164 



ence should be made in particular to the description of the 

 income and the ways of living of even the richer ryots given 

 by Mr. Bourdillon, whose account is printed in the appendix 

 III.-B. It is true that there is a considerable portion of the 

 ryot class which still answers to Mr. Bourdillon' s descrip- 

 tion, but it is also true that there is a class — a daily increasing 

 one — which seeks and enjoys more comforts. This is evi- 

 denced in various ways. The number of houses as shown by 

 the last census has increased in a greater ratio than the popu- 

 lation ; and tiled and terraced houses are superseding the old 

 thatched cottages. Better clothing, especially of elegant and 

 costly kinds for women, has come into ordinary use among the 

 higher classes in most districts, and in the Southern districts 

 women of the present day will not, as Mr. Seshaiyar, Profes- 

 sor of the Kumbakonam College, observes,'^ even look at the 

 coarse clothing which their grandmothers wore. In the richer 

 families servants for doing the menial work are being more 

 largely employed than before. Much larger quantities of gold 

 and silver jewels are now worn. Metal vessels have, to a very 

 large extent, taken the place of earthen vessels, even among the 

 lower classes, and rice is becoming a part of the ordinary diet 

 of the classes which, in former days, would have used it as a 

 luxury on special festive occasions. A great deal of money 

 is being spent on the education of children. The money 

 expended in school-fees for a single boy would formerly have 

 sufficed to maintain two adults. It is true, at the same time, 

 that everybody feels that his means are inadequate to the 

 satisfaction of his wants, but this is not because his means 

 have not increased, but because his wants have increased in a 

 greater ratio. Formerly, none but the richest would have 

 dreamt of giving collegiate education to their children. Now 

 persons with very small means wish to educate their sons 

 and make great sacrifices for this purpose. Sometimes the 

 sons turn out well, but occasionally they do not, and, in the 

 latter case, great is the suffering inflicted on the parents. 

 Nevertheless, the general effect, both on the parents and the 

 sons, of this state of things, is very beneficial. Formerly, the 

 father would have pinched himself and saved to leave his 

 children property for subsistence. Now he saves to give 

 them education leaving them to earn their living. Indeed, 

 the benefits of education are so much appreciated that even if 

 the father be not willing to educate his children, the mother 

 insists on its being done. Liids who have been educated 

 and who have passed University examinations are., so much 



" Vide appendix V,-F. (I 2). 



