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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:41:10 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:41:10 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13011-0.txt b/13011-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3ebb75 --- /dev/null +++ b/13011-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7287 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13011 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13011-h.htm or 13011-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/1/13011/13011-h/13011-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/1/13011/13011-h.zip) + + + + + +FAR OFF + +or, Asia and Australia Described, with Anecdotes and Illustrations + +BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE PEEP OF DAY," ETC. ETC. ETC. + +NEW YORK + +1852 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "O ma'am that's sweet! Jesus Christ is OUR Redeemer."] + + + +[Illustration: FAR OFF] + + + + + +In the Frontispiece may be seen an English lady, who went to live upon +Mount Sion to teach little Jewesses and little Mahomedans to know the +Saviour. That lady has led three of her young scholars to a plain just +beyond the gates of Jerusalem; and while two of them are playing +together, she is listening to little Esther, a Jewess of eight years old. +The child is fond of sitting by her friend, and of hearing about the Son +of David. She has just been singing, + + "Glory, honor, praise, and power, + Be unto the Lamb forever, + Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, + Hallelujah, praise the Lord;" + +and now she is saying, "O, ma'am, that's sweet! Jesus Christ is _our_ +Redeemer, _our_ Redeemer: no _man_ can redeem his brother, no +_money_,--nothing--but only the precious blood of Christ." + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This little work pleads for the notice of parents and teachers on the +same grounds as its predecessor, "Near Home." + +Its plea is not completeness, nor comprehensiveness, nor depth of +research, nor splendor of description; but the very reverse,--its simple, +superficial, desultory character, as better adapted to the volatile +beings for whom it is designed. + +Too long have their immortal minds been captivated by the adventures and +achievements of knights and princesses, of fairies and magicians; it is +time to excite their interest in real persons, and real events. In +childhood that taste is formed which leads the youth to delight in +novels, and romances; a taste which has become so general, that every +town has its circulating library, and every shelf in that library is +filled with works of fiction. + +While these fascinating inventions are in course of perusal, many a Bible +is unopened, or if opened, hastily skimmed; many a seat in church is +unoccupied, or if occupied, the service, and the sermon disregarded--so +intense is the sympathy of the novel reader with his hero, or his +heroine. + +And what is the effect of the perusal? Many a young mind, inflated with a +desire for admiration and adventure, grows tired of home, impatient of +restraint, indifferent to simple pleasures, and averse to sacred +instructions. How important, therefore, early to endeavor to prevent a +taste for FICTION, by cherishing a taste for FACTS. + +But this is not the only aim of the present work; it seeks also to excite +an interest in _those_ facts which ought _most_ to interest immortal +beings--facts relative to souls, and their eternal happiness--to God, and +his infinite glory. + +These are the facts which engage the attention of the inhabitants of +heaven. We know not whether the births of princes, and the coronations of +monarchs are noticed by the angelic hosts; but we do know that the +repentance of a sinner, be he Hindoo or Hottentot, is celebrated by their +melodious voices in rapturous symphonies. + +Therefore "Far Off" desire to interest its little readers in the labors +of missionaries,--men despised and maligned by the world, but honored and +beloved by the SAVIOUR of the world. An account of the scenery and +natives of various countries, is calculated to prepare the young mind for +reading with intelligence those little Missionary Magazines, which appear +every month, written in so attractive a style, and adorned with such +beautiful illustrations. Parents have no longer reason to complain of the +difficulty of finding sacred entertainment for their children on Sunday, +for these pleasing messengers,--if carefully dealt out,--one or two on +each Sabbath, would afford a never failing supply. + +To form great and good characters, the mind must be trained to delight in +TRUTH,--not in comic rhymes, in sentimental tales, and skeptical poetry. +The truth revealed in God's Holy Word, should constitute the firm basis +of education; and the works of Creation and Providence the superstructure +while the Divine blessing can alone rear and cement the edifice. + +Parents, train up your children to serve God, and to enjoy his presence +forever; and if there be amongst them--an EXTRAORDINARY child, train him +up with extraordinary care, lest instead of doing extraordinary _good_ he +should do extraordinary _evil_, and be plunged into extraordinary misery. + +Train up--the child of imagination--not to dazzle, like Byron, but to +enlighten, like Cowper: the child of wit--not to create profane mirth, +like Voltaire, but to promote holy joy, like Bunyan: the child of +reflection--not to weave dangerous sophistries, like Hume, but to wield +powerful arguments, like Chalmers: the child of sagacity--not to gain +advantages for himself, like Cromwell, but for his country, like +Washington: the child of eloquence--not to astonish the multitude, like +Sheridan, but to plead for the miserable, like Wilberforce: the child of +ardor--not to be the herald of delusions, like Swedenbourg, but to be the +champion of truth, like Luther: the child of enterprise--not to devastate +a Continent, like the conquering Napoleon, but to scatter blessings over +an Ocean, like the missionary Williams:--and, if the child be a +prince,--train him up--not to reign in pomp and pride like the fourteenth +Louis, but to rule in the fear of God, like our own great ALFRED. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +ASIA + +THE HOLY LAND + Bethlehem + Jerusalem + The Dead Sea + Samaria + Galilee + +SYRIA + Damascus + +ARABIA + +TURKEY IN ASIA + Armenia + Kurdistan + Mesopotamia + +PERSIA + Teheran + +CHINA + +COCHIN CHINA + Tonquin + Cambodia + +HINDOSTAN + The Ganges + The Thugs + The Hindoo Women + The English in India + +CIRCASSIA + +GEORGIA + Tiflis + +TARTARY + Astracan + Bokhara + The Toorkman Tartars + +CHINESE TARTARY + +AFFGHANISTAN + +BELOOCHISTAN + +BURMAH + The Karens + Ava + Maulmain + The Missionary's babe + +SIAM + Bankok + +MALACCA + Singapore + The Christian school-girls + +SIBERIA + The Samoyedes + The Banished Russians + The Ural Mountains + +KAMKATKA + +THIBET + Lassa + +CEYLON + Kandy + Colombo + +BORNEO + Bruni + The Dyaks + +JAPAN + +AUSTRALIA + The Colonists or Settlers + Botany Bay + Sydney + Adelaide + +VAN DIEMAN'S LAND + The Young Savages + Little Mickey + + + + +FAR OFF. + + +ASIA. + + + Of the four quarters of the world--Asia is the most glorious. + There the first man lived. + There the Son of God lived. + There the apostles lived. + There the Bible was written. + Yet now there are very few Christians in Asia: + though there are more people there than in any other quarter + of the globe. + + + + +THE HOLY LAND. + + +Of all the countries in the world which would you rather see? + +Would it not be the land where Jesus lived? + +He was the Son of God: He loved us and died for us. + +What is the land called where He lived? Canaan was once its name: but now +Palestine, or the Holy Land. + +Who lives there now? + +Alas! alas! The Jews who once lived there are cast out of it. There are +some Jews there; but the Turks are the lords over the land. You know the +Turks believe in Mahomet. + +What place in the Holy Land do you wish most to visit? + +Some children will reply, Bethlehem, because Jesus was born there; +another will answer, Nazareth, because Jesus was brought up there; and +another will say, "Jerusalem," because He died there. + +I will take you first to + + +BETHLEHEM. + +A good minister visited this place, accompanied by a train of servants, +and camels, and asses. + +It is not easy to travel in Palestine, for wheels are never seen there, +because the paths are too steep, and rough, and narrow for carriages. + +Bethlehem is on a steep hill, and a white road of chalk leads up to the +gate. The traveller found the streets narrow, dark, and dirty. He lodged +in a convent, kept by Spanish monks. He was shown into a large room with +carpets and cushions on the floor. There he was to sleep. He was led up +to the roof of the house to see the prospect. He looked, and beheld the +fields below where the shepherds once watched their flocks by night: and +far off he saw the rocky mountains where David once hid himself from +Saul. + +But the monks soon showed him a more curious sight. They took him into +their church, and then down some narrow stone steps into a round room +beneath. "Here," said they, "Jesus was born." The floor was of white +marble, and silver lamps were burning in it. In one corner, close to the +wall, was a marble trough, lined with blue satin. "There," said the +monks, "is the manger where Jesus was laid." "Ah!" thought the traveller, +"it was not in such a manger that my Saviour rested his infant head; but +in a far meaner place." + +These monks have an image of a baby, which they call Jesus. On +Christmas-day they dress it in swaddling-clothes and lay it in the +manger: and then fall down and worship it. + +The next day, as the traveller was ready to mount his camel, the people +of Bethlehem came with little articles which they had made. But he would +not buy them, because they were images of the Virgin Mary and her holy +child, and little white crosses of mother-of-pearl. They were very +pretty: but they were idols, and God hates idols. + + +JERUSALEM. + +Here our Lord was crucified. + +Is there any child who does not wish to hear about it? + +The children of Jerusalem once loved the Lord, and sang his praises in +the temple. Their young voices pleased their Saviour, though not half so +sweet as angels' songs. + +Which is the place where the temple stood? + +It is Mount Moriah. There is a splendid building there now. + +Is it the temple? O no, that was burned many hundreds of years ago. It is +the Mosque of Omar that you see; it is the most magnificent mosque in all +the world. How sad to think that Mahomedans should worship now in the +very spot where once the Son of God taught the people. No Jew, no +Christian may go into that mosque. The Turks stand near the gate to keep +off both Jews and Christians. + +Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this mosque. +There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they are part of +their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their Sabbath +(which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the stones. There +they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in the dust, and +repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old stones: because +they think that all prayers whispered between the cracks and crevices of +these stones will be heard by God. Some Jewesses come, wrapped from head +to foot in long white veils, and they gently moan and softly sigh over +Jerusalem in ruins. + +What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you +desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the sight +of it makes the Jews weep. + +But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is +Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of +images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there--and Greeks too: and +they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce +quarrels. + +That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre." It is pretended +that Christ's tomb or sepulchre is in it. Turks stand at the door and +make Christians pay money before they will let them in. + +When they enter, what do they see? + +In one corner a stone seat. "There," say the monks, "Jesus sat when He +was crowned with thorns." In another part there is a stone pillar. +"There," say the monks, "He was scourged." There is a high place in the +middle of the church with stairs leading up to it. When you stand there +the monks say, "This is the top of Calvary, where the cross stood." But +we know that the monks do not speak the truth, for the Romans destroyed +Jerusalem soon after Christ's crucifixion, and no one knows the very +place where He suffered. + +On Good Friday the monks carry all round the church an image of the +Saviour as large as life, and they fasten it upon a cross, and take it +down again, and put it in the sepulchre, and they take it out again on +Easter Sunday. How foolish and how wrong are these customs! It was not in +this way the apostles showed their love to Christ, but by preaching his +word. + +Mount Zion is the place where David brought the ark with songs and +music. There is a church where the Gospel is preached and prayers are +offered up in Hebrew, (the Jew's language.) The minister is called the +Bishop of Jerusalem. He is a Protestant. A few Jews come to the church at +Mount Zion, and some have believed in the Lord Jesus. + +And there is a school there where little Jews and Jewesses and little +Mahomedans sit side by side while a Christian lady teaches them about +Jesus. In the evening, after school, she takes them out to play on the +green grass near the city. A little Jewess once much pleased this kind +teacher as she was sitting on a stone looking at the children playing. +Little Esther repeated the verse-- + + Glory, honor, praise and power + Be unto the Lamb forever; + Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, + Hallelujah, praise the Lord! + +and then she said very earnestly, "O, ma'am, how sweet to think that +Jesus is _our_ Redeemer. No _man_ can redeem his brother: no money--no +money can do it--only the precious blood of Jesus Christ." Little Esther +seemed as if she loved Jesus, as those children did who sang his praises +in the temple so many years ago. + +But there is another place--very sad, but very sweet--where you must +come. Go down that valley--cross that small stream--(there is a narrow +bridge)--see those low stone walls--enter: it is the Garden of +Gethsemane. Eight aged olive-trees are still standing there; but Jesus +comes there no more with his beloved disciples. What a night was that +when He wept and prayed--when the angel comforted Him--and Judas betrayed +Him. + +The mountain just above Gethsemane is the Mount of Olives. Beautiful +olive-trees are growing there still. There is a winding path leading to +the top. The Saviour trod upon that Mount just before he was caught up +into heaven. His feet shall stand there again, and every eye shall see +the Saviour in his glory. But will every eye be glad to see Him? + +O no; there will be bitter tears then flowing from many eyes. + +And what kind of a city is Jerusalem? + +It is a sad and silent city. The houses are dark and dirty, the streets +are narrow, and the pavement rough. There are a great many very old Jews +there. Jews come from all countries when they are old to Jerusalem, that +they may die and be buried there. Their reason is that they think that +all Jews who are buried in their burial-ground at Jerusalem will be +raised _first_ at the last day, and will be happy forever. Most of the +old Jews are very poor: though money is sent to them every year from the +Jews in Europe. + +There are also a great many sick Jews in Jerusalem, because it is such an +unhealthy place. The water in the wells and pools gets very bad in +summer, and gives the ague and even the plague. Good English Christians +have sent a doctor to Jerusalem to cure the poor sick people. One little +girl of eleven years old came among the rest--all in rags and with bare +feet: she was an orphan, and she lived with a Jewish washerwoman. The +doctor went to see the child in her home. Where was it? It was near the +mosque, and the way to it was down a narrow, dark passage, leading to a +small close yard. The old woman lived in one room with her grandchildren +and the orphan: there was a divan at each end, that is, the floor was +raised for people to sleep on. The orphan was not allowed to sleep on the +divans, but she had a heap of rags for her bed in another part. The +child's eyes glistened with delight at the sight of her kind friend the +doctor, he asked her whether she went to school. This question made the +whole family laugh: for no one in Jerusalem teaches girls to read except +the kind Christian lady I told you of. + + +THE DEAD SEA. + +The most gloomy and horrible place in the Holy Land is the Dead Sea. In +that place there once stood four wicked cities, and God destroyed them +with fire and brimstone. + +You have heard of Sodom and Gomorrah. + +A clergyman who went to visit the Dead Sea rode on horseback, and was +accompanied by men to guard him on the way, as there are robbers hid +among the rocks. He took some of the water of the Dead Sea in his mouth, +that he might taste it, and he found it salt and bitter; but he would not +swallow it, nor would he bathe in it. + +He went next to look at the River Jordan. How different a place from the +dreary, desolate Dead Sea! Beautiful trees grow on the banks, and the +ends of the branches dip into the stream. The minister chose a part quite +covered with branches and bathed there, and as the waters went over his +head, he thought, "My Saviour was baptized in this river." But he did not +think, as many pilgrims do who come here every year, that his sins were +washed away by the water: no, he well knew that Christ's blood alone +cleanses from sin. There is a place where the Roman Catholics bathe, and +another where the Greeks bathe every year; they would not on any account +bathe in the same part, because they disagree so much. + +After drinking some of the sweet soft water of Jordan, the minister +travelled from Jericho to Jerusalem. He went the very same way that the +good Samaritan travelled who once found a poor Jew lying half-killed by +thieves. Even to this day thieves often attack travellers in these parts: +because the way is so lonely, and so rugged, and so full of places where +thieves can hide themselves. + +A horse must be a very good climber to carry a traveller along the steep, +rough, and narrow paths, and a traveller must be a bold man to venture to +go to the edge of the precipices, and near the robbers' caves. + + +SAMARIA. + +In the midst of Palestine is the well where the Lord spoke so kindly to +the woman of Samaria. In the midst of a beautiful valley there is a heap +of rough stones: underneath is the well. But it is not easy to drink +water out of this well. For the stone on the top is so heavy, that it +requires many people to remove it: and then the well is deep, and a very +long rope is necessary to reach the water. The clergyman (of whom I have +spoken so often) had nothing to draw with; therefore, even if he could +have removed the stone, he could not have drunk of the water. The water +must be very cool and refreshing, because it lies so far away from the +heat. That was the reason the Samaritan woman came so far to draw it: for +there were other streams nearer the city, but there was no water like the +water of Jacob's well. + +The city where that woman lived was called Sychar. It is still to be +seen, and it is still full of people. You remember that the men of that +city listened to the words of Jesus, and perhaps that is the reason it +has not been destroyed. The country around is the most fruitful in all +Canaan; there are such gardens of melons and cucumbers, and such groves +of mulberry-trees. + + +GALILEE. + +How different from Sychar is Capernaum! That was the city where Jesus +lived for a long while, where he preached and did miracles. It was on the +borders of the lake of Genesareth. The traveller inquired of the people +near the lake, where Capernaum once stood; but no one knew of such a +place: it is utterly destroyed. Jesus once said, "Woe unto Capernaum." +Why? Because it repented not. + +The lake of Genesareth looked smooth as glass when the traveller saw it; +but he heard that dreadful storms sometimes ruffled those smooth waters. +It was a sweet and lovely spot; not gloomy and horrible like the Dead +Sea. The shepherds were there leading their flocks among the green hills +where once the multitude sat down while Jesus fed them. + +Not very far off is the city where Jesus lived when he was a boy. + +NAZARETH.--All around are rugged rocky hills. In old times it was +considered a wicked city; perhaps it got this bad name from wicked people +coming here to hide themselves: and it seems just fit for a hiding-place. +From the top of one of the high crags the Nazarenes once attempted to +hurl the blessed Saviour. + +There is a Roman Catholic convent there, where the minister lodged. He +was much disturbed all day by the noise in the town; not the noise of +carts and wagons, for there are none in Canaan, but of screaming +children, braying asses, and grunting camels. One of his servants came to +him complaining that he had lost his purse with all his wages. He had +left it in his cell, and when he came back it was gone. Who could have +taken it? It was clear one of the servants of the convent must have +stolen it, for one of them had the key of the room. The travellers went +to the judge of the town to complain; but the judge, who was a Turk, was +asleep, and no one was allowed to awake him. In the evening, when he did +awake, he would not see justice done, because he said he had nothing to +do with the servants at the convent, as they were Christians. Nazareth, +you see, is still a wicked city, where robbery is committed and not +punished. + +There is much to make the traveller sad as he wanders about the Holy +Land. + +That land was once _fruitful_, but now it is barren. It is not surprising +that no one plants and sows in the fields, because the Turks would take +away the harvests. + +Once it was a _peaceful_ land, but now there are so many enemies that +every man carries a gun to defend himself. + +Once it was a _holy_ land, but now Mahomet is honored, and not the God of +Israel. + +When shall it again be fruitful, and peaceful, and holy? When the Jews +shall repent of their sins and turn to the Lord. Then, says the prophet +Ezekiel, (xxxvi. 35,) "They shall say, This land that was desolate is +become like the garden of Eden."[1] + + [1] Taken chiefly from "A Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. George Fisk. + + + + +SYRIA. + + +Those who love the Holy Land will like to hear about Syria also; for +Abraham lived there before he came into Canaan. Therefore the Israelites +were taught to say when they offered a basket of fruit to God, "A Syrian +was my father." It was a heathen land in old times; and it is now a +Mahomedan land; though there are a few Christians there, but very +ignorant Christians, who know nothing of the Bible. + +Syria is a beautiful land, and famous for its grand mountains, called +Lebanon. The same clergyman who travelled through the Holy Land went to +Lebanon also. He had to climb up very steep places on horseback, and +slide down some, as slanting as the roof of a house. But the Syrian +horses are very sure-footed. It is the custom for the colts from a month +old to follow their mothers; and so when a rider mounts the back of the +colt's mother, the young creature follows, and it learns to scramble up +steep places, and to slide down; even through the towns the colt trots +after its mother, and soon becomes accustomed to all kinds of sights and +sounds: so that Syrian horses neither shy nor stumble. + +The traveller was much surprised at the dress of the women of Lebanon: +for on their heads they wear silver horns sticking out from under their +veils, the strangest head-dress that can be imagined. + +There are sweet flowers growing on the sides of Lebanon; but at the top +there are ice and snow. + +The traveller ate some ice, and gave some to the horses; and the poor +beasts devoured it eagerly, and seemed quite refreshed by their cold +meal. + +The snow of Lebanon is spoken of in the Bible as very pure and +refreshing. "Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the +rock of the field?"--Jer. xviii. 14. + +The traveller earnestly desired to behold the cedars of Lebanon: for a +great deal is said about them in the Bible; indeed, the temple of Solomon +was built of those cedars. It was not easy to get close to them; for +there were craggy rocks all around: but at last the traveller reached +them, and stood beneath their shade. There were twelve very large old +trees, and their boughs met at the top, and kept off the heat of the sun. +These trees might be compared to holy men, grown old in the service of +God: for this is God's promise to his servants,--"The righteous shall +flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in +Lebanon."--Psalm xc. 11, 12. + + +DAMASCUS. + +This is the capital of Syria. + +It is perhaps the most ancient city in the world. Even in the time of +Abraham, Damascus was a city; for his servant Eliezer came from it. + +But Damascus is most famous, on account of a great event which once +happened near it. A man going towards that city suddenly saw in the +heavens a light brighter than the sun, and heard a voice from on high, +calling him by his name. Beautiful as the city was, he saw not its beauty +as he entered it, for he had been struck blind by the great light. That +man was the great apostle Paul. + +Who can help thinking of him among the gardens of fruit-trees surrounding +Damascus? + +The damask rose is one of the beauties of Damascus. There is one spot +quite covered with this lovely red rose. + +I will now give an account of a visit a stranger paid to a rich man in +Damascus. He went through dull and narrow streets, with no windows +looking into the streets. He stopped before a low door, and was shown +into a large court behind the house. There was a fountain in the midst of +the court, and flower-pots all round. The visitor was then led into a +room with a marble floor, but with no furniture except scarlet cushions. +To refresh him after his journey, he was taken to the bath. There a man +covered him with a lather of soap and water, then dashed a quantity of +hot water over him, and then rubbed him till he was quite dry and warm. + +When he came out of the bath, two servants brought him some sherbet. It +is a cooling drink made of lemon-juice and grape-juice mixed with water. + +The master of the house received the stranger very politely: he not only +shook hands with him, but afterwards he kissed his own hand, as a mark of +respect to his guest. The servants often kissed the visitor's hand. + +The dinner lasted a long while, for only one dish was brought up at a +time. Of course there were no ladies at the dinner, for in Mahomedan +countries they are always hidden. There were two lads there, who were +nephews to the master of the house; and the visitor was much surprised to +observe that they did not sit down to dinner with the company; but that +they stood near their uncle, directing the servants what to bring him; +and now and then presenting a cup of wine to him, or his guests. But it +is the custom in Syria for young people to wait upon their elders; +however, they may speak to the company while they are waiting upon them. + +Damascus used to be famous for its swords: but now the principal things +made there, are stuffs embroidered with silver, and boxes of curious +woods, as well as red and yellow slippers. The Syrians always wear yellow +slippers, and when they walk out they put on red slippers over the +yellow. If you want to buy any of the curious works of Damascus, you must +go to the bazaars in the middle of the town; there the sellers sit as in +a market-place, and display their goods. + +SCHOOLS.--It is not the custom in Syria for girls to learn to read. But a +few years ago, a good Syrian, named Assaad, opened a school for little +girls as well as for boys. + +It was easy to get the little boys to come; but the mothers did not like +to send their little girls. They laughed, and said, "Who ever heard of a +girl going to school? Girls need not learn to read." The first girl who +attended Assaad's school was named Angoul, which means "Angel." Where is +the child that deserves such a name? Nowhere; for there is none +righteous, no, not one. Angoul belonged not to Mahomedan parents, but to +those called Christians; yet the Christians in Syria are almost as +ignorant as heathens. + +Angoul had been taught to spin silk; for her father had a garden of +mulberry-trees, and a quantity of silk worms. She was of so much use in +spinning, that her mother did not like to spare her: but the little maid +promised, that if she might go to school, she would spin faster than ever +when she came home. How happy she was when she obtained leave to go! See +her when the sun has just risen, about six o'clock, tripping to school. +She is twelve years old. Her eyes are dark, but her hair is light. Angoul +has not been scorched by the sun, like many Syrian girls, because she has +sat in-doors at her wheel during the heat of the day. She is dressed in a +loose red gown, and a scarlet cap with a yellow handkerchief twisted +round it like a turban. + +At school Angoul is very attentive, both while she is reading in her +Testament, and while she is writing on her tin slate with a reed dipped +in ink. She returns home at noon through the burning sun, and comes to +school again to stay till five. Then it is cool and pleasant, and Angoul +spins by her mother's side in the lovely garden of fruit-trees before the +house. Has she not learned to sing many a sweet verse about the garden +above, and the heavenly husbandman? As she watches the budding vine, she +can think now of Him who said, "I am the true vine." As she sits beneath +the olive-tree, she can call to mind the words, "I am like a green +olive-tree in the house of my God." Angoul is growing like an angel, if +she takes delight in meditating on the word of God.[2] + + [2] Extracted chiefly from the Rev. George Fisk's "Pastor's + Memorial," and Kinnear's Travels. + + + + +ARABIA. + + +This is the land in which the Israelites wandered for forty years. You +have heard what a dry, dreary, desert place the wilderness was. There is +still a wilderness in Arabia; and there are still wanderers in it; not +Israelites, but Arabs. These men live in tents, and go from place to +place with their large flocks of sheep and goats. But there are other +Arabs who live in towns, as we do. + +Do you know who is the father of the Arabs? + +The same man who is the father of the Jews. + +What, was Abraham their father? + +Yes, he was. + +Do you remember Abraham's ungodly son, Ishmael? + +He was cast out of his father's house for mocking his little brother +Isaac, and he went into Arabia. + +And what sort of people are the Arabs? + +Wild and fierce people. + +Travellers are afraid of passing through Arabia, lest the Arabs should +rob and murder them; and no one has ever been able to conquer the Arabs. +The Arabs are very proud, and will not bear the least affront. Sometimes +one man says to another, "The wrong side of your turban is out." This +speech is considered an affront never to be forgotten. The Arabs are so +unforgiving and revengeful that they will seek to kill a man year after +year. One man was observed to carry about a small dagger. He said his +reason was, he was hoping some day to meet his enemy and kill him. + +Of what religion are this revengeful people? The Mahomedan. + +Mahomed was an Arab. It is thought a great honor to be descended from +him. Those men who say Mahomed is their father wear a green turban, and +very proud they are of their green turbans, even though they may only be +beggars. + +THE ARABIAN WOMEN.--They are shut up like the women in Syria when they +live in towns, but the women in tents are obliged to walk about; +therefore they wear a thick veil over their face, with small holes for +their eyes to peep out. + +The poor women wear a long shirt of white or blue; but the rich women +wrap themselves in magnificent shawls. To make themselves handsome, they +blacken their eyelids, paint their nails red, and wear gold rings in +their ears and noses. They delight in fine furniture. A room lined with +looking-glasses, and with a ceiling of looking-glasses, is thought +charming. + +ARAB TENTS.--They are black, being made of the hair of black goats. Some +of them are so large that they are divided into three rooms, one for the +cattle, one for the men, and one for the women. + +ARAB CUSTOMS.--The Arabs sit on the ground, resting on their heels, and +for tables they have low stools. A large dish of rice and minced mutton +is placed on the table, and immediately every hand is thrust into it; and +in a moment it is empty. Then another dish is brought, and another; and +sometimes fourteen dishes of rice, one after the other, till all the +company are satisfied. They eat very fast, and each retires from dinner as +soon as he likes, without waiting for the rest. After dinner they drink +water, and a small cup of coffee without milk or sugar. Then they smoke +for many hours. + +The Arabs do not indulge in eating or drinking too much, and this is one +of the best parts of their character. + +[Illustration: CAMELS.] + + +THE THREE EVILS OF ARABIA. + +The first evil is want of water. There is no river in Arabia: and the +small streams are often dried up by the heat. + +The second evil is many locusts, which come in countless swarms, and +devour every green thing. + +The third evil is the burning winds. When a traveller feels it coming, he +throws himself on the ground, covering his face with his cloak, lest the +hot sand should be blown up his nostrils. Sometimes men and horses are +choked by this sand. + +These are the three great evils; but there is a still greater, the +religion of Mahomed: for this injures the soul; the other evils only hurt +the body. + + +THE THREE ANIMALS OF ARABIA. + +The animals for which Arabia is famous are animals to ride upon. + +Two of them are often seen in England; though here they are not nearly as +fine as in Arabia; but the third animal is never used in England. Most +English boys have ridden upon an ass. In Arabia the ass is a handsome and +spirited creature. The horse is strong and swift, and yet obedient and +gentle. The camel is just suited to Arabia. His feet are fit to tread +upon the burning sands; because the soles are more like India-rubber than +like flesh: his hard mouth, lined with horn, is not hurt by the prickly +plants of the desert; and his hump full of fat is as good to him as a bag +of provisions: for on a journey the fat helps to support him, and enables +him to do with very little food. Besides all this, his inside is so made +that he can live without water for three days. + +A dromedary is a swifter kind of camel, and is just as superior to a +camel as a riding-horse is to a cart-horse. + + +THE THREE PRODUCTIONS OF ARABIA. + +These are coffee, dates, and gums. + +For these Arabia is famous. + +The coffee plants are shrubs. The hills are covered with them; the white +blossoms look beautiful among the dark green leaves, and so do the red +berries. + +The dates grow on the palm-trees; and they are the chief food of the +Arabs. The Arabs despise those countries where there are no dates. + +There are various sweet-smelling gums that flow from Arabian trees. + + +THE THREE PARTS OF ARABIA. + +You see from what I have just said that there are plants and trees in +Arabia. Then it is clear that the whole land is not a desert. No, it is +not; there is only a part called Desert Arabia; that is on the north. +There is a part in the middle almost as bad, called Stony Arabia, yet +some sweet plants grow there; but there is a part in the south called +Happy Arabia, where grow abundance of fragrant spices, and of +well-flavored coffee. + + +THE THREE CITIES OF ARABIA. + +Arabia has long been famous for three cities, called Mecca, Medina, and +Mocha. + +_Mecca_ is considered the holiest city in the world. And why? Because the +false prophet Mahomed was born there. On that account Mahomedans come +from all parts of the world to worship in the great temple there. +Sometimes Mecca is as full of people as a hive is full of bees. + +Of all the cities in the East, Mecca is the gayest, because the houses +have windows looking into the streets. In these houses are lodgings for +the pilgrims. + +And what is it the pilgrims worship? + +A great black stone, which they say the angel Gabriel brought down from +heaven as a foundation for Mahomed's house. They kiss it seven times, and +after each kiss they walk round it. + +Then they bathe in a well, which they say is the well the angel showed to +Hagar in the desert, and they think the waters of this well can wash away +all their sins. Alas! they know not of the blood which can wash away +_all_ sin. + +_Medina_ contains the tomb of Mahomed; yet it is not thought so much of +as Mecca. Perhaps the Mahomedans do not like to be reminded that Mahomed +died like any other man, and never rose again. + +_Mocha_.--This is a part whence very fine coffee is sent to Europe. + + +TRAVELS IN THE DESERT. + +Of all places in Arabia, which would you desire most to see? Would it not +be Mount Sinai? Our great and glorious God once spoke from the top of +that mountain. + +I will tell you of an English clergyman who travelled to see that +mountain. As he knew there were many robbers on the way, he hired an Arab +sheikh to take care of him. A sheikh is a chief, or captain. Suleiman +was a fine-looking man, dressed in a red shirt, with a shawl twisted +round his waist, a purple cloak, and a red cap. His feet and legs were +bare. His eyes were bright, his skin was brown, and his beard black. To +his girdle were fastened a huge knife and pistols, and by his side hung a +sword. This man brought a band of Arabs with him to defend the travellers +from the robbers in the desert. + +One day the whole party set out mounted on camels. After going some +distance, a number of children were seen scampering among the rocks, and +looking like brown monkeys. These were the children of the Arabs who +accompanied the Englishman. The wild little creatures ran to their +fathers, and saluted them in the respectful manner that Arab children are +taught to do. + +At last a herd of goats was seen with a fine boy of twelve years old +leading them. He was the son of Suleiman. The father seemed to take great +delight in this boy, and introduced him to the traveller. The kind +gentleman riding on a camel, put down his hand to the boy. The little +fellow, after touching the traveller's hand, kissed his own, according to +the Arabian manner. + +The way to Mount Sinai was very rough; indeed, the traveller was +sometimes obliged to get off his camel, and to climb among the crags on +hands and knees. How glad he was when the Arabs pointed to a mountain, +and said, "That is Mount Sinai." With what fear and reverence he gazed +upon it! Here it was that the voice of the great God was once heard +speaking out of the midst of the smoke, and clouds, and darkness! + +How strange it must be to see in this lonely gloomy spot, a great +building! Yet there is one at the foot of the mountain. What can it be? A +convent. See those high walls around. It is necessary to have high walls, +because all around are bands of fierce robbers. It is even unsafe to have +a door near the ground. There is a door quite high up in the wall; but +what use can it be of, when there are no steps by which to reach it? Can +you guess how people get in by this door? A rope is let down from the +door to draw the people up. One by one they are drawn up. In the inside +of the walls there are steps by which travellers go down into the convent +below. The monks who live there belong to the Greek church. + +The clergyman was lodged in a small cell spread with carpets and +cushions, and he was waited upon by the monks. + +These monks think that they lead a very holy life in the desert. They eat +no meat, and they rise in the night to pray in their chapel. But God does +not care for such service as this. He never commanded men to shut +themselves up in a desert, but rather to do good in the world. + +One day the monks told the traveller they would show him the place where +the burning bush once stood. How could they know the place? However, they +pretended to know it. They led the way to the chapel, then taking off +their shoes, they went down some stone steps till they came to a round +room under ground, with three lamps burning in the midst. "There," said +the monks, "is the very spot where the burning bush once stood." + +There were two things the traveller enjoyed while in the convent, the +beautiful garden full of thick trees and sweet flowers; and the cool pure +water from the well. Such water and such a garden in the midst of a +desert were sweet indeed. + +The Arabs, who accompanied the traveller, enjoyed much the plentiful +meals provided at the convent; for the monks bought sheep from the +shepherds around, to feed their guests. After leaving the convent, +Suleiman was taken ill in consequence of having eaten too much while +there. The clergyman gave him medicine, which cured him. The Arabs were +very fond of their chief, and were so grateful to the stranger for giving +him in medicine, that they called him "the good physician." Suleiman +himself showed his gratitude by bringing his own black coffee-pot into +the tent of the stranger, and asking him to drink coffee with him; for +such is the pride of an Arab chief, that he thinks it is a very great +honor indeed for a stranger to share his meal. + +But the traveller soon found that it is dangerous to pass through a +desert. Why? Not on account of wild beasts, but of wild men. There was a +tribe of Arabs very angry with Suleiman, because he was conducting the +travellers through _their_ part of the desert. They wanted to be the +guides through that part, in hopes of getting rewarded by a good sum of +money. You see how covetous they were. The love of money is the root of +all evil. + +These angry Arabs were hidden among the rocks and hills; and every now +and then they came suddenly out of their hiding-places, and with a loud +voice threatened to punish Suleiman. + +How much alarmed the travellers were! but none more than Suleiman +himself. He requested the clergyman to travel during the whole night, in +order the sooner to get out of the reach of the enemy. The clergyman +promised to go as far as he was able. What a journey it was! No one durst +speak aloud to his companions, lest the enemies should be hidden among +the rocks close by, and should overhear them. At midnight the whole +company pitched their tents by the coast of the Red Sea. Early in the +morning the minister went alone to bathe in its smooth waters. After he +had bathed, and when he was just going to return to the tents, he was +startled by hearing the sound of a gun. The sound came from the midst of +a small grove of palm-trees close by. Alarmed, he ran back quickly to the +tents: again he heard the report of a gun: and again a third time. The +travellers, Arabs and all, were gathered together, expecting an enemy to +rush out of the grove. But where was Suleiman? He had gone some time +before into the grove of palm-trees to talk to the enemies. + +Presently the traveller saw about forty Arabs leave the grove and go far +away. But Suleiman came not. So the minister went into the grove to +search for him, and there he found---not Suleiman--but his dead body! + +There it lay on the ground, covered with blood. The minister gazed upon +the dark countenance once so joyful, and he thought it looked as if the +poor Arab had died in great agony. It was frightful to observe the number +of his wounds. Three balls had been shot into his body by the gun which +went off three times. Three great cuts had been made in his head; his +neck was almost cut off from his head, and his hand from his arm! How +suddenly was the proud Arab laid low in the dust! All his delights were +perished forever. Suleiman had been promised a new dress of gay colors at +the end of the journey; but he would never more gird a shawl round his +active frame, or fold a turban round his swarthy brow. The Arabs wrapped +their beloved master in a loose garment, and placing him on his beautiful +camel, they went in deep grief to a hill at a little distance. There they +buried him. They dug no grave; but they made a square tomb of large loose +stones, and laid the dead body in the midst, and then covered it with +more stones. There Suleiman sleeps in the desert. But the day shall come +when "the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her +slain:" and then shall the blood of Suleiman and his slain body be +uncovered, and his murderer brought to judgment.[3] + + [3] Extracted chiefly from "The Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. + G. Fisk. Published by R. Carter & Brothers. + + + + +TURKEY IN ASIA. + + +Is there a Turkey in Asia as well as a Turkey in Europe? + +Yes, there is; and it is governed by the same sultan, and filled by the +same sort of persons. All the Turks are Mahomedans. + +You may know a Mahomedan city at a distance. When we look at a Christian +city we see the steeples and spires of churches; but when we look at a +Mahomedan city we see rising above the houses and trees the domes and +minarets of mosques. What are domes and minarets? A dome is the round top +of a mosque: and the minarets are the tall slender towers. A minaret is +of great use to the Mahomedans. + +Do you see the little narrow gallery outside the minaret. There is a man +standing there. He is calling people to say their prayers. He calls so +loud that all the people below can hear, and the sounds he utters are +like sweet music. But would it not make you sad to hear them when you +remembered what he was telling people to do? To pray to the god of +Mahomet, not to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but to a +false god: to no God. This man goes up the dark narrow stairs winding +inside the minaret five times a day: first he goes as soon as the sun +rises, then at noon, next in the afternoon, then at sunset, and last of +all in the night. Ascending and descending those steep stairs is all his +business, and it is hard work, and fatigues him very much. + +In the court of the mosque there is a fountain. There every one washes +before he goes into the mosque to repeat his prayers, thinking to please +God by clean hands instead of a clean heart. Inside the mosque there are +no pews or benches, but only mats and carpets spread on the floor. There +the worshippers kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads. The +minister of the mosque is called the Imam. He stands in a niche in the +wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers. + +But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town, +preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday. He sits on a high place and talks +to the people--not about pardon and peace, and heaven and holiness--but +about the duty of washing their hands before prayers, and of bowing down +to the ground, and such vain services. + +In the mosque there are two rows of very large wax candles, much higher +than a man, and as thick as his arm, and they are lighted at night. + +It is considered right to go to the mosque for prayers five times a day; +but very few Mahomedans go so often. Wherever people may be, they are +expected to kneel down and repeat their prayers, whether in the house or +in the street. But very few do so. While they pray, Mahomedans look about +all the time, and in the midst speak to any one, and then go on again; +for their hearts are not in their prayers; they do not worship in spirit +and in truth. + +There are no images or pictures in the mosques, because Mahomet forbid +his followers to worship idols. There are Korans on reading stands in +various parts of the mosque for any one to read who pleases. + +The people leave their red slippers at the door, keeping on their yellow +boots only; but they do not uncover their heads as Christians do. + +Was Christ ever known in this Mahomedan land? Yes, long before he was +known in England. Turkey in Asia used to be called Asia Minor, (or Asia +the less,) and there it was that Paul the apostle was born, and there he +preached and turned many to Christ. But at last the Christians began to +worship images, and the fierce Turks came and turned the churches into +mosques. This was the punishment God sent the Christians for breaking his +law. In some of the mosques you may see the marks of the pictures which +the Christians painted on the walls, and which the Turks nearly scraped +off. + +How dreadful it would be if our churches should ever be turned into +mosques! May God never send us this heavy punishment. + + +ARMENIA. + +One corner of Turkey in Asia is called Armenia. There are many high +mountains in Armenia, and one of them you would like to see very much. It +is the mountain on which Noah's ark rested after the flood. I mean +Ararat.[4] + +It is a very high mountain with two peaks; and its highest peak is always +covered with snow. People say that no one ever climbed to the top of that +peak. I should think Noah's ark rested on a lower part of the mountain +between the two peaks, for it would have been very cold for Noah's +family on the snow-covered peak, and it would have been very difficult +for them to get down. How pleasant it must be to stand on the side of +Ararat, and to think, "Here my great father Noah stood, and my great +mother, Noah's wife; here they saw the earth in all its greenness, just +washed with the waters of the flood, and here they rejoiced and praised +God." + +I am glad to say that all the Armenians are not Mahomedans. Many are +Christians, but, alas! they know very little about Christ except his +name. I will tell you a short anecdote to show how ignorant they are. + +Once a traveller went to see an old church in Armenia called the Church +of Forty Steps, because there are forty steps to reach it: for it is +built on the steep banks of a river. + +The traveller found the churchyard full of boys. This churchyard was +their school-room. And what were their books? The grave-stones that lay +flat upon the ground. Four priests were teaching the boys. These priests +wore black turbans; while Turkish Imams wear white turbans. One of these +Armenian priests led the traveller to an upper room, telling him he had +something very wonderful to show him. What could it be? The priest went +to a nacho in the wall and took out of it a bundle; then untied a silk +handkerchief, and then another, and then another; till he had untied +twenty-five silk handkerchiefs. What was the precious thing so carefully +wrapped up? It was a New Testament. + +It is a precious book indeed: but it ought to be read, and not wrapped +up. The priest praised it, saying, "This is a wonderful book; it has +often been laid upon sick persons, and has cured them." Then a poor old +man, bent and tottering, pressed forward to kiss the book, and to rub his +heavy head. This was worshipping the _book_, instead of Him who wrote it. + +An Armenian village looks like a number of molehills: for the dwellings +are holes dug in the ground with low stone walls round the holes; the +roof is made of branches of trees and heaps of earth. There are generally +two rooms in the hole--one for the family, and one for the cattle. + +A traveller arrived one evening at such a village; and he was pleased to +see fruit-trees overshadowing the hovels, and women, without veils, +spinning cotton under their shadow. But he was not pleased with the room +where he was to sleep. The way lay through a long dark passage under +ground; and the room was filled with cattle: there was no window nor +chimney. How dark and hot it was! Yet it was too damp to sleep out of +doors, because a large lake was near; therefore he wrapped his cloak +around him, and lay upon the ground; but he could not sleep because of +the stinging of insects, and the trampling of cattle: and glad he was in +the morning to breathe again the fresh air. + +Rich Armenians have fine houses. Once a traveller dined with a rich +Armenian. The dinner was served up in a tray, and placed on a low stool, +while the company sat on the ground. One dish after another was served up +till the traveller was tired of tasting them. But there was not only too +much to _eat_; there was also too much to _drink_. Rakee, a kind of +brandy, was handed about; and afterwards a musician came in and played +and sang to amuse the company. In Turkey there is neither playing, nor +singing, nor drinking spirits. The Turks think themselves much better +than Christians. "For," say they, "we drink less and pray more." They do +not know that real Christians are not fond of drinking, and are fond of +praying; only _they_ pray more in _secret_, and the Turks more in +_public_. + + +KURDISTAN. + +The fiercest of all the people in Asia are the Kurds. + +They are the terror of all who live near them. + +Their dwellings are in the mountains; there some live in villages, and +some in black tents, and some in strong castles. At night they rush down +from the mountains upon the people in the valleys, uttering a wild yell, +and brandishing their swords. They enter the houses, and begin to pack up +the things they find, and to place them on the backs of their mules and +asses, while they drive away the cattle of the poor people; and if any +one attempts to resist them, they kill him. You may suppose in what +terror the poor villagers live in the valleys. They keep a man to watch +all night, as well as large dogs; and they build a strong tower in the +midst of the village where they run to hide themselves when they are +afraid. + +The reason why the Armenians live in holes in the ground is because they +hope the Kurds may not find out where they are. + +Those Kurds who live in tents often move from place to place. The black +tents are folded up and placed on the backs of mules; and a large kettle +is slung upon the end of the tent-pole. The men and women drive the +herds and flocks, while the children and the chickens ride upon the cows. + +The Kurds have thin, dark faces, hooked noses, and black eyes, with a +fierce and malicious look. + +They are of the Mahomedan religion, and the call to prayers may be heard +in the villages of these robbers and murderers. + + +MESOPOTAMIA. + +This country is part of Turkey in Asia. It lies between two very famous +rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, often spoken of in the Bible. The +word Mesopotamia means "between rivers." It was between these rivers that +faithful Abraham lived when God first called him to be his friend. Should +you not like to see that country? It is now full of ruins. The two most +ancient cities in the world were built on the Tigris and Euphrates. + +Nineveh was on the Tigris. + +What a city that was at the time Jonah preached there! Its walls were so +thick that three chariots could go on the top all abreast. + +But what is Nineveh now? Look at those green mounds. Under those heaps of +rubbish lies Nineveh. A traveller has been digging among those mounds, +and has found the very throne of the kings of Nineveh, and the images of +winged bulls and lions which adorned the palace. God overthrew Nineveh +because it was wicked. + +There is another ancient city lying in ruins on the Euphrates, it is +Babylon the Great. + +There are nothing but heaps of bricks to be seen where once proud Babylon +stood. Where are now the streets fifteen miles long? Where are the +hanging gardens? Gardens one above the other, the wonder of the world? +Where is now the temple of Belus, (or of Babel, as some think,) with its +golden statue? All, all are now crumbled into rubbish. God has destroyed +Babylon as he said. + +There are dens of wild beasts among the ruins. A traveller saw some bones +of a sheep in one, the remains, he supposed, of a lion's dinner; but he +did not like to go further into the den to see who dwelt there. Owls and +bats fill all the dark places. But no men live there, though human bones +are often found scattered about, and they turn into dust as soon as they +are touched. + +There is now a great city in Mesopotamia, called Bagdad. In Babylon no +sound is heard but the howlings of wild beasts; in Bagdad men may be +heard screaming and hallooing from morning to night. The drivers of the +camels and the mules shout as they press through the narrow crooked +streets, and even the ladies riding on white donkeys, and attended by +black slaves, scream and halloo. + +In summer it is so hot in Bagdad that people during the day live in rooms +under ground, and sleep on their flat roofs at night. + +It is curious to see the people who have been sleeping on the roof get up +in the morning. First they roll up their mattrasses, their coverlids, and +pillows, and put them in the house. The children cannot fold up theirs, +but their mothers or black slaves do it for them. The men repeat their +prayers, and then drink a cup of coffee, which their wives present to +them. The wives kneel as they offer the cup to their lords, and stand +with their hands crossed while their lords are drinking, then kneel down +again to receive the cup, and to kiss their lords' hand. Then the men +take their pipes, and lounge on their cushions, while the women say their +prayers. And when do the children say their prayers? Never. They know +only of Mahomet; they know not the Saviour who said, "Suffer little +children to come unto me." + + [4] It is remarkable that this mountain lies at the point where + three great empires meet, namely, Russia, Persia, and Turkey. + + + + +PERSIA. + + +Is this country mentioned in the Bible? Yes; we read of Cyrus, the king +of Persia. Isaiah spoke of him before he was born, and called him by his +name. See chapter xlv. + +Persia is now a Mahomedan country. The Turks, you remember, are +Mahomedans too. Perhaps you think those two nations, the Turks and the +Persians, must agree well together, as they are of the same religion. Far +from it. No nations hate one another more than Turks and Persians do; and +the reason is, that though they both believe in Mahomet, they disagree +about his son-in law, Ali. The Persians are very fond of him, and keep a +day of mourning in memory of his death; whereas the Turks do not care for +Ali at all. + +But is this a reason why they should hate one another so much? + +Even in their common customs the Persians differ from the Turks. The +Turks sit cross-legged on the ground; the Persians sit upon their heels. +Which way of sitting should you prefer? I think you would find it more +comfortable to sit like a Turk. + +The Turks sit on sofas and lean against cushions; the Persians sit on +carpets and lean against the wall. I know you would prefer the Turkish +fashion. The Turks drink coffee without either milk or sugar; the +Persians drink tea with sugar, though without milk. The Turks wear +turbans; the Persians wear high caps of black lamb's-wool. + +Not only are their _customs_ different; but their _characters_. The Turks +are grave and the Persians lively. The Turks are silent, the Persians +talkative. The Turks are rude, the Persians polite. Now I am sure you +like the Persians better than the Turks. But wait a little--the Turks are +very proud; the Persians are very deceitful. An old Persian was heard to +say, "We all tell lies whenever we can." The Persians are not even +ashamed when their falsehoods are found out. When they sell they ask too +much; when they make promises they break them. In short, it is impossible +to trust a Persian. + +The Turks obey Mahomet's laws; they pray five times a day, and drink no +wine. But the Persians seldom repeat their prayers, and they do drink +wine, though Mahomet has forbidden it. In short, the Persian seems to +have no idea of right and wrong. The judges do not give right judgment, +but take bribes. The soldiers live by robbing the poor people, for the +king pays them no wages, but leaves them to get food as they can; and so +the poor people often build their cottages in little nooks in the +valleys, where they hope the soldiers will not see them. + +THE COUNTRY.--Persia is a high country and a dry country. There are high +mountains and wide plains; but there are very few rivers and running +brooks, because there is so little rain. However, in some places the +Persians have cut canals, and planted willow-trees by their side. Rice +will not grow well in such a dry country, but sheep find it very pleasant +and wholesome. The hills are covered over with flocks, and the shepherds +may be seen leading their sheep and carrying the very young lambs in +their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it +is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms." + +The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia--I mean the rose. +The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves +and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for +children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a +traveller went to breakfast with a Persian Prince, and he found the +company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet spread over it. +Afterwards the rose-leaves were sent to the distillers, to be made into +rose-water. + +Persian cats are beautiful creatures, with fur as soft as silk. + +The best melons in the world grow in Persia. + +The three chief materials for making clothes are all to be found there in +abundance. I mean wool, cotton, and silk. You have heard already of the +Persian sheep; so you see there is wool. Cotton trees also abound. Women +and children may be been picking the nuts which contain the little pieces +of cotton. There are mulberry-trees also to feed the numerous silk worms. + +POOR PEOPLE.--The villages where the poor live are miserable places. The +houses are of mud, not placed in rows, but straggling, with dirty narrow +paths winding between them. + +In summer the poor people sleep on the roofs; for the roofs are flat, and +covered with earth, with low walls on every side to prevent the sleepers +falling off. Here the Persians spread their carpets to lie upon at night. + +Winter does not last long in Persia, yet while it lasts it is cold. Then +the poor, instead of sleeping on their roofs, sleep in a very curious +warm bed. In the middle of each cottage there is a round hole in the +floor, where the fire burns. In the evening the fire goes out, but the +hot cinders remain. The Persians place over it a low round table, and +then throw a large coverlid over the table, and all round about. Under +this coverlid the family lie at night, their heads peeping out, and their +feet against the warm fire-place underneath. This the Persians call a +comfortable bed. + +The poor wear dirty and ragged clothes, and the children may be seen +crawling about in the dust, and looking like little pigs. Yet in one +respect the Persians are very clean; they bathe often. In every village +there is a large bath. + +The poor people have animals of various kinds--a few sheep, or goats, or +cows. In the day one man takes them all out to feed. In the evening he +brings them back to the village, and the animals of their own accord go +home to their own stables. Each cow and each sheep knows where she will +get food and a place to sleep in. The prophet Isaiah said truly, "The ass +knoweth his owner, and the ox his master's crib; but Israel doth not +know, my people doth not consider." + +THE PERSIAN LADIES.--They wrap themselves up in a large dark blue +wrapper, and in this dress they walk out where they please. No one who +meets them can tell who they are. + +And where do these women go? Chiefly to the bath, where they spend much +of their time drinking coffee and smoking. There too they try to make +themselves handsome by blackening their eyebrows and dyeing their hair. +Sometimes the ladies walk to the burial-grounds, and wander about for +hours among the graves. When they are at home they employ themselves in +making pillau and sherbet. Pillau is made of rice and butter; sherbet is +made of juice mixed with water. + +The ladies have a sitting-room to themselves. One side of it is all +lattice-work, and this makes it cool. At night they spread their carpets +on the floor to sleep upon, and in the day they keep them in a +lumber-room. + +PERSIAN INNS.--They are very uncomfortable places. There are a great many +small cells made of mud, built all round a large court. These cells are +quite empty, and paved with stone. The only comfortable room is over the +door-way of the court, and the first travellers who arrive are sure to +settle in the room over the door-way. + +Once an English traveller arrived at a Persian inn with his two servants. +All three were very ill and in great pain, from having travelled far over +burning plains and steep mountains. + +But as the room over the door-way was occupied, they were forced to go +into a little cold damp cell. As there was no door to the cell, they hung +up a rag to keep out the chilling night air, and they placed a pan of +coals in the midst. Many Persians came and peeped into the cell; and +seeing the sick men looking miserable as they lay on their carpets, the +unfeeling creatures laughed at them, and no one would help them or give +them anything to eat. The travellers bought some bread and grapes at the +bazaar, but these were not fit food for sick men, but it was all they +could get. At last a Persian merchant heard of their distress; and he +came to see them every day, bringing them warm milk and wholesome food: +when they were well enough to be moved, he took them to his own house, +and nursed them with the greatest care. + +Who was this kind merchant? Not a Mahomedan, but of the religion of the +fire worshippers, or Parsees. Was he not like the good Samaritan of whom +we read in the New Testament? O that Bahram, the merchant, might know the +true God! + +PILGRIMS AND BEGGARS.--Very often you may see a large company of Pilgrims +some on foot, and some mounted on camels, horses, and asses. They are +returning from Mecca, the birth-place of Mahomet. What good have they got +by their pilgrimage? None at all. They think they are grown very holy, +but they make such an uproar at the inns by quarrelling and fighting when +they are travelling home, that no one can bear to be near them. + +There is a set of beggars called dervishes. They call themselves very +holy, and think people are bound to give money to such holy men. They are +so bold that sometimes they refuse to leave a place till some money has +been given. + +Once a dervish stopped a long while before the house of the English +ambassador, and refused to go away. But a plan was thought of to _make_ +him go away. + +The dervish was sitting in a little niche in the wall. The ambassador +ordered his servants to build up bricks to shut the dervish in. The men +began to build, yet the dervish would not stir, till the bricks came up +as high as his chin: then he began to be frightened, and said he would +rather go away. + +THE KING OF PERSIA.--He is called King of Kings. What a name for a man! +It is the title of God alone. The king sits on a marble throne, and his +garments sparkle with jewels of dazzling brightness. The walls of his +state-chamber are covered with looking-glasses. One side of the room +opens into a court adorned with flowers and fountains. Great part of his +time is spent in amusements, such as hunting and shooting, writing +verses, and hearing stories. He keeps a man called a story-teller, and he +will never hear the same story repeated twice. It gives the man a great +deal of trouble to find new stories every day. The king keeps jesters, +who make jokes; and he has mimics, who play antics to make him laugh. He +dines at eight in the evening from dishes of pure gold. No one is allowed +to dine with him; but two of his little boys wait upon him, and his +physician stands by to advise him not to eat too much. + +Do you think he is happy in all his grandeur? Judge for yourself. + +All his golden dishes come up covered and sealed. Why? For fear of +poison. There is a chief officer in the kitchen who watches the cook, to +see that he puts no poison into the food: and he seals up the dishes +before they are taken to the king, in order that the servants may not put +in poison as they are carrying them along. In what fear this great king +lives! He cannot trust his own servants. + +TEHERAN.--This is the royal city. It is built in a barren plain, and is +exceedingly hot, as the hills around keep off the air. It is a mean +city, for it is chiefly built of mud huts. + +The king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as +grand place.[5] + + [5] Extracted chiefly from Southgate's Travels. + + + + +CHINA. + + +There is no country in the world like China. + +How different it is from Persia, where there are so few people; whereas +China is crowded with inhabitants! + +How different it is from England, where the people are instructed in the +Bible, whereas China is full of idols. + +China is a heathen country; yet it is not a savage country, for the +people are quiet, and orderly, and industrious. + +It would be hard for a child to imagine what a great multitude of people +there are in China. + +If you were to sit by a clock, and if all the Chinese were to pass before +you one at a time, and if you were to count one at each tick of the +clock, and if you were never to leave off counting day or night--how long +do you think it would be before you had counted all the Chinese? + +Twelve years. O what a vast number of people there must be in China! In +all, there are about three hundred and sixty millions! If all the people +in the world were collected together, out of every three one would be a +Chinese. How sad it is to think that this immense nation knows not God, +nor his glorious Son! + +There are too many people in China, for there is not food enough for them +all; and many are half-starved. + +FOOD.--The poor can get nothing but rice to eat and water to drink; +except now and then they mix a little pork or salt fish with their rice. +Any sort of meat is thought good; even a hash of rats and snakes, or a +mince of earth-worms. Cats and dogs' flesh are considered as nice as +pork, and cost as much. + +An Englishman was once dining with a Chinaman, and he wished to know what +sort of meat was on his plate. But he was not able to speak Chinese. How +then could he ask? He thought of a way. Looking first at his plate, and +then at the Chinaman, he said, "Ba-a-a," meaning to ask, "Is this +mutton?" The Chinaman understood the question, and immediately replied, +"Bow-wow," meaning to say, "It is puppy-dog." You will wish to know +whether the Englishman went on eating; but I cannot tell you this. + +While the poor are in want of food, the rich eat a great deal too much. A +Chinese feast in a rich man's house lasts for hours. The servants bring +in one course after another, till a stranger wonders when the last course +will come. The food is served up in a curious way; not on dishes, but in +small basins--for all the meats are swimming in broth. Instead of a knife +and fork, each person has a pair of chop-sticks, which are something like +knitting-needles; and with these he cleverly fishes up the floating +morsels, and pops them into his mouth. There are spoons of china for +drinking the broth. + +You will be surprised to hear that the Chinese are very fond of eating +birds' nests. Do not suppose that they eat magpies' nests, which are made +of clay and sticks, or even little nests of moss and clay; the nests they +eat are made of a sort of gum. This gum comes out of the bird's mouth, +and is shining and transparent, and the nest sticks fast to the rock. +These nests are something like our jelly, and must be very nourishing. + +The Chinese like nothing cold; they warm all their food, even their wine. +For they have wine, not made of grapes, but of rice, and they drink it, +not in glasses, but in cups. Tea, however, is the most common drink; for +China is the country where tea grows. + +The hills are covered with shrubs bearing a white flower, a little like a +white rose. They are tea-plants. The leaves are picked; each leaf is +rolled up with the finger, and dried on a hot iron plate. + +The Chinese do not keep all the tea-leaves; they pack up a great many in +boxes, and send them to distant lands. In England and in Russia there is +a tea-kettle in every cottage. Some of the Chinese are so very poor that +they cannot buy new tea-leaves, but only tea-leaves which ire sold in +shops. I do not think in England poor people would buy old tea-leaves. +Some very poor Chinese use fern-leaves instead of tea-leaves. + +The Chinese do not make tea in the same way that we do. They have no +teapot, or milk-jug, or sugar-basin. They put a few tea-leaves in a cup, +pour hot water on them, and then put a cover on the cup till the tea is +ready. Whenever you pay a visit in China a cup of tea is offered. + +APPEARANCE.--The Chinese are not at all like the other natives of Asia. +The Turks and Arabs are fine-looking men, but the Chinese are +poor-looking creatures. You have seen their pictures on their boxes of +tea, for they are fond of drawing pictures of themselves. + +Their complexion is rather yellow, but many of the ladies, who keep in +doors, are rather fair. They have black hair, small dark eyes, broad +faces, flat noses, and high cheek-bones. In general they are short. The +men like to be stout; and the rich men are stout: the fatter they are, +the more they are admired: but the women like to be slender. + +A Chinaman does not take off his cap in company, and he has a good reason +for it: his head is close shaven: only a long piece behind is allowed to +grow, and this grows down to his heels, and is plaited. He wears a long +dark blue gown, with loose hanging sleeves. His shoes are clumsy, turned +up at the toes in an ugly manner, and the soles are white. The Chinese +have more trouble in whitening their shoes than we have in blacking ours. + +A Chinese lady wears a loose gown like a Chinaman's; but she may be known +by her head-dress, her baby feet, and her long nails. Her hair is tied +up, and decked with artificial flowers; and sometimes a little golden +bird, sparkling with jewels, adorns her forehead. Her feet are no bigger +than those of a child of five years old; because, when she was five, they +were cruelly bound up to prevent them from growing. She suffered much +pain all her childhood, and now she trips about as if she were walking on +tiptoes. A little push would throw her down. As she walks she moves from +side to side like a ship in the water, for she cannot walk firmly with +such small feet. The Chinese are so foolish as to admire these small +feet, and to call them the "golden lilies". As for her finger-nails, they +are seldom seen, for a Chinese lady hides her hands in her long sleeves; +but the nails on the left hand are very long, and are like bird's claws. +The nails on the right hand are not so long, in order that the lady may +be able to tinkle on her music, to embroider, and to weave silk. + +The gentlemen are proud of having one long nail on the little finger, to +show that they do not labor like the poor, for if they did, the nail +would break. Men in China wear necklaces and use fans. + +What foolish customs I have described. Surely you will not think the +Chinese a wise people, though very _clever_, as you will soon find. + +Men and women dress in black, or in dark colors, such as blue and purple; +the women sometimes dress in pink or green. Great people dress in red, +and the royal family in yellow. When you see a person all in white, you +may know he is in mourning. A son dresses in white for three years after +he has lost one of his parents. + +HOUSES.--See that lantern hanging over the gate. The light is rather dim, +because the sides are made of silk instead of glass. What is written upon +the lantern? The master's name. The gateway leads into a court into +which many rooms open. There are not doors to all the rooms; to some +there are only curtains. Curtains are used instead of doors in many hot +countries, because of their coolness; but the furniture of the Chinese +rooms is quite different from the furniture of Turkish and Persian rooms. +The Chinese sit on chairs as we do, and have high tables like ours: and +they sleep on bedsteads, yet their beds are not like ours, for instead of +a mattrass there is nothing but a mat. + +Instead of pictures, the Chinese adorn their rooms with painted lanterns, +and with pieces of white satin, on which sentences are written: they have +also book-cases and china jars. But they have no fire-places, for they +never need a fire to keep themselves warm: the sun shining in at the +south windows makes the rooms tolerably warm in winter; and in summer the +weather is very hot. The Chinese in winter put on one coat over the other +till they feel warm enough. In the north of China it is so cold in winter +that the place where the bed stands (which is a recess in the wall) is +heated by a furnace underneath, and the whole family sit there all day +crowded together. + +The Chinese houses have not so many stories as ours; in the towns there +is one floor above the ground floor, but in the country there are no +rooms up stairs. + +It would amuse you to see a Chinese country house. There is not one large +house, but a number of small buildings like summer-houses, and long +galleries running from one to another. One of these summer-houses is in +the middle of a pond, with a bridge leading to it. In the pond there are +gold and silver fish; for these beautiful fishes often kept in glass +bowls in England, came first from China. By the sides of the garden walls +large cages are placed; in one may be seen some gold and silver +pheasants, in another a splendid peacock; in another a gentle stork, and +in another an elegant little deer. There is often a grove of +mulberry-trees in the garden, and in the midst of the grove houses made +of bamboo, for rearing silk-worms. It is the delight of the ladies to +feed these curious worms. None but very quiet people are fit to take care +of them, for a loud noise would kill them. Gold and silver fish also +cannot bear much noise. + +In every large house in China there is a room called the Hall of +Ancestors. There the family worship their dead parents and grand-parents, +and great-grand-parents, and those who lived still further back. There +are no images to be seen in the Hall of Ancestors, but there are tablets +with names written upon them. The family bow down before the tablets, and +burn incense and gold paper! What a foolish service! What good can +incense and paper do to the dead? And what good can the dead do to their +children? How is it that such clever people as the Chinese are so +foolish? + +RELIGION.--You have heard already that the Chinese worship the dead. + +Who taught them this worship? + +It was a man named Confucius, who lived a long while ago. This Confucius +was a very wise man. From his childhood he was very fond of sitting alone +thinking, instead of playing with other children. When he was fourteen he +began to read some old books that had been written not long after the +time of Noah. In these books he found very many wise sentences, such as +Noah may have taught his children. The Chinese had left off reading these +wise books, and were growing more and more foolish.[6] Confucius, when he +was grown up, tried to persuade his countrymen to attend to the old +books. There were a few men who became his scholars, and who followed him +about from place to place. They might be seen sitting under a tree, +listening to the words of Confucius. + +Confucius was a very tall man with a long black beard and a very high +forehead. + +Had he known the true God, how much good he might have done to the +Chinese; but as it was he only tried to make them happy in this world. He +himself confessed that he knew nothing about the other world. He gave +very good advice about respect due to parents; but he gave very bad +advice about worship due to them after they were dead. + +Was he a good man? Not truly good; for he did not love God; neither did +he act right: for he was very unkind to his wife, and quite cast her off. +Yet he used to talk of going to other countries to teach the people. It +would have been a happy thing for him, if he had gone as far as Babylon; +for a truly wise man lived there, even Daniel the prophet. From him he +might have learned about the promised Saviour, and life everlasting. But +Confucius never left China. + +He was ill-treated by many of the rich and great, and he was so poor that +rice was generally his only food. When he was dying he felt very unhappy, +as well he might, when he knew not where he was going. He said to his +followers just before his death, "The kings refuse to follow my advice; +and since I am of no use on earth, it is best that I should leave it." As +soon as he was dead, people began to respect him highly, and even to +worship him. At this day, though Confucius died more than two thousand +years ago, there is a temple to his honor in every large city, and +numbers of beasts are offered up to him in sacrifice. There are thousands +of people descended from him, and they are treated with great honor as +the children of Confucius, and one of them is called kong or duke. + +There is another religion in China besides the religion of Confucius, and +a much worse religion. About the same time that Confucius lived, there +was a man called La-on-tzee. He was a great deceiver, as you will see. He +pretended that he could make people completely happy. There were three +things he said he would do for them: first, he would make them rich by +turning stone into gold; next, he would prevent their being hurt by +swords or by fire through charms he could give them; and, last of all, +he could save them from death by a drink he knew how to prepare. + +[Illustration: THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE.] + +What an awful liar this man must have been! Yet many people believed in +him, and still believe in him. There are now priests of La-on-tzee, and +once a year they rush through hot cinders and pretend they are not hurt. +You will wonder their tricks are not found out, seeing they cannot give +any one the drink to keep them from dying. It is indeed wonderful that +any one can believe these deceitful priests. + +Their religion is called the "_Taou_" sect. Taou means reason. The name +of folly would be a better title for such a religion. + +There is a _third_ religion in China. It is the sect of Buddha.[7] This +Buddha was a man who once pretended to be turned into a god called Fo. +You see he was even worse than La-on-tzee. + +Buddha pretended that he could make people happy; and his way of doing so +was very strange. He told them to think of nothing, and then they would +be happy. It is said that one man fixed his eyes for nine years upon a +wall without looking off, hoping to grow happy at last. You can guess +whether he did. There are many priests of Buddha, always busy in telling +lies to the people. They recommend them to repeat the name of Buddha +thousands and thousands of times, and some people are so foolish as to do +this; but no one ever found any comfort from this plan. + +The priests of Buddha say that their souls, when they leave their bodies, +go into other bodies. This idea is enough to make a dying person very +miserable. One poor man, when he was dying, was in terror because he had +been told his soul would go into one of the emperor's horses. Whenever +he was dropping off to sleep, he started up in a fright, fancying that he +felt the blows of a cruel driver hurrying him along: for he knew how very +fast the emperor's horses were made to go. How different are the +feelings of a dying man who knows he is going to Jesus. + +He can say with joy,-- + + "For me my elder brethren stay, + And angels beckon me away, + And Jesus bids me come." + +The Buddhists are full of tricks by which to get presents out of the +people. + +Once a year they cause a great feast to be made, and for whom? For the +poor? No. For beasts? No. For children? No. For themselves? No. You will +never guess. For ghosts! The priests declare that the souls of the dead +are very hungry, and that it is right to give them a feast. A number of +tables are set out, spread with all kinds of dishes. No one is seen to +eat, nor is any of the food eaten; but the priests say the ghosts eat the +spirit of the food. When it is supposed the ghosts have finished dinner, +the people scramble for the food, and take it home, and no doubt the +priests get their share. + +The dead are supplied with money as well as with food, and that is done +by burning gilt paper; clothes are sent to them by cutting out paper in +the shape of clothes, (only much smaller,) and by burning the article; +and even houses are conveyed to the dead by making baby-houses and +burning them. + +As an instance of the deceits of the priests, I will tell you of two +priests who once stood crying over a pour woman's gate. "What is the +matter?" inquired the woman. "Do you see those ducks?" the priests +replied; "our parents' souls are in them, and we are afraid lest you +should eat them for supper." The foolish woman out of pity gave the ducks +to the cunning priests, who promised to take great care of the precious +birds; but, in fact, they ate them for their own supper. + +The Buddhist priests may be known by their heads close shaven, and their +black dress. The priests of Taou have their hair in a knot at the top of +their heads and they wear scarlet robes. There are no priests of +Confucius; and this is a good thing. + +All the religions of China are bad, but of the three the religion of +Confucius is the least foolish. + +There can be no doubt which of the three religions of China is the least +absurd. + +The religion of Taou teaches men to act like mad-men. + +The religion of Buddha teaches them to act like idiots. + +The religion of Confucius teaches them to act like wise men, but without +souls. + +THE EMPEROR.--There is no emperor in the world who has as many subjects +as the Emperor of China: he has six times as many as the Emperor of +Russia. + +Neither is it possible for any man to be more honored than this emperor; +for he is worshipped by his people like a god. He is called "The Son of +Heaven," and "Ten Thousand Years;" yet he dies like every other child of +earth. His sign is the dragon, and this is painted on his flags, a fit +sign for one who, like Satan, makes himself a god. + +Yet the emperor is also styled "Father of his people," and to show that +he feels like a father, when there is a famine or plague in the land, he +shuts himself up in his palace to grieve for his people; and by this +means he gets the love of his subjects. + +Once a year, too, this great emperor tries to encourage his people to be +industrious by ploughing part of a field and sowing a little corn; and +the empress sets an example to the women, by going once a year to feed +silk worms and to wind the balls of silk. + +The emperor wears a yellow dress, and all his relations wear yellow +girdles. + +But the relations of the emperor are not the most honorable people in the +land: the most learned are the most honorable. Every one in China who +wishes to be a great lord studies day and night. One man, that he might +not fall asleep over his books, tied his long plaited tail of hair to +the ceiling, and when his head nodded, his hair was pulled tight, and +that woke him. + +But what is it the Chinese learn with so much pains? + +Chiefly the books of Confucius, and a few more; but in none of them is +God made known: so that, with all his wisdom, the Chinaman is foolish +still. The words of the Bible are true. + +"The world by wisdom knew not God." Yet to know God is better than to +know all beside. + +There is a great hall in every town where all the men who wish to be +counted learned meet together once a year. They are desired to write, and +then to show what they have written; and then those who have written +well, and without a mistake, have an honorable title given to them; and +they are allowed to write another year in another greater hall; and at +last the most learned are made mandarins. + +What is a mandarin? He is a ruler over a town, and is counted a great +man. The most learned of the mandarins are made the emperor's +counsellors. There are only three of them, and they are the greatest men +in all China, next to the emperor. + +There are many poor men who study hard in hopes to be one of these three. + +This is the greatest honor a Chinaman can obtain. But a Christian can +obtain a far greater, even the honor of a crown and a throne in the +presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. + +The mandarins are all of the religion of Confucius, and despise the poor +who worship Buddha. + +ANIMALS AND TREES.--Once there were lions in China, but they have all +been killed; there are still bears and tigers in the mountains and +forests on the borders of the land. + +There are small wild-cats, which are caught and fastened in cages, and +then killed and cooked. There are tame cats, too, with soft hair and +hanging ears, which are kept by ladies as pets. + +There are dogs to guard the house, and they too are eaten; but as they +are fed on rice only, their flesh is better than the flesh of our dogs. +The dogs are so sensible that they know when the butcher is carrying away +a dog that he is going to kill him, and the poor creatures come round him +howling, as if begging for their brother's life. + +The pig is the Chinaman's chief dish; for it can be fed on all the refuse +food, and there is very little food to spare in China. + +There are not many birds in China, because there is no room for trees. +Only one bird sings, and she builds her nest on the ground; it is a bird +often heard singing in England floating in the air,--I mean the lark. + +In most parts of China men carry all the burdens, and not horses and +asses. + +A gentleman is carried in a chair by two men: and a mandarin by four. Yet +the emperor rides on horseback. + + +THE THREE GREAT CITIES + + Pekin on the north. + Nankin in the middle. + Canton on the south. + + Pekin is the grandest. + Nankin is the most learned. + Canton is the richest. + +At Pekin is the emperor's palace. The gardens are exceedingly large, and +contain hills, and lakes, and groves within the walls, besides houses for +the emperor's relations. + +At Nankin is the China tower. It is made of China bricks, and contains +nine rooms one over the other. It is two hundred feet high, a wonderful +height. + +Of what use is it? Of none--of worse than none. It is a temple for +Buddha, and is full of his images. + +At Canton there are so many people that there is not room for all in the +land; so thousands live on the water in bouts. Many have never slept a +single night on the shore. The children often fall overboard, but as a +hollow gourd is tied round each child's neck, they float, and are soon +picked up. + +For a long while the Chinese would not allow foreigners to come into +their cities. A great many foreign ships came to Canton to buy tea and +silk; but the traders were forbidden to enter the town, and they lived in +a little island near, and built a town there called Macao. + +But lately the Chinese emperor has agreed to permit strangers to come to +five ports, called Shang-hae, Ning-po, Foo-choo, Amoy, and Hong-Kong. + +This last port, Hong-Kong, is an island near Canton, and the English have +built a city there and called it Victoria. + +THE TWO RIVERS.--There is one called Yeang-te-sang, or "the Son of the +Ocean." It is the largest in Asia. + +The other is the Yellow River, for the soft clay mixed with the water +gives it a yellow color. + +LAKES.--There are immense lakes, covered with boats and fishermen. + +But the best fishers are the tame cormorants, who catch fish for their +masters. + +THE TWO GREAT WONDERS.--The great CANAL is wonder. It joins the two +rivers; so that a Chinese can go by water from Canton to Pekin. + +The great WALL is a greater wonder, but not nearly as useful as the +canal. + +This wall was built at the north of China to keep the Tartars out. It is +one thousand five hundred miles long, twenty feet high, and twenty-five +broad. But there were not soldiers enough in China to keep the enemies +out, and the Tartars came over the wall. + +The Emperor of China is a Tartar. + +The Empress does not have small feet, like the Chinese. + +It is the Tartars who forced the Chinese to shave their heads, for they +used to tie up their hair in a knot at the top of their heads. Many of +the Chinese preferred losing their heads to their hair. Was it not cruel +to cut off their heads, merely because they would not shave them? But the +Tartars were very cruel to the Chinese. + +KNOWLEDGE AND INVENTIONS.--We must allow that the Chinese are very +clever. They found out how to print, and they found out how to make +gunpowder, and they found out the use of the loadstone. What is that? A +piece of steel rubbed against the loadstone will always point to the +north. The Chinese found out these three things, printing, gunpowder, +and the use of the loadstone, before we in Europe found them out. But +they did not teach them to us; we found them out ourselves. + +But there are two arts that the Chinese did teach us: how to make silk, +and how to make china or porcelain. And yet I should not say they taught +us; for they tried to prevent our learning their arts; but we saw their +silk and their porcelain, and by degrees we learned to make them +ourselves. A sly monk brought some silk-worm's eggs from China hidden in +a hollow walking-stick. + +LANGUAGE.--There is no other language at all like the Chinese. Instead of +having letters to spell words, they have a picture for each word. I call +it a picture, but it is more like a figure than a picture. The Chinese +use brushes for writing instead of pens; and they rub cakes of ink on a +little marble dish, first dipping them in a little water, as we dip cakes +of paint. There is a hollow place in the marble dish, to hold the water. +What do you think the Chinese mean by "the four precious things?" They +mean the ink, the brush, the marble dish, and the water. They call them +precious because they are so fond of writing. Schoolmasters are held in +great honor in China, as indeed they ought to be everywhere. Yet schools +in China are much like those in Turkey, more fit for parrots than +children; only Chinese boys sit in chairs with desks before them, instead +of sitting cross-legged on the ground, as in Turkey. They learn first to +paint the words, and next to repeat lessons by heart. This they do in a +loud scream; always turning their backs to their masters while they are +saying their lessons to him. + +The first book which children read is full of stories, with a picture on +each page. Would you like to hear one of these stories? + +"There was a boy of eight years old, named Um-wen. His parents were so +poor that they could not afford to buy a gauze curtain for their bed, to +keep off the flies in summer. This boy could not bear that his parents +should be bitten by the flies; so he stood by their bedside, and +uncovered his little bosom and his back that the flies might bite him, +instead of his parents. 'For,' said he, 'if they fill themselves with my +blood, they will let my parents rest.'" + +Would it be right for a little boy to behave in this way? Certainly not; +for it would grieve kind parents that their little boys should be bitten. +Poor little Chinese boys! They do not know about Him who was bitten by +the old serpent that we might not be devoured and destroyed. + +PUNISHMENT.--The Chinese are very quiet and orderly; and no wonder, +because they are afraid of the great bamboo stick. + +The mandarins (or rulers of towns) often sentence offenders to lie upon +the ground, and to have thirty strokes of the bamboo. But the wooden +collar is worse than the bamboo stick. It is a great piece of wood with a +hole for a man to put his head through. The men in wooden collars are +brought out of their prisons every morning, and chained to a wall, where +everybody passing by can see them. They cannot feed themselves in their +wooden collars, because they cannot bring their hands to their mouths; +but sometimes a son may be seen feeding his father, as he stands chained +to the wall. There are men also whose business it is to feed the +prisoners. For great crimes men are strangled or beheaded. + +CHARACTER.--A Chinaman's character cannot be known at first. You might +suppose from his way of speaking that a Chinaman was very humble; because +he calls himself "the worthless fellow," or "the stupid one," and he +calls his son "the son of a dog;" but if you were to tell him he had an +evil heart, he would be very much offended; for he only gives himself +these names Thai he may _seem_ humble. He calls his acquaintance +"venerable uncle," "honorable brother." This he does to please them. The +Chinese are very proud of their country, and think there is none like it. +They have given it the name of the "Heavenly or Celestial Empire." They +look upon foreigners as monkeys and devils. Often a woman may he heard in +the streets saying to her little child, "There is a foreign devil (or a +Fan Quei"). The Chinese think the English very ugly, and called them the +"red-haired nation." + +It must be owned that the Chinese are industrious: indeed, if they were +not, they would be starved. A poor man often has to work all day up to +the knees in water in the rice-field, and yet gets nothing for supper but +a little rice and a few potatoes. + +The ladies who can live without working are very idle, and in the winter +rise very late in the morning. + +Men, too, play, as children do here; flying kites is a favorite game. +Dancing, however, is quite unknown. + +The Chinese are very selfish and unfeeling. Beggars may be seen in the +middle of the town dying, and no one caring for them, but people gambling +close by. + +The Chinese have an idea that after a man is dead the house must be +cleansed from ghosts; so to save themselves this trouble, poor people +often cast their dying relations out of their hovels into the street to +die! + +But in general sons treat their parents with great respect. They often +keep their father's coffin in the house for three months, and a son has +been known to sleep by it for three years. Relations are usually kind to +each other, because they meet together in the "Hall of Ancestors" to +worship the same persons. To save money they often live together, and a +hundred eat at the same table. + +The Chinese used to be temperate, preferring tea to wine. There are +tea-taverns in the towns. How much better than our beer-shops! But lately +they have begun to smoke opium. This is the juice of the white poppy, +made up into dark balls. The Chinese are not allowed to have it; but the +English, sad to say, sell it to them secretly. There are many opium +taverns in China, where men may be seen lying on cushions snuffing up the +hot opium, and puffing it out of their mouths. Those who smoke opium have +sunken cheeks and trembling hands, and soon become old, foolish, and +sick. Why, then, do they take opium? Many of them say they wish to leave +it off, but cannot. + +MISSIONARIES.--Are there any in China? Yes, many; and more are going +there. But how many are wanted for so many people! Missionaries travel +about China to distribute Bibles and tracts. One of them hired a rough +kind of chair with two bearers. In this he went to villages among the +mountains, where a white man had never been seen. The children screaming +with terror ran to their mothers. The men came round him to look at his +clothes and his white skin. They were much surprised at the whiteness of +his hands, and they put their yellow ones close to his to see the +difference. These mountaineers were kind, and brought tea and cakes to +refresh the stranger. + +An English lady went to China to teach little girls; for no one teaches +them. She has several little creatures in her school that she saved from +perishing: because the Chinese are so cruel as to leave many girl-babies +to die in the streets; they say that girls are not worth the trouble of +bringing up. + +One cold rainy evening, Miss Aldersey heard a low wailing outside the +street-door, and looking out she saw a poor babe, wrapped in coarse +matting, lying on the stone pavement. She could not bear to leave it +there to be devoured by famished dogs; so she kindly took it in, and +brought it up. + +It is a common thing to stumble over the bodies of dead babies in the +streets. In England it is counted murder to kill a babe, but it is +thought no harm in China. Yet the Chinese call themselves good. But when +you ask a poor man where he expects to go when he dies, he replies, "To +hell of course;" and he says this with a loud laugh. His reason for +thinking he shall go to hell is, because he has not money enough to give +to the gods; for rich people all expect to go to heaven. Mandarins +especially expect to go there. If they were to read the Bible, they would +see that God will punish kings, and mighty men, and great captains, and +_all_ who are wicked. + + [6] These are some of the sentences written in the old books: + + "Never say, There is no one who sees me, for there is a wise + Spirit who sees all." + + "Man no longer has what he had before the fall, and he has + brought his children into his misery. O! Heaven, you only can + help us. Wipe away the stains of the father, and save his + children." + + "Never speak but with great care. Do not say, It is only a single + word. Remember that no one has the keeping of your heart and + tongue but you." + + These sentences are like some verses in the Psalms and Proverbs; + and, it may be, they were spoken first by some holy men of old. + + Here is one more remarkable than all:-- + + "God hates the proud, and is kind to the humble." + + [7] The means by which the Buddhist religion entered China are + remarkable. A certain Chinese emperor once read in the book of + Confucius this sentence, "The true saint will be found in the + West." He thought a great deal about it; at last he dreamed about + it. He was so much struck by his dream that he sent two of his + great lords to look for the true religion in the West. When they + reached India, they found multitudes worshipping Buddha. This + Buddha was a wicked man who had been born in India a thousand + years before. The Chinese messengers believed all the absurd + histories they heard about Buddha, and they returned to China + with a book which had been written about him. Ah! had they gone + as far as Canaan they might have heard Paul and Peter preaching + the Gospel. Alas! why did they go no further, and why did they go + so far, only to return to China with idols! + + + + +COCHIN CHINA. + + +Any one on hearing this name would guess that the country was like China; +and so it is. If you were to go there you would be reminded of China by +many of the customs. You would see at dinner small basins instead of +plates, chop-sticks instead of knives and forks; you would have rice to +eat instead of bread; and rice wine to drink instead of grape wine. + +But you would not find _all_ the Chinese customs in Cochin-China: for you +would see the women walking about at liberty, and with large feet, that +is, with feet of the natural size, and not cramped up like the "golden +lilies" of China. Neither would you see the people treated as strictly in +Cochin-China as in China. Beatings are not nearly as common there, and +behavior is not nearly as good as in China. + +The people are very different from the Chinese; for they are gay and +talkative, and open and sociable, while the Chinese are just the +contrary. However, they resemble the Chinese in fondness for eating. They +are very fond of giving grand dinners, and sometimes provide a hundred +dishes, and invite a hundred guests. A man is thought very generous who +gives such grand dinners. No one in Cochin-China would think of eating +his morsel alone, but every one asks those around to partake; and if any +one were not to do so, he would be counted very mean. Yet the people of +Cochin-China are always begging for gifts; and if they cannot get the +things they ask for, they steal them. Are they generous? No, because they +are covetous. It is impossible to be at the same time generous and +covetous; for what goodness is there in giving away our own things, if we +are wishing for other people's things? + +And now let us leave the _people_ and look at the _land_. It is fruitful +and beautiful, being watered abundantly by fine rivers: but these rivers, +flowing among lofty mountains, often overflow, and drown men and cattle. +The grass of such a country must be very rich; and there are cows feeding +on it; yet there is no milk or butter to be had. Why? Because the people +have a foolish idea that it is wrong to milk cows. + +In no country are there stronger and larger elephants; so strong and so +large that one can carry thirteen persons on his back at once. + +The land is full of idols: for Buddha or Fo is worshipped in +Cochin-China, as he is in China. + +The idols are sometimes kept in high trees, and priests may be seen +mounting ladders to present offerings. + +But the people are not satisfied with idols in trees; they have pocket +idols, which they carry about with them everywhere. + + +TONQUIN.--CAMBODIA. + +These two kingdoms belong to the king of Cochin-China; yet all three, +Tonquin, Cambodia, and Cochin-China, pay tribute to China, and therefore +they must be considered as conquered countries. + +They are all very much like China in their customs. There are large +cities in them all, and multitudes of people, but very little is known +about them in England. + + + + +HINDOSTAN. + + +This word Hindostan means "black place," for in the Persian language +"hind" is "black," and "stan" is "place." You may guess, therefore, that +the people in Hindostan are very dark; yet they are not quite black, and +some of the ladies are only of a light brown complexion. + +What a large country Hindostan is! Has it an emperor of its own, as China +has? No: large as it is, it belongs to the little country called England. + +How did the English get it? + +They conquered it by little and little. When first they came there, they +found there a Mahomedan people, called the Moguls. These Moguls had +conquered Hindostan: but by degrees the English conquered them, and +became masters of all the land. + +There is only one small country among the mountains which has not been +conquered by the English, and that place is Nepaul. It is near the +Himalaya mountains. See that great chain of mountains in the north: they +are the Himalaya--the highest mountains in the world. The word "him," or +"hem," means snow--and snowy indeed are those mountains. + +There is a great river that flows from the Himalaya called the Ganges. It +flows by many mouths into the ocean; yet of all these mouths only one is +deep enough for large ships to sail in; the other mouths are all choked +up with sand. The deep mouth of the Ganges is called the Hoogley. + +It was on the banks of the Hoogley that the first English city was built. +It was built by some English merchants, and is called Calcutta. That name +comes from the name of a horrible idol called Kalee, of which more will +be said hereafter. + +Calcutta is now a very grand city; there is the governor's palace, and +there are the mansions of many rich Englishmen. It has been called "the +city of palaces." + +There is another great river on the other side of Hindostan called the +Indus. It was from that river that Hindostan got the name of India, or +the East Indies. + +VILLAGES.--Calcutta is built on a large plain called Bengal. Dotted about +this plain are many villages. At a distance they look prettier than +English villages, for they are overshadowed with thick trees; but they +are wretched places to live in. The huts are scarcely big enough to hold +human creatures, nor strong enough to bear the pelting of the storm. When +you enter them you will find neither floor nor window, and very little +furniture; neither chair, nor table, nor bed--nothing but a large earthen +bottle for fetching water, a smaller one for drinking, a basket for +clothes, a few earthen pans, a few brass plates, and a mat. + +A Hindoo is counted very rich who has procured a wooden bedstead to place +his mat upon, and a wooden trunk, with a lock and key, to contain his +clothes; such a man is considered to have a well-furnished house. + +As you pass through the villages, you may see groups of men sitting under +the trees smoking their pipes, while children, without clothes, are +rolling in the dust, and sporting with the kids. Prowling about the +villages are hungry dogs and whining jackalls, seeking for bones and +offal; but the children are too much used to these creatures to be afraid +of them. Hovering in the air are crows and kites, ready to secure any +morsel they can see, or even to snatch the food, if they can, out of the +children's little hands. + +What a confused noise do you hear as you pass along! barking, whining, +and squalling, loud laughing, and incessant chattering. It is a heathen +village, and the sweet notes of praise to God are never sung there. + +Yet in every village there is a little temple with an idol, and a priest +to take the idol, to lay it down to sleep, and to offer it food, which he +eats himself. + +The poor people bring the food for the idol with flowers, and place it at +the door of the temple. + +APPEARANCE.--The Hindoos are pleasing in their appearance, for their +features are well-formed, their teeth are white, and their eyes have a +soft expression. The women take much pains to dress their long black +hair, which is soft as silk: they gather it up in a knot at their heads, +and crown it with flowers. They have no occasion for a needle to make +their dresses, as they are all in one piece. They wind a long strip of +white muslin (called a saree) round their bodies, and fold it over their +heads like a veil, and then they are full dressed, except their +ornaments, and with these they load themselves; glass rings of different +colors on their arms, silver rings on their fingers and toes, and gold +rings in their ears, and a gold ring in their nose. + +The men wear a long strip of calico twisted closely round their bodies, +and another thrown loosely over their shoulders; but this last they cast +off when they are at work: it is their upper garment. On their heads they +wear turbans, and on their feet sandals. The clothes of both men and +women are generally white or pink, or white bordered with red. + +FOOD.--The most common food is rice; and with this curry is often mixed +to give it a relish. What is curry? It is a mixture of herbs, spices, and +oil. + +Very poor people cannot afford to eat either rice or curry; and they eat +some coarse grain instead. A lady who made a feast for the poor provided +nothing but rice, and she found that it was thought as good as roast +beef and plum pudding are thought in England. The day after the feast +some of the poor creatures came to pick up the grains of rice that were +fallen upon the ground. + +The rich Hindoos eat mutton and venison, but not beef; this they think it +wicked to eat, because they worship bulls and cows. + +A favorite food is clarified butter, called "ghee," white rancid stuff, +kept in skin bottles to mix with curry. + +Water is the general drink, and there could not be a better. Yet there +are intoxicating drinks, and some of the Hindoos have learned to love +them, from seeing the English drink too much. What a sad thing that +Christians should set a bad example to heathens! + +PRODUCTIONS.--There are many beautiful trees in India never seen in +England, and many nice fruits never tasted here. + +The palm-tree, with its immense leaves, is the glory of India. These +leaves are very useful; they form the roof, the umbrella, the bed, the +plate, and the writing-paper of the Hindoo. + +The most curious tree in India is the banyan, because one tree grows into +a hundred. How is that? The branches hang down, touch the ground, strike +root there, and spring up into new trees--joined to the old. Under an +aged banyan there is shade for a large congregation. Seventy thousand men +might sit beneath its boughs. + +There is a sort of grass which grows a hundred feet high, and becomes +hard like wood. It is called the bamboo. The stem is hollow like a pipe, +and is often used as a water-pipe. It serves also for posts for houses, +and for poles for carriages. + +There are abundance of nice fruits in India; and of these the mangoe is +the best. You might mistake it for a pear when you saw it, but not when +you tasted it. Pears cannot grow in India; the sun is too hot for grapes +and oranges, excepting on the hills. + +The chief productions of India are rice and cotton; rice is the food, and +cotton is the clothing of the Hindoo: and quantities of these are sent to +England, for though we have wheat for food, we want rice too; and though +we have wool for clothing, we want cotton too. + +RELIGION.--There is no nation that has so many gods as the Hindoos. What +do you think of three hundred and thirty millions! There are not so many +people in Hindostan as that. No one person can know the names of all +these gods; and who would wish to know them? Some of them are snakes, and +some are monkeys! + +The chief god of all is called Brahm. But, strange to say, no one +worships him. There is not an image of him in all India. + +And why not? Because he is too great, the Hindoos say, to think of men on +earth. He is always in a kind of sleep. What would be the use of +worshipping him? + +Next to him are three gods, and they are part of Brahm. + +Their names are-- + + I. Brahma, the Creator. + II. Vishnoo, the Preserver. + III. Sheeva, the Destroyer. + +Which of these should you think men ought to worship the most? Not the +destroyer. Yet it is _him_ they do worship the most. Very few worship +Brahma the creator. And why not? Because the Hindoos think he can do no +more for them than he has done; and they do not care about thanking him. + +Vishnoo, the preserver, is a great favorite; because it is supposed that +he bestows all manner of gifts. The Hindoos say he has been _nine_ times +upon the earth; first as a fish, then as a tortoise, a man, a lion, a +boar, a dwarf, a giant; _twice_ as a warrior, named Ram, and once as a +thief, named Krishna. They say he will come again as a conquering king, +riding on a white horse. Is it not wonderful they should say that? It +reminds one of the prophecy in Rev. xix. about Christ's second coming. +Did the Hindoos hear that prophecy in old time? They may have heard it, +for the apostle Thomas once preached in India, at least we believe he +did. + +Why do the people worship Sheeva the destroyer? Because they hope that if +they gain his favor, they shall not be destroyed by him. They do not know +that none can save from the destroyer but God. + +The Hindoos make images of their gods. Brahma is represented as riding on +a goose; Vishnoo on a creature half-bird and half-man; and Sheeva on a +bull. + +Sheeva's image looks horribly ferocious with the tiger-skin and the +necklace of skulls and snakes; but Sheeva's _wife_ is far fiercer than +himself. Her name is Kalee. Her whole delight is said to be in blood. +Those who wish to please her, offer up the blood of beasts; but those who +wish to please her still more, offer up their own blood. + +[Illustration: THE SWING.] + +Her great temple, called Kalee Ghaut, is near Calcutta. There is a great +feast in her honor once a year at that temple. Early in the morning +crowds assemble there with the noise of trumpets and kettle-drums. See +those wild fierce men adorned with flowers. They go towards the temple. A +blacksmith is ready. Lo! one puts out his tongue, and the blacksmith +cuts it: that is to please Kalee: another chooses rather to have an iron +bar run through his tongue. Some thrust iron bars and burning coals into +their sides. The boldest mount a wooden scaffold and throw themselves +down upon iron spikes beneath, stuck in bags of sand. It is very painful +to fall upon these spikes; but there is another way of torture quite as +painful--it is the swing. Those who determine to swing, allow the +blacksmith to drive hooks into the flesh upon their backs, and hanging by +these hooks they swing in the air for ten minutes, or even for half an +hour. And WHO all these cruel tortures? To please Kalee, and to make the +people wonder and admire, for the multitude around shout with joy as they +behold these horrible deeds. + +THE CASTES.--The Hindoos pretend that when Brahma created men, he made +some out of his mouth, some out of his arms, some out of his breast, and +some out of his foot. They say the priests came out of Brahma's mouth, +the soldiers came out of his arm, the merchants came out of his breast, +the laborers came out of his foot. You may easily guess who invented this +history. It was the priests themselves: it was they who wrote the sacred +books where this history is found. + +The priests are very proud of their high birth, and they call themselves +Brahmins. + +The laborers, who are told they come out of Brahma's foot, are much +ashamed of their low birth. They are called sudras. + +You would be astonished to hear the great respect the sudras pay to the +high and haughty Brahmins. When a sudra meets a Brahmin in the street, he +touches the ground three times with his forehead, then, taking the +priest's foot in his hand, he kisses his toe. + +The water in which a Brahmin has washed his feet is thought very holy. It +is even believed that such water can cure diseases. + +A Hindoo prince, who was very ill of a fever, was advised to try this +remedy. He invited the Brahmins from all parts of the country to +assemble at his palace. Many thousands came. Each, as he arrived, was +requested to wash his feet in a basin. This was the medicine given to the +sick prince to drink. It cost a great deal of money to procure it; for +several shillings were given to each Brahmin to pay him for his trouble, +and a good dinner was provided for all. It is said that the prince +recovered immediately, but we are quite certain that it was not the water +which cured him. + +In the holy books, or shasters, great blessings are promised to those who +are kind to a Brahmin. Any one who gives him an umbrella will never more +be scorched by the sun; any one who gives him a pair of shoes will never +have blistered feet; any one who gives him sweet spices will never more +be annoyed by ill smells; and any one who gives him a cow will go to +heaven. + +You may be sure that, after such promises, the Brahmins get plenty of +presents; indeed, they may generally be known by their well-fed +appearance, as well as by their proud manner of walking. They always wear +a white cord hung round their necks. + +But we must not suppose that all Brahmins are rich, and all sudras poor; +for it is not so. There are so many Brahmins that some can find no +employment as priests, and they are obliged to learn trades. Many of them +become cooks. + +There are sudras as rich as princes; but still a sudra can never be as +honorable as a Brahmin, though the Brahmin be the cook and the sudra the +master. + +But the sudras are not the _most_ despised people. Far from it. It is +those who have no caste at all who are the most despised. They are called +pariahs. These are people who have lost their caste. It is a very easy +thing to lose caste, and once lost it can never be regained. A Brahmin +would lose his caste by eating with a sudra; a sudra would lose his by +eating with a pariah, and by eating with _you_--yes, with _you_, for the +Hindoos think that no one is holy but themselves. It often makes a +missionary smile when he enters a cottage to see the people putting away +their food with haste, lest he should defile it by his touch. + +Once an English officer, walking along the road, passed very near a +Hindoo just going to eat his dinner; suddenly he saw the man take up the +dish and dash it angrily to the ground. Why? The officer's shadow had +passed over the food and polluted it. + +If you were to invite poor Hindoos to come to a feast, they would not eat +if you sat down with them: nor would they eat unless they knew a Hindoo +had cooked their food. Even children at school will not eat with children +of a lower caste,--or with their teachers, if the teachers are not +Hindoos. + +There was once a little Hindoo girl named Rajee. She went to a +missionary's school, but she would not eat with her schoolfellows, +because she belonged to a higher caste than they did. As she lived at the +school, her mother brought her food every day, and Rajee sat under a tree +to eat it. At the end of two years she told her mother that she wished to +turn from idols, and serve the living God. Her mother was much troubled +at hearing this, and begged her child not to bring disgrace on the family +by becoming a Christian. But Rajee was anxious to save her precious soul. +She cared no longer for her caste, for she knew that all she had been +taught about it was deceit and folly; therefore one day she sat down and +ate with her schoolfellows. When her mother heard of Rajee's conduct, +she ran to the school in a rage, and seizing her little daughter by the +hair of the head, began to beat her severely. Then she hastened to the +priests to ask them whether the child had lost her caste forever. The +priests replied, "Has the child got her new teeth?" "No," said the +mother. "Then we can cleanse her, and when her new teeth come she will be +as pure as ever. But you must pay a good deal of money for the +cleansing." Were they not _cunning_ priests? and _covetous_ priests too? + +The money was paid, and Rajee was brought home against her will. Dreadful +sufferings awaited the poor child. The cleansing was a cruel business. +The priests burned the child's tongue. This was one of their cruelties. +When little Rajee was suffered to go back to school, she was so ill that +she could not rise from her bed. + +The poor deceived mother came to see her. "I am going to Jesus," said the +young martyr. The mother began to weep, "O Rajee, we will not let you +die." + +"But I am glad," the little sufferer replied, "because I shall go to +Jesus. If you, mother, would love him, and give up your idols, we should +meet again in heaven." + +An hour afterwards Rajee went to heaven; but I have never heard whether +her mother gave up her idols. + +THE GANGES.--This beautiful river waters the sultry plain of Bengal. God +made this river to be a blessing, but man has turned it into a curse. The +Hindoos say the River Ganges is the goddess Gunga; and they flock from +all parts of India to worship her. When they reach the river they bathe +in it, and fancy they have washed away all their sins. They carry away +large bottles of the sacred water for their friends at home. + +But this is not all; very cruel deeds are committed by the side of the +river. It is supposed that all who die there will go to the Hindoo +heaven. It is therefore the custom to drag dying people out of their +beds, and to lay them in the mud, exposed to the heat of the broiling +sun, and then to pour pails of water over their heads. + +One sick man, who was being carried to the water, covered up as if he +were dead, suddenly threw off the covering, and called out, "I am not +dead, I am only very ill." He knew that the cruel people who were +carrying him were going to cast him into the water while he was still +alive: but nothing he could say could save him: the cruel creatures +answered, "You may as well die _now_ as at any other time;" and so they +drowned him, pretending all the while to be very kind. + +It is thought a good thing to be thrown into the river after death. The +Ganges is the great burying-place; and dead bodies may be seen floating +on its waters, while crows and vultures are tearing the flesh from the +bones. There would be many more of these horrible sights were it not that +many bodies are burned, and their ashes only cast into the river. + +Some foolish deceived creatures drown themselves in the Ganges, hoping to +be very happy hereafter as a reward. The Brahmins are ready to accompany +such people into the water. Some men were once seen going into the river +with a large empty jar fastened to the back of each. The empty jar +prevented them from sinking; but there was a cup in the hands of each of +the poor men, and with these cups they filled the jars, and then they +began to sink. One of them grew frightened, and tried to get on shore; +but the wicked Brahmins in their boats hunted him, and tried to keep him +in the water; however, they could not catch him, and the miserable man +escaped. There are villages near the river whither such poor creatures +flee, and where they end their days together; for their old friends would +not speak to them if they were to return to their homes. + +BEGGARS.--As you walk about Hindostan, you will sometimes meet a horrible +object, with no other covering than a tiger's skin, or else an orange +scarf; his body besmeared with ashes, his hair matted like the shaggy +coat of a wild beast, and his nails like birds' claws. The man is a +beggar, and a very bold one, because he is considered as one of the +holiest of men. Who is he? + +A sunnyasee. Who is _he_? + +A Brahmin, who wishing to be more holy than other Brahmins (holy as they +are), has left all and become a beggar. As a reward, he expects, when he +dies, to go straight to heaven, without being first born again in the +world. It is wonderful to see the tortures which a sunnyasee will endure. +He will stand for years on one leg, till it is full of wounds, or, if he +prefers it, he will clench his fist till the nails grow through the +hands. + +These holy beggars are found in all parts of India, but they are +particularly fond of the most desolate spots. Near the mouth of the +Ganges there are some desert places, the resort of tigers, and there many +of the sunnyasees live in huts. They pretend not to be afraid of the +tigers, and the Hindoos think that tigers will not touch such holy men; +but it is certain that tigers have been seen dragging some of these proud +men into the woods. + +There is another kind of beggars called fakirs; they are just as wicked +and foolish as the sunnyasees; but they are Mahomedans and not Brahmins. + +ANIMALS.--Some of the fiercest and most disagreeable animals are highly +honored in India. + +The monkey is counted as a god; the consequence is, that the monkeys, +finding they are treated with respect, grow very bold, and are +continually scrambling upon the roofs of the houses. In one place there +is a garden where monkeys riot about at their pleasure, for all in that +garden is for them alone, the delicious fruits, the cool fountains, the +shady bowers, all are for the worthless, mischievous monkeys. + +But if it be strange for men to worship _monkeys_, is it not stranger +still to worship _snakes_ and _serpents_? Yet there is a temple in India +where serpents crawl about at their pleasure, where they are waited upon +by priests, and fed with fruits and every dainty. How much delighted must +the old serpent be with this worship! + +Kites also, those fierce birds, are worshipped. There is meat sold in +shops on purpose for them; and it is bought and thrown up in the air to +the great greedy creatures. + +There are splendid peacocks flying about in the woods, but the Hindoos do +not worship them; they shoot and eat them. + +Of all the animals in India there is none which terrifies man so much as +the tiger. The Bengal tiger is a fine and fierce beast. Woe to the man or +woman on whom he springs! What then do you think must become of the man +who falls into his den? These dens are generally hid in jungles, which +are places covered with trees, and overgrown with shrubs and tall grass. + +A gentleman was once walking through a jungle, when he felt himself +sinking into the ground, while a cloud of dust blinded his eyes. Soon he +heard a low growling noise. He fancied that he had sunk into a den, and +so he had. Beside him lay some little tigers, too young indeed to hurt +him; but these tigers had a mother, and she could not be far off, though +she was not in the den when the stranger fell in. The astonished man felt +there was no time to be lost, for the tigress, he knew, would soon return +to her cubs. How could he prepare to meet her? He had neither gun nor +sword, nor even stick in his hand. But a thought came into his head. +Snatching a silk handkerchief from his neck, and taking another from his +pocket, he bound them tightly round his arm up to his elbow; and thus +prepared to meet his enemy. She soon appeared, crouching on the ground, +and then with a spring leaped upon the stranger. At the same moment the +brave man thrust his arm between her open jaws, and seizing hold of her +rough tongue, twisted it backwards and forwards with all his might. The +beast was now unable to close her mouth, and to bite with her sharp +fangs; but she could scratch with her sharp claws; and scratch she did, +till the clothes were torn off the man's body, and the flesh from his +bones. But the brave man would not loose his hold; and the tigress was +tired out first: alarmed,--with a sudden start backward, she jerked her +tongue out of the man's hand, and rushed out of the den and out of the +jungle. + +How glad was the man to escape from a horrible fate! his body was faint +and bleeding; but his life was preserved, and his heart overflowed with +gratitude to God for his wonderful deliverance. He who delivered Daniel +from the lion's den delivered him from the tiger's den. The tiger's +mouth, indeed, had not been shut; but his open mouth had not been +suffered to devour the Lord's servant. + + +THE THUGS. + +There is a set of people in India more dangerous than wild beasts. They +are called Thugs, that is, deceivers; and well do they deserve the name; +for their whole employment is to _deceive_ that they may _destroy_. Yet +they are not ashamed of their wickedness; for they worship the goddess +Kalee, and they know that she delights in blood. Before they set out on +one of their cruel journeys, they bow down before the image of Kalee, and +they ask her to bless the shovel and the cloth that they hold in their +hands. + +What are they for? + +The cloth is to strangle poor travellers, and the shovel to dig their +graves. + +A Hindoo family were once travelling when they overtook three men on the +way. These men seemed very civil and obliging; and they soon got +acquainted with the family, and accompanied them on their journey. Who +were these men? Alas! they were Thugs. It was very foolish of the family +to be so ready to go with strangers. At last they came up to three other +men, who were sitting under the shade of a tree, eating sugared rice. +These men also were Thugs; and they had agreed with the other Thugs to +help them in their wicked plans. But the family thought they were kind +and friendly men, and consented to sit down with them in the shade, and +to partake of their food. They did not know that with the rice was mixed +a sort of drug to cause people to fall asleep. The family ate and fell +asleep: and when they were asleep, the Thugs strangled them all with +their cloths,--the father, the mother, and the five young people,--and +then with their shovels they dug their graves. But before they buried +them they stripped them of their garments and their jewels; for it was to +get their precious spoils they had committed these dreadful murders. The +Thugs went afterwards to the priests of Kalee to receive a blessing, and +they rewarded the priests by giving them some of their stolen treasures. + +But, after all, these wicked men did not escape punishment; for the +English governors heard of their crimes, and caught them, and brought +them to justice. Then these murderers confessed the wicked deed just +related: but this was not their only crime; for it had been the business +of their lives to rob and to destroy. + +Do not these Thugs resemble him who is always walking about seeking whom +he may devour? Only he destroys the _soul_ as well as the _body_. He is +the great Deceiver, and the great Destroyer. None but God can keep us +from falling into his power: therefore we pray, "Deliver us from evil," +or from the evil one. + + +THE HINDOO WOMEN. + +It is a miserable thing to be a Hindoo lady. While she is a very little +girl, she is allowed to play about, but when she comes to be ten or +twelve years old, she is shut up in the back rooms of the house till she +is married; and when she is married she is shut up still. She may indeed +walk in the garden at the back of the house, but nowhere else. + +Hindoo ladies are not taught even those trifling accomplishments which +Chinese ladies learn: they can neither paint, nor play music; much less +can they read and write. They amuse themselves by putting on their +ornaments, or by making curries and sweetmeats to please their husbands: +but most of their time they spend in idleness, sauntering about and +chattering nonsense. As rich Hindoos have several wives, the ladies are +not alone; and being so much together, they quarrel a great deal. + +Some English ladies once visited the house of a rich Hindoo. They were +led into the court at the back of the house, and shown into a little +chamber. One by one some women came in, all looking very shy and afraid +to speak; yet dressed very fine in muslin sarees, worked with gold and +silver flowers, and they were adorned with pearls and diamonds. At last +they ventured to admire the clothes of their visitors, and even to touch +them. Then they asked the English ladies to come and see their jewels; +and they took them into a little dark chamber with gratings for windows, +and displayed their treasures. They talked very loud, and all together +and so foolishly, that the ladies reproved them. The poor creatures +replied, "We should like to learn to read and work like the English +ladies; but we have nothing to do, and so we are accustomed to be idle, +and to talk foolishly. Do come again, and bring us books, and pictures, +and dolls." + +You see what useless, wearisome lives the Hindoo _ladies_ lead. Now hear +what hard and wretched lives the _poor_ women lead. The wife of a poor +man rises from her mat before it is day, and by the light of a lamp spins +cotton for the family clothing. Next she feeds the children, and sweeps +the house and yard, and cleans the brass and stone vessels. Then she +washes the rice, bruises, and boils it. By this time it is ten o'clock, +when she goes with some other women to bathe in the river, or if there be +no river near, in a great tank of rain-water. While there, she often +makes a clay image of her god, and worships it with prayers, and bowings, +and offerings of fruit and flowers, for nearly an hour. On her return +home she prepares the curry for dinner: her kitchen is a clay furnace in +the yard, and there she boils the rice. When dinner is ready, she dares +not sit down with her husband to eat it: no, she places it respectfully +before his mat, and then retires to the yard. Her little boys eat with +their father; but her little girls dine with her upon the food that is +left. + +It is not the busy life she leads that makes a poor woman unhappy: it is +the ill-treatment she endures. A kind word is seldom spoken to her: but a +hard blow is often given. Her own boys are encouraged to insult her +because she is only a woman. She is taught to worship her husband as a +god, however bad he may be. There is a proverb which shows how much women +are despised in India. "How can you place the black rice-pot beside the +golden spice-box!" By the rice-box a woman is meant: by the spice-box a +man: and the meaning of the proverb is that a wife is unworthy to sit at +the same table with her husband. + +In this manner a _wife_ is treated: a _widow_ is still more despised. +However young she may be, she is not allowed to marry again; but is +obliged to live in her father's house, or (if she has no father) in her +brother's house, to do the hardest work, and never to eat more than one +meal a day, and that meal of the coarsest food. Widows used to burn +themselves in a great fire with their husbands' dead bodies; but the +English government has forbidden them to do so any more; but their +hard-hearted relations make them as miserable as possible. + +MISSIONARIES.--There are hundreds of missionaries in India; but not +nearly enough for so many millions of people. The Hindoos call them +Padri-Sahibs, which means "Father-Gentlemen," and they give them this +name to show their love, as well as respect. + +Once a missionary who had been long in India was going back to England +for a little while. It was from Calcutta that he set sail. The Christian +Hindoos stood in crowds by the river-side to bid him farewell. Among the +rest was a little girl with her parents. She was a gracious child, who +had turned from idols to serve the living God. The missionary said to +her, "Well, my child, you know I am going to England. What shall I bring +you from that country?" + +"I do not want anything," she modestly replied. "I have my parents, and +my brother, and the Padri-Sahibs, and my books, what can I want more?" + +"But," said the missionary, "you are only a little girl, and surely you +would like something from England. Shall I bring you some playthings?" + +"No, thank you," said the child; "I do not want playthings--I am learning +to read." + +"Come, come," said the missionary, "shall I bring you a playfellow, a +white child from England!" + +"No, no," answered the little girl, "it would be taking her from her +parents." + +"Well then," said her friend, "is there nothing I can bring you?" + +"Well, if you are so kind as to insist on bringing me something, ask the +Christians in England to send me a Bible-book and more PADRI-SAHIBS." + +[Illustration: MISSIONARY'S HOUSE.] + +This was a good request indeed, but to get Padri-Sahibs is a hard thing +to do. Who can tell how much good they have done already! There are many +Christian villages in India, and they are as different from heathen +villages as a dove's nest is different from a tiger's den. + +Some very wicked men have been converted. You have heard of those proud +and hateful beggars, the Sunnyasees and the Fakirs. + +One day a missionary, who had gone for his health to the Himalaya +Mountains, was walking in the verandah of his house, when he was +surprised by a man suddenly throwing himself down at his feet, and +embracing his knees. The missionary could not tell who this man was, for +a dark blanket covered the man's head and face. But soon the covering was +lifted up, and a swarthy and withered countenance was shown; the +missionary knew it to be that of an old Fakir he once had known, as the +chief priest of a gang of robbers, but now the Mahomedan was become a +Christian; and he had travelled six hundred miles, hoping to see once +more the face of his teacher; and lo! he had seen it at last. + +SCHOOLS.--The Hindoos have schools of their own, but only for boys. The +scholars sit in a shed, cross-legged upon mats, and learn to scratch +letters with iron pins upon large leaves. But what can they learn from +Brahmin teachers but foolish tales about false gods? + +Missionaries have far better schools, where the Bible is taught; and +missionaries' wives have schools for girls; and sometimes they take pity +on poor orphans, and receive them into their houses. + +One evening as a Christian lady was returning home, she saw a Hindoo +woman lying on the ground, and a little boy sitting by her side. The lady +spoke kindly to the sick woman, and then the little boy looked up and +said, with tears in his eyes, "My mother is sick, and has nothing to eat; +I fear she will die." The lady had compassion on the mother and the +child, and hastening home, she sent her servant to fetch them both. They +were soon put to rest on a nice clean mat, with a blanket to cover them; +but the mother died next morning. The little boy was left an orphan, but +not forlorn, nor friendless, for the Christian lady took care of him. He +was five years old, thin and delicate, and much fairer than most Hindoo +children. He had many winning ways; but he had a proud heart. He was +proud of his name, "Ramchunda," because it was the name of a great false +god: but when he had learned about the true God, he asked for a new name, +and was called "John." His wishing to change his name was a good sign: +and there were other good signs in this little orphan; and before he +died,--for he died soon,--he showed plainly that he had not a new _name_ +only, but a new _nature_. + +Little Phebe was another child received by a missionary's wife. She was +not an orphan, yet she was as much to be pitied as an orphan; for her +mother told the missionaries that if they did not take the child, she +would throw her to the jackals. It was a happy exchange for the infant to +leave so cruel a mother to be reared by a Christian lady, who, instead of +throwing her to jackals, brought her to Jesus. + +She died when only five years old by an accident: when washing her hands +in the great tank she fell in, and was drowned. + +But some Hindoo children, though carefully instructed, do not grow gentle +and loving, like John and Phebe. + +The tents of some English soldiers were pitched in a lonely part of +India; and the night was dark, when an officer's lady thought she heard +the sound of a child crying. The lady sent her servants out to look, and +at last they brought in a little girl of four years old. And where do you +think they had found her? Buried up to her throat in a bog, her little +head alone peeping out. And who do you think had put her there? Her +cruel mother. Yes, she had left her there to die. + +This child gave a great deal of trouble to the kind lady who had saved +her, nor did she show her any love in return for her kindness; and after +keeping her about two years, the lady sent her to a missionary's school. + +You see how cruelly mothers in India sometimes treat their children. +Their religion teaches them to be cruel. + +A mother is taught to believe that if her babe is sick, an evil spirit is +angry. To please this evil spirit, she will put her babe in a basket, and +hang it up in a tree for three days. She goes then to look at it, and if +it be alive, she takes it home. But how seldom does she find it alive! +Either the ants or the vultures have eaten it, or it is starved to death. + +When there is a famine in the land, many mothers will sell their children +for sixpence each: and if they cannot sell them, they will leave them to +perish. + +One missionary received fifty-one poor starving children into his house: +they were always crying, "Sahib, roti, roti;" that is, "Master, bread, +bread." But the bread came to late too save their lives; for all died +except one. + +Yet these sick children were very wicked. + +One of them stole a brass basin, and sold it for sweetmeats. Though very +kindly treated, some of them wished to escape; and to prevent it, the +missionary tied them together in strings of fifteen; + +There is a tribe in India called Khunds; and they sprinkle their fields +with children's blood, and they say this is the way to make the corn +grow. The English government once rescued eighty poor children from the +Khunds, and sent them to a Christian school. What miserable little +creatures they were when they arrived! but they were soon clothed and +comforted; and taught to hold a needle, and to know their letters; and, +better still, to pronounce the name of Jesus. Like these poor little +captives, we were all condemned to die, till Jesus rescued us, and +promised everlasting life to those who believe. + + +THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. + +There are many rich English gentlemen living in India: some are judges, +and some are merchants, and some are officers in the army. They dwell in +large and grand houses, with many windows down to the ground, and a wide +verandah to keep off the sun. Instead of _glass_, there is _grass_ in the +windows: the blinds are made of sweet-scented grass, and servants outside +continually pour water on the grass to make the air cool. Instead of +_fires_, they have _fans_. These fans are like large screens hanging from +the ceiling, and waving to and fro to refresh the company. Instead of +carpets there are mats on the floor; and round the beds gauze curtains +are drawn to keep out the insects. + +The servants are all Hindoos, and a great number are kept; and this is +necessary, because each servant will only do one kind of work. + +Each horse has two servants, one to take care of it, and the other to cut +grass: even the dog has a boy to look after it alone. The servants do not +live in their master's house, but in small huts near. The place where +they live is called "the compound." + +When English people travel they do not go in carriages, but in +palanquins. A palanquin is like a child's cot, only larger; and there a +traveller can sleep at his ease. + +The men who carry the palanquins are called "Bearers." The nurses are +called Ayahs. Babies are carried out of doors by their ayahs, but +children of three or four are taken out by the bearers. + +There was once a little girl of three years old who taught her bearer to +fear God. + +Little Mary was walking out in a grove with her heathen bearer. She +observed him stop at a small Hindoo temple, and bow down to the stone +image before the door. + +The lisping child inquired,--"Saamy, what for, you do that?" + +"O, missy," said he, "that is my god!" + +"Your god!" exclaimed the child, "your god, Saamy! Why your god can no +see, no can hear, no can walk--your god stone! My God make you, make me, +make everything!" Yet Saamy still, whenever he passed the temple, bowed +down to his idol: and still the child reproved him. Though the old man +would not mind, yet he loved his baby teacher. Once when he thought she +was going to England he said to her,--"What will poor Saamy do when missy +go to England? Saamy no father, no mother." + +"O Saamy!" replied the child, "if you love God he will be your father, +and mother too." + +The poor bearer promised with tears in his eyes that he would love God. +"Then," said she, "you must learn my prayers;" and she began to teach him +the Lord's Prayer. Soon afterwards Mary's papa was surprised to see the +bearer enter the room at the time of family prayers, and still more +surprised to see him take off his turban, kneel down, and repeat the +Lord's Prayer after his master. The lispings of the babe had brought the +old man to God: Saamy did not only bow the knee, he worshipped in spirit +and in truth, and became a real Christian. + + +CHIEF CITIES. + +There are three great cities which may be called English cities, though +in India: because Englishmen built them, and live in them, and rule over +them. Their names are Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. + +The capital city is Calcutta. There the chief governor resides. Part of +Calcutta is called the Black Town, and it is only a heap of mud huts +crowded with Hindoos. The other part of Calcutta is called the English +town; and it consists of beautiful houses by the river-side, each house +surrounded by a charming garden and a thick grove. + +Madras is built on a plain by the sea, and is adorned by fine avenues of +trees, amongst which the English live in elegant villas and gardens. Here +also there is a Black town. It is very hard to land at Madras, because +there is no harbor. + +Bombay has one of the best harbors in the world. It is built on a small +island covered with cocoa-nut groves. + +Now let us compare these places with each other. + +_Calcutta_ boasts of her fine river, but then the ground is flat and +marshy; and therefore the air is damp and unhealthy, and there are no +grand prospects. + +Madras is very dry, and sandy, and dusty; but then there is the sea to +enliven and refresh it. + +Bombay has the sea also, besides the groves, and at a little distance, +high mountains, which look beautiful, and which it is delightful to +visit. There are no such mountains near Calcutta or Madras. + +These are the chief English cities. I must now speak of the favorite city +of the Hindoos. + +It is Benares on the Ganges. + +You might go from Calcutta in a boat, and after sailing four hundred +miles, you would reach Benares. The Hindoos say that it was built by +their god Sheeva, of gold and precious stones; but that, as we are living +in a bad time, it _appears_ to be made of bricks and mud, though really +very different. They say that Benares is eighty thousand steps nearer +heaven than any other city, and that whoever dies there (even though he +eat BEEF!) will go to heaven. + +A missionary once reported a Hindoo for telling lies. The answer was, +"Why, what of that? do I not live at Benares?" The man thought he was +quite safe, however wicked he might be. + +In walking about Benares a stranger might be surprised to meet every now +and then a white bull, with a hump on its back, without a driver or a +rider, or any one to keep it in order. You must know that a white bull is +said to belong to the chief god of Benares, and it is considered a sacred +animal, and is allowed to do as it pleases. + +And how does it behave? + +It behaves much in the same manner as a child would who had its own way. +The white bull helps itself to the fruit and vegetables sold in the +streets, and even to the sweetmeats. It has a great taste for flowers; +and it cunningly hides itself near the doors of the temples, to watch for +the people coming out with their garlands of marigolds round their necks. +At these the bull eagerly snatches with its tongue, and swallows them in +a moment. Finding it is petted by every one, it grows so bold, as to walk +into the houses, and even to go up the stone stairs on to the roof, where +it seems to enjoy the cool air, as it quietly chews the cud. + +In the spring the white bulls like to wander out in the fields to eat the +tender green grass. A farmer finding one of these bulls in his fields, +made him get into a boat, and sent him by a man across the river Ganges. +But the cunning creature came back in the evening; for he watched till he +saw some people setting out in a boat, and then jumped in; and though +the passengers tried to turn him out, he would stay there. In this way he +got back to the cornfields. + +So much respected are these bulls that a Hindoo would sooner lose his own +life than suffer one of them to be killed. An English gentleman was just +going to shoot one that had broken into his garden, when his Hindoo +servant rushed between him and the bull, saying, "Shoot me, sir, shoot +me, but let him go." You may be sure that the gentleman did not shoot the +servant, and I think it probable he spared the bull's life. + +There is one more city to be noticed. + +DELHI was once the grandest city in India, and the seat of the great +Moguls, those Mahomedans who conquered India before the British came. The +ancient palace is still to be seen: it is built of red stone; but its +ornaments are gone; where is now the room lined with crystal, the golden +palm-tree with diamond fruits, and the golden peacock with emerald wings, +overshadowing the monarch's throne? + +The Persians have stripped the palace of all its gorgeous splendor. + +We have now described the two most numerous nations in the world, China +and Hindostan. They contain together more than half the world. In some +respects they are alike, and in some respects they are different. In +these respects they are different. + +IN CHINA. IN HINDOSTAN. + +There is one emperor. There is no emperor, and + the English govern the country. + +There is one language. There are many. + +They use chairs, and tables, They sit and sleep on mats. +and beds. + +They eat with chop-sticks. They eat with their fingers. + +They wear shoes. They go barefoot, and wear + sandals. + +The men shave their heads The men twist up their +except one lock. hair with a comb. + +They seldom wash themselves. They bathe often. + +They eat pigs more than They abhor pigs. +any other meat. + +They are grave and silent. They are merry and talkative. + +They are industrious. They are idle. + +The most learned rise to be Every one is high and low +great men. according to his caste. + +They mind the laws. They care not for laws. + +The land is well cultivated. There is much waste land, + and many jungles. + +Now let us consider in what respects they are _alike_. + +China and Hindostan are alike in these respects. They are both very +_populous_, though China has twice as many inhabitants as Hindostan. + +In both rice is the chief food. + +In both large grown-up families live together. + +In both the women are shut up. + +In both foreigners are hated. + +In both conjurers are admired. + +In both many idols are worshipped. + +In both there are ancient sacred books. + +In both the people are deceitful, unmerciful to the poor, and in the +habit of destroying their own little girls when babies. + +In both it is believed that the soul after death goes into another body, +and is born over and over again into this world. + +Is it not mournful to think that more than half the people in the world +have no bright hope to cheer a dying bed? One poor Hindoo was heard to +exclaim as he was dying, "Where shall I go _last_ of all?" He asked a +wise question. He wanted to know where, after having been born ever so +many times, he should be put for _ever_ and _ever_. That is the great +point we all want to know. But the Hindoo and the Chinaman cannot know +this: they have never heard of _everlasting_ happiness. + + + + +CIRCASSIA. + + +This is not a vast country like China, or Hindostan. It may be called a +nook, it is so small compared with some great kingdoms: but it is famous +on account of the beauty of the people. They are fair, like Europeans, +with handsome features, and fine figures. But their beauty has done them +harm, and not good; for the cruel Turks purchase many of the Circassian +women, because they are beautiful, and shut them up in their houses. +Perhaps you will be surprised to hear that the young Circassians think it +a fine thing to go to Turkey--to live in fine palaces and gardens, +instead of remaining in their own simple cottages. But I think that when +they find themselves confined between high walls, they must sigh to think +of their flocks and their farms at home, and more than all, of the dear +relations they have left behind. + +Circassia is a pleasant country, situated near the noble mountains of +Caucasus. The snow on the mountains cools the air, and makes Circassia as +pleasant to live in as our own England. Indeed, if you were suddenly to +be transported into Circassia, you would be ready to exclaim, "Is not +this England? Here are apple-trees, and pear-trees, and plum-trees, like +those in my father's garden: those sounds are like the notes of the +blackbird and thrush, which sing among the hawthorns in English woods." + +But look again, you will see vines interlacing their fruitful branches +among the spreading oaks. You do not see such vines in England. But hark! +what do I hear? It is a sound never heard in England. It is the yell of +jackals. + +MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE.--There is no country in the world where the people +are as kind to strangers as in Circassia. Every family, however poor, has +a guest-house. There is the family-house, with its orchard, and stables, +and at a little distance, another house for strangers. This is no more +than a large room, with a stable at one end. The walls are made of +wicker-work, plastered with clay. There is no ceiling but the rafters, +and no floor but the bare earth. Yet there is a wide chimney, where a +blazing fire is kept up with a pile of logs. And there is a sofa or +divan, covered with striped silk, and many neat mats to serve as beds for +as many travellers as may arrive. The wind may whistle through the +chinks, and the rain come through the roof, but the stranger is well +warmed, and comfortably lodged; and above all, he has the host to wait +upon him with more attention than a servant. The supper is served as soon +as the sun sets. + +But where is the table? There is none. Is the supper placed on the floor? +Not so. It is brought in on stools with three legs. They answer the +purpose of tables, trays, and dishes, all in one. What is the fare served +up? This is the sort of dinner provided. On the first table is placed a +flat loaf; the gravy in the middle, and the meat all round. When this is +taken away, another table is brought in with cheese-cakes; a third with +butter and honey; a fourth with a pie; a fifth with a cream; and last of +all, a table, with a wooden bowl of curdled milk. The company have no +plates; but each Circassian carries a spoon and a knife in his girdle, +and with these he helps himself. The servants who stand by, are not +forgotten: a piece of meat or of pie-crust is often given to one of them; +it is curious to see the men take it into a corner to eat it there. There +are many hungry poor waiting at the door of the guest-house, ready to +help the servants to devour the remains of the feast; and there is often +a great deal of food left; for there are generally _ten_ tables, and +sometimes there are _forty_ tables. The guests are expected to taste the +food on each, however many there may be. + +Instead of wine, there is a drink called shuat handed to the guests: it +is distilled from grain and honey. Vegetables are not much eaten in +Circassia: for greens are considered fit only for beasts: and there are +no potatoes. Pies, and tarts, and tartlets of various kinds are too well +liked, and the finest ladies in the land are skilful in making them. + +The family live in a thatched cottage, called "the family-house." It is +not divided into rooms. If a man wants several rooms, he builds several +houses. + +As you approach the dwelling of a Circassian, you hear the barking of +dogs, and upon coming nearer, you see women milking cows, and feeding +poultry, and boys tending goats, and leading horses. + +If you go into the farm-yard, you will see among the animals, the +buffalo--but no pig. There are, however, wild boars in the woods. + +CIRCASSIAN WOMEN.--They are not shut up as Hindoo, and Chinese, and +Turkish ladies are. They do not indeed go into the guest-house to see +strangers; but strangers are sometimes invited into the family-house to +see them. + +An Englishman, who visited a family-house, was introduced to the wife and +daughter. They both rose up when he entered: nor would they sit down, +till he sat down; and this respect ladies show not only to gentlemen, but +even to the poorest peasants. The only furniture in the house was the +divan, on which the ladies sat; a pile of boxes, containing the beds, +which were to be spread on the floor at night; and a loom for weaving +cloth, and spindles for spinning. + +The daughter, who was sixteen, was dressed in a skirt of striped silk, +with a blue bodice, and silver clasps; and she wore a cap of scarlet +cloth, adorned with silver lace--her light hair flowing over her +shoulders: yet though so finely arrayed, her feet were bare; for she only +put on her red slippers when she walked out. The mother was covered with +a loose calico wrapper, and her face was concealed by a thick white veil. +The visitor laid some needle-cases at the ladies' feet, for it is not the +custom for them to receive presents in their hands. + +The needle-cases greatly delighted the young Hafiza, and her mother. The +present was well chosen, because the Circassian women are very +industrious, supplying their husbands and brothers with all their +clothes, from the woollen bonnet to the morocco shoe. The wool, the flax, +and the hemp, are all prepared at home by the mothers, and made into +clothes by the girls, who first spin the thread, then weave the cloth, +and finish by sewing the seams. Some girls are very clever in knitting +silver lace for trimming garments. A girl named Dussepli was famous for +her skill in this art, indeed her name signifies, "Shining as lace." + +An Englishman went to the place where she lived to buy some of her lace. +He was shown into the guest-house, and he soon saw Dussepli approaching +in a pair of high pattens. At first sight there was nothing pleasing in +Dussepli but when she spoke she seemed so kind, and so true, that it was +impossible not to like her. By her industry in knitting lace, and dyeing +cloth, she helped to support her father, who was poor. + +THE CIRCASSIAN MEN.--War is their chief occupation. Working in the fields +is left to the women, and the little boys, and the slaves. There is, +alas! great occasion for the men to fight, as the land has long been +infested with many dangerous enemies. + +The Russians are endeavoring to conquer the Circassians: but the +Circassians declare they will die sooner than yield. Long ago the enemies +must have triumphed, had it not been for the high mountains which afford +hiding-places for the poor hunted inhabitants. Every man carries a gun, a +pistol, a dagger, and a sword; and the nobles are distinguished by a bow, +and a quiver of arrows. The usual dress is of coarse dark cloth, and +consists of a tunic, trowsers, and gaiters. The cap or bonnet is of +sheep-skin, or goatskin. + +The boys are taught from their infancy to be hardy and manly. They are +brought up in a singular way. Instead of remaining at home, they are +given at three years old, into the care of a stranger: and the reason of +this custom is, that they may not be petted by their parents. The +stranger is called "foster-father," and he teaches any boy under his care +to ride well, and to shoot at a mark. The boy follows his foster-father +over the mountains, urging his horses to climb tremendous heights, and to +rush down ravines; and appeasing his hunger with a mouthful of honey from +the bag, fastened to his girdle. Such is the life he leads, till he is a +tall and a strong youth; and then he returns home to his parents. His +foster-father presents him with a horse, and weapons of war, and requires +no payment in return for all his care. + +Men brought up in this manner must be wild, bold, restless, and ignorant. +Such are the Circassians. They care not for learning, as the Chinese do, +but only for bravery. We cannot wonder at this, when we remember what +enemies they have in their land. The Russians have built many strong +towers, whence they shoot at all who come near. But, not satisfied +with this, they often come forth and rob the villages. + +[Illustration: Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia."] + +There was a Circassian, (and he may be still alive,) called Guz Beg; and +he gained for himself the name of the "Lion of Circassia." He was always +leading out little bands of men to attack the Russians. One day he found +some Russian soldiers reaping in the fields, and when he came near they +ran away in terror, leaving two hundred scythes in the field, which he +seized. But a great calamity befel this Lion. He had an only son. When he +first led the boy to the wars, he charged him never to shrink from the +enemy, but to cut his way through the very midst. One day Guz Beg had +ridden into the thick of the Russian soldiers, when suddenly a ball +pierced his horse, and he was thrown headlong on the ground. There lay +the Lion among the hunters. In another moment he would have been killed, +when suddenly a youthful warrior flew to his rescue;--it was his own son. +But what could _one_ do among so _many_! A troop of Circassian horse +rushed to the spot, and bore away Guz Beg; but they were too late to save +his son. They bore away the _body_ only of the brave boy. Guz Beg was +deeply grieved; but he continued still to fight for his country. + +See those black heaps of ashes. In that spot there once lived a prince +named Zefri Bey, with his four hundred servants; but his dwellings were +burned to the ground by the Russians. That prince fled to Turkey to plead +for help. What would have become of his wife, and little girls, if a kind +friend had not taken them under his care? This friend was hump-backed, +but very brave. Some English travellers went to visit him, and were +received in the guest-house and regaled with a supper of many tables. +Next day the little girls came to the guest-house and kissed their hands. +The daughter of the hump-backed man accompanied them. The children were +delighted with some toys the traveller gave them, and the kind young lady +accepted needles and scissors. But where was the wife of Zefri Bey? A +servant was sent to inquire after her, and found her in rags, lying on a +mat, without even a counterpane, and weeping bitterly. Had no one given +her clothes, and coverings? Yes, but she gave everything away, for she +had been used, as a princess, to make presents, and now she cared for +nothing. Such are the miseries which the Russians bring upon Circassia. + +THE GOVERNMENT.--There is no king of Circassia; but there are many +princes. + +The people pay great respect to these princes, standing in their +presence, and giving them the first place at feasts, and in the +battle-field. But though the people honor them, they do not obey them. + +There is a parliament in Circassia, but it does not meet in a house, but +in a grove. Every man who pleases may come, but only old men may speak. +If a young man were to give his opinions, no attention would be paid. The +warriors sit on the grass, and hang up their weapons of war on the boughs +above their heads, while they fasten their horses to the stems of the +trees. + +The speakers are gentle in their tones of voice and behavior. The +Circassians admire sweet winning speeches. They say there are three +things which mark a great man; a sharp sword, a sweet tongue, and forty +tables. What do they mean by these? By a sharp sword they mean bravery, +by a sweet tongue they mean soft speeches, and by forty tables they mean +giving plentiful suppers to neighbors and to strangers. Are the +Circassians right in this way of thinking? No--for though bravery is +good, and speaking well is good, and giving away is good, these are not +the greatest virtues: and people may be brave, and speak well, and give +away much, and yet be wicked: for they may be without the love of God in +their hearts. What are the greatest virtues? These three, Faith, Hope, +and Charity. These are graces which come from God. + +SERVANTS.--There are slaves in Circassia, called serfs. But they are so +well treated, that they are not like the slaves of other countries. They +live in huts round their master's dwelling; they work in the fields, and +wait upon the guests, and share in the good fare on the little tables. + +When a Circassian takes a Russian prisoner, he makes him a slave, and +gives him the hardest work to do. Yet the Russians are much happier with +their Circassian masters than in their own country. + +Once a Circassian said to his Russian slave, "I am going to send you back +to Russia." The man fell at his master's feet, saying, "Rather than do +so, use me as your dog; beat me, tie me up, and give me your bones to +pick." The master then told him that he had not spoken in earnest, and +that he would not send him away, and then the poor fellow began to shout, +and to jump with joy. + +BROTHERHOODS.--There is a very remarkable plan in Circassia, unlike the +plans in other countries. A certain number of men agree to call +themselves "brothers." These brothers help each other on every occasion, +and visit at each other's houses frequently. They are not received in the +guest-house, but in the family-house, and are treated by all the family +as if they were really the brothers of the master. + +A brotherhood sometimes consists of two thousand, but sometimes of only +twenty persons. + +RELIGION.