Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/124

100 thirty wide, and plainly but neatly built of brick, plastered within and without. The floor is matted, and the half of the room next to the door furnished with settees. These were filled by the youth of the high school and adults from the neighbourhood; in front of them the floor was completely covered with children from the Tamil schools, the teachers being seated here and there on chairs, like watchmen, to preserve order. The native Christian men sat on one side of the house, and the mission family on the other. The native women who were members of the church, as they entered, modestly took their places on the matted floor, first wrapping their faces in their white or coloured mantles, and spending a few moments in prayer.

When all was still, the services commenced with singing a hymn in Tamil, one of the natives leading; then followed prayer, reading the Scriptures, the sermon, and other parts of worship, as in our own country. Though it was all unintelligible to us, yet it was most pleasant to see so large a number gathered to hear the gospel in their own tongue in this heathen city. Nor was it less pleasant and interesting to hear the quick answers to ques-