The Washington bee., 1893-11-11
AMONG THE HINDU poor.
Ai1i1udes of Abnrigines, Almos. r

" Hp"riglnes, Almost Un
o'hea' Living lit Wretched Buildings.
measured by any standard of act11al
Possesslols, says writer in the Paul.
tne n1Ission Message, the aboriginal and
9nnl&ed hindu population is Door in.
ueeu: 1t mas often been wonder tc
US Inat The laboring classes among
31 51Ilous pulld so poorly, and one is moi
tesS surprised TO see the comparatively
superior houses the Koi takes the pains
W pulid- A man can rarely stand in
d poor Hindu's one to three rupee
mouse, he nearly always can comforta.
ply do so IN the Koiwar's more capa.
clous, better-roofed home. But this
mouse is about all. Seldom do brass
cooIng vessels appear in the hands
ot the hols The most common earth.
ehWafe, cheap, easily broken and quick.
~ replaced, do them. Better utensils
az are seen among even the poor Hindus.
mere ana there are focks, but a few
ioW1s, perhaps goat or two. a dog.
ana one or two genuine "scalawag''
pigs wake up a koi estate. In the
west the men dress better than in
bastaf. The women go with the upper
pody only imperfectly covered by a
cloth that covers the lower body, one
end OF which is thrown UP over one
shoulder from the front.
m the villages Of Bastar we find mul.
llIuues with no more than a piece of
cloth three feet by nine inches, a very
scant covering for the human frame.
0ur heartS have been touched with
paty many a time as men, women and
Shhdren have come out to hear us
preach, sing and pray. 1t is notice
apie tnat the natural modesty Of man
klnd is not wholly lost even among the
most barbarous tribes, or under the
West OF heather systems. We first
thought such nudity would prove the
depravity Of the people. But to our
surprise we did not find any more inn.
morality among the aboriginee 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 polygamise, but gen,
orally he has but one wife.
Notwithstanding the apparent poy-
erty of the aborigines among whom we
have travelled, they seem remarkably
happy. Almost every night you hear
the village song and the tom-tom. This
is to amuse themselves and frighten
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-stiIl
system" is fearfully prevalent along
the Godavery and drunkenness is
spreading greatly in that vicinity; I'D
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 a fine opportun-
ity for evangeliZing. Much of the grain
carrying is done on the heads of wo-
men, or on mems shoulders.
The aboriginee wears plenty Of Jew
elry. Men put on most Of it. We fire.
Quendy see from ten to one hundred
different articles Of ornament. Naked
they may be, but they must have jew
elry. We have seen thirty eight rings
in mans two ears on a feast day.
The great respect apparently shown
to woman among the aborigines is strik-
ink. She seems to be reckoned fairly
mans equal This greatly simplifies
missionary work among them. Our
preachers can at the same time with
equal facility reach both men and wo-
men. At Yellandu three-fifths 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
er hills. They have no idols so-called.
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. Jagda-
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
Il o,,c+o,,oC condition oud rolicriou fold