--Circassia, though beautiful, is an unhappy country. The +Russians keep the people in continual fear; this is a great evil. But +there is another nation who have done the Circassians still greater harm. +I mean the Turks. And what have they done to them? They have persuaded +them to turn Mahomedans. The greatest harm that can be done to any one, +is to give him a false religion. There are no grand mosques in Circassia, +because there are no towns: but in every little village there is a clay +cottage, where prayers are offered up in the name of Mahomet. There can +be no minaret to such a miserable mosque: so the man who calls the hours +of prayer, climbs a tall tree, by the help of notches, and getting into a +basket at the top, makes the rocks and hills resound with his cry. How +different shall be the sound one day heard in every land; when all people +shall believe in Jesus. "Then shall the inhabitants of the rocks +sing--then shall they shout from the top of the mountains, and give glory +unto the _Lord_" and not to Mahomet. (Is. xlii. 11, 12.) + +But though the Circassians call themselves Mahomedans, they keep many of +their old customs, and these customs show that they once heard about +Christ. + +It is their custom to dedicate every boy to God: but not really to _God_, +for in truth they dedicate him to the _cross_. Let me give you an account +of one of the feasts of dedication. + +The place of meeting was a green, shaded by spreading oak-trees. In the +midst stood a cross. Each family who came to the feast, brought a little +table, and placed it before the cross; and on each table, there were +loaves, and a sort of bread called "pasta." There was a blazing fire on +the green, round which the elder women sat, while the younger preferred +the shade of a thicket. The priest took a loaf of bread in one hand, and +in the other, a large cup of shuat, (a kind of wine) and holding them out +towards the cross, blessed them. While he did this, men, women, and +children, knelt around, and bowed their heads to the ground. Afterwards, +the shuat and the bread were handed about amongst the company. But this +was only the beginning of the feast. Afterwards, a calf, a sheep, and two +goats were brought to the cross to be blessed. Then a little of their +hair was singed by a taper, and then they were taken away to be +slaughtered. Now the merriment began: some moved forward to cut up the +animals, and to boil their flesh in large kettles on fires kindled on the +green; many young men amused themselves with racing, leaping, and +hurling stones, while the elder people sat and talked. When the meat was +boiled, it was distributed among the sixty tables, and then the priest +blessed the food. And then the feasting began. Does it not seem as if the +Circassians must once have learned about Jesus crucified, and about his +supper of bread and wine, and about the Jewish feasts and sacrifices? +Once, perhaps, they knew the true religion, but they soon forgot it, and +though they still remember the _Cross_, they have forgotten _Christ_; and +though they still bless the bread and the cup, they know nothing of +redeeming love. Do you not long to send missionaries to Circassia? Well, +some good Scotch missionaries went there some years ago, but alas! the +Russians sent them away. Their thatched cottages may still be seen, and +their fruitful orchards, but they themselves are gone. There are, +however, a few German Christians in Circassia. They are not missionaries, +but only farmers, therefore the Russians allow them to remain. They have +a little church, where the Bible is read, and God is worshipped. You will +be glad to hear a few Circassians may be seen amongst the congregation; +they were converted by the Scotch missionaries, and they have remained +faithful amongst their heathen neighbors. + +Circassia is situated between two seas:-- + +The Black Sea, and + +The Caspian Sea. + +What a wonderful place is the Caspian Sea. It is like a lake, only so +immensely large, that it is called a sea. The waters of lakes are fresh, +like those of rivers; but the waters of the Caspian are salt, but not so +salt as the salt sea. The shores of the Caspian are flat, and +unwholesome. You might think as you stood there, that you were by the +great ocean, for there are waves breaking on the sands, and water as far +as the eye can reach, but there is no freshness in the air as by the real +sea. + +The mountains of Caucasus run through Circassia. They are quite low +compared to the Himalaya; they are about the height of the Alps, and the +tops are covered with snow. But the valleys between these mountains, are +not like the Swiss valleys, which are broad and pleasant; but these +valleys are narrow, and dark, and not fit to live in, yet they are of +great use as hiding-places for the Circassians. When pursued by a +Russian, a Circassian will urge his horse to dash down the dark valley, +and lest his horse should be alarmed by the sight of the dangerous depth +below, he will cover the animal's eyes with his cloak. Thus, many a bold +rider escapes from a cruel soldier. + + + + +GEORGIA. + + +When you hear of Circassia, you will generally hear of Georgia too, for +the countries lie close together, and resemble one another in many +respects. But though so near, their climate is different; for Circassia +lies beyond the mountains of Caucasus, and is therefore, exposed to the +cold winds of the north. But Georgia lies beneath the mountains, and is +sheltered from the chill blasts. Georgia is, therefore, far more fruitful +than Circassia, the people, too, are less fair, and less industrious. The +sides of the hills are clothed with vines, and houses with deep verandahs +are scattered among the vineyards, and women wrapped in long white sheets +may be seen reposing in the porticoes, enjoying the soft air, and lovely +prospect. While Circassian ladies are busy weaving and milking, the +Georgian ladies loll upon their couches, and do nothing. Which do you +think are the happier? These Georgian ladies, too, though very handsome, +are much disfigured by painted faces, and stained eyebrows. Their +countenances, too, are lifeless, and silly, as might be expected, since +they waste their time in idleness. Over their foreheads, they wear a kind +of low crown, called a tiara. + +There is no country where so much wine is drank as in Georgia, even a +laborer is allowed five bottles a day. The grapes are exceedingly fine, +quite different from the little berries called grapes in Circassia. The +casks are very curious, they are the skins of buffaloes, and as the tails +and legs are not cut off, a skin filled with wine looks like a dead, or a +sleeping buffalo. + +And what is the religion of Georgia? It is the Russian religion, because +the Russians have conquered the country. They cannot conquer the brave, +and active Circassians, but they have conquered the soft, and indolent +Georgians. The Georgians are called Christians, but the Greek Church, +which is the Russian religion, is a Christianity, laden with ceremonies +and false doctrines. + + +TIFLIS. + +There is but one town in Georgia. It is beautifully situated on the steep +banks of a river, with terraces of houses, embosomed in vineyards. So +little do the people care for reading, that there is not a bookseller's +shop in the town, and it is very seldom that a bookcase is seen in a +house; for the Georgians love show, and entertainments, and idleness, but +not study. + + + + +TARTARY. + + +This is one of the largest countries in the world, yet it does not +contain as many people as the small land of France. How is this? You will +not be surprised that many people do not live there, when you hear what +sort of a country it is. + +Fancy a country quite flat, as far as eye can see, except where a few low +sand-hills rise; a country quite bare, except where the coarse grass +grows;--a country quite dry, except where some narrow muddy streams run. +Such is Tartary. What is a country without hills, without trees, without +brooks? Can it be pleasant? This flat, bare, dry plain, is called the +steppes of Tartary. In one part of Tartary, there is a chain of +mountains, and there are a few towns, and trees, but _very few_. You may +travel a long while without seeing one. + +Nothing can be so dreary as the steppes appear in winter time. The high +wind sweeping along the plain, drives the snow into high heaps, and often +hurls the poor animals into a cold grave. Sledges cannot be used, +because they cannot slide on such uneven ground. But if the _white_ +ground looks dreary in winter, the _black_ ground looks hideous in +summer; for the hot sun turns the grass black, and fills the air with +black dust, and there are no shady groves, no cool hills, no refreshing +brooks. There must, indeed, be a _little_ shade among the thistles, as +they grow to twice the height of a man; but how different is such shade +from the shade of spreading oaks like ours! Instead of nice fruit, there +is bitter wormwood growing among the grass, and when the cows eat it, +their milk becomes bitter. + +WILD ANIMALS.--The most common, is a pretty little creature called the +sooslik. It is very much like a squirrel. + +But can it live where squirrels live,--in the hollows of trees? Where are +the trees in the steppe? The sooslik makes a house for itself by digging +a hole in the ground, just as rabbits do in England. Will it not surprise +you to hear that wolves follow the same plan, and even the wild dogs? The +houses the dogs make are very convenient, for the entrance is very +narrow, and there is plenty of room below. + +There are some very odious animals on the steppe. Snakes and toads. Yes, +showers of toads sometimes fall. But neither snakes nor toads are as +great a plague as locusts. These little animals, not bigger than a +child's thumb, are more to be dreaded than a troop of wolves. And why? +Because they come in such immense numbers. The eggs lie hid in the ground +all the winter. O if it were known _where_ they were concealed, they +would soon be destroyed. But no one knows where they are till they are +hatched. In the first warm days of spring the young animals come forth, +and immediately they begin crawling on the ground in one immense flock, +eating up all the grass as they pass along; in a month they can fly, and +then they darken the air like a thick cloud; wherever any green appears, +they drop down and settle on the spot. The noise they make in eating can +be heard to a great distance, and the noise they make in flying is like +the rustling of leaves in a forest. They cannot be destroyed: but there +are two things they hate,--smoke and noise,--and by these they are +sometimes scared and induced to fly away. + +PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS.--Besides the wild animals, there are tame animals, +who inhabit the steppe with men and women who take care of them. They are +all wanderers, both men and beasts. You can easily guess why they wander. +It is to find sufficient grass for the cattle. + +Every six weeks the Tartars move to a new place. Yet one place is so like +another, that no place appears new;--there is always the same immense +plain--without a cottage, or an orchard, a green hill, or running brook, +to make any spot remembered. It is great labor to the Tartar women to +pack up the tents and to place them on the backs of the camels, and then +to unpack and to pitch the tents. It is a great disgrace to the men to +suffer the women to work as hard as they do: but the men are very idle, +and like to sit by their tents smoking and drinking, while their wives +are toiling and striving with all their might. The women have the care of +all the cattle: and the men attend only to the horses. Perhaps they would +not even do this, were it not that they are very fond of riding; and such +riders as the Tartars are seldom seen. + +To give you an idea how they ride, I will describe one scene that took +place on the steppe. + +Some travellers from Europe were on a visit to a Tartar prince: (for +there are _princes_ in the desert,) and they were taken to see a herd of +wild horses. The prince wished to have one of these wild horses caught. +It is not easy to do this. But Tartars know the way. Six men mounted a +tame horse, and rushed into the midst of the wild horses. Each of the men +had a great noose in his hand. They all looked at the prince to know +which horse he would have caught. When they saw the prince give a sign, +one of the men soon noosed a young horse. The creature seemed terrified +when it found that it was caught: his eyes started out, his nostrils +seemed to smoke. Presently a man came running up, sprang upon the back of +the wild horse, and by cutting the straps round his neck, set him at +liberty. In an instant the horse darted away with the swiftness of an +arrow; yet the man firmly kept his seat. The animal seemed greatly +alarmed at his strange burden, and tried every plan to get rid of +it;--now suddenly stopping,--now crawling on the grass like a worm,--now +rolling,--now rearing,--now dashing forward in a fast gallop through the +midst of the herd; yet all would not do; the rider clung to the horse as +closely as ever. + +But how was the rider ever to get off his fiery steed? That would be +difficult indeed; but help was sent to him by the prince. Two men on +horseback rode after him, and between them they snatched away the man +from the trembling and foaming horse. The animal, surprised to find his +load suddenly gone, stood stupefied for a moment, and then darted off to +join his companions. What _this_ man did,--_many_ Tartars can do: and +even _little boys_ will mount wild horses, and keep on by clinging to +their manes: _women_, too, will gallop about on wild horses. + +In Circassia the customs are very different; for though _men_ ride so +well, _women_ there never ride at all; and surely it is far better not to +ride than to be as bold as a Tartar woman. + +FOOD.--What can be the food of the Tartars? Not bread, (for there is no +corn,) nor fruit, nor vegetables. The flocks and herds are the food. The +favorite meat is horse-flesh; though mutton and beef are eaten also. Then +there is plenty of milk--both cow's milk and sheep's milk. As there is +milk, there is butter and cheese. But it is very unwholesome to live on +meat and milk without bread and vegetables. The water, too, is very bad; +for it is taken from the muddy rivers, and not from clear springs. It is +a comfort for the Tartar that he can procure tea from China. Their tea is +indeed very unlike the tea brought to England; for it comes to Tartary in +hard lumps, shaped like bricks. It is boiled in a saucepan with water, +and then mixed with milk, butter, and salt. Thus you see the Tartar needs +neither tea-kettle, teapot, nor sugar basin. + +It would be well if tea and milk were the only drinks in Tartary; but a +sort of spirit is distilled by the Tartars from mare's milk; and brandy +also is brought from Russia. + +TENTS.--A Tartar tent is very unlike an Arab tent. + +It is in the shape of a hut, for the sides are upright, and the roof only +is slanting, and there is a small hole at the top to let the smoke +escape. Neither is it made of skins, but of thick woollen stuff, called +felt, which keeps the cold out. At night the entrance is closed, and the +family sleep on mats around the fire in the midst. + +APPEARANCE.--The Tartars are not handsome like the Turks and Circassians. +They are short and thick; their faces are broad and bony, their eyes very +small, and only half open; their noses flat, their lips thick, their +chins pointed, their ears large and flapping, and their skin dark and +yellow. + +Their dress is warm, and well suited for riding in the desert. Different +tribes have different dresses: this is the dress of the Kalmuck Tartar. +He wears a yellow cloth cap trimmed with black lamb-skin; wide trowsers, +a tight jacket, and over all a loose tunic, fastened round the waist. His +boots are red, with high heels. The women dress like the men; but they +let their hair grow in two long tresses, while the men shave part of +their heads, and keep only _one_ lock of hair hanging on their shoulders. + +[Illustration: TARTAR TENTS.] + +You see that the Tartars are much like the Chinese in their persons and +dress; but they are a much stronger, bolder people, and much more +ignorant. No wonder, therefore, that many years ago the Tartars got over +the Chinese wall, and took possession of the Chinese throne. You must not +forget that the Emperor of China is a Tartar. + +GOVERNMENT.--To whom does Tartary belong? Has it a king of its own? No. +Once it had many kings, called khans; but now the khans have lost their +power, and are only _called_ khan to do them honor. Now Tartary belongs +to the great empires on each side of it,--Russia and China. Part of +Tartary is called Russian Tartary, and part--Chinese Tartary. There is +only a small part that is not conquered; and it is called Independent +Tartary. + +There are many different tribes, and each tribe keeps to a certain part +of the land, and never ventures to wander beyond its own bounds. + +RELIGION.--The religion is the same as that which is so common in +China,--the religion of Buddha; but in some parts of Tartary there is the +religion of Mahomet. It is sad to think that far more people in the world +worship Buddha, the deceiver, than Jesus, the Son of God. The Tartars +think to please their false god by making a loud noise. It would astonish +a stranger to hear their jingling bells, shrill horns, squeaking shells, +bellowing trumpets, and deafening drums. How unlike is their senseless +noise to the sweet sound of a Christian hymn! + +The Tartars think also to please their gods by glaring colors; so their +priests dress in red and yellow, and bear flags, adorned with strips of +gay silk. A band of priests looks something like a regiment of soldiers. + +The chief priest is called the Lama, and he is worshipped as a god; but +his situation is not very pleasant; for he is not allowed to walk without +help. Whenever he attempts to walk, he is held up by a man on each side, +as if he were an infant; and usually he is drawn in a car, or carried in +a palanquin. From want of exercise, he becomes very weak and helpless. +When he dies, his body is burned, and the ashes are gathered up and made +into an idol. Thus he continues to be a god after he is dead. Another +Lama is chosen by one of the princes. There are many Lamas in Tartary for +the various tribes. + +As the Tartars are always moving about, a tent serves for a temple; and +the idols are carried in great chests. They cannot walk, therefore they +must be carried. What use are such gods? + +The Tartars have found out a way of praying without any trouble; and it +is a way that suits idols very well. They get some prayers written, and +place them in a drum, and then turn the drum round and round with a +string. This they call praying; and while they are thus praying, they can +be chattering, smoking, and even quarrelling. The princes have a still +easier way of offering up prayers. They write prayers upon a flag, and +then place it before their tents for the wind to blow it about. + +This is _their_ way of praying to their gods. + +And what, my dear child, is _your_ way of praying to your God? + +Have missionaries visited the Tartars? + +Yes; I will tell you of two German missionaries, who tried to convert a +tribe of Tartars called the Kalmucks, living near the Caspian Sea and the +river Volga. These good men were treated with great contempt by the +Tartars. The missionaries translated the Gospel of St. Matthew into the +Tartar language. One of the Tartars, instead of thanking them, observed, +"I wonder you should take so much trouble to prepare a book that we shall +never read." When the precious books were given to the Tartars, some of +them returned the books; and when it was read to them, they scornfully +said, as they turned away, "It is only the history of Jesus." + +At last one Tartar, named Sodnom, believed in Jesus. He said to the +missionaries, "Now the Tartars, from my example, may turn to the Lord: +for as, when sheep are to be washed, each is afraid to enter the water +till _one_ has been in, so it may be with my countrymen." + +Sodnom read every evening in the Testament to his family in the tent. At +first his wife was displeased, and said that her husband wasted the +fire-wood in making a light to read a book that was of no use. But +afterwards she listened, and made the children keep quiet. The neighbors +also listened, and _twenty-two_ turned to the Lord! + +Then the prince and the priests grew angry, and said the Christians must +leave the camp. Where could the Christians go? There was a village called +Sarepta, where some Germans lived. There they determined to go, though it +was two hundred miles off. One of the missionaries led the way on +horseback; the Tartars followed on foot: then came camels bearing the +tents and the women, while a bullock-cart contained the young children. +The flocks and herds were driven by the bigger children. + +The good Germans in Sarepta received the Tartars with great joy. One +gray-headed man of eighty-three came to meet them, leaning upon his +staff. He said he had been praying that he might see a _Christian_ Tartar +before he died. He heard these Tartars sing hymns to the praise of +Jesus, and he felt his prayers were answered. Two days afterwards he +died. Like old Simeon, he might have said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." + +The Christians went to live in a small island in the river Volga. When +the river was frozen, the Germans went over the ice to visit them. Sodnom +gave them tea mixed with fat in a large wooden bowl; and to please him, +the kind Germans drank some, though they did not like it. Many Tartars +assembled in Sodnom's tent, and seated on the ground smoking their pipes, +talked together about heavenly things; and before they parted, they put +away their pipes, and folding their hands, sang hymns in their own +language. The Germans, in taking leave, divided a large loaf among the +company; for bread is considered quite a dainty by the Tartars. + +The change that had taken place in these Tartars filled the Germans with +joy; and more missionaries would have gone to teach the heathen Kalmucks, +had not the Emperor of Russia forbidden them. + + +ASTRACAN. + +This city is on the Caspian Sea. It is very unpleasant, on account of the +heat and the gnats. + +Not only Tartars dwell there, but many people of all nations, Russians, +Hindoos, and Armenians. The chief trade of Astracan is in the fish of the +sea, and in the salt on the shores. + + +BOKHARA (IN TARTARY). + +This is a kingdom in the midst of Tartary. It lies at the south of the +Caspian Sea. It is not like the rest of Tartary, for it is a sweet green +spot. Travellers have said that it is the most beautiful spot in the +world, but that is not true. The reason that travellers have said so, is +that, after passing through a great desert, they have been charmed at +seeing again running streams, and shady groves. + +But though Bokhara is a beautiful place, it is a wicked place. + +The king is one of the greatest tyrants in the world. He is called the +Amir. + +The city where he dwells is called Bokhara (which is also the name of the +whole country). His palace is on a high mound, in the midst of splendid +mosques, and mansions. Amongst these grand buildings is the prison, a +place of horrible cruelty. There the prisoners lie in the dark, and the +damp. One use of the prison is to keep water cool for the king in summer; +it feels therefore just like a cellar. + +But the worst dungeon, is filled with stinging insects, called "ticks," +reared on purpose to torment prisoners. In order to keep the ticks alive +when no prisoners are there, raw meat is thrown into the place. There is +also a deep pit into which men are let down with ropes; as once the holy +Jeremiah was in Jerusalem. + +Once a fortnight the prisoners are judged by the Amir. Even when the +ground is covered with snow they stand with bare feet, waiting for hours +till the Amir appears. + +Can so cruel a monarch be happy? No. He lives in constant fear of his +life. + +He is afraid of drinking water, lest it should be poisoned. All that he +drinks is brought from the river in skins, and sealed, and guarded by two +officers; it is then taken to the chief counsellor, called the Vizier, +and tasted by him, and his servants; it is then sealed again, and sent to +his majesty. + +The Amir's dinner when it is ready, is not placed on the royal table, but +locked up in a box, and taken to the Vizier to be tasted, before it is +served up in the palace. + +But it is not the Amir only who is afraid of poison. No one will accept +fruit from another, unless that other tastes it first. It must be very +terrible to live in the midst of such murderers as the people of Bokhara +seem to be. + +The Amir is so much afraid of people making plans to destroy him, that he +chooses to see all the letters that are written by his subjects; if a +husband write to his wife, the letter must first be shown to the Amir. +There are boys, too, going about the city listening to all that is said, +that they may let the Amir know, if any one speak against him. + +But while the Amir is watching his people, _they_ are watching _him_; for +his chief officers hire men to listen to the Amir's conversation, that +they may know if he intends to kill them. Yet every person _appears_ to +approve all the Amir does, saying on every occasion, "It is the act of a +king; it must be good." They are such people as Jeremiah describes in the +Bible. "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit; one +_speaketh_ peaceably to his neighbor, but in his _heart_ he lieth his +wait."--(Jer. ix. 8.) + +APPEARANCE.--The people in Bokhara are much handsomer than other +Tartars; their complexions are fairer, and their hair is of a lighter +color. They wear large white turbans, and several dark pelisses with +high-heeled boots. These high heels prevent their walking well, and most +people, both men and women, ride; but the ladies always hide their faces +with a veil of black hair cloth. + +The large court of the palace is filled from morning to night with a +crowd of noisy people, most of them mounted on horses and donkeys. + +In the midst of the court is the fruit market. It is wonderful to behold +the quantity, and beauty of the fruits. The same fruits grow in Bokhara +as in England, only they are much finer. _Such_ grapes, plums, and +apricots, mulberries, and melons, are never seen in Europe, and they are +made more refreshing by being mixed with chopped ice. Large piles of ice +stand all the summer long in the market-place, and even beggars drink +iced water. But hot tea is preferred before any other drink. In every +corner of the market there are large urns of hot tea, and small bowls of +rich milk, surrounded all day by a thirsty crowd. How much better is this +sight than the gin palaces of London! + +But there is one great inconvenience in Bokhara, for which all its fruits +can scarcely make amends. There is bad water. For Bokhara is not built +on the banks of a river, or among running brooks: all the water is +brought by canals, from a small stream near the town, and when the canals +are dried up by the heat, there is no water, except in the tanks where it +is kept. This stagnant water produces a disease called the Guinea worm. +In this complaint the skin is covered with painful swellings, and when +they burst, a little flat worm is discovered in each, which must be drawn +out before the poor sufferer can recover. + +RELIGION.--It is the Mahomedan. The Amir is a strict observer of his +religion. Every Friday he may be seen going to prayers in his great +mosque. The Koran is carried before him, and four men with golden staves +accompany him, crying out, "Pray to God that the Commander of the +Faithful may act justly." As he passes by, his people stroke their beards +to show their respect. Bokhara is reckoned by Mahomedans a very religious +city; for in every street there is a mosque; every evening people may be +seen crowding to prayers; and if boys are caught asleep during service, +they are tied together, and driven round the market by an officer, who +beats them all the way with a thick thong. + +There is a school, too, in almost every street of Bokhara, and there the +poor boys sit from sunrise, till an hour before sunset, bawling out +their foolish lessons from the Koran; and during all that time they are +never allowed to go home, except once for some bread. They have no time +for play, except in the evening, and no holiday, except on Friday. Seven +years they spend in this manner, learning to read and write. When they +leave school, if they wish to be counted very wise, they go to one of the +colleges; for there are many in Bokhara. Some spend all their lives in +these colleges, living in small cells, and meeting in a large hall to +hear lectures about the Mahomedan religion. It is a happy thing, however, +that in summer the students go out to work in the fields; for how much +better is it to work with the hands, than to fill the head with the +wicked inventions of Mahomed. + +The Mahomedans, however, are very proud of their religion, because they +_say_, they do not worship idols; (yet they do worship at Mecca, a black +stone, and other like things in other places). They imagine that _all_ +Christians are idolaters, for they know that the Russians bow down to +pictures. + +Once the Vizier of Bokhara conversed a long while with two Englishmen +about their religion. + +He asked them, "Do you worship idols?" + +The Englishmen replied, "No." + +The Vizier would not believe them, but said, "I am sure you have images +and crosses hung round your necks." + +Upon which, they opened their vests to show there was nothing hidden. + +Then the Vizier smiled, and said to his servants, "They are not bad +people." + +As the servants were preparing tea, the Vizier took a cup, and said to +the travellers, "You must drink with us, for you are people of the Book," +meaning the Bible. + +Yet you must not suppose because the Vizier seemed to approve these +Christians, that he, and the Amir, would allow missionaries to settle in +the kingdom. + +It is dangerous for Englishmen to visit Bokhara. When they do come, they +must be very careful not to give offence, or they will lose their lives. +Englishmen are more dreaded than any other people, because it is known in +Bokhara, that they have conquered Hindostan, and therefore the Amir fears +lest they should conquer his kingdom also. As soon as an Englishman +enters Bokhara, he is forbidden to write a letter, for fear he should +contrive some plan to bring enemies there. Neither is he allowed to ride +in the streets; none but Mahomedans are allowed to ride in them, though +any one may ride _outside_ the city. + +Some years ago two Englishmen came to Bokhara, named Colonel Stoddart, +and Captain Conolly. They acted foolishly in writing letters, and trying +to send them secretly to their friends. They were found out, and shut up. + +Colonel Stoddart behaved very wickedly in one respect; he pretended to be +a Mahomedan! Was not this wicked? Soon he grew sorry, and declared +himself a Christian. At last both Stoddart and Conolly were sentenced to +die. They were led with their hands tied behind them to a place near the +palace, to be executed. Conolly as he went along, cried out, "Woe, woe to +me, for I have fallen into the hands of a tyrant." At the place of +execution the two Englishmen kissed each other. + +Stoddart said to the king's minister, (for the Amir was not present,) +"Tell the Amir that I die a disbeliever in Mahomed, but a believer in +Jesus. I am a Christian, and a Christian I die." + +Then Conolly said to his friend, "We shall see each other in paradise +near Jesus." + +These were their last words. Immediately afterwards their heads were cut +off with a knife. + +Some time after this cruel murder, a clergyman, named Joseph Wolff, +arrived at Bukhara. He had travelled all the way from England, and all +alone, on purpose to inquire after Conolly, who had been his dear friend. +The Amir was surprised at his coming, and said, "I have taken thousands +of _Persians_ and made them slaves, and no one came from Persia to +inquire what was become of them; but as soon as I take two ENGLISHMEN +prisoners, behold a man comes all this long way to inquire after _them!_" + +The Amir did not know how precious are the lives of Englishmen in the +eyes of their countrymen. + +Joseph Wolff found it hard to get away from Bokhara. He was kept a long +while in prison, and he feared he should be slain; for when he asked the +Amir to give him the bones of Stoddart and Conolly to take to England, +this was the Amir's answer: "I shall send YOUR bones!" Yet, after all, he +was permitted to leave Bokhara, the Lord graciously inclining the tyrant +to let him go. + +How can Missionaries be sent to such a country! + + * * * * * + +Bokhara is the only large town in the kingdom. + +The sea of Aral lies to the north of the kingdom: it is an immense lake, +but not nearly so large as the Caspian Sea. + +The river Oxus flows into the Caspian. It is famous for its golden sands. + +The great trade of Bokhara is in black woolly lamb-skins, to make caps +for the Persians: the younger the lamb the more delicate the wool. Thus +many a pretty lambkin dies to adorn a Persian noble. + +The best raisins in the world come from Bokhara.[8] + + +THE TOORKMAN TARTARS. + +You have heard a great deal of the Tartars, and you have been told that +they are a quiet and peaceable nation. But not _all_; there is a tribe of +Tartars called the Toorkmans, of a very different character. They wander +about in the country between Bokhara and Persia, and their chief +employment is to steal men from Persia, and to sell them in Bokhara as +slaves. A whole troop, mounted on horses, rush sword in hand upon a +Persian city, and return to the camp with hundreds of beasts and human +creatures as their captives. + +Some English travellers once met five men chained together, walking with +sad steps in the deep sands of the desert. They were Persians just caught +by the Toorkmans, and on their way to Bokhara. When the Englishmen saw +these poor captives, they uttered a sorrowful cry, and the Persians began +to weep. One of the travellers stopped his camel to listen to their sad +tale; and he heard that a few weeks before, while working in the fields, +they had been seized and carried off. They were hungry and thirsty; for +the Toorkmans cruelly starve their slaves, in order that they may be too +weak to run away. The traveller gave them all he had, which was a melon, +to quench their thirst. + +But the worst part of the Toorkmans' conduct remains yet to be told. When +they have taken many captives, they usually _kill_ the old people, +because they would not get much money for them in Bokhara; and they +choose _one_ of their captives to offer up as a thank-offering to their +god!! Who is their god? The god of Mahomed. But though they are +Mahomedans, they have no mosques, and are too ignorant to be able to read +the Koran. + +Robbery is their whole business. For this purpose they learn to ride and +to fight. They understand well how to manage a horse, so as to make him +strong and swift. They do not let him eat when he pleases, but they give +him three meals a day of hay and barley, and then rein him up that he may +not nibble the grass, and grow fat; and sometimes they give him no food +at all, and yet make him gallop many miles. By this management the horses +are very thin, but very _strong_, and able to bear their masters eighty +miles in a day when required; and they are so swift that they can outrun +their pursuers. + +It is not surprising that the Toorkmans do not eat these thin horses, +though other Tartars are so fond of horse-flesh. They prefer mutton. When +they invite a stranger to dinner, they boil a whole sheep in a large +boiling-pot; then tear up the flesh,--mix it with crumbled bread, and +serve it up in wooden bowls. Two persons eat from one bowl, dipping their +hands into it, and licking up their food like dogs. The meal is finished +by eating melons. + +These coarse manners suit such fierce and wild creatures as the +Toorkmans. It is their boast that they rest neither under the shadow of a +TREE nor of a KING: meaning that they have neither trees nor kings to +protect them in the desert. + +The men wear high caps of black sheep-skin, while the Women wear high +white turbans. The tents are adorned with beautiful carpets, not only the +floors, but the sides, and it is the chief employment of the women to +weave them. As for the men, they spend most of their time in sauntering +about among the tents; for the fierce dogs guard the flocks. But when +their hands are idle, their thoughts are still busy in planning new +robberies and murders. + +It was by such men that the earth was inhabited when God sent the flood +to destroy it. It is written, "The earth was filled with VIOLENCE." + +Is there any man brave enough to go to these men to warn them of the +judgment to come, and to tell them of pardon for the penitent, through +the blood of Jesus?[9] + + [8] Taken from Sir Alexander Burnes, and from Kanikoff, the + Russian, and from Rev. Joseph Wolff. + + [9] Extracted from Sir Alexander Burnes' "Bokhara." + + + + +CHINESE TARTARY. + + +Very little is known in Europe of this part of Tartary; and why? Because +the Emperor of China, who reigns over it, does not like travellers to go +there. + +It is divided by high and snowy mountains from the rest of Tartary. When +a traveller has passed over these mountains, he finds on the other side +Chinese officers, who inquire what business he has come upon. If he have +come only to wander about the country, he is desired to go home again; +because the Chinese are afraid lest strangers should send spies, and then +ARMIES--to conquer their empire. + +One traveller, because he stayed too long in Tartary, was imprisoned for +three months; and before he was let go, a picture of him was taken. What +was done with this picture? It was copied, and the copies were sent to +various towns on the borders of Chinese Tartary, with this command, "If +the man, who is like this picture, enter the country, his head is the +Emperor's, and his property is _yours_." Happily the traveller heard of +this command, and was never seen again in the country. You see how +cunning it was of the Chinese to allow any one who killed the traveller +to have his property; for thus they made it the interest of all to kill +him. + +There is one city in Chinese Tartary where many strangers come to trade +with the people. It is called Yarkund. There caravans arrive from Pekin, +laden with tea, after a journey of five months over the wilds of Tartary. +Then merchants come from Bokhara to buy the tea, and to carry it home, +where it is so much liked. + + + + +AFFGHANISTAN. + + +This land is not a desert. Yet there are but few trees, and because there +is so little shade, the rivulets are soon dried up. Yet it might be a +fruitful land, if the inhabitants would plant and sow. But they prefer +wandering about in tents, and living upon plunder, to settling in one +place and living by their labor. The Tartar has good reason for roaming +over his plains, because the land is bad; but the Affghan has no reason, +but the _love_ of roaming. + +The plains of Affghanistan are sultry, but the mountains are cool; for +their tops are covered with snow. The shepherds feed their flocks on the +plains during the winter; but in the spring they lead them to the +mountains to pass the summer there. Then the air is filled with the sweet +scent of clover and violets. The sheep often stop to browse upon the +fresh pasture; but they are not suffered to linger long. The children +have the charge of the lambs; an old goat or sheep goes before to +encourage the lambs to proceed, and the children follow with switches of +green grass. Many a little child who can only just run alone, enjoys the +sport of driving the young lambs. The tents are borne on the backs of +camels. The men are terrible-looking creatures, tall, large, dark, and +grim, with shaggy hair and long black beards. They wear great turbans of +blue check and handsome jackets, and cloaks of sheep-skin; they carry in +their girdles knives as large as a butcher's; and on their shoulders a +shield and a gun. + +Besides these wild wanderers, there are some Affghans who live in houses. + +Cabool, the capital, is a fine city, and the king dwells in a fine +citadel. The bazaar is the finest in all Asia. It is like a street with +many arches across it; and these people sell all kinds of goods. + +But what is a fine _bazaar_ compared to a beautiful _garden?_ Cabool is +surrounded by gardens: the most beautiful is the king's. In the midst is +an octagon summer-house, where eight walks meet, and all the walks are +shaded by fruit-trees. Here grow, as in Bokhara, the best fruits to be +found in an English garden, only much larger and sweeter. The same kind +of birds, too, which sing in England sing among its branches, even the +melodious nightingale. It is the chief delight of the people of Cabool to +wander in the gardens: they come there every evening, after having spent +the day in sauntering about the bazaar; for they are an idle people, +talking much and working little. + +The noise in the city is so great that it is difficult to make a friend +hear what you say: it is not the noise of rumbling wheels as in London, +for there are no wheeled carriages, but the noise of chattering tongues. + +The Affghans are a temperate people; they live chiefly upon fruit with a +little bread; and as they are Mahomedans, they avoid wine, and drink +instead iced sherbets, made of the juice of fruits. In winter excellent +_dried_ fruits supply the place of fresh. + +But the Affghan, though living on fruits, is far from being a harmless +and amiable character; on the contrary, he is cruel, covetous, and +treacherous. Much British blood has been shed in the valleys of +Affghanistan. + +We cannot blame the Affghans for defending their own country. It was +natural for them to ask, "What right has Britain to interfere with us?" + +A British army was once sent to Affghanistan to force the people to have +a king they did not like, instead of one they did like. + +I will tell you of a youth who accompanied his father to the wars. This +boy looked forward with delight to going as a soldier to a foreign land, +and his heart beat high when the trumpet sounded to summon the troops to +embark. Joyfully he quitted Bombay, crossed the Indian Ocean, and landed +near the mouth of the Indus. When the army began its march towards +Affghanistan, he rode on a pony by his father's side. + +At first it seemed pleasant to pitch the tent in a new spot every day, to +rest during the heat, and to travel in the dead of the night, till the +sun was high in the sky. But soon this way of life was found fatiguing, +for the heat was great, and the water scarce. The air, too, was clouded +by the dust the troops raised in marching; and green grass was seldom +seen, or a shady tree under which to rest. The food, too, was dry and +stale, and no fresh food could be procured, for the Affghans, before they +fled, destroyed the corn and fruit growing in the fields, that their +enemies might not eat them. The camels, too, which bore the baggage of +the British army, grew ill from heat and thirst; for it is not true that +camels can live _long_ without water; in three or four days they die. +Besides this, the hard rocks in the hilly country hurt their feet, and +hastened their death. Many a camel died as it was seeking to quench its +thirst at a narrow stream in the valley, and its dead body falling into +the water, polluted it. Yet this water the soldiers drank, for they had +no other, and from drinking it they fell ill. The father of the youthful +soldier was one of these, and he was compelled to stop on the way for +several weeks; and because the heat of a tent was too great, he took +shelter in a ruined building. Here his son nursed him with a heavy heart. +Where was the delight the youth had expected to find in a soldier's life? + +At last the British army reached a strong fort built on the top of a +hill; Guznee was its name. Its walls and gates were so strong that it +seemed impossible to get into the city; yet the British knew that if they +did _not_, they must die either by the Affghan sword, or by hunger and +thirst among the rocks. For some time they were much perplexed and +distressed. At last a thought came into the mind of a British captain, +"Let us blow up the gates with gunpowder." The plan was good; but how to +perform it,--there was the difficulty. Soon all was arranged. In the +night some sacks of gunpowder were laid very softly against the gates; +but as no one could set fire to the sacks when _close_ to them, a long +pipe of cloth was filled with gunpowder, and stretched like a serpent +upon the ground; one end of the pipe touched the sack, and the other end +was to be set on fire. But before the match was applied, a British +officer peeped through a chink in the gates to see what the Affghans were +doing within. Behold! they were quietly smoking, and eating their supper, +not suspecting any danger! The match was applied--the gunpowder exploded, +and the strong gates were shattered into a thousand pieces; the army +rushed in sword in hand, and the Affghans fled in wild confusion. + +Where was our young soldier? He was running into the fort between two +friendly soldiers, who kindly helped him on; each of them was holding one +of his arms, and assisting him to keep up with the troops, as they rushed +through the gates. As he ran, he heard horrible cries, but the darkness +hindered him from seeing the dying Affghans rolling in the dust, only he +felt their soft bodies as he hastily passed over them. He heard his +fellow-soldiers shouting and firing on every side. Some fell close beside +him, and others were wounded, and carried off on the shoulders of their +comrades, screaming with agony. + +Half an hour after the gates were fired, the city was taken. The news of +the victory spread among the Affghans on the mountains, and the plains, +and the whole country submitted to the British. + +The army soon marched to Cabool, that proud city. No one opposed their +entrance, and the bazaar, and the king's garden, and the royal citadel +were visited by our soldiers. + +After spending two months in beautiful Cabool, resting their weary limbs +and feasting on fine fruits, the army was ordered to return home. They +began to march again towards the coast, a distance of fifteen hundred +miles, over cragged rocks, and scorching plains. + +In the course of this terrible journey, the father of the young soldier +again fell ill, and was forced to stop by the way. His affectionate son +nursed him night and day; closed his eyes in death, and saw him laid in a +lowly grave in the desert. With a bleeding heart the youth embarked to +return to Bombay. + +During the voyage, a furious storm arose, and all on board despaired of +life. _Then_ it was the youth remembered the prayers he had offered up by +his dying father's bed; _then_ it was he felt he had not turned to God +with all his heart, and _then_ it was he vowed, that if the Lord would +spare him this _once_, he would seek his face in truth. God heard and +spared. + +And did the youth remember his prayers and vows? He did, though not at +_first_,--yet after a little while he _did_. He read the word of God, he +prayed for the Spirit of God, and at length he enjoyed the peace of God; +and now he neither fears storm nor sword, because Christ is his shelter +and his shield. + + + + +BELOOCHISTAN. + + +Just underneath Affghanistan, lies Beloochistan, by the sea coast. It is +separated from India by the river Indus. You may know a Beloochee from an +Affghan by his stiff red cotton cap, in the shape of a hat without a +brim; whereas, an Affghan wears a turban. Yet the religion of the +Beloochee is the same as that of the Affghan, namely, the Mahomedan, and +the character is alike, only the Beloochee is the fiercer of the two: the +country also is alike, being wild and rocky. + +Beloochistan has not been conquered by the British: it has a king of its +own; yet the British have fought against Beloochistan. On one occasion a +British army was sent to punish the king of Beloochistan for not having +sent corn to us, as he had promised. + +The army consisted of three thousand men, and amongst them was the young +soldier, of whom you have heard so much already. His father was ill at +the time, and could not fight; but the youth came upon his pony, with a +camel to carry his tent, and all his baggage. + +The troops as usual marched in the night. In the morning, about eight +o'clock, they first caught sight of Kelat, the capital of Beloochistan. +It was a grand sight, for the city is built on a high hill, with a +citadel at the top. The dark Beloochees were seen thronging about the +walls and the towers, gazing at the British army, but not daring to +approach them. + +Our soldiers, when they first arrived, were too much tired to begin the +attack, and therefore they rested on the grass for two hours. At ten +o'clock the word of command was given, and the attack was made. The +British planted their six cannons opposite the gates, and began to fire. + +Where was the young soldier? He was commanded to run with his company +close up to the wall, and there to remain. As he ran, he was exposed to +the full fire of the enemy. The youth heard bullets whizzing by as he +passed, and he expected every moment that some ball would lay him low; +but through the mercy of God he reached the wall in safety. _Close_ +underneath the wall was not a dangerous post, for the bullets passed over +the heads of those standing there. + +About noon, the British cannons had destroyed the gates. Then the British +soldiers rushed into the town. Amongst the first to enter was the young +soldier; because when the gates fell he was standing close by. As he +passed along the streets, he saw no one but the dead and the dying; for +the Beloochees had fled for refuge to their citadel on the top of the +hill. The king himself was there. + +The citadel was a place very difficult for an enemy to enter; for the +entrance was through a narrow dark passage underground. Into this passage +the British soldiers poured, but soon they came to a door, which they +could not get through, for Beloochee soldiers stood there, sword in hand, +ready to cut down any one who approached. "Look at my back," said one +soldier to his fellow. The other looked, and beheld the most frightful +gashes gaping wide and bleeding freely. Such were the wounds that each +soldier, who ventured near that door, was sure to receive. + +At this moment a cry was heard, saying, "Another passage is found." When +the Beloochees heard this cry, they gave up all hopes of keeping the +enemy out of the citadel; so they left off fighting, and cried "Peace." + +But their king was already dead; he had fallen on the threshold of the +passage last found. The _first_ man who tried to get in by that way the +_king_ had killed; but the _second_ had killed the king. The British, as +they rushed in by this new way, trampled on the body of the fallen +monarch. He was a splendid object even in death; his long dark ringlets +were flowing over his glittering garments, and his sharp sword, with its +golden hilt, was in his hand. The British hurried by, and climbed the +steep and narrow stairs leading to the top of the citadel, and the enemy +no longer durst oppose their course. + +On the terrace at the top of the citadel, in the open air, stood the +nobles of Beloochistan. There were princes too from the countries all +around. It was a magnificent assembly. These men were the finest of a +fine race. Some were clad in shining armor, and others in flowing +garments of green and gold. Thus they stood for a _moment_, and the +_next_--they were rolling on the ground!! + +How was this? Had not peace been agreed upon on both sides? Yes, but a +British soldier had attempted to take away the sword of one of the +princes. The prince had resisted, and with his sword, had wounded the +soldier; and instantly every British gun on that spot had been pointed at +the nobles of Beloochistan. + +This was why the nobles were lying in the agonies of death. + +Our young soldier was not one of those who slew the nobles. He was +standing on another part of the terrace, when, hearing a tremendous +volley of guns, he exclaimed to a friend, "What can that be?" Going +forward, he beheld heaps of bleeding bodies, turbans, and garments--in +one confused mass. The dying were calling for water, and the very +soldiers who had shot them, were holding cups to their quivering lips, +though themselves parched with thirst. But water could not save the lives +of the fallen nobles: one by one they ceased to cry out, and soon--all +were silent--and all were still. The VICTORY was WON! But how awful had +been the last scene! How cruelly, how unjustly, had the lives of that +princely assembly been cut short! + +The conquerors returned that evening to their camp. On their way, they +passed through the desolate streets of the city; the mud cottages on each +side were empty, and blood flowed between. The young officer, as he +marched at the head of his company, was struck by seeing a row of his own +fellow-soldiers lying dead upon the ground. They had been placed there +ready for burial on the morrow. Their ghastly faces, and gaping wounds +were terrible to behold. The youth remembered them full of life and +spirits in the morning, unmindful of their dismal end; _then_ he felt how +merciful God had been in sparing his life; and when he crept into his +little tent that night, he returned him thanks upon his knees; though he +did not love him _then_ as his Saviour from eternal death. Wearied, he +soon fell asleep, but his sleep was broken by dreadful dreams of blood +and death. + +The next day he walked through the conquered town, and saw the British +soldiers dragging the dead bodies of their enemies by ropes fastened to +their feet. They were dragging them to their grave, which was a deep +trench, and there they cast them in and covered them up with earth. + +Such is the history of the conquest of Kelat.[10] How many souls were +suddenly hurled into eternity! How many unprepared to meet their Judge, +because their sins were unpardoned, and their souls unwashed! But in war, +who thinks of souls and sins! O horrible war! How hateful to the Prince +of Peace! + + [10] September 13, 1839. + + + + +BURMAH. + + +Of all the kings in Asia, the king of Burmah is the greatest, next to the +emperor of China. He has not indeed nearly as large a kingdom, or as many +subjects as that emperor; but like him, he is worshipped by his people. +He is called "Lord of life and death," and the "Owner of the sword," for +instead of holding a _sceptre_ in his hand, he holds a golden sheathed +_sword_. A sword indeed suits him well, for he is very cruel to his +subjects. Nowhere are such severe punishments inflicted. For drinking +brandy the punishment is, pouring molten lead down the throat; and for +running away from the army, the punishment is, cutting off both legs, and +leaving the poor creature to bleed to death. A man for choosing to be a +Christian was beaten all over the body with a wooden mallet, till he was +one mass of bruises; but before he was dead, he was let go. + +Every one is much afraid of offending this cruel king. The people tremble +at the sound of his name; and when they see him, they fall down with +their heads in the dust. The king makes any one a lord whom he pleases, +yet he treats even his lords very rudely. When displeased with them, he +will hunt them out of the room with his drawn sword. Once he made forty +of his lords lie upon their faces for several hours, beneath the broiling +sun, with a great beam over them to keep them still. It was well for them +that the king did not send for the men with spotted faces. Who are those +men? The executioners. Their faces are always covered with round marks +tattooed in the skin. The sight of these spotted faces fills all the +people with terror. Every one runs away at the sight of a spotted face, +and no one will allow a man with a spotted face to sit down in his house. +In what terror the poor Burmese must live, not knowing when the order for +death will arrive. Yet the king is so much revered, that when he dies, +instead of saying, "He is dead," the people say, "He is gone to amuse +himself in the heavenly regions" + +The king has a great many governors under him, and they are as cruel as +himself. A missionary once saw a poor creature hanging on a cross. He +inquired what the man had done, and finding that he was not a murderer, +he went to the governor to entreat him to pardon the man. For a long +while the governor refused to hear him: but at last he gave him a note, +desiring the crucified man to be taken down from the cross. Would you +believe it?--the Burmese officers were so cruel that they would not toke +out the nails, till the missionary had promised them a _piece of cloth_ +as a reward! When the man was released, he was nearly dead, having been +seven hours bleeding on the cross; but he was tenderly nursed by the +missionary, and at last he recovered. Yet all the agonies of a cross had +not changed the man's heart, and he returned to his old way of life as a +thief. Had he believed in that Saviour who was nailed to a cross for his +sins, he would, like the dying thief, have repented. Though the Burmese +are so unfeeling to each other, they think it wrong to kill animals, and +never eat any meat, except the flesh of animals who have died of +themselves. Even the fishermen think they shall be punished hereafter for +catching fish; but they say, "We must do it, or we shall be starved." You +may be sure that such a people must have some false and foolish religion; +and so they have, as you will see. + +[Illustration: IDOL CAR AND PAGODA.] + +RELIGION.--It is the religion of Buddha. This Buddha was a man who was +born at Benares, in India, more than two thousand years ago; and people +say, that for his great goodness was made a boodh, or a god. Yet the +Burmese do not think he is alive now; they say he is resting as a reward +for his goodness. Why then do they pray to him, if he cannot hear them? +They pray because they think it is very good to pray, and that they shall +be rewarded for it some day. What reward do they expect? It is this--to +_rest_ as Buddha does--to sleep forever and ever. This is the reward they +look for. Every one in Burmah thinks he has been born a great many times +into the world,--now as an insect,--now as a bird,--now as a beast, and +he thinks that because he was very good,--as a reward he was made a +_man_. Then he thinks that if he is very good as a _poor_ man, he shall +be born next time to be a _rich_ man; and at last, that he will be +allowed to rest like Buddha himself. What is it to be good? The Burmese +say that the greatest goodness is making an idol, and next to that, +making a pagoda. You know what an idol is, but do you know what a pagoda +is? It is a house, with an idol _hidden_ inside, and it has no door, nor +window, therefore no one can get into a pagoda. Some pagodas are very +large, and others very small. As it is thought so very good to make idols +and pagodas, the whole land is filled with them; the roads in some places +are lined with them; the mountains are crowned with them. + +Next to making idols, and building pagodas, it is considered good to make +offerings. You may see the father climbing a steep hill to reach a +pagoda, his little one by his side, and plucking green twigs as he goes. +He reaches the pagoda, and strikes the great bell, then enters the +idol-house near the pagoda, and teaches his young child how to fold its +little hands, and to raise them to its forehead, while it repeats a +senseless prayer; then leaving the green twigs at the idol's feet, the +father descends with his child in his arms. How many little ones, such +as Jesus once took in his arms, are taught every day to serve Satan. + +The people who are thought the best in Burmah, are the priests. Any one +that pleases may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out +begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands; but they +get them well filled, and then return to the handsome house, all shining +with gold, in which they live together in plenty and in pride. They are +expected to dress in rags, to show that they are poor; but not liking +rags, they cut up cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces together to +make their yellow robes; and this they call wearing rags. They pretend to +be so modest, that they do not like to show their faces, and so hide them +with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their way, that +is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they give him is +Guadama, while the Chinese call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty +stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a +bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good +whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king. + +CHARACTER.--The Burmese are a blunt and rough people. They are not like +the Chinese and the Hindoos, ready to pay compliments to strangers. When +a Burmese has finished a visit, he says, "I am going," and his friend +replies, "Go." This is very blunt behavior. But all blunt people are not +sincere. The Burmese are very deceitful, and tell lies on every occasion; +indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods. They are also very +proud, because they fancy they were so good before they were born into +this world. All the kind actions they do are in the hope of getting more +merit, and this bad motive spoils all they do. They are kind to +travellers. In every village there is a pretty house, called a Zayat, +where travellers may rest. As soon as a guest arrives, the villagers +hasten to wait upon him;--one brings a clean mat, another a jug of water, +and a third a basket of fruit. But why is all this attention shown? In +the hope of getting merit. The Burmese resemble the Chinese in their +respect to their parents. They are better than the Chinese in their +treatment of their children, for they are kind to the _girls_ is well as +to the boys; neither do they destroy any of their infants. They are +temperate also, not drinking wine,--having only two meals in the day, and +then not eating too much. In these points they are to be approved. They +are, however, very violent in their tempers; it is true they are not very +easily provoked, but when they are angry, they use very abusive language. +Thus you see they are by no means an amiable people. + +APPEARANCE.--In their persons they are far less pleasing than the +Hindoos; for instead of _slender_ faces and figures, they have broad +faces and thick figures. But they have not such dark complexions as the +Hindoos. + +They disfigure themselves in various ways. To make their skins yellow, +they sprinkle over them a yellow powder. They also make their teeth +black, because they say they do not wish to have white teeth like dogs +and monkeys. They bore their ears, and put bars of gold, or silver, or +marble through the holes. + +The women wear a petticoat and a jacket. The men wear a turban, a loose +robe, and a jacket; they tie up their hair in a knot behind, and tattoo +their legs, by pricking their skin, and then putting in black oil. They +have the disagreeable custom of smoking, and of chewing a stuff called +"coon," which they carry in a box. + +Every one (except the priests) carries an umbrella to guard him from the +sun; the king alone has a white one; his nobles have gilded umbrellas; +the next class have red umbrellas; and the lowest have green. + +FOOD.--Burmah is a pleasanter country than Hindostan, for it is not so +hot, and yet it is as fruitful. The people live chiefly upon rice; but +when they cannot get enough, they find abundance of leaves and roots to +satisfy their hunger. + +ANIMALS.--There are many tigers, but no lions. The Burmese are fond of +adorning their houses with statues of lions, but never having seen any, +they make very strange and laughable figures. The pride of Burmah is her +elephants; but they all belong to the king, and none may ride upon one +but himself, and his chief favorite. Carriages are drawn by bullocks, or +buffaloes; and there are horses for riding, so the Burmese can do very +well without the elephants. The king thinks a great deal too much of +these noble animals. There was a white elephant that he delighted in so +much, that he adorned it with gold, and jewels, and counted it next to +himself in rank, even above the queen. + +HOUSES.--The Burmese build their houses on posts, so that there is an +empty place under the floors. Dogs and crows may often be seen walking +under the houses, eating whatever has fallen through the cracks of the +floor. + +The king allows none but the nobles to build houses of brick and stone; +the rest build them of bamboos. This law is unpleasant; but there is +another law which is a great comfort to the poor. It is _this_;--any one +may have land who wishes for it. A man has only to cultivate a piece of +spare land, and it is counted his, _as long_ as he continues to cultivate +it; therefore all industrious people have gardens of their own. + + +THE KARENS. + +Among the mountains of Burmah, there are a wild people called the Karens, +very poor and very ignorant; yet some have attended to the voice of the +missionaries. They are not so proud as the Burmese; for they have no gods +at all, and no books at all: they have not filled their heads with five +hundred and fifty stories about Gaudama; therefore they are more ready to +listen to the history of Jesus. + +The Karens live in houses raised from the ground, and so large is the +place underneath, that they keep poultry and pigs there. Every year they +move to a new place, and build new houses, clear a new piece of ground, +by burning the weeds, dig it up, and sow rice. Thus they wander about, +and they number their years by the number of houses they have lived in. + +Of all the Eastern nations, they sing and play the most sweetly, and when +they become Christians, they sing hymns, very sweetly indeed. + +There is one Christian village among the mountains, called Mata, which +means love; and every morning the people meet together in the Zayat, or +travellers' house, to sing and pray. Before they were Christians, the +Karens were in constant fear of the Nats; (not _insects_, but evil +spirits), and sometimes in order to please their Nats, they were so cruel +as to beat a pig to death. The Christian Karens have left off such +barbarous practices, and have become kind and compassionate. When the +missionaries told them that they ought to love one another, some of them +went secretly the next day to wait upon a poor leper, and upon a woman +covered with sores. Another day, without being asked, they collected some +money and brought it to the missionaries, saying, they wished to set free +a poor Burman who had been imprisoned for Christ's sake. It is cheering +to the missionaries to see them turning from their sins.[11] + +AVA. + +This city was once the capital of Burmah, and then it was called the +"golden city." But now the king lives in another city, and the glory of +Ava has passed away. + +MAULMAIN. + +This city, though in Burmah, may be called a British city, because the +British built it; for they have conquered great part of Burmah. There are +missionaries there. One there is, named Judson, who has turned more than +a hundred Burmese to the Lord. But he has known great troubles. His wife +and his little girl shared in these troubles. + +I will now relate the history of the short life of little Maria Judson. + +THE MISSIONARY'S BABE. + +The missionary's babe, little Maria, was born in a cottage by the side of +a river, and very near the walls of the great city of Ava, where the king +dwelt. + +It was a wooden cottage, thatched with straw, and screened by a verandah +from the burning sun. It was not like an English cottage, for it was +built on high posts, that the cool air might play beneath. It contained +three small rooms all on one floor. The country around was lovely; for +the green banks of the river were adorned with various colored flowers +and with trees laden with fine fruits. + +In this pretty cottage, the infant Maria was lulled in her mother's arms +to sleep, and often the tears rolling down the mother's cheeks, fell upon +the baby's fair face. Why did the mother weep? It was for her husband she +wept. He was not dead, but he was in prison. He was a missionary, and the +king of Ava had imprisoned him in the midst of the great city. Was his +wife left all alone with her babe in her cottage? No, there were two +little Burmese girls there. They were the children of heathen parents, +and they had been received by the kind lady into her cottage, and now +they were learning to worship God. Their new names were, Mary, and Abby. +There were also two men servants, of dark complexion, dressed in white +cotton, and wearing turbans. It was a sorrowful little household, because +the master of the family was absent, because he was in distress, and his +life was in danger. Every day his fond wife visited him in his prison. +She left her babe under the care of Mary, and set out with a little +basket in her hand. After walking two miles through the streets of Ava, +she came to some high walls--she knocked at the gate--a stern-looking +man opened it. The lady, passing through the gates, entered a court. In +one corner of the court, there was a little shed made of bamboos, and +near it, upon a mat, eat a pale, and sorrowful man. His countenance +brightens when he perceives the lady enter. She refreshes him with the +nice food she has brought in her basket, and comforts him with sweet and +heavenly words:--then hastens to return to her babe. As soon as she +enters her cottage, she sinks back, half fainting, in her rocking-chair, +while she folds again her little darling in her arms. Happy babe! thy +parents are suffering for Jesus--and they are blessed of the Lord, and +their baby with them. + +Greater sorrows still, soon befell the little family. One day, a +messenger came to the cottage, with the sad tidings that the bamboo hut +had been torn down, the mat, and pillow taken away, and the prisoner, +laden with chains, thrust into the inner prison. The loving wife hastened +to the governor of the city to ask for mercy; but she could obtain none, +only she was permitted to see her husband. And _what_ a sight! He was +shut up in a room with a hundred men, and without a _window!!_ Though the +weather was hot no breath of air reached the poor prisoners, but through +the cracks in the boards. No wonder that the missionary soon fell ill of +a fever. His wife, fearing he would die, determined to act like the widow +in the parable, and to weary the unjust judge by her entreaties. She left +her quiet cottage, and built a hut of bamboos at the governor's gate, +and there she lived with her babe, and the little Burmese girls. The +prison was just opposite the governor's gate, so that the anxious wife +had now the comfort of being near her suffering husband. The governor was +wearied by her importunity, and at last permitted her to build again a +bamboo hovel for the prisoner in the court of the prison. The sick man +was brought out of the noisome dungeon, and was laid upon his mat in the +fresh air. He was supplied with food and medicine by his faithful wife, +and he began to recover. + +But in three days, a change occurred. Suddenly the poor wife heard that +her beloved had been dragged from his prison, and taken, she knew not +where. She inquired of everybody she saw, "Where is he gone?" but no +answer could she obtain. At last the governor told her, that his prisoner +was taken to a great city, named A-ma-ra-poora. This city was seven miles +from Ava. The wife decided in a moment what to do. She determined to +follow her husband. Taking her babe in her arms, and accompanied by the +Burmese children, and one servant, she set out. She went to the city up +the river in a covered boat, and thus she was sheltered from the +scorching sun of an Indian May. But when she arrived at Amarapoora, she +heard that her husband had been taken to a village six miles off. To this +village she travelled in a clumsy cart drawn by oxen. Overcome with +fatigue, she arrived at the prison, and saw her poor husband sitting in +the court chained to another prisoner, and looking very ill. He had +neither hat, nor coat, nor shoes, and his feet were covered with wounds +he had received, as he had been driven over the burning gravel on the way +to the prison: but his wounds had been bound up by a kind heathen +servant, who had torn up his own turban to make bandages. + +When the missionary saw his wife approaching with her infant, he felt +grieved on her account, and exclaimed, "Why have you come? You cannot +live here?" But she cared not where she lived, so that she could be near +her suffering husband. She wished to build a bamboo hut at the prison +gate: but the jailor would not allow her. However, he let her live in a +room of his own house. It was a wretched room, with no furniture but a +mat. Here the mother and the children slept that night, while the +servant, wrapped in his cloth, lay at the door. They had no supper that +night. Next day, they bought food in the village, with some silver that +the lady kept carefully concealed in her clothes. + +A new trouble soon came upon them. Mary was seized with a small-pox of a +dreadful sort. Who now was to help the weak mother to nurse the little +Maria? Abby was too young. The babe was four months old, and a heavy +burden for feeble arms; yet all day long the mother carried it, as she +went to and fro from the sick child to the poor prisoner. Sometimes, when +it was asleep, she laid it down by the side of her husband. He was able +to watch a _sleeping_ babe, but not to nurse a babe _awake_, owing to his +great weakness, and to his mangled feet. Soon the babe herself was +attacked by the small-pox, and continued very ill for three months. This +last trial was too much for the poor mother. Her strength failed her, and +for many weeks she lay upon her mat unable to rise. She must have +perished, if it had not been for the faithful servant. He was a native +of Bengal, and a heathen. Yet he was so much concerned for his sick +mistress and imprisoned master, that he would sometimes go without food +all day, while he was attending to their wants; and he did all without +expecting any wages. + +The poor little infant was in a sad case now its mother was lying on the +mat. It cried so much for milk, that once its father got leave to carry +it round the village to ask the mothers who had babes, to give some milk +to his. By this plan, the little creature was quieted in the day, but at +night its cries were most distressing. + +The time at length arrived, when these trials were to end. The king sent +for the missionary, not to put him to death, as he had once intended, but +to ask for his help. What help could he render to the king? The reason +why the missionary had been imprisoned so long was, that a British army +had attacked Burmah. The king had feared, lest the missionary should take +part with the enemy, and therefore he had shut him up. Now there were +hopes of peace, and an interpreter was wanted to help the Burmese to +speak with the British. The missionary knew both the English language and +the Burmese, and he could explain to the king what the English general +would say. + +For this purpose he was brought to Ava. He was not driven along the road +like a beast, but relieved from his chains, and treated with less cruelty +than formerly. Yet he was still a prisoner. + +The mother was now well enough to make a journey, though still very weak. +She returned to her cottage by the river-side, and soon she had the +delight of seeing her husband enter it. It was seventeen months since he +had been torn from it by the king's officers, and ever since, he had been +groaning in irons. But he was not now come to remain in his cottage, but +only to obtain a little food and clothing to take with him to the Burmese +camp. His wife felt cheered on his account, hoping that as an interpreter +he would be well treated. + +No sooner was he gone, than she was seized with that deadly disease, +called spotted fever. What now would become of little Maria? Through the +tender mercy of God, on the very day the mother fell ill, a Burmese woman +offered to nurse the babe. Every day the mother grew worse, till at last +the neighbors came in to see her die. As they stood around, they +exclaimed, in their Burmese tongue, "She is dead, and if the king of +angels should come in, he could not recover her." _Their_ king of angels +could _not_, but _her_ KING of ANGELS could, for he can raise the dead. +But this dear lady was _not_ dead, though nearly dead. + +The Lord of life showed her mercy. A friend entered the sick chamber. It +was Dr. Price, a missionary and a prisoner, but who had obtained leave +from the king to visit the sick lady. He understood her case, and he +ordered her head to be shaved, and blisters to be applied to her feet. +From that time, she began to recover, and in a month, she had strength to +stand up. The governor, who had once been so slow to hear her complaints, +now sent for her to his house. He received her in the kindest manner. +What was her joy, when she foiled her husband there, not as a prisoner, +but as a guest. Many prayers had she offered up, during her long illness, +and they were now answered. The promise she had trusted in was fulfilled. +This was _that_ promise: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I WILL +DELIVER THEE, and thou shalt glorify me." + +But still brighter days were at hand. The King of Burmah had peace with +the British, and had agreed to deliver the missionaries into their hands. +Glad, indeed, were they to escape from the power of the cruel monarch. +Little Maria and her parents, as well as Mary and Abby, were conveyed in +a boat down the river to the place where the English army had encamped. +The English general received them with fatherly kindness, and gave them a +tent to dwell in near his own. What a fortnight they spent in that tent. +It was a morning of joy, after a night of weeping. Little Maria was now, +for the first time, dwelling with _both_ her parents. + +Soon afterwards she was taken to a new home in a town in Burmah, built by +the English. It was called Amherst[12]. Here the missionary might teach +the Burmese to know their Saviour, without being under the power of the +cruel Burmese king. + +It seemed as if the little family, so long afflicted, were now to dwell +in safety, and to labor in comfort. But there is a rest for the people of +God, and to this rest one of this family was soon removed. + +The missionary determined to go to Ava, to plead with the king for +permission to teach his subjects. He parted from his beloved wife, +little thinking he should never see her again. + +During her husband's absence, she watched with deep anxiety over her +little Maria. The child was pale, and puny, yet very affectionate and +intelligent. Whenever her mamma said, "Where is dear papa gone?" the +little creature started up, and pointed to the sea. She could not speak +plainly, for she was only twenty months old. + +Not long did she enjoy her mother's tender care. The poor mother, worn +with her past watching, and weeping, was attacked by fever. As she lay +upon the bed, she was heard to say, "The teacher is long in coming, I +must die alone, and leave my little one; but as it is the will of God, I +am content." + +She grew so ill, that she took no notice of anything that passed around +her; but even then she called for her child, and charged the nurse to be +kind to it, and to indulge it in everything till its father returned. +This charge she gave, because she knew the babe wan sick, and needed the +tenderest care. At last the mother lay without moving, her eyes closed, +and her head resting on her arm. Thus she continued for two days, and +then she uttered one cry, and ceased to breathe. Her illness had lasted +eighteen days. Then she rested from her labors, and slept in Jesus. + +What now became of little Maria? The wife of an English officer receded +her in her house for a few weeks, and then a missionary and his wife came +to Maria's home, and took charge of the child. Maria was pleased to come +back to her own home, and she fancied that kind Mrs. Wade was her own +mother. + +What a day it was when the poor father returned home! No wife to meet +him, with love and joy; only a sickly babe, who had forgotten him, and +turned from him with alarm. Where could he go, but to the grave to weep +there? then he returned to the house to look at the very spot where he +had knelt with his wife in prayer, and parted from her in hope of a happy +return. + +Little Maria was nursed with a mother's care, though not in a mother's +arms; but her delicate frame had been shaken by her infant troubles, and +care and comforts came TOO LATE. After drooping day by day, she died at +the age of two years and three months, exactly six months after her +mother. Her father was near to close her faded eyes, and fold her little +hands on her cold breast, and then to lay her in a little grave, close +beside her mother's, under the Hope Tree. + +The words of the poet would suit well the case of this much tried +infant:-- + + "Short pain, short grief, dear babe, were thine, + _Now_, joys eternal and divine." + +Like Maria's are the sufferings of many a missionary's babe, and many lie +in an early tomb. But they are dear to the Saviour, for their parents' +sakes, and their deaths are precious in his sight, and their spirits and +their dust are safe in his hands. + + [11] Taken from "Travels in Eastern Asia," by Rev. Howard Malcolm. + + [12] Amherst is only thirty miles from Maulmain. + + + + +SIAM. + + +Cross a river, and you pass from Burmah to Siam. These two countries, +like most countries close together, have quarrelled a great deal, and +now Britain has got in between them, and has parted them; as a nurse +might come and part two quarrelsome children. Britain has conquered that +part of Burmah which lies close to Siam, and has called it British +Burmah; so Siam is now at peace. + +But though these two countries have been such enemies, they are as like +each other as two sisters. Siam is the little sister. Siam is a long +narrow slip of a country, having the sea on one side, and mountains on +the other. + +The religion of Siam is the same as that of Burmah, the worship of +Buddha. But in Siam he is not called Buddha: the name given him there is +"Codom." You see how many names this Buddha has; in China he is Fo; in +Burmah he is Gaudama; in Siam, he is Codom. Neither is he honored in Siam +in exactly the same way as in Burmah. Instead of building magnificent +pagodas, the Siamese build magnificent image houses or temples. + +The Siamese resemble the Burmese in appearance, but they are much worse +looking. Their faces are very broad, and flat; and so large are the jaws +under the ears, that they appear as if they were swollen. Their manner of +dressing their hair does not improve their looks; for they cut their hair +quite close, except just on the top of their heads, where they make it +stand up like bristles; nor do they wear any covering on their heads, +except when it is very hot, and then they put on a hat in the shape of a +milk pan, made of leaves. They do not disfigure themselves, as the +Burmese do, with nose-rings, and ear-bars; but they, love ornaments quite +as much, and load themselves with necklaces and bracelets. Their dress +consists of a printed cotton garment, wound round the body. This is the +dress of the women as well as of the men; only sometimes the women wear a +handkerchief over their necks. + +In disposition the Siamese are deceitful, and cowardly. It has been said +of them, that as _friends_ they are not to be _trusted_, and as _enemies_ +not to be _feared:_ they cannot be trusted because they are deceitful: +they need not be feared because they are cowardly. This is indeed a +dreadful character; for many wicked people are faithful to their friends, +and brave in resisting their enemies. + +No doubt the manner in which they are governed makes them cowardly; for +they are taught to behave as if they were worms. Whoever enters the +presence of the king, must creep about on hands and knees. The great +lords require their servants to show them the same respect. Servants +always crawl into a room, pushing in their trays before them; and when +waiting, they walk about on their knees. How shocking to see men made +like worms to gratify the pride of their fellow-men! The rule is never to +let your head be higher than the head of a person more honorable than +yourself; if he stand, you must sit; if he sit, you must crouch. + +The Siamese are like the Burmese in cruelty. When an enemy falls into +their hands, no mercy is shown. + +A king of a small country called Laos, was taken captive by the Siamese. +This king, with his family, were shut up in a large iron cage, and +exhibited as a sight. There he was, surrounded by his sons and grandsons, +and all of them were heavily laden with chains on their necks and legs. +Two of them were little boys, and they played and laughed in their +cage!--so thoughtless are children! But the elder sons looked very +miserable; they hung down their heads, and fixed their eyes on the +ground; and well they might; for within their sight were various horrible +instruments of torture;--spears with which to pierce them;--an iron +boiler, in which to heat oil to scald them;--a gallows on which to hang +their bodies, and--a pestle and mortar in which to pound the children to +powder. You see how Satan fills the heart of the heathen with his own +cruel devices. The people who came to see this miserable family, rejoiced +at the sight of their misery: but they lost the delight they expected in +tormenting the old king, for he died of a broken heart; and all they +could do _then_, was to insult his body; they beheaded it, and then hung +it upon a gibbet, where every one might see it, and the beasts and birds +devour it. + +What became of his unhappy family is not known. + +But though so barbarous to their _enemies_, the Siamese in some respects +are better than most other heathen nations, for they treat their +_relations_ more kindly. They do not kill their infants, nor shut up +their wives, nor cast out their parents. Yet they show their cruelty in +this:--they often sell one another for slaves. They also purchase slaves +in great numbers; and there are wild men in the mountains who watch +Burmans and Karens to sell them to the great chiefs of Siam. It is the +pride of their chiefs to have thousands of slaves crawling around them. + +BANKOK. + +This city is built on an island in a broad river, and part of it on the +banks of the river. It ought therefore to be a pleasant city, but it is +_not_, owing to its extreme untidiness. The streets are full of mud, and +overgrown with bushes, amongst which all the refuse is thrown; there are +also many ditches with planks thrown across. There is only one pleasant +part of the town, and that is, where the Wats are built. The Wats are the +idol-houses. Near them are shady walks and fragrant flowers, and elegant +dwellings for the priests. The people think they get great merit by +making Wats, and therefore they take so much trouble: for the Siamese are +very idle. So idle are they that there would be very little trade in +Bankok, if it were not for the Chinese, who come over here in crowds, and +make sugar, and buy and sell, and get money to take back to China. You +may tell in a moment a Chinaman's garden from a Siamese garden; one is +so neat and full of flowers;--the other is overgrown with weeds and +strewn with litter. + +The most curious sight in Bankok, is the row of floating houses. These +houses are placed upon posts in the river, and do not move about as boats +do; yet if you _wish_ to move your house, you can do so; you have only to +take up the posts, and float to another place. + +Besides the floating houses, there are numerous boats in the river, and +some so small that a child can row them. There are so many that they +often come against each other, and are overset. A traveller once passed +by a boat where a little girl of seven was rowing, and by accident his +boat overset hers. The child fell out of her boat, and her paddle out of +her hand; yet she was not the least frightened, only surprised; and after +looking about for a moment, she burst out a laughing, and was soon seen +swimming behind her boat (still upside down), with her paddle in her +hand. These little laughing rowers are too giddy to like learning, and +they are not at all willing to come to the missionaries' schools; but +some poor children, redeemed from slavery, are glad to be there, and have +been taught about Christ in these schools. + + + + +MALACCA. + + +This is a peninsula, or almost an island, for there is water almost all +round it. In shape it is something like a _dog's_ leg, even as Italy is +like a _man's_ leg. + +The weather in Malacca is much pleasanter than in most parts of India, +because the sea-breezes make the air fresh. There is no rainy season, as +in most hot countries, but a shower cools the air almost every day. The +country, too, is beautiful, for there are mountains, and forests, and +streams. + +Yet it is a dangerous country to live in, for the people are very +treacherous. There are many pirates among them. What are pirates? Robbers +by sea. If they see a small vessel, in a moment the pirates in their +ships try to overtake it, seize it, take the crew prisoners, and sell +them for slaves. The governors of the land do not punish the pirates; far +from punishing them, they share in the gains. That is a wicked land +indeed, where the governors encourage the people in their sins. + +Malacca has no king of her own; the land belongs to Siam, except a very +small part. The inhabitants are called Malays. They are not like the +Siamese in character; for instead of being cowardly, they are fierce. +Neither have they the same religion, for instead of being Buddhists, they +are Mahomedans. Yet they know very little about the Koran, or its laws. +One command, however, they have learned, which is--to hate infidels. They +count all who do not believe in Mahomet to be infidels, and they say that +it is right to hunt them. They are proud of taking Christian vessels, and +of selling Christians as slaves. + +There are some valuable plants in Malacca. There is one which has a seed +called "pepper." There is a tree which has in the stem a pith called +sago. Who collects the pepper and the sago? There are mines of tin. Who +digs up the tin? The idle Malays will not take so much trouble, so the +industrious Chinese labor instead. The Chinese come over by thousands to +get rich in Malacca. As there is not room for them in their own country, +they are glad to settle in other countries. But though the Chinese set an +example of _industry_, they do not set an example of _goodness_; for they +gamble, and so lose their _money_, they smoke opium, and so lose their +_health_, and they commit many kinds of wickedness by which they lose +their _souls_. + +As for the Malays, they are so very idle, that when trees fall over the +river, and block up the way, they will not be at the trouble of cutting a +way through for their boats,--but will sooner creep _under_ or climb +_over_ the fallen trees. + +The capital of Malacca is Malacca, and this city belongs to the English; +but it is of little use to them, because the harbor is not good. + + +SINGAPORE. + +This city also belongs to the English, and it is of great use to them, +because the harbor is one of the best in the world. Many ships come there +to buy, and to sell, and amongst the rest, the Chinese junks. The city is +built on a small island, very near the coast. There are many beautiful +country houses perched on the hills, where English families live, and +there are long flights of stone steps leading from their houses to the +sea. + +But many of the Malays have no home but a boat, hardly large enough to +lie down in. There they gain a living by catching fish, and collecting +shells, and coral, to exchange for sago, which is their food. These men +are called "Ourang-lout," which means "Man of the water." Does not this +name remind you of the apes called "Ourang-outang," which means "Man of +the woods?" There are Ourang-outangs in the forests of Malacca, and they +are more like men, and are more easily tamed than any other ape. Yet +still how different is the _tamest_ ape from the _wildest_ man; for the +one has an immortal soul, and the other has none. + +The Malay language is said to be the easiest in the world, even as the +Chinese is the most difficult. The Malay language has no cases or +genders, or conjugations, which puzzle little boys so much in their Latin +Grammars. It is easy for missionaries to learn the Malay language. When +they know it, they can talk to the Chinese in Malacca in this language. + +I will tell you of a school that an English lady has opened at Singapore +for poor Chinese girls. + + +THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL-GIRLS. + +The two elder girls were sisters, and were called Chun and Han. Both of +them, when they heard about Jesus, believed in him, and loved him. Yet +their characters were very different, Chun being of a joyful +disposition, and Han of a mournful and timid temper. They had no father, +and their mother was employed in the school to take care of the little +children, and to teach them needle-work; but she was a heathen. + +When Chun and Han had been three years in the school, their mother wanted +them to leave, and to come with her to her home. The girls were grieved +at the thought of leaving their Christian teacher, and of living in a +heathen home; yet they felt it was their duty to do as their mother +wished. But they were anxious to be baptized before they went, if they +could obtain their mother's consent. Their kind teacher, Miss Grant, +thought it would be of no use to ask leave _long_ before the time, lest +the mother should carry her girls away, and lock them up. So she waited +till the very evening fixed for the baptism. Miss Grant had been praying +all day for help from God, and the two sisters had been praying together; +and now the bell began to ring for evening service. Now the time was come +when the mother must be asked. + +"Do you know," said Miss Grant to the mother, "that the children are +going to church with me?" "Yes," replied the mother, "wherever Missie +pleases to take them." Then the lady told her of the baptism, and +entreated her consent. At last the heathen mother replied, "If you wish +it, I will not oppose you." Miss Grant, afraid lest the mother should +change her mind, hastened into her palanquin, and the sisters hastened +into theirs. Looking back, the lady perceived the mother was standing +watching the palanquins. Seeing this, she stopped, saying, "Nomis, why +should not you come, and see what is done?" To the lady's surprise, the +mother immediately consented to come; and so this heathen mother was +present at the baptism of her daughters. Their teacher, (who was their +_mother in Christ_,) rejoiced with exceeding joy to see her dear girls +give themselves to the Lord, and to hear them answer in their broken +English, "All _dis_ I do steadfastly believe." + +Soon after their baptism, the girls went to live in their mother's house. +To comfort them, Miss Grant promised to fetch them every Sunday, to spend +the day with her. She came for them at five o'clock in the morning, +before it was light, and took them back at nine, when it was quite dark. +If she had not fetched them herself, they would not have been allowed to +go. + +After awhile, they were _not_ allowed to go. The reason was, that the +heathen mother wanted Chun to marry a heathen Chinaman. Chun refused to +commit such a sin. Then her mother was angry, mocked her, and prevented +her going to see Miss Grant. Still Chun refused. She saw her mother +embroidering her wedding-dresses, but she still persisted that she would +not marry a heathen, especially as she would have to bow down before an +idol at her marriage. Chun grew very unhappy, and looked very pale, she +wrote many letters to her kind friend, and offered up many prayers to her +merciful God. And did the Lord hear her, and did He deliver her? He did. +A Christian Chinaman, who had been brought up by a missionary, heard of +Chun, and asked permission to marry her. He had never seen her, for it is +not the custom in China for girls to be seen. + +Miss Grant was delighted at the thought of her darling Chun marrying a +Christian, and she helped to prepare for the wedding. There was no bowing +down before an idol at that wedding, but an English clergymen read the +service. Chun's face, according to the custom, was covered with a thick +veil, and even her hands and feet were hidden. A few days after the +wedding, Miss Grant, according to the custom, called on the newly +married. She found the room beautifully ornamented, like all Chinese +rooms at such times, but there were two ornaments seldom seen in +China--two Bibles lying open on the table. + +Chun long rejoiced that she had so firmly refused to marry a heathen. One +day, Miss Grant said to her, playfully, "Has your husband beaten you +yet?" (for she knew that Chinamen think nothing of beating their wives.) +Chun replied, with a sweet look, "O no! he often tells me, that _first_ +he thanks God, and then _you_, Miss, for having given me to him as his +wife." + +There was another girl at Miss Grant's school, named Been. Sometimes she +was called Beneo, which means Miss Been, just as Chuneo means Miss Chun. +Miss Grant hoped that Been loved the Saviour, and hated idols, but she +soon lost her, for her parents took her to their heathen home. + +After Been had been home a short time her mother died. The neighbors were +astonished to find that Been refused to worship her mother's spirit, and +to burn gold paper, to supply her with money in the other world. While +her relations were busily occupied in their heathen ceremonies, Been sat +silent and alone. Soon afterwards, her father, who cared not for her, +sold her to a Chinaman to be his wife, for forty dollars. + +Miss Grant heard her sad fate, and often longed to see her, but did not +know where to find her. One evening, as she was paying visits in her +palanquin, she saw a pair of bright black eyes looking through a hedge, +and she felt sure that they were her own Been's. She stopped, and +calling the girl, saluted her affectionately. She was glad she had found +out where Been lived, as she would now be able to pay her a visit. + +Soon she called upon her, in her own dwelling;--a poor little hut in the +midst of a sugar plantation. She brought as a present, a New Testament in +English, and in large print. Been appeared delighted. + +"Do you remember how to read it?" inquired Miss Grant. + +"Yes, how could I forget?" Been sweetly replied. + +"Well then, read," said Miss Grant. + +Been read, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep." + +"Do you understand?" inquired the lady. + +"Yes," said Been, and she translated the words into Malay. + +As Miss Grant was rising to depart, she observed a hen gathering her +brood under her wings. + +"Of what does that remind you, Been?" + +"I know," said the poor girl; "I remember what I learnt at school;" and +then in her broken English, she repeated the words: "As a hen _gaderet_ +her chickens under her wings, so would I have _gaderd de_, but _dou_ +wouldest not." + +At this moment, Been's husband came in. The girl was glad, for she wanted +Miss Grant to ask him as a great favor, to allow her to spend next Sunday +at the school. The husband consented. There was a joyful meeting indeed, +on that Sunday, between Been, and Chun, and Han; nor was their +affectionate teacher the least joyful of the company. + + + + +SIBERIA. + + +This is a name which makes people _shiver_, because it reminds them of +the cold. It is a name which makes the Russians _tremble_, because it +reminds them of banishment, for the emperor often sends those who offend +him to live in Siberia. + +Yet Siberia is not an ugly country, such as Tartary. It is not one dead +flat, but it contains mountains, and forests, and rivers. Neither is +Siberia a country in which nothing will grow; in some parts there is +wheat, and where _wheat_ will not grow _barley_ will, and where _barley_ +will not grow _turnips_ will. Yet there are not many cornfields in +Siberia, for very few people live there. In the woods you will find +blackberries, and wild roses, like those in England; and _red_ berries, +as well as _black_ berries, and _lilies_ as well as _roses_. + +Still it must be owned that Siberia is a very cold country; for the snow +is not melted till June, and it begins to fall again in September; so +there are only two whole months without snow; they are July and August. + +INHABITANTS.--The Russians are the masters of Siberia, and they have +built several large towns there. But these towns are very far apart, and +there are many wild tribes wandering about the country. + +One of these tribes is the Ostyaks. Their houses are in the shape of +boxes, for they are square with flat roofs. There is a door, but you must +stoop low to get in at it, unless you are a very little child; and there +is a window with fish-skin instead of light. There is a chimney, too, and +a blazing fire of logs in a hole in the ground. There is a trough, too, +instead of a dining-table, and out of it the whole family eat, and even +the dogs sometimes. The house is not divided into rooms, but into stalls, +like those of a stable; and deer-skins are spread in the stalls, and they +are the beds; each person sits and sleeps in his own stall, on his own +deer-skin, except when the family gather round the fire, and sitting on +low stools, warm themselves, and talk together. + +In one of these snug corners, an old woman was seen, quite blind, yet +sewing all day, and threading her needle by the help of her tongue. She +wore a veil of thick cloth over her head, as all the Ostyak women do, and +as she did not need light, she hid her head completely under it. + +But though the Ostyaks are poor, they possess a great treasure in their +dogs, for these creatures are as useful as horses, and much more +sensible. They need no whip to make them go, and no bridle to turn them +the right way; it is enough to _tell_ them when to set out, and to stop, +or to turn, to move faster, or more slowly. These dogs are white, spotted +with black; the hair on their bodies is short, but long on their handsome +curling tails. They draw their masters in sledges, and are yoked in +pairs. There are some large sledges, in which a man can lie down in +comfort: to draw such a sledge twelve dogs are necessary; but there are +small sledges in which a poor Ostyak can just manage to crouch, and two +dogs can draw it. When the dogs are to be harnessed, they are not caught, +as horses are, but only called. Yet they do not like work better than +horses like it, and when they first set out they howl, but grow quiet +after a little while. + +The driver is sometimes cruel to these poor dogs, and corrects them for +the smallest fault, by throwing a stone at them, or the great club he +holds in his hand, or at least a snow-ball: if a hungry dog but stoop +down to pick up a morsel of food on the road, he is punished in this +manner. Yet it must be owned, that the dogs have their faults; they are +greedy, and inclined to thieving. To keep food out of their way, the +Ostyaks build store-houses, on the tops of very high poles. The dogs are +always on the watch to slip into their master's houses. If the door be +left open ever so little, a dog will squeeze in, if he can; but he does +not stay _long_ within, for he is soon thrust out with blows and kicks; +the women scream at the sight of a dog in the hut, for they fear lest he +will find the fish-trough. Yet after long journeys, the dogs are brought +into the hut, and permitted to lie down by the fire, and to eat out of +the family trough. At other times they sleep in the snow, and eat +whatever is thrown to them. When they travel, bags of dried fish are +brought in their sledges, to feed them by the way. The puppies are +tenderly treated, and petted by the fire; yet many are killed for the +sake of their fleecy hair, which is considered a fine ornament for +pelisses. + +The Ostyaks have another, and a greater treasure than dogs; they have +reindeer. Those who live by fishing have dogs only, but those who dwell +among the hills, have deer as well as dogs. Reindeer are like dogs in one +respect, they can be driven without either a whip or a bit, which are so +necessary for horses. But though they do not need the lashing of a whip; +they require to be gently poked with a long pole; and though they do not +need a bit, they require to be guided by a rein, fastened to their +heads; because they are not like dogs, so sensible as to be managed by +speaking. + +But deer are very gentle, and are much more easily driven than horses. To +drive horses four-in-hand is very difficult, but to drive four reindeer +is not. The four deer are harnessed to the sledge all in a row, and a +rein is fastened to the head of one; when _he_ turns all the rest turn +with him. Usually they trot, but they _can_ gallop very fast, even down +hill. When they are out of breath the driver lets them stop, and then the +pretty creatures lie down, and cool their mouths with the snow lying on +the ground. + +Men ride upon reindeer; not upon their _backs_, but on their _necks_; for +their backs are weak, while their necks are strong. Riders do not mount +reindeer as they do horses,--by resting on their backs, and then making a +spring, for that would hurt the poor animals; they lean on a long staff, +and by its help, spring on the deer's neck. But it is not easy, when +seated, to keep on; _you_ would certainly fall off, for all strangers do, +when they try to ride for the _first_ time. The Ostyak knows how to keep +his balance, by waving his long staff in the air, while the deer trots +briskly along. But these reindeer have some curious fancies; they will +not eat any food but such as they pluck themselves from the ground. It +would be of no use at the end of a long journey, to put them in a +stable;--they would not eat; they must be let loose to find their own +nourishment, which is a kind of moss that grows wild among the hills. + +The reindeer, after he is dead, is of as much use to the Ostyak, as when +he was alive; for his skin is his master's clothing. Both men and women +dress alike, in a suit that covers them from head to foot; the seams are +well joined with thread, made of reindeer sinews, and the cold is kept +well out. The Ostyak lets no part of his body be uncovered but just his +face, and that would freeze, if he were not to rub it often with his +hands, covered over with hairy reindeer gloves. The women cover their +faces with thick veils. The Ostyak wears a great-coat made of the skin of +a white deer; this gives him the appearance of a great white bear. He +carries in his hand a bow taller than himself. His arrows are very long, +and made of wood, pointed with iron. With these he shoots the wild +animals. He is very glad when he can shoot a sable; because the Russian +emperor requires every Ostyak to give him yearly, as a tax, the skins of +two sables. The fur of the sable is very valuable, and is made into muffs +and tippets, and pelisses for the Russian nobles. + +But without his snow-shoes, the Ostyak would not be able to pursue the +wild animals, for he would sink in the snow. These shoes are made of long +boards, turned up at the end like a boat, and fastened to the feet. What +a wild creature an Ostyak must look, when he is hunting his prey, wrapped +in his shaggy white coat,--his long dark hair floating in the wind,--his +enormous bow in his hand, and his enormous shoes on his feet! + +What is the character of this wild man? Ask what is his religion, and +that will show you how foolish and fierce a creature he must be. The +Ostyak says, that he believes in ONE God who cannot be seen, but he does +not worship him _alone_; he worships other gods. And such gods! Dead men! +When a man dies, his relations make a wooden image of him, and worship it +for three years, and then bury it. But when a _priest_ dies, his wooden +image is worshipped _more_ than three years; sometimes it is _never_ +buried; for the priests who are alive, encourage the people to go on +worshipping dead priests' images, that they may get the offerings which +are made to them. + +But what do you think of men worshipping DEAD BEASTS? Yet this is what +the Ostyaks do. When they have killed a wolf or a bear, they stuff its +skin with hay, and gather round to mock it, to kick it, to spit upon it, +and then--they stick it up on its hind legs in a corner of the hut, and +WORSHIP it! Alas! how has Satan blinded their mind! + +And in what manner do they worship the beasts? With screaming,--with +dancing,--with swinging their swords,--by making offerings of fur, of +silver and gold, and of reindeer. These reindeer they kill very cruelly, +by stabbing them in various parts of their bodies, to please the cruel +gods, or rather cruel devils whom they worship. + +Has no one tried to convert the Ostyaks to God? The emperor of Russia +will not allow protestant missionaries to teach in Siberia. He wishes the +Ostyaks to belong to the Greek church, and he has tried to bribe them +with presents of cloth to be baptized; and a good many have been +baptized. But what good can such baptisms do to the soul? + +The Russians do much harm to their subjects, by tempting them to buy +brandy. There is nothing which the Ostyaks are so eager to obtain, as +this dangerous drink. On one occasion, a traveller was surrounded by a +troop of Ostyaks, all begging for brandy, and when they could get none, +they brought a large heap of frozen fish, and laid it at the travellers +feet, saying, "Noble sir, we present you with this." They did get some +brandy in return. Then, hoping for more, they brought a great salmon, and +a sturgeon, as long as a man. They seemed ready to part with all they +had, for the sake of brandy. + +Thus you see how much harm the Ostyaks have learned from their +acquaintance with the Russians. The chief good they have got, has been +learning to build houses; for once they lived only in tents. + + +THE SAMOYEDES. + +This tribe lives so far to the north, that they see very little of the +Russians, though they belong to the emperor of Russia. They live close by +the Northern Sea. Imagine how very cold it must be. The Samoyedes inhabit +tents made of reindeer skins, such as the Ostyaks used to live in. They +are a much wilder people than the Ostyaks. The women dress in a strange +fantastic manner; not contented with a reindeer dress, as the Ostyaks +are, they join furs and skins of various sorts together; and instead of +veiling their faces, they wear a gay fur hat, with lappets; and at the +back of their necks a glutton's tail hangs down, as well as long tails of +their own hair, with brass rings jingling together at the end. + +But if their taste in _dress_ is laughable, their taste in _food_ is +horrible, as you will see. A traveller went with a Samoyede family for a +little while. They were drawn by reindeer, in sledges, and other reindeer +followed of their own accord. When they stopped for the night, they +pitched the tent, covering the long poles with their reindeer skins, +sewed together. The snow covered the ground inside the tent, but no one +thought of sweeping it away. It was easy to get water to fill the kettle, +as a few lumps of snow soon melted. Some of the men slept by the blazing +fire, while others went out, armed with long poles, to defend the deer +from the wolves. There was in the party a child of two years old, with +its mother. The child was allowed to help himself to porridge out of the +great kettle. The traveller offered him white sugar; but at first he +called it snow, and threw it away; soon, however, he learned to like it, +and asked for some whenever he saw the stranger at tea. At night, the +child was laid in a long basket, and was closely covered with furs; in +the same basket also, he travelled in the sledge. + +One day the traveller saw a Samoyede feast. A reindeer was brought, and +killed before the tent door; and its bleeding body was taken into the +tent, and devoured, all raw as it was, with the heartiest appetite. It +was dreadful to see the Samoyedes gnawing the flesh off the bones; their +faces all stained with blood, and even the child had his share of the raw +meat. Truly they looked more like wolves than men. + +I might go on to tell you of many other tribes; but I must be content +just to mention a few. + +There is a tribe who live in the eastern part of Siberia, called the +Yakuts, and instead of deer, and dogs, they keep horses, and oxen, and +strange to say, they _ride_ upon the oxen; and _eat_ the horses. A +horse's head is counted by them a most dainty dish. The cows live in one +room, and the family live in the next, with the calves, which are tied to +posts by the fire, and enjoy the full blaze. You may suppose that the +calves need the warmth of the fire, when I tell you that the windows of +the house are made of ice, but that the cold is so great, that the ice +does not melt. + +There is a large tribe called the Buraets. They dwell in tents. They are +Buddhists. At one time the Russians allowed missionaries to go to them. +There was an old man named Andang, who used to attend the services very +regularly. His wife accompanied him. One Sunday the preacher spoke much +of heaven and its glories. The old woman, on returning to her tent, said +to her husband, "Old man, I am going home to-night." Her husband did not +understand her meaning: then she said, "I love Jesus Christ, and I think +I shall be with him to-night." She lay down in her tent that night, but +rose no more. In the morning, the old man found her stiff and cold. He +saddled his horse, and set off to tell the missionary. "O sir," said he, +with tears, "my wife is gone home." When the missionary heard the account +of her death, he felt cheered by the hope that the old woman, though born +a heathen, had died a Christian, and had left her tent to dwell in a +glorious mansion above; for how was it that she felt no fear of death, +and how was it that she felt heaven was her home? Was it not because +Jesus loved her, and because she loved Jesus? + + +THE BANISHED RUSSIANS. + +Siberia is the land to which the emperor sends many of his people, when +they displease him. In passing through Siberia, you would often see +wagons full of women, children, and old men, followed by a troop of young +men, and guarded by a band of soldiers on horseback. You might know them +to be the banished Russians. What is to become of them? Some are to work +in the mines, and some are to work in the factories. Some are to have a +less heavy punishment; they are to be set free, in the midst of Siberia, +to support themselves in any way they can. Gentlemen and ladies have a +small sum of money allowed them by the emperor, and they live in the +towns. + +These people are called in Siberia, "the unfortunates." Some of them have +not deserved to be banished; but some have been guilty of crimes. + +CITIES. + +There are a few cities in Siberia, but only a few, and they have been +built by the Russians. + +The three chief cities are,-- + + Tobolsk, on the west, on the river Oby. + Irkutsk, in the midst, on the lake Baikal. + Yarkutsk, on the east, on the river Lena. + +OF THESE CITIES, + + Tobolsk is the handsomest. + Irkutsk is the pleasantest. + Yarkutsk is the coldest. + +It is not surprising that Tobolsk should be the handsomest, for there the +governor of Siberia resides. + +A great many Chinese come to Irkutsk to trade, and they bring quantities +of tea. + +Yarkutsk is the coldest town in the world; there may be others nearer the +north, but none lie exposed to such cold winds. The inhabitants scarcely +dare admit the light, for fear of increasing the cold; and they make only +one or two very small windows in their houses. Yet in summer vegetables +grow freely in the gardens. + + The Ostyaks live near the Oby. + The Buraets live near lake Baikal. + The Yakuts live near the Lena. + + +THE URAL MOUNTAINS. + +They are full of treasures; gold, silver, iron, copper, and precious +stones. They are dug up by the banished Russians, and sent in great +wagons to Russia, to increase the riches of the emperor. + + + + +KAMKATKA. + + +It is impossible to look at Siberia, without being struck with the shape +of Kamkatka, which juts out like a short arm. It is a peninsula. A +beautiful country it is; full of mountains, and rivers, and woods, and +waterfalls, and not as cold as might be expected. But there are not many +people dwelling in it; for though it is larger than Great Britain, all +the inhabitants might be contained in one of our small towns. And why +are there so few in so fine a country? Because the people love brandy +better than labor. They have been corrupted by the Russian soldiers, and +traders, and convicts, and they are sickening and dying away. + +A traveller once said to a Kamkatdale, "How should you like to see a ship +arrive here from China, laden with tea and sugar?" "I should like it +well," replied the man, "but there is one thing I should like better--to +see a ship arrive full of _men_; it is men we want, for our men are sick; +of the twelve here, six are too weak to hunt or fish." + +But the ship that would do the most good to Kamkatka, is a missionary +ship. The Greek church is the religion; but _no_ religion is much thought +of in Kamkatka; hunting and fishing only are cared for. Yet I fear if +missionaries were to go to Kamkatka, the emperor of Russia would send +them away. + +Where there are few men, there are generally many beasts and birds; this +is the case in Kamkatka. + +One of the most curious animals in Siberia, is the Argalis, or mountain +sheep. It is remarkable for its enormous horns, curled in a very curious +manner. Think not it is like one of our quiet, foolish sheep; there is no +animal at once so strong and so active. It is such a climber, that no +wolf or bear can follow it to the high places, hanging over awful +precipices, where it walks as firmly as you do upon the pavement. +Sometimes a hunter finds it among the mountains, and just as he is going +to shoot it, the creature disappears:--it has thrown itself down a +precipice! Is it dashed to pieces? No, it fell unhurt, and has escaped +without a bruise; for its bones are very strong, and its skin very thick. + +The bears of Kamkatka live chiefly upon fish and berries, and seldom +attack men. Yet men hunt them for their skins, and for their fat. The +skins make cloaks, and the fat is used for lamps; but their flesh is +thrown to the dogs. Many of the bears are very thin. It is only _fat_ +bears that can sleep all the winter in their dens without food; _thin_ +bears cannot sleep long, and even in winter they prowl about for food. +Dogs are very much afraid of them. A large party of travellers, who were +riding in sledges, drawn by dogs, observed the dogs suddenly begin to +snuff the air, and lo! immediately afterwards, a bear at full speed +crossed the road, and ran towards a forest. Great confusion took place +among the dogs; they set off with all their might; some broke their +harness, others got entangled among the trees, and overturned their +sledges. But the bear did not escape; for the travellers shot him through +the leg, and afterwards through the body; and the dogs feasted on _his_ +flesh, instead of the bear feasting on _theirs_. + +Hunting seals is one of the occupations of the Kamkatdales. Three men in +sledges, each sledge drawn by five dogs, once got upon a large piece of +ice, near the shore. They had killed two seals upon the ice, when they +suddenly perceived that the ice was moving, and carrying them out to sea. +They were already too far from land, to be able to get back. They knew +not what would become of them, and much they feared they should perish +from cold and hunger. The ice was so slippery that they were in great +danger of sliding into the sea. To prevent this, they stuck their long +poles deep into the ice, and tied themselves to the poles. They were +driven about for many days; but one morning,--to their great joy, they +found they were close to the shore. They did not forget to praise God for +so mercifully saving their lives; though they were so weak from want of +food, as scarcely to be able to creep ashore. + +CHARACTER.--The Kamkatdales are generous and grateful. A poor family will +sometimes receive another family into the house for six weeks; and when +the food is nearly gone, the generous host, not liking to tell his +visitors of it, serves up a dish of different sorts of meat and +vegetables, mixed together; the visitors know this is a sign that the +food is almost exhausted, and they take their leave. + +Did I say the Kamkatdales are grateful? I will give you an instance of +their gratitude. A traveller met a poor boy. He remembered his face, and +said, "I think I have seen you before." "You have," said the boy; "I +rowed you down the river last summer, and you were so kind as to give me +a skin, and some flints; and now I have brought the skin of a sable as a +present for you." The traveller, perceiving the boy had no shirt, and +that his skin dress was tattered, refused the present; but seeing the boy +was going away in tears, he called him back, and accepted it. A Chinese +servant, who was standing by, pitied so much the ragged condition of the +boy, that he gave him one of his own thin nankin shirts. + + + + +THIBET. + + +I cannot tell you much about Thibet; and the reason is, that so few +travellers have been there. And why have so few been there? Is it because +the mountains are so steep and high, the paths so narrow and dangerous? +All this is true; but it is not mountains that keep travellers out of +Thibet; it is the Chinese government; for Thibet belongs to China, and +you know how carefully the emperor of China keeps strangers out of his +empire. + +How did the Chinese get possession of Thibet? A long while ago, a Hindoo +army invaded the land, and the people in their fright sent to China for +help. The Chinese came, drove away the Hindoos, and stayed themselves. +They are not hard masters, they govern very mildly; only they require a +sum of money to be sent every year to Pekin, as tribute. + +But though Thibet belongs to China, the Chinese language is not spoken +there. + +The people are like the Tartars in appearance; they have the same bony +face, sharp black eye, and straight black hair; but a much fresher +complexion, owing to the fresh mountain air they breathe. + +The Himalaya mountains, the highest in Asia, lie between Thibet and +Hindostan. Their peaks are always covered with snow, and rapid streams +pour down the rugged sides. The snow on the mountain-tops makes Thibet +very cold; but there are warm valleys where grapes, and even rice +flourish. + +The people build their houses in the warmest spots they can find; they +try to find a place sheltered from the north wind, by a high rock, and +lying open to the south sun. Their dwellings are only made of stones, +heaped together, and the roofs are flat. Their riches consist in flocks +of sheep and goats. They have, another animal, which is not known in +England, and yet a very useful creature, because, like a cow, it yields +rich milk, and like a horse, it carries burdens. This animal is called +the Yak, and resembles both a horse and a cow. Its chief beauty is its +tail, which is much finer than a horse's tail, and is black, and glossy, +soft and flowing. Many of these tails are sent to India, where they are +used as fly-flappers. + +The sheep and goats of Thibet are more useful than ours; for they are +taught to carry burdens over the mountains. They may be seen following +each other in long trains, with large packs fastened on their little +backs, and climbing up very narrow and steep paths. + +And what is in these packs? Wool: not sheep's wool, but goat's wool: for +the goats of Thibet have very fine wool under their hair. No such wool is +found on any other goats. But though the people of Thibet can weave +common cloth, they cannot weave this beautiful wool, as it deserves to be +woven. Therefore they send it to a country the other side of the Himalaya +mountains, called Cashmere; and there it is woven into the most beautiful +shawls in all the world. + +But wool is not the only riches of Thibet. There is gold to be found +there; some in large pieces, and some in small dust. There are also large +mines of copper. And what use is made of these riches? The worst in the +world. With the gold and copper many IDOLS are made; for Thibet is a land +of idols. The religion is the same there as in China,--the Buddhist;--and +that is a religion of idols. + +But there is an idol in Thibet, which there is not in China. It is a +LIVING IDOL. He is called the Grand Lama. There are Lamas in Tartary, but +the GRAND Lama is in Thibet. He is looked up to as the greatest being in +the world, by all the Lamas in Tartary, and by all the people of the +Buddhist religion. There are more people,--a _great many_ more,--who +honor _him_, than who honor our GREAT GOD. + +But this man leads a miserable life. When one Lama dies, another is +chosen;--some little baby,--and he is placed in a very grand palace, and +worshipped as a god all his life long. I have heard of one of these baby +Lamas, who, when only eighteen months old, sat up with great majesty on +his pile of cushions. When strangers entered, he looked at them kindly, +and when they made a speech to him, he bowed his little head very +graciously. What a sad fate for this poor infant! To be set up as a god, +and taught to think himself a god--while all the time he is a helpless, +foolish, sinful, dying creature! + + +LASSA. + +This is the chief city of Thibet. Here is the palace of the Grand Lama. +If is of enormous size. What do you think of TEN THOUSAND rooms? Did you +ever hear of so _large_ a house? Neither did you ever hear of so _high_ a +house. It is almost as high as the pinnacle of St. Paul's church. There +are seven stories, and on the highest story are the state apartments of +the Grand Lama. It is no matter to him how many flights of stairs there +may be to reach his rooms; for he is never allowed to walk; but it is +fatiguing for his worshippers to ascend so high. I suppose the priests +make their Grand Lama live so high up, that he may be like our God who +dwells in the highest heavens. Who occupy the ten thousand rooms of the +palace? Chiefly idols of gold and silver. The house outside is richly +adorned, and its roof glitters with gold. + +There are many magnificent houses in Thibet, where priests live. No one +could live with them, who could not bear a great noise: for three times a +day the priests meet to worship, and each time they hollo with all their +might, to do honor to Buddha. The noise is stunning, but they do not +think it loud enough; so on feast days, they use copper instruments, such +as drums and trumpets, of the most enormous size, and with them they send +forth an overwhelming sound. + +This unmeaning noise may well remind us of a sound--louder far--that +shall one day be heard; so loud that _all the world_ will hear it. It is +the sound of the LAST TRUMPET! It will wake the dead. Stout hearts will +quail; devils will tremble; but all those who love the Lord, will rejoice +and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save +us."--(Is. xxv. 9.) + + + + +CEYLON. + + +This is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Part of it indeed +is flat--that part near Hindustan; but in the midst--there are mountains; +and streams running down their sides, and swelling into lovely rivers, +winding along the fruitful valleys. Such scenes might remind you of +Switzerland, the most beautiful country in Europe. + +The chief beauty of Ceylon is her TREES. + +I will mention a few of the beautiful, curious, and useful trees of this +delightful island. The tree for which Ceylon is celebrated, is the +CINNAMON tree. For sixty miles along the shore, there are cinnamon +groves, and the sweet scent may be perceived far off upon the seas. If +you were to see a cinnamon-tree, you might mistake it for a laurel;--a +tree so often found in English gardens. The cinnamon-trees are never +allowed to grow tall, because it is only the upper branches which are +much prized for their bark. The little children of Ceylon may often be +seen sitting in the shade, peeling off the bark with their knives; and +this bark is afterwards sent to England to flavor puddings, and to mix +with medicine. + +There are also groves of cocoa-nut trees on the shores of Ceylon. A few +of these trees are a little fortune to a poor man; for he can eat the +_fruit_, build his house with the _wood_, roof it with the _leaves_, make +cups of the _shell_, and use the oil of the _kernel_ instead of candles. + +The JACK-TREE bears a larger fruit than any other in the world;--as large +as a horse's head,--and so heavy that a woman can only carry one upon her +head to market.. This large fruit does not hang on the tree by a stalk, +but grows out of the trunk, or the great branches. This is well arranged, +for so large a fruit would be too heavy for a stalk, and might fall off, +and hurt the heads of those sitting beneath its shade. The outside of +this fruit is like a horse-chestnut, green, and prickly; the inside is +yellow, and is full of kernels, like beans. The wood is like +mahogany,--hard and handsome. + +But there is a tree in Ceylon, still more curious than the jack-tree. It +is the TALPOT-TREE. This is a very tall tree, and its top is covered by a +cluster of round leaves, each leaf so large, that it would do for a +carpet, for a common-sized room; and one single LEAF, cut it in +three-cornered pieces, will make a TENT! When cut up, the leaves are used +for fans and books. But this tree bears no fruit till just before it +dies,--that is till it is _fifty_ years old: THEN--an enormous bud is +seen, rearing its huge head in the midst of the crown of leaves;--the bud +bursts with a loud noise, and a yellow flower appears,--a flower so +large, that it would fill a room! The flower turns into fruit. THAT SAME +YEAR THE TREE DIES! + +PEOPLE.--And who are the people who live in this beautiful land? + +In the flat part of the island, towards the north, the people resemble +the Hindoos, and speak and think like them; and they are called Tamuls. + +But among the mountains of the south a different kind of people live, +called the Cingalese. They do not speak the Tamul language, nor do they +follow the Hindoo religion. They follow the Buddhist religion. You know +this is the religion of the greater part of the nations. Ceylon is full +of the temples of Buddha. In each temple there is an inner dark room, +very large, where Buddha's image is kept,--a great image that almost +fills the room. + +[Illustration: DEVIL PRIESTS.] + +The priests in their yellow cloaks, with their shaven heads and bare +feet, may be seen every morning begging from door to door; but _proud_ +beggars they are,--not condescending to _speak_,--but only standing with +their baskets ready to receive rice and fruit; and the only thanks they +give--are their blessings. + +There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the +worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It +is the worship of the DEVIL! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there +was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to +worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point. + +There are many _devil priests_. When any one is sick, it is supposed that +the devil has caused the sickness, and a devil priest is sent for. And +what can the priest do? He dances,--he sings,--with his face +painted,--small bells upon his legs,--and a flaming torch in each hand; +while another man beats a loud drum. He dances, he sings--all night +long,--sometimes changing his white jacket for a black, or his black for +a white,--sometimes falling down, and sometimes jumping up,--sometimes +reeling, and sometimes running,--and all this he does to please the +devil, and to coax him to come out of the sick person. This is what he +_pretends_;--but in _reality_, he seeks to get money by his tricks. The +people are very fond of these devil-dancers; it _tires_ them to listen to +the Buddhist priests, mumbling out of their books, the five hundred and +fifty histories of Buddha; but it _delights_ them to watch all night the +antics of a devil priest. + +What is the character of these deceived people? They are polite, and +obliging, but as deceitful as their own priests. They are not even +_sincere_ in their wrong religion, but are ready to _pretend_ to be of +any religion which is most convenient. The Portuguese once were masters +of Ceylon, and they tried to make the people Roman Catholics. Then the +Dutch came, who tried to force them to be Protestants. Many infants were +baptized, who grew up to be heathen priests. Now the English are masters +of Ceylon; they do not _oblige_ the people to be Christians, yet many +pretend to be Christians who are not. + +A man was once asked, "Are you a Buddhist?" + +"No," he replied. + +"Are you a Mahomedan?" + +"No." + +"Are you a Roman Catholic?" + +"No." + +"What is your religion?" + +"Government religion." + +Such was his answer. This man had no religion at all,--he only wished to +obtain the favor of the governor. But will he obtain the favor of the +Governor of the world, the King of kings? + +We have said nothing yet about the appearance of the Cingalese. Both men +and women wear a piece of cloth wound round their waists, called a +comboy; but they do not, like the Hindoos, twist it over their shoulders; +they wear a jacket instead. Neither do the men wear turbans, as in India, +but they fasten their hair with a comb, while the women fasten theirs +with long pins. The Cingalese ladies and gentlemen imitate the English +dress, especially when they come to a party at the English Governor's +house. Then they wear shoes and stockings instead of sandals; the +gentlemen contrive to place a hat over their long hair, by first taking +out the combs; yet they still wind a comboy over their English clothes. +The Hindoos do not thus imitate the English, for they are too proud of +their own customs. Hindoo ladies never go into company; but Cingalese +ladies may be seen at parties, arrayed in colored satin jackets, and +adorned with golden hair-pins, and diamond necklaces. + +You have heard of the foolish ideas the Hindoos entertain about castes. +It is the Brahmin priests who teach _them_ these opinions. The Buddhist +priests say nothing about castes; yet the Cingalese have castes of their +_own_; but not the _same_ castes as the Hindoos. There are twenty-one +castes in all; the highest caste consists of the husbandmen, and the +lowest of the mat-weavers. + +Below the lowest caste, are the OUTCASTS! The poor outcasts live in +villages by themselves, hated by all. When they meet any one, who are not +outcasts, they go as near to the hedge as they can, with their hands on +the top of their heads, to show their respect. These poor creatures are +accustomed to be treated as if they were dogs. What pride there is in +man's heart! How is it one poor worm can lift himself up so high above +his fellow-worm, though both are made of the same dust, and shall lie +down in the same dust together! + + +KANDY. + +This town is built among the high mountains. It was built there for the +same reason that the eagle builds her nest on the top of a tall rock,--to +get out of the reach of enemies. But the proud king, who once dwelt +there, has been conquered, and now England's Queen rules over Ceylon. No +wonder that the proud king had enemies, for he was a monster of cruelty. +His palace is still to be seen. See that high tower, and that open +gallery at the top! There the _last king_ used to stand to enjoy the +sight of his subjects' agonies. Those who had offended him were killed in +the Court below,--killed not in a common manner, but in all kinds of +barbarous ways,--such as by being cut in pieces, or by swallowing melted +lead. At length the Cingalese invited the English to come and deliver +them from their tyrant; the English came and shut him up in prison till +he died, and now an English governor rules over Ceylon. + +The greatest curiosity to be seen at Kandy is a TOOTH! a tooth that the +people say was taken out of the mouth of their Buddha. It is kept in a +splendid temple on a golden table, in a golden box of great size. There +are seven boxes one inside the other, and in the innermost box, wrapped +up in gold, there is a piece of ivory, the size of a man's thumb,--that +is the tooth of Buddha! Every day it is worshipped, and offerings of +fruit and flowers are presented. + + +COLOMBO. + +This is the chief _English_ town of Ceylon, as Kandy is the chief +_Cingalese_ town. The English governor lives here, but he has a house at +Kandy too, where he may enjoy the cool mountain air. There is a fine road +from Colombo to Kandy, broader and harder than, English roads; yet it is +out through steep mountains, and winds by dangerous precipices. But there +are laborers in Ceylon stronger than any in England. I mean the +ELEPHANTS. It is curious to see this huge animal meekly walking along +with a plank across its tusks, or dragging wagons full of large stones. +Among the mountains there are herds of _wild_ elephants, sometimes a +hundred may be seen in one herd. There are no elephants in the world as +courageous as those of Ceylon, yet they are very obedient when tamed. If +you wished to visit the mountains, you might safely ride upon the back of +the sure-footed elephant, and all your brothers and sisters, however +many, might ride with you. + +MISSIONARIES.--There are some in Ceylon, and some of the heathens have +obeyed their voice. + +There was once a devil priest. Having been detected in some crime, he was +imprisoned at Kandy, and while in prison he read a Christian tract, and +was converted. Thus (like Onesimus, of whom we read in the Bible,) he +escaped from _Satan's_ prison, while shut up in _man's_ prison. When he +was set free, he was baptized by the missionary at Kandy, and he chose to +be called Abraham. What name did he choose for his son, a boy of +fourteen? Isaac. He buried his conjuring books, though he might have sold +them for eight pounds. His cottage was in a village fifteen miles from +Kandy. He had left it--a _wicked_ man; lib returned to it a _good_ man. + +After some time, a missionary went to visit Abraham in his cottage. A +good Cingalese was his guide. The walk there was beautiful, along narrow +paths, amidst fields of rice, through dark thickets, and long grass. No +one in Abraham's village had ever seen the fair face of an Englishman; +and the sight of the missionary alarmed the inhabitants. Abraham's family +was the only Christian family in that place. How glad Abraham felt at the +sight of the missionary,--almost as glad as the _first_ Abraham felt at +the sight of the three angels. When the missionary entered, Abraham was +teaching his wife, for she was soon to be baptized. By what name? By the +name of Sarah. There were seven children in the family. How hard it must +be for Abraham to bring them up as Christians, in the midst of his +heathen neighbors. Even his brothers hate him, wound his cattle, and +break down his fences. Once they pointed a gun at him, but it did not go +off. Abraham's comfort is to walk over to Kandy every Saturday, to +worship God there on Sunday with the Christians; and he does not find +fifteen miles too far for his willing feet. May the Lord preserve +Abraham, faithful in the midst of the wicked. + + + + +BORNEO. + + +This is the largest island in the world, except one. Borneo is of a +different shape from our Britain, but if you could join Britain and +Ireland in one, both together would not be as large as Borneo. Yet how +unlike is Borneo to Britain! Britain is a Christian island. Borneo is a +heathen island. Yet Borneo is not an island of _idols_, as Ceylon is. +_All_ heathens do not worship idols. I will tell you who live in Borneo, +and you will see why there are so few idols there. + +Many people have come from Malacca, and settled in Borneo; so the island +is full of Malays. These people have a cunning and cruel look, and no +wonder;--for many of them are PIRATES! It is a common custom in Borneo to +go out in a large boat,--to watch for smaller boats,--to seize them--to +bind the men in chains, and to bring them home as slaves. There are no +seas in the world so dangerous to sail in, as the seas near Borneo, not +only on account of the rocks, but on account of the great number of +pirates. What is the religion of Borneo? It is Mahomedanism. But the +Malays do not follow the laws of Mahomet as the Turks do. They do not +mind the hours of prayer, nor do they attend regularly at the mosque. +This is not surprising, for they do not understand the Koran. Mahomet +wrote in Arabic, and the Malays do not understand Arabic. Why do they not +get the Koran translated? Mahomet did not wish the book to be translated. +Why then do not the Malays learn Arabic? I wonder they do not, but I +suppose they are too idle, and too careless. The boys go to school and +learn to read and write their own easy language--the Malay; and they +learn also to repeat whole chapters of the Koran, but without +understanding a word. Still they think it a great advantage to know these +chapters, because they imagine that by repeating them, they can drive +away evil spirits. + +The Malays observe Mahomet's law against eating pork; but many of them +drink wine, though Mahomet forbids it. However, they follow Mahomet in +not having dancing at their feasts; indeed, their behavior at feasts is +sober and orderly, for they amuse themselves chiefly by singing, and +repeating poems. They have only two meals a day, and they live chiefly +upon rice, which they eat, sitting cross-legged on the floor. They get +tea from China, and drink many cups during the day, in the same way as +the Chinese. + +The ladies are treated like the ladies of Turkey, and shut up in their +houses, to spend their time in folly and idleness. + +The men scarcely work at all, but employ the slaves they have stolen at +sea, to labor in their fields. Their houses are not better than barns, +and not nearly as strong; for the sides and roof are generally made only +of large leaves. They are built upon posts, as in Siam. It is well to be +out of the reach of the leeches, crawling on the ground. + +The Malays dress in loose clothes, trowsers, and jacket, and broad sash; +the women are wrapped in a loose garment, and wear their glossy black +hair flowing over their shoulders. The rich men dress magnificently, and +quite cover their jackets with gold, while the ladies delight to sparkle +with jewels. + + +BRUNI. + +This is the capital. It is often called Borneo, and it is written down in +the maps by this name. It is one of the most curious cities in the world; +for most of the houses are built in the river, and most of the streets +are only water. Every morning a great market is held on the water. The +people come in boats from all the country round, bringing fruit and +vegetables to sell, and they paddle up and down the city till they have +sold their goods. + +The Sultan's palace is built upon the bank, close to the water; and the +front of his palace is open; so that it is easy to come in a boat, and to +gaze upon him, as he sits cross-legged on his throne, arrayed in purple +satin, glittering with gold. + +There is a mosque in Bruni; but it is built only of brick, and has +nothing in it but a wooden pulpit; and hardly anybody goes there, though +a man stands outside making a loud noise on a great drum, to invite +people to come in. + + +THE DYAKS. + +These are a savage people who inhabit Borneo. They lived there before the +Malays came, and they have been obliged to submit to them. They are +savages indeed. They are darker than the Malays; yet they are not black; +their skin is only the color of copper. Their hair is cut short in front, +but streams down their backs; their large mouths show a quantity of black +teeth, made black by chewing the betel-nut. They wear very little +clothing, but they adorn their ears, and arms, and legs, with numbers of +brass rings. Their looks are wild and fierce, but not cunning like the +looks of the Malays. They are not Mahomedans; they have hardly any +religion at all. They believe there are some gods, but they know hardly +anything about them, and they do not want to know. They neither make +images to the gods, nor say prayers to them. They live like the beasts, +thinking only of this life; yet they are more unhappy than beasts, for +they imagine there are evil spirits among the woods and hills, watching +to do them harm. It is often hard to persuade them to go to the top of a +mountain, where they say evil spirits dwell. Such a people would be more +ready to listen to a missionary than those who have idols, and temples, +and priests, and sacred books. + +Their wickedness is very great. It is their chief delight to get the +heads of their enemies. There are a great many different tribes of Dyaks, +and each tribe tries to cut off the heads of other tribes. The Dyaks who +live by the sea are the most cruel; they go out in the boats to rob, and +to bring home, not _slaves_, but HEADS! And how do they treat a head when +they get it? They take out the brains, and then they dry it in the smoke, +with the flesh and hair still on; then they put a string through it, and +fasten it to their waists. The evening that they have got some new heads, +the warriors dance with delight,--their heads dangling by their +sides;--and they turn round in the dance, and gaze upon their heads,--and +shout,--and yell with triumph! At night they still keep the heads near +them; and in the day, they play with them, as children with their dolls, +talking to them, putting food in their mouths, and the betel-nut between +their ghastly lips. After wearing the heads many days, they hang them up +to the ceilings of their rooms. + +No English lord thinks so much of his pictures, as the Dyaks do of their +heads. They think these heads are the finest ornaments of their houses. +The man who has _most_ heads, is considered the _greatest_ man. A man who +has NO HEADS is despised! If he wishes to be respected, he must get a +head as soon as he can. Sometimes a man, in order to get a head, will go +out to look for a poor fisherman, who has done him no harm, and will come +back with his head. + +When the Dyaks fight against their enemies, they try to get, not only the +heads of _men_, but also the heads of _women_ and CHILDREN. How dreadful +it must be to see a poor BABY'S HEAD hanging from the ceiling! There was +a Dyak who lost all his property by fire, but he cared not for losing +anything, so much as for losing his PRECIOUS HEADS; nothing could console +him for THIS loss; some of them he had cut off himself, and others had +been cut off by his father, and left to him! + +People who are so bent on killing, as these Dyaks are, must have many +enemies. The Dyaks are always in fear of being attacked by their enemies. +They are afraid of living in lonely cottages; they think it a better plan +for a great many to live together, that they may be able to defend +themselves, if surprised in the night. Four hundred Dyaks will live +together in one house. The house is very large. To make it more safe, it +is built upon _very high posts_, and there are ladders to get up by. The +posts are sometimes forty feet high; so that when you are in the house, +you find yourself as high as the tall trees. There is one very large +room, where all the men and women sit, and talk, and do their work in the +day. The women pound the rice, and weave the mats, while the men make +weapons of war, and the little children play about. There is always much +noise and confusion in this room. There are a great many doors along one +side of the long room; and each of these doors leads into a small room +where a family lives; the parents, the babies, and the girls sleep there, +while the boys of the family sleep in the large room, that has just been +described. + +You know already what are the ornaments on which each family prides +itself,--the HEADS hanging up in their rooms! It is the SEA Dyaks who +live in these very large houses. + +The HILL Dyaks do not live in houses quite so large. Yet several families +inhabit the same house. In the midst of their villages, there is always +one house where the boys sleep. In this house all the HEADS of the +village are kept. The house is round, and built on posts, and the +entrance is underneath through the floor. As this is the best house in +the village, travellers are always brought to this house to sleep. Think +how dreadful it must be, when you wake in the night to see thirty or +forty horrible heads, dangling from the ceiling! The wind, too, which +comes in through little doors in the roof, blows the heads about; so that +they knock against each other, and seem almost as if they were still +alive. This is the HEAD-HOUSE. + +These Hill Dyaks do not often get a new head; but when they do, they come +to the Head-House at night, and sing to the new head, while they beat +upon their loud gongs. What do they say to the new head? + +"Your head, and your spirit, are now ours. Persuade your countrymen to be +slain by us. Let them wander in the fields, that we may bring the heads +of your brethren, and hang them up with your heads." + +How much Satan must delight in these prayers. They are prayers just +suited to that great MURDERER and DESTROYER! + +The Malays are enemies to all the Dyaks; and they have burnt many of +their houses, cut down their fruit trees, and taken their children +captives. The Dyaks complain bitterly of their sufferings. Some of them +say, "We do not live like men, but like monkeys; we are hunted from place +to place; we have no houses; and when we light a fire, we fear lest the +smoke should make our enemies know where we are." + +They say they live like monkeys. But why do they behave like tigers? + +An English gentleman, named Sir James Brooke, has settled in Borneo, and +has become a chief of a large tract of land. His house is near the river +Sarawak. He has persuaded the Sultan of Borneo, to give the English a +VERY LITTLE island called the Isle of Labuan. It is a desert island. Of +what use can this small island be to England? English soldiers may live +there, and try to prevent pirates infesting the seas. If it were not for +the pirates, Borneo would be able to send many treasures to foreign +countries. It is but a little way from Borneo to Singapore, and there are +many English merchants at Singapore, ready to buy the precious things of +Borneo. Gold is found in Borneo, mixed with the earth. But I don't know +who would dig it up, if it were not for the industrious Chinese, who come +over in great numbers to get money in this island. Diamonds are found +there, and a valuable metal called antimony. + +The sago-tree, the pepper plant, and the sugar-cane, and the cocoa-nut +tree are abundant. + +The greatest curiosity that Borneo possesses are the eatable nests. These +white and transparent nests are found in the caves by the sea-shore, and +they are the work of a little swallow. The Chinese give a high price for +these nests, that they may make soup for their feasts. + +ANIMALS.--Borneo has very few large animals. There are, indeed, enormous +alligators in the rivers, but there are no lions or tigers; and even the +bears are small, and content to climb the trees for fruit and honey. The +majestic animal which is the pride of Ceylon, is not found in Borneo: I +mean the elephant. + +Yet the woods are filled with living creatures. Squirrels and monkeys +sport among the trees. The leaps of the monkeys are amazing; hundreds +will jump one after the other, from a tree as high as a house, and not +one will miss his footing; yet now and then a monkey has a fall. The +most curious kind of monkey is found in Borneo--the Ourang-outang; but it +is one of the least active; it climbs carefully from branch to branch, +always holding by its hands before it makes a spring. These +Ourang-outangs are not as large as a man, yet they are much stronger. All +the monkeys sleep in the trees; in a minute a monkey makes its bed by +twisting a few branches together. + +Beneath the trees--two sorts of animals, very unlike each other, roam +about,--the clumsy hog, and the graceful deer. As the _largest_ sort of +_monkeys_ is found in Borneo, so is the _smallest_ sort of _deer_. There +is a deer that has legs only eight inches long. There is no more elegant +creature in the world than this bright-eyed, swift-footed little deer. + + + + +JAPAN. + + +This is the name of a great empire. There are three principal islands. +One of these is very long, and very narrow; it is about a thousand miles +long,--much longer than Great Britain, but not nearly as broad. Yet the +three islands _together_ are larger than our island. There is a fourth +island near the Japan islands, called Jesso, and it is filled with +Japanese people. + +You know it is difficult to get into China; but it is far more difficult +to get into Japan. The emperor has boats always watching round the coast, +to prevent strangers coming into his country. These boats are so made, +that they cannot go far from the shore. No Japanese ship is ever seen +floating in a foreign harbor. If it be difficult to get _into_ Japan, it +is also difficult to get _out_ of her. There is a law condemning to +_death_ any Japanese who leaves his country. The Chinese also are +forbidden to leave their land; but _they_ do not mind their laws as well +as the Japanese mind _theirs_. + +I shall not be able to tell you much about Japan; as strangers may not go +there, nor natives come from it. English ships very seldom go to Japan, +because they are so closely watched. The guard-boats surround them night +and day. When it is dark, lanterns are lighted, in order the better to +observe the strangers. One English captain entreated permission to land, +that he might observe the stars with his instruments, in order afterwards +to make maps; but he could only get leave to land on a little island +where there were a few fishermen's huts; and all the time he was there, +the Japanese officers kept their eye upon him. He was told that he must +not measure the land. It seems that the Japanese were afraid that his +_measuring_ the land would be the beginning of his taking it away. +However, he had no such intention, and was content with measuring the +SEA. + +He asked the Japanese to sell him a supply of fruit and vegetables for +his crew, and a supply was brought; but the Japanese would take no money +in return. He wanted to buy bullocks, that his crew might have beef, but +the Japanese replied, "You cannot have _them_; for they work hard, and +are tired, they draw the plough; they do their duty, and they ought not +to be eaten; but the _hogs_ are lazy; they do no work, you may have them +to eat, if you wish it." The Japanese will not even milk their cows, but +they allow the calves to have all the milk. + +If you wish to know _why_ the Japanese will not allow strangers to land, +I must relate some events which happened three hundred years ago. + +Some Roman Catholic priests from Spain and Portugal settled in the land, +and taught the people about Christ, but they taught them also to worship +the cross, and the Virgin Mary. Thousands of the Japanese were baptized, +and were called Christians. After some years had passed away, the emperor +began to fear that the kings of Spain and Portugal would come, and take +away his country from him, as they had taken away other countries; so the +emperor began to persecute the priests, and all who followed their words. +One emperor after another persecuted the Christians. There is a burning +mountain in Japan, and down its terrible yawning mouth many Christians +were thrown. One emperor commanded his people instead of _worshipping_ +the cross, to _trample_ upon it. To do either--is wicked; to do either is +to insult Christ. + +All Christians are now hated in Japan. The Dutch tried to persuade the +emperors to trust _them_; but they could only get leave to buy and sell +at one place, but not to settle in the land. + +There are many beautiful things in Japan, especially boxes, and screens, +and cabinets, varnished and ornamented in a curious manner, and these are +much admired by great people in Europe. There is silk, too, and tea, and +porcelain in Japan; but they are not nearly as fine as China. There is +gold also. + +There are as many people in Japan, as there are in Britain; for the +Japanese are very industrious, and cultivate abundance of rice, and +wheat. Oh! how sad to think that so many millions should be living and +dying in darkness; for the chief religion is the false, and foolish +religion of Buddha, or, as he is called in Japan, "Budso." How many names +are given to that deceiver! Buddha in Ceylon; Fo, in China; Gaudama, in +Burmah; Codom, in Siam--and Budso in Japan! + +What sort of people are the Japanese? + +They are a very polite people--much politer than the Chinese, but very +proud. They are a learned nation, for they can read and write, and they +understand geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. There is a college where +many languages are taught, even English. The dress of the gentlemen is +elegant;--the loose tunic and trowsers, the sash, and jacket, are made of +a kind of fine linen, adorned with various patterns; the stockings are of +white jean; sandals are worn upon the feet, but no covering upon the +head, although most of the hair is shaven, and the little that remains +behind, is tied tightly together; an umbrella or a fan is all that is +used to keep off the sun;--except on journeys, and then a large cap of +oiled paper, or of plaited grass is worn. The great mark by which a +gentleman is known, is wearing two swords. + +The Japanese houses are very pretty. In the windows--flower-pots are +placed; and when real flowers cannot be had, artificial flowers are used. +In great houses, the ladies are shut up in one part; while in the other, +company is received. The house is divided into rooms by large screens, +and as these can be moved, the rooms can be made larger, or smaller, as +the master pleases. There are no chairs, for the Japanese, though so much +like the Chinese, do not sit like them on chairs, but on mats beautifully +woven. The emperor's palace is called, "The Hall of the Thousand Mats." +Every part of a Japanese house is covered with paper, and adorned with +paintings, and gold, and silver flowers; even the doors, and the +ceilings, are ornamented in this manner. Beautiful boxes, and porcelain +jars, add to the beauty of the rooms. + +The climate is pleasant, for the winter is short, and the sun is not as +hot as in China; so that the ladies, and gentlemen, are almost as fair as +Europeans, though the laborers are very dark. + +[Illustration: JAPANESE GENTLEMAN.] + +But Japan is exposed to many dangers, from wind, from water, and from +fire--three terrible enemies! The waves dash with violence upon the rocky +shores; the wind often blows in fearful hurricanes; while earthquakes and +hot streams from the burning mountains, fill the people with terror. + +But more terrible than any of these--is wickedness; and very wicked +customs are observed in Japan. It is very wicked for a man to kill +himself, yet in Japan it is the custom for all courtiers who have +offended the emperor, to cut open their own bodies with a sword. The +little boys of five years old, begin to learn the dreadful art. They do +not really cut themselves, but they are shown _how_ to do it, that when +they are men, they may be able to kill themselves in an elegant manner. +How dreadful! Every great man has a white dress, which he never wears, +but keeps by him, that he may put it on when he is going to kill himself: +and he carries it about with him wherever he goes, for he cannot tell how +suddenly he may want it. When a courtier receives a letter sentencing him +to die, he invites his friends to a feast; and at the end of it, his +sentence is read aloud by the emperor's officer; then he takes his sword, +and makes a great gash across his own body; at the same moment, a servant +who stands behind him, cuts off his head. + +This way of dying is thought very fine, and as a reward, the emperor +allows the son of the dead man to occupy his father's place in the court. +But _what_ a place to have, when at last there may be such a fearful +scene! Missionaries cannot come into Japan to teach the people a better +way of dying, and to tell them of a happy place after death. + + + + +AUSTRALIA. + + +This is the largest island in the world. It is as large as Europe (which +is not an _island_, but a _continent_). But how different is Australia +from Europe! Instead of containing, as Europe does, a number of grand +kingdoms, it has not one single king. Instead of being filled with +people, the greater part of Australia is a desert, or a forest, where a +few half naked savages are wandering. + +A hundred years ago, there was not a town in the whole island; but now +there are a few large towns near the sea-coast, but only a very few. It +is the English who built these large towns, and who live in them. + +Australia is not so fine a land as Europe, because it has not so many +fine rivers; and it is fine _rivers_ that make a fine _land_. Most of the +rivers in Australia do not deserve the name of rivers; they are more like +a number of water-holes, and are often dried up in the summer; but there +is one very fine, broad, long, deep river, called the Murray. It flows +for twelve hundred miles. Were there several such rivers us the Murray, +then Australia would be a fine land indeed. + +Why is there so little water? Because there is so little rain. Sometimes +for two years together, there are no heavy showers, and the grass +withers, and the trees turn brown, and the air is filled with dust. I +believe the reason of the want of rain is--that the mountains are not +high; for high mountains draw the clouds together. There are no mountains +as high as the Alps of Europe; the highest are only half as high.[13] + +THE NATIVES.--The savages of Australia have neither god, nor king. Some +heathen countries are full of idols, but there are no idols in the wilds +of Australia. No,--like the beasts which perish, these savages live from +day to day without prayer, or praise, delighting only in eating and +drinking, hunting and dancing. + +Most men build some kind of houses; but these savages are satisfied with +putting a few boughs together, as a shelter from the storm. There is just +room in one of these shelters for a man to creep into it, and lie down to +sleep. They do not wish to learn to build better huts, for as they are +always running about from place to place, they do not think it worth +while to build better. + +A native was once sitting in the corner of a white man's hut, and looking +as if he enjoyed the warmth. The white men began to laugh at him, for not +building a good hut for himself. For some time the black man said +nothing, at last he muttered, "Ay, ay, white fellow think it best +that-a-way. Black fellow think it best that-a-way." A white man rudely +answered, "Then black fellow is a fool." Upon hearing this, the black +fellow, quite affronted, got up, and folding his blanket round him, +walked out of the hut. How much pride there is in the heart of man! Even +a savage thinks a great deal of his own wisdom, and cannot bear to be +called a fool. + +Sometimes the natives build a house _strong_ enough to last during the +whole winter, and _large_ enough to hold seven or eight people. They make +it in the shape of a bee-hive. + +Their reason for moving about continually, is that they may get food. +They look for it, wherever they go, digging up roots, and grubbing up +grubs, and searching the hollows of the trees for _opossums_. (Of these +strange animals more shall soon be mentioned.) + +The women are the most ill-treated creatures in the world. The men beat +them on their heads whenever they please, and cover them with bruises. A +gentleman once saw a poor black woman crying bitterly. When he asked her +what was the matter, she told him that her husband was going to beat her +for having broken his pipe. The gentleman went to the husband, and +entreated him to forgive his "gin" (for that is the name for a _wife_ or +_woman_). But the man declared he would not forgive her, unless a new +pipe was given to him. The gentleman could not promise one to the black +man, as there were no pipes to be had in that place. The next morning the +poor gin appeared with a broken arm, her cruel husband having beaten her +with a thick stick. + +The miserable gins are not _beaten_ only; they are _half starved_; for +their husbands will give them no food, and _they_--poor things--cannot +fish or hunt, or shoot; they have nothing but the roots they dig up, and +the grubs, and lizards, and snakes they find on the ground. Their looks +show how wretchedly they fare; for while the men are often strong and +tall, the women are generally thin, and bent, and haggard. + +Yet the _woman_, weak as she is, carries all the baggage, not only the +babe slung upon her back, but the bag of food, and even her husband's gun +and pipe; while the _man_ stalks along in his pride, with nothing but +his spear in his hand, or at most a light basket upon his arm; for he +considers his wife as his beast of burden. At night the woman has to +build her own shelter, for the man thinks it quite enough to build one +for himself. + +Such is the hard lot of a native woman, while she _lives_; and when she +_dies_, her body is perched in a tree, as not worth the trouble of +burying. + +I have already told you, that the natives have no GOD; yet they have a +DEVIL, whom they call Yakoo, or debbil-debbil. Of him they are always +afraid, for they fancy he goes about devouring children. When any one +dies, they say, "Yakoo took him." How different from those happy +Christians who can say of their dead, "God took them!" + +People who know not God, but only the devil, must be very wicked. These +savages show themselves to be children of debbil-debbil by their actions. +They kill many of their babes, that they may not have the trouble of +nursing them. Old people also they kill, and laugh at the idea of making +them "tumble down." One of the most horrible things they do, is making +the skulls of their friends into drinking-cups, and they think that by +doing so, they show their AFFECTION! They allow the nearest relation to +have the skull of the dead person. They will even EAT a little piece of +the dead body, just as a mark of love. But generally speaking, it is +only their _enemies_ they eat, and they _do_ eat them whenever they can +kill them. There are a great many tribes of natives, and they look upon +one another as enemies. If a man of one tribe dare to come, and hunt in +the lands of another tribe, he is immediately killed, and his body is +eaten. + +The bodies of dear friends--are treated with great honor, placed for some +weeks on a high platform, and then buried. Mothers prize highly the dead +bodies of their children. A traveller met a poor old woman wandering in +search of roots, with a stick for digging in her hand, and with no other +covering than a little grass mat. On her back she bore a heavy load. What +was it? The dead body of her child,--a boy of ten years old; this burden +she had borne for three weeks, and she thought she showed her love, by +keeping it near her for so long a time. Alas! she knew nothing of the +immortal spirit, and how, when washed in Jesus' blood, it is borne by +angels into the presence of God. + +But though these savages are so wicked, and so wild, they have their +amusements. Dancing is the chief amusement. At every full moon, there is +a grand dance, called the Corrobory. It is the men who dance, while the +women sit by and beat time. Nothing can be more horrible to see than a +Corrobory. It is held in the night by the light of blazing fires. The men +are made to look more frightful than usual, by great patches, and stripes +of red and white clay all over their bodies; and they play all manner of +strange antics, and utter all kinds of strange yells; so that you might +think it was a dance in HELL, rather than on earth. + +It may surprise you to hear these wild creatures have a turn both for +music and drawing. There are figures carved upon the rocks, which show +their turn for drawing. The figures represent beasts, fishes, and men, +and are much better done than could have been supposed. There are few +savages who can sing as well as these natives; but the _words_ of their +songs are very foolish. These are the words of one song, + + "Eat great deal, eat, eat, eat; + Eat again, plenty to eat; + Eat more yet, eat, eat, eat." + +If a pig could sing, surely this song would just suit its fancy. How sad +to think a man who is made to praise God forever and ever, should have no +higher joy than eating! + +And what is the appearance of these people? + +They are ugly, with flat noses, and wide mouths, but their teeth are +white, and their hair is long, glossy, and curly. They adorn their +tresses with teeth, and feathers, and dogs' tails; and they rub over +their whole body with fish oil and fat. You may imagine, therefore, how +unpleasant it must be to come near them. + + +THE COLONISTS OR SETTLERS. + +_Once_ there were only black people in Australia, and no white; _now_ +there are more white than black; and it is probable, that soon, there +will be no black people, but only white. Ever since the white people +began to settle there, the black people have been dying away very fast; +for the white people have taken away the lands where the blacks used to +hunt, and have filled them with their sheep and cattle. + +There are two sorts of white people who have come to Australia. They are +called "Convicts," and "Colonists." + +Convicts are some of the worst of the white people;--thieves, who instead +of being kept in prison, were sent to Australia to work hard for many +years. It is a sad thing for Australia, that so many thieves have been +sent there, because after their punishment was over, and they were set at +liberty, some remained in the land, and did a great deal of harm. + +Colonists are people who come of their own accord to earn their living as +best they can. + +It is a common sight when travelling in Australia, to meet a dray drawn +by bullocks, laden with furniture, and white people. It is a family going +to their new farm. In the dray there are pigs, and you may hear them +grunting; there are fowls, too, shut up in a basket; and besides, there +are plants and tools. When the family arrive at the place where they mean +to settle, they find no house, nor garden, nor fields, only a wild +forest. Immediately they pitch a tent for the mother and her daughters to +sleep in, while the father, his sons, and his laborers, sleep by the fire +in the open air. The next morning, the men begin to fell trees to make a +hut, and they finish it in a week;--not a very grand dwelling, it is +true, but good enough for the fine weather; the floor is made of the hard +clay from the enormous ant hills; the walls--of great slabs of wood; the +roof--of wooden tiles, and the windows--of calico. When the hut is +finished, a hen-house, and a pig-sty are built, and a dairy also +underground. A garden is soon planted, and there the vines, and the +peach-trees bear beautiful fruit. The daughters attend to the rearing of +the fowls, and the milking of the cows, and soon have a plentiful supply +of eggs and butter. The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow +wheat and potatoes. Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied; +and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large +rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of +the laborers. This is the way of life in the "Bush;" for such is the name +given to the wild parts of Australia. + +Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the +wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads +a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon +the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in +troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as +they can. Happily there are no _large_ wild beasts, such as wolves, and +bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as +the sheep. + +But there are _men_, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts. +These are convicts who have escaped from punishment. They often come to +the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants. + +The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked _white_ men; +indeed _they_ are generally very harmless, unless provoked by +ill-treatment. They are willing to make themselves useful, by reaping +corn, and washing sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a +blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks +will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when +they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women +can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much +besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give +a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats +so much, that he can work no more that day. + +Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was +one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every +morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of +waking him,--light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and +set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting +his hand affectionately on the hand of the sleeper would whisper in his +ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind +and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the +white man. + +This black was as faithful, as he was affectionate. Once he was sent by a +farmer on a message. It was this, "Take this letter to my brother, and +he will give you sixpence, and then spend the sixpence in pipes for me." +The black man took the letter, and went towards the place where the +brother lived. He met him on horseback. The brother after reading the +letter, rode away without giving the sixpence to the bearer. What was the +poor black man to do? "Shall I go back," thought he, "without the pipes? +No. I will try to get some money." He went to a house that he knew of, +and offered to chop some wood for sixpence, and with _that sixpence_ he +bought the pipes. Was not this being a good servant? This was not +eye-service; it was the service of the heart. But there are not many +natives like this man. They are generally soon tired of working. For +instance, a boy called Jackey, left a good master who would have provided +for him, to live again wild in the woods, and went away with the blanket +off his bed. + +ANIMALS.