The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29
midas FOOD RESERVES.
HINDOoS NOT Am VEG ETARTANS,
SOME ARE EVEN CANNIBALs.
Fish, Flesh. and Muk Arc Diet or May
Some Hill Trihes Are Omuivsroua, while
che IAghoris Devour Babies - England
Counts on This TO Relieve the Fnmine.

Fish, Flesh, and Mtk Are Diet OF MANY
some IIm Trihes Are Omnivsrous, while
the IAghorIs Devour Babies - EnGinnd
Counts on This TO Relieve the Fnmine'
ENom the 81. James, Gdsetie.
Buckles ~notion-that the people OF India live
on little else than rice, which diet the phil
osophic historian regarded rs the cause OF
everything that IS wrong In their institutions
and national character-was exploded years ago
by the late Sir Henry Maine. In Bengal, Assam.
and Burmah this cereal is the chief food both of
the middle and lower classes. but In most other
parts of India only the well-to.do can afford TO
use IL. At the same time the consumption of
rice is becoming more general. In the Deccan,
for instance, twelve or fifteen years ago millet
was the only grain eaten, but now in every
middle-class family in this region rice is nearly
always included in the daily bill of fare. Wheat
is grown in Bombay and the central provinces
almost entirely for export; but In the Punjaub
and in parts of the northwest provinces 1t Is one
of the main articles OF food. Except, however,
in the area where rice or wheat Is cheap, millets
are the chief breadstuffs for the masses, more
especially "jowar" identical with the "dhurra"
of Egypt and "bajrn," or bulrush millet. In
northern India. where widespread scarcity Is
now apprehended. m%illets, pulses. maize. and
rice are sown in June and reaped in October. In
or about the latter month wheat is sown. to be
harvested In the spring. 1t would be no easy
task. however, to give a detailed and accurate
account of the way In which 2S7, 100000 Of
people. of various races and divers creeds. feed
themselves, and it is still more difficult to
estimate tho supplies available for their sus.
tenance. Mr.. J. A. Baines, who superin-
tended the last Indian census, and whose
statistical researches are n marvel OF pa-
tient and skilful investigation, came to the
conclusion that the calculations of the Famine
| Commission were to n large extent little more
trustworthy than random conjecture. The usual
ASSUMPTION is that the people 1--we for the most
iigible quantity; and. having estimated more or
less roughly the total yield in an average year,
20, 100000 to go, 900, 900 people are almost. II
not entirely, destitute of the first necessity OF
scientific and misleading. Although grain and
pulses. he points out. may be the chief item OF
the Indians diet, there are several other items
to he taken into account. Fruit, vegetables. and
milk are almost Everywhere consumed In large
S 9ss5 df sorr There cs,,i Are in fTom fo raI vas 10 TO er h.1y
hundred people; and, except where the rainfall
is so heavy that cows and buffalos cannot easily
be kept. milk is an important article OF diet in
every husband mans family. But even the peo:
pie who live on grain. pulses, vegetables. and
milk. or on one or more ofthese varieties oil food.
comprise less than three-ffths of the total pop
%ulation. Mr.. Baines calculates that there are
l3o. 1000 900 who rely for their sustenance on
To be gin with, there are large numbers who
live on fish and flesh. Along the seacoast and
Va tnN hS 49, 49,
TO n large extent. fish eaters; and from, two Ia
three million earn their living by catching and
merous: and it Is not only TIE Mohammednns
who eat meat: Raipoots and Mahrattas. Hin
ton and goats flesh as the Turcomans of Cen
trail Asia, TO whom one II not both races are
also partial to the fesh Of the wild boar"the
luxury. Mr.. Baines remarks, which. INDUCED In
too freely, caused the death Of Gottama Buddha.
Then there are the aboriginal hill tribes
Gonds, Sonthals, Nagas, and others-many of
whom are omnivorous. Another large section
itary village menials, eat the flesh of
dead cattle. lower stu in the social
ii ike the ssnsi sa and Mina ~ who feed on jackaIs,
lizards. tortoises. and other vermin. Nor must
II be FORGOTTEN that traces OF cannibaliSm are
the Madras famine of 1877 more than one case
was reported: but. besides the abnormal hor-
rors that occur In times of severe distress, there
Is the cannibalism practised by a sect of relig-
ious devotees. These wretches are known as
Aghoris. and 1t is not impossible that the ogre
OF Western fairy tales gets his name from them.
Not many years ago an .Aghori was caught at
the body OF a newly buried child which he had
exhumed; and more recently. in 1888. a magis.
trate In tho northwest provinces sentenced
lar offence to a years Imprisonment. 1t is
said that in the Punjsub. before the English
annexation. Aghoris might often be seen wan
dering about the streets with human skulls in
their hands; In May. 1894, n Calcutta newspa-
per reported that an Aghori had paid u visit TO
Balasore. In orissa, and had been feeding on
the corpses of human beings who died of cholera
and small pox. The country-folk credited him
with the possession of supernatural powers. and
it was believed that lie cured the sick by
amounting them with oil extracted from mems
bodies. 1t was impossible to arrest him. an
English Official was told, since he could make
himself invisible.
Incidents of this kind. however. only serve to
illustrate the extent to which every calculation
of the amount. OF food available in India is ten
tative and conjecturnl. Mr.. Baines is convinced
that the food supply generally Is adequate to
the requirements of India. In former times the
difficulty was to make the surplus crops Of one
part available for the needs OF any other tract
that might have suffered from bad seasons.
1t cannot be said that this difficulty exists no
longer. but 1t is steadily diminishing. Tie
length OF railways now open Is more han double
what it was In 1850. Much has been done also
to improve and extend cart roads. AID the re-
turns show an enormous increase in the number
of bullock, wagons, On the whole. 1t seems
probable that neither the transport question
nor that OF supplies will, as in former famines.
be the chief anxiety OF the Government. The
energies of the local authorities and OF the cen
trail administration will, we expect, be mainly
concentrated on the direction OF relief works.