: a few, who would consequently be considered particular, might withdraw their countenance from him, to make up for which, some would admire the eclat he had brought upon himself; while the majority would receive him as if nothing had happened. Yet the same man would soon be excluded from society, should he be found associating with a tradesman, although the latter may be a most respectable, well-informed man! Well may the poor abused Hindus say to us, “Look at home.”

Much of caste is, as I have observed, a mere civil distinction, and, in minor points, is no more than exists in every country. It is founded on self-consequence, and a desire to exalt ourselves a little higher in the scale of the society in which we move, and this is also much the same in all countries. Complaints are 2

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text: Author:Walter Martin Baumhofer

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Rh wanted to get, again threw the anchor overboard, and resumed their crabbing. But luck was not so good here, the boat being too near shore. However, they wanted an excuse for remaining near the man, and this gave them one.

"Here he comes!" suddenly exclaimed Sammy, as he wound up his crab line for future use. "Get ready now, boys."

The others looked up. Coming down toward the beach was the strange old man. Over his shoulder were a pick and a shovel, and in one hand he carried a square wooden box, with a strap for a handle.

"What do you s'pose he has that for?" asked Frank.

"To put the gold in," said Sammy, promptly, "or else that holds the map, and directions for finding the treasure."

"The directions can't be very good," spoke Bob, "for he's been digging in lots of places, far apart, too. I think that gold business is all bosh!"

"Hush! He'll hear you!" cautioned Frank, for the old man had looked sharply in the direction of the boys.

"I don't care," spoke Bob. "This is a free country."

The boys had again pulled up anchor, and taken to the oars. They were pulling out from shore now. The old man went to where the other boat was partly hidden, and slid it down over the sand to the water. Then, putting in his tools and the box, he entered the craft himself, and began to row up toward the head of the Cove.

"Come on!" said Sammy, to his chums. "We've got to follow."

"Do you think we'd better?" asked Frank.

"Sure; why not?" was the answer. "We've got to find out about him; haven't we?"

To this the others had no objection. They were as interested, now, as Sammy was in solving the mystery. So, when the old


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68 man rowed off, more quickly than the boys supposed one of his age could do, they followed, but at a distance.

The day was a fine one, there was only a little wind, and the tide was with them.

"But it won't be so easy rowing back against the current," said Bob.

"Oh, don't worry," advised Sammy, eager to find where the strange man lived.

They did not have long to wait. A little later, after turning a point of land, the man rowed up to a small dock, in front of a small house, and, tieing his boat there, got out and went up the slope.

"Come on!" called Sammy, a moment later. "Let's go ashore."

"Maybe he won't like it," suggested Frank.

"Oh, he won't care," was the answer. "He's seen us following him, and he didn't say anything. Come on."

Rather against their will, Frank and Bob followed Sammy. He sent the boat up on the beach, and threw out the anchor in the sand to hold the craft against the tide. Then, followed by his chums, he approached the small cottage.

But if the boys imagined the aged man was going to witness their approach in silence they were disappointed. He reached his porch, and putting his pick, shovel and box down there, turned and hurried to meet Sammy and his chums.

"Did you boys want to see me?" he asked, and his voice was rather stern. He did not speak like the fishermen of the cove, but more, as Sammy said afterward, like Mr. Tetlow, the school principal, when he was angry.

"We—we just wanted to see," began Sammy, uncertain whether or not to tell his suspicions about the pirate gold, and to be allowed a share in the secret.

"Now look here, boys!" interrupted the aged man,


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482 often made, especially by new comers, that the native servants each perform only one particular duty, and refuse to assist in any others, urging that it is against their caste; and comparisons are drawn between them and the English servant, who will do anything he is bid to do. As to caste, the natives merely urge that as an excuse, because they think it more likely to meet with attention; what they mean is, “It is not my business.” A little consideration will show us a very tolerable parallel between India and England on this subject.

If my readers will observe the ménage of a native, or even of an Englishman, in India, whose income is so moderate as only to allow him to keep two or three servants, he will find that they perform nearly as great a variety of services as any domestic at home. But even there, it is only in families similarly situated in society that these “servants of all work” are to be found. The English in India have chosen to adopt the style of noblemen and men of large fortune in England: almost every man chooses to have his butler, (khansamah,) two or three table attendants, head valet, messengers, &c., &c.; not that the individuals employed are at all qualified for these situations; it is only the dignity of the name, for which the masters are obliged to pay accordingly. Among the young members of the civil service, during their residence at college, whose salary is about three hundred a year, may be found many who pay twenty pounds of that sum annually to a clerk to keep their accounts; it being below their dignity to do it for themselves.

It is among the establishments of men of rank and fortune in England that the parallel to this must be sought. Where a butler, under-butler, two or three footmen, valet, coachman, groom, stable-boy, house-keeper, lady’s-maid, head-nurse, with two or three nursery-maids, upper and lower house-maid, laundress, cook, kitchen-maid, scullion, &c., are retained, there is just as much caste, in this respect, as there is among the native servants. Try the experiment: order the butler to stand behind the carriage; the powdered footman to sweep the stable; the coachman to clean the horses; the lady’s-maid to sweep the room; the upper house-maid to scrub the fire-grate; the cook to


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Rh sternly. "I don't want to be harsh toward you, but you must get away from here. I said nothing when you followed me, not thinking you would land on my property. This is private land, and there has been a 'no trespass' sign up, but it has fallen down. I will put it up again. I want no strangers around here.

"My neighbors around me know this, and do not bother me. It is probably because you are strangers that you have come here. Now I will not have it. Later on I may be glad to see you, but now I must ask you to leave!"

He stood looking at the boys sternly. They had been ordered away, and there was nothing for them to do but to obey.


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Rh wash the dishes, &c., fee,—there is not one who would not leave his or her situation, or, in the cant phrase, part with their masters, rather than comply, simply because it “was not their place,” that is, beneath their notions of dignity. There was a book published not long ago, said to be written by a retired butler and housekeeper, called “The Complete Servant,” in which the exact work which every different description of servant was to perform was specified, and which would have wonderfully enlightened the eyes of those in India who are so fond of dilating upon the universal genius and capacity of English servants, as to the little that was to be expected from them. The natives of India are not fonder of trouble than other people, and will gladly shift off all they can upon the shoulders of others; and wherever the ignorance, folly, or indolence of their masters allow them to establish these arbitrary rules and customs, (which, of course, they have greater opportunities of doing at Calcutta than anywhere else, from the frequency of newly-arrived persons, who are ignorant of the customs of the people,) they will take their full advantage of it. I have known a bearer, when told to carry a bottle of wine or brandy, object that its touch would defile him. That same man would willingly have drunk the brandy, could he have done so without fear of detection. On the contrary, should an Englishman be sent to a retired part of the country, to live by himself, and hire men of that neighbourhood who have never before been in European service, with few exceptions, any one will do whatever he is ordered. No sooner, however, does this Englishman rejoin his countrymen, than these very men will speedily adopt the airs of the other servants. The tribe of Kaits have a very absurd and strange prejudice against keeping a shop. They will submit to accept the poorest description of personal service, rather than join as a partner in the wealthiest shop in India. Yet not one, at least of all to whom I have

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484 spoken on the subject, and many have I questioned, can give a reason for such a custom or prejudice.

That the strictness of caste is wearing away, is, however, certainly the fact. It is generally supposed, that while in Bengal Proper they are more particular in regard to the point of food, in the Upper Provinces they attach most importance to that of marriage. Yet there are some extraordinary circumstances, daily occurring, which tend to show that these matters are of much less importance than we imagine, and that the prospect of temporal advantages will soothe the degradation of loss of caste. In the Doab, between the Ganges and Jumna, from Allahabad to the hills, and in the Oude territory, the population is chiefly a tribe of Rajpoots, who, however, rarely use this name, but call themselves by that of Thakoor (literally, Chieftains). There are also many in Rohilkund. This tribe contains many sub-divisions, the caste of each of which is considered more or less pure; and, in seeking for a wife for his son, a man usually attempts to procure one from a family of a higher degree of purity than his own, which is effected without much difficulty by paying a considerable sum of money to the bride’s father, or by otherwise promoting his worldly interests. It is very common for these Thakoors to have children by concubines of various low castes, not even excluding Muhammedan prostitutes. These are brought up as Hindus along with the legitimate children of their father, intermarry with others whose birth is the same, and often share the property. They are, of course, considered as of inferior caste, and the whole-bred Thakoors will not eat with them; but that is all the distinction. In some instances, however, after two or three generations, they contrive to intermarry with those in whom there is no stain, and, having thus formed a party, gradually insinuate themselves, as it were, to whole caste.

One most extraordinary instance was brought to my notice. A Thakoor, named Byree Lall, had three sons by a Moosulmanee prostitute. He died about sixteen years ago, when the eldest was about nine years old. The mother, who retained all her own customs and tenets, remained in the house as head of the family, and managed all the agricultural concerns; but brought up the


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Rh three children as Hindus, and they have succeeded to their father’s share of the land, without any demur on the part of the other members of the family. In another instance, a Hindu of the Kait caste had two legitimate sons, and a third by a Moosulmanee prostitute; when about to die, he divided his property among the three, giving, however, a much less portion to the illegitimate son than to the other two. These brought an action in the civil court to dispute the division; but it was upheld by the court, which decision was confirmed by the Sudder Dewanee. The late, was of low caste, a Gureria, (a tribe of shepherds,) yet he found no difficulty in persuading a high Caste Rajpoot of Rajwara to give him his daughter in marriage. The, (the same who has attracted so much attention of late,) strictly speaking, must have lost caste by her marriage with a Gureria, but, so far from becoming an outcast from her family, the intercourse was maintained just as if she had married an equal, and her brother, , accompanied her to Gwalior, where he held a high post in the army. A still stronger instance is that of a high caste Rajpootanee, who lived with an English gentleman, as his mistress; she also kept up a familiar intercourse with her relations, and once or twice visited them, whilst they constantly visited her in the most open manner; they would not eat with her, but that was the only distinction. Between Hindu Rao and his sister, I do not believe that even this was preserved.

