HOW I KILLED THE TIGER. 41 



part, British subjects; they are counted by 

 millions, extending from the snows to Cape Com- 

 orin, and they are as much superior to the Arian 

 Hindus in freedom from disqualifying prejudices, 

 as they are inferior to them in knowledge. In 

 every extensive jungly or hilly tracts throughout 

 India, there exists hundreds of thousands of human 

 beings in a state not materially different from that 

 of the Germans described by Tacitus. These 

 primitive races are the ancient heritors of the 

 whole soil, from all the rich and open parts of 

 which they were expelled by the Hindus. It is 

 a worthy object to ascertain when and under 

 what circumstances this dispersion of the ancient 

 owners of the soil took place, at least to demon- 

 strate the fact, and to bring again together the 

 dissevered fragments of the body, by means of 

 careful comparison of the languages, physical 

 attributes, creed and customs of the several 

 (assumed) parts. It is another object, not less 

 interesting, to exhibit the positive condition, moral 

 and material, of each of these societies, at once 

 so improvable and so needful of improvement, 

 and whose archaic status, polity and ideas offer 

 such instructive pictures of the course of human 

 progression. 



The unity of the Arian race has been demon- 

 strated chiefly through lingual means, and much 



