The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-07-10
AMONG THE HINDOOS.
The Reason Why Animals and Insects are SO
Numerous Among Them.

Numerous Among Them.
From the southern portion of the In.
dian peninsula Professor MOurier Will
lams has recently returned, and has
published some exceedingly Interesting
"reminiscences Of his tour. He SAYS:
Perhaps the most striking point of dll-
terence between Northern and Southern
India Is due to the circumstances that
the South possesses all The characters.
tics of the Tropics In the greater exuber-
ance of all kinds of life and vegetation.
Let any one imagine the contents Of the
best-stocked geological aud botanical
gardens of Europe multiplied indetiuite-
Iy and scattered more or less abundant
ly over an immense country, and he will
have some idea Of what this eXuberarlce
really is. To realize it fully, however,
one must go to the extreme south and
Ceylon. There one may come across al
most every animal, from wild elephant
to tiretly. There, as one srolls through
lrleuu's compound, or drives to a
neighboring railway station. one passes
the choicest plants and trees of Euro
pean lighthouses growing Iuxuriantly in
the open air.
As to animals, they seem to dispute
the possession of the soil with man.
Tney will assert with perfect impunity
their right TO portion OF crops ne rears
and The, food he eats, and VIII even
effect a4odgment in the houses he builds
as II they had claim to be regarded as
co-tenants. This is owing, in great
measure, to the sacredness of animal
Lille in India. Not only is there an ab-
solule persuasion i'll the mind of a Hin
doc that such animals, sucn as cows,
serpents, and monkeys, are more or less
pervaded by divinity, but most Indians
believe that there are eighty-tour lakhs
"a lakh is ten thousand) Of species OF
animal life through which a mans own
soul is liable to pass.
In fact, any noXious insect or loath-
some reptile may be, according to the
HindOO religion, an incarnation OF some
deceased relative or venerated ances tor.
Hence, no man, woman or child among
the Hlndoos thinks 1T right to kill AMI
mails OF any kind. Hence, too, in India
animals Of all kinds appear to live on
terms of the greatest confidence and in.
timacy with human beings. They can
not even learn to be afraid Of their ene-
mics, the European immigrants.
Mosquitoes will settle affe ctiOnately
and tearlessly on the hands OF the most
recent conner, leeches will insinuate
themselves lovingly between the inter-
stices of his lower garments, parrots
VIII peer inquisitiyely from the caves OF
his bedroom into the mysteries Of his
toilet, crows will carry off impudently
anything portable that takes their fancy
on his dressing table, sparrows will hop
about .,impertinently and take the
bread off MS tablecloth, bats will career
triumphantly round his head as he
reads by the light or his duplex lamp,
monkeys will domesticate themselves
jauntily on his roof, and at certain
seasons snakes will domlcie them
selves unpleasantly in his cast
off garments, while whole tribe
of tealhered creatures will build
their nests contidlngly under the trees
of his garden before the very eyes OF the
village children who play near his COM
Mound.