This latitude is carried to a much greater extent in regard to the Sikhs, or Sings. These are followers of Baba, who, some centuries ago, founded the sect, into which he admitted converts of all denominations. The chief tenets are the worship of God, the renunciation of idolatry, abolition of caste, and attention to the precepts of a book compiled by the teachers,


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", we didn't find out anything."

"No, we had all our trouble for our pains."

"But we know where he lives—that's something we didn't know before."

This last was said by Sammy Brown. His two chums, Bob and Frank, had made the other remarks. The boys were rowing toward Barnacle Cottage, having been practically driven away from the place to which they had trailed the strange old man. His manner had been severe and stern, yet the boys knew he had right and justice on his side.

"We couldn't do anything but go," said Bob. "He could have had us arrested for trespass if we didn't."

"That's right," admitted Frank.

"Well, I didn't think he'd be quite so sharp," said Sammy, after a moment. "I thought he was a sort of simple old man, like some of the fishermen around here."

"But he's a lot different," spoke Frank. "Did you see how his eyes snapped, when he told us to get away?"

"I should say I did!" answered Bob. "He was real angry."

"But he spoke good enough to us," said Sammy. "I s'pose it was a crazy idea to go there in broad daylight, when he was at home. Next time I'll go at night, or when he's away."

"What! Are you going again?" cried Bob.

"I should say I am! I'm going to get at the bottom of this yet!" declared Sammy.


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486 called the. They were at first called Sikh (disciple), and were a peaceable sect, until persecuted, on which Gooroo, their tenth high-priest, changed their names to Singh (lion), and invited them to resist oppression, and become a warlike people. They ultimately grew into a nation, and obtained possession of the whole of the Punjab, but were divided into a multitude of petty principalities without any recognised head. As a remedy for this, on any occasion where the general safety was endangered, a grand council, called a Gooroomata, was assembled to deliberate, at which all were required to eat together: as the Sikhs include every tribe of Hindus, and many Muhammedans, caste must, of course, have been annihilated. Yet these people are gradually now sliding back into Hinduism, and again adopting the peculiarities of caste. A Sikh, the descendant of a Brahmin, will no more eat with one whose ancestors were of low caste, than a Hindu Brahmin will with a sweeper. So strong is this feeling becoming, that it would probably prevent the assembly of the Gooroomata, should such be attempted: yet outcasts, as all Sikhs must, strictly speaking, be, many tribes of Hindus, even of the higher castes, such as Rajpoots, intermarry with them.

These, and numerous instances of a similar nature, might be quoted, completely disproving the notion that persons who have forfeited their caste become such outcasts that even their parents dare not speak to them, except by stealth,—as asserted by Ward.

There is also a great deal of very convenient latitude on the subject of caste. If a man can persuade a considerable number to join him, he will do a great many things which he dared not have been guilty of alone. Strictly speaking, the Hindu sepoys who have gone on foreign expeditions by sea, have all lost caste; but who dare tell them so? They form too strong a party for any one to presume to hint at it, much less act upon the idea. On service, they make no scruple of drinking from a Bheestee’s (Muhammedan water-carrier) leathern water-bag, which they would never do on ordinary occasions:—sometimes they will even go further. During the attack of a fort on a hot day, two officers had procured a large earthen pot, full of water, out of


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Rh which they had just drunk. At that moment a sepoy came by, crying out for water: one of the officers offered him the pot; and on his demurring at first, observed, laughing, “All’s fair on service; you may get a bullet through your head next minute, and what will be your caste then? quench your thirst, and make yourself comfortable while you can.” The man grinned, and took a hearty draught. A strong instance in which caste and prejudice are thrown aside, when there is an object in view, occurred some years ago at the temple of Juggernauth. It used to be pronounced that the entrance of any unclean person would destroy the sanctity of the holy place, and would bring dire evils upon the country: yet, in spite of all this, a British officer who was much beloved and respected by his men, having expressed a wish to see the interior of the temple, a party of his sepoys took him in disguise as one of themselves. This also exhibits the natural good feelings of the natives; and affords an additional proof of the influence a foreigner whose conduct is such as to deserve it, may acquire over them. It was afterwards well known; but as to the defilement of the temple, the Brahmins had sense enough to say nothing about it, as it might have diminished the presentation of offerings; so they quietly submitted to what had occurred, rather than ruin their trade.

A curious circumstance is mentioned by Sir in a letter to Lord, dated the 27th of November, 1830. In 1818, a low caste private in one of the Bengal regiments was promoted: several Brahmins, disgusted at this, took their discharge. One of these men enlisted in the 8th Bombay Native Infantry, where Captain M‘Donald met him, and asked, how he who had left his corps because a low caste man was promoted, could submit to serve under a Jew Subadar (captain), a Purwarie Jemadar (lieutenant), and other low caste officers? The man replied, “In Hindostan it is the pride of caste; in Bombay, that of the corps,”—or, in plain English, When I am among men who care little about caste I am indifferent about it myself. I have repeatedly asked natives how they make up their minds to serve the English, whom they consider on a par


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Rh "And when you do get to the bottom, it will fall out, just as it always does, and you'll have all your trouble for nothing," said Frank, with a laugh.

"Will I? Well, I'll see," answered Sammy, confidently. "I'm sure that man is trying to hide something."

"I thought he was trying to find something, from what you said at first—the pirates' gold!" laughed Bob.

"Oh, you know what I mean," returned Sammy. "Quit your fooling!"

They rowed on in silence for a few minutes, and suddenly Frank, who was in the stern, gave a loud yell.

"What's the matter?" asked Bob. "See a shark?"

"No, but a crab's got my toe! Look out! They're getting out of the basket!"

He jumped up on the stern seat, holding out one bare foot—to the big toe of which a large crab was clinging with his strong claw.

"Take him off!" cried Frank, dancing about.

"Take him off yourself!" exclaimed Sammy. "Think we want to get nipped?"

"Look out! You'll upset the boat!" cautioned Bob. "Keep still; can't you?"

"No, I can't, and I guess you couldn't, either, with a big blue-claw crab nipping you!" cried Frank. "Ouch! Get him off; can't you!"

He was trying to do this for himself, but the crab, that was one of the biggest caught, had one claw free, and every time Frank reached out his hand to grasp the creature, and pull it from his toe, the crab would open his other claw, and wave it around threateningly. So Frank was a bit cautious about taking hold of the creature.

"Look out! The others are getting out!" cried Sammy, as he glanced at the basket of crabs.


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488 with their lowest castes, when they object to be under the authority of low caste natives, such as sweepers, &c? The replies have been variously worded, but the meaning has always been, “The sweeper is poor, you English are rich, and the lords of the country.”

The custom of antrijali, that is, of taking people who are supposed to be at the point of death, to the river-side, stuffing their ears and noses with mud, and leaving them to perish, is not only not sanctioned by the shasters, but is only practised in Bengal, and held in abomination by the people of other parts.

Indeed, it has already been observed, that while some dogmas of the shasters are neglected, many customs, some even of those most rooted in the minds of the people, have grown up, as it were, by accident. The ceremonies of the Ruth Jatra, Churruk Poojah, infanticide, plurality of husbands to one wife, and many others of more or less consequence, which were alluded to and described in No. XXXIV., have no origin in the shasters. We all know the veneration in which the monkey is held by the Hindus, and many of my readers will recollect the melancholy occurrence when two officers were drowned in attempting to cross the Jumna, in order to avoid the fury of a mob which was preparing to attack them in consequence of their shooting these animals at. Yet, I have, on two occasions, seen a Goorkah Rajpoot shoot a monkey, in each instance out of revenge because the animal had carried away the man’s dinner. When I have been talking to the people about the depredations committed by the wild monkeys on their corn and vegetables, they have repeatedly said, “We are Hindus, and cannot injure the animals, but we should be very glad if you would shoot them for us.”

Between the Hindus and Muhammedans, the usual exchange of compliments on the occasion of a serious quarrel, is, for the former to slaughter hogs and throw them into the mosques, while the latter kill cows, and pour their blood into the wells and tanks. Of course, these reservoirs are rendered impure beyond redemption? By no means; for it would be very troublesome to send a mile or two for water; so the matter is settled by pouring a little cow’s urine into the tanks and wells, which restores their purity.


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Rh So easily is caste set aside, when the convenience of the people themselves is concerned.

But the following are much stronger instances: the majority of the Bengalees do not eat meat, which cannot be ascribed to a compliance with the injunction against destroying life, since almost all will eat fish whenever they can procure it. The shasters do not prohibit the use of flesh; so far from it, they prescribe several sorts of flesh to be sacrificed for offerings to the manes of ancestors, yet, the habit of refraining from meat, which most probably originated in the poverty of the people, has now become so inveterate, that I have been assured by eye-witnesses, that in the great famine in Bengal in 1770 many died of starvation, who could have procured meat, if they would have eaten it.

