PREFACE
This work has been written, mainly, during a period of restriction, on account of weak health, from the more active duties of the ministry; and the hope is indulged that it may prove quite as useful, in its own way, by treasuring and presenting for general reference information regarding Travancore, as, perhaps, more direct labours in travelling and lecturing on the subject might have been. For the last twenty-five years, I have been studying that country with reference to the prosecution of missionary labour, culling facts of every kind, and accumulating notes respecting its people, history, and literature; collecting a library, English, Tamil, and Malayalam, with complete sets of Reports, some of which are now almost inaccessible to the public, and enjoying friendly intercourse with Europeans and natives of all classes. And at home, while engaged in the preparation of this book, free access has also been given, through the courtesy of the librarians, to the splendid library at the India House.
The valuable materials and knowledge thus acquired for personal use are now placed at the disposal of others; arranged, digested, and condensed so as to give, if it were possible, a whole library in a single volume—providing reliable matter for future investigation and practical application—throwing light especially on those points affecting the social and moral condition of the people on which the statesman or philanthropist would wish to be informed—furnishing materials for a true history of the country—and giving a photograph of strange manners and usages that are rapidly
