16 HAPPY INDIA 



are said to be carriers of disease, such as malaria ; 

 and beautiful fireflies. 



But by far the most wonderful thing in India is 

 its population of 319,000,000 people, varying in colour 

 from white to black. In the extreme north-west 

 the men are hardly distinguishable in size, features 

 and complexion from Englishmen, and in the greater 

 part of India the features of the people are similar 

 to those of Europeans, but in some parts there 

 are people of a different race or races. The people 

 in the plains are darker in colour and in some parts 

 of the south the complexion of some of the people 

 is almost black. There are many different peoples 

 and nations and languages in the vast territory 

 called India, but when delegates to the Indian 

 National Congress meet for a discussion of public 

 affairs the language they use is English, and they 

 can give the exact intonation and inflection of voice 

 that an Englishman uses, although, of course, many 

 of them do not speak exactly as an Englishman 

 usually speaks. 



India has a great history of which there are few 

 records. Thousands of years ago India had great 

 cities and great people. It was a great agricul- 

 tural country, a great manufacturing country ; it 

 built fine ships which navigated the ocean three 

 hundred years ago Indian-built ships were larger, 

 better and more durable than English-built ships ; 

 it had philosophers and statesmen, writers of great 

 literature, and to-day its people either do or are 

 capable of doing all the work that can be done 