By way of distinction from the Muhammedans, the mode of killing animals for food among the Hindus is, by cutting off the head with a sabre at one blow; but about Saharunpoor, there is a tribe of bearers, who will only eat meat that has been made “Hullal,” or lawful, that is, killed by a Moosulman butcher, who repeats a short prayer at the time of cutting the animal’s throat. This can only have arisen from accident probably, (there being a considerable Muhammedan population at that town,) because they were unable to procure meat except from a Moosulman butcher; and what must have been at first a violation of their prejudices, has become so confirmed by habit, that they continue it in preference to returning to the orthodox Hindu custom.

Another remarkable case is the fact of Hindus making offerings at the tomb of a Muhammedan saint. At Muckunpoor, about half-way between Khanpoor and Furrukhabad, is the tomb of Shekh Bujioodeen, commonly called Mudar Saheb, at which periodical festivals are held, which are attended much more by the Hindus than the Moosulmans, particularly by the Mahrattas. Had the man been originally a Hindu who became a convert to Islam, particularly if he had been forcibly made a convert, there would be some sort of reason; but, so far from this, he was originally a Jew, who became a Muhammedan, and finally a a saint; and the priests in charge of the tomb, who receive the offerings, are all of that religion. The present race merely follow


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74 It was only too true. The boys had paid no attention to their catch for some time, and the crabs had pushed their way up from beneath the seaweed, and were crawling over the edge.

"Clap something on top of the basket!" cried Sammy. "Hand me that board, Frank."

"Can't! I've got troubles of my own! Ouch, let go, can't you!" he cried to the crab, which did not seem to want to do this.

"Wow! One's got me, tool" exclaimed Bob, turning quickly about.

"Smash him against the side of the boat!" advised Sammy to Frank, and, seeing this was good advice, the boy did so.

Crack went the hard crab against the gunwale, and the claw by which it had been clinging to Frank's toe came off. Crabs claws often come loose and new ones grow on again. So the creature was not much hurt.

"Whew! That's better!" gasped Frank, as he opened the nippers of the claw that still clung to his toe, in spite of the fact that it was severed from the body of the crab.

"Let go, can't you!" cried Bob, to the crab nipping him.

"Try Frank's trick," advised Sammy.

Bob did so, but the result was not exactly what was looked for.

The boy hit the crab, that had hold of his hand, such a blow against the side of the boat, that, losing his balance. Bob leaned too far over.

"Look out! You'll upset us!" cried Frank, who was nursing his nipped toe.

It was too late. The boat tilted, and, aided by the tide and the frantic efforts of the boys to prevent it, over went the craft, spilling out the three chums, crabs, and all. Then such confusion as there was!


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490 existing custom; but how the Hindus originally began to worship at this Muhammedan saint’s tomb, it is impossible even to guess; I never met with any native, of either tribe, who could give an account of it. In some parts of the country, the Hindus will take a part in the Muhammedan festival of the Mohurrum, and join the procession, firing their matchlocks, &c., while the chorus of the chaunting of the procession is,

that is, Down with the Hindus—the Moosulmans for ever.

Some of the minor points on which they affect to be particular, are very absurd. Some will take medicine in powder which they can mix and drink themselves, but object to take it prepared. At many places, our kitchen servants agree among themselves to eat such dishes as come from our tables untouched, but not those which have been partly eaten.

A set of bearers, after a hard day’s work, will thankfully accept an unopened bottle of brandy, but will often object to receive one from which any portion has been drunk by an Englishman. The most whimsical distinction is, perhaps, to be found among the Rohilla soldiers who enlist in the cavalry of the native powers: these men will submit to be flogged within an inch of their lives with a leathern martingale, but to be struck with a whip or a cane would be an indelible disgrace, and very likely be resented by a stab or a bullet. By humouring the people, or having recourse to a little trickery, which, nevertheless, they perfectly well see through, objections may often be overcome. Carpenters will sometimes object to touch a grease pot, and ask for oil to use with their tools: only call it a butter pot, and fill it with butter the first time, the humbug will still continue, and no demur will be made to the use of it, although the men themselves carry it to the kitchen to be replenished when empty, and perfectly well know that it is filled with any sort of fat which may happen to be there. These sort of petty absurdities of caste are much stronger among the low than among those of higher castes: they are much more attended to in Bengal, where the people are a far inferior race, than in the Western Provinces. I


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Rh observe, for instance, that one cause of dislike which the natives have to the proposed fever hospital in Calcutta is, the fear that Hindus and Moosulmans would be placed in the same ward! Such an objection would never have been dreamed of in Upper India, provided their food be kept distinct. In some of the Madras provinces, the small peculiarities are preserved even more strongly than in Bengal; yet, it is strange, that and the missionaries of his time met with much greater success in conversion there, than has attended the efforts which have been made on this side of India.

The loss of caste is, as is above observed, a much less serious matter than is generally supposed; generally speaking, it is nothing more than this,—that if a man do certain things, his relations and friends refuse to eat with him, until he gives a grand entertainment, after which he is received on his former footing. This, however, is not always successful, and instances might be quoted where several hundred thousands of rupees have been expended in vain. When this is the case, it is rarely because the offence which has been committed is considered too great to be atoned for, but usually the result of some personal pique or malice on the part of some members of the tribe. There are, however, instances on the other side: a man who had committed incest with his sister was declared to have forfeited his caste, and never could regain it, from the horror with which this crime was regarded. Among the common people, the whole business is as childish as that of school-boys, where, for some nonsense, one is sent to Coventry one day, and, after distributing a shilling’s worth of nuts or plums, is on the next restored to favour: from ten to twenty rupees is sufficient to restore a man of the lower classes to his caste.

The facility with which it is accomplished depends much on the degree of friendship which exists between the individual and the influential members of his tribe; if he can form a tolerable party in his favour he is easily restored, even though he may have been rendered unclean in the highest degree. A man of low caste once imposed himself on a native officer in the Sirmoor battalion, who had left his home many years, as his son, and was received and treated as such for several months before the imposture was discovered. At first, there was a great uproar, but it


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Rh Gasping and choking, from their sudden and unexpected bath, the boys came to the surface of the water. They were all good swimmers, and, fortunately had on only thin shirts and light trousers—almost bathing suits, in fact.

"Grab the oars!" called Sammy.

"And don't let the boat get away!" added Frank.

"There go the crabs!" shouted Bob, as he saw the basket containing their catch sail away on the tide, the crabs scrambling out, rejoicing in their unexpected liberty.

"Too late! We can't save 'em—have to catch some more!" called Bob. "Get the oars and the boat!"

"Going to right the boat?" asked Frank, as he swam to get a drifting oar.

"No, it's too much work here. Let's swim with her down to the lighthouse dock, pull her out there, and dump the water out. Then we can row home."

It was good advice; and the best and easiest thing to do. With the recovered oars, and their crab nets, the boys swam along toward shore, pushing the boat ahead of them. The water was not over their heads, and soon they could wade.

"Had an upset; didn't you?" called Mr. Floyd, the light-keeper, who was at the dock as the boys came along.

"Sort of," admitted Sammy, ruefully.

"Lost all our crabs, too," added Frank.

"Yes, and mother won't like it," put in Bob. "She was counting on 'em for salad for supper."

"Never mind, as long as you're all right," advised the light-keeper. "And as for crabs, I've been amusing myself catching a mess this morning. I've got more than I want, and I'll let you have some. Big ones they are, too. Where you been?"

They told him, and then, in a sudden burst of confidence, Sammy related about the strange old man, and told of how he had driven them away from his cottage.


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492 was soon discovered, that about half the corps had lost their caste, either by eating with the impostor himself, or with those who had taken food with him; but the party was too strong for the others to make much opposition, and it was soon arranged, that by simply bathing in a sacred tank, all uncleanness would be washed away. A still stronger and more curious instance occurred in the Himalayah mountains. A leopard had killed a calf and a goat close together: the owner of the animals, on being apprized of it, thinking he might, at any rate, derive from his loss the benefit of a good supper, went in the dusk to get some of the goat’s flesh; but the carcases had been so torn limb from limb, (most probably by the foxes, for a tiger or a leopard merely eats what he requires, and leaves the rest uninjured—I have more than once, in wandering through the jungle, procured a dinner for myself and half my camp off the carcase of a fine deer which had been just killed by a tiger or a leopard,) and mixed together, that by mistake he cut the flesh from the calf, and took it home, when it was dressed and eaten by all his family: next morning, when he and some others visited the carcases to bring away the remainder of the goat’s flesh, they discovered his mistake; but, having friends to support him, he was allowed to regain his caste on making a pilgrimage. In another instance, a lad, who, in driving a calf away from some grain, unfortunately struck it on the head and killed it, was restored to his caste on as easy terms.

In certain instances, the individual is prevented from regaining his former station by the malice of some few of the tribe; sometimes this is the sole cause of his being declared to have forfeited his caste; and this is probably one of those occurrences, in attempting to interpose with which, we should find them an “ungovernable people,” as describes them. Yet, repeatedly have these cases been interfered with by the public authorities. In some of the magistrates’ courts, a complaint is occasionally preferred by an individual, that the members of his tribe have declared him to have forfeited his caste without sufficient reason: or, that having done so, all had agreed to restore him except one person, who persisted in his refusal only out of spite. In such com-


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76 Mr. Floyd chuckled, as he limped about on a cane, for he was able to be around now, though he could not go up and down the tower stairs.