--There are few of _our_ animals in Australia, or of _their_ +animals in England. There is no hare, no rabbit, no nightingale, no +thrush, in Australia. _Once_ there were no horses, nor cows, nor sheep, +nor pigs; but _now_ there are a great many. Much terrified were the +natives at the sight of the first horse which came from England; for they +had never seen such a large animal before. + +The largest beast in Australia is the Kangaroo, remarkable for its short +fore-legs, and its great strong hind-legs, and for the pocket in which it +shelters its little one. It is a gentle creature, and can be easily +tamed. A pet kangaroo may often be seen walking about a settler's garden, +cropping the grass upon the lawn. But though easily _tamed_, a wild +kangaroo is not easily _caught_; for it makes immense springs in the air, +far higher than a horse could leap, though it is not as big as a sheep. +When hunted by dogs, it gets, when it can, into the water, and turning +round, and standing still, dips the dogs, one by one, till it drowns +them. + +There is another beast, called the opossum, not much bigger than a large +cat, and it also has a pocket for its young ones. But instead of cropping +the grass, it eats the leaves of trees. It has a gentle face like a deer, +and a long tail like a monkey. It hides itself, as the squirrel does, in +the hollows of trees. Like the owl, it is never seen in the day, but at +night it comes out to feed. The blacks are very cunning in finding out +the holes where the opossums are hidden, and they know how to drag them +out by their long tails, without getting bitten by their sharp teeth. +With the skin of the opossum the natives make a cloak. + +The wild dogs, or dingoes, are odious animals. They may be heard yelling +at night to the terror of the shepherd, and the farmer. They are bold +enough to rush into a yard, and to carry off a calf, or a pig; and when +they have dragged it into the woods, they cruelly eat the legs first, and +do not kill it for a long while. + +These three--the kangaroo, the opossum, and the dingo,--are the principal +beasts of Australia. + +Among the birds, the emu is the most remarkable. It is nearly as tall as +an ostrich, and has beautiful soft feathers, though not as beautiful as +the ostrich's. But the most curious point in the emu is,--it has no +tongue. You may suppose, therefore, that it is neither a singing bird, +nor a talking bird; it only makes a little noise in its throat. But if +_it_ is silent, there are numbers of parrots, and cockatoos, to fill the +air with their screams. In England, these birds are thought a great deal +of, but in Australia, they are killed to make into pies, or into soup. +Parrot-pie and cockatoo-soup, are common dishes there. However, many of +the parrots and cockatoos, are caught by the blacks, and sold to the +English, who send them to England in the ships. + +There are not such singing birds in Australia, as there are here. Though +there is a robin red-breast there, he does not sing as sweetly as he does +here. But there are _laughing_ birds in Australia. There is a bird called +the "laughing jackass." He laughs very loud three times a day. He begins +in the morning;--suddenly a hoarse loud laugh is heard,--then another, +then another,--till a whole troop of birds seem laughing all together, +and go on laughing for a few minutes;--and then they are all quiet again. +Such a noise must awaken many a sleeper on his bed. At noon the laugh is +heard again. At evening there is another general fit of laughter. These +birds are not like children, who laugh at no particular hour, but often +twenty times a day. The laughing jackass is almost as useful as a clock, +and it is called, "the bushman's clock." + + +BOTANY BAY. + +This is a famous place, for here the English first settled, and here it +was thieves were sent from England as a punishment. Some were sent there +for fourteen years, and some for twenty-one years, and some for life. How +did the place get the beautiful name of Botany? which means "the +knowledge of flowers." Because there were so many beautiful flowers seen +there, when Captain Cook first beheld it. Yet the name Botany Bay, does +not seem beautiful to us; for it reminds us not of roses, but of rogues; +not of violets, but of violent men; not of lilies, but of villains. + + +SYDNEY. + +This town is close to Botany Bay. It is the largest town in Australia. +It is a very wicked city, because so many convicts have been sent there. +Many of the people are the children of convicts, and have been brought up +very ill by their parents. Of course there are many robberies in such a +city, far more than there are in London. Who would like to live there! +yet it is a fine city, and by the sea-side, with a harbor, where hundreds +of ships might ride,--safe from the storm. It is plain, too, that Sydney +is full of rich people, for the streets are thronged with carriages, +driving rapidly along. The convicts often become rich, after their time +of punishment is over, by keeping public-houses, and when rich they keep +carriages. + +If you were in Sydney, you would hardly think you were in a savage +island; for you would see no savages in the streets. What is become of +those who once lived in these parts? They are all dead, or gone to other +parts of the island. The last black near Sydney, used to talk of the old +times, and say, "When I was a pick-a-ninny, plenty of black fellow then. +Only one left now, mitter." + + +ADELAIDE. + +It is much better to live here than in Sydney, because convicts have +never been sent here. Numbers of honest poor people are leaving England +and Ireland, every year, to go to Adelaide. When they arrive at the +coast, they get into cars, and are driven seven miles, passing by many +pretty cottages, and gardens, till they arrive at Adelaide. There they +find themselves in the midst of gardens; for the houses are not crowded +together, as in our English towns, but are placed in the midst of trees, +and flowers, and grass; because there is plenty of room in Australia. + +But there is one great evil both in Sydney and in Adelaide, which is the +dust blown from the desert, and which almost chokes the inhabitants. If +there were more rain in Australia, there would be less dust. + +Australia is divided into three parts:-- + + I. New South Wales. Capital, Sydney. + II. Western Australia. Capital, Perth. + III. South Australia. Capital, Adelaide. + + [13] The Australian mountains are about seven thousand feet high. + + + + +VAN DIEMAN'S LAND. + + +This island is as cool as Great Britain; yet it is not a pleasant land to +live in; for it is filled with convicts. There are no natives there now; +they died away gradually, except a few, who were taken by the English to +a small island near, called "Flinder's Island." They were taken there +that they might be safe; yet they never ceased to sigh, and to cry after +their native land. + + +THE YOUNG SAVAGES. + +Many travellers have tried to see the land in the midst of Australia, but +hitherto they have not succeeded. After going a little way, they have +been obliged to return, and why? Because they have found no water. + +I will give you an account of the journey of Mr. Eyre. This traveller +wished to go into the midst of the land, but finding he could not, he +travelled along the coast, at that part called the Great Bight (or the +Great Bay). + +He set out from Adelaide with a large party, but various accidents +occurred by the way, and at last he found himself with only one +Englishman, and three native boys. The eldest was almost a man. His name +was Wylie, and he was a good-tempered, lively youth. The second was named +Neramberein. I shall have nothing good to relate of him, but a great deal +of evil; for he was indeed a very wicked boy. The youngest was called +Cootachah--a boy who was easily induced to follow bad examples. + +Mr. Eyre was the chief person in the party, and his English companion was +Mr. Baxter. Ten horses carried the packages, and six sheep were made to +follow, that they might be killed one by one for food. + +All these poor animals suffered terribly from want of water. Sometimes +they went a hundred miles without a refreshing draught. The horses became +so weak, that the travellers were unwilling to mount their backs; and as +for the sheep, they could scarcely crawl along. + +Many ways of getting water were tried. One way was digging up the roots +of trees. A little,--a very little,--water may often be squeezed out of +the end of a root; because the root is the mouth of the tree, and sucks +up water from the ground. Another way of getting water was by gathering +up the dew in a sponge. Enough dew to make a cup of tea might sometimes +be obtained; but not enough for the poor beasts to have any. When the +travellers, by digging, could make a well, then they were glad indeed; +for then the beasts could be refreshed as well as themselves. + +The whole party were become so weak from fatigue and thirst, that they +could not get on fast, and they found it necessary to save their food as +much as possible, that it might last to the end of the long journey. They +took a little flour every day out of their bag, and made it into a paste. +Sometimes they caught a fish, or shot a bird or beast, and then they had +a hearty meal. When they killed one of their sheep, then they had plenty +of mutton. At last, all the sheep were killed but one. + +It happened at this time, that one of the horses was so sick that he +could not move. It was plain he would soon die; therefore the travellers +determined to kill him, and eat his flesh. Mr. Eyre was grieved at the +thought of killing his horse, neither could he bear the idea of eating +horse flesh; but then he feared, that if the horse were not killed, the +whole party would be starved. + +The native boys were delighted when they knew the horse was to be eaten; +for they had long been fretting for more food. They would like to have +devoured it _all_ on the spot; but they were not allowed to do so; the +greater part of the flesh was cut off in thin slices, dipped in salt +water, and then hung up in the sun to dry, to serve as provision for many +days to come. The boys were permitted to devour the rest of the carcase. + +With what haste they prepared the feast! They made a fire close to the +carcase, and then cut off lumps of flesh, which they roasted quickly, and +then ate. They spent the whole afternoon in this manner, looking more +like ravenous wolves than human creatures. When night came, they were not +willing to leave their meat, but took as much as ever they could carry +into their beds, that they might eat whenever they awoke. Next day, they +returned to the roasting and eating, and the next night again they took +meat with them to bed. + +Mr. Eyre wondered at their gluttony and he thought it necessary to give +them an allowance of food, instead of letting them eat as much as they +liked. He gave five pounds of meat to each boy every day. Five pounds is +as much as a shoulder of mutton--and ten English boys would think it +quite enough for dinner; but the Australian boys were not satisfied! + +Mr. Eyre began to suspect that in the night they stole some of the meat +hanging up to dry on the trees. Therefore one night he weighed the meat, +and in the morning weighed it again. He found that four pounds were gone. +He thought it was very ungrateful of boys, to whom he gave so much, to +steal from his small stock. As a punishment he gave them less meat next +day than usual. + +He entreated the boys to tell him who was the thief. The eldest and +youngest declared that they had not stolen any meat; but Neramberein +would not answer at all, and looked sulky and angry, and muttered +something about going away, and taking Wylie with him. Mr. Eyre replied, +that he might go if he pleased, while at the same time he warned him of +the dangers of the way. + +The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, the three boys all rose +up and walked away. Mr. Eyre called back the youngest, as he felt he was +misled by his elders, but he let the others go. They had stayed with him +till the horse was all eaten up, except the dried pieces--but now they +hoped to get more food, when travelling alone, than with Mr. Eyre. + +As soon as the boys were gone, Mr. Eyre determined to stop some time +longer where he was, that he might not overtake them. There was one sheep +still remaining, and which seemed very restless all by itself. This +sheep was killed for food, and in that place there was plenty of water; +so that the little company fared well that day and the next; especially +as Mr. Baxter had the good fortune to kill an eagle, which made an +excellent stew. + +Just as the travellers had finished their evening meal, they were +astonished to see the two runaway boys approaching. Wylie came running +up, declaring that both he and his companions were sorry for their bad +behavior, and were anxious to be received again, not being able to get +enough to eat. But though Wylie acted in this frank manner, his companion +was very sulky. He said nothing, but seated himself by the fire, pouting +and frowning, and evidently much vexed at being obliged to come back. Mr. +Eyre thought it well to give the boys a lecture on their bad conduct, +especially upon their thefts; for they now owned that they had stolen +meat from the trees, though they had before denied it. But though Mr. +Eyre reproved the boys, he treated them very kindly, for he gave them +some tea, and bread and meat for supper. + +The next day the whole party continued their journey. They were obliged +to be very sparing of their food, lest when it was gone they should get +no more. But their greatest trial was the want of water. + +After travelling during four days, they stopped one evening in a rocky +place at the top of high cliffs, hoping that if any rain should fall, +some might be caught in the hollow places among the rocks. That evening +they ate no supper; for having had dinner, they might do without supper. + +Before they lay down to sleep, they made themselves places to sleep in, +by setting up boughs, as shelters from the wind. They also piled up their +goods in a great heap, and covered it with oil skin, to keep out the +damp. Mr. Eyre did not sleep when the rest did, for he undertook to watch +the horses till eleven at night, and then he agreed to change places with +Mr. Baxter. + +The hour was almost come, and Mr. Eyre was beginning to lead the horses +towards the sleeping place, when he was startled by hearing a gun go off. +He called out,--but receiving no answer, he grew alarmed, and leaving the +horses, ran towards the spot, whence the noise had come. + +Presently he met Wylie, running very fast, and crying out, "Oh! Massa, +Oh! Massa, come here." + +"What is the matter?" inquired Mr. Eyre. + +Wylie made no answer. + +With hurried steps, Mr. Eyre accompanied him towards the camp. What a +sight struck his eyes! His friend Baxter, lying on the ground, weltering +in his blood, and in the agonies of DEATH. + +The two younger boys were not there, and the goods which had been covered +by the oil-skin, lay scattered in confusion on the ground. It was too +clear that one of the boys had KILLED poor Baxter. No doubt it was +Neramberein who had done it! + +It seems that the boys had attempted to steal some of the goods, and that +while they were gathering them together, Baxter had awaked, and had come +forth from his sleeping place, and that _then_ one of the boys had shot +him. + +Mr. Eyre raised the dying man from the ground where he was lying +prostrate, and he then found that a ball had entered his left breast, and +that his life was fast departing. In a few minutes he expired! + +What were the feelings of the lonely traveller! Here he was in the midst +of a desert, with no companion but one young savage, and that young +savage was not one whom he could trust; for he knew not what part Wylie +had taken in the deeds of the night. He suspected that he had intended to +go away with the other boys, but that when Baxter was murdered, he had +grown alarmed. Wylie indeed denied that he had known anything of the +robbery, but then he was not a boy whose word could be believed. + +The remainder of that dreadful night was passed by Mr. Eyre, in watching +the horses. Anxiously he waited for the first streak of daylight. He then +drove the horses to the camp, and once more beheld the body of his +fellow-traveller. How suddenly had his soul been hurried into eternity, +and into the presence of his God! + +It was Wylie's business to light the fire, and prepare the breakfast. +Meanwhile, Mr. Eyre examined the baggage to see how much had been stolen. +These were the chief articles he missed. All the bread, consisting of +five loaves, some mutton, tea and sugar, tobacco and pipes, a small keg +of water, and two guns. And what was left for the traveller? A large +quantity of flour, a large keg of water, some tea and sugar, a gun, and +pistols. But would these have been left, had the ungrateful boys been +strong enough to carry them away? + +Mr. Eyre desired before leaving the fatal spot to bury the body of his +friend; but the rocks around were so hard, that it was impossible to dig +a grave. All he was able to do, was to wrap the corpse in a blanket +before he abandoned it forever. + +Slowly and silently he left the sorrowful spot, leading one horse, +while Wylie drove the others after it. During the heat of the day, they +stopped to rest. It was four in the afternoon, and they were soon going +to set out again, when they perceived at a distance--TWO WHITE FIGURES! +two white figures! and soon knew them to be the two guilty boys, wrapped +in their blankets. + +Mr. Eyre had some fear lest the young murderer should shoot him also; yet +he thought it wise to advance boldly towards him, with his gun in his +hand. He perceived that each of the wicked youths held a gun, and seemed +ready to shoot. But as he approached, they drew back. He wished to speak +to them in order to persuade them not to follow him on his journey, but +to go another way; however he could not get near them; but he heard them +cry out, "O Massa, we don't want you; we want Wylie." The boys repeated +the name of Wylie over and over again; yet Wylie answered not, but +remained quietly with the horses. At length Mr. Eyre turned away, and +continued his journey. The boys followed at some distance, calling out +for Wylie till the darkness came on. + +Mr. Eyre was so anxious to get beyond the reach of these wicked youths, +that he walked eighteen miles that evening. And he never saw them again! +I do not know whether he had ever told them of the true God, of that EYE +which never SLEEPS, of that EYE which beholds ROBBERS and MURDERERS in +the night;--but whether he had told them or not of this great God, they +must have KNOWN that they were acting wickedly when they robbed their +benefactor, and murdered his friend; and they must have felt very +MISERABLE after they had done those deeds. + +Alone with Wylie, Mr. Eyre pursued his journey along the high clefts of +the Great Bight, or Bay. + +For five days they were without water for the horses; at last they dug +some wells in the sand. But by this time one of the horses was grown so +weak, that he could scarcely crawl along. This horse, Mr. Eyre determined +to kill for food. Wylie, delighted with the idea, exclaimed, "Massa, I +shall sit up, and eat the whole night." And he kept his word. While his +master was skinning the poor beast, he made a fire close by, and soon +began tearing off bits of flesh, roasting, and eating them, as fast as he +could. Mr. Eyre, after cutting off the best parts of the flesh to dry, +allowed Wylie to eat the rest. See the young glutton, with the head, the +feet, and the inside, permitted to devour it as best he could! He +hastened to make an oven, in which to bake about twenty pounds to feast +upon during the night. It is not wonderful, if during that night he was +heard to make a dismal groaning, and to complain that he was very ill. +He _said_, indeed, that it was _working_ too _hard_, had made him ill, +but his master thought it was _eating_ too _much_, for whenever he woke, +he found the boy gnawing a bone. + +Next day, Wylie was not able to spend his whole time over the carcase, +for he had to go, and look for a lost foal; but the day after, it was +hard to get him away from the bones. + +For some time the travellers lived upon dried horse flesh, with a +kangaroo, or a fish, as a little change. Wylie continued to eat +immoderately, though often rolling upon the ground, and crying out, +"Mendyat," or ill. + +One night he appeared to be in a very ill-humor, and Mr. Eyre tried to +find out the reason. At last Wylie said in an angry tone, "The dogs have +eaten the skin." It seems he had hung the skin of a kangaroo upon a bush, +intending to eat it by-and-bye, and the wild dogs had stolen the dainty +morsel. Wylie was restored to his usual good-humor by the sight of some +fine fishes his master had caught. Next time the boy shot a kangaroo, he +took good care of the skin, folding it up, and hiding it. + +One day he was so happy as to catch two opossums in a tree. His master +determined to see how Wylie would behave, if left entirely to himself. +He sat silently by the fire, while Wylie was cooking one opossum. The +boy, having got it ready for his supper, took the other to his sleeping +place. His master inquired what he intended to do with it. Wylie replied, +"I shall be hungry in the morning, and I am keeping it for my breakfast." +Then Mr. Eyre perceived that the greedy boy intended to offer him neither +supper nor breakfast. Accordingly he took out his bag of flour, and said +to Wylie, "Very well, we will each eat our own food; you eat the opossums +you shot, and I eat the flour I have; and I will give you no more." In +this manner, Mr. Eyre hoped to show the boy the folly of his selfishness. +Wylie was frightened at the idea of getting no more flour, and +immediately offered the smaller opossum to his master, and promised to +cook it himself. What a selfish, and ungrateful boy! Wylie had a wicked +heart by nature, and so have _we_. Only _he_ had not been taught what was +right, as _we_ have been. This is a prayer which would suit well every +child, and every man in the world, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, +and renew a right spirit within me." + +Mr. Eyre continued to be kind to Wylie, though he saw the boy did not +really love him. + +But the troubles of the journey were nearly at an end. At last the +travellers saw a ship a few miles from the shore. Oh I how anxious they +were that the sailors should see them! What could they do? They kindled a +fire on a rock, and they made a great deal of smoke come out of the fire. +Soon a boat was seen approaching the shore. How great was the joy of the +weary travellers. The sailors in the boat were Frenchmen, but they were +not the less kind on that account. They invited Mr. Eyre and Wylie to +accompany them to their ship. + +When the young savage found himself on board, he was almost wild with +delight, for he had now as much to eat as he could desire, and he began +eating biscuits so fast, that the sailors began to be afraid lest he +should eat them all; and they were glad to give him fishes instead, as +they could catch plenty of them. + +For twelve days Wylie and his master lived in the ship, and then left it, +laden with provisions, and dressed in warm clothes. + +They had still many miles to go along the shore, but they suffered no +more from want of food and water. + +Great was their rapture when they first caught sight of the hills of St. +George's Sound; for then they knew their journey would soon end. But they +had rivers to cross on the way, and in trying to get the horses over, +they nearly lost the poor beasts, and their own lives too. For three days +their clothes were dripping with wet, and the last night was one of the +worst; but then they knew it was the LAST, and that thought enabled them +to bear all. So does the Christian feel when near the end of his journey. +He is in the midst of storms, and wading through deep waters, even the +deep waters of DEATH; but he knows that he is near HOME. + +It was in the midst of a furious storm, that these travellers arrived at +their journey's end. Though they were now close to the town of Albany, +neither man nor beast were to be seen; for neither would venture out. At +last, a native appeared, and he knew Wylie, and greeted him joyfully, +telling him at the same time that his friends had given him up for dead a +long while ago. This native, by a loud shrill cry, let his countrymen +know that Wylie was found; and presently a multitude of men, women, and +children, came rushing rapidly from the town, and up the hill to meet +him. His parents and brethren folded him in their arms, while all around +welcomed him with shouts of joy. His master was kindly received at the +house of a friend; but he did not meet with so warm a welcome as Wylie, +for he was not like him in the midst of his family. + +The kind master overlooked all Wylie's faults during the journey, and +remembered only his kindness in keeping with him to the end. He even +spoke in his favor to the government, requesting that Wylie might have a +daily allowance of food as a reward for his good conduct. What great +reason had this young savage to rejoice that he had not listened to the +enticements of his wicked comrades, when they called him so often by his +name, and tried to induce him to forsake his kind master! + + +LITTLE MICKEY. + +Mickey was born in the wilds of Australia; yet he was a highly favored +boy; for he became servant to a missionary. This was far better than +being, like Wylie, the companion of a traveller. + +Mickey was a merry and active little fellow, and was a great favorite +with his master's children. The older ones taught him to read, and the +little ones played with him. During the day, Mickey took care of the +cattle, and at night he slept in a shed close by his master's house. He +might have been a happy boy, but he soon fell into sin and sorrow. + +One evening he was in the cooking-house, eating his supper with another +native boy, his fellow-servant. The oven was hot, and the bread was +baking. Mickey opened the door of the oven, and looked in. That was +wrong; it was the first step towards evil. Mickey had eaten a good +supper, and ought to have been satisfied; but, like his countrymen, he +had an enormous appetite, and was always ready to eat too much when he +could. He took some of the hot bread, and gave some to his +fellow-servant. How like was his conduct to that of Eve, when she took +the fruit, and gave some to Adam! + +That night Mickey was nowhere to be found, nor his little fellow-servant +either. Where could they be? Their master sent people to search for them; +but no one had seen them. It seemed strange indeed, that a boy who had +been so kindly treated, and who had seemed as happy as Mickey, should run +away. The good missionary and his children were in great grief, fearing +that some accident had befallen the lads. + +But when the time came to take the bread out of the oven, they began to +suspect why Mickey had gone away. They saw some one had stolen large +pieces of bread. They said, "Perhaps it was Mickey who stole the bread, +and perhaps he is ashamed, and so he has run away." What a pity it was +that Mickey did not come, and confess his fault; he would have been +pardoned and restored to favor. Even a good boy may fall into a great +sin; but then he will own it, and ask forgiveness, both of God and man. +Still Mickey was not like those hardened boys who robbed Mr. Eyre, for he +was ashamed. + +Month after month passed away, but no Mickey appeared. The missionary +feared that the boy would never return, but live and die amongst his +heathen countrymen. + +One day, however, he was told that a man was at the door, who wanted to +speak to him. + +"Who is he?" inquired the missionary. + +"A schoolmaster, sir," replied the servant. + +"And what does he want?" + +"He has brought with him some native boys, and he wants you to come out +and see them, and speak a few words to them about their Saviour." + +The missionary gladly consented to go out to behold so pleasing a sight, +as a school of native boys. As soon as he appeared, several young voices +called out, "Mickey no come." + +The missionary was surprised, and inquired of the boys, "What do you +mean? where is Mickey?" + +"Mickey no come," repeated the boys. "He too much frightened." + +"Why is he afraid?" asked the missionary. + +"Because he steal de bread," replied the boys. + +The missionary now began to look around, and soon espied Mickey, trying +to hide himself behind a fence. He called him; but Mickey, instead of +coming, went further off. Two or three boys then ran towards him, and +attempted to bring him back, but Mickey resisted. + +The missionary then went into the house hoping that the trembling +culprit, seeing he was gone, would come out of his hiding-place. + +Very soon he was told, that Mickey was standing with the other +boys at the door. Then the good missionary appeared again. Looking kindly +at Mickey, he said, "Why did you run away?" + +"Because me steal de bread; me very sorry." + +The missionary held out his hand to the sorrowful offender, saying, "I +forgive you, Mickey." The boy eagerly seized the kind hand, and holding +it fast, and looking earnestly up in the missionary's face, he said, +"When me steal again, you must whip me--and whip me--and whip +me--very--very much." Again the missionary assured the boy he had +entirely forgiven him--and then Mickey began to jump about for joy. + +How glad Mickey would have been to return to the service of his old +master! But that could not be; for that master was just going to set sail +for England, to visit his home and friends, and he could not take Mickey +with him. Just before he went, he provided a feast for many of the native +children, and gave them a parting address. Mickey was there--no longer +afraid--but glad to look up in the face of his beloved friend; for now he +knew he was forgiven. + +When the moment came to say "Farewell," the children ran forward, eager +to grasp the missionary's hand--but none pressed that hand so warmly and +so sorrowfully, as the little runaway. + +I know not whether that generous master, and that penitent servant ever +again met upon earth; but I have much hope they will meet in heaven; for +Mickey seems to have been sorry for his sin; and we know the promise: "If +we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." +And why? Because the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. There are +many sinners who were once as much afraid of God, as Mickey was of his +master; but who have been pardoned, and who will be present at his +HEAVENLY FEAST. + + +THE END. + +[Illustration: A CEDAR TREE.] + + + + +ATTRACTIVE AND INTERESTING + +JUVENILE BOOKS, + +PUBLISHED BY + +ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS. + + * * * * * + +Blossoms of Childhood. + By the author of the "Broken Bud." 16mo. 75 cents. + +Bunbury. + Glory, Glory, Glory, and other Narratives. 25 cents. + +Cameron. + The Farmer's Daughter. Illustrated. 30 cents. + +Commandment with Promise. + By the author of "The Week," &c. Illustrated. 75 cents. + +Duncan, Henry. + Tales of the Scottish Peasantry. 18mo. 50 cents. + The Cottage Fireside. 40 cents. + +Duncan, Mary Lundie. + Rhymes for my Children. 25 cents. + +Far Off in Asia and Australia. + Described by the author of the "Peep of Day," &c. Illustrated. 16mo. + +Fry, Caroline. + The Listener. Illustrated. $1 00. + +Frank Netherton. + Or, the Talisman. 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Illustrated. 75 cents. + +Week, The. + By the author of the "Commandment with Promise." 75 cents. + +Wilson, Professor. + Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life. 75 cents. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13011 *** diff --git a/13011-h/13011-h.htm b/13011-h/13011-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b313b65 --- /dev/null +++ b/13011-h/13011-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7391 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Far Off, by Favell Lee Mortimer</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + img {border: none;} + .ctr {text-align: center;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre.pg {font-size: 9pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13011 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Far Off, by Favell Lee Mortimer</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> + + +<a name='Page_1'></a><a name='Page_2'></a> + + + +<center> +<img src='images/2.jpg' width='571' height='814' alt='Title Page' title=''> +</center> + + + +<h1>FAR OFF;</h1> + +<h2>OR,</h2> + +<h1>Asia and Australia Described.</h1> + +<h4>WITH</h4> + +<h3>ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.</h3> + +<h2>BY THE</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "THE PEEP OF DAY,"</h3> + +<h5>ETC. ETC. ETC.</h5> + +<h4>NEW YORK:</h4> + +<h4>1852.</h4> + +<center> +<img src='images/1.jpg' width='478' height='303' alt='OUR Redeemer' title='OUR Redeemer'> +</center> +<h5>"O ma'am that's sweet! Jesus Christ is OUR Redeemer." See <a href='#Page_3'>p. 3.</a></h5> + +<hr /> +<a name='Page_3'></a><a name='Page_4'></a><a name='Page_5'></a><a name='Page_6'></a><p>In the Frontispiece may be seen an English lady, who went to live upon +Mount Sion to teach little Jewesses and little Mahomedans to know the +Saviour. That lady has led three of her young scholars to a plain just +beyond the gates of Jerusalem; and while two of them are playing +together, she is listening to little Esther, a Jewess of eight years old. +The child is fond of sitting by her friend, and of hearing about the Son +of David. She has just been singing,</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"Glory, honor, praise, and power,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Be unto the Lamb forever,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Jesus Christ is our Redeemer,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Hallelujah, praise the Lord;"</span><br /> + +<p>and now she is saying, "O, ma'am, that's sweet! Jesus Christ is <i>our</i> +Redeemer, <i>our</i> Redeemer: no <i>man</i> can redeem his brother, no +<i>money</i>,—nothing—but only the precious blood of Christ."</p> + + + +<a name='Page_7'></a> + +<hr /> +<a name='PREFACE'></a><h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This little work pleads for the notice of parents and teachers on the +same grounds as its predecessor, "Near Home."</p> + +<p>Its plea is not completeness, nor comprehensiveness, nor depth of +research, nor splendor of description; but the very reverse,—its simple, +superficial, desultory character, as better adapted to the volatile +beings for whom it is designed.</p> + +<p>Too long have their immortal minds been captivated by the adventures and +achievements of knights and princesses, of fairies and magicians; it is +time to excite their interest in real persons, and real events. In +childhood that taste is formed which leads the youth to delight in +novels, and romances; a taste which has become so general, that every<a name='Page_8'></a> +town has its circulating library, and every shelf in that library is +filled with works of fiction.</p> + +<p>While these fascinating inventions are in course of perusal, many a Bible +is unopened, or if opened, hastily skimmed; many a seat in church is +unoccupied, or if occupied, the service, and the sermon disregarded—so +intense is the sympathy of the novel reader with his hero, or his +heroine.</p> + +<p>And what is the effect of the perusal? Many a young mind, inflated with a +desire for admiration and adventure, grows tired of home, impatient of +restraint, indifferent to simple pleasures, and averse to sacred +instructions. How important, therefore, early to endeavor to prevent a +taste for FICTION, by cherishing a taste for FACTS.</p> + +<p>But this is not the only aim of the present work; it seeks also to excite +an interest in <i>those</i> facts which ought <i>most</i> to interest immortal +beings—facts relative to souls, and their eternal happiness—to God, and +his infinite glory.</p><a name='Page_9'></a> + +<p>These are the facts which engage the attention of the inhabitants of +heaven. We know not whether the births of princes, and the coronations of +monarchs are noticed by the angelic hosts; but we do know that the +repentance of a sinner, be he Hindoo or Hottentot, is celebrated by their +melodious voices in rapturous symphonies.</p> + +<p>Therefore "Far Off" desire to interest its little readers in the labors +of missionaries,—men despised and maligned by the world, but honored and +beloved by the SAVIOUR of the world. An account of the scenery and +natives of various countries, is calculated to prepare the young mind for +reading with intelligence those little Missionary Magazines, which appear +every month, written in so attractive a style, and adorned with such +beautiful illustrations. Parents have no longer reason to complain of the +difficulty of finding sacred entertainment for their children on Sunday, +for these pleasing messengers,—if carefully dealt out,—one or two on +each Sabbath, would afford a never failing supply.</p><a name='Page_10'></a> + +<p>To form great and good characters, the mind must be trained to delight in +TRUTH,—not in comic rhymes, in sentimental tales, and skeptical poetry. +The truth revealed in God's Holy Word, should constitute the firm basis +of education; and the works of Creation and Providence the superstructure +while the Divine blessing can alone rear and cement the edifice.</p> + +<p>Parents, train up your children to serve God, and to enjoy his presence +forever; and if there be amongst them—an EXTRAORDINARY child, train him +up with extraordinary care, lest instead of doing extraordinary <i>good</i> he +should do extraordinary <i>evil</i>, and be plunged into extraordinary misery.</p> + +<p>Train up—the child of imagination—not to dazzle, like Byron, but to +enlighten, like Cowper: the child of wit—not to create profane mirth, +like Voltaire, but to promote holy joy, like Bunyan: the child of +reflection—not to weave dangerous sophistries, like Hume, but to wield +powerful arguments, like Chalmers: the child of sagacity—not to gain +advantages for himself, like Cromwell, but for his country, like +Washington: the child of eloquence—not to astonish the multitude, like +Sheridan, but to plead for the miserable, like Wilberforce: the child of +ardor—not to be the herald of delusions, like Swedenbourg, but to be the +champion of truth, like Luther: the child of enterprise—not to devastate +a Continent, like the conquering Napoleon, but to scatter blessings over +an Ocean, like the missionary Williams:—and, if the child be a +prince,—train him up—not to reign in pomp and pride like the fourteenth +Louis, but to rule in the fear of God, like our own great ALFRED.</p> +<a name='Page_12'></a><a name='Page_11'></a> + + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<hr /> +<a name='CONTENTS'></a><h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<br /> + <a href='#PREFACE'><b>PREFACE</b></a><br /> + <a href='#ASIA'><b>ASIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#THE_HOLY_LAND'><b>THE HOLY LAND</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Bethlehem'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bethlehem</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Jerusalem'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Jerusalem</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Dead_Sea'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Dead Sea</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Samaria'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Samaria</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Galilee'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Galilee</span></a><br /> + <a href='#SYRIA'><b>SYRIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Damascus'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Damascus</span></a><br /> + <a href='#ARABIA'><b>ARABIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#TURKEY_IN_ASIA'><b>TURKEY IN ASIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Armenia'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Armenia</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Kurdistan'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Kurdistan</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Mesopotamia'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Mesopotamia</span></a><br /> + <a href='#PERSIA'><b>PERSIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#CHINA'><b>CHINA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#COCHIN_CHINA'><b>COCHIN CHINA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Tonquin'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tonquin</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Cambodia'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Cambodia</span></a><br /> + <a href='#HINDOSTAN'><b>HINDOSTAN</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Ganges'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Ganges</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Thugs'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Thugs</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Hindoo_Women'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Hindoo Women</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_English_In_India'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The English in India</span></a><br /> + <a href='#CIRCASSIA'><b>CIRCASSIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#GEORGIA'><b>GEORGIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Tiflis'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tiflis</span></a><br /> + <a href='#TARTARY'><b>TARTARY</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Astracan'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Astracan</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Bokhara'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bokhara</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Toorkman_Tartars'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Toorkman Tartars</span></a><br /> + <a href='#CHINESE_TARTARY'><b>CHINESE TARTARY</b></a><br /> + <a href='#AFFGHANISTAN'><b>AFFGHANISTAN</b></a><br /> + <a href='#BELOOCHISTAN'><b>BELOOCHISTAN</b></a><br /> + <a href='#BURMAH'><b>BURMAH</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Karens'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Karens</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Ava'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Ava</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Maulmain'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Maulmain</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Missionarys_Babe'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Missionary's babe</span></a><br /> + <a href='#SIAM'><b>SIAM</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Bankok'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bankok</span></a><br /> + <a href='#MALACCA'><b>MALACCA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Singapore'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Singapore</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Christian_school-girls'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Christian school-girls</span></a><br /> + <a href='#SIBERIA'><b>SIBERIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Samoyedes'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Samoyedes</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Banished_Russians'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Banished Russians</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Ural_Mountains'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Ural Mountains</span></a><br /> + <a href='#KAMKATKA'><b>KAMKATKA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#THIBET'><b>THIBET</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Lassa'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Lassa</span></a><br /> + <a href='#CEYLON'><b>CEYLON</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Kandy'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Kandy</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Colombo'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Colombo</span></a><br /> + <a href='#BORNEO'><b>BORNEO</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Bruni'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bruni</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Dyaks'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Dyaks</span></a><br /> + <a href='#JAPAN'><b>JAPAN</b></a><br /> + <a href='#AUSTRALIA'><b>AUSTRALIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Colonists_Or_Settlers'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Colonists or Settlers</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Botany_Bay'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Botany Bay</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Sydney'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Sydney</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Adelaide'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Adelaide</span></a><br /> + <a href='#VAN_DIEMANS_LAND'><b>VAN DIEMAN'S LAND</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Young_Savages'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Young Savages</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Little_Mickey'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Little Mickey</span></a><br /> + +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> +<a name='Page_14'></a> +<a name='Page_15'></a> + +<hr /><a name='Page_16'></a> +<a name='Page_17'></a> +<br /> + +<a name='ASIA'></a><h2>ASIA.</h2> + + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Of the four quarters of the world—Asia is the most glorious.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the first man lived.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the Son of God lived.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the apostles lived.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the Bible was written.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Yet now there are very few Christians in Asia: though there are more people</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>there than in any other quarter of the globe.</span><br /> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='THE_HOLY_LAND'></a><h2>THE HOLY LAND.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Of all the countries in the world which would you rather see?</p> + +<p>Would it not be the land where Jesus lived?</p><a name='Page_18'></a> + +<p>He was the Son of God: He loved us and died for us.</p> + +<p>What is the land called where He lived? Canaan was once its name: but now +Palestine, or the Holy Land.</p> + +<p>Who lives there now?</p> + +<p>Alas! alas! The Jews who once lived there are cast out of it. There are +some Jews there; but the Turks are the lords over the land. You know the +Turks believe in Mahomet.</p> + +<p>What place in the Holy Land do you wish most to visit?</p> + +<p>Some children will reply, Bethlehem, because Jesus was born there; +another will answer, Nazareth, because Jesus was brought up there; and +another will say, "Jerusalem," because He died there.</p> + +<p>I will take you first to</p> + +<a name='Bethlehem'></a><h3>BETHLEHEM.</h3> + +<p>A good minister visited this place, accompanied by a train of servants, +and camels, and asses.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to travel in Palestine, for wheels are never seen there, +because the paths are too steep, and rough, and narrow for carriages.</p><a name='Page_19'></a> + +<p>Bethlehem is on a steep hill, and a white road of chalk leads up to the +gate. The traveller found the streets narrow, dark, and dirty. He lodged +in a convent, kept by Spanish monks. He was shown into a large room with +carpets and cushions on the floor. There he was to sleep. He was led up +to the roof of the house to see the prospect. He looked, and beheld the +fields below where the shepherds once watched their flocks by night: and +far off he saw the rocky mountains where David once hid himself from +Saul.</p> + +<p>But the monks soon showed him a more curious sight. They took him into +their church, and then down some narrow stone steps into a round room +beneath. "Here," said they, "Jesus was born." The floor was of white +marble, and silver lamps were burning in it. In one corner, close to the +wall, was a marble trough, lined with blue satin. "There," said the +monks, "is the manger where Jesus was laid." "Ah!" thought the traveller, +"it was not in such a manger that my Saviour rested his infant head; but +in a far meaner place." </p> + +<p>These monks have an image of a baby, which they call Jesus. On +Christmas-day they dress it in swaddling-clothes and lay it in the +manger: and then fall down and worship it.</p><a name='Page_20'></a> + +<p>The next day, as the traveller was ready to mount his camel, the people +of Bethlehem came with little articles which they had made. But he would +not buy them, because they were images of the Virgin Mary and her holy +child, and little white crosses of mother-of-pearl. They were very +pretty: but they were idols, and God hates idols.</p> + + +<a name='Jerusalem'></a><h3>JERUSALEM.</h3> + +<p>Here our Lord was crucified.</p> + +<p>Is there any child who does not wish to hear about it?</p> + +<p>The children of Jerusalem once loved the Lord, and sang his praises in +the temple. Their young voices pleased their Saviour, though not half so +sweet as angels' songs.</p> + +<p>Which is the place where the temple stood?</p> + +<p>It is Mount Moriah. There is a splendid building there now.</p> + +<p>Is it the temple? O no, that was burned many hundreds of years ago. It is +the Mosque of Omar that you see; it is the most magnificent mosque in all +the world. How sad to think that Mahomedans should worship now in the +very spot where once the <a name='Page_21'></a>Son of God taught the people. No Jew, no +Christian may go into that mosque. The Turks stand near the gate to keep +off both Jews and Christians.</p> + +<p>Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this mosque. +There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they are part of +their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their Sabbath +(which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the stones. There +they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in the dust, and +repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old stones: because +they think that all prayers whispered between the cracks and crevices of +these stones will be heard by God. Some Jewesses come, wrapped from head +to foot in long white veils, and they gently moan and softly sigh over +Jerusalem in ruins.</p> + +<p>What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you +desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the sight +of it makes the Jews weep.</p> + +<p>But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is +Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of +images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there—and Greeks too: and +they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce +quarrels.</p><a name='Page_22'></a> + +<p>That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre." It is pretended +that Christ's tomb or sepulchre is in it. Turks stand at the door and +make Christians pay money before they will let them in.</p> + +<p>When they enter, what do they see?</p> + +<p>In one corner a stone seat. "There," say the monks, "Jesus sat when He +was crowned with thorns." In another part there is a stone pillar. +"There," say the monks, "He was scourged." There is a high place in the +middle of the church with stairs leading up to it. When you stand there +the monks say, "This is the top of Calvary, where the cross stood." But +we know that the monks do not speak the truth, for the Romans destroyed +Jerusalem soon after Christ's crucifixion, and no one knows the very +place where He suffered.</p> + +<p>On Good Friday the monks carry all round the church an image of the +Saviour as large as life, and they fasten it upon a cross, and take it +down again, and put it in the sepulchre, and they take it out again on +Easter Sunday. How foolish and how wrong are these customs! It was not in +this way the apostles showed their love to Christ, but by preaching his +word.</p> + +<p>Mount Zion is the place where David brought the ark with songs and +music. There is a church where<a name='Page_23'></a> the Gospel is preached and prayers are +offered up in Hebrew, (the Jew's language.) The minister is called the +Bishop of Jerusalem. He is a Protestant. A few Jews come to the church at +Mount Zion, and some have believed in the Lord Jesus.</p> + +<p>And there is a school there where little Jews and Jewesses and little +Mahomedans sit side by side while a Christian lady teaches them about +Jesus. In the evening, after school, she takes them out to play on the +green grass near the city. A little Jewess once much pleased this kind +teacher as she was sitting on a stone looking at the children playing. +Little Esther repeated the verse—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Glory, honor, praise and power</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Be unto the Lamb forever;</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Jesus Christ is our Redeemer,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Hallelujah, praise the Lord!</span><br /> + +<p>and then she said very earnestly, "O, ma'am, how sweet to think that +Jesus is <i>our</i> Redeemer. No <i>man</i> can redeem his brother: no money—no +money can do it—only the precious blood of Jesus Christ." Little Esther +seemed as if she loved Jesus, as those children did who sang his praises +in the temple so many years ago. </p> + +<p>But there is another place—very sad, but very sweet—where you must +come. Go down that valley—cross<a name='Page_24'></a> that small stream—(there is a narrow +bridge)—see those low stone walls—enter: it is the Garden of +Gethsemane. Eight aged olive-trees are still standing there; but Jesus +comes there no more with his beloved disciples. What a night was that +when He wept and prayed—when the angel comforted Him—and Judas betrayed +Him.</p> + +<p>The mountain just above Gethsemane is the Mount of Olives. Beautiful +olive-trees are growing there still. There is a winding path leading to +the top. The Saviour trod upon that Mount just before he was caught up +into heaven. His feet shall stand there again, and every eye shall see +the Saviour in his glory. But will every eye be glad to see Him?</p> + +<p>O no; there will be bitter tears then flowing from many eyes.</p> + +<p>And what kind of a city is Jerusalem?</p> + +<p>It is a sad and silent city. The houses are dark and dirty, the streets +are narrow, and the pavement rough. There are a great many very old Jews +there. Jews come from all countries when they are old to Jerusalem, that +they may die and be buried there. Their reason is that they think that +all Jews who are buried in their burial-ground at Jerusalem will be +raised <i>first</i> at the last day, and will be happy forever. Most of the +old Jews are very poor: though <a name='Page_25'></a>money is sent to them every year from the +Jews in Europe.</p> + +<p>There are also a great many sick Jews in Jerusalem, because it is such an +unhealthy place. The water in the wells and pools gets very bad in +summer, and gives the ague and even the plague. Good English Christians +have sent a doctor to Jerusalem to cure the poor sick people. One little +girl of eleven years old came among the rest—all in rags and with bare +feet: she was an orphan, and she lived with a Jewish washerwoman. The +doctor went to see the child in her home. Where was it? It was near the +mosque, and the way to it was down a narrow, dark passage, leading to a +small close yard. The old woman lived in one room with her grandchildren +and the orphan: there was a divan at each end, that is, the floor was +raised for people to sleep on. The orphan was not allowed to sleep on the +divans, but she had a heap of rags for her bed in another part. The +child's eyes glistened with delight at the sight of her kind friend the +doctor, he asked her whether she went to school. This question made the +whole family laugh: for no one in Jerusalem teaches girls to read except +the kind Christian lady I told you of.</p><a name='Page_26'></a> + + +<a name='The_Dead_Sea'></a><h3>THE DEAD SEA.</h3> + +<p>The most gloomy and horrible place in the Holy Land is the Dead Sea. In +that place there once stood four wicked cities, and God destroyed them +with fire and brimstone.</p> + +<p>You have heard of Sodom and Gomorrah.</p> + +<p>A clergyman who went to visit the Dead Sea rode on horseback, and was +accompanied by men to guard him on the way, as there are robbers hid +among the rocks. He took some of the water of the Dead Sea in his mouth, +that he might taste it, and he found it salt and bitter; but he would not +swallow it, nor would he bathe in it.</p> + +<p>He went next to look at the River Jordan. How different a place from the +dreary, desolate Dead Sea! Beautiful trees grow on the banks, and the +ends of the branches dip into the stream. The minister chose a part quite +covered with branches and bathed there, and as the waters went over his +head, he thought, "My Saviour was baptized in this river." But he did not +think, as many pilgrims do who come here every year, that his sins were +washed away by the water: no, he well knew that Christ's blood alone +cleanses from sin. There is a place where the Roman Catholics <a name='Page_27'></a>bathe, and +another where the Greeks bathe every year; they would not on any account +bathe in the same part, because they disagree so much.</p> + +<p>After drinking some of the sweet soft water of Jordan, the minister +travelled from Jericho to Jerusalem. He went the very same way that the +good Samaritan travelled who once found a poor Jew lying half-killed by +thieves. Even to this day thieves often attack travellers in these parts: +because the way is so lonely, and so rugged, and so full of places where +thieves can hide themselves.</p> + +<p>A horse must be a very good climber to carry a traveller along the steep, +rough, and narrow paths, and a traveller must be a bold man to venture to +go to the edge of the precipices, and near the robbers' caves.</p> + + +<a name='Samaria'></a><h3>SAMARIA.</h3> + +<p>In the midst of Palestine is the well where the Lord spoke so kindly to +the woman of Samaria. In the midst of a beautiful valley there is a heap +of rough stones: underneath is the well. But it is not easy to drink +water out of this well. For the stone on the top is so heavy, that it +requires many people to remove it: and then the well is deep, and a very +long<a name='Page_28'></a> rope is necessary to reach the water. The clergyman (of whom I have +spoken so often) had nothing to draw with; therefore, even if he could +have removed the stone, he could not have drunk of the water. The water +must be very cool and refreshing, because it lies so far away from the +heat. That was the reason the Samaritan woman came so far to draw it: for +there were other streams nearer the city, but there was no water like the +water of Jacob's well.</p> + +<p>The city where that woman lived was called Sychar. It is still to be +seen, and it is still full of people. You remember that the men of that +city listened to the words of Jesus, and perhaps that is the reason it +has not been destroyed. The country around is the most fruitful in all +Canaan; there are such gardens of melons and cucumbers, and such groves +of mulberry-trees.</p> + + +<a name='Galilee'></a><h3>GALILEE.</h3> + +<p>How different from Sychar is Capernaum! That was the city where Jesus +lived for a long while, where he preached and did miracles. It was on the +borders of the lake of Genesareth. The traveller inquired of the people +near the lake, where Capernaum once stood; but no one knew of such a +place: it is utterly<a name='Page_29'></a> destroyed. Jesus once said, "Woe unto Capernaum." +Why? Because it repented not. </p> + +<p>The lake of Genesareth looked smooth as glass when the traveller saw it; +but he heard that dreadful storms sometimes ruffled those smooth waters. +It was a sweet and lovely spot; not gloomy and horrible like the Dead +Sea. The shepherds were there leading their flocks among the green hills +where once the multitude sat down while Jesus fed them.</p> + +<p>Not very far off is the city where Jesus lived when he was a boy.</p> + +<p><b>NAZARETH.</b>—All around are rugged rocky hills. In old times it was +considered a wicked city; perhaps it got this bad name from wicked people +coming here to hide themselves: and it seems just fit for a hiding-place. +From the top of one of the high crags the Nazarenes once attempted to +hurl the blessed Saviour.</p> + +<p>There is a Roman Catholic convent there, where the minister lodged. He +was much disturbed all day by the noise in the town; not the noise of +carts and wagons, for there are none in Canaan, but of screaming +children, braying asses, and grunting camels. One of his servants came to +him complaining that he had lost his purse with all his wages. He had +left it in his cell, and when he came back it was gone. Who could have +taken it? It was clear one of the<a name='Page_30'></a> servants of the convent must have +stolen it, for one of them had the key of the room. The travellers went +to the judge of the town to complain; but the judge, who was a Turk, was +asleep, and no one was allowed to awake him. In the evening, when he did +awake, he would not see justice done, because he said he had nothing to +do with the servants at the convent, as they were Christians. Nazareth, +you see, is still a wicked city, where robbery is committed and not +punished.</p> + +<p>There is much to make the traveller sad as he wanders about the Holy +Land.</p> + +<p>That land was once <i>fruitful</i>, but now it is barren. It is not surprising +that no one plants and sows in the fields, because the Turks would take +away the harvests.</p> + +<p>Once it was a <i>peaceful</i> land, but now there are so many enemies that +every man carries a gun to defend himself.</p> + +<p>Once it was a <i>holy</i> land, but now Mahomet is honored, and not the God of +Israel.</p> + +<p>When shall it again be fruitful, and peaceful, and holy? When the Jews +shall repent of their sins and turn to the Lord. Then, says the prophet +Ezekiel, (xxxvi. 35,) "They shall say, This land that was desolate is +become like the garden of Eden."<a name='FNanchor_1_1'></a><a href='#Footnote_1_1'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> + +<a name='Footnote_1_1'></a><a href='#FNanchor_1_1'>[1]</a><div class='note'><p> Taken chiefly from "A Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. George +Fisk.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='SYRIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_31'></a>SYRIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Those who love the Holy Land will like to hear about Syria also; for +Abraham lived there before he came into Canaan. Therefore the Israelites +were taught to say when they offered a basket of fruit to God, "A Syrian +was my father." It was a heathen land in old times; and it is now a +Mahomedan land; though there are a few Christians there, but very +ignorant Christians, who know nothing of the Bible.</p> + +<p>Syria is a beautiful land, and famous for its grand mountains, called +Lebanon. The same clergyman who travelled through the Holy Land went to +Lebanon also. He had to climb up very steep places on horseback, and +slide down some, as slanting as the roof of a house. But the Syrian +horses are very sure-footed. It is the custom for the colts from a month +old to follow their mothers; and so when a rider mounts the back of the +colt's mother, the young creature follows, and it learns to scramble up +steep places, and to slide down; even through the towns the colt <a name='Page_32'></a>trots +after its mother, and soon becomes accustomed to all kinds of sights and +sounds: so that Syrian horses neither shy nor stumble.</p> + +<p>The traveller was much surprised at the dress of the women of Lebanon: +for on their heads they wear silver horns sticking out from under their +veils, the strangest head-dress that can be imagined.</p> + +<p>There are sweet flowers growing on the sides of Lebanon; but at the top +there are ice and snow.</p> + +<p>The traveller ate some ice, and gave some to the horses; and the poor +beasts devoured it eagerly, and seemed quite refreshed by their cold +meal.</p> + +<p>The snow of Lebanon is spoken of in the Bible as very pure and +refreshing. "Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the +rock of the field?"—Jer. xviii. 14.</p> + +<p>The traveller earnestly desired to behold the cedars of Lebanon: for a +great deal is said about them in the Bible; indeed, the temple of Solomon +was built of those cedars. It was not easy to get close to them; for +there were craggy rocks all around: but at last the traveller reached +them, and stood beneath their shade. There were twelve very large old +trees, and their boughs met at the top, and kept off the heat of the sun. +These trees might be compared to holy men, grown old in the service of +God: for this is God's<a name='Page_33'></a> promise to his servants,—"The righteous shall +flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in +Lebanon."—Psalm xc. 11, 12.</p> + + +<a name='Damascus'></a><h3>DAMASCUS.</h3> + +<p>This is the capital of Syria.</p> + +<p>It is perhaps the most ancient city in the world. Even in the time of +Abraham, Damascus was a city; for his servant Eliezer came from it.</p> + +<p>But Damascus is most famous, on account of a great event which once +happened near it. A man going towards that city suddenly saw in the +heavens a light brighter than the sun, and heard a voice from on high, +calling him by his name. Beautiful as the city was, he saw not its beauty +as he entered it, for he had been struck blind by the great light. That +man was the great apostle Paul.</p> + +<p>Who can help thinking of him among the gardens of fruit-trees surrounding +Damascus?</p> + +<p>The damask rose is one of the beauties of Damascus. There is one spot +quite covered with this lovely red rose.</p> + +<p>I will now give an account of a visit a stranger paid to a rich man in +Damascus. He went through<a name='Page_34'></a> dull and narrow streets, with no windows +looking into the streets. He stopped before a low door, and was shown +into a large court behind the house. There was a fountain in the midst of +the court, and flower-pots all round. The visitor was then led into a +room with a marble floor, but with no furniture except scarlet cushions. +To refresh him after his journey, he was taken to the bath. There a man +covered him with a lather of soap and water, then dashed a quantity of +hot water over him, and then rubbed him till he was quite dry and warm.</p> + +<p>When he came out of the bath, two servants brought him some sherbet. It +is a cooling drink made of lemon-juice and grape-juice mixed with water.</p> + +<p>The master of the house received the stranger very politely: he not only +shook hands with him, but afterwards he kissed his own hand, as a mark of +respect to his guest. The servants often kissed the visitor's hand.</p> + +<p>The dinner lasted a long while, for only one dish was brought up at a +time. Of course there were no ladies at the dinner, for in Mahomedan +countries they are always hidden. There were two lads there, who were +nephews to the master of the house; and the visitor was much surprised to +observe that they did not sit down to dinner with the company; but that +<a name='Page_35'></a>they stood near their uncle, directing the servants what to bring him; +and now and then presenting a cup of wine to him, or his guests. But it +is the custom in Syria for young people to wait upon their elders; +however, they may speak to the company while they are waiting upon them.</p> + +<p>Damascus used to be famous for its swords: but now the principal things +made there, are stuffs embroidered with silver, and boxes of curious +woods, as well as red and yellow slippers. The Syrians always wear yellow +slippers, and when they walk out they put on red slippers over the +yellow. If you want to buy any of the curious works of Damascus, you must +go to the bazaars in the middle of the town; there the sellers sit as in +a market-place, and display their goods.</p> + +<p><b>SCHOOLS.</b>—It is not the custom in Syria for girls to learn to read. But a +few years ago, a good Syrian, named Assaad, opened a school for little +girls as well as for boys.</p> + +<p>It was easy to get the little boys to come; but the mothers did not like +to send their little girls. They laughed, and said, "Who ever heard of a +girl going to school? Girls need not learn to read." The first girl who +attended Assaad's school was named Angoul, which means "Angel." Where is +the child that deserves<a name='Page_36'></a> such a name? Nowhere; for there is none +righteous, no, not one. Angoul belonged not to Mahomedan parents, but to +those called Christians; yet the Christians in Syria are almost as +ignorant as heathens. </p> + +<p>Angoul had been taught to spin silk; for her father had a garden of +mulberry-trees, and a quantity of silk worms. She was of so much use in +spinning, that her mother did not like to spare her: but the little maid +promised, that if she might go to school, she would spin faster than ever +when she came home. How happy she was when she obtained leave to go! See +her when the sun has just risen, about six o'clock, tripping to school. +She is twelve years old. Her eyes are dark, but her hair is light. Angoul +has not been scorched by the sun, like many Syrian girls, because she has +sat in-doors at her wheel during the heat of the day. She is dressed in a +loose red gown, and a scarlet cap with a yellow handkerchief twisted +round it like a turban.</p> + +<p>At school Angoul is very attentive, both while she is reading in her +Testament, and while she is writing on her tin slate with a reed dipped +in ink. She returns home at noon through the burning sun, and comes to +school again to stay till five. Then it is cool and pleasant, and Angoul +spins by her mother's side<a name='Page_37'></a> in the lovely garden of fruit-trees before the +house. Has she not learned to sing many a sweet verse about the garden +above, and the heavenly husbandman? As she watches the budding vine, she +can think now of Him who said, "I am the true vine." As she sits beneath +the olive-tree, she can call to mind the words, "I am like a green +olive-tree in the house of my God." Angoul is growing like an angel, if +she takes delight in meditating on the word of God.<a name='FNanchor_2_2'></a><a href='#Footnote_2_2'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> + +<a name='Footnote_2_2'></a><a href='#FNanchor_2_2'>[2]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted chiefly from the Rev. George Fisk's "Pastor's +Memorial," and Kinnear's Travels.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='ARABIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_38'></a>ARABIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the land in which the Israelites wandered for forty years. You +have heard what a dry, dreary, desert place the wilderness was. There is +still a wilderness in Arabia; and there are still wanderers in it; not +Israelites, but Arabs. These men live in tents, and go from place to +place with their large flocks of sheep and goats. But there are other +Arabs who live in towns, as we do.</p> + +<p>Do you know who is the father of the Arabs?</p> + +<p>The same man who is the father of the Jews.</p> + +<p>What, was Abraham their father?</p> + +<p>Yes, he was.</p> + +<p>Do you remember Abraham's ungodly son, Ishmael?</p> + +<p>He was cast out of his father's house for mocking his little brother +Isaac, and he went into Arabia.</p> + +<p>And what sort of people are the Arabs?</p> + +<p>Wild and fierce people.</p> + +<p>Travellers are afraid of passing through Arabia, lest <a name='Page_39'></a>the Arabs should +rob and murder them; and no one has ever been able to conquer the Arabs. +The Arabs are very proud, and will not bear the least affront. Sometimes +one man says to another, "The wrong side of your turban is out." This +speech is considered an affront never to be forgotten. The Arabs are so +unforgiving and revengeful that they will seek to kill a man year after +year. One man was observed to carry about a small dagger. He said his +reason was, he was hoping some day to meet his enemy and kill him.</p> + +<p>Of what religion are this revengeful people? The Mahomedan.</p> + +<p>Mahomed was an Arab. It is thought a great honor to be descended from +him. Those men who say Mahomed is their father wear a green turban, and +very proud they are of their green turbans, even though they may only be +beggars.</p> + +<p><b>THE ARABIAN WOMEN.</b>—They are shut up like the women in Syria when they +live in towns, but the women in tents are obliged to walk about; +therefore they wear a thick veil over their face, with small holes for +their eyes to peep out.</p> + +<p>The poor women wear a long shirt of white or blue; but the rich women +wrap themselves in magnificent shawls. To make themselves handsome, they<a name='Page_40'></a> +blacken their eyelids, paint their nails red, and wear gold rings in +their ears and noses. They delight in fine furniture. A room lined with +looking-glasses, and with a ceiling of looking-glasses, is thought +charming.</p> + +<p><b>ARAB TENTS.</b>—They are black, being made of the hair of black goats. Some +of them are so large that they are divided into three rooms, one for the +cattle, one for the men, and one for the women.</p> + +<p><b>ARAB CUSTOMS.</b>—The Arabs sit on the ground, resting on their heels, and +for tables they have low stools. A large dish of rice and minced mutton +is placed on the table, and immediately every hand is thrust into it; and +in a moment it is empty. Then another dish is brought, and another; and +sometimes fourteen dishes of rice, one after the other, till all the +company are satisfied. They eat very fast, and each retires from dinner as +soon as he likes, without waiting for the rest. After dinner they drink +water, and a small cup of coffee without milk or sugar. Then they smoke +for many hours.</p> + +<p>The Arabs do not indulge in eating or drinking too much, and this is one +of the best parts of their character.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/3.jpg' width='501' height='464' alt='CAMELS. p. 41. ' title='CAMELS. p. 41. '> +</center> +<h5>CAMELS. See <a href='#Page_41'>p. 41.</a></h5> + +<a name='Page_41'></a> +<p><b>THE THREE EVILS OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>The first evil is want of water. There is no river in Arabia: and the +small streams are often dried up by the heat.</p> + +<p>The second evil is many locusts, which come in countless swarms, and +devour every green thing.</p> + +<p>The third evil is the burning winds. When a traveller feels it coming, he +throws himself on the ground, covering his face with his cloak, lest the +hot sand should be blown up his nostrils. Sometimes men and horses are +choked by this sand.</p> + +<p>These are the three great evils; but there is a still greater, the +religion of Mahomed: for this injures the soul; the other evils only hurt +the body.</p> + + +<p><b>THE THREE ANIMALS OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>The animals for which Arabia is famous are animals to ride upon.</p> + +<p>Two of them are often seen in England; though here they are not nearly as +fine as in Arabia; but the third animal is never used in England. Most +English boys have ridden upon an ass. In Arabia the ass is a handsome and +spirited creature. The horse is strong and swift, and yet obedient and +gentle. The camel is just suited to Arabia. His feet are fit to<a name='Page_42'></a> tread +upon the burning sands; because the soles are more like India-rubber than +like flesh: his hard mouth, lined with horn, is not hurt by the prickly +plants of the desert; and his hump full of fat is as good to him as a bag +of provisions: for on a journey the fat helps to support him, and enables +him to do with very little food. Besides all this, his inside is so made +that he can live without water for three days.</p> + +<p>A dromedary is a swifter kind of camel, and is just as superior to a +camel as a riding-horse is to a cart-horse.</p> + + +<p><b>THE THREE PRODUCTIONS OF ARABIA.</b> </p> + +<p>These are coffee, dates, and gums.</p> + +<p>For these Arabia is famous.</p> + +<p>The coffee plants are shrubs. The hills are covered with them; the white +blossoms look beautiful among the dark green leaves, and so do the red +berries.</p> + +<p>The dates grow on the palm-trees; and they are the chief food of the +Arabs. The Arabs despise those countries where there are no dates.</p> + +<p>There are various sweet-smelling gums that flow from Arabian trees.</p><a name='Page_43'></a> + + +<p><b>THE THREE PARTS OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>You see from what I have just said that there are plants and trees in +Arabia. Then it is clear that the whole land is not a desert. No, it is +not; there is only a part called Desert Arabia; that is on the north. +There is a part in the middle almost as bad, called Stony Arabia, yet +some sweet plants grow there; but there is a part in the south called +Happy Arabia, where grow abundance of fragrant spices, and of +well-flavored coffee.</p> + + +<p><b>THE THREE CITIES OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>Arabia has long been famous for three cities, called Mecca, Medina, and +Mocha.</p> + +<p><i>Mecca</i> is considered the holiest city in the world. And why? Because the +false prophet Mahomed was born there. On that account Mahomedans come +from all parts of the world to worship in the great temple there. +Sometimes Mecca is as full of people as a hive is full of bees.</p> + +<p>Of all the cities in the East, Mecca is the gayest, because the houses +have windows looking into the streets. In these houses are lodgings for +the pilgrims.</p> + +<p>And what is it the pilgrims worship?</p><a name='Page_44'></a> + +<p>A great black stone, which they say the angel Gabriel brought down from +heaven as a foundation for Mahomed's house. They kiss it seven times, and +after each kiss they walk round it.</p> + +<p>Then they bathe in a well, which they say is the well the angel showed to +Hagar in the desert, and they think the waters of this well can wash away +all their sins. Alas! they know not of the blood which can wash away +<i>all</i> sin.</p> + +<p><i>Medina</i> contains the tomb of Mahomed; yet it is not thought so much of +as Mecca. Perhaps the Mahomedans do not like to be reminded that Mahomed +died like any other man, and never rose again.</p> + +<p><i>Mocha</i>.—This is a part whence very fine coffee is sent to Europe.</p> + + +<p><b>TRAVELS IN THE DESERT.</b></p> + +<p>Of all places in Arabia, which would you desire most to see? Would it not +be Mount Sinai? Our great and glorious God once spoke from the top of +that mountain.</p> + +<p>I will tell you of an English clergyman who travelled to see that +mountain. As he knew there were many robbers on the way, he hired an Arab +sheikh to take care of him. A sheikh is a chief, or captain. Suleiman +<a name='Page_45'></a>was a fine-looking man, dressed in a red shirt, with a shawl twisted +round his waist, a purple cloak, and a red cap. His feet and legs were +bare. His eyes were bright, his skin was brown, and his beard black. To +his girdle were fastened a huge knife and pistols, and by his side hung a +sword. This man brought a band of Arabs with him to defend the travellers +from the robbers in the desert.</p> + +<p>One day the whole party set out mounted on camels. After going some +distance, a number of children were seen scampering among the rocks, and +looking like brown monkeys. These were the children of the Arabs who +accompanied the Englishman. The wild little creatures ran to their +fathers, and saluted them in the respectful manner that Arab children are +taught to do.</p> + +<p>At last a herd of goats was seen with a fine boy of twelve years old +leading them. He was the son of Suleiman. The father seemed to take great +delight in this boy, and introduced him to the traveller. The kind +gentleman riding on a camel, put down his hand to the boy. The little +fellow, after touching the traveller's hand, kissed his own, according to +the Arabian manner.</p> + +<p>The way to Mount Sinai was very rough; indeed, the traveller was +sometimes obliged to get off his <a name='Page_46'></a>camel, and to climb among the crags on +hands and knees. How glad he was when the Arabs pointed to a mountain, +and said, "That is Mount Sinai." With what fear and reverence he gazed +upon it! Here it was that the voice of the great God was once heard +speaking out of the midst of the smoke, and clouds, and darkness!</p> + +<p>How strange it must be to see in this lonely gloomy spot, a great +building! Yet there is one at the foot of the mountain. What can it be? A +convent. See those high walls around. It is necessary to have high walls, +because all around are bands of fierce robbers. It is even unsafe to have +a door near the ground. There is a door quite high up in the wall; but +what use can it be of, when there are no steps by which to reach it? Can +you guess how people get in by this door? A rope is let down from the +door to draw the people up. One by one they are drawn up. In the inside +of the walls there are steps by which travellers go down into the convent +below. The monks who live there belong to the Greek church.</p> + +<p>The clergyman was lodged in a small cell spread with carpets and +cushions, and he was waited upon by the monks.</p> + +<p>These monks think that they lead a very holy life in the desert. They eat +no meat, and they rise in<a name='Page_47'></a> the night to pray in their chapel. But God does +not care for such service as this. He never commanded men to shut +themselves up in a desert, but rather to do good in the world.</p> + +<p>One day the monks told the traveller they would show him the place where +the burning bush once stood. How could they know the place? However, they +pretended to know it. They led the way to the chapel, then taking off +their shoes, they went down some stone steps till they came to a round +room under ground, with three lamps burning in the midst. "There," said +the monks, "is the very spot where the burning bush once stood."</p> + +<p>There were two things the traveller enjoyed while in the convent, the +beautiful garden full of thick trees and sweet flowers; and the cool pure +water from the well. Such water and such a garden in the midst of a +desert were sweet indeed.</p> + +<p>The Arabs, who accompanied the traveller, enjoyed much the plentiful +meals provided at the convent; for the monks bought sheep from the +shepherds around, to feed their guests. After leaving the convent, +Suleiman was taken ill in consequence of having eaten too much while +there. The clergyman gave him medicine, which cured him. The Arabs were +very fond of their chief, and were so grateful to the<a name='Page_48'></a> stranger for giving +him in medicine, that they called him "the good physician." Suleiman +himself showed his gratitude by bringing his own black coffee-pot into +the tent of the stranger, and asking him to drink coffee with him; for +such is the pride of an Arab chief, that he thinks it is a very great +honor indeed for a stranger to share his meal.</p> + +<p>But the traveller soon found that it is dangerous to pass through a +desert. Why? Not on account of wild beasts, but of wild men. There was a +tribe of Arabs very angry with Suleiman, because he was conducting the +travellers through <i>their</i> part of the desert. They wanted to be the +guides through that part, in hopes of getting rewarded by a good sum of +money. You see how covetous they were. The love of money is the root of +all evil.</p> + +<p>These angry Arabs were hidden among the rocks and hills; and every now +and then they came suddenly out of their hiding-places, and with a loud +voice threatened to punish Suleiman.</p> + +<p>How much alarmed the travellers were! but none more than Suleiman +himself. He requested the clergyman to travel during the whole night, in +order the sooner to get out of the reach of the enemy. The clergyman +promised to go as far as he was able. What a journey it was! No one durst +speak aloud <a name='Page_49'></a>to his companions, lest the enemies should be hidden among +the rocks close by, and should overhear them. At midnight the whole +company pitched their tents by the coast of the Red Sea. Early in the +morning the minister went alone to bathe in its smooth waters. After he +had bathed, and when he was just going to return to the tents, he was +startled by hearing the sound of a gun. The sound came from the midst of +a small grove of palm-trees close by. Alarmed, he ran back quickly to the +tents: again he heard the report of a gun: and again a third time. The +travellers, Arabs and all, were gathered together, expecting an enemy to +rush out of the grove. But where was Suleiman? He had gone some time +before into the grove of palm-trees to talk to the enemies.</p> + +<p>Presently the traveller saw about forty Arabs leave the grove and go far +away. But Suleiman came not. So the minister went into the grove to +search for him, and there he found—-not Suleiman—but his dead body!</p> + +<p>There it lay on the ground, covered with blood. The minister gazed upon +the dark countenance once so joyful, and he thought it looked as if the +poor Arab had died in great agony. It was frightful to observe the number +of his wounds. Three balls had <a name='Page_50'></a>been shot into his body by the gun which +went off three times. Three great cuts had been made in his head; his +neck was almost cut off from his head, and his hand from his arm! How +suddenly was the proud Arab laid low in the dust! All his delights were +perished forever. Suleiman had been promised a new dress of gay colors at +the end of the journey; but he would never more gird a shawl round his +active frame, or fold a turban round his swarthy brow. The Arabs wrapped +their beloved master in a loose garment, and placing him on his beautiful +camel, they went in deep grief to a hill at a little distance. There they +buried him. They dug no grave; but they made a square tomb of large loose +stones, and laid the dead body in the midst, and then covered it with +more stones. There Suleiman sleeps in the desert. But the day shall come +when "the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her +slain:" and then shall the blood of Suleiman and his slain body be +uncovered, and his murderer brought to judgment.<a name='FNanchor_3_3'></a><a href='#Footnote_3_3'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> +<br /> + +<a name='Footnote_3_3'></a><a href='#FNanchor_3_3'>[3]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted chiefly from "The Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. +G. Fisk. Published by R. Carter & Brothers.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='TURKEY_IN_ASIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_51'></a>TURKEY IN ASIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Is there a Turkey in Asia as well as a Turkey in Europe?</p> + +<p>Yes, there is; and it is governed by the same sultan, and filled by the +same sort of persons. All the Turks are Mahomedans.</p> + +<p>You may know a Mahomedan city at a distance. When we look at a Christian +city we see the steeples and spires of churches; but when we look at a +Mahomedan city we see rising above the houses and trees the domes and +minarets of mosques. What are domes and minarets? A dome is the round top +of a mosque: and the minarets are the tall slender towers. A minaret is +of great use to the Mahomedans.</p> + +<p>Do you see the little narrow gallery outside the minaret. There is a man +standing there. He is calling people to say their prayers. He calls so +loud that all the people below can hear, and the sounds he utters are +like sweet music. But would it not make you sad to hear them when you +remembered what he <a name='Page_52'></a>was telling people to do? To pray to the god of +Mahomet, not to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but to a +false god: to no God. This man goes up the dark narrow stairs winding +inside the minaret five times a day: first he goes as soon as the sun +rises, then at noon, next in the afternoon, then at sunset, and last of +all in the night. Ascending and descending those steep stairs is all his +business, and it is hard work, and fatigues him very much.</p> + +<p>In the court of the mosque there is a fountain. There every one washes +before he goes into the mosque to repeat his prayers, thinking to please +God by clean hands instead of a clean heart. Inside the mosque there are +no pews or benches, but only mats and carpets spread on the floor. There +the worshippers kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads. The +minister of the mosque is called the Imam. He stands in a niche in the +wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers.</p> + +<p>But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town, +preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday. He sits on a high place and talks +to the people—not about pardon and peace, and heaven and holiness—but +about the duty of washing their hands before prayers, and of bowing down +to the ground, and such vain services.</p><a name='Page_53'></a> + +<p>In the mosque there are two rows of very large wax candles, much higher +than a man, and as thick as his arm, and they are lighted at night.</p> + +<p>It is considered right to go to the mosque for prayers five times a day; +but very few Mahomedans go so often. Wherever people may be, they are +expected to kneel down and repeat their prayers, whether in the house or +in the street. But very few do so. While they pray, Mahomedans look about +all the time, and in the midst speak to any one, and then go on again; +for their hearts are not in their prayers; they do not worship in spirit +and in truth.</p> + +<p>There are no images or pictures in the mosques, because Mahomet forbid +his followers to worship idols. There are Korans on reading stands in +various parts of the mosque for any one to read who pleases.</p> + +<p>The people leave their red slippers at the door, keeping on their yellow +boots only; but they do not uncover their heads as Christians do.</p> + +<p>Was Christ ever known in this Mahomedan land? Yes, long before he was +known in England. Turkey in Asia used to be called Asia Minor, (or Asia +the less,) and there it was that Paul the apostle was born, and there he +preached and turned many to Christ. But at last the Christians began to +worship images, and the fierce Turks came and turned the churches <a name='Page_54'></a>into +mosques. This was the punishment God sent the Christians for breaking his +law. In some of the mosques you may see the marks of the pictures which +the Christians painted on the walls, and which the Turks nearly scraped +off.</p> + +<p>How dreadful it would be if our churches should ever be turned into +mosques! May God never send us this heavy punishment.</p> + + +<a name='Armenia'></a><h3>ARMENIA.</h3> + +<p>One corner of Turkey in Asia is called Armenia. There are many high +mountains in Armenia, and one of them you would like to see very much. It +is the mountain on which Noah's ark rested after the flood. I mean +Ararat.<a name='FNanchor_4_4'></a><a href='#Footnote_4_4'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> + +<p>It is a very high mountain with two peaks; and its highest peak is always +covered with snow. People say that no one ever climbed to the top of that +peak. I should think Noah's ark rested on a lower part of the mountain +between the two peaks, for it would have been very cold for Noah's +family on the snow-covered<a name='Page_55'></a> peak, and it would have been very difficult +for them to get down. How pleasant it must be to stand on the side of +Ararat, and to think, "Here my great father Noah stood, and my great +mother, Noah's wife; here they saw the earth in all its greenness, just +washed with the waters of the flood, and here they rejoiced and praised +God."</p> + +<p>I am glad to say that all the Armenians are not Mahomedans. Many are +Christians, but, alas! they know very little about Christ except his +name. I will tell you a short anecdote to show how ignorant they are.</p> + +<p>Once a traveller went to see an old church in Armenia called the Church +of Forty Steps, because there are forty steps to reach it: for it is +built on the steep banks of a river.</p> + +<p>The traveller found the churchyard full of boys. This churchyard was +their school-room. And what were their books? The grave-stones that lay +flat upon the ground. Four priests were teaching the boys. These priests +wore black turbans; while Turkish Imams wear white turbans. One of these +Armenian priests led the traveller to an upper room, telling him he had +something very wonderful to show him. What could it be? The priest went +to a nacho in the wall and took out of it a bundle; then untied a silk +handkerchief, <a name='Page_56'></a>and then another, and then another; till he had untied +twenty-five silk handkerchiefs. What was the precious thing so carefully +wrapped up? It was a New Testament.</p> + +<p>It is a precious book indeed: but it ought to be read, and not wrapped +up. The priest praised it, saying, "This is a wonderful book; it has +often been laid upon sick persons, and has cured them." Then a poor old +man, bent and tottering, pressed forward to kiss the book, and to rub his +heavy head. This was worshipping the <i>book</i>, instead of Him who wrote it.</p> + +<p>An Armenian village looks like a number of molehills: for the dwellings +are holes dug in the ground with low stone walls round the holes; the +roof is made of branches of trees and heaps of earth. There are generally +two rooms in the hole—one for the family, and one for the cattle.</p> + +<p>A traveller arrived one evening at such a village; and he was pleased to +see fruit-trees overshadowing the hovels, and women, without veils, +spinning cotton under their shadow. But he was not pleased with the room +where he was to sleep. The way lay through a long dark passage under +ground; and the room was filled with cattle: there was no window nor +chimney. How dark and hot it was! Yet it was too damp to sleep out of +doors, because a large lake was <a name='Page_57'></a>near; therefore he wrapped his cloak +around him, and lay upon the ground; but he could not sleep because of +the stinging of insects, and the trampling of cattle: and glad he was in +the morning to breathe again the fresh air.</p> + +<p>Rich Armenians have fine houses. Once a traveller dined with a rich +Armenian. The dinner was served up in a tray, and placed on a low stool, +while the company sat on the ground. One dish after another was served up +till the traveller was tired of tasting them. But there was not only too +much to <i>eat</i>; there was also too much to <i>drink</i>. Rakee, a kind of +brandy, was handed about; and afterwards a musician came in and played +and sang to amuse the company. In Turkey there is neither playing, nor +singing, nor drinking spirits. The Turks think themselves much better +than Christians. "For," say they, "we drink less and pray more." They do +not know that real Christians are not fond of drinking, and are fond of +praying; only <i>they</i> pray more in <i>secret</i>, and the Turks more in +<i>public</i>.</p><a name='Page_58'></a> + + +<a name='Kurdistan'></a><h3>KURDISTAN.</h3> + +<p>The fiercest of all the people in Asia are the Kurds.</p> + +<p>They are the terror of all who live near them.</p> + +<p>Their dwellings are in the mountains; there some live in villages, and +some in black tents, and some in strong castles. At night they rush down +from the mountains upon the people in the valleys, uttering a wild yell, +and brandishing their swords. They enter the houses, and begin to pack up +the things they find, and to place them on the backs of their mules and +asses, while they drive away the cattle of the poor people; and if any +one attempts to resist them, they kill him. You may suppose in what +terror the poor villagers live in the valleys. They keep a man to watch +all night, as well as large dogs; and they build a strong tower in the +midst of the village where they run to hide themselves when they are +afraid.</p> + +<p>The reason why the Armenians live in holes in the ground is because they +hope the Kurds may not find out where they are.</p> + +<p>Those Kurds who live in tents often move from place to place. The black +tents are folded up and placed on the backs of mules; and a large kettle +is slung upon the end of the tent-pole. The men and <a name='Page_59'></a>women drive the +herds and flocks, while the children and the chickens ride upon the cows.</p> + +<p>The Kurds have thin, dark faces, hooked noses, and black eyes, with a +fierce and malicious look.</p> + +<p>They are of the Mahomedan religion, and the call to prayers may be heard +in the villages of these robbers and murderers.</p> + + +<a name='Mesopotamia'></a><h3>MESOPOTAMIA.</h3> + +<p>This country is part of Turkey in Asia. It lies between two very famous +rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, often spoken of in the Bible. The +word Mesopotamia means "between rivers." It was between these rivers that +faithful Abraham lived when God first called him to be his friend. Should +you not like to see that country? It is now full of ruins. The two most +ancient cities in the world were built on the Tigris and Euphrates.</p> + +<p>Nineveh was on the Tigris.</p> + +<p>What a city that was at the time Jonah preached there! Its walls were so +thick that three chariots could go on the top all abreast.</p> + +<p>But what is Nineveh now? Look at those green mounds. Under those heaps of +rubbish lies Nineveh.<a name='Page_60'></a> A traveller has been digging among those mounds, +and has found the very throne of the kings of Nineveh, and the images of +winged bulls and lions which adorned the palace. God overthrew Nineveh +because it was wicked.</p> + +<p>There is another ancient city lying in ruins on the Euphrates, it is +Babylon the Great.</p> + +<p>There are nothing but heaps of bricks to be seen where once proud Babylon +stood. Where are now the streets fifteen miles long? Where are the +hanging gardens? Gardens one above the other, the wonder of the world? +Where is now the temple of Belus, (or of Babel, as some think,) with its +golden statue? All, all are now crumbled into rubbish. God has destroyed +Babylon as he said.</p> + +<p>There are dens of wild beasts among the ruins. A traveller saw some bones +of a sheep in one, the remains, he supposed, of a lion's dinner; but he +did not like to go further into the den to see who dwelt there. Owls and +bats fill all the dark places. But no men live there, though human bones +are often found scattered about, and they turn into dust as soon as they +are touched.</p> + +<p>There is now a great city in Mesopotamia, called Bagdad. In Babylon no +sound is heard but the howlings of wild beasts; in Bagdad men may be +heard <a name='Page_61'></a>screaming and hallooing from morning to night. The drivers of the +camels and the mules shout as they press through the narrow crooked +streets, and even the ladies riding on white donkeys, and attended by +black slaves, scream and halloo.</p> + +<p>In summer it is so hot in Bagdad that people during the day live in rooms +under ground, and sleep on their flat roofs at night.</p> + +<p>It is curious to see the people who have been sleeping on the roof get up +in the morning. First they roll up their mattrasses, their coverlids, and +pillows, and put them in the house. The children cannot fold up theirs, +but their mothers or black slaves do it for them. The men repeat their +prayers, and then drink a cup of coffee, which their wives present to +them. The wives kneel as they offer the cup to their lords, and stand +with their hands crossed while their lords are drinking, then kneel down +again to receive the cup, and to kiss their lords' hand. Then the men +take their pipes, and lounge on their cushions, while the women say their +prayers. And when do the children say their prayers? Never. They know +only of Mahomet; they know not the Saviour who said, "Suffer little +children to come unto me."</p> + +<a name='Footnote_4_4'></a><a href='#FNanchor_4_4'>[4]</a><div class='note'><p> It is remarkable that this mountain lies at the point where +three great empires meet, namely, Russia, Persia, and Turkey.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='PERSIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_62'></a>PERSIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Is this country mentioned in the Bible? Yes; we read of Cyrus, the king +of Persia. Isaiah spoke of him before he was born, and called him by his +name. See chapter xlv.</p> + +<p>Persia is now a Mahomedan country. The Turks, you remember, are +Mahomedans too. Perhaps you think those two nations, the Turks and the +Persians, must agree well together, as they are of the same religion. Far +from it. No nations hate one another more than Turks and Persians do; and +the reason is, that though they both believe in Mahomet, they disagree +about his son-in law, Ali. The Persians are very fond of him, and keep a +day of mourning in memory of his death; whereas the Turks do not care for +Ali at all.</p> + +<p>But is this a reason why they should hate one another so much?</p> + +<p>Even in their common customs the Persians differ from the Turks. The +Turks sit cross-legged on the <a name='Page_63'></a>ground; the Persians sit upon their heels. +Which way of sitting should you prefer? I think you would find it more +comfortable to sit like a Turk.</p> + +<p>The Turks sit on sofas and lean against cushions; the Persians sit on +carpets and lean against the wall. I know you would prefer the Turkish +fashion. The Turks drink coffee without either milk or sugar; the +Persians drink tea with sugar, though without milk. The Turks wear +turbans; the Persians wear high caps of black lamb's-wool.</p> + +<p>Not only are their <i>customs</i> different; but their <i>characters</i>. The Turks +are grave and the Persians lively. The Turks are silent, the Persians +talkative. The Turks are rude, the Persians polite. Now I am sure you +like the Persians better than the Turks. But wait a little—the Turks are +very proud; the Persians are very deceitful. An old Persian was heard to +say, "We all tell lies whenever we can." The Persians are not even +ashamed when their falsehoods are found out. When they sell they ask too +much; when they make promises they break them. In short, it is impossible +to trust a Persian.</p> + +<p>The Turks obey Mahomet's laws; they pray five times a day, and drink no +wine. But the Persians seldom repeat their prayers, and they do drink +wine, though Mahomet has forbidden it. In short, the Persian <a name='Page_64'></a>seems to +have no idea of right and wrong. The judges do not give right judgment, +but take bribes. The soldiers live by robbing the poor people, for the +king pays them no wages, but leaves them to get food as they can; and so +the poor people often build their cottages in little nooks in the +valleys, where they hope the soldiers will not see them.</p> + +<p><b>THE COUNTRY.</b>—Persia is a high country and a dry country. There are high +mountains and wide plains; but there are very few rivers and running +brooks, because there is so little rain. However, in some places the +Persians have cut canals, and planted willow-trees by their side. Rice +will not grow well in such a dry country, but sheep find it very pleasant +and wholesome. The hills are covered over with flocks, and the shepherds +may be seen leading their sheep and carrying the very young lambs in +their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it +is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms."</p> + +<p>The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia—I mean the rose. +The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves +and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for +children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a +traveller went to breakfast<a name='Page_65'></a> with a Persian Prince, and he found the +company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet spread over it. +Afterwards the rose-leaves were sent to the distillers, to be made into +rose-water.</p> + +<p>Persian cats are beautiful creatures, with fur as soft as silk.</p> + +<p>The best melons in the world grow in Persia.</p> + +<p>The three chief materials for making clothes are all to be found there in +abundance. I mean wool, cotton, and silk. You have heard already of the +Persian sheep; so you see there is wool. Cotton trees also abound. Women +and children may be been picking the nuts which contain the little pieces +of cotton. There are mulberry-trees also to feed the numerous silk worms.</p> + +<p><b>POOR PEOPLE.</b>—The villages where the poor live are miserable places. The +houses are of mud, not placed in rows, but straggling, with dirty narrow +paths winding between them.</p> + +<p>In summer the poor people sleep on the roofs; for the roofs are flat, and +covered with earth, with low walls on every side to prevent the sleepers +falling off. Here the Persians spread their carpets to lie upon at night.</p> + +<p>Winter does not last long in Persia, yet while it lasts it is cold. Then +the poor, instead of sleeping <a name='Page_66'></a>on their roofs, sleep in a very curious +warm bed. In the middle of each cottage there is a round hole in the +floor, where the fire burns. In the evening the fire goes out, but the +hot cinders remain. The Persians place over it a low round table, and +then throw a large coverlid over the table, and all round about. Under +this coverlid the family lie at night, their heads peeping out, and their +feet against the warm fire-place underneath. This the Persians call a +comfortable bed.</p> + +<p>The poor wear dirty and ragged clothes, and the children may be seen +crawling about in the dust, and looking like little pigs. Yet in one +respect the Persians are very clean; they bathe often. In every village +there is a large bath.</p> + +<p>The poor people have animals of various kinds—a few sheep, or goats, or +cows. In the day one man takes them all out to feed. In the evening he +brings them back to the village, and the animals of their own accord go +home to their own stables. Each cow and each sheep knows where she will +get food and a place to sleep in. The prophet Isaiah said truly, "The ass +knoweth his owner, and the ox his master's crib; but Israel doth not +know, my people doth not consider."</p> + +<p><b>THE PERSIAN LADIES.</b>—They wrap themselves up in a large dark blue +wrapper, and in this dress they<a name='Page_67'></a> walk out where they please. No one who +meets them can tell who they are.</p> + +<p>And where do these women go? Chiefly to the bath, where they spend much +of their time drinking coffee and smoking. There too they try to make +themselves handsome by blackening their eyebrows and dyeing their hair. +Sometimes the ladies walk to the burial-grounds, and wander about for +hours among the graves. When they are at home they employ themselves in +making pillau and sherbet. Pillau is made of rice and butter; sherbet is +made of juice mixed with water.</p> + +<p>The ladies have a sitting-room to themselves. One side of it is all +lattice-work, and this makes it cool. At night they spread their carpets +on the floor to sleep upon, and in the day they keep them in a +lumber-room.</p> + +<p><b>PERSIAN INNS.</b>—They are very uncomfortable places. There are a great many +small cells made of mud, built all round a large court. These cells are +quite empty, and paved with stone. The only comfortable room is over the +door-way of the court, and the first travellers who arrive are sure to +settle in the room over the door-way.</p> + +<p>Once an English traveller arrived at a Persian inn with his two servants. +All three were very ill and in <a name='Page_68'></a>great pain, from having travelled far over +burning plains and steep mountains.</p> + +<p>But as the room over the door-way was occupied, they were forced to go +into a little cold damp cell. As there was no door to the cell, they hung +up a rag to keep out the chilling night air, and they placed a pan of +coals in the midst. Many Persians came and peeped into the cell; and +seeing the sick men looking miserable as they lay on their carpets, the +unfeeling creatures laughed at them, and no one would help them or give +them anything to eat. The travellers bought some bread and grapes at the +bazaar, but these were not fit food for sick men, but it was all they +could get. At last a Persian merchant heard of their distress; and he +came to see them every day, bringing them warm milk and wholesome food: +when they were well enough to be moved, he took them to his own house, +and nursed them with the greatest care.</p> + +<p>Who was this kind merchant? Not a Mahomedan, but of the religion of the +fire worshippers, or Parsees. Was he not like the good Samaritan of whom +we read in the New Testament? O that Bahram, the merchant, might know the +true God!</p> + +<p><b>PILGRIMS AND BEGGARS.</b>—Very often you may see a large company of Pilgrims +some on foot, and <a name='Page_69'></a>some mounted on camels, horses, and asses. They are +returning from Mecca, the birth-place of Mahomet. What good have they got +by their pilgrimage? None at all. They think they are grown very holy, +but they make such an uproar at the inns by quarrelling and fighting when +they are travelling home, that no one can bear to be near them.</p> + +<p>There is a set of beggars called dervishes. They call themselves very +holy, and think people are bound to give money to such holy men. They are +so bold that sometimes they refuse to leave a place till some money has +been given.</p> + +<p>Once a dervish stopped a long while before the house of the English +ambassador, and refused to go away. But a plan was thought of to <i>make</i> +him go away.</p> + +<p>The dervish was sitting in a little niche in the wall. The ambassador +ordered his servants to build up bricks to shut the dervish in. The men +began to build, yet the dervish would not stir, till the bricks came up +as high as his chin: then he began to be frightened, and said he would +rather go away.</p> + +<p><b>THE KING OF PERSIA.</b>—He is called King of Kings. What a name for a man! +It is the title of God alone. The king sits on a marble throne, and his +garments sparkle with jewels of dazzling brightness.<a name='Page_70'></a> The walls of his +state-chamber are covered with looking-glasses. One side of the room +opens into a court adorned with flowers and fountains. Great part of his +time is spent in amusements, such as hunting and shooting, writing +verses, and hearing stories. He keeps a man called a story-teller, and he +will never hear the same story repeated twice. It gives the man a great +deal of trouble to find new stories every day. The king keeps jesters, +who make jokes; and he has mimics, who play antics to make him laugh. He +dines at eight in the evening from dishes of pure gold. No one is allowed +to dine with him; but two of his little boys wait upon him, and his +physician stands by to advise him not to eat too much.</p> + +<p>Do you think he is happy in all his grandeur? Judge for yourself.</p> + +<p>All his golden dishes come up covered and sealed. Why? For fear of +poison. There is a chief officer in the kitchen who watches the cook, to +see that he puts no poison into the food: and he seals up the dishes +before they are taken to the king, in order that the servants may not put +in poison as they are carrying them along. In what fear this great king +lives! He cannot trust his own servants.</p> + +<p><b>TEHERAN.</b>—This is the royal city. It is built in a barren plain, and is +exceedingly hot, as the hills <a name='Page_71'></a>around keep off the air. It is a mean +city, for it is chiefly built of mud huts.</p> + +<p>The king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as +grand place.<a name='FNanchor_5_5'></a><a href='#Footnote_5_5'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> + + +<a name='Footnote_5_5'></a><a href='#FNanchor_5_5'>[5]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted chiefly from Southgate's Travels.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CHINA'></a><h2><a name='Page_72'></a>CHINA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>There is no country in the world like China.</p> + +<p>How different it is from Persia, where there are so few people; whereas +China is crowded with inhabitants!</p> + +<p>How different it is from England, where the people are instructed in the +Bible, whereas China is full of idols.</p> + +<p>China is a heathen country; yet it is not a savage country, for the +people are quiet, and orderly, and industrious.</p> + +<p>It would be hard for a child to imagine what a great multitude of people +there are in China.</p> + +<p>If you were to sit by a clock, and if all the Chinese were to pass before +you one at a time, and if you were to count one at each tick of the +clock, and if you were never to leave off counting day or night—how long +do you think it would be before you had counted all the Chinese?</p> + +<p>Twelve years. O what a vast number of people <a name='Page_73'></a>there must be in China! In +all, there are about three hundred and sixty millions! If all the people +in the world were collected together, out of every three one would be a +Chinese. How sad it is to think that this immense nation knows not God, +nor his glorious Son!</p> + +<p>There are too many people in China, for there is not food enough for them +all; and many are half-starved.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—The poor can get nothing but rice to eat and water to drink; +except now and then they mix a little pork or salt fish with their rice. +Any sort of meat is thought good; even a hash of rats and snakes, or a +mince of earth-worms. Cats and dogs' flesh are considered as nice as +pork, and cost as much.</p> + +<p>An Englishman was once dining with a Chinaman, and he wished to know what +sort of meat was on his plate. But he was not able to speak Chinese. How +then could he ask? He thought of a way. Looking first at his plate, and +then at the Chinaman, he said, "Ba-a-a," meaning to ask, "Is this +mutton?" The Chinaman understood the question, and immediately replied, +"Bow-wow," meaning to say, "It is puppy-dog." You will wish to know +whether the Englishman went on eating; but I cannot tell you this.</p> + +<p>While the poor are in want of food, the rich eat a great deal too much. A +Chinese feast in a rich man's<a name='Page_74'></a> house lasts for hours. The servants bring +in one course after another, till a stranger wonders when the last course +will come. The food is served up in a curious way; not on dishes, but in +small basins—for all the meats are swimming in broth. Instead of a knife +and fork, each person has a pair of chop-sticks, which are something like +knitting-needles; and with these he cleverly fishes up the floating +morsels, and pops them into his mouth. There are spoons of china for +drinking the broth. </p> + +<p>You will be surprised to hear that the Chinese are very fond of eating +birds' nests. Do not suppose that they eat magpies' nests, which are made +of clay and sticks, or even little nests of moss and clay; the nests they +eat are made of a sort of gum. This gum comes out of the bird's mouth, +and is shining and transparent, and the nest sticks fast to the rock. +These nests are something like our jelly, and must be very nourishing.</p> + +<p>The Chinese like nothing cold; they warm all their food, even their wine. +For they have wine, not made of grapes, but of rice, and they drink it, +not in glasses, but in cups. Tea, however, is the most common drink; for +China is the country where tea grows.</p> + +<p>The hills are covered with shrubs bearing a white flower, a little like a +white rose. They are tea-plants.<a name='Page_75'></a> The leaves are picked; each leaf is +rolled up with the finger, and dried on a hot iron plate.</p> + +<p>The Chinese do not keep all the tea-leaves; they pack up a great many in +boxes, and send them to distant lands. In England and in Russia there is +a tea-kettle in every cottage. Some of the Chinese are so very poor that +they cannot buy new tea-leaves, but only tea-leaves which ire sold in +shops. I do not think in England poor people would buy old tea-leaves. +Some very poor Chinese use fern-leaves instead of tea-leaves.</p> + +<p>The Chinese do not make tea in the same way that we do. They have no +teapot, or milk-jug, or sugar-basin. They put a few tea-leaves in a cup, +pour hot water on them, and then put a cover on the cup till the tea is +ready. Whenever you pay a visit in China a cup of tea is offered.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The Chinese are not at all like the other natives of Asia. +The Turks and Arabs are fine-looking men, but the Chinese are +poor-looking creatures. You have seen their pictures on their boxes of +tea, for they are fond of drawing pictures of themselves.</p> + +<p>Their complexion is rather yellow, but many of the ladies, who keep in +doors, are rather fair. They have black hair, small dark eyes, broad +faces, flat noses, and <a name='Page_76'></a>high cheek-bones. In general they are short. The +men like to be stout; and the rich men are stout: the fatter they are, +the more they are admired: but the women like to be slender.</p> + +<p>A Chinaman does not take off his cap in company, and he has a good reason +for it: his head is close shaven: only a long piece behind is allowed to +grow, and this grows down to his heels, and is plaited. He wears a long +dark blue gown, with loose hanging sleeves. His shoes are clumsy, turned +up at the toes in an ugly manner, and the soles are white. The Chinese +have more trouble in whitening their shoes than we have in blacking ours.</p> + +<p>A Chinese lady wears a loose gown like a Chinaman's; but she may be known +by her head-dress, her baby feet, and her long nails. Her hair is tied +up, and decked with artificial flowers; and sometimes a little golden +bird, sparkling with jewels, adorns her forehead. Her feet are no bigger +than those of a child of five years old; because, when she was five, they +were cruelly bound up to prevent them from growing. She suffered much +pain all her childhood, and now she trips about as if she were walking on +tiptoes. A little push would throw her down. As she walks she moves from +side to side like a ship in the water, for she cannot walk firmly with +such small feet. The Chinese are so foolish as to admire these small<a name='Page_77'></a> +feet, and to call them the "golden lilies". As for her finger-nails, they +are seldom seen, for a Chinese lady hides her hands in her long sleeves; +but the nails on the left hand are very long, and are like bird's claws. +The nails on the right hand are not so long, in order that the lady may +be able to tinkle on her music, to embroider, and to weave silk.</p> + +<p>The gentlemen are proud of having one long nail on the little finger, to +show that they do not labor like the poor, for if they did, the nail +would break. Men in China wear necklaces and use fans.</p> + +<p>What foolish customs I have described. Surely you will not think the +Chinese a wise people, though very <i>clever</i>, as you will soon find.</p> + +<p>Men and women dress in black, or in dark colors, such as blue and purple; +the women sometimes dress in pink or green. Great people dress in red, +and the royal family in yellow. When you see a person all in white, you +may know he is in mourning. A son dresses in white for three years after +he has lost one of his parents.</p> + +<p><b>HOUSES.</b>—See that lantern hanging over the gate. The light is rather dim, +because the sides are made of silk instead of glass. What is written upon +the lantern? The master's name. The gateway leads <a name='Page_78'></a>into a court into +which many rooms open. There are not doors to all the rooms; to some +there are only curtains. Curtains are used instead of doors in many hot +countries, because of their coolness; but the furniture of the Chinese +rooms is quite different from the furniture of Turkish and Persian rooms. +The Chinese sit on chairs as we do, and have high tables like ours: and +they sleep on bedsteads, yet their beds are not like ours, for instead of +a mattrass there is nothing but a mat.</p> + +<p>Instead of pictures, the Chinese adorn their rooms with painted lanterns, +and with pieces of white satin, on which sentences are written: they have +also book-cases and china jars. But they have no fire-places, for they +never need a fire to keep themselves warm: the sun shining in at the +south windows makes the rooms tolerably warm in winter; and in summer the +weather is very hot. The Chinese in winter put on one coat over the other +till they feel warm enough. In the north of China it is so cold in winter +that the place where the bed stands (which is a recess in the wall) is +heated by a furnace underneath, and the whole family sit there all day +crowded together.</p> + +<p>The Chinese houses have not so many stories as ours; in the towns there +is one floor above the ground floor, but in the country there are no +rooms up stairs.</p><a name='Page_79'></a> + +<p>It would amuse you to see a Chinese country house. There is not one large +house, but a number of small buildings like summer-houses, and long +galleries running from one to another. One of these summer-houses is in +the middle of a pond, with a bridge leading to it. In the pond there are +gold and silver fish; for these beautiful fishes often kept in glass +bowls in England, came first from China. By the sides of the garden walls +large cages are placed; in one may be seen some gold and silver +pheasants, in another a splendid peacock; in another a gentle stork, and +in another an elegant little deer. There is often a grove of +mulberry-trees in the garden, and in the midst of the grove houses made +of bamboo, for rearing silk-worms. It is the delight of the ladies to +feed these curious worms. None but very quiet people are fit to take care +of them, for a loud noise would kill them. Gold and silver fish also +cannot bear much noise.</p> + +<p>In every large house in China there is a room called the Hall of +Ancestors. There the family worship their dead parents and grand-parents, +and great-grand-parents, and those who lived still further back. There +are no images to be seen in the Hall of Ancestors, but there are tablets +with names written upon them. The family bow down before the tablets, and +burn incense <a name='Page_80'></a>and gold paper! What a foolish service! What good can +incense and paper do to the dead? And what good can the dead do to their +children? How is it that such clever people as the Chinese are so +foolish?</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—You have heard already that the Chinese worship the dead.</p> + +<p>Who taught them this worship?</p> + +<p>It was a man named Confucius, who lived a long while ago. This Confucius +was a very wise man. From his childhood he was very fond of sitting alone +thinking, instead of playing with other children. When he was fourteen he +began to read some old books that had been written not long after the +time of Noah. In these books he found very many wise sentences, such as +Noah may have taught his children. The Chinese had left off reading these +wise books, and were growing more and more foolish.<a name='FNanchor_6_6'></a><a href='#Footnote_6_6'><sup>[6]</sup></a> Confucius,<a name='Page_81'></a> when he +was grown up, tried to persuade his countrymen to attend to the old +books. There were a few men who became his scholars, and who followed him +about from place to place. They might be seen sitting under a tree, +listening to the words of Confucius.</p> + +<p>Confucius was a very tall man with a long black beard and a very high +forehead.</p> + +<p>Had he known the true God, how much good he might have done to the +Chinese; but as it was he only tried to make them happy in this world. He +himself confessed that he knew nothing about the other world. He gave +very good advice about respect due to parents; but he gave very bad +advice about worship due to them after they were dead. </p> + +<p>Was he a good man? Not truly good; for he did not love God; neither did +he act right: for he was very unkind to his wife, and quite cast her off. +Yet he used to talk of going to other countries to teach the people. It +would have been a happy thing for him, if he had gone as far as Babylon; +for a truly wise man lived there, even Daniel the prophet. From him he +might have learned about the promised Saviour,<a name='Page_82'></a> and life everlasting. But +Confucius never left China.</p> + +<p>He was ill-treated by many of the rich and great, and he was so poor that +rice was generally his only food. When he was dying he felt very unhappy, +as well he might, when he knew not where he was going. He said to his +followers just before his death, "The kings refuse to follow my advice; +and since I am of no use on earth, it is best that I should leave it." As +soon as he was dead, people began to respect him highly, and even to +worship him. At this day, though Confucius died more than two thousand +years ago, there is a temple to his honor in every large city, and +numbers of beasts are offered up to him in sacrifice. There are thousands +of people descended from him, and they are treated with great honor as +the children of Confucius, and one of them is called kong or duke.</p> + +<p>There is another religion in China besides the religion of Confucius, and +a much worse religion. About the same time that Confucius lived, there +was a man called La-on-tzee. He was a great deceiver, as you will see. He +pretended that he could make people completely happy. There were three +things he said he would do for them: first, he would make them rich by +turning stone into gold; next, he would prevent their being hurt by +swords or by fire through charms <a name='Page_83'></a>he could give them; and, last of all, +he could save them from death by a drink he knew how to prepare.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/4.jpg' width='494' height='404' alt='THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE. p. 83.' title='THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE. p. 83.'> +</center> +<h5>THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE. See <a href='#Page_83'>p. 83.</a></h5> + + +<p>What an awful liar this man must have been! Yet many people believed in +him, and still believe in him. There are now priests of La-on-tzee, and +once a year they rush through hot cinders and pretend they are not hurt. +You will wonder their tricks are not found out, seeing they cannot give +any one the drink to keep them from dying. It is indeed wonderful that +any one can believe these deceitful priests.</p> + +<p>Their religion is called the "<i>Taou</i>" sect. Taou means reason. The name +of folly would be a better title for such a religion.</p> + +<p>There is a <i>third</i> religion in China. It is the sect of Buddha.<a name='FNanchor_7_7'></a><a href='#Footnote_7_7'><sup>[7]</sup></a> This +Buddha was a man who once <a name='Page_84'></a>pretended to be turned into a god called Fo. +You see he was even worse than La-on-tzee.</p> + +<p>Buddha pretended that he could make people happy; and his way of doing so +was very strange. He told them to think of nothing, and then they would +be happy. It is said that one man fixed his eyes for nine years upon a +wall without looking off, hoping to grow happy at last. You can guess +whether he did. There are many priests of Buddha, always busy in telling +lies to the people. They recommend them to repeat the name of Buddha +thousands and thousands of times, and some people are so foolish as to do +this; but no one ever found any comfort from this plan.</p> + +<p>The priests of Buddha say that their souls, when they leave their bodies, +go into other bodies. This idea is enough to make a dying person very +miserable. One poor man, when he was dying, was in terror because he had +been told his soul would go into one of the emperor's horses. Whenever +he was dropping off to sleep, he started up in a fright, fancying that he +felt the blows of a cruel driver hurrying him along: for he knew how very +fast the emperor's horses <a name='Page_85'></a>were made to go. How different are the +feelings of a dying man who knows he is going to Jesus.</p> + +<p>He can say with joy,—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"For me my elder brethren stay,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>And angels beckon me away,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>And Jesus bids me come."</span><br /> + +<p>The Buddhists are full of tricks by which to get presents out of the +people.</p> + +<p>Once a year they cause a great feast to be made, and for whom? For the +poor? No. For beasts? No. For children? No. For themselves? No. You will +never guess. For ghosts! The priests declare that the souls of the dead +are very hungry, and that it is right to give them a feast. A number of +tables are set out, spread with all kinds of dishes. No one is seen to +eat, nor is any of the food eaten; but the priests say the ghosts eat the +spirit of the food. When it is supposed the ghosts have finished dinner, +the people scramble for the food, and take it home, and no doubt the +priests get their share.</p> + +<p>The dead are supplied with money as well as with food, and that is done +by burning gilt paper; clothes are sent to them by cutting out paper in +the shape of clothes, (only much smaller,) and by burning the article; +and even houses are conveyed to the dead by making baby-houses and +burning them.</p><a name='Page_86'></a> + +<p>As an instance of the deceits of the priests, I will tell you of two +priests who once stood crying over a pour woman's gate. "What is the +matter?" inquired the woman. "Do you see those ducks?" the priests +replied; "our parents' souls are in them, and we are afraid lest you +should eat them for supper." The foolish woman out of pity gave the ducks +to the cunning priests, who promised to take great care of the precious +birds; but, in fact, they ate them for their own supper.</p> + +<p>The Buddhist priests may be known by their heads close shaven, and their +black dress. The priests of Taou have their hair in a knot at the top of +their heads and they wear scarlet robes. There are no priests of +Confucius; and this is a good thing.</p> + +<p>All the religions of China are bad, but of the three the religion of +Confucius is the least foolish.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt which of the three religions of China is the least +absurd.</p> + +<p>The religion of Taou teaches men to act like mad-men.</p> + +<p>The religion of Buddha teaches them to act like idiots.</p> + +<p>The religion of Confucius teaches them to act like wise men, but without +souls.</p> + +<p><b>THE EMPEROR.</b>—There is no emperor in the world <a name='Page_87'></a>who has as many subjects +as the Emperor of China: he has six times as many as the Emperor of +Russia.</p> + +<p>Neither is it possible for any man to be more honored than this emperor; +for he is worshipped by his people like a god. He is called "The Son of +Heaven," and "Ten Thousand Years;" yet he dies like every other child of +earth. His sign is the dragon, and this is painted on his flags, a fit +sign for one who, like Satan, makes himself a god.</p> + +<p>Yet the emperor is also styled "Father of his people," and to show that +he feels like a father, when there is a famine or plague in the land, he +shuts himself up in his palace to grieve for his people; and by this +means he gets the love of his subjects.</p> + +<p>Once a year, too, this great emperor tries to encourage his people to be +industrious by ploughing part of a field and sowing a little corn; and +the empress sets an example to the women, by going once a year to feed +silk worms and to wind the balls of silk.</p> + +<p>The emperor wears a yellow dress, and all his relations wear yellow +girdles.</p> + +<p>But the relations of the emperor are not the most honorable people in the +land: the most learned are the most honorable. Every one in China who +wishes to be a great lord studies day and night. One man, that he might +not fall asleep over his books, tied his <a name='Page_88'></a>long plaited tail of hair to +the ceiling, and when his head nodded, his hair was pulled tight, and +that woke him.</p> + +<p>But what is it the Chinese learn with so much pains?</p> + +<p>Chiefly the books of Confucius, and a few more; but in none of them is +God made known: so that, with all his wisdom, the Chinaman is foolish +still. The words of the Bible are true.</p> + +<p>"The world by wisdom knew not God." Yet to know God is better than to +know all beside.</p> + +<p>There is a great hall in every town where all the men who wish to be +counted learned meet together once a year. They are desired to write, and +then to show what they have written; and then those who have written +well, and without a mistake, have an honorable title given to them; and +they are allowed to write another year in another greater hall; and at +last the most learned are made mandarins.</p> + +<p>What is a mandarin? He is a ruler over a town, and is counted a great +man. The most learned of the mandarins are made the emperor's +counsellors. There are only three of them, and they are the greatest men +in all China, next to the emperor.</p> + +<p>There are many poor men who study hard in hopes to be one of these three.</p><a name='Page_89'></a> + +<p>This is the greatest honor a Chinaman can obtain. But a Christian can +obtain a far greater, even the honor of a crown and a throne in the +presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming.</p> + +<p>The mandarins are all of the religion of Confucius, and despise the poor +who worship Buddha.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS AND TREES.</b>—Once there were lions in China, but they have all +been killed; there are still bears and tigers in the mountains and +forests on the borders of the land.</p> + +<p>There are small wild-cats, which are caught and fastened in cages, and +then killed and cooked. There are tame cats, too, with soft hair and +hanging ears, which are kept by ladies as pets.</p> + +<p>There are dogs to guard the house, and they too are eaten; but as they +are fed on rice only, their flesh is better than the flesh of our dogs. +The dogs are so sensible that they know when the butcher is carrying away +a dog that he is going to kill him, and the poor creatures come round him +howling, as if begging for their brother's life.</p> + +<p>The pig is the Chinaman's chief dish; for it can be fed on all the refuse +food, and there is very little food to spare in China.</p> + +<p>There are not many birds in China, because there is no room for trees. +Only one bird sings, and she <a name='Page_90'></a>builds her nest on the ground; it is a bird +often heard singing in England floating in the air,—I mean the lark.</p> + +<p>In most parts of China men carry all the burdens, and not horses and +asses.</p> + +<p>A gentleman is carried in a chair by two men: and a mandarin by four. Yet +the emperor rides on horseback.</p> + +<p><b>THE THREE GREAT CITIES</b></p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Pekin on the north.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Nankin in the middle.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Canton on the south.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Pekin is the grandest.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Nankin is the most learned.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Canton is the richest.</span><br /> + +<p>At Pekin is the emperor's palace. The gardens are exceedingly large, and +contain hills, and lakes, and groves within the walls, besides houses for +the emperor's relations.</p> + +<p>At Nankin is the China tower. It is made of China bricks, and contains +nine rooms one over the other. It is two hundred feet high, a wonderful +height. </p> + +<p>Of what use is it? Of none—of worse than none. It is a temple for +Buddha, and is full of his images.</p> + +<p>At Canton there are so many people that there is<a name='Page_91'></a> not room for all in the +land; so thousands live on the water in bouts. Many have never slept a +single night on the shore. The children often fall overboard, but as a +hollow gourd is tied round each child's neck, they float, and are soon +picked up.</p> + +<p>For a long while the Chinese would not allow foreigners to come into +their cities. A great many foreign ships came to Canton to buy tea and +silk; but the traders were forbidden to enter the town, and they lived in +a little island near, and built a town there called Macao.</p> + +<p>But lately the Chinese emperor has agreed to permit strangers to come to +five ports, called Shang-hae, Ning-po, Foo-choo, Amoy, and Hong-Kong.</p> + +<p>This last port, Hong-Kong, is an island near Canton, and the English have +built a city there and called it Victoria.</p> + +<p><b>THE TWO RIVERS.</b>—There is one called Yeang-te-sang, or "the Son of the +Ocean." It is the largest in Asia.</p> + +<p>The other is the Yellow River, for the soft clay mixed with the water +gives it a yellow color.</p> + +<p><b>LAKES.</b>—There are immense lakes, covered with boats and fishermen.</p> + +<p>But the best fishers are the tame cormorants, who catch fish for their +masters.</p><a name='Page_92'></a> + +<p><b>THE TWO GREAT WONDERS.</b>—The great CANAL is wonder. It joins the two +rivers; so that a Chinese can go by water from Canton to Pekin.</p> + +<p>The great WALL is a greater wonder, but not nearly as useful as the +canal.</p> + +<p>This wall was built at the north of China to keep the Tartars out. It is +one thousand five hundred miles long, twenty feet high, and twenty-five +broad. But there were not soldiers enough in China to keep the enemies +out, and the Tartars came over the wall.</p> + +<p>The Emperor of China is a Tartar.</p> + +<p>The Empress does not have small feet, like the Chinese.</p> + +<p>It is the Tartars who forced the Chinese to shave their heads, for they +used to tie up their hair in a knot at the top of their heads. Many of +the Chinese preferred losing their heads to their hair. Was it not cruel +to cut off their heads, merely because they would not shave them? But the +Tartars were very cruel to the Chinese.</p> + +<p><b>KNOWLEDGE AND INVENTIONS.</b>—We must allow that the Chinese are very +clever. They found out how to print, and they found out how to make +gunpowder, and they found out the use of the loadstone. What is that? A +piece of steel rubbed against the loadstone will always point to the +north. The Chinese <a name='Page_93'></a>found out these three things, printing, gunpowder, +and the use of the loadstone, before we in Europe found them out. But +they did not teach them to us; we found them out ourselves.</p> + +<p>But there are two arts that the Chinese did teach us: how to make silk, +and how to make china or porcelain. And yet I should not say they taught +us; for they tried to prevent our learning their arts; but we saw their +silk and their porcelain, and by degrees we learned to make them +ourselves. A sly monk brought some silk-worm's eggs from China hidden in +a hollow walking-stick.</p> + +<p><b>LANGUAGE.</b>—There is no other language at all like the Chinese. Instead of +having letters to spell words, they have a picture for each word. I call +it a picture, but it is more like a figure than a picture. The Chinese +use brushes for writing instead of pens; and they rub cakes of ink on a +little marble dish, first dipping them in a little water, as we dip cakes +of paint. There is a hollow place in the marble dish, to hold the water. +What do you think the Chinese mean by "the four precious things?" They +mean the ink, the brush, the marble dish, and the water. They call them +precious because they are so fond of writing. Schoolmasters are held in +great honor in China, as indeed they ought to be everywhere. Yet schools +in China are much <a name='Page_94'></a>like those in Turkey, more fit for parrots than +children; only Chinese boys sit in chairs with desks before them, instead +of sitting cross-legged on the ground, as in Turkey. They learn first to +paint the words, and next to repeat lessons by heart. This they do in a +loud scream; always turning their backs to their masters while they are +saying their lessons to him.</p> + +<p>The first book which children read is full of stories, with a picture on +each page. Would you like to hear one of these stories?</p> + +<p>"There was a boy of eight years old, named Um-wen. His parents were so +poor that they could not afford to buy a gauze curtain for their bed, to +keep off the flies in summer. This boy could not bear that his parents +should be bitten by the flies; so he stood by their bedside, and +uncovered his little bosom and his back that the flies might bite him, +instead of his parents. 'For,' said he, 'if they fill themselves with my +blood, they will let my parents rest.'"</p> + +<p>Would it be right for a little boy to behave in this way? Certainly not; +for it would grieve kind parents that their little boys should be bitten. +Poor little Chinese boys! They do not know about Him who was bitten by +the old serpent that we might not be devoured and destroyed.</p> + +<p><b>PUNISHMENT.</b>—The Chinese are very quiet and orderly; <a name='Page_95'></a>and no wonder, +because they are afraid of the great bamboo stick.</p> + +<p>The mandarins (or rulers of towns) often sentence offenders to lie upon +the ground, and to have thirty strokes of the bamboo. But the wooden +collar is worse than the bamboo stick. It is a great piece of wood with a +hole for a man to put his head through. The men in wooden collars are +brought out of their prisons every morning, and chained to a wall, where +everybody passing by can see them. They cannot feed themselves in their +wooden collars, because they cannot bring their hands to their mouths; +but sometimes a son may be seen feeding his father, as he stands chained +to the wall. There are men also whose business it is to feed the +prisoners. For great crimes men are strangled or beheaded.</p> + +<p><b>CHARACTER.</b>—A Chinaman's character cannot be known at first. You might +suppose from his way of speaking that a Chinaman was very humble; because +he calls himself "the worthless fellow," or "the stupid one," and he +calls his son "the son of a dog;" but if you were to tell him he had an +evil heart, he would be very much offended; for he only gives himself +these names Thai he may <i>seem</i> humble. He calls his acquaintance +"venerable uncle," "honorable brother." This he does to please them. The +Chinese are very<a name='Page_96'></a> proud of their country, and think there is none like it. +They have given it the name of the "Heavenly or Celestial Empire." They +look upon foreigners as monkeys and devils. Often a woman may he heard in +the streets saying to her little child, "There is a foreign devil (or a +Fan Quei"). The Chinese think the English very ugly, and called them the +"red-haired nation."</p> + +<p>It must be owned that the Chinese are industrious: indeed, if they were +not, they would be starved. A poor man often has to work all day up to +the knees in water in the rice-field, and yet gets nothing for supper but +a little rice and a few potatoes.</p> + +<p>The ladies who can live without working are very idle, and in the winter +rise very late in the morning.</p> + +<p>Men, too, play, as children do here; flying kites is a favorite game. +Dancing, however, is quite unknown.</p> + +<p>The Chinese are very selfish and unfeeling. Beggars may be seen in the +middle of the town dying, and no one caring for them, but people gambling +close by.</p> + +<p>The Chinese have an idea that after a man is dead the house must be +cleansed from ghosts; so to save themselves this trouble, poor people +often cast their dying relations out of their hovels into the street to +die!</p><a name='Page_97'></a> + +<p>But in general sons treat their parents with great respect. They often +keep their father's coffin in the house for three months, and a son has +been known to sleep by it for three years. Relations are usually kind to +each other, because they meet together in the "Hall of Ancestors" to +worship the same persons. To save money they often live together, and a +hundred eat at the same table.</p> + +<p>The Chinese used to be temperate, preferring tea to wine. There are +tea-taverns in the towns. How much better than our beer-shops! But lately +they have begun to smoke opium. This is the juice of the white poppy, +made up into dark balls. The Chinese are not allowed to have it; but the +English, sad to say, sell it to them secretly. There are many opium +taverns in China, where men may be seen lying on cushions snuffing up the +hot opium, and puffing it out of their mouths. Those who smoke opium have +sunken cheeks and trembling hands, and soon become old, foolish, and +sick. Why, then, do they take opium? Many of them say they wish to leave +it off, but cannot.</p> + +<p><b>MISSIONARIES.</b>—Are there any in China? Yes, many; and more are going +there. But how many are wanted for so many people! Missionaries travel +about China to distribute Bibles and tracts. One of<a name='Page_98'></a> them hired a rough +kind of chair with two bearers. In this he went to villages among the +mountains, where a white man had never been seen. The children screaming +with terror ran to their mothers. The men came round him to look at his +clothes and his white skin. They were much surprised at the whiteness of +his hands, and they put their yellow ones close to his to see the +difference. These mountaineers were kind, and brought tea and cakes to +refresh the stranger.</p> + +<p>An English lady went to China to teach little girls; for no one teaches +them. She has several little creatures in her school that she saved from +perishing: because the Chinese are so cruel as to leave many girl-babies +to die in the streets; they say that girls are not worth the trouble of +bringing up.</p> + +<p>One cold rainy evening, Miss Aldersey heard a low wailing outside the +street-door, and looking out she saw a poor babe, wrapped in coarse +matting, lying on the stone pavement. She could not bear to leave it +there to be devoured by famished dogs; so she kindly took it in, and +brought it up.</p> + +<p>It is a common thing to stumble over the bodies of dead babies in the +streets. In England it is counted murder to kill a babe, but it is +thought no harm in China. Yet the Chinese call themselves good. But when +you ask a poor man where he expects to go<a name='Page_99'></a> when he dies, he replies, "To +hell of course;" and he says this with a loud laugh. His reason for +thinking he shall go to hell is, because he has not money enough to give +to the gods; for rich people all expect to go to heaven. Mandarins +especially expect to go there. If they were to read the Bible, they would +see that God will punish kings, and mighty men, and great captains, and +<i>all</i> who are wicked.</p> + +<a name='Footnote_6_6'></a><a href='#FNanchor_6_6'>[6]</a><div class='note'><p> These are some of the sentences written in the old books: +</p><p> +"Never say, There is no one who sees me, for there is a wise Spirit who +sees all." +</p><p> +"Man no longer has what he had before the fall, and he has brought his +children into his misery. O! Heaven, you only can help us. Wipe away the +stains of the father, and save his children." +</p><p> +"Never speak but with great care. Do not say, It is only a single word. +Remember that no one has the keeping of your heart and tongue but you." +</p><p> +These sentences are like some verses in the Psalms and Proverbs; and, it +may be, they were spoken first by some holy men of old. +</p><p> +Here is one more remarkable than all:— +</p><p> +"God hates the proud, and is kind to the humble."</p></div> + +<a name='Footnote_7_7'></a><a href='#FNanchor_7_7'>[7]</a><div class='note'><p> The means by which the Buddhist religion entered China are +remarkable. A certain Chinese emperor once read in the book of Confucius +this sentence, "The true saint will be found in the West." He thought a +great deal about it; at last he dreamed about it. He was so much struck +by his dream that he sent two of his great lords to look for the true +religion in the West. When they reached India, they found multitudes +worshipping Buddha. This Buddha was a wicked man who had been born in +India a thousand years before. The Chinese messengers believed all the +absurd histories they heard about Buddha, and they returned to China with +a book which had been written about him. Ah! had they gone as far as +Canaan they might have heard Paul and Peter preaching the Gospel. Alas! +why did they go no further, and why did they go so far, only to return to +China with idols!</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='COCHIN_CHINA'></a><h2><a name='Page_100'></a>COCHIN CHINA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Any one on hearing this name would guess that the country was like China; +and so it is. If you were to go there you would be reminded of China by +many of the customs. You would see at dinner small basins instead of +plates, chop-sticks instead of knives and forks; you would have rice to +eat instead of bread; and rice wine to drink instead of grape wine.</p> + +<p>But you would not find <i>all</i> the Chinese customs in Cochin-China: for you +would see the women walking about at liberty, and with large feet, that +is, with feet of the natural size, and not cramped up like the "golden +lilies" of China. Neither would you see the people treated as strictly in +Cochin-China as in China. Beatings are not nearly as common there, and +behavior is not nearly as good as in China.</p> + +<p>The people are very different from the Chinese; for they are gay and +talkative, and open and sociable, while the Chinese are just the +contrary. However, they resemble the Chinese in fondness for eating. They +are very fond of giving grand dinners, and <a name='Page_101'></a>sometimes provide a hundred +dishes, and invite a hundred guests. A man is thought very generous who +gives such grand dinners. No one in Cochin-China would think of eating +his morsel alone, but every one asks those around to partake; and if any +one were not to do so, he would be counted very mean. Yet the people of +Cochin-China are always begging for gifts; and if they cannot get the +things they ask for, they steal them. Are they generous? No, because they +are covetous. It is impossible to be at the same time generous and +covetous; for what goodness is there in giving away our own things, if we +are wishing for other people's things?</p> + +<p>And now let us leave the <i>people</i> and look at the <i>land</i>. It is fruitful +and beautiful, being watered abundantly by fine rivers: but these rivers, +flowing among lofty mountains, often overflow, and drown men and cattle. +The grass of such a country must be very rich; and there are cows feeding +on it; yet there is no milk or butter to be had. Why? Because the people +have a foolish idea that it is wrong to milk cows.</p> + +<p>In no country are there stronger and larger elephants; so strong and so +large that one can carry thirteen persons on his back at once.</p> + +<p>The land is full of idols: for Buddha or Fo is worshipped in +Cochin-China, as he is in China.</p><a name='Page_102'></a> + +<p>The idols are sometimes kept in high trees, and priests may be seen +mounting ladders to present offerings.</p> + +<p>But the people are not satisfied with idols in trees; they have pocket +idols, which they carry about with them everywhere.</p> + + +<a name='Tonquin'></a> +<a name='Cambodia'></a> +<h3>TONQUIN.—CAMBODIA.</h3> + +<p>These two kingdoms belong to the king of Cochin-China; yet all three, +Tonquin, Cambodia, and Cochin-China, pay tribute to China, and therefore +they must be considered as conquered countries.</p> + +<p>They are all very much like China in their customs. There are large +cities in them all, and multitudes of people, but very little is known +about them in England.</p><a name='Page_103'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='HINDOSTAN'></a><h2>HINDOSTAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This word Hindostan means "black place," for in the Persian language +"hind" is "black," and "stan" is "place." You may guess, therefore, that +the people in Hindostan are very dark; yet they are not quite black, and +some of the ladies are only of a light brown complexion.</p> + +<p>What a large country Hindostan is! Has it an emperor of its own, as China +has? No: large as it is, it belongs to the little country called England.</p> + +<p>How did the English get it?</p> + +<p>They conquered it by little and little. When first they came there, they +found there a Mahomedan people, called the Moguls. These Moguls had +conquered Hindostan: but by degrees the English conquered them, and +became masters of all the land.</p> + +<p>There is only one small country among the mountains which has not been +conquered by the English, and that place is Nepaul. It is near the +Himalaya mountains. See that great chain of mountains in the <a name='Page_104'></a>north: they +are the Himalaya—the highest mountains in the world. The word "him," or +"hem," means snow—and snowy indeed are those mountains.</p> + +<p>There is a great river that flows from the Himalaya called the Ganges. It +flows by many mouths into the ocean; yet of all these mouths only one is +deep enough for large ships to sail in; the other mouths are all choked +up with sand. The deep mouth of the Ganges is called the Hoogley.</p> + +<p>It was on the banks of the Hoogley that the first English city was built. +It was built by some English merchants, and is called Calcutta. That name +comes from the name of a horrible idol called Kalee, of which more will +be said hereafter.</p> + +<p>Calcutta is now a very grand city; there is the governor's palace, and +there are the mansions of many rich Englishmen. It has been called "the +city of palaces."</p> + +<p>There is another great river on the other side of Hindostan called the +Indus. It was from that river that Hindostan got the name of India, or +the East Indies.</p> + +<p><b>VILLAGES.</b>—Calcutta is built on a large plain called Bengal. Dotted about +this plain are many villages. At a distance they look prettier than +English villages, for they are overshadowed with thick trees; but they +<a name='Page_105'></a>are wretched places to live in. The huts are scarcely big enough to hold +human creatures, nor strong enough to bear the pelting of the storm. When +you enter them you will find neither floor nor window, and very little +furniture; neither chair, nor table, nor bed—nothing but a large earthen +bottle for fetching water, a smaller one for drinking, a basket for +clothes, a few earthen pans, a few brass plates, and a mat.</p> + +<p>A Hindoo is counted very rich who has procured a wooden bedstead to place +his mat upon, and a wooden trunk, with a lock and key, to contain his +clothes; such a man is considered to have a well-furnished house.</p> + +<p>As you pass through the villages, you may see groups of men sitting under +the trees smoking their pipes, while children, without clothes, are +rolling in the dust, and sporting with the kids. Prowling about the +villages are hungry dogs and whining jackalls, seeking for bones and +offal; but the children are too much used to these creatures to be afraid +of them. Hovering in the air are crows and kites, ready to secure any +morsel they can see, or even to snatch the food, if they can, out of the +children's little hands.</p> + +<p>What a confused noise do you hear as you pass along! barking, whining, +and squalling, loud laughing, and incessant chattering. It is a heathen +village,<a name='Page_106'></a> and the sweet notes of praise to God are never sung there.</p> + +<p>Yet in every village there is a little temple with an idol, and a priest +to take the idol, to lay it down to sleep, and to offer it food, which he +eats himself.</p> + +<p>The poor people bring the food for the idol with flowers, and place it at +the door of the temple.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The Hindoos are pleasing in their appearance, for their +features are well-formed, their teeth are white, and their eyes have a +soft expression. The women take much pains to dress their long black +hair, which is soft as silk: they gather it up in a knot at their heads, +and crown it with flowers. They have no occasion for a needle to make +their dresses, as they are all in one piece. They wind a long strip of +white muslin (called a saree) round their bodies, and fold it over their +heads like a veil, and then they are full dressed, except their +ornaments, and with these they load themselves; glass rings of different +colors on their arms, silver rings on their fingers and toes, and gold +rings in their ears, and a gold ring in their nose.</p> + +<p>The men wear a long strip of calico twisted closely round their bodies, +and another thrown loosely over their shoulders; but this last they cast +off when they are at work: it is their upper garment. On their heads they +wear turbans, and on their feet sandals. <a name='Page_107'></a>The clothes of both men and +women are generally white or pink, or white bordered with red.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—The most common food is rice; and with this curry is often mixed +to give it a relish. What is curry? It is a mixture of herbs, spices, and +oil.</p> + +<p>Very poor people cannot afford to eat either rice or curry; and they eat +some coarse grain instead. A lady who made a feast for the poor provided +nothing but rice, and she found that it was thought as good as roast +beef and plum pudding are thought in England. The day after the feast +some of the poor creatures came to pick up the grains of rice that were +fallen upon the ground.</p> + +<p>The rich Hindoos eat mutton and venison, but not beef; this they think it +wicked to eat, because they worship bulls and cows.</p> + +<p>A favorite food is clarified butter, called "ghee," white rancid stuff, +kept in skin bottles to mix with curry.</p> + +<p>Water is the general drink, and there could not be a better. Yet there +are intoxicating drinks, and some of the Hindoos have learned to love +them, from seeing the English drink too much. What a sad thing that +Christians should set a bad example to heathens!</p> + +<p><b>PRODUCTIONS.</b>—There are many beautiful trees in<a name='Page_108'></a> India never seen in +England, and many nice fruits never tasted here.</p> + +<p>The palm-tree, with its immense leaves, is the glory of India. These +leaves are very useful; they form the roof, the umbrella, the bed, the +plate, and the writing-paper of the Hindoo.</p> + +<p>The most curious tree in India is the banyan, because one tree grows into +a hundred. How is that? The branches hang down, touch the ground, strike +root there, and spring up into new trees—joined to the old. Under an +aged banyan there is shade for a large congregation. Seventy thousand men +might sit beneath its boughs.</p> + +<p>There is a sort of grass which grows a hundred feet high, and becomes +hard like wood. It is called the bamboo. The stem is hollow like a pipe, +and is often used as a water-pipe. It serves also for posts for houses, +and for poles for carriages.</p> + +<p>There are abundance of nice fruits in India; and of these the mangoe is +the best. You might mistake it for a pear when you saw it, but not when +you tasted it. Pears cannot grow in India; the sun is too hot for grapes +and oranges, excepting on the hills.</p> + +<p>The chief productions of India are rice and cotton; rice is the food, and +cotton is the clothing of the Hindoo: and quantities of these are sent to +England, for <a name='Page_109'></a>though we have wheat for food, we want rice too; and though +we have wool for clothing, we want cotton too.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—There is no nation that has so many gods as the Hindoos. What +do you think of three hundred and thirty millions! There are not so many +people in Hindostan as that. No one person can know the names of all +these gods; and who would wish to know them? Some of them are snakes, and +some are monkeys!</p> + +<p>The chief god of all is called Brahm. But, strange to say, no one +worships him. There is not an image of him in all India.</p> + +<p>And why not? Because he is too great, the Hindoos say, to think of men on +earth. He is always in a kind of sleep. What would be the use of +worshipping him?</p> + +<p>Next to him are three gods, and they are part of Brahm.</p> + +<p>Their names are—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>I. Brahma, the Creator.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>II. Vishnoo, the Preserver.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>III. Sheeva, the Destroyer.</span><br /> + +<p>Which of these should you think men ought to worship the most? Not the +destroyer. Yet it is <i>him</i> they do worship the most. Very few worship +Brahma the creator. And why not? Because the Hindoos <a name='Page_110'></a>think he can do no +more for them than he has done; and they do not care about thanking him.</p> + +<p>Vishnoo, the preserver, is a great favorite; because it is supposed that +he bestows all manner of gifts. The Hindoos say he has been <i>nine</i> times +upon the earth; first as a fish, then as a tortoise, a man, a lion, a +boar, a dwarf, a giant; <i>twice</i> as a warrior, named Ram, and once as a +thief, named Krishna. They say he will come again as a conquering king, +riding on a white horse. Is it not wonderful they should say that? It +reminds one of the prophecy in Rev. xix. about Christ's second coming. +Did the Hindoos hear that prophecy in old time? They may have heard it, +for the apostle Thomas once preached in India, at least we believe he +did.</p> + +<p>Why do the people worship Sheeva the destroyer? Because they hope that if +they gain his favor, they shall not be destroyed by him. They do not know +that none can save from the destroyer but God.</p> + +<p>The Hindoos make images of their gods. Brahma is represented as riding on +a goose; Vishnoo on a creature half-bird and half-man; and Sheeva on a +bull.</p> + +<p>Sheeva's image looks horribly ferocious with the tiger-skin and the +necklace of skulls and snakes; but Sheeva's <i>wife</i> is far fiercer than +himself. Her name is<a name='Page_111'></a> Kalee. Her whole delight is said to be in blood. +Those who wish to please her, offer up the blood of beasts; but those who +wish to please her still more, offer up their own blood.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/5.jpg' width='597' height='841' alt='' title='THE SWING. p. 111.'> +</center> +<h5>THE SWING. See <a href='#Page_111'>p. 111.</a></h5> + +<p>Her great temple, called Kalee Ghaut, is near Calcutta. There is a great +feast in her honor once a year at that temple. Early in the morning +crowds assemble there with the noise of trumpets and kettle-drums. See +those wild fierce men adorned with flowers. They go towards the temple. A +blacksmith is ready. Lo! one puts out his tongue, and the blacksmith +cuts it: that is to please Kalee: another chooses rather to have an iron +bar run through his tongue. Some thrust iron bars and burning coals into +their sides. The boldest mount a wooden scaffold and throw themselves +down upon iron spikes beneath, stuck in bags of sand. It is very painful +to fall upon these spikes; but there is another way of torture quite as +painful—it is the swing. Those who determine to swing, allow the +blacksmith to drive hooks into the flesh upon their backs, and hanging by +these hooks they swing in the air for ten minutes, or even for half an +hour. And WHO all these cruel tortures? To please Kalee, and to make the +people wonder and admire, for the multitude around shout with joy as they +behold these horrible deeds.</p><a name='Page_112'></a> + +<p><b>THE CASTES.</b>—The Hindoos pretend that when Brahma created men, he made +some out of his mouth, some out of his arms, some out of his breast, and +some out of his foot. They say the priests came out of Brahma's mouth, +the soldiers came out of his arm, the merchants came out of his breast, +the laborers came out of his foot. You may easily guess who invented this +history. It was the priests themselves: it was they who wrote the sacred +books where this history is found.</p> + +<p>The priests are very proud of their high birth, and they call themselves +Brahmins.</p> + +<p>The laborers, who are told they come out of Brahma's foot, are much +ashamed of their low birth. They are called sudras.</p> + +<p>You would be astonished to hear the great respect the sudras pay to the +high and haughty Brahmins. When a sudra meets a Brahmin in the street, he +touches the ground three times with his forehead, then, taking the +priest's foot in his hand, he kisses his toe.</p> + +<p>The water in which a Brahmin has washed his feet is thought very holy. It +is even believed that such water can cure diseases.</p> + +<p>A Hindoo prince, who was very ill of a fever, was advised to try this +remedy. He invited the Brahmins<a name='Page_113'></a> from all parts of the country to +assemble at his palace. Many thousands came. Each, as he arrived, was +requested to wash his feet in a basin. This was the medicine given to the +sick prince to drink. It cost a great deal of money to procure it; for +several shillings were given to each Brahmin to pay him for his trouble, +and a good dinner was provided for all. It is said that the prince +recovered immediately, but we are quite certain that it was not the water +which cured him.</p> + +<p>In the holy books, or shasters, great blessings are promised to those who +are kind to a Brahmin. Any one who gives him an umbrella will never more +be scorched by the sun; any one who gives him a pair of shoes will never +have blistered feet; any one who gives him sweet spices will never more +be annoyed by ill smells; and any one who gives him a cow will go to +heaven.</p> + +<p>You may be sure that, after such promises, the Brahmins get plenty of +presents; indeed, they may generally be known by their well-fed +appearance, as well as by their proud manner of walking. They always wear +a white cord hung round their necks.</p> + +<p>But we must not suppose that all Brahmins are rich, and all sudras poor; +for it is not so. There are so many Brahmins that some can find no +employment<a name='Page_114'></a> as priests, and they are obliged to learn trades. Many of them +become cooks.</p> + +<p>There are sudras as rich as princes; but still a sudra can never be as +honorable as a Brahmin, though the Brahmin be the cook and the sudra the +master.</p> + +<p>But the sudras are not the <i>most</i> despised people. Far from it. It is +those who have no caste at all who are the most despised. They are called +pariahs. These are people who have lost their caste. It is a very easy +thing to lose caste, and once lost it can never be regained. A Brahmin +would lose his caste by eating with a sudra; a sudra would lose his by +eating with a pariah, and by eating with <i>you</i>—yes, with <i>you</i>, for the +Hindoos think that no one is holy but themselves. It often makes a +missionary smile when he enters a cottage to see the people putting away +their food with haste, lest he should defile it by his touch.</p> + +<p>Once an English officer, walking along the road, passed very near a +Hindoo just going to eat his dinner; suddenly he saw the man take up the +dish and dash it angrily to the ground. Why? The officer's shadow had +passed over the food and polluted it.</p> + +<p>If you were to invite poor Hindoos to come to a feast, they would not eat +if you sat down with them: nor would they eat unless they knew a Hindoo +had cooked their food. Even children at school will not<a name='Page_115'></a> eat with children +of a lower caste,—or with their teachers, if the teachers are not +Hindoos.</p> + +<p>There was once a little Hindoo girl named Rajee. She went to a +missionary's school, but she would not eat with her schoolfellows, +because she belonged to a higher caste than they did. As she lived at the +school, her mother brought her food every day, and Rajee sat under a tree +to eat it. At the end of two years she told her mother that she wished to +turn from idols, and serve the living God. Her mother was much troubled +at hearing this, and begged her child not to bring disgrace on the family +by becoming a Christian. But Rajee was anxious to save her precious soul. +She cared no longer for her caste, for she knew that all she had been +taught about it was deceit and folly; therefore one day she sat down and +ate with her schoolfellows. When her mother heard of Rajee's conduct, +she ran to the school in a rage, and seizing her little daughter by the +hair of the head, began to beat her severely. Then she hastened to the +priests to ask them whether the child had lost her caste forever. The +priests replied, "Has the child got her new teeth?" "No," said the +mother. "Then we can cleanse her, and when her new teeth come she will be +as pure as ever. But you must pay a good deal <a name='Page_116'></a>of money for the +cleansing." Were they not <i>cunning</i> priests? and <i>covetous</i> priests too?</p> + +<p>The money was paid, and Rajee was brought home against her will. Dreadful +sufferings awaited the poor child. The cleansing was a cruel business. +The priests burned the child's tongue. This was one of their cruelties. +When little Rajee was suffered to go back to school, she was so ill that +she could not rise from her bed.</p> + +<p>The poor deceived mother came to see her. "I am going to Jesus," said the +young martyr. The mother began to weep, "O Rajee, we will not let you +die."</p> + +<p>"But I am glad," the little sufferer replied, "because I shall go to +Jesus. If you, mother, would love him, and give up your idols, we should +meet again in heaven."</p> + +<p>An hour afterwards Rajee went to heaven; but I have never heard whether +her mother gave up her idols.</p> + +<a name='The_Ganges'></a> +<p><b>THE GANGES.</b>—This beautiful river waters the sultry plain of Bengal. God +made this river to be a blessing, but man has turned it into a curse. The +Hindoos say the River Ganges is the goddess Gunga; and they flock from +all parts of India to worship her. When they reach the river they bathe +in it, and fancy they have washed away all their sins. They carry <a name='Page_117'></a>away +large bottles of the sacred water for their friends at home.