Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/551

Rh and storehouse; but much of the time of the Hindus is spent abroad, and quite as many sleep without as within doors. In the hot weather their houses are close, and in the wet weather they are damp. They bathe in the tank, or river, if one be near, and perform other toilet duties at the same place. They smoke under a tree, and are shaved at the corner of the street, seated on the ground. Trades are carried on in the open air, and goods exposed for sale without the house. Company is received on the piol; and schools are taught there, or under the shade of a tree. Hence, as we have said, the house cannot be considered as the family abode. When, through the ameliorating influence of Christianity, the family circle becomes a happy and attractive place, changes in their mode of life will lead to a change in the structure of their houses. Increased comfort and improved health will accompany an increase of love and mutual affection. Then the house of the Hindu will be what it is not now—his home.

The houses of the more wealthy are sometimes two stories in height, with a flat roof surrounded by a wall, where the owners enjoy the evening air and look out upon the passers- Rh