Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-09-16
AMONG THE HINDU POOR.
Muititudes of Aborigines, Almost I'm.
clothed, Living in Wretchcd buildings.

Multitudes of Aborigines, Almost I'm
clothed, Living in Wretched Buildings.
Measured by any standard of actual
possessions. says Il writer i'll the Paul
me Mission Message, the aboriginal and
unmiNcd Hindu population is poor i'll
deed. 1t has often been Il wonder to
us that the laboring classes among
llinduS build so poorly, and one is not
less surprised to see the comparatively
superior houses the KOi takes the pains
- build. \ man can rarely stand in
Il poor Ilndu'S one to three rupee
house, he nearly always can Comforla-
hly do so i'll the koiwar'S more capa-
,'iouS. hCttcr-rOofcd home. But this
house is about all. Seldom 90 brass
cooking vessels appear in the hands
of the koiS The most common earth
rnwarC. cheap, easily broken and quick
~ replaced, do them. Better utensils
are seen among even the poor IIindliS
Here and there are tlocks, but few
fowls, perhaps Il goat or two, dog.
and one or two genuine "scalawaG"
pigs lEske up Il Koi estate. In the
west the men dress better than in
BaStar. The women go with the upper
body only impcrfectly covered by II
cloth that covers the lower body, one
end of which is thrown up over one
shoulder from the front.
In the villages of BaStar we find null
titudcS with no more than a piece of
cloth three feet by nine inches, Il very
Scant covering for the human frame.
Our hearts have been touched with
pity many time as men, women and
children have come out to hear us
preach, sing and pray. 1t is notice
able that the natural modesty of man
kind is not wholly lost even among the
most barbarous tribes, or under the
vilest of heather systems. We first
thought such nudity would prove the
dcpravity of the people. But to our
surprise we did not find any more i'm
morality among the aborigince than the
Hindu. Children up to eight or ten
years are usually utterly naked. Among
the HinduS the marriage relation is
very lightly esteemed. The Koi, on the
other hand, may polygamisc, but gen
orally he has but one wife
Notwithstanding the apparent pow
crty of the aborigincS among whom we
have travelled, they seem remarkably
happy. Almost every night you hear
the village song and the tom TOM This
is to amusc themselves and frightcn
away the wild beasts that abound
about them and are the plague of their
stock pens. Whatever else the people
have or have not, they get and use to-
bacco. They grow it and its use by
both sexes is everywhere seen. Even
little children indulge in the poison.
Drinking under the British "out-Stll
system" is fcarfully prevalent along
the Godavcry and drunkenness is
spreading greatly in that vicinity; up
to recent date the people of BaStar
have been comparatively free from
this vice. But the British excise SyS-
tenn is set up, and the mohwa tree, the
flower of which yields liquor, abounds.
Five thousand people meet in ,Jagda
pur every Sunday market day. These
weekly baZaarS afford Il fine opportun-
ity for evangcliZing. Much of the grain
carrying is done on the heads of wo-
men, or on mems shoulders.
The aboriGncc wears plenty of jew
clly. Men put on most of it. We frc-
Quently see from ten to one hundred
different articles of ornament. Naked
they may be, but they must have jew
elry. We have seen thirty-cight rings
in Il mans two ears on Il feast day.
The great respect apparently shown
to woman among the aborigincS is Strik.
ink She seems to be reckoncd fairly
mans equal. This greatly simplitcS
missionary work among them. Our
preachers can at the same time with
equal facility reach both men and wo-
men. At Ycllandu threc-tifths of all
who hear our preachers are women.
The aboriginee either in the west or
east builds no temple to his gods. These
people revere gods they esteem to
dwell in the hills. They worship the
five brother kings of whom BEEN Der
and Dharma Raj are the favorites.
They sacrifice to appeaSe the Hindu
smallpox goddess, but do this in the
open air. Every high hill is deemed
sacred, and it is difficult to get one of
these people to ascend one of the high
cr hills They have no idols so-callcd
The last man among them will tell you
God is above" When you ask him
why he does not worship him and him
only he frankly says because he does
just what his father taught him.
Everywhere the magic-man is dread
ed, and he takes good care to fleece the
people well for his own profit. Jag'la-
pur is full of temples and literally
somebody has made priests of the
common people" here. Such is the
country, the people, their history, their
customs, condition and religion told
but in part.