"So you ran afoul of the professor; did you?" he asked with a laugh.

"Is that who he is—a professor?*' asked Sammy eagerly. "What is he always digging for—pirate's gold?"

"Land love you, boy, I don't know; and no one else does, as far as I can learn," said Mr. Floyd. "He's been in these parts for some time now, but nobody knows what his game is. Digging; eh? Yes, he's always doing that."

"At night, too," said Sammy.

"Yes, night don't seem to make any difference to him," admitted the lighthouse-keeper. "He's a mighty queer man."

"What's his name?" asked Frank, binding a bit of his hndkerchief [sic] about his crab-bitten toe, while he and the other boys sat in the warm sun on the dock, letting their clothes dry.

"Watson—Professor Watson he calls himself," said Mr. Floyd. "No one seems to know much about him. He doesn't mix with us folks much—lives all alone in that cabin."

"Do you really think he might be looking for the pirate gold?" asked Sammy eagerly.

"Well, he might be," admitted Mr. Floyd. "Lots of wiser folks, and some more foolish than he seems to be, have dug for it—but never found it. He might have the craze, too. But I wouldn't advise you boys to bother him too much."

"Is he dangerous?" asked Bob.

"No, I wouldn't go so far as to say that," replied the light-keeper, slowly. "But you know you have no right to go on his land, and he might have you arrested."

"Did he ever have anyone taken in?" Frank wanted to know.

"No, but he sued Nate Hardon, his next door neighbor, be-


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Rh cause Nate's dog dug up the garden. And the funny thing of it was that the professor didn't have anything planted in that garden, as far as any of us could find out. He just got provoked because Nate's dog dug some holes, and he sued Nate. He won his case, too, and got six cents damage."

"Six cents! Is that all?" asked Sammy, in surprise.

"Oh, he didn't want the money," explained the light-keeper. "He just wanted the courts to say that Nate's dog had no right in the garden, and it hadn't, I s'pose. Anyhow, Nate had to build his fence over.

"But the professor, as we call him, is sure a queer character. I don't know what he's after, but whatever it is he hasn't found it. We folks leave him alone, and I guess you boys had better, too."

"Did you see him around here that night, when the light went out?" asked Sammy.

"No, I didn't," answered Mr. Floyd, and Sammy did not say why he had asked.

The boys' clothing was nearly dry now, and, the water having been emptied from the boat, which was pulled up on the beach, the lads started for Barnacle Cottage.

They took with them some of the crabs Mr. Floyd gave them, so their accident did not prevent Mr. Bouncer from having a fine supper that night. The boys built a fire out of doors, and boiled the crabs, afterward picking the meat out of the shells.

Talk as they did over the queer encounter with Professor Watson they could not come to any understanding of what object he might have in digging in various places. Sammy still stuck to his idea about the buried gold, but his chums did not agree with him.

Vacation days at Lighthouse Cove were slipping by. Already about half the Summer was gone, and the boys were


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78 counting with regret on the time when they would have to go back to Fairview and to school.

They had more good times this Summer, so they said, than ever before. They went in swimming, rowed about in their boat, and caught so many fish and crabs that Mr. Bouncer said he could feel the salt water running out of his ears.

More visits were paid to the lighthouse, too, and the boys were always welcome there since they had done Mr. Floyd such a service. The light-keeper told them many fine stories.

At other times they went to the ocean beach, where the surf was heavier than in the cove near Barnacle Cottage. They were allowed to bathe in the shallow part of the ocean, near shore, but Mr. or Mrs. Bouncer kept sharp watch over them at such times.

The boys made many acquaintances among the fishermen and sailors who lived at the Cove, and were often taken out in the boats. Best of all they liked to go with Silas Warner, who had a large motor boat, one that was able to go through the inlet, and out to sea, when it was not too rough. Silas often went on long fishing trips, and when he only cruised about in the Cove Mrs. Bouncer allowed her son and his chums to go with him.

But she would never consent to their going out on the open ocean, though Silas often offered to take them. His boat, the Skip, had a cabin, and several persons could sleep aboard her.

"The ocean is too dangerous for the boys," said Mrs. Bouncer.

One day when Bob and his chums were down at Silas Warner's dock, watching him fix the engine in the Skip, he called to them:

"Want to come for a ride?"

"Sure. Where you going?" asked Bob.


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Rh "Oh, down by the bridge. I've got to get some supplies. I won't be very long."

The bridge was down near the inlet, where the ocean and cove met, surging their waters together over the sand bar. It was a fine, long trip.

"I guess we can go," said Bob, as he ran to ask his mother. She gave her permission, for the day was a fine, calm one, although hot, and she knew the boys would enjoy the trip on the water.

Soon, in the big motor boat, with Silas at the wheel, the boys started off in great delight. They waved good-bye to Mrs. Bouncer, who stood in the doorway of the cottage. Little did the boys think how much would happen before they saw her again.


text: Fairview Boys at Lighthouse Cove/Chapter 9


text: Notes on Indian Affairs/Volume II/LXI

title: Notes on Indian Affairs/Volume II/LXI


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138 slaves, and to have shed tears at the death of one of these ugly favourites, would have probably laughed at Cicero's concern for Sositheus and Tiro.

But indeed every glimpse of this kind which Cicero's correspondence affords us gives token of a kindly heart, and makes us long to know something more. Some have suspected him of a want of filial affection, owing to a somewhat abrupt and curt announcement in a letter to Atticus of his father's death; and his stanch defenders propose to adopt, with Madvig, the reading, discessit—"left us," instead of decessit—"died." There really seems no occasion. Unless Atticus knew the father intimately, there was no need to dilate upon the old man's death; and Cicero mentions subsequently, in terms quite as brief, the marriage of his daughter and the birth of his son—events in which we are assured he felt deeply interested. If any further ex-planation of this seeming coldness be required, the following remarks of Mr Forsyth are apposite and true:—

"The truth is, that what we call sentiment was almost unknown to the ancient Romans, in whose writings it would be as vain to look for it as to look for traces of Gothic architecture amongst classic ruins. And this is something more than a mere illustration. It suggests a reason for the absence. Romance and sentiment came from the dark forests of the North, when Scandinavia and Germany poured forth their hordes to subdue and people the Roman Empire. The life of a citizen of the Republic of Rome was essentially a public life. The love of country was there carried to an extravagant length, and was paramount to, and almost swallowed up, the private and social affections. The state was everything, the individual com-

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Rh Petworth measured one which exceeds in height the group of three which grow near my own house at Colesborne, of which I give an illustration (Plate 63). The height of these as measured in 1902 by Sir Hugh Beevor and myself was 105 feet, and the girth of the largest 11 feet. They grow in a sheltered situation, on damp, cold soil. One of these trees being inclined to split at the base, owing to the great weight and length of one of its principal limbs, was chained up many years ago, and though the iron band which was put round it has become buried in the wood the limb has not broken off.

At Dynevor Castle, Carmarthenshire, the seat of Lord Dynevor, where the park contains a greater number of fine trees than any I have seen in South Wales, there is a very large tree which the Hon. W. Rice measured in 1906 and found to be 109 feet by 17 feet 9 inches. For height and girth combined this seems to be the largest tree in Great Britain.

The tallest tree I have seen is in a grove of beech, chestnut, oak, and silver fir, which grows near the house at Petworth Park, the seat of Lord Leconfield in Sussex, on a deep greensand formation. This tree, though forked at six feet from the ground, has been drawn up to a great height by the trees surrounding it, and though difficult to measure exactly, probably exceeds 115, and may be 120 feet. The two stems are g feet 8 inches and 8 feet respectively in girth.

In Bushy Park most of the horse-chestnuts are past their prime; many of the old trees are dead and have been replaced by young ones. The largest, seen in 1906, was growing near the gate; it had a bole of 20 feet giving off four great stems, and measured 100 feet high by 16 feet 5 inches in girth. Another near the pond was 101 feet by 16 feet 1 inch.

At Birchanger Place, near Bishop Stortford, the seat of T. Harrison, Esq., there is one of the largest and finest trees in England, which measures about 80 feet by 20 feet, with a bole about 15 feet high and a spread of 32 yards; a beautiful photograph was taken in 1864 when the tree was in flower, but it is now partially decayed on the north side, and has lost some large branches.

At West,Dean Park, Sussex, the seat of W.D. James, Esq., there is a large tree about 70 feet by 16 feet, with branches spreading over an area no less than 36 yards in diameter.

At Hampton Court, Herefordshire, the seat of John Arkwright, Esq., there is a very fine tree growing on deep alluvial soil in the big meadow south of the house. Measured by T. Hogg in 1881 it was 93 feet by 16 feet 6 inches. When I saw it in 1905 it had increased about three feet in height and was 18 feet 7 inches in girth, and still handsome and vigorous.

The largest trees I have seen as regards girth and spread of branches are in Ashridge Park, on a bank near the lodge on the Berkhampstead road. The largest of these is about 80 feet high and 20 feet in girth, with extremely wide-spreading branches, and there are several others of 16 to 17 feet girth in the row. These trees are growing on a dry, flinty, calcareous loam.


