382 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 
of opportunities for their development. In earlier times, before they were 
oppressed by a foreign yoke, they had reached a higher degree of civiliza- 
tion, and their country has been considered as the cradle of all the arts and 
sciences. They practise agriculture, breeding of cattle, fishing, hunting, 
and mining. They cultivate forests, commerce, and navigation. They 
manufacture cloths, of a great variety and value, particularly of cotton and 
silk; among which are the finest muslins, fine shawls, mats, cordovan 
leather, &c., and are inimitable in dyeing. In the arts of music and_paint- 
ing they are backward; but in dancing, statuary, and architecture, they are 
more advanced. They are acquainted with arithmetic, astronomy, and 
chronology, and are very fond of poetry and singing. 
The most extraordinary custom of the Hindoos is the burning of widows 
at the funeral of their husbands —a practice which has prevailed from time 
immemorial. This burning of the widows exists chiefly in the countries 
governed by the native princes. The division of the people into several 
entirely distinct orders, or classes, which has existed from the remotest 
times, forms the castes. There are four castes, which, to the great disadvan- 
tage of cultivation, are essentially and perpetually separate from each other, 
so that no transition from one to another is possible; no connection between 
them by marriage, or in any other way, is permitted, and no individual of one 
class can assume the habits, or engage in the occupations, of another. .The 
distinction is complete, in every sense, hereditary and personal; all the 
privileges or disabilities are inherited; nor is any one permitted to become 
what he is destined to be by nature, but he is obliged to become what his 
birth permits, or to remain what it condemns him to be. The slightest 
transeression of these laws is punished with loss of castes, and sometimes, in 
particular cases, with death. Even the difference of food is precisely 
-marked out. The three higher castes are prohibited entirely the use of flesh ; 
the fourth is allowed to eat all kinds, except beef; but only the lowest 
classes of the fifth caste are allowed every kind of food, without restriction. 
Thus the lower the rank of a Hindoo, the less he is restricted in his food 
and drink; but, on the other hand, the other burdensome restrictions in- 
crease with the inferiority of rank. The first and noblest caste is called 
Brahmanes, and is the class of the Brahmines, or Brahmanes, who are 
priests, scholars, teachers in schools and academies, lawyers, and state 
officers. The second noble order is called Cshatriyas, or Chehteree, and 
is composed of the Cshatriyas, or Rajah-putras, the kings and warriors. 
They preserve the name Rajah-puts, Rajah-putras, by way of distinction, in 
their old hereditary dominions in Hindostan. The third noble caste is called 
Bise, or Vaisyas: it is composed of husbandmen and merchants. The 
merchants are called Banians, or Wannians. The fourth noble caste is that 
