60 TIMEHRI. 
plumage is hardly becoming. They appear to have, if J 
may so phrase it, a certain rustic vulgarity which, to the 
stranger, is far from prepossessing, while. their extrava- 
gant apeing of their superiors in dress and so forth is 
grotesque without being amusing. Their esthetic value 
is exceedingly small, and in this respeét they stand in 
contrast to their East Indian neighbours. 
In the gout ensemble of a Demerara crowd, the Coolies 
strike a distin@tive and a pleasing note. It is interesting to 
see a band of estates Coolies on a visit to town wandering, 
gravely desipient, through the streets—the men, in. their 
white, gracefully folded garments, the women in flam- 
boyant muslins, their bare arms loaded with bangles, 
and the pretty children trotting alongside, pi€tures of 
childish content. Their incongruity with their environ- 
ments and their apparent consciousness of being stran- 
gers in a strange land give them an attra€tive and 
somewhat pathetic aspe&t. From a pi€turesque stand- 
point it will be a sad loss to Demerara if ever the 
Coolies are taken from the colony, or if, as is not:im- 
possible, in course of time they are Anglicised out of 
their superficial charaéteristics. And here I may.address 
a word to Ministers and others pursuing the praiseworthy 
aim of converting our East Indians to Christianity. Do 
not insist upon a change of wardrobe with a change of 
heart, I have yet to learn that the wearing of trousers 
necessarily implies a special degree of moral excellence, 
or that, whosoever will be saved before all things it is 
necessary that he provide himself with a shirt and.a pair 
of braces. There is a tendency to regard trousers as an 
essential article of faith; but consider, I pray you, the 
unloveliness of that funicular apparel, pause and contem- 