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Rh paratively nothing. In one of the letters of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius to Fronto, there is a passage in which he says that the Roman language had no word corresponding with the Greek ,—the affectionate love for parents and children. Upon this Niebuhr remarks that the feeling was 'not a Roman one; but Cicero possessed it in a degree which few Romans could comprehend, and hence he was laughed at for the grief which he felt at the death of his daughter Tullia.

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Rh plaints, should the forfeiting of the caste have arisen from some petty absurdity, the usual plan was, to fine the refractory party, which generally induced them, for fear of another fine, to adjust matters to the satisfaction of the complainant. On one occasion, however, in a remote district, where a spiteful attempt was made to deprive a man of his caste, on a false charge of adultery, the party proved very refractory; paid several heavy fines; but still held out in their refusal to restore the complainant. At this time the magistrate before whom the case was pending, received a visit from an independent Rajah, of high caste; he took the opportunity of mentioning the circumstance, and asked the Rajah what his decision would be in a similar case: the Rajah replied, “I should merely collect the heads of the tribe together, with the accused individual with his lotah full of water, and give them the option of drinking a little of it voluntarily, or of having water poured down their throats by a sweeper.” The magistrate did so. The refractory party held a meeting, and restored the injured individual to his caste without delay.

The institution of caste has some beneficial effects, although Ward, with his usual prejudice against everything of native origin, represents it as one of unmixed evil. The causes he mentions which entail a forfeiture of caste, are all of a frivolous nature; and though he does not go so far as to say that morality has nothing to do with it, he carefully avoids telling the whole truth on the subject. Instances in every province may be found, of men excluded from caste for some immorality of which they have been guilty: I grant, that it is much more frequently caused by some trifling matter, and that the institution of caste has produced on the whole much more evil than good; still when we are discussing the subject, it is but fair to show both sides of the picture. The loss of caste in the present day is, in fact, a much less important matter than the publications drawn from the sacred books and Brahminical dogmas would lead us to believe. Some rare instances there are of men, whose strong sense of shame rendered existence more painful than death, and who, accordingly, committed suicide; but numbers live just as


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Rh

The wood of the horse-chestnut is one of the poorest and least valuable we have, on account of its softness and want of strength and durability. Though it has a fine close and even grain, white or yellowish-white colour, and is not liable to twist or warp so much as most woods, it does not cut cleanly, decays rapidly, and is only used as a rule for such purposes as cheap packing-cases and linings.

It burns so badly that it is of little use as firewood, and though occasionally cut into veneers or used as a cheap substitute for sycamore, poplar, and lime, in making dairy utensils, platters, and brush backs, it cannot be said to have a regular market. From 4d. to 8d. a foot is about the usual value in most parts of England, though Webster says that it was worth a shilling in Banffshire some years ago.

Holtzapffel says that it is one of the white woods of the Tunbridge turner, a useful wood for brush backs and turnery, preferable to holly for large varnished and painted works on account of its great size.

I am not aware whether it has been tried for pulp-making, but it would seem to be a suitable wood for that purpose on account of its softness, and could, if required, be produced in quantity at a low price.

A small tree, occasionally 50 feet, but rarely exceeding 30 feet in height. Leaves resembling those of the common horse-chestnut, but darker green with an uneven surface, the leaflets being shortly stalked and more or less curved and twisted. Flowers red, showing as they open an orange-coloured blotch at the base of the petals, which afterwards becomes deep red. Petals five, standing nearly erect, their limbs not spreading horizontally at right angles to the claws, as occurs in the common horse-chestnut; edges of the petals furnished with minute glands, like those present in Æsculus Pavia. Fruits with slender prickles.

In winter, the species is distinguished as follows:—Twigs rather stout, grey, shortly pubescent; leaf-scars as in Æsculus Hippocastanum. Buds slightly viscid and smaller than in that species; scales brown, edged with a dry membranous dark-coloured rim. Lateral buds small, oval, pointed, arising from the twig at an acute angle. Rh


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Rh know." Then he concludes: "Over and over again, I beg you to take care to get well, and to send me a letter whenever you have an opportunity. Farewell, again and again."

Tiro got well, and outlived his kind master, who, very soon after this, presented him with his freedom. It is to him that we are said to be indebted for the preservation and publication of Cicero's correspond-ence. He wrote, also, a biography of him, which Plutarch had seen, and of which he probably made use in his own 'Life of Cicero,' but which has not come down to us.

There was another of his household for whom Cicero had the same affection. This was Sositheus, also a slave, but a man, like Tiro, of some considerable education, whom he employed as his reader. His death affected Cicero quite as the loss of a friend. Indeed, his anxiety is such, that his Roman dignity is almost ashamed of it. "I grieve," he says, "more than I ought for a mere slave." Just as one might now apologise for making too much fuss about a favourite dog; for the slave was looked upon in scarcely a higher light in civilised Rome. They spoke of him in the neuter gender, as a chattel; and it was gravely discussed, in case of danger in a storm at sea, which it would be right first to cast overboard to lighten the ship, a valuable horse or an indifferent slave. Hortensius, the rival advocate who has been mentioned, a man of more luxurious habits and less kindly spirit than Cicero, who was said to feed the pet lampreys in his stews much better than he did his

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Rh

A large tree, attaining in India 150 feet in height and 4o feet in girth of stem. Bark in old trees peeling off in long strips. Leaves large, glabrous, dark green above, pale, almost glaucous beneath; leaflets five to nine, stalked, obovatelanceolate, acuminate, finely and sharply serrate, with about twenty pairs of nerves in the terminal leaflet. Panicles 12 to 15 inches long, loose, narrow, erect. Flowers large, about 1 inch long; calyx ⅓ inch long, irregularly lobed, often splitting so as to appear two-lipped. Petals four, white, of two unequal pairs; the upper pair narrow and long with a red and yellow blotch at the base, the lower pair flushed with pink. Stamens seven or eight, scarcely longer than the petals, spreading. Fruit brown, rough, without spines, irregularly ovoid, one to two inches long, containing one to three dark brown shining seeds.

In summer the viscid buds and the large stalked leaflets with finely serrate margins distinguish it from the other species in cultivation In winter the twigs show the following characters:—Branchlets coarse, shortly pubescent; lenticels like brown raised warts, numerous; pith circular, white; leaf-scars on slightly prominent cushions, each pair wide apart and joined by a raised linear ridge, obovate or semicircular with a raised rim and three groups of bundle-dots. Buds viscid, greenish, the lower scales only being brown; terminal buds ovoid, pointed, the two lowest scales having projecting beaks; scales not ciliate, the outermost four pubescent; lateral buds small, arising at an acute angle.

It is a common tree in the north-west Himalayas from the Indus to Nepal, occurring at elevations of from 4000 to 10,000 feet, and also occurs in Afghanistan. Sir George Watt informs me that he has measured many trees 150 feet in height with trunks of enormous size, a girth of 4o feet not being uncommon. The wood is used in building and for making water-troughs, platters, vases, cups, packing-cases, and tea-boxes. The twigs and leaves are lopped for use as fodder. The fruit is given as food to cattle and goats; ground and mixed with ordinary flour, it is part of the dietary of the hill tribes. The bark of old trees is very remarkable in appearance, exfoliating in long flakes, which remain attached at their upper ends and hang downwards and outwards.


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494 happily as if nothing had happened, and maintain just the same social intercourse with those around them; with the sole exception of not eating together. The descendants of a man thus situated, adopting some specific denomination, become a new sub-division: nineteen-twentieths of the present enormous number of castes have, without doubt, been formed in this way. Some treat the matter with the greatest indifference: on one occasion a poor man, a carpenter, had been turned out of caste, but his tribe offered to restore him, if he would give an entertainment which was to cost twenty rupees; he replied, “Such a sum is more than the matter is worth,” and, in order to belong to some sect, turned Muhammedan.

A few remarks on conversion to Hinduism will conclude the present discussions. The anomaly on this head is very great: in theory, the Hindu religion does not admit of converts:—in practice it does. In theory, all the world are considered to have been originally Hindus, and that the Christians, Jews, Muhammedans, and other sects, have become outcasts, by neglecting the proper ceremonies, and adopting others; and that they now cannot again be received within the pale; but in practice, it is quite different. The Lodhas, the Mahrattas, the Goojars, and various other tribes, have gradually slid into a sort of Hinduism, by adopting the customs and ceremonies, and employing Brahmins as priests. The Goorkhas, who, strictly speaking, originally were of no caste, on the conquest of Kumoun and other provinces, where, among some of the people, caste is rigidly adhered to, adopted the Hindu practices and notions, and have contrived to get themselves included within the pale; some of them being actually considered on a par with Rajpoots, and other high castes among the Hindus. In the Himalayah, there is a tribe of Bhoteeas who have also done so, and these are the remnant of a Muhammedan body of troops, who, in invasion of Hindostan, were sent under one of his atabegs (chiefs) to conquer Kumoun. This governor ruled there for about twenty years, but being unsupported, his party were gradually forced to retreat into the province they now occupy, situated within the line of the snowy peaks, upon one of the passes into Chinese Tartary. No


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136 apparently, what he pleases. Several of his letters to his friend Atticus, at this date, speak in the most anxious and affectionate terms of the serious illness of this faithful servant. Just as he and his party are starting from Leucas, they send a note "from Cicero and his son, and Quintus the elder and younger, to their best and kindest Tiro." Then from Rome comes a letter in the name of the whole family, wife and daughter included:—

