New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-27

save that no attempt is made 10 feed the latter az
! all lie Is simply turned out at night, ana ~
| supposed 10 forage for himself and iind his own
subsistence Mr. Kpling has enhanced the inter
est of his book Ivy introducing all manner oil
| Indian proverbs and saws about the various
beasts There is one to the effect that the devil
got into Noah's ark Through the ass. The latter
| was stubborn and would not enter with the other
beasts until Noah lost his temper and cried 20
! on, and may the devil 20 with thee" When the
ark was closed Noah met the Evil One Inside
| and asked how he came there. "Surely then,
replied that wicked one, 81 came by your honors
invitation" Mr.. Kiplng adds IF there is a
moral in this absurdity, IL is that when holy men
lose their tempers they open the door TO sin; but
| in some topsy -turvey way, possible only to ORIENTAL
thought, the oboquy of the anecdote falls on the
innocent ass" So hopelessly under the ban is the
poor creature in India that even the low caste
Indian grooms Of the leathcr-dresser tribes refuse
to attend to them. Why the donkey should Ne
thus despised Mr. Kplng has been unable to
ascertain, is this surprising, seeing that nearly
all over the world the same prejudice exists, ana
! il is equally unaccountable.
Discussing goats and sheep, the author has
something to say of the uses Of the goaS as a
sacrifice and Of the savage ferocity to which the
sectaries work themselves up in the rites which
which are marked by wholesale slaughtefs
| of these animals The goddess Kali-thc pa
troness of the Thugs (of whose extinction MI
Kipling does not appear to feel ceralhJ mas mort
goats sacrificed at her shrines than any other
Asiatic divinity. There is tradition that 1or-
merly there were human sacrifices. and that the
goat is a substitute; and the tradition is propapy
we'll founded. The goat is also employed In The CIV
| ing Of omens, the shiverng of the animal peing
deemed suspicious, though it is not always gen
| uine sign, inasmuch the Brahmas, IL so as
posed. hasten the trcmor by dashing handful
| Of water in the goats ear, and thus produce
quite satisfactory SILVER" The Roman ausurs
were nor the only PLAYERS of tricks. The manner
of deciding lawsuits by leading two goats to a
shrine and giving the case to the owner OF the
| one that shivers first is however much to be
| commended and might be adopted from kulu
| with signal relief and advantage to Western hti-
| qants even though at some sacrifice of the inter
| ests of lawyers
| The cow, as is we'll known, bears a sacred char
acter among the Hindus and this sanctity is recog-
nized by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu-, though
| the Vedic cow is now ctheralized as symDol
| of "the clouds attendant upon the Sun-Hod'
Whatever naturalization or misapprehenslon may
have originated in the cult, the creature is now
| firmly established in her divine character Inc
| English are anathema because they kill and eat
the cow but the Mohammedans are still more
| hateful to the Hindus on that account. But 1t
| is curious that this very holiness of the COW has
| been the incentive to more wars and murders IN
| India than has the lust of gain in Europe. An
outrage committed upon COW is mortal oHence'
| or rather was so before the British conquest. Yet
| The sacred COW is not exempt from cruelty. Thus
| Mr. Kipling observes that 1T is 10 crime to
allow barren and useless cow 70 die. nor is 1t
wrong to starve a male calf TO death. And cow
murder in spite of all ordinances. is one OF the
commonest offences Of rustic life Thus the
| leather-dresSers low caste. do not hesitate 70
poison cattle in order TO procure the 81 ns with
curious casuistry they persuaded themselves that
| it was not cow-murder to insert skilfully
| poisoned thorn under the skin of an animal 10
cause a lingering death, nor to drop poisoned
food within its reach for they also lIindns.
and could not kill n COW outright" So common
have these practices been, that in one prison, at
| one time fifteen hundred leathcr-dressers have
been confined for cattle poisoning. We must not
linger over Mr.. Kiplings highly interesting chap
ter on cows and oxen bufftloes and pigs. They are
full of anecdote and curious folklore, and throw
much light upon Hindu customs and turns of
| thought The chapter on horses and mules may
| be specially recommended TO readers interested
| in breeding or training these animals. The author
| is thoroughly versed in the subject, and writes
III.
treatment of horses almost without qualification.
| AS rule The horses belonging to the Rajas and
the wealthy generally are allowed little or no
| exercise are drugged to produce fine action when
| they are taken out state occasions, and are
Stuffed 10 death in unventilated stables. The
Hindu will have no loose boxes lie has % passion
for tying everything up. lie hobbies his horse
in the most barbarous manner on the march lie
uses curb bit. He tyrannizes over the poor
beast. and this largely because he is tmid horse
man, and is secretly afraid of his mount.
There is O great deal Of information in these
| chapters but those who read only for amusement
will probably pass with some curiosity to tho
always attractive subject Of elephants. OF course
Mr. Kipling has to bring III Ganesha, the elephant
headed god and in so doing he takes occasion 10
| correct some Western errors as to the true at
tributes of that divinity He is not we are told
"Ganesa sublime" as Campbell calls him in the
Pleasures of Hope; he is the sagacious and re-
spectacle god Of getting On"-and he is the
most afIable and popular god in all India. But
it is the elephant himself about whom one wishes
| TO know and Mr. Kipling declares himself, we
are pleased TO see, firm adherent of the oft-dis-
puted doctrine of the :" big fellows" high intel
| ligence and nobility of character. But he di-
verges from the prevalent theory in maintaining
that timidty is the true base of elephant char
acter and that he is not revengcful. Mr. Kipling
declares thai there is no truth in any Of the
stories old new, which represent the great crea
| ture as harboring the memory Of injuries; but
he intoduces known fact that story Of the
elephant who in the absence Of bis driver
struck work and took control Of tie whole plan
tation This story, cmbellished and extended
by Rudyard KipDg, appears in one of his col
ecions of tales OF all the elephant legends, that
current in the Chrtagong Hills, 10 the effect that
wild elephants assemble TO dance. is the srangest
| Colonel Levin told the author "fhat once lie
came with his men a large cleared place in the
forest, the floor beaten hard and smooth, like