Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/191

Rh. Many metals besides gold and silver were known, as is clear from a passage of the Chhandogya Upanishad which describes gold as soldered by means of borax, and silver by means of gold, and tin by means of silver, and lead by means of tin, and iron by means



From a painting by Edwin Lord Weeks. Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.

of lead, and wood by means of iron, and also by means of leather.

Here and there in the towns and villages were pools that collected rain-water to serve the varied needs of the people. In these pools they washed their clothes, and in their waters they often found relief from the oppressive heat of midday.

As in the Vedic Period, the food of the people consisted of various kinds of grain as well as the meat of animals. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,