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difference in their epicurean banquet is, that the Pooleahs eat of 
all animal food, except beef, and sometimes of that which dies of 
itself: the Pariars not only feast upon dead carcases, but eat 
beef, and carrion of every kind. The brahmins of Malabar have 
thought proper to place Christians in the same rank with the 
Pariars. 
Dr. Robinson truly says, “ the condition of the Pariar is un- 
doubtedly the lowest degradation of human nature: if a Pariar 
approach a Nair he may put him to death with impunity: water 
or milk are considered as defiled, even by their shadow passing 
over them, and cannot be used until they are purified. It is im- 
possible for words to express the sensation of vileness that the 
name of Pariar or Chandala conveys to the mind of a Hindoo: 
every Hindoo who violates the rules or institutions of his caste 
sinks into this degraded situation. This it is which renders Hin- 
doos so resolute in adhering to the institutions of their tribe; be- 
cause the loss of caste is, to them, the loss of all human comfort 
and respectability; and is a punishment beyond comparison more 
severe than excommunication, in the most triumphant period of 
Papal power / 5 
Rejection of caste must to a Hindoo appear much worse than 
death: hurled from the high privileges of a brahmin or a Nair, 
the delinquent of either sex is obliged to enter the tribe of Pariars, 
the outcasts of all ranks of society ; in which both them and their 
offspring are compelled to remain for ever! No virtue, no talent, 
no merit of a child can ever atone for the venial sin of the parent, 
whose whole posterity must feel the full effect of the dreadful sen- 
tence: none are to pray, to sacrifice, to read, or to speak to the 