"Although I miss your able and willing service every moment, still it is not on my own account so much as yours that I am sorry you are not well. But as your illness has now taken the form of a quartan fever (for so Curius writes), I hope, if you take care of yourself, you will soon be stronger. Only be sure, if you have any kindness for me, not to trouble yourself about anything else just now, except how to get well as soon as may be. I am quite aware how much you regret not being with me; but everything will go right if you get well. I would not have you hurry, or undergo the annoyance of sea-sickness while you are weak, or risk a sea-voyage in winter." Then he tells him all the news from Rome; how there had been quite an ovation on his arrival there; how Cæsar was (he thought) growing dangerous to the state; and how his own coveted "triumph" was still postponed. "All this," he says, "I thought you would like to

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Rh

A tree attaining in Japan, according to Shirasawa, 100 feet in height and 20 feet in girth of stem. Bark thick and scaly. Leaves resembling those of the common horse- chestnut, but much larger, mainly differing in the serration, which is finely crenate. Leaflets five to seven, sessile, obovate-cuneate, occasionally as much as 15 inches long, abruptly acuminate, pubescent beneath. The terminal leaflet has fifteen to twenty-two pairs of nerves. Petiole remaining pubescent towards the tip. Panicles 6 to 10 inches long, dense, somewhat narrow. Flowers yellowish-white, smaller than those of Æsculus Hippocastanum. Fruit slightly pear-shaped, 1½ to 2 inches in diameter, four to five on a verrucose rhachis, brown, warty, without spines; valves three, thick; seeds usually two.

In summer only liable to be confused with the European species, from which it is distinguished by the character of the serration of the leaflets. In winter the twigs closely resemble those of that species, but are not so stout; they are similarly pubescent towards the tip, and are marked with smaller but similar five to seven dotted leaf-scars. Buds smaller, equally viscid, the scales, however, not being uniform in colour, but partly light chestnut brown and partly dark brown. Pith large, irregularly circular in cross-section, and yellowish in tint.

The tree is known in Japan as Tochinoki, and is common in the forests at 1500 to 5500 feet elevation in the mountains of the main island, descending to lower levels in Yezo. It is recorded by Debeaux, Fl. Shanghai, 22, from the provinces of Kiangsu and Chekiang; but no one else has seen the tree in China, and Debeaux's identification is probably incorrect.

The exact date of the introduction of the tree into Europe is uncertain, but it is supposed to be about thirty years ago. It has often passed under the name of Æsculus chinensis, an entirely different species. It first produced fruit in 1888 in the arboretum at Segrez in France. It flowered in 1901 at Coombe Wood. As only small trees are known to exist in England, the hardiness of the tree and its suitability for garden decoration are as yet unproved; but at Tortworth it is growing vigorously, and has ripened its buds well whilst still quite small;


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Rh Englishman would find any difficulty in procuring a Brahmin to perform worship on his account, and to serve him as a family priest; and I am convinced that any tribe, even English or Muhammedan, might, by adopting the same means, in the course of time become a sort of Hindu, and be recognised as such: their specific appellation would be “Moslem Hindu,” and “Foringhee Hindu.” True, few other castes would eat with them, but that is nothing against the above observations, since, among the orthodox Hindus, there are many castes none of whom will eat with any other. There is a curious circumstance connected with conversion to be found among a large number of Muhammedans in Saharunpoor. The ancestors of these men were Rajpoots, and were converted about three centuries ago: they have intermarried with the Puthans, or Rohillas, and in personal appearance bear a striking resemblance to these; yet, to this day, they pride themselves on their Rajpoot origin, and if one of them were pledging himself to any service of difficulty or danger, he would say, “I am the descendant of a Rajpoot,—I will not deceive you, or fail to do my utmost.”

The above remarks are thrown together in a desultory manner, for the subject is one which it is difficult to treat with method or regularity; the institution of caste, as it exists in practice, is so full of absurdities and contradictions, that it is impossible to deduce any rules founded on a general principle; and I have only given the result of several years’ practical observation, without attempting to arrange the data in any connected form. There can be no doubt that caste is gradually losing the influence it once held over the people of India; and, although it has, upon the whole, been productive of more evil than good, its sudden abolition, supposing this were practicable, would be by no means beneficial, as it would remove one check before another was imposed. It will gradually die away as the people become more educated and enlightened, and it is probable that much good might be effected by a judicious interference on the part of the official functionaries in the mode above mentioned. The institution of caste, in itself, whatever may be imagined, forms but a very small bar against conversion to Christianity; the


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134 kindness of heart. Tiro was a slave; but this must be taken with some explanation. The slaves in a household like Cicero's would vary in position from the lowest menial to the important major-domo and the confidential secretary. Tiro was of this higher class. He had probably been born and brought up in the service, like Eliezer in the household of Abraham, and had become, like him, the trusted agent of his master and the friend of the whole family. He was evidently a person of considerable ability and accomplishments, acting as literary amanuensis, and indeed in some sort as a domestic critic, to his busy master. He had accompanied him to his government in Cilicia, and on the return home had been taken ill, and obliged to be left behind at Patræ. And this is Cicero's affectionate letter to him, written from Leucas (Santa Maura) the day afterwards:—

"I thought I could have borne the separation from you better, but it is plainly impossible; and although it is of great importance to the honours which I am expecting that I should get to Rome as soon as possible, yet I feel I made a great mistake in leaving you behind. But as it seemed to be your wish not to make the voyage until your health was restored, I approved your decision. Nor do I think otherwise now, if you are still of the same opinion. But if hereafter, when you are able to eat as usual, you think you can follow me here, it is for you to decide. I sent

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Rh Mario to you, telling him either to join me with you as soon as possible, or, if you are delayed, to come back here at once. But be assured of this, that if it can be so without risk to your health, there is nothing I wish so much as to have you with me. Only, if you feel it necessary for your recovery to stay a little longer at Patræ, there is nothing I wish so much as for you to get well. If you sail at once, you will catch us at Leucas. But if you want to get well first, take care to secure pleasant companions, fine weather, and a good ship. Mind this, my good Tiro, if you love me—let neither Mario's visit nor this letter hurry you. By doing what is best for your own health, you will be best obeying my directions. Consider these points with your usual good sense. I miss you very much; but then I love you, and my affection makes me wish to see you well, just as my want of you makes me long to see you as soon as possible. But the first point is the most important. Above all, therefore, take care to get well : of all your innumerable services to me, this will be the most acceptable."

Cicero writes to him continually during his own journey homewards with the most thoughtful kindness, begs that he will be cautious as to what vessel he sails in, and recommends specially one very careful captain. He has left a horse and a mule ready for him when he lands at Brundusium. Then he hears that Tiro had been foolish enough to go to a concert, or something of the kind, before he was strong, for which he mildly reproves him. He has written to the physician to spare no care or pains, and to charge,

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496 example of Baba Nanuk, who converted sufficient numbers to form a nation, sufficiently proves this, although one of the fundamental tenets of the Sikhs was the destruction of all caste; and when attempts to induce the natives to adopt the Christian religion are properly conducted, it may reasonably be expected, under the Divine blessing, that the result will be very different

September 5th, 1835.

Two papers, Nos. X. and XL., have already been devoted to this subject; but as its importance will form a sufficient excuse, I shall make no apology for offering the following additional and concluding observations to the notice of my readers.

The great object is to bring the two classes into closer intercourse, and thereby enable them to know a little more of each other; the want of which knowledge is the cause of so much evil. Generally speaking, we know so little of the habits, feelings, and sentiments of the people, that even those who are really anxious to promote their welfare, are often quite at a loss how to make the attempt: a more familiar intercourse would, in a considerable degree, remedy all this, and it should be the more particularly urged on the young men who successively arrive in India in the service of Government; first, because they are but temporary sojourners in this country, and are often, within a short time after leaving college, placed in situations of trust and responsibility: secondly, because during the first two or three years of their residence, they will have much more leisure to devote to this object than they ever will enjoy afterwards: and, thirdly, as first impressions are so difficult to eradicate, it is important that their opinions of the people should be drawn from intercourse with the respectable classes, instead of, as is so often the case at present, being formed from observations of the conduct of the worst part of the community.


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A GERMAN TALE.

BY MRS. PARSONS.

VOLUNTARY EXILE, &c.

VOL. I.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM LANE,


text: The Mysterious Warning

title: The Mysterious Warning


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Rh

A tree attaining 70 feet in height and 6 feet in girth in America. Bark dark brown and scaly, becoming in old trees ¾ inch thick, ashy-grey, densely furrowed and broken into thick plates roughened on the surface by numerous small scales. Leaves with long slender stalks; leaflets five, oval or obovate-cuneate, long-acuminate, finely serrate in margin, with tufts of hairs in the bases of the serrations, glabrous underneath except for a few hairs along the midrib and tufts in the axils; petiolules short. Terminal leaflet with about fifteen pairs of nerves. Flowers in pubescent panicles, 5 to 6 inches long; calyx campanulate; petals four, pale yellow; claws shorter than the calyx; limbs twice as long as the claws, broadly ovate or oblong in the lateral pair, oblong-spathulate, much narrower and sometimes red-striped in the upper pair. Stamens usually seven, long, exserted, pubescent. Ovary pubescent. Fruit ovate or obovate, brown, 1 to 2 inches long, roughened by prickles.