</p> + +<p>But this is not all; very cruel deeds are committed by the side of the +river. It is supposed that all who die there will go to the Hindoo +heaven. It is therefore the custom to drag dying people out of their +beds, and to lay them in the mud, exposed to the heat of the broiling +sun, and then to pour pails of water over their heads.</p> + +<p>One sick man, who was being carried to the water, covered up as if he +were dead, suddenly threw off the covering, and called out, "I am not +dead, I am only very ill." He knew that the cruel people who were +carrying him were going to cast him into the water while he was still +alive: but nothing he could say could save him: the cruel creatures +answered, "You may as well die <i>now</i> as at any other time;" and so they +drowned him, pretending all the while to be very kind.</p> + +<p>It is thought a good thing to be thrown into the river after death. The +Ganges is the great burying-place; and dead bodies may be seen floating +on its waters, while crows and vultures are tearing the flesh from the +bones. There would be many more of these horrible sights were it not that +many bodies are burned, and their ashes only cast into the river.</p><a name='Page_118'></a> + +<p>Some foolish deceived creatures drown themselves in the Ganges, hoping to +be very happy hereafter as a reward. The Brahmins are ready to accompany +such people into the water. Some men were once seen going into the river +with a large empty jar fastened to the back of each. The empty jar +prevented them from sinking; but there was a cup in the hands of each of +the poor men, and with these cups they filled the jars, and then they +began to sink. One of them grew frightened, and tried to get on shore; +but the wicked Brahmins in their boats hunted him, and tried to keep him +in the water; however, they could not catch him, and the miserable man +escaped. There are villages near the river whither such poor creatures +flee, and where they end their days together; for their old friends would +not speak to them if they were to return to their homes.</p> + +<p><b>BEGGARS.</b>—As you walk about Hindostan, you will sometimes meet a horrible +object, with no other covering than a tiger's skin, or else an orange +scarf; his body besmeared with ashes, his hair matted like the shaggy +coat of a wild beast, and his nails like birds' claws. The man is a +beggar, and a very bold one, because he is considered as one of the +holiest of men. Who is he?</p> + +<p>A sunnyasee. Who is <i>he</i>?</p><a name='Page_119'></a> + +<p>A Brahmin, who wishing to be more holy than other Brahmins (holy as they +are), has left all and become a beggar. As a reward, he expects, when he +dies, to go straight to heaven, without being first born again in the +world. It is wonderful to see the tortures which a sunnyasee will endure. +He will stand for years on one leg, till it is full of wounds, or, if he +prefers it, he will clench his fist till the nails grow through the +hands.</p> + +<p>These holy beggars are found in all parts of India, but they are +particularly fond of the most desolate spots. Near the mouth of the +Ganges there are some desert places, the resort of tigers, and there many +of the sunnyasees live in huts. They pretend not to be afraid of the +tigers, and the Hindoos think that tigers will not touch such holy men; +but it is certain that tigers have been seen dragging some of these proud +men into the woods.</p> + +<p>There is another kind of beggars called fakirs; they are just as wicked +and foolish as the sunnyasees; but they are Mahomedans and not Brahmins.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—Some of the fiercest and most disagreeable animals are highly +honored in India.</p> + +<p>The monkey is counted as a god; the consequence is, that the monkeys, +finding they are treated with respect, grow very bold, and are +continually scrambling<a name='Page_120'></a> upon the roofs of the houses. In one place there +is a garden where monkeys riot about at their pleasure, for all in that +garden is for them alone, the delicious fruits, the cool fountains, the +shady bowers, all are for the worthless, mischievous monkeys.</p> + +<p>But if it be strange for men to worship <i>monkeys</i>, is it not stranger +still to worship <i>snakes</i> and <i>serpents</i>? Yet there is a temple in India +where serpents crawl about at their pleasure, where they are waited upon +by priests, and fed with fruits and every dainty. How much delighted must +the old serpent be with this worship!</p> + +<p>Kites also, those fierce birds, are worshipped. There is meat sold in +shops on purpose for them; and it is bought and thrown up in the air to +the great greedy creatures.</p> + +<p>There are splendid peacocks flying about in the woods, but the Hindoos do +not worship them; they shoot and eat them.</p> + +<p>Of all the animals in India there is none which terrifies man so much as +the tiger. The Bengal tiger is a fine and fierce beast. Woe to the man or +woman on whom he springs! What then do you think must become of the man +who falls into his den? These dens are generally hid in jungles, which +are places covered with trees, and overgrown with shrubs and tall grass.</p><a name='Page_121'></a> + +<p>A gentleman was once walking through a jungle, when he felt himself +sinking into the ground, while a cloud of dust blinded his eyes. Soon he +heard a low growling noise. He fancied that he had sunk into a den, and +so he had. Beside him lay some little tigers, too young indeed to hurt +him; but these tigers had a mother, and she could not be far off, though +she was not in the den when the stranger fell in. The astonished man felt +there was no time to be lost, for the tigress, he knew, would soon return +to her cubs. How could he prepare to meet her? He had neither gun nor +sword, nor even stick in his hand. But a thought came into his head. +Snatching a silk handkerchief from his neck, and taking another from his +pocket, he bound them tightly round his arm up to his elbow; and thus +prepared to meet his enemy. She soon appeared, crouching on the ground, +and then with a spring leaped upon the stranger. At the same moment the +brave man thrust his arm between her open jaws, and seizing hold of her +rough tongue, twisted it backwards and forwards with all his might. The +beast was now unable to close her mouth, and to bite with her sharp +fangs; but she could scratch with her sharp claws; and scratch she did, +till the clothes were torn off the man's body, and the flesh from his +bones. But the brave man would not loose his hold;<a name='Page_122'></a> and the tigress was +tired out first: alarmed,—with a sudden start backward, she jerked her +tongue out of the man's hand, and rushed out of the den and out of the +jungle.</p> + +<p>How glad was the man to escape from a horrible fate! his body was faint +and bleeding; but his life was preserved, and his heart overflowed with +gratitude to God for his wonderful deliverance. He who delivered Daniel +from the lion's den delivered him from the tiger's den. The tiger's +mouth, indeed, had not been shut; but his open mouth had not been +suffered to devour the Lord's servant.</p> + + +<a name='The_Thugs'></a> +<h3>THE THUGS.</h3> + +<p>There is a set of people in India more dangerous than wild beasts. They +are called Thugs, that is, deceivers; and well do they deserve the name; +for their whole employment is to <i>deceive</i> that they may <i>destroy</i>. Yet +they are not ashamed of their wickedness; for they worship the goddess +Kalee, and they know that she delights in blood. Before they set out on +one of their cruel journeys, they bow down before the image of Kalee, and +they ask her to bless the shovel and the cloth that they hold in their +hands.</p><a name='Page_123'></a> + +<p>What are they for?</p> + +<p>The cloth is to strangle poor travellers, and the shovel to dig their +graves.</p> + +<p>A Hindoo family were once travelling when they overtook three men on the +way. These men seemed very civil and obliging; and they soon got +acquainted with the family, and accompanied them on their journey. Who +were these men? Alas! they were Thugs. It was very foolish of the family +to be so ready to go with strangers. At last they came up to three other +men, who were sitting under the shade of a tree, eating sugared rice. +These men also were Thugs; and they had agreed with the other Thugs to +help them in their wicked plans. But the family thought they were kind +and friendly men, and consented to sit down with them in the shade, and +to partake of their food. They did not know that with the rice was mixed +a sort of drug to cause people to fall asleep. The family ate and fell +asleep: and when they were asleep, the Thugs strangled them all with +their cloths,—the father, the mother, and the five young people,—and +then with their shovels they dug their graves. But before they buried +them they stripped them of their garments and their jewels; for it was to +get their precious spoils they had committed these dreadful murders. The +Thugs went afterwards <a name='Page_124'></a>to the priests of Kalee to receive a blessing, and +they rewarded the priests by giving them some of their stolen treasures.</p> + +<p>But, after all, these wicked men did not escape punishment; for the +English governors heard of their crimes, and caught them, and brought +them to justice. Then these murderers confessed the wicked deed just +related: but this was not their only crime; for it had been the business +of their lives to rob and to destroy.</p> + +<p>Do not these Thugs resemble him who is always walking about seeking whom +he may devour? Only he destroys the <i>soul</i> as well as the <i>body</i>. He is +the great Deceiver, and the great Destroyer. None but God can keep us +from falling into his power: therefore we pray, "Deliver us from evil," +or from the evil one.</p> + + +<a name='The_Hindoo_Women'></a> +<h3>THE HINDOO WOMEN.</h3> + +<p>It is a miserable thing to be a Hindoo lady. While she is a very little +girl, she is allowed to play about, but when she comes to be ten or +twelve years old, she is shut up in the back rooms of the house till she +is married; and when she is married she is shut up still. She may indeed +walk in the garden at the back of the house, but nowhere else.</p><a name='Page_125'></a> + +<p>Hindoo ladies are not taught even those trifling accomplishments which +Chinese ladies learn: they can neither paint, nor play music; much less +can they read and write. They amuse themselves by putting on their +ornaments, or by making curries and sweetmeats to please their husbands: +but most of their time they spend in idleness, sauntering about and +chattering nonsense. As rich Hindoos have several wives, the ladies are +not alone; and being so much together, they quarrel a great deal.</p> + +<p>Some English ladies once visited the house of a rich Hindoo. They were +led into the court at the back of the house, and shown into a little +chamber. One by one some women came in, all looking very shy and afraid +to speak; yet dressed very fine in muslin sarees, worked with gold and +silver flowers, and they were adorned with pearls and diamonds. At last +they ventured to admire the clothes of their visitors, and even to touch +them. Then they asked the English ladies to come and see their jewels; +and they took them into a little dark chamber with gratings for windows, +and displayed their treasures. They talked very loud, and all together +and so foolishly, that the ladies reproved them. The poor creatures +replied, "We should like to learn to read and work like the English +ladies; but we have nothing to do, and so we are accustomed<a name='Page_126'></a> to be idle, +and to talk foolishly. Do come again, and bring us books, and pictures, +and dolls."</p> + +<p>You see what useless, wearisome lives the Hindoo <i>ladies</i> lead. Now hear +what hard and wretched lives the <i>poor</i> women lead. The wife of a poor +man rises from her mat before it is day, and by the light of a lamp spins +cotton for the family clothing. Next she feeds the children, and sweeps +the house and yard, and cleans the brass and stone vessels. Then she +washes the rice, bruises, and boils it. By this time it is ten o'clock, +when she goes with some other women to bathe in the river, or if there be +no river near, in a great tank of rain-water. While there, she often +makes a clay image of her god, and worships it with prayers, and bowings, +and offerings of fruit and flowers, for nearly an hour. On her return +home she prepares the curry for dinner: her kitchen is a clay furnace in +the yard, and there she boils the rice. When dinner is ready, she dares +not sit down with her husband to eat it: no, she places it respectfully +before his mat, and then retires to the yard. Her little boys eat with +their father; but her little girls dine with her upon the food that is +left.</p> + +<p>It is not the busy life she leads that makes a poor woman unhappy: it is +the ill-treatment she endures. A kind word is seldom spoken to her: but a +hard <a name='Page_127'></a>blow is often given. Her own boys are encouraged to insult her +because she is only a woman. She is taught to worship her husband as a +god, however bad he may be. There is a proverb which shows how much women +are despised in India. "How can you place the black rice-pot beside the +golden spice-box!" By the rice-box a woman is meant: by the spice-box a +man: and the meaning of the proverb is that a wife is unworthy to sit at +the same table with her husband.</p> + +<p>In this manner a <i>wife</i> is treated: a <i>widow</i> is still more despised. +However young she may be, she is not allowed to marry again; but is +obliged to live in her father's house, or (if she has no father) in her +brother's house, to do the hardest work, and never to eat more than one +meal a day, and that meal of the coarsest food. Widows used to burn +themselves in a great fire with their husbands' dead bodies; but the +English government has forbidden them to do so any more; but their +hard-hearted relations make them as miserable as possible.</p> + +<p><b>MISSIONARIES.</b>—There are hundreds of missionaries in India; but not +nearly enough for so many millions of people. The Hindoos call them +Padri-Sahibs, which means "Father-Gentlemen," and they give them this +name to show their love, as well as respect.</p> + +<p>Once a missionary who had been long in India was<a name='Page_128'></a> going back to England +for a little while. It was from Calcutta that he set sail. The Christian +Hindoos stood in crowds by the river-side to bid him farewell. Among the +rest was a little girl with her parents. She was a gracious child, who +had turned from idols to serve the living God. The missionary said to +her, "Well, my child, you know I am going to England. What shall I bring +you from that country?"</p> + +<p>"I do not want anything," she modestly replied. "I have my parents, and +my brother, and the Padri-Sahibs, and my books, what can I want more?"</p> + +<p>"But," said the missionary, "you are only a little girl, and surely you +would like something from England. Shall I bring you some playthings?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said the child; "I do not want playthings—I am learning +to read."</p> + +<p>"Come, come," said the missionary, "shall I bring you a playfellow, a +white child from England!"</p> + +<p>"No, no," answered the little girl, "it would be taking her from her +parents."</p> + +<p>"Well then," said her friend, "is there nothing I can bring you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you are so kind as to insist on bringing me something, ask the +Christians in England to send me a Bible-book and more PADRI-SAHIBS."</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/6.jpg' width='575' height='830' alt='MISSIONARYS HOUSE. p. 128.' title='MISSIONARYS HOUSE. p. 128.'> +</center> +<h5>MISSIONARY'S HOUSE. See <a href='#Page_128'> p. 128.</a></h5> + +<p>This was a good request indeed, but to get Padri-Sahibs<a name='Page_129'></a> is a hard thing +to do. Who can tell how much good they have done already! There are many +Christian villages in India, and they are as different from heathen +villages as a dove's nest is different from a tiger's den.</p> + +<p>Some very wicked men have been converted. You have heard of those proud +and hateful beggars, the Sunnyasees and the Fakirs.</p> + +<p>One day a missionary, who had gone for his health to the Himalaya +Mountains, was walking in the verandah of his house, when he was +surprised by a man suddenly throwing himself down at his feet, and +embracing his knees. The missionary could not tell who this man was, for +a dark blanket covered the man's head and face. But soon the covering was +lifted up, and a swarthy and withered countenance was shown; the +missionary knew it to be that of an old Fakir he once had known, as the +chief priest of a gang of robbers, but now the Mahomedan was become a +Christian; and he had travelled six hundred miles, hoping to see once +more the face of his teacher; and lo! he had seen it at last. </p> + +<p><b>SCHOOLS.</b>—The Hindoos have schools of their own, but only for boys. The +scholars sit in a shed, cross-legged upon mats, and learn to scratch +letters with iron pins upon large leaves. But what can they<a name='Page_130'></a> learn from +Brahmin teachers but foolish tales about false gods?</p> + +<p>Missionaries have far better schools, where the Bible is taught; and +missionaries' wives have schools for girls; and sometimes they take pity +on poor orphans, and receive them into their houses.</p> + +<p>One evening as a Christian lady was returning home, she saw a Hindoo +woman lying on the ground, and a little boy sitting by her side. The lady +spoke kindly to the sick woman, and then the little boy looked up and +said, with tears in his eyes, "My mother is sick, and has nothing to eat; +I fear she will die." The lady had compassion on the mother and the +child, and hastening home, she sent her servant to fetch them both. They +were soon put to rest on a nice clean mat, with a blanket to cover them; +but the mother died next morning. The little boy was left an orphan, but +not forlorn, nor friendless, for the Christian lady took care of him. He +was five years old, thin and delicate, and much fairer than most Hindoo +children. He had many winning ways; but he had a proud heart. He was +proud of his name, "Ramchunda," because it was the name of a great false +god: but when he had learned about the true God, he asked for a new name, +and was called "John." His wishing to change his name was a good <a name='Page_131'></a>sign: +and there were other good signs in this little orphan; and before he +died,—for he died soon,—he showed plainly that he had not a new <i>name</i> +only, but a new <i>nature</i>.</p> + +<p>Little Phebe was another child received by a missionary's wife. She was +not an orphan, yet she was as much to be pitied as an orphan; for her +mother told the missionaries that if they did not take the child, she +would throw her to the jackals. It was a happy exchange for the infant to +leave so cruel a mother to be reared by a Christian lady, who, instead of +throwing her to jackals, brought her to Jesus.</p> + +<p>She died when only five years old by an accident: when washing her hands +in the great tank she fell in, and was drowned.</p> + +<p>But some Hindoo children, though carefully instructed, do not grow gentle +and loving, like John and Phebe.</p> + +<p>The tents of some English soldiers were pitched in a lonely part of +India; and the night was dark, when an officer's lady thought she heard +the sound of a child crying. The lady sent her servants out to look, and +at last they brought in a little girl of four years old. And where do you +think they had found her? Buried up to her throat in a bog, her little +head alone peeping out. And who do you think had put her <a name='Page_132'></a>there? Her +cruel mother. Yes, she had left her there to die.</p> + +<p>This child gave a great deal of trouble to the kind lady who had saved +her, nor did she show her any love in return for her kindness; and after +keeping her about two years, the lady sent her to a missionary's school.</p> + +<p>You see how cruelly mothers in India sometimes treat their children. +Their religion teaches them to be cruel.</p> + +<p>A mother is taught to believe that if her babe is sick, an evil spirit is +angry. To please this evil spirit, she will put her babe in a basket, and +hang it up in a tree for three days. She goes then to look at it, and if +it be alive, she takes it home. But how seldom does she find it alive! +Either the ants or the vultures have eaten it, or it is starved to death.</p> + +<p>When there is a famine in the land, many mothers will sell their children +for sixpence each: and if they cannot sell them, they will leave them to +perish.</p> + +<p>One missionary received fifty-one poor starving children into his house: +they were always crying, "Sahib, roti, roti;" that is, "Master, bread, +bread." But the bread came to late too save their lives; for all died +except one.</p> + +<p>Yet these sick children were very wicked.</p><a name='Page_133'></a> + +<p>One of them stole a brass basin, and sold it for sweetmeats. Though very +kindly treated, some of them wished to escape; and to prevent it, the +missionary tied them together in strings of fifteen;</p> + +<p>There is a tribe in India called Khunds; and they sprinkle their fields +with children's blood, and they say this is the way to make the corn +grow. The English government once rescued eighty poor children from the +Khunds, and sent them to a Christian school. What miserable little +creatures they were when they arrived! but they were soon clothed and +comforted; and taught to hold a needle, and to know their letters; and, +better still, to pronounce the name of Jesus. Like these poor little +captives, we were all condemned to die, till Jesus rescued us, and +promised everlasting life to those who believe.</p> + + +<a name='The_English_In_India'></a> +<h3>THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.</h3> + +<p>There are many rich English gentlemen living in India: some are judges, +and some are merchants, and some are officers in the army. They dwell in +large and grand houses, with many windows down to the ground, and a wide +verandah to keep off the sun. Instead of <i>glass</i>, there is <i>grass</i> in the +windows: the <a name='Page_134'></a>blinds are made of sweet-scented grass, and servants outside +continually pour water on the grass to make the air cool. Instead of +<i>fires</i>, they have <i>fans</i>. These fans are like large screens hanging from +the ceiling, and waving to and fro to refresh the company. Instead of +carpets there are mats on the floor; and round the beds gauze curtains +are drawn to keep out the insects.</p> + +<p>The servants are all Hindoos, and a great number are kept; and this is +necessary, because each servant will only do one kind of work.</p> + +<p>Each horse has two servants, one to take care of it, and the other to cut +grass: even the dog has a boy to look after it alone. The servants do not +live in their master's house, but in small huts near. The place where +they live is called "the compound."</p> + +<p>When English people travel they do not go in carriages, but in +palanquins. A palanquin is like a child's cot, only larger; and there a +traveller can sleep at his ease.</p> + +<p>The men who carry the palanquins are called "Bearers." The nurses are +called Ayahs. Babies are carried out of doors by their ayahs, but +children of three or four are taken out by the bearers.</p> + +<p>There was once a little girl of three years old who taught her bearer to +fear God.</p> + +<p><a name='Page_135'></a>Little Mary was walking out in a grove with her heathen bearer. She +observed him stop at a small Hindoo temple, and bow down to the stone +image before the door.</p> + +<p>The lisping child inquired,—"Saamy, what for, you do that?"</p> + +<p>"O, missy," said he, "that is my god!"</p> + +<p>"Your god!" exclaimed the child, "your god, Saamy! Why your god can no +see, no can hear, no can walk—your god stone! My God make you, make me, +make everything!" Yet Saamy still, whenever he passed the temple, bowed +down to his idol: and still the child reproved him. Though the old man +would not mind, yet he loved his baby teacher. Once when he thought she +was going to England he said to her,—"What will poor Saamy do when missy +go to England? Saamy no father, no mother."</p> + +<p>"O Saamy!" replied the child, "if you love God he will be your father, +and mother too."</p> + +<p>The poor bearer promised with tears in his eyes that he would love God. +"Then," said she, "you must learn my prayers;" and she began to teach him +the Lord's<a name='Page_136'></a> Prayer. Soon afterwards Mary's papa was surprised to see the +bearer enter the room at the time of family prayers, and still more +surprised to see him take off his turban, kneel down, and repeat the +Lord's Prayer after his master. The lispings of the babe had brought the +old man to God: Saamy did not only bow the knee, he worshipped in spirit +and in truth, and became a real Christian.</p> + +<p><b>CHIEF CITIES.</b></p> + +<p>There are three great cities which may be called English cities, though +in India: because Englishmen built them, and live in them, and rule over +them. Their names are Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay.</p> + +<p>The capital city is Calcutta. There the chief governor resides. Part of +Calcutta is called the Black Town, and it is only a heap of mud huts +crowded with Hindoos. The other part of Calcutta is called the English +town; and it consists of beautiful houses by the river-side, each house +surrounded by a charming garden and a thick grove.</p> + +<p>Madras is built on a plain by the sea, and is adorned by fine avenues of +trees, amongst which the English live in elegant villas and gardens. Here +also there is a Black town. It is very hard to land at Madras, because +there is no harbor.</p> + +<p>Bombay has one of the best harbors in the world. It is built on a small +island covered with cocoa-nut groves.</p> + +<p>Now let us compare these places with each other.</p><a name='Page_137'></a> + +<p><i>Calcutta</i> boasts of her fine river, but then the ground is flat and +marshy; and therefore the air is damp and unhealthy, and there are no +grand prospects.</p> + +<p>Madras is very dry, and sandy, and dusty; but then there is the sea to +enliven and refresh it.</p> + +<p>Bombay has the sea also, besides the groves, and at a little distance, +high mountains, which look beautiful, and which it is delightful to +visit. There are no such mountains near Calcutta or Madras.</p> + +<p>These are the chief English cities. I must now speak of the favorite city +of the Hindoos.</p> + +<p>It is Benares on the Ganges.</p> + +<p>You might go from Calcutta in a boat, and after sailing four hundred +miles, you would reach Benares. The Hindoos say that it was built by +their god Sheeva, of gold and precious stones; but that, as we are living +in a bad time, it <i>appears</i> to be made of bricks and mud, though really +very different. They say that Benares is eighty thousand steps nearer +heaven than any other city, and that whoever dies there (even though he +eat BEEF!) will go to heaven.</p> + +<p>A missionary once reported a Hindoo for telling lies. The answer was, +"Why, what of that? do I not live at Benares?" The man thought he was +quite safe, however wicked he might be.</p> + +<p>In walking about Benares a stranger might be surprised <a name='Page_138'></a>to meet every now +and then a white bull, with a hump on its back, without a driver or a +rider, or any one to keep it in order. You must know that a white bull is +said to belong to the chief god of Benares, and it is considered a sacred +animal, and is allowed to do as it pleases.</p> + +<p>And how does it behave?</p> + +<p>It behaves much in the same manner as a child would who had its own way. +The white bull helps itself to the fruit and vegetables sold in the +streets, and even to the sweetmeats. It has a great taste for flowers; +and it cunningly hides itself near the doors of the temples, to watch for +the people coming out with their garlands of marigolds round their necks. +At these the bull eagerly snatches with its tongue, and swallows them in +a moment. Finding it is petted by every one, it grows so bold, as to walk +into the houses, and even to go up the stone stairs on to the roof, where +it seems to enjoy the cool air, as it quietly chews the cud.</p> + +<p>In the spring the white bulls like to wander out in the fields to eat the +tender green grass. A farmer finding one of these bulls in his fields, +made him get into a boat, and sent him by a man across the river Ganges. +But the cunning creature came back in the evening; for he watched till he +saw some people setting <a name='Page_139'></a>out in a boat, and then jumped in; and though +the passengers tried to turn him out, he would stay there. In this way he +got back to the cornfields.</p> + +<p>So much respected are these bulls that a Hindoo would sooner lose his own +life than suffer one of them to be killed. An English gentleman was just +going to shoot one that had broken into his garden, when his Hindoo +servant rushed between him and the bull, saying, "Shoot me, sir, shoot +me, but let him go." You may be sure that the gentleman did not shoot the +servant, and I think it probable he spared the bull's life.</p> + +<p>There is one more city to be noticed.</p> + +<p>DELHI was once the grandest city in India, and the seat of the great +Moguls, those Mahomedans who conquered India before the British came. The +ancient palace is still to be seen: it is built of red stone; but its +ornaments are gone; where is now the room lined with crystal, the golden +palm-tree with diamond fruits, and the golden peacock with emerald wings, +overshadowing the monarch's throne?</p> + +<p>The Persians have stripped the palace of all its gorgeous splendor.</p><a name='Page_140'></a> + +<p>We have now described the two most numerous nations in the world, China +and Hindostan. They contain together more than half the world. In some +respects they are alike, and in some respects they are different. In +these respects they are different.</p> + +<pre>IN CHINA. IN HINDOSTAN. + +There is one emperor. There is no emperor, and + the English govern the country. + +There is one language. There are many. + +They use chairs, and tables, They sit and sleep on mats. +and beds. + +They eat with chop-sticks. They eat with their fingers. + +They wear shoes. They go barefoot, and wear + sandals. + +The men shave their heads The men twist up their +except one lock. hair with a comb. + +They seldom wash themselves. They bathe often. + +They eat pigs more than They abhor pigs. +any other meat. + +They are grave and silent. They are merry and talkative. + +They are industrious. They are idle. + +The most learned rise to be Every one is high and low +great men. according to his caste. + +They mind the laws. They care not for laws. + +The land is well cultivated. There is much waste land, + and many jungles.</pre> + +<p>Now let us consider in what respects they are <i>alike</i>.</p><a name='Page_141'></a> + +<p>China and Hindostan are alike in these respects. They are both very +<i>populous</i>, though China has twice as many inhabitants as Hindostan.</p> + +<p>In both rice is the chief food.</p> + +<p>In both large grown-up families live together.</p> + +<p>In both the women are shut up.</p> + +<p>In both foreigners are hated.</p> + +<p>In both conjurers are admired.</p> + +<p>In both many idols are worshipped.</p> + +<p>In both there are ancient sacred books.</p> + +<p>In both the people are deceitful, unmerciful to the poor, and in the +habit of destroying their own little girls when babies.</p> + +<p>In both it is believed that the soul after death goes into another body, +and is born over and over again into this world.</p> + +<p>Is it not mournful to think that more than half the people in the world +have no bright hope to cheer a dying bed? One poor Hindoo was heard to +exclaim as he was dying, "Where shall I go <i>last</i> of all?" He asked a +wise question. He wanted to know where, after having been born ever so +many times, he should be put for <i>ever</i> and <i>ever</i>. That is the great +point we all want to know. But the Hindoo and the Chinaman cannot know +this: they have never heard of <i>everlasting</i> happiness.</p><a name='Page_142'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CIRCASSIA'></a><h2>CIRCASSIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is not a vast country like China, or Hindostan. It may be called a +nook, it is so small compared with some great kingdoms: but it is famous +on account of the beauty of the people. They are fair, like Europeans, +with handsome features, and fine figures. But their beauty has done them +harm, and not good; for the cruel Turks purchase many of the Circassian +women, because they are beautiful, and shut them up in their houses. +Perhaps you will be surprised to hear that the young Circassians think it +a fine thing to go to Turkey—to live in fine palaces and gardens, +instead of remaining in their own simple cottages. But I think that when +they find themselves confined between high walls, they must sigh to think +of their flocks and their farms at home, and more than all, of the dear +relations they have left behind.</p> + +<p>Circassia is a pleasant country, situated near the noble mountains of +Caucasus. The snow on the mountains cools the air, and makes Circassia as +pleasant <a name='Page_143'></a>to live in as our own England. Indeed, if you were suddenly to +be transported into Circassia, you would be ready to exclaim, "Is not +this England? Here are apple-trees, and pear-trees, and plum-trees, like +those in my father's garden: those sounds are like the notes of the +blackbird and thrush, which sing among the hawthorns in English woods."</p> + +<p>But look again, you will see vines interlacing their fruitful branches +among the spreading oaks. You do not see such vines in England. But hark! +what do I hear? It is a sound never heard in England. It is the yell of +jackals.</p> + +<p><b>MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE.</b>—There is no country in the world where the people +are as kind to strangers as in Circassia. Every family, however poor, has +a guest-house. There is the family-house, with its orchard, and stables, +and at a little distance, another house for strangers. This is no more +than a large room, with a stable at one end. The walls are made of +wicker-work, plastered with clay. There is no ceiling but the rafters, +and no floor but the bare earth. Yet there is a wide chimney, where a +blazing fire is kept up with a pile of logs. And there is a sofa or +divan, covered with striped silk, and many neat mats to serve as beds for +as many travellers as may arrive. The wind may whistle through the +chinks, and the<a name='Page_144'></a> rain come through the roof, but the stranger is well +warmed, and comfortably lodged; and above all, he has the host to wait +upon him with more attention than a servant. The supper is served as soon +as the sun sets.</p> + +<p>But where is the table? There is none. Is the supper placed on the floor? +Not so. It is brought in on stools with three legs. They answer the +purpose of tables, trays, and dishes, all in one. What is the fare served +up? This is the sort of dinner provided. On the first table is placed a +flat loaf; the gravy in the middle, and the meat all round. When this is +taken away, another table is brought in with cheese-cakes; a third with +butter and honey; a fourth with a pie; a fifth with a cream; and last of +all, a table, with a wooden bowl of curdled milk. The company have no +plates; but each Circassian carries a spoon and a knife in his girdle, +and with these he helps himself. The servants who stand by, are not +forgotten: a piece of meat or of pie-crust is often given to one of them; +it is curious to see the men take it into a corner to eat it there. There +are many hungry poor waiting at the door of the guest-house, ready to +help the servants to devour the remains of the feast; and there is often +a great deal of food left; for there are generally <i>ten</i> tables, and +sometimes <a name='Page_145'></a>there are <i>forty</i> tables. The guests are expected to taste the +food on each, however many there may be.</p> + +<p>Instead of wine, there is a drink called shuat handed to the guests: it +is distilled from grain and honey. Vegetables are not much eaten in +Circassia: for greens are considered fit only for beasts: and there are +no potatoes. Pies, and tarts, and tartlets of various kinds are too well +liked, and the finest ladies in the land are skilful in making them.</p> + +<p>The family live in a thatched cottage, called "the family-house." It is +not divided into rooms. If a man wants several rooms, he builds several +houses.</p> + +<p>As you approach the dwelling of a Circassian, you hear the barking of +dogs, and upon coming nearer, you see women milking cows, and feeding +poultry, and boys tending goats, and leading horses.</p> + +<p>If you go into the farm-yard, you will see among the animals, the +buffalo—but no pig. There are, however, wild boars in the woods.</p> + +<p><b>CIRCASSIAN WOMEN.</b>—They are not shut up as Hindoo, and Chinese, and +Turkish ladies are. They do not indeed go into the guest-house to see +strangers; but strangers are sometimes invited into the family-house to +see them.</p> + +<p>An Englishman, who visited a family-house, was introduced <a name='Page_146'></a>to the wife and +daughter. They both rose up when he entered: nor would they sit down, +till he sat down; and this respect ladies show not only to gentlemen, but +even to the poorest peasants. The only furniture in the house was the +divan, on which the ladies sat; a pile of boxes, containing the beds, +which were to be spread on the floor at night; and a loom for weaving +cloth, and spindles for spinning.</p> + +<p>The daughter, who was sixteen, was dressed in a skirt of striped silk, +with a blue bodice, and silver clasps; and she wore a cap of scarlet +cloth, adorned with silver lace—her light hair flowing over her +shoulders: yet though so finely arrayed, her feet were bare; for she only +put on her red slippers when she walked out. The mother was covered with +a loose calico wrapper, and her face was concealed by a thick white veil. +The visitor laid some needle-cases at the ladies' feet, for it is not the +custom for them to receive presents in their hands.</p> + +<p>The needle-cases greatly delighted the young Hafiza, and her mother. The +present was well chosen, because the Circassian women are very +industrious, supplying their husbands and brothers with all their +clothes, from the woollen bonnet to the morocco shoe. The wool, the flax, +and the hemp, are all prepared at home by the mothers, and made into +clothes by the <a name='Page_147'></a>girls, who first spin the thread, then weave the cloth, +and finish by sewing the seams. Some girls are very clever in knitting +silver lace for trimming garments. A girl named Dussepli was famous for +her skill in this art, indeed her name signifies, "Shining as lace."</p> + +<p>An Englishman went to the place where she lived to buy some of her lace. +He was shown into the guest-house, and he soon saw Dussepli approaching +in a pair of high pattens. At first sight there was nothing pleasing in +Dussepli but when she spoke she seemed so kind, and so true, that it was +impossible not to like her. By her industry in knitting lace, and dyeing +cloth, she helped to support her father, who was poor.</p> + +<p><b>THE CIRCASSIAN MEN.</b>—War is their chief occupation. Working in the fields +is left to the women, and the little boys, and the slaves. There is, +alas! great occasion for the men to fight, as the land has long been +infested with many dangerous enemies.</p> + +<p>The Russians are endeavoring to conquer the Circassians: but the +Circassians declare they will die sooner than yield. Long ago the enemies +must have triumphed, had it not been for the high mountains which afford +hiding-places for the poor hunted inhabitants. Every man carries a gun, a +pistol, a dagger, and a sword; and the nobles are distinguished by a bow, +and<a name='Page_148'></a> a quiver of arrows. The usual dress is of coarse dark cloth, and +consists of a tunic, trowsers, and gaiters. The cap or bonnet is of +sheep-skin, or goatskin.</p> + +<p>The boys are taught from their infancy to be hardy and manly. They are +brought up in a singular way. Instead of remaining at home, they are +given at three years old, into the care of a stranger: and the reason of +this custom is, that they may not be petted by their parents. The +stranger is called "foster-father," and he teaches any boy under his care +to ride well, and to shoot at a mark. The boy follows his foster-father +over the mountains, urging his horses to climb tremendous heights, and to +rush down ravines; and appeasing his hunger with a mouthful of honey from +the bag, fastened to his girdle. Such is the life he leads, till he is a +tall and a strong youth; and then he returns home to his parents. His +foster-father presents him with a horse, and weapons of war, and requires +no payment in return for all his care.</p> + +<p>Men brought up in this manner must be wild, bold, restless, and ignorant. +Such are the Circassians. They care not for learning, as the Chinese do, +but only for bravery. We cannot wonder at this, when we remember what +enemies they have in their land. The Russians have built many strong +towers, whence they shoot at all who come near. But, not satisfied +<a name='Page_149'></a>with this, they often come forth and rob the villages.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/7.jpg' width='460' height='522' alt='Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia." p. 149.' title='Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia." p. 149.'> +</center> + +<h5>Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia." See <a href='#Page_149'> p. 149.</a></h5> + +<p>There was a Circassian, (and he may be still alive,) called Guz Beg; and +he gained for himself the name of the "Lion of Circassia." He was always +leading out little bands of men to attack the Russians. One day he found +some Russian soldiers reaping in the fields, and when he came near they +ran away in terror, leaving two hundred scythes in the field, which he +seized. But a great calamity befel this Lion. He had an only son. When he +first led the boy to the wars, he charged him never to shrink from the +enemy, but to cut his way through the very midst. One day Guz Beg had +ridden into the thick of the Russian soldiers, when suddenly a ball +pierced his horse, and he was thrown headlong on the ground. There lay +the Lion among the hunters. In another moment he would have been killed, +when suddenly a youthful warrior flew to his rescue;—it was his own son. +But what could <i>one</i> do among so <i>many</i>! A troop of Circassian horse +rushed to the spot, and bore away Guz Beg; but they were too late to save +his son. They bore away the <i>body</i> only of the brave boy. Guz Beg was +deeply grieved; but he continued still to fight for his country.</p> + +<p>See those black heaps of ashes. In that spot there<a name='Page_150'></a> once lived a prince +named Zefri Bey, with his four hundred servants; but his dwellings were +burned to the ground by the Russians. That prince fled to Turkey to plead +for help. What would have become of his wife, and little girls, if a kind +friend had not taken them under his care? This friend was hump-backed, +but very brave. Some English travellers went to visit him, and were +received in the guest-house and regaled with a supper of many tables. +Next day the little girls came to the guest-house and kissed their hands. +The daughter of the hump-backed man accompanied them. The children were +delighted with some toys the traveller gave them, and the kind young lady +accepted needles and scissors. But where was the wife of Zefri Bey? A +servant was sent to inquire after her, and found her in rags, lying on a +mat, without even a counterpane, and weeping bitterly. Had no one given +her clothes, and coverings? Yes, but she gave everything away, for she +had been used, as a princess, to make presents, and now she cared for +nothing. Such are the miseries which the Russians bring upon Circassia.</p> + +<p><b>THE GOVERNMENT.</b>—There is no king of Circassia; but there are many +princes.</p> + +<p>The people pay great respect to these princes, standing in their +presence, and giving them the first place<a name='Page_151'></a> at feasts, and in the +battle-field. But though the people honor them, they do not obey them. </p> + +<p>There is a parliament in Circassia, but it does not meet in a house, but +in a grove. Every man who pleases may come, but only old men may speak. +If a young man were to give his opinions, no attention would be paid. The +warriors sit on the grass, and hang up their weapons of war on the boughs +above their heads, while they fasten their horses to the stems of the +trees.</p> + +<p>The speakers are gentle in their tones of voice and behavior. The +Circassians admire sweet winning speeches. They say there are three +things which mark a great man; a sharp sword, a sweet tongue, and forty +tables. What do they mean by these? By a sharp sword they mean bravery, +by a sweet tongue they mean soft speeches, and by forty tables they mean +giving plentiful suppers to neighbors and to strangers. Are the +Circassians right in this way of thinking? No—for though bravery is +good, and speaking well is good, and giving away is good, these are not +the greatest virtues: and people may be brave, and speak well, and give +away much, and yet be wicked: for they may be without the love of God in +their hearts. What are the greatest virtues? These three, Faith, Hope, +and Charity. These are graces which come from God.</p><a name='Page_152'></a> + +<p><b>SERVANTS.</b>—There are slaves in Circassia, called serfs. But they are so +well treated, that they are not like the slaves of other countries. They +live in huts round their master's dwelling; they work in the fields, and +wait upon the guests, and share in the good fare on the little tables.</p> + +<p>When a Circassian takes a Russian prisoner, he makes him a slave, and +gives him the hardest work to do. Yet the Russians are much happier with +their Circassian masters than in their own country.</p> + +<p>Once a Circassian said to his Russian slave, "I am going to send you back +to Russia." The man fell at his master's feet, saying, "Rather than do +so, use me as your dog; beat me, tie me up, and give me your bones to +pick." The master then told him that he had not spoken in earnest, and +that he would not send him away, and then the poor fellow began to shout, +and to jump with joy.</p> + +<p><b>BROTHERHOODS.</b>—There is a very remarkable plan in Circassia, unlike the +plans in other countries. A certain number of men agree to call +themselves "brothers." These brothers help each other on every occasion, +and visit at each other's houses frequently. They are not received in the +guest-house, but in the family-house, and are treated by all the family +as if they were really the brothers of the master.</p><a name='Page_153'></a> + +<p>A brotherhood sometimes consists of two thousand, but sometimes of only +twenty persons.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—Circassia, though beautiful, is an unhappy country. The +Russians keep the people in continual fear; this is a great evil. But +there is another nation who have done the Circassians still greater harm. +I mean the Turks. And what have they done to them? They have persuaded +them to turn Mahomedans. The greatest harm that can be done to any one, +is to give him a false religion. There are no grand mosques in Circassia, +because there are no towns: but in every little village there is a clay +cottage, where prayers are offered up in the name of Mahomet. There can +be no minaret to such a miserable mosque: so the man who calls the hours +of prayer, climbs a tall tree, by the help of notches, and getting into a +basket at the top, makes the rocks and hills resound with his cry. How +different shall be the sound one day heard in every land; when all people +shall believe in Jesus. "Then shall the inhabitants of the rocks +sing—then shall they shout from the top of the mountains, and give glory +unto the <i>Lord</i>" and not to Mahomet. (Is. xlii. 11, 12.)</p> + +<p>But though the Circassians call themselves Mahomedans, they keep many of +their old customs, and these customs show that they once heard about +Christ.</p><a name='Page_154'></a> + +<p>It is their custom to dedicate every boy to God: but not really to <i>God</i>, +for in truth they dedicate him to the <i>cross</i>. Let me give you an account +of one of the feasts of dedication. </p> + +<p>The place of meeting was a green, shaded by spreading oak-trees. In the +midst stood a cross. Each family who came to the feast, brought a little +table, and placed it before the cross; and on each table, there were +loaves, and a sort of bread called "pasta." There was a blazing fire on +the green, round which the elder women sat, while the younger preferred +the shade of a thicket. The priest took a loaf of bread in one hand, and +in the other, a large cup of shuat, (a kind of wine) and holding them out +towards the cross, blessed them. While he did this, men, women, and +children, knelt around, and bowed their heads to the ground. Afterwards, +the shuat and the bread were handed about amongst the company. But this +was only the beginning of the feast. Afterwards, a calf, a sheep, and two +goats were brought to the cross to be blessed. Then a little of their +hair was singed by a taper, and then they were taken away to be +slaughtered. Now the merriment began: some moved forward to cut up the +animals, and to boil their flesh in large kettles on fires kindled on the +green; many young men amused themselves with racing, <a name='Page_155'></a>leaping, and +hurling stones, while the elder people sat and talked. When the meat was +boiled, it was distributed among the sixty tables, and then the priest +blessed the food. And then the feasting began. Does it not seem as if the +Circassians must once have learned about Jesus crucified, and about his +supper of bread and wine, and about the Jewish feasts and sacrifices? +Once, perhaps, they knew the true religion, but they soon forgot it, and +though they still remember the <i>Cross</i>, they have forgotten <i>Christ</i>; and +though they still bless the bread and the cup, they know nothing of +redeeming love. Do you not long to send missionaries to Circassia? Well, +some good Scotch missionaries went there some years ago, but alas! the +Russians sent them away. Their thatched cottages may still be seen, and +their fruitful orchards, but they themselves are gone. There are, +however, a few German Christians in Circassia. They are not missionaries, +but only farmers, therefore the Russians allow them to remain. They have +a little church, where the Bible is read, and God is worshipped. You will +be glad to hear a few Circassians may be seen amongst the congregation; +they were converted by the Scotch missionaries, and they have remained +faithful amongst their heathen neighbors.</p> + +<p>Circassia is situated between two seas:—</p><a name='Page_156'></a> + +<p>The Black Sea, and</p> + +<p>The Caspian Sea.</p> + +<p>What a wonderful place is the Caspian Sea. It is like a lake, only so +immensely large, that it is called a sea. The waters of lakes are fresh, +like those of rivers; but the waters of the Caspian are salt, but not so +salt as the salt sea. The shores of the Caspian are flat, and +unwholesome. You might think as you stood there, that you were by the +great ocean, for there are waves breaking on the sands, and water as far +as the eye can reach, but there is no freshness in the air as by the real +sea.</p> + +<p>The mountains of Caucasus run through Circassia. They are quite low +compared to the Himalaya; they are about the height of the Alps, and the +tops are covered with snow. But the valleys between these mountains, are +not like the Swiss valleys, which are broad and pleasant; but these +valleys are narrow, and dark, and not fit to live in, yet they are of +great use as hiding-places for the Circassians. When pursued by a +Russian, a Circassian will urge his horse to dash down the dark valley, +and lest his horse should be alarmed by the sight of the dangerous depth +below, he will cover the animal's eyes with his cloak. Thus, many a bold +rider escapes from a cruel soldier.</p><a name='Page_157'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='GEORGIA'></a><h2>GEORGIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>When you hear of Circassia, you will generally hear of Georgia too, for +the countries lie close together, and resemble one another in many +respects. But though so near, their climate is different; for Circassia +lies beyond the mountains of Caucasus, and is therefore, exposed to the +cold winds of the north. But Georgia lies beneath the mountains, and is +sheltered from the chill blasts. Georgia is, therefore, far more fruitful +than Circassia, the people, too, are less fair, and less industrious. The +sides of the hills are clothed with vines, and houses with deep verandahs +are scattered among the vineyards, and women wrapped in long white sheets +may be seen reposing in the porticoes, enjoying the soft air, and lovely +prospect. While Circassian ladies are busy weaving and milking, the +Georgian ladies loll upon their couches, and do nothing. Which do you +think are the happier? These Georgian ladies, too, though very handsome, +are much disfigured by painted faces, and stained eyebrows.<a name='Page_158'></a> Their +countenances, too, are lifeless, and silly, as might be expected, since +they waste their time in idleness. Over their foreheads, they wear a kind +of low crown, called a tiara.</p> + +<p>There is no country where so much wine is drank as in Georgia, even a +laborer is allowed five bottles a day. The grapes are exceedingly fine, +quite different from the little berries called grapes in Circassia. The +casks are very curious, they are the skins of buffaloes, and as the tails +and legs are not cut off, a skin filled with wine looks like a dead, or a +sleeping buffalo.</p> + +<p>And what is the religion of Georgia? It is the Russian religion, because +the Russians have conquered the country. They cannot conquer the brave, +and active Circassians, but they have conquered the soft, and indolent +Georgians. The Georgians are called Christians, but the Greek Church, +which is the Russian religion, is a Christianity, laden with ceremonies +and false doctrines.</p> + + +<a name='Tiflis'></a> +<h3>TIFLIS.</h3> + +<p>There is but one town in Georgia. It is beautifully situated on the steep +banks of a river, with terraces of houses, embosomed in vineyards. So +little do the <a name='Page_159'></a>people care for reading, that there is not a bookseller's +shop in the town, and it is very seldom that a bookcase is seen in a +house; for the Georgians love show, and entertainments, and idleness, but +not study.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='TARTARY'></a><h2><a name='Page_160'></a>TARTARY.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is one of the largest countries in the world, yet it does not +contain as many people as the small land of France. How is this? You will +not be surprised that many people do not live there, when you hear what +sort of a country it is.</p> + +<p>Fancy a country quite flat, as far as eye can see, except where a few low +sand-hills rise; a country quite bare, except where the coarse grass +grows;—a country quite dry, except where some narrow muddy streams run. +Such is Tartary. What is a country without hills, without trees, without +brooks? Can it be pleasant? This flat, bare, dry plain, is called the +steppes of Tartary. In one part of Tartary, there is a chain of +mountains, and there are a few towns, and trees, but <i>very few</i>. You may +travel a long while without seeing one.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be so dreary as the steppes appear in winter time. The high +wind sweeping along the plain, drives the snow into high heaps, and often +<a name='Page_161'></a>hurls the poor animals into a cold grave. Sledges cannot be used, +because they cannot slide on such uneven ground. But if the <i>white</i> +ground looks dreary in winter, the <i>black</i> ground looks hideous in +summer; for the hot sun turns the grass black, and fills the air with +black dust, and there are no shady groves, no cool hills, no refreshing +brooks. There must, indeed, be a <i>little</i> shade among the thistles, as +they grow to twice the height of a man; but how different is such shade +from the shade of spreading oaks like ours! Instead of nice fruit, there +is bitter wormwood growing among the grass, and when the cows eat it, +their milk becomes bitter.</p> + +<p><b>WILD ANIMALS.</b>—The most common, is a pretty little creature called the +sooslik. It is very much like a squirrel.</p> + +<p>But can it live where squirrels live,—in the hollows of trees? Where are +the trees in the steppe? The sooslik makes a house for itself by digging +a hole in the ground, just as rabbits do in England. Will it not surprise +you to hear that wolves follow the same plan, and even the wild dogs? The +houses the dogs make are very convenient, for the entrance is very +narrow, and there is plenty of room below.</p> + +<p>There are some very odious animals on the steppe. Snakes and toads. Yes, +showers of toads sometimes <a name='Page_162'></a>fall. But neither snakes nor toads are as +great a plague as locusts. These little animals, not bigger than a +child's thumb, are more to be dreaded than a troop of wolves. And why? +Because they come in such immense numbers. The eggs lie hid in the ground +all the winter. O if it were known <i>where</i> they were concealed, they +would soon be destroyed. But no one knows where they are till they are +hatched. In the first warm days of spring the young animals come forth, +and immediately they begin crawling on the ground in one immense flock, +eating up all the grass as they pass along; in a month they can fly, and +then they darken the air like a thick cloud; wherever any green appears, +they drop down and settle on the spot. The noise they make in eating can +be heard to a great distance, and the noise they make in flying is like +the rustling of leaves in a forest. They cannot be destroyed: but there +are two things they hate,—smoke and noise,—and by these they are +sometimes scared and induced to fly away.</p> + +<p><b>PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS.</b>—Besides the wild animals, there are tame animals, +who inhabit the steppe with men and women who take care of them. They are +all wanderers, both men and beasts. You can easily guess why they wander. +It is to find sufficient grass for the cattle.</p><a name='Page_163'></a> + +<p>Every six weeks the Tartars move to a new place. Yet one place is so like +another, that no place appears new;—there is always the same immense +plain—without a cottage, or an orchard, a green hill, or running brook, +to make any spot remembered. It is great labor to the Tartar women to +pack up the tents and to place them on the backs of the camels, and then +to unpack and to pitch the tents. It is a great disgrace to the men to +suffer the women to work as hard as they do: but the men are very idle, +and like to sit by their tents smoking and drinking, while their wives +are toiling and striving with all their might. The women have the care of +all the cattle: and the men attend only to the horses. Perhaps they would +not even do this, were it not that they are very fond of riding; and such +riders as the Tartars are seldom seen.</p> + +<p>To give you an idea how they ride, I will describe one scene that took +place on the steppe.</p> + +<p>Some travellers from Europe were on a visit to a Tartar prince: (for +there are <i>princes</i> in the desert,) and they were taken to see a herd of +wild horses. The prince wished to have one of these wild horses caught. +It is not easy to do this. But Tartars know the way. Six men mounted a +tame horse, and rushed into the midst of the wild horses. Each of the men +<a name='Page_164'></a>had a great noose in his hand. They all looked at the prince to know +which horse he would have caught. When they saw the prince give a sign, +one of the men soon noosed a young horse. The creature seemed terrified +when it found that it was caught: his eyes started out, his nostrils +seemed to smoke. Presently a man came running up, sprang upon the back of +the wild horse, and by cutting the straps round his neck, set him at +liberty. In an instant the horse darted away with the swiftness of an +arrow; yet the man firmly kept his seat. The animal seemed greatly +alarmed at his strange burden, and tried every plan to get rid of +it;—now suddenly stopping,—now crawling on the grass like a worm,—now +rolling,—now rearing,—now dashing forward in a fast gallop through the +midst of the herd; yet all would not do; the rider clung to the horse as +closely as ever.</p> + +<p>But how was the rider ever to get off his fiery steed? That would be +difficult indeed; but help was sent to him by the prince. Two men on +horseback rode after him, and between them they snatched away the man +from the trembling and foaming horse. The animal, surprised to find his +load suddenly gone, stood stupefied for a moment, and then darted off to +join his companions. What <i>this</i> man did,—<i>many</i> Tartars can do: and +even <i>little boys</i> will mount wild<a name='Page_165'></a> horses, and keep on by clinging to +their manes: <i>women</i>, too, will gallop about on wild horses.</p> + +<p>In Circassia the customs are very different; for though <i>men</i> ride so +well, <i>women</i> there never ride at all; and surely it is far better not to +ride than to be as bold as a Tartar woman.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—What can be the food of the Tartars? Not bread, (for there is no +corn,) nor fruit, nor vegetables. The flocks and herds are the food. The +favorite meat is horse-flesh; though mutton and beef are eaten also. Then +there is plenty of milk—both cow's milk and sheep's milk. As there is +milk, there is butter and cheese. But it is very unwholesome to live on +meat and milk without bread and vegetables. The water, too, is very bad; +for it is taken from the muddy rivers, and not from clear springs. It is +a comfort for the Tartar that he can procure tea from China. Their tea is +indeed very unlike the tea brought to England; for it comes to Tartary in +hard lumps, shaped like bricks. It is boiled in a saucepan with water, +and then mixed with milk, butter, and salt. Thus you see the Tartar needs +neither tea-kettle, teapot, nor sugar basin.</p> + +<p>It would be well if tea and milk were the only drinks in Tartary; but a +sort of spirit is distilled by the Tartars from mare's milk; and brandy +also is brought from Russia.</p><a name='Page_166'></a> + +<p><b>TENTS.</b>—A Tartar tent is very unlike an Arab tent.</p> + +<p>It is in the shape of a hut, for the sides are upright, and the roof only +is slanting, and there is a small hole at the top to let the smoke +escape. Neither is it made of skins, but of thick woollen stuff, called +felt, which keeps the cold out. At night the entrance is closed, and the +family sleep on mats around the fire in the midst.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The Tartars are not handsome like the Turks and Circassians. +They are short and thick; their faces are broad and bony, their eyes very +small, and only half open; their noses flat, their lips thick, their +chins pointed, their ears large and flapping, and their skin dark and +yellow.</p> + +<p>Their dress is warm, and well suited for riding in the desert. Different +tribes have different dresses: this is the dress of the Kalmuck Tartar. +He wears a yellow cloth cap trimmed with black lamb-skin; wide trowsers, +a tight jacket, and over all a loose tunic, fastened round the waist. His +boots are red, with high heels. The women dress like the men; but they +let their hair grow in two long tresses, while the men shave part of +their heads, and keep only <i>one</i> lock of hair hanging on their shoulders.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/8.jpg' width='559' height='332' alt='TARTAR TENTS. p. 166.' title='TARTAR TENTS. p. 166.'> +</center> +<h5>TARTAR TENTS. See <a href='#Page_166'> p. 166.</a></h5> + +<p>You see that the Tartars are much like the Chinese in their persons and +dress; but they are a much <a name='Page_167'></a>stronger, bolder people, and much more +ignorant. No wonder, therefore, that many years ago the Tartars got over +the Chinese wall, and took possession of the Chinese throne. You must not +forget that the Emperor of China is a Tartar.</p> + +<p><b>GOVERNMENT.</b>—To whom does Tartary belong? Has it a king of its own? No. +Once it had many kings, called khans; but now the khans have lost their +power, and are only <i>called</i> khan to do them honor. Now Tartary belongs +to the great empires on each side of it,—Russia and China. Part of +Tartary is called Russian Tartary, and part—Chinese Tartary. There is +only a small part that is not conquered; and it is called Independent +Tartary.</p> + +<p>There are many different tribes, and each tribe keeps to a certain part +of the land, and never ventures to wander beyond its own bounds.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—The religion is the same as that which is so common in +China,—the religion of Buddha; but in some parts of Tartary there is the +religion of Mahomet. It is sad to think that far more people in the world +worship Buddha, the deceiver, than Jesus, the Son of God. The Tartars +think to please their false god by making a loud noise. It would astonish +a stranger to hear their jingling bells, shrill horns, squeaking shells, +bellowing trumpets, and deafening<a name='Page_168'></a> drums. How unlike is their senseless +noise to the sweet sound of a Christian hymn!</p> + +<p>The Tartars think also to please their gods by glaring colors; so their +priests dress in red and yellow, and bear flags, adorned with strips of +gay silk. A band of priests looks something like a regiment of soldiers.</p> + +<p>The chief priest is called the Lama, and he is worshipped as a god; but +his situation is not very pleasant; for he is not allowed to walk without +help. Whenever he attempts to walk, he is held up by a man on each side, +as if he were an infant; and usually he is drawn in a car, or carried in +a palanquin. From want of exercise, he becomes very weak and helpless. +When he dies, his body is burned, and the ashes are gathered up and made +into an idol. Thus he continues to be a god after he is dead. Another +Lama is chosen by one of the princes. There are many Lamas in Tartary for +the various tribes.</p> + +<p>As the Tartars are always moving about, a tent serves for a temple; and +the idols are carried in great chests. They cannot walk, therefore they +must be carried. What use are such gods?</p> + +<p>The Tartars have found out a way of praying without any trouble; and it +is a way that suits idols very well. They get some prayers written, and +place them <a name='Page_169'></a>in a drum, and then turn the drum round and round with a +string. This they call praying; and while they are thus praying, they can +be chattering, smoking, and even quarrelling. The princes have a still +easier way of offering up prayers. They write prayers upon a flag, and +then place it before their tents for the wind to blow it about.</p> + +<p>This is <i>their</i> way of praying to their gods.</p> + +<p>And what, my dear child, is <i>your</i> way of praying to your God?</p> + +<p>Have missionaries visited the Tartars?</p> + +<p>Yes; I will tell you of two German missionaries, who tried to convert a +tribe of Tartars called the Kalmucks, living near the Caspian Sea and the +river Volga. These good men were treated with great contempt by the +Tartars. The missionaries translated the Gospel of St. Matthew into the +Tartar language. One of the Tartars, instead of thanking them, observed, +"I wonder you should take so much trouble to prepare a book that we shall +never read." When the precious books were given to the Tartars, some of +them returned the books; and when it was read to them, they scornfully +said, as they turned away, "It is only the history of Jesus."</p> + +<p>At last one Tartar, named Sodnom, believed in Jesus. He said to the +missionaries, "Now the Tartars,<a name='Page_170'></a> from my example, may turn to the Lord: +for as, when sheep are to be washed, each is afraid to enter the water +till <i>one</i> has been in, so it may be with my countrymen."</p> + +<p>Sodnom read every evening in the Testament to his family in the tent. At +first his wife was displeased, and said that her husband wasted the +fire-wood in making a light to read a book that was of no use. But +afterwards she listened, and made the children keep quiet. The neighbors +also listened, and <i>twenty-two</i> turned to the Lord!</p> + +<p>Then the prince and the priests grew angry, and said the Christians must +leave the camp. Where could the Christians go? There was a village called +Sarepta, where some Germans lived. There they determined to go, though it +was two hundred miles off. One of the missionaries led the way on +horseback; the Tartars followed on foot: then came camels bearing the +tents and the women, while a bullock-cart contained the young children. +The flocks and herds were driven by the bigger children.</p> + +<p>The good Germans in Sarepta received the Tartars with great joy. One +gray-headed man of eighty-three came to meet them, leaning upon his +staff. He said he had been praying that he might see a <i>Christian</i> Tartar +before he died. He heard these Tartars <a name='Page_171'></a>sing hymns to the praise of +Jesus, and he felt his prayers were answered. Two days afterwards he +died. Like old Simeon, he might have said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."</p> + +<p>The Christians went to live in a small island in the river Volga. When +the river was frozen, the Germans went over the ice to visit them. Sodnom +gave them tea mixed with fat in a large wooden bowl; and to please him, +the kind Germans drank some, though they did not like it. Many Tartars +assembled in Sodnom's tent, and seated on the ground smoking their pipes, +talked together about heavenly things; and before they parted, they put +away their pipes, and folding their hands, sang hymns in their own +language. The Germans, in taking leave, divided a large loaf among the +company; for bread is considered quite a dainty by the Tartars.</p> + +<p>The change that had taken place in these Tartars filled the Germans with +joy; and more missionaries would have gone to teach the heathen Kalmucks, +had not the Emperor of Russia forbidden them.</p><a name='Page_172'></a> + + +<a name='Astracan'></a> +<h3>ASTRACAN.</h3> + +<p>This city is on the Caspian Sea. It is very unpleasant, on account of the +heat and the gnats.</p> + +<p>Not only Tartars dwell there, but many people of all nations, Russians, +Hindoos, and Armenians. The chief trade of Astracan is in the fish of the +sea, and in the salt on the shores.</p> + + +<a name='Bokhara'></a> +<h3>BOKHARA (IN TARTARY).</h3> + +<p>This is a kingdom in the midst of Tartary. It lies at the south of the +Caspian Sea. It is not like the rest of Tartary, for it is a sweet green +spot. Travellers have said that it is the most beautiful spot in the +world, but that is not true. The reason that travellers have said so, is +that, after passing through a great desert, they have been charmed at +seeing again running streams, and shady groves.</p> + +<p>But though Bokhara is a beautiful place, it is a wicked place.</p> + +<p>The king is one of the greatest tyrants in the world. He is called the +Amir.</p> + +<p>The city where he dwells is called Bokhara (which is also the name of the +whole country). His palace is <a name='Page_173'></a>on a high mound, in the midst of splendid +mosques, and mansions. Amongst these grand buildings is the prison, a +place of horrible cruelty. There the prisoners lie in the dark, and the +damp. One use of the prison is to keep water cool for the king in summer; +it feels therefore just like a cellar.</p> + +<p>But the worst dungeon, is filled with stinging insects, called "ticks," +reared on purpose to torment prisoners. In order to keep the ticks alive +when no prisoners are there, raw meat is thrown into the place. There is +also a deep pit into which men are let down with ropes; as once the holy +Jeremiah was in Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Once a fortnight the prisoners are judged by the Amir. Even when the +ground is covered with snow they stand with bare feet, waiting for hours +till the Amir appears.</p> + +<p>Can so cruel a monarch be happy? No. He lives in constant fear of his +life.</p> + +<p>He is afraid of drinking water, lest it should be poisoned. All that he +drinks is brought from the river in skins, and sealed, and guarded by two +officers; it is then taken to the chief counsellor, called the Vizier, +and tasted by him, and his servants; it is then sealed again, and sent to +his majesty. </p> + +<p>The Amir's dinner when it is ready, is not placed <a name='Page_174'></a>on the royal table, but +locked up in a box, and taken to the Vizier to be tasted, before it is +served up in the palace.</p> + +<p>But it is not the Amir only who is afraid of poison. No one will accept +fruit from another, unless that other tastes it first. It must be very +terrible to live in the midst of such murderers as the people of Bokhara +seem to be.</p> + +<p>The Amir is so much afraid of people making plans to destroy him, that he +chooses to see all the letters that are written by his subjects; if a +husband write to his wife, the letter must first be shown to the Amir. +There are boys, too, going about the city listening to all that is said, +that they may let the Amir know, if any one speak against him.</p> + +<p>But while the Amir is watching his people, <i>they</i> are watching <i>him</i>; for +his chief officers hire men to listen to the Amir's conversation, that +they may know if he intends to kill them. Yet every person <i>appears</i> to +approve all the Amir does, saying on every occasion, "It is the act of a +king; it must be good." They are such people as Jeremiah describes in the +Bible. "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit; one +<i>speaketh</i> peaceably to his neighbor, but in his <i>heart</i> he lieth his +wait."—(Jer. ix. 8.)</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The people in Bokhara are much <a name='Page_175'></a>handsomer than other +Tartars; their complexions are fairer, and their hair is of a lighter +color. They wear large white turbans, and several dark pelisses with +high-heeled boots. These high heels prevent their walking well, and most +people, both men and women, ride; but the ladies always hide their faces +with a veil of black hair cloth.</p> + +<p>The large court of the palace is filled from morning to night with a +crowd of noisy people, most of them mounted on horses and donkeys.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the court is the fruit market. It is wonderful to behold +the quantity, and beauty of the fruits. The same fruits grow in Bokhara +as in England, only they are much finer. <i>Such</i> grapes, plums, and +apricots, mulberries, and melons, are never seen in Europe, and they are +made more refreshing by being mixed with chopped ice. Large piles of ice +stand all the summer long in the market-place, and even beggars drink +iced water. But hot tea is preferred before any other drink. In every +corner of the market there are large urns of hot tea, and small bowls of +rich milk, surrounded all day by a thirsty crowd. How much better is this +sight than the gin palaces of London!</p> + +<p>But there is one great inconvenience in Bokhara, for which all its fruits +can scarcely make amends.<a name='Page_176'></a> There is bad water. For Bokhara is not built +on the banks of a river, or among running brooks: all the water is +brought by canals, from a small stream near the town, and when the canals +are dried up by the heat, there is no water, except in the tanks where it +is kept. This stagnant water produces a disease called the Guinea worm. +In this complaint the skin is covered with painful swellings, and when +they burst, a little flat worm is discovered in each, which must be drawn +out before the poor sufferer can recover.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—It is the Mahomedan. The Amir is a strict observer of his +religion. Every Friday he may be seen going to prayers in his great +mosque. The Koran is carried before him, and four men with golden staves +accompany him, crying out, "Pray to God that the Commander of the +Faithful may act justly." As he passes by, his people stroke their beards +to show their respect. Bokhara is reckoned by Mahomedans a very religious +city; for in every street there is a mosque; every evening people may be +seen crowding to prayers; and if boys are caught asleep during service, +they are tied together, and driven round the market by an officer, who +beats them all the way with a thick thong.</p> + +<p>There is a school, too, in almost every street of Bokhara, and there the +poor boys sit from sunrise, till an <a name='Page_177'></a>hour before sunset, bawling out +their foolish lessons from the Koran; and during all that time they are +never allowed to go home, except once for some bread. They have no time +for play, except in the evening, and no holiday, except on Friday. Seven +years they spend in this manner, learning to read and write. When they +leave school, if they wish to be counted very wise, they go to one of the +colleges; for there are many in Bokhara. Some spend all their lives in +these colleges, living in small cells, and meeting in a large hall to +hear lectures about the Mahomedan religion. It is a happy thing, however, +that in summer the students go out to work in the fields; for how much +better is it to work with the hands, than to fill the head with the +wicked inventions of Mahomed.</p> + +<p>The Mahomedans, however, are very proud of their religion, because they +<i>say</i>, they do not worship idols; (yet they do worship at Mecca, a black +stone, and other like things in other places). They imagine that <i>all</i> +Christians are idolaters, for they know that the Russians bow down to +pictures.</p> + +<p>Once the Vizier of Bokhara conversed a long while with two Englishmen +about their religion.</p> + +<p>He asked them, "Do you worship idols?"</p> + +<p>The Englishmen replied, "No."</p> + +<p>The Vizier would not believe them, but said, "I <a name='Page_178'></a>am sure you have images +and crosses hung round your necks." </p> + +<p>Upon which, they opened their vests to show there was nothing hidden.</p> + +<p>Then the Vizier smiled, and said to his servants, "They are not bad +people."</p> + +<p>As the servants were preparing tea, the Vizier took a cup, and said to +the travellers, "You must drink with us, for you are people of the Book," +meaning the Bible.</p> + +<p>Yet you must not suppose because the Vizier seemed to approve these +Christians, that he, and the Amir, would allow missionaries to settle in +the kingdom.</p> + +<p>It is dangerous for Englishmen to visit Bokhara. When they do come, they +must be very careful not to give offence, or they will lose their lives. +Englishmen are more dreaded than any other people, because it is known in +Bokhara, that they have conquered Hindostan, and therefore the Amir fears +lest they should conquer his kingdom also. As soon as an Englishman +enters Bokhara, he is forbidden to write a letter, for fear he should +contrive some plan to bring enemies there. Neither is he allowed to ride +in the streets; none but Mahomedans are allowed to ride in them, though +any one may ride <i>outside</i> the city.</p> + +<p>Some years ago two Englishmen came to Bokhara, <a name='Page_179'></a>named Colonel Stoddart, +and Captain Conolly. They acted foolishly in writing letters, and trying +to send them secretly to their friends. They were found out, and shut up.</p> + +<p>Colonel Stoddart behaved very wickedly in one respect; he pretended to be +a Mahomedan! Was not this wicked? Soon he grew sorry, and declared +himself a Christian. At last both Stoddart and Conolly were sentenced to +die. They were led with their hands tied behind them to a place near the +palace, to be executed. Conolly as he went along, cried out, "Woe, woe to +me, for I have fallen into the hands of a tyrant." At the place of +execution the two Englishmen kissed each other.</p> + +<p>Stoddart said to the king's minister, (for the Amir was not present,) +"Tell the Amir that I die a disbeliever in Mahomed, but a believer in +Jesus. I am a Christian, and a Christian I die."</p> + +<p>Then Conolly said to his friend, "We shall see each other in paradise +near Jesus."</p> + +<p>These were their last words. Immediately afterwards their heads were cut +off with a knife.</p> + +<p>Some time after this cruel murder, a clergyman, named Joseph Wolff, +arrived at Bukhara. He had travelled all the way from England, and all +alone, on purpose to inquire after Conolly, who had been his<a name='Page_180'></a> dear friend. +The Amir was surprised at his coming, and said, "I have taken thousands +of <i>Persians</i> and made them slaves, and no one came from Persia to +inquire what was become of them; but as soon as I take two ENGLISHMEN +prisoners, behold a man comes all this long way to inquire after <i>them!</i>"</p> + +<p>The Amir did not know how precious are the lives of Englishmen in the +eyes of their countrymen.</p> + +<p>Joseph Wolff found it hard to get away from Bokhara. He was kept a long +while in prison, and he feared he should be slain; for when he asked the +Amir to give him the bones of Stoddart and Conolly to take to England, +this was the Amir's answer: "I shall send YOUR bones!" Yet, after all, he +was permitted to leave Bokhara, the Lord graciously inclining the tyrant +to let him go.</p> + +<p>How can Missionaries be sent to such a country!</p> + +<p>Bokhara is the only large town in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>The sea of Aral lies to the north of the kingdom: it is an immense lake, +but not nearly so large as the Caspian Sea.</p> + +<p>The river Oxus flows into the Caspian. It is famous for its golden sands.</p> + +<p>The great trade of Bokhara is in black woolly lamb-skins, to make caps +for the Persians: the younger <a name='Page_181'></a>the lamb the more delicate the wool. Thus +many a pretty lambkin dies to adorn a Persian noble.</p> + +<p>The best raisins in the world come from Bokhara.<a name='FNanchor_8_8'></a><a href='#Footnote_8_8'><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> + + +<a name='The_Toorkman_Tartars'></a> +<h3>THE TOORKMAN TARTARS.</h3> + +<p>You have heard a great deal of the Tartars, and you have been told that +they are a quiet and peaceable nation. But not <i>all</i>; there is a tribe of +Tartars called the Toorkmans, of a very different character. They wander +about in the country between Bokhara and Persia, and their chief +employment is to steal men from Persia, and to sell them in Bokhara as +slaves. A whole troop, mounted on horses, rush sword in hand upon a +Persian city, and return to the camp with hundreds of beasts and human +creatures as their captives.</p> + +<p>Some English travellers once met five men chained together, walking with +sad steps in the deep sands of the desert. They were Persians just caught +by the Toorkmans, and on their way to Bokhara. When the Englishmen saw +these poor captives, they uttered a sorrowful cry, and the Persians began +to weep. One <a name='Page_182'></a>of the travellers stopped his camel to listen to their sad +tale; and he heard that a few weeks before, while working in the fields, +they had been seized and carried off. They were hungry and thirsty; for +the Toorkmans cruelly starve their slaves, in order that they may be too +weak to run away. The traveller gave them all he had, which was a melon, +to quench their thirst.</p> + +<p>But the worst part of the Toorkmans' conduct remains yet to be told. When +they have taken many captives, they usually <i>kill</i> the old people, +because they would not get much money for them in Bokhara; and they +choose <i>one</i> of their captives to offer up as a thank-offering to their +god!! Who is their god? The god of Mahomed. But though they are +Mahomedans, they have no mosques, and are too ignorant to be able to read +the Koran.</p> + +<p>Robbery is their whole business. For this purpose they learn to ride and +to fight. They understand well how to manage a horse, so as to make him +strong and swift. They do not let him eat when he pleases, but they give +him three meals a day of hay and barley, and then rein him up that he may +not nibble the grass, and grow fat; and sometimes they give him no food +at all, and yet make him gallop many miles. By this management the horses +are very thin, but <a name='Page_183'></a>very <i>strong</i>, and able to bear their masters eighty +miles in a day when required; and they are so swift that they can outrun +their pursuers.</p> + +<p>It is not surprising that the Toorkmans do not eat these thin horses, +though other Tartars are so fond of horse-flesh. They prefer mutton. When +they invite a stranger to dinner, they boil a whole sheep in a large +boiling-pot; then tear up the flesh,—mix it with crumbled bread, and +serve it up in wooden bowls. Two persons eat from one bowl, dipping their +hands into it, and licking up their food like dogs. The meal is finished +by eating melons.</p> + +<p>These coarse manners suit such fierce and wild creatures as the +Toorkmans. It is their boast that they rest neither under the shadow of a +TREE nor of a KING: meaning that they have neither trees nor kings to +protect them in the desert.</p> + +<p>The men wear high caps of black sheep-skin, while the Women wear high +white turbans. The tents are adorned with beautiful carpets, not only the +floors, but the sides, and it is the chief employment of the women to +weave them. As for the men, they spend most of their time in sauntering +about among the tents; for the fierce dogs guard the flocks. But when +their hands are idle, their thoughts are still busy in planning new +robberies and murders.</p><a name='Page_184'></a> + +<p>It was by such men that the earth was inhabited when God sent the flood +to destroy it. It is written, "The earth was filled with VIOLENCE."</p> + +<p>Is there any man brave enough to go to these men to warn them of the +judgment to come, and to tell them of pardon for the penitent, through +the blood of Jesus?<a name='FNanchor_9_9'></a><a href='#Footnote_9_9'><sup>[9]</sup></a> </p> + +<a name='Footnote_8_8'></a><a href='#FNanchor_8_8'>[8]</a><div class='note'><p> Taken from Sir Alexander Burnes, and from Kanikoff, the +Russian, and from Rev. Joseph Wolff.</p></div> + +<a name='Footnote_9_9'></a><a href='#FNanchor_9_9'>[9]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted from Sir Alexander Burnes' "Bokhara."</p></div><a name='Page_185'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CHINESE_TARTARY'></a><h2>CHINESE TARTARY.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Very little is known in Europe of this part of Tartary; and why? Because +the Emperor of China, who reigns over it, does not like travellers to go +there.</p> + +<p>It is divided by high and snowy mountains from the rest of Tartary. When +a traveller has passed over these mountains, he finds on the other side +Chinese officers, who inquire what business he has come upon. If he have +come only to wander about the country, he is desired to go home again; +because the Chinese are afraid lest strangers should send spies, and then +ARMIES—to conquer their empire.</p> + +<p>One traveller, because he stayed too long in Tartary, was imprisoned for +three months; and before he was let go, a picture of him was taken. What +was done with this picture? It was copied, and the copies were sent to +various towns on the borders of Chinese Tartary, with this command, "If +the man, who is like this picture, enter the country, his head is the +Emperor's, <a name='Page_186'></a>and his property is <i>yours</i>." Happily the traveller heard of +this command, and was never seen again in the country. You see how +cunning it was of the Chinese to allow any one who killed the traveller +to have his property; for thus they made it the interest of all to kill +him.</p> + +<p>There is one city in Chinese Tartary where many strangers come to trade +with the people. It is called Yarkund. There caravans arrive from Pekin, +laden with tea, after a journey of five months over the wilds of Tartary. +Then merchants come from Bokhara to buy the tea, and to carry it home, +where it is so much liked.</p><a name='Page_187'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='AFFGHANISTAN'></a><h2>AFFGHANISTAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This land is not a desert. Yet there are but few trees, and because there +is so little shade, the rivulets are soon dried up. Yet it might be a +fruitful land, if the inhabitants would plant and sow. But they prefer +wandering about in tents, and living upon plunder, to settling in one +place and living by their labor. The Tartar has good reason for roaming +over his plains, because the land is bad; but the Affghan has no reason, +but the <i>love</i> of roaming.</p> + +<p>The plains of Affghanistan are sultry, but the mountains are cool; for +their tops are covered with snow. The shepherds feed their flocks on the +plains during the winter; but in the spring they lead them to the +mountains to pass the summer there. Then the air is filled with the sweet +scent of clover and violets. The sheep often stop to browse upon the +fresh pasture; but they are not suffered to linger long. The children +have the charge of the lambs; an old goat or sheep goes before to +encourage the lambs to <a name='Page_188'></a>proceed, and the children follow with switches of +green grass. Many a little child who can only just run alone, enjoys the +sport of driving the young lambs. The tents are borne on the backs of +camels. The men are terrible-looking creatures, tall, large, dark, and +grim, with shaggy hair and long black beards. They wear great turbans of +blue check and handsome jackets, and cloaks of sheep-skin; they carry in +their girdles knives as large as a butcher's; and on their shoulders a +shield and a gun.</p> + +<p>Besides these wild wanderers, there are some Affghans who live in houses.</p> + +<p>Cabool, the capital, is a fine city, and the king dwells in a fine +citadel. The bazaar is the finest in all Asia. It is like a street with +many arches across it; and these people sell all kinds of goods.</p> + +<p>But what is a fine <i>bazaar</i> compared to a beautiful <i>garden?</i> Cabool is +surrounded by gardens: the most beautiful is the king's. In the midst is +an octagon summer-house, where eight walks meet, and all the walks are +shaded by fruit-trees. Here grow, as in Bokhara, the best fruits to be +found in an English garden, only much larger and sweeter. The same kind +of birds, too, which sing in England sing among its branches, even the +melodious nightingale. It is the chief delight of the people of Cabool to +wander in <a name='Page_189'></a>the gardens: they come there every evening, after having spent +the day in sauntering about the bazaar; for they are an idle people, +talking much and working little.</p> + +<p>The noise in the city is so great that it is difficult to make a friend +hear what you say: it is not the noise of rumbling wheels as in London, +for there are no wheeled carriages, but the noise of chattering tongues.</p> + +<p>The Affghans are a temperate people; they live chiefly upon fruit with a +little bread; and as they are Mahomedans, they avoid wine, and drink +instead iced sherbets, made of the juice of fruits. In winter excellent +<i>dried</i> fruits supply the place of fresh.</p> + +<p>But the Affghan, though living on fruits, is far from being a harmless +and amiable character; on the contrary, he is cruel, covetous, and +treacherous. Much British blood has been shed in the valleys of +Affghanistan.</p> + +<p>We cannot blame the Affghans for defending their own country. It was +natural for them to ask, "What right has Britain to interfere with us?"</p> + +<p>A British army was once sent to Affghanistan to force the people to have +a king they did not like, instead of one they did like.</p> + +<p>I will tell you of a youth who accompanied his father to the wars. This +boy looked forward with delight<a name='Page_190'></a> to going as a soldier to a foreign land, +and his heart beat high when the trumpet sounded to summon the troops to +embark. Joyfully he quitted Bombay, crossed the Indian Ocean, and landed +near the mouth of the Indus. When the army began its march towards +Affghanistan, he rode on a pony by his father's side.</p> + +<p>At first it seemed pleasant to pitch the tent in a new spot every day, to +rest during the heat, and to travel in the dead of the night, till the +sun was high in the sky. But soon this way of life was found fatiguing, +for the heat was great, and the water scarce. The air, too, was clouded +by the dust the troops raised in marching; and green grass was seldom +seen, or a shady tree under which to rest. The food, too, was dry and +stale, and no fresh food could be procured, for the Affghans, before they +fled, destroyed the corn and fruit growing in the fields, that their +enemies might not eat them. The camels, too, which bore the baggage of +the British army, grew ill from heat and thirst; for it is not true that +camels can live <i>long</i> without water; in three or four days they die. +Besides this, the hard rocks in the hilly country hurt their feet, and +hastened their death. Many a camel died as it was seeking to quench its +thirst at a narrow stream in the valley, and its dead body falling into +<a name='Page_191'></a>the water, polluted it. Yet this water the soldiers drank, for they had +no other, and from drinking it they fell ill. The father of the youthful +soldier was one of these, and he was compelled to stop on the way for +several weeks; and because the heat of a tent was too great, he took +shelter in a ruined building. Here his son nursed him with a heavy heart. +Where was the delight the youth had expected to find in a soldier's life?</p> + +<p>At last the British army reached a strong fort built on the top of a +hill; Guznee was its name. Its walls and gates were so strong that it +seemed impossible to get into the city; yet the British knew that if they +did <i>not</i>, they must die either by the Affghan sword, or by hunger and +thirst among the rocks. For some time they were much perplexed and +distressed. At last a thought came into the mind of a British captain, +"Let us blow up the gates with gunpowder." The plan was good; but how to +perform it,—there was the difficulty. Soon all was arranged. In the +night some sacks of gunpowder were laid very softly against the gates; +but as no one could set fire to the sacks when <i>close</i> to them, a long +pipe of cloth was filled with gunpowder, and stretched like a serpent +upon the ground; one end of the pipe touched the sack, and the other end +was to be set on fire. But<a name='Page_192'></a> before the match was applied, a British +officer peeped through a chink in the gates to see what the Affghans were +doing within. Behold! they were quietly smoking, and eating their supper, +not suspecting any danger! The match was applied—the gunpowder exploded, +and the strong gates were shattered into a thousand pieces; the army +rushed in sword in hand, and the Affghans fled in wild confusion.</p> + +<p>Where was our young soldier? He was running into the fort between two +friendly soldiers, who kindly helped him on; each of them was holding one +of his arms, and assisting him to keep up with the troops, as they rushed +through the gates. As he ran, he heard horrible cries, but the darkness +hindered him from seeing the dying Affghans rolling in the dust, only he +felt their soft bodies as he hastily passed over them. He heard his +fellow-soldiers shouting and firing on every side. Some fell close beside +him, and others were wounded, and carried off on the shoulders of their +comrades, screaming with agony.</p> + +<p>Half an hour after the gates were fired, the city was taken. The news of +the victory spread among the Affghans on the mountains, and the plains, +and the whole country submitted to the British.</p> + +<p>The army soon marched to Cabool, that proud city. No one opposed their +entrance, and the bazaar, and <a name='Page_193'></a>the king's garden, and the royal citadel +were visited by our soldiers.</p> + +<p>After spending two months in beautiful Cabool, resting their weary limbs +and feasting on fine fruits, the army was ordered to return home. They +began to march again towards the coast, a distance of fifteen hundred +miles, over cragged rocks, and scorching plains.</p> + +<p>In the course of this terrible journey, the father of the young soldier +again fell ill, and was forced to stop by the way. His affectionate son +nursed him night and day; closed his eyes in death, and saw him laid in a +lowly grave in the desert. With a bleeding heart the youth embarked to +return to Bombay.</p> + +<p>During the voyage, a furious storm arose, and all on board despaired of +life. <i>Then</i> it was the youth remembered the prayers he had offered up by +his dying father's bed; <i>then</i> it was he felt he had not turned to God +with all his heart, and <i>then</i> it was he vowed, that if the Lord would +spare him this <i>once</i>, he would seek his face in truth. God heard and +spared.</p> + +<p>And did the youth remember his prayers and vows? He did, though not at +<i>first</i>,—yet after a little while he <i>did</i>. He read the word of God, he +prayed for the Spirit of God, and at length he enjoyed the peace of God; +and now he neither fears storm nor sword, because Christ is his shelter +and his shield.</p><a name='Page_194'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='BELOOCHISTAN'></a><h2>BELOOCHISTAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Just underneath Affghanistan, lies Beloochistan, by the sea coast. It is +separated from India by the river Indus. You may know a Beloochee from an +Affghan by his stiff red cotton cap, in the shape of a hat without a +brim; whereas, an Affghan wears a turban. Yet the religion of the +Beloochee is the same as that of the Affghan, namely, the Mahomedan, and +the character is alike, only the Beloochee is the fiercer of the two: the +country also is alike, being wild and rocky.</p> + +<p>Beloochistan has not been conquered by the British: it has a king of its +own; yet the British have fought against Beloochistan. On one occasion a +British army was sent to punish the king of Beloochistan for not having +sent corn to us, as he had promised.</p> + +<p>The army consisted of three thousand men, and amongst them was the young +soldier, of whom you have heard so much already. His father was ill at<a name='Page_195'></a> +the time, and could not fight; but the youth came upon his pony, with a +camel to carry his tent, and all his baggage.</p> + +<p>The troops as usual marched in the night. In the morning, about eight +o'clock, they first caught sight of Kelat, the capital of Beloochistan. +It was a grand sight, for the city is built on a high hill, with a +citadel at the top. The dark Beloochees were seen thronging about the +walls and the towers, gazing at the British army, but not daring to +approach them.</p> + +<p>Our soldiers, when they first arrived, were too much tired to begin the +attack, and therefore they rested on the grass for two hours. At ten +o'clock the word of command was given, and the attack was made. The +British planted their six cannons opposite the gates, and began to fire.</p> + +<p>Where was the young soldier? He was commanded to run with his company +close up to the wall, and there to remain. As he ran, he was exposed to +the full fire of the enemy. The youth heard bullets whizzing by as he +passed, and he expected every moment that some ball would lay him low; +but through the mercy of God he reached the wall in safety. <i>Close</i> +underneath the wall was not a dangerous post, for the bullets passed over +the heads of those standing there.</p><a name='Page_196'></a> + +<p>About noon, the British cannons had destroyed the gates. Then the British +soldiers rushed into the town. Amongst the first to enter was the young +soldier; because when the gates fell he was standing close by. As he +passed along the streets, he saw no one but the dead and the dying; for +the Beloochees had fled for refuge to their citadel on the top of the +hill. The king himself was there.</p> + +<p>The citadel was a place very difficult for an enemy to enter; for the +entrance was through a narrow dark passage underground. Into this passage +the British soldiers poured, but soon they came to a door, which they +could not get through, for Beloochee soldiers stood there, sword in hand, +ready to cut down any one who approached. "Look at my back," said one +soldier to his fellow. The other looked, and beheld the most frightful +gashes gaping wide and bleeding freely. Such were the wounds that each +soldier, who ventured near that door, was sure to receive.</p> + +<p>At this moment a cry was heard, saying, "Another passage is found." When +the Beloochees heard this cry, they gave up all hopes of keeping the +enemy out of the citadel; so they left off fighting, and cried "Peace."</p> + +<p>But their king was already dead; he had fallen on the threshold of the +passage last found. The <i>first</i> man who tried to get in by that way the +<i>king</i> had <a name='Page_197'></a>killed; but the <i>second</i> had killed the king. The British, as +they rushed in by this new way, trampled on the body of the fallen +monarch. He was a splendid object even in death; his long dark ringlets +were flowing over his glittering garments, and his sharp sword, with its +golden hilt, was in his hand. The British hurried by, and climbed the +steep and narrow stairs leading to the top of the citadel, and the enemy +no longer durst oppose their course.</p> + +<p>On the terrace at the top of the citadel, in the open air, stood the +nobles of Beloochistan. There were princes too from the countries all +around. It was a magnificent assembly. These men were the finest of a +fine race. Some were clad in shining armor, and others in flowing +garments of green and gold. Thus they stood for a <i>moment</i>, and the +<i>next</i>—they were rolling on the ground!!</p> + +<p>How was this? Had not peace been agreed upon on both sides? Yes, but a +British soldier had attempted to take away the sword of one of the +princes. The prince had resisted, and with his sword, had wounded the +soldier; and instantly every British gun on that spot had been pointed at +the nobles of Beloochistan.</p> + +<p>This was why the nobles were lying in the agonies of death.</p><a name='Page_198'></a> + +<p>Our young soldier was not one of those who slew the nobles. He was +standing on another part of the terrace, when, hearing a tremendous +volley of guns, he exclaimed to a friend, "What can that be?" Going +forward, he beheld heaps of bleeding bodies, turbans, and garments—in +one confused mass. The dying were calling for water, and the very +soldiers who had shot them, were holding cups to their quivering lips, +though themselves parched with thirst. But water could not save the lives +of the fallen nobles: one by one they ceased to cry out, and soon—all +were silent—and all were still. The VICTORY was WON! But how awful had +been the last scene! How cruelly, how unjustly, had the lives of that +princely assembly been cut short!</p> + +<p>The conquerors returned that evening to their camp. On their way, they +passed through the desolate streets of the city; the mud cottages on each +side were empty, and blood flowed between. The young officer, as he +marched at the head of his company, was struck by seeing a row of his own +fellow-soldiers lying dead upon the ground. They had been placed there +ready for burial on the morrow. Their ghastly faces, and gaping wounds +were terrible to behold. The youth remembered them full of life and +spirits in the morning, unmindful of their dismal end; <i>then</i> he felt how +<a name='Page_199'></a>merciful God had been in sparing his life; and when he crept into his +little tent that night, he returned him thanks upon his knees; though he +did not love him <i>then</i> as his Saviour from eternal death. Wearied, he +soon fell asleep, but his sleep was broken by dreadful dreams of blood +and death.</p> + +<p>The next day he walked through the conquered town, and saw the British +soldiers dragging the dead bodies of their enemies by ropes fastened to +their feet. They were dragging them to their grave, which was a deep +trench, and there they cast them in and covered them up with earth.</p> + +<p>Such is the history of the conquest of Kelat.<a name='FNanchor_10_10'></a><a href='#Footnote_10_10'><sup>[10]</sup></a> How many souls were +suddenly hurled into eternity! How many unprepared to meet their Judge, +because their sins were unpardoned, and their souls unwashed! But in war, +who thinks of souls and sins! O horrible war! How hateful to the Prince +of Peace!</p> + +<a name='Footnote_10_10'></a><a href='#FNanchor_10_10'>[10]</a><div class='note'><p> September 13, 1839.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='BURMAH'></a><h2><a name='Page_200'></a>BURMAH.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Of all the kings in Asia, the king of Burmah is the greatest, next to the +emperor of China. He has not indeed nearly as large a kingdom, or as many +subjects as that emperor; but like him, he is worshipped by his people. +He is called "Lord of life and death," and the "Owner of the sword," for +instead of holding a <i>sceptre</i> in his hand, he holds a golden sheathed +<i>sword</i>. A sword indeed suits him well, for he is very cruel to his +subjects. Nowhere are such severe punishments inflicted. For drinking +brandy the punishment is, pouring molten lead down the throat; and for +running away from the army, the punishment is, cutting off both legs, and +leaving the poor creature to bleed to death. A man for choosing to be a +Christian was beaten all over the body with a wooden mallet, till he was +one mass of bruises; but before he was dead, he was let go.</p> + +<p>Every one is much afraid of offending this cruel king. The people tremble +at the sound of his name; <a name='Page_201'></a>and when they see him, they fall down with +their heads in the dust. The king makes any one a lord whom he pleases, +yet he treats even his lords very rudely. When displeased with them, he +will hunt them out of the room with his drawn sword. Once he made forty +of his lords lie upon their faces for several hours, beneath the broiling +sun, with a great beam over them to keep them still. It was well for them +that the king did not send for the men with spotted faces. Who are those +men? The executioners. Their faces are always covered with round marks +tattooed in the skin. The sight of these spotted faces fills all the +people with terror. Every one runs away at the sight of a spotted face, +and no one will allow a man with a spotted face to sit down in his house. +In what terror the poor Burmese must live, not knowing when the order for +death will arrive. Yet the king is so much revered, that when he dies, +instead of saying, "He is dead," the people say, "He is gone to amuse +himself in the heavenly regions"</p> + +<p>The king has a great many governors under him, and they are as cruel as +himself. A missionary once saw a poor creature hanging on a cross. He +inquired what the man had done, and finding that he was not a murderer, +he went to the governor to entreat him to pardon the man. For a long +while the governor refused <a name='Page_202'></a>to hear him: but at last he gave him a note, +desiring the crucified man to be taken down from the cross. Would you +believe it?—the Burmese officers were so cruel that they would not toke +out the nails, till the missionary had promised them a <i>piece of cloth</i> +as a reward! When the man was released, he was nearly dead, having been +seven hours bleeding on the cross; but he was tenderly nursed by the +missionary, and at last he recovered. Yet all the agonies of a cross had +not changed the man's heart, and he returned to his old way of life as a +thief. Had he believed in that Saviour who was nailed to a cross for his +sins, he would, like the dying thief, have repented. Though the Burmese +are so unfeeling to each other, they think it wrong to kill animals, and +never eat any meat, except the flesh of animals who have died of +themselves. Even the fishermen think they shall be punished hereafter for +catching fish; but they say, "We must do it, or we shall be starved." You +may be sure that such a people must have some false and foolish religion; +and so they have, as you will see.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/9.jpg' width='606' height='842' alt='IDOL CAR AND PAGODA. p. 203.' title='IDOL CAR AND PAGODA. p. 203.'> +</center> +<h5>IDOL CAR AND PAGODA. See <a href='#Page_203'> p. 203.</a></h5> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—It is the religion of Buddha. This Buddha was a man who was +born at Benares, in India, more than two thousand years ago; and people +say, that for his great goodness was made a boodh, or a god. Yet the +Burmese do not think he is alive <a name='Page_203'></a>now; they say he is resting as a reward +for his goodness. Why then do they pray to him, if he cannot hear them? +They pray because they think it is very good to pray, and that they shall +be rewarded for it some day. What reward do they expect? It is this—to +<i>rest</i> as Buddha does—to sleep forever and ever. This is the reward they +look for. Every one in Burmah thinks he has been born a great many times +into the world,—now as an insect,—now as a bird,—now as a beast, and +he thinks that because he was very good,—as a reward he was made a +<i>man</i>. Then he thinks that if he is very good as a <i>poor</i> man, he shall +be born next time to be a <i>rich</i> man; and at last, that he will be +allowed to rest like Buddha himself. What is it to be good? The Burmese +say that the greatest goodness is making an idol, and next to that, +making a pagoda. You know what an idol is, but do you know what a pagoda +is? It is a house, with an idol <i>hidden</i> inside, and it has no door, nor +window, therefore no one can get into a pagoda. Some pagodas are very +large, and others very small. As it is thought so very good to make idols +and pagodas, the whole land is filled with them; the roads in some places +are lined with them; the mountains are crowned with them.</p> + +<p>Next to making idols, and building pagodas, it is considered good to make +offerings. You may see the <a name='Page_204'></a>father climbing a steep hill to reach a +pagoda, his little one by his side, and plucking green twigs as he goes. +He reaches the pagoda, and strikes the great bell, then enters the +idol-house near the pagoda, and teaches his young child how to fold its +little hands, and to raise them to its forehead, while it repeats a +senseless prayer; then leaving the green twigs at the idol's feet, the +father descends with his child in his arms. How many little ones, such +as Jesus once took in his arms, are taught every day to serve Satan.</p> + +<p>The people who are thought the best in Burmah, are the priests. Any one +that pleases may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out +begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands; but they +get them well filled, and then return to the handsome house, all shining +with gold, in which they live together in plenty and in pride. They are +expected to dress in rags, to show that they are poor; but not liking +rags, they cut up cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces together to +make their yellow robes; and this they call wearing rags. They pretend to +be so modest, that they do not like to show their faces, and so hide them +with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their way, that +is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they give him is +Guadama, while the Chinese<a name='Page_205'></a> call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty +stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a +bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good +whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king.</p> + +<p><b>CHARACTER.</b>—The Burmese are a blunt and rough people. They are not like +the Chinese and the Hindoos, ready to pay compliments to strangers. When +a Burmese has finished a visit, he says, "I am going," and his friend +replies, "Go." This is very blunt behavior. But all blunt people are not +sincere. The Burmese are very deceitful, and tell lies on every occasion; +indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods. They are also very +proud, because they fancy they were so good before they were born into +this world. All the kind actions they do are in the hope of getting more +merit, and this bad motive spoils all they do. They are kind to +travellers. In every village there is a pretty house, called a Zayat, +where travellers may rest. As soon as a guest arrives, the villagers +hasten to wait upon him;—one brings a clean mat, another a jug of water, +and a third a basket of fruit. But why is all this attention shown? In +the hope of getting merit. The Burmese resemble the Chinese in their +respect to their parents. They are better than the Chinese in their +treatment of their children, for they <a name='Page_206'></a>are kind to the <i>girls</i> is well as +to the boys; neither do they destroy any of their infants. They are +temperate also, not drinking wine,—having only two meals in the day, and +then not eating too much. In these points they are to be approved. They +are, however, very violent in their tempers; it is true they are not very +easily provoked, but when they are angry, they use very abusive language. +Thus you see they are by no means an amiable people.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—In their persons they are far less pleasing than the +Hindoos; for instead of <i>slender</i> faces and figures, they have broad +faces and thick figures. But they have not such dark complexions as the +Hindoos.</p> + +<p>They disfigure themselves in various ways. To make their skins yellow, +they sprinkle over them a yellow powder. They also make their teeth +black, because they say they do not wish to have white teeth like dogs +and monkeys. They bore their ears, and put bars of gold, or silver, or +marble through the holes.</p> + +<p>The women wear a petticoat and a jacket. The men wear a turban, a loose +robe, and a jacket; they tie up their hair in a knot behind, and tattoo +their legs, by pricking their skin, and then putting in black oil. They +have the disagreeable custom of smoking,<a name='Page_207'></a> and of chewing a stuff called +"coon," which they carry in a box.</p> + +<p>Every one (except the priests) carries an umbrella to guard him from the +sun; the king alone has a white one; his nobles have gilded umbrellas; +the next class have red umbrellas; and the lowest have green.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—Burmah is a pleasanter country than Hindostan, for it is not so +hot, and yet it is as fruitful. The people live chiefly upon rice; but +when they cannot get enough, they find abundance of leaves and roots to +satisfy their hunger.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—There are many tigers, but no lions. The Burmese are fond of +adorning their houses with statues of lions, but never having seen any, +they make very strange and laughable figures. The pride of Burmah is her +elephants; but they all belong to the king, and none may ride upon one +but himself, and his chief favorite. Carriages are drawn by bullocks, or +buffaloes; and there are horses for riding, so the Burmese can do very +well without the elephants. The king thinks a great deal too much of +these noble animals. There was a white elephant that he delighted in so +much, that he adorned it with gold, and jewels, and counted it next to +himself in rank, even above the queen. </p><a name='Page_208'></a> + +<p><b>HOUSES.</b>—The Burmese build their houses on posts, so that there is an +empty place under the floors. Dogs and crows may often be seen walking +under the houses, eating whatever has fallen through the cracks of the +floor.</p> + +<p>The king allows none but the nobles to build houses of brick and stone; +the rest build them of bamboos. This law is unpleasant; but there is +another law which is a great comfort to the poor. It is <i>this</i>;—any one +may have land who wishes for it. A man has only to cultivate a piece of +spare land, and it is counted his, <i>as long</i> as he continues to cultivate +it; therefore all industrious people have gardens of their own.</p> + + +<a name='The_Karens'></a> +<h3>THE KARENS.</h3> + +<p>Among the mountains of Burmah, there are a wild people called the Karens, +very poor and very ignorant; yet some have attended to the voice of the +missionaries. They are not so proud as the Burmese; for they have no gods +at all, and no books at all: they have not filled their heads with five +hundred and fifty stories about Gaudama; therefore they are more ready to +listen to the history of Jesus.</p> + +<p>The Karens live in houses raised from the ground, <a name='Page_209'></a>and so large is the +place underneath, that they keep poultry and pigs there. Every year they +move to a new place, and build new houses, clear a new piece of ground, +by burning the weeds, dig it up, and sow rice. Thus they wander about, +and they number their years by the number of houses they have lived in.</p> + +<p>Of all the Eastern nations, they sing and play the most sweetly, and when +they become Christians, they sing hymns, very sweetly indeed.</p> + +<p>There is one Christian village among the mountains, called Mata, which +means love; and every morning the people meet together in the Zayat, or +travellers' house, to sing and pray. Before they were Christians, the +Karens were in constant fear of the Nats; (not <i>insects</i>, but evil +spirits), and sometimes in order to please their Nats, they were so cruel +as to beat a pig to death. The Christian Karens have left off such +barbarous practices, and have become kind and compassionate. When the +missionaries told them that they ought to love one another, some of them +went secretly the next day to wait upon a poor leper, and upon a woman +covered with sores. Another day, without being asked, they collected some +money and brought it to the missionaries, saying, they wished to set free +a poor Burman who had been imprisoned for<a name='Page_210'></a> Christ's sake. It is cheering +to the missionaries to see them turning from their sins.<a name='FNanchor_11_11'></a><a href='#Footnote_11_11'><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> + +<a name='Ava'></a> +<h3>AVA.</h3> + +<p>This city was once the capital of Burmah, and then it was called the +"golden city." But now the king lives in another city, and the glory of +Ava has passed away.</p> + +<a name='Maulmain'></a> +<h3>MAULMAIN.</h3> + +<p>This city, though in Burmah, may be called a British city, because the +British built it; for they have conquered great part of Burmah. There are +missionaries there. One there is, named Judson, who has turned more than +a hundred Burmese to the Lord. But he has known great troubles. His wife +and his little girl shared in these troubles.</p> + +<p>I will now relate the history of the short life of little Maria Judson. </p><a name='Page_211'></a> + +<a name='The_Missionarys_Babe'></a> +<h3>THE MISSIONARY'S BABE.</h3> + +<p>The missionary's babe, little Maria, was born in a cottage by the side of +a river, and very near the walls of the great city of Ava, where the king +dwelt.</p> + +<p>It was a wooden cottage, thatched with straw, and screened by a verandah +from the burning sun. It was not like an English cottage, for it was +built on high posts, that the cool air might play beneath. It contained +three small rooms all on one floor. The country around was lovely; for +the green banks of the river were adorned with various colored flowers +and with trees laden with fine fruits.</p> + +<p>In this pretty cottage, the infant Maria was lulled in her mother's arms +to sleep, and often the tears rolling down the mother's cheeks, fell upon +the baby's fair face. Why did the mother weep? It was for her husband she +wept. He was not dead, but he was in prison. He was a missionary, and the +king of Ava had imprisoned him in the midst of the great city. Was his +wife left all alone with her babe in her cottage? No, there were two +little Burmese girls there. They were the children of heathen parents, +and they had been received by the kind lady into her cottage, and now +they were learning to worship God. Their new names were, Mary, and Abby. +There were also two <a name='Page_212'></a>men servants, of dark complexion, dressed in white +cotton, and wearing turbans. It was a sorrowful little household, because +the master of the family was absent, because he was in distress, and his +life was in danger. Every day his fond wife visited him in his prison. +She left her babe under the care of Mary, and set out with a little +basket in her hand. After walking two miles through the streets of Ava, +she came to some high walls—she knocked at the gate—a stern-looking +man opened it. The lady, passing through the gates, entered a court. In +one corner of the court, there was a little shed made of bamboos, and +near it, upon a mat, eat a pale, and sorrowful man. His countenance +brightens when he perceives the lady enter. She refreshes him with the +nice food she has brought in her basket, and comforts him with sweet and +heavenly words:—then hastens to return to her babe. As soon as she +enters her cottage, she sinks back, half fainting, in her rocking-chair, +while she folds again her little darling in her arms. Happy babe! thy +parents are suffering for Jesus—and they are blessed of the Lord, and +their baby with them.</p> + +<p>Greater sorrows still, soon befell the little family. One day, a +messenger came to the cottage, with the sad tidings that the bamboo hut +had been torn down, the mat, and pillow taken away, and the prisoner,<a name='Page_213'></a> +laden with chains, thrust into the inner prison. The loving wife hastened +to the governor of the city to ask for mercy; but she could obtain none, +only she was permitted to see her husband. And <i>what</i> a sight! He was +shut up in a room with a hundred men, and without a <i>window!!</i> Though the +weather was hot no breath of air reached the poor prisoners, but through +the cracks in the boards. No wonder that the missionary soon fell ill of +a fever. His wife, fearing he would die, determined to act like the widow +in the parable, and to weary the unjust judge by her entreaties. She left +her quiet cottage, and built a hut of bamboos at the governor's gate, +and there she lived with her babe, and the little Burmese girls. The +prison was just opposite the governor's gate, so that the anxious wife +had now the comfort of being near her suffering husband. The governor was +wearied by her importunity, and at last permitted her to build again a +bamboo hovel for the prisoner in the court of the prison. The sick man +was brought out of the noisome dungeon, and was laid upon his mat in the +fresh air. He was supplied with food and medicine by his faithful wife, +and he began to recover.</p> + +<p>But in three days, a change occurred. Suddenly the poor wife heard that +her beloved had been dragged from his prison, and taken, she knew not +where. She<a name='Page_214'></a> inquired of everybody she saw, "Where is he gone?" but no +answer could she obtain. At last the governor told her, that his prisoner +was taken to a great city, named A-ma-ra-poora. This city was seven miles +from Ava. The wife decided in a moment what to do. She determined to +follow her husband. Taking her babe in her arms, and accompanied by the +Burmese children, and one servant, she set out. She went to the city up +the river in a covered boat, and thus she was sheltered from the +scorching sun of an Indian May. But when she arrived at Amarapoora, she +heard that her husband had been taken to a village six miles off. To this +village she travelled in a clumsy cart drawn by oxen. Overcome with +fatigue, she arrived at the prison, and saw her poor husband sitting in +the court chained to another prisoner, and looking very ill. He had +neither hat, nor coat, nor shoes, and his feet were covered with wounds +he had received, as he had been driven over the burning gravel on the way +to the prison: but his wounds had been bound up by a kind heathen +servant, who had torn up his own turban to make bandages.</p> + +<p>When the missionary saw his wife approaching with her infant, he felt +grieved on her account, and exclaimed, "Why have you come? You cannot +live here?" But she cared not where she lived, so that <a name='Page_215'></a>she could be near +her suffering husband. She wished to build a bamboo hut at the prison +gate: but the jailor would not allow her. However, he let her live in a +room of his own house. It was a wretched room, with no furniture but a +mat. Here the mother and the children slept that night, while the +servant, wrapped in his cloth, lay at the door. They had no supper that +night. Next day, they bought food in the village, with some silver that +the lady kept carefully concealed in her clothes.</p> + +<p>A new trouble soon came upon them. Mary was seized with a small-pox of a +dreadful sort. Who now was to help the weak mother to nurse the little +Maria? Abby was too young. The babe was four months old, and a heavy +burden for feeble arms; yet all day long the mother carried it, as she +went to and fro from the sick child to the poor prisoner. Sometimes, when +it was asleep, she laid it down by the side of her husband. He was able +to watch a <i>sleeping</i> babe, but not to nurse a babe <i>awake</i>, owing to his +great weakness, and to his mangled feet. Soon the babe herself was +attacked by the small-pox, and continued very ill for three months. This +last trial was too much for the poor mother. Her strength failed her, and +for many weeks she lay upon her mat unable to rise. She must have +perished, if it had not been <a name='Page_216'></a>for the faithful servant. He was a native +of Bengal, and a heathen. Yet he was so much concerned for his sick +mistress and imprisoned master, that he would sometimes go without food +all day, while he was attending to their wants; and he did all without +expecting any wages.</p> + +<p>The poor little infant was in a sad case now its mother was lying on the +mat. It cried so much for milk, that once its father got leave to carry +it round the village to ask the mothers who had babes, to give some milk +to his. By this plan, the little creature was quieted in the day, but at +night its cries were most distressing.</p> + +<p>The time at length arrived, when these trials were to end. The king sent +for the missionary, not to put him to death, as he had once intended, but +to ask for his help. What help could he render to the king? The reason +why the missionary had been imprisoned so long was, that a British army +had attacked Burmah. The king had feared, lest the missionary should take +part with the enemy, and therefore he had shut him up. Now there were +hopes of peace, and an interpreter was wanted to help the Burmese to +speak with the British. The missionary knew both the English language and +the Burmese, and he could explain to the king what the English general +would say.</p><a name='Page_217'></a> + +<p>For this purpose he was brought to Ava. He was not driven along the road +like a beast, but relieved from his chains, and treated with less cruelty +than formerly. Yet he was still a prisoner.</p> + +<p>The mother was now well enough to make a journey, though still very weak. +She returned to her cottage by the river-side, and soon she had the +delight of seeing her husband enter it. It was seventeen months since he +had been torn from it by the king's officers, and ever since, he had been +groaning in irons. But he was not now come to remain in his cottage, but +only to obtain a little food and clothing to take with him to the Burmese +camp. His wife felt cheered on his account, hoping that as an interpreter +he would be well treated.</p> + +<p>No sooner was he gone, than she was seized with that deadly disease, +called spotted fever. What now would become of little Maria? Through the +tender mercy of God, on the very day the mother fell ill, a Burmese woman +offered to nurse the babe. Every day the mother grew worse, till at last +the neighbors came in to see her die. As they stood around, they +exclaimed, in their Burmese tongue, "She is dead, and if the king of +angels should come in, he could not recover her." <i>Their</i> king of angels +could <i>not</i>, but <i>her</i> KING of ANGELS could, for he can raise the dead.<a name='Page_218'></a> +But this dear lady was <i>not</i> dead, though nearly dead.</p> + +<p>The Lord of life showed her mercy. A friend entered the sick chamber. It +was Dr. Price, a missionary and a prisoner, but who had obtained leave +from the king to visit the sick lady. He understood her case, and he +ordered her head to be shaved, and blisters to be applied to her feet. +From that time, she began to recover, and in a month, she had strength to +stand up. The governor, who had once been so slow to hear her complaints, +now sent for her to his house. He received her in the kindest manner. +What was her joy, when she foiled her husband there, not as a prisoner, +but as a guest. Many prayers had she offered up, during her long illness, +and they were now answered. The promise she had trusted in was fulfilled. +This was <i>that</i> promise: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I WILL +DELIVER THEE, and thou shalt glorify me." </p> + +<p>But still brighter days were at hand. The King of Burmah had peace with +the British, and had agreed to deliver the missionaries into their hands. +Glad, indeed, were they to escape from the power of the cruel monarch. +Little Maria and her parents, as well as Mary and Abby, were conveyed in +a boat down the river to the place where the English army <a name='Page_219'></a>had encamped. +The English general received them with fatherly kindness, and gave them a +tent to dwell in near his own. What a fortnight they spent in that tent. +It was a morning of joy, after a night of weeping. Little Maria was now, +for the first time, dwelling with <i>both</i> her parents.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards she was taken to a new home in a town in Burmah, built by +the English. It was called Amherst<a name='FNanchor_12_12'></a><a href='#Footnote_12_12'><sup>[12]</sup></a>. Here the missionary might teach +the Burmese to know their Saviour, without being under the power of the +cruel Burmese king.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if the little family, so long afflicted, were now to dwell +in safety, and to labor in comfort. But there is a rest for the people of +God, and to this rest one of this family was soon removed.</p> + +<p>The missionary determined to go to Ava, to plead with the king for +permission to teach his subjects. He parted from his beloved wife, +little thinking he should never see her again.</p> + +<p>During her husband's absence, she watched with deep anxiety over her +little Maria. The child was pale, and puny, yet very affectionate and +intelligent. Whenever her mamma said, "Where is dear papa gone?" the +little creature started up, and pointed to <a name='Page_220'></a>the sea. She could not speak +plainly, for she was only twenty months old.</p> + +<p>Not long did she enjoy her mother's tender care. The poor mother, worn +with her past watching, and weeping, was attacked by fever. As she lay +upon the bed, she was heard to say, "The teacher is long in coming, I +must die alone, and leave my little one; but as it is the will of God, I +am content."</p> + +<p>She grew so ill, that she took no notice of anything that passed around +her; but even then she called for her child, and charged the nurse to be +kind to it, and to indulge it in everything till its father returned. +This charge she gave, because she knew the babe wan sick, and needed the +tenderest care. At last the mother lay without moving, her eyes closed, +and her head resting on her arm. Thus she continued for two days, and +then she uttered one cry, and ceased to breathe. Her illness had lasted +eighteen days. Then she rested from her labors, and slept in Jesus.</p> + +<p>What now became of little Maria? The wife of an English officer receded +her in her house for a few weeks, and then a missionary and his wife came +to Maria's home, and took charge of the child. Maria was pleased to come +back to her own home, and she fancied that kind Mrs. Wade was her own +mother.</p> + +<p>What a day it was when the poor father returned <a name='Page_221'></a>home! No wife to meet +him, with love and joy; only a sickly babe, who had forgotten him, and +turned from him with alarm. Where could he go, but to the grave to weep +there? then he returned to the house to look at the very spot where he +had knelt with his wife in prayer, and parted from her in hope of a happy +return.</p> + +<p>Little Maria was nursed with a mother's care, though not in a mother's +arms; but her delicate frame had been shaken by her infant troubles, and +care and comforts came TOO LATE. After drooping day by day, she died at +the age of two years and three months, exactly six months after her +mother. Her father was near to close her faded eyes, and fold her little +hands on her cold breast, and then to lay her in a little grave, close +beside her mother's, under the Hope Tree.</p> + +<p>The words of the poet would suit well the case of this much tried +infant:—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"Short pain, short grief, dear babe, were thine,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'><i>Now</i>, joys eternal and divine."</span><br /> + +<p>Like Maria's are the sufferings of many a missionary's babe, and many lie +in an early tomb. But they are dear to the Saviour, for their parents' +sakes, and their deaths are precious in his sight, and their spirits and +their dust are safe in his hands.</p> + +<a name='Footnote_11_11'></a><a href='#FNanchor_11_11'>[11]</a><div class='note'><p> Taken from "Travels in Eastern Asia," by Rev. Howard +Malcolm.</p></div> + +<a name='Footnote_12_12'></a><a href='#FNanchor_12_12'>[12]</a><div class='note'><p> Amherst is only thirty miles from Maulmain.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='SIAM'></a><h2><a name='Page_222'></a>SIAM.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Cross a river, and you pass from Burmah to Siam. These two countries, +like most countries close together, have quarrelled a great deal, and +now Britain has got in between them, and has parted them; as a nurse +might come and part two quarrelsome children. Britain has conquered that +part of Burmah which lies close to Siam, and has called it British +Burmah; so Siam is now at peace.</p> + +<p>But though these two countries have been such enemies, they are as like +each other as two sisters. Siam is the little sister. Siam is a long +narrow slip of a country, having the sea on one side, and mountains on +the other.</p> + +<p>The religion of Siam is the same as that of Burmah, the worship of +Buddha. But in Siam he is not called Buddha: the name given him there is +"Codom." You see how many names this Buddha has; in China he is Fo; in +Burmah he is Gaudama; in Siam, he is Codom. Neither is he honored in Siam +<a name='Page_223'></a>in exactly the same way as in Burmah. Instead of building magnificent +pagodas, the Siamese build magnificent image houses or temples.</p> + +<p>The Siamese resemble the Burmese in appearance, but they are much worse +looking. Their faces are very broad, and flat; and so large are the jaws +under the ears, that they appear as if they were swollen. Their manner of +dressing their hair does not improve their looks; for they cut their hair +quite close, except just on the top of their heads, where they make it +stand up like bristles; nor do they wear any covering on their heads, +except when it is very hot, and then they put on a hat in the shape of a +milk pan, made of leaves. They do not disfigure themselves, as the +Burmese do, with nose-rings, and ear-bars; but they, love ornaments quite +as much, and load themselves with necklaces and bracelets. Their dress +consists of a printed cotton garment, wound round the body. This is the +dress of the women as well as of the men; only sometimes the women wear a +handkerchief over their necks.</p> + +<p>In disposition the Siamese are deceitful, and cowardly. It has been said +of them, that as <i>friends</i> they are not to be <i>trusted</i>, and as <i>enemies</i> +not to be <i>feared:</i> they cannot be trusted because they are deceitful: +they need not be feared because they are cowardly.<a name='Page_224'></a> This is indeed a +dreadful character; for many wicked people are faithful to their friends, +and brave in resisting their enemies.</p> + +<p>No doubt the manner in which they are governed makes them cowardly; for +they are taught to behave as if they were worms. Whoever enters the +presence of the king, must creep about on hands and knees. The great +lords require their servants to show them the same respect. Servants +always crawl into a room, pushing in their trays before them; and when +waiting, they walk about on their knees. How shocking to see men made +like worms to gratify the pride of their fellow-men! The rule is never to +let your head be higher than the head of a person more honorable than +yourself; if he stand, you must sit; if he sit, you must crouch.</p> + +<p>The Siamese are like the Burmese in cruelty. When an enemy falls into +their hands, no mercy is shown.</p> + +<p>A king of a small country called Laos, was taken captive by the Siamese. +This king, with his family, were shut up in a large iron cage, and +exhibited as a sight. There he was, surrounded by his sons and grandsons, +and all of them were heavily laden with chains on their necks and legs. +Two of them were little boys, and they played and laughed in their +<a name='Page_225'></a>cage!—so thoughtless are children! But the elder sons looked very +miserable; they hung down their heads, and fixed their eyes on the +ground; and well they might; for within their sight were various horrible +instruments of torture;—spears with which to pierce them;—an iron +boiler, in which to heat oil to scald them;—a gallows on which to hang +their bodies, and—a pestle and mortar in which to pound the children to +powder. You see how Satan fills the heart of the heathen with his own +cruel devices. The people who came to see this miserable family, rejoiced +at the sight of their misery: but they lost the delight they expected in +tormenting the old king, for he died of a broken heart; and all they +could do <i>then</i>, was to insult his body; they beheaded it, and then hung +it upon a gibbet, where every one might see it, and the beasts and birds +devour it.</p> + +<p>What became of his unhappy family is not known.</p> + +<p>But though so barbarous to their <i>enemies</i>, the Siamese in some respects +are better than most other heathen nations, for they treat their +<i>relations</i> more kindly. They do not kill their infants, nor shut up +their wives, nor cast out their parents. Yet they show their cruelty in +this:—they often sell one another for slaves. They also purchase slaves +in great numbers; and there are wild men in the mountains<a name='Page_226'></a> who watch +Burmans and Karens to sell them to the great chiefs of Siam. It is the +pride of their chiefs to have thousands of slaves crawling around them.</p> + +<a name='Bankok'></a> +<h3>BANKOK.</h3> + +<p>This city is built on an island in a broad river, and part of it on the +banks of the river. It ought therefore to be a pleasant city, but it is +<i>not</i>, owing to its extreme untidiness. The streets are full of mud, and +overgrown with bushes, amongst which all the refuse is thrown; there are +also many ditches with planks thrown across. There is only one pleasant +part of the town, and that is, where the Wats are built. The Wats are the +idol-houses. Near them are shady walks and fragrant flowers, and elegant +dwellings for the priests. The people think they get great merit by +making Wats, and therefore they take so much trouble: for the Siamese are +very idle. So idle are they that there would be very little trade in +Bankok, if it were not for the Chinese, who come over here in crowds, and +make sugar, and buy and sell, and get money to take back to China. You +may tell in a moment a Chinaman's garden from a Siamese garden; <a name='Page_227'></a>one is +so neat and full of flowers;—the other is overgrown with weeds and +strewn with litter.</p> + +<p>The most curious sight in Bankok, is the row of floating houses. These +houses are placed upon posts in the river, and do not move about as boats +do; yet if you <i>wish</i> to move your house, you can do so; you have only to +take up the posts, and float to another place.</p> + +<p>Besides the floating houses, there are numerous boats in the river, and +some so small that a child can row them. There are so many that they +often come against each other, and are overset. A traveller once passed +by a boat where a little girl of seven was rowing, and by accident his +boat overset hers. The child fell out of her boat, and her paddle out of +her hand; yet she was not the least frightened, only surprised; and after +looking about for a moment, she burst out a laughing, and was soon seen +swimming behind her boat (still upside down), with her paddle in her +hand. These little laughing rowers are too giddy to like learning, and +they are not at all willing to come to the missionaries' schools; but +some poor children, redeemed from slavery, are glad to be there, and have +been taught about Christ in these schools.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='MALACCA'></a><h2><a name='Page_228'></a>MALACCA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is a peninsula, or almost an island, for there is water almost all +round it. In shape it is something like a <i>dog's</i> leg, even as Italy is +like a <i>man's</i> leg.</p> + +<p>The weather in Malacca is much pleasanter than in most parts of India, +because the sea-breezes make the air fresh. There is no rainy season, as +in most hot countries, but a shower cools the air almost every day. The +country, too, is beautiful, for there are mountains, and forests, and +streams.</p> + +<p>Yet it is a dangerous country to live in, for the people are very +treacherous. There are many pirates among them. What are pirates? Robbers +by sea. If they see a small vessel, in a moment the pirates in their +ships try to overtake it, seize it, take the crew prisoners, and sell +them for slaves. The governors of the land do not punish the pirates; far +from punishing them, they share in the gains. That is a wicked land +indeed, where the governors encourage the people in their sins.</p><a name='Page_229'></a> + +<p>Malacca has no king of her own; the land belongs to Siam, except a very +small part. The inhabitants are called Malays. They are not like the +Siamese in character; for instead of being cowardly, they are fierce. +Neither have they the same religion, for instead of being Buddhists, they +are Mahomedans. Yet they know very little about the Koran, or its laws. +One command, however, they have learned, which is—to hate infidels. They +count all who do not believe in Mahomet to be infidels, and they say that +it is right to hunt them. They are proud of taking Christian vessels, and +of selling Christians as slaves.</p> + +<p>There are some valuable plants in Malacca. There is one which has a seed +called "pepper." There is a tree which has in the stem a pith called +sago. Who collects the pepper and the sago? There are mines of tin. Who +digs up the tin? The idle Malays will not take so much trouble, so the +industrious Chinese labor instead. The Chinese come over by thousands to +get rich in Malacca. As there is not room for them in their own country, +they are glad to settle in other countries. But though the Chinese set an +example of <i>industry</i>, they do not set an example of <i>goodness</i>; for they +gamble, and so lose their <i>money</i>, they smoke opium, and so lose their +<i>health</i>, <a name='Page_230'></a>and they commit many kinds of wickedness by which they lose +their <i>souls</i>.</p> + +<p>As for the Malays, they are so very idle, that when trees fall over the +river, and block up the way, they will not be at the trouble of cutting a +way through for their boats,—but will sooner creep <i>under</i> or climb +<i>over</i> the fallen trees.</p> + +<p>The capital of Malacca is Malacca, and this city belongs to the English; +but it is of little use to them, because the harbor is not good.</p> + + +<a name='Singapore'></a> +<h3>SINGAPORE.</h3> + +<p>This city also belongs to the English, and it is of great use to them, +because the harbor is one of the best in the world. Many ships come there +to buy, and to sell, and amongst the rest, the Chinese junks. The city is +built on a small island, very near the coast. There are many beautiful +country houses perched on the hills, where English families live, and +there are long flights of stone steps leading from their houses to the +sea.</p> + +<p>But many of the Malays have no home but a boat, hardly large enough to +lie down in. There they gain a living by catching fish, and collecting +shells, and <a name='Page_231'></a>coral, to exchange for sago, which is their food. These men +are called "Ourang-lout," which means "Man of the water." Does not this +name remind you of the apes called "Ourang-outang," which means "Man of +the woods?" There are Ourang-outangs in the forests of Malacca, and they +are more like men, and are more easily tamed than any other ape. Yet +still how different is the <i>tamest</i> ape from the <i>wildest</i> man; for the +one has an immortal soul, and the other has none.</p> + +<p>The Malay language is said to be the easiest in the world, even as the +Chinese is the most difficult. The Malay language has no cases or +genders, or conjugations, which puzzle little boys so much in their Latin +Grammars. It is easy for missionaries to learn the Malay language. When +they know it, they can talk to the Chinese in Malacca in this language.</p> + +<p>I will tell you of a school that an English lady has opened at Singapore +for poor Chinese girls.</p> + + +<a name='The_Christian_school-girls'></a> +<h3>THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL-GIRLS.</h3> + +<p>The two elder girls were sisters, and were called Chun and Han. Both of +them, when they heard about Jesus, believed in him, and loved him. Yet +their characters were very different, Chun being of a <a name='Page_232'></a>joyful +disposition, and Han of a mournful and timid temper. They had no father, +and their mother was employed in the school to take care of the little +children, and to teach them needle-work; but she was a heathen.</p> + +<p>When Chun and Han had been three years in the school, their mother wanted +them to leave, and to come with her to her home. The girls were grieved +at the thought of leaving their Christian teacher, and of living in a +heathen home; yet they felt it was their duty to do as their mother +wished. But they were anxious to be baptized before they went, if they +could obtain their mother's consent. Their kind teacher, Miss Grant, +thought it would be of no use to ask leave <i>long</i> before the time, lest +the mother should carry her girls away, and lock them up. So she waited +till the very evening fixed for the baptism. Miss Grant had been praying +all day for help from God, and the two sisters had been praying together; +and now the bell began to ring for evening service. Now the time was come +when the mother must be asked.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Miss Grant to the mother, "that the children are +going to church with me?" "Yes," replied the mother, "wherever Missie +pleases to take them." Then the lady told her of the baptism, and +entreated her consent. At last the heathen <a name='Page_233'></a>mother replied, "If you wish +it, I will not oppose you." Miss Grant, afraid lest the mother should +change her mind, hastened into her palanquin, and the sisters hastened +into theirs. Looking back, the lady perceived the mother was standing +watching the palanquins. Seeing this, she stopped, saying, "Nomis, why +should not you come, and see what is done?" To the lady's surprise, the +mother immediately consented to come; and so this heathen mother was +present at the baptism of her daughters. Their teacher, (who was their +<i>mother in Christ</i>,) rejoiced with exceeding joy to see her dear girls +give themselves to the Lord, and to hear them answer in their broken +English, "All <i>dis</i> I do steadfastly believe."</p> + +<p>Soon after their baptism, the girls went to live in their mother's house. +To comfort them, Miss Grant promised to fetch them every Sunday, to spend +the day with her. She came for them at five o'clock in the morning, +before it was light, and took them back at nine, when it was quite dark. +If she had not fetched them herself, they would not have been allowed to +go.</p> + +<p>After awhile, they were <i>not</i> allowed to go. The reason was, that the +heathen mother wanted Chun to marry a heathen Chinaman. Chun refused to +commit such a sin. Then her mother was angry, mocked her,<a name='Page_234'></a> and prevented +her going to see Miss Grant. Still Chun refused. She saw her mother +embroidering her wedding-dresses, but she still persisted that she would +not marry a heathen, especially as she would have to bow down before an +idol at her marriage. Chun grew very unhappy, and looked very pale, she +wrote many letters to her kind friend, and offered up many prayers to her +merciful God. And did the Lord hear her, and did He deliver her? He did. +A Christian Chinaman, who had been brought up by a missionary, heard of +Chun, and asked permission to marry her. He had never seen her, for it is +not the custom in China for girls to be seen.</p> + +<p>Miss Grant was delighted at the thought of her darling Chun marrying a +Christian, and she helped to prepare for the wedding. There was no bowing +down before an idol at that wedding, but an English clergymen read the +service. Chun's face, according to the custom, was covered with a thick +veil, and even her hands and feet were hidden. A few days after the +wedding, Miss Grant, according to the custom, called on the newly +married. She found the room beautifully ornamented, like all Chinese +rooms at such times, but there were two ornaments seldom seen in +China—two Bibles lying open on the table.</p> + +<p>Chun long rejoiced that she had so firmly refused<a name='Page_235'></a> to marry a heathen. One +day, Miss Grant said to her, playfully, "Has your husband beaten you +yet?" (for she knew that Chinamen think nothing of beating their wives.) +Chun replied, with a sweet look, "O no! he often tells me, that <i>first</i> +he thanks God, and then <i>you</i>, Miss, for having given me to him as his +wife."</p> + +<p>There was another girl at Miss Grant's school, named Been. Sometimes she +was called Beneo, which means Miss Been, just as Chuneo means Miss Chun. +Miss Grant hoped that Been loved the Saviour, and hated idols, but she +soon lost her, for her parents took her to their heathen home.</p> + +<p>After Been had been home a short time her mother died. The neighbors were +astonished to find that Been refused to worship her mother's spirit, and +to burn gold paper, to supply her with money in the other world. While +her relations were busily occupied in their heathen ceremonies, Been sat +silent and alone. Soon afterwards, her father, who cared not for her, +sold her to a Chinaman to be his wife, for forty dollars.</p> + +<p>Miss Grant heard her sad fate, and often longed to see her, but did not +know where to find her. One evening, as she was paying visits in her +palanquin, she saw a pair of bright black eyes looking through a hedge, +and she felt sure that they were her own<a name='Page_236'></a> Been's. She stopped, and +calling the girl, saluted her affectionately. She was glad she had found +out where Been lived, as she would now be able to pay her a visit.</p> + +<p>Soon she called upon her, in her own dwelling;—a poor little hut in the +midst of a sugar plantation. She brought as a present, a New Testament in +English, and in large print. Been appeared delighted.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember how to read it?" inquired Miss Grant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, how could I forget?" Been sweetly replied.</p> + +<p>"Well then, read," said Miss Grant.</p> + +<p>Been read, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep."</p> + +<p>"Do you understand?" inquired the lady.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Been, and she translated the words into Malay.</p> + +<p>As Miss Grant was rising to depart, she observed a hen gathering her +brood under her wings.</p> + +<p>"Of what does that remind you, Been?"</p> + +<p>"I know," said the poor girl; "I remember what I learnt at school;" and +then in her broken English, she repeated the words: "As a hen <i>gaderet</i> +her chickens under her wings, so would I have <i>gaderd de</i>, but <i>dou</i> +wouldest not."</p> + +<p>At this moment, Been's husband came in. The<a name='Page_237'></a> girl was glad, for she wanted +Miss Grant to ask him as a great favor, to allow her to spend next Sunday +at the school. The husband consented. There was a joyful meeting indeed, +on that Sunday, between Been, and Chun, and Han; nor was their +affectionate teacher the least joyful of the company.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='SIBERIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_238'></a>SIBERIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is a name which makes people <i>shiver</i>, because it reminds them of +the cold. It is a name which makes the Russians <i>tremble</i>, because it +reminds them of banishment, for the emperor often sends those who offend +him to live in Siberia.</p> + +<p>Yet Siberia is not an ugly country, such as Tartary. It is not one dead +flat, but it contains mountains, and forests, and rivers. Neither is +Siberia a country in which nothing will grow; in some parts there is +wheat, and where <i>wheat</i> will not grow <i>barley</i> will, and where <i>barley</i> +will not grow <i>turnips</i> will. Yet there are not many cornfields in +Siberia, for very few people live there. In the woods you will find +blackberries, and wild roses, like those in England; and <i>red</i> berries, +as well as <i>black</i> berries, and <i>lilies</i> as well as <i>roses</i>.</p> + +<p>Still it must be owned that Siberia is a very cold country; for the snow +is not melted till June, and it begins to fall again in September; so +there are only two whole months without snow; they are July and August.</p><a name='Page_239'></a> + +<p><b>INHABITANTS.</b>—The Russians are the masters of Siberia, and they have +built several large towns there. But these towns are very far apart, and +there are many wild tribes wandering about the country.</p> + +<p>One of these tribes is the Ostyaks. Their houses are in the shape of +boxes, for they are square with flat roofs. There is a door, but you must +stoop low to get in at it, unless you are a very little child; and there +is a window with fish-skin instead of light. There is a chimney, too, and +a blazing fire of logs in a hole in the ground. There is a trough, too, +instead of a dining-table, and out of it the whole family eat, and even +the dogs sometimes. The house is not divided into rooms, but into stalls, +like those of a stable; and deer-skins are spread in the stalls, and they +are the beds; each person sits and sleeps in his own stall, on his own +deer-skin, except when the family gather round the fire, and sitting on +low stools, warm themselves, and talk together.</p> + +<p>In one of these snug corners, an old woman was seen, quite blind, yet +sewing all day, and threading her needle by the help of her tongue. She +wore a veil of thick cloth over her head, as all the Ostyak women do, and +as she did not need light, she hid her head completely under it.</p> + +<p>But though the Ostyaks are poor, they possess a <a name='Page_240'></a>great treasure in their +dogs, for these creatures are as useful as horses, and much more +sensible. They need no whip to make them go, and no bridle to turn them +the right way; it is enough to <i>tell</i> them when to set out, and to stop, +or to turn, to move faster, or more slowly. These dogs are white, spotted +with black; the hair on their bodies is short, but long on their handsome +curling tails. They draw their masters in sledges, and are yoked in +pairs. There are some large sledges, in which a man can lie down in +comfort: to draw such a sledge twelve dogs are necessary; but there are +small sledges in which a poor Ostyak can just manage to crouch, and two +dogs can draw it. When the dogs are to be harnessed, they are not caught, +as horses are, but only called. Yet they do not like work better than +horses like it, and when they first set out they howl, but grow quiet +after a little while.</p> + +<p>The driver is sometimes cruel to these poor dogs, and corrects them for +the smallest fault, by throwing a stone at them, or the great club he +holds in his hand, or at least a snow-ball: if a hungry dog but stoop +down to pick up a morsel of food on the road, he is punished in this +manner. Yet it must be owned, that the dogs have their faults; they are +greedy, and inclined to thieving. To keep food out of their way, <a name='Page_241'></a>the +Ostyaks build store-houses, on the tops of very high poles. The dogs are +always on the watch to slip into their master's houses. If the door be +left open ever so little, a dog will squeeze in, if he can; but he does +not stay <i>long</i> within, for he is soon thrust out with blows and kicks; +the women scream at the sight of a dog in the hut, for they fear lest he +will find the fish-trough. Yet after long journeys, the dogs are brought +into the hut, and permitted to lie down by the fire, and to eat out of +the family trough. At other times they sleep in the snow, and eat +whatever is thrown to them. When they travel, bags of dried fish are +brought in their sledges, to feed them by the way. The puppies are +tenderly treated, and petted by the fire; yet many are killed for the +sake of their fleecy hair, which is considered a fine ornament for +pelisses.</p> + +<p>The Ostyaks have another, and a greater treasure than dogs; they have +reindeer. Those who live by fishing have dogs only, but those who dwell +among the hills, have deer as well as dogs. Reindeer are like dogs in one +respect, they can be driven without either a whip or a bit, which are so +necessary for horses. But though they do not need the lashing of a whip; +they require to be gently poked with a long pole; and though they do not +need a bit, they require <a name='Page_242'></a>to be guided by a rein, fastened to their +heads; because they are not like dogs, so sensible as to be managed by +speaking.</p> + +<p>But deer are very gentle, and are much more easily driven than horses. To +drive horses four-in-hand is very difficult, but to drive four reindeer +is not. The four deer are harnessed to the sledge all in a row, and a +rein is fastened to the head of one; when <i>he</i> turns all the rest turn +with him. Usually they trot, but they <i>can</i> gallop very fast, even down +hill. When they are out of breath the driver lets them stop, and then the +pretty creatures lie down, and cool their mouths with the snow lying on +the ground.</p> + +<p>Men ride upon reindeer; not upon their <i>backs</i>, but on their <i>necks</i>; for +their backs are weak, while their necks are strong. Riders do not mount +reindeer as they do horses,—by resting on their backs, and then making a +spring, for that would hurt the poor animals; they lean on a long staff, +and by its help, spring on the deer's neck. But it is not easy, when +seated, to keep on; <i>you</i> would certainly fall off, for all strangers do, +when they try to ride for the <i>first</i> time. The Ostyak knows how to keep +his balance, by waving his long staff in the air, while the deer trots +briskly along. But these reindeer have some curious fancies; they will +not eat any food but such as they<a name='Page_243'></a> pluck themselves from the ground. It +would be of no use at the end of a long journey, to put them in a +stable;—they would not eat; they must be let loose to find their own +nourishment, which is a kind of moss that grows wild among the hills.</p> + +<p>The reindeer, after he is dead, is of as much use to the Ostyak, as when +he was alive; for his skin is his master's clothing. Both men and women +dress alike, in a suit that covers them from head to foot; the seams are +well joined with thread, made of reindeer sinews, and the cold is kept +well out. The Ostyak lets no part of his body be uncovered but just his +face, and that would freeze, if he were not to rub it often with his +hands, covered over with hairy reindeer gloves. The women cover their +faces with thick veils. The Ostyak wears a great-coat made of the skin of +a white deer; this gives him the appearance of a great white bear. He +carries in his hand a bow taller than himself. His arrows are very long, +and made of wood, pointed with iron. With these he shoots the wild +animals. He is very glad when he can shoot a sable; because the Russian +emperor requires every Ostyak to give him yearly, as a tax, the skins of +two sables. The fur of the sable is very valuable, and is made into muffs +and tippets, and pelisses for the Russian nobles. </p> + +<p>But without his snow-shoes, the Ostyak would not <a name='Page_244'></a>be able to pursue the +wild animals, for he would sink in the snow. These shoes are made of long +boards, turned up at the end like a boat, and fastened to the feet. What +a wild creature an Ostyak must look, when he is hunting his prey, wrapped +in his shaggy white coat,—his long dark hair floating in the wind,—his +enormous bow in his hand, and his enormous shoes on his feet!</p> + +<p>What is the character of this wild man? Ask what is his religion, and +that will show you how foolish and fierce a creature he must be. The +Ostyak says, that he believes in ONE God who cannot be seen, but he does +not worship him <i>alone</i>; he worships other gods. And such gods! Dead men! +When a man dies, his relations make a wooden image of him, and worship it +for three years, and then bury it. But when a <i>priest</i> dies, his wooden +image is worshipped <i>more</i> than three years; sometimes it is <i>never</i> +buried; for the priests who are alive, encourage the people to go on +worshipping dead priests' images, that they may get the offerings which +are made to them.</p> + +<p>But what do you think of men worshipping DEAD BEASTS? Yet this is what +the Ostyaks do. When they have killed a wolf or a bear, they stuff its +skin with hay, and gather round to mock it, to kick it, to spit upon it, +and then—they stick it up on its hind <a name='Page_245'></a>legs in a corner of the hut, and +WORSHIP it! Alas! how has Satan blinded their mind!</p> + +<p>And in what manner do they worship the beasts? With screaming,—with +dancing,—with swinging their swords,—by making offerings of fur, of +silver and gold, and of reindeer. These reindeer they kill very cruelly, +by stabbing them in various parts of their bodies, to please the cruel +gods, or rather cruel devils whom they worship.</p> + +<p>Has no one tried to convert the Ostyaks to God? The emperor of Russia +will not allow protestant missionaries to teach in Siberia. He wishes the +Ostyaks to belong to the Greek church, and he has tried to bribe them +with presents of cloth to be baptized; and a good many have been +baptized. But what good can such baptisms do to the soul?</p> + +<p>The Russians do much harm to their subjects, by tempting them to buy +brandy. There is nothing which the Ostyaks are so eager to obtain, as +this dangerous drink. On one occasion, a traveller was surrounded by a +troop of Ostyaks, all begging for brandy, and when they could get none, +they brought a large heap of frozen fish, and laid it at the travellers +feet, saying, "Noble sir, we present you with this." They did get some +brandy in return. Then, hoping for more, they brought a great salmon, and +a sturgeon, as <a name='Page_246'></a>long as a man. They seemed ready to part with all they +had, for the sake of brandy.</p> + +<p>Thus you see how much harm the Ostyaks have learned from their +acquaintance with the Russians. The chief good they have got, has been +learning to build houses; for once they lived only in tents.</p> + + +<a name='The_Samoyedes'></a> +<h3>THE SAMOYEDES.</h3> + +<p>This tribe lives so far to the north, that they see very little of the +Russians, though they belong to the emperor of Russia. They live close by +the Northern Sea. Imagine how very cold it must be. The Samoyedes inhabit +tents made of reindeer skins, such as the Ostyaks used to live in. They +are a much wilder people than the Ostyaks. The women dress in a strange +fantastic manner; not contented with a reindeer dress, as the Ostyaks +are, they join furs and skins of various sorts together; and instead of +veiling their faces, they wear a gay fur hat, with lappets; and at the +back of their necks a glutton's tail hangs down, as well as long tails of +their own hair, with brass rings jingling together at the end.</p> + +<p>But if their taste in <i>dress</i> is laughable, their taste in <i>food</i> is +horrible, as you will see. A traveller<a name='Page_247'></a> went with a Samoyede family for a +little while. They were drawn by reindeer, in sledges, and other reindeer +followed of their own accord. When they stopped for the night, they +pitched the tent, covering the long poles with their reindeer skins, +sewed together. The snow covered the ground inside the tent, but no one +thought of sweeping it away. It was easy to get water to fill the kettle, +as a few lumps of snow soon melted. Some of the men slept by the blazing +fire, while others went out, armed with long poles, to defend the deer +from the wolves. There was in the party a child of two years old, with +its mother. The child was allowed to help himself to porridge out of the +great kettle. The traveller offered him white sugar; but at first he +called it snow, and threw it away; soon, however, he learned to like it, +and asked for some whenever he saw the stranger at tea. At night, the +child was laid in a long basket, and was closely covered with furs; in +the same basket also, he travelled in the sledge.</p> + +<p>One day the traveller saw a Samoyede feast. A reindeer was brought, and +killed before the tent door; and its bleeding body was taken into the +tent, and devoured, all raw as it was, with the heartiest appetite. It +was dreadful to see the Samoyedes gnawing the flesh off the bones; their +faces all stained with<a name='Page_248'></a> blood, and even the child had his share of the raw +meat. Truly they looked more like wolves than men.</p> + +<p>I might go on to tell you of many other tribes; but I must be content +just to mention a few.</p> + +<p>There is a tribe who live in the eastern part of Siberia, called the +Yakuts, and instead of deer, and dogs, they keep horses, and oxen, and +strange to say, they <i>ride</i> upon the oxen; and <i>eat</i> the horses. A +horse's head is counted by them a most dainty dish. The cows live in one +room, and the family live in the next, with the calves, which are tied to +posts by the fire, and enjoy the full blaze. You may suppose that the +calves need the warmth of the fire, when I tell you that the windows of +the house are made of ice, but that the cold is so great, that the ice +does not melt.</p> + +<p>There is a large tribe called the Buraets. They dwell in tents. They are +Buddhists. At one time the Russians allowed missionaries to go to them. +There was an old man named Andang, who used to attend the services very +regularly. His wife accompanied him. One Sunday the preacher spoke much +of heaven and its glories. The old woman, on returning to her tent, said +to her husband, "Old man, I am going home to-night." Her husband did not +understand her meaning: then she said, "I love Jesus<a name='Page_249'></a> Christ, and I think +I shall be with him to-night." She lay down in her tent that night, but +rose no more. In the morning, the old man found her stiff and cold. He +saddled his horse, and set off to tell the missionary. "O sir," said he, +with tears, "my wife is gone home." When the missionary heard the account +of her death, he felt cheered by the hope that the old woman, though born +a heathen, had died a Christian, and had left her tent to dwell in a +glorious mansion above; for how was it that she felt no fear of death, +and how was it that she felt heaven was her home? Was it not because +Jesus loved her, and because she loved Jesus?</p> + + + +<a name='The_Banished_Russians'></a> +<h3>THE BANISHED RUSSIANS.</h3> + +<p>Siberia is the land to which the emperor sends many of his people, when +they displease him. In passing through Siberia, you would often see +wagons full of women, children, and old men, followed by a troop of young +men, and guarded by a band of soldiers on horseback. You might know them +to be the banished Russians. What is to become of them? Some are to work +in the mines, and some are to work in the factories. Some are to have a +less heavy punishment; <a name='Page_250'></a>they are to be set free, in the midst of Siberia, +to support themselves in any way they can. Gentlemen and ladies have a +small sum of money allowed them by the emperor, and they live in the +towns.</p> + +<p>These people are called in Siberia, "the unfortunates." Some of them have +not deserved to be banished; but some have been guilty of crimes.</p> + +<p><b>CITIES.</b></p> + +<p>There are a few cities in Siberia, but only a few, and they have been +built by the Russians. </p> + +<p>The three chief cities are,—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tobolsk, on the west, on the river Oby.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Irkutsk, in the midst, on the lake Baikal.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Yarkutsk, on the east, on the river Lena.</span><br /> + +<p><b>OF THESE CITIES,</b></p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tobolsk is the handsomest.