The Hindus in the West Indies. 307 
2. Caste.—The Spanish and Portuguese conquerors of yore have 
enriched the English language with the word “ Caste” to denote that 
wonderful system, which we would call “ Class” or “ Society,” that has 
been growing up in India for centuries. Ifa Hindu who lived in ancient 
times were able to revisit his home he would hardly find any changes 
at all. The same rude plough used in his times is to be seen now. The 
meaning of the word “ Progress” is unknown. All this is attributed to 
the power of caste. The motto of the Hindu is ‘“‘ What was good for 
my father is good for me.” He is both unhistorical and uncritical. The 
Brahman, through religion, has a wonderful hold on the people. It is 
he, through the system of caste, that has kept the people from advancing, 
and has checked the march of civilisation. But the people are awaking 
from their drowsiness. It is only within the last few years that the 
missionary and the schoolmaster, the soldier and engineer, have made 
some little inroad into that vast and intricate system—caste—that sucks 
the very life-blood of India. 
The word for caste in the old language of the Hindus is Varna— 
colour. When the ancestors of the Hindus crossed the Himalayas they 
had to battle against a dark race, the Dasyas. On ethnological grounds, 
therefore, an appellation was necessary to distinguish between the bright- 
coloured conquerors and the dark races they had conquered. Different 
languages and different religions strengthened the natural antipathies 
and became the germ for the future laws and regulations of caste. There 
are four different classes of men, who are said to have sprung from the 
mouth, the breast, the thighs, and the feet of Brahma. These were the 
Brahmans, the Kshatriyas, the Vaisyas, and the Sudras. Although 
scholars can prove that the following quotation is an interpolation, yet 
the passage we are about to quote is a very old one—proving the 
antiquity of caste. In the Rig Veda we find the question asked : ‘“‘ When 
they divided man, how many did they make him ? What was his mouth ? 
What his arms ? What are called his thighs and feet ?” Then a description 
such as we have already given follows. That in some way colour was 
the chief ingredient in the formation of caste is found in the Mahabharata 
where we are told that the first caste was white, the second red, the 
third yellow and the fourth black. The first three great castes are 
supposed to belong to the great Aryan family—the last to the Turanian. 
These four classes represent the Priests, the soldiers, the husbandmen, 
and the serfs. (Compare the state of European society in the middle 
ages.) But besides ethnological reasons, political considerations, the 
prejudice or jealousy of professions, fomented by guilds and societies, all 
these kept well in hand by the Brahmans, have tightened the meshes 
around Hindu society that it cannot get free. The Brahmans are those 
most interested in keeping up the regulations of caste. They are 
enriched by the rules of it. A Brahman would not give up his office for 
a king’s diadem. A king is the servant of the Brahman. The following 
story will sbow how the Brahmans work the oracle. Once upon a time, 
a king, Saudasa by name, whilst hunting, met a Brahman on the road 
and ordered him to get out of his way——a thing contrary to the rules 