The species is distinguished in summer by the glabrous leaves, which always show some cilia in the bases of the serrations. In winter the following characters of the twigs and buds may be recognised:—Twigs glabrous, shining, with orangecoloured lenticels. Leaf-scars slightly oblique on obscure leaf-cushions, crescentic or semicircular, with three groups of bundle-dots, the opposite scars wide apart and often not joined by any linear ridge. Pith large, circular, greenish. Buds not viscid; terminal much larger than the lateral, the latter arising from the twig at an angle of 45°; ovoid, acuminate; scales keeled on the back, ciliate in margin, acuminate, the pointed tips being raised outwardly, dark brown.

Var. Buckleyi, Sargent (Æsculus arguta, Buckley, Proc. Acad. Phil. 1860, p. 448), is a geographical form, occurring in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, and characterised by six to seven leaflets, which are sharply and unequally serrate.

No well-marked horticultural varieties are known.

The type occurs in alluvial soil in Atlantic North America, from Pennsylvania to N. Alabama, and westward to S. Iowa, Central Kansas, Indian Territory, and S. Nebraska. Sargent says that it is nowhere very common and from an ornamental point of view very inferior to Æsculus octandra.

This species was introduced, according to Loudon, in 1812, but appears to be very rare in this country. At Devonshurst, Chiswick, a tree cut down in 1905 was 60 feet in height by 6 feet in girth, but though the tree probably exists in some nurseries and old gardens, where it is mistaken for Æsculus octandra, more commonly than is supposed, we cannot mention any which are remarkable.


text: Notes on Indian Affairs/Volume II/LX

title: Notes on Indian Affairs/Volume II/LX


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Page:The Works of Honoré de Balzac Volume 29.djvu/50

22 that Chouan yonder," again he pointed to Marche-à-Terre, "tells me that he is close upon us. But there is no need to teach grimaces to an old monkey, and you will help me now to cage my linnets, and in less than no time. A pretty idiot I should be to let myself be snared like a bird, and that by a ci-devant from London, come over here pretending that he wants to dust our jackets."

Thus informed in confidence of the critical state of affairs, the two officers, who knew that their commandant never alarmed himself without good reason, assumed that gravity of expression common to soldiers in pressing danger, who have been thoroughly tempered and have some insight into the ways of mankind. Gérard, whose rank, since suppressed, brought him into close contact with his commandant, made up his mind to reply, and to ask for the rest of the political news which had evidently been passed over; but a sign from Hulot kept him silent, and all three of them fell to scrutinizing Marche-à-Terre.

The Chouan showed not the least sign of agitation at finding himself watched in this way by men as formidable intellectually as they were physically. This sort of warfare was a novelty to the two officers; their curiosity was keenly excited by the opening event, and the whole matter seemed to be invested with an almost romantic interest. They were inclined to joke about it; but at the first word which they let fall, Hulot looked at them sternly and said:

"Tonnerre de Dieu, citizens! don't smoke your pipes over a barrel of powder. You might as well amuse yourselves with carrying water in a basket, as by showing courage where it isn't wanted. Gérard," he continued, leaning over, and whispering in the adjutant's ear, "get nearer to the brigand bit by bit, and if he makes the least suspicious movement, run him through the body at once. And I myself will take measures for keeping up the conversation if our unknown friends really have a mind to begin it."

Gérard bent his head slightly in obedience. Then he began to look round at different points in the landscape of the val-


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Rh colour from yellowish to pink. The edges of the petals show a few glands and are tufted ciliate.

A considerable number of forms of this variety are known in cultivation in which slight differences occur in the length and shape of the petals. Æsculus Lyoni and Æsculus Whitleyi are apparently sub-varieties of this hybrid. The forms with red flowers are often known in gardens as Pavia rubra, a name which belongs properly to Æsculus Pavia.

This tree occurs in alluvial soil of river valleys and on moist mountain slopes, from Pennsylvania southward to Georgia and N. Alabama; and westward to S. Iowa, Indian Territory, and W. Texas. Sargent says that when at its best on the slopes of the Tennessee and Carolina mountains, it sends up a straight shaft

sometimes free of branches for 60 to 70 feet, and reaches a total height of 90 feet.

According to Loudon this species was introduced into England in 1764, but though more common in cultivation than any Æsculus except A. Hippocastanum, and apparently not particular about soil, it does not attain any great size. It is perfectly hardy at Colesborne, and ripens fruit in most years, from which I have raised seedlings, which, however, do not grow so fast or well as those of the common horse-chestnut. A seedling raised from a tree at Tortworth in 1905 was 6 inches high in the first year, and some raised from seed which I gathered in the Arnold arboretum, which germinated earlier, were much injured by the frost of May 21–22.

At Syon there are two trees, probably of a great age, both grafted on the common horse-chestnut. One is 65 feet high by 4 feet 4 inches in girth; the other is 56 feet high by 6 feet 4 inches in girth, with a bole of 7 feet, dividing into three stems, which form a wide-spreading crown. A tree at Belton Park, Lincolnshire, was, in 1904, 50 feet high by 3 feet 4 inches in girth, with a fine straight stem, drawn up in a wood. Another, crowded by other trees near the Broad Water at Fairford Park, Gloucestershire, measures about 60 feet by 4 feet 5 inches. A selfsown seedling was growing near it in 1903. There is also a tree, measuring about

50 feet by 5 feet 6 inches, at Charlton Kings, near Cheltenham. Rh


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Rh

trees belonging to the natural order Coniferæ. Branches horizontal or pendulous, pinnately and irregularly ramified. Buds, one terminal and a few lateral, arising irregularly in the axils of some of the leaves of the current year's shoot, most of the leaves being without buds in their axils. Leaves linear, arising from the branchlets in spiral order, and usually thrown by a twisting of their petioles into a pectinate arrangement, or in one species spreading radially. Petioles short, arising from prominent leaf-bases on the branchlets, appressed against the twigs, a sharp angle being formed by the leaf with the stalk at the point of junction. The leaf has one resin-canal, lying in the middle line between the vascular bundle and the epidermis of the lower surface. The leaves persist for several years; and all the species have in consequence of this and their numerous and fine branchlets very dense foliage.

Flowers monœcious. Male flowers in the axils of the leaves of the previous years shoot near its apex, composed of numerous spirally arranged, short-stalked, two-celled anthers, with glandular-tipped connectives. Female flowers terminal on lateral shoots of the previous year, short-stalked or sub-sessile, erect, composed of spirally arranged, nearly circular scales, and membranous, usually shorter bracts. Ovules, two on each scale. Cones solitary, small, composed of concave woody imbricated scales, which persist on the axis of the cone after the escape of the seeds, and of inconspicuous bracts, which, except in one species, are concealed between the scales. The cones, ripening in one season, allow the seeds to fall out in the first autumn or winter, but remain on the tree until the summer or autumn of the second year. The seeds, two on each scale, are minute, furnished with resin vesicles and winged. The seedling has three to six cotyledons, which bear stomata on their upper surface.

Tsuga is confined to temperate North America, Japan, China, and the Himalayas. The genus consists of nine species, and is divided into two sections:—

I. Hesperopeuce, Engelmann, in Brewer and Watson, ''Bot. California,'' i. 121 (1880).

Leaves rounded or keeled above, bearing stomata on both surfaces, and radially arranged; the shorter and lateral branchlets standing in a plane at right angles


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 1

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 1


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 2

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 2


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Rh Leaves, ¼ to ¾ inch long, oblong, rounded at the apex, which is entire, minutely notched or mucronate; lower surface with two narrow well-defined white stomatic bands. Buds reddish, ovoid, sharp-pointed; scales indistinctly keeled.

In addition to the preceding, two species of Tsuga, belonging to this section, occur in China. They are as yet imperfectly known. Tsuga chinensis, Masters, a native of the high mountains of Szechuan, is closely allied to Tsuga dwversifolia, and, like it, has pubescent young shoots. It differs in the cones, which are quite sessile, and have very lustrous scales. The leaves are described as being green beneath; but this is probably an inconstant character.

Tsuga yunnanensis, Masters, which was discovered by Pére Delavay in the mountains near Likiang in Yunnan, is unknown to me. Franchet considers it to be closely allied to T. Sieboldii.

A tree, occasionally attaining in America 150 feet in height, with a girth of 15 feet. Bark dark cinnamon in colour, deeply divided into rounded connected scaly ridges. Shoots brownish-grey, and densely pubescent. Branchlets in different planes, the shorter and lateral ones usually arising on the upper side of the longer and terminal ones, and disposed at right angles to them, giving a tufted appearance to the branch. Leaves radially arranged on the branchlets, not markedly different in size, # to 1 inch long, curved, linear; apex usually rounded and obtuse, rarely acute; upper surface convex and keeled towards the apex; lower surface rounded with a median groove; both surfaces with about eight lines of stomata, which are sparse and do not form conspicuous white bands; margin entire. Buds brownish, ovoid, acute at the apex, composed of a few closely imbricated, strongly keeled scales.

Cones sessile, about two inches long, oblong cylindrical, tapering at the apex and slightly narrowed at the base, composed of five series of scales, each series with


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 3

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 3


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 4

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 4


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 5

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 5


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 6

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 6


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 7

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 7


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 8

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 8


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 9

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 9


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124 (2) For edaphic forms the term varietas followed by the ordinary ecological term such as ophytica halophytica, etc.

(3) For life-period forms varietas annua, biennia, etc.

(4) For seasonal forms varietas hyemalis, aestivalis, etc.