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Irkutsk is the pleasantest.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Yarkutsk is the coldest.</span><br /> + +<p>It is not surprising that Tobolsk should be the handsomest, for there the +governor of Siberia resides.</p> + +<p>A great many Chinese come to Irkutsk to trade, and they bring quantities +of tea.</p><a name='Page_251'></a> + +<p>Yarkutsk is the coldest town in the world; there may be others nearer the +north, but none lie exposed to such cold winds. The inhabitants scarcely +dare admit the light, for fear of increasing the cold; and they make only +one or two very small windows in their houses. Yet in summer vegetables +grow freely in the gardens.</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Ostyaks live near the Oby.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Buraets live near lake Baikal.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Yakuts live near the Lena.</span><br /> + + +<a name='The_Ural_Mountains'></a> +<h3>THE URAL MOUNTAINS.</h3> + +<p>They are full of treasures; gold, silver, iron, copper, and precious +stones. They are dug up by the banished Russians, and sent in great +wagons to Russia, to increase the riches of the emperor.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='KAMKATKA'></a><h2><a name='Page_252'></a>KAMKATKA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>It is impossible to look at Siberia, without being struck with the shape +of Kamkatka, which juts out like a short arm. It is a peninsula. A +beautiful country it is; full of mountains, and rivers, and woods, and +waterfalls, and not as cold as might be expected. But there are not many +people dwelling in it; for though it is larger than Great Britain, all +the inhabitants might be contained in one of our small towns. And why +are there so few in so fine a country? Because the people love brandy +better than labor. They have been corrupted by the Russian soldiers, and +traders, and convicts, and they are sickening and dying away.</p> + +<p>A traveller once said to a Kamkatdale, "How should you like to see a ship +arrive here from China, laden with tea and sugar?" "I should like it +well," replied the man, "but there is one thing I should like better—to +see a ship arrive full of <i>men</i>; it is men we want, for our men are sick; +of the twelve here, six are too weak to hunt or fish."</p><a name='Page_253'></a> + +<p>But the ship that would do the most good to Kamkatka, is a missionary +ship. The Greek church is the religion; but <i>no</i> religion is much thought +of in Kamkatka; hunting and fishing only are cared for. Yet I fear if +missionaries were to go to Kamkatka, the emperor of Russia would send +them away.</p> + +<p>Where there are few men, there are generally many beasts and birds; this +is the case in Kamkatka.</p> + +<p>One of the most curious animals in Siberia, is the Argalis, or mountain +sheep. It is remarkable for its enormous horns, curled in a very curious +manner. Think not it is like one of our quiet, foolish sheep; there is no +animal at once so strong and so active. It is such a climber, that no +wolf or bear can follow it to the high places, hanging over awful +precipices, where it walks as firmly as you do upon the pavement. +Sometimes a hunter finds it among the mountains, and just as he is going +to shoot it, the creature disappears:—it has thrown itself down a +precipice! Is it dashed to pieces? No, it fell unhurt, and has escaped +without a bruise; for its bones are very strong, and its skin very thick.</p> + +<p>The bears of Kamkatka live chiefly upon fish and berries, and seldom +attack men. Yet men hunt them for their skins, and for their fat. The +skins make cloaks, and the fat is used for lamps; but their flesh <a name='Page_254'></a>is +thrown to the dogs. Many of the bears are very thin. It is only <i>fat</i> +bears that can sleep all the winter in their dens without food; <i>thin</i> +bears cannot sleep long, and even in winter they prowl about for food. +Dogs are very much afraid of them. A large party of travellers, who were +riding in sledges, drawn by dogs, observed the dogs suddenly begin to +snuff the air, and lo! immediately afterwards, a bear at full speed +crossed the road, and ran towards a forest. Great confusion took place +among the dogs; they set off with all their might; some broke their +harness, others got entangled among the trees, and overturned their +sledges. But the bear did not escape; for the travellers shot him through +the leg, and afterwards through the body; and the dogs feasted on <i>his</i> +flesh, instead of the bear feasting on <i>theirs</i>.</p> + +<p>Hunting seals is one of the occupations of the Kamkatdales. Three men in +sledges, each sledge drawn by five dogs, once got upon a large piece of +ice, near the shore. They had killed two seals upon the ice, when they +suddenly perceived that the ice was moving, and carrying them out to sea. +They were already too far from land, to be able to get back. They knew +not what would become of them, and much they feared they should perish +from cold and hunger. The ice was so slippery that they were in great +danger of <a name='Page_255'></a>sliding into the sea. To prevent this, they stuck their long +poles deep into the ice, and tied themselves to the poles. They were +driven about for many days; but one morning,—to their great joy, they +found they were close to the shore. They did not forget to praise God for +so mercifully saving their lives; though they were so weak from want of +food, as scarcely to be able to creep ashore.</p> + +<p><b>CHARACTER.</b>—The Kamkatdales are generous and grateful. A poor family will +sometimes receive another family into the house for six weeks; and when +the food is nearly gone, the generous host, not liking to tell his +visitors of it, serves up a dish of different sorts of meat and +vegetables, mixed together; the visitors know this is a sign that the +food is almost exhausted, and they take their leave.</p> + +<p>Did I say the Kamkatdales are grateful? I will give you an instance of +their gratitude. A traveller met a poor boy. He remembered his face, and +said, "I think I have seen you before." "You have," said the boy; "I +rowed you down the river last summer, and you were so kind as to give me +a skin, and some flints; and now I have brought the skin of a sable as a +present for you." The traveller, perceiving the boy had no shirt, and +that his skin dress was tattered, refused the present; but seeing the boy +was going away <a name='Page_256'></a>in tears, he called him back, and accepted it. A Chinese +servant, who was standing by, pitied so much the ragged condition of the +boy, that he gave him one of his own thin nankin shirts.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='THIBET'></a><h2><a name='Page_257'></a>THIBET.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>I cannot tell you much about Thibet; and the reason is, that so few +travellers have been there. And why have so few been there? Is it because +the mountains are so steep and high, the paths so narrow and dangerous? +All this is true; but it is not mountains that keep travellers out of +Thibet; it is the Chinese government; for Thibet belongs to China, and +you know how carefully the emperor of China keeps strangers out of his +empire.</p> + +<p>How did the Chinese get possession of Thibet? A long while ago, a Hindoo +army invaded the land, and the people in their fright sent to China for +help. The Chinese came, drove away the Hindoos, and stayed themselves. +They are not hard masters, they govern very mildly; only they require a +sum of money to be sent every year to Pekin, as tribute.</p> + +<p>But though Thibet belongs to China, the Chinese language is not spoken +there.</p> + +<p>The people are like the Tartars in appearance; they <a name='Page_258'></a>have the same bony +face, sharp black eye, and straight black hair; but a much fresher +complexion, owing to the fresh mountain air they breathe.</p> + +<p>The Himalaya mountains, the highest in Asia, lie between Thibet and +Hindostan. Their peaks are always covered with snow, and rapid streams +pour down the rugged sides. The snow on the mountain-tops makes Thibet +very cold; but there are warm valleys where grapes, and even rice +flourish.</p> + +<p>The people build their houses in the warmest spots they can find; they +try to find a place sheltered from the north wind, by a high rock, and +lying open to the south sun. Their dwellings are only made of stones, +heaped together, and the roofs are flat. Their riches consist in flocks +of sheep and goats. They have, another animal, which is not known in +England, and yet a very useful creature, because, like a cow, it yields +rich milk, and like a horse, it carries burdens. This animal is called +the Yak, and resembles both a horse and a cow. Its chief beauty is its +tail, which is much finer than a horse's tail, and is black, and glossy, +soft and flowing. Many of these tails are sent to India, where they are +used as fly-flappers.</p> + +<p>The sheep and goats of Thibet are more useful than ours; for they are +taught to carry burdens over the mountains. They may be seen following +each other<a name='Page_259'></a> in long trains, with large packs fastened on their little +backs, and climbing up very narrow and steep paths.</p> + +<p>And what is in these packs? Wool: not sheep's wool, but goat's wool: for +the goats of Thibet have very fine wool under their hair. No such wool is +found on any other goats. But though the people of Thibet can weave +common cloth, they cannot weave this beautiful wool, as it deserves to be +woven. Therefore they send it to a country the other side of the Himalaya +mountains, called Cashmere; and there it is woven into the most beautiful +shawls in all the world.</p> + +<p>But wool is not the only riches of Thibet. There is gold to be found +there; some in large pieces, and some in small dust. There are also large +mines of copper. And what use is made of these riches? The worst in the +world. With the gold and copper many IDOLS are made; for Thibet is a land +of idols. The religion is the same there as in China,—the Buddhist;—and +that is a religion of idols.</p> + +<p>But there is an idol in Thibet, which there is not in China. It is a +LIVING IDOL. He is called the Grand Lama. There are Lamas in Tartary, but +the GRAND Lama is in Thibet. He is looked up to as the greatest being in +the world, by all the Lamas in Tartary, and by all the people of the +Buddhist religion. There are more people,—a <i>great many</i><a name='Page_260'></a> more,—who +honor <i>him</i>, than who honor our GREAT GOD.</p> + +<p>But this man leads a miserable life. When one Lama dies, another is +chosen;—some little baby,—and he is placed in a very grand palace, and +worshipped as a god all his life long. I have heard of one of these baby +Lamas, who, when only eighteen months old, sat up with great majesty on +his pile of cushions. When strangers entered, he looked at them kindly, +and when they made a speech to him, he bowed his little head very +graciously. What a sad fate for this poor infant! To be set up as a god, +and taught to think himself a god—while all the time he is a helpless, +foolish, sinful, dying creature!</p> + + +<a name='Lassa'></a> +<h3>LASSA.</h3> + +<p>This is the chief city of Thibet. Here is the palace of the Grand Lama. +If is of enormous size. What do you think of TEN THOUSAND rooms? Did you +ever hear of so <i>large</i> a house? Neither did you ever hear of so <i>high</i> a +house. It is almost as high as the pinnacle of St. Paul's church. There +are seven stories, and on the highest story are the state apartments of +the Grand Lama. It is no matter to him how many flights of stairs there +may be to reach his <a name='Page_261'></a>rooms; for he is never allowed to walk; but it is +fatiguing for his worshippers to ascend so high. I suppose the priests +make their Grand Lama live so high up, that he may be like our God who +dwells in the highest heavens. Who occupy the ten thousand rooms of the +palace? Chiefly idols of gold and silver. The house outside is richly +adorned, and its roof glitters with gold.</p> + +<p>There are many magnificent houses in Thibet, where priests live. No one +could live with them, who could not bear a great noise: for three times a +day the priests meet to worship, and each time they hollo with all their +might, to do honor to Buddha. The noise is stunning, but they do not +think it loud enough; so on feast days, they use copper instruments, such +as drums and trumpets, of the most enormous size, and with them they send +forth an overwhelming sound.</p> + +<p>This unmeaning noise may well remind us of a sound—louder far—that +shall one day be heard; so loud that <i>all the world</i> will hear it. It is +the sound of the LAST TRUMPET! It will wake the dead. Stout hearts will +quail; devils will tremble; but all those who love the Lord, will rejoice +and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save +us."—(Is. xxv. 9.)</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CEYLON'></a><h2><a name='Page_262'></a>CEYLON.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Part of it indeed +is flat—that part near Hindustan; but in the midst—there are mountains; +and streams running down their sides, and swelling into lovely rivers, +winding along the fruitful valleys. Such scenes might remind you of +Switzerland, the most beautiful country in Europe.</p> + +<p>The chief beauty of Ceylon is her TREES.</p> + +<p>I will mention a few of the beautiful, curious, and useful trees of this +delightful island. The tree for which Ceylon is celebrated, is the +CINNAMON tree. For sixty miles along the shore, there are cinnamon +groves, and the sweet scent may be perceived far off upon the seas. If +you were to see a cinnamon-tree, you might mistake it for a laurel;—a +tree so often found in English gardens. The cinnamon-trees are never +allowed to grow tall, because it is only the upper branches which are +much prized for their bark. The little children of Ceylon may often be +seen sitting <a name='Page_263'></a>in the shade, peeling off the bark with their knives; and +this bark is afterwards sent to England to flavor puddings, and to mix +with medicine.</p> + +<p>There are also groves of cocoa-nut trees on the shores of Ceylon. A few +of these trees are a little fortune to a poor man; for he can eat the +<i>fruit</i>, build his house with the <i>wood</i>, roof it with the <i>leaves</i>, make +cups of the <i>shell</i>, and use the oil of the <i>kernel</i> instead of candles.</p> + +<p>The JACK-TREE bears a larger fruit than any other in the world;—as large +as a horse's head,—and so heavy that a woman can only carry one upon her +head to market.. This large fruit does not hang on the tree by a stalk, +but grows out of the trunk, or the great branches. This is well arranged, +for so large a fruit would be too heavy for a stalk, and might fall off, +and hurt the heads of those sitting beneath its shade. The outside of +this fruit is like a horse-chestnut, green, and prickly; the inside is +yellow, and is full of kernels, like beans. The wood is like +mahogany,—hard and handsome.</p> + +<p>But there is a tree in Ceylon, still more curious than the jack-tree. It +is the TALPOT-TREE. This is a very tall tree, and its top is covered by a +cluster of round leaves, each leaf so large, that it would do for a +carpet, for a common-sized room; and one single<a name='Page_264'></a> LEAF, cut it in +three-cornered pieces, will make a TENT! When cut up, the leaves are used +for fans and books. But this tree bears no fruit till just before it +dies,—that is till it is <i>fifty</i> years old: THEN—an enormous bud is +seen, rearing its huge head in the midst of the crown of leaves;—the bud +bursts with a loud noise, and a yellow flower appears,—a flower so +large, that it would fill a room! The flower turns into fruit. THAT SAME +YEAR THE TREE DIES!</p> + +<p><b>PEOPLE.</b>—And who are the people who live in this beautiful land?</p> + +<p>In the flat part of the island, towards the north, the people resemble +the Hindoos, and speak and think like them; and they are called Tamuls.</p> + +<p>But among the mountains of the south a different kind of people live, +called the Cingalese. They do not speak the Tamul language, nor do they +follow the Hindoo religion. They follow the Buddhist religion. You know +this is the religion of the greater part of the nations. Ceylon is full +of the temples of Buddha. In each temple there is an inner dark room, +very large, where Buddha's image is kept,—a great image that almost +fills the room.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/10.jpg' width='529' height='366' alt='DEVIL PRIESTS. p. 265.' title='DEVIL PRIESTS. p. 265.'> +</center> +<h5>DEVIL PRIESTS. See <a href='#Page_265'> p. 265.</a></h5> + +<p>The priests in their yellow cloaks, with their shaven heads and bare +feet, may be seen every morning begging from door to door; but <i>proud</i> +beggars they <a name='Page_265'></a>are,—not condescending to <i>speak</i>,—but only standing with +their baskets ready to receive rice and fruit; and the only thanks they +give—are their blessings.</p> + +<p>There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the +worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It +is the worship of the DEVIL! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there +was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to +worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point.</p> + +<p>There are many <i>devil priests</i>. When any one is sick, it is supposed that +the devil has caused the sickness, and a devil priest is sent for. And +what can the priest do? He dances,—he sings,—with his face +painted,—small bells upon his legs,—and a flaming torch in each hand; +while another man beats a loud drum. He dances, he sings—all night +long,—sometimes changing his white jacket for a black, or his black for +a white,—sometimes falling down, and sometimes jumping up,—sometimes +reeling, and sometimes running,—and all this he does to please the +devil, and to coax him to come out of the sick person. This is what he +<i>pretends</i>;—but in <i>reality</i>, he seeks to get money by his tricks. The +people are very fond of these devil-dancers; it <i>tires</i> them to listen to +the Buddhist priests, mumbling out of their books, the five <a name='Page_266'></a>hundred and +fifty histories of Buddha; but it <i>delights</i> them to watch all night the +antics of a devil priest.</p> + +<p>What is the character of these deceived people? They are polite, and +obliging, but as deceitful as their own priests. They are not even +<i>sincere</i> in their wrong religion, but are ready to <i>pretend</i> to be of +any religion which is most convenient. The Portuguese once were masters +of Ceylon, and they tried to make the people Roman Catholics. Then the +Dutch came, who tried to force them to be Protestants. Many infants were +baptized, who grew up to be heathen priests. Now the English are masters +of Ceylon; they do not <i>oblige</i> the people to be Christians, yet many +pretend to be Christians who are not.</p> + +<p>A man was once asked, "Are you a Buddhist?"</p> + +<p>"No," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Are you a Mahomedan?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Are you a Roman Catholic?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What is your religion?"</p> + +<p>"Government religion."</p> + +<p>Such was his answer. This man had no religion at all,—he only wished to +obtain the favor of the governor.<a name='Page_267'></a> But will he obtain the favor of the +Governor of the world, the King of kings?</p> + +<p>We have said nothing yet about the appearance of the Cingalese. Both men +and women wear a piece of cloth wound round their waists, called a +comboy; but they do not, like the Hindoos, twist it over their shoulders; +they wear a jacket instead. Neither do the men wear turbans, as in India, +but they fasten their hair with a comb, while the women fasten theirs +with long pins. The Cingalese ladies and gentlemen imitate the English +dress, especially when they come to a party at the English Governor's +house. Then they wear shoes and stockings instead of sandals; the +gentlemen contrive to place a hat over their long hair, by first taking +out the combs; yet they still wind a comboy over their English clothes. +The Hindoos do not thus imitate the English, for they are too proud of +their own customs. Hindoo ladies never go into company; but Cingalese +ladies may be seen at parties, arrayed in colored satin jackets, and +adorned with golden hair-pins, and diamond necklaces.</p> + +<p>You have heard of the foolish ideas the Hindoos entertain about castes. +It is the Brahmin priests who teach <i>them</i> these opinions. The Buddhist +priests say nothing about castes; yet the Cingalese have castes of their +<i>own</i>; but not the <i>same</i> castes as the<a name='Page_268'></a> Hindoos. There are twenty-one +castes in all; the highest caste consists of the husbandmen, and the +lowest of the mat-weavers.</p> + +<p>Below the lowest caste, are the OUTCASTS! The poor outcasts live in +villages by themselves, hated by all. When they meet any one, who are not +outcasts, they go as near to the hedge as they can, with their hands on +the top of their heads, to show their respect. These poor creatures are +accustomed to be treated as if they were dogs. What pride there is in +man's heart! How is it one poor worm can lift himself up so high above +his fellow-worm, though both are made of the same dust, and shall lie +down in the same dust together!</p> + + +<a name='Kandy'></a> +<h3>KANDY.</h3> + +<p>This town is built among the high mountains. It was built there for the +same reason that the eagle builds her nest on the top of a tall rock,—to +get out of the reach of enemies. But the proud king, who once dwelt +there, has been conquered, and now England's Queen rules over Ceylon. No +wonder that the proud king had enemies, for he was a monster of cruelty. +His palace is still to be seen. See that high tower, and that open +gallery at the top! There <a name='Page_269'></a>the <i>last king</i> used to stand to enjoy the +sight of his subjects' agonies. Those who had offended him were killed in +the Court below,—killed not in a common manner, but in all kinds of +barbarous ways,—such as by being cut in pieces, or by swallowing melted +lead. At length the Cingalese invited the English to come and deliver +them from their tyrant; the English came and shut him up in prison till +he died, and now an English governor rules over Ceylon.</p> + +<p>The greatest curiosity to be seen at Kandy is a TOOTH! a tooth that the +people say was taken out of the mouth of their Buddha. It is kept in a +splendid temple on a golden table, in a golden box of great size. There +are seven boxes one inside the other, and in the innermost box, wrapped +up in gold, there is a piece of ivory, the size of a man's thumb,—that +is the tooth of Buddha! Every day it is worshipped, and offerings of +fruit and flowers are presented.</p> + + +<a name='Colombo'></a> +<h3>COLOMBO.</h3> + +<p>This is the chief <i>English</i> town of Ceylon, as Kandy is the chief +<i>Cingalese</i> town. The English governor lives here, but he has a house at +Kandy too, where he may enjoy the cool mountain air. There <a name='Page_270'></a>is a fine road +from Colombo to Kandy, broader and harder than, English roads; yet it is +out through steep mountains, and winds by dangerous precipices. But there +are laborers in Ceylon stronger than any in England. I mean the +ELEPHANTS. It is curious to see this huge animal meekly walking along +with a plank across its tusks, or dragging wagons full of large stones. +Among the mountains there are herds of <i>wild</i> elephants, sometimes a +hundred may be seen in one herd. There are no elephants in the world as +courageous as those of Ceylon, yet they are very obedient when tamed. If +you wished to visit the mountains, you might safely ride upon the back of +the sure-footed elephant, and all your brothers and sisters, however +many, might ride with you.</p> + +<p><b>MISSIONARIES.</b>—There are some in Ceylon, and some of the heathens have +obeyed their voice.</p> + +<p>There was once a devil priest. Having been detected in some crime, he was +imprisoned at Kandy, and while in prison he read a Christian tract, and +was converted. Thus (like Onesimus, of whom we read in the Bible,) he +escaped from <i>Satan's</i> prison, while shut up in <i>man's</i> prison. When he +was set free, he was baptized by the missionary at Kandy, and he chose to +be called Abraham. What name did he choose for <a name='Page_271'></a>his son, a boy of +fourteen? Isaac. He buried his conjuring books, though he might have sold +them for eight pounds. His cottage was in a village fifteen miles from +Kandy. He had left it—a <i>wicked</i> man; lib returned to it a <i>good</i> man.</p> + +<p>After some time, a missionary went to visit Abraham in his cottage. A +good Cingalese was his guide. The walk there was beautiful, along narrow +paths, amidst fields of rice, through dark thickets, and long grass. No +one in Abraham's village had ever seen the fair face of an Englishman; +and the sight of the missionary alarmed the inhabitants. Abraham's family +was the only Christian family in that place. How glad Abraham felt at the +sight of the missionary,—almost as glad as the <i>first</i> Abraham felt at +the sight of the three angels. When the missionary entered, Abraham was +teaching his wife, for she was soon to be baptized. By what name? By the +name of Sarah. There were seven children in the family. How hard it must +be for Abraham to bring them up as Christians, in the midst of his +heathen neighbors. Even his brothers hate him, wound his cattle, and +break down his fences. Once they pointed a gun at him, but it did not go +off. Abraham's comfort is to walk over to Kandy every Saturday, to +worship God there <a name='Page_272'></a>on Sunday with the Christians; and he does not find +fifteen miles too far for his willing feet. May the Lord preserve +Abraham, faithful in the midst of the wicked.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='BORNEO'></a><h2><a name='Page_273'></a>BORNEO.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the largest island in the world, except one. Borneo is of a +different shape from our Britain, but if you could join Britain and +Ireland in one, both together would not be as large as Borneo. Yet how +unlike is Borneo to Britain! Britain is a Christian island. Borneo is a +heathen island. Yet Borneo is not an island of <i>idols</i>, as Ceylon is. +<i>All</i> heathens do not worship idols. I will tell you who live in Borneo, +and you will see why there are so few idols there.</p> + +<p>Many people have come from Malacca, and settled in Borneo; so the island +is full of Malays. These people have a cunning and cruel look, and no +wonder;—for many of them are PIRATES! It is a common custom in Borneo to +go out in a large boat,—to watch for smaller boats,—to seize them—to +bind the men in chains, and to bring them home as slaves. There are no +seas in the world so dangerous to sail in, as the seas near Borneo, not +only on account of the rocks, but on account of the great number of +pirates. What is the religion of Borneo? It is Mahomedanism.<a name='Page_274'></a> But the +Malays do not follow the laws of Mahomet as the Turks do. They do not +mind the hours of prayer, nor do they attend regularly at the mosque. +This is not surprising, for they do not understand the Koran. Mahomet +wrote in Arabic, and the Malays do not understand Arabic. Why do they not +get the Koran translated? Mahomet did not wish the book to be translated. +Why then do not the Malays learn Arabic? I wonder they do not, but I +suppose they are too idle, and too careless. The boys go to school and +learn to read and write their own easy language—the Malay; and they +learn also to repeat whole chapters of the Koran, but without +understanding a word. Still they think it a great advantage to know these +chapters, because they imagine that by repeating them, they can drive +away evil spirits.</p> + +<p>The Malays observe Mahomet's law against eating pork; but many of them +drink wine, though Mahomet forbids it. However, they follow Mahomet in +not having dancing at their feasts; indeed, their behavior at feasts is +sober and orderly, for they amuse themselves chiefly by singing, and +repeating poems. They have only two meals a day, and they live chiefly +upon rice, which they eat, sitting cross-legged on the floor. They get +tea from China, and drink many cups during the day, in the same way as +the Chinese.</p><a name='Page_275'></a> + +<p>The ladies are treated like the ladies of Turkey, and shut up in their +houses, to spend their time in folly and idleness.</p> + +<p>The men scarcely work at all, but employ the slaves they have stolen at +sea, to labor in their fields. Their houses are not better than barns, +and not nearly as strong; for the sides and roof are generally made only +of large leaves. They are built upon posts, as in Siam. It is well to be +out of the reach of the leeches, crawling on the ground.</p> + +<p>The Malays dress in loose clothes, trowsers, and jacket, and broad sash; +the women are wrapped in a loose garment, and wear their glossy black +hair flowing over their shoulders. The rich men dress magnificently, and +quite cover their jackets with gold, while the ladies delight to sparkle +with jewels.</p> + + +<a name='Bruni'></a> +<h3>BRUNI.</h3> + +<p>This is the capital. It is often called Borneo, and it is written down in +the maps by this name. It is one of the most curious cities in the world; +for most of the houses are built in the river, and most of the streets +are only water. Every morning a great market is held on the water. The +people come in boats <a name='Page_276'></a>from all the country round, bringing fruit and +vegetables to sell, and they paddle up and down the city till they have +sold their goods.</p> + +<p>The Sultan's palace is built upon the bank, close to the water; and the +front of his palace is open; so that it is easy to come in a boat, and to +gaze upon him, as he sits cross-legged on his throne, arrayed in purple +satin, glittering with gold.</p> + +<p>There is a mosque in Bruni; but it is built only of brick, and has +nothing in it but a wooden pulpit; and hardly anybody goes there, though +a man stands outside making a loud noise on a great drum, to invite +people to come in.</p> + + +<a name='The_Dyaks'></a> +<h3>THE DYAKS.</h3> + +<p>These are a savage people who inhabit Borneo. They lived there before the +Malays came, and they have been obliged to submit to them. They are +savages indeed. They are darker than the Malays; yet they are not black; +their skin is only the color of copper. Their hair is cut short in front, +but streams down their backs; their large mouths show a quantity of black +teeth, made black by chewing the betel-nut. They wear very little +clothing, but they adorn <a name='Page_277'></a>their ears, and arms, and legs, with numbers of +brass rings. Their looks are wild and fierce, but not cunning like the +looks of the Malays. They are not Mahomedans; they have hardly any +religion at all. They believe there are some gods, but they know hardly +anything about them, and they do not want to know. They neither make +images to the gods, nor say prayers to them. They live like the beasts, +thinking only of this life; yet they are more unhappy than beasts, for +they imagine there are evil spirits among the woods and hills, watching +to do them harm. It is often hard to persuade them to go to the top of a +mountain, where they say evil spirits dwell. Such a people would be more +ready to listen to a missionary than those who have idols, and temples, +and priests, and sacred books.</p> + +<p>Their wickedness is very great. It is their chief delight to get the +heads of their enemies. There are a great many different tribes of Dyaks, +and each tribe tries to cut off the heads of other tribes. The Dyaks who +live by the sea are the most cruel; they go out in the boats to rob, and +to bring home, not <i>slaves</i>, but HEADS! And how do they treat a head when +they get it? They take out the brains, and then they dry it in the smoke, +with the flesh and hair still on; then they put a string through it, and +fasten it<a name='Page_278'></a> to their waists. The evening that they have got some new heads, +the warriors dance with delight,—their heads dangling by their +sides;—and they turn round in the dance, and gaze upon their heads,—and +shout,—and yell with triumph! At night they still keep the heads near +them; and in the day, they play with them, as children with their dolls, +talking to them, putting food in their mouths, and the betel-nut between +their ghastly lips. After wearing the heads many days, they hang them up +to the ceilings of their rooms.</p> + +<p>No English lord thinks so much of his pictures, as the Dyaks do of their +heads. They think these heads are the finest ornaments of their houses. +The man who has <i>most</i> heads, is considered the <i>greatest</i> man. A man who +has NO HEADS is despised! If he wishes to be respected, he must get a +head as soon as he can. Sometimes a man, in order to get a head, will go +out to look for a poor fisherman, who has done him no harm, and will come +back with his head.</p> + +<p>When the Dyaks fight against their enemies, they try to get, not only the +heads of <i>men</i>, but also the heads of <i>women</i> and CHILDREN. How dreadful +it must be to see a poor BABY'S HEAD hanging from the ceiling! There was +a Dyak who lost all his property by fire, but he cared not for losing +anything, so much<a name='Page_279'></a> as for losing his PRECIOUS HEADS; nothing could console +him for THIS loss; some of them he had cut off himself, and others had +been cut off by his father, and left to him!</p> + +<p>People who are so bent on killing, as these Dyaks are, must have many +enemies. The Dyaks are always in fear of being attacked by their enemies. +They are afraid of living in lonely cottages; they think it a better plan +for a great many to live together, that they may be able to defend +themselves, if surprised in the night. Four hundred Dyaks will live +together in one house. The house is very large. To make it more safe, it +is built upon <i>very high posts</i>, and there are ladders to get up by. The +posts are sometimes forty feet high; so that when you are in the house, +you find yourself as high as the tall trees. There is one very large +room, where all the men and women sit, and talk, and do their work in the +day. The women pound the rice, and weave the mats, while the men make +weapons of war, and the little children play about. There is always much +noise and confusion in this room. There are a great many doors along one +side of the long room; and each of these doors leads into a small room +where a family lives; the parents, the babies, and the girls sleep there, +while the boys of the family sleep in the large room, that has just been +described.</p><a name='Page_280'></a> + +<p>You know already what are the ornaments on which each family prides +itself,—the HEADS hanging up in their rooms! It is the SEA Dyaks who +live in these very large houses.</p> + +<p>The HILL Dyaks do not live in houses quite so large. Yet several families +inhabit the same house. In the midst of their villages, there is always +one house where the boys sleep. In this house all the HEADS of the +village are kept. The house is round, and built on posts, and the +entrance is underneath through the floor. As this is the best house in +the village, travellers are always brought to this house to sleep. Think +how dreadful it must be, when you wake in the night to see thirty or +forty horrible heads, dangling from the ceiling! The wind, too, which +comes in through little doors in the roof, blows the heads about; so that +they knock against each other, and seem almost as if they were still +alive. This is the HEAD-HOUSE.</p> + +<p>These Hill Dyaks do not often get a new head; but when they do, they come +to the Head-House at night, and sing to the new head, while they beat +upon their loud gongs. What do they say to the new head?</p> + +<p>"Your head, and your spirit, are now ours. Persuade your countrymen to be +slain by us. Let them<a name='Page_281'></a> wander in the fields, that we may bring the heads +of your brethren, and hang them up with your heads."</p> + +<p>How much Satan must delight in these prayers. They are prayers just +suited to that great MURDERER and DESTROYER!</p> + +<p>The Malays are enemies to all the Dyaks; and they have burnt many of +their houses, cut down their fruit trees, and taken their children +captives. The Dyaks complain bitterly of their sufferings. Some of them +say, "We do not live like men, but like monkeys; we are hunted from place +to place; we have no houses; and when we light a fire, we fear lest the +smoke should make our enemies know where we are."</p> + +<p>They say they live like monkeys. But why do they behave like tigers?</p> + +<p>An English gentleman, named Sir James Brooke, has settled in Borneo, and +has become a chief of a large tract of land. His house is near the river +Sarawak. He has persuaded the Sultan of Borneo, to give the English a +VERY LITTLE island called the Isle of Labuan. It is a desert island. Of +what use can this small island be to England? English soldiers may live +there, and try to prevent pirates infesting the seas. If it were not for +the pirates, Borneo would be able to send many treasures to foreign +countries. It is but a little way from Borneo to Singapore, and<a name='Page_282'></a> there are +many English merchants at Singapore, ready to buy the precious things of +Borneo. Gold is found in Borneo, mixed with the earth. But I don't know +who would dig it up, if it were not for the industrious Chinese, who come +over in great numbers to get money in this island. Diamonds are found +there, and a valuable metal called antimony.</p> + +<p>The sago-tree, the pepper plant, and the sugar-cane, and the cocoa-nut +tree are abundant.</p> + +<p>The greatest curiosity that Borneo possesses are the eatable nests. These +white and transparent nests are found in the caves by the sea-shore, and +they are the work of a little swallow. The Chinese give a high price for +these nests, that they may make soup for their feasts.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—Borneo has very few large animals. There are, indeed, enormous +alligators in the rivers, but there are no lions or tigers; and even the +bears are small, and content to climb the trees for fruit and honey. The +majestic animal which is the pride of Ceylon, is not found in Borneo: I +mean the elephant.</p> + +<p>Yet the woods are filled with living creatures. Squirrels and monkeys +sport among the trees. The leaps of the monkeys are amazing; hundreds +will jump one after the other, from a tree as high as a house, and not +one will miss his footing; yet now and <a name='Page_283'></a>then a monkey has a fall. The +most curious kind of monkey is found in Borneo—the Ourang-outang; but it +is one of the least active; it climbs carefully from branch to branch, +always holding by its hands before it makes a spring. These +Ourang-outangs are not as large as a man, yet they are much stronger. All +the monkeys sleep in the trees; in a minute a monkey makes its bed by +twisting a few branches together.</p> + +<p>Beneath the trees—two sorts of animals, very unlike each other, roam +about,—the clumsy hog, and the graceful deer. As the <i>largest</i> sort of +<i>monkeys</i> is found in Borneo, so is the <i>smallest</i> sort of <i>deer</i>. There +is a deer that has legs only eight inches long. There is no more elegant +creature in the world than this bright-eyed, swift-footed little deer.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='JAPAN'></a><h2><a name='Page_284'></a>JAPAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the name of a great empire. There are three principal islands. +One of these is very long, and very narrow; it is about a thousand miles +long,—much longer than Great Britain, but not nearly as broad. Yet the +three islands <i>together</i> are larger than our island. There is a fourth +island near the Japan islands, called Jesso, and it is filled with +Japanese people.</p> + +<p>You know it is difficult to get into China; but it is far more difficult +to get into Japan. The emperor has boats always watching round the coast, +to prevent strangers coming into his country. These boats are so made, +that they cannot go far from the shore. No Japanese ship is ever seen +floating in a foreign harbor. If it be difficult to get <i>into</i> Japan, it +is also difficult to get <i>out</i> of her. There is a law condemning to +<i>death</i> any Japanese who leaves his country. The Chinese also are +forbidden to leave their land; but <i>they</i> do not mind their laws as well +as the Japanese mind <i>theirs</i>.</p><a name='Page_285'></a> + +<p>I shall not be able to tell you much about Japan; as strangers may not go +there, nor natives come from it. English ships very seldom go to Japan, +because they are so closely watched. The guard-boats surround them night +and day. When it is dark, lanterns are lighted, in order the better to +observe the strangers. One English captain entreated permission to land, +that he might observe the stars with his instruments, in order afterwards +to make maps; but he could only get leave to land on a little island +where there were a few fishermen's huts; and all the time he was there, +the Japanese officers kept their eye upon him. He was told that he must +not measure the land. It seems that the Japanese were afraid that his +<i>measuring</i> the land would be the beginning of his taking it away. +However, he had no such intention, and was content with measuring the +SEA.</p> + +<p>He asked the Japanese to sell him a supply of fruit and vegetables for +his crew, and a supply was brought; but the Japanese would take no money +in return. He wanted to buy bullocks, that his crew might have beef, but +the Japanese replied, "You cannot have <i>them</i>; for they work hard, and +are tired, they draw the plough; they do their duty, and they ought not +to be eaten; but the <i>hogs</i> are lazy; they do no work, you may have them +to eat, if you wish it." The<a name='Page_286'></a> Japanese will not even milk their cows, but +they allow the calves to have all the milk.</p> + +<p>If you wish to know <i>why</i> the Japanese will not allow strangers to land, +I must relate some events which happened three hundred years ago.</p> + +<p>Some Roman Catholic priests from Spain and Portugal settled in the land, +and taught the people about Christ, but they taught them also to worship +the cross, and the Virgin Mary. Thousands of the Japanese were baptized, +and were called Christians. After some years had passed away, the emperor +began to fear that the kings of Spain and Portugal would come, and take +away his country from him, as they had taken away other countries; so the +emperor began to persecute the priests, and all who followed their words. +One emperor after another persecuted the Christians. There is a burning +mountain in Japan, and down its terrible yawning mouth many Christians +were thrown. One emperor commanded his people instead of <i>worshipping</i> +the cross, to <i>trample</i> upon it. To do either—is wicked; to do either is +to insult Christ.</p> + +<p>All Christians are now hated in Japan. The Dutch tried to persuade the +emperors to trust <i>them</i>; but they could only get leave to buy and sell +at one place, but not to settle in the land.</p> + +<p>There are many beautiful things in Japan, especially <a name='Page_287'></a>boxes, and screens, +and cabinets, varnished and ornamented in a curious manner, and these are +much admired by great people in Europe. There is silk, too, and tea, and +porcelain in Japan; but they are not nearly as fine as China. There is +gold also.</p> + +<p>There are as many people in Japan, as there are in Britain; for the +Japanese are very industrious, and cultivate abundance of rice, and +wheat. Oh! how sad to think that so many millions should be living and +dying in darkness; for the chief religion is the false, and foolish +religion of Buddha, or, as he is called in Japan, "Budso." How many names +are given to that deceiver! Buddha in Ceylon; Fo, in China; Gaudama, in +Burmah; Codom, in Siam—and Budso in Japan!</p> + +<p>What sort of people are the Japanese?</p> + +<p>They are a very polite people—much politer than the Chinese, but very +proud. They are a learned nation, for they can read and write, and they +understand geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. There is a college where +many languages are taught, even English. The dress of the gentlemen is +elegant;—the loose tunic and trowsers, the sash, and jacket, are made of +a kind of fine linen, adorned with various patterns; the stockings are of +white jean; sandals are worn upon the feet, but no covering upon the +<a name='Page_288'></a>head, although most of the hair is shaven, and the little that remains +behind, is tied tightly together; an umbrella or a fan is all that is +used to keep off the sun;—except on journeys, and then a large cap of +oiled paper, or of plaited grass is worn. The great mark by which a +gentleman is known, is wearing two swords.</p> + +<p>The Japanese houses are very pretty. In the windows—flower-pots are +placed; and when real flowers cannot be had, artificial flowers are used. +In great houses, the ladies are shut up in one part; while in the other, +company is received. The house is divided into rooms by large screens, +and as these can be moved, the rooms can be made larger, or smaller, as +the master pleases. There are no chairs, for the Japanese, though so much +like the Chinese, do not sit like them on chairs, but on mats beautifully +woven. The emperor's palace is called, "The Hall of the Thousand Mats." +Every part of a Japanese house is covered with paper, and adorned with +paintings, and gold, and silver flowers; even the doors, and the +ceilings, are ornamented in this manner. Beautiful boxes, and porcelain +jars, add to the beauty of the rooms.</p> + +<p>The climate is pleasant, for the winter is short, and the sun is not as +hot as in China; so that the ladies, and gentlemen, are almost as fair as +Europeans, though the laborers are very dark.</p><a name='Page_289'></a> + +<center> +<img src='images/11.jpg' width='382' height='469' alt='JAPANESE GENTLEMAN. p. 289.' title='JAPANESE GENTLEMAN. p. 289.'> +</center> +<h5>JAPANESE GENTLEMAN. See <a href='#Page_289'> p. 289.</a></h5> + +<p>But Japan is exposed to many dangers, from wind, from water, and from +fire—three terrible enemies! The waves dash with violence upon the rocky +shores; the wind often blows in fearful hurricanes; while earthquakes and +hot streams from the burning mountains, fill the people with terror.</p> + +<p>But more terrible than any of these—is wickedness; and very wicked +customs are observed in Japan. It is very wicked for a man to kill +himself, yet in Japan it is the custom for all courtiers who have +offended the emperor, to cut open their own bodies with a sword. The +little boys of five years old, begin to learn the dreadful art. They do +not really cut themselves, but they are shown <i>how</i> to do it, that when +they are men, they may be able to kill themselves in an elegant manner. +How dreadful! Every great man has a white dress, which he never wears, +but keeps by him, that he may put it on when he is going to kill himself: +and he carries it about with him wherever he goes, for he cannot tell how +suddenly he may want it. When a courtier receives a letter sentencing him +to die, he invites his friends to a feast; and at the end of it, his +sentence is read aloud by the emperor's officer; then he takes his sword, +and makes a great gash across his own body; at the same moment, a servant +who stands behind him, cuts off his head.</p><a name='Page_290'></a> + +<p>This way of dying is thought very fine, and as a reward, the emperor +allows the son of the dead man to occupy his father's place in the court. +But <i>what</i> a place to have, when at last there may be such a fearful +scene! Missionaries cannot come into Japan to teach the people a better +way of dying, and to tell them of a happy place after death.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='AUSTRALIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_291'></a>AUSTRALIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the largest island in the world. It is as large as Europe (which +is not an <i>island</i>, but a <i>continent</i>). But how different is Australia +from Europe! Instead of containing, as Europe does, a number of grand +kingdoms, it has not one single king. Instead of being filled with +people, the greater part of Australia is a desert, or a forest, where a +few half naked savages are wandering.</p> + +<p>A hundred years ago, there was not a town in the whole island; but now +there are a few large towns near the sea-coast, but only a very few. It +is the English who built these large towns, and who live in them.</p> + +<p>Australia is not so fine a land as Europe, because it has not so many +fine rivers; and it is fine <i>rivers</i> that make a fine <i>land</i>. Most of the +rivers in Australia do not deserve the name of rivers; they are more like +a number of water-holes, and are often dried up in the summer; but there +is one very fine, broad, long, deep <a name='Page_292'></a>river, called the Murray. It flows +for twelve hundred miles. Were there several such rivers us the Murray, +then Australia would be a fine land indeed.</p> + +<p>Why is there so little water? Because there is so little rain. Sometimes +for two years together, there are no heavy showers, and the grass +withers, and the trees turn brown, and the air is filled with dust. I +believe the reason of the want of rain is—that the mountains are not +high; for high mountains draw the clouds together. There are no mountains +as high as the Alps of Europe; the highest are only half as high.<a name='FNanchor_13_13'></a><a href='#Footnote_13_13'><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> + +<p><b>THE NATIVES.</b>—The savages of Australia have neither god, nor king. Some +heathen countries are full of idols, but there are no idols in the wilds +of Australia. No,—like the beasts which perish, these savages live from +day to day without prayer, or praise, delighting only in eating and +drinking, hunting and dancing.</p> + +<p>Most men build some kind of houses; but these savages are satisfied with +putting a few boughs together, as a shelter from the storm. There is just +room in one of these shelters for a man to creep into it, and lie down to +sleep. They do not wish to learn <a name='Page_293'></a>to build better huts, for as they are +always running about from place to place, they do not think it worth +while to build better.</p> + +<p>A native was once sitting in the corner of a white man's hut, and looking +as if he enjoyed the warmth. The white men began to laugh at him, for not +building a good hut for himself. For some time the black man said +nothing, at last he muttered, "Ay, ay, white fellow think it best +that-a-way. Black fellow think it best that-a-way." A white man rudely +answered, "Then black fellow is a fool." Upon hearing this, the black +fellow, quite affronted, got up, and folding his blanket round him, +walked out of the hut. How much pride there is in the heart of man! Even +a savage thinks a great deal of his own wisdom, and cannot bear to be +called a fool.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the natives build a house <i>strong</i> enough to last during the +whole winter, and <i>large</i> enough to hold seven or eight people. They make +it in the shape of a bee-hive.</p> + +<p>Their reason for moving about continually, is that they may get food. +They look for it, wherever they go, digging up roots, and grubbing up +grubs, and searching the hollows of the trees for <i>opossums</i>. (Of these +strange animals more shall soon be mentioned.)</p> + +<p>The women are the most ill-treated creatures in the<a name='Page_294'></a> world. The men beat +them on their heads whenever they please, and cover them with bruises. A +gentleman once saw a poor black woman crying bitterly. When he asked her +what was the matter, she told him that her husband was going to beat her +for having broken his pipe. The gentleman went to the husband, and +entreated him to forgive his "gin" (for that is the name for a <i>wife</i> or +<i>woman</i>). But the man declared he would not forgive her, unless a new +pipe was given to him. The gentleman could not promise one to the black +man, as there were no pipes to be had in that place. The next morning the +poor gin appeared with a broken arm, her cruel husband having beaten her +with a thick stick.</p> + +<p>The miserable gins are not <i>beaten</i> only; they are <i>half starved</i>; for +their husbands will give them no food, and <i>they</i>—poor things—cannot +fish or hunt, or shoot; they have nothing but the roots they dig up, and +the grubs, and lizards, and snakes they find on the ground. Their looks +show how wretchedly they fare; for while the men are often strong and +tall, the women are generally thin, and bent, and haggard.</p> + +<p>Yet the <i>woman</i>, weak as she is, carries all the baggage, not only the +babe slung upon her back, but the bag of food, and even her husband's gun +and pipe; while the <i>man</i> stalks along in his pride, with nothing <a name='Page_295'></a>but +his spear in his hand, or at most a light basket upon his arm; for he +considers his wife as his beast of burden. At night the woman has to +build her own shelter, for the man thinks it quite enough to build one +for himself.</p> + +<p>Such is the hard lot of a native woman, while she <i>lives</i>; and when she +<i>dies</i>, her body is perched in a tree, as not worth the trouble of +burying.</p> + +<p>I have already told you, that the natives have no GOD; yet they have a +DEVIL, whom they call Yakoo, or debbil-debbil. Of him they are always +afraid, for they fancy he goes about devouring children. When any one +dies, they say, "Yakoo took him." How different from those happy +Christians who can say of their dead, "God took them!"</p> + +<p>People who know not God, but only the devil, must be very wicked. These +savages show themselves to be children of debbil-debbil by their actions. +They kill many of their babes, that they may not have the trouble of +nursing them. Old people also they kill, and laugh at the idea of making +them "tumble down." One of the most horrible things they do, is making +the skulls of their friends into drinking-cups, and they think that by +doing so, they show their AFFECTION! They allow the nearest relation to +have the skull of the dead person. They will even EAT a little piece of +<a name='Page_296'></a>the dead body, just as a mark of love. But generally speaking, it is +only their <i>enemies</i> they eat, and they <i>do</i> eat them whenever they can +kill them. There are a great many tribes of natives, and they look upon +one another as enemies. If a man of one tribe dare to come, and hunt in +the lands of another tribe, he is immediately killed, and his body is +eaten.</p> + +<p>The bodies of dear friends—are treated with great honor, placed for some +weeks on a high platform, and then buried. Mothers prize highly the dead +bodies of their children. A traveller met a poor old woman wandering in +search of roots, with a stick for digging in her hand, and with no other +covering than a little grass mat. On her back she bore a heavy load. What +was it? The dead body of her child,—a boy of ten years old; this burden +she had borne for three weeks, and she thought she showed her love, by +keeping it near her for so long a time. Alas! she knew nothing of the +immortal spirit, and how, when washed in Jesus' blood, it is borne by +angels into the presence of God.</p> + +<p>But though these savages are so wicked, and so wild, they have their +amusements. Dancing is the chief amusement. At every full moon, there is +a grand dance, called the Corrobory. It is the men who dance, while the +women sit by and beat time. Nothing <a name='Page_297'></a>can be more horrible to see than a +Corrobory. It is held in the night by the light of blazing fires. The men +are made to look more frightful than usual, by great patches, and stripes +of red and white clay all over their bodies; and they play all manner of +strange antics, and utter all kinds of strange yells; so that you might +think it was a dance in HELL, rather than on earth.</p> + +<p>It may surprise you to hear these wild creatures have a turn both for +music and drawing. There are figures carved upon the rocks, which show +their turn for drawing. The figures represent beasts, fishes, and men, +and are much better done than could have been supposed. There are few +savages who can sing as well as these natives; but the <i>words</i> of their +songs are very foolish. These are the words of one song,</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"Eat great deal, eat, eat, eat;</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Eat again, plenty to eat;</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Eat more yet, eat, eat, eat."</span><br /> + +<p>If a pig could sing, surely this song would just suit its fancy. How sad +to think a man who is made to praise God forever and ever, should have no +higher joy than eating!</p> + +<p>And what is the appearance of these people?</p> + +<p>They are ugly, with flat noses, and wide mouths,<a name='Page_298'></a> but their teeth are +white, and their hair is long, glossy, and curly. They adorn their +tresses with teeth, and feathers, and dogs' tails; and they rub over +their whole body with fish oil and fat. You may imagine, therefore, how +unpleasant it must be to come near them.</p> + + + +<a name='The_Colonists_Or_Settlers'></a> +<h3>THE COLONISTS OR SETTLERS.</h3> + +<p><i>Once</i> there were only black people in Australia, and no white; <i>now</i> +there are more white than black; and it is probable, that soon, there +will be no black people, but only white. Ever since the white people +began to settle there, the black people have been dying away very fast; +for the white people have taken away the lands where the blacks used to +hunt, and have filled them with their sheep and cattle.</p> + +<p>There are two sorts of white people who have come to Australia. They are +called "Convicts," and "Colonists."</p> + +<p>Convicts are some of the worst of the white people;—thieves, who instead +of being kept in prison, were sent to Australia to work hard for many +years. It is a sad thing for Australia, that so many thieves have been +sent there, because after their punishment was <a name='Page_299'></a>over, and they were set at +liberty, some remained in the land, and did a great deal of harm.</p> + +<p>Colonists are people who come of their own accord to earn their living as +best they can.</p> + +<p>It is a common sight when travelling in Australia, to meet a dray drawn +by bullocks, laden with furniture, and white people. It is a family going +to their new farm. In the dray there are pigs, and you may hear them +grunting; there are fowls, too, shut up in a basket; and besides, there +are plants and tools. When the family arrive at the place where they mean +to settle, they find no house, nor garden, nor fields, only a wild +forest. Immediately they pitch a tent for the mother and her daughters to +sleep in, while the father, his sons, and his laborers, sleep by the fire +in the open air. The next morning, the men begin to fell trees to make a +hut, and they finish it in a week;—not a very grand dwelling, it is +true, but good enough for the fine weather; the floor is made of the hard +clay from the enormous ant hills; the walls—of great slabs of wood; the +roof—of wooden tiles, and the windows—of calico. When the hut is +finished, a hen-house, and a pig-sty are built, and a dairy also +underground. A garden is soon planted, and there the vines, and the +peach-trees bear beautiful fruit. The daughters attend to the rearing of +the fowls, and<a name='Page_300'></a> the milking of the cows, and soon have a plentiful supply +of eggs and butter. The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow +wheat and potatoes. Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied; +and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large +rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of +the laborers. This is the way of life in the "Bush;" for such is the name +given to the wild parts of Australia.</p> + +<p>Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the +wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads +a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon +the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in +troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as +they can. Happily there are no <i>large</i> wild beasts, such as wolves, and +bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as +the sheep.</p> + +<p>But there are <i>men</i>, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts. +These are convicts who have escaped from punishment. They often come to +the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked <i>white</i> men; +indeed <i>they</i> are generally very harmless, unless provoked by +ill-treatment. They are <a name='Page_301'></a>willing to make themselves useful, by reaping +corn, and washing sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a +blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks +will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when +they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women +can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much +besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give +a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats +so much, that he can work no more that day.</p> + +<p>Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was +one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every +morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of +waking him,—light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and +set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting +his hand affectionately on the hand of the sleeper would whisper in his +ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind +and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the +white man.</p> + +<p>This black was as faithful, as he was affectionate. Once he was sent by a +farmer on a message. It was<a name='Page_302'></a> this, "Take this letter to my brother, and +he will give you sixpence, and then spend the sixpence in pipes for me." +The black man took the letter, and went towards the place where the +brother lived. He met him on horseback. The brother after reading the +letter, rode away without giving the sixpence to the bearer. What was the +poor black man to do? "Shall I go back," thought he, "without the pipes? +No. I will try to get some money." He went to a house that he knew of, +and offered to chop some wood for sixpence, and with <i>that sixpence</i> he +bought the pipes. Was not this being a good servant? This was not +eye-service; it was the service of the heart. But there are not many +natives like this man. They are generally soon tired of working. For +instance, a boy called Jackey, left a good master who would have provided +for him, to live again wild in the woods, and went away with the blanket +off his bed.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—There are few of <i>our</i> animals in Australia, or of <i>their</i> +animals in England. There is no hare, no rabbit, no nightingale, no +thrush, in Australia. <i>Once</i> there were no horses, nor cows, nor sheep, +nor pigs; but <i>now</i> there are a great many. Much terrified were the +natives at the sight of the first horse which came from England; for they +had never seen such a large animal before.</p><a name='Page_303'></a> + +<p>The largest beast in Australia is the Kangaroo, remarkable for its short +fore-legs, and its great strong hind-legs, and for the pocket in which it +shelters its little one. It is a gentle creature, and can be easily +tamed. A pet kangaroo may often be seen walking about a settler's garden, +cropping the grass upon the lawn. But though easily <i>tamed</i>, a wild +kangaroo is not easily <i>caught</i>; for it makes immense springs in the air, +far higher than a horse could leap, though it is not as big as a sheep. +When hunted by dogs, it gets, when it can, into the water, and turning +round, and standing still, dips the dogs, one by one, till it drowns +them.</p> + +<p>There is another beast, called the opossum, not much bigger than a large +cat, and it also has a pocket for its young ones. But instead of cropping +the grass, it eats the leaves of trees. It has a gentle face like a deer, +and a long tail like a monkey. It hides itself, as the squirrel does, in +the hollows of trees. Like the owl, it is never seen in the day, but at +night it comes out to feed. The blacks are very cunning in finding out +the holes where the opossums are hidden, and they know how to drag them +out by their long tails, without getting bitten by their sharp teeth. +With the skin of the opossum the natives make a cloak.</p><a name='Page_304'></a> + +<p>The wild dogs, or dingoes, are odious animals. They may be heard yelling +at night to the terror of the shepherd, and the farmer. They are bold +enough to rush into a yard, and to carry off a calf, or a pig; and when +they have dragged it into the woods, they cruelly eat the legs first, and +do not kill it for a long while.</p> + +<p>These three—the kangaroo, the opossum, and the dingo,—are the principal +beasts of Australia.</p> + +<p>Among the birds, the emu is the most remarkable. It is nearly as tall as +an ostrich, and has beautiful soft feathers, though not as beautiful as +the ostrich's. But the most curious point in the emu is,—it has no +tongue. You may suppose, therefore, that it is neither a singing bird, +nor a talking bird; it only makes a little noise in its throat. But if +<i>it</i> is silent, there are numbers of parrots, and cockatoos, to fill the +air with their screams. In England, these birds are thought a great deal +of, but in Australia, they are killed to make into pies, or into soup. +Parrot-pie and cockatoo-soup, are common dishes there. However, many of +the parrots and cockatoos, are caught by the blacks, and sold to the +English, who send them to England in the ships.</p> + +<p>There are not such singing birds in Australia, as there are here. Though +there is a robin red-breast<a name='Page_305'></a> there, he does not sing as sweetly as he does +here. But there are <i>laughing</i> birds in Australia. There is a bird called +the "laughing jackass." He laughs very loud three times a day. He begins +in the morning;—suddenly a hoarse loud laugh is heard,—then another, +then another,—till a whole troop of birds seem laughing all together, +and go on laughing for a few minutes;—and then they are all quiet again. +Such a noise must awaken many a sleeper on his bed. At noon the laugh is +heard again. At evening there is another general fit of laughter. These +birds are not like children, who laugh at no particular hour, but often +twenty times a day. The laughing jackass is almost as useful as a clock, +and it is called, "the bushman's clock."</p> + + +<a name='Botany_Bay'></a> +<h3>BOTANY BAY.</h3> + +<p>This is a famous place, for here the English first settled, and here it +was thieves were sent from England as a punishment. Some were sent there +for fourteen years, and some for twenty-one years, and some for life. How +did the place get the beautiful name of Botany? which means "the +knowledge of flowers." Because there were so many beautiful flowers seen +there, when Captain Cook first beheld it.<a name='Page_306'></a> Yet the name Botany Bay, does +not seem beautiful to us; for it reminds us not of roses, but of rogues; +not of violets, but of violent men; not of lilies, but of villains.</p> + + +<a name='Sydney'></a> +<h3>SYDNEY.</h3> + +<p>This town is close to Botany Bay. It is the largest town in Australia. +It is a very wicked city, because so many convicts have been sent there. +Many of the people are the children of convicts, and have been brought up +very ill by their parents. Of course there are many robberies in such a +city, far more than there are in London. Who would like to live there! +yet it is a fine city, and by the sea-side, with a harbor, where hundreds +of ships might ride,—safe from the storm. It is plain, too, that Sydney +is full of rich people, for the streets are thronged with carriages, +driving rapidly along. The convicts often become rich, after their time +of punishment is over, by keeping public-houses, and when rich they keep +carriages.</p> + +<p>If you were in Sydney, you would hardly think you were in a savage +island; for you would see no savages in the streets. What is become of +those who once lived in these parts? They are all dead, or gone to other +parts of the island. The last black near Sydney,<a name='Page_307'></a> used to talk of the old +times, and say, "When I was a pick-a-ninny, plenty of black fellow then. +Only one left now, mitter."</p> + + +<a name='Adelaide'></a> +<h3>ADELAIDE.</h3> + +<p>It is much better to live here than in Sydney, because convicts have +never been sent here. Numbers of honest poor people are leaving England +and Ireland, every year, to go to Adelaide. When they arrive at the +coast, they get into cars, and are driven seven miles, passing by many +pretty cottages, and gardens, till they arrive at Adelaide. There they +find themselves in the midst of gardens; for the houses are not crowded +together, as in our English towns, but are placed in the midst of trees, +and flowers, and grass; because there is plenty of room in Australia.</p> + +<p>But there is one great evil both in Sydney and in Adelaide, which is the +dust blown from the desert, and which almost chokes the inhabitants. If +there were more rain in Australia, there would be less dust.</p> + +<p>Australia is divided into three parts:—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>I. New South Wales. Capital, Sydney.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>II. Western Australia. Capital, Perth.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>III. South Australia. Capital, Adelaide.</span><br /> + +<a name='Footnote_13_13'></a><a href='#FNanchor_13_13'>[13]</a><div class='note'><p> The Australian mountains are about seven thousand feet +high.</p></div> + + + + + +<hr /> +<a name='VAN_DIEMANS_LAND'></a><h2><a name='Page_308'></a>VAN DIEMAN'S LAND.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This island is as cool as Great Britain; yet it is not a pleasant land to +live in; for it is filled with convicts. There are no natives there now; +they died away gradually, except a few, who were taken by the English to +a small island near, called "Flinder's Island." They were taken there +that they might be safe; yet they never ceased to sigh, and to cry after +their native land.</p> + + +<a name='The_Young_Savages'></a> +<h3>THE YOUNG SAVAGES.</h3> + +<p>Many travellers have tried to see the land in the midst of Australia, but +hitherto they have not succeeded. After going a little way, they have +been obliged to return, and why? Because they have found no water.</p> + +<p>I will give you an account of the journey of Mr. Eyre. This traveller +wished to go into the midst of <a name='Page_309'></a>the land, but finding he could not, he +travelled along the coast, at that part called the Great Bight (or the +Great Bay).</p> + +<p>He set out from Adelaide with a large party, but various accidents +occurred by the way, and at last he found himself with only one +Englishman, and three native boys. The eldest was almost a man. His name +was Wylie, and he was a good-tempered, lively youth. The second was named +Neramberein. I shall have nothing good to relate of him, but a great deal +of evil; for he was indeed a very wicked boy. The youngest was called +Cootachah—a boy who was easily induced to follow bad examples.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre was the chief person in the party, and his English companion was +Mr. Baxter. Ten horses carried the packages, and six sheep were made to +follow, that they might be killed one by one for food.</p> + +<p>All these poor animals suffered terribly from want of water. Sometimes +they went a hundred miles without a refreshing draught. The horses became +so weak, that the travellers were unwilling to mount their backs; and as +for the sheep, they could scarcely crawl along.</p> + +<p>Many ways of getting water were tried. One way was digging up the roots +of trees. A little,—a very little,—water may often be squeezed out of +the end of<a name='Page_310'></a> a root; because the root is the mouth of the tree, and sucks +up water from the ground. Another way of getting water was by gathering +up the dew in a sponge. Enough dew to make a cup of tea might sometimes +be obtained; but not enough for the poor beasts to have any. When the +travellers, by digging, could make a well, then they were glad indeed; +for then the beasts could be refreshed as well as themselves.</p> + +<p>The whole party were become so weak from fatigue and thirst, that they +could not get on fast, and they found it necessary to save their food as +much as possible, that it might last to the end of the long journey. They +took a little flour every day out of their bag, and made it into a paste. +Sometimes they caught a fish, or shot a bird or beast, and then they had +a hearty meal. When they killed one of their sheep, then they had plenty +of mutton. At last, all the sheep were killed but one.</p> + +<p>It happened at this time, that one of the horses was so sick that he +could not move. It was plain he would soon die; therefore the travellers +determined to kill him, and eat his flesh. Mr. Eyre was grieved at the +thought of killing his horse, neither could he bear the idea of eating +horse flesh; but then he feared, that if the horse were not killed, the +whole party would be starved.</p><a name='Page_311'></a> + +<p>The native boys were delighted when they knew the horse was to be eaten; +for they had long been fretting for more food. They would like to have +devoured it <i>all</i> on the spot; but they were not allowed to do so; the +greater part of the flesh was cut off in thin slices, dipped in salt +water, and then hung up in the sun to dry, to serve as provision for many +days to come. The boys were permitted to devour the rest of the carcase.</p> + +<p>With what haste they prepared the feast! They made a fire close to the +carcase, and then cut off lumps of flesh, which they roasted quickly, and +then ate. They spent the whole afternoon in this manner, looking more +like ravenous wolves than human creatures. When night came, they were not +willing to leave their meat, but took as much as ever they could carry +into their beds, that they might eat whenever they awoke. Next day, they +returned to the roasting and eating, and the next night again they took +meat with them to bed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre wondered at their gluttony and he thought it necessary to give +them an allowance of food, instead of letting them eat as much as they +liked. He gave five pounds of meat to each boy every day. Five pounds is +as much as a shoulder of mutton—and ten English boys would think it +quite enough for dinner; but the Australian boys were not satisfied!</p><a name='Page_312'></a> + +<p>Mr. Eyre began to suspect that in the night they stole some of the meat +hanging up to dry on the trees. Therefore one night he weighed the meat, +and in the morning weighed it again. He found that four pounds were gone. +He thought it was very ungrateful of boys, to whom he gave so much, to +steal from his small stock. As a punishment he gave them less meat next +day than usual.</p> + +<p>He entreated the boys to tell him who was the thief. The eldest and +youngest declared that they had not stolen any meat; but Neramberein +would not answer at all, and looked sulky and angry, and muttered +something about going away, and taking Wylie with him. Mr. Eyre replied, +that he might go if he pleased, while at the same time he warned him of +the dangers of the way.</p> + +<p>The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, the three boys all rose +up and walked away. Mr. Eyre called back the youngest, as he felt he was +misled by his elders, but he let the others go. They had stayed with him +till the horse was all eaten up, except the dried pieces—but now they +hoped to get more food, when travelling alone, than with Mr. Eyre.</p> + +<p>As soon as the boys were gone, Mr. Eyre determined to stop some time +longer where he was, that he might not overtake them. There was one sheep +still remaining, <a name='Page_313'></a>and which seemed very restless all by itself. This +sheep was killed for food, and in that place there was plenty of water; +so that the little company fared well that day and the next; especially +as Mr. Baxter had the good fortune to kill an eagle, which made an +excellent stew.</p> + +<p>Just as the travellers had finished their evening meal, they were +astonished to see the two runaway boys approaching. Wylie came running +up, declaring that both he and his companions were sorry for their bad +behavior, and were anxious to be received again, not being able to get +enough to eat. But though Wylie acted in this frank manner, his companion +was very sulky. He said nothing, but seated himself by the fire, pouting +and frowning, and evidently much vexed at being obliged to come back. Mr. +Eyre thought it well to give the boys a lecture on their bad conduct, +especially upon their thefts; for they now owned that they had stolen +meat from the trees, though they had before denied it. But though Mr. +Eyre reproved the boys, he treated them very kindly, for he gave them +some tea, and bread and meat for supper.</p> + +<p>The next day the whole party continued their journey. They were obliged +to be very sparing of their food, lest when it was gone they should get +<a name='Page_314'></a>no more. But their greatest trial was the want of water.</p> + +<p>After travelling during four days, they stopped one evening in a rocky +place at the top of high cliffs, hoping that if any rain should fall, +some might be caught in the hollow places among the rocks. That evening +they ate no supper; for having had dinner, they might do without supper.</p> + +<p>Before they lay down to sleep, they made themselves places to sleep in, +by setting up boughs, as shelters from the wind. They also piled up their +goods in a great heap, and covered it with oil skin, to keep out the +damp. Mr. Eyre did not sleep when the rest did, for he undertook to watch +the horses till eleven at night, and then he agreed to change places with +Mr. Baxter.</p> + +<p>The hour was almost come, and Mr. Eyre was beginning to lead the horses +towards the sleeping place, when he was startled by hearing a gun go off. +He called out,—but receiving no answer, he grew alarmed, and leaving the +horses, ran towards the spot, whence the noise had come.</p> + +<p>Presently he met Wylie, running very fast, and crying out, "Oh! Massa, +Oh! Massa, come here."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" inquired Mr. Eyre.</p> + +<p>Wylie made no answer. </p><a name='Page_315'></a> + +<p>With hurried steps, Mr. Eyre accompanied him towards the camp. What a +sight struck his eyes! His friend Baxter, lying on the ground, weltering +in his blood, and in the agonies of DEATH.</p> + +<p>The two younger boys were not there, and the goods which had been covered +by the oil-skin, lay scattered in confusion on the ground. It was too +clear that one of the boys had KILLED poor Baxter. No doubt it was +Neramberein who had done it!</p> + +<p>It seems that the boys had attempted to steal some of the goods, and that +while they were gathering them together, Baxter had awaked, and had come +forth from his sleeping place, and that <i>then</i> one of the boys had shot +him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre raised the dying man from the ground where he was lying +prostrate, and he then found that a ball had entered his left breast, and +that his life was fast departing. In a few minutes he expired!</p> + +<p>What were the feelings of the lonely traveller! Here he was in the midst +of a desert, with no companion but one young savage, and that young +savage was not one whom he could trust; for he knew not what part Wylie +had taken in the deeds of the night. He suspected that he had intended to +go away with the other boys, but that when Baxter was murdered, he had +grown alarmed. Wylie indeed denied that he had<a name='Page_316'></a> known anything of the +robbery, but then he was not a boy whose word could be believed.</p> + +<p>The remainder of that dreadful night was passed by Mr. Eyre, in watching +the horses. Anxiously he waited for the first streak of daylight. He then +drove the horses to the camp, and once more beheld the body of his +fellow-traveller. How suddenly had his soul been hurried into eternity, +and into the presence of his God!</p> + +<p>It was Wylie's business to light the fire, and prepare the breakfast. +Meanwhile, Mr. Eyre examined the baggage to see how much had been stolen. +These were the chief articles he missed. All the bread, consisting of +five loaves, some mutton, tea and sugar, tobacco and pipes, a small keg +of water, and two guns. And what was left for the traveller? A large +quantity of flour, a large keg of water, some tea and sugar, a gun, and +pistols. But would these have been left, had the ungrateful boys been +strong enough to carry them away?</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre desired before leaving the fatal spot to bury the body of his +friend; but the rocks around were so hard, that it was impossible to dig +a grave. All he was able to do, was to wrap the corpse in a blanket +before he abandoned it forever.</p> + +<p>Slowly and silently he left the sorrowful spot, leading<a name='Page_317'></a> one horse, +while Wylie drove the others after it. During the heat of the day, they +stopped to rest. It was four in the afternoon, and they were soon going +to set out again, when they perceived at a distance—TWO WHITE FIGURES! +two white figures! and soon knew them to be the two guilty boys, wrapped +in their blankets.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre had some fear lest the young murderer should shoot him also; yet +he thought it wise to advance boldly towards him, with his gun in his +hand. He perceived that each of the wicked youths held a gun, and seemed +ready to shoot. But as he approached, they drew back. He wished to speak +to them in order to persuade them not to follow him on his journey, but +to go another way; however he could not get near them; but he heard them +cry out, "O Massa, we don't want you; we want Wylie." The boys repeated +the name of Wylie over and over again; yet Wylie answered not, but +remained quietly with the horses. At length Mr. Eyre turned away, and +continued his journey. The boys followed at some distance, calling out +for Wylie till the darkness came on.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre was so anxious to get beyond the reach of these wicked youths, +that he walked eighteen miles that evening. And he never saw them again! +I do not know whether he had ever told them of the true<a name='Page_318'></a> God, of that EYE +which never SLEEPS, of that EYE which beholds ROBBERS and MURDERERS in +the night;—but whether he had told them or not of this great God, they +must have KNOWN that they were acting wickedly when they robbed their +benefactor, and murdered his friend; and they must have felt very +MISERABLE after they had done those deeds.</p> + +<p>Alone with Wylie, Mr. Eyre pursued his journey along the high clefts of +the Great Bight, or Bay.</p> + +<p>For five days they were without water for the horses; at last they dug +some wells in the sand. But by this time one of the horses was grown so +weak, that he could scarcely crawl along. This horse, Mr. Eyre determined +to kill for food. Wylie, delighted with the idea, exclaimed, "Massa, I +shall sit up, and eat the whole night." And he kept his word. While his +master was skinning the poor beast, he made a fire close by, and soon +began tearing off bits of flesh, roasting, and eating them, as fast as he +could. Mr. Eyre, after cutting off the best parts of the flesh to dry, +allowed Wylie to eat the rest. See the young glutton, with the head, the +feet, and the inside, permitted to devour it as best he could! He +hastened to make an oven, in which to bake about twenty pounds to feast +upon during the night. It is not wonderful, if during that night he was +heard to make a dismal <a name='Page_319'></a>groaning, and to complain that he was very ill. +He <i>said</i>, indeed, that it was <i>working</i> too <i>hard</i>, had made him ill, +but his master thought it was <i>eating</i> too <i>much</i>, for whenever he woke, +he found the boy gnawing a bone.</p> + +<p>Next day, Wylie was not able to spend his whole time over the carcase, +for he had to go, and look for a lost foal; but the day after, it was +hard to get him away from the bones.</p> + +<p>For some time the travellers lived upon dried horse flesh, with a +kangaroo, or a fish, as a little change. Wylie continued to eat +immoderately, though often rolling upon the ground, and crying out, +"Mendyat," or ill.</p> + +<p>One night he appeared to be in a very ill-humor, and Mr. Eyre tried to +find out the reason. At last Wylie said in an angry tone, "The dogs have +eaten the skin." It seems he had hung the skin of a kangaroo upon a bush, +intending to eat it by-and-bye, and the wild dogs had stolen the dainty +morsel. Wylie was restored to his usual good-humor by the sight of some +fine fishes his master had caught. Next time the boy shot a kangaroo, he +took good care of the skin, folding it up, and hiding it.</p> + +<p>One day he was so happy as to catch two opossums in a tree. His master +determined to see how Wylie <a name='Page_320'></a>would behave, if left entirely to himself. +He sat silently by the fire, while Wylie was cooking one opossum. The +boy, having got it ready for his supper, took the other to his sleeping +place. His master inquired what he intended to do with it. Wylie replied, +"I shall be hungry in the morning, and I am keeping it for my breakfast." +Then Mr. Eyre perceived that the greedy boy intended to offer him neither +supper nor breakfast. Accordingly he took out his bag of flour, and said +to Wylie, "Very well, we will each eat our own food; you eat the opossums +you shot, and I eat the flour I have; and I will give you no more." In +this manner, Mr. Eyre hoped to show the boy the folly of his selfishness. +Wylie was frightened at the idea of getting no more flour, and +immediately offered the smaller opossum to his master, and promised to +cook it himself. What a selfish, and ungrateful boy! Wylie had a wicked +heart by nature, and so have <i>we</i>. Only <i>he</i> had not been taught what was +right, as <i>we</i> have been. This is a prayer which would suit well every +child, and every man in the world, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, +and renew a right spirit within me."</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre continued to be kind to Wylie, though he saw the boy did not +really love him.</p> + +<p>But the troubles of the journey were nearly at an<a name='Page_321'></a> end. At last the +travellers saw a ship a few miles from the shore. Oh I how anxious they +were that the sailors should see them! What could they do? They kindled a +fire on a rock, and they made a great deal of smoke come out of the fire. +Soon a boat was seen approaching the shore. How great was the joy of the +weary travellers. The sailors in the boat were Frenchmen, but they were +not the less kind on that account. They invited Mr. Eyre and Wylie to +accompany them to their ship.</p> + +<p>When the young savage found himself on board, he was almost wild with +delight, for he had now as much to eat as he could desire, and he began +eating biscuits so fast, that the sailors began to be afraid lest he +should eat them all; and they were glad to give him fishes instead, as +they could catch plenty of them.</p> + +<p>For twelve days Wylie and his master lived in the ship, and then left it, +laden with provisions, and dressed in warm clothes.</p> + +<p>They had still many miles to go along the shore, but they suffered no +more from want of food and water.</p> + +<p>Great was their rapture when they first caught sight of the hills of St. +George's Sound; for then they knew their journey would soon end. But they +had rivers to cross on the way, and in trying to get the <a name='Page_322'></a>horses over, +they nearly lost the poor beasts, and their own lives too. For three days +their clothes were dripping with wet, and the last night was one of the +worst; but then they knew it was the LAST, and that thought enabled them +to bear all. So does the Christian feel when near the end of his journey. +He is in the midst of storms, and wading through deep waters, even the +deep waters of DEATH; but he knows that he is near HOME.</p> + +<p>It was in the midst of a furious storm, that these travellers arrived at +their journey's end. Though they were now close to the town of Albany, +neither man nor beast were to be seen; for neither would venture out. At +last, a native appeared, and he knew Wylie, and greeted him joyfully, +telling him at the same time that his friends had given him up for dead a +long while ago. This native, by a loud shrill cry, let his countrymen +know that Wylie was found; and presently a multitude of men, women, and +children, came rushing rapidly from the town, and up the hill to meet +him. His parents and brethren folded him in their arms, while all around +welcomed him with shouts of joy. His master was kindly received at the +house of a friend; but he did not meet with so warm a welcome as Wylie, +for he was not like him in the midst of his family.</p><a name='Page_323'></a> + +<p>The kind master overlooked all Wylie's faults during the journey, and +remembered only his kindness in keeping with him to the end. He even +spoke in his favor to the government, requesting that Wylie might have a +daily allowance of food as a reward for his good conduct. What great +reason had this young savage to rejoice that he had not listened to the +enticements of his wicked comrades, when they called him so often by his +name, and tried to induce him to forsake his kind master!</p> + + +<a name='Little_Mickey'></a> +<h3>LITTLE MICKEY.</h3> + +<p>Mickey was born in the wilds of Australia; yet he was a highly favored +boy; for he became servant to a missionary. This was far better than +being, like Wylie, the companion of a traveller.</p> + +<p>Mickey was a merry and active little fellow, and was a great favorite +with his master's children. The older ones taught him to read, and the +little ones played with him. During the day, Mickey took care of the +cattle, and at night he slept in a shed close by his master's house. He +might have been a happy boy, but he soon fell into sin and sorrow.</p> + +<p>One evening he was in the cooking-house, eating <a name='Page_324'></a>his supper with another +native boy, his fellow-servant. The oven was hot, and the bread was +baking. Mickey opened the door of the oven, and looked in. That was +wrong; it was the first step towards evil. Mickey had eaten a good +supper, and ought to have been satisfied; but, like his countrymen, he +had an enormous appetite, and was always ready to eat too much when he +could. He took some of the hot bread, and gave some to his +fellow-servant. How like was his conduct to that of Eve, when she took +the fruit, and gave some to Adam! </p> + +<p>That night Mickey was nowhere to be found, nor his little fellow-servant +either. Where could they be? Their master sent people to search for them; +but no one had seen them. It seemed strange indeed, that a boy who had +been so kindly treated, and who had seemed as happy as Mickey, should run +away. The good missionary and his children were in great grief, fearing +that some accident had befallen the lads.</p> + +<p>But when the time came to take the bread out of the oven, they began to +suspect why Mickey had gone away. They saw some one had stolen large +pieces of bread. They said, "Perhaps it was Mickey who stole the bread, +and perhaps he is ashamed, and so he has run away." What a pity it was +that Mickey did not come, and confess his fault; he would have <a name='Page_325'></a>been +pardoned and restored to favor. Even a good boy may fall into a great +sin; but then he will own it, and ask forgiveness, both of God and man. +Still Mickey was not like those hardened boys who robbed Mr. Eyre, for he +was ashamed.</p> + +<p>Month after month passed away, but no Mickey appeared. The missionary +feared that the boy would never return, but live and die amongst his +heathen countrymen.</p> + +<p>One day, however, he was told that a man was at the door, who wanted to +speak to him.</p> + +<p>"Who is he?" inquired the missionary.</p> + +<p>"A schoolmaster, sir," replied the servant.</p> + +<p>"And what does he want?"</p> + +<p>"He has brought with him some native boys, and he wants you to come out +and see them, and speak a few words to them about their Saviour."</p> + +<p>The missionary gladly consented to go out to behold so pleasing a sight, +as a school of native boys. As soon as he appeared, several young voices +called out, "Mickey no come."</p> + +<p>The missionary was surprised, and inquired of the boys, "What do you +mean? where is Mickey?"</p> + +<p>"Mickey no come," repeated the boys. "He too much frightened."</p> + +<p>"Why is he afraid?" asked the missionary.</p><a name='Page_326'></a> + +<p>"Because he steal de bread," replied the boys.</p> + +<p>The missionary now began to look around, and soon espied Mickey, trying +to hide himself behind a fence. He called him; but Mickey, instead of +coming, went further off. Two or three boys then ran towards him, and +attempted to bring him back, but Mickey resisted.</p> + +<p>The missionary then went into the house hoping that the trembling +culprit, seeing he was gone, would come out of his hiding-place.</p> + +<p>Very soon he was told, that Mickey was standing with the other +boys at the door. Then the good missionary appeared again. Looking kindly +at Mickey, he said, "Why did you run away?"</p> + +<p>"Because me steal de bread; me very sorry."</p> + +<p>The missionary held out his hand to the sorrowful offender, saying, "I +forgive you, Mickey." The boy eagerly seized the kind hand, and holding +it fast, and looking earnestly up in the missionary's face, he said, +"When me steal again, you must whip me—and whip me—and whip +me—very—very much." Again the missionary assured the boy he had +entirely forgiven him—and then Mickey began to jump about for joy.</p> + +<p>How glad Mickey would have been to return to the service of his old +master! But that could not<a name='Page_327'></a> be; for that master was just going to set sail +for England, to visit his home and friends, and he could not take Mickey +with him. Just before he went, he provided a feast for many of the native +children, and gave them a parting address. Mickey was there—no longer +afraid—but glad to look up in the face of his beloved friend; for now he +knew he was forgiven.</p> + +<p>When the moment came to say "Farewell," the children ran forward, eager +to grasp the missionary's hand—but none pressed that hand so warmly and +so sorrowfully, as the little runaway.</p> + +<p>I know not whether that generous master, and that penitent servant ever +again met upon earth; but I have much hope they will meet in heaven; for +Mickey seems to have been sorry for his sin; and we know the promise: "If +we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." +And why? Because the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. There are +many sinners who were once as much afraid of God, as Mickey was of his +master; but who have been pardoned, and who will be present at his +HEAVENLY FEAST.</p> +<br /> + +<h5>THE END.</h5> + +<hr /> +<center> +<img src='images/12.jpg' width='607' height='510' alt='A CEDAR TREE. p. 32.' title='A CEDAR TREE. p. 32.'> +</center> + +<h5>A CEDAR TREE. See <a href='#Page_32'> p. 32.</a></h5> + +<hr /> +<h3>ATTRACTIVE AND INTERESTING</h3> + +<h4>JUVENILE BOOKS,</h4> + +<h5>PUBLISHED BY</h5> + +<h5>ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS.</h5> + + +Blossoms of Childhood.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>By the author of the "Broken Bud." 16mo. 75 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Bunbury.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>Glory, Glory, Glory, and other Narratives. 25 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Cameron.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>The Farmer's Daughter. Illustrated. 30 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Commandment with Promise.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>By the author of "The Week," &c. Illustrated. 75 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Duncan, Henry.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>Tales of the Scottish Peasantry. 18mo. 50 cents.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>The Cottage Fireside. 40 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Duncan, Mary Lundie.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>Rhymes for my Children. 25 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Far Off in Asia and Australia.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>Described by the author of the "Peep of Day," &c. Illustrated. 16mo.</span><br /> +<br /> +Fry, Caroline.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>The Listener. Illustrated. $1 00.</span><br /> +<br /> +Frank Netherton.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>Or, the Talisman. Illustrated. 16mo.</span><br /> +<br /> +Infant's Progress.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>By the author of "Little Henry and his Bearer." 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Each 40 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Osborne, Mrs. David.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>The World of Waters. Illustrated. 75 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Pastor's Daughter.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>By Mrs. L.P. Hopkins. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2433122 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13011 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13011) diff --git a/old/13011-h.zip b/old/13011-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3dcc840 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13011-h.zip diff --git a/old/13011-h/13011-h.htm b/old/13011-h/13011-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..85b40e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13011-h/13011-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7794 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Far Off, by Favell Lee Mortimer</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + img {border: none;} + .ctr {text-align: center;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre.pg {font-size: 9pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Far Off, by Favell Lee Mortimer</h1> +<pre class="pg"> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Far Off</p> +<p>Author: Favell Lee Mortimer</p> +<p>Release Date: July 24, 2004 [eBook #13011]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAR OFF***</p> +<br> +<br> +<h4>E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders<br> + from page images provided by the Internet Archive Children's Library<br> + and the University of Florida</h4> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> + + +<a name='Page_1'></a><a name='Page_2'></a> + + + +<center> +<img src='images/2.jpg' width='571' height='814' alt='Title Page' title=''> +</center> + + + +<h1>FAR OFF;</h1> + +<h2>OR,</h2> + +<h1>Asia and Australia Described.</h1> + +<h4>WITH</h4> + +<h3>ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.</h3> + +<h2>BY THE</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "THE PEEP OF DAY,"</h3> + +<h5>ETC. ETC. ETC.</h5> + +<h4>NEW YORK:</h4> + +<h4>1852.</h4> + +<center> +<img src='images/1.jpg' width='478' height='303' alt='OUR Redeemer' title='OUR Redeemer'> +</center> +<h5>"O ma'am that's sweet! Jesus Christ is OUR Redeemer." See <a href='#Page_3'>p. 3.</a></h5> + +<hr /> +<a name='Page_3'></a><a name='Page_4'></a><a name='Page_5'></a><a name='Page_6'></a><p>In the Frontispiece may be seen an English lady, who went to live upon +Mount Sion to teach little Jewesses and little Mahomedans to know the +Saviour. That lady has led three of her young scholars to a plain just +beyond the gates of Jerusalem; and while two of them are playing +together, she is listening to little Esther, a Jewess of eight years old. +The child is fond of sitting by her friend, and of hearing about the Son +of David. She has just been singing,</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"Glory, honor, praise, and power,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Be unto the Lamb forever,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Jesus Christ is our Redeemer,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Hallelujah, praise the Lord;"</span><br /> + +<p>and now she is saying, "O, ma'am, that's sweet! Jesus Christ is <i>our</i> +Redeemer, <i>our</i> Redeemer: no <i>man</i> can redeem his brother, no +<i>money</i>,—nothing—but only the precious blood of Christ."</p> + + + +<a name='Page_7'></a> + +<hr /> +<a name='PREFACE'></a><h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This little work pleads for the notice of parents and teachers on the +same grounds as its predecessor, "Near Home."</p> + +<p>Its plea is not completeness, nor comprehensiveness, nor depth of +research, nor splendor of description; but the very reverse,—its simple, +superficial, desultory character, as better adapted to the volatile +beings for whom it is designed.</p> + +<p>Too long have their immortal minds been captivated by the adventures and +achievements of knights and princesses, of fairies and magicians; it is +time to excite their interest in real persons, and real events. In +childhood that taste is formed which leads the youth to delight in +novels, and romances; a taste which has become so general, that every<a name='Page_8'></a> +town has its circulating library, and every shelf in that library is +filled with works of fiction.</p> + +<p>While these fascinating inventions are in course of perusal, many a Bible +is unopened, or if opened, hastily skimmed; many a seat in church is +unoccupied, or if occupied, the service, and the sermon disregarded—so +intense is the sympathy of the novel reader with his hero, or his +heroine.</p> + +<p>And what is the effect of the perusal? Many a young mind, inflated with a +desire for admiration and adventure, grows tired of home, impatient of +restraint, indifferent to simple pleasures, and averse to sacred +instructions. How important, therefore, early to endeavor to prevent a +taste for FICTION, by cherishing a taste for FACTS.</p> + +<p>But this is not the only aim of the present work; it seeks also to excite +an interest in <i>those</i> facts which ought <i>most</i> to interest immortal +beings—facts relative to souls, and their eternal happiness—to God, and +his infinite glory.</p><a name='Page_9'></a> + +<p>These are the facts which engage the attention of the inhabitants of +heaven. We know not whether the births of princes, and the coronations of +monarchs are noticed by the angelic hosts; but we do know that the +repentance of a sinner, be he Hindoo or Hottentot, is celebrated by their +melodious voices in rapturous symphonies.</p> + +<p>Therefore "Far Off" desire to interest its little readers in the labors +of missionaries,—men despised and maligned by the world, but honored and +beloved by the SAVIOUR of the world. An account of the scenery and +natives of various countries, is calculated to prepare the young mind for +reading with intelligence those little Missionary Magazines, which appear +every month, written in so attractive a style, and adorned with such +beautiful illustrations. Parents have no longer reason to complain of the +difficulty of finding sacred entertainment for their children on Sunday, +for these pleasing messengers,—if carefully dealt out,—one or two on +each Sabbath, would afford a never failing supply.</p><a name='Page_10'></a> + +<p>To form great and good characters, the mind must be trained to delight in +TRUTH,—not in comic rhymes, in sentimental tales, and skeptical poetry. +The truth revealed in God's Holy Word, should constitute the firm basis +of education; and the works of Creation and Providence the superstructure +while the Divine blessing can alone rear and cement the edifice.</p> + +<p>Parents, train up your children to serve God, and to enjoy his presence +forever; and if there be amongst them—an EXTRAORDINARY child, train him +up with extraordinary care, lest instead of doing extraordinary <i>good</i> he +should do extraordinary <i>evil</i>, and be plunged into extraordinary misery.</p> + +<p>Train up—the child of imagination—not to dazzle, like Byron, but to +enlighten, like Cowper: the child of wit—not to create profane mirth, +like Voltaire, but to promote holy joy, like Bunyan: the child of +reflection—not to weave dangerous sophistries, like Hume, but to wield +powerful arguments, like Chalmers: the child of sagacity—not to gain +advantages for himself, like Cromwell, but for his country, like +Washington: the child of eloquence—not to astonish the multitude, like +Sheridan, but to plead for the miserable, like Wilberforce: the child of +ardor—not to be the herald of delusions, like Swedenbourg, but to be the +champion of truth, like Luther: the child of enterprise—not to devastate +a Continent, like the conquering Napoleon, but to scatter blessings over +an Ocean, like the missionary Williams:—and, if the child be a +prince,—train him up—not to reign in pomp and pride like the fourteenth +Louis, but to rule in the fear of God, like our own great ALFRED.</p> +<a name='Page_12'></a><a name='Page_11'></a> + + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<hr /> +<a name='CONTENTS'></a><h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<br /> + <a href='#PREFACE'><b>PREFACE</b></a><br /> + <a href='#ASIA'><b>ASIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#THE_HOLY_LAND'><b>THE HOLY LAND</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Bethlehem'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bethlehem</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Jerusalem'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Jerusalem</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Dead_Sea'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Dead Sea</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Samaria'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Samaria</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Galilee'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Galilee</span></a><br /> + <a href='#SYRIA'><b>SYRIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Damascus'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Damascus</span></a><br /> + <a href='#ARABIA'><b>ARABIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#TURKEY_IN_ASIA'><b>TURKEY IN ASIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Armenia'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Armenia</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Kurdistan'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Kurdistan</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Mesopotamia'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Mesopotamia</span></a><br /> + <a href='#PERSIA'><b>PERSIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#CHINA'><b>CHINA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#COCHIN_CHINA'><b>COCHIN CHINA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Tonquin'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tonquin</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Cambodia'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Cambodia</span></a><br /> + <a href='#HINDOSTAN'><b>HINDOSTAN</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Ganges'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Ganges</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Thugs'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Thugs</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Hindoo_Women'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Hindoo Women</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_English_In_India'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The English in India</span></a><br /> + <a href='#CIRCASSIA'><b>CIRCASSIA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#GEORGIA'><b>GEORGIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Tiflis'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tiflis</span></a><br /> + <a href='#TARTARY'><b>TARTARY</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Astracan'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Astracan</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Bokhara'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bokhara</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Toorkman_Tartars'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Toorkman Tartars</span></a><br /> + <a href='#CHINESE_TARTARY'><b>CHINESE TARTARY</b></a><br /> + <a href='#AFFGHANISTAN'><b>AFFGHANISTAN</b></a><br /> + <a href='#BELOOCHISTAN'><b>BELOOCHISTAN</b></a><br /> + <a href='#BURMAH'><b>BURMAH</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Karens'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Karens</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Ava'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Ava</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Maulmain'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Maulmain</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Missionarys_Babe'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Missionary's babe</span></a><br /> + <a href='#SIAM'><b>SIAM</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Bankok'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bankok</span></a><br /> + <a href='#MALACCA'><b>MALACCA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Singapore'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Singapore</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Christian_school-girls'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Christian school-girls</span></a><br /> + <a href='#SIBERIA'><b>SIBERIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Samoyedes'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Samoyedes</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Banished_Russians'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Banished Russians</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Ural_Mountains'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Ural Mountains</span></a><br /> + <a href='#KAMKATKA'><b>KAMKATKA</b></a><br /> + <a href='#THIBET'><b>THIBET</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Lassa'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Lassa</span></a><br /> + <a href='#CEYLON'><b>CEYLON</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Kandy'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Kandy</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Colombo'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Colombo</span></a><br /> + <a href='#BORNEO'><b>BORNEO</b></a><br /> +<a href='#Bruni'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Bruni</span></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Dyaks'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Dyaks</span></a><br /> + <a href='#JAPAN'><b>JAPAN</b></a><br /> + <a href='#AUSTRALIA'><b>AUSTRALIA</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Colonists_Or_Settlers'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Colonists or Settlers</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Botany_Bay'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Botany Bay</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Sydney'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Sydney</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Adelaide'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Adelaide</span></a><br /> + <a href='#VAN_DIEMANS_LAND'><b>VAN DIEMAN'S LAND</b></a><br /> +<a href='#The_Young_Savages'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Young Savages</span></a><br /> +<a href='#Little_Mickey'><span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Little Mickey</span></a><br /> + +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> +<a name='Page_14'></a> +<a name='Page_15'></a> + +<hr /><a name='Page_16'></a> +<a name='Page_17'></a> +<br /> + +<a name='ASIA'></a><h2>ASIA.</h2> + + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Of the four quarters of the world—Asia is the most glorious.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the first man lived.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the Son of God lived.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the apostles lived.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>There the Bible was written.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Yet now there are very few Christians in Asia: though there are more people</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>there than in any other quarter of the globe.</span><br /> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='THE_HOLY_LAND'></a><h2>THE HOLY LAND.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Of all the countries in the world which would you rather see?</p> + +<p>Would it not be the land where Jesus lived?</p><a name='Page_18'></a> + +<p>He was the Son of God: He loved us and died for us.</p> + +<p>What is the land called where He lived? Canaan was once its name: but now +Palestine, or the Holy Land.</p> + +<p>Who lives there now?</p> + +<p>Alas! alas! The Jews who once lived there are cast out of it. There are +some Jews there; but the Turks are the lords over the land. You know the +Turks believe in Mahomet.</p> + +<p>What place in the Holy Land do you wish most to visit?</p> + +<p>Some children will reply, Bethlehem, because Jesus was born there; +another will answer, Nazareth, because Jesus was brought up there; and +another will say, "Jerusalem," because He died there.</p> + +<p>I will take you first to</p> + +<a name='Bethlehem'></a><h3>BETHLEHEM.</h3> + +<p>A good minister visited this place, accompanied by a train of servants, +and camels, and asses.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to travel in Palestine, for wheels are never seen there, +because the paths are too steep, and rough, and narrow for carriages.</p><a name='Page_19'></a> + +<p>Bethlehem is on a steep hill, and a white road of chalk leads up to the +gate. The traveller found the streets narrow, dark, and dirty. He lodged +in a convent, kept by Spanish monks. He was shown into a large room with +carpets and cushions on the floor. There he was to sleep. He was led up +to the roof of the house to see the prospect. He looked, and beheld the +fields below where the shepherds once watched their flocks by night: and +far off he saw the rocky mountains where David once hid himself from +Saul.</p> + +<p>But the monks soon showed him a more curious sight. They took him into +their church, and then down some narrow stone steps into a round room +beneath. "Here," said they, "Jesus was born." The floor was of white +marble, and silver lamps were burning in it. In one corner, close to the +wall, was a marble trough, lined with blue satin. "There," said the +monks, "is the manger where Jesus was laid." "Ah!" thought the traveller, +"it was not in such a manger that my Saviour rested his infant head; but +in a far meaner place." </p> + +<p>These monks have an image of a baby, which they call Jesus. On +Christmas-day they dress it in swaddling-clothes and lay it in the +manger: and then fall down and worship it.</p><a name='Page_20'></a> + +<p>The next day, as the traveller was ready to mount his camel, the people +of Bethlehem came with little articles which they had made. But he would +not buy them, because they were images of the Virgin Mary and her holy +child, and little white crosses of mother-of-pearl. They were very +pretty: but they were idols, and God hates idols.</p> + + +<a name='Jerusalem'></a><h3>JERUSALEM.</h3> + +<p>Here our Lord was crucified.</p> + +<p>Is there any child who does not wish to hear about it?</p> + +<p>The children of Jerusalem once loved the Lord, and sang his praises in +the temple. Their young voices pleased their Saviour, though not half so +sweet as angels' songs.</p> + +<p>Which is the place where the temple stood?</p> + +<p>It is Mount Moriah. There is a splendid building there now.</p> + +<p>Is it the temple? O no, that was burned many hundreds of years ago. It is +the Mosque of Omar that you see; it is the most magnificent mosque in all +the world. How sad to think that Mahomedans should worship now in the +very spot where once the <a name='Page_21'></a>Son of God taught the people. No Jew, no +Christian may go into that mosque. The Turks stand near the gate to keep +off both Jews and Christians.</p> + +<p>Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this mosque. +There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they are part of +their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their Sabbath +(which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the stones. There +they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in the dust, and +repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old stones: because +they think that all prayers whispered between the cracks and crevices of +these stones will be heard by God. Some Jewesses come, wrapped from head +to foot in long white veils, and they gently moan and softly sigh over +Jerusalem in ruins.</p> + +<p>What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you +desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the sight +of it makes the Jews weep.</p> + +<p>But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is +Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of +images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there—and Greeks too: and +they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce +quarrels.</p><a name='Page_22'></a> + +<p>That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre." It is pretended +that Christ's tomb or sepulchre is in it. Turks stand at the door and +make Christians pay money before they will let them in.</p> + +<p>When they enter, what do they see?</p> + +<p>In one corner a stone seat. "There," say the monks, "Jesus sat when He +was crowned with thorns." In another part there is a stone pillar. +"There," say the monks, "He was scourged." There is a high place in the +middle of the church with stairs leading up to it. When you stand there +the monks say, "This is the top of Calvary, where the cross stood." But +we know that the monks do not speak the truth, for the Romans destroyed +Jerusalem soon after Christ's crucifixion, and no one knows the very +place where He suffered.</p> + +<p>On Good Friday the monks carry all round the church an image of the +Saviour as large as life, and they fasten it upon a cross, and take it +down again, and put it in the sepulchre, and they take it out again on +Easter Sunday. How foolish and how wrong are these customs! It was not in +this way the apostles showed their love to Christ, but by preaching his +word.</p> + +<p>Mount Zion is the place where David brought the ark with songs and +music. There is a church where<a name='Page_23'></a> the Gospel is preached and prayers are +offered up in Hebrew, (the Jew's language.) The minister is called the +Bishop of Jerusalem. He is a Protestant. A few Jews come to the church at +Mount Zion, and some have believed in the Lord Jesus.</p> + +<p>And there is a school there where little Jews and Jewesses and little +Mahomedans sit side by side while a Christian lady teaches them about +Jesus. In the evening, after school, she takes them out to play on the +green grass near the city. A little Jewess once much pleased this kind +teacher as she was sitting on a stone looking at the children playing. +Little Esther repeated the verse—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Glory, honor, praise and power</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Be unto the Lamb forever;</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Jesus Christ is our Redeemer,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Hallelujah, praise the Lord!</span><br /> + +<p>and then she said very earnestly, "O, ma'am, how sweet to think that +Jesus is <i>our</i> Redeemer. No <i>man</i> can redeem his brother: no money—no +money can do it—only the precious blood of Jesus Christ." Little Esther +seemed as if she loved Jesus, as those children did who sang his praises +in the temple so many years ago. </p> + +<p>But there is another place—very sad, but very sweet—where you must +come. Go down that valley—cross<a name='Page_24'></a> that small stream—(there is a narrow +bridge)—see those low stone walls—enter: it is the Garden of +Gethsemane. Eight aged olive-trees are still standing there; but Jesus +comes there no more with his beloved disciples. What a night was that +when He wept and prayed—when the angel comforted Him—and Judas betrayed +Him.</p> + +<p>The mountain just above Gethsemane is the Mount of Olives. Beautiful +olive-trees are growing there still. There is a winding path leading to +the top. The Saviour trod upon that Mount just before he was caught up +into heaven. His feet shall stand there again, and every eye shall see +the Saviour in his glory. But will every eye be glad to see Him?</p> + +<p>O no; there will be bitter tears then flowing from many eyes.</p> + +<p>And what kind of a city is Jerusalem?</p> + +<p>It is a sad and silent city. The houses are dark and dirty, the streets +are narrow, and the pavement rough. There are a great many very old Jews +there. Jews come from all countries when they are old to Jerusalem, that +they may die and be buried there. Their reason is that they think that +all Jews who are buried in their burial-ground at Jerusalem will be +raised <i>first</i> at the last day, and will be happy forever. Most of the +old Jews are very poor: though <a name='Page_25'></a>money is sent to them every year from the +Jews in Europe.</p> + +<p>There are also a great many sick Jews in Jerusalem, because it is such an +unhealthy place. The water in the wells and pools gets very bad in +summer, and gives the ague and even the plague. Good English Christians +have sent a doctor to Jerusalem to cure the poor sick people. One little +girl of eleven years old came among the rest—all in rags and with bare +feet: she was an orphan, and she lived with a Jewish washerwoman. The +doctor went to see the child in her home. Where was it? It was near the +mosque, and the way to it was down a narrow, dark passage, leading to a +small close yard. The old woman lived in one room with her grandchildren +and the orphan: there was a divan at each end, that is, the floor was +raised for people to sleep on. The orphan was not allowed to sleep on the +divans, but she had a heap of rags for her bed in another part. The +child's eyes glistened with delight at the sight of her kind friend the +doctor, he asked her whether she went to school. This question made the +whole family laugh: for no one in Jerusalem teaches girls to read except +the kind Christian lady I told you of.</p><a name='Page_26'></a> + + +<a name='The_Dead_Sea'></a><h3>THE DEAD SEA.</h3> + +<p>The most gloomy and horrible place in the Holy Land is the Dead Sea. In +that place there once stood four wicked cities, and God destroyed them +with fire and brimstone.</p> + +<p>You have heard of Sodom and Gomorrah.</p> + +<p>A clergyman who went to visit the Dead Sea rode on horseback, and was +accompanied by men to guard him on the way, as there are robbers hid +among the rocks. He took some of the water of the Dead Sea in his mouth, +that he might taste it, and he found it salt and bitter; but he would not +swallow it, nor would he bathe in it.</p> + +<p>He went next to look at the River Jordan. How different a place from the +dreary, desolate Dead Sea! Beautiful trees grow on the banks, and the +ends of the branches dip into the stream. The minister chose a part quite +covered with branches and bathed there, and as the waters went over his +head, he thought, "My Saviour was baptized in this river." But he did not +think, as many pilgrims do who come here every year, that his sins were +washed away by the water: no, he well knew that Christ's blood alone +cleanses from sin. There is a place where the Roman Catholics <a name='Page_27'></a>bathe, and +another where the Greeks bathe every year; they would not on any account +bathe in the same part, because they disagree so much.</p> + +<p>After drinking some of the sweet soft water of Jordan, the minister +travelled from Jericho to Jerusalem. He went the very same way that the +good Samaritan travelled who once found a poor Jew lying half-killed by +thieves. Even to this day thieves often attack travellers in these parts: +because the way is so lonely, and so rugged, and so full of places where +thieves can hide themselves.</p> + +<p>A horse must be a very good climber to carry a traveller along the steep, +rough, and narrow paths, and a traveller must be a bold man to venture to +go to the edge of the precipices, and near the robbers' caves.</p> + + +<a name='Samaria'></a><h3>SAMARIA.</h3> + +<p>In the midst of Palestine is the well where the Lord spoke so kindly to +the woman of Samaria. In the midst of a beautiful valley there is a heap +of rough stones: underneath is the well. But it is not easy to drink +water out of this well. For the stone on the top is so heavy, that it +requires many people to remove it: and then the well is deep, and a very +long<a name='Page_28'></a> rope is necessary to reach the water. The clergyman (of whom I have +spoken so often) had nothing to draw with; therefore, even if he could +have removed the stone, he could not have drunk of the water. The water +must be very cool and refreshing, because it lies so far away from the +heat. That was the reason the Samaritan woman came so far to draw it: for +there were other streams nearer the city, but there was no water like the +water of Jacob's well.</p> + +<p>The city where that woman lived was called Sychar. It is still to be +seen, and it is still full of people. You remember that the men of that +city listened to the words of Jesus, and perhaps that is the reason it +has not been destroyed. The country around is the most fruitful in all +Canaan; there are such gardens of melons and cucumbers, and such groves +of mulberry-trees.</p> + + +<a name='Galilee'></a><h3>GALILEE.</h3> + +<p>How different from Sychar is Capernaum! That was the city where Jesus +lived for a long while, where he preached and did miracles. It was on the +borders of the lake of Genesareth. The traveller inquired of the people +near the lake, where Capernaum once stood; but no one knew of such a +place: it is utterly<a name='Page_29'></a> destroyed. Jesus once said, "Woe unto Capernaum." +Why? Because it repented not. </p> + +<p>The lake of Genesareth looked smooth as glass when the traveller saw it; +but he heard that dreadful storms sometimes ruffled those smooth waters. +It was a sweet and lovely spot; not gloomy and horrible like the Dead +Sea. The shepherds were there leading their flocks among the green hills +where once the multitude sat down while Jesus fed them.</p> + +<p>Not very far off is the city where Jesus lived when he was a boy.</p> + +<p><b>NAZARETH.</b>—All around are rugged rocky hills. In old times it was +considered a wicked city; perhaps it got this bad name from wicked people +coming here to hide themselves: and it seems just fit for a hiding-place. +From the top of one of the high crags the Nazarenes once attempted to +hurl the blessed Saviour.</p> + +<p>There is a Roman Catholic convent there, where the minister lodged. He +was much disturbed all day by the noise in the town; not the noise of +carts and wagons, for there are none in Canaan, but of screaming +children, braying asses, and grunting camels. One of his servants came to +him complaining that he had lost his purse with all his wages. He had +left it in his cell, and when he came back it was gone. Who could have +taken it? It was clear one of the<a name='Page_30'></a> servants of the convent must have +stolen it, for one of them had the key of the room. The travellers went +to the judge of the town to complain; but the judge, who was a Turk, was +asleep, and no one was allowed to awake him. In the evening, when he did +awake, he would not see justice done, because he said he had nothing to +do with the servants at the convent, as they were Christians. Nazareth, +you see, is still a wicked city, where robbery is committed and not +punished.</p> + +<p>There is much to make the traveller sad as he wanders about the Holy +Land.</p> + +<p>That land was once <i>fruitful</i>, but now it is barren. It is not surprising +that no one plants and sows in the fields, because the Turks would take +away the harvests.</p> + +<p>Once it was a <i>peaceful</i> land, but now there are so many enemies that +every man carries a gun to defend himself.</p> + +<p>Once it was a <i>holy</i> land, but now Mahomet is honored, and not the God of +Israel.</p> + +<p>When shall it again be fruitful, and peaceful, and holy? When the Jews +shall repent of their sins and turn to the Lord. Then, says the prophet +Ezekiel, (xxxvi. 35,) "They shall say, This land that was desolate is +become like the garden of Eden."<a name='FNanchor_1_1'></a><a href='#Footnote_1_1'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> + +<a name='Footnote_1_1'></a><a href='#FNanchor_1_1'>[1]</a><div class='note'><p> Taken chiefly from "A Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. George +Fisk.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='SYRIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_31'></a>SYRIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Those who love the Holy Land will like to hear about Syria also; for +Abraham lived there before he came into Canaan. Therefore the Israelites +were taught to say when they offered a basket of fruit to God, "A Syrian +was my father." It was a heathen land in old times; and it is now a +Mahomedan land; though there are a few Christians there, but very +ignorant Christians, who know nothing of the Bible.</p> + +<p>Syria is a beautiful land, and famous for its grand mountains, called +Lebanon. The same clergyman who travelled through the Holy Land went to +Lebanon also. He had to climb up very steep places on horseback, and +slide down some, as slanting as the roof of a house. But the Syrian +horses are very sure-footed. It is the custom for the colts from a month +old to follow their mothers; and so when a rider mounts the back of the +colt's mother, the young creature follows, and it learns to scramble up +steep places, and to slide down; even through the towns the colt <a name='Page_32'></a>trots +after its mother, and soon becomes accustomed to all kinds of sights and +sounds: so that Syrian horses neither shy nor stumble.</p> + +<p>The traveller was much surprised at the dress of the women of Lebanon: +for on their heads they wear silver horns sticking out from under their +veils, the strangest head-dress that can be imagined.</p> + +<p>There are sweet flowers growing on the sides of Lebanon; but at the top +there are ice and snow.</p> + +<p>The traveller ate some ice, and gave some to the horses; and the poor +beasts devoured it eagerly, and seemed quite refreshed by their cold +meal.</p> + +<p>The snow of Lebanon is spoken of in the Bible as very pure and +refreshing. "Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the +rock of the field?"—Jer. xviii. 14.</p> + +<p>The traveller earnestly desired to behold the cedars of Lebanon: for a +great deal is said about them in the Bible; indeed, the temple of Solomon +was built of those cedars. It was not easy to get close to them; for +there were craggy rocks all around: but at last the traveller reached +them, and stood beneath their shade. There were twelve very large old +trees, and their boughs met at the top, and kept off the heat of the sun. +These trees might be compared to holy men, grown old in the service of +God: for this is God's<a name='Page_33'></a> promise to his servants,—"The righteous shall +flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in +Lebanon."—Psalm xc. 11, 12.</p> + + +<a name='Damascus'></a><h3>DAMASCUS.</h3> + +<p>This is the capital of Syria.</p> + +<p>It is perhaps the most ancient city in the world. Even in the time of +Abraham, Damascus was a city; for his servant Eliezer came from it.</p> + +<p>But Damascus is most famous, on account of a great event which once +happened near it. A man going towards that city suddenly saw in the +heavens a light brighter than the sun, and heard a voice from on high, +calling him by his name. Beautiful as the city was, he saw not its beauty +as he entered it, for he had been struck blind by the great light. That +man was the great apostle Paul.</p> + +<p>Who can help thinking of him among the gardens of fruit-trees surrounding +Damascus?</p> + +<p>The damask rose is one of the beauties of Damascus. There is one spot +quite covered with this lovely red rose.</p> + +<p>I will now give an account of a visit a stranger paid to a rich man in +Damascus. He went through<a name='Page_34'></a> dull and narrow streets, with no windows +looking into the streets. He stopped before a low door, and was shown +into a large court behind the house. There was a fountain in the midst of +the court, and flower-pots all round. The visitor was then led into a +room with a marble floor, but with no furniture except scarlet cushions. +To refresh him after his journey, he was taken to the bath. There a man +covered him with a lather of soap and water, then dashed a quantity of +hot water over him, and then rubbed him till he was quite dry and warm.</p> + +<p>When he came out of the bath, two servants brought him some sherbet. It +is a cooling drink made of lemon-juice and grape-juice mixed with water.</p> + +<p>The master of the house received the stranger very politely: he not only +shook hands with him, but afterwards he kissed his own hand, as a mark of +respect to his guest. The servants often kissed the visitor's hand.</p> + +<p>The dinner lasted a long while, for only one dish was brought up at a +time. Of course there were no ladies at the dinner, for in Mahomedan +countries they are always hidden. There were two lads there, who were +nephews to the master of the house; and the visitor was much surprised to +observe that they did not sit down to dinner with the company; but that +<a name='Page_35'></a>they stood near their uncle, directing the servants what to bring him; +and now and then presenting a cup of wine to him, or his guests. But it +is the custom in Syria for young people to wait upon their elders; +however, they may speak to the company while they are waiting upon them.</p> + +<p>Damascus used to be famous for its swords: but now the principal things +made there, are stuffs embroidered with silver, and boxes of curious +woods, as well as red and yellow slippers. The Syrians always wear yellow +slippers, and when they walk out they put on red slippers over the +yellow. If you want to buy any of the curious works of Damascus, you must +go to the bazaars in the middle of the town; there the sellers sit as in +a market-place, and display their goods.</p> + +<p><b>SCHOOLS.</b>—It is not the custom in Syria for girls to learn to read. But a +few years ago, a good Syrian, named Assaad, opened a school for little +girls as well as for boys.</p> + +<p>It was easy to get the little boys to come; but the mothers did not like +to send their little girls. They laughed, and said, "Who ever heard of a +girl going to school? Girls need not learn to read." The first girl who +attended Assaad's school was named Angoul, which means "Angel." Where is +the child that deserves<a name='Page_36'></a> such a name? Nowhere; for there is none +righteous, no, not one. Angoul belonged not to Mahomedan parents, but to +those called Christians; yet the Christians in Syria are almost as +ignorant as heathens. </p> + +<p>Angoul had been taught to spin silk; for her father had a garden of +mulberry-trees, and a quantity of silk worms. She was of so much use in +spinning, that her mother did not like to spare her: but the little maid +promised, that if she might go to school, she would spin faster than ever +when she came home. How happy she was when she obtained leave to go! See +her when the sun has just risen, about six o'clock, tripping to school. +She is twelve years old. Her eyes are dark, but her hair is light. Angoul +has not been scorched by the sun, like many Syrian girls, because she has +sat in-doors at her wheel during the heat of the day. She is dressed in a +loose red gown, and a scarlet cap with a yellow handkerchief twisted +round it like a turban.</p> + +<p>At school Angoul is very attentive, both while she is reading in her +Testament, and while she is writing on her tin slate with a reed dipped +in ink. She returns home at noon through the burning sun, and comes to +school again to stay till five. Then it is cool and pleasant, and Angoul +spins by her mother's side<a name='Page_37'></a> in the lovely garden of fruit-trees before the +house. Has she not learned to sing many a sweet verse about the garden +above, and the heavenly husbandman? As she watches the budding vine, she +can think now of Him who said, "I am the true vine." As she sits beneath +the olive-tree, she can call to mind the words, "I am like a green +olive-tree in the house of my God." Angoul is growing like an angel, if +she takes delight in meditating on the word of God.<a name='FNanchor_2_2'></a><a href='#Footnote_2_2'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> + +<a name='Footnote_2_2'></a><a href='#FNanchor_2_2'>[2]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted chiefly from the Rev. George Fisk's "Pastor's +Memorial," and Kinnear's Travels.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='ARABIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_38'></a>ARABIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the land in which the Israelites wandered for forty years. You +have heard what a dry, dreary, desert place the wilderness was. There is +still a wilderness in Arabia; and there are still wanderers in it; not +Israelites, but Arabs. These men live in tents, and go from place to +place with their large flocks of sheep and goats. But there are other +Arabs who live in towns, as we do.</p> + +<p>Do you know who is the father of the Arabs?</p> + +<p>The same man who is the father of the Jews.</p> + +<p>What, was Abraham their father?</p> + +<p>Yes, he was.</p> + +<p>Do you remember Abraham's ungodly son, Ishmael?</p> + +<p>He was cast out of his father's house for mocking his little brother +Isaac, and he went into Arabia.</p> + +<p>And what sort of people are the Arabs?</p> + +<p>Wild and fierce people.</p> + +<p>Travellers are afraid of passing through Arabia, lest <a name='Page_39'></a>the Arabs should +rob and murder them; and no one has ever been able to conquer the Arabs. +The Arabs are very proud, and will not bear the least affront. Sometimes +one man says to another, "The wrong side of your turban is out." This +speech is considered an affront never to be forgotten. The Arabs are so +unforgiving and revengeful that they will seek to kill a man year after +year. One man was observed to carry about a small dagger. He said his +reason was, he was hoping some day to meet his enemy and kill him.</p> + +<p>Of what religion are this revengeful people? The Mahomedan.</p> + +<p>Mahomed was an Arab. It is thought a great honor to be descended from +him. Those men who say Mahomed is their father wear a green turban, and +very proud they are of their green turbans, even though they may only be +beggars.</p> + +<p><b>THE ARABIAN WOMEN.</b>—They are shut up like the women in Syria when they +live in towns, but the women in tents are obliged to walk about; +therefore they wear a thick veil over their face, with small holes for +their eyes to peep out.</p> + +<p>The poor women wear a long shirt of white or blue; but the rich women +wrap themselves in magnificent shawls. To make themselves handsome, they<a name='Page_40'></a> +blacken their eyelids, paint their nails red, and wear gold rings in +their ears and noses. They delight in fine furniture. A room lined with +looking-glasses, and with a ceiling of looking-glasses, is thought +charming.</p> + +<p><b>ARAB TENTS.</b>—They are black, being made of the hair of black goats. Some +of them are so large that they are divided into three rooms, one for the +cattle, one for the men, and one for the women.</p> + +<p><b>ARAB CUSTOMS.</b>—The Arabs sit on the ground, resting on their heels, and +for tables they have low stools. A large dish of rice and minced mutton +is placed on the table, and immediately every hand is thrust into it; and +in a moment it is empty. Then another dish is brought, and another; and +sometimes fourteen dishes of rice, one after the other, till all the +company are satisfied. They eat very fast, and each retires from dinner as +soon as he likes, without waiting for the rest. After dinner they drink +water, and a small cup of coffee without milk or sugar. Then they smoke +for many hours.</p> + +<p>The Arabs do not indulge in eating or drinking too much, and this is one +of the best parts of their character.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/3.jpg' width='501' height='464' alt='CAMELS. p. 41. ' title='CAMELS. p. 41. '> +</center> +<h5>CAMELS. See <a href='#Page_41'>p. 41.</a></h5> + +<a name='Page_41'></a> +<p><b>THE THREE EVILS OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>The first evil is want of water. There is no river in Arabia: and the +small streams are often dried up by the heat.</p> + +<p>The second evil is many locusts, which come in countless swarms, and +devour every green thing.</p> + +<p>The third evil is the burning winds. When a traveller feels it coming, he +throws himself on the ground, covering his face with his cloak, lest the +hot sand should be blown up his nostrils. Sometimes men and horses are +choked by this sand.</p> + +<p>These are the three great evils; but there is a still greater, the +religion of Mahomed: for this injures the soul; the other evils only hurt +the body.</p> + + +<p><b>THE THREE ANIMALS OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>The animals for which Arabia is famous are animals to ride upon.</p> + +<p>Two of them are often seen in England; though here they are not nearly as +fine as in Arabia; but the third animal is never used in England. Most +English boys have ridden upon an ass. In Arabia the ass is a handsome and +spirited creature. The horse is strong and swift, and yet obedient and +gentle. The camel is just suited to Arabia. His feet are fit to<a name='Page_42'></a> tread +upon the burning sands; because the soles are more like India-rubber than +like flesh: his hard mouth, lined with horn, is not hurt by the prickly +plants of the desert; and his hump full of fat is as good to him as a bag +of provisions: for on a journey the fat helps to support him, and enables +him to do with very little food. Besides all this, his inside is so made +that he can live without water for three days.</p> + +<p>A dromedary is a swifter kind of camel, and is just as superior to a +camel as a riding-horse is to a cart-horse.</p> + + +<p><b>THE THREE PRODUCTIONS OF ARABIA.</b> </p> + +<p>These are coffee, dates, and gums.</p> + +<p>For these Arabia is famous.</p> + +<p>The coffee plants are shrubs. The hills are covered with them; the white +blossoms look beautiful among the dark green leaves, and so do the red +berries.</p> + +<p>The dates grow on the palm-trees; and they are the chief food of the +Arabs. The Arabs despise those countries where there are no dates.</p> + +<p>There are various sweet-smelling gums that flow from Arabian trees.</p><a name='Page_43'></a> + + +<p><b>THE THREE PARTS OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>You see from what I have just said that there are plants and trees in +Arabia. Then it is clear that the whole land is not a desert. No, it is +not; there is only a part called Desert Arabia; that is on the north. +There is a part in the middle almost as bad, called Stony Arabia, yet +some sweet plants grow there; but there is a part in the south called +Happy Arabia, where grow abundance of fragrant spices, and of +well-flavored coffee.</p> + + +<p><b>THE THREE CITIES OF ARABIA.</b></p> + +<p>Arabia has long been famous for three cities, called Mecca, Medina, and +Mocha.</p> + +<p><i>Mecca</i> is considered the holiest city in the world. And why? Because the +false prophet Mahomed was born there. On that account Mahomedans come +from all parts of the world to worship in the great temple there. +Sometimes Mecca is as full of people as a hive is full of bees.</p> + +<p>Of all the cities in the East, Mecca is the gayest, because the houses +have windows looking into the streets. In these houses are lodgings for +the pilgrims.</p> + +<p>And what is it the pilgrims worship?</p><a name='Page_44'></a> + +<p>A great black stone, which they say the angel Gabriel brought down from +heaven as a foundation for Mahomed's house. They kiss it seven times, and +after each kiss they walk round it.</p> + +<p>Then they bathe in a well, which they say is the well the angel showed to +Hagar in the desert, and they think the waters of this well can wash away +all their sins. Alas! they know not of the blood which can wash away +<i>all</i> sin.</p> + +<p><i>Medina</i> contains the tomb of Mahomed; yet it is not thought so much of +as Mecca. Perhaps the Mahomedans do not like to be reminded that Mahomed +died like any other man, and never rose again.</p> + +<p><i>Mocha</i>.—This is a part whence very fine coffee is sent to Europe.</p> + + +<p><b>TRAVELS IN THE DESERT.</b></p> + +<p>Of all places in Arabia, which would you desire most to see? Would it not +be Mount Sinai? Our great and glorious God once spoke from the top of +that mountain.</p> + +<p>I will tell you of an English clergyman who travelled to see that +mountain. As he knew there were many robbers on the way, he hired an Arab +sheikh to take care of him. A sheikh is a chief, or captain. Suleiman +<a name='Page_45'></a>was a fine-looking man, dressed in a red shirt, with a shawl twisted +round his waist, a purple cloak, and a red cap. His feet and legs were +bare. His eyes were bright, his skin was brown, and his beard black. To +his girdle were fastened a huge knife and pistols, and by his side hung a +sword. This man brought a band of Arabs with him to defend the travellers +from the robbers in the desert.</p> + +<p>One day the whole party set out mounted on camels. After going some +distance, a number of children were seen scampering among the rocks, and +looking like brown monkeys. These were the children of the Arabs who +accompanied the Englishman. The wild little creatures ran to their +fathers, and saluted them in the respectful manner that Arab children are +taught to do.</p> + +<p>At last a herd of goats was seen with a fine boy of twelve years old +leading them. He was the son of Suleiman. The father seemed to take great +delight in this boy, and introduced him to the traveller. The kind +gentleman riding on a camel, put down his hand to the boy. The little +fellow, after touching the traveller's hand, kissed his own, according to +the Arabian manner.</p> + +<p>The way to Mount Sinai was very rough; indeed, the traveller was +sometimes obliged to get off his <a name='Page_46'></a>camel, and to climb among the crags on +hands and knees. How glad he was when the Arabs pointed to a mountain, +and said, "That is Mount Sinai." With what fear and reverence he gazed +upon it! Here it was that the voice of the great God was once heard +speaking out of the midst of the smoke, and clouds, and darkness!</p> + +<p>How strange it must be to see in this lonely gloomy spot, a great +building! Yet there is one at the foot of the mountain. What can it be? A +convent. See those high walls around. It is necessary to have high walls, +because all around are bands of fierce robbers. It is even unsafe to have +a door near the ground. There is a door quite high up in the wall; but +what use can it be of, when there are no steps by which to reach it? Can +you guess how people get in by this door? A rope is let down from the +door to draw the people up. One by one they are drawn up. In the inside +of the walls there are steps by which travellers go down into the convent +below. The monks who live there belong to the Greek church.</p> + +<p>The clergyman was lodged in a small cell spread with carpets and +cushions, and he was waited upon by the monks.</p> + +<p>These monks think that they lead a very holy life in the desert. They eat +no meat, and they rise in<a name='Page_47'></a> the night to pray in their chapel. But God does +not care for such service as this. He never commanded men to shut +themselves up in a desert, but rather to do good in the world.</p> + +<p>One day the monks told the traveller they would show him the place where +the burning bush once stood. How could they know the place? However, they +pretended to know it. They led the way to the chapel, then taking off +their shoes, they went down some stone steps till they came to a round +room under ground, with three lamps burning in the midst. "There," said +the monks, "is the very spot where the burning bush once stood."</p> + +<p>There were two things the traveller enjoyed while in the convent, the +beautiful garden full of thick trees and sweet flowers; and the cool pure +water from the well. Such water and such a garden in the midst of a +desert were sweet indeed.</p> + +<p>The Arabs, who accompanied the traveller, enjoyed much the plentiful +meals provided at the convent; for the monks bought sheep from the +shepherds around, to feed their guests. After leaving the convent, +Suleiman was taken ill in consequence of having eaten too much while +there. The clergyman gave him medicine, which cured him. The Arabs were +very fond of their chief, and were so grateful to the<a name='Page_48'></a> stranger for giving +him in medicine, that they called him "the good physician." Suleiman +himself showed his gratitude by bringing his own black coffee-pot into +the tent of the stranger, and asking him to drink coffee with him; for +such is the pride of an Arab chief, that he thinks it is a very great +honor indeed for a stranger to share his meal.</p> + +<p>But the traveller soon found that it is dangerous to pass through a +desert. Why? Not on account of wild beasts, but of wild men. There was a +tribe of Arabs very angry with Suleiman, because he was conducting the +travellers through <i>their</i> part of the desert. They wanted to be the +guides through that part, in hopes of getting rewarded by a good sum of +money. You see how covetous they were. The love of money is the root of +all evil.</p> + +<p>These angry Arabs were hidden among the rocks and hills; and every now +and then they came suddenly out of their hiding-places, and with a loud +voice threatened to punish Suleiman.</p> + +<p>How much alarmed the travellers were! but none more than Suleiman +himself. He requested the clergyman to travel during the whole night, in +order the sooner to get out of the reach of the enemy. The clergyman +promised to go as far as he was able. What a journey it was! No one durst +speak aloud <a name='Page_49'></a>to his companions, lest the enemies should be hidden among +the rocks close by, and should overhear them. At midnight the whole +company pitched their tents by the coast of the Red Sea. Early in the +morning the minister went alone to bathe in its smooth waters. After he +had bathed, and when he was just going to return to the tents, he was +startled by hearing the sound of a gun. The sound came from the midst of +a small grove of palm-trees close by. Alarmed, he ran back quickly to the +tents: again he heard the report of a gun: and again a third time. The +travellers, Arabs and all, were gathered together, expecting an enemy to +rush out of the grove. But where was Suleiman? He had gone some time +before into the grove of palm-trees to talk to the enemies.</p> + +<p>Presently the traveller saw about forty Arabs leave the grove and go far +away. But Suleiman came not. So the minister went into the grove to +search for him, and there he found—-not Suleiman—but his dead body!</p> + +<p>There it lay on the ground, covered with blood. The minister gazed upon +the dark countenance once so joyful, and he thought it looked as if the +poor Arab had died in great agony. It was frightful to observe the number +of his wounds. Three balls had <a name='Page_50'></a>been shot into his body by the gun which +went off three times. Three great cuts had been made in his head; his +neck was almost cut off from his head, and his hand from his arm! How +suddenly was the proud Arab laid low in the dust! All his delights were +perished forever. Suleiman had been promised a new dress of gay colors at +the end of the journey; but he would never more gird a shawl round his +active frame, or fold a turban round his swarthy brow. The Arabs wrapped +their beloved master in a loose garment, and placing him on his beautiful +camel, they went in deep grief to a hill at a little distance. There they +buried him. They dug no grave; but they made a square tomb of large loose +stones, and laid the dead body in the midst, and then covered it with +more stones. There Suleiman sleeps in the desert. But the day shall come +when "the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her +slain:" and then shall the blood of Suleiman and his slain body be +uncovered, and his murderer brought to judgment.<a name='FNanchor_3_3'></a><a href='#Footnote_3_3'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> +<br /> + +<a name='Footnote_3_3'></a><a href='#FNanchor_3_3'>[3]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted chiefly from "The Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. +G. Fisk. Published by R. Carter & Brothers.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='TURKEY_IN_ASIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_51'></a>TURKEY IN ASIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Is there a Turkey in Asia as well as a Turkey in Europe?</p> + +<p>Yes, there is; and it is governed by the same sultan, and filled by the +same sort of persons. All the Turks are Mahomedans.</p> + +<p>You may know a Mahomedan city at a distance. When we look at a Christian +city we see the steeples and spires of churches; but when we look at a +Mahomedan city we see rising above the houses and trees the domes and +minarets of mosques. What are domes and minarets? A dome is the round top +of a mosque: and the minarets are the tall slender towers. A minaret is +of great use to the Mahomedans.</p> + +<p>Do you see the little narrow gallery outside the minaret. There is a man +standing there. He is calling people to say their prayers. He calls so +loud that all the people below can hear, and the sounds he utters are +like sweet music. But would it not make you sad to hear them when you +remembered what he <a name='Page_52'></a>was telling people to do? To pray to the god of +Mahomet, not to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but to a +false god: to no God. This man goes up the dark narrow stairs winding +inside the minaret five times a day: first he goes as soon as the sun +rises, then at noon, next in the afternoon, then at sunset, and last of +all in the night. Ascending and descending those steep stairs is all his +business, and it is hard work, and fatigues him very much.</p> + +<p>In the court of the mosque there is a fountain. There every one washes +before he goes into the mosque to repeat his prayers, thinking to please +God by clean hands instead of a clean heart. Inside the mosque there are +no pews or benches, but only mats and carpets spread on the floor. There +the worshippers kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads. The +minister of the mosque is called the Imam. He stands in a niche in the +wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers.</p> + +<p>But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town, +preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday. He sits on a high place and talks +to the people—not about pardon and peace, and heaven and holiness—but +about the duty of washing their hands before prayers, and of bowing down +to the ground, and such vain services.</p><a name='Page_53'></a> + +<p>In the mosque there are two rows of very large wax candles, much higher +than a man, and as thick as his arm, and they are lighted at night.</p> + +<p>It is considered right to go to the mosque for prayers five times a day; +but very few Mahomedans go so often. Wherever people may be, they are +expected to kneel down and repeat their prayers, whether in the house or +in the street. But very few do so. While they pray, Mahomedans look about +all the time, and in the midst speak to any one, and then go on again; +for their hearts are not in their prayers; they do not worship in spirit +and in truth.</p> + +<p>There are no images or pictures in the mosques, because Mahomet forbid +his followers to worship idols. There are Korans on reading stands in +various parts of the mosque for any one to read who pleases.</p> + +<p>The people leave their red slippers at the door, keeping on their yellow +boots only; but they do not uncover their heads as Christians do.</p> + +<p>Was Christ ever known in this Mahomedan land? Yes, long before he was +known in England. Turkey in Asia used to be called Asia Minor, (or Asia +the less,) and there it was that Paul the apostle was born, and there he +preached and turned many to Christ. But at last the Christians began to +worship images, and the fierce Turks came and turned the churches <a name='Page_54'></a>into +mosques. This was the punishment God sent the Christians for breaking his +law. In some of the mosques you may see the marks of the pictures which +the Christians painted on the walls, and which the Turks nearly scraped +off.</p> + +<p>How dreadful it would be if our churches should ever be turned into +mosques! May God never send us this heavy punishment.</p> + + +<a name='Armenia'></a><h3>ARMENIA.</h3> + +<p>One corner of Turkey in Asia is called Armenia. There are many high +mountains in Armenia, and one of them you would like to see very much. It +is the mountain on which Noah's ark rested after the flood. I mean +Ararat.<a name='FNanchor_4_4'></a><a href='#Footnote_4_4'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> + +<p>It is a very high mountain with two peaks; and its highest peak is always +covered with snow. People say that no one ever climbed to the top of that +peak. I should think Noah's ark rested on a lower part of the mountain +between the two peaks, for it would have been very cold for Noah's +family on the snow-covered<a name='Page_55'></a> peak, and it would have been very difficult +for them to get down. How pleasant it must be to stand on the side of +Ararat, and to think, "Here my great father Noah stood, and my great +mother, Noah's wife; here they saw the earth in all its greenness, just +washed with the waters of the flood, and here they rejoiced and praised +God."</p> + +<p>I am glad to say that all the Armenians are not Mahomedans. Many are +Christians, but, alas! they know very little about Christ except his +name. I will tell you a short anecdote to show how ignorant they are.</p> + +<p>Once a traveller went to see an old church in Armenia called the Church +of Forty Steps, because there are forty steps to reach it: for it is +built on the steep banks of a river.</p> + +<p>The traveller found the churchyard full of boys. This churchyard was +their school-room. And what were their books? The grave-stones that lay +flat upon the ground. Four priests were teaching the boys. These priests +wore black turbans; while Turkish Imams wear white turbans. One of these +Armenian priests led the traveller to an upper room, telling him he had +something very wonderful to show him. What could it be? The priest went +to a nacho in the wall and took out of it a bundle; then untied a silk +handkerchief, <a name='Page_56'></a>and then another, and then another; till he had untied +twenty-five silk handkerchiefs. What was the precious thing so carefully +wrapped up? It was a New Testament.</p> + +<p>It is a precious book indeed: but it ought to be read, and not wrapped +up. The priest praised it, saying, "This is a wonderful book; it has +often been laid upon sick persons, and has cured them." Then a poor old +man, bent and tottering, pressed forward to kiss the book, and to rub his +heavy head. This was worshipping the <i>book</i>, instead of Him who wrote it.</p> + +<p>An Armenian village looks like a number of molehills: for the dwellings +are holes dug in the ground with low stone walls round the holes; the +roof is made of branches of trees and heaps of earth. There are generally +two rooms in the hole—one for the family, and one for the cattle.</p> + +<p>A traveller arrived one evening at such a village; and he was pleased to +see fruit-trees overshadowing the hovels, and women, without veils, +spinning cotton under their shadow. But he was not pleased with the room +where he was to sleep. The way lay through a long dark passage under +ground; and the room was filled with cattle: there was no window nor +chimney. How dark and hot it was! Yet it was too damp to sleep out of +doors, because a large lake was <a name='Page_57'></a>near; therefore he wrapped his cloak +around him, and lay upon the ground; but he could not sleep because of +the stinging of insects, and the trampling of cattle: and glad he was in +the morning to breathe again the fresh air.</p> + +<p>Rich Armenians have fine houses. Once a traveller dined with a rich +Armenian. The dinner was served up in a tray, and placed on a low stool, +while the company sat on the ground. One dish after another was served up +till the traveller was tired of tasting them. But there was not only too +much to <i>eat</i>; there was also too much to <i>drink</i>. Rakee, a kind of +brandy, was handed about; and afterwards a musician came in and played +and sang to amuse the company. In Turkey there is neither playing, nor +singing, nor drinking spirits. The Turks think themselves much better +than Christians. "For," say they, "we drink less and pray more." They do +not know that real Christians are not fond of drinking, and are fond of +praying; only <i>they</i> pray more in <i>secret</i>, and the Turks more in +<i>public</i>.</p><a name='Page_58'></a> + + +<a name='Kurdistan'></a><h3>KURDISTAN.</h3> + +<p>The fiercest of all the people in Asia are the Kurds.</p> + +<p>They are the terror of all who live near them.</p> + +<p>Their dwellings are in the mountains; there some live in villages, and +some in black tents, and some in strong castles. At night they rush down +from the mountains upon the people in the valleys, uttering a wild yell, +and brandishing their swords. They enter the houses, and begin to pack up +the things they find, and to place them on the backs of their mules and +asses, while they drive away the cattle of the poor people; and if any +one attempts to resist them, they kill him. You may suppose in what +terror the poor villagers live in the valleys. They keep a man to watch +all night, as well as large dogs; and they build a strong tower in the +midst of the village where they run to hide themselves when they are +afraid.</p> + +<p>The reason why the Armenians live in holes in the ground is because they +hope the Kurds may not find out where they are.</p> + +<p>Those Kurds who live in tents often move from place to place. The black +tents are folded up and placed on the backs of mules; and a large kettle +is slung upon the end of the tent-pole. The men and <a name='Page_59'></a>women drive the +herds and flocks, while the children and the chickens ride upon the cows.</p> + +<p>The Kurds have thin, dark faces, hooked noses, and black eyes, with a +fierce and malicious look.</p> + +<p>They are of the Mahomedan religion, and the call to prayers may be heard +in the villages of these robbers and murderers.</p> + + +<a name='Mesopotamia'></a><h3>MESOPOTAMIA.</h3> + +<p>This country is part of Turkey in Asia. It lies between two very famous +rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, often spoken of in the Bible. The +word Mesopotamia means "between rivers." It was between these rivers that +faithful Abraham lived when God first called him to be his friend. Should +you not like to see that country? It is now full of ruins. The two most +ancient cities in the world were built on the Tigris and Euphrates.</p> + +<p>Nineveh was on the Tigris.</p> + +<p>What a city that was at the time Jonah preached there! Its walls were so +thick that three chariots could go on the top all abreast.</p> + +<p>But what is Nineveh now? Look at those green mounds. Under those heaps of +rubbish lies Nineveh.<a name='Page_60'></a> A traveller has been digging among those mounds, +and has found the very throne of the kings of Nineveh, and the images of +winged bulls and lions which adorned the palace. God overthrew Nineveh +because it was wicked.</p> + +<p>There is another ancient city lying in ruins on the Euphrates, it is +Babylon the Great.</p> + +<p>There are nothing but heaps of bricks to be seen where once proud Babylon +stood. Where are now the streets fifteen miles long? Where are the +hanging gardens? Gardens one above the other, the wonder of the world? +Where is now the temple of Belus, (or of Babel, as some think,) with its +golden statue? All, all are now crumbled into rubbish. God has destroyed +Babylon as he said.</p> + +<p>There are dens of wild beasts among the ruins. A traveller saw some bones +of a sheep in one, the remains, he supposed, of a lion's dinner; but he +did not like to go further into the den to see who dwelt there. Owls and +bats fill all the dark places. But no men live there, though human bones +are often found scattered about, and they turn into dust as soon as they +are touched.</p> + +<p>There is now a great city in Mesopotamia, called Bagdad. In Babylon no +sound is heard but the howlings of wild beasts; in Bagdad men may be +heard <a name='Page_61'></a>screaming and hallooing from morning to night. The drivers of the +camels and the mules shout as they press through the narrow crooked +streets, and even the ladies riding on white donkeys, and attended by +black slaves, scream and halloo.</p> + +<p>In summer it is so hot in Bagdad that people during the day live in rooms +under ground, and sleep on their flat roofs at night.</p> + +<p>It is curious to see the people who have been sleeping on the roof get up +in the morning. First they roll up their mattrasses, their coverlids, and +pillows, and put them in the house. The children cannot fold up theirs, +but their mothers or black slaves do it for them. The men repeat their +prayers, and then drink a cup of coffee, which their wives present to +them. The wives kneel as they offer the cup to their lords, and stand +with their hands crossed while their lords are drinking, then kneel down +again to receive the cup, and to kiss their lords' hand. Then the men +take their pipes, and lounge on their cushions, while the women say their +prayers. And when do the children say their prayers? Never. They know +only of Mahomet; they know not the Saviour who said, "Suffer little +children to come unto me."</p> + +<a name='Footnote_4_4'></a><a href='#FNanchor_4_4'>[4]</a><div class='note'><p> It is remarkable that this mountain lies at the point where +three great empires meet, namely, Russia, Persia, and Turkey.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='PERSIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_62'></a>PERSIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Is this country mentioned in the Bible? Yes; we read of Cyrus, the king +of Persia. Isaiah spoke of him before he was born, and called him by his +name. See chapter xlv.</p> + +<p>Persia is now a Mahomedan country. The Turks, you remember, are +Mahomedans too. Perhaps you think those two nations, the Turks and the +Persians, must agree well together, as they are of the same religion. Far +from it. No nations hate one another more than Turks and Persians do; and +the reason is, that though they both believe in Mahomet, they disagree +about his son-in law, Ali. The Persians are very fond of him, and keep a +day of mourning in memory of his death; whereas the Turks do not care for +Ali at all.</p> + +<p>But is this a reason why they should hate one another so much?</p> + +<p>Even in their common customs the Persians differ from the Turks. The +Turks sit cross-legged on the <a name='Page_63'></a>ground; the Persians sit upon their heels. +Which way of sitting should you prefer? I think you would find it more +comfortable to sit like a Turk.</p> + +<p>The Turks sit on sofas and lean against cushions; the Persians sit on +carpets and lean against the wall. I know you would prefer the Turkish +fashion. The Turks drink coffee without either milk or sugar; the +Persians drink tea with sugar, though without milk. The Turks wear +turbans; the Persians wear high caps of black lamb's-wool.</p> + +<p>Not only are their <i>customs</i> different; but their <i>characters</i>. The Turks +are grave and the Persians lively. The Turks are silent, the Persians +talkative. The Turks are rude, the Persians polite. Now I am sure you +like the Persians better than the Turks. But wait a little—the Turks are +very proud; the Persians are very deceitful. An old Persian was heard to +say, "We all tell lies whenever we can." The Persians are not even +ashamed when their falsehoods are found out. When they sell they ask too +much; when they make promises they break them. In short, it is impossible +to trust a Persian.</p> + +<p>The Turks obey Mahomet's laws; they pray five times a day, and drink no +wine. But the Persians seldom repeat their prayers, and they do drink +wine, though Mahomet has forbidden it. In short, the Persian <a name='Page_64'></a>seems to +have no idea of right and wrong. The judges do not give right judgment, +but take bribes. The soldiers live by robbing the poor people, for the +king pays them no wages, but leaves them to get food as they can; and so +the poor people often build their cottages in little nooks in the +valleys, where they hope the soldiers will not see them.</p> + +<p><b>THE COUNTRY.