Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/75

Rh to deprive him of his dinner; to drink out of his cup may deprive him of his caste, or seriously compromise him with his caste-fellows. Leather is an abomination to Hindoos; as is every thing made from the pig, as a riding-saddle, to the Moslem. When natives of a different rank are present you must be careful not to allow those to sit whose rank does not entitle them, and to give each his proper place.”—Murray's Handbook.

Such are the people of that land toward whom for ages the attention of outside nations has been directed with so much interest. We will now consider briefly their composition and numbers, and some of those singular chronological, historical, and religious views which they have entertained so tenaciously, and so long.