166 THE BETEL NUT 



nut, so that a betel nut chewer seems to go about 

 spitting blood all the day. As every Hindu is a 

 betel nut chewer, those 943,903 superficial miles 

 of country which make up our Indian Empire must 

 be bespattered to a degree which it dizzies the mind 

 to contemplate. This is one of the difficulties of 

 Indian administration. In large towns and centres 

 of business it is found necessary to fortify the public 

 buildings in various ways. The Custom House in 

 Bombay has the wall painted with dark red ochre 

 to a height of three or four feet from the ground. 



But these are the outward results. What is the 

 inwardness of the thing ? In a word, why do the 

 people chew betel nut ? Surely not that they may 

 spit on our public buildings. That is a chance result, 

 not sought for and not shunned. There is, of course, 

 some deeper reason. Early travellers in India were 

 much exercised about this and used to question 

 the people, from whom they got some curious 

 explanations. One reports, " They say they do it 

 to comfort the heart, nor could live without it." 

 Another says, "It bites in the mouth, accords rheume, 

 cooles the head, strengthens the teeth and is all 

 their phisicke." A Latin writer gets quite eloquent. 

 "Ex ea mansione "—by that chewing — he says, 

 " mire recreantur, et ad labores tolerandos et ad 

 languores discutiendos.' ' 



But the remarkable thing is that the betel nut 

 has these effects only on the Hindu constitution. 

 To a European the strong, astringent taste and 