</b>—Persia is a high country and a dry country. There are high +mountains and wide plains; but there are very few rivers and running +brooks, because there is so little rain. However, in some places the +Persians have cut canals, and planted willow-trees by their side. Rice +will not grow well in such a dry country, but sheep find it very pleasant +and wholesome. The hills are covered over with flocks, and the shepherds +may be seen leading their sheep and carrying the very young lambs in +their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it +is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms."</p> + +<p>The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia—I mean the rose. +The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves +and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for +children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a +traveller went to breakfast<a name='Page_65'></a> with a Persian Prince, and he found the +company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet spread over it. +Afterwards the rose-leaves were sent to the distillers, to be made into +rose-water.</p> + +<p>Persian cats are beautiful creatures, with fur as soft as silk.</p> + +<p>The best melons in the world grow in Persia.</p> + +<p>The three chief materials for making clothes are all to be found there in +abundance. I mean wool, cotton, and silk. You have heard already of the +Persian sheep; so you see there is wool. Cotton trees also abound. Women +and children may be been picking the nuts which contain the little pieces +of cotton. There are mulberry-trees also to feed the numerous silk worms.</p> + +<p><b>POOR PEOPLE.</b>—The villages where the poor live are miserable places. The +houses are of mud, not placed in rows, but straggling, with dirty narrow +paths winding between them.</p> + +<p>In summer the poor people sleep on the roofs; for the roofs are flat, and +covered with earth, with low walls on every side to prevent the sleepers +falling off. Here the Persians spread their carpets to lie upon at night.</p> + +<p>Winter does not last long in Persia, yet while it lasts it is cold. Then +the poor, instead of sleeping <a name='Page_66'></a>on their roofs, sleep in a very curious +warm bed. In the middle of each cottage there is a round hole in the +floor, where the fire burns. In the evening the fire goes out, but the +hot cinders remain. The Persians place over it a low round table, and +then throw a large coverlid over the table, and all round about. Under +this coverlid the family lie at night, their heads peeping out, and their +feet against the warm fire-place underneath. This the Persians call a +comfortable bed.</p> + +<p>The poor wear dirty and ragged clothes, and the children may be seen +crawling about in the dust, and looking like little pigs. Yet in one +respect the Persians are very clean; they bathe often. In every village +there is a large bath.</p> + +<p>The poor people have animals of various kinds—a few sheep, or goats, or +cows. In the day one man takes them all out to feed. In the evening he +brings them back to the village, and the animals of their own accord go +home to their own stables. Each cow and each sheep knows where she will +get food and a place to sleep in. The prophet Isaiah said truly, "The ass +knoweth his owner, and the ox his master's crib; but Israel doth not +know, my people doth not consider."</p> + +<p><b>THE PERSIAN LADIES.</b>—They wrap themselves up in a large dark blue +wrapper, and in this dress they<a name='Page_67'></a> walk out where they please. No one who +meets them can tell who they are.</p> + +<p>And where do these women go? Chiefly to the bath, where they spend much +of their time drinking coffee and smoking. There too they try to make +themselves handsome by blackening their eyebrows and dyeing their hair. +Sometimes the ladies walk to the burial-grounds, and wander about for +hours among the graves. When they are at home they employ themselves in +making pillau and sherbet. Pillau is made of rice and butter; sherbet is +made of juice mixed with water.</p> + +<p>The ladies have a sitting-room to themselves. One side of it is all +lattice-work, and this makes it cool. At night they spread their carpets +on the floor to sleep upon, and in the day they keep them in a +lumber-room.</p> + +<p><b>PERSIAN INNS.</b>—They are very uncomfortable places. There are a great many +small cells made of mud, built all round a large court. These cells are +quite empty, and paved with stone. The only comfortable room is over the +door-way of the court, and the first travellers who arrive are sure to +settle in the room over the door-way.</p> + +<p>Once an English traveller arrived at a Persian inn with his two servants. +All three were very ill and in <a name='Page_68'></a>great pain, from having travelled far over +burning plains and steep mountains.</p> + +<p>But as the room over the door-way was occupied, they were forced to go +into a little cold damp cell. As there was no door to the cell, they hung +up a rag to keep out the chilling night air, and they placed a pan of +coals in the midst. Many Persians came and peeped into the cell; and +seeing the sick men looking miserable as they lay on their carpets, the +unfeeling creatures laughed at them, and no one would help them or give +them anything to eat. The travellers bought some bread and grapes at the +bazaar, but these were not fit food for sick men, but it was all they +could get. At last a Persian merchant heard of their distress; and he +came to see them every day, bringing them warm milk and wholesome food: +when they were well enough to be moved, he took them to his own house, +and nursed them with the greatest care.</p> + +<p>Who was this kind merchant? Not a Mahomedan, but of the religion of the +fire worshippers, or Parsees. Was he not like the good Samaritan of whom +we read in the New Testament? O that Bahram, the merchant, might know the +true God!</p> + +<p><b>PILGRIMS AND BEGGARS.</b>—Very often you may see a large company of Pilgrims +some on foot, and <a name='Page_69'></a>some mounted on camels, horses, and asses. They are +returning from Mecca, the birth-place of Mahomet. What good have they got +by their pilgrimage? None at all. They think they are grown very holy, +but they make such an uproar at the inns by quarrelling and fighting when +they are travelling home, that no one can bear to be near them.</p> + +<p>There is a set of beggars called dervishes. They call themselves very +holy, and think people are bound to give money to such holy men. They are +so bold that sometimes they refuse to leave a place till some money has +been given.</p> + +<p>Once a dervish stopped a long while before the house of the English +ambassador, and refused to go away. But a plan was thought of to <i>make</i> +him go away.</p> + +<p>The dervish was sitting in a little niche in the wall. The ambassador +ordered his servants to build up bricks to shut the dervish in. The men +began to build, yet the dervish would not stir, till the bricks came up +as high as his chin: then he began to be frightened, and said he would +rather go away.</p> + +<p><b>THE KING OF PERSIA.</b>—He is called King of Kings. What a name for a man! +It is the title of God alone. The king sits on a marble throne, and his +garments sparkle with jewels of dazzling brightness.<a name='Page_70'></a> The walls of his +state-chamber are covered with looking-glasses. One side of the room +opens into a court adorned with flowers and fountains. Great part of his +time is spent in amusements, such as hunting and shooting, writing +verses, and hearing stories. He keeps a man called a story-teller, and he +will never hear the same story repeated twice. It gives the man a great +deal of trouble to find new stories every day. The king keeps jesters, +who make jokes; and he has mimics, who play antics to make him laugh. He +dines at eight in the evening from dishes of pure gold. No one is allowed +to dine with him; but two of his little boys wait upon him, and his +physician stands by to advise him not to eat too much.</p> + +<p>Do you think he is happy in all his grandeur? Judge for yourself.</p> + +<p>All his golden dishes come up covered and sealed. Why? For fear of +poison. There is a chief officer in the kitchen who watches the cook, to +see that he puts no poison into the food: and he seals up the dishes +before they are taken to the king, in order that the servants may not put +in poison as they are carrying them along. In what fear this great king +lives! He cannot trust his own servants.</p> + +<p><b>TEHERAN.</b>—This is the royal city. It is built in a barren plain, and is +exceedingly hot, as the hills <a name='Page_71'></a>around keep off the air. It is a mean +city, for it is chiefly built of mud huts.</p> + +<p>The king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as +grand place.<a name='FNanchor_5_5'></a><a href='#Footnote_5_5'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> + + +<a name='Footnote_5_5'></a><a href='#FNanchor_5_5'>[5]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted chiefly from Southgate's Travels.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CHINA'></a><h2><a name='Page_72'></a>CHINA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>There is no country in the world like China.</p> + +<p>How different it is from Persia, where there are so few people; whereas +China is crowded with inhabitants!</p> + +<p>How different it is from England, where the people are instructed in the +Bible, whereas China is full of idols.</p> + +<p>China is a heathen country; yet it is not a savage country, for the +people are quiet, and orderly, and industrious.</p> + +<p>It would be hard for a child to imagine what a great multitude of people +there are in China.</p> + +<p>If you were to sit by a clock, and if all the Chinese were to pass before +you one at a time, and if you were to count one at each tick of the +clock, and if you were never to leave off counting day or night—how long +do you think it would be before you had counted all the Chinese?</p> + +<p>Twelve years. O what a vast number of people <a name='Page_73'></a>there must be in China! In +all, there are about three hundred and sixty millions! If all the people +in the world were collected together, out of every three one would be a +Chinese. How sad it is to think that this immense nation knows not God, +nor his glorious Son!</p> + +<p>There are too many people in China, for there is not food enough for them +all; and many are half-starved.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—The poor can get nothing but rice to eat and water to drink; +except now and then they mix a little pork or salt fish with their rice. +Any sort of meat is thought good; even a hash of rats and snakes, or a +mince of earth-worms. Cats and dogs' flesh are considered as nice as +pork, and cost as much.</p> + +<p>An Englishman was once dining with a Chinaman, and he wished to know what +sort of meat was on his plate. But he was not able to speak Chinese. How +then could he ask? He thought of a way. Looking first at his plate, and +then at the Chinaman, he said, "Ba-a-a," meaning to ask, "Is this +mutton?" The Chinaman understood the question, and immediately replied, +"Bow-wow," meaning to say, "It is puppy-dog." You will wish to know +whether the Englishman went on eating; but I cannot tell you this.</p> + +<p>While the poor are in want of food, the rich eat a great deal too much. A +Chinese feast in a rich man's<a name='Page_74'></a> house lasts for hours. The servants bring +in one course after another, till a stranger wonders when the last course +will come. The food is served up in a curious way; not on dishes, but in +small basins—for all the meats are swimming in broth. Instead of a knife +and fork, each person has a pair of chop-sticks, which are something like +knitting-needles; and with these he cleverly fishes up the floating +morsels, and pops them into his mouth. There are spoons of china for +drinking the broth. </p> + +<p>You will be surprised to hear that the Chinese are very fond of eating +birds' nests. Do not suppose that they eat magpies' nests, which are made +of clay and sticks, or even little nests of moss and clay; the nests they +eat are made of a sort of gum. This gum comes out of the bird's mouth, +and is shining and transparent, and the nest sticks fast to the rock. +These nests are something like our jelly, and must be very nourishing.</p> + +<p>The Chinese like nothing cold; they warm all their food, even their wine. +For they have wine, not made of grapes, but of rice, and they drink it, +not in glasses, but in cups. Tea, however, is the most common drink; for +China is the country where tea grows.</p> + +<p>The hills are covered with shrubs bearing a white flower, a little like a +white rose. They are tea-plants.<a name='Page_75'></a> The leaves are picked; each leaf is +rolled up with the finger, and dried on a hot iron plate.</p> + +<p>The Chinese do not keep all the tea-leaves; they pack up a great many in +boxes, and send them to distant lands. In England and in Russia there is +a tea-kettle in every cottage. Some of the Chinese are so very poor that +they cannot buy new tea-leaves, but only tea-leaves which ire sold in +shops. I do not think in England poor people would buy old tea-leaves. +Some very poor Chinese use fern-leaves instead of tea-leaves.</p> + +<p>The Chinese do not make tea in the same way that we do. They have no +teapot, or milk-jug, or sugar-basin. They put a few tea-leaves in a cup, +pour hot water on them, and then put a cover on the cup till the tea is +ready. Whenever you pay a visit in China a cup of tea is offered.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The Chinese are not at all like the other natives of Asia. +The Turks and Arabs are fine-looking men, but the Chinese are +poor-looking creatures. You have seen their pictures on their boxes of +tea, for they are fond of drawing pictures of themselves.</p> + +<p>Their complexion is rather yellow, but many of the ladies, who keep in +doors, are rather fair. They have black hair, small dark eyes, broad +faces, flat noses, and <a name='Page_76'></a>high cheek-bones. In general they are short. The +men like to be stout; and the rich men are stout: the fatter they are, +the more they are admired: but the women like to be slender.</p> + +<p>A Chinaman does not take off his cap in company, and he has a good reason +for it: his head is close shaven: only a long piece behind is allowed to +grow, and this grows down to his heels, and is plaited. He wears a long +dark blue gown, with loose hanging sleeves. His shoes are clumsy, turned +up at the toes in an ugly manner, and the soles are white. The Chinese +have more trouble in whitening their shoes than we have in blacking ours.</p> + +<p>A Chinese lady wears a loose gown like a Chinaman's; but she may be known +by her head-dress, her baby feet, and her long nails. Her hair is tied +up, and decked with artificial flowers; and sometimes a little golden +bird, sparkling with jewels, adorns her forehead. Her feet are no bigger +than those of a child of five years old; because, when she was five, they +were cruelly bound up to prevent them from growing. She suffered much +pain all her childhood, and now she trips about as if she were walking on +tiptoes. A little push would throw her down. As she walks she moves from +side to side like a ship in the water, for she cannot walk firmly with +such small feet. The Chinese are so foolish as to admire these small<a name='Page_77'></a> +feet, and to call them the "golden lilies". As for her finger-nails, they +are seldom seen, for a Chinese lady hides her hands in her long sleeves; +but the nails on the left hand are very long, and are like bird's claws. +The nails on the right hand are not so long, in order that the lady may +be able to tinkle on her music, to embroider, and to weave silk.</p> + +<p>The gentlemen are proud of having one long nail on the little finger, to +show that they do not labor like the poor, for if they did, the nail +would break. Men in China wear necklaces and use fans.</p> + +<p>What foolish customs I have described. Surely you will not think the +Chinese a wise people, though very <i>clever</i>, as you will soon find.</p> + +<p>Men and women dress in black, or in dark colors, such as blue and purple; +the women sometimes dress in pink or green. Great people dress in red, +and the royal family in yellow. When you see a person all in white, you +may know he is in mourning. A son dresses in white for three years after +he has lost one of his parents.</p> + +<p><b>HOUSES.</b>—See that lantern hanging over the gate. The light is rather dim, +because the sides are made of silk instead of glass. What is written upon +the lantern? The master's name. The gateway leads <a name='Page_78'></a>into a court into +which many rooms open. There are not doors to all the rooms; to some +there are only curtains. Curtains are used instead of doors in many hot +countries, because of their coolness; but the furniture of the Chinese +rooms is quite different from the furniture of Turkish and Persian rooms. +The Chinese sit on chairs as we do, and have high tables like ours: and +they sleep on bedsteads, yet their beds are not like ours, for instead of +a mattrass there is nothing but a mat.</p> + +<p>Instead of pictures, the Chinese adorn their rooms with painted lanterns, +and with pieces of white satin, on which sentences are written: they have +also book-cases and china jars. But they have no fire-places, for they +never need a fire to keep themselves warm: the sun shining in at the +south windows makes the rooms tolerably warm in winter; and in summer the +weather is very hot. The Chinese in winter put on one coat over the other +till they feel warm enough. In the north of China it is so cold in winter +that the place where the bed stands (which is a recess in the wall) is +heated by a furnace underneath, and the whole family sit there all day +crowded together.</p> + +<p>The Chinese houses have not so many stories as ours; in the towns there +is one floor above the ground floor, but in the country there are no +rooms up stairs.</p><a name='Page_79'></a> + +<p>It would amuse you to see a Chinese country house. There is not one large +house, but a number of small buildings like summer-houses, and long +galleries running from one to another. One of these summer-houses is in +the middle of a pond, with a bridge leading to it. In the pond there are +gold and silver fish; for these beautiful fishes often kept in glass +bowls in England, came first from China. By the sides of the garden walls +large cages are placed; in one may be seen some gold and silver +pheasants, in another a splendid peacock; in another a gentle stork, and +in another an elegant little deer. There is often a grove of +mulberry-trees in the garden, and in the midst of the grove houses made +of bamboo, for rearing silk-worms. It is the delight of the ladies to +feed these curious worms. None but very quiet people are fit to take care +of them, for a loud noise would kill them. Gold and silver fish also +cannot bear much noise.</p> + +<p>In every large house in China there is a room called the Hall of +Ancestors. There the family worship their dead parents and grand-parents, +and great-grand-parents, and those who lived still further back. There +are no images to be seen in the Hall of Ancestors, but there are tablets +with names written upon them. The family bow down before the tablets, and +burn incense <a name='Page_80'></a>and gold paper! What a foolish service! What good can +incense and paper do to the dead? And what good can the dead do to their +children? How is it that such clever people as the Chinese are so +foolish?</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—You have heard already that the Chinese worship the dead.</p> + +<p>Who taught them this worship?</p> + +<p>It was a man named Confucius, who lived a long while ago. This Confucius +was a very wise man. From his childhood he was very fond of sitting alone +thinking, instead of playing with other children. When he was fourteen he +began to read some old books that had been written not long after the +time of Noah. In these books he found very many wise sentences, such as +Noah may have taught his children. The Chinese had left off reading these +wise books, and were growing more and more foolish.<a name='FNanchor_6_6'></a><a href='#Footnote_6_6'><sup>[6]</sup></a> Confucius,<a name='Page_81'></a> when he +was grown up, tried to persuade his countrymen to attend to the old +books. There were a few men who became his scholars, and who followed him +about from place to place. They might be seen sitting under a tree, +listening to the words of Confucius.</p> + +<p>Confucius was a very tall man with a long black beard and a very high +forehead.</p> + +<p>Had he known the true God, how much good he might have done to the +Chinese; but as it was he only tried to make them happy in this world. He +himself confessed that he knew nothing about the other world. He gave +very good advice about respect due to parents; but he gave very bad +advice about worship due to them after they were dead. </p> + +<p>Was he a good man? Not truly good; for he did not love God; neither did +he act right: for he was very unkind to his wife, and quite cast her off. +Yet he used to talk of going to other countries to teach the people. It +would have been a happy thing for him, if he had gone as far as Babylon; +for a truly wise man lived there, even Daniel the prophet. From him he +might have learned about the promised Saviour,<a name='Page_82'></a> and life everlasting. But +Confucius never left China.</p> + +<p>He was ill-treated by many of the rich and great, and he was so poor that +rice was generally his only food. When he was dying he felt very unhappy, +as well he might, when he knew not where he was going. He said to his +followers just before his death, "The kings refuse to follow my advice; +and since I am of no use on earth, it is best that I should leave it." As +soon as he was dead, people began to respect him highly, and even to +worship him. At this day, though Confucius died more than two thousand +years ago, there is a temple to his honor in every large city, and +numbers of beasts are offered up to him in sacrifice. There are thousands +of people descended from him, and they are treated with great honor as +the children of Confucius, and one of them is called kong or duke.</p> + +<p>There is another religion in China besides the religion of Confucius, and +a much worse religion. About the same time that Confucius lived, there +was a man called La-on-tzee. He was a great deceiver, as you will see. He +pretended that he could make people completely happy. There were three +things he said he would do for them: first, he would make them rich by +turning stone into gold; next, he would prevent their being hurt by +swords or by fire through charms <a name='Page_83'></a>he could give them; and, last of all, +he could save them from death by a drink he knew how to prepare.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/4.jpg' width='494' height='404' alt='THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE. p. 83.' title='THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE. p. 83.'> +</center> +<h5>THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE. See <a href='#Page_83'>p. 83.</a></h5> + + +<p>What an awful liar this man must have been! Yet many people believed in +him, and still believe in him. There are now priests of La-on-tzee, and +once a year they rush through hot cinders and pretend they are not hurt. +You will wonder their tricks are not found out, seeing they cannot give +any one the drink to keep them from dying. It is indeed wonderful that +any one can believe these deceitful priests.</p> + +<p>Their religion is called the "<i>Taou</i>" sect. Taou means reason. The name +of folly would be a better title for such a religion.</p> + +<p>There is a <i>third</i> religion in China. It is the sect of Buddha.<a name='FNanchor_7_7'></a><a href='#Footnote_7_7'><sup>[7]</sup></a> This +Buddha was a man who once <a name='Page_84'></a>pretended to be turned into a god called Fo. +You see he was even worse than La-on-tzee.</p> + +<p>Buddha pretended that he could make people happy; and his way of doing so +was very strange. He told them to think of nothing, and then they would +be happy. It is said that one man fixed his eyes for nine years upon a +wall without looking off, hoping to grow happy at last. You can guess +whether he did. There are many priests of Buddha, always busy in telling +lies to the people. They recommend them to repeat the name of Buddha +thousands and thousands of times, and some people are so foolish as to do +this; but no one ever found any comfort from this plan.</p> + +<p>The priests of Buddha say that their souls, when they leave their bodies, +go into other bodies. This idea is enough to make a dying person very +miserable. One poor man, when he was dying, was in terror because he had +been told his soul would go into one of the emperor's horses. Whenever +he was dropping off to sleep, he started up in a fright, fancying that he +felt the blows of a cruel driver hurrying him along: for he knew how very +fast the emperor's horses <a name='Page_85'></a>were made to go. How different are the +feelings of a dying man who knows he is going to Jesus.</p> + +<p>He can say with joy,—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"For me my elder brethren stay,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>And angels beckon me away,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>And Jesus bids me come."</span><br /> + +<p>The Buddhists are full of tricks by which to get presents out of the +people.</p> + +<p>Once a year they cause a great feast to be made, and for whom? For the +poor? No. For beasts? No. For children? No. For themselves? No. You will +never guess. For ghosts! The priests declare that the souls of the dead +are very hungry, and that it is right to give them a feast. A number of +tables are set out, spread with all kinds of dishes. No one is seen to +eat, nor is any of the food eaten; but the priests say the ghosts eat the +spirit of the food. When it is supposed the ghosts have finished dinner, +the people scramble for the food, and take it home, and no doubt the +priests get their share.</p> + +<p>The dead are supplied with money as well as with food, and that is done +by burning gilt paper; clothes are sent to them by cutting out paper in +the shape of clothes, (only much smaller,) and by burning the article; +and even houses are conveyed to the dead by making baby-houses and +burning them.</p><a name='Page_86'></a> + +<p>As an instance of the deceits of the priests, I will tell you of two +priests who once stood crying over a pour woman's gate. "What is the +matter?" inquired the woman. "Do you see those ducks?" the priests +replied; "our parents' souls are in them, and we are afraid lest you +should eat them for supper." The foolish woman out of pity gave the ducks +to the cunning priests, who promised to take great care of the precious +birds; but, in fact, they ate them for their own supper.</p> + +<p>The Buddhist priests may be known by their heads close shaven, and their +black dress. The priests of Taou have their hair in a knot at the top of +their heads and they wear scarlet robes. There are no priests of +Confucius; and this is a good thing.</p> + +<p>All the religions of China are bad, but of the three the religion of +Confucius is the least foolish.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt which of the three religions of China is the least +absurd.</p> + +<p>The religion of Taou teaches men to act like mad-men.</p> + +<p>The religion of Buddha teaches them to act like idiots.</p> + +<p>The religion of Confucius teaches them to act like wise men, but without +souls.</p> + +<p><b>THE EMPEROR.</b>—There is no emperor in the world <a name='Page_87'></a>who has as many subjects +as the Emperor of China: he has six times as many as the Emperor of +Russia.</p> + +<p>Neither is it possible for any man to be more honored than this emperor; +for he is worshipped by his people like a god. He is called "The Son of +Heaven," and "Ten Thousand Years;" yet he dies like every other child of +earth. His sign is the dragon, and this is painted on his flags, a fit +sign for one who, like Satan, makes himself a god.</p> + +<p>Yet the emperor is also styled "Father of his people," and to show that +he feels like a father, when there is a famine or plague in the land, he +shuts himself up in his palace to grieve for his people; and by this +means he gets the love of his subjects.</p> + +<p>Once a year, too, this great emperor tries to encourage his people to be +industrious by ploughing part of a field and sowing a little corn; and +the empress sets an example to the women, by going once a year to feed +silk worms and to wind the balls of silk.</p> + +<p>The emperor wears a yellow dress, and all his relations wear yellow +girdles.</p> + +<p>But the relations of the emperor are not the most honorable people in the +land: the most learned are the most honorable. Every one in China who +wishes to be a great lord studies day and night. One man, that he might +not fall asleep over his books, tied his <a name='Page_88'></a>long plaited tail of hair to +the ceiling, and when his head nodded, his hair was pulled tight, and +that woke him.</p> + +<p>But what is it the Chinese learn with so much pains?</p> + +<p>Chiefly the books of Confucius, and a few more; but in none of them is +God made known: so that, with all his wisdom, the Chinaman is foolish +still. The words of the Bible are true.</p> + +<p>"The world by wisdom knew not God." Yet to know God is better than to +know all beside.</p> + +<p>There is a great hall in every town where all the men who wish to be +counted learned meet together once a year. They are desired to write, and +then to show what they have written; and then those who have written +well, and without a mistake, have an honorable title given to them; and +they are allowed to write another year in another greater hall; and at +last the most learned are made mandarins.</p> + +<p>What is a mandarin? He is a ruler over a town, and is counted a great +man. The most learned of the mandarins are made the emperor's +counsellors. There are only three of them, and they are the greatest men +in all China, next to the emperor.</p> + +<p>There are many poor men who study hard in hopes to be one of these three.</p><a name='Page_89'></a> + +<p>This is the greatest honor a Chinaman can obtain. But a Christian can +obtain a far greater, even the honor of a crown and a throne in the +presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming.</p> + +<p>The mandarins are all of the religion of Confucius, and despise the poor +who worship Buddha.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS AND TREES.</b>—Once there were lions in China, but they have all +been killed; there are still bears and tigers in the mountains and +forests on the borders of the land.</p> + +<p>There are small wild-cats, which are caught and fastened in cages, and +then killed and cooked. There are tame cats, too, with soft hair and +hanging ears, which are kept by ladies as pets.</p> + +<p>There are dogs to guard the house, and they too are eaten; but as they +are fed on rice only, their flesh is better than the flesh of our dogs. +The dogs are so sensible that they know when the butcher is carrying away +a dog that he is going to kill him, and the poor creatures come round him +howling, as if begging for their brother's life.</p> + +<p>The pig is the Chinaman's chief dish; for it can be fed on all the refuse +food, and there is very little food to spare in China.</p> + +<p>There are not many birds in China, because there is no room for trees. +Only one bird sings, and she <a name='Page_90'></a>builds her nest on the ground; it is a bird +often heard singing in England floating in the air,—I mean the lark.</p> + +<p>In most parts of China men carry all the burdens, and not horses and +asses.</p> + +<p>A gentleman is carried in a chair by two men: and a mandarin by four. Yet +the emperor rides on horseback.</p> + +<p><b>THE THREE GREAT CITIES</b></p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Pekin on the north.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Nankin in the middle.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Canton on the south.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Pekin is the grandest.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Nankin is the most learned.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Canton is the richest.</span><br /> + +<p>At Pekin is the emperor's palace. The gardens are exceedingly large, and +contain hills, and lakes, and groves within the walls, besides houses for +the emperor's relations.</p> + +<p>At Nankin is the China tower. It is made of China bricks, and contains +nine rooms one over the other. It is two hundred feet high, a wonderful +height. </p> + +<p>Of what use is it? Of none—of worse than none. It is a temple for +Buddha, and is full of his images.</p> + +<p>At Canton there are so many people that there is<a name='Page_91'></a> not room for all in the +land; so thousands live on the water in bouts. Many have never slept a +single night on the shore. The children often fall overboard, but as a +hollow gourd is tied round each child's neck, they float, and are soon +picked up.</p> + +<p>For a long while the Chinese would not allow foreigners to come into +their cities. A great many foreign ships came to Canton to buy tea and +silk; but the traders were forbidden to enter the town, and they lived in +a little island near, and built a town there called Macao.</p> + +<p>But lately the Chinese emperor has agreed to permit strangers to come to +five ports, called Shang-hae, Ning-po, Foo-choo, Amoy, and Hong-Kong.</p> + +<p>This last port, Hong-Kong, is an island near Canton, and the English have +built a city there and called it Victoria.</p> + +<p><b>THE TWO RIVERS.</b>—There is one called Yeang-te-sang, or "the Son of the +Ocean." It is the largest in Asia.</p> + +<p>The other is the Yellow River, for the soft clay mixed with the water +gives it a yellow color.</p> + +<p><b>LAKES.</b>—There are immense lakes, covered with boats and fishermen.</p> + +<p>But the best fishers are the tame cormorants, who catch fish for their +masters.</p><a name='Page_92'></a> + +<p><b>THE TWO GREAT WONDERS.</b>—The great CANAL is wonder. It joins the two +rivers; so that a Chinese can go by water from Canton to Pekin.</p> + +<p>The great WALL is a greater wonder, but not nearly as useful as the +canal.</p> + +<p>This wall was built at the north of China to keep the Tartars out. It is +one thousand five hundred miles long, twenty feet high, and twenty-five +broad. But there were not soldiers enough in China to keep the enemies +out, and the Tartars came over the wall.</p> + +<p>The Emperor of China is a Tartar.</p> + +<p>The Empress does not have small feet, like the Chinese.</p> + +<p>It is the Tartars who forced the Chinese to shave their heads, for they +used to tie up their hair in a knot at the top of their heads. Many of +the Chinese preferred losing their heads to their hair. Was it not cruel +to cut off their heads, merely because they would not shave them? But the +Tartars were very cruel to the Chinese.</p> + +<p><b>KNOWLEDGE AND INVENTIONS.</b>—We must allow that the Chinese are very +clever. They found out how to print, and they found out how to make +gunpowder, and they found out the use of the loadstone. What is that? A +piece of steel rubbed against the loadstone will always point to the +north. The Chinese <a name='Page_93'></a>found out these three things, printing, gunpowder, +and the use of the loadstone, before we in Europe found them out. But +they did not teach them to us; we found them out ourselves.</p> + +<p>But there are two arts that the Chinese did teach us: how to make silk, +and how to make china or porcelain. And yet I should not say they taught +us; for they tried to prevent our learning their arts; but we saw their +silk and their porcelain, and by degrees we learned to make them +ourselves. A sly monk brought some silk-worm's eggs from China hidden in +a hollow walking-stick.</p> + +<p><b>LANGUAGE.</b>—There is no other language at all like the Chinese. Instead of +having letters to spell words, they have a picture for each word. I call +it a picture, but it is more like a figure than a picture. The Chinese +use brushes for writing instead of pens; and they rub cakes of ink on a +little marble dish, first dipping them in a little water, as we dip cakes +of paint. There is a hollow place in the marble dish, to hold the water. +What do you think the Chinese mean by "the four precious things?" They +mean the ink, the brush, the marble dish, and the water. They call them +precious because they are so fond of writing. Schoolmasters are held in +great honor in China, as indeed they ought to be everywhere. Yet schools +in China are much <a name='Page_94'></a>like those in Turkey, more fit for parrots than +children; only Chinese boys sit in chairs with desks before them, instead +of sitting cross-legged on the ground, as in Turkey. They learn first to +paint the words, and next to repeat lessons by heart. This they do in a +loud scream; always turning their backs to their masters while they are +saying their lessons to him.</p> + +<p>The first book which children read is full of stories, with a picture on +each page. Would you like to hear one of these stories?</p> + +<p>"There was a boy of eight years old, named Um-wen. His parents were so +poor that they could not afford to buy a gauze curtain for their bed, to +keep off the flies in summer. This boy could not bear that his parents +should be bitten by the flies; so he stood by their bedside, and +uncovered his little bosom and his back that the flies might bite him, +instead of his parents. 'For,' said he, 'if they fill themselves with my +blood, they will let my parents rest.'"</p> + +<p>Would it be right for a little boy to behave in this way? Certainly not; +for it would grieve kind parents that their little boys should be bitten. +Poor little Chinese boys! They do not know about Him who was bitten by +the old serpent that we might not be devoured and destroyed.</p> + +<p><b>PUNISHMENT.</b>—The Chinese are very quiet and orderly; <a name='Page_95'></a>and no wonder, +because they are afraid of the great bamboo stick.</p> + +<p>The mandarins (or rulers of towns) often sentence offenders to lie upon +the ground, and to have thirty strokes of the bamboo. But the wooden +collar is worse than the bamboo stick. It is a great piece of wood with a +hole for a man to put his head through. The men in wooden collars are +brought out of their prisons every morning, and chained to a wall, where +everybody passing by can see them. They cannot feed themselves in their +wooden collars, because they cannot bring their hands to their mouths; +but sometimes a son may be seen feeding his father, as he stands chained +to the wall. There are men also whose business it is to feed the +prisoners. For great crimes men are strangled or beheaded.</p> + +<p><b>CHARACTER.</b>—A Chinaman's character cannot be known at first. You might +suppose from his way of speaking that a Chinaman was very humble; because +he calls himself "the worthless fellow," or "the stupid one," and he +calls his son "the son of a dog;" but if you were to tell him he had an +evil heart, he would be very much offended; for he only gives himself +these names Thai he may <i>seem</i> humble. He calls his acquaintance +"venerable uncle," "honorable brother." This he does to please them. The +Chinese are very<a name='Page_96'></a> proud of their country, and think there is none like it. +They have given it the name of the "Heavenly or Celestial Empire." They +look upon foreigners as monkeys and devils. Often a woman may he heard in +the streets saying to her little child, "There is a foreign devil (or a +Fan Quei"). The Chinese think the English very ugly, and called them the +"red-haired nation."</p> + +<p>It must be owned that the Chinese are industrious: indeed, if they were +not, they would be starved. A poor man often has to work all day up to +the knees in water in the rice-field, and yet gets nothing for supper but +a little rice and a few potatoes.</p> + +<p>The ladies who can live without working are very idle, and in the winter +rise very late in the morning.</p> + +<p>Men, too, play, as children do here; flying kites is a favorite game. +Dancing, however, is quite unknown.</p> + +<p>The Chinese are very selfish and unfeeling. Beggars may be seen in the +middle of the town dying, and no one caring for them, but people gambling +close by.</p> + +<p>The Chinese have an idea that after a man is dead the house must be +cleansed from ghosts; so to save themselves this trouble, poor people +often cast their dying relations out of their hovels into the street to +die!</p><a name='Page_97'></a> + +<p>But in general sons treat their parents with great respect. They often +keep their father's coffin in the house for three months, and a son has +been known to sleep by it for three years. Relations are usually kind to +each other, because they meet together in the "Hall of Ancestors" to +worship the same persons. To save money they often live together, and a +hundred eat at the same table.</p> + +<p>The Chinese used to be temperate, preferring tea to wine. There are +tea-taverns in the towns. How much better than our beer-shops! But lately +they have begun to smoke opium. This is the juice of the white poppy, +made up into dark balls. The Chinese are not allowed to have it; but the +English, sad to say, sell it to them secretly. There are many opium +taverns in China, where men may be seen lying on cushions snuffing up the +hot opium, and puffing it out of their mouths. Those who smoke opium have +sunken cheeks and trembling hands, and soon become old, foolish, and +sick. Why, then, do they take opium? Many of them say they wish to leave +it off, but cannot.</p> + +<p><b>MISSIONARIES.</b>—Are there any in China? Yes, many; and more are going +there. But how many are wanted for so many people! Missionaries travel +about China to distribute Bibles and tracts. One of<a name='Page_98'></a> them hired a rough +kind of chair with two bearers. In this he went to villages among the +mountains, where a white man had never been seen. The children screaming +with terror ran to their mothers. The men came round him to look at his +clothes and his white skin. They were much surprised at the whiteness of +his hands, and they put their yellow ones close to his to see the +difference. These mountaineers were kind, and brought tea and cakes to +refresh the stranger.</p> + +<p>An English lady went to China to teach little girls; for no one teaches +them. She has several little creatures in her school that she saved from +perishing: because the Chinese are so cruel as to leave many girl-babies +to die in the streets; they say that girls are not worth the trouble of +bringing up.</p> + +<p>One cold rainy evening, Miss Aldersey heard a low wailing outside the +street-door, and looking out she saw a poor babe, wrapped in coarse +matting, lying on the stone pavement. She could not bear to leave it +there to be devoured by famished dogs; so she kindly took it in, and +brought it up.</p> + +<p>It is a common thing to stumble over the bodies of dead babies in the +streets. In England it is counted murder to kill a babe, but it is +thought no harm in China. Yet the Chinese call themselves good. But when +you ask a poor man where he expects to go<a name='Page_99'></a> when he dies, he replies, "To +hell of course;" and he says this with a loud laugh. His reason for +thinking he shall go to hell is, because he has not money enough to give +to the gods; for rich people all expect to go to heaven. Mandarins +especially expect to go there. If they were to read the Bible, they would +see that God will punish kings, and mighty men, and great captains, and +<i>all</i> who are wicked.</p> + +<a name='Footnote_6_6'></a><a href='#FNanchor_6_6'>[6]</a><div class='note'><p> These are some of the sentences written in the old books: +</p><p> +"Never say, There is no one who sees me, for there is a wise Spirit who +sees all." +</p><p> +"Man no longer has what he had before the fall, and he has brought his +children into his misery. O! Heaven, you only can help us. Wipe away the +stains of the father, and save his children." +</p><p> +"Never speak but with great care. Do not say, It is only a single word. +Remember that no one has the keeping of your heart and tongue but you." +</p><p> +These sentences are like some verses in the Psalms and Proverbs; and, it +may be, they were spoken first by some holy men of old. +</p><p> +Here is one more remarkable than all:— +</p><p> +"God hates the proud, and is kind to the humble."</p></div> + +<a name='Footnote_7_7'></a><a href='#FNanchor_7_7'>[7]</a><div class='note'><p> The means by which the Buddhist religion entered China are +remarkable. A certain Chinese emperor once read in the book of Confucius +this sentence, "The true saint will be found in the West." He thought a +great deal about it; at last he dreamed about it. He was so much struck +by his dream that he sent two of his great lords to look for the true +religion in the West. When they reached India, they found multitudes +worshipping Buddha. This Buddha was a wicked man who had been born in +India a thousand years before. The Chinese messengers believed all the +absurd histories they heard about Buddha, and they returned to China with +a book which had been written about him. Ah! had they gone as far as +Canaan they might have heard Paul and Peter preaching the Gospel. Alas! +why did they go no further, and why did they go so far, only to return to +China with idols!</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='COCHIN_CHINA'></a><h2><a name='Page_100'></a>COCHIN CHINA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Any one on hearing this name would guess that the country was like China; +and so it is. If you were to go there you would be reminded of China by +many of the customs. You would see at dinner small basins instead of +plates, chop-sticks instead of knives and forks; you would have rice to +eat instead of bread; and rice wine to drink instead of grape wine.</p> + +<p>But you would not find <i>all</i> the Chinese customs in Cochin-China: for you +would see the women walking about at liberty, and with large feet, that +is, with feet of the natural size, and not cramped up like the "golden +lilies" of China. Neither would you see the people treated as strictly in +Cochin-China as in China. Beatings are not nearly as common there, and +behavior is not nearly as good as in China.</p> + +<p>The people are very different from the Chinese; for they are gay and +talkative, and open and sociable, while the Chinese are just the +contrary. However, they resemble the Chinese in fondness for eating. They +are very fond of giving grand dinners, and <a name='Page_101'></a>sometimes provide a hundred +dishes, and invite a hundred guests. A man is thought very generous who +gives such grand dinners. No one in Cochin-China would think of eating +his morsel alone, but every one asks those around to partake; and if any +one were not to do so, he would be counted very mean. Yet the people of +Cochin-China are always begging for gifts; and if they cannot get the +things they ask for, they steal them. Are they generous? No, because they +are covetous. It is impossible to be at the same time generous and +covetous; for what goodness is there in giving away our own things, if we +are wishing for other people's things?</p> + +<p>And now let us leave the <i>people</i> and look at the <i>land</i>. It is fruitful +and beautiful, being watered abundantly by fine rivers: but these rivers, +flowing among lofty mountains, often overflow, and drown men and cattle. +The grass of such a country must be very rich; and there are cows feeding +on it; yet there is no milk or butter to be had. Why? Because the people +have a foolish idea that it is wrong to milk cows.</p> + +<p>In no country are there stronger and larger elephants; so strong and so +large that one can carry thirteen persons on his back at once.</p> + +<p>The land is full of idols: for Buddha or Fo is worshipped in +Cochin-China, as he is in China.</p><a name='Page_102'></a> + +<p>The idols are sometimes kept in high trees, and priests may be seen +mounting ladders to present offerings.</p> + +<p>But the people are not satisfied with idols in trees; they have pocket +idols, which they carry about with them everywhere.</p> + + +<a name='Tonquin'></a> +<a name='Cambodia'></a> +<h3>TONQUIN.—CAMBODIA.</h3> + +<p>These two kingdoms belong to the king of Cochin-China; yet all three, +Tonquin, Cambodia, and Cochin-China, pay tribute to China, and therefore +they must be considered as conquered countries.</p> + +<p>They are all very much like China in their customs. There are large +cities in them all, and multitudes of people, but very little is known +about them in England.</p><a name='Page_103'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='HINDOSTAN'></a><h2>HINDOSTAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This word Hindostan means "black place," for in the Persian language +"hind" is "black," and "stan" is "place." You may guess, therefore, that +the people in Hindostan are very dark; yet they are not quite black, and +some of the ladies are only of a light brown complexion.</p> + +<p>What a large country Hindostan is! Has it an emperor of its own, as China +has? No: large as it is, it belongs to the little country called England.</p> + +<p>How did the English get it?</p> + +<p>They conquered it by little and little. When first they came there, they +found there a Mahomedan people, called the Moguls. These Moguls had +conquered Hindostan: but by degrees the English conquered them, and +became masters of all the land.</p> + +<p>There is only one small country among the mountains which has not been +conquered by the English, and that place is Nepaul. It is near the +Himalaya mountains. See that great chain of mountains in the <a name='Page_104'></a>north: they +are the Himalaya—the highest mountains in the world. The word "him," or +"hem," means snow—and snowy indeed are those mountains.</p> + +<p>There is a great river that flows from the Himalaya called the Ganges. It +flows by many mouths into the ocean; yet of all these mouths only one is +deep enough for large ships to sail in; the other mouths are all choked +up with sand. The deep mouth of the Ganges is called the Hoogley.</p> + +<p>It was on the banks of the Hoogley that the first English city was built. +It was built by some English merchants, and is called Calcutta. That name +comes from the name of a horrible idol called Kalee, of which more will +be said hereafter.</p> + +<p>Calcutta is now a very grand city; there is the governor's palace, and +there are the mansions of many rich Englishmen. It has been called "the +city of palaces."</p> + +<p>There is another great river on the other side of Hindostan called the +Indus. It was from that river that Hindostan got the name of India, or +the East Indies.</p> + +<p><b>VILLAGES.</b>—Calcutta is built on a large plain called Bengal. Dotted about +this plain are many villages. At a distance they look prettier than +English villages, for they are overshadowed with thick trees; but they +<a name='Page_105'></a>are wretched places to live in. The huts are scarcely big enough to hold +human creatures, nor strong enough to bear the pelting of the storm. When +you enter them you will find neither floor nor window, and very little +furniture; neither chair, nor table, nor bed—nothing but a large earthen +bottle for fetching water, a smaller one for drinking, a basket for +clothes, a few earthen pans, a few brass plates, and a mat.</p> + +<p>A Hindoo is counted very rich who has procured a wooden bedstead to place +his mat upon, and a wooden trunk, with a lock and key, to contain his +clothes; such a man is considered to have a well-furnished house.</p> + +<p>As you pass through the villages, you may see groups of men sitting under +the trees smoking their pipes, while children, without clothes, are +rolling in the dust, and sporting with the kids. Prowling about the +villages are hungry dogs and whining jackalls, seeking for bones and +offal; but the children are too much used to these creatures to be afraid +of them. Hovering in the air are crows and kites, ready to secure any +morsel they can see, or even to snatch the food, if they can, out of the +children's little hands.</p> + +<p>What a confused noise do you hear as you pass along! barking, whining, +and squalling, loud laughing, and incessant chattering. It is a heathen +village,<a name='Page_106'></a> and the sweet notes of praise to God are never sung there.</p> + +<p>Yet in every village there is a little temple with an idol, and a priest +to take the idol, to lay it down to sleep, and to offer it food, which he +eats himself.</p> + +<p>The poor people bring the food for the idol with flowers, and place it at +the door of the temple.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The Hindoos are pleasing in their appearance, for their +features are well-formed, their teeth are white, and their eyes have a +soft expression. The women take much pains to dress their long black +hair, which is soft as silk: they gather it up in a knot at their heads, +and crown it with flowers. They have no occasion for a needle to make +their dresses, as they are all in one piece. They wind a long strip of +white muslin (called a saree) round their bodies, and fold it over their +heads like a veil, and then they are full dressed, except their +ornaments, and with these they load themselves; glass rings of different +colors on their arms, silver rings on their fingers and toes, and gold +rings in their ears, and a gold ring in their nose.</p> + +<p>The men wear a long strip of calico twisted closely round their bodies, +and another thrown loosely over their shoulders; but this last they cast +off when they are at work: it is their upper garment. On their heads they +wear turbans, and on their feet sandals. <a name='Page_107'></a>The clothes of both men and +women are generally white or pink, or white bordered with red.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—The most common food is rice; and with this curry is often mixed +to give it a relish. What is curry? It is a mixture of herbs, spices, and +oil.</p> + +<p>Very poor people cannot afford to eat either rice or curry; and they eat +some coarse grain instead. A lady who made a feast for the poor provided +nothing but rice, and she found that it was thought as good as roast +beef and plum pudding are thought in England. The day after the feast +some of the poor creatures came to pick up the grains of rice that were +fallen upon the ground.</p> + +<p>The rich Hindoos eat mutton and venison, but not beef; this they think it +wicked to eat, because they worship bulls and cows.</p> + +<p>A favorite food is clarified butter, called "ghee," white rancid stuff, +kept in skin bottles to mix with curry.</p> + +<p>Water is the general drink, and there could not be a better. Yet there +are intoxicating drinks, and some of the Hindoos have learned to love +them, from seeing the English drink too much. What a sad thing that +Christians should set a bad example to heathens!</p> + +<p><b>PRODUCTIONS.</b>—There are many beautiful trees in<a name='Page_108'></a> India never seen in +England, and many nice fruits never tasted here.</p> + +<p>The palm-tree, with its immense leaves, is the glory of India. These +leaves are very useful; they form the roof, the umbrella, the bed, the +plate, and the writing-paper of the Hindoo.</p> + +<p>The most curious tree in India is the banyan, because one tree grows into +a hundred. How is that? The branches hang down, touch the ground, strike +root there, and spring up into new trees—joined to the old. Under an +aged banyan there is shade for a large congregation. Seventy thousand men +might sit beneath its boughs.</p> + +<p>There is a sort of grass which grows a hundred feet high, and becomes +hard like wood. It is called the bamboo. The stem is hollow like a pipe, +and is often used as a water-pipe. It serves also for posts for houses, +and for poles for carriages.</p> + +<p>There are abundance of nice fruits in India; and of these the mangoe is +the best. You might mistake it for a pear when you saw it, but not when +you tasted it. Pears cannot grow in India; the sun is too hot for grapes +and oranges, excepting on the hills.</p> + +<p>The chief productions of India are rice and cotton; rice is the food, and +cotton is the clothing of the Hindoo: and quantities of these are sent to +England, for <a name='Page_109'></a>though we have wheat for food, we want rice too; and though +we have wool for clothing, we want cotton too.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—There is no nation that has so many gods as the Hindoos. What +do you think of three hundred and thirty millions! There are not so many +people in Hindostan as that. No one person can know the names of all +these gods; and who would wish to know them? Some of them are snakes, and +some are monkeys!</p> + +<p>The chief god of all is called Brahm. But, strange to say, no one +worships him. There is not an image of him in all India.</p> + +<p>And why not? Because he is too great, the Hindoos say, to think of men on +earth. He is always in a kind of sleep. What would be the use of +worshipping him?</p> + +<p>Next to him are three gods, and they are part of Brahm.</p> + +<p>Their names are—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>I. Brahma, the Creator.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>II. Vishnoo, the Preserver.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>III. Sheeva, the Destroyer.</span><br /> + +<p>Which of these should you think men ought to worship the most? Not the +destroyer. Yet it is <i>him</i> they do worship the most. Very few worship +Brahma the creator. And why not? Because the Hindoos <a name='Page_110'></a>think he can do no +more for them than he has done; and they do not care about thanking him.</p> + +<p>Vishnoo, the preserver, is a great favorite; because it is supposed that +he bestows all manner of gifts. The Hindoos say he has been <i>nine</i> times +upon the earth; first as a fish, then as a tortoise, a man, a lion, a +boar, a dwarf, a giant; <i>twice</i> as a warrior, named Ram, and once as a +thief, named Krishna. They say he will come again as a conquering king, +riding on a white horse. Is it not wonderful they should say that? It +reminds one of the prophecy in Rev. xix. about Christ's second coming. +Did the Hindoos hear that prophecy in old time? They may have heard it, +for the apostle Thomas once preached in India, at least we believe he +did.</p> + +<p>Why do the people worship Sheeva the destroyer? Because they hope that if +they gain his favor, they shall not be destroyed by him. They do not know +that none can save from the destroyer but God.</p> + +<p>The Hindoos make images of their gods. Brahma is represented as riding on +a goose; Vishnoo on a creature half-bird and half-man; and Sheeva on a +bull.</p> + +<p>Sheeva's image looks horribly ferocious with the tiger-skin and the +necklace of skulls and snakes; but Sheeva's <i>wife</i> is far fiercer than +himself. Her name is<a name='Page_111'></a> Kalee. Her whole delight is said to be in blood. +Those who wish to please her, offer up the blood of beasts; but those who +wish to please her still more, offer up their own blood.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/5.jpg' width='597' height='841' alt='' title='THE SWING. p. 111.'> +</center> +<h5>THE SWING. See <a href='#Page_111'>p. 111.</a></h5> + +<p>Her great temple, called Kalee Ghaut, is near Calcutta. There is a great +feast in her honor once a year at that temple. Early in the morning +crowds assemble there with the noise of trumpets and kettle-drums. See +those wild fierce men adorned with flowers. They go towards the temple. A +blacksmith is ready. Lo! one puts out his tongue, and the blacksmith +cuts it: that is to please Kalee: another chooses rather to have an iron +bar run through his tongue. Some thrust iron bars and burning coals into +their sides. The boldest mount a wooden scaffold and throw themselves +down upon iron spikes beneath, stuck in bags of sand. It is very painful +to fall upon these spikes; but there is another way of torture quite as +painful—it is the swing. Those who determine to swing, allow the +blacksmith to drive hooks into the flesh upon their backs, and hanging by +these hooks they swing in the air for ten minutes, or even for half an +hour. And WHO all these cruel tortures? To please Kalee, and to make the +people wonder and admire, for the multitude around shout with joy as they +behold these horrible deeds.</p><a name='Page_112'></a> + +<p><b>THE CASTES.</b>—The Hindoos pretend that when Brahma created men, he made +some out of his mouth, some out of his arms, some out of his breast, and +some out of his foot. They say the priests came out of Brahma's mouth, +the soldiers came out of his arm, the merchants came out of his breast, +the laborers came out of his foot. You may easily guess who invented this +history. It was the priests themselves: it was they who wrote the sacred +books where this history is found.</p> + +<p>The priests are very proud of their high birth, and they call themselves +Brahmins.</p> + +<p>The laborers, who are told they come out of Brahma's foot, are much +ashamed of their low birth. They are called sudras.</p> + +<p>You would be astonished to hear the great respect the sudras pay to the +high and haughty Brahmins. When a sudra meets a Brahmin in the street, he +touches the ground three times with his forehead, then, taking the +priest's foot in his hand, he kisses his toe.</p> + +<p>The water in which a Brahmin has washed his feet is thought very holy. It +is even believed that such water can cure diseases.</p> + +<p>A Hindoo prince, who was very ill of a fever, was advised to try this +remedy. He invited the Brahmins<a name='Page_113'></a> from all parts of the country to +assemble at his palace. Many thousands came. Each, as he arrived, was +requested to wash his feet in a basin. This was the medicine given to the +sick prince to drink. It cost a great deal of money to procure it; for +several shillings were given to each Brahmin to pay him for his trouble, +and a good dinner was provided for all. It is said that the prince +recovered immediately, but we are quite certain that it was not the water +which cured him.</p> + +<p>In the holy books, or shasters, great blessings are promised to those who +are kind to a Brahmin. Any one who gives him an umbrella will never more +be scorched by the sun; any one who gives him a pair of shoes will never +have blistered feet; any one who gives him sweet spices will never more +be annoyed by ill smells; and any one who gives him a cow will go to +heaven.</p> + +<p>You may be sure that, after such promises, the Brahmins get plenty of +presents; indeed, they may generally be known by their well-fed +appearance, as well as by their proud manner of walking. They always wear +a white cord hung round their necks.</p> + +<p>But we must not suppose that all Brahmins are rich, and all sudras poor; +for it is not so. There are so many Brahmins that some can find no +employment<a name='Page_114'></a> as priests, and they are obliged to learn trades. Many of them +become cooks.</p> + +<p>There are sudras as rich as princes; but still a sudra can never be as +honorable as a Brahmin, though the Brahmin be the cook and the sudra the +master.</p> + +<p>But the sudras are not the <i>most</i> despised people. Far from it. It is +those who have no caste at all who are the most despised. They are called +pariahs. These are people who have lost their caste. It is a very easy +thing to lose caste, and once lost it can never be regained. A Brahmin +would lose his caste by eating with a sudra; a sudra would lose his by +eating with a pariah, and by eating with <i>you</i>—yes, with <i>you</i>, for the +Hindoos think that no one is holy but themselves. It often makes a +missionary smile when he enters a cottage to see the people putting away +their food with haste, lest he should defile it by his touch.</p> + +<p>Once an English officer, walking along the road, passed very near a +Hindoo just going to eat his dinner; suddenly he saw the man take up the +dish and dash it angrily to the ground. Why? The officer's shadow had +passed over the food and polluted it.</p> + +<p>If you were to invite poor Hindoos to come to a feast, they would not eat +if you sat down with them: nor would they eat unless they knew a Hindoo +had cooked their food. Even children at school will not<a name='Page_115'></a> eat with children +of a lower caste,—or with their teachers, if the teachers are not +Hindoos.</p> + +<p>There was once a little Hindoo girl named Rajee. She went to a +missionary's school, but she would not eat with her schoolfellows, +because she belonged to a higher caste than they did. As she lived at the +school, her mother brought her food every day, and Rajee sat under a tree +to eat it. At the end of two years she told her mother that she wished to +turn from idols, and serve the living God. Her mother was much troubled +at hearing this, and begged her child not to bring disgrace on the family +by becoming a Christian. But Rajee was anxious to save her precious soul. +She cared no longer for her caste, for she knew that all she had been +taught about it was deceit and folly; therefore one day she sat down and +ate with her schoolfellows. When her mother heard of Rajee's conduct, +she ran to the school in a rage, and seizing her little daughter by the +hair of the head, began to beat her severely. Then she hastened to the +priests to ask them whether the child had lost her caste forever. The +priests replied, "Has the child got her new teeth?" "No," said the +mother. "Then we can cleanse her, and when her new teeth come she will be +as pure as ever. But you must pay a good deal <a name='Page_116'></a>of money for the +cleansing." Were they not <i>cunning</i> priests? and <i>covetous</i> priests too?</p> + +<p>The money was paid, and Rajee was brought home against her will. Dreadful +sufferings awaited the poor child. The cleansing was a cruel business. +The priests burned the child's tongue. This was one of their cruelties. +When little Rajee was suffered to go back to school, she was so ill that +she could not rise from her bed.</p> + +<p>The poor deceived mother came to see her. "I am going to Jesus," said the +young martyr. The mother began to weep, "O Rajee, we will not let you +die."</p> + +<p>"But I am glad," the little sufferer replied, "because I shall go to +Jesus. If you, mother, would love him, and give up your idols, we should +meet again in heaven."</p> + +<p>An hour afterwards Rajee went to heaven; but I have never heard whether +her mother gave up her idols.</p> + +<a name='The_Ganges'></a> +<p><b>THE GANGES.</b>—This beautiful river waters the sultry plain of Bengal. God +made this river to be a blessing, but man has turned it into a curse. The +Hindoos say the River Ganges is the goddess Gunga; and they flock from +all parts of India to worship her. When they reach the river they bathe +in it, and fancy they have washed away all their sins. They carry <a name='Page_117'></a>away +large bottles of the sacred water for their friends at home.</p> + +<p>But this is not all; very cruel deeds are committed by the side of the +river. It is supposed that all who die there will go to the Hindoo +heaven. It is therefore the custom to drag dying people out of their +beds, and to lay them in the mud, exposed to the heat of the broiling +sun, and then to pour pails of water over their heads.</p> + +<p>One sick man, who was being carried to the water, covered up as if he +were dead, suddenly threw off the covering, and called out, "I am not +dead, I am only very ill." He knew that the cruel people who were +carrying him were going to cast him into the water while he was still +alive: but nothing he could say could save him: the cruel creatures +answered, "You may as well die <i>now</i> as at any other time;" and so they +drowned him, pretending all the while to be very kind.</p> + +<p>It is thought a good thing to be thrown into the river after death. The +Ganges is the great burying-place; and dead bodies may be seen floating +on its waters, while crows and vultures are tearing the flesh from the +bones. There would be many more of these horrible sights were it not that +many bodies are burned, and their ashes only cast into the river.</p><a name='Page_118'></a> + +<p>Some foolish deceived creatures drown themselves in the Ganges, hoping to +be very happy hereafter as a reward. The Brahmins are ready to accompany +such people into the water. Some men were once seen going into the river +with a large empty jar fastened to the back of each. The empty jar +prevented them from sinking; but there was a cup in the hands of each of +the poor men, and with these cups they filled the jars, and then they +began to sink. One of them grew frightened, and tried to get on shore; +but the wicked Brahmins in their boats hunted him, and tried to keep him +in the water; however, they could not catch him, and the miserable man +escaped. There are villages near the river whither such poor creatures +flee, and where they end their days together; for their old friends would +not speak to them if they were to return to their homes.</p> + +<p><b>BEGGARS.</b>—As you walk about Hindostan, you will sometimes meet a horrible +object, with no other covering than a tiger's skin, or else an orange +scarf; his body besmeared with ashes, his hair matted like the shaggy +coat of a wild beast, and his nails like birds' claws. The man is a +beggar, and a very bold one, because he is considered as one of the +holiest of men. Who is he?</p> + +<p>A sunnyasee. Who is <i>he</i>?</p><a name='Page_119'></a> + +<p>A Brahmin, who wishing to be more holy than other Brahmins (holy as they +are), has left all and become a beggar. As a reward, he expects, when he +dies, to go straight to heaven, without being first born again in the +world. It is wonderful to see the tortures which a sunnyasee will endure. +He will stand for years on one leg, till it is full of wounds, or, if he +prefers it, he will clench his fist till the nails grow through the +hands.</p> + +<p>These holy beggars are found in all parts of India, but they are +particularly fond of the most desolate spots. Near the mouth of the +Ganges there are some desert places, the resort of tigers, and there many +of the sunnyasees live in huts. They pretend not to be afraid of the +tigers, and the Hindoos think that tigers will not touch such holy men; +but it is certain that tigers have been seen dragging some of these proud +men into the woods.</p> + +<p>There is another kind of beggars called fakirs; they are just as wicked +and foolish as the sunnyasees; but they are Mahomedans and not Brahmins.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—Some of the fiercest and most disagreeable animals are highly +honored in India.</p> + +<p>The monkey is counted as a god; the consequence is, that the monkeys, +finding they are treated with respect, grow very bold, and are +continually scrambling<a name='Page_120'></a> upon the roofs of the houses. In one place there +is a garden where monkeys riot about at their pleasure, for all in that +garden is for them alone, the delicious fruits, the cool fountains, the +shady bowers, all are for the worthless, mischievous monkeys.</p> + +<p>But if it be strange for men to worship <i>monkeys</i>, is it not stranger +still to worship <i>snakes</i> and <i>serpents</i>? Yet there is a temple in India +where serpents crawl about at their pleasure, where they are waited upon +by priests, and fed with fruits and every dainty. How much delighted must +the old serpent be with this worship!</p> + +<p>Kites also, those fierce birds, are worshipped. There is meat sold in +shops on purpose for them; and it is bought and thrown up in the air to +the great greedy creatures.</p> + +<p>There are splendid peacocks flying about in the woods, but the Hindoos do +not worship them; they shoot and eat them.</p> + +<p>Of all the animals in India there is none which terrifies man so much as +the tiger. The Bengal tiger is a fine and fierce beast. Woe to the man or +woman on whom he springs! What then do you think must become of the man +who falls into his den? These dens are generally hid in jungles, which +are places covered with trees, and overgrown with shrubs and tall grass.</p><a name='Page_121'></a> + +<p>A gentleman was once walking through a jungle, when he felt himself +sinking into the ground, while a cloud of dust blinded his eyes. Soon he +heard a low growling noise. He fancied that he had sunk into a den, and +so he had. Beside him lay some little tigers, too young indeed to hurt +him; but these tigers had a mother, and she could not be far off, though +she was not in the den when the stranger fell in. The astonished man felt +there was no time to be lost, for the tigress, he knew, would soon return +to her cubs. How could he prepare to meet her? He had neither gun nor +sword, nor even stick in his hand. But a thought came into his head. +Snatching a silk handkerchief from his neck, and taking another from his +pocket, he bound them tightly round his arm up to his elbow; and thus +prepared to meet his enemy. She soon appeared, crouching on the ground, +and then with a spring leaped upon the stranger. At the same moment the +brave man thrust his arm between her open jaws, and seizing hold of her +rough tongue, twisted it backwards and forwards with all his might. The +beast was now unable to close her mouth, and to bite with her sharp +fangs; but she could scratch with her sharp claws; and scratch she did, +till the clothes were torn off the man's body, and the flesh from his +bones. But the brave man would not loose his hold;<a name='Page_122'></a> and the tigress was +tired out first: alarmed,—with a sudden start backward, she jerked her +tongue out of the man's hand, and rushed out of the den and out of the +jungle.</p> + +<p>How glad was the man to escape from a horrible fate! his body was faint +and bleeding; but his life was preserved, and his heart overflowed with +gratitude to God for his wonderful deliverance. He who delivered Daniel +from the lion's den delivered him from the tiger's den. The tiger's +mouth, indeed, had not been shut; but his open mouth had not been +suffered to devour the Lord's servant.</p> + + +<a name='The_Thugs'></a> +<h3>THE THUGS.</h3> + +<p>There is a set of people in India more dangerous than wild beasts. They +are called Thugs, that is, deceivers; and well do they deserve the name; +for their whole employment is to <i>deceive</i> that they may <i>destroy</i>. Yet +they are not ashamed of their wickedness; for they worship the goddess +Kalee, and they know that she delights in blood. Before they set out on +one of their cruel journeys, they bow down before the image of Kalee, and +they ask her to bless the shovel and the cloth that they hold in their +hands.</p><a name='Page_123'></a> + +<p>What are they for?</p> + +<p>The cloth is to strangle poor travellers, and the shovel to dig their +graves.</p> + +<p>A Hindoo family were once travelling when they overtook three men on the +way. These men seemed very civil and obliging; and they soon got +acquainted with the family, and accompanied them on their journey. Who +were these men? Alas! they were Thugs. It was very foolish of the family +to be so ready to go with strangers. At last they came up to three other +men, who were sitting under the shade of a tree, eating sugared rice. +These men also were Thugs; and they had agreed with the other Thugs to +help them in their wicked plans. But the family thought they were kind +and friendly men, and consented to sit down with them in the shade, and +to partake of their food. They did not know that with the rice was mixed +a sort of drug to cause people to fall asleep. The family ate and fell +asleep: and when they were asleep, the Thugs strangled them all with +their cloths,—the father, the mother, and the five young people,—and +then with their shovels they dug their graves. But before they buried +them they stripped them of their garments and their jewels; for it was to +get their precious spoils they had committed these dreadful murders. The +Thugs went afterwards <a name='Page_124'></a>to the priests of Kalee to receive a blessing, and +they rewarded the priests by giving them some of their stolen treasures.</p> + +<p>But, after all, these wicked men did not escape punishment; for the +English governors heard of their crimes, and caught them, and brought +them to justice. Then these murderers confessed the wicked deed just +related: but this was not their only crime; for it had been the business +of their lives to rob and to destroy.</p> + +<p>Do not these Thugs resemble him who is always walking about seeking whom +he may devour? Only he destroys the <i>soul</i> as well as the <i>body</i>. He is +the great Deceiver, and the great Destroyer. None but God can keep us +from falling into his power: therefore we pray, "Deliver us from evil," +or from the evil one.</p> + + +<a name='The_Hindoo_Women'></a> +<h3>THE HINDOO WOMEN.</h3> + +<p>It is a miserable thing to be a Hindoo lady. While she is a very little +girl, she is allowed to play about, but when she comes to be ten or +twelve years old, she is shut up in the back rooms of the house till she +is married; and when she is married she is shut up still. She may indeed +walk in the garden at the back of the house, but nowhere else.</p><a name='Page_125'></a> + +<p>Hindoo ladies are not taught even those trifling accomplishments which +Chinese ladies learn: they can neither paint, nor play music; much less +can they read and write. They amuse themselves by putting on their +ornaments, or by making curries and sweetmeats to please their husbands: +but most of their time they spend in idleness, sauntering about and +chattering nonsense. As rich Hindoos have several wives, the ladies are +not alone; and being so much together, they quarrel a great deal.</p> + +<p>Some English ladies once visited the house of a rich Hindoo. They were +led into the court at the back of the house, and shown into a little +chamber. One by one some women came in, all looking very shy and afraid +to speak; yet dressed very fine in muslin sarees, worked with gold and +silver flowers, and they were adorned with pearls and diamonds. At last +they ventured to admire the clothes of their visitors, and even to touch +them. Then they asked the English ladies to come and see their jewels; +and they took them into a little dark chamber with gratings for windows, +and displayed their treasures. They talked very loud, and all together +and so foolishly, that the ladies reproved them. The poor creatures +replied, "We should like to learn to read and work like the English +ladies; but we have nothing to do, and so we are accustomed<a name='Page_126'></a> to be idle, +and to talk foolishly. Do come again, and bring us books, and pictures, +and dolls."</p> + +<p>You see what useless, wearisome lives the Hindoo <i>ladies</i> lead. Now hear +what hard and wretched lives the <i>poor</i> women lead. The wife of a poor +man rises from her mat before it is day, and by the light of a lamp spins +cotton for the family clothing. Next she feeds the children, and sweeps +the house and yard, and cleans the brass and stone vessels. Then she +washes the rice, bruises, and boils it. By this time it is ten o'clock, +when she goes with some other women to bathe in the river, or if there be +no river near, in a great tank of rain-water. While there, she often +makes a clay image of her god, and worships it with prayers, and bowings, +and offerings of fruit and flowers, for nearly an hour. On her return +home she prepares the curry for dinner: her kitchen is a clay furnace in +the yard, and there she boils the rice. When dinner is ready, she dares +not sit down with her husband to eat it: no, she places it respectfully +before his mat, and then retires to the yard. Her little boys eat with +their father; but her little girls dine with her upon the food that is +left.</p> + +<p>It is not the busy life she leads that makes a poor woman unhappy: it is +the ill-treatment she endures. A kind word is seldom spoken to her: but a +hard <a name='Page_127'></a>blow is often given. Her own boys are encouraged to insult her +because she is only a woman. She is taught to worship her husband as a +god, however bad he may be. There is a proverb which shows how much women +are despised in India. "How can you place the black rice-pot beside the +golden spice-box!" By the rice-box a woman is meant: by the spice-box a +man: and the meaning of the proverb is that a wife is unworthy to sit at +the same table with her husband.</p> + +<p>In this manner a <i>wife</i> is treated: a <i>widow</i> is still more despised. +However young she may be, she is not allowed to marry again; but is +obliged to live in her father's house, or (if she has no father) in her +brother's house, to do the hardest work, and never to eat more than one +meal a day, and that meal of the coarsest food. Widows used to burn +themselves in a great fire with their husbands' dead bodies; but the +English government has forbidden them to do so any more; but their +hard-hearted relations make them as miserable as possible.</p> + +<p><b>MISSIONARIES.</b>—There are hundreds of missionaries in India; but not +nearly enough for so many millions of people. The Hindoos call them +Padri-Sahibs, which means "Father-Gentlemen," and they give them this +name to show their love, as well as respect.</p> + +<p>Once a missionary who had been long in India was<a name='Page_128'></a> going back to England +for a little while. It was from Calcutta that he set sail. The Christian +Hindoos stood in crowds by the river-side to bid him farewell. Among the +rest was a little girl with her parents. She was a gracious child, who +had turned from idols to serve the living God. The missionary said to +her, "Well, my child, you know I am going to England. What shall I bring +you from that country?"</p> + +<p>"I do not want anything," she modestly replied. "I have my parents, and +my brother, and the Padri-Sahibs, and my books, what can I want more?"</p> + +<p>"But," said the missionary, "you are only a little girl, and surely you +would like something from England. Shall I bring you some playthings?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said the child; "I do not want playthings—I am learning +to read."</p> + +<p>"Come, come," said the missionary, "shall I bring you a playfellow, a +white child from England!"</p> + +<p>"No, no," answered the little girl, "it would be taking her from her +parents."</p> + +<p>"Well then," said her friend, "is there nothing I can bring you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you are so kind as to insist on bringing me something, ask the +Christians in England to send me a Bible-book and more PADRI-SAHIBS."</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/6.jpg' width='575' height='830' alt='MISSIONARYS HOUSE. p. 128.' title='MISSIONARYS HOUSE. p. 128.'> +</center> +<h5>MISSIONARY'S HOUSE. See <a href='#Page_128'> p. 128.</a></h5> + +<p>This was a good request indeed, but to get Padri-Sahibs<a name='Page_129'></a> is a hard thing +to do. Who can tell how much good they have done already! There are many +Christian villages in India, and they are as different from heathen +villages as a dove's nest is different from a tiger's den.</p> + +<p>Some very wicked men have been converted. You have heard of those proud +and hateful beggars, the Sunnyasees and the Fakirs.</p> + +<p>One day a missionary, who had gone for his health to the Himalaya +Mountains, was walking in the verandah of his house, when he was +surprised by a man suddenly throwing himself down at his feet, and +embracing his knees. The missionary could not tell who this man was, for +a dark blanket covered the man's head and face. But soon the covering was +lifted up, and a swarthy and withered countenance was shown; the +missionary knew it to be that of an old Fakir he once had known, as the +chief priest of a gang of robbers, but now the Mahomedan was become a +Christian; and he had travelled six hundred miles, hoping to see once +more the face of his teacher; and lo! he had seen it at last. </p> + +<p><b>SCHOOLS.</b>—The Hindoos have schools of their own, but only for boys. The +scholars sit in a shed, cross-legged upon mats, and learn to scratch +letters with iron pins upon large leaves. But what can they<a name='Page_130'></a> learn from +Brahmin teachers but foolish tales about false gods?</p> + +<p>Missionaries have far better schools, where the Bible is taught; and +missionaries' wives have schools for girls; and sometimes they take pity +on poor orphans, and receive them into their houses.</p> + +<p>One evening as a Christian lady was returning home, she saw a Hindoo +woman lying on the ground, and a little boy sitting by her side. The lady +spoke kindly to the sick woman, and then the little boy looked up and +said, with tears in his eyes, "My mother is sick, and has nothing to eat; +I fear she will die." The lady had compassion on the mother and the +child, and hastening home, she sent her servant to fetch them both. They +were soon put to rest on a nice clean mat, with a blanket to cover them; +but the mother died next morning. The little boy was left an orphan, but +not forlorn, nor friendless, for the Christian lady took care of him. He +was five years old, thin and delicate, and much fairer than most Hindoo +children. He had many winning ways; but he had a proud heart. He was +proud of his name, "Ramchunda," because it was the name of a great false +god: but when he had learned about the true God, he asked for a new name, +and was called "John." His wishing to change his name was a good <a name='Page_131'></a>sign: +and there were other good signs in this little orphan; and before he +died,—for he died soon,—he showed plainly that he had not a new <i>name</i> +only, but a new <i>nature</i>.</p> + +<p>Little Phebe was another child received by a missionary's wife. She was +not an orphan, yet she was as much to be pitied as an orphan; for her +mother told the missionaries that if they did not take the child, she +would throw her to the jackals. It was a happy exchange for the infant to +leave so cruel a mother to be reared by a Christian lady, who, instead of +throwing her to jackals, brought her to Jesus.</p> + +<p>She died when only five years old by an accident: when washing her hands +in the great tank she fell in, and was drowned.</p> + +<p>But some Hindoo children, though carefully instructed, do not grow gentle +and loving, like John and Phebe.</p> + +<p>The tents of some English soldiers were pitched in a lonely part of +India; and the night was dark, when an officer's lady thought she heard +the sound of a child crying. The lady sent her servants out to look, and +at last they brought in a little girl of four years old. And where do you +think they had found her? Buried up to her throat in a bog, her little +head alone peeping out. And who do you think had put her <a name='Page_132'></a>there? Her +cruel mother. Yes, she had left her there to die.</p> + +<p>This child gave a great deal of trouble to the kind lady who had saved +her, nor did she show her any love in return for her kindness; and after +keeping her about two years, the lady sent her to a missionary's school.</p> + +<p>You see how cruelly mothers in India sometimes treat their children. +Their religion teaches them to be cruel.</p> + +<p>A mother is taught to believe that if her babe is sick, an evil spirit is +angry. To please this evil spirit, she will put her babe in a basket, and +hang it up in a tree for three days. She goes then to look at it, and if +it be alive, she takes it home. But how seldom does she find it alive! +Either the ants or the vultures have eaten it, or it is starved to death.</p> + +<p>When there is a famine in the land, many mothers will sell their children +for sixpence each: and if they cannot sell them, they will leave them to +perish.</p> + +<p>One missionary received fifty-one poor starving children into his house: +they were always crying, "Sahib, roti, roti;" that is, "Master, bread, +bread." But the bread came to late too save their lives; for all died +except one.</p> + +<p>Yet these sick children were very wicked.</p><a name='Page_133'></a> + +<p>One of them stole a brass basin, and sold it for sweetmeats. Though very +kindly treated, some of them wished to escape; and to prevent it, the +missionary tied them together in strings of fifteen;</p> + +<p>There is a tribe in India called Khunds; and they sprinkle their fields +with children's blood, and they say this is the way to make the corn +grow. The English government once rescued eighty poor children from the +Khunds, and sent them to a Christian school. What miserable little +creatures they were when they arrived! but they were soon clothed and +comforted; and taught to hold a needle, and to know their letters; and, +better still, to pronounce the name of Jesus. Like these poor little +captives, we were all condemned to die, till Jesus rescued us, and +promised everlasting life to those who believe.</p> + + +<a name='The_English_In_India'></a> +<h3>THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.</h3> + +<p>There are many rich English gentlemen living in India: some are judges, +and some are merchants, and some are officers in the army. They dwell in +large and grand houses, with many windows down to the ground, and a wide +verandah to keep off the sun. Instead of <i>glass</i>, there is <i>grass</i> in the +windows: the <a name='Page_134'></a>blinds are made of sweet-scented grass, and servants outside +continually pour water on the grass to make the air cool. Instead of +<i>fires</i>, they have <i>fans</i>. These fans are like large screens hanging from +the ceiling, and waving to and fro to refresh the company. Instead of +carpets there are mats on the floor; and round the beds gauze curtains +are drawn to keep out the insects.</p> + +<p>The servants are all Hindoos, and a great number are kept; and this is +necessary, because each servant will only do one kind of work.</p> + +<p>Each horse has two servants, one to take care of it, and the other to cut +grass: even the dog has a boy to look after it alone. The servants do not +live in their master's house, but in small huts near. The place where +they live is called "the compound."</p> + +<p>When English people travel they do not go in carriages, but in +palanquins. A palanquin is like a child's cot, only larger; and there a +traveller can sleep at his ease.</p> + +<p>The men who carry the palanquins are called "Bearers." The nurses are +called Ayahs. Babies are carried out of doors by their ayahs, but +children of three or four are taken out by the bearers.</p> + +<p>There was once a little girl of three years old who taught her bearer to +fear God.</p> + +<p><a name='Page_135'></a>Little Mary was walking out in a grove with her heathen bearer. She +observed him stop at a small Hindoo temple, and bow down to the stone +image before the door.</p> + +<p>The lisping child inquired,—"Saamy, what for, you do that?"</p> + +<p>"O, missy," said he, "that is my god!"</p> + +<p>"Your god!" exclaimed the child, "your god, Saamy! Why your god can no +see, no can hear, no can walk—your god stone! My God make you, make me, +make everything!" Yet Saamy still, whenever he passed the temple, bowed +down to his idol: and still the child reproved him. Though the old man +would not mind, yet he loved his baby teacher. Once when he thought she +was going to England he said to her,—"What will poor Saamy do when missy +go to England? Saamy no father, no mother."</p> + +<p>"O Saamy!" replied the child, "if you love God he will be your father, +and mother too."</p> + +<p>The poor bearer promised with tears in his eyes that he would love God. +"Then," said she, "you must learn my prayers;" and she began to teach him +the Lord's<a name='Page_136'></a> Prayer. Soon afterwards Mary's papa was surprised to see the +bearer enter the room at the time of family prayers, and still more +surprised to see him take off his turban, kneel down, and repeat the +Lord's Prayer after his master. The lispings of the babe had brought the +old man to God: Saamy did not only bow the knee, he worshipped in spirit +and in truth, and became a real Christian.</p> + +<p><b>CHIEF CITIES.</b></p> + +<p>There are three great cities which may be called English cities, though +in India: because Englishmen built them, and live in them, and rule over +them. Their names are Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay.</p> + +<p>The capital city is Calcutta. There the chief governor resides. Part of +Calcutta is called the Black Town, and it is only a heap of mud huts +crowded with Hindoos. The other part of Calcutta is called the English +town; and it consists of beautiful houses by the river-side, each house +surrounded by a charming garden and a thick grove.</p> + +<p>Madras is built on a plain by the sea, and is adorned by fine avenues of +trees, amongst which the English live in elegant villas and gardens. Here +also there is a Black town. It is very hard to land at Madras, because +there is no harbor.</p> + +<p>Bombay has one of the best harbors in the world. It is built on a small +island covered with cocoa-nut groves.</p> + +<p>Now let us compare these places with each other.</p><a name='Page_137'></a> + +<p><i>Calcutta</i> boasts of her fine river, but then the ground is flat and +marshy; and therefore the air is damp and unhealthy, and there are no +grand prospects.</p> + +<p>Madras is very dry, and sandy, and dusty; but then there is the sea to +enliven and refresh it.</p> + +<p>Bombay has the sea also, besides the groves, and at a little distance, +high mountains, which look beautiful, and which it is delightful to +visit. There are no such mountains near Calcutta or Madras.</p> + +<p>These are the chief English cities. I must now speak of the favorite city +of the Hindoos.</p> + +<p>It is Benares on the Ganges.</p> + +<p>You might go from Calcutta in a boat, and after sailing four hundred +miles, you would reach Benares. The Hindoos say that it was built by +their god Sheeva, of gold and precious stones; but that, as we are living +in a bad time, it <i>appears</i> to be made of bricks and mud, though really +very different. They say that Benares is eighty thousand steps nearer +heaven than any other city, and that whoever dies there (even though he +eat BEEF!) will go to heaven.</p> + +<p>A missionary once reported a Hindoo for telling lies. The answer was, +"Why, what of that? do I not live at Benares?" The man thought he was +quite safe, however wicked he might be.</p> + +<p>In walking about Benares a stranger might be surprised <a name='Page_138'></a>to meet every now +and then a white bull, with a hump on its back, without a driver or a +rider, or any one to keep it in order. You must know that a white bull is +said to belong to the chief god of Benares, and it is considered a sacred +animal, and is allowed to do as it pleases.</p> + +<p>And how does it behave?</p> + +<p>It behaves much in the same manner as a child would who had its own way. +The white bull helps itself to the fruit and vegetables sold in the +streets, and even to the sweetmeats. It has a great taste for flowers; +and it cunningly hides itself near the doors of the temples, to watch for +the people coming out with their garlands of marigolds round their necks. +At these the bull eagerly snatches with its tongue, and swallows them in +a moment. Finding it is petted by every one, it grows so bold, as to walk +into the houses, and even to go up the stone stairs on to the roof, where +it seems to enjoy the cool air, as it quietly chews the cud.</p> + +<p>In the spring the white bulls like to wander out in the fields to eat the +tender green grass. A farmer finding one of these bulls in his fields, +made him get into a boat, and sent him by a man across the river Ganges. +But the cunning creature came back in the evening; for he watched till he +saw some people setting <a name='Page_139'></a>out in a boat, and then jumped in; and though +the passengers tried to turn him out, he would stay there. In this way he +got back to the cornfields.</p> + +<p>So much respected are these bulls that a Hindoo would sooner lose his own +life than suffer one of them to be killed. An English gentleman was just +going to shoot one that had broken into his garden, when his Hindoo +servant rushed between him and the bull, saying, "Shoot me, sir, shoot +me, but let him go." You may be sure that the gentleman did not shoot the +servant, and I think it probable he spared the bull's life.</p> + +<p>There is one more city to be noticed.</p> + +<p>DELHI was once the grandest city in India, and the seat of the great +Moguls, those Mahomedans who conquered India before the British came. The +ancient palace is still to be seen: it is built of red stone; but its +ornaments are gone; where is now the room lined with crystal, the golden +palm-tree with diamond fruits, and the golden peacock with emerald wings, +overshadowing the monarch's throne?</p> + +<p>The Persians have stripped the palace of all its gorgeous splendor.</p><a name='Page_140'></a> + +<p>We have now described the two most numerous nations in the world, China +and Hindostan. They contain together more than half the world. In some +respects they are alike, and in some respects they are different. In +these respects they are different.</p> + +<pre>IN CHINA. IN HINDOSTAN. + +There is one emperor. There is no emperor, and + the English govern the country. + +There is one language. There are many. + +They use chairs, and tables, They sit and sleep on mats. +and beds. + +They eat with chop-sticks. They eat with their fingers. + +They wear shoes. They go barefoot, and wear + sandals. + +The men shave their heads The men twist up their +except one lock. hair with a comb. + +They seldom wash themselves. They bathe often. + +They eat pigs more than They abhor pigs. +any other meat. + +They are grave and silent. They are merry and talkative. + +They are industrious. They are idle. + +The most learned rise to be Every one is high and low +great men. according to his caste. + +They mind the laws. They care not for laws. + +The land is well cultivated. There is much waste land, + and many jungles.</pre> + +<p>Now let us consider in what respects they are <i>alike</i>.</p><a name='Page_141'></a> + +<p>China and Hindostan are alike in these respects. They are both very +<i>populous</i>, though China has twice as many inhabitants as Hindostan.</p> + +<p>In both rice is the chief food.</p> + +<p>In both large grown-up families live together.</p> + +<p>In both the women are shut up.</p> + +<p>In both foreigners are hated.</p> + +<p>In both conjurers are admired.</p> + +<p>In both many idols are worshipped.</p> + +<p>In both there are ancient sacred books.</p> + +<p>In both the people are deceitful, unmerciful to the poor, and in the +habit of destroying their own little girls when babies.</p> + +<p>In both it is believed that the soul after death goes into another body, +and is born over and over again into this world.</p> + +<p>Is it not mournful to think that more than half the people in the world +have no bright hope to cheer a dying bed? One poor Hindoo was heard to +exclaim as he was dying, "Where shall I go <i>last</i> of all?" He asked a +wise question. He wanted to know where, after having been born ever so +many times, he should be put for <i>ever</i> and <i>ever</i>. That is the great +point we all want to know. But the Hindoo and the Chinaman cannot know +this: they have never heard of <i>everlasting</i> happiness.</p><a name='Page_142'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CIRCASSIA'></a><h2>CIRCASSIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is not a vast country like China, or Hindostan. It may be called a +nook, it is so small compared with some great kingdoms: but it is famous +on account of the beauty of the people. They are fair, like Europeans, +with handsome features, and fine figures. But their beauty has done them +harm, and not good; for the cruel Turks purchase many of the Circassian +women, because they are beautiful, and shut them up in their houses. +Perhaps you will be surprised to hear that the young Circassians think it +a fine thing to go to Turkey—to live in fine palaces and gardens, +instead of remaining in their own simple cottages. But I think that when +they find themselves confined between high walls, they must sigh to think +of their flocks and their farms at home, and more than all, of the dear +relations they have left behind.</p> + +<p>Circassia is a pleasant country, situated near the noble mountains of +Caucasus. The snow on the mountains cools the air, and makes Circassia as +pleasant <a name='Page_143'></a>to live in as our own England. Indeed, if you were suddenly to +be transported into Circassia, you would be ready to exclaim, "Is not +this England? Here are apple-trees, and pear-trees, and plum-trees, like +those in my father's garden: those sounds are like the notes of the +blackbird and thrush, which sing among the hawthorns in English woods."</p> + +<p>But look again, you will see vines interlacing their fruitful branches +among the spreading oaks. You do not see such vines in England. But hark! +what do I hear? It is a sound never heard in England. It is the yell of +jackals.</p> + +<p><b>MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE.</b>—There is no country in the world where the people +are as kind to strangers as in Circassia. Every family, however poor, has +a guest-house. There is the family-house, with its orchard, and stables, +and at a little distance, another house for strangers. This is no more +than a large room, with a stable at one end. The walls are made of +wicker-work, plastered with clay. There is no ceiling but the rafters, +and no floor but the bare earth. Yet there is a wide chimney, where a +blazing fire is kept up with a pile of logs. And there is a sofa or +divan, covered with striped silk, and many neat mats to serve as beds for +as many travellers as may arrive. The wind may whistle through the +chinks, and the<a name='Page_144'></a> rain come through the roof, but the stranger is well +warmed, and comfortably lodged; and above all, he has the host to wait +upon him with more attention than a servant. The supper is served as soon +as the sun sets.</p> + +<p>But where is the table? There is none. Is the supper placed on the floor? +Not so. It is brought in on stools with three legs. They answer the +purpose of tables, trays, and dishes, all in one. What is the fare served +up? This is the sort of dinner provided. On the first table is placed a +flat loaf; the gravy in the middle, and the meat all round. When this is +taken away, another table is brought in with cheese-cakes; a third with +butter and honey; a fourth with a pie; a fifth with a cream; and last of +all, a table, with a wooden bowl of curdled milk. The company have no +plates; but each Circassian carries a spoon and a knife in his girdle, +and with these he helps himself. The servants who stand by, are not +forgotten: a piece of meat or of pie-crust is often given to one of them; +it is curious to see the men take it into a corner to eat it there. There +are many hungry poor waiting at the door of the guest-house, ready to +help the servants to devour the remains of the feast; and there is often +a great deal of food left; for there are generally <i>ten</i> tables, and +sometimes <a name='Page_145'></a>there are <i>forty</i> tables. The guests are expected to taste the +food on each, however many there may be.</p> + +<p>Instead of wine, there is a drink called shuat handed to the guests: it +is distilled from grain and honey. Vegetables are not much eaten in +Circassia: for greens are considered fit only for beasts: and there are +no potatoes. Pies, and tarts, and tartlets of various kinds are too well +liked, and the finest ladies in the land are skilful in making them.</p> + +<p>The family live in a thatched cottage, called "the family-house." It is +not divided into rooms. If a man wants several rooms, he builds several +houses.</p> + +<p>As you approach the dwelling of a Circassian, you hear the barking of +dogs, and upon coming nearer, you see women milking cows, and feeding +poultry, and boys tending goats, and leading horses.</p> + +<p>If you go into the farm-yard, you will see among the animals, the +buffalo—but no pig. There are, however, wild boars in the woods.</p> + +<p><b>CIRCASSIAN WOMEN.</b>—They are not shut up as Hindoo, and Chinese, and +Turkish ladies are. They do not indeed go into the guest-house to see +strangers; but strangers are sometimes invited into the family-house to +see them.</p> + +<p>An Englishman, who visited a family-house, was introduced <a name='Page_146'></a>to the wife and +daughter. They both rose up when he entered: nor would they sit down, +till he sat down; and this respect ladies show not only to gentlemen, but +even to the poorest peasants. The only furniture in the house was the +divan, on which the ladies sat; a pile of boxes, containing the beds, +which were to be spread on the floor at night; and a loom for weaving +cloth, and spindles for spinning.</p> + +<p>The daughter, who was sixteen, was dressed in a skirt of striped silk, +with a blue bodice, and silver clasps; and she wore a cap of scarlet +cloth, adorned with silver lace—her light hair flowing over her +shoulders: yet though so finely arrayed, her feet were bare; for she only +put on her red slippers when she walked out. The mother was covered with +a loose calico wrapper, and her face was concealed by a thick white veil. +The visitor laid some needle-cases at the ladies' feet, for it is not the +custom for them to receive presents in their hands.</p> + +<p>The needle-cases greatly delighted the young Hafiza, and her mother. The +present was well chosen, because the Circassian women are very +industrious, supplying their husbands and brothers with all their +clothes, from the woollen bonnet to the morocco shoe. The wool, the flax, +and the hemp, are all prepared at home by the mothers, and made into +clothes by the <a name='Page_147'></a>girls, who first spin the thread, then weave the cloth, +and finish by sewing the seams. Some girls are very clever in knitting +silver lace for trimming garments. A girl named Dussepli was famous for +her skill in this art, indeed her name signifies, "Shining as lace."</p> + +<p>An Englishman went to the place where she lived to buy some of her lace. +He was shown into the guest-house, and he soon saw Dussepli approaching +in a pair of high pattens. At first sight there was nothing pleasing in +Dussepli but when she spoke she seemed so kind, and so true, that it was +impossible not to like her. By her industry in knitting lace, and dyeing +cloth, she helped to support her father, who was poor.</p> + +<p><b>THE CIRCASSIAN MEN.</b>—War is their chief occupation. Working in the fields +is left to the women, and the little boys, and the slaves. There is, +alas! great occasion for the men to fight, as the land has long been +infested with many dangerous enemies.</p> + +<p>The Russians are endeavoring to conquer the Circassians: but the +Circassians declare they will die sooner than yield. Long ago the enemies +must have triumphed, had it not been for the high mountains which afford +hiding-places for the poor hunted inhabitants. Every man carries a gun, a +pistol, a dagger, and a sword; and the nobles are distinguished by a bow, +and<a name='Page_148'></a> a quiver of arrows. The usual dress is of coarse dark cloth, and +consists of a tunic, trowsers, and gaiters. The cap or bonnet is of +sheep-skin, or goatskin.</p> + +<p>The boys are taught from their infancy to be hardy and manly. They are +brought up in a singular way. Instead of remaining at home, they are +given at three years old, into the care of a stranger: and the reason of +this custom is, that they may not be petted by their parents. The +stranger is called "foster-father," and he teaches any boy under his care +to ride well, and to shoot at a mark. The boy follows his foster-father +over the mountains, urging his horses to climb tremendous heights, and to +rush down ravines; and appeasing his hunger with a mouthful of honey from +the bag, fastened to his girdle. Such is the life he leads, till he is a +tall and a strong youth; and then he returns home to his parents. His +foster-father presents him with a horse, and weapons of war, and requires +no payment in return for all his care.</p> + +<p>Men brought up in this manner must be wild, bold, restless, and ignorant. +Such are the Circassians. They care not for learning, as the Chinese do, +but only for bravery. We cannot wonder at this, when we remember what +enemies they have in their land. The Russians have built many strong +towers, whence they shoot at all who come near. But, not satisfied +<a name='Page_149'></a>with this, they often come forth and rob the villages.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/7.jpg' width='460' height='522' alt='Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia." p. 149.' title='Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia." p. 149.'> +</center> + +<h5>Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia." See <a href='#Page_149'> p. 149.</a></h5> + +<p>There was a Circassian, (and he may be still alive,) called Guz Beg; and +he gained for himself the name of the "Lion of Circassia." He was always +leading out little bands of men to attack the Russians. One day he found +some Russian soldiers reaping in the fields, and when he came near they +ran away in terror, leaving two hundred scythes in the field, which he +seized. But a great calamity befel this Lion. He had an only son. When he +first led the boy to the wars, he charged him never to shrink from the +enemy, but to cut his way through the very midst. One day Guz Beg had +ridden into the thick of the Russian soldiers, when suddenly a ball +pierced his horse, and he was thrown headlong on the ground. There lay +the Lion among the hunters. In another moment he would have been killed, +when suddenly a youthful warrior flew to his rescue;—it was his own son. +But what could <i>one</i> do among so <i>many</i>! A troop of Circassian horse +rushed to the spot, and bore away Guz Beg; but they were too late to save +his son. They bore away the <i>body</i> only of the brave boy. Guz Beg was +deeply grieved; but he continued still to fight for his country.</p> + +<p>See those black heaps of ashes. In that spot there<a name='Page_150'></a> once lived a prince +named Zefri Bey, with his four hundred servants; but his dwellings were +burned to the ground by the Russians. That prince fled to Turkey to plead +for help. What would have become of his wife, and little girls, if a kind +friend had not taken them under his care? This friend was hump-backed, +but very brave. Some English travellers went to visit him, and were +received in the guest-house and regaled with a supper of many tables. +Next day the little girls came to the guest-house and kissed their hands. +The daughter of the hump-backed man accompanied them. The children were +delighted with some toys the traveller gave them, and the kind young lady +accepted needles and scissors. But where was the wife of Zefri Bey? A +servant was sent to inquire after her, and found her in rags, lying on a +mat, without even a counterpane, and weeping bitterly. Had no one given +her clothes, and coverings? Yes, but she gave everything away, for she +had been used, as a princess, to make presents, and now she cared for +nothing. Such are the miseries which the Russians bring upon Circassia.</p> + +<p><b>THE GOVERNMENT.</b>—There is no king of Circassia; but there are many +princes.</p> + +<p>The people pay great respect to these princes, standing in their +presence, and giving them the first place<a name='Page_151'></a> at feasts, and in the +battle-field. But though the people honor them, they do not obey them. </p> + +<p>There is a parliament in Circassia, but it does not meet in a house, but +in a grove. Every man who pleases may come, but only old men may speak. +If a young man were to give his opinions, no attention would be paid. The +warriors sit on the grass, and hang up their weapons of war on the boughs +above their heads, while they fasten their horses to the stems of the +trees.</p> + +<p>The speakers are gentle in their tones of voice and behavior. The +Circassians admire sweet winning speeches. They say there are three +things which mark a great man; a sharp sword, a sweet tongue, and forty +tables. What do they mean by these? By a sharp sword they mean bravery, +by a sweet tongue they mean soft speeches, and by forty tables they mean +giving plentiful suppers to neighbors and to strangers. Are the +Circassians right in this way of thinking? No—for though bravery is +good, and speaking well is good, and giving away is good, these are not +the greatest virtues: and people may be brave, and speak well, and give +away much, and yet be wicked: for they may be without the love of God in +their hearts. What are the greatest virtues? These three, Faith, Hope, +and Charity. These are graces which come from God.</p><a name='Page_152'></a> + +<p><b>SERVANTS.</b>—There are slaves in Circassia, called serfs. But they are so +well treated, that they are not like the slaves of other countries. They +live in huts round their master's dwelling; they work in the fields, and +wait upon the guests, and share in the good fare on the little tables.</p> + +<p>When a Circassian takes a Russian prisoner, he makes him a slave, and +gives him the hardest work to do. Yet the Russians are much happier with +their Circassian masters than in their own country.</p> + +<p>Once a Circassian said to his Russian slave, "I am going to send you back +to Russia." The man fell at his master's feet, saying, "Rather than do +so, use me as your dog; beat me, tie me up, and give me your bones to +pick." The master then told him that he had not spoken in earnest, and +that he would not send him away, and then the poor fellow began to shout, +and to jump with joy.</p> + +<p><b>BROTHERHOODS.</b>—There is a very remarkable plan in Circassia, unlike the +plans in other countries. A certain number of men agree to call +themselves "brothers." These brothers help each other on every occasion, +and visit at each other's houses frequently. They are not received in the +guest-house, but in the family-house, and are treated by all the family +as if they were really the brothers of the master.</p><a name='Page_153'></a> + +<p>A brotherhood sometimes consists of two thousand, but sometimes of only +twenty persons.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—Circassia, though beautiful, is an unhappy country. The +Russians keep the people in continual fear; this is a great evil. But +there is another nation who have done the Circassians still greater harm. +I mean the Turks. And what have they done to them? They have persuaded +them to turn Mahomedans. The greatest harm that can be done to any one, +is to give him a false religion. There are no grand mosques in Circassia, +because there are no towns: but in every little village there is a clay +cottage, where prayers are offered up in the name of Mahomet. There can +be no minaret to such a miserable mosque: so the man who calls the hours +of prayer, climbs a tall tree, by the help of notches, and getting into a +basket at the top, makes the rocks and hills resound with his cry. How +different shall be the sound one day heard in every land; when all people +shall believe in Jesus. "Then shall the inhabitants of the rocks +sing—then shall they shout from the top of the mountains, and give glory +unto the <i>Lord</i>" and not to Mahomet. (Is. xlii. 11, 12.)</p> + +<p>But though the Circassians call themselves Mahomedans, they keep many of +their old customs, and these customs show that they once heard about +Christ.</p><a name='Page_154'></a> + +<p>It is their custom to dedicate every boy to God: but not really to <i>God</i>, +for in truth they dedicate him to the <i>cross</i>. Let me give you an account +of one of the feasts of dedication. </p> + +<p>The place of meeting was a green, shaded by spreading oak-trees. In the +midst stood a cross. Each family who came to the feast, brought a little +table, and placed it before the cross; and on each table, there were +loaves, and a sort of bread called "pasta." There was a blazing fire on +the green, round which the elder women sat, while the younger preferred +the shade of a thicket. The priest took a loaf of bread in one hand, and +in the other, a large cup of shuat, (a kind of wine) and holding them out +towards the cross, blessed them. While he did this, men, women, and +children, knelt around, and bowed their heads to the ground. Afterwards, +the shuat and the bread were handed about amongst the company. But this +was only the beginning of the feast. Afterwards, a calf, a sheep, and two +goats were brought to the cross to be blessed. Then a little of their +hair was singed by a taper, and then they were taken away to be +slaughtered. Now the merriment began: some moved forward to cut up the +animals, and to boil their flesh in large kettles on fires kindled on the +green; many young men amused themselves with racing, <a name='Page_155'></a>leaping, and +hurling stones, while the elder people sat and talked. When the meat was +boiled, it was distributed among the sixty tables, and then the priest +blessed the food. And then the feasting began. Does it not seem as if the +Circassians must once have learned about Jesus crucified, and about his +supper of bread and wine, and about the Jewish feasts and sacrifices? +Once, perhaps, they knew the true religion, but they soon forgot it, and +though they still remember the <i>Cross</i>, they have forgotten <i>Christ</i>; and +though they still bless the bread and the cup, they know nothing of +redeeming love. Do you not long to send missionaries to Circassia? Well, +some good Scotch missionaries went there some years ago, but alas! the +Russians sent them away. Their thatched cottages may still be seen, and +their fruitful orchards, but they themselves are gone. There are, +however, a few German Christians in Circassia. They are not missionaries, +but only farmers, therefore the Russians allow them to remain. They have +a little church, where the Bible is read, and God is worshipped. You will +be glad to hear a few Circassians may be seen amongst the congregation; +they were converted by the Scotch missionaries, and they have remained +faithful amongst their heathen neighbors.</p> + +<p>Circassia is situated between two seas:—</p><a name='Page_156'></a> + +<p>The Black Sea, and</p> + +<p>The Caspian Sea.</p> + +<p>What a wonderful place is the Caspian Sea. It is like a lake, only so +immensely large, that it is called a sea. The waters of lakes are fresh, +like those of rivers; but the waters of the Caspian are salt, but not so +salt as the salt sea. The shores of the Caspian are flat, and +unwholesome. You might think as you stood there, that you were by the +great ocean, for there are waves breaking on the sands, and water as far +as the eye can reach, but there is no freshness in the air as by the real +sea.</p> + +<p>The mountains of Caucasus run through Circassia. They are quite low +compared to the Himalaya; they are about the height of the Alps, and the +tops are covered with snow. But the valleys between these mountains, are +not like the Swiss valleys, which are broad and pleasant; but these +valleys are narrow, and dark, and not fit to live in, yet they are of +great use as hiding-places for the Circassians. When pursued by a +Russian, a Circassian will urge his horse to dash down the dark valley, +and lest his horse should be alarmed by the sight of the dangerous depth +below, he will cover the animal's eyes with his cloak. Thus, many a bold +rider escapes from a cruel soldier.</p><a name='Page_157'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='GEORGIA'></a><h2>GEORGIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>When you hear of Circassia, you will generally hear of Georgia too, for +the countries lie close together, and resemble one another in many +respects. But though so near, their climate is different; for Circassia +lies beyond the mountains of Caucasus, and is therefore, exposed to the +cold winds of the north. But Georgia lies beneath the mountains, and is +sheltered from the chill blasts. Georgia is, therefore, far more fruitful +than Circassia, the people, too, are less fair, and less industrious. The +sides of the hills are clothed with vines, and houses with deep verandahs +are scattered among the vineyards, and women wrapped in long white sheets +may be seen reposing in the porticoes, enjoying the soft air, and lovely +prospect. While Circassian ladies are busy weaving and milking, the +Georgian ladies loll upon their couches, and do nothing. Which do you +think are the happier? These Georgian ladies, too, though very handsome, +are much disfigured by painted faces, and stained eyebrows.<a name='Page_158'></a> Their +countenances, too, are lifeless, and silly, as might be expected, since +they waste their time in idleness. Over their foreheads, they wear a kind +of low crown, called a tiara.</p> + +<p>There is no country where so much wine is drank as in Georgia, even a +laborer is allowed five bottles a day. The grapes are exceedingly fine, +quite different from the little berries called grapes in Circassia. The +casks are very curious, they are the skins of buffaloes, and as the tails +and legs are not cut off, a skin filled with wine looks like a dead, or a +sleeping buffalo.</p> + +<p>And what is the religion of Georgia? It is the Russian religion, because +the Russians have conquered the country. They cannot conquer the brave, +and active Circassians, but they have conquered the soft, and indolent +Georgians. The Georgians are called Christians, but the Greek Church, +which is the Russian religion, is a Christianity, laden with ceremonies +and false doctrines.</p> + + +<a name='Tiflis'></a> +<h3>TIFLIS.</h3> + +<p>There is but one town in Georgia. It is beautifully situated on the steep +banks of a river, with terraces of houses, embosomed in vineyards. So +little do the <a name='Page_159'></a>people care for reading, that there is not a bookseller's +shop in the town, and it is very seldom that a bookcase is seen in a +house; for the Georgians love show, and entertainments, and idleness, but +not study.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='TARTARY'></a><h2><a name='Page_160'></a>TARTARY.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is one of the largest countries in the world, yet it does not +contain as many people as the small land of France. How is this? You will +not be surprised that many people do not live there, when you hear what +sort of a country it is.</p> + +<p>Fancy a country quite flat, as far as eye can see, except where a few low +sand-hills rise; a country quite bare, except where the coarse grass +grows;—a country quite dry, except where some narrow muddy streams run. +Such is Tartary. What is a country without hills, without trees, without +brooks? Can it be pleasant? This flat, bare, dry plain, is called the +steppes of Tartary. In one part of Tartary, there is a chain of +mountains, and there are a few towns, and trees, but <i>very few</i>. You may +travel a long while without seeing one.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be so dreary as the steppes appear in winter time. The high +wind sweeping along the plain, drives the snow into high heaps, and often +<a name='Page_161'></a>hurls the poor animals into a cold grave. Sledges cannot be used, +because they cannot slide on such uneven ground. But if the <i>white</i> +ground looks dreary in winter, the <i>black</i> ground looks hideous in +summer; for the hot sun turns the grass black, and fills the air with +black dust, and there are no shady groves, no cool hills, no refreshing +brooks. There must, indeed, be a <i>little</i> shade among the thistles, as +they grow to twice the height of a man; but how different is such shade +from the shade of spreading oaks like ours! Instead of nice fruit, there +is bitter wormwood growing among the grass, and when the cows eat it, +their milk becomes bitter.</p> + +<p><b>WILD ANIMALS.</b>—The most common, is a pretty little creature called the +sooslik. It is very much like a squirrel.</p> + +<p>But can it live where squirrels live,—in the hollows of trees? Where are +the trees in the steppe? The sooslik makes a house for itself by digging +a hole in the ground, just as rabbits do in England. Will it not surprise +you to hear that wolves follow the same plan, and even the wild dogs? The +houses the dogs make are very convenient, for the entrance is very +narrow, and there is plenty of room below.</p> + +<p>There are some very odious animals on the steppe. Snakes and toads. Yes, +showers of toads sometimes <a name='Page_162'></a>fall. But neither snakes nor toads are as +great a plague as locusts. These little animals, not bigger than a +child's thumb, are more to be dreaded than a troop of wolves. And why? +Because they come in such immense numbers. The eggs lie hid in the ground +all the winter. O if it were known <i>where</i> they were concealed, they +would soon be destroyed. But no one knows where they are till they are +hatched. In the first warm days of spring the young animals come forth, +and immediately they begin crawling on the ground in one immense flock, +eating up all the grass as they pass along; in a month they can fly, and +then they darken the air like a thick cloud; wherever any green appears, +they drop down and settle on the spot. The noise they make in eating can +be heard to a great distance, and the noise they make in flying is like +the rustling of leaves in a forest. They cannot be destroyed: but there +are two things they hate,—smoke and noise,—and by these they are +sometimes scared and induced to fly away.</p> + +<p><b>PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS.</b>—Besides the wild animals, there are tame animals, +who inhabit the steppe with men and women who take care of them. They are +all wanderers, both men and beasts. You can easily guess why they wander. +It is to find sufficient grass for the cattle.</p><a name='Page_163'></a> + +<p>Every six weeks the Tartars move to a new place. Yet one place is so like +another, that no place appears new;—there is always the same immense +plain—without a cottage, or an orchard, a green hill, or running brook, +to make any spot remembered. It is great labor to the Tartar women to +pack up the tents and to place them on the backs of the camels, and then +to unpack and to pitch the tents. It is a great disgrace to the men to +suffer the women to work as hard as they do: but the men are very idle, +and like to sit by their tents smoking and drinking, while their wives +are toiling and striving with all their might. The women have the care of +all the cattle: and the men attend only to the horses. Perhaps they would +not even do this, were it not that they are very fond of riding; and such +riders as the Tartars are seldom seen.</p> + +<p>To give you an idea how they ride, I will describe one scene that took +place on the steppe.</p> + +<p>Some travellers from Europe were on a visit to a Tartar prince: (for +there are <i>princes</i> in the desert,) and they were taken to see a herd of +wild horses. The prince wished to have one of these wild horses caught. +It is not easy to do this. But Tartars know the way. Six men mounted a +tame horse, and rushed into the midst of the wild horses. Each of the men +<a name='Page_164'></a>had a great noose in his hand. They all looked at the prince to know +which horse he would have caught. When they saw the prince give a sign, +one of the men soon noosed a young horse. The creature seemed terrified +when it found that it was caught: his eyes started out, his nostrils +seemed to smoke. Presently a man came running up, sprang upon the back of +the wild horse, and by cutting the straps round his neck, set him at +liberty. In an instant the horse darted away with the swiftness of an +arrow; yet the man firmly kept his seat. The animal seemed greatly +alarmed at his strange burden, and tried every plan to get rid of +it;—now suddenly stopping,—now crawling on the grass like a worm,—now +rolling,—now rearing,—now dashing forward in a fast gallop through the +midst of the herd; yet all would not do; the rider clung to the horse as +closely as ever.</p> + +<p>But how was the rider ever to get off his fiery steed? That would be +difficult indeed; but help was sent to him by the prince. Two men on +horseback rode after him, and between them they snatched away the man +from the trembling and foaming horse. The animal, surprised to find his +load suddenly gone, stood stupefied for a moment, and then darted off to +join his companions. What <i>this</i> man did,—<i>many</i> Tartars can do: and +even <i>little boys</i> will mount wild<a name='Page_165'></a> horses, and keep on by clinging to +their manes: <i>women</i>, too, will gallop about on wild horses.</p> + +<p>In Circassia the customs are very different; for though <i>men</i> ride so +well, <i>women</i> there never ride at all; and surely it is far better not to +ride than to be as bold as a Tartar woman.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—What can be the food of the Tartars? Not bread, (for there is no +corn,) nor fruit, nor vegetables. The flocks and herds are the food. The +favorite meat is horse-flesh; though mutton and beef are eaten also. Then +there is plenty of milk—both cow's milk and sheep's milk. As there is +milk, there is butter and cheese. But it is very unwholesome to live on +meat and milk without bread and vegetables. The water, too, is very bad; +for it is taken from the muddy rivers, and not from clear springs. It is +a comfort for the Tartar that he can procure tea from China. Their tea is +indeed very unlike the tea brought to England; for it comes to Tartary in +hard lumps, shaped like bricks. It is boiled in a saucepan with water, +and then mixed with milk, butter, and salt. Thus you see the Tartar needs +neither tea-kettle, teapot, nor sugar basin.</p> + +<p>It would be well if tea and milk were the only drinks in Tartary; but a +sort of spirit is distilled by the Tartars from mare's milk; and brandy +also is brought from Russia.</p><a name='Page_166'></a> + +<p><b>TENTS.</b>—A Tartar tent is very unlike an Arab tent.</p> + +<p>It is in the shape of a hut, for the sides are upright, and the roof only +is slanting, and there is a small hole at the top to let the smoke +escape. Neither is it made of skins, but of thick woollen stuff, called +felt, which keeps the cold out. At night the entrance is closed, and the +family sleep on mats around the fire in the midst.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The Tartars are not handsome like the Turks and Circassians. +They are short and thick; their faces are broad and bony, their eyes very +small, and only half open; their noses flat, their lips thick, their +chins pointed, their ears large and flapping, and their skin dark and +yellow.</p> + +<p>Their dress is warm, and well suited for riding in the desert. Different +tribes have different dresses: this is the dress of the Kalmuck Tartar. +He wears a yellow cloth cap trimmed with black lamb-skin; wide trowsers, +a tight jacket, and over all a loose tunic, fastened round the waist. His +boots are red, with high heels. The women dress like the men; but they +let their hair grow in two long tresses, while the men shave part of +their heads, and keep only <i>one</i> lock of hair hanging on their shoulders.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/8.jpg' width='559' height='332' alt='TARTAR TENTS. p. 166.' title='TARTAR TENTS. p. 166.'> +</center> +<h5>TARTAR TENTS. See <a href='#Page_166'> p. 166.</a></h5> + +<p>You see that the Tartars are much like the Chinese in their persons and +dress; but they are a much <a name='Page_167'></a>stronger, bolder people, and much more +ignorant. No wonder, therefore, that many years ago the Tartars got over +the Chinese wall, and took possession of the Chinese throne. You must not +forget that the Emperor of China is a Tartar.</p> + +<p><b>GOVERNMENT.</b>—To whom does Tartary belong? Has it a king of its own? No. +Once it had many kings, called khans; but now the khans have lost their +power, and are only <i>called</i> khan to do them honor. Now Tartary belongs +to the great empires on each side of it,—Russia and China. Part of +Tartary is called Russian Tartary, and part—Chinese Tartary. There is +only a small part that is not conquered; and it is called Independent +Tartary.</p> + +<p>There are many different tribes, and each tribe keeps to a certain part +of the land, and never ventures to wander beyond its own bounds.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—The religion is the same as that which is so common in +China,—the religion of Buddha; but in some parts of Tartary there is the +religion of Mahomet. It is sad to think that far more people in the world +worship Buddha, the deceiver, than Jesus, the Son of God. The Tartars +think to please their false god by making a loud noise. It would astonish +a stranger to hear their jingling bells, shrill horns, squeaking shells, +bellowing trumpets, and deafening<a name='Page_168'></a> drums. How unlike is their senseless +noise to the sweet sound of a Christian hymn!</p> + +<p>The Tartars think also to please their gods by glaring colors; so their +priests dress in red and yellow, and bear flags, adorned with strips of +gay silk. A band of priests looks something like a regiment of soldiers.</p> + +<p>The chief priest is called the Lama, and he is worshipped as a god; but +his situation is not very pleasant; for he is not allowed to walk without +help. Whenever he attempts to walk, he is held up by a man on each side, +as if he were an infant; and usually he is drawn in a car, or carried in +a palanquin. From want of exercise, he becomes very weak and helpless. +When he dies, his body is burned, and the ashes are gathered up and made +into an idol. Thus he continues to be a god after he is dead. Another +Lama is chosen by one of the princes. There are many Lamas in Tartary for +the various tribes.</p> + +<p>As the Tartars are always moving about, a tent serves for a temple; and +the idols are carried in great chests. They cannot walk, therefore they +must be carried. What use are such gods?</p> + +<p>The Tartars have found out a way of praying without any trouble; and it +is a way that suits idols very well. They get some prayers written, and +place them <a name='Page_169'></a>in a drum, and then turn the drum round and round with a +string. This they call praying; and while they are thus praying, they can +be chattering, smoking, and even quarrelling. The princes have a still +easier way of offering up prayers. They write prayers upon a flag, and +then place it before their tents for the wind to blow it about.</p> + +<p>This is <i>their</i> way of praying to their gods.</p> + +<p>And what, my dear child, is <i>your</i> way of praying to your God?</p> + +<p>Have missionaries visited the Tartars?</p> + +<p>Yes; I will tell you of two German missionaries, who tried to convert a +tribe of Tartars called the Kalmucks, living near the Caspian Sea and the +river Volga. These good men were treated with great contempt by the +Tartars. The missionaries translated the Gospel of St. Matthew into the +Tartar language. One of the Tartars, instead of thanking them, observed, +"I wonder you should take so much trouble to prepare a book that we shall +never read." When the precious books were given to the Tartars, some of +them returned the books; and when it was read to them, they scornfully +said, as they turned away, "It is only the history of Jesus."</p> + +<p>At last one Tartar, named Sodnom, believed in Jesus. He said to the +missionaries, "Now the Tartars,<a name='Page_170'></a> from my example, may turn to the Lord: +for as, when sheep are to be washed, each is afraid to enter the water +till <i>one</i> has been in, so it may be with my countrymen."</p> + +<p>Sodnom read every evening in the Testament to his family in the tent. At +first his wife was displeased, and said that her husband wasted the +fire-wood in making a light to read a book that was of no use. But +afterwards she listened, and made the children keep quiet. The neighbors +also listened, and <i>twenty-two</i> turned to the Lord!</p> + +<p>Then the prince and the priests grew angry, and said the Christians must +leave the camp. Where could the Christians go? There was a village called +Sarepta, where some Germans lived. There they determined to go, though it +was two hundred miles off. One of the missionaries led the way on +horseback; the Tartars followed on foot: then came camels bearing the +tents and the women, while a bullock-cart contained the young children. +The flocks and herds were driven by the bigger children.</p> + +<p>The good Germans in Sarepta received the Tartars with great joy. One +gray-headed man of eighty-three came to meet them, leaning upon his +staff. He said he had been praying that he might see a <i>Christian</i> Tartar +before he died. He heard these Tartars <a name='Page_171'></a>sing hymns to the praise of +Jesus, and he felt his prayers were answered. Two days afterwards he +died. Like old Simeon, he might have said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."</p> + +<p>The Christians went to live in a small island in the river Volga. When +the river was frozen, the Germans went over the ice to visit them. Sodnom +gave them tea mixed with fat in a large wooden bowl; and to please him, +the kind Germans drank some, though they did not like it. Many Tartars +assembled in Sodnom's tent, and seated on the ground smoking their pipes, +talked together about heavenly things; and before they parted, they put +away their pipes, and folding their hands, sang hymns in their own +language. The Germans, in taking leave, divided a large loaf among the +company; for bread is considered quite a dainty by the Tartars.</p> + +<p>The change that had taken place in these Tartars filled the Germans with +joy; and more missionaries would have gone to teach the heathen Kalmucks, +had not the Emperor of Russia forbidden them.</p><a name='Page_172'></a> + + +<a name='Astracan'></a> +<h3>ASTRACAN.</h3> + +<p>This city is on the Caspian Sea. It is very unpleasant, on account of the +heat and the gnats.</p> + +<p>Not only Tartars dwell there, but many people of all nations, Russians, +Hindoos, and Armenians. The chief trade of Astracan is in the fish of the +sea, and in the salt on the shores.</p> + + +<a name='Bokhara'></a> +<h3>BOKHARA (IN TARTARY).</h3> + +<p>This is a kingdom in the midst of Tartary. It lies at the south of the +Caspian Sea. It is not like the rest of Tartary, for it is a sweet green +spot. Travellers have said that it is the most beautiful spot in the +world, but that is not true. The reason that travellers have said so, is +that, after passing through a great desert, they have been charmed at +seeing again running streams, and shady groves.</p> + +<p>But though Bokhara is a beautiful place, it is a wicked place.</p> + +<p>The king is one of the greatest tyrants in the world. He is called the +Amir.</p> + +<p>The city where he dwells is called Bokhara (which is also the name of the +whole country). His palace is <a name='Page_173'></a>on a high mound, in the midst of splendid +mosques, and mansions. Amongst these grand buildings is the prison, a +place of horrible cruelty. There the prisoners lie in the dark, and the +damp. One use of the prison is to keep water cool for the king in summer; +it feels therefore just like a cellar.</p> + +<p>But the worst dungeon, is filled with stinging insects, called "ticks," +reared on purpose to torment prisoners. In order to keep the ticks alive +when no prisoners are there, raw meat is thrown into the place. There is +also a deep pit into which men are let down with ropes; as once the holy +Jeremiah was in Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Once a fortnight the prisoners are judged by the Amir. Even when the +ground is covered with snow they stand with bare feet, waiting for hours +till the Amir appears.</p> + +<p>Can so cruel a monarch be happy? No. He lives in constant fear of his +life.</p> + +<p>He is afraid of drinking water, lest it should be poisoned. All that he +drinks is brought from the river in skins, and sealed, and guarded by two +officers; it is then taken to the chief counsellor, called the Vizier, +and tasted by him, and his servants; it is then sealed again, and sent to +his majesty. </p> + +<p>The Amir's dinner when it is ready, is not placed <a name='Page_174'></a>on the royal table, but +locked up in a box, and taken to the Vizier to be tasted, before it is +served up in the palace.</p> + +<p>But it is not the Amir only who is afraid of poison. No one will accept +fruit from another, unless that other tastes it first. It must be very +terrible to live in the midst of such murderers as the people of Bokhara +seem to be.</p> + +<p>The Amir is so much afraid of people making plans to destroy him, that he +chooses to see all the letters that are written by his subjects; if a +husband write to his wife, the letter must first be shown to the Amir. +There are boys, too, going about the city listening to all that is said, +that they may let the Amir know, if any one speak against him.</p> + +<p>But while the Amir is watching his people, <i>they</i> are watching <i>him</i>; for +his chief officers hire men to listen to the Amir's conversation, that +they may know if he intends to kill them. Yet every person <i>appears</i> to +approve all the Amir does, saying on every occasion, "It is the act of a +king; it must be good." They are such people as Jeremiah describes in the +Bible. "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit; one +<i>speaketh</i> peaceably to his neighbor, but in his <i>heart</i> he lieth his +wait."—(Jer. ix. 8.)</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—The people in Bokhara are much <a name='Page_175'></a>handsomer than other +Tartars; their complexions are fairer, and their hair is of a lighter +color. They wear large white turbans, and several dark pelisses with +high-heeled boots. These high heels prevent their walking well, and most +people, both men and women, ride; but the ladies always hide their faces +with a veil of black hair cloth.</p> + +<p>The large court of the palace is filled from morning to night with a +crowd of noisy people, most of them mounted on horses and donkeys.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the court is the fruit market. It is wonderful to behold +the quantity, and beauty of the fruits. The same fruits grow in Bokhara +as in England, only they are much finer. <i>Such</i> grapes, plums, and +apricots, mulberries, and melons, are never seen in Europe, and they are +made more refreshing by being mixed with chopped ice. Large piles of ice +stand all the summer long in the market-place, and even beggars drink +iced water. But hot tea is preferred before any other drink. In every +corner of the market there are large urns of hot tea, and small bowls of +rich milk, surrounded all day by a thirsty crowd. How much better is this +sight than the gin palaces of London!</p> + +<p>But there is one great inconvenience in Bokhara, for which all its fruits +can scarcely make amends.<a name='Page_176'></a> There is bad water. For Bokhara is not built +on the banks of a river, or among running brooks: all the water is +brought by canals, from a small stream near the town, and when the canals +are dried up by the heat, there is no water, except in the tanks where it +is kept. This stagnant water produces a disease called the Guinea worm. +In this complaint the skin is covered with painful swellings, and when +they burst, a little flat worm is discovered in each, which must be drawn +out before the poor sufferer can recover.</p> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—It is the Mahomedan. The Amir is a strict observer of his +religion. Every Friday he may be seen going to prayers in his great +mosque. The Koran is carried before him, and four men with golden staves +accompany him, crying out, "Pray to God that the Commander of the +Faithful may act justly." As he passes by, his people stroke their beards +to show their respect. Bokhara is reckoned by Mahomedans a very religious +city; for in every street there is a mosque; every evening people may be +seen crowding to prayers; and if boys are caught asleep during service, +they are tied together, and driven round the market by an officer, who +beats them all the way with a thick thong.</p> + +<p>There is a school, too, in almost every street of Bokhara, and there the +poor boys sit from sunrise, till an <a name='Page_177'></a>hour before sunset, bawling out +their foolish lessons from the Koran; and during all that time they are +never allowed to go home, except once for some bread. They have no time +for play, except in the evening, and no holiday, except on Friday. Seven +years they spend in this manner, learning to read and write. When they +leave school, if they wish to be counted very wise, they go to one of the +colleges; for there are many in Bokhara. Some spend all their lives in +these colleges, living in small cells, and meeting in a large hall to +hear lectures about the Mahomedan religion. It is a happy thing, however, +that in summer the students go out to work in the fields; for how much +better is it to work with the hands, than to fill the head with the +wicked inventions of Mahomed.</p> + +<p>The Mahomedans, however, are very proud of their religion, because they +<i>say</i>, they do not worship idols; (yet they do worship at Mecca, a black +stone, and other like things in other places). They imagine that <i>all</i> +Christians are idolaters, for they know that the Russians bow down to +pictures.</p> + +<p>Once the Vizier of Bokhara conversed a long while with two Englishmen +about their religion.</p> + +<p>He asked them, "Do you worship idols?"</p> + +<p>The Englishmen replied, "No."</p> + +<p>The Vizier would not believe them, but said, "I <a name='Page_178'></a>am sure you have images +and crosses hung round your necks." </p> + +<p>Upon which, they opened their vests to show there was nothing hidden.</p> + +<p>Then the Vizier smiled, and said to his servants, "They are not bad +people."</p> + +<p>As the servants were preparing tea, the Vizier took a cup, and said to +the travellers, "You must drink with us, for you are people of the Book," +meaning the Bible.</p> + +<p>Yet you must not suppose because the Vizier seemed to approve these +Christians, that he, and the Amir, would allow missionaries to settle in +the kingdom.</p> + +<p>It is dangerous for Englishmen to visit Bokhara. When they do come, they +must be very careful not to give offence, or they will lose their lives. +Englishmen are more dreaded than any other people, because it is known in +Bokhara, that they have conquered Hindostan, and therefore the Amir fears +lest they should conquer his kingdom also. As soon as an Englishman +enters Bokhara, he is forbidden to write a letter, for fear he should +contrive some plan to bring enemies there. Neither is he allowed to ride +in the streets; none but Mahomedans are allowed to ride in them, though +any one may ride <i>outside</i> the city.</p> + +<p>Some years ago two Englishmen came to Bokhara, <a name='Page_179'></a>named Colonel Stoddart, +and Captain Conolly. They acted foolishly in writing letters, and trying +to send them secretly to their friends. They were found out, and shut up.</p> + +<p>Colonel Stoddart behaved very wickedly in one respect; he pretended to be +a Mahomedan! Was not this wicked? Soon he grew sorry, and declared +himself a Christian. At last both Stoddart and Conolly were sentenced to +die. They were led with their hands tied behind them to a place near the +palace, to be executed. Conolly as he went along, cried out, "Woe, woe to +me, for I have fallen into the hands of a tyrant." At the place of +execution the two Englishmen kissed each other.</p> + +<p>Stoddart said to the king's minister, (for the Amir was not present,) +"Tell the Amir that I die a disbeliever in Mahomed, but a believer in +Jesus. I am a Christian, and a Christian I die."</p> + +<p>Then Conolly said to his friend, "We shall see each other in paradise +near Jesus."</p> + +<p>These were their last words. Immediately afterwards their heads were cut +off with a knife.</p> + +<p>Some time after this cruel murder, a clergyman, named Joseph Wolff, +arrived at Bukhara. He had travelled all the way from England, and all +alone, on purpose to inquire after Conolly, who had been his<a name='Page_180'></a> dear friend. +The Amir was surprised at his coming, and said, "I have taken thousands +of <i>Persians</i> and made them slaves, and no one came from Persia to +inquire what was become of them; but as soon as I take two ENGLISHMEN +prisoners, behold a man comes all this long way to inquire after <i>them!</i>"</p> + +<p>The Amir did not know how precious are the lives of Englishmen in the +eyes of their countrymen.</p> + +<p>Joseph Wolff found it hard to get away from Bokhara. He was kept a long +while in prison, and he feared he should be slain; for when he asked the +Amir to give him the bones of Stoddart and Conolly to take to England, +this was the Amir's answer: "I shall send YOUR bones!" Yet, after all, he +was permitted to leave Bokhara, the Lord graciously inclining the tyrant +to let him go.</p> + +<p>How can Missionaries be sent to such a country!</p> + +<p>Bokhara is the only large town in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>The sea of Aral lies to the north of the kingdom: it is an immense lake, +but not nearly so large as the Caspian Sea.</p> + +<p>The river Oxus flows into the Caspian. It is famous for its golden sands.</p> + +<p>The great trade of Bokhara is in black woolly lamb-skins, to make caps +for the Persians: the younger <a name='Page_181'></a>the lamb the more delicate the wool. Thus +many a pretty lambkin dies to adorn a Persian noble.</p> + +<p>The best raisins in the world come from Bokhara.<a name='FNanchor_8_8'></a><a href='#Footnote_8_8'><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> + + +<a name='The_Toorkman_Tartars'></a> +<h3>THE TOORKMAN TARTARS.</h3> + +<p>You have heard a great deal of the Tartars, and you have been told that +they are a quiet and peaceable nation. But not <i>all</i>; there is a tribe of +Tartars called the Toorkmans, of a very different character. They wander +about in the country between Bokhara and Persia, and their chief +employment is to steal men from Persia, and to sell them in Bokhara as +slaves. A whole troop, mounted on horses, rush sword in hand upon a +Persian city, and return to the camp with hundreds of beasts and human +creatures as their captives.</p> + +<p>Some English travellers once met five men chained together, walking with +sad steps in the deep sands of the desert. They were Persians just caught +by the Toorkmans, and on their way to Bokhara. When the Englishmen saw +these poor captives, they uttered a sorrowful cry, and the Persians began +to weep. One <a name='Page_182'></a>of the travellers stopped his camel to listen to their sad +tale; and he heard that a few weeks before, while working in the fields, +they had been seized and carried off. They were hungry and thirsty; for +the Toorkmans cruelly starve their slaves, in order that they may be too +weak to run away. The traveller gave them all he had, which was a melon, +to quench their thirst.</p> + +<p>But the worst part of the Toorkmans' conduct remains yet to be told. When +they have taken many captives, they usually <i>kill</i> the old people, +because they would not get much money for them in Bokhara; and they +choose <i>one</i> of their captives to offer up as a thank-offering to their +god!! Who is their god? The god of Mahomed. But though they are +Mahomedans, they have no mosques, and are too ignorant to be able to read +the Koran.</p> + +<p>Robbery is their whole business. For this purpose they learn to ride and +to fight. They understand well how to manage a horse, so as to make him +strong and swift. They do not let him eat when he pleases, but they give +him three meals a day of hay and barley, and then rein him up that he may +not nibble the grass, and grow fat; and sometimes they give him no food +at all, and yet make him gallop many miles. By this management the horses +are very thin, but <a name='Page_183'></a>very <i>strong</i>, and able to bear their masters eighty +miles in a day when required; and they are so swift that they can outrun +their pursuers.</p> + +<p>It is not surprising that the Toorkmans do not eat these thin horses, +though other Tartars are so fond of horse-flesh. They prefer mutton. When +they invite a stranger to dinner, they boil a whole sheep in a large +boiling-pot; then tear up the flesh,—mix it with crumbled bread, and +serve it up in wooden bowls. Two persons eat from one bowl, dipping their +hands into it, and licking up their food like dogs. The meal is finished +by eating melons.</p> + +<p>These coarse manners suit such fierce and wild creatures as the +Toorkmans. It is their boast that they rest neither under the shadow of a +TREE nor of a KING: meaning that they have neither trees nor kings to +protect them in the desert.</p> + +<p>The men wear high caps of black sheep-skin, while the Women wear high +white turbans. The tents are adorned with beautiful carpets, not only the +floors, but the sides, and it is the chief employment of the women to +weave them. As for the men, they spend most of their time in sauntering +about among the tents; for the fierce dogs guard the flocks. But when +their hands are idle, their thoughts are still busy in planning new +robberies and murders.</p><a name='Page_184'></a> + +<p>It was by such men that the earth was inhabited when God sent the flood +to destroy it. It is written, "The earth was filled with VIOLENCE."</p> + +<p>Is there any man brave enough to go to these men to warn them of the +judgment to come, and to tell them of pardon for the penitent, through +the blood of Jesus?<a name='FNanchor_9_9'></a><a href='#Footnote_9_9'><sup>[9]</sup></a> </p> + +<a name='Footnote_8_8'></a><a href='#FNanchor_8_8'>[8]</a><div class='note'><p> Taken from Sir Alexander Burnes, and from Kanikoff, the +Russian, and from Rev. Joseph Wolff.</p></div> + +<a name='Footnote_9_9'></a><a href='#FNanchor_9_9'>[9]</a><div class='note'><p> Extracted from Sir Alexander Burnes' "Bokhara."</p></div><a name='Page_185'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CHINESE_TARTARY'></a><h2>CHINESE TARTARY.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Very little is known in Europe of this part of Tartary; and why? Because +the Emperor of China, who reigns over it, does not like travellers to go +there.</p> + +<p>It is divided by high and snowy mountains from the rest of Tartary. When +a traveller has passed over these mountains, he finds on the other side +Chinese officers, who inquire what business he has come upon. If he have +come only to wander about the country, he is desired to go home again; +because the Chinese are afraid lest strangers should send spies, and then +ARMIES—to conquer their empire.</p> + +<p>One traveller, because he stayed too long in Tartary, was imprisoned for +three months; and before he was let go, a picture of him was taken. What +was done with this picture? It was copied, and the copies were sent to +various towns on the borders of Chinese Tartary, with this command, "If +the man, who is like this picture, enter the country, his head is the +Emperor's, <a name='Page_186'></a>and his property is <i>yours</i>." Happily the traveller heard of +this command, and was never seen again in the country. You see how +cunning it was of the Chinese to allow any one who killed the traveller +to have his property; for thus they made it the interest of all to kill +him.</p> + +<p>There is one city in Chinese Tartary where many strangers come to trade +with the people. It is called Yarkund. There caravans arrive from Pekin, +laden with tea, after a journey of five months over the wilds of Tartary. +Then merchants come from Bokhara to buy the tea, and to carry it home, +where it is so much liked.</p><a name='Page_187'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='AFFGHANISTAN'></a><h2>AFFGHANISTAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This land is not a desert. Yet there are but few trees, and because there +is so little shade, the rivulets are soon dried up. Yet it might be a +fruitful land, if the inhabitants would plant and sow. But they prefer +wandering about in tents, and living upon plunder, to settling in one +place and living by their labor. The Tartar has good reason for roaming +over his plains, because the land is bad; but the Affghan has no reason, +but the <i>love</i> of roaming.</p> + +<p>The plains of Affghanistan are sultry, but the mountains are cool; for +their tops are covered with snow. The shepherds feed their flocks on the +plains during the winter; but in the spring they lead them to the +mountains to pass the summer there. Then the air is filled with the sweet +scent of clover and violets. The sheep often stop to browse upon the +fresh pasture; but they are not suffered to linger long. The children +have the charge of the lambs; an old goat or sheep goes before to +encourage the lambs to <a name='Page_188'></a>proceed, and the children follow with switches of +green grass. Many a little child who can only just run alone, enjoys the +sport of driving the young lambs. The tents are borne on the backs of +camels. The men are terrible-looking creatures, tall, large, dark, and +grim, with shaggy hair and long black beards. They wear great turbans of +blue check and handsome jackets, and cloaks of sheep-skin; they carry in +their girdles knives as large as a butcher's; and on their shoulders a +shield and a gun.</p> + +<p>Besides these wild wanderers, there are some Affghans who live in houses.</p> + +<p>Cabool, the capital, is a fine city, and the king dwells in a fine +citadel. The bazaar is the finest in all Asia. It is like a street with +many arches across it; and these people sell all kinds of goods.</p> + +<p>But what is a fine <i>bazaar</i> compared to a beautiful <i>garden?</i> Cabool is +surrounded by gardens: the most beautiful is the king's. In the midst is +an octagon summer-house, where eight walks meet, and all the walks are +shaded by fruit-trees. Here grow, as in Bokhara, the best fruits to be +found in an English garden, only much larger and sweeter. The same kind +of birds, too, which sing in England sing among its branches, even the +melodious nightingale. It is the chief delight of the people of Cabool to +wander in <a name='Page_189'></a>the gardens: they come there every evening, after having spent +the day in sauntering about the bazaar; for they are an idle people, +talking much and working little.</p> + +<p>The noise in the city is so great that it is difficult to make a friend +hear what you say: it is not the noise of rumbling wheels as in London, +for there are no wheeled carriages, but the noise of chattering tongues.</p> + +<p>The Affghans are a temperate people; they live chiefly upon fruit with a +little bread; and as they are Mahomedans, they avoid wine, and drink +instead iced sherbets, made of the juice of fruits. In winter excellent +<i>dried</i> fruits supply the place of fresh.</p> + +<p>But the Affghan, though living on fruits, is far from being a harmless +and amiable character; on the contrary, he is cruel, covetous, and +treacherous. Much British blood has been shed in the valleys of +Affghanistan.</p> + +<p>We cannot blame the Affghans for defending their own country. It was +natural for them to ask, "What right has Britain to interfere with us?"</p> + +<p>A British army was once sent to Affghanistan to force the people to have +a king they did not like, instead of one they did like.</p> + +<p>I will tell you of a youth who accompanied his father to the wars. This +boy looked forward with delight<a name='Page_190'></a> to going as a soldier to a foreign land, +and his heart beat high when the trumpet sounded to summon the troops to +embark. Joyfully he quitted Bombay, crossed the Indian Ocean, and landed +near the mouth of the Indus. When the army began its march towards +Affghanistan, he rode on a pony by his father's side.</p> + +<p>At first it seemed pleasant to pitch the tent in a new spot every day, to +rest during the heat, and to travel in the dead of the night, till the +sun was high in the sky. But soon this way of life was found fatiguing, +for the heat was great, and the water scarce. The air, too, was clouded +by the dust the troops raised in marching; and green grass was seldom +seen, or a shady tree under which to rest. The food, too, was dry and +stale, and no fresh food could be procured, for the Affghans, before they +fled, destroyed the corn and fruit growing in the fields, that their +enemies might not eat them. The camels, too, which bore the baggage of +the British army, grew ill from heat and thirst; for it is not true that +camels can live <i>long</i> without water; in three or four days they die. +Besides this, the hard rocks in the hilly country hurt their feet, and +hastened their death. Many a camel died as it was seeking to quench its +thirst at a narrow stream in the valley, and its dead body falling into +<a name='Page_191'></a>the water, polluted it. Yet this water the soldiers drank, for they had +no other, and from drinking it they fell ill. The father of the youthful +soldier was one of these, and he was compelled to stop on the way for +several weeks; and because the heat of a tent was too great, he took +shelter in a ruined building. Here his son nursed him with a heavy heart. +Where was the delight the youth had expected to find in a soldier's life?</p> + +<p>At last the British army reached a strong fort built on the top of a +hill; Guznee was its name. Its walls and gates were so strong that it +seemed impossible to get into the city; yet the British knew that if they +did <i>not</i>, they must die either by the Affghan sword, or by hunger and +thirst among the rocks. For some time they were much perplexed and +distressed. At last a thought came into the mind of a British captain, +"Let us blow up the gates with gunpowder." The plan was good; but how to +perform it,—there was the difficulty. Soon all was arranged. In the +night some sacks of gunpowder were laid very softly against the gates; +but as no one could set fire to the sacks when <i>close</i> to them, a long +pipe of cloth was filled with gunpowder, and stretched like a serpent +upon the ground; one end of the pipe touched the sack, and the other end +was to be set on fire. But<a name='Page_192'></a> before the match was applied, a British +officer peeped through a chink in the gates to see what the Affghans were +doing within. Behold! they were quietly smoking, and eating their supper, +not suspecting any danger! The match was applied—the gunpowder exploded, +and the strong gates were shattered into a thousand pieces; the army +rushed in sword in hand, and the Affghans fled in wild confusion.</p> + +<p>Where was our young soldier? He was running into the fort between two +friendly soldiers, who kindly helped him on; each of them was holding one +of his arms, and assisting him to keep up with the troops, as they rushed +through the gates. As he ran, he heard horrible cries, but the darkness +hindered him from seeing the dying Affghans rolling in the dust, only he +felt their soft bodies as he hastily passed over them. He heard his +fellow-soldiers shouting and firing on every side. Some fell close beside +him, and others were wounded, and carried off on the shoulders of their +comrades, screaming with agony.</p> + +<p>Half an hour after the gates were fired, the city was taken. The news of +the victory spread among the Affghans on the mountains, and the plains, +and the whole country submitted to the British.</p> + +<p>The army soon marched to Cabool, that proud city. No one opposed their +entrance, and the bazaar, and <a name='Page_193'></a>the king's garden, and the royal citadel +were visited by our soldiers.</p> + +<p>After spending two months in beautiful Cabool, resting their weary limbs +and feasting on fine fruits, the army was ordered to return home. They +began to march again towards the coast, a distance of fifteen hundred +miles, over cragged rocks, and scorching plains.</p> + +<p>In the course of this terrible journey, the father of the young soldier +again fell ill, and was forced to stop by the way. His affectionate son +nursed him night and day; closed his eyes in death, and saw him laid in a +lowly grave in the desert. With a bleeding heart the youth embarked to +return to Bombay.</p> + +<p>During the voyage, a furious storm arose, and all on board despaired of +life. <i>Then</i> it was the youth remembered the prayers he had offered up by +his dying father's bed; <i>then</i> it was he felt he had not turned to God +with all his heart, and <i>then</i> it was he vowed, that if the Lord would +spare him this <i>once</i>, he would seek his face in truth. God heard and +spared.</p> + +<p>And did the youth remember his prayers and vows? He did, though not at +<i>first</i>,—yet after a little while he <i>did</i>. He read the word of God, he +prayed for the Spirit of God, and at length he enjoyed the peace of God; +and now he neither fears storm nor sword, because Christ is his shelter +and his shield.</p><a name='Page_194'></a> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='BELOOCHISTAN'></a><h2>BELOOCHISTAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Just underneath Affghanistan, lies Beloochistan, by the sea coast. It is +separated from India by the river Indus. You may know a Beloochee from an +Affghan by his stiff red cotton cap, in the shape of a hat without a +brim; whereas, an Affghan wears a turban. Yet the religion of the +Beloochee is the same as that of the Affghan, namely, the Mahomedan, and +the character is alike, only the Beloochee is the fiercer of the two: the +country also is alike, being wild and rocky.</p> + +<p>Beloochistan has not been conquered by the British: it has a king of its +own; yet the British have fought against Beloochistan. On one occasion a +British army was sent to punish the king of Beloochistan for not having +sent corn to us, as he had promised.</p> + +<p>The army consisted of three thousand men, and amongst them was the young +soldier, of whom you have heard so much already. His father was ill at<a name='Page_195'></a> +the time, and could not fight; but the youth came upon his pony, with a +camel to carry his tent, and all his baggage.</p> + +<p>The troops as usual marched in the night. In the morning, about eight +o'clock, they first caught sight of Kelat, the capital of Beloochistan. +It was a grand sight, for the city is built on a high hill, with a +citadel at the top. The dark Beloochees were seen thronging about the +walls and the towers, gazing at the British army, but not daring to +approach them.</p> + +<p>Our soldiers, when they first arrived, were too much tired to begin the +attack, and therefore they rested on the grass for two hours. At ten +o'clock the word of command was given, and the attack was made. The +British planted their six cannons opposite the gates, and began to fire.</p> + +<p>Where was the young soldier? He was commanded to run with his company +close up to the wall, and there to remain. As he ran, he was exposed to +the full fire of the enemy. The youth heard bullets whizzing by as he +passed, and he expected every moment that some ball would lay him low; +but through the mercy of God he reached the wall in safety. <i>Close</i> +underneath the wall was not a dangerous post, for the bullets passed over +the heads of those standing there.</p><a name='Page_196'></a> + +<p>About noon, the British cannons had destroyed the gates. Then the British +soldiers rushed into the town. Amongst the first to enter was the young +soldier; because when the gates fell he was standing close by. As he +passed along the streets, he saw no one but the dead and the dying; for +the Beloochees had fled for refuge to their citadel on the top of the +hill. The king himself was there.</p> + +<p>The citadel was a place very difficult for an enemy to enter; for the +entrance was through a narrow dark passage underground. Into this passage +the British soldiers poured, but soon they came to a door, which they +could not get through, for Beloochee soldiers stood there, sword in hand, +ready to cut down any one who approached. "Look at my back," said one +soldier to his fellow. The other looked, and beheld the most frightful +gashes gaping wide and bleeding freely. Such were the wounds that each +soldier, who ventured near that door, was sure to receive.</p> + +<p>At this moment a cry was heard, saying, "Another passage is found." When +the Beloochees heard this cry, they gave up all hopes of keeping the +enemy out of the citadel; so they left off fighting, and cried "Peace."</p> + +<p>But their king was already dead; he had fallen on the threshold of the +passage last found. The <i>first</i> man who tried to get in by that way the +<i>king</i> had <a name='Page_197'></a>killed; but the <i>second</i> had killed the king. The British, as +they rushed in by this new way, trampled on the body of the fallen +monarch. He was a splendid object even in death; his long dark ringlets +were flowing over his glittering garments, and his sharp sword, with its +golden hilt, was in his hand. The British hurried by, and climbed the +steep and narrow stairs leading to the top of the citadel, and the enemy +no longer durst oppose their course.</p> + +<p>On the terrace at the top of the citadel, in the open air, stood the +nobles of Beloochistan. There were princes too from the countries all +around. It was a magnificent assembly. These men were the finest of a +fine race. Some were clad in shining armor, and others in flowing +garments of green and gold. Thus they stood for a <i>moment</i>, and the +<i>next</i>—they were rolling on the ground!!</p> + +<p>How was this? Had not peace been agreed upon on both sides? Yes, but a +British soldier had attempted to take away the sword of one of the +princes. The prince had resisted, and with his sword, had wounded the +soldier; and instantly every British gun on that spot had been pointed at +the nobles of Beloochistan.</p> + +<p>This was why the nobles were lying in the agonies of death.</p><a name='Page_198'></a> + +<p>Our young soldier was not one of those who slew the nobles. He was +standing on another part of the terrace, when, hearing a tremendous +volley of guns, he exclaimed to a friend, "What can that be?" Going +forward, he beheld heaps of bleeding bodies, turbans, and garments—in +one confused mass. The dying were calling for water, and the very +soldiers who had shot them, were holding cups to their quivering lips, +though themselves parched with thirst. But water could not save the lives +of the fallen nobles: one by one they ceased to cry out, and soon—all +were silent—and all were still. The VICTORY was WON! But how awful had +been the last scene! How cruelly, how unjustly, had the lives of that +princely assembly been cut short!