Book Description

Excerpt from Native Life in India: Being Sketches of the Social and Religious Characteristics of the Hindus Having for upwards of eighteen years moved freely among all classes of the people in various parts of India, and having taken notes of what I have seen and heard, I have ventured to put them together in this little book. Many of these pages, especially those on the manners and customs of the people, have been read over to an educated Brahmin of good family and position, who vouches for their general accuracy. For what has not come directly under my own observation I am indebted to other sources, especially to Dr. Cornish's invaluable Census Report. To all such I desire to express my obligations. In no part of the world, perhaps, is it truer that what is said of one part of the country may not be equally applicable to another. I have, therefore, only incidentally alluded to Mysore and Travancore, as the manners and customs of the people of those provinces are in many respects different from those of the other parts of South India. As regards Travancore, there is an admirable book on the subject, entitled "The Land of Charity," by my esteemed friend, the Rev. S. Mateer, of Trevandrum. As regards Mysore, a popular account of the present-day life of the people has, I believe, still to be written. I have also alluded only briefly to the Mohammedans, as they do not strictly come under the scope of the title of this little book. That the perusal of these pages may lead to increased interest in the people of South India, and to more earnest and enlarged efforts for their evangelization, is my sincere desire and fervent prayer. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.