Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/247

Rh fl. Cross — female offspring of H. Male offspring of C + D ^ A + B. l_J. Native woman. f L. Cross — male offspring of K. Female offspring ofC+I-^ ■^,^ t- I M. European man. LN. Native man. The Eurasian half-breed, thus estabh'shed, has been perpetuated by a variety of possible combinations : — _ r Eurasian woman. European man. . . . i L Native woman. f Native woman. Eurasian man. . . . ■( Eurasian woman. l^ European woman. r Eurasian woman. Native man . . . . • • i t- L European woman. In the early days of the British occupation of Madras, the traders and soldiers, arriving with an inadequate equipment of females, contracted alliances, regular or irregular, with the women of the country. And in these early days, when our territorial possessions were keenly contested with both European and Native enemies, an attempt was made, under authority from high places, to obtain, through the medium of the British soldier, and in accordance with the creed that crossing is an essential means of improving a race, and rendering it vigorous by the infusion of fresh blood from a separate stock, a good cross, which should be available for military purposes. Later on, as the number of the British settlers increased, connexions, either with the Native women, or with the females of the recently established Eurasian type, were kept up owing to the difficulty of communication with the mother-country, and consequent difficulty in securing English brides. Of these barbaric days the detached or semi-detached bungalows in the spacious grounds of the old private houses in