TJie Poets Herds. 283 



which shake the earth," and of the gigantic gour of the 

 Indian swamps. It is not true (though the natives believe 

 it is) that the latter snuffs up chunks of stone with its 

 nostrils, and then discharges them with the force of a cata- 

 pult at those who attack it, but it is beyond doubt that the 

 gour shows no hesitation whatever in charging anything 

 that stands in front of it. 



In the East the whole family of " homed beasts " is 

 treated with superstitious reverence, for all the animals 

 which are the " vahans " or " vehicles " of the gods are sacred, 

 and amongst these are the bull and buffalo — but above all 

 the cow. For Brahma is said to have created the Brahmin 

 and the cow at the same binh ; the former to offer sacrifice, 

 the latter to yield the "ghee" for anointing the offering. 

 The eating of ghee (or "clarified butter") in sufficient 

 quantities destroys all sin — so the Hindoos say — while the 

 consumption of the five products of the cow cleanses from 

 all pollution. One of these is used all over India for spread- 

 ing over the floors and walls on scrubbing days, and, strange 

 to. say, it has the effect of cleansing them perfectly, and 

 giving the rooms the fragrance of the Tonquin bean. 

 " How," asks Sir George Birdwood. " would Dr. Richard- 

 son explain this ? " The Hindoo explains it easily by a 

 miracle. Yet the enormous importance of the cow in 

 Hindooism is only of comparatively recent date, for, as the 

 Brahmins themselves confess, the blessed animal is only 

 coeval with themselves, and until recently India has known 

 so little of its ancient self that Hindoos have come to believe 

 that it was ordained at the creation that man should not 

 eat beef The impulse to literary research given by British 

 encouragement of education has, however, resulted in show- 

 ing that the original, ante-Brahminical gods of the Hindoos 

 used to eat beefsteaks habitually — it was their favourite 

 diet, in fact — and, what is more, that they got ver)' drunk 

 on soma after their meals. 