(5) For "lines" varietas Mendeliana followed by the letters of the Greek alphabet.

(6) For forms of inconstant species forma is the ultimate unit, to be grouped about recognizable lines of evolution in various ways. For this case it is not possible to suggest hard and fast rules. The study of these inconstant species is a special one, for which the name micro-systematics might be used. A good many European and American genera have been studied in minute detail, and recently Ammannia and Rotala in India by Blatter and Hallberg in Journ. Bom. Nat. Hist Soc.

C. For hybrids the usual multiplication sign.

It will be argued that we do not know which variant forms are to be assigned to which class in the above scheme. And this is true. But temporary ignorance is no valid excuse for continuing to confuse under one term phenomena which are not homologous. Gradually the truth will emerge.


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title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 10


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 11

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 11


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 please Eveena that I had at last come to an understanding with the companion she avowedly liked the best.

"But, Eunane," I said at last, "do you remember what you were saying when I called you—called you on purpose to stop you? You said that there was something between Eveena and myself more than—more than what? What did you mean? Speak frankly, child; I know that this time you were not going to scald me on purpose."

"I don't know quite what I meant," she replied simply. "But the first time you took me out, I heard the superintendent say some strange things; and then he checked himself when he found your companion was not Eveena. Then Eivé—I mean—you use expressions sometimes in talking to Eveena that we never heard before. I think there is some secret between you."

"And if there be, Eunane, were you going to betray it—to set Enva and Leenoo on to find it out?"

"I did not think," she said. "I never do think before I get into trouble. I don't say, forgive me this time; but I will hold my tongue for the future."

By this time our evening meal was ready. As I led Eunane to her place, Eveena looked up with some little surprise. It was rarely that, especially on returning from absence, I had sought any other company than hers. But there was no tinge of jealousy or doubt in her look. On the contrary, as, with her entire comprehension of every expression of my face, and her quickness to read the looks of others, she saw in both countenances that we were on better terms than ever before,


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 her own brightened at the thought. As I placed myself beside her, she stole her hand unobserved into mine, and pressed it as she whispered—

"You have found her out at last. She is half a child as yet; but she has a heart—and perhaps the only one among them."

"The four," as I called them, looked up as we approached with eager malice:—bitterly disappointed, when they saw that Eunane had won something more than pardon. Whatever penance they had dreaded, their own escape ill compensated the loss of their expected pleasure in the pain and humiliation of a finer nature. Eunane's look, timidly appealing to her to ratify our full reconciliation, answered by Eveena's smile of tender, sisterly sympathy, enhanced and completed their discomfiture.


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 13

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 13


text: Across the Zodiac: the Story of a Wrecked Record/Volume 2/Chapter 21


text: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 14

title: The Mysterious Warning/Chapter 14


text: Notes on Indian Affairs/Volume II/XXXV

title: Notes on Indian Affairs/Volume II/XXXV


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luxury and expense in which, when aware what my income was, I indulged myself freely was the purchase of Martial literature. Only ephemeral works are as a rule printed in the phonographic character, which alone I could read with ease. The Martialists have no newspapers. It does not seem to them worth while to record daily the accidents, the business incidents, the prices, the amusements, and the follies of the day; and politics they have none. In no case would a people so coldly wise, so thoroughly impressed by experience with a sense of the extreme folly of political agitation, legislative change, and democratic violence, have cursed themselves with anything like the press of Europe or America. But as it is, all they have to record is gathered each twelfth day at the telegraph offices, and from these communicated on a single sheet about four inches square to all who care to receive it. But each profession or occupation that boasts, as do most, an organisation and a centre of discussion and council, issues at intervals books containing collected facts, essays, reports of experiments, and lectures. Every man who cares to communicate his passing ideas to the public does so by means of the phonograph. When he has a graver work,


text:
Author:Shiv Ram Kashyap

Works

 * The Journal of Indian Botany/Volume 1/December 1919/Abnormal number of needles in the spurs of Pinus Longifolia

 * The Journal of Indian Botany/Volume 1/January 1920/Distribution of Liverworts in the Western Himalayas

 * The Journal of Indian Botany/Volume 1/April 1920/Note on the Floating Islands of Riwalsar

 * The Journal of Indian Botany/Volume 2/May 1921/Notes on the Distribution of Liverworts in the Western Himalayas, Ladak and Kashmir
 * The Journal of Indian Botany/Volume 2/June 1921/Some Observations on Cycas Revoluta and C. Circinalis growing in Lahore

title: Author:Shiv Ram Kashyap


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 which is, in his view at least, of permanent importance to publish, it is written in the stylographic character, and sold at the telegraphic centres. The extreme complication and compression employed in this character had, as I have already said, rendered it very difficult to me; and though I had learnt to decipher it as a child spells out the words which a few years later it will read unconsciously by the eye, the only manner in which I could quickly gather the sense of such books was by desiring one or other of the ladies to read them aloud. Strangely enough, next to Eveena, Eivé was by far the best reader. Eunane understood infinitely better what she was perusing; but the art of reading aloud is useless, and therefore never taught, in schools whose every pupil learns to read with the usual facility a character which the practised eye can interpret incomparably faster than the voice could possibly utter it. This reading might have afforded many opportunities of private converse with Eveena, but that Eivé, whose knowledge was by no means proportionate to her intelligence, entreated permission to listen to the books I selected; and Eveena, though not partial to her childish companion and admirer, persuaded me not to refuse.

The story of my voyage and reports of my first audience at Court were, of course, widely circulated and extensively canvassed. Though regarded with no favour, especially by the professed philosophers and scientists, my adventures and myself were naturally an object of great curiosity; and I was not surprised when a civil if cold request was preferred, on behalf of what I may call the Martial Academy, that I would deliver in their hall a series of lectures, or rather a connected


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 oral account of the world from which I professed to have come, and of the manner in which my voyage had been accomplished. After consulting Eveena and Davilo, I accepted the invitation, and intended to take the former with me. She objected, however, that while she had heard much in her father's house and during our travels of what I had to tell, her companions, scarcely less interested, were comparatively ignorant. Indiscreetly, because somewhat provoked by these repeated sacrifices, as much of my inclination as her own, I mentioned my purpose at our evening meal, and bade her name those who should accompany me. I was a little surprised when, carefully evading the dictation to which she was invited, she suggested that Eunane and Eivé would probably most enjoy the opportunity. That she should be willing to get rid of the most wilful and petulant of the party seemed natural. The other selection confirmed the impression I had formed, but dared not express to one whom I had never blamed without finding myself in the wrong, that Eveena regarded Eivé with a feeling more nearly approaching to jealousy than her nature seemed capable of entertaining. I obeyed, however, without comment; and both the companions selected for me were delighted at the prospect.

The Academy is situated about half-way between Amacasfe and the Residence; the facilities of Martial travelling, and above all of telegraphic and telephonic communication, dispensing with all reason for placing great institutions in or near important cities. We travelled by balloon, as I was anxious to improve myself in the management of these machines. After frightening my companions so far as to provoke some


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 outcry from Eivé, and from Eunane some saucy remarks on my clumsiness, on which no one else would have ventured, I descended safely, if not very creditably, in front of the building which serves as a local centre of Martial philosophy. The residences of some sixty of the most eminent professors of various sciences—elected by their colleagues as seats fall vacant, with the approval of the highest Court of Judicature and of the camptâ—cluster around a huge building in the form of a hexagon made up of a multitude of smaller hexagons, in the centre whereof is the great hall of the same shape. In the smaller chambers which surround it are telephones through which addresses delivered in a hundred different quarters are mechanically repeated; so that the residents or temporary visitors can here gather at once all the knowledge that is communicated by any man of note to any audience throughout the planet. On this account numbers of young men just emancipated from the colleges come here to complete their education; and above each of the auditory chambers is another divided into six small rooms, wherein these visitors are accommodated. A small house belonging to one of the members who happened to be absent was appropriated to me during my stay, and in its hall the philosophers gathered in the morning to converse with or to question me in detail respecting the world whose existence they would not formally admit, but whose life, physical, social, and political, and whose scientific and human history, they regarded with as much curiosity as if its reality were ascertained. Courtesy forbids evening visits unless on distinct and pressing invitation, it being supposed that the head of a household may care to spend


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 that part of his time, and that alone, with his own family.

The Academists are provided by the State with incomes, of an amount very much larger than the modest allowances which the richest nations of the Earth almost grudge to the men whose names in future history will probably be remembered longer than those of eminent statesmen and warriors. Some of them have made considerable fortunes by turning to account in practical invention this or that scientific discovery. But as a rule, in Mars as on Earth, the gifts and the career of the discoverer and the inventor are distinct. It is, however, from the purely theoretical labours of the men of science that the inventions useful in manufactures, in communication, in every department of life and business, are generally derived; and the prejudice or judgment of this strange people has laid it down that those who devote their lives to work in itself unremunerative, but indirectly most valuable to the public, should be at least as well off as the subordinate servants of the State. In society they are perhaps more honoured than any but the highest public authorities; and my audience was the most distinguished, according to the ideas of that world, that it could furnish.

At noon each day I entered the hall, which was crowded with benches rising on five sides from the centre to the walls, the sixth being occupied by a platform where the lecturer and the members of the Academy sat. After each lecture, which occupied some two hours, questions more or less perplexing were put by the latter. Only, however, on the first occasion, when I reserved, as before the Zinta and the Court, all