300 AROUND THE WORLD VIA INDIA. 



Social distinction is drawn in India in more definite 

 lines than in any other country. It is a land of castes. 

 There are more than 1,000 of these castes, which have 

 very little in common with, each other. The Brahmins 

 or priests take the first rank, the warriors the second, 

 and the merchants the third, then follow the different 

 professions and trades. The caste of warriors is the only 

 one which is permitted to hunt and to eat meat. There 

 is never an intermarriage between a high caste man or 

 woman with a lower caste woman or man, but in excep- 

 tional cases a promotion from a lower to a higher caste 

 with all privileges belonging to such advancement may 

 take place. The lower castes made themselves known 

 by stripes and dots of all colors and designs on the fore- 

 head or face. A study of these distinctive marks would 

 prove a very thankless task to the foreigner owing to 

 the endless number of castes. 



The religious life in India is as mixed as its popula- 

 tion. In 1891 there were 207,731,727 Brahma fol- 

 lowers, 7,131,361 Buddhists, *5 7,321,164 Mohammedans, 

 and only 2,284,380 Christians, a rather discouraging 

 showing for the millions and millions of dollars that 

 have been spent in efforts to christianize the people. The 

 slow progress of Christianity in India is due, at least in 

 part, to the character of the people. The complicated 

 class distinction is one of the greatest obstacles. The 

 high caste Hindu prides himself on the antiquity of 

 his religion. He is firmly convinced that: 



"Antiquity, the nearer it was to its divine ori- 

 gin, perhaps perceived more clearly what things 

 were true." — Cicero. 



A high-caste Hindu, a very learned man, a magistrate 

 in one of the eastern districts of India, expressed him- 

 self to me on this subject about as follows: "My relig- 

 ion is the oldest in the world. It was old before the 

 religion of the Christians was known. I spent five 

 years in England. I made careful observations and in 

 consequence came to the conclusion that my people are 

 better people than the people I observed in England. 



