observe, for instance, that one cause of dislike which the natives have to the proposed fever hospital in Calcutta is, the fear that Hindus and Moosulmans would be placed in the same ward! Such an objection would never have been dreamed of in Upper India, provided their food be kept distinct. In some of the Madras provinces, the small peculiarities are preserved even more strongly than in Bengal; yet, it is strange, that Swartz and the missionaries of his time met with much greater success in conversion there, than has attended the efforts which have been made on this side of India.
The loss of caste is, as is above observed, a much less serious matter than is generally supposed; generally speaking, it is nothing more than this,—that if a man do certain things, his relations and friends refuse to eat with him, until he gives a grand entertainment, after which he is received on his former footing. This, however, is not always successful, and instances might be quoted where several hundred thousands of rupees have been expended in vain. When this is the case, it is rarely because the offence which has been committed is considered too great to be atoned for, but usually the result of some personal pique or malice on the part of some members of the tribe. There are, however, instances on the other side: a man who had committed incest with his sister was declared to have forfeited his caste, and never could regain it, from the horror with which this crime was regarded. Among the common people, the whole business is as childish as that of school-boys, where, for some nonsense, one is sent to Coventry one day, and, after distributing a shilling’s worth of nuts or plums, is on the next restored to favour: from ten to twenty rupees is sufficient to restore a man of the lower classes to his caste.
The facility with which it is accomplished depends much on the degree of friendship which exists between the individual and the influential members of his tribe; if he can form a tolerable party in his favour he is easily restored, even though he may have been rendered unclean in the highest degree. A man of low caste once imposed himself on a native officer in the Sirmoor battalion, who had left his home many years, as his son, and was received and treated as such for several months before the imposture was discovered. At first, there was a great uproar, but it