</p> + +<p>The conquerors returned that evening to their camp. On their way, they +passed through the desolate streets of the city; the mud cottages on each +side were empty, and blood flowed between. The young officer, as he +marched at the head of his company, was struck by seeing a row of his own +fellow-soldiers lying dead upon the ground. They had been placed there +ready for burial on the morrow. Their ghastly faces, and gaping wounds +were terrible to behold. The youth remembered them full of life and +spirits in the morning, unmindful of their dismal end; <i>then</i> he felt how +<a name='Page_199'></a>merciful God had been in sparing his life; and when he crept into his +little tent that night, he returned him thanks upon his knees; though he +did not love him <i>then</i> as his Saviour from eternal death. Wearied, he +soon fell asleep, but his sleep was broken by dreadful dreams of blood +and death.</p> + +<p>The next day he walked through the conquered town, and saw the British +soldiers dragging the dead bodies of their enemies by ropes fastened to +their feet. They were dragging them to their grave, which was a deep +trench, and there they cast them in and covered them up with earth.</p> + +<p>Such is the history of the conquest of Kelat.<a name='FNanchor_10_10'></a><a href='#Footnote_10_10'><sup>[10]</sup></a> How many souls were +suddenly hurled into eternity! How many unprepared to meet their Judge, +because their sins were unpardoned, and their souls unwashed! But in war, +who thinks of souls and sins! O horrible war! How hateful to the Prince +of Peace!</p> + +<a name='Footnote_10_10'></a><a href='#FNanchor_10_10'>[10]</a><div class='note'><p> September 13, 1839.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='BURMAH'></a><h2><a name='Page_200'></a>BURMAH.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Of all the kings in Asia, the king of Burmah is the greatest, next to the +emperor of China. He has not indeed nearly as large a kingdom, or as many +subjects as that emperor; but like him, he is worshipped by his people. +He is called "Lord of life and death," and the "Owner of the sword," for +instead of holding a <i>sceptre</i> in his hand, he holds a golden sheathed +<i>sword</i>. A sword indeed suits him well, for he is very cruel to his +subjects. Nowhere are such severe punishments inflicted. For drinking +brandy the punishment is, pouring molten lead down the throat; and for +running away from the army, the punishment is, cutting off both legs, and +leaving the poor creature to bleed to death. A man for choosing to be a +Christian was beaten all over the body with a wooden mallet, till he was +one mass of bruises; but before he was dead, he was let go.</p> + +<p>Every one is much afraid of offending this cruel king. The people tremble +at the sound of his name; <a name='Page_201'></a>and when they see him, they fall down with +their heads in the dust. The king makes any one a lord whom he pleases, +yet he treats even his lords very rudely. When displeased with them, he +will hunt them out of the room with his drawn sword. Once he made forty +of his lords lie upon their faces for several hours, beneath the broiling +sun, with a great beam over them to keep them still. It was well for them +that the king did not send for the men with spotted faces. Who are those +men? The executioners. Their faces are always covered with round marks +tattooed in the skin. The sight of these spotted faces fills all the +people with terror. Every one runs away at the sight of a spotted face, +and no one will allow a man with a spotted face to sit down in his house. +In what terror the poor Burmese must live, not knowing when the order for +death will arrive. Yet the king is so much revered, that when he dies, +instead of saying, "He is dead," the people say, "He is gone to amuse +himself in the heavenly regions"</p> + +<p>The king has a great many governors under him, and they are as cruel as +himself. A missionary once saw a poor creature hanging on a cross. He +inquired what the man had done, and finding that he was not a murderer, +he went to the governor to entreat him to pardon the man. For a long +while the governor refused <a name='Page_202'></a>to hear him: but at last he gave him a note, +desiring the crucified man to be taken down from the cross. Would you +believe it?—the Burmese officers were so cruel that they would not toke +out the nails, till the missionary had promised them a <i>piece of cloth</i> +as a reward! When the man was released, he was nearly dead, having been +seven hours bleeding on the cross; but he was tenderly nursed by the +missionary, and at last he recovered. Yet all the agonies of a cross had +not changed the man's heart, and he returned to his old way of life as a +thief. Had he believed in that Saviour who was nailed to a cross for his +sins, he would, like the dying thief, have repented. Though the Burmese +are so unfeeling to each other, they think it wrong to kill animals, and +never eat any meat, except the flesh of animals who have died of +themselves. Even the fishermen think they shall be punished hereafter for +catching fish; but they say, "We must do it, or we shall be starved." You +may be sure that such a people must have some false and foolish religion; +and so they have, as you will see.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/9.jpg' width='606' height='842' alt='IDOL CAR AND PAGODA. p. 203.' title='IDOL CAR AND PAGODA. p. 203.'> +</center> +<h5>IDOL CAR AND PAGODA. See <a href='#Page_203'> p. 203.</a></h5> + +<p><b>RELIGION.</b>—It is the religion of Buddha. This Buddha was a man who was +born at Benares, in India, more than two thousand years ago; and people +say, that for his great goodness was made a boodh, or a god. Yet the +Burmese do not think he is alive <a name='Page_203'></a>now; they say he is resting as a reward +for his goodness. Why then do they pray to him, if he cannot hear them? +They pray because they think it is very good to pray, and that they shall +be rewarded for it some day. What reward do they expect? It is this—to +<i>rest</i> as Buddha does—to sleep forever and ever. This is the reward they +look for. Every one in Burmah thinks he has been born a great many times +into the world,—now as an insect,—now as a bird,—now as a beast, and +he thinks that because he was very good,—as a reward he was made a +<i>man</i>. Then he thinks that if he is very good as a <i>poor</i> man, he shall +be born next time to be a <i>rich</i> man; and at last, that he will be +allowed to rest like Buddha himself. What is it to be good? The Burmese +say that the greatest goodness is making an idol, and next to that, +making a pagoda. You know what an idol is, but do you know what a pagoda +is? It is a house, with an idol <i>hidden</i> inside, and it has no door, nor +window, therefore no one can get into a pagoda. Some pagodas are very +large, and others very small. As it is thought so very good to make idols +and pagodas, the whole land is filled with them; the roads in some places +are lined with them; the mountains are crowned with them.</p> + +<p>Next to making idols, and building pagodas, it is considered good to make +offerings. You may see the <a name='Page_204'></a>father climbing a steep hill to reach a +pagoda, his little one by his side, and plucking green twigs as he goes. +He reaches the pagoda, and strikes the great bell, then enters the +idol-house near the pagoda, and teaches his young child how to fold its +little hands, and to raise them to its forehead, while it repeats a +senseless prayer; then leaving the green twigs at the idol's feet, the +father descends with his child in his arms. How many little ones, such +as Jesus once took in his arms, are taught every day to serve Satan.</p> + +<p>The people who are thought the best in Burmah, are the priests. Any one +that pleases may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out +begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands; but they +get them well filled, and then return to the handsome house, all shining +with gold, in which they live together in plenty and in pride. They are +expected to dress in rags, to show that they are poor; but not liking +rags, they cut up cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces together to +make their yellow robes; and this they call wearing rags. They pretend to +be so modest, that they do not like to show their faces, and so hide them +with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their way, that +is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they give him is +Guadama, while the Chinese<a name='Page_205'></a> call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty +stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a +bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good +whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king.</p> + +<p><b>CHARACTER.</b>—The Burmese are a blunt and rough people. They are not like +the Chinese and the Hindoos, ready to pay compliments to strangers. When +a Burmese has finished a visit, he says, "I am going," and his friend +replies, "Go." This is very blunt behavior. But all blunt people are not +sincere. The Burmese are very deceitful, and tell lies on every occasion; +indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods. They are also very +proud, because they fancy they were so good before they were born into +this world. All the kind actions they do are in the hope of getting more +merit, and this bad motive spoils all they do. They are kind to +travellers. In every village there is a pretty house, called a Zayat, +where travellers may rest. As soon as a guest arrives, the villagers +hasten to wait upon him;—one brings a clean mat, another a jug of water, +and a third a basket of fruit. But why is all this attention shown? In +the hope of getting merit. The Burmese resemble the Chinese in their +respect to their parents. They are better than the Chinese in their +treatment of their children, for they <a name='Page_206'></a>are kind to the <i>girls</i> is well as +to the boys; neither do they destroy any of their infants. They are +temperate also, not drinking wine,—having only two meals in the day, and +then not eating too much. In these points they are to be approved. They +are, however, very violent in their tempers; it is true they are not very +easily provoked, but when they are angry, they use very abusive language. +Thus you see they are by no means an amiable people.</p> + +<p><b>APPEARANCE.</b>—In their persons they are far less pleasing than the +Hindoos; for instead of <i>slender</i> faces and figures, they have broad +faces and thick figures. But they have not such dark complexions as the +Hindoos.</p> + +<p>They disfigure themselves in various ways. To make their skins yellow, +they sprinkle over them a yellow powder. They also make their teeth +black, because they say they do not wish to have white teeth like dogs +and monkeys. They bore their ears, and put bars of gold, or silver, or +marble through the holes.</p> + +<p>The women wear a petticoat and a jacket. The men wear a turban, a loose +robe, and a jacket; they tie up their hair in a knot behind, and tattoo +their legs, by pricking their skin, and then putting in black oil. They +have the disagreeable custom of smoking,<a name='Page_207'></a> and of chewing a stuff called +"coon," which they carry in a box.</p> + +<p>Every one (except the priests) carries an umbrella to guard him from the +sun; the king alone has a white one; his nobles have gilded umbrellas; +the next class have red umbrellas; and the lowest have green.</p> + +<p><b>FOOD.</b>—Burmah is a pleasanter country than Hindostan, for it is not so +hot, and yet it is as fruitful. The people live chiefly upon rice; but +when they cannot get enough, they find abundance of leaves and roots to +satisfy their hunger.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—There are many tigers, but no lions. The Burmese are fond of +adorning their houses with statues of lions, but never having seen any, +they make very strange and laughable figures. The pride of Burmah is her +elephants; but they all belong to the king, and none may ride upon one +but himself, and his chief favorite. Carriages are drawn by bullocks, or +buffaloes; and there are horses for riding, so the Burmese can do very +well without the elephants. The king thinks a great deal too much of +these noble animals. There was a white elephant that he delighted in so +much, that he adorned it with gold, and jewels, and counted it next to +himself in rank, even above the queen. </p><a name='Page_208'></a> + +<p><b>HOUSES.</b>—The Burmese build their houses on posts, so that there is an +empty place under the floors. Dogs and crows may often be seen walking +under the houses, eating whatever has fallen through the cracks of the +floor.</p> + +<p>The king allows none but the nobles to build houses of brick and stone; +the rest build them of bamboos. This law is unpleasant; but there is +another law which is a great comfort to the poor. It is <i>this</i>;—any one +may have land who wishes for it. A man has only to cultivate a piece of +spare land, and it is counted his, <i>as long</i> as he continues to cultivate +it; therefore all industrious people have gardens of their own.</p> + + +<a name='The_Karens'></a> +<h3>THE KARENS.</h3> + +<p>Among the mountains of Burmah, there are a wild people called the Karens, +very poor and very ignorant; yet some have attended to the voice of the +missionaries. They are not so proud as the Burmese; for they have no gods +at all, and no books at all: they have not filled their heads with five +hundred and fifty stories about Gaudama; therefore they are more ready to +listen to the history of Jesus.</p> + +<p>The Karens live in houses raised from the ground, <a name='Page_209'></a>and so large is the +place underneath, that they keep poultry and pigs there. Every year they +move to a new place, and build new houses, clear a new piece of ground, +by burning the weeds, dig it up, and sow rice. Thus they wander about, +and they number their years by the number of houses they have lived in.</p> + +<p>Of all the Eastern nations, they sing and play the most sweetly, and when +they become Christians, they sing hymns, very sweetly indeed.</p> + +<p>There is one Christian village among the mountains, called Mata, which +means love; and every morning the people meet together in the Zayat, or +travellers' house, to sing and pray. Before they were Christians, the +Karens were in constant fear of the Nats; (not <i>insects</i>, but evil +spirits), and sometimes in order to please their Nats, they were so cruel +as to beat a pig to death. The Christian Karens have left off such +barbarous practices, and have become kind and compassionate. When the +missionaries told them that they ought to love one another, some of them +went secretly the next day to wait upon a poor leper, and upon a woman +covered with sores. Another day, without being asked, they collected some +money and brought it to the missionaries, saying, they wished to set free +a poor Burman who had been imprisoned for<a name='Page_210'></a> Christ's sake. It is cheering +to the missionaries to see them turning from their sins.<a name='FNanchor_11_11'></a><a href='#Footnote_11_11'><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> + +<a name='Ava'></a> +<h3>AVA.</h3> + +<p>This city was once the capital of Burmah, and then it was called the +"golden city." But now the king lives in another city, and the glory of +Ava has passed away.</p> + +<a name='Maulmain'></a> +<h3>MAULMAIN.</h3> + +<p>This city, though in Burmah, may be called a British city, because the +British built it; for they have conquered great part of Burmah. There are +missionaries there. One there is, named Judson, who has turned more than +a hundred Burmese to the Lord. But he has known great troubles. His wife +and his little girl shared in these troubles.</p> + +<p>I will now relate the history of the short life of little Maria Judson. </p><a name='Page_211'></a> + +<a name='The_Missionarys_Babe'></a> +<h3>THE MISSIONARY'S BABE.</h3> + +<p>The missionary's babe, little Maria, was born in a cottage by the side of +a river, and very near the walls of the great city of Ava, where the king +dwelt.</p> + +<p>It was a wooden cottage, thatched with straw, and screened by a verandah +from the burning sun. It was not like an English cottage, for it was +built on high posts, that the cool air might play beneath. It contained +three small rooms all on one floor. The country around was lovely; for +the green banks of the river were adorned with various colored flowers +and with trees laden with fine fruits.</p> + +<p>In this pretty cottage, the infant Maria was lulled in her mother's arms +to sleep, and often the tears rolling down the mother's cheeks, fell upon +the baby's fair face. Why did the mother weep? It was for her husband she +wept. He was not dead, but he was in prison. He was a missionary, and the +king of Ava had imprisoned him in the midst of the great city. Was his +wife left all alone with her babe in her cottage? No, there were two +little Burmese girls there. They were the children of heathen parents, +and they had been received by the kind lady into her cottage, and now +they were learning to worship God. Their new names were, Mary, and Abby. +There were also two <a name='Page_212'></a>men servants, of dark complexion, dressed in white +cotton, and wearing turbans. It was a sorrowful little household, because +the master of the family was absent, because he was in distress, and his +life was in danger. Every day his fond wife visited him in his prison. +She left her babe under the care of Mary, and set out with a little +basket in her hand. After walking two miles through the streets of Ava, +she came to some high walls—she knocked at the gate—a stern-looking +man opened it. The lady, passing through the gates, entered a court. In +one corner of the court, there was a little shed made of bamboos, and +near it, upon a mat, eat a pale, and sorrowful man. His countenance +brightens when he perceives the lady enter. She refreshes him with the +nice food she has brought in her basket, and comforts him with sweet and +heavenly words:—then hastens to return to her babe. As soon as she +enters her cottage, she sinks back, half fainting, in her rocking-chair, +while she folds again her little darling in her arms. Happy babe! thy +parents are suffering for Jesus—and they are blessed of the Lord, and +their baby with them.</p> + +<p>Greater sorrows still, soon befell the little family. One day, a +messenger came to the cottage, with the sad tidings that the bamboo hut +had been torn down, the mat, and pillow taken away, and the prisoner,<a name='Page_213'></a> +laden with chains, thrust into the inner prison. The loving wife hastened +to the governor of the city to ask for mercy; but she could obtain none, +only she was permitted to see her husband. And <i>what</i> a sight! He was +shut up in a room with a hundred men, and without a <i>window!!</i> Though the +weather was hot no breath of air reached the poor prisoners, but through +the cracks in the boards. No wonder that the missionary soon fell ill of +a fever. His wife, fearing he would die, determined to act like the widow +in the parable, and to weary the unjust judge by her entreaties. She left +her quiet cottage, and built a hut of bamboos at the governor's gate, +and there she lived with her babe, and the little Burmese girls. The +prison was just opposite the governor's gate, so that the anxious wife +had now the comfort of being near her suffering husband. The governor was +wearied by her importunity, and at last permitted her to build again a +bamboo hovel for the prisoner in the court of the prison. The sick man +was brought out of the noisome dungeon, and was laid upon his mat in the +fresh air. He was supplied with food and medicine by his faithful wife, +and he began to recover.</p> + +<p>But in three days, a change occurred. Suddenly the poor wife heard that +her beloved had been dragged from his prison, and taken, she knew not +where. She<a name='Page_214'></a> inquired of everybody she saw, "Where is he gone?" but no +answer could she obtain. At last the governor told her, that his prisoner +was taken to a great city, named A-ma-ra-poora. This city was seven miles +from Ava. The wife decided in a moment what to do. She determined to +follow her husband. Taking her babe in her arms, and accompanied by the +Burmese children, and one servant, she set out. She went to the city up +the river in a covered boat, and thus she was sheltered from the +scorching sun of an Indian May. But when she arrived at Amarapoora, she +heard that her husband had been taken to a village six miles off. To this +village she travelled in a clumsy cart drawn by oxen. Overcome with +fatigue, she arrived at the prison, and saw her poor husband sitting in +the court chained to another prisoner, and looking very ill. He had +neither hat, nor coat, nor shoes, and his feet were covered with wounds +he had received, as he had been driven over the burning gravel on the way +to the prison: but his wounds had been bound up by a kind heathen +servant, who had torn up his own turban to make bandages.</p> + +<p>When the missionary saw his wife approaching with her infant, he felt +grieved on her account, and exclaimed, "Why have you come? You cannot +live here?" But she cared not where she lived, so that <a name='Page_215'></a>she could be near +her suffering husband. She wished to build a bamboo hut at the prison +gate: but the jailor would not allow her. However, he let her live in a +room of his own house. It was a wretched room, with no furniture but a +mat. Here the mother and the children slept that night, while the +servant, wrapped in his cloth, lay at the door. They had no supper that +night. Next day, they bought food in the village, with some silver that +the lady kept carefully concealed in her clothes.</p> + +<p>A new trouble soon came upon them. Mary was seized with a small-pox of a +dreadful sort. Who now was to help the weak mother to nurse the little +Maria? Abby was too young. The babe was four months old, and a heavy +burden for feeble arms; yet all day long the mother carried it, as she +went to and fro from the sick child to the poor prisoner. Sometimes, when +it was asleep, she laid it down by the side of her husband. He was able +to watch a <i>sleeping</i> babe, but not to nurse a babe <i>awake</i>, owing to his +great weakness, and to his mangled feet. Soon the babe herself was +attacked by the small-pox, and continued very ill for three months. This +last trial was too much for the poor mother. Her strength failed her, and +for many weeks she lay upon her mat unable to rise. She must have +perished, if it had not been <a name='Page_216'></a>for the faithful servant. He was a native +of Bengal, and a heathen. Yet he was so much concerned for his sick +mistress and imprisoned master, that he would sometimes go without food +all day, while he was attending to their wants; and he did all without +expecting any wages.</p> + +<p>The poor little infant was in a sad case now its mother was lying on the +mat. It cried so much for milk, that once its father got leave to carry +it round the village to ask the mothers who had babes, to give some milk +to his. By this plan, the little creature was quieted in the day, but at +night its cries were most distressing.</p> + +<p>The time at length arrived, when these trials were to end. The king sent +for the missionary, not to put him to death, as he had once intended, but +to ask for his help. What help could he render to the king? The reason +why the missionary had been imprisoned so long was, that a British army +had attacked Burmah. The king had feared, lest the missionary should take +part with the enemy, and therefore he had shut him up. Now there were +hopes of peace, and an interpreter was wanted to help the Burmese to +speak with the British. The missionary knew both the English language and +the Burmese, and he could explain to the king what the English general +would say.</p><a name='Page_217'></a> + +<p>For this purpose he was brought to Ava. He was not driven along the road +like a beast, but relieved from his chains, and treated with less cruelty +than formerly. Yet he was still a prisoner.</p> + +<p>The mother was now well enough to make a journey, though still very weak. +She returned to her cottage by the river-side, and soon she had the +delight of seeing her husband enter it. It was seventeen months since he +had been torn from it by the king's officers, and ever since, he had been +groaning in irons. But he was not now come to remain in his cottage, but +only to obtain a little food and clothing to take with him to the Burmese +camp. His wife felt cheered on his account, hoping that as an interpreter +he would be well treated.</p> + +<p>No sooner was he gone, than she was seized with that deadly disease, +called spotted fever. What now would become of little Maria? Through the +tender mercy of God, on the very day the mother fell ill, a Burmese woman +offered to nurse the babe. Every day the mother grew worse, till at last +the neighbors came in to see her die. As they stood around, they +exclaimed, in their Burmese tongue, "She is dead, and if the king of +angels should come in, he could not recover her." <i>Their</i> king of angels +could <i>not</i>, but <i>her</i> KING of ANGELS could, for he can raise the dead.<a name='Page_218'></a> +But this dear lady was <i>not</i> dead, though nearly dead.</p> + +<p>The Lord of life showed her mercy. A friend entered the sick chamber. It +was Dr. Price, a missionary and a prisoner, but who had obtained leave +from the king to visit the sick lady. He understood her case, and he +ordered her head to be shaved, and blisters to be applied to her feet. +From that time, she began to recover, and in a month, she had strength to +stand up. The governor, who had once been so slow to hear her complaints, +now sent for her to his house. He received her in the kindest manner. +What was her joy, when she foiled her husband there, not as a prisoner, +but as a guest. Many prayers had she offered up, during her long illness, +and they were now answered. The promise she had trusted in was fulfilled. +This was <i>that</i> promise: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I WILL +DELIVER THEE, and thou shalt glorify me." </p> + +<p>But still brighter days were at hand. The King of Burmah had peace with +the British, and had agreed to deliver the missionaries into their hands. +Glad, indeed, were they to escape from the power of the cruel monarch. +Little Maria and her parents, as well as Mary and Abby, were conveyed in +a boat down the river to the place where the English army <a name='Page_219'></a>had encamped. +The English general received them with fatherly kindness, and gave them a +tent to dwell in near his own. What a fortnight they spent in that tent. +It was a morning of joy, after a night of weeping. Little Maria was now, +for the first time, dwelling with <i>both</i> her parents.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards she was taken to a new home in a town in Burmah, built by +the English. It was called Amherst<a name='FNanchor_12_12'></a><a href='#Footnote_12_12'><sup>[12]</sup></a>. Here the missionary might teach +the Burmese to know their Saviour, without being under the power of the +cruel Burmese king.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if the little family, so long afflicted, were now to dwell +in safety, and to labor in comfort. But there is a rest for the people of +God, and to this rest one of this family was soon removed.</p> + +<p>The missionary determined to go to Ava, to plead with the king for +permission to teach his subjects. He parted from his beloved wife, +little thinking he should never see her again.</p> + +<p>During her husband's absence, she watched with deep anxiety over her +little Maria. The child was pale, and puny, yet very affectionate and +intelligent. Whenever her mamma said, "Where is dear papa gone?" the +little creature started up, and pointed to <a name='Page_220'></a>the sea. She could not speak +plainly, for she was only twenty months old.</p> + +<p>Not long did she enjoy her mother's tender care. The poor mother, worn +with her past watching, and weeping, was attacked by fever. As she lay +upon the bed, she was heard to say, "The teacher is long in coming, I +must die alone, and leave my little one; but as it is the will of God, I +am content."</p> + +<p>She grew so ill, that she took no notice of anything that passed around +her; but even then she called for her child, and charged the nurse to be +kind to it, and to indulge it in everything till its father returned. +This charge she gave, because she knew the babe wan sick, and needed the +tenderest care. At last the mother lay without moving, her eyes closed, +and her head resting on her arm. Thus she continued for two days, and +then she uttered one cry, and ceased to breathe. Her illness had lasted +eighteen days. Then she rested from her labors, and slept in Jesus.</p> + +<p>What now became of little Maria? The wife of an English officer receded +her in her house for a few weeks, and then a missionary and his wife came +to Maria's home, and took charge of the child. Maria was pleased to come +back to her own home, and she fancied that kind Mrs. Wade was her own +mother.</p> + +<p>What a day it was when the poor father returned <a name='Page_221'></a>home! No wife to meet +him, with love and joy; only a sickly babe, who had forgotten him, and +turned from him with alarm. Where could he go, but to the grave to weep +there? then he returned to the house to look at the very spot where he +had knelt with his wife in prayer, and parted from her in hope of a happy +return.</p> + +<p>Little Maria was nursed with a mother's care, though not in a mother's +arms; but her delicate frame had been shaken by her infant troubles, and +care and comforts came TOO LATE. After drooping day by day, she died at +the age of two years and three months, exactly six months after her +mother. Her father was near to close her faded eyes, and fold her little +hands on her cold breast, and then to lay her in a little grave, close +beside her mother's, under the Hope Tree.</p> + +<p>The words of the poet would suit well the case of this much tried +infant:—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"Short pain, short grief, dear babe, were thine,</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'><i>Now</i>, joys eternal and divine."</span><br /> + +<p>Like Maria's are the sufferings of many a missionary's babe, and many lie +in an early tomb. But they are dear to the Saviour, for their parents' +sakes, and their deaths are precious in his sight, and their spirits and +their dust are safe in his hands.</p> + +<a name='Footnote_11_11'></a><a href='#FNanchor_11_11'>[11]</a><div class='note'><p> Taken from "Travels in Eastern Asia," by Rev. Howard +Malcolm.</p></div> + +<a name='Footnote_12_12'></a><a href='#FNanchor_12_12'>[12]</a><div class='note'><p> Amherst is only thirty miles from Maulmain.</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='SIAM'></a><h2><a name='Page_222'></a>SIAM.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Cross a river, and you pass from Burmah to Siam. These two countries, +like most countries close together, have quarrelled a great deal, and +now Britain has got in between them, and has parted them; as a nurse +might come and part two quarrelsome children. Britain has conquered that +part of Burmah which lies close to Siam, and has called it British +Burmah; so Siam is now at peace.</p> + +<p>But though these two countries have been such enemies, they are as like +each other as two sisters. Siam is the little sister. Siam is a long +narrow slip of a country, having the sea on one side, and mountains on +the other.</p> + +<p>The religion of Siam is the same as that of Burmah, the worship of +Buddha. But in Siam he is not called Buddha: the name given him there is +"Codom." You see how many names this Buddha has; in China he is Fo; in +Burmah he is Gaudama; in Siam, he is Codom. Neither is he honored in Siam +<a name='Page_223'></a>in exactly the same way as in Burmah. Instead of building magnificent +pagodas, the Siamese build magnificent image houses or temples.</p> + +<p>The Siamese resemble the Burmese in appearance, but they are much worse +looking. Their faces are very broad, and flat; and so large are the jaws +under the ears, that they appear as if they were swollen. Their manner of +dressing their hair does not improve their looks; for they cut their hair +quite close, except just on the top of their heads, where they make it +stand up like bristles; nor do they wear any covering on their heads, +except when it is very hot, and then they put on a hat in the shape of a +milk pan, made of leaves. They do not disfigure themselves, as the +Burmese do, with nose-rings, and ear-bars; but they, love ornaments quite +as much, and load themselves with necklaces and bracelets. Their dress +consists of a printed cotton garment, wound round the body. This is the +dress of the women as well as of the men; only sometimes the women wear a +handkerchief over their necks.</p> + +<p>In disposition the Siamese are deceitful, and cowardly. It has been said +of them, that as <i>friends</i> they are not to be <i>trusted</i>, and as <i>enemies</i> +not to be <i>feared:</i> they cannot be trusted because they are deceitful: +they need not be feared because they are cowardly.<a name='Page_224'></a> This is indeed a +dreadful character; for many wicked people are faithful to their friends, +and brave in resisting their enemies.</p> + +<p>No doubt the manner in which they are governed makes them cowardly; for +they are taught to behave as if they were worms. Whoever enters the +presence of the king, must creep about on hands and knees. The great +lords require their servants to show them the same respect. Servants +always crawl into a room, pushing in their trays before them; and when +waiting, they walk about on their knees. How shocking to see men made +like worms to gratify the pride of their fellow-men! The rule is never to +let your head be higher than the head of a person more honorable than +yourself; if he stand, you must sit; if he sit, you must crouch.</p> + +<p>The Siamese are like the Burmese in cruelty. When an enemy falls into +their hands, no mercy is shown.</p> + +<p>A king of a small country called Laos, was taken captive by the Siamese. +This king, with his family, were shut up in a large iron cage, and +exhibited as a sight. There he was, surrounded by his sons and grandsons, +and all of them were heavily laden with chains on their necks and legs. +Two of them were little boys, and they played and laughed in their +<a name='Page_225'></a>cage!—so thoughtless are children! But the elder sons looked very +miserable; they hung down their heads, and fixed their eyes on the +ground; and well they might; for within their sight were various horrible +instruments of torture;—spears with which to pierce them;—an iron +boiler, in which to heat oil to scald them;—a gallows on which to hang +their bodies, and—a pestle and mortar in which to pound the children to +powder. You see how Satan fills the heart of the heathen with his own +cruel devices. The people who came to see this miserable family, rejoiced +at the sight of their misery: but they lost the delight they expected in +tormenting the old king, for he died of a broken heart; and all they +could do <i>then</i>, was to insult his body; they beheaded it, and then hung +it upon a gibbet, where every one might see it, and the beasts and birds +devour it.</p> + +<p>What became of his unhappy family is not known.</p> + +<p>But though so barbarous to their <i>enemies</i>, the Siamese in some respects +are better than most other heathen nations, for they treat their +<i>relations</i> more kindly. They do not kill their infants, nor shut up +their wives, nor cast out their parents. Yet they show their cruelty in +this:—they often sell one another for slaves. They also purchase slaves +in great numbers; and there are wild men in the mountains<a name='Page_226'></a> who watch +Burmans and Karens to sell them to the great chiefs of Siam. It is the +pride of their chiefs to have thousands of slaves crawling around them.</p> + +<a name='Bankok'></a> +<h3>BANKOK.</h3> + +<p>This city is built on an island in a broad river, and part of it on the +banks of the river. It ought therefore to be a pleasant city, but it is +<i>not</i>, owing to its extreme untidiness. The streets are full of mud, and +overgrown with bushes, amongst which all the refuse is thrown; there are +also many ditches with planks thrown across. There is only one pleasant +part of the town, and that is, where the Wats are built. The Wats are the +idol-houses. Near them are shady walks and fragrant flowers, and elegant +dwellings for the priests. The people think they get great merit by +making Wats, and therefore they take so much trouble: for the Siamese are +very idle. So idle are they that there would be very little trade in +Bankok, if it were not for the Chinese, who come over here in crowds, and +make sugar, and buy and sell, and get money to take back to China. You +may tell in a moment a Chinaman's garden from a Siamese garden; <a name='Page_227'></a>one is +so neat and full of flowers;—the other is overgrown with weeds and +strewn with litter.</p> + +<p>The most curious sight in Bankok, is the row of floating houses. These +houses are placed upon posts in the river, and do not move about as boats +do; yet if you <i>wish</i> to move your house, you can do so; you have only to +take up the posts, and float to another place.</p> + +<p>Besides the floating houses, there are numerous boats in the river, and +some so small that a child can row them. There are so many that they +often come against each other, and are overset. A traveller once passed +by a boat where a little girl of seven was rowing, and by accident his +boat overset hers. The child fell out of her boat, and her paddle out of +her hand; yet she was not the least frightened, only surprised; and after +looking about for a moment, she burst out a laughing, and was soon seen +swimming behind her boat (still upside down), with her paddle in her +hand. These little laughing rowers are too giddy to like learning, and +they are not at all willing to come to the missionaries' schools; but +some poor children, redeemed from slavery, are glad to be there, and have +been taught about Christ in these schools.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='MALACCA'></a><h2><a name='Page_228'></a>MALACCA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is a peninsula, or almost an island, for there is water almost all +round it. In shape it is something like a <i>dog's</i> leg, even as Italy is +like a <i>man's</i> leg.</p> + +<p>The weather in Malacca is much pleasanter than in most parts of India, +because the sea-breezes make the air fresh. There is no rainy season, as +in most hot countries, but a shower cools the air almost every day. The +country, too, is beautiful, for there are mountains, and forests, and +streams.</p> + +<p>Yet it is a dangerous country to live in, for the people are very +treacherous. There are many pirates among them. What are pirates? Robbers +by sea. If they see a small vessel, in a moment the pirates in their +ships try to overtake it, seize it, take the crew prisoners, and sell +them for slaves. The governors of the land do not punish the pirates; far +from punishing them, they share in the gains. That is a wicked land +indeed, where the governors encourage the people in their sins.</p><a name='Page_229'></a> + +<p>Malacca has no king of her own; the land belongs to Siam, except a very +small part. The inhabitants are called Malays. They are not like the +Siamese in character; for instead of being cowardly, they are fierce. +Neither have they the same religion, for instead of being Buddhists, they +are Mahomedans. Yet they know very little about the Koran, or its laws. +One command, however, they have learned, which is—to hate infidels. They +count all who do not believe in Mahomet to be infidels, and they say that +it is right to hunt them. They are proud of taking Christian vessels, and +of selling Christians as slaves.</p> + +<p>There are some valuable plants in Malacca. There is one which has a seed +called "pepper." There is a tree which has in the stem a pith called +sago. Who collects the pepper and the sago? There are mines of tin. Who +digs up the tin? The idle Malays will not take so much trouble, so the +industrious Chinese labor instead. The Chinese come over by thousands to +get rich in Malacca. As there is not room for them in their own country, +they are glad to settle in other countries. But though the Chinese set an +example of <i>industry</i>, they do not set an example of <i>goodness</i>; for they +gamble, and so lose their <i>money</i>, they smoke opium, and so lose their +<i>health</i>, <a name='Page_230'></a>and they commit many kinds of wickedness by which they lose +their <i>souls</i>.</p> + +<p>As for the Malays, they are so very idle, that when trees fall over the +river, and block up the way, they will not be at the trouble of cutting a +way through for their boats,—but will sooner creep <i>under</i> or climb +<i>over</i> the fallen trees.</p> + +<p>The capital of Malacca is Malacca, and this city belongs to the English; +but it is of little use to them, because the harbor is not good.</p> + + +<a name='Singapore'></a> +<h3>SINGAPORE.</h3> + +<p>This city also belongs to the English, and it is of great use to them, +because the harbor is one of the best in the world. Many ships come there +to buy, and to sell, and amongst the rest, the Chinese junks. The city is +built on a small island, very near the coast. There are many beautiful +country houses perched on the hills, where English families live, and +there are long flights of stone steps leading from their houses to the +sea.</p> + +<p>But many of the Malays have no home but a boat, hardly large enough to +lie down in. There they gain a living by catching fish, and collecting +shells, and <a name='Page_231'></a>coral, to exchange for sago, which is their food. These men +are called "Ourang-lout," which means "Man of the water." Does not this +name remind you of the apes called "Ourang-outang," which means "Man of +the woods?" There are Ourang-outangs in the forests of Malacca, and they +are more like men, and are more easily tamed than any other ape. Yet +still how different is the <i>tamest</i> ape from the <i>wildest</i> man; for the +one has an immortal soul, and the other has none.</p> + +<p>The Malay language is said to be the easiest in the world, even as the +Chinese is the most difficult. The Malay language has no cases or +genders, or conjugations, which puzzle little boys so much in their Latin +Grammars. It is easy for missionaries to learn the Malay language. When +they know it, they can talk to the Chinese in Malacca in this language.</p> + +<p>I will tell you of a school that an English lady has opened at Singapore +for poor Chinese girls.</p> + + +<a name='The_Christian_school-girls'></a> +<h3>THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL-GIRLS.</h3> + +<p>The two elder girls were sisters, and were called Chun and Han. Both of +them, when they heard about Jesus, believed in him, and loved him. Yet +their characters were very different, Chun being of a <a name='Page_232'></a>joyful +disposition, and Han of a mournful and timid temper. They had no father, +and their mother was employed in the school to take care of the little +children, and to teach them needle-work; but she was a heathen.</p> + +<p>When Chun and Han had been three years in the school, their mother wanted +them to leave, and to come with her to her home. The girls were grieved +at the thought of leaving their Christian teacher, and of living in a +heathen home; yet they felt it was their duty to do as their mother +wished. But they were anxious to be baptized before they went, if they +could obtain their mother's consent. Their kind teacher, Miss Grant, +thought it would be of no use to ask leave <i>long</i> before the time, lest +the mother should carry her girls away, and lock them up. So she waited +till the very evening fixed for the baptism. Miss Grant had been praying +all day for help from God, and the two sisters had been praying together; +and now the bell began to ring for evening service. Now the time was come +when the mother must be asked.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Miss Grant to the mother, "that the children are +going to church with me?" "Yes," replied the mother, "wherever Missie +pleases to take them." Then the lady told her of the baptism, and +entreated her consent. At last the heathen <a name='Page_233'></a>mother replied, "If you wish +it, I will not oppose you." Miss Grant, afraid lest the mother should +change her mind, hastened into her palanquin, and the sisters hastened +into theirs. Looking back, the lady perceived the mother was standing +watching the palanquins. Seeing this, she stopped, saying, "Nomis, why +should not you come, and see what is done?" To the lady's surprise, the +mother immediately consented to come; and so this heathen mother was +present at the baptism of her daughters. Their teacher, (who was their +<i>mother in Christ</i>,) rejoiced with exceeding joy to see her dear girls +give themselves to the Lord, and to hear them answer in their broken +English, "All <i>dis</i> I do steadfastly believe."</p> + +<p>Soon after their baptism, the girls went to live in their mother's house. +To comfort them, Miss Grant promised to fetch them every Sunday, to spend +the day with her. She came for them at five o'clock in the morning, +before it was light, and took them back at nine, when it was quite dark. +If she had not fetched them herself, they would not have been allowed to +go.</p> + +<p>After awhile, they were <i>not</i> allowed to go. The reason was, that the +heathen mother wanted Chun to marry a heathen Chinaman. Chun refused to +commit such a sin. Then her mother was angry, mocked her,<a name='Page_234'></a> and prevented +her going to see Miss Grant. Still Chun refused. She saw her mother +embroidering her wedding-dresses, but she still persisted that she would +not marry a heathen, especially as she would have to bow down before an +idol at her marriage. Chun grew very unhappy, and looked very pale, she +wrote many letters to her kind friend, and offered up many prayers to her +merciful God. And did the Lord hear her, and did He deliver her? He did. +A Christian Chinaman, who had been brought up by a missionary, heard of +Chun, and asked permission to marry her. He had never seen her, for it is +not the custom in China for girls to be seen.</p> + +<p>Miss Grant was delighted at the thought of her darling Chun marrying a +Christian, and she helped to prepare for the wedding. There was no bowing +down before an idol at that wedding, but an English clergymen read the +service. Chun's face, according to the custom, was covered with a thick +veil, and even her hands and feet were hidden. A few days after the +wedding, Miss Grant, according to the custom, called on the newly +married. She found the room beautifully ornamented, like all Chinese +rooms at such times, but there were two ornaments seldom seen in +China—two Bibles lying open on the table.</p> + +<p>Chun long rejoiced that she had so firmly refused<a name='Page_235'></a> to marry a heathen. One +day, Miss Grant said to her, playfully, "Has your husband beaten you +yet?" (for she knew that Chinamen think nothing of beating their wives.) +Chun replied, with a sweet look, "O no! he often tells me, that <i>first</i> +he thanks God, and then <i>you</i>, Miss, for having given me to him as his +wife."</p> + +<p>There was another girl at Miss Grant's school, named Been. Sometimes she +was called Beneo, which means Miss Been, just as Chuneo means Miss Chun. +Miss Grant hoped that Been loved the Saviour, and hated idols, but she +soon lost her, for her parents took her to their heathen home.</p> + +<p>After Been had been home a short time her mother died. The neighbors were +astonished to find that Been refused to worship her mother's spirit, and +to burn gold paper, to supply her with money in the other world. While +her relations were busily occupied in their heathen ceremonies, Been sat +silent and alone. Soon afterwards, her father, who cared not for her, +sold her to a Chinaman to be his wife, for forty dollars.</p> + +<p>Miss Grant heard her sad fate, and often longed to see her, but did not +know where to find her. One evening, as she was paying visits in her +palanquin, she saw a pair of bright black eyes looking through a hedge, +and she felt sure that they were her own<a name='Page_236'></a> Been's. She stopped, and +calling the girl, saluted her affectionately. She was glad she had found +out where Been lived, as she would now be able to pay her a visit.</p> + +<p>Soon she called upon her, in her own dwelling;—a poor little hut in the +midst of a sugar plantation. She brought as a present, a New Testament in +English, and in large print. Been appeared delighted.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember how to read it?" inquired Miss Grant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, how could I forget?" Been sweetly replied.</p> + +<p>"Well then, read," said Miss Grant.</p> + +<p>Been read, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep."</p> + +<p>"Do you understand?" inquired the lady.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Been, and she translated the words into Malay.</p> + +<p>As Miss Grant was rising to depart, she observed a hen gathering her +brood under her wings.</p> + +<p>"Of what does that remind you, Been?"</p> + +<p>"I know," said the poor girl; "I remember what I learnt at school;" and +then in her broken English, she repeated the words: "As a hen <i>gaderet</i> +her chickens under her wings, so would I have <i>gaderd de</i>, but <i>dou</i> +wouldest not."</p> + +<p>At this moment, Been's husband came in. The<a name='Page_237'></a> girl was glad, for she wanted +Miss Grant to ask him as a great favor, to allow her to spend next Sunday +at the school. The husband consented. There was a joyful meeting indeed, +on that Sunday, between Been, and Chun, and Han; nor was their +affectionate teacher the least joyful of the company.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='SIBERIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_238'></a>SIBERIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is a name which makes people <i>shiver</i>, because it reminds them of +the cold. It is a name which makes the Russians <i>tremble</i>, because it +reminds them of banishment, for the emperor often sends those who offend +him to live in Siberia.</p> + +<p>Yet Siberia is not an ugly country, such as Tartary. It is not one dead +flat, but it contains mountains, and forests, and rivers. Neither is +Siberia a country in which nothing will grow; in some parts there is +wheat, and where <i>wheat</i> will not grow <i>barley</i> will, and where <i>barley</i> +will not grow <i>turnips</i> will. Yet there are not many cornfields in +Siberia, for very few people live there. In the woods you will find +blackberries, and wild roses, like those in England; and <i>red</i> berries, +as well as <i>black</i> berries, and <i>lilies</i> as well as <i>roses</i>.</p> + +<p>Still it must be owned that Siberia is a very cold country; for the snow +is not melted till June, and it begins to fall again in September; so +there are only two whole months without snow; they are July and August.</p><a name='Page_239'></a> + +<p><b>INHABITANTS.</b>—The Russians are the masters of Siberia, and they have +built several large towns there. But these towns are very far apart, and +there are many wild tribes wandering about the country.</p> + +<p>One of these tribes is the Ostyaks. Their houses are in the shape of +boxes, for they are square with flat roofs. There is a door, but you must +stoop low to get in at it, unless you are a very little child; and there +is a window with fish-skin instead of light. There is a chimney, too, and +a blazing fire of logs in a hole in the ground. There is a trough, too, +instead of a dining-table, and out of it the whole family eat, and even +the dogs sometimes. The house is not divided into rooms, but into stalls, +like those of a stable; and deer-skins are spread in the stalls, and they +are the beds; each person sits and sleeps in his own stall, on his own +deer-skin, except when the family gather round the fire, and sitting on +low stools, warm themselves, and talk together.</p> + +<p>In one of these snug corners, an old woman was seen, quite blind, yet +sewing all day, and threading her needle by the help of her tongue. She +wore a veil of thick cloth over her head, as all the Ostyak women do, and +as she did not need light, she hid her head completely under it.</p> + +<p>But though the Ostyaks are poor, they possess a <a name='Page_240'></a>great treasure in their +dogs, for these creatures are as useful as horses, and much more +sensible. They need no whip to make them go, and no bridle to turn them +the right way; it is enough to <i>tell</i> them when to set out, and to stop, +or to turn, to move faster, or more slowly. These dogs are white, spotted +with black; the hair on their bodies is short, but long on their handsome +curling tails. They draw their masters in sledges, and are yoked in +pairs. There are some large sledges, in which a man can lie down in +comfort: to draw such a sledge twelve dogs are necessary; but there are +small sledges in which a poor Ostyak can just manage to crouch, and two +dogs can draw it. When the dogs are to be harnessed, they are not caught, +as horses are, but only called. Yet they do not like work better than +horses like it, and when they first set out they howl, but grow quiet +after a little while.</p> + +<p>The driver is sometimes cruel to these poor dogs, and corrects them for +the smallest fault, by throwing a stone at them, or the great club he +holds in his hand, or at least a snow-ball: if a hungry dog but stoop +down to pick up a morsel of food on the road, he is punished in this +manner. Yet it must be owned, that the dogs have their faults; they are +greedy, and inclined to thieving. To keep food out of their way, <a name='Page_241'></a>the +Ostyaks build store-houses, on the tops of very high poles. The dogs are +always on the watch to slip into their master's houses. If the door be +left open ever so little, a dog will squeeze in, if he can; but he does +not stay <i>long</i> within, for he is soon thrust out with blows and kicks; +the women scream at the sight of a dog in the hut, for they fear lest he +will find the fish-trough. Yet after long journeys, the dogs are brought +into the hut, and permitted to lie down by the fire, and to eat out of +the family trough. At other times they sleep in the snow, and eat +whatever is thrown to them. When they travel, bags of dried fish are +brought in their sledges, to feed them by the way. The puppies are +tenderly treated, and petted by the fire; yet many are killed for the +sake of their fleecy hair, which is considered a fine ornament for +pelisses.</p> + +<p>The Ostyaks have another, and a greater treasure than dogs; they have +reindeer. Those who live by fishing have dogs only, but those who dwell +among the hills, have deer as well as dogs. Reindeer are like dogs in one +respect, they can be driven without either a whip or a bit, which are so +necessary for horses. But though they do not need the lashing of a whip; +they require to be gently poked with a long pole; and though they do not +need a bit, they require <a name='Page_242'></a>to be guided by a rein, fastened to their +heads; because they are not like dogs, so sensible as to be managed by +speaking.</p> + +<p>But deer are very gentle, and are much more easily driven than horses. To +drive horses four-in-hand is very difficult, but to drive four reindeer +is not. The four deer are harnessed to the sledge all in a row, and a +rein is fastened to the head of one; when <i>he</i> turns all the rest turn +with him. Usually they trot, but they <i>can</i> gallop very fast, even down +hill. When they are out of breath the driver lets them stop, and then the +pretty creatures lie down, and cool their mouths with the snow lying on +the ground.</p> + +<p>Men ride upon reindeer; not upon their <i>backs</i>, but on their <i>necks</i>; for +their backs are weak, while their necks are strong. Riders do not mount +reindeer as they do horses,—by resting on their backs, and then making a +spring, for that would hurt the poor animals; they lean on a long staff, +and by its help, spring on the deer's neck. But it is not easy, when +seated, to keep on; <i>you</i> would certainly fall off, for all strangers do, +when they try to ride for the <i>first</i> time. The Ostyak knows how to keep +his balance, by waving his long staff in the air, while the deer trots +briskly along. But these reindeer have some curious fancies; they will +not eat any food but such as they<a name='Page_243'></a> pluck themselves from the ground. It +would be of no use at the end of a long journey, to put them in a +stable;—they would not eat; they must be let loose to find their own +nourishment, which is a kind of moss that grows wild among the hills.</p> + +<p>The reindeer, after he is dead, is of as much use to the Ostyak, as when +he was alive; for his skin is his master's clothing. Both men and women +dress alike, in a suit that covers them from head to foot; the seams are +well joined with thread, made of reindeer sinews, and the cold is kept +well out. The Ostyak lets no part of his body be uncovered but just his +face, and that would freeze, if he were not to rub it often with his +hands, covered over with hairy reindeer gloves. The women cover their +faces with thick veils. The Ostyak wears a great-coat made of the skin of +a white deer; this gives him the appearance of a great white bear. He +carries in his hand a bow taller than himself. His arrows are very long, +and made of wood, pointed with iron. With these he shoots the wild +animals. He is very glad when he can shoot a sable; because the Russian +emperor requires every Ostyak to give him yearly, as a tax, the skins of +two sables. The fur of the sable is very valuable, and is made into muffs +and tippets, and pelisses for the Russian nobles. </p> + +<p>But without his snow-shoes, the Ostyak would not <a name='Page_244'></a>be able to pursue the +wild animals, for he would sink in the snow. These shoes are made of long +boards, turned up at the end like a boat, and fastened to the feet. What +a wild creature an Ostyak must look, when he is hunting his prey, wrapped +in his shaggy white coat,—his long dark hair floating in the wind,—his +enormous bow in his hand, and his enormous shoes on his feet!</p> + +<p>What is the character of this wild man? Ask what is his religion, and +that will show you how foolish and fierce a creature he must be. The +Ostyak says, that he believes in ONE God who cannot be seen, but he does +not worship him <i>alone</i>; he worships other gods. And such gods! Dead men! +When a man dies, his relations make a wooden image of him, and worship it +for three years, and then bury it. But when a <i>priest</i> dies, his wooden +image is worshipped <i>more</i> than three years; sometimes it is <i>never</i> +buried; for the priests who are alive, encourage the people to go on +worshipping dead priests' images, that they may get the offerings which +are made to them.</p> + +<p>But what do you think of men worshipping DEAD BEASTS? Yet this is what +the Ostyaks do. When they have killed a wolf or a bear, they stuff its +skin with hay, and gather round to mock it, to kick it, to spit upon it, +and then—they stick it up on its hind <a name='Page_245'></a>legs in a corner of the hut, and +WORSHIP it! Alas! how has Satan blinded their mind!</p> + +<p>And in what manner do they worship the beasts? With screaming,—with +dancing,—with swinging their swords,—by making offerings of fur, of +silver and gold, and of reindeer. These reindeer they kill very cruelly, +by stabbing them in various parts of their bodies, to please the cruel +gods, or rather cruel devils whom they worship.</p> + +<p>Has no one tried to convert the Ostyaks to God? The emperor of Russia +will not allow protestant missionaries to teach in Siberia. He wishes the +Ostyaks to belong to the Greek church, and he has tried to bribe them +with presents of cloth to be baptized; and a good many have been +baptized. But what good can such baptisms do to the soul?</p> + +<p>The Russians do much harm to their subjects, by tempting them to buy +brandy. There is nothing which the Ostyaks are so eager to obtain, as +this dangerous drink. On one occasion, a traveller was surrounded by a +troop of Ostyaks, all begging for brandy, and when they could get none, +they brought a large heap of frozen fish, and laid it at the travellers +feet, saying, "Noble sir, we present you with this." They did get some +brandy in return. Then, hoping for more, they brought a great salmon, and +a sturgeon, as <a name='Page_246'></a>long as a man. They seemed ready to part with all they +had, for the sake of brandy.</p> + +<p>Thus you see how much harm the Ostyaks have learned from their +acquaintance with the Russians. The chief good they have got, has been +learning to build houses; for once they lived only in tents.</p> + + +<a name='The_Samoyedes'></a> +<h3>THE SAMOYEDES.</h3> + +<p>This tribe lives so far to the north, that they see very little of the +Russians, though they belong to the emperor of Russia. They live close by +the Northern Sea. Imagine how very cold it must be. The Samoyedes inhabit +tents made of reindeer skins, such as the Ostyaks used to live in. They +are a much wilder people than the Ostyaks. The women dress in a strange +fantastic manner; not contented with a reindeer dress, as the Ostyaks +are, they join furs and skins of various sorts together; and instead of +veiling their faces, they wear a gay fur hat, with lappets; and at the +back of their necks a glutton's tail hangs down, as well as long tails of +their own hair, with brass rings jingling together at the end.</p> + +<p>But if their taste in <i>dress</i> is laughable, their taste in <i>food</i> is +horrible, as you will see. A traveller<a name='Page_247'></a> went with a Samoyede family for a +little while. They were drawn by reindeer, in sledges, and other reindeer +followed of their own accord. When they stopped for the night, they +pitched the tent, covering the long poles with their reindeer skins, +sewed together. The snow covered the ground inside the tent, but no one +thought of sweeping it away. It was easy to get water to fill the kettle, +as a few lumps of snow soon melted. Some of the men slept by the blazing +fire, while others went out, armed with long poles, to defend the deer +from the wolves. There was in the party a child of two years old, with +its mother. The child was allowed to help himself to porridge out of the +great kettle. The traveller offered him white sugar; but at first he +called it snow, and threw it away; soon, however, he learned to like it, +and asked for some whenever he saw the stranger at tea. At night, the +child was laid in a long basket, and was closely covered with furs; in +the same basket also, he travelled in the sledge.</p> + +<p>One day the traveller saw a Samoyede feast. A reindeer was brought, and +killed before the tent door; and its bleeding body was taken into the +tent, and devoured, all raw as it was, with the heartiest appetite. It +was dreadful to see the Samoyedes gnawing the flesh off the bones; their +faces all stained with<a name='Page_248'></a> blood, and even the child had his share of the raw +meat. Truly they looked more like wolves than men.</p> + +<p>I might go on to tell you of many other tribes; but I must be content +just to mention a few.</p> + +<p>There is a tribe who live in the eastern part of Siberia, called the +Yakuts, and instead of deer, and dogs, they keep horses, and oxen, and +strange to say, they <i>ride</i> upon the oxen; and <i>eat</i> the horses. A +horse's head is counted by them a most dainty dish. The cows live in one +room, and the family live in the next, with the calves, which are tied to +posts by the fire, and enjoy the full blaze. You may suppose that the +calves need the warmth of the fire, when I tell you that the windows of +the house are made of ice, but that the cold is so great, that the ice +does not melt.</p> + +<p>There is a large tribe called the Buraets. They dwell in tents. They are +Buddhists. At one time the Russians allowed missionaries to go to them. +There was an old man named Andang, who used to attend the services very +regularly. His wife accompanied him. One Sunday the preacher spoke much +of heaven and its glories. The old woman, on returning to her tent, said +to her husband, "Old man, I am going home to-night." Her husband did not +understand her meaning: then she said, "I love Jesus<a name='Page_249'></a> Christ, and I think +I shall be with him to-night." She lay down in her tent that night, but +rose no more. In the morning, the old man found her stiff and cold. He +saddled his horse, and set off to tell the missionary. "O sir," said he, +with tears, "my wife is gone home." When the missionary heard the account +of her death, he felt cheered by the hope that the old woman, though born +a heathen, had died a Christian, and had left her tent to dwell in a +glorious mansion above; for how was it that she felt no fear of death, +and how was it that she felt heaven was her home? Was it not because +Jesus loved her, and because she loved Jesus?</p> + + + +<a name='The_Banished_Russians'></a> +<h3>THE BANISHED RUSSIANS.</h3> + +<p>Siberia is the land to which the emperor sends many of his people, when +they displease him. In passing through Siberia, you would often see +wagons full of women, children, and old men, followed by a troop of young +men, and guarded by a band of soldiers on horseback. You might know them +to be the banished Russians. What is to become of them? Some are to work +in the mines, and some are to work in the factories. Some are to have a +less heavy punishment; <a name='Page_250'></a>they are to be set free, in the midst of Siberia, +to support themselves in any way they can. Gentlemen and ladies have a +small sum of money allowed them by the emperor, and they live in the +towns.</p> + +<p>These people are called in Siberia, "the unfortunates." Some of them have +not deserved to be banished; but some have been guilty of crimes.</p> + +<p><b>CITIES.</b></p> + +<p>There are a few cities in Siberia, but only a few, and they have been +built by the Russians. </p> + +<p>The three chief cities are,—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tobolsk, on the west, on the river Oby.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Irkutsk, in the midst, on the lake Baikal.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Yarkutsk, on the east, on the river Lena.</span><br /> + +<p><b>OF THESE CITIES,</b></p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Tobolsk is the handsomest.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Irkutsk is the pleasantest.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Yarkutsk is the coldest.</span><br /> + +<p>It is not surprising that Tobolsk should be the handsomest, for there the +governor of Siberia resides.</p> + +<p>A great many Chinese come to Irkutsk to trade, and they bring quantities +of tea.</p><a name='Page_251'></a> + +<p>Yarkutsk is the coldest town in the world; there may be others nearer the +north, but none lie exposed to such cold winds. The inhabitants scarcely +dare admit the light, for fear of increasing the cold; and they make only +one or two very small windows in their houses. Yet in summer vegetables +grow freely in the gardens.</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Ostyaks live near the Oby.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Buraets live near lake Baikal.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>The Yakuts live near the Lena.</span><br /> + + +<a name='The_Ural_Mountains'></a> +<h3>THE URAL MOUNTAINS.</h3> + +<p>They are full of treasures; gold, silver, iron, copper, and precious +stones. They are dug up by the banished Russians, and sent in great +wagons to Russia, to increase the riches of the emperor.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='KAMKATKA'></a><h2><a name='Page_252'></a>KAMKATKA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>It is impossible to look at Siberia, without being struck with the shape +of Kamkatka, which juts out like a short arm. It is a peninsula. A +beautiful country it is; full of mountains, and rivers, and woods, and +waterfalls, and not as cold as might be expected. But there are not many +people dwelling in it; for though it is larger than Great Britain, all +the inhabitants might be contained in one of our small towns. And why +are there so few in so fine a country? Because the people love brandy +better than labor. They have been corrupted by the Russian soldiers, and +traders, and convicts, and they are sickening and dying away.</p> + +<p>A traveller once said to a Kamkatdale, "How should you like to see a ship +arrive here from China, laden with tea and sugar?" "I should like it +well," replied the man, "but there is one thing I should like better—to +see a ship arrive full of <i>men</i>; it is men we want, for our men are sick; +of the twelve here, six are too weak to hunt or fish."</p><a name='Page_253'></a> + +<p>But the ship that would do the most good to Kamkatka, is a missionary +ship. The Greek church is the religion; but <i>no</i> religion is much thought +of in Kamkatka; hunting and fishing only are cared for. Yet I fear if +missionaries were to go to Kamkatka, the emperor of Russia would send +them away.</p> + +<p>Where there are few men, there are generally many beasts and birds; this +is the case in Kamkatka.</p> + +<p>One of the most curious animals in Siberia, is the Argalis, or mountain +sheep. It is remarkable for its enormous horns, curled in a very curious +manner. Think not it is like one of our quiet, foolish sheep; there is no +animal at once so strong and so active. It is such a climber, that no +wolf or bear can follow it to the high places, hanging over awful +precipices, where it walks as firmly as you do upon the pavement. +Sometimes a hunter finds it among the mountains, and just as he is going +to shoot it, the creature disappears:—it has thrown itself down a +precipice! Is it dashed to pieces? No, it fell unhurt, and has escaped +without a bruise; for its bones are very strong, and its skin very thick.</p> + +<p>The bears of Kamkatka live chiefly upon fish and berries, and seldom +attack men. Yet men hunt them for their skins, and for their fat. The +skins make cloaks, and the fat is used for lamps; but their flesh <a name='Page_254'></a>is +thrown to the dogs. Many of the bears are very thin. It is only <i>fat</i> +bears that can sleep all the winter in their dens without food; <i>thin</i> +bears cannot sleep long, and even in winter they prowl about for food. +Dogs are very much afraid of them. A large party of travellers, who were +riding in sledges, drawn by dogs, observed the dogs suddenly begin to +snuff the air, and lo! immediately afterwards, a bear at full speed +crossed the road, and ran towards a forest. Great confusion took place +among the dogs; they set off with all their might; some broke their +harness, others got entangled among the trees, and overturned their +sledges. But the bear did not escape; for the travellers shot him through +the leg, and afterwards through the body; and the dogs feasted on <i>his</i> +flesh, instead of the bear feasting on <i>theirs</i>.</p> + +<p>Hunting seals is one of the occupations of the Kamkatdales. Three men in +sledges, each sledge drawn by five dogs, once got upon a large piece of +ice, near the shore. They had killed two seals upon the ice, when they +suddenly perceived that the ice was moving, and carrying them out to sea. +They were already too far from land, to be able to get back. They knew +not what would become of them, and much they feared they should perish +from cold and hunger. The ice was so slippery that they were in great +danger of <a name='Page_255'></a>sliding into the sea. To prevent this, they stuck their long +poles deep into the ice, and tied themselves to the poles. They were +driven about for many days; but one morning,—to their great joy, they +found they were close to the shore. They did not forget to praise God for +so mercifully saving their lives; though they were so weak from want of +food, as scarcely to be able to creep ashore.</p> + +<p><b>CHARACTER.</b>—The Kamkatdales are generous and grateful. A poor family will +sometimes receive another family into the house for six weeks; and when +the food is nearly gone, the generous host, not liking to tell his +visitors of it, serves up a dish of different sorts of meat and +vegetables, mixed together; the visitors know this is a sign that the +food is almost exhausted, and they take their leave.</p> + +<p>Did I say the Kamkatdales are grateful? I will give you an instance of +their gratitude. A traveller met a poor boy. He remembered his face, and +said, "I think I have seen you before." "You have," said the boy; "I +rowed you down the river last summer, and you were so kind as to give me +a skin, and some flints; and now I have brought the skin of a sable as a +present for you." The traveller, perceiving the boy had no shirt, and +that his skin dress was tattered, refused the present; but seeing the boy +was going away <a name='Page_256'></a>in tears, he called him back, and accepted it. A Chinese +servant, who was standing by, pitied so much the ragged condition of the +boy, that he gave him one of his own thin nankin shirts.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='THIBET'></a><h2><a name='Page_257'></a>THIBET.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>I cannot tell you much about Thibet; and the reason is, that so few +travellers have been there. And why have so few been there? Is it because +the mountains are so steep and high, the paths so narrow and dangerous? +All this is true; but it is not mountains that keep travellers out of +Thibet; it is the Chinese government; for Thibet belongs to China, and +you know how carefully the emperor of China keeps strangers out of his +empire.</p> + +<p>How did the Chinese get possession of Thibet? A long while ago, a Hindoo +army invaded the land, and the people in their fright sent to China for +help. The Chinese came, drove away the Hindoos, and stayed themselves. +They are not hard masters, they govern very mildly; only they require a +sum of money to be sent every year to Pekin, as tribute.</p> + +<p>But though Thibet belongs to China, the Chinese language is not spoken +there.</p> + +<p>The people are like the Tartars in appearance; they <a name='Page_258'></a>have the same bony +face, sharp black eye, and straight black hair; but a much fresher +complexion, owing to the fresh mountain air they breathe.</p> + +<p>The Himalaya mountains, the highest in Asia, lie between Thibet and +Hindostan. Their peaks are always covered with snow, and rapid streams +pour down the rugged sides. The snow on the mountain-tops makes Thibet +very cold; but there are warm valleys where grapes, and even rice +flourish.</p> + +<p>The people build their houses in the warmest spots they can find; they +try to find a place sheltered from the north wind, by a high rock, and +lying open to the south sun. Their dwellings are only made of stones, +heaped together, and the roofs are flat. Their riches consist in flocks +of sheep and goats. They have, another animal, which is not known in +England, and yet a very useful creature, because, like a cow, it yields +rich milk, and like a horse, it carries burdens. This animal is called +the Yak, and resembles both a horse and a cow. Its chief beauty is its +tail, which is much finer than a horse's tail, and is black, and glossy, +soft and flowing. Many of these tails are sent to India, where they are +used as fly-flappers.</p> + +<p>The sheep and goats of Thibet are more useful than ours; for they are +taught to carry burdens over the mountains. They may be seen following +each other<a name='Page_259'></a> in long trains, with large packs fastened on their little +backs, and climbing up very narrow and steep paths.</p> + +<p>And what is in these packs? Wool: not sheep's wool, but goat's wool: for +the goats of Thibet have very fine wool under their hair. No such wool is +found on any other goats. But though the people of Thibet can weave +common cloth, they cannot weave this beautiful wool, as it deserves to be +woven. Therefore they send it to a country the other side of the Himalaya +mountains, called Cashmere; and there it is woven into the most beautiful +shawls in all the world.</p> + +<p>But wool is not the only riches of Thibet. There is gold to be found +there; some in large pieces, and some in small dust. There are also large +mines of copper. And what use is made of these riches? The worst in the +world. With the gold and copper many IDOLS are made; for Thibet is a land +of idols. The religion is the same there as in China,—the Buddhist;—and +that is a religion of idols.</p> + +<p>But there is an idol in Thibet, which there is not in China. It is a +LIVING IDOL. He is called the Grand Lama. There are Lamas in Tartary, but +the GRAND Lama is in Thibet. He is looked up to as the greatest being in +the world, by all the Lamas in Tartary, and by all the people of the +Buddhist religion. There are more people,—a <i>great many</i><a name='Page_260'></a> more,—who +honor <i>him</i>, than who honor our GREAT GOD.</p> + +<p>But this man leads a miserable life. When one Lama dies, another is +chosen;—some little baby,—and he is placed in a very grand palace, and +worshipped as a god all his life long. I have heard of one of these baby +Lamas, who, when only eighteen months old, sat up with great majesty on +his pile of cushions. When strangers entered, he looked at them kindly, +and when they made a speech to him, he bowed his little head very +graciously. What a sad fate for this poor infant! To be set up as a god, +and taught to think himself a god—while all the time he is a helpless, +foolish, sinful, dying creature!</p> + + +<a name='Lassa'></a> +<h3>LASSA.</h3> + +<p>This is the chief city of Thibet. Here is the palace of the Grand Lama. +If is of enormous size. What do you think of TEN THOUSAND rooms? Did you +ever hear of so <i>large</i> a house? Neither did you ever hear of so <i>high</i> a +house. It is almost as high as the pinnacle of St. Paul's church. There +are seven stories, and on the highest story are the state apartments of +the Grand Lama. It is no matter to him how many flights of stairs there +may be to reach his <a name='Page_261'></a>rooms; for he is never allowed to walk; but it is +fatiguing for his worshippers to ascend so high. I suppose the priests +make their Grand Lama live so high up, that he may be like our God who +dwells in the highest heavens. Who occupy the ten thousand rooms of the +palace? Chiefly idols of gold and silver. The house outside is richly +adorned, and its roof glitters with gold.</p> + +<p>There are many magnificent houses in Thibet, where priests live. No one +could live with them, who could not bear a great noise: for three times a +day the priests meet to worship, and each time they hollo with all their +might, to do honor to Buddha. The noise is stunning, but they do not +think it loud enough; so on feast days, they use copper instruments, such +as drums and trumpets, of the most enormous size, and with them they send +forth an overwhelming sound.</p> + +<p>This unmeaning noise may well remind us of a sound—louder far—that +shall one day be heard; so loud that <i>all the world</i> will hear it. It is +the sound of the LAST TRUMPET! It will wake the dead. Stout hearts will +quail; devils will tremble; but all those who love the Lord, will rejoice +and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save +us."—(Is. xxv. 9.)</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='CEYLON'></a><h2><a name='Page_262'></a>CEYLON.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Part of it indeed +is flat—that part near Hindustan; but in the midst—there are mountains; +and streams running down their sides, and swelling into lovely rivers, +winding along the fruitful valleys. Such scenes might remind you of +Switzerland, the most beautiful country in Europe.</p> + +<p>The chief beauty of Ceylon is her TREES.</p> + +<p>I will mention a few of the beautiful, curious, and useful trees of this +delightful island. The tree for which Ceylon is celebrated, is the +CINNAMON tree. For sixty miles along the shore, there are cinnamon +groves, and the sweet scent may be perceived far off upon the seas. If +you were to see a cinnamon-tree, you might mistake it for a laurel;—a +tree so often found in English gardens. The cinnamon-trees are never +allowed to grow tall, because it is only the upper branches which are +much prized for their bark. The little children of Ceylon may often be +seen sitting <a name='Page_263'></a>in the shade, peeling off the bark with their knives; and +this bark is afterwards sent to England to flavor puddings, and to mix +with medicine.</p> + +<p>There are also groves of cocoa-nut trees on the shores of Ceylon. A few +of these trees are a little fortune to a poor man; for he can eat the +<i>fruit</i>, build his house with the <i>wood</i>, roof it with the <i>leaves</i>, make +cups of the <i>shell</i>, and use the oil of the <i>kernel</i> instead of candles.</p> + +<p>The JACK-TREE bears a larger fruit than any other in the world;—as large +as a horse's head,—and so heavy that a woman can only carry one upon her +head to market.. This large fruit does not hang on the tree by a stalk, +but grows out of the trunk, or the great branches. This is well arranged, +for so large a fruit would be too heavy for a stalk, and might fall off, +and hurt the heads of those sitting beneath its shade. The outside of +this fruit is like a horse-chestnut, green, and prickly; the inside is +yellow, and is full of kernels, like beans. The wood is like +mahogany,—hard and handsome.</p> + +<p>But there is a tree in Ceylon, still more curious than the jack-tree. It +is the TALPOT-TREE. This is a very tall tree, and its top is covered by a +cluster of round leaves, each leaf so large, that it would do for a +carpet, for a common-sized room; and one single<a name='Page_264'></a> LEAF, cut it in +three-cornered pieces, will make a TENT! When cut up, the leaves are used +for fans and books. But this tree bears no fruit till just before it +dies,—that is till it is <i>fifty</i> years old: THEN—an enormous bud is +seen, rearing its huge head in the midst of the crown of leaves;—the bud +bursts with a loud noise, and a yellow flower appears,—a flower so +large, that it would fill a room! The flower turns into fruit. THAT SAME +YEAR THE TREE DIES!</p> + +<p><b>PEOPLE.</b>—And who are the people who live in this beautiful land?</p> + +<p>In the flat part of the island, towards the north, the people resemble +the Hindoos, and speak and think like them; and they are called Tamuls.</p> + +<p>But among the mountains of the south a different kind of people live, +called the Cingalese. They do not speak the Tamul language, nor do they +follow the Hindoo religion. They follow the Buddhist religion. You know +this is the religion of the greater part of the nations. Ceylon is full +of the temples of Buddha. In each temple there is an inner dark room, +very large, where Buddha's image is kept,—a great image that almost +fills the room.</p> + +<center> +<img src='images/10.jpg' width='529' height='366' alt='DEVIL PRIESTS. p. 265.' title='DEVIL PRIESTS. p. 265.'> +</center> +<h5>DEVIL PRIESTS. See <a href='#Page_265'> p. 265.</a></h5> + +<p>The priests in their yellow cloaks, with their shaven heads and bare +feet, may be seen every morning begging from door to door; but <i>proud</i> +beggars they <a name='Page_265'></a>are,—not condescending to <i>speak</i>,—but only standing with +their baskets ready to receive rice and fruit; and the only thanks they +give—are their blessings.</p> + +<p>There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the +worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It +is the worship of the DEVIL! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there +was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to +worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point.</p> + +<p>There are many <i>devil priests</i>. When any one is sick, it is supposed that +the devil has caused the sickness, and a devil priest is sent for. And +what can the priest do? He dances,—he sings,—with his face +painted,—small bells upon his legs,—and a flaming torch in each hand; +while another man beats a loud drum. He dances, he sings—all night +long,—sometimes changing his white jacket for a black, or his black for +a white,—sometimes falling down, and sometimes jumping up,—sometimes +reeling, and sometimes running,—and all this he does to please the +devil, and to coax him to come out of the sick person. This is what he +<i>pretends</i>;—but in <i>reality</i>, he seeks to get money by his tricks. The +people are very fond of these devil-dancers; it <i>tires</i> them to listen to +the Buddhist priests, mumbling out of their books, the five <a name='Page_266'></a>hundred and +fifty histories of Buddha; but it <i>delights</i> them to watch all night the +antics of a devil priest.</p> + +<p>What is the character of these deceived people? They are polite, and +obliging, but as deceitful as their own priests. They are not even +<i>sincere</i> in their wrong religion, but are ready to <i>pretend</i> to be of +any religion which is most convenient. The Portuguese once were masters +of Ceylon, and they tried to make the people Roman Catholics. Then the +Dutch came, who tried to force them to be Protestants. Many infants were +baptized, who grew up to be heathen priests. Now the English are masters +of Ceylon; they do not <i>oblige</i> the people to be Christians, yet many +pretend to be Christians who are not.</p> + +<p>A man was once asked, "Are you a Buddhist?"</p> + +<p>"No," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Are you a Mahomedan?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Are you a Roman Catholic?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What is your religion?"</p> + +<p>"Government religion."</p> + +<p>Such was his answer. This man had no religion at all,—he only wished to +obtain the favor of the governor.<a name='Page_267'></a> But will he obtain the favor of the +Governor of the world, the King of kings?</p> + +<p>We have said nothing yet about the appearance of the Cingalese. Both men +and women wear a piece of cloth wound round their waists, called a +comboy; but they do not, like the Hindoos, twist it over their shoulders; +they wear a jacket instead. Neither do the men wear turbans, as in India, +but they fasten their hair with a comb, while the women fasten theirs +with long pins. The Cingalese ladies and gentlemen imitate the English +dress, especially when they come to a party at the English Governor's +house. Then they wear shoes and stockings instead of sandals; the +gentlemen contrive to place a hat over their long hair, by first taking +out the combs; yet they still wind a comboy over their English clothes. +The Hindoos do not thus imitate the English, for they are too proud of +their own customs. Hindoo ladies never go into company; but Cingalese +ladies may be seen at parties, arrayed in colored satin jackets, and +adorned with golden hair-pins, and diamond necklaces.</p> + +<p>You have heard of the foolish ideas the Hindoos entertain about castes. +It is the Brahmin priests who teach <i>them</i> these opinions. The Buddhist +priests say nothing about castes; yet the Cingalese have castes of their +<i>own</i>; but not the <i>same</i> castes as the<a name='Page_268'></a> Hindoos. There are twenty-one +castes in all; the highest caste consists of the husbandmen, and the +lowest of the mat-weavers.</p> + +<p>Below the lowest caste, are the OUTCASTS! The poor outcasts live in +villages by themselves, hated by all. When they meet any one, who are not +outcasts, they go as near to the hedge as they can, with their hands on +the top of their heads, to show their respect. These poor creatures are +accustomed to be treated as if they were dogs. What pride there is in +man's heart! How is it one poor worm can lift himself up so high above +his fellow-worm, though both are made of the same dust, and shall lie +down in the same dust together!</p> + + +<a name='Kandy'></a> +<h3>KANDY.</h3> + +<p>This town is built among the high mountains. It was built there for the +same reason that the eagle builds her nest on the top of a tall rock,—to +get out of the reach of enemies. But the proud king, who once dwelt +there, has been conquered, and now England's Queen rules over Ceylon. No +wonder that the proud king had enemies, for he was a monster of cruelty. +His palace is still to be seen. See that high tower, and that open +gallery at the top! There <a name='Page_269'></a>the <i>last king</i> used to stand to enjoy the +sight of his subjects' agonies. Those who had offended him were killed in +the Court below,—killed not in a common manner, but in all kinds of +barbarous ways,—such as by being cut in pieces, or by swallowing melted +lead. At length the Cingalese invited the English to come and deliver +them from their tyrant; the English came and shut him up in prison till +he died, and now an English governor rules over Ceylon.</p> + +<p>The greatest curiosity to be seen at Kandy is a TOOTH! a tooth that the +people say was taken out of the mouth of their Buddha. It is kept in a +splendid temple on a golden table, in a golden box of great size. There +are seven boxes one inside the other, and in the innermost box, wrapped +up in gold, there is a piece of ivory, the size of a man's thumb,—that +is the tooth of Buddha! Every day it is worshipped, and offerings of +fruit and flowers are presented.</p> + + +<a name='Colombo'></a> +<h3>COLOMBO.</h3> + +<p>This is the chief <i>English</i> town of Ceylon, as Kandy is the chief +<i>Cingalese</i> town. The English governor lives here, but he has a house at +Kandy too, where he may enjoy the cool mountain air. There <a name='Page_270'></a>is a fine road +from Colombo to Kandy, broader and harder than, English roads; yet it is +out through steep mountains, and winds by dangerous precipices. But there +are laborers in Ceylon stronger than any in England. I mean the +ELEPHANTS. It is curious to see this huge animal meekly walking along +with a plank across its tusks, or dragging wagons full of large stones. +Among the mountains there are herds of <i>wild</i> elephants, sometimes a +hundred may be seen in one herd. There are no elephants in the world as +courageous as those of Ceylon, yet they are very obedient when tamed. If +you wished to visit the mountains, you might safely ride upon the back of +the sure-footed elephant, and all your brothers and sisters, however +many, might ride with you.</p> + +<p><b>MISSIONARIES.</b>—There are some in Ceylon, and some of the heathens have +obeyed their voice.</p> + +<p>There was once a devil priest. Having been detected in some crime, he was +imprisoned at Kandy, and while in prison he read a Christian tract, and +was converted. Thus (like Onesimus, of whom we read in the Bible,) he +escaped from <i>Satan's</i> prison, while shut up in <i>man's</i> prison. When he +was set free, he was baptized by the missionary at Kandy, and he chose to +be called Abraham. What name did he choose for <a name='Page_271'></a>his son, a boy of +fourteen? Isaac. He buried his conjuring books, though he might have sold +them for eight pounds. His cottage was in a village fifteen miles from +Kandy. He had left it—a <i>wicked</i> man; lib returned to it a <i>good</i> man.</p> + +<p>After some time, a missionary went to visit Abraham in his cottage. A +good Cingalese was his guide. The walk there was beautiful, along narrow +paths, amidst fields of rice, through dark thickets, and long grass. No +one in Abraham's village had ever seen the fair face of an Englishman; +and the sight of the missionary alarmed the inhabitants. Abraham's family +was the only Christian family in that place. How glad Abraham felt at the +sight of the missionary,—almost as glad as the <i>first</i> Abraham felt at +the sight of the three angels. When the missionary entered, Abraham was +teaching his wife, for she was soon to be baptized. By what name? By the +name of Sarah. There were seven children in the family. How hard it must +be for Abraham to bring them up as Christians, in the midst of his +heathen neighbors. Even his brothers hate him, wound his cattle, and +break down his fences. Once they pointed a gun at him, but it did not go +off. Abraham's comfort is to walk over to Kandy every Saturday, to +worship God there <a name='Page_272'></a>on Sunday with the Christians; and he does not find +fifteen miles too far for his willing feet. May the Lord preserve +Abraham, faithful in the midst of the wicked.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='BORNEO'></a><h2><a name='Page_273'></a>BORNEO.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the largest island in the world, except one. Borneo is of a +different shape from our Britain, but if you could join Britain and +Ireland in one, both together would not be as large as Borneo. Yet how +unlike is Borneo to Britain! Britain is a Christian island. Borneo is a +heathen island. Yet Borneo is not an island of <i>idols</i>, as Ceylon is. +<i>All</i> heathens do not worship idols. I will tell you who live in Borneo, +and you will see why there are so few idols there.</p> + +<p>Many people have come from Malacca, and settled in Borneo; so the island +is full of Malays. These people have a cunning and cruel look, and no +wonder;—for many of them are PIRATES! It is a common custom in Borneo to +go out in a large boat,—to watch for smaller boats,—to seize them—to +bind the men in chains, and to bring them home as slaves. There are no +seas in the world so dangerous to sail in, as the seas near Borneo, not +only on account of the rocks, but on account of the great number of +pirates. What is the religion of Borneo? It is Mahomedanism.<a name='Page_274'></a> But the +Malays do not follow the laws of Mahomet as the Turks do. They do not +mind the hours of prayer, nor do they attend regularly at the mosque. +This is not surprising, for they do not understand the Koran. Mahomet +wrote in Arabic, and the Malays do not understand Arabic. Why do they not +get the Koran translated? Mahomet did not wish the book to be translated. +Why then do not the Malays learn Arabic? I wonder they do not, but I +suppose they are too idle, and too careless. The boys go to school and +learn to read and write their own easy language—the Malay; and they +learn also to repeat whole chapters of the Koran, but without +understanding a word. Still they think it a great advantage to know these +chapters, because they imagine that by repeating them, they can drive +away evil spirits.</p> + +<p>The Malays observe Mahomet's law against eating pork; but many of them +drink wine, though Mahomet forbids it. However, they follow Mahomet in +not having dancing at their feasts; indeed, their behavior at feasts is +sober and orderly, for they amuse themselves chiefly by singing, and +repeating poems. They have only two meals a day, and they live chiefly +upon rice, which they eat, sitting cross-legged on the floor. They get +tea from China, and drink many cups during the day, in the same way as +the Chinese.</p><a name='Page_275'></a> + +<p>The ladies are treated like the ladies of Turkey, and shut up in their +houses, to spend their time in folly and idleness.</p> + +<p>The men scarcely work at all, but employ the slaves they have stolen at +sea, to labor in their fields. Their houses are not better than barns, +and not nearly as strong; for the sides and roof are generally made only +of large leaves. They are built upon posts, as in Siam. It is well to be +out of the reach of the leeches, crawling on the ground.</p> + +<p>The Malays dress in loose clothes, trowsers, and jacket, and broad sash; +the women are wrapped in a loose garment, and wear their glossy black +hair flowing over their shoulders. The rich men dress magnificently, and +quite cover their jackets with gold, while the ladies delight to sparkle +with jewels.</p> + + +<a name='Bruni'></a> +<h3>BRUNI.</h3> + +<p>This is the capital. It is often called Borneo, and it is written down in +the maps by this name. It is one of the most curious cities in the world; +for most of the houses are built in the river, and most of the streets +are only water. Every morning a great market is held on the water. The +people come in boats <a name='Page_276'></a>from all the country round, bringing fruit and +vegetables to sell, and they paddle up and down the city till they have +sold their goods.</p> + +<p>The Sultan's palace is built upon the bank, close to the water; and the +front of his palace is open; so that it is easy to come in a boat, and to +gaze upon him, as he sits cross-legged on his throne, arrayed in purple +satin, glittering with gold.</p> + +<p>There is a mosque in Bruni; but it is built only of brick, and has +nothing in it but a wooden pulpit; and hardly anybody goes there, though +a man stands outside making a loud noise on a great drum, to invite +people to come in.</p> + + +<a name='The_Dyaks'></a> +<h3>THE DYAKS.</h3> + +<p>These are a savage people who inhabit Borneo. They lived there before the +Malays came, and they have been obliged to submit to them. They are +savages indeed. They are darker than the Malays; yet they are not black; +their skin is only the color of copper. Their hair is cut short in front, +but streams down their backs; their large mouths show a quantity of black +teeth, made black by chewing the betel-nut. They wear very little +clothing, but they adorn <a name='Page_277'></a>their ears, and arms, and legs, with numbers of +brass rings. Their looks are wild and fierce, but not cunning like the +looks of the Malays. They are not Mahomedans; they have hardly any +religion at all. They believe there are some gods, but they know hardly +anything about them, and they do not want to know. They neither make +images to the gods, nor say prayers to them. They live like the beasts, +thinking only of this life; yet they are more unhappy than beasts, for +they imagine there are evil spirits among the woods and hills, watching +to do them harm. It is often hard to persuade them to go to the top of a +mountain, where they say evil spirits dwell. Such a people would be more +ready to listen to a missionary than those who have idols, and temples, +and priests, and sacred books.</p> + +<p>Their wickedness is very great. It is their chief delight to get the +heads of their enemies. There are a great many different tribes of Dyaks, +and each tribe tries to cut off the heads of other tribes. The Dyaks who +live by the sea are the most cruel; they go out in the boats to rob, and +to bring home, not <i>slaves</i>, but HEADS! And how do they treat a head when +they get it? They take out the brains, and then they dry it in the smoke, +with the flesh and hair still on; then they put a string through it, and +fasten it<a name='Page_278'></a> to their waists. The evening that they have got some new heads, +the warriors dance with delight,—their heads dangling by their +sides;—and they turn round in the dance, and gaze upon their heads,—and +shout,—and yell with triumph! At night they still keep the heads near +them; and in the day, they play with them, as children with their dolls, +talking to them, putting food in their mouths, and the betel-nut between +their ghastly lips. After wearing the heads many days, they hang them up +to the ceilings of their rooms.</p> + +<p>No English lord thinks so much of his pictures, as the Dyaks do of their +heads. They think these heads are the finest ornaments of their houses. +The man who has <i>most</i> heads, is considered the <i>greatest</i> man. A man who +has NO HEADS is despised! If he wishes to be respected, he must get a +head as soon as he can. Sometimes a man, in order to get a head, will go +out to look for a poor fisherman, who has done him no harm, and will come +back with his head.</p> + +<p>When the Dyaks fight against their enemies, they try to get, not only the +heads of <i>men</i>, but also the heads of <i>women</i> and CHILDREN. How dreadful +it must be to see a poor BABY'S HEAD hanging from the ceiling! There was +a Dyak who lost all his property by fire, but he cared not for losing +anything, so much<a name='Page_279'></a> as for losing his PRECIOUS HEADS; nothing could console +him for THIS loss; some of them he had cut off himself, and others had +been cut off by his father, and left to him!</p> + +<p>People who are so bent on killing, as these Dyaks are, must have many +enemies. The Dyaks are always in fear of being attacked by their enemies. +They are afraid of living in lonely cottages; they think it a better plan +for a great many to live together, that they may be able to defend +themselves, if surprised in the night. Four hundred Dyaks will live +together in one house. The house is very large. To make it more safe, it +is built upon <i>very high posts</i>, and there are ladders to get up by. The +posts are sometimes forty feet high; so that when you are in the house, +you find yourself as high as the tall trees. There is one very large +room, where all the men and women sit, and talk, and do their work in the +day. The women pound the rice, and weave the mats, while the men make +weapons of war, and the little children play about. There is always much +noise and confusion in this room. There are a great many doors along one +side of the long room; and each of these doors leads into a small room +where a family lives; the parents, the babies, and the girls sleep there, +while the boys of the family sleep in the large room, that has just been +described.</p><a name='Page_280'></a> + +<p>You know already what are the ornaments on which each family prides +itself,—the HEADS hanging up in their rooms! It is the SEA Dyaks who +live in these very large houses.</p> + +<p>The HILL Dyaks do not live in houses quite so large. Yet several families +inhabit the same house. In the midst of their villages, there is always +one house where the boys sleep. In this house all the HEADS of the +village are kept. The house is round, and built on posts, and the +entrance is underneath through the floor. As this is the best house in +the village, travellers are always brought to this house to sleep. Think +how dreadful it must be, when you wake in the night to see thirty or +forty horrible heads, dangling from the ceiling! The wind, too, which +comes in through little doors in the roof, blows the heads about; so that +they knock against each other, and seem almost as if they were still +alive. This is the HEAD-HOUSE.</p> + +<p>These Hill Dyaks do not often get a new head; but when they do, they come +to the Head-House at night, and sing to the new head, while they beat +upon their loud gongs. What do they say to the new head?</p> + +<p>"Your head, and your spirit, are now ours. Persuade your countrymen to be +slain by us. Let them<a name='Page_281'></a> wander in the fields, that we may bring the heads +of your brethren, and hang them up with your heads."</p> + +<p>How much Satan must delight in these prayers. They are prayers just +suited to that great MURDERER and DESTROYER!</p> + +<p>The Malays are enemies to all the Dyaks; and they have burnt many of +their houses, cut down their fruit trees, and taken their children +captives. The Dyaks complain bitterly of their sufferings. Some of them +say, "We do not live like men, but like monkeys; we are hunted from place +to place; we have no houses; and when we light a fire, we fear lest the +smoke should make our enemies know where we are."</p> + +<p>They say they live like monkeys. But why do they behave like tigers?</p> + +<p>An English gentleman, named Sir James Brooke, has settled in Borneo, and +has become a chief of a large tract of land. His house is near the river +Sarawak. He has persuaded the Sultan of Borneo, to give the English a +VERY LITTLE island called the Isle of Labuan. It is a desert island. Of +what use can this small island be to England? English soldiers may live +there, and try to prevent pirates infesting the seas. If it were not for +the pirates, Borneo would be able to send many treasures to foreign +countries. It is but a little way from Borneo to Singapore, and<a name='Page_282'></a> there are +many English merchants at Singapore, ready to buy the precious things of +Borneo. Gold is found in Borneo, mixed with the earth. But I don't know +who would dig it up, if it were not for the industrious Chinese, who come +over in great numbers to get money in this island. Diamonds are found +there, and a valuable metal called antimony.</p> + +<p>The sago-tree, the pepper plant, and the sugar-cane, and the cocoa-nut +tree are abundant.</p> + +<p>The greatest curiosity that Borneo possesses are the eatable nests. These +white and transparent nests are found in the caves by the sea-shore, and +they are the work of a little swallow. The Chinese give a high price for +these nests, that they may make soup for their feasts.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—Borneo has very few large animals. There are, indeed, enormous +alligators in the rivers, but there are no lions or tigers; and even the +bears are small, and content to climb the trees for fruit and honey. The +majestic animal which is the pride of Ceylon, is not found in Borneo: I +mean the elephant.</p> + +<p>Yet the woods are filled with living creatures. Squirrels and monkeys +sport among the trees. The leaps of the monkeys are amazing; hundreds +will jump one after the other, from a tree as high as a house, and not +one will miss his footing; yet now and <a name='Page_283'></a>then a monkey has a fall. The +most curious kind of monkey is found in Borneo—the Ourang-outang; but it +is one of the least active; it climbs carefully from branch to branch, +always holding by its hands before it makes a spring. These +Ourang-outangs are not as large as a man, yet they are much stronger. All +the monkeys sleep in the trees; in a minute a monkey makes its bed by +twisting a few branches together.</p> + +<p>Beneath the trees—two sorts of animals, very unlike each other, roam +about,—the clumsy hog, and the graceful deer. As the <i>largest</i> sort of +<i>monkeys</i> is found in Borneo, so is the <i>smallest</i> sort of <i>deer</i>. There +is a deer that has legs only eight inches long. There is no more elegant +creature in the world than this bright-eyed, swift-footed little deer.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='JAPAN'></a><h2><a name='Page_284'></a>JAPAN.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the name of a great empire. There are three principal islands. +One of these is very long, and very narrow; it is about a thousand miles +long,—much longer than Great Britain, but not nearly as broad. Yet the +three islands <i>together</i> are larger than our island. There is a fourth +island near the Japan islands, called Jesso, and it is filled with +Japanese people.</p> + +<p>You know it is difficult to get into China; but it is far more difficult +to get into Japan. The emperor has boats always watching round the coast, +to prevent strangers coming into his country. These boats are so made, +that they cannot go far from the shore. No Japanese ship is ever seen +floating in a foreign harbor. If it be difficult to get <i>into</i> Japan, it +is also difficult to get <i>out</i> of her. There is a law condemning to +<i>death</i> any Japanese who leaves his country. The Chinese also are +forbidden to leave their land; but <i>they</i> do not mind their laws as well +as the Japanese mind <i>theirs</i>.</p><a name='Page_285'></a> + +<p>I shall not be able to tell you much about Japan; as strangers may not go +there, nor natives come from it. English ships very seldom go to Japan, +because they are so closely watched. The guard-boats surround them night +and day. When it is dark, lanterns are lighted, in order the better to +observe the strangers. One English captain entreated permission to land, +that he might observe the stars with his instruments, in order afterwards +to make maps; but he could only get leave to land on a little island +where there were a few fishermen's huts; and all the time he was there, +the Japanese officers kept their eye upon him. He was told that he must +not measure the land. It seems that the Japanese were afraid that his +<i>measuring</i> the land would be the beginning of his taking it away. +However, he had no such intention, and was content with measuring the +SEA.</p> + +<p>He asked the Japanese to sell him a supply of fruit and vegetables for +his crew, and a supply was brought; but the Japanese would take no money +in return. He wanted to buy bullocks, that his crew might have beef, but +the Japanese replied, "You cannot have <i>them</i>; for they work hard, and +are tired, they draw the plough; they do their duty, and they ought not +to be eaten; but the <i>hogs</i> are lazy; they do no work, you may have them +to eat, if you wish it." The<a name='Page_286'></a> Japanese will not even milk their cows, but +they allow the calves to have all the milk.</p> + +<p>If you wish to know <i>why</i> the Japanese will not allow strangers to land, +I must relate some events which happened three hundred years ago.</p> + +<p>Some Roman Catholic priests from Spain and Portugal settled in the land, +and taught the people about Christ, but they taught them also to worship +the cross, and the Virgin Mary. Thousands of the Japanese were baptized, +and were called Christians. After some years had passed away, the emperor +began to fear that the kings of Spain and Portugal would come, and take +away his country from him, as they had taken away other countries; so the +emperor began to persecute the priests, and all who followed their words. +One emperor after another persecuted the Christians. There is a burning +mountain in Japan, and down its terrible yawning mouth many Christians +were thrown. One emperor commanded his people instead of <i>worshipping</i> +the cross, to <i>trample</i> upon it. To do either—is wicked; to do either is +to insult Christ.</p> + +<p>All Christians are now hated in Japan. The Dutch tried to persuade the +emperors to trust <i>them</i>; but they could only get leave to buy and sell +at one place, but not to settle in the land.</p> + +<p>There are many beautiful things in Japan, especially <a name='Page_287'></a>boxes, and screens, +and cabinets, varnished and ornamented in a curious manner, and these are +much admired by great people in Europe. There is silk, too, and tea, and +porcelain in Japan; but they are not nearly as fine as China. There is +gold also.</p> + +<p>There are as many people in Japan, as there are in Britain; for the +Japanese are very industrious, and cultivate abundance of rice, and +wheat. Oh! how sad to think that so many millions should be living and +dying in darkness; for the chief religion is the false, and foolish +religion of Buddha, or, as he is called in Japan, "Budso." How many names +are given to that deceiver! Buddha in Ceylon; Fo, in China; Gaudama, in +Burmah; Codom, in Siam—and Budso in Japan!</p> + +<p>What sort of people are the Japanese?</p> + +<p>They are a very polite people—much politer than the Chinese, but very +proud. They are a learned nation, for they can read and write, and they +understand geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. There is a college where +many languages are taught, even English. The dress of the gentlemen is +elegant;—the loose tunic and trowsers, the sash, and jacket, are made of +a kind of fine linen, adorned with various patterns; the stockings are of +white jean; sandals are worn upon the feet, but no covering upon the +<a name='Page_288'></a>head, although most of the hair is shaven, and the little that remains +behind, is tied tightly together; an umbrella or a fan is all that is +used to keep off the sun;—except on journeys, and then a large cap of +oiled paper, or of plaited grass is worn. The great mark by which a +gentleman is known, is wearing two swords.</p> + +<p>The Japanese houses are very pretty. In the windows—flower-pots are +placed; and when real flowers cannot be had, artificial flowers are used. +In great houses, the ladies are shut up in one part; while in the other, +company is received. The house is divided into rooms by large screens, +and as these can be moved, the rooms can be made larger, or smaller, as +the master pleases. There are no chairs, for the Japanese, though so much +like the Chinese, do not sit like them on chairs, but on mats beautifully +woven. The emperor's palace is called, "The Hall of the Thousand Mats." +Every part of a Japanese house is covered with paper, and adorned with +paintings, and gold, and silver flowers; even the doors, and the +ceilings, are ornamented in this manner. Beautiful boxes, and porcelain +jars, add to the beauty of the rooms.</p> + +<p>The climate is pleasant, for the winter is short, and the sun is not as +hot as in China; so that the ladies, and gentlemen, are almost as fair as +Europeans, though the laborers are very dark.</p><a name='Page_289'></a> + +<center> +<img src='images/11.jpg' width='382' height='469' alt='JAPANESE GENTLEMAN. p. 289.' title='JAPANESE GENTLEMAN. p. 289.'> +</center> +<h5>JAPANESE GENTLEMAN. See <a href='#Page_289'> p. 289.</a></h5> + +<p>But Japan is exposed to many dangers, from wind, from water, and from +fire—three terrible enemies! The waves dash with violence upon the rocky +shores; the wind often blows in fearful hurricanes; while earthquakes and +hot streams from the burning mountains, fill the people with terror.</p> + +<p>But more terrible than any of these—is wickedness; and very wicked +customs are observed in Japan. It is very wicked for a man to kill +himself, yet in Japan it is the custom for all courtiers who have +offended the emperor, to cut open their own bodies with a sword. The +little boys of five years old, begin to learn the dreadful art. They do +not really cut themselves, but they are shown <i>how</i> to do it, that when +they are men, they may be able to kill themselves in an elegant manner. +How dreadful! Every great man has a white dress, which he never wears, +but keeps by him, that he may put it on when he is going to kill himself: +and he carries it about with him wherever he goes, for he cannot tell how +suddenly he may want it. When a courtier receives a letter sentencing him +to die, he invites his friends to a feast; and at the end of it, his +sentence is read aloud by the emperor's officer; then he takes his sword, +and makes a great gash across his own body; at the same moment, a servant +who stands behind him, cuts off his head.</p><a name='Page_290'></a> + +<p>This way of dying is thought very fine, and as a reward, the emperor +allows the son of the dead man to occupy his father's place in the court. +But <i>what</i> a place to have, when at last there may be such a fearful +scene! Missionaries cannot come into Japan to teach the people a better +way of dying, and to tell them of a happy place after death.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<a name='AUSTRALIA'></a><h2><a name='Page_291'></a>AUSTRALIA.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This is the largest island in the world. It is as large as Europe (which +is not an <i>island</i>, but a <i>continent</i>). But how different is Australia +from Europe! Instead of containing, as Europe does, a number of grand +kingdoms, it has not one single king. Instead of being filled with +people, the greater part of Australia is a desert, or a forest, where a +few half naked savages are wandering.</p> + +<p>A hundred years ago, there was not a town in the whole island; but now +there are a few large towns near the sea-coast, but only a very few. It +is the English who built these large towns, and who live in them.</p> + +<p>Australia is not so fine a land as Europe, because it has not so many +fine rivers; and it is fine <i>rivers</i> that make a fine <i>land</i>. Most of the +rivers in Australia do not deserve the name of rivers; they are more like +a number of water-holes, and are often dried up in the summer; but there +is one very fine, broad, long, deep <a name='Page_292'></a>river, called the Murray. It flows +for twelve hundred miles. Were there several such rivers us the Murray, +then Australia would be a fine land indeed.</p> + +<p>Why is there so little water? Because there is so little rain. Sometimes +for two years together, there are no heavy showers, and the grass +withers, and the trees turn brown, and the air is filled with dust. I +believe the reason of the want of rain is—that the mountains are not +high; for high mountains draw the clouds together. There are no mountains +as high as the Alps of Europe; the highest are only half as high.<a name='FNanchor_13_13'></a><a href='#Footnote_13_13'><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> + +<p><b>THE NATIVES.</b>—The savages of Australia have neither god, nor king. Some +heathen countries are full of idols, but there are no idols in the wilds +of Australia. No,—like the beasts which perish, these savages live from +day to day without prayer, or praise, delighting only in eating and +drinking, hunting and dancing.</p> + +<p>Most men build some kind of houses; but these savages are satisfied with +putting a few boughs together, as a shelter from the storm. There is just +room in one of these shelters for a man to creep into it, and lie down to +sleep. They do not wish to learn <a name='Page_293'></a>to build better huts, for as they are +always running about from place to place, they do not think it worth +while to build better.</p> + +<p>A native was once sitting in the corner of a white man's hut, and looking +as if he enjoyed the warmth. The white men began to laugh at him, for not +building a good hut for himself. For some time the black man said +nothing, at last he muttered, "Ay, ay, white fellow think it best +that-a-way. Black fellow think it best that-a-way." A white man rudely +answered, "Then black fellow is a fool." Upon hearing this, the black +fellow, quite affronted, got up, and folding his blanket round him, +walked out of the hut. How much pride there is in the heart of man! Even +a savage thinks a great deal of his own wisdom, and cannot bear to be +called a fool.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the natives build a house <i>strong</i> enough to last during the +whole winter, and <i>large</i> enough to hold seven or eight people. They make +it in the shape of a bee-hive.</p> + +<p>Their reason for moving about continually, is that they may get food. +They look for it, wherever they go, digging up roots, and grubbing up +grubs, and searching the hollows of the trees for <i>opossums</i>. (Of these +strange animals more shall soon be mentioned.)</p> + +<p>The women are the most ill-treated creatures in the<a name='Page_294'></a> world. The men beat +them on their heads whenever they please, and cover them with bruises. A +gentleman once saw a poor black woman crying bitterly. When he asked her +what was the matter, she told him that her husband was going to beat her +for having broken his pipe. The gentleman went to the husband, and +entreated him to forgive his "gin" (for that is the name for a <i>wife</i> or +<i>woman</i>). But the man declared he would not forgive her, unless a new +pipe was given to him. The gentleman could not promise one to the black +man, as there were no pipes to be had in that place. The next morning the +poor gin appeared with a broken arm, her cruel husband having beaten her +with a thick stick.</p> + +<p>The miserable gins are not <i>beaten</i> only; they are <i>half starved</i>; for +their husbands will give them no food, and <i>they</i>—poor things—cannot +fish or hunt, or shoot; they have nothing but the roots they dig up, and +the grubs, and lizards, and snakes they find on the ground. Their looks +show how wretchedly they fare; for while the men are often strong and +tall, the women are generally thin, and bent, and haggard.</p> + +<p>Yet the <i>woman</i>, weak as she is, carries all the baggage, not only the +babe slung upon her back, but the bag of food, and even her husband's gun +and pipe; while the <i>man</i> stalks along in his pride, with nothing <a name='Page_295'></a>but +his spear in his hand, or at most a light basket upon his arm; for he +considers his wife as his beast of burden. At night the woman has to +build her own shelter, for the man thinks it quite enough to build one +for himself.</p> + +<p>Such is the hard lot of a native woman, while she <i>lives</i>; and when she +<i>dies</i>, her body is perched in a tree, as not worth the trouble of +burying.</p> + +<p>I have already told you, that the natives have no GOD; yet they have a +DEVIL, whom they call Yakoo, or debbil-debbil. Of him they are always +afraid, for they fancy he goes about devouring children. When any one +dies, they say, "Yakoo took him." How different from those happy +Christians who can say of their dead, "God took them!"</p> + +<p>People who know not God, but only the devil, must be very wicked. These +savages show themselves to be children of debbil-debbil by their actions. +They kill many of their babes, that they may not have the trouble of +nursing them. Old people also they kill, and laugh at the idea of making +them "tumble down." One of the most horrible things they do, is making +the skulls of their friends into drinking-cups, and they think that by +doing so, they show their AFFECTION! They allow the nearest relation to +have the skull of the dead person. They will even EAT a little piece of +<a name='Page_296'></a>the dead body, just as a mark of love. But generally speaking, it is +only their <i>enemies</i> they eat, and they <i>do</i> eat them whenever they can +kill them. There are a great many tribes of natives, and they look upon +one another as enemies. If a man of one tribe dare to come, and hunt in +the lands of another tribe, he is immediately killed, and his body is +eaten.</p> + +<p>The bodies of dear friends—are treated with great honor, placed for some +weeks on a high platform, and then buried. Mothers prize highly the dead +bodies of their children. A traveller met a poor old woman wandering in +search of roots, with a stick for digging in her hand, and with no other +covering than a little grass mat. On her back she bore a heavy load. What +was it? The dead body of her child,—a boy of ten years old; this burden +she had borne for three weeks, and she thought she showed her love, by +keeping it near her for so long a time. Alas! she knew nothing of the +immortal spirit, and how, when washed in Jesus' blood, it is borne by +angels into the presence of God.</p> + +<p>But though these savages are so wicked, and so wild, they have their +amusements. Dancing is the chief amusement. At every full moon, there is +a grand dance, called the Corrobory. It is the men who dance, while the +women sit by and beat time. Nothing <a name='Page_297'></a>can be more horrible to see than a +Corrobory. It is held in the night by the light of blazing fires. The men +are made to look more frightful than usual, by great patches, and stripes +of red and white clay all over their bodies; and they play all manner of +strange antics, and utter all kinds of strange yells; so that you might +think it was a dance in HELL, rather than on earth.</p> + +<p>It may surprise you to hear these wild creatures have a turn both for +music and drawing. There are figures carved upon the rocks, which show +their turn for drawing. The figures represent beasts, fishes, and men, +and are much better done than could have been supposed. There are few +savages who can sing as well as these natives; but the <i>words</i> of their +songs are very foolish. These are the words of one song,</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>"Eat great deal, eat, eat, eat;</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Eat again, plenty to eat;</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>Eat more yet, eat, eat, eat."</span><br /> + +<p>If a pig could sing, surely this song would just suit its fancy. How sad +to think a man who is made to praise God forever and ever, should have no +higher joy than eating!</p> + +<p>And what is the appearance of these people?</p> + +<p>They are ugly, with flat noses, and wide mouths,<a name='Page_298'></a> but their teeth are +white, and their hair is long, glossy, and curly. They adorn their +tresses with teeth, and feathers, and dogs' tails; and they rub over +their whole body with fish oil and fat. You may imagine, therefore, how +unpleasant it must be to come near them.</p> + + + +<a name='The_Colonists_Or_Settlers'></a> +<h3>THE COLONISTS OR SETTLERS.</h3> + +<p><i>Once</i> there were only black people in Australia, and no white; <i>now</i> +there are more white than black; and it is probable, that soon, there +will be no black people, but only white. Ever since the white people +began to settle there, the black people have been dying away very fast; +for the white people have taken away the lands where the blacks used to +hunt, and have filled them with their sheep and cattle.</p> + +<p>There are two sorts of white people who have come to Australia. They are +called "Convicts," and "Colonists."</p> + +<p>Convicts are some of the worst of the white people;—thieves, who instead +of being kept in prison, were sent to Australia to work hard for many +years. It is a sad thing for Australia, that so many thieves have been +sent there, because after their punishment was <a name='Page_299'></a>over, and they were set at +liberty, some remained in the land, and did a great deal of harm.</p> + +<p>Colonists are people who come of their own accord to earn their living as +best they can.</p> + +<p>It is a common sight when travelling in Australia, to meet a dray drawn +by bullocks, laden with furniture, and white people. It is a family going +to their new farm. In the dray there are pigs, and you may hear them +grunting; there are fowls, too, shut up in a basket; and besides, there +are plants and tools. When the family arrive at the place where they mean +to settle, they find no house, nor garden, nor fields, only a wild +forest. Immediately they pitch a tent for the mother and her daughters to +sleep in, while the father, his sons, and his laborers, sleep by the fire +in the open air. The next morning, the men begin to fell trees to make a +hut, and they finish it in a week;—not a very grand dwelling, it is +true, but good enough for the fine weather; the floor is made of the hard +clay from the enormous ant hills; the walls—of great slabs of wood; the +roof—of wooden tiles, and the windows—of calico. When the hut is +finished, a hen-house, and a pig-sty are built, and a dairy also +underground. A garden is soon planted, and there the vines, and the +peach-trees bear beautiful fruit. The daughters attend to the rearing of +the fowls, and<a name='Page_300'></a> the milking of the cows, and soon have a plentiful supply +of eggs and butter. The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow +wheat and potatoes. Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied; +and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large +rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of +the laborers. This is the way of life in the "Bush;" for such is the name +given to the wild parts of Australia.</p> + +<p>Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the +wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads +a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon +the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in +troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as +they can. Happily there are no <i>large</i> wild beasts, such as wolves, and +bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as +the sheep.</p> + +<p>But there are <i>men</i>, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts. +These are convicts who have escaped from punishment. They often come to +the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked <i>white</i> men; +indeed <i>they</i> are generally very harmless, unless provoked by +ill-treatment. They are <a name='Page_301'></a>willing to make themselves useful, by reaping +corn, and washing sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a +blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks +will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when +they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women +can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much +besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give +a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats +so much, that he can work no more that day.</p> + +<p>Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was +one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every +morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of +waking him,—light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and +set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting +his hand affectionately on the hand of the sleeper would whisper in his +ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind +and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the +white man.</p> + +<p>This black was as faithful, as he was affectionate. Once he was sent by a +farmer on a message. It was<a name='Page_302'></a> this, "Take this letter to my brother, and +he will give you sixpence, and then spend the sixpence in pipes for me." +The black man took the letter, and went towards the place where the +brother lived. He met him on horseback. The brother after reading the +letter, rode away without giving the sixpence to the bearer. What was the +poor black man to do? "Shall I go back," thought he, "without the pipes? +No. I will try to get some money." He went to a house that he knew of, +and offered to chop some wood for sixpence, and with <i>that sixpence</i> he +bought the pipes. Was not this being a good servant? This was not +eye-service; it was the service of the heart. But there are not many +natives like this man. They are generally soon tired of working. For +instance, a boy called Jackey, left a good master who would have provided +for him, to live again wild in the woods, and went away with the blanket +off his bed.</p> + +<p><b>ANIMALS.</b>—There are few of <i>our</i> animals in Australia, or of <i>their</i> +animals in England. There is no hare, no rabbit, no nightingale, no +thrush, in Australia. <i>Once</i> there were no horses, nor cows, nor sheep, +nor pigs; but <i>now</i> there are a great many. Much terrified were the +natives at the sight of the first horse which came from England; for they +had never seen such a large animal before.</p><a name='Page_303'></a> + +<p>The largest beast in Australia is the Kangaroo, remarkable for its short +fore-legs, and its great strong hind-legs, and for the pocket in which it +shelters its little one. It is a gentle creature, and can be easily +tamed. A pet kangaroo may often be seen walking about a settler's garden, +cropping the grass upon the lawn. But though easily <i>tamed</i>, a wild +kangaroo is not easily <i>caught</i>; for it makes immense springs in the air, +far higher than a horse could leap, though it is not as big as a sheep. +When hunted by dogs, it gets, when it can, into the water, and turning +round, and standing still, dips the dogs, one by one, till it drowns +them.</p> + +<p>There is another beast, called the opossum, not much bigger than a large +cat, and it also has a pocket for its young ones. But instead of cropping +the grass, it eats the leaves of trees. It has a gentle face like a deer, +and a long tail like a monkey. It hides itself, as the squirrel does, in +the hollows of trees. Like the owl, it is never seen in the day, but at +night it comes out to feed. The blacks are very cunning in finding out +the holes where the opossums are hidden, and they know how to drag them +out by their long tails, without getting bitten by their sharp teeth. +With the skin of the opossum the natives make a cloak.</p><a name='Page_304'></a> + +<p>The wild dogs, or dingoes, are odious animals. They may be heard yelling +at night to the terror of the shepherd, and the farmer. They are bold +enough to rush into a yard, and to carry off a calf, or a pig; and when +they have dragged it into the woods, they cruelly eat the legs first, and +do not kill it for a long while.</p> + +<p>These three—the kangaroo, the opossum, and the dingo,—are the principal +beasts of Australia.</p> + +<p>Among the birds, the emu is the most remarkable. It is nearly as tall as +an ostrich, and has beautiful soft feathers, though not as beautiful as +the ostrich's. But the most curious point in the emu is,—it has no +tongue. You may suppose, therefore, that it is neither a singing bird, +nor a talking bird; it only makes a little noise in its throat. But if +<i>it</i> is silent, there are numbers of parrots, and cockatoos, to fill the +air with their screams. In England, these birds are thought a great deal +of, but in Australia, they are killed to make into pies, or into soup. +Parrot-pie and cockatoo-soup, are common dishes there. However, many of +the parrots and cockatoos, are caught by the blacks, and sold to the +English, who send them to England in the ships.</p> + +<p>There are not such singing birds in Australia, as there are here. Though +there is a robin red-breast<a name='Page_305'></a> there, he does not sing as sweetly as he does +here. But there are <i>laughing</i> birds in Australia. There is a bird called +the "laughing jackass." He laughs very loud three times a day. He begins +in the morning;—suddenly a hoarse loud laugh is heard,—then another, +then another,—till a whole troop of birds seem laughing all together, +and go on laughing for a few minutes;—and then they are all quiet again. +Such a noise must awaken many a sleeper on his bed. At noon the laugh is +heard again. At evening there is another general fit of laughter. These +birds are not like children, who laugh at no particular hour, but often +twenty times a day. The laughing jackass is almost as useful as a clock, +and it is called, "the bushman's clock."</p> + + +<a name='Botany_Bay'></a> +<h3>BOTANY BAY.</h3> + +<p>This is a famous place, for here the English first settled, and here it +was thieves were sent from England as a punishment. Some were sent there +for fourteen years, and some for twenty-one years, and some for life. How +did the place get the beautiful name of Botany? which means "the +knowledge of flowers." Because there were so many beautiful flowers seen +there, when Captain Cook first beheld it.<a name='Page_306'></a> Yet the name Botany Bay, does +not seem beautiful to us; for it reminds us not of roses, but of rogues; +not of violets, but of violent men; not of lilies, but of villains.</p> + + +<a name='Sydney'></a> +<h3>SYDNEY.</h3> + +<p>This town is close to Botany Bay. It is the largest town in Australia. +It is a very wicked city, because so many convicts have been sent there. +Many of the people are the children of convicts, and have been brought up +very ill by their parents. Of course there are many robberies in such a +city, far more than there are in London. Who would like to live there! +yet it is a fine city, and by the sea-side, with a harbor, where hundreds +of ships might ride,—safe from the storm. It is plain, too, that Sydney +is full of rich people, for the streets are thronged with carriages, +driving rapidly along. The convicts often become rich, after their time +of punishment is over, by keeping public-houses, and when rich they keep +carriages.</p> + +<p>If you were in Sydney, you would hardly think you were in a savage +island; for you would see no savages in the streets. What is become of +those who once lived in these parts? They are all dead, or gone to other +parts of the island. The last black near Sydney,<a name='Page_307'></a> used to talk of the old +times, and say, "When I was a pick-a-ninny, plenty of black fellow then. +Only one left now, mitter."</p> + + +<a name='Adelaide'></a> +<h3>ADELAIDE.</h3> + +<p>It is much better to live here than in Sydney, because convicts have +never been sent here. Numbers of honest poor people are leaving England +and Ireland, every year, to go to Adelaide. When they arrive at the +coast, they get into cars, and are driven seven miles, passing by many +pretty cottages, and gardens, till they arrive at Adelaide. There they +find themselves in the midst of gardens; for the houses are not crowded +together, as in our English towns, but are placed in the midst of trees, +and flowers, and grass; because there is plenty of room in Australia.</p> + +<p>But there is one great evil both in Sydney and in Adelaide, which is the +dust blown from the desert, and which almost chokes the inhabitants. If +there were more rain in Australia, there would be less dust.</p> + +<p>Australia is divided into three parts:—</p> + +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>I. New South Wales. Capital, Sydney.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>II. Western Australia. Capital, Perth.</span><br /> +<span style='margin-left: 2em;'>III. South Australia. Capital, Adelaide.</span><br /> + +<a name='Footnote_13_13'></a><a href='#FNanchor_13_13'>[13]</a><div class='note'><p> The Australian mountains are about seven thousand feet +high.</p></div> + + + + + +<hr /> +<a name='VAN_DIEMANS_LAND'></a><h2><a name='Page_308'></a>VAN DIEMAN'S LAND.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>This island is as cool as Great Britain; yet it is not a pleasant land to +live in; for it is filled with convicts. There are no natives there now; +they died away gradually, except a few, who were taken by the English to +a small island near, called "Flinder's Island." They were taken there +that they might be safe; yet they never ceased to sigh, and to cry after +their native land.</p> + + +<a name='The_Young_Savages'></a> +<h3>THE YOUNG SAVAGES.</h3> + +<p>Many travellers have tried to see the land in the midst of Australia, but +hitherto they have not succeeded. After going a little way, they have +been obliged to return, and why? Because they have found no water.</p> + +<p>I will give you an account of the journey of Mr. Eyre. This traveller +wished to go into the midst of <a name='Page_309'></a>the land, but finding he could not, he +travelled along the coast, at that part called the Great Bight (or the +Great Bay).</p> + +<p>He set out from Adelaide with a large party, but various accidents +occurred by the way, and at last he found himself with only one +Englishman, and three native boys. The eldest was almost a man. His name +was Wylie, and he was a good-tempered, lively youth. The second was named +Neramberein. I shall have nothing good to relate of him, but a great deal +of evil; for he was indeed a very wicked boy. The youngest was called +Cootachah—a boy who was easily induced to follow bad examples.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre was the chief person in the party, and his English companion was +Mr. Baxter. Ten horses carried the packages, and six sheep were made to +follow, that they might be killed one by one for food.</p> + +<p>All these poor animals suffered terribly from want of water. Sometimes +they went a hundred miles without a refreshing draught. The horses became +so weak, that the travellers were unwilling to mount their backs; and as +for the sheep, they could scarcely crawl along.</p> + +<p>Many ways of getting water were tried. One way was digging up the roots +of trees. A little,—a very little,—water may often be squeezed out of +the end of<a name='Page_310'></a> a root; because the root is the mouth of the tree, and sucks +up water from the ground. Another way of getting water was by gathering +up the dew in a sponge. Enough dew to make a cup of tea might sometimes +be obtained; but not enough for the poor beasts to have any. When the +travellers, by digging, could make a well, then they were glad indeed; +for then the beasts could be refreshed as well as themselves.</p> + +<p>The whole party were become so weak from fatigue and thirst, that they +could not get on fast, and they found it necessary to save their food as +much as possible, that it might last to the end of the long journey. They +took a little flour every day out of their bag, and made it into a paste. +Sometimes they caught a fish, or shot a bird or beast, and then they had +a hearty meal. When they killed one of their sheep, then they had plenty +of mutton. At last, all the sheep were killed but one.</p> + +<p>It happened at this time, that one of the horses was so sick that he +could not move. It was plain he would soon die; therefore the travellers +determined to kill him, and eat his flesh. Mr. Eyre was grieved at the +thought of killing his horse, neither could he bear the idea of eating +horse flesh; but then he feared, that if the horse were not killed, the +whole party would be starved.</p><a name='Page_311'></a> + +<p>The native boys were delighted when they knew the horse was to be eaten; +for they had long been fretting for more food. They would like to have +devoured it <i>all</i> on the spot; but they were not allowed to do so; the +greater part of the flesh was cut off in thin slices, dipped in salt +water, and then hung up in the sun to dry, to serve as provision for many +days to come. The boys were permitted to devour the rest of the carcase.</p> + +<p>With what haste they prepared the feast! They made a fire close to the +carcase, and then cut off lumps of flesh, which they roasted quickly, and +then ate. They spent the whole afternoon in this manner, looking more +like ravenous wolves than human creatures. When night came, they were not +willing to leave their meat, but took as much as ever they could carry +into their beds, that they might eat whenever they awoke. Next day, they +returned to the roasting and eating, and the next night again they took +meat with them to bed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre wondered at their gluttony and he thought it necessary to give +them an allowance of food, instead of letting them eat as much as they +liked. He gave five pounds of meat to each boy every day. Five pounds is +as much as a shoulder of mutton—and ten English boys would think it +quite enough for dinner; but the Australian boys were not satisfied!</p><a name='Page_312'></a> + +<p>Mr. Eyre began to suspect that in the night they stole some of the meat +hanging up to dry on the trees. Therefore one night he weighed the meat, +and in the morning weighed it again. He found that four pounds were gone. +He thought it was very ungrateful of boys, to whom he gave so much, to +steal from his small stock. As a punishment he gave them less meat next +day than usual.</p> + +<p>He entreated the boys to tell him who was the thief. The eldest and +youngest declared that they had not stolen any meat; but Neramberein +would not answer at all, and looked sulky and angry, and muttered +something about going away, and taking Wylie with him. Mr. Eyre replied, +that he might go if he pleased, while at the same time he warned him of +the dangers of the way.</p> + +<p>The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, the three boys all rose +up and walked away. Mr. Eyre called back the youngest, as he felt he was +misled by his elders, but he let the others go. They had stayed with him +till the horse was all eaten up, except the dried pieces—but now they +hoped to get more food, when travelling alone, than with Mr. Eyre.</p> + +<p>As soon as the boys were gone, Mr. Eyre determined to stop some time +longer where he was, that he might not overtake them. There was one sheep +still remaining, <a name='Page_313'></a>and which seemed very restless all by itself. This +sheep was killed for food, and in that place there was plenty of water; +so that the little company fared well that day and the next; especially +as Mr. Baxter had the good fortune to kill an eagle, which made an +excellent stew.</p> + +<p>Just as the travellers had finished their evening meal, they were +astonished to see the two runaway boys approaching. Wylie came running +up, declaring that both he and his companions were sorry for their bad +behavior, and were anxious to be received again, not being able to get +enough to eat. But though Wylie acted in this frank manner, his companion +was very sulky. He said nothing, but seated himself by the fire, pouting +and frowning, and evidently much vexed at being obliged to come back. Mr. +Eyre thought it well to give the boys a lecture on their bad conduct, +especially upon their thefts; for they now owned that they had stolen +meat from the trees, though they had before denied it. But though Mr. +Eyre reproved the boys, he treated them very kindly, for he gave them +some tea, and bread and meat for supper.</p> + +<p>The next day the whole party continued their journey. They were obliged +to be very sparing of their food, lest when it was gone they should get +<a name='Page_314'></a>no more. But their greatest trial was the want of water.</p> + +<p>After travelling during four days, they stopped one evening in a rocky +place at the top of high cliffs, hoping that if any rain should fall, +some might be caught in the hollow places among the rocks. That evening +they ate no supper; for having had dinner, they might do without supper.</p> + +<p>Before they lay down to sleep, they made themselves places to sleep in, +by setting up boughs, as shelters from the wind. They also piled up their +goods in a great heap, and covered it with oil skin, to keep out the +damp. Mr. Eyre did not sleep when the rest did, for he undertook to watch +the horses till eleven at night, and then he agreed to change places with +Mr. Baxter.</p> + +<p>The hour was almost come, and Mr. Eyre was beginning to lead the horses +towards the sleeping place, when he was startled by hearing a gun go off. +He called out,—but receiving no answer, he grew alarmed, and leaving the +horses, ran towards the spot, whence the noise had come.</p> + +<p>Presently he met Wylie, running very fast, and crying out, "Oh! Massa, +Oh! Massa, come here."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" inquired Mr. Eyre.</p> + +<p>Wylie made no answer. </p><a name='Page_315'></a> + +<p>With hurried steps, Mr. Eyre accompanied him towards the camp. What a +sight struck his eyes! His friend Baxter, lying on the ground, weltering +in his blood, and in the agonies of DEATH.</p> + +<p>The two younger boys were not there, and the goods which had been covered +by the oil-skin, lay scattered in confusion on the ground. It was too +clear that one of the boys had KILLED poor Baxter. No doubt it was +Neramberein who had done it!</p> + +<p>It seems that the boys had attempted to steal some of the goods, and that +while they were gathering them together, Baxter had awaked, and had come +forth from his sleeping place, and that <i>then</i> one of the boys had shot +him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre raised the dying man from the ground where he was lying +prostrate, and he then found that a ball had entered his left breast, and +that his life was fast departing. In a few minutes he expired!</p> + +<p>What were the feelings of the lonely traveller! Here he was in the midst +of a desert, with no companion but one young savage, and that young +savage was not one whom he could trust; for he knew not what part Wylie +had taken in the deeds of the night. He suspected that he had intended to +go away with the other boys, but that when Baxter was murdered, he had +grown alarmed. Wylie indeed denied that he had<a name='Page_316'></a> known anything of the +robbery, but then he was not a boy whose word could be believed.</p> + +<p>The remainder of that dreadful night was passed by Mr. Eyre, in watching +the horses. Anxiously he waited for the first streak of daylight. He then +drove the horses to the camp, and once more beheld the body of his +fellow-traveller. How suddenly had his soul been hurried into eternity, +and into the presence of his God!</p> + +<p>It was Wylie's business to light the fire, and prepare the breakfast. +Meanwhile, Mr. Eyre examined the baggage to see how much had been stolen. +These were the chief articles he missed. All the bread, consisting of +five loaves, some mutton, tea and sugar, tobacco and pipes, a small keg +of water, and two guns. And what was left for the traveller? A large +quantity of flour, a large keg of water, some tea and sugar, a gun, and +pistols. But would these have been left, had the ungrateful boys been +strong enough to carry them away?</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre desired before leaving the fatal spot to bury the body of his +friend; but the rocks around were so hard, that it was impossible to dig +a grave. All he was able to do, was to wrap the corpse in a blanket +before he abandoned it forever.</p> + +<p>Slowly and silently he left the sorrowful spot, leading<a name='Page_317'></a> one horse, +while Wylie drove the others after it. During the heat of the day, they +stopped to rest. It was four in the afternoon, and they were soon going +to set out again, when they perceived at a distance—TWO WHITE FIGURES! +two white figures! and soon knew them to be the two guilty boys, wrapped +in their blankets.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre had some fear lest the young murderer should shoot him also; yet +he thought it wise to advance boldly towards him, with his gun in his +hand. He perceived that each of the wicked youths held a gun, and seemed +ready to shoot. But as he approached, they drew back. He wished to speak +to them in order to persuade them not to follow him on his journey, but +to go another way; however he could not get near them; but he heard them +cry out, "O Massa, we don't want you; we want Wylie." The boys repeated +the name of Wylie over and over again; yet Wylie answered not, but +remained quietly with the horses. At length Mr. Eyre turned away, and +continued his journey. The boys followed at some distance, calling out +for Wylie till the darkness came on.</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre was so anxious to get beyond the reach of these wicked youths, +that he walked eighteen miles that evening. And he never saw them again! +I do not know whether he had ever told them of the true<a name='Page_318'></a> God, of that EYE +which never SLEEPS, of that EYE which beholds ROBBERS and MURDERERS in +the night;—but whether he had told them or not of this great God, they +must have KNOWN that they were acting wickedly when they robbed their +benefactor, and murdered his friend; and they must have felt very +MISERABLE after they had done those deeds.</p> + +<p>Alone with Wylie, Mr. Eyre pursued his journey along the high clefts of +the Great Bight, or Bay.</p> + +<p>For five days they were without water for the horses; at last they dug +some wells in the sand. But by this time one of the horses was grown so +weak, that he could scarcely crawl along. This horse, Mr. Eyre determined +to kill for food. Wylie, delighted with the idea, exclaimed, "Massa, I +shall sit up, and eat the whole night." And he kept his word. While his +master was skinning the poor beast, he made a fire close by, and soon +began tearing off bits of flesh, roasting, and eating them, as fast as he +could. Mr. Eyre, after cutting off the best parts of the flesh to dry, +allowed Wylie to eat the rest. See the young glutton, with the head, the +feet, and the inside, permitted to devour it as best he could! He +hastened to make an oven, in which to bake about twenty pounds to feast +upon during the night. It is not wonderful, if during that night he was +heard to make a dismal <a name='Page_319'></a>groaning, and to complain that he was very ill. +He <i>said</i>, indeed, that it was <i>working</i> too <i>hard</i>, had made him ill, +but his master thought it was <i>eating</i> too <i>much</i>, for whenever he woke, +he found the boy gnawing a bone.</p> + +<p>Next day, Wylie was not able to spend his whole time over the carcase, +for he had to go, and look for a lost foal; but the day after, it was +hard to get him away from the bones.</p> + +<p>For some time the travellers lived upon dried horse flesh, with a +kangaroo, or a fish, as a little change. Wylie continued to eat +immoderately, though often rolling upon the ground, and crying out, +"Mendyat," or ill.</p> + +<p>One night he appeared to be in a very ill-humor, and Mr. Eyre tried to +find out the reason. At last Wylie said in an angry tone, "The dogs have +eaten the skin." It seems he had hung the skin of a kangaroo upon a bush, +intending to eat it by-and-bye, and the wild dogs had stolen the dainty +morsel. Wylie was restored to his usual good-humor by the sight of some +fine fishes his master had caught. Next time the boy shot a kangaroo, he +took good care of the skin, folding it up, and hiding it.</p> + +<p>One day he was so happy as to catch two opossums in a tree. His master +determined to see how Wylie <a name='Page_320'></a>would behave, if left entirely to himself. +He sat silently by the fire, while Wylie was cooking one opossum. The +boy, having got it ready for his supper, took the other to his sleeping +place. His master inquired what he intended to do with it. Wylie replied, +"I shall be hungry in the morning, and I am keeping it for my breakfast." +Then Mr. Eyre perceived that the greedy boy intended to offer him neither +supper nor breakfast. Accordingly he took out his bag of flour, and said +to Wylie, "Very well, we will each eat our own food; you eat the opossums +you shot, and I eat the flour I have; and I will give you no more." In +this manner, Mr. Eyre hoped to show the boy the folly of his selfishness. +Wylie was frightened at the idea of getting no more flour, and +immediately offered the smaller opossum to his master, and promised to +cook it himself. What a selfish, and ungrateful boy! Wylie had a wicked +heart by nature, and so have <i>we</i>. Only <i>he</i> had not been taught what was +right, as <i>we</i> have been. This is a prayer which would suit well every +child, and every man in the world, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, +and renew a right spirit within me."</p> + +<p>Mr. Eyre continued to be kind to Wylie, though he saw the boy did not +really love him.</p> + +<p>But the troubles of the journey were nearly at an<a name='Page_321'></a> end. At last the +travellers saw a ship a few miles from the shore. Oh I how anxious they +were that the sailors should see them! What could they do? They kindled a +fire on a rock, and they made a great deal of smoke come out of the fire. +Soon a boat was seen approaching the shore. How great was the joy of the +weary travellers. The sailors in the boat were Frenchmen, but they were +not the less kind on that account. They invited Mr. Eyre and Wylie to +accompany them to their ship.</p> + +<p>When the young savage found himself on board, he was almost wild with +delight, for he had now as much to eat as he could desire, and he began +eating biscuits so fast, that the sailors began to be afraid lest he +should eat them all; and they were glad to give him fishes instead, as +they could catch plenty of them.</p> + +<p>For twelve days Wylie and his master lived in the ship, and then left it, +laden with provisions, and dressed in warm clothes.</p> + +<p>They had still many miles to go along the shore, but they suffered no +more from want of food and water.</p> + +<p>Great was their rapture when they first caught sight of the hills of St. +George's Sound; for then they knew their journey would soon end. But they +had rivers to cross on the way, and in trying to get the <a name='Page_322'></a>horses over, +they nearly lost the poor beasts, and their own lives too. For three days +their clothes were dripping with wet, and the last night was one of the +worst; but then they knew it was the LAST, and that thought enabled them +to bear all. So does the Christian feel when near the end of his journey. +He is in the midst of storms, and wading through deep waters, even the +deep waters of DEATH; but he knows that he is near HOME.</p> + +<p>It was in the midst of a furious storm, that these travellers arrived at +their journey's end. Though they were now close to the town of Albany, +neither man nor beast were to be seen; for neither would venture out. At +last, a native appeared, and he knew Wylie, and greeted him joyfully, +telling him at the same time that his friends had given him up for dead a +long while ago. This native, by a loud shrill cry, let his countrymen +know that Wylie was found; and presently a multitude of men, women, and +children, came rushing rapidly from the town, and up the hill to meet +him. His parents and brethren folded him in their arms, while all around +welcomed him with shouts of joy. His master was kindly received at the +house of a friend; but he did not meet with so warm a welcome as Wylie, +for he was not like him in the midst of his family.</p><a name='Page_323'></a> + +<p>The kind master overlooked all Wylie's faults during the journey, and +remembered only his kindness in keeping with him to the end. He even +spoke in his favor to the government, requesting that Wylie might have a +daily allowance of food as a reward for his good conduct. What great +reason had this young savage to rejoice that he had not listened to the +enticements of his wicked comrades, when they called him so often by his +name, and tried to induce him to forsake his kind master!</p> + + +<a name='Little_Mickey'></a> +<h3>LITTLE MICKEY.</h3> + +<p>Mickey was born in the wilds of Australia; yet he was a highly favored +boy; for he became servant to a missionary. This was far better than +being, like Wylie, the companion of a traveller.</p> + +<p>Mickey was a merry and active little fellow, and was a great favorite +with his master's children. The older ones taught him to read, and the +little ones played with him. During the day, Mickey took care of the +cattle, and at night he slept in a shed close by his master's house. He +might have been a happy boy, but he soon fell into sin and sorrow.</p> + +<p>One evening he was in the cooking-house, eating <a name='Page_324'></a>his supper with another +native boy, his fellow-servant. The oven was hot, and the bread was +baking. Mickey opened the door of the oven, and looked in. That was +wrong; it was the first step towards evil. Mickey had eaten a good +supper, and ought to have been satisfied; but, like his countrymen, he +had an enormous appetite, and was always ready to eat too much when he +could. He took some of the hot bread, and gave some to his +fellow-servant. How like was his conduct to that of Eve, when she took +the fruit, and gave some to Adam! </p> + +<p>That night Mickey was nowhere to be found, nor his little fellow-servant +either. Where could they be? Their master sent people to search for them; +but no one had seen them. It seemed strange indeed, that a boy who had +been so kindly treated, and who had seemed as happy as Mickey, should run +away. The good missionary and his children were in great grief, fearing +that some accident had befallen the lads.</p> + +<p>But when the time came to take the bread out of the oven, they began to +suspect why Mickey had gone away. They saw some one had stolen large +pieces of bread. They said, "Perhaps it was Mickey who stole the bread, +and perhaps he is ashamed, and so he has run away." What a pity it was +that Mickey did not come, and confess his fault; he would have <a name='Page_325'></a>been +pardoned and restored to favor. Even a good boy may fall into a great +sin; but then he will own it, and ask forgiveness, both of God and man. +Still Mickey was not like those hardened boys who robbed Mr. Eyre, for he +was ashamed.</p> + +<p>Month after month passed away, but no Mickey appeared. The missionary +feared that the boy would never return, but live and die amongst his +heathen countrymen.</p> + +<p>One day, however, he was told that a man was at the door, who wanted to +speak to him.</p> + +<p>"Who is he?" inquired the missionary.</p> + +<p>"A schoolmaster, sir," replied the servant.</p> + +<p>"And what does he want?"</p> + +<p>"He has brought with him some native boys, and he wants you to come out +and see them, and speak a few words to them about their Saviour."</p> + +<p>The missionary gladly consented to go out to behold so pleasing a sight, +as a school of native boys. As soon as he appeared, several young voices +called out, "Mickey no come."</p> + +<p>The missionary was surprised, and inquired of the boys, "What do you +mean? where is Mickey?"</p> + +<p>"Mickey no come," repeated the boys. "He too much frightened."</p> + +<p>"Why is he afraid?" asked the missionary.</p><a name='Page_326'></a> + +<p>"Because he steal de bread," replied the boys.</p> + +<p>The missionary now began to look around, and soon espied Mickey, trying +to hide himself behind a fence. He called him; but Mickey, instead of +coming, went further off. Two or three boys then ran towards him, and +attempted to bring him back, but Mickey resisted.</p> + +<p>The missionary then went into the house hoping that the trembling +culprit, seeing he was gone, would come out of his hiding-place.</p> + +<p>Very soon he was told, that Mickey was standing with the other +boys at the door. Then the good missionary appeared again. Looking kindly +at Mickey, he said, "Why did you run away?"</p> + +<p>"Because me steal de bread; me very sorry."</p> + +<p>The missionary held out his hand to the sorrowful offender, saying, "I +forgive you, Mickey." The boy eagerly seized the kind hand, and holding +it fast, and looking earnestly up in the missionary's face, he said, +"When me steal again, you must whip me—and whip me—and whip +me—very—very much." Again the missionary assured the boy he had +entirely forgiven him—and then Mickey began to jump about for joy.</p> + +<p>How glad Mickey would have been to return to the service of his old +master! But that could not<a name='Page_327'></a> be; for that master was just going to set sail +for England, to visit his home and friends, and he could not take Mickey +with him. Just before he went, he provided a feast for many of the native +children, and gave them a parting address. Mickey was there—no longer +afraid—but glad to look up in the face of his beloved friend; for now he +knew he was forgiven.</p> + +<p>When the moment came to say "Farewell," the children ran forward, eager +to grasp the missionary's hand—but none pressed that hand so warmly and +so sorrowfully, as the little runaway.</p> + +<p>I know not whether that generous master, and that penitent servant ever +again met upon earth; but I have much hope they will meet in heaven; for +Mickey seems to have been sorry for his sin; and we know the promise: "If +we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." +And why? Because the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. There are +many sinners who were once as much afraid of God, as Mickey was of his +master; but who have been pardoned, and who will be present at his +HEAVENLY FEAST.</p> +<br /> + +<h5>THE END.</h5> + +<hr /> +<center> +<img src='images/12.jpg' width='607' height='510' alt='A CEDAR TREE. p. 32.' title='A CEDAR TREE. p. 32.'> +</center> + +<h5>A CEDAR TREE. See <a href='#Page_32'> p. 32.</a></h5> + +<hr /> +<h3>ATTRACTIVE AND INTERESTING</h3> + +<h4>JUVENILE BOOKS,</h4> + +<h5>PUBLISHED BY</h5> + +<h5>ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS.</h5> + + +Blossoms of Childhood.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>By the author of the "Broken Bud." 16mo. 75 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Bunbury.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>Glory, Glory, Glory, and other Narratives. 25 cents.</span><br /> +<br /> +Cameron.<br /> +<span style='margin-left: 1em;'>The Farmer's Daughter. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Far Off + +Author: Favell Lee Mortimer + +Release Date: July 24, 2004 [eBook #13011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAR OFF*** + + +E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders from page +images provided by the Internet Archive Children's Library and the +University of Florida + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13011-h.htm or 13011-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/1/13011/13011-h/13011-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/1/13011/13011-h.zip) + + + + + +FAR OFF + +or, Asia and Australia Described, with Anecdotes and Illustrations + +BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE PEEP OF DAY," ETC. ETC. ETC. + +NEW YORK + +1852 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "O ma'am that's sweet! Jesus Christ is OUR Redeemer."] + + + +[Illustration: FAR OFF] + + + + + +In the Frontispiece may be seen an English lady, who went to live upon +Mount Sion to teach little Jewesses and little Mahomedans to know the +Saviour. That lady has led three of her young scholars to a plain just +beyond the gates of Jerusalem; and while two of them are playing +together, she is listening to little Esther, a Jewess of eight years old. +The child is fond of sitting by her friend, and of hearing about the Son +of David. She has just been singing, + + "Glory, honor, praise, and power, + Be unto the Lamb forever, + Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, + Hallelujah, praise the Lord;" + +and now she is saying, "O, ma'am, that's sweet! Jesus Christ is _our_ +Redeemer, _our_ Redeemer: no _man_ can redeem his brother, no +_money_,--nothing--but only the precious blood of Christ." + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This little work pleads for the notice of parents and teachers on the +same grounds as its predecessor, "Near Home." + +Its plea is not completeness, nor comprehensiveness, nor depth of +research, nor splendor of description; but the very reverse,--its simple, +superficial, desultory character, as better adapted to the volatile +beings for whom it is designed. + +Too long have their immortal minds been captivated by the adventures and +achievements of knights and princesses, of fairies and magicians; it is +time to excite their interest in real persons, and real events. In +childhood that taste is formed which leads the youth to delight in +novels, and romances; a taste which has become so general, that every +town has its circulating library, and every shelf in that library is +filled with works of fiction. + +While these fascinating inventions are in course of perusal, many a Bible +is unopened, or if opened, hastily skimmed; many a seat in church is +unoccupied, or if occupied, the service, and the sermon disregarded--so +intense is the sympathy of the novel reader with his hero, or his +heroine. + +And what is the effect of the perusal? Many a young mind, inflated with a +desire for admiration and adventure, grows tired of home, impatient of +restraint, indifferent to simple pleasures, and averse to sacred +instructions. How important, therefore, early to endeavor to prevent a +taste for FICTION, by cherishing a taste for FACTS. + +But this is not the only aim of the present work; it seeks also to excite +an interest in _those_ facts which ought _most_ to interest immortal +beings--facts relative to souls, and their eternal happiness--to God, and +his infinite glory. + +These are the facts which engage the attention of the inhabitants of +heaven. We know not whether the births of princes, and the coronations of +monarchs are noticed by the angelic hosts; but we do know that the +repentance of a sinner, be he Hindoo or Hottentot, is celebrated by their +melodious voices in rapturous symphonies. + +Therefore "Far Off" desire to interest its little readers in the labors +of missionaries,--men despised and maligned by the world, but honored and +beloved by the SAVIOUR of the world. An account of the scenery and +natives of various countries, is calculated to prepare the young mind for +reading with intelligence those little Missionary Magazines, which appear +every month, written in so attractive a style, and adorned with such +beautiful illustrations. Parents have no longer reason to complain of the +difficulty of finding sacred entertainment for their children on Sunday, +for these pleasing messengers,--if carefully dealt out,--one or two on +each Sabbath, would afford a never failing supply. + +To form great and good characters, the mind must be trained to delight in +TRUTH,--not in comic rhymes, in sentimental tales, and skeptical poetry. +The truth revealed in God's Holy Word, should constitute the firm basis +of education; and the works of Creation and Providence the superstructure +while the Divine blessing can alone rear and cement the edifice. + +Parents, train up your children to serve God, and to enjoy his presence +forever; and if there be amongst them--an EXTRAORDINARY child, train him +up with extraordinary care, lest instead of doing extraordinary _good_ he +should do extraordinary _evil_, and be plunged into extraordinary misery. + +Train up--the child of imagination--not to dazzle, like Byron, but to +enlighten, like Cowper: the child of wit--not to create profane mirth, +like Voltaire, but to promote holy joy, like Bunyan: the child of +reflection--not to weave dangerous sophistries, like Hume, but to wield +powerful arguments, like Chalmers: the child of sagacity--not to gain +advantages for himself, like Cromwell, but for his country, like +Washington: the child of eloquence--not to astonish the multitude, like +Sheridan, but to plead for the miserable, like Wilberforce: the child of +ardor--not to be the herald of delusions, like Swedenbourg, but to be the +champion of truth, like Luther: the child of enterprise--not to devastate +a Continent, like the conquering Napoleon, but to scatter blessings over +an Ocean, like the missionary Williams:--and, if the child be a +prince,--train him up--not to reign in pomp and pride like the fourteenth +Louis, but to rule in the fear of God, like our own great ALFRED. