FLOKA.L ANTiaUlTIES OF THE EAST. 135 



ing place for pilgrims near the pagoda of Mandura ; and to the 

 neglect of these acts of benevolence by the -wealthy British residents 

 of Hindustan, the diflS.culties of Christianity have been increased ten- 

 fold, the Christian being regarded as selfish and uncharitable. 



Among the plants sacred to the religion of the Hindoos, the cusa 

 or cusha grass holds an important place. It is the poa cynosuroides 

 of Linnaeus : its leaves are long, acutely jagged downwards, but smooth 

 on the other parts, and so sharp and tapering as to furnish the Hindoos 

 with a favourite metaphor, in which it represents acuteness of intel- 

 lect. The fruit-stalk of this grass rises about two feet from the 

 ground, and is terminated by a panicle or head composed of brilliant 

 blood-red flowers.* To its beauty it doubtless owes its sacred cha- 

 racter, for the Hindoos suppose every object to be animated by a 

 spirit or divinity, and those which are most excellent or remarkable, 

 to be inhabited by spirits of the highest order, or by gods. The 

 blood-red colour of the flowers of the cusa, is frequently assigned as 

 the origin of its use in sacrifices ; though Sir William Jones, the 

 highest authority on such a subject, believes that its name of cusha 

 is derived from Cush, the father of the Hindoo race ; and hence it is 

 regarded in the rites of Brahma, as a memorial of the patriarch-father 

 of the people, f The Cushites or descendants of Cush came into 

 Egypt under the name of Aurilse and Shepherds, as also Ethiopians ; 

 hence Egypt also inherited that name. The Cushites, styled -Slthiopes, 

 were the original inhabitants of India, and wherever any portion of 

 the history of the Cushites appears, the name of India will be found 

 likewise. % The reverence in which this grass was held originated 

 the Indian custom of biting a blade of grass in token of submission, 

 and in asking for quarter in the field of battle — 



" Her spear, not e'en Mahisha dare despise : 

 The grass is bitten by her enemies." § 



The cusa was also used in the preparation of the noviciate for the 

 pronunciation of the most holy word in the creed of India. " Brahma 



* As. Res. iv. — Martyn Millar's Diet. 

 t Diodorus Siculus, i, 17. Bryant's Analysis, iii, 212. 

 X Philostrati vita Apollon, iii, 125. 

 § Metamorphosis of Sona, v, 878, St. John's Indian Archipelago, i. 



