The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-01-08

unauthorized departure. Ihe HlDQ0o reli-
gon is original-in some respects repulsive.
Yet this author regards il as possessing
something so deeply and mysteriously ire
siSiible that il attracts and subdues even
the unlmaglnative EnglishmaB. What is
there, the madame asks, to prevent human
lily from acknowledging two active forces
within itself-one purely animal, the other
purely divine? She would have mankind
comprehend the whole harmony Of existence
after learning how closely the visible world
is bound TO the world invisible.
India is the land of legends. of mysterious
hooks and corners. There is not a ruin, not
a monument, not a thicket without its story
and founded in the far past Oh fact. The
Hindoos are not yandals by nature. They
are not only conservatives, but lack the
energy of true destruetiyeness. The altar
flame OF the ParSee fire. worshipers, lit 800
years ago. has never been suffered to go
out. When Indian antiquities are found
destroyed or distigured, search for the Mus
sulmans or the Portuguese. The millions of
crows and valtures at Bombay are under
the protection of public sen timent. To kill
crow would arouse the spirit OF vengeance
in Hindoo, who is ready to exchange his
own life for crows, for he firmly believes
that the souls of his sinful forefathers are
transmigrated Into that bird. Strange to
relate, the crows OF Bombay are usually in
an intoxicated condition. Each of the many
cocoanut trees around the city is provided
Will Il uOilCW lNlO WHICH the sap
drops. and there ferments. The crows drink
necessarily of this toddy. AS soon as Nine.
Blavatsky went out into the garden of the
three small bungalows she occupied In Bonn
bay focks of crows numbered down from
every tree, making an indescrbable noise as
they jumped about. There seemed to the
new mistress OF the place TO be something
positively human in the positions OF the
slyy bent heads of the drunken birds. and
fiendlsh light sh0ne from their eyes as they
examined her from head to foot.
This strange difference of India from
other lands strongly impressed Nine.
Blayatsky. Everything seemed unusual,
though she had travelled In Turkey. Egypt,
Damascus and Palestine. Nowhere more
than in India does human being feel his
weakness and insgnlhcance. The majesty
of the tropical growth Is sueh that the
highest European trees are dwarfed CON-
pared with banyanS, and especially with
palms. A European COW, installing at first
sight her Indian sister for a calf would
deny the existence OF kinship in the mouse
c0tored WOOL, the straight goat-like horns
and bumped back. The Hindoo women seem
naked, aud yet the poorest of them is clad
in piece of muslin at least ten yards long.
One end serves as sort OK short petticoat,
and The other covers the head and shoulders
In public, though the faces are always uG-
covered. The hair is erected into kind of
Greek chignon. The legs up to the knees.
u.
No respectable Hindoo woman could con-
sent to wear pair OF shoes, for these are
mark of disreputableness with her sex.
When a law was talked of in Madras to
compel women to cover their breasts revo-
luton was threatened. A kind of Jacket is
worn only by dancing girls. These usages
are based on the laws of 5000 years, and no
ruler is strong enough TO change them.
India remembers her customs, though she
has forgotten her history. 1t is a land con-
troled by minute ideas and rites.
Nine. Biavatsky went to India at the end
of two years correspondence with ilearned
Brahmn named Dayanand to study The
ancient sacred books with which he was
familiar and the mysteries OF the learned
brotherhood of anchorites to which be be-
longed. These monks never marry. Day.
anand was considered the greatest Sans
enigma tn every one. For years he lived
secluded in a jungle to study philosophy
and the occult meanings Of the ancient
writings. Hindoos believe that on the
Bhadrinath Mountains. $4,000 feet above the
sea. there exist SPACIOUS caves, inhab ited
many thousand years by these aueh0rites.
Dayanand is reformer who has been up
AMI down and acrass India preaching one
Deity and laundering against caste. infant
marriages and SuperstitioDs. lie Is i'm
mensely tall, his complexion pale snd
rather European than Indian. His uncut
hair and beard are gray. His voice is grand
in range and depth. While not claiming
that the Vedas are a heavenly revelation he
claims that every word in them belongs to
the highest Inspiration possible to earthly
man, an inspiration that may be repeated
again and again in the history of humanity.
He never touches money nor is concerned
with pecuDiary affairs. His fare is few
handSful of rice day.
Nine. Blavatsky's party visited the Bagh
caverns, which are fair specimens of the
cave temples of India. At the top of the
mountain was this row of dark caves, with
square entrances six feet wide. A gloomy
majesty invested the deserted temple, its
only light coming from the entrance. The
date of their construction is lost in the
darkness of time. One which the Madame
entered contained statues of gods and god
desses 8 and 10 feet high. Beyond this was
a hexagonal room with altar, into which
none but initiates were admitted. secret
passage was found leading TO a cell, against
the wall of which stood two motionless men
bearing torches. A stone turning on hinge
gave admittance to secret eel! about twelve
feet square. Beyond this were other cells.
The party stopped in the fourth, and while
there Nine. Blavatsky, as she records. ex-
perienced a strange and unexpected Sensa-
ton ana sank to the ground. In second"
she writes, Il felt an indescribably deli
cious. heavenly sense of rest. in spite of
dull pain beating In my temples. Vaguely
realized that / had really tainted and
should die If not taken out into the open
air. could not lift my finger; l could
not utter sound; and. in spite of it
there was no fear in my soul--nothing
but an apatbetic, but indescrbably
sweet feeling Of rest and a complete
inactivity of all senses except hearing. A
moment came when even this sense f0rsook
me, because l remember that / listened with
infantile intehtness to the dead silence
around me. Is this death? was my inds-
tinct wondering thought2 Then felt as IL
mighty wings were tanning me. Kind wings,
caressing kind wingsP were the recurring