Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/216

 204 INDIA mammals, the so-called royal or Bengal tiger is the most destructive to human life. The Asiatic elephant (E. Indicus) is captured for purposes of domestication; the tame animals will not breed, so that the supply has to be kept up from the forests. There are two species of rhinoceros whose range includes India, both single-horned. Of these the larger (R. Indi- cut) is met with at the foot of the Himalaya and in Assam ; the smaller (R. Sondaicus) was formerly called the Javan rhinoceros, but is now known to frequent the mainland, extend- ing into western Bengal. The dromedary is enumerated by Blyth in his catalogue of Indian mammals ; the Bactrian camel has been intro- duced. Two genera of four-horned antelopes occur in the Sivalik hills. Several species of deer are met with. Most of the Indian mon- keys belong to the genus temnopithecut, having a long tail, which, however, is not prehensile. The sacred monkey of the Hindoos (8. entellw) is the species best known. Bears, wild boars, foxes, and squirrels are numerous, and hares and porcupines abound. The Indian hyeena is the striped species, and, like the jackal, is very common. The buffalo is found wild through- out the peninsula, and is also domesticated; other domestic animals are the horse, the ass, the yak, and the goat. Frugivorous, insecti- vorous, and leaf-nosed bats are all denizens of India. Many of the birds of the country are distinguished by the most gorgeous plumage ; such are the various species of cuckoos and parrots, the kingfishers, and the pigeons. Among the birds of prey we find eagles, fal- cons, hawks, and vultures; and among the waders are cranes, herons, and storks. Crows and owls are numerous in many districts. The gallinaceous birds are represented by par- tridges, pheasants, quails, wild peacocks, and the common domestic fowls of Europe and America, which originally were derived from southern Asia. India abounds in dangerous reptiles. Nearly 150 species of snakes inhabit the peninsula, many of which are fatally venom- ous. Those most dreaded are the celebrated cobra de capello ; the hamadryad (ophiophagut elapi), a hooded tree snake ; the krait (bunga- ru earuleui) ; and the daboia (rtipera Rmsel- Wf), known in Ceylon as the tie polonga. In 1869, 14,529 persons lost their lives in India in consequence of snake bites; and in 1871 the to- tal number of deaths known to have been caused by dangerous animals of all kinds was 18,078. Crocodiles haunt the rivers in great numbers, and in many districts tortoises and turtles are plentiful. The rivers swarm with fish, which form a large part of the food of the people in Orissa and other portions of Bengal, British Burmah, the Northwest Provinces, the Pun- jaub, and Canara. The varieties of insects are innumerable. The most remarkable feature in the social life of India is the Hindoo insti- tution of caste, for an account of which see INDIA, RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOUS LITEBATUKE OF. The condition of the people is as various as are the different regions they inhabit. For the most part they are comfortably housed. The system of townships or villages has pre- vailed for ages, and has survived through innu- merable revolutions and conquests. Each town- ship manages its own internal affairs, levies upon its members the taxes demanded by the state, organizes its own police, and is responsi- ble for all property taken by thieves within its limits. It administers justice to its own mem- bers, punishing small offences and deciding petty lawsuits. It also keeps in repair the roads and public edifices, and provides for the maintenance of public worship and the support of the poor. For all these duties it provides the proper officers, who are paid by fees, some- times in money, but more often in produce. Cultivation is laboriously though not very skil- fully pursued by the natives, whose implements are usually of a rude kind. Manure is little em- ployed, as the bulk of the people use little or no animal food and keep scarcely any stock. The religious prejudices of the people also pre- vent them from using as manure the dung of cattle, which is considered holy and devoted to religious purposes. The climate and sanitary condition of India make the country peculiarly subject to pestilence and famine ; bad water and bad drainage give rise to disease, and the rav- ages of the periodical epidemics are aggrava- ted by the immense congregations of people on long pilgrimages. Medical dispensaries and hospitals have been established by the gov- ernment in most of the provinces. Civil or- der is maintained by a police force of about 190,000 constables, in addition to the watch- men of the village communities. The inhabi- tants of India are the most litigious people in the world ; 1,088,153 civil suits were pend- ing in the country in 1871-'2. In none of the fine arts except architecture have the Hindoos attained much eminence. Their paintings are of very little merit, though the walls of tem- ples, of palaces, and of the better class of pri- vate dwellings are often ornamented at great cost -with pictures illustrating the characters and events of their mythology. More atten- tion has been paid to sculpture than to paint- ing, and in the temples cut from the living rock great numbers of statues are contained, some single figures and others large groups. Many of these are bold and spirited in design, though the human form is not exhibited in good proportion or with its parts well developed. In many districts of India splendid monu- ments of architecture abound, mostly the work of past ages, and many of remote antiquity. Such are the Jain temples at Ajmeer and else- where, some of which were built long before the Christian era, and are distinguished not only for size and splendor of ornamentation, but for symmetry, beauty of proportion, and refinement of taste. The mosques, palaces, and tombs erected by the Mohammedan empe- rors are the finest specimens in the world of the Saracenic style of architecture. Those at