The Grenada gazette., 1888-01-28

liz hsrs. widows ~ compelled
wsaf white, to always keep theif kDal
shaved and covered, but ths dxoy 1br,
Of dress is preserved. and even Ii
) doub6ll pleasure Of taking snuR
. withheld from them. Il
II y will be seen, from what I hay
saidk that the position Of tho Brahmi
woman, in South India, is enviable :
that 'of her sister In North India
Though she is not regarded ~ q
equal. she Is little better than
chattel The average Hindoo min,
can not receive q woman a. 4 huma,
being possessed Of soul and sensihil
itJ. Though she influences the aspira
tons a6 her children, shapes ihei,
destinies, yet she is withheld fron
sharing their triumphs or their pleas
ures.l Feelings akin to pity arise IL
the English breast. or rather indigna.
tion, as. when passing through the ma
tive villages, he sees, engaged In
severe toll, the women, whilst the
men, squattng on the ground before
their houses, enjoy in the cool of even
tide the songs Of the wandering min
strel, or the latest marvel from the
lips of the professional story-teller.
Its reported that the most cruel in
their treatment Of the women are the
lengars. who claim for themselves
more than ordinary attributes. The
European is to him no less an object
OF contempt than pariah, and when
the 1engar talks with a Griffin (as a
newly-arrived Englishman in India is
called), he does not fail to show his
disdain, for fastidious Brahmins, when
they speak to u Su,lra or. a European,
are accustomed to place their hand on
the stomach. and, catching the holy
thread. present the back Of the hand
to the person addressed, and, at the
close of the conversation, by y rotary
motion, they display the palm. TO
those who choose to regard this is an
insult it is such. d"
The Brahmin is . bundle Of extraor-
dinary contradictions. Witness him
buying a load Of wood from pariah.
He halls the unfortunate creature, who,
setting down his burden. edges away
whilst the Brahmin examins it. The
Brahmin then moves away. The pariah
the wood, and with his
hand before his mouth, lest his breath
touch the person of the august pur-
chaser, he concludes the sale. No
pariah uses the public highway made
BY British money and under British
while noble Brahmin
passes. Brahmin youths are besct
rom their birth with tedious restric-
ions; the dignity of their race and
heir own dignity is theme which
hever tires with their parents. Per-
laps their only luxury is that Of tsking
|nuff, and in this even the law inter-
eres and lays down certain age when
hey may begin; to bachelor this
pleasure Is prohibited; snuff.taking
IAN only begin with matrimony.
The Tamil Brahmins have peculiar.
y poetic language, and though their
aeas are not always poetical, yet they
re generally picturesque. The insect
;inglom is the human world in dis
'uise, and accordingly they call the
zoe Brahmin from its selfish exclusive
ess and its dislike to insects other than
ees; the wasp is the videgar, or priest;
he grasshoppcr and locust, soldiers.
'om their destructive qualities;a a large
,sect. being species of glow-worm,
cowherd or milkman; the mosquito
nd the flea household servants; the
ug doctor; the butterfly Brahmin :
oman. and the horseAy dog. And
conclusion, should any of my readers ,
yer desire the speedy departure of j
rahmin from his house, l have but to
" let him call into the room dog
u to . pure Brahmin dog and fowl !
as much an adherence as q hog to I
, orthodox Hebrew or to faithful fol.
wcrs Of Mohammed.-Cor. San Fran v
seo Chronicle. c