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +ASIA + +THE HOLY LAND + Bethlehem + Jerusalem + The Dead Sea + Samaria + Galilee + +SYRIA + Damascus + +ARABIA + +TURKEY IN ASIA + Armenia + Kurdistan + Mesopotamia + +PERSIA + Teheran + +CHINA + +COCHIN CHINA + Tonquin + Cambodia + +HINDOSTAN + The Ganges + The Thugs + The Hindoo Women + The English in India + +CIRCASSIA + +GEORGIA + Tiflis + +TARTARY + Astracan + Bokhara + The Toorkman Tartars + +CHINESE TARTARY + +AFFGHANISTAN + +BELOOCHISTAN + +BURMAH + The Karens + Ava + Maulmain + The Missionary's babe + +SIAM + Bankok + +MALACCA + Singapore + The Christian school-girls + +SIBERIA + The Samoyedes + The Banished Russians + The Ural Mountains + +KAMKATKA + +THIBET + Lassa + +CEYLON + Kandy + Colombo + +BORNEO + Bruni + The Dyaks + +JAPAN + +AUSTRALIA + The Colonists or Settlers + Botany Bay + Sydney + Adelaide + +VAN DIEMAN'S LAND + The Young Savages + Little Mickey + + + + +FAR OFF. + + +ASIA. + + + Of the four quarters of the world--Asia is the most glorious. + There the first man lived. + There the Son of God lived. + There the apostles lived. + There the Bible was written. + Yet now there are very few Christians in Asia: + though there are more people there than in any other quarter + of the globe. + + + + +THE HOLY LAND. + + +Of all the countries in the world which would you rather see? + +Would it not be the land where Jesus lived? + +He was the Son of God: He loved us and died for us. + +What is the land called where He lived? Canaan was once its name: but now +Palestine, or the Holy Land. + +Who lives there now? + +Alas! alas! The Jews who once lived there are cast out of it. There are +some Jews there; but the Turks are the lords over the land. You know the +Turks believe in Mahomet. + +What place in the Holy Land do you wish most to visit? + +Some children will reply, Bethlehem, because Jesus was born there; +another will answer, Nazareth, because Jesus was brought up there; and +another will say, "Jerusalem," because He died there. + +I will take you first to + + +BETHLEHEM. + +A good minister visited this place, accompanied by a train of servants, +and camels, and asses. + +It is not easy to travel in Palestine, for wheels are never seen there, +because the paths are too steep, and rough, and narrow for carriages. + +Bethlehem is on a steep hill, and a white road of chalk leads up to the +gate. The traveller found the streets narrow, dark, and dirty. He lodged +in a convent, kept by Spanish monks. He was shown into a large room with +carpets and cushions on the floor. There he was to sleep. He was led up +to the roof of the house to see the prospect. He looked, and beheld the +fields below where the shepherds once watched their flocks by night: and +far off he saw the rocky mountains where David once hid himself from +Saul. + +But the monks soon showed him a more curious sight. They took him into +their church, and then down some narrow stone steps into a round room +beneath. "Here," said they, "Jesus was born." The floor was of white +marble, and silver lamps were burning in it. In one corner, close to the +wall, was a marble trough, lined with blue satin. "There," said the +monks, "is the manger where Jesus was laid." "Ah!" thought the traveller, +"it was not in such a manger that my Saviour rested his infant head; but +in a far meaner place." + +These monks have an image of a baby, which they call Jesus. On +Christmas-day they dress it in swaddling-clothes and lay it in the +manger: and then fall down and worship it. + +The next day, as the traveller was ready to mount his camel, the people +of Bethlehem came with little articles which they had made. But he would +not buy them, because they were images of the Virgin Mary and her holy +child, and little white crosses of mother-of-pearl. They were very +pretty: but they were idols, and God hates idols. + + +JERUSALEM. + +Here our Lord was crucified. + +Is there any child who does not wish to hear about it? + +The children of Jerusalem once loved the Lord, and sang his praises in +the temple. Their young voices pleased their Saviour, though not half so +sweet as angels' songs. + +Which is the place where the temple stood? + +It is Mount Moriah. There is a splendid building there now. + +Is it the temple? O no, that was burned many hundreds of years ago. It is +the Mosque of Omar that you see; it is the most magnificent mosque in all +the world. How sad to think that Mahomedans should worship now in the +very spot where once the Son of God taught the people. No Jew, no +Christian may go into that mosque. The Turks stand near the gate to keep +off both Jews and Christians. + +Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this mosque. +There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they are part of +their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their Sabbath +(which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the stones. There +they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in the dust, and +repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old stones: because +they think that all prayers whispered between the cracks and crevices of +these stones will be heard by God. Some Jewesses come, wrapped from head +to foot in long white veils, and they gently moan and softly sigh over +Jerusalem in ruins. + +What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you +desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the sight +of it makes the Jews weep. + +But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is +Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of +images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there--and Greeks too: and +they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce +quarrels. + +That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre." It is pretended +that Christ's tomb or sepulchre is in it. Turks stand at the door and +make Christians pay money before they will let them in. + +When they enter, what do they see? + +In one corner a stone seat. "There," say the monks, "Jesus sat when He +was crowned with thorns." In another part there is a stone pillar. +"There," say the monks, "He was scourged." There is a high place in the +middle of the church with stairs leading up to it. When you stand there +the monks say, "This is the top of Calvary, where the cross stood." But +we know that the monks do not speak the truth, for the Romans destroyed +Jerusalem soon after Christ's crucifixion, and no one knows the very +place where He suffered. + +On Good Friday the monks carry all round the church an image of the +Saviour as large as life, and they fasten it upon a cross, and take it +down again, and put it in the sepulchre, and they take it out again on +Easter Sunday. How foolish and how wrong are these customs! It was not in +this way the apostles showed their love to Christ, but by preaching his +word. + +Mount Zion is the place where David brought the ark with songs and +music. There is a church where the Gospel is preached and prayers are +offered up in Hebrew, (the Jew's language.) The minister is called the +Bishop of Jerusalem. He is a Protestant. A few Jews come to the church at +Mount Zion, and some have believed in the Lord Jesus. + +And there is a school there where little Jews and Jewesses and little +Mahomedans sit side by side while a Christian lady teaches them about +Jesus. In the evening, after school, she takes them out to play on the +green grass near the city. A little Jewess once much pleased this kind +teacher as she was sitting on a stone looking at the children playing. +Little Esther repeated the verse-- + + Glory, honor, praise and power + Be unto the Lamb forever; + Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, + Hallelujah, praise the Lord! + +and then she said very earnestly, "O, ma'am, how sweet to think that +Jesus is _our_ Redeemer. No _man_ can redeem his brother: no money--no +money can do it--only the precious blood of Jesus Christ." Little Esther +seemed as if she loved Jesus, as those children did who sang his praises +in the temple so many years ago. + +But there is another place--very sad, but very sweet--where you must +come. Go down that valley--cross that small stream--(there is a narrow +bridge)--see those low stone walls--enter: it is the Garden of +Gethsemane. Eight aged olive-trees are still standing there; but Jesus +comes there no more with his beloved disciples. What a night was that +when He wept and prayed--when the angel comforted Him--and Judas betrayed +Him. + +The mountain just above Gethsemane is the Mount of Olives. Beautiful +olive-trees are growing there still. There is a winding path leading to +the top. The Saviour trod upon that Mount just before he was caught up +into heaven. His feet shall stand there again, and every eye shall see +the Saviour in his glory. But will every eye be glad to see Him? + +O no; there will be bitter tears then flowing from many eyes. + +And what kind of a city is Jerusalem? + +It is a sad and silent city. The houses are dark and dirty, the streets +are narrow, and the pavement rough. There are a great many very old Jews +there. Jews come from all countries when they are old to Jerusalem, that +they may die and be buried there. Their reason is that they think that +all Jews who are buried in their burial-ground at Jerusalem will be +raised _first_ at the last day, and will be happy forever. Most of the +old Jews are very poor: though money is sent to them every year from the +Jews in Europe. + +There are also a great many sick Jews in Jerusalem, because it is such an +unhealthy place. The water in the wells and pools gets very bad in +summer, and gives the ague and even the plague. Good English Christians +have sent a doctor to Jerusalem to cure the poor sick people. One little +girl of eleven years old came among the rest--all in rags and with bare +feet: she was an orphan, and she lived with a Jewish washerwoman. The +doctor went to see the child in her home. Where was it? It was near the +mosque, and the way to it was down a narrow, dark passage, leading to a +small close yard. The old woman lived in one room with her grandchildren +and the orphan: there was a divan at each end, that is, the floor was +raised for people to sleep on. The orphan was not allowed to sleep on the +divans, but she had a heap of rags for her bed in another part. The +child's eyes glistened with delight at the sight of her kind friend the +doctor, he asked her whether she went to school. This question made the +whole family laugh: for no one in Jerusalem teaches girls to read except +the kind Christian lady I told you of. + + +THE DEAD SEA. + +The most gloomy and horrible place in the Holy Land is the Dead Sea. In +that place there once stood four wicked cities, and God destroyed them +with fire and brimstone. + +You have heard of Sodom and Gomorrah. + +A clergyman who went to visit the Dead Sea rode on horseback, and was +accompanied by men to guard him on the way, as there are robbers hid +among the rocks. He took some of the water of the Dead Sea in his mouth, +that he might taste it, and he found it salt and bitter; but he would not +swallow it, nor would he bathe in it. + +He went next to look at the River Jordan. How different a place from the +dreary, desolate Dead Sea! Beautiful trees grow on the banks, and the +ends of the branches dip into the stream. The minister chose a part quite +covered with branches and bathed there, and as the waters went over his +head, he thought, "My Saviour was baptized in this river." But he did not +think, as many pilgrims do who come here every year, that his sins were +washed away by the water: no, he well knew that Christ's blood alone +cleanses from sin. There is a place where the Roman Catholics bathe, and +another where the Greeks bathe every year; they would not on any account +bathe in the same part, because they disagree so much. + +After drinking some of the sweet soft water of Jordan, the minister +travelled from Jericho to Jerusalem. He went the very same way that the +good Samaritan travelled who once found a poor Jew lying half-killed by +thieves. Even to this day thieves often attack travellers in these parts: +because the way is so lonely, and so rugged, and so full of places where +thieves can hide themselves. + +A horse must be a very good climber to carry a traveller along the steep, +rough, and narrow paths, and a traveller must be a bold man to venture to +go to the edge of the precipices, and near the robbers' caves. + + +SAMARIA. + +In the midst of Palestine is the well where the Lord spoke so kindly to +the woman of Samaria. In the midst of a beautiful valley there is a heap +of rough stones: underneath is the well. But it is not easy to drink +water out of this well. For the stone on the top is so heavy, that it +requires many people to remove it: and then the well is deep, and a very +long rope is necessary to reach the water. The clergyman (of whom I have +spoken so often) had nothing to draw with; therefore, even if he could +have removed the stone, he could not have drunk of the water. The water +must be very cool and refreshing, because it lies so far away from the +heat. That was the reason the Samaritan woman came so far to draw it: for +there were other streams nearer the city, but there was no water like the +water of Jacob's well. + +The city where that woman lived was called Sychar. It is still to be +seen, and it is still full of people. You remember that the men of that +city listened to the words of Jesus, and perhaps that is the reason it +has not been destroyed. The country around is the most fruitful in all +Canaan; there are such gardens of melons and cucumbers, and such groves +of mulberry-trees. + + +GALILEE. + +How different from Sychar is Capernaum! That was the city where Jesus +lived for a long while, where he preached and did miracles. It was on the +borders of the lake of Genesareth. The traveller inquired of the people +near the lake, where Capernaum once stood; but no one knew of such a +place: it is utterly destroyed. Jesus once said, "Woe unto Capernaum." +Why? Because it repented not. + +The lake of Genesareth looked smooth as glass when the traveller saw it; +but he heard that dreadful storms sometimes ruffled those smooth waters. +It was a sweet and lovely spot; not gloomy and horrible like the Dead +Sea. The shepherds were there leading their flocks among the green hills +where once the multitude sat down while Jesus fed them. + +Not very far off is the city where Jesus lived when he was a boy. + +NAZARETH.--All around are rugged rocky hills. In old times it was +considered a wicked city; perhaps it got this bad name from wicked people +coming here to hide themselves: and it seems just fit for a hiding-place. +From the top of one of the high crags the Nazarenes once attempted to +hurl the blessed Saviour. + +There is a Roman Catholic convent there, where the minister lodged. He +was much disturbed all day by the noise in the town; not the noise of +carts and wagons, for there are none in Canaan, but of screaming +children, braying asses, and grunting camels. One of his servants came to +him complaining that he had lost his purse with all his wages. He had +left it in his cell, and when he came back it was gone. Who could have +taken it? It was clear one of the servants of the convent must have +stolen it, for one of them had the key of the room. The travellers went +to the judge of the town to complain; but the judge, who was a Turk, was +asleep, and no one was allowed to awake him. In the evening, when he did +awake, he would not see justice done, because he said he had nothing to +do with the servants at the convent, as they were Christians. Nazareth, +you see, is still a wicked city, where robbery is committed and not +punished. + +There is much to make the traveller sad as he wanders about the Holy +Land. + +That land was once _fruitful_, but now it is barren. It is not surprising +that no one plants and sows in the fields, because the Turks would take +away the harvests. + +Once it was a _peaceful_ land, but now there are so many enemies that +every man carries a gun to defend himself. + +Once it was a _holy_ land, but now Mahomet is honored, and not the God of +Israel. + +When shall it again be fruitful, and peaceful, and holy? When the Jews +shall repent of their sins and turn to the Lord. Then, says the prophet +Ezekiel, (xxxvi. 35,) "They shall say, This land that was desolate is +become like the garden of Eden."[1] + + [1] Taken chiefly from "A Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. George Fisk. + + + + +SYRIA. + + +Those who love the Holy Land will like to hear about Syria also; for +Abraham lived there before he came into Canaan. Therefore the Israelites +were taught to say when they offered a basket of fruit to God, "A Syrian +was my father." It was a heathen land in old times; and it is now a +Mahomedan land; though there are a few Christians there, but very +ignorant Christians, who know nothing of the Bible. + +Syria is a beautiful land, and famous for its grand mountains, called +Lebanon. The same clergyman who travelled through the Holy Land went to +Lebanon also. He had to climb up very steep places on horseback, and +slide down some, as slanting as the roof of a house. But the Syrian +horses are very sure-footed. It is the custom for the colts from a month +old to follow their mothers; and so when a rider mounts the back of the +colt's mother, the young creature follows, and it learns to scramble up +steep places, and to slide down; even through the towns the colt trots +after its mother, and soon becomes accustomed to all kinds of sights and +sounds: so that Syrian horses neither shy nor stumble. + +The traveller was much surprised at the dress of the women of Lebanon: +for on their heads they wear silver horns sticking out from under their +veils, the strangest head-dress that can be imagined. + +There are sweet flowers growing on the sides of Lebanon; but at the top +there are ice and snow. + +The traveller ate some ice, and gave some to the horses; and the poor +beasts devoured it eagerly, and seemed quite refreshed by their cold +meal. + +The snow of Lebanon is spoken of in the Bible as very pure and +refreshing. "Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the +rock of the field?"--Jer. xviii. 14. + +The traveller earnestly desired to behold the cedars of Lebanon: for a +great deal is said about them in the Bible; indeed, the temple of Solomon +was built of those cedars. It was not easy to get close to them; for +there were craggy rocks all around: but at last the traveller reached +them, and stood beneath their shade. There were twelve very large old +trees, and their boughs met at the top, and kept off the heat of the sun. +These trees might be compared to holy men, grown old in the service of +God: for this is God's promise to his servants,--"The righteous shall +flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in +Lebanon."--Psalm xc. 11, 12. + + +DAMASCUS. + +This is the capital of Syria. + +It is perhaps the most ancient city in the world. Even in the time of +Abraham, Damascus was a city; for his servant Eliezer came from it. + +But Damascus is most famous, on account of a great event which once +happened near it. A man going towards that city suddenly saw in the +heavens a light brighter than the sun, and heard a voice from on high, +calling him by his name. Beautiful as the city was, he saw not its beauty +as he entered it, for he had been struck blind by the great light. That +man was the great apostle Paul. + +Who can help thinking of him among the gardens of fruit-trees surrounding +Damascus? + +The damask rose is one of the beauties of Damascus. There is one spot +quite covered with this lovely red rose. + +I will now give an account of a visit a stranger paid to a rich man in +Damascus. He went through dull and narrow streets, with no windows +looking into the streets. He stopped before a low door, and was shown +into a large court behind the house. There was a fountain in the midst of +the court, and flower-pots all round. The visitor was then led into a +room with a marble floor, but with no furniture except scarlet cushions. +To refresh him after his journey, he was taken to the bath. There a man +covered him with a lather of soap and water, then dashed a quantity of +hot water over him, and then rubbed him till he was quite dry and warm. + +When he came out of the bath, two servants brought him some sherbet. It +is a cooling drink made of lemon-juice and grape-juice mixed with water. + +The master of the house received the stranger very politely: he not only +shook hands with him, but afterwards he kissed his own hand, as a mark of +respect to his guest. The servants often kissed the visitor's hand. + +The dinner lasted a long while, for only one dish was brought up at a +time. Of course there were no ladies at the dinner, for in Mahomedan +countries they are always hidden. There were two lads there, who were +nephews to the master of the house; and the visitor was much surprised to +observe that they did not sit down to dinner with the company; but that +they stood near their uncle, directing the servants what to bring him; +and now and then presenting a cup of wine to him, or his guests. But it +is the custom in Syria for young people to wait upon their elders; +however, they may speak to the company while they are waiting upon them. + +Damascus used to be famous for its swords: but now the principal things +made there, are stuffs embroidered with silver, and boxes of curious +woods, as well as red and yellow slippers. The Syrians always wear yellow +slippers, and when they walk out they put on red slippers over the +yellow. If you want to buy any of the curious works of Damascus, you must +go to the bazaars in the middle of the town; there the sellers sit as in +a market-place, and display their goods. + +SCHOOLS.--It is not the custom in Syria for girls to learn to read. But a +few years ago, a good Syrian, named Assaad, opened a school for little +girls as well as for boys. + +It was easy to get the little boys to come; but the mothers did not like +to send their little girls. They laughed, and said, "Who ever heard of a +girl going to school? Girls need not learn to read." The first girl who +attended Assaad's school was named Angoul, which means "Angel." Where is +the child that deserves such a name? Nowhere; for there is none +righteous, no, not one. Angoul belonged not to Mahomedan parents, but to +those called Christians; yet the Christians in Syria are almost as +ignorant as heathens. + +Angoul had been taught to spin silk; for her father had a garden of +mulberry-trees, and a quantity of silk worms. She was of so much use in +spinning, that her mother did not like to spare her: but the little maid +promised, that if she might go to school, she would spin faster than ever +when she came home. How happy she was when she obtained leave to go! See +her when the sun has just risen, about six o'clock, tripping to school. +She is twelve years old. Her eyes are dark, but her hair is light. Angoul +has not been scorched by the sun, like many Syrian girls, because she has +sat in-doors at her wheel during the heat of the day. She is dressed in a +loose red gown, and a scarlet cap with a yellow handkerchief twisted +round it like a turban. + +At school Angoul is very attentive, both while she is reading in her +Testament, and while she is writing on her tin slate with a reed dipped +in ink. She returns home at noon through the burning sun, and comes to +school again to stay till five. Then it is cool and pleasant, and Angoul +spins by her mother's side in the lovely garden of fruit-trees before the +house. Has she not learned to sing many a sweet verse about the garden +above, and the heavenly husbandman? As she watches the budding vine, she +can think now of Him who said, "I am the true vine." As she sits beneath +the olive-tree, she can call to mind the words, "I am like a green +olive-tree in the house of my God." Angoul is growing like an angel, if +she takes delight in meditating on the word of God.[2] + + [2] Extracted chiefly from the Rev. George Fisk's "Pastor's + Memorial," and Kinnear's Travels. + + + + +ARABIA. + + +This is the land in which the Israelites wandered for forty years. You +have heard what a dry, dreary, desert place the wilderness was. There is +still a wilderness in Arabia; and there are still wanderers in it; not +Israelites, but Arabs. These men live in tents, and go from place to +place with their large flocks of sheep and goats. But there are other +Arabs who live in towns, as we do. + +Do you know who is the father of the Arabs? + +The same man who is the father of the Jews. + +What, was Abraham their father? + +Yes, he was. + +Do you remember Abraham's ungodly son, Ishmael? + +He was cast out of his father's house for mocking his little brother +Isaac, and he went into Arabia. + +And what sort of people are the Arabs? + +Wild and fierce people. + +Travellers are afraid of passing through Arabia, lest the Arabs should +rob and murder them; and no one has ever been able to conquer the Arabs. +The Arabs are very proud, and will not bear the least affront. Sometimes +one man says to another, "The wrong side of your turban is out." This +speech is considered an affront never to be forgotten. The Arabs are so +unforgiving and revengeful that they will seek to kill a man year after +year. One man was observed to carry about a small dagger. He said his +reason was, he was hoping some day to meet his enemy and kill him. + +Of what religion are this revengeful people? The Mahomedan. + +Mahomed was an Arab. It is thought a great honor to be descended from +him. Those men who say Mahomed is their father wear a green turban, and +very proud they are of their green turbans, even though they may only be +beggars. + +THE ARABIAN WOMEN.--They are shut up like the women in Syria when they +live in towns, but the women in tents are obliged to walk about; +therefore they wear a thick veil over their face, with small holes for +their eyes to peep out. + +The poor women wear a long shirt of white or blue; but the rich women +wrap themselves in magnificent shawls. To make themselves handsome, they +blacken their eyelids, paint their nails red, and wear gold rings in +their ears and noses. They delight in fine furniture. A room lined with +looking-glasses, and with a ceiling of looking-glasses, is thought +charming. + +ARAB TENTS.--They are black, being made of the hair of black goats. Some +of them are so large that they are divided into three rooms, one for the +cattle, one for the men, and one for the women. + +ARAB CUSTOMS.--The Arabs sit on the ground, resting on their heels, and +for tables they have low stools. A large dish of rice and minced mutton +is placed on the table, and immediately every hand is thrust into it; and +in a moment it is empty. Then another dish is brought, and another; and +sometimes fourteen dishes of rice, one after the other, till all the +company are satisfied. They eat very fast, and each retires from dinner as +soon as he likes, without waiting for the rest. After dinner they drink +water, and a small cup of coffee without milk or sugar. Then they smoke +for many hours. + +The Arabs do not indulge in eating or drinking too much, and this is one +of the best parts of their character. + +[Illustration: CAMELS.] + + +THE THREE EVILS OF ARABIA. + +The first evil is want of water. There is no river in Arabia: and the +small streams are often dried up by the heat. + +The second evil is many locusts, which come in countless swarms, and +devour every green thing. + +The third evil is the burning winds. When a traveller feels it coming, he +throws himself on the ground, covering his face with his cloak, lest the +hot sand should be blown up his nostrils. Sometimes men and horses are +choked by this sand. + +These are the three great evils; but there is a still greater, the +religion of Mahomed: for this injures the soul; the other evils only hurt +the body. + + +THE THREE ANIMALS OF ARABIA. + +The animals for which Arabia is famous are animals to ride upon. + +Two of them are often seen in England; though here they are not nearly as +fine as in Arabia; but the third animal is never used in England. Most +English boys have ridden upon an ass. In Arabia the ass is a handsome and +spirited creature. The horse is strong and swift, and yet obedient and +gentle. The camel is just suited to Arabia. His feet are fit to tread +upon the burning sands; because the soles are more like India-rubber than +like flesh: his hard mouth, lined with horn, is not hurt by the prickly +plants of the desert; and his hump full of fat is as good to him as a bag +of provisions: for on a journey the fat helps to support him, and enables +him to do with very little food. Besides all this, his inside is so made +that he can live without water for three days. + +A dromedary is a swifter kind of camel, and is just as superior to a +camel as a riding-horse is to a cart-horse. + + +THE THREE PRODUCTIONS OF ARABIA. + +These are coffee, dates, and gums. + +For these Arabia is famous. + +The coffee plants are shrubs. The hills are covered with them; the white +blossoms look beautiful among the dark green leaves, and so do the red +berries. + +The dates grow on the palm-trees; and they are the chief food of the +Arabs. The Arabs despise those countries where there are no dates. + +There are various sweet-smelling gums that flow from Arabian trees. + + +THE THREE PARTS OF ARABIA. + +You see from what I have just said that there are plants and trees in +Arabia. Then it is clear that the whole land is not a desert. No, it is +not; there is only a part called Desert Arabia; that is on the north. +There is a part in the middle almost as bad, called Stony Arabia, yet +some sweet plants grow there; but there is a part in the south called +Happy Arabia, where grow abundance of fragrant spices, and of +well-flavored coffee. + + +THE THREE CITIES OF ARABIA. + +Arabia has long been famous for three cities, called Mecca, Medina, and +Mocha. + +_Mecca_ is considered the holiest city in the world. And why? Because the +false prophet Mahomed was born there. On that account Mahomedans come +from all parts of the world to worship in the great temple there. +Sometimes Mecca is as full of people as a hive is full of bees. + +Of all the cities in the East, Mecca is the gayest, because the houses +have windows looking into the streets. In these houses are lodgings for +the pilgrims. + +And what is it the pilgrims worship? + +A great black stone, which they say the angel Gabriel brought down from +heaven as a foundation for Mahomed's house. They kiss it seven times, and +after each kiss they walk round it. + +Then they bathe in a well, which they say is the well the angel showed to +Hagar in the desert, and they think the waters of this well can wash away +all their sins. Alas! they know not of the blood which can wash away +_all_ sin. + +_Medina_ contains the tomb of Mahomed; yet it is not thought so much of +as Mecca. Perhaps the Mahomedans do not like to be reminded that Mahomed +died like any other man, and never rose again. + +_Mocha_.--This is a part whence very fine coffee is sent to Europe. + + +TRAVELS IN THE DESERT. + +Of all places in Arabia, which would you desire most to see? Would it not +be Mount Sinai? Our great and glorious God once spoke from the top of +that mountain. + +I will tell you of an English clergyman who travelled to see that +mountain. As he knew there were many robbers on the way, he hired an Arab +sheikh to take care of him. A sheikh is a chief, or captain. Suleiman +was a fine-looking man, dressed in a red shirt, with a shawl twisted +round his waist, a purple cloak, and a red cap. His feet and legs were +bare. His eyes were bright, his skin was brown, and his beard black. To +his girdle were fastened a huge knife and pistols, and by his side hung a +sword. This man brought a band of Arabs with him to defend the travellers +from the robbers in the desert. + +One day the whole party set out mounted on camels. After going some +distance, a number of children were seen scampering among the rocks, and +looking like brown monkeys. These were the children of the Arabs who +accompanied the Englishman. The wild little creatures ran to their +fathers, and saluted them in the respectful manner that Arab children are +taught to do. + +At last a herd of goats was seen with a fine boy of twelve years old +leading them. He was the son of Suleiman. The father seemed to take great +delight in this boy, and introduced him to the traveller. The kind +gentleman riding on a camel, put down his hand to the boy. The little +fellow, after touching the traveller's hand, kissed his own, according to +the Arabian manner. + +The way to Mount Sinai was very rough; indeed, the traveller was +sometimes obliged to get off his camel, and to climb among the crags on +hands and knees. How glad he was when the Arabs pointed to a mountain, +and said, "That is Mount Sinai." With what fear and reverence he gazed +upon it! Here it was that the voice of the great God was once heard +speaking out of the midst of the smoke, and clouds, and darkness! + +How strange it must be to see in this lonely gloomy spot, a great +building! Yet there is one at the foot of the mountain. What can it be? A +convent. See those high walls around. It is necessary to have high walls, +because all around are bands of fierce robbers. It is even unsafe to have +a door near the ground. There is a door quite high up in the wall; but +what use can it be of, when there are no steps by which to reach it? Can +you guess how people get in by this door? A rope is let down from the +door to draw the people up. One by one they are drawn up. In the inside +of the walls there are steps by which travellers go down into the convent +below. The monks who live there belong to the Greek church. + +The clergyman was lodged in a small cell spread with carpets and +cushions, and he was waited upon by the monks. + +These monks think that they lead a very holy life in the desert. They eat +no meat, and they rise in the night to pray in their chapel. But God does +not care for such service as this. He never commanded men to shut +themselves up in a desert, but rather to do good in the world. + +One day the monks told the traveller they would show him the place where +the burning bush once stood. How could they know the place? However, they +pretended to know it. They led the way to the chapel, then taking off +their shoes, they went down some stone steps till they came to a round +room under ground, with three lamps burning in the midst. "There," said +the monks, "is the very spot where the burning bush once stood." + +There were two things the traveller enjoyed while in the convent, the +beautiful garden full of thick trees and sweet flowers; and the cool pure +water from the well. Such water and such a garden in the midst of a +desert were sweet indeed. + +The Arabs, who accompanied the traveller, enjoyed much the plentiful +meals provided at the convent; for the monks bought sheep from the +shepherds around, to feed their guests. After leaving the convent, +Suleiman was taken ill in consequence of having eaten too much while +there. The clergyman gave him medicine, which cured him. The Arabs were +very fond of their chief, and were so grateful to the stranger for giving +him in medicine, that they called him "the good physician." Suleiman +himself showed his gratitude by bringing his own black coffee-pot into +the tent of the stranger, and asking him to drink coffee with him; for +such is the pride of an Arab chief, that he thinks it is a very great +honor indeed for a stranger to share his meal. + +But the traveller soon found that it is dangerous to pass through a +desert. Why? Not on account of wild beasts, but of wild men. There was a +tribe of Arabs very angry with Suleiman, because he was conducting the +travellers through _their_ part of the desert. They wanted to be the +guides through that part, in hopes of getting rewarded by a good sum of +money. You see how covetous they were. The love of money is the root of +all evil. + +These angry Arabs were hidden among the rocks and hills; and every now +and then they came suddenly out of their hiding-places, and with a loud +voice threatened to punish Suleiman. + +How much alarmed the travellers were! but none more than Suleiman +himself. He requested the clergyman to travel during the whole night, in +order the sooner to get out of the reach of the enemy. The clergyman +promised to go as far as he was able. What a journey it was! No one durst +speak aloud to his companions, lest the enemies should be hidden among +the rocks close by, and should overhear them. At midnight the whole +company pitched their tents by the coast of the Red Sea. Early in the +morning the minister went alone to bathe in its smooth waters. After he +had bathed, and when he was just going to return to the tents, he was +startled by hearing the sound of a gun. The sound came from the midst of +a small grove of palm-trees close by. Alarmed, he ran back quickly to the +tents: again he heard the report of a gun: and again a third time. The +travellers, Arabs and all, were gathered together, expecting an enemy to +rush out of the grove. But where was Suleiman? He had gone some time +before into the grove of palm-trees to talk to the enemies. + +Presently the traveller saw about forty Arabs leave the grove and go far +away. But Suleiman came not. So the minister went into the grove to +search for him, and there he found---not Suleiman--but his dead body! + +There it lay on the ground, covered with blood. The minister gazed upon +the dark countenance once so joyful, and he thought it looked as if the +poor Arab had died in great agony. It was frightful to observe the number +of his wounds. Three balls had been shot into his body by the gun which +went off three times. Three great cuts had been made in his head; his +neck was almost cut off from his head, and his hand from his arm! How +suddenly was the proud Arab laid low in the dust! All his delights were +perished forever. Suleiman had been promised a new dress of gay colors at +the end of the journey; but he would never more gird a shawl round his +active frame, or fold a turban round his swarthy brow. The Arabs wrapped +their beloved master in a loose garment, and placing him on his beautiful +camel, they went in deep grief to a hill at a little distance. There they +buried him. They dug no grave; but they made a square tomb of large loose +stones, and laid the dead body in the midst, and then covered it with +more stones. There Suleiman sleeps in the desert. But the day shall come +when "the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her +slain:" and then shall the blood of Suleiman and his slain body be +uncovered, and his murderer brought to judgment.[3] + + [3] Extracted chiefly from "The Pastor's Memorial," by the Rev. + G. Fisk. Published by R. Carter & Brothers. + + + + +TURKEY IN ASIA. + + +Is there a Turkey in Asia as well as a Turkey in Europe? + +Yes, there is; and it is governed by the same sultan, and filled by the +same sort of persons. All the Turks are Mahomedans. + +You may know a Mahomedan city at a distance. When we look at a Christian +city we see the steeples and spires of churches; but when we look at a +Mahomedan city we see rising above the houses and trees the domes and +minarets of mosques. What are domes and minarets? A dome is the round top +of a mosque: and the minarets are the tall slender towers. A minaret is +of great use to the Mahomedans. + +Do you see the little narrow gallery outside the minaret. There is a man +standing there. He is calling people to say their prayers. He calls so +loud that all the people below can hear, and the sounds he utters are +like sweet music. But would it not make you sad to hear them when you +remembered what he was telling people to do? To pray to the god of +Mahomet, not to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but to a +false god: to no God. This man goes up the dark narrow stairs winding +inside the minaret five times a day: first he goes as soon as the sun +rises, then at noon, next in the afternoon, then at sunset, and last of +all in the night. Ascending and descending those steep stairs is all his +business, and it is hard work, and fatigues him very much. + +In the court of the mosque there is a fountain. There every one washes +before he goes into the mosque to repeat his prayers, thinking to please +God by clean hands instead of a clean heart. Inside the mosque there are +no pews or benches, but only mats and carpets spread on the floor. There +the worshippers kneel and touch the ground with their foreheads. The +minister of the mosque is called the Imam. He stands in a niche in the +wall, with his back to the people, and repeats prayers. + +But he is not the preacher. The sheikh, or chief man of the town, +preaches; not on Sunday, but on Friday. He sits on a high place and talks +to the people--not about pardon and peace, and heaven and holiness--but +about the duty of washing their hands before prayers, and of bowing down +to the ground, and such vain services. + +In the mosque there are two rows of very large wax candles, much higher +than a man, and as thick as his arm, and they are lighted at night. + +It is considered right to go to the mosque for prayers five times a day; +but very few Mahomedans go so often. Wherever people may be, they are +expected to kneel down and repeat their prayers, whether in the house or +in the street. But very few do so. While they pray, Mahomedans look about +all the time, and in the midst speak to any one, and then go on again; +for their hearts are not in their prayers; they do not worship in spirit +and in truth. + +There are no images or pictures in the mosques, because Mahomet forbid +his followers to worship idols. There are Korans on reading stands in +various parts of the mosque for any one to read who pleases. + +The people leave their red slippers at the door, keeping on their yellow +boots only; but they do not uncover their heads as Christians do. + +Was Christ ever known in this Mahomedan land? Yes, long before he was +known in England. Turkey in Asia used to be called Asia Minor, (or Asia +the less,) and there it was that Paul the apostle was born, and there he +preached and turned many to Christ. But at last the Christians began to +worship images, and the fierce Turks came and turned the churches into +mosques. This was the punishment God sent the Christians for breaking his +law. In some of the mosques you may see the marks of the pictures which +the Christians painted on the walls, and which the Turks nearly scraped +off. + +How dreadful it would be if our churches should ever be turned into +mosques! May God never send us this heavy punishment. + + +ARMENIA. + +One corner of Turkey in Asia is called Armenia. There are many high +mountains in Armenia, and one of them you would like to see very much. It +is the mountain on which Noah's ark rested after the flood. I mean +Ararat.[4] + +It is a very high mountain with two peaks; and its highest peak is always +covered with snow. People say that no one ever climbed to the top of that +peak. I should think Noah's ark rested on a lower part of the mountain +between the two peaks, for it would have been very cold for Noah's +family on the snow-covered peak, and it would have been very difficult +for them to get down. How pleasant it must be to stand on the side of +Ararat, and to think, "Here my great father Noah stood, and my great +mother, Noah's wife; here they saw the earth in all its greenness, just +washed with the waters of the flood, and here they rejoiced and praised +God." + +I am glad to say that all the Armenians are not Mahomedans. Many are +Christians, but, alas! they know very little about Christ except his +name. I will tell you a short anecdote to show how ignorant they are. + +Once a traveller went to see an old church in Armenia called the Church +of Forty Steps, because there are forty steps to reach it: for it is +built on the steep banks of a river. + +The traveller found the churchyard full of boys. This churchyard was +their school-room. And what were their books? The grave-stones that lay +flat upon the ground. Four priests were teaching the boys. These priests +wore black turbans; while Turkish Imams wear white turbans. One of these +Armenian priests led the traveller to an upper room, telling him he had +something very wonderful to show him. What could it be? The priest went +to a nacho in the wall and took out of it a bundle; then untied a silk +handkerchief, and then another, and then another; till he had untied +twenty-five silk handkerchiefs. What was the precious thing so carefully +wrapped up? It was a New Testament. + +It is a precious book indeed: but it ought to be read, and not wrapped +up. The priest praised it, saying, "This is a wonderful book; it has +often been laid upon sick persons, and has cured them." Then a poor old +man, bent and tottering, pressed forward to kiss the book, and to rub his +heavy head. This was worshipping the _book_, instead of Him who wrote it. + +An Armenian village looks like a number of molehills: for the dwellings +are holes dug in the ground with low stone walls round the holes; the +roof is made of branches of trees and heaps of earth. There are generally +two rooms in the hole--one for the family, and one for the cattle. + +A traveller arrived one evening at such a village; and he was pleased to +see fruit-trees overshadowing the hovels, and women, without veils, +spinning cotton under their shadow. But he was not pleased with the room +where he was to sleep. The way lay through a long dark passage under +ground; and the room was filled with cattle: there was no window nor +chimney. How dark and hot it was! Yet it was too damp to sleep out of +doors, because a large lake was near; therefore he wrapped his cloak +around him, and lay upon the ground; but he could not sleep because of +the stinging of insects, and the trampling of cattle: and glad he was in +the morning to breathe again the fresh air. + +Rich Armenians have fine houses. Once a traveller dined with a rich +Armenian. The dinner was served up in a tray, and placed on a low stool, +while the company sat on the ground. One dish after another was served up +till the traveller was tired of tasting them. But there was not only too +much to _eat_; there was also too much to _drink_. Rakee, a kind of +brandy, was handed about; and afterwards a musician came in and played +and sang to amuse the company. In Turkey there is neither playing, nor +singing, nor drinking spirits. The Turks think themselves much better +than Christians. "For," say they, "we drink less and pray more." They do +not know that real Christians are not fond of drinking, and are fond of +praying; only _they_ pray more in _secret_, and the Turks more in +_public_. + + +KURDISTAN. + +The fiercest of all the people in Asia are the Kurds. + +They are the terror of all who live near them. + +Their dwellings are in the mountains; there some live in villages, and +some in black tents, and some in strong castles. At night they rush down +from the mountains upon the people in the valleys, uttering a wild yell, +and brandishing their swords. They enter the houses, and begin to pack up +the things they find, and to place them on the backs of their mules and +asses, while they drive away the cattle of the poor people; and if any +one attempts to resist them, they kill him. You may suppose in what +terror the poor villagers live in the valleys. They keep a man to watch +all night, as well as large dogs; and they build a strong tower in the +midst of the village where they run to hide themselves when they are +afraid. + +The reason why the Armenians live in holes in the ground is because they +hope the Kurds may not find out where they are. + +Those Kurds who live in tents often move from place to place. The black +tents are folded up and placed on the backs of mules; and a large kettle +is slung upon the end of the tent-pole. The men and women drive the +herds and flocks, while the children and the chickens ride upon the cows. + +The Kurds have thin, dark faces, hooked noses, and black eyes, with a +fierce and malicious look. + +They are of the Mahomedan religion, and the call to prayers may be heard +in the villages of these robbers and murderers. + + +MESOPOTAMIA. + +This country is part of Turkey in Asia. It lies between two very famous +rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, often spoken of in the Bible. The +word Mesopotamia means "between rivers." It was between these rivers that +faithful Abraham lived when God first called him to be his friend. Should +you not like to see that country? It is now full of ruins. The two most +ancient cities in the world were built on the Tigris and Euphrates. + +Nineveh was on the Tigris. + +What a city that was at the time Jonah preached there! Its walls were so +thick that three chariots could go on the top all abreast. + +But what is Nineveh now? Look at those green mounds. Under those heaps of +rubbish lies Nineveh. A traveller has been digging among those mounds, +and has found the very throne of the kings of Nineveh, and the images of +winged bulls and lions which adorned the palace. God overthrew Nineveh +because it was wicked. + +There is another ancient city lying in ruins on the Euphrates, it is +Babylon the Great. + +There are nothing but heaps of bricks to be seen where once proud Babylon +stood. Where are now the streets fifteen miles long? Where are the +hanging gardens? Gardens one above the other, the wonder of the world? +Where is now the temple of Belus, (or of Babel, as some think,) with its +golden statue? All, all are now crumbled into rubbish. God has destroyed +Babylon as he said. + +There are dens of wild beasts among the ruins. A traveller saw some bones +of a sheep in one, the remains, he supposed, of a lion's dinner; but he +did not like to go further into the den to see who dwelt there. Owls and +bats fill all the dark places. But no men live there, though human bones +are often found scattered about, and they turn into dust as soon as they +are touched. + +There is now a great city in Mesopotamia, called Bagdad. In Babylon no +sound is heard but the howlings of wild beasts; in Bagdad men may be +heard screaming and hallooing from morning to night. The drivers of the +camels and the mules shout as they press through the narrow crooked +streets, and even the ladies riding on white donkeys, and attended by +black slaves, scream and halloo. + +In summer it is so hot in Bagdad that people during the day live in rooms +under ground, and sleep on their flat roofs at night. + +It is curious to see the people who have been sleeping on the roof get up +in the morning. First they roll up their mattrasses, their coverlids, and +pillows, and put them in the house. The children cannot fold up theirs, +but their mothers or black slaves do it for them. The men repeat their +prayers, and then drink a cup of coffee, which their wives present to +them. The wives kneel as they offer the cup to their lords, and stand +with their hands crossed while their lords are drinking, then kneel down +again to receive the cup, and to kiss their lords' hand. Then the men +take their pipes, and lounge on their cushions, while the women say their +prayers. And when do the children say their prayers? Never. They know +only of Mahomet; they know not the Saviour who said, "Suffer little +children to come unto me." + + [4] It is remarkable that this mountain lies at the point where + three great empires meet, namely, Russia, Persia, and Turkey. + + + + +PERSIA. + + +Is this country mentioned in the Bible? Yes; we read of Cyrus, the king +of Persia. Isaiah spoke of him before he was born, and called him by his +name. See chapter xlv. + +Persia is now a Mahomedan country. The Turks, you remember, are +Mahomedans too. Perhaps you think those two nations, the Turks and the +Persians, must agree well together, as they are of the same religion. Far +from it. No nations hate one another more than Turks and Persians do; and +the reason is, that though they both believe in Mahomet, they disagree +about his son-in law, Ali. The Persians are very fond of him, and keep a +day of mourning in memory of his death; whereas the Turks do not care for +Ali at all. + +But is this a reason why they should hate one another so much? + +Even in their common customs the Persians differ from the Turks. The +Turks sit cross-legged on the ground; the Persians sit upon their heels. +Which way of sitting should you prefer? I think you would find it more +comfortable to sit like a Turk. + +The Turks sit on sofas and lean against cushions; the Persians sit on +carpets and lean against the wall. I know you would prefer the Turkish +fashion. The Turks drink coffee without either milk or sugar; the +Persians drink tea with sugar, though without milk. The Turks wear +turbans; the Persians wear high caps of black lamb's-wool. + +Not only are their _customs_ different; but their _characters_. The Turks +are grave and the Persians lively. The Turks are silent, the Persians +talkative. The Turks are rude, the Persians polite. Now I am sure you +like the Persians better than the Turks. But wait a little--the Turks are +very proud; the Persians are very deceitful. An old Persian was heard to +say, "We all tell lies whenever we can." The Persians are not even +ashamed when their falsehoods are found out. When they sell they ask too +much; when they make promises they break them. In short, it is impossible +to trust a Persian. + +The Turks obey Mahomet's laws; they pray five times a day, and drink no +wine. But the Persians seldom repeat their prayers, and they do drink +wine, though Mahomet has forbidden it. In short, the Persian seems to +have no idea of right and wrong. The judges do not give right judgment, +but take bribes. The soldiers live by robbing the poor people, for the +king pays them no wages, but leaves them to get food as they can; and so +the poor people often build their cottages in little nooks in the +valleys, where they hope the soldiers will not see them. + +THE COUNTRY.--Persia is a high country and a dry country. There are high +mountains and wide plains; but there are very few rivers and running +brooks, because there is so little rain. However, in some places the +Persians have cut canals, and planted willow-trees by their side. Rice +will not grow well in such a dry country, but sheep find it very pleasant +and wholesome. The hills are covered over with flocks, and the shepherds +may be seen leading their sheep and carrying the very young lambs in +their arms. This is a sight which reminds us of the good Shepherd: for it +is written of Jesus, "He gathered the lambs in his arms." + +The sweetest of all flowers grows abundantly in Persia--I mean the rose. +The air is filled with its fragrance. The people pluck the rose leaves +and dry them in the sun, as we dry hay. How pleasant it must be for +children in the spring to play among the heaps of rose-leaves. Once a +traveller went to breakfast with a Persian Prince, and he found the +company seated upon a heap of rose-leaves, with a carpet spread over it. +Afterwards the rose-leaves were sent to the distillers, to be made into +rose-water. + +Persian cats are beautiful creatures, with fur as soft as silk. + +The best melons in the world grow in Persia. + +The three chief materials for making clothes are all to be found there in +abundance. I mean wool, cotton, and silk. You have heard already of the +Persian sheep; so you see there is wool. Cotton trees also abound. Women +and children may be been picking the nuts which contain the little pieces +of cotton. There are mulberry-trees also to feed the numerous silk worms. + +POOR PEOPLE.--The villages where the poor live are miserable places. The +houses are of mud, not placed in rows, but straggling, with dirty narrow +paths winding between them. + +In summer the poor people sleep on the roofs; for the roofs are flat, and +covered with earth, with low walls on every side to prevent the sleepers +falling off. Here the Persians spread their carpets to lie upon at night. + +Winter does not last long in Persia, yet while it lasts it is cold. Then +the poor, instead of sleeping on their roofs, sleep in a very curious +warm bed. In the middle of each cottage there is a round hole in the +floor, where the fire burns. In the evening the fire goes out, but the +hot cinders remain. The Persians place over it a low round table, and +then throw a large coverlid over the table, and all round about. Under +this coverlid the family lie at night, their heads peeping out, and their +feet against the warm fire-place underneath. This the Persians call a +comfortable bed. + +The poor wear dirty and ragged clothes, and the children may be seen +crawling about in the dust, and looking like little pigs. Yet in one +respect the Persians are very clean; they bathe often. In every village +there is a large bath. + +The poor people have animals of various kinds--a few sheep, or goats, or +cows. In the day one man takes them all out to feed. In the evening he +brings them back to the village, and the animals of their own accord go +home to their own stables. Each cow and each sheep knows where she will +get food and a place to sleep in. The prophet Isaiah said truly, "The ass +knoweth his owner, and the ox his master's crib; but Israel doth not +know, my people doth not consider." + +THE PERSIAN LADIES.--They wrap themselves up in a large dark blue +wrapper, and in this dress they walk out where they please. No one who +meets them can tell who they are. + +And where do these women go? Chiefly to the bath, where they spend much +of their time drinking coffee and smoking. There too they try to make +themselves handsome by blackening their eyebrows and dyeing their hair. +Sometimes the ladies walk to the burial-grounds, and wander about for +hours among the graves. When they are at home they employ themselves in +making pillau and sherbet. Pillau is made of rice and butter; sherbet is +made of juice mixed with water. + +The ladies have a sitting-room to themselves. One side of it is all +lattice-work, and this makes it cool. At night they spread their carpets +on the floor to sleep upon, and in the day they keep them in a +lumber-room. + +PERSIAN INNS.--They are very uncomfortable places. There are a great many +small cells made of mud, built all round a large court. These cells are +quite empty, and paved with stone. The only comfortable room is over the +door-way of the court, and the first travellers who arrive are sure to +settle in the room over the door-way. + +Once an English traveller arrived at a Persian inn with his two servants. +All three were very ill and in great pain, from having travelled far over +burning plains and steep mountains. + +But as the room over the door-way was occupied, they were forced to go +into a little cold damp cell. As there was no door to the cell, they hung +up a rag to keep out the chilling night air, and they placed a pan of +coals in the midst. Many Persians came and peeped into the cell; and +seeing the sick men looking miserable as they lay on their carpets, the +unfeeling creatures laughed at them, and no one would help them or give +them anything to eat. The travellers bought some bread and grapes at the +bazaar, but these were not fit food for sick men, but it was all they +could get. At last a Persian merchant heard of their distress; and he +came to see them every day, bringing them warm milk and wholesome food: +when they were well enough to be moved, he took them to his own house, +and nursed them with the greatest care. + +Who was this kind merchant? Not a Mahomedan, but of the religion of the +fire worshippers, or Parsees. Was he not like the good Samaritan of whom +we read in the New Testament? O that Bahram, the merchant, might know the +true God! + +PILGRIMS AND BEGGARS.--Very often you may see a large company of Pilgrims +some on foot, and some mounted on camels, horses, and asses. They are +returning from Mecca, the birth-place of Mahomet. What good have they got +by their pilgrimage? None at all. They think they are grown very holy, +but they make such an uproar at the inns by quarrelling and fighting when +they are travelling home, that no one can bear to be near them. + +There is a set of beggars called dervishes. They call themselves very +holy, and think people are bound to give money to such holy men. They are +so bold that sometimes they refuse to leave a place till some money has +been given. + +Once a dervish stopped a long while before the house of the English +ambassador, and refused to go away. But a plan was thought of to _make_ +him go away. + +The dervish was sitting in a little niche in the wall. The ambassador +ordered his servants to build up bricks to shut the dervish in. The men +began to build, yet the dervish would not stir, till the bricks came up +as high as his chin: then he began to be frightened, and said he would +rather go away. + +THE KING OF PERSIA.--He is called King of Kings. What a name for a man! +It is the title of God alone. The king sits on a marble throne, and his +garments sparkle with jewels of dazzling brightness. The walls of his +state-chamber are covered with looking-glasses. One side of the room +opens into a court adorned with flowers and fountains. Great part of his +time is spent in amusements, such as hunting and shooting, writing +verses, and hearing stories. He keeps a man called a story-teller, and he +will never hear the same story repeated twice. It gives the man a great +deal of trouble to find new stories every day. The king keeps jesters, +who make jokes; and he has mimics, who play antics to make him laugh. He +dines at eight in the evening from dishes of pure gold. No one is allowed +to dine with him; but two of his little boys wait upon him, and his +physician stands by to advise him not to eat too much. + +Do you think he is happy in all his grandeur? Judge for yourself. + +All his golden dishes come up covered and sealed. Why? For fear of +poison. There is a chief officer in the kitchen who watches the cook, to +see that he puts no poison into the food: and he seals up the dishes +before they are taken to the king, in order that the servants may not put +in poison as they are carrying them along. In what fear this great king +lives! He cannot trust his own servants. + +TEHERAN.--This is the royal city. It is built in a barren plain, and is +exceedingly hot, as the hills around keep off the air. It is a mean +city, for it is chiefly built of mud huts. + +The king's palace is called the "Ark," and is a very strong as well as +grand place.[5] + + [5] Extracted chiefly from Southgate's Travels. + + + + +CHINA. + + +There is no country in the world like China. + +How different it is from Persia, where there are so few people; whereas +China is crowded with inhabitants! + +How different it is from England, where the people are instructed in the +Bible, whereas China is full of idols. + +China is a heathen country; yet it is not a savage country, for the +people are quiet, and orderly, and industrious. + +It would be hard for a child to imagine what a great multitude of people +there are in China. + +If you were to sit by a clock, and if all the Chinese were to pass before +you one at a time, and if you were to count one at each tick of the +clock, and if you were never to leave off counting day or night--how long +do you think it would be before you had counted all the Chinese? + +Twelve years. O what a vast number of people there must be in China! In +all, there are about three hundred and sixty millions! If all the people +in the world were collected together, out of every three one would be a +Chinese. How sad it is to think that this immense nation knows not God, +nor his glorious Son! + +There are too many people in China, for there is not food enough for them +all; and many are half-starved. + +FOOD.--The poor can get nothing but rice to eat and water to drink; +except now and then they mix a little pork or salt fish with their rice. +Any sort of meat is thought good; even a hash of rats and snakes, or a +mince of earth-worms. Cats and dogs' flesh are considered as nice as +pork, and cost as much. + +An Englishman was once dining with a Chinaman, and he wished to know what +sort of meat was on his plate. But he was not able to speak Chinese. How +then could he ask? He thought of a way. Looking first at his plate, and +then at the Chinaman, he said, "Ba-a-a," meaning to ask, "Is this +mutton?" The Chinaman understood the question, and immediately replied, +"Bow-wow," meaning to say, "It is puppy-dog." You will wish to know +whether the Englishman went on eating; but I cannot tell you this. + +While the poor are in want of food, the rich eat a great deal too much. A +Chinese feast in a rich man's house lasts for hours. The servants bring +in one course after another, till a stranger wonders when the last course +will come. The food is served up in a curious way; not on dishes, but in +small basins--for all the meats are swimming in broth. Instead of a knife +and fork, each person has a pair of chop-sticks, which are something like +knitting-needles; and with these he cleverly fishes up the floating +morsels, and pops them into his mouth. There are spoons of china for +drinking the broth. + +You will be surprised to hear that the Chinese are very fond of eating +birds' nests. Do not suppose that they eat magpies' nests, which are made +of clay and sticks, or even little nests of moss and clay; the nests they +eat are made of a sort of gum. This gum comes out of the bird's mouth, +and is shining and transparent, and the nest sticks fast to the rock. +These nests are something like our jelly, and must be very nourishing. + +The Chinese like nothing cold; they warm all their food, even their wine. +For they have wine, not made of grapes, but of rice, and they drink it, +not in glasses, but in cups. Tea, however, is the most common drink; for +China is the country where tea grows. + +The hills are covered with shrubs bearing a white flower, a little like a +white rose. They are tea-plants. The leaves are picked; each leaf is +rolled up with the finger, and dried on a hot iron plate. + +The Chinese do not keep all the tea-leaves; they pack up a great many in +boxes, and send them to distant lands. In England and in Russia there is +a tea-kettle in every cottage. Some of the Chinese are so very poor that +they cannot buy new tea-leaves, but only tea-leaves which ire sold in +shops. I do not think in England poor people would buy old tea-leaves. +Some very poor Chinese use fern-leaves instead of tea-leaves. + +The Chinese do not make tea in the same way that we do. They have no +teapot, or milk-jug, or sugar-basin. They put a few tea-leaves in a cup, +pour hot water on them, and then put a cover on the cup till the tea is +ready. Whenever you pay a visit in China a cup of tea is offered. + +APPEARANCE.--The Chinese are not at all like the other natives of Asia. +The Turks and Arabs are fine-looking men, but the Chinese are +poor-looking creatures. You have seen their pictures on their boxes of +tea, for they are fond of drawing pictures of themselves. + +Their complexion is rather yellow, but many of the ladies, who keep in +doors, are rather fair. They have black hair, small dark eyes, broad +faces, flat noses, and high cheek-bones. In general they are short. The +men like to be stout; and the rich men are stout: the fatter they are, +the more they are admired: but the women like to be slender. + +A Chinaman does not take off his cap in company, and he has a good reason +for it: his head is close shaven: only a long piece behind is allowed to +grow, and this grows down to his heels, and is plaited. He wears a long +dark blue gown, with loose hanging sleeves. His shoes are clumsy, turned +up at the toes in an ugly manner, and the soles are white. The Chinese +have more trouble in whitening their shoes than we have in blacking ours. + +A Chinese lady wears a loose gown like a Chinaman's; but she may be known +by her head-dress, her baby feet, and her long nails. Her hair is tied +up, and decked with artificial flowers; and sometimes a little golden +bird, sparkling with jewels, adorns her forehead. Her feet are no bigger +than those of a child of five years old; because, when she was five, they +were cruelly bound up to prevent them from growing. She suffered much +pain all her childhood, and now she trips about as if she were walking on +tiptoes. A little push would throw her down. As she walks she moves from +side to side like a ship in the water, for she cannot walk firmly with +such small feet. The Chinese are so foolish as to admire these small +feet, and to call them the "golden lilies". As for her finger-nails, they +are seldom seen, for a Chinese lady hides her hands in her long sleeves; +but the nails on the left hand are very long, and are like bird's claws. +The nails on the right hand are not so long, in order that the lady may +be able to tinkle on her music, to embroider, and to weave silk. + +The gentlemen are proud of having one long nail on the little finger, to +show that they do not labor like the poor, for if they did, the nail +would break. Men in China wear necklaces and use fans. + +What foolish customs I have described. Surely you will not think the +Chinese a wise people, though very _clever_, as you will soon find. + +Men and women dress in black, or in dark colors, such as blue and purple; +the women sometimes dress in pink or green. Great people dress in red, +and the royal family in yellow. When you see a person all in white, you +may know he is in mourning. A son dresses in white for three years after +he has lost one of his parents. + +HOUSES.--See that lantern hanging over the gate. The light is rather dim, +because the sides are made of silk instead of glass. What is written upon +the lantern? The master's name. The gateway leads into a court into +which many rooms open. There are not doors to all the rooms; to some +there are only curtains. Curtains are used instead of doors in many hot +countries, because of their coolness; but the furniture of the Chinese +rooms is quite different from the furniture of Turkish and Persian rooms. +The Chinese sit on chairs as we do, and have high tables like ours: and +they sleep on bedsteads, yet their beds are not like ours, for instead of +a mattrass there is nothing but a mat. + +Instead of pictures, the Chinese adorn their rooms with painted lanterns, +and with pieces of white satin, on which sentences are written: they have +also book-cases and china jars. But they have no fire-places, for they +never need a fire to keep themselves warm: the sun shining in at the +south windows makes the rooms tolerably warm in winter; and in summer the +weather is very hot. The Chinese in winter put on one coat over the other +till they feel warm enough. In the north of China it is so cold in winter +that the place where the bed stands (which is a recess in the wall) is +heated by a furnace underneath, and the whole family sit there all day +crowded together. + +The Chinese houses have not so many stories as ours; in the towns there +is one floor above the ground floor, but in the country there are no +rooms up stairs. + +It would amuse you to see a Chinese country house. There is not one large +house, but a number of small buildings like summer-houses, and long +galleries running from one to another. One of these summer-houses is in +the middle of a pond, with a bridge leading to it. In the pond there are +gold and silver fish; for these beautiful fishes often kept in glass +bowls in England, came first from China. By the sides of the garden walls +large cages are placed; in one may be seen some gold and silver +pheasants, in another a splendid peacock; in another a gentle stork, and +in another an elegant little deer. There is often a grove of +mulberry-trees in the garden, and in the midst of the grove houses made +of bamboo, for rearing silk-worms. It is the delight of the ladies to +feed these curious worms. None but very quiet people are fit to take care +of them, for a loud noise would kill them. Gold and silver fish also +cannot bear much noise. + +In every large house in China there is a room called the Hall of +Ancestors. There the family worship their dead parents and grand-parents, +and great-grand-parents, and those who lived still further back. There +are no images to be seen in the Hall of Ancestors, but there are tablets +with names written upon them. The family bow down before the tablets, and +burn incense and gold paper! What a foolish service! What good can +incense and paper do to the dead? And what good can the dead do to their +children? How is it that such clever people as the Chinese are so +foolish? + +RELIGION.--You have heard already that the Chinese worship the dead. + +Who taught them this worship? + +It was a man named Confucius, who lived a long while ago. This Confucius +was a very wise man. From his childhood he was very fond of sitting alone +thinking, instead of playing with other children. When he was fourteen he +began to read some old books that had been written not long after the +time of Noah. In these books he found very many wise sentences, such as +Noah may have taught his children. The Chinese had left off reading these +wise books, and were growing more and more foolish.[6] Confucius, when he +was grown up, tried to persuade his countrymen to attend to the old +books. There were a few men who became his scholars, and who followed him +about from place to place. They might be seen sitting under a tree, +listening to the words of Confucius. + +Confucius was a very tall man with a long black beard and a very high +forehead. + +Had he known the true God, how much good he might have done to the +Chinese; but as it was he only tried to make them happy in this world. He +himself confessed that he knew nothing about the other world. He gave +very good advice about respect due to parents; but he gave very bad +advice about worship due to them after they were dead. + +Was he a good man? Not truly good; for he did not love God; neither did +he act right: for he was very unkind to his wife, and quite cast her off. +Yet he used to talk of going to other countries to teach the people. It +would have been a happy thing for him, if he had gone as far as Babylon; +for a truly wise man lived there, even Daniel the prophet. From him he +might have learned about the promised Saviour, and life everlasting. But +Confucius never left China. + +He was ill-treated by many of the rich and great, and he was so poor that +rice was generally his only food. When he was dying he felt very unhappy, +as well he might, when he knew not where he was going. He said to his +followers just before his death, "The kings refuse to follow my advice; +and since I am of no use on earth, it is best that I should leave it." As +soon as he was dead, people began to respect him highly, and even to +worship him. At this day, though Confucius died more than two thousand +years ago, there is a temple to his honor in every large city, and +numbers of beasts are offered up to him in sacrifice. There are thousands +of people descended from him, and they are treated with great honor as +the children of Confucius, and one of them is called kong or duke. + +There is another religion in China besides the religion of Confucius, and +a much worse religion. About the same time that Confucius lived, there +was a man called La-on-tzee. He was a great deceiver, as you will see. He +pretended that he could make people completely happy. There were three +things he said he would do for them: first, he would make them rich by +turning stone into gold; next, he would prevent their being hurt by +swords or by fire through charms he could give them; and, last of all, +he could save them from death by a drink he knew how to prepare. + +[Illustration: THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE.] + +What an awful liar this man must have been! Yet many people believed in +him, and still believe in him. There are now priests of La-on-tzee, and +once a year they rush through hot cinders and pretend they are not hurt. +You will wonder their tricks are not found out, seeing they cannot give +any one the drink to keep them from dying. It is indeed wonderful that +any one can believe these deceitful priests. + +Their religion is called the "_Taou_" sect. Taou means reason. The name +of folly would be a better title for such a religion. + +There is a _third_ religion in China. It is the sect of Buddha.[7] This +Buddha was a man who once pretended to be turned into a god called Fo. +You see he was even worse than La-on-tzee. + +Buddha pretended that he could make people happy; and his way of doing so +was very strange. He told them to think of nothing, and then they would +be happy. It is said that one man fixed his eyes for nine years upon a +wall without looking off, hoping to grow happy at last. You can guess +whether he did. There are many priests of Buddha, always busy in telling +lies to the people. They recommend them to repeat the name of Buddha +thousands and thousands of times, and some people are so foolish as to do +this; but no one ever found any comfort from this plan. + +The priests of Buddha say that their souls, when they leave their bodies, +go into other bodies. This idea is enough to make a dying person very +miserable. One poor man, when he was dying, was in terror because he had +been told his soul would go into one of the emperor's horses. Whenever +he was dropping off to sleep, he started up in a fright, fancying that he +felt the blows of a cruel driver hurrying him along: for he knew how very +fast the emperor's horses were made to go. How different are the +feelings of a dying man who knows he is going to Jesus. + +He can say with joy,-- + + "For me my elder brethren stay, + And angels beckon me away, + And Jesus bids me come." + +The Buddhists are full of tricks by which to get presents out of the +people. + +Once a year they cause a great feast to be made, and for whom? For the +poor? No. For beasts? No. For children? No. For themselves? No. You will +never guess. For ghosts! The priests declare that the souls of the dead +are very hungry, and that it is right to give them a feast. A number of +tables are set out, spread with all kinds of dishes. No one is seen to +eat, nor is any of the food eaten; but the priests say the ghosts eat the +spirit of the food. When it is supposed the ghosts have finished dinner, +the people scramble for the food, and take it home, and no doubt the +priests get their share. + +The dead are supplied with money as well as with food, and that is done +by burning gilt paper; clothes are sent to them by cutting out paper in +the shape of clothes, (only much smaller,) and by burning the article; +and even houses are conveyed to the dead by making baby-houses and +burning them. + +As an instance of the deceits of the priests, I will tell you of two +priests who once stood crying over a pour woman's gate. "What is the +matter?" inquired the woman. "Do you see those ducks?" the priests +replied; "our parents' souls are in them, and we are afraid lest you +should eat them for supper." The foolish woman out of pity gave the ducks +to the cunning priests, who promised to take great care of the precious +birds; but, in fact, they ate them for their own supper. + +The Buddhist priests may be known by their heads close shaven, and their +black dress. The priests of Taou have their hair in a knot at the top of +their heads and they wear scarlet robes. There are no priests of +Confucius; and this is a good thing. + +All the religions of China are bad, but of the three the religion of +Confucius is the least foolish. + +There can be no doubt which of the three religions of China is the least +absurd. + +The religion of Taou teaches men to act like mad-men. + +The religion of Buddha teaches them to act like idiots. + +The religion of Confucius teaches them to act like wise men, but without +souls. + +THE EMPEROR.--There is no emperor in the world who has as many subjects +as the Emperor of China: he has six times as many as the Emperor of +Russia. + +Neither is it possible for any man to be more honored than this emperor; +for he is worshipped by his people like a god. He is called "The Son of +Heaven," and "Ten Thousand Years;" yet he dies like every other child of +earth. His sign is the dragon, and this is painted on his flags, a fit +sign for one who, like Satan, makes himself a god. + +Yet the emperor is also styled "Father of his people," and to show that +he feels like a father, when there is a famine or plague in the land, he +shuts himself up in his palace to grieve for his people; and by this +means he gets the love of his subjects. + +Once a year, too, this great emperor tries to encourage his people to be +industrious by ploughing part of a field and sowing a little corn; and +the empress sets an example to the women, by going once a year to feed +silk worms and to wind the balls of silk. + +The emperor wears a yellow dress, and all his relations wear yellow +girdles. + +But the relations of the emperor are not the most honorable people in the +land: the most learned are the most honorable. Every one in China who +wishes to be a great lord studies day and night. One man, that he might +not fall asleep over his books, tied his long plaited tail of hair to +the ceiling, and when his head nodded, his hair was pulled tight, and +that woke him. + +But what is it the Chinese learn with so much pains? + +Chiefly the books of Confucius, and a few more; but in none of them is +God made known: so that, with all his wisdom, the Chinaman is foolish +still. The words of the Bible are true. + +"The world by wisdom knew not God." Yet to know God is better than to +know all beside. + +There is a great hall in every town where all the men who wish to be +counted learned meet together once a year. They are desired to write, and +then to show what they have written; and then those who have written +well, and without a mistake, have an honorable title given to them; and +they are allowed to write another year in another greater hall; and at +last the most learned are made mandarins. + +What is a mandarin? He is a ruler over a town, and is counted a great +man. The most learned of the mandarins are made the emperor's +counsellors. There are only three of them, and they are the greatest men +in all China, next to the emperor. + +There are many poor men who study hard in hopes to be one of these three. + +This is the greatest honor a Chinaman can obtain. But a Christian can +obtain a far greater, even the honor of a crown and a throne in the +presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. + +The mandarins are all of the religion of Confucius, and despise the poor +who worship Buddha. + +ANIMALS AND TREES.--Once there were lions in China, but they have all +been killed; there are still bears and tigers in the mountains and +forests on the borders of the land. + +There are small wild-cats, which are caught and fastened in cages, and +then killed and cooked. There are tame cats, too, with soft hair and +hanging ears, which are kept by ladies as pets. + +There are dogs to guard the house, and they too are eaten; but as they +are fed on rice only, their flesh is better than the flesh of our dogs. +The dogs are so sensible that they know when the butcher is carrying away +a dog that he is going to kill him, and the poor creatures come round him +howling, as if begging for their brother's life. + +The pig is the Chinaman's chief dish; for it can be fed on all the refuse +food, and there is very little food to spare in China. + +There are not many birds in China, because there is no room for trees. +Only one bird sings, and she builds her nest on the ground; it is a bird +often heard singing in England floating in the air,--I mean the lark. + +In most parts of China men carry all the burdens, and not horses and +asses. + +A gentleman is carried in a chair by two men: and a mandarin by four. Yet +the emperor rides on horseback. + + +THE THREE GREAT CITIES + + Pekin on the north. + Nankin in the middle. + Canton on the south. + + Pekin is the grandest. + Nankin is the most learned. + Canton is the richest. + +At Pekin is the emperor's palace. The gardens are exceedingly large, and +contain hills, and lakes, and groves within the walls, besides houses for +the emperor's relations. + +At Nankin is the China tower. It is made of China bricks, and contains +nine rooms one over the other. It is two hundred feet high, a wonderful +height. + +Of what use is it? Of none--of worse than none. It is a temple for +Buddha, and is full of his images. + +At Canton there are so many people that there is not room for all in the +land; so thousands live on the water in bouts. Many have never slept a +single night on the shore. The children often fall overboard, but as a +hollow gourd is tied round each child's neck, they float, and are soon +picked up. + +For a long while the Chinese would not allow foreigners to come into +their cities. A great many foreign ships came to Canton to buy tea and +silk; but the traders were forbidden to enter the town, and they lived in +a little island near, and built a town there called Macao. + +But lately the Chinese emperor has agreed to permit strangers to come to +five ports, called Shang-hae, Ning-po, Foo-choo, Amoy, and Hong-Kong. + +This last port, Hong-Kong, is an island near Canton, and the English have +built a city there and called it Victoria. + +THE TWO RIVERS.--There is one called Yeang-te-sang, or "the Son of the +Ocean." It is the largest in Asia. + +The other is the Yellow River, for the soft clay mixed with the water +gives it a yellow color. + +LAKES.--There are immense lakes, covered with boats and fishermen. + +But the best fishers are the tame cormorants, who catch fish for their +masters. + +THE TWO GREAT WONDERS.--The great CANAL is wonder. It joins the two +rivers; so that a Chinese can go by water from Canton to Pekin. + +The great WALL is a greater wonder, but not nearly as useful as the +canal. + +This wall was built at the north of China to keep the Tartars out. It is +one thousand five hundred miles long, twenty feet high, and twenty-five +broad. But there were not soldiers enough in China to keep the enemies +out, and the Tartars came over the wall. + +The Emperor of China is a Tartar. + +The Empress does not have small feet, like the Chinese. + +It is the Tartars who forced the Chinese to shave their heads, for they +used to tie up their hair in a knot at the top of their heads. Many of +the Chinese preferred losing their heads to their hair. Was it not cruel +to cut off their heads, merely because they would not shave them? But the +Tartars were very cruel to the Chinese. + +KNOWLEDGE AND INVENTIONS.--We must allow that the Chinese are very +clever. They found out how to print, and they found out how to make +gunpowder, and they found out the use of the loadstone. What is that? A +piece of steel rubbed against the loadstone will always point to the +north. The Chinese found out these three things, printing, gunpowder, +and the use of the loadstone, before we in Europe found them out. But +they did not teach them to us; we found them out ourselves. + +But there are two arts that the Chinese did teach us: how to make silk, +and how to make china or porcelain. And yet I should not say they taught +us; for they tried to prevent our learning their arts; but we saw their +silk and their porcelain, and by degrees we learned to make them +ourselves. A sly monk brought some silk-worm's eggs from China hidden in +a hollow walking-stick. + +LANGUAGE.--There is no other language at all like the Chinese. Instead of +having letters to spell words, they have a picture for each word. I call +it a picture, but it is more like a figure than a picture. The Chinese +use brushes for writing instead of pens; and they rub cakes of ink on a +little marble dish, first dipping them in a little water, as we dip cakes +of paint. There is a hollow place in the marble dish, to hold the water. +What do you think the Chinese mean by "the four precious things?" They +mean the ink, the brush, the marble dish, and the water. They call them +precious because they are so fond of writing. Schoolmasters are held in +great honor in China, as indeed they ought to be everywhere. Yet schools +in China are much like those in Turkey, more fit for parrots than +children; only Chinese boys sit in chairs with desks before them, instead +of sitting cross-legged on the ground, as in Turkey. They learn first to +paint the words, and next to repeat lessons by heart. This they do in a +loud scream; always turning their backs to their masters while they are +saying their lessons to him. + +The first book which children read is full of stories, with a picture on +each page. Would you like to hear one of these stories? + +"There was a boy of eight years old, named Um-wen. His parents were so +poor that they could not afford to buy a gauze curtain for their bed, to +keep off the flies in summer. This boy could not bear that his parents +should be bitten by the flies; so he stood by their bedside, and +uncovered his little bosom and his back that the flies might bite him, +instead of his parents. 'For,' said he, 'if they fill themselves with my +blood, they will let my parents rest.'" + +Would it be right for a little boy to behave in this way? Certainly not; +for it would grieve kind parents that their little boys should be bitten. +Poor little Chinese boys! They do not know about Him who was bitten by +the old serpent that we might not be devoured and destroyed. + +PUNISHMENT.--The Chinese are very quiet and orderly; and no wonder, +because they are afraid of the great bamboo stick. + +The mandarins (or rulers of towns) often sentence offenders to lie upon +the ground, and to have thirty strokes of the bamboo. But the wooden +collar is worse than the bamboo stick. It is a great piece of wood with a +hole for a man to put his head through. The men in wooden collars are +brought out of their prisons every morning, and chained to a wall, where +everybody passing by can see them. They cannot feed themselves in their +wooden collars, because they cannot bring their hands to their mouths; +but sometimes a son may be seen feeding his father, as he stands chained +to the wall. There are men also whose business it is to feed the +prisoners. For great crimes men are strangled or beheaded. + +CHARACTER.--A Chinaman's character cannot be known at first. You might +suppose from his way of speaking that a Chinaman was very humble; because +he calls himself "the worthless fellow," or "the stupid one," and he +calls his son "the son of a dog;" but if you were to tell him he had an +evil heart, he would be very much offended; for he only gives himself +these names Thai he may _seem_ humble. He calls his acquaintance +"venerable uncle," "honorable brother." This he does to please them. The +Chinese are very proud of their country, and think there is none like it. +They have given it the name of the "Heavenly or Celestial Empire." They +look upon foreigners as monkeys and devils. Often a woman may he heard in +the streets saying to her little child, "There is a foreign devil (or a +Fan Quei"). The Chinese think the English very ugly, and called them the +"red-haired nation." + +It must be owned that the Chinese are industrious: indeed, if they were +not, they would be starved. A poor man often has to work all day up to +the knees in water in the rice-field, and yet gets nothing for supper but +a little rice and a few potatoes. + +The ladies who can live without working are very idle, and in the winter +rise very late in the morning. + +Men, too, play, as children do here; flying kites is a favorite game. +Dancing, however, is quite unknown. + +The Chinese are very selfish and unfeeling. Beggars may be seen in the +middle of the town dying, and no one caring for them, but people gambling +close by. + +The Chinese have an idea that after a man is dead the house must be +cleansed from ghosts; so to save themselves this trouble, poor people +often cast their dying relations out of their hovels into the street to +die! + +But in general sons treat their parents with great respect. They often +keep their father's coffin in the house for three months, and a son has +been known to sleep by it for three years. Relations are usually kind to +each other, because they meet together in the "Hall of Ancestors" to +worship the same persons. To save money they often live together, and a +hundred eat at the same table. + +The Chinese used to be temperate, preferring tea to wine. There are +tea-taverns in the towns. How much better than our beer-shops! But lately +they have begun to smoke opium. This is the juice of the white poppy, +made up into dark balls. The Chinese are not allowed to have it; but the +English, sad to say, sell it to them secretly. There are many opium +taverns in China, where men may be seen lying on cushions snuffing up the +hot opium, and puffing it out of their mouths. Those who smoke opium have +sunken cheeks and trembling hands, and soon become old, foolish, and +sick. Why, then, do they take opium? Many of them say they wish to leave +it off, but cannot. + +MISSIONARIES.--Are there any in China? Yes, many; and more are going +there. But how many are wanted for so many people! Missionaries travel +about China to distribute Bibles and tracts. One of them hired a rough +kind of chair with two bearers. In this he went to villages among the +mountains, where a white man had never been seen. The children screaming +with terror ran to their mothers. The men came round him to look at his +clothes and his white skin. They were much surprised at the whiteness of +his hands, and they put their yellow ones close to his to see the +difference. These mountaineers were kind, and brought tea and cakes to +refresh the stranger. + +An English lady went to China to teach little girls; for no one teaches +them. She has several little creatures in her school that she saved from +perishing: because the Chinese are so cruel as to leave many girl-babies +to die in the streets; they say that girls are not worth the trouble of +bringing up. + +One cold rainy evening, Miss Aldersey heard a low wailing outside the +street-door, and looking out she saw a poor babe, wrapped in coarse +matting, lying on the stone pavement. She could not bear to leave it +there to be devoured by famished dogs; so she kindly took it in, and +brought it up. + +It is a common thing to stumble over the bodies of dead babies in the +streets. In England it is counted murder to kill a babe, but it is +thought no harm in China. Yet the Chinese call themselves good. But when +you ask a poor man where he expects to go when he dies, he replies, "To +hell of course;" and he says this with a loud laugh. His reason for +thinking he shall go to hell is, because he has not money enough to give +to the gods; for rich people all expect to go to heaven. Mandarins +especially expect to go there. If they were to read the Bible, they would +see that God will punish kings, and mighty men, and great captains, and +_all_ who are wicked. + + [6] These are some of the sentences written in the old books: + + "Never say, There is no one who sees me, for there is a wise + Spirit who sees all." + + "Man no longer has what he had before the fall, and he has + brought his children into his misery. O! Heaven, you only can + help us. Wipe away the stains of the father, and save his + children." + + "Never speak but with great care. Do not say, It is only a single + word. Remember that no one has the keeping of your heart and + tongue but you." + + These sentences are like some verses in the Psalms and Proverbs; + and, it may be, they were spoken first by some holy men of old. + + Here is one more remarkable than all:-- + + "God hates the proud, and is kind to the humble." + + [7] The means by which the Buddhist religion entered China are + remarkable. A certain Chinese emperor once read in the book of + Confucius this sentence, "The true saint will be found in the + West." He thought a great deal about it; at last he dreamed about + it. He was so much struck by his dream that he sent two of his + great lords to look for the true religion in the West. When they + reached India, they found multitudes worshipping Buddha. This + Buddha was a wicked man who had been born in India a thousand + years before. The Chinese messengers believed all the absurd + histories they heard about Buddha, and they returned to China + with a book which had been written about him. Ah! had they gone + as far as Canaan they might have heard Paul and Peter preaching + the Gospel. Alas! why did they go no further, and why did they go + so far, only to return to China with idols! + + + + +COCHIN CHINA. + + +Any one on hearing this name would guess that the country was like China; +and so it is. If you were to go there you would be reminded of China by +many of the customs. You would see at dinner small basins instead of +plates, chop-sticks instead of knives and forks; you would have rice to +eat instead of bread; and rice wine to drink instead of grape wine. + +But you would not find _all_ the Chinese customs in Cochin-China: for you +would see the women walking about at liberty, and with large feet, that +is, with feet of the natural size, and not cramped up like the "golden +lilies" of China. Neither would you see the people treated as strictly in +Cochin-China as in China. Beatings are not nearly as common there, and +behavior is not nearly as good as in China. + +The people are very different from the Chinese; for they are gay and +talkative, and open and sociable, while the Chinese are just the +contrary. However, they resemble the Chinese in fondness for eating. They +are very fond of giving grand dinners, and sometimes provide a hundred +dishes, and invite a hundred guests. A man is thought very generous who +gives such grand dinners. No one in Cochin-China would think of eating +his morsel alone, but every one asks those around to partake; and if any +one were not to do so, he would be counted very mean. Yet the people of +Cochin-China are always begging for gifts; and if they cannot get the +things they ask for, they steal them. Are they generous? No, because they +are covetous. It is impossible to be at the same time generous and +covetous; for what goodness is there in giving away our own things, if we +are wishing for other people's things? + +And now let us leave the _people_ and look at the _land_. It is fruitful +and beautiful, being watered abundantly by fine rivers: but these rivers, +flowing among lofty mountains, often overflow, and drown men and cattle. +The grass of such a country must be very rich; and there are cows feeding +on it; yet there is no milk or butter to be had. Why? Because the people +have a foolish idea that it is wrong to milk cows. + +In no country are there stronger and larger elephants; so strong and so +large that one can carry thirteen persons on his back at once. + +The land is full of idols: for Buddha or Fo is worshipped in +Cochin-China, as he is in China. + +The idols are sometimes kept in high trees, and priests may be seen +mounting ladders to present offerings. + +But the people are not satisfied with idols in trees; they have pocket +idols, which they carry about with them everywhere. + + +TONQUIN.--CAMBODIA. + +These two kingdoms belong to the king of Cochin-China; yet all three, +Tonquin, Cambodia, and Cochin-China, pay tribute to China, and therefore +they must be considered as conquered countries. + +They are all very much like China in their customs. There are large +cities in them all, and multitudes of people, but very little is known +about them in England. + + + + +HINDOSTAN. + + +This word Hindostan means "black place," for in the Persian language +"hind" is "black," and "stan" is "place." You may guess, therefore, that +the people in Hindostan are very dark; yet they are not quite black, and +some of the ladies are only of a light brown complexion. + +What a large country Hindostan is! Has it an emperor of its own, as China +has? No: large as it is, it belongs to the little country called England. + +How did the English get it? + +They conquered it by little and little. When first they came there, they +found there a Mahomedan people, called the Moguls. These Moguls had +conquered Hindostan: but by degrees the English conquered them, and +became masters of all the land. + +There is only one small country among the mountains which has not been +conquered by the English, and that place is Nepaul. It is near the +Himalaya mountains. See that great chain of mountains in the north: they +are the Himalaya--the highest mountains in the world. The word "him," or +"hem," means snow--and snowy indeed are those mountains. + +There is a great river that flows from the Himalaya called the Ganges. It +flows by many mouths into the ocean; yet of all these mouths only one is +deep enough for large ships to sail in; the other mouths are all choked +up with sand. The deep mouth of the Ganges is called the Hoogley. + +It was on the banks of the Hoogley that the first English city was built. +It was built by some English merchants, and is called Calcutta. That name +comes from the name of a horrible idol called Kalee, of which more will +be said hereafter. + +Calcutta is now a very grand city; there is the governor's palace, and +there are the mansions of many rich Englishmen. It has been called "the +city of palaces." + +There is another great river on the other side of Hindostan called the +Indus. It was from that river that Hindostan got the name of India, or +the East Indies. + +VILLAGES.--Calcutta is built on a large plain called Bengal. Dotted about +this plain are many villages. At a distance they look prettier than +English villages, for they are overshadowed with thick trees; but they +are wretched places to live in. The huts are scarcely big enough to hold +human creatures, nor strong enough to bear the pelting of the storm. When +you enter them you will find neither floor nor window, and very little +furniture; neither chair, nor table, nor bed--nothing but a large earthen +bottle for fetching water, a smaller one for drinking, a basket for +clothes, a few earthen pans, a few brass plates, and a mat. + +A Hindoo is counted very rich who has procured a wooden bedstead to place +his mat upon, and a wooden trunk, with a lock and key, to contain his +clothes; such a man is considered to have a well-furnished house. + +As you pass through the villages, you may see groups of men sitting under +the trees smoking their pipes, while children, without clothes, are +rolling in the dust, and sporting with the kids. Prowling about the +villages are hungry dogs and whining jackalls, seeking for bones and +offal; but the children are too much used to these creatures to be afraid +of them. Hovering in the air are crows and kites, ready to secure any +morsel they can see, or even to snatch the food, if they can, out of the +children's little hands. + +What a confused noise do you hear as you pass along! barking, whining, +and squalling, loud laughing, and incessant chattering. It is a heathen +village, and the sweet notes of praise to God are never sung there. + +Yet in every village there is a little temple with an idol, and a priest +to take the idol, to lay it down to sleep, and to offer it food, which he +eats himself. + +The poor people bring the food for the idol with flowers, and place it at +the door of the temple. + +APPEARANCE.--The Hindoos are pleasing in their appearance, for their +features are well-formed, their teeth are white, and their eyes have a +soft expression. The women take much pains to dress their long black +hair, which is soft as silk: they gather it up in a knot at their heads, +and crown it with flowers. They have no occasion for a needle to make +their dresses, as they are all in one piece. They wind a long strip of +white muslin (called a saree) round their bodies, and fold it over their +heads like a veil, and then they are full dressed, except their +ornaments, and with these they load themselves; glass rings of different +colors on their arms, silver rings on their fingers and toes, and gold +rings in their ears, and a gold ring in their nose. + +The men wear a long strip of calico twisted closely round their bodies, +and another thrown loosely over their shoulders; but this last they cast +off when they are at work: it is their upper garment. On their heads they +wear turbans, and on their feet sandals. The clothes of both men and +women are generally white or pink, or white bordered with red. + +FOOD.--The most common food is rice; and with this curry is often mixed +to give it a relish. What is curry? It is a mixture of herbs, spices, and +oil. + +Very poor people cannot afford to eat either rice or curry; and they eat +some coarse grain instead. A lady who made a feast for the poor provided +nothing but rice, and she found that it was thought as good as roast +beef and plum pudding are thought in England. The day after the feast +some of the poor creatures came to pick up the grains of rice that were +fallen upon the ground. + +The rich Hindoos eat mutton and venison, but not beef; this they think it +wicked to eat, because they worship bulls and cows. + +A favorite food is clarified butter, called "ghee," white rancid stuff, +kept in skin bottles to mix with curry. + +Water is the general drink, and there could not be a better. Yet there +are intoxicating drinks, and some of the Hindoos have learned to love +them, from seeing the English drink too much. What a sad thing that +Christians should set a bad example to heathens! + +PRODUCTIONS.--There are many beautiful trees in India never seen in +England, and many nice fruits never tasted here. + +The palm-tree, with its immense leaves, is the glory of India. These +leaves are very useful; they form the roof, the umbrella, the bed, the +plate, and the writing-paper of the Hindoo. + +The most curious tree in India is the banyan, because one tree grows into +a hundred. How is that? The branches hang down, touch the ground, strike +root there, and spring up into new trees--joined to the old. Under an +aged banyan there is shade for a large congregation. Seventy thousand men +might sit beneath its boughs. + +There is a sort of grass which grows a hundred feet high, and becomes +hard like wood. It is called the bamboo. The stem is hollow like a pipe, +and is often used as a water-pipe. It serves also for posts for houses, +and for poles for carriages. + +There are abundance of nice fruits in India; and of these the mangoe is +the best. You might mistake it for a pear when you saw it, but not when +you tasted it. Pears cannot grow in India; the sun is too hot for grapes +and oranges, excepting on the hills. + +The chief productions of India are rice and cotton; rice is the food, and +cotton is the clothing of the Hindoo: and quantities of these are sent to +England, for though we have wheat for food, we want rice too; and though +we have wool for clothing, we want cotton too. + +RELIGION.--There is no nation that has so many gods as the Hindoos. What +do you think of three hundred and thirty millions! There are not so many +people in Hindostan as that. No one person can know the names of all +these gods; and who would wish to know them? Some of them are snakes, and +some are monkeys! + +The chief god of all is called Brahm. But, strange to say, no one +worships him. There is not an image of him in all India. + +And why not? Because he is too great, the Hindoos say, to think of men on +earth. He is always in a kind of sleep. What would be the use of +worshipping him? + +Next to him are three gods, and they are part of Brahm. + +Their names are-- + + I. Brahma, the Creator. + II. Vishnoo, the Preserver. + III. Sheeva, the Destroyer. + +Which of these should you think men ought to worship the most? Not the +destroyer. Yet it is _him_ they do worship the most. Very few worship +Brahma the creator. And why not? Because the Hindoos think he can do no +more for them than he has done; and they do not care about thanking him. + +Vishnoo, the preserver, is a great favorite; because it is supposed that +he bestows all manner of gifts. The Hindoos say he has been _nine_ times +upon the earth; first as a fish, then as a tortoise, a man, a lion, a +boar, a dwarf, a giant; _twice_ as a warrior, named Ram, and once as a +thief, named Krishna. They say he will come again as a conquering king, +riding on a white horse. Is it not wonderful they should say that? It +reminds one of the prophecy in Rev. xix. about Christ's second coming. +Did the Hindoos hear that prophecy in old time? They may have heard it, +for the apostle Thomas once preached in India, at least we believe he +did. + +Why do the people worship Sheeva the destroyer? Because they hope that if +they gain his favor, they shall not be destroyed by him. They do not know +that none can save from the destroyer but God. + +The Hindoos make images of their gods. Brahma is represented as riding on +a goose; Vishnoo on a creature half-bird and half-man; and Sheeva on a +bull. + +Sheeva's image looks horribly ferocious with the tiger-skin and the +necklace of skulls and snakes; but Sheeva's _wife_ is far fiercer than +himself. Her name is Kalee. Her whole delight is said to be in blood. +Those who wish to please her, offer up the blood of beasts; but those who +wish to please her still more, offer up their own blood. + +[Illustration: THE SWING.] + +Her great temple, called Kalee Ghaut, is near Calcutta. There is a great +feast in her honor once a year at that temple. Early in the morning +crowds assemble there with the noise of trumpets and kettle-drums. See +those wild fierce men adorned with flowers. They go towards the temple. A +blacksmith is ready. Lo! one puts out his tongue, and the blacksmith +cuts it: that is to please Kalee: another chooses rather to have an iron +bar run through his tongue. Some thrust iron bars and burning coals into +their sides. The boldest mount a wooden scaffold and throw themselves +down upon iron spikes beneath, stuck in bags of sand. It is very painful +to fall upon these spikes; but there is another way of torture quite as +painful--it is the swing. Those who determine to swing, allow the +blacksmith to drive hooks into the flesh upon their backs, and hanging by +these hooks they swing in the air for ten minutes, or even for half an +hour. And WHO all these cruel tortures? To please Kalee, and to make the +people wonder and admire, for the multitude around shout with joy as they +behold these horrible deeds. + +THE CASTES.--The Hindoos pretend that when Brahma created men, he made +some out of his mouth, some out of his arms, some out of his breast, and +some out of his foot. They say the priests came out of Brahma's mouth, +the soldiers came out of his arm, the merchants came out of his breast, +the laborers came out of his foot. You may easily guess who invented this +history. It was the priests themselves: it was they who wrote the sacred +books where this history is found. + +The priests are very proud of their high birth, and they call themselves +Brahmins. + +The laborers, who are told they come out of Brahma's foot, are much +ashamed of their low birth. They are called sudras. + +You would be astonished to hear the great respect the sudras pay to the +high and haughty Brahmins. When a sudra meets a Brahmin in the street, he +touches the ground three times with his forehead, then, taking the +priest's foot in his hand, he kisses his toe. + +The water in which a Brahmin has washed his feet is thought very holy. It +is even believed that such water can cure diseases. + +A Hindoo prince, who was very ill of a fever, was advised to try this +remedy. He invited the Brahmins from all parts of the country to +assemble at his palace. Many thousands came. Each, as he arrived, was +requested to wash his feet in a basin. This was the medicine given to the +sick prince to drink. It cost a great deal of money to procure it; for +several shillings were given to each Brahmin to pay him for his trouble, +and a good dinner was provided for all. It is said that the prince +recovered immediately, but we are quite certain that it was not the water +which cured him. + +In the holy books, or shasters, great blessings are promised to those who +are kind to a Brahmin. Any one who gives him an umbrella will never more +be scorched by the sun; any one who gives him a pair of shoes will never +have blistered feet; any one who gives him sweet spices will never more +be annoyed by ill smells; and any one who gives him a cow will go to +heaven. + +You may be sure that, after such promises, the Brahmins get plenty of +presents; indeed, they may generally be known by their well-fed +appearance, as well as by their proud manner of walking. They always wear +a white cord hung round their necks. + +But we must not suppose that all Brahmins are rich, and all sudras poor; +for it is not so. There are so many Brahmins that some can find no +employment as priests, and they are obliged to learn trades. Many of them +become cooks. + +There are sudras as rich as princes; but still a sudra can never be as +honorable as a Brahmin, though the Brahmin be the cook and the sudra the +master. + +But the sudras are not the _most_ despised people. Far from it. It is +those who have no caste at all who are the most despised. They are called +pariahs. These are people who have lost their caste. It is a very easy +thing to lose caste, and once lost it can never be regained. A Brahmin +would lose his caste by eating with a sudra; a sudra would lose his by +eating with a pariah, and by eating with _you_--yes, with _you_, for the +Hindoos think that no one is holy but themselves. It often makes a +missionary smile when he enters a cottage to see the people putting away +their food with haste, lest he should defile it by his touch. + +Once an English officer, walking along the road, passed very near a +Hindoo just going to eat his dinner; suddenly he saw the man take up the +dish and dash it angrily to the ground. Why? The officer's shadow had +passed over the food and polluted it. + +If you were to invite poor Hindoos to come to a feast, they would not eat +if you sat down with them: nor would they eat unless they knew a Hindoo +had cooked their food. Even children at school will not eat with children +of a lower caste,--or with their teachers, if the teachers are not +Hindoos. + +There was once a little Hindoo girl named Rajee. She went to a +missionary's school, but she would not eat with her schoolfellows, +because she belonged to a higher caste than they did. As she lived at the +school, her mother brought her food every day, and Rajee sat under a tree +to eat it. At the end of two years she told her mother that she wished to +turn from idols, and serve the living God. Her mother was much troubled +at hearing this, and begged her child not to bring disgrace on the family +by becoming a Christian. But Rajee was anxious to save her precious soul. +She cared no longer for her caste, for she knew that all she had been +taught about it was deceit and folly; therefore one day she sat down and +ate with her schoolfellows. When her mother heard of Rajee's conduct, +she ran to the school in a rage, and seizing her little daughter by the +hair of the head, began to beat her severely. Then she hastened to the +priests to ask them whether the child had lost her caste forever. The +priests replied, "Has the child got her new teeth?" "No," said the +mother. "Then we can cleanse her, and when her new teeth come she will be +as pure as ever. But you must pay a good deal of money for the +cleansing." Were they not _cunning_ priests? and _covetous_ priests too? + +The money was paid, and Rajee was brought home against her will. Dreadful +sufferings awaited the poor child. The cleansing was a cruel business. +The priests burned the child's tongue. This was one of their cruelties. +When little Rajee was suffered to go back to school, she was so ill that +she could not rise from her bed. + +The poor deceived mother came to see her. "I am going to Jesus," said the +young martyr. The mother began to weep, "O Rajee, we will not let you +die." + +"But I am glad," the little sufferer replied, "because I shall go to +Jesus. If you, mother, would love him, and give up your idols, we should +meet again in heaven." + +An hour afterwards Rajee went to heaven; but I have never heard whether +her mother gave up her idols. + +THE GANGES.--This beautiful river waters the sultry plain of Bengal. God +made this river to be a blessing, but man has turned it into a curse. The +Hindoos say the River Ganges is the goddess Gunga; and they flock from +all parts of India to worship her. When they reach the river they bathe +in it, and fancy they have washed away all their sins. They carry away +large bottles of the sacred water for their friends at home. + +But this is not all; very cruel deeds are committed by the side of the +river. It is supposed that all who die there will go to the Hindoo +heaven. It is therefore the custom to drag dying people out of their +beds, and to lay them in the mud, exposed to the heat of the broiling +sun, and then to pour pails of water over their heads. + +One sick man, who was being carried to the water, covered up as if he +were dead, suddenly threw off the covering, and called out, "I am not +dead, I am only very ill." He knew that the cruel people who were +carrying him were going to cast him into the water while he was still +alive: but nothing he could say could save him: the cruel creatures +answered, "You may as well die _now_ as at any other time;" and so they +drowned him, pretending all the while to be very kind. + +It is thought a good thing to be thrown into the river after death. The +Ganges is the great burying-place; and dead bodies may be seen floating +on its waters, while crows and vultures are tearing the flesh from the +bones. There would be many more of these horrible sights were it not that +many bodies are burned, and their ashes only cast into the river. + +Some foolish deceived creatures drown themselves in the Ganges, hoping to +be very happy hereafter as a reward. The Brahmins are ready to accompany +such people into the water. Some men were once seen going into the river +with a large empty jar fastened to the back of each. The empty jar +prevented them from sinking; but there was a cup in the hands of each of +the poor men, and with these cups they filled the jars, and then they +began to sink. One of them grew frightened, and tried to get on shore; +but the wicked Brahmins in their boats hunted him, and tried to keep him +in the water; however, they could not catch him, and the miserable man +escaped. There are villages near the river whither such poor creatures +flee, and where they end their days together; for their old friends would +not speak to them if they were to return to their homes. + +BEGGARS.--As you walk about Hindostan, you will sometimes meet a horrible +object, with no other covering than a tiger's skin, or else an orange +scarf; his body besmeared with ashes, his hair matted like the shaggy +coat of a wild beast, and his nails like birds' claws. The man is a +beggar, and a very bold one, because he is considered as one of the +holiest of men. Who is he? + +A sunnyasee. Who is _he_? + +A Brahmin, who wishing to be more holy than other Brahmins (holy as they +are), has left all and become a beggar. As a reward, he expects, when he +dies, to go straight to heaven, without being first born again in the +world. It is wonderful to see the tortures which a sunnyasee will endure. +He will stand for years on one leg, till it is full of wounds, or, if he +prefers it, he will clench his fist till the nails grow through the +hands. + +These holy beggars are found in all parts of India, but they are +particularly fond of the most desolate spots. Near the mouth of the +Ganges there are some desert places, the resort of tigers, and there many +of the sunnyasees live in huts. They pretend not to be afraid of the +tigers, and the Hindoos think that tigers will not touch such holy men; +but it is certain that tigers have been seen dragging some of these proud +men into the woods. + +There is another kind of beggars called fakirs; they are just as wicked +and foolish as the sunnyasees; but they are Mahomedans and not Brahmins. + +ANIMALS.--Some of the fiercest and most disagreeable animals are highly +honored in India. + +The monkey is counted as a god; the consequence is, that the monkeys, +finding they are treated with respect, grow very bold, and are +continually scrambling upon the roofs of the houses. In one place there +is a garden where monkeys riot about at their pleasure, for all in that +garden is for them alone, the delicious fruits, the cool fountains, the +shady bowers, all are for the worthless, mischievous monkeys. + +But if it be strange for men to worship _monkeys_, is it not stranger +still to worship _snakes_ and _serpents_? Yet there is a temple in India +where serpents crawl about at their pleasure, where they are waited upon +by priests, and fed with fruits and every dainty. How much delighted must +the old serpent be with this worship! + +Kites also, those fierce birds, are worshipped. There is meat sold in +shops on purpose for them; and it is bought and thrown up in the air to +the great greedy creatures. + +There are splendid peacocks flying about in the woods, but the Hindoos do +not worship them; they shoot and eat them. + +Of all the animals in India there is none which terrifies man so much as +the tiger. The Bengal tiger is a fine and fierce beast. Woe to the man or +woman on whom he springs! What then do you think must become of the man +who falls into his den? These dens are generally hid in jungles, which +are places covered with trees, and overgrown with shrubs and tall grass. + +A gentleman was once walking through a jungle, when he felt himself +sinking into the ground, while a cloud of dust blinded his eyes. Soon he +heard a low growling noise. He fancied that he had sunk into a den, and +so he had. Beside him lay some little tigers, too young indeed to hurt +him; but these tigers had a mother, and she could not be far off, though +she was not in the den when the stranger fell in. The astonished man felt +there was no time to be lost, for the tigress, he knew, would soon return +to her cubs. How could he prepare to meet her? He had neither gun nor +sword, nor even stick in his hand. But a thought came into his head. +Snatching a silk handkerchief from his neck, and taking another from his +pocket, he bound them tightly round his arm up to his elbow; and thus +prepared to meet his enemy. She soon appeared, crouching on the ground, +and then with a spring leaped upon the stranger. At the same moment the +brave man thrust his arm between her open jaws, and seizing hold of her +rough tongue, twisted it backwards and forwards with all his might. The +beast was now unable to close her mouth, and to bite with her sharp +fangs; but she could scratch with her sharp claws; and scratch she did, +till the clothes were torn off the man's body, and the flesh from his +bones. But the brave man would not loose his hold; and the tigress was +tired out first: alarmed,--with a sudden start backward, she jerked her +tongue out of the man's hand, and rushed out of the den and out of the +jungle. + +How glad was the man to escape from a horrible fate! his body was faint +and bleeding; but his life was preserved, and his heart overflowed with +gratitude to God for his wonderful deliverance. He who delivered Daniel +from the lion's den delivered him from the tiger's den. The tiger's +mouth, indeed, had not been shut; but his open mouth had not been +suffered to devour the Lord's servant. + + +THE THUGS. + +There is a set of people in India more dangerous than wild beasts. They +are called Thugs, that is, deceivers; and well do they deserve the name; +for their whole employment is to _deceive_ that they may _destroy_. Yet +they are not ashamed of their wickedness; for they worship the goddess +Kalee, and they know that she delights in blood. Before they set out on +one of their cruel journeys, they bow down before the image of Kalee, and +they ask her to bless the shovel and the cloth that they hold in their +hands. + +What are they for? + +The cloth is to strangle poor travellers, and the shovel to dig their +graves. + +A Hindoo family were once travelling when they overtook three men on the +way. These men seemed very civil and obliging; and they soon got +acquainted with the family, and accompanied them on their journey. Who +were these men? Alas! they were Thugs. It was very foolish of the family +to be so ready to go with strangers. At last they came up to three other +men, who were sitting under the shade of a tree, eating sugared rice. +These men also were Thugs; and they had agreed with the other Thugs to +help them in their wicked plans. But the family thought they were kind +and friendly men, and consented to sit down with them in the shade, and +to partake of their food. They did not know that with the rice was mixed +a sort of drug to cause people to fall asleep. The family ate and fell +asleep: and when they were asleep, the Thugs strangled them all with +their cloths,--the father, the mother, and the five young people,--and +then with their shovels they dug their graves. But before they buried +them they stripped them of their garments and their jewels; for it was to +get their precious spoils they had committed these dreadful murders. The +Thugs went afterwards to the priests of Kalee to receive a blessing, and +they rewarded the priests by giving them some of their stolen treasures. + +But, after all, these wicked men did not escape punishment; for the +English governors heard of their crimes, and caught them, and brought +them to justice. Then these murderers confessed the wicked deed just +related: but this was not their only crime; for it had been the business +of their lives to rob and to destroy. + +Do not these Thugs resemble him who is always walking about seeking whom +he may devour? Only he destroys the _soul_ as well as the _body_. He is +the great Deceiver, and the great Destroyer. None but God can keep us +from falling into his power: therefore we pray, "Deliver us from evil," +or from the evil one. + + +THE HINDOO WOMEN. + +It is a miserable thing to be a Hindoo lady. While she is a very little +girl, she is allowed to play about, but when she comes to be ten or +twelve years old, she is shut up in the back rooms of the house till she +is married; and when she is married she is shut up still. She may indeed +walk in the garden at the back of the house, but nowhere else. + +Hindoo ladies are not taught even those trifling accomplishments which +Chinese ladies learn: they can neither paint, nor play music; much less +can they read and write. They amuse themselves by putting on their +ornaments, or by making curries and sweetmeats to please their husbands: +but most of their time they spend in idleness, sauntering about and +chattering nonsense. As rich Hindoos have several wives, the ladies are +not alone; and being so much together, they quarrel a great deal. + +Some English ladies once visited the house of a rich Hindoo. They were +led into the court at the back of the house, and shown into a little +chamber. One by one some women came in, all looking very shy and afraid +to speak; yet dressed very fine in muslin sarees, worked with gold and +silver flowers, and they were adorned with pearls and diamonds. At last +they ventured to admire the clothes of their visitors, and even to touch +them. Then they asked the English ladies to come and see their jewels; +and they took them into a little dark chamber with gratings for windows, +and displayed their treasures. They talked very loud, and all together +and so foolishly, that the ladies reproved them. The poor creatures +replied, "We should like to learn to read and work like the English +ladies; but we have nothing to do, and so we are accustomed to be idle, +and to talk foolishly. Do come again, and bring us books, and pictures, +and dolls." + +You see what useless, wearisome lives the Hindoo _ladies_ lead. Now hear +what hard and wretched lives the _poor_ women lead. The wife of a poor +man rises from her mat before it is day, and by the light of a lamp spins +cotton for the family clothing. Next she feeds the children, and sweeps +the house and yard, and cleans the brass and stone vessels. Then she +washes the rice, bruises, and boils it. By this time it is ten o'clock, +when she goes with some other women to bathe in the river, or if there be +no river near, in a great tank of rain-water. While there, she often +makes a clay image of her god, and worships it with prayers, and bowings, +and offerings of fruit and flowers, for nearly an hour. On her return +home she prepares the curry for dinner: her kitchen is a clay furnace in +the yard, and there she boils the rice. When dinner is ready, she dares +not sit down with her husband to eat it: no, she places it respectfully +before his mat, and then retires to the yard. Her little boys eat with +their father; but her little girls dine with her upon the food that is +left. + +It is not the busy life she leads that makes a poor woman unhappy: it is +the ill-treatment she endures. A kind word is seldom spoken to her: but a +hard blow is often given. Her own boys are encouraged to insult her +because she is only a woman. She is taught to worship her husband as a +god, however bad he may be. There is a proverb which shows how much women +are despised in India. "How can you place the black rice-pot beside the +golden spice-box!" By the rice-box a woman is meant: by the spice-box a +man: and the meaning of the proverb is that a wife is unworthy to sit at +the same table with her husband. + +In this manner a _wife_ is treated: a _widow_ is still more despised. +However young she may be, she is not allowed to marry again; but is +obliged to live in her father's house, or (if she has no father) in her +brother's house, to do the hardest work, and never to eat more than one +meal a day, and that meal of the coarsest food. Widows used to burn +themselves in a great fire with their husbands' dead bodies; but the +English government has forbidden them to do so any more; but their +hard-hearted relations make them as miserable as possible. + +MISSIONARIES.--There are hundreds of missionaries in India; but not +nearly enough for so many millions of people. The Hindoos call them +Padri-Sahibs, which means "Father-Gentlemen," and they give them this +name to show their love, as well as respect. + +Once a missionary who had been long in India was going back to England +for a little while. It was from Calcutta that he set sail. The Christian +Hindoos stood in crowds by the river-side to bid him farewell. Among the +rest was a little girl with her parents. She was a gracious child, who +had turned from idols to serve the living God. The missionary said to +her, "Well, my child, you know I am going to England. What shall I bring +you from that country?" + +"I do not want anything," she modestly replied. "I have my parents, and +my brother, and the Padri-Sahibs, and my books, what can I want more?" + +"But," said the missionary, "you are only a little girl, and surely you +would like something from England. Shall I bring you some playthings?" + +"No, thank you," said the child; "I do not want playthings--I am learning +to read." + +"Come, come," said the missionary, "shall I bring you a playfellow, a +white child from England!" + +"No, no," answered the little girl, "it would be taking her from her +parents." + +"Well then," said her friend, "is there nothing I can bring you?" + +"Well, if you are so kind as to insist on bringing me something, ask the +Christians in England to send me a Bible-book and more PADRI-SAHIBS." + +[Illustration: MISSIONARY'S HOUSE.] + +This was a good request indeed, but to get Padri-Sahibs is a hard thing +to do. Who can tell how much good they have done already! There are many +Christian villages in India, and they are as different from heathen +villages as a dove's nest is different from a tiger's den. + +Some very wicked men have been converted. You have heard of those proud +and hateful beggars, the Sunnyasees and the Fakirs. + +One day a missionary, who had gone for his health to the Himalaya +Mountains, was walking in the verandah of his house, when he was +surprised by a man suddenly throwing himself down at his feet, and +embracing his knees. The missionary could not tell who this man was, for +a dark blanket covered the man's head and face. But soon the covering was +lifted up, and a swarthy and withered countenance was shown; the +missionary knew it to be that of an old Fakir he once had known, as the +chief priest of a gang of robbers, but now the Mahomedan was become a +Christian; and he had travelled six hundred miles, hoping to see once +more the face of his teacher; and lo! he had seen it at last. + +SCHOOLS.--The Hindoos have schools of their own, but only for boys. The +scholars sit in a shed, cross-legged upon mats, and learn to scratch +letters with iron pins upon large leaves. But what can they learn from +Brahmin teachers but foolish tales about false gods? + +Missionaries have far better schools, where the Bible is taught; and +missionaries' wives have schools for girls; and sometimes they take pity +on poor orphans, and receive them into their houses. + +One evening as a Christian lady was returning home, she saw a Hindoo +woman lying on the ground, and a little boy sitting by her side. The lady +spoke kindly to the sick woman, and then the little boy looked up and +said, with tears in his eyes, "My mother is sick, and has nothing to eat; +I fear she will die." The lady had compassion on the mother and the +child, and hastening home, she sent her servant to fetch them both. They +were soon put to rest on a nice clean mat, with a blanket to cover them; +but the mother died next morning. The little boy was left an orphan, but +not forlorn, nor friendless, for the Christian lady took care of him. He +was five years old, thin and delicate, and much fairer than most Hindoo +children. He had many winning ways; but he had a proud heart. He was +proud of his name, "Ramchunda," because it was the name of a great false +god: but when he had learned about the true God, he asked for a new name, +and was called "John." His wishing to change his name was a good sign: +and there were other good signs in this little orphan; and before he +died,--for he died soon,--he showed plainly that he had not a new _name_ +only, but a new _nature_. + +Little Phebe was another child received by a missionary's wife. She was +not an orphan, yet she was as much to be pitied as an orphan; for her +mother told the missionaries that if they did not take the child, she +would throw her to the jackals. It was a happy exchange for the infant to +leave so cruel a mother to be reared by a Christian lady, who, instead of +throwing her to jackals, brought her to Jesus. + +She died when only five years old by an accident: when washing her hands +in the great tank she fell in, and was drowned. + +But some Hindoo children, though carefully instructed, do not grow gentle +and loving, like John and Phebe. + +The tents of some English soldiers were pitched in a lonely part of +India; and the night was dark, when an officer's lady thought she heard +the sound of a child crying. The lady sent her servants out to look, and +at last they brought in a little girl of four years old. And where do you +think they had found her? Buried up to her throat in a bog, her little +head alone peeping out. And who do you think had put her there? Her +cruel mother. Yes, she had left her there to die. + +This child gave a great deal of trouble to the kind lady who had saved +her, nor did she show her any love in return for her kindness; and after +keeping her about two years, the lady sent her to a missionary's school. + +You see how cruelly mothers in India sometimes treat their children. +Their religion teaches them to be cruel. + +A mother is taught to believe that if her babe is sick, an evil spirit is +angry. To please this evil spirit, she will put her babe in a basket, and +hang it up in a tree for three days. She goes then to look at it, and if +it be alive, she takes it home. But how seldom does she find it alive! +Either the ants or the vultures have eaten it, or it is starved to death. + +When there is a famine in the land, many mothers will sell their children +for sixpence each: and if they cannot sell them, they will leave them to +perish. + +One missionary received fifty-one poor starving children into his house: +they were always crying, "Sahib, roti, roti;" that is, "Master, bread, +bread." But the bread came to late too save their lives; for all died +except one. + +Yet these sick children were very wicked. + +One of them stole a brass basin, and sold it for sweetmeats. Though very +kindly treated, some of them wished to escape; and to prevent it, the +missionary tied them together in strings of fifteen; + +There is a tribe in India called Khunds; and they sprinkle their fields +with children's blood, and they say this is the way to make the corn +grow. The English government once rescued eighty poor children from the +Khunds, and sent them to a Christian school. What miserable little +creatures they were when they arrived! but they were soon clothed and +comforted; and taught to hold a needle, and to know their letters; and, +better still, to pronounce the name of Jesus. Like these poor little +captives, we were all condemned to die, till Jesus rescued us, and +promised everlasting life to those who believe. + + +THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. + +There are many rich English gentlemen living in India: some are judges, +and some are merchants, and some are officers in the army. They dwell in +large and grand houses, with many windows down to the ground, and a wide +verandah to keep off the sun. Instead of _glass_, there is _grass_ in the +windows: the blinds are made of sweet-scented grass, and servants outside +continually pour water on the grass to make the air cool. Instead of +_fires_, they have _fans_. These fans are like large screens hanging from +the ceiling, and waving to and fro to refresh the company. Instead of +carpets there are mats on the floor; and round the beds gauze curtains +are drawn to keep out the insects. + +The servants are all Hindoos, and a great number are kept; and this is +necessary, because each servant will only do one kind of work. + +Each horse has two servants, one to take care of it, and the other to cut +grass: even the dog has a boy to look after it alone. The servants do not +live in their master's house, but in small huts near. The place where +they live is called "the compound." + +When English people travel they do not go in carriages, but in +palanquins. A palanquin is like a child's cot, only larger; and there a +traveller can sleep at his ease. + +The men who carry the palanquins are called "Bearers." The nurses are +called Ayahs. Babies are carried out of doors by their ayahs, but +children of three or four are taken out by the bearers. + +There was once a little girl of three years old who taught her bearer to +fear God. + +Little Mary was walking out in a grove with her heathen bearer. She +observed him stop at a small Hindoo temple, and bow down to the stone +image before the door. + +The lisping child inquired,--"Saamy, what for, you do that?" + +"O, missy," said he, "that is my god!" + +"Your god!" exclaimed the child, "your god, Saamy! Why your god can no +see, no can hear, no can walk--your god stone! My God make you, make me, +make everything!" Yet Saamy still, whenever he passed the temple, bowed +down to his idol: and still the child reproved him. Though the old man +would not mind, yet he loved his baby teacher. Once when he thought she +was going to England he said to her,--"What will poor Saamy do when missy +go to England? Saamy no father, no mother." + +"O Saamy!" replied the child, "if you love God he will be your father, +and mother too." + +The poor bearer promised with tears in his eyes that he would love God. +"Then," said she, "you must learn my prayers;" and she began to teach him +the Lord's Prayer. Soon afterwards Mary's papa was surprised to see the +bearer enter the room at the time of family prayers, and still more +surprised to see him take off his turban, kneel down, and repeat the +Lord's Prayer after his master. The lispings of the babe had brought the +old man to God: Saamy did not only bow the knee, he worshipped in spirit +and in truth, and became a real Christian. + + +CHIEF CITIES. + +There are three great cities which may be called English cities, though +in India: because Englishmen built them, and live in them, and rule over +them. Their names are Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. + +The capital city is Calcutta. There the chief governor resides. Part of +Calcutta is called the Black Town, and it is only a heap of mud huts +crowded with Hindoos. The other part of Calcutta is called the English +town; and it consists of beautiful houses by the river-side, each house +surrounded by a charming garden and a thick grove. + +Madras is built on a plain by the sea, and is adorned by fine avenues of +trees, amongst which the English live in elegant villas and gardens. Here +also there is a Black town. It is very hard to land at Madras, because +there is no harbor. + +Bombay has one of the best harbors in the world. It is built on a small +island covered with cocoa-nut groves. + +Now let us compare these places with each other. + +_Calcutta_ boasts of her fine river, but then the ground is flat and +marshy; and therefore the air is damp and unhealthy, and there are no +grand prospects. + +Madras is very dry, and sandy, and dusty; but then there is the sea to +enliven and refresh it. + +Bombay has the sea also, besides the groves, and at a little distance, +high mountains, which look beautiful, and which it is delightful to +visit. There are no such mountains near Calcutta or Madras. + +These are the chief English cities. I must now speak of the favorite city +of the Hindoos. + +It is Benares on the Ganges. + +You might go from Calcutta in a boat, and after sailing four hundred +miles, you would reach Benares. The Hindoos say that it was built by +their god Sheeva, of gold and precious stones; but that, as we are living +in a bad time, it _appears_ to be made of bricks and mud, though really +very different. They say that Benares is eighty thousand steps nearer +heaven than any other city, and that whoever dies there (even though he +eat BEEF!) will go to heaven. + +A missionary once reported a Hindoo for telling lies. The answer was, +"Why, what of that? do I not live at Benares?" The man thought he was +quite safe, however wicked he might be. + +In walking about Benares a stranger might be surprised to meet every now +and then a white bull, with a hump on its back, without a driver or a +rider, or any one to keep it in order. You must know that a white bull is +said to belong to the chief god of Benares, and it is considered a sacred +animal, and is allowed to do as it pleases. + +And how does it behave? + +It behaves much in the same manner as a child would who had its own way. +The white bull helps itself to the fruit and vegetables sold in the +streets, and even to the sweetmeats. It has a great taste for flowers; +and it cunningly hides itself near the doors of the temples, to watch for +the people coming out with their garlands of marigolds round their necks. +At these the bull eagerly snatches with its tongue, and swallows them in +a moment. Finding it is petted by every one, it grows so bold, as to walk +into the houses, and even to go up the stone stairs on to the roof, where +it seems to enjoy the cool air, as it quietly chews the cud. + +In the spring the white bulls like to wander out in the fields to eat the +tender green grass. A farmer finding one of these bulls in his fields, +made him get into a boat, and sent him by a man across the river Ganges. +But the cunning creature came back in the evening; for he watched till he +saw some people setting out in a boat, and then jumped in; and though +the passengers tried to turn him out, he would stay there. In this way he +got back to the cornfields. + +So much respected are these bulls that a Hindoo would sooner lose his own +life than suffer one of them to be killed. An English gentleman was just +going to shoot one that had broken into his garden, when his Hindoo +servant rushed between him and the bull, saying, "Shoot me, sir, shoot +me, but let him go." You may be sure that the gentleman did not shoot the +servant, and I think it probable he spared the bull's life. + +There is one more city to be noticed. + +DELHI was once the grandest city in India, and the seat of the great +Moguls, those Mahomedans who conquered India before the British came. The +ancient palace is still to be seen: it is built of red stone; but its +ornaments are gone; where is now the room lined with crystal, the golden +palm-tree with diamond fruits, and the golden peacock with emerald wings, +overshadowing the monarch's throne? + +The Persians have stripped the palace of all its gorgeous splendor. + +We have now described the two most numerous nations in the world, China +and Hindostan. They contain together more than half the world. In some +respects they are alike, and in some respects they are different. In +these respects they are different. + +IN CHINA. IN HINDOSTAN. + +There is one emperor. There is no emperor, and + the English govern the country. + +There is one language. There are many. + +They use chairs, and tables, They sit and sleep on mats. +and beds. + +They eat with chop-sticks. They eat with their fingers. + +They wear shoes. They go barefoot, and wear + sandals. + +The men shave their heads The men twist up their +except one lock. hair with a comb. + +They seldom wash themselves. They bathe often. + +They eat pigs more than They abhor pigs. +any other meat. + +They are grave and silent. They are merry and talkative. + +They are industrious. They are idle. + +The most learned rise to be Every one is high and low +great men. according to his caste. + +They mind the laws. They care not for laws. + +The land is well cultivated. There is much waste land, + and many jungles. + +Now let us consider in what respects they are _alike_. + +China and Hindostan are alike in these respects. They are both very +_populous_, though China has twice as many inhabitants as Hindostan. + +In both rice is the chief food. + +In both large grown-up families live together. + +In both the women are shut up. + +In both foreigners are hated. + +In both conjurers are admired. + +In both many idols are worshipped. + +In both there are ancient sacred books. + +In both the people are deceitful, unmerciful to the poor, and in the +habit of destroying their own little girls when babies. + +In both it is believed that the soul after death goes into another body, +and is born over and over again into this world. + +Is it not mournful to think that more than half the people in the world +have no bright hope to cheer a dying bed? One poor Hindoo was heard to +exclaim as he was dying, "Where shall I go _last_ of all?" He asked a +wise question. He wanted to know where, after having been born ever so +many times, he should be put for _ever_ and _ever_. That is the great +point we all want to know. But the Hindoo and the Chinaman cannot know +this: they have never heard of _everlasting_ happiness. + + + + +CIRCASSIA. + + +This is not a vast country like China, or Hindostan. It may be called a +nook, it is so small compared with some great kingdoms: but it is famous +on account of the beauty of the people. They are fair, like Europeans, +with handsome features, and fine figures. But their beauty has done them +harm, and not good; for the cruel Turks purchase many of the Circassian +women, because they are beautiful, and shut them up in their houses. +Perhaps you will be surprised to hear that the young Circassians think it +a fine thing to go to Turkey--to live in fine palaces and gardens, +instead of remaining in their own simple cottages. But I think that when +they find themselves confined between high walls, they must sigh to think +of their flocks and their farms at home, and more than all, of the dear +relations they have left behind. + +Circassia is a pleasant country, situated near the noble mountains of +Caucasus. The snow on the mountains cools the air, and makes Circassia as +pleasant to live in as our own England. Indeed, if you were suddenly to +be transported into Circassia, you would be ready to exclaim, "Is not +this England? Here are apple-trees, and pear-trees, and plum-trees, like +those in my father's garden: those sounds are like the notes of the +blackbird and thrush, which sing among the hawthorns in English woods." + +But look again, you will see vines interlacing their fruitful branches +among the spreading oaks. You do not see such vines in England. But hark! +what do I hear? It is a sound never heard in England. It is the yell of +jackals. + +MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE.--There is no country in the world where the people +are as kind to strangers as in Circassia. Every family, however poor, has +a guest-house. There is the family-house, with its orchard, and stables, +and at a little distance, another house for strangers. This is no more +than a large room, with a stable at one end. The walls are made of +wicker-work, plastered with clay. There is no ceiling but the rafters, +and no floor but the bare earth. Yet there is a wide chimney, where a +blazing fire is kept up with a pile of logs. And there is a sofa or +divan, covered with striped silk, and many neat mats to serve as beds for +as many travellers as may arrive. The wind may whistle through the +chinks, and the rain come through the roof, but the stranger is well +warmed, and comfortably lodged; and above all, he has the host to wait +upon him with more attention than a servant. The supper is served as soon +as the sun sets. + +But where is the table? There is none. Is the supper placed on the floor? +Not so. It is brought in on stools with three legs. They answer the +purpose of tables, trays, and dishes, all in one. What is the fare served +up? This is the sort of dinner provided. On the first table is placed a +flat loaf; the gravy in the middle, and the meat all round. When this is +taken away, another table is brought in with cheese-cakes; a third with +butter and honey; a fourth with a pie; a fifth with a cream; and last of +all, a table, with a wooden bowl of curdled milk. The company have no +plates; but each Circassian carries a spoon and a knife in his girdle, +and with these he helps himself. The servants who stand by, are not +forgotten: a piece of meat or of pie-crust is often given to one of them; +it is curious to see the men take it into a corner to eat it there. There +are many hungry poor waiting at the door of the guest-house, ready to +help the servants to devour the remains of the feast; and there is often +a great deal of food left; for there are generally _ten_ tables, and +sometimes there are _forty_ tables. The guests are expected to taste the +food on each, however many there may be. + +Instead of wine, there is a drink called shuat handed to the guests: it +is distilled from grain and honey. Vegetables are not much eaten in +Circassia: for greens are considered fit only for beasts: and there are +no potatoes. Pies, and tarts, and tartlets of various kinds are too well +liked, and the finest ladies in the land are skilful in making them. + +The family live in a thatched cottage, called "the family-house." It is +not divided into rooms. If a man wants several rooms, he builds several +houses. + +As you approach the dwelling of a Circassian, you hear the barking of +dogs, and upon coming nearer, you see women milking cows, and feeding +poultry, and boys tending goats, and leading horses. + +If you go into the farm-yard, you will see among the animals, the +buffalo--but no pig. There are, however, wild boars in the woods. + +CIRCASSIAN WOMEN.--They are not shut up as Hindoo, and Chinese, and +Turkish ladies are. They do not indeed go into the guest-house to see +strangers; but strangers are sometimes invited into the family-house to +see them. + +An Englishman, who visited a family-house, was introduced to the wife and +daughter. They both rose up when he entered: nor would they sit down, +till he sat down; and this respect ladies show not only to gentlemen, but +even to the poorest peasants. The only furniture in the house was the +divan, on which the ladies sat; a pile of boxes, containing the beds, +which were to be spread on the floor at night; and a loom for weaving +cloth, and spindles for spinning. + +The daughter, who was sixteen, was dressed in a skirt of striped silk, +with a blue bodice, and silver clasps; and she wore a cap of scarlet +cloth, adorned with silver lace--her light hair flowing over her +shoulders: yet though so finely arrayed, her feet were bare; for she only +put on her red slippers when she walked out. The mother was covered with +a loose calico wrapper, and her face was concealed by a thick white veil. +The visitor laid some needle-cases at the ladies' feet, for it is not the +custom for them to receive presents in their hands. + +The needle-cases greatly delighted the young Hafiza, and her mother. The +present was well chosen, because the Circassian women are very +industrious, supplying their husbands and brothers with all their +clothes, from the woollen bonnet to the morocco shoe. The wool, the flax, +and the hemp, are all prepared at home by the mothers, and made into +clothes by the girls, who first spin the thread, then weave the cloth, +and finish by sewing the seams. Some girls are very clever in knitting +silver lace for trimming garments. A girl named Dussepli was famous for +her skill in this art, indeed her name signifies, "Shining as lace." + +An Englishman went to the place where she lived to buy some of her lace. +He was shown into the guest-house, and he soon saw Dussepli approaching +in a pair of high pattens. At first sight there was nothing pleasing in +Dussepli but when she spoke she seemed so kind, and so true, that it was +impossible not to like her. By her industry in knitting lace, and dyeing +cloth, she helped to support her father, who was poor. + +THE CIRCASSIAN MEN.--War is their chief occupation. Working in the fields +is left to the women, and the little boys, and the slaves. There is, +alas! great occasion for the men to fight, as the land has long been +infested with many dangerous enemies. + +The Russians are endeavoring to conquer the Circassians: but the +Circassians declare they will die sooner than yield. Long ago the enemies +must have triumphed, had it not been for the high mountains which afford +hiding-places for the poor hunted inhabitants. Every man carries a gun, a +pistol, a dagger, and a sword; and the nobles are distinguished by a bow, +and a quiver of arrows. The usual dress is of coarse dark cloth, and +consists of a tunic, trowsers, and gaiters. The cap or bonnet is of +sheep-skin, or goatskin. + +The boys are taught from their infancy to be hardy and manly. They are +brought up in a singular way. Instead of remaining at home, they are +given at three years old, into the care of a stranger: and the reason of +this custom is, that they may not be petted by their parents. The +stranger is called "foster-father," and he teaches any boy under his care +to ride well, and to shoot at a mark. The boy follows his foster-father +over the mountains, urging his horses to climb tremendous heights, and to +rush down ravines; and appeasing his hunger with a mouthful of honey from +the bag, fastened to his girdle. Such is the life he leads, till he is a +tall and a strong youth; and then he returns home to his parents. His +foster-father presents him with a horse, and weapons of war, and requires +no payment in return for all his care. + +Men brought up in this manner must be wild, bold, restless, and ignorant. +Such are the Circassians. They care not for learning, as the Chinese do, +but only for bravery. We cannot wonder at this, when we remember what +enemies they have in their land. The Russians have built many strong +towers, whence they shoot at all who come near. But, not satisfied +with this, they often come forth and rob the villages. + +[Illustration: Guz Beg the "Lion of Circassia."] + +There was a Circassian, (and he may be still alive,) called Guz Beg; and +he gained for himself the name of the "Lion of Circassia." He was always +leading out little bands of men to attack the Russians. One day he found +some Russian soldiers reaping in the fields, and when he came near they +ran away in terror, leaving two hundred scythes in the field, which he +seized. But a great calamity befel this Lion. He had an only son. When he +first led the boy to the wars, he charged him never to shrink from the +enemy, but to cut his way through the very midst. One day Guz Beg had +ridden into the thick of the Russian soldiers, when suddenly a ball +pierced his horse, and he was thrown headlong on the ground. There lay +the Lion among the hunters. In another moment he would have been killed, +when suddenly a youthful warrior flew to his rescue;--it was his own son. +But what could _one_ do among so _many_! A troop of Circassian horse +rushed to the spot, and bore away Guz Beg; but they were too late to save +his son. They bore away the _body_ only of the brave boy. Guz Beg was +deeply grieved; but he continued still to fight for his country. + +See those black heaps of ashes. In that spot there once lived a prince +named Zefri Bey, with his four hundred servants; but his dwellings were +burned to the ground by the Russians. That prince fled to Turkey to plead +for help. What would have become of his wife, and little girls, if a kind +friend had not taken them under his care? This friend was hump-backed, +but very brave. Some English travellers went to visit him, and were +received in the guest-house and regaled with a supper of many tables. +Next day the little girls came to the guest-house and kissed their hands. +The daughter of the hump-backed man accompanied them. The children were +delighted with some toys the traveller gave them, and the kind young lady +accepted needles and scissors. But where was the wife of Zefri Bey? A +servant was sent to inquire after her, and found her in rags, lying on a +mat, without even a counterpane, and weeping bitterly. Had no one given +her clothes, and coverings? Yes, but she gave everything away, for she +had been used, as a princess, to make presents, and now she cared for +nothing. Such are the miseries which the Russians bring upon Circassia. + +THE GOVERNMENT.--There is no king of Circassia; but there are many +princes. + +The people pay great respect to these princes, standing in their +presence, and giving them the first place at feasts, and in the +battle-field. But though the people honor them, they do not obey them. + +There is a parliament in Circassia, but it does not meet in a house, but +in a grove. Every man who pleases may come, but only old men may speak. +If a young man were to give his opinions, no attention would be paid. The +warriors sit on the grass, and hang up their weapons of war on the boughs +above their heads, while they fasten their horses to the stems of the +trees. + +The speakers are gentle in their tones of voice and behavior. The +Circassians admire sweet winning speeches. They say there are three +things which mark a great man; a sharp sword, a sweet tongue, and forty +tables. What do they mean by these? By a sharp sword they mean bravery, +by a sweet tongue they mean soft speeches, and by forty tables they mean +giving plentiful suppers to neighbors and to strangers. Are the +Circassians right in this way of thinking? No--for though bravery is +good, and speaking well is good, and giving away is good, these are not +the greatest virtues: and people may be brave, and speak well, and give +away much, and yet be wicked: for they may be without the love of God in +their hearts. What are the greatest virtues? These three, Faith, Hope, +and Charity. These are graces which come from God. + +SERVANTS.--There are slaves in Circassia, called serfs. But they are so +well treated, that they are not like the slaves of other countries. They +live in huts round their master's dwelling; they work in the fields, and +wait upon the guests, and share in the good fare on the little tables. + +When a Circassian takes a Russian prisoner, he makes him a slave, and +gives him the hardest work to do. Yet the Russians are much happier with +their Circassian masters than in their own country. + +Once a Circassian said to his Russian slave, "I am going to send you back +to Russia." The man fell at his master's feet, saying, "Rather than do +so, use me as your dog; beat me, tie me up, and give me your bones to +pick." The master then told him that he had not spoken in earnest, and +that he would not send him away, and then the poor fellow began to shout, +and to jump with joy. + +BROTHERHOODS.--There is a very remarkable plan in Circassia, unlike the +plans in other countries. A certain number of men agree to call +themselves "brothers." These brothers help each other on every occasion, +and visit at each other's houses frequently. They are not received in the +guest-house, but in the family-house, and are treated by all the family +as if they were really the brothers of the master. + +A brotherhood sometimes consists of two thousand, but sometimes of only +twenty persons. + +RELIGION.--Circassia, though beautiful, is an unhappy country. The +Russians keep the people in continual fear; this is a great evil. But +there is another nation who have done the Circassians still greater harm. +I mean the Turks. And what have they done to them? They have persuaded +them to turn Mahomedans. The greatest harm that can be done to any one, +is to give him a false religion. There are no grand mosques in Circassia, +because there are no towns: but in every little village there is a clay +cottage, where prayers are offered up in the name of Mahomet. There can +be no minaret to such a miserable mosque: so the man who calls the hours +of prayer, climbs a tall tree, by the help of notches, and getting into a +basket at the top, makes the rocks and hills resound with his cry. How +different shall be the sound one day heard in every land; when all people +shall believe in Jesus. "Then shall the inhabitants of the rocks +sing--then shall they shout from the top of the mountains, and give glory +unto the _Lord_" and not to Mahomet. (Is. xlii. 11, 12.) + +But though the Circassians call themselves Mahomedans, they keep many of +their old customs, and these customs show that they once heard about +Christ. + +It is their custom to dedicate every boy to God: but not really to _God_, +for in truth they dedicate him to the _cross_. Let me give you an account +of one of the feasts of dedication. + +The place of meeting was a green, shaded by spreading oak-trees. In the +midst stood a cross. Each family who came to the feast, brought a little +table, and placed it before the cross; and on each table, there were +loaves, and a sort of bread called "pasta." There was a blazing fire on +the green, round which the elder women sat, while the younger preferred +the shade of a thicket. The priest took a loaf of bread in one hand, and +in the other, a large cup of shuat, (a kind of wine) and holding them out +towards the cross, blessed them. While he did this, men, women, and +children, knelt around, and bowed their heads to the ground. Afterwards, +the shuat and the bread were handed about amongst the company. But this +was only the beginning of the feast. Afterwards, a calf, a sheep, and two +goats were brought to the cross to be blessed. Then a little of their +hair was singed by a taper, and then they were taken away to be +slaughtered. Now the merriment began: some moved forward to cut up the +animals, and to boil their flesh in large kettles on fires kindled on the +green; many young men amused themselves with racing, leaping, and +hurling stones, while the elder people sat and talked. When the meat was +boiled, it was distributed among the sixty tables, and then the priest +blessed the food. And then the feasting began. Does it not seem as if the +Circassians must once have learned about Jesus crucified, and about his +supper of bread and wine, and about the Jewish feasts and sacrifices? +Once, perhaps, they knew the true religion, but they soon forgot it, and +though they still remember the _Cross_, they have forgotten _Christ_; and +though they still bless the bread and the cup, they know nothing of +redeeming love. Do you not long to send missionaries to Circassia? Well, +some good Scotch missionaries went there some years ago, but alas! the +Russians sent them away. Their thatched cottages may still be seen, and +their fruitful orchards, but they themselves are gone. There are, +however, a few German Christians in Circassia. They are not missionaries, +but only farmers, therefore the Russians allow them to remain. They have +a little church, where the Bible is read, and God is worshipped. You will +be glad to hear a few Circassians may be seen amongst the congregation; +they were converted by the Scotch missionaries, and they have remained +faithful amongst their heathen neighbors. + +Circassia is situated between two seas:-- + +The Black Sea, and + +The Caspian Sea. + +What a wonderful place is the Caspian Sea. It is like a lake, only so +immensely large, that it is called a sea. The waters of lakes are fresh, +like those of rivers; but the waters of the Caspian are salt, but not so +salt as the salt sea. The shores of the Caspian are flat, and +unwholesome. You might think as you stood there, that you were by the +great ocean, for there are waves breaking on the sands, and water as far +as the eye can reach, but there is no freshness in the air as by the real +sea. + +The mountains of Caucasus run through Circassia. They are quite low +compared to the Himalaya; they are about the height of the Alps, and the +tops are covered with snow. But the valleys between these mountains, are +not like the Swiss valleys, which are broad and pleasant; but these +valleys are narrow, and dark, and not fit to live in, yet they are of +great use as hiding-places for the Circassians. When pursued by a +Russian, a Circassian will urge his horse to dash down the dark valley, +and lest his horse should be alarmed by the sight of the dangerous depth +below, he will cover the animal's eyes with his cloak. Thus, many a bold +rider escapes from a cruel soldier. + + + + +GEORGIA. + + +When you hear of Circassia, you will generally hear of Georgia too, for +the countries lie close together, and resemble one another in many +respects. But though so near, their climate is different; for Circassia +lies beyond the mountains of Caucasus, and is therefore, exposed to the +cold winds of the north. But Georgia lies beneath the mountains, and is +sheltered from the chill blasts. Georgia is, therefore, far more fruitful +than Circassia, the people, too, are less fair, and less industrious. The +sides of the hills are clothed with vines, and houses with deep verandahs +are scattered among the vineyards, and women wrapped in long white sheets +may be seen reposing in the porticoes, enjoying the soft air, and lovely +prospect. While Circassian ladies are busy weaving and milking, the +Georgian ladies loll upon their couches, and do nothing. Which do you +think are the happier? These Georgian ladies, too, though very handsome, +are much disfigured by painted faces, and stained eyebrows. Their +countenances, too, are lifeless, and silly, as might be expected, since +they waste their time in idleness. Over their foreheads, they wear a kind +of low crown, called a tiara. + +There is no country where so much wine is drank as in Georgia, even a +laborer is allowed five bottles a day. The grapes are exceedingly fine, +quite different from the little berries called grapes in Circassia. The +casks are very curious, they are the skins of buffaloes, and as the tails +and legs are not cut off, a skin filled with wine looks like a dead, or a +sleeping buffalo. + +And what is the religion of Georgia? It is the Russian religion, because +the Russians have conquered the country. They cannot conquer the brave, +and active Circassians, but they have conquered the soft, and indolent +Georgians. The Georgians are called Christians, but the Greek Church, +which is the Russian religion, is a Christianity, laden with ceremonies +and false doctrines. + + +TIFLIS. + +There is but one town in Georgia. It is beautifully situated on the steep +banks of a river, with terraces of houses, embosomed in vineyards. So +little do the people care for reading, that there is not a bookseller's +shop in the town, and it is very seldom that a bookcase is seen in a +house; for the Georgians love show, and entertainments, and idleness, but +not study. + + + + +TARTARY. + + +This is one of the largest countries in the world, yet it does not +contain as many people as the small land of France. How is this? You will +not be surprised that many people do not live there, when you hear what +sort of a country it is. + +Fancy a country quite flat, as far as eye can see, except where a few low +sand-hills rise; a country quite bare, except where the coarse grass +grows;--a country quite dry, except where some narrow muddy streams run. +Such is Tartary. What is a country without hills, without trees, without +brooks? Can it be pleasant? This flat, bare, dry plain, is called the +steppes of Tartary. In one part of Tartary, there is a chain of +mountains, and there are a few towns, and trees, but _very few_. You may +travel a long while without seeing one. + +Nothing can be so dreary as the steppes appear in winter time. The high +wind sweeping along the plain, drives the snow into high heaps, and often +hurls the poor animals into a cold grave. Sledges cannot be used, +because they cannot slide on such uneven ground. But if the _white_ +ground looks dreary in winter, the _black_ ground looks hideous in +summer; for the hot sun turns the grass black, and fills the air with +black dust, and there are no shady groves, no cool hills, no refreshing +brooks. There must, indeed, be a _little_ shade among the thistles, as +they grow to twice the height of a man; but how different is such shade +from the shade of spreading oaks like ours! Instead of nice fruit, there +is bitter wormwood growing among the grass, and when the cows eat it, +their milk becomes bitter. + +WILD ANIMALS.--The most common, is a pretty little creature called the +sooslik. It is very much like a squirrel. + +But can it live where squirrels live,--in the hollows of trees? Where are +the trees in the steppe? The sooslik makes a house for itself by digging +a hole in the ground, just as rabbits do in England. Will it not surprise +you to hear that wolves follow the same plan, and even the wild dogs? The +houses the dogs make are very convenient, for the entrance is very +narrow, and there is plenty of room below. + +There are some very odious animals on the steppe. Snakes and toads. Yes, +showers of toads sometimes fall. But neither snakes nor toads are as +great a plague as locusts. These little animals, not bigger than a +child's thumb, are more to be dreaded than a troop of wolves. And why? +Because they come in such immense numbers. The eggs lie hid in the ground +all the winter. O if it were known _where_ they were concealed, they +would soon be destroyed. But no one knows where they are till they are +hatched. In the first warm days of spring the young animals come forth, +and immediately they begin crawling on the ground in one immense flock, +eating up all the grass as they pass along; in a month they can fly, and +then they darken the air like a thick cloud; wherever any green appears, +they drop down and settle on the spot. The noise they make in eating can +be heard to a great distance, and the noise they make in flying is like +the rustling of leaves in a forest. They cannot be destroyed: but there +are two things they hate,--smoke and noise,--and by these they are +sometimes scared and induced to fly away. + +PEOPLE AND CUSTOMS.--Besides the wild animals, there are tame animals, +who inhabit the steppe with men and women who take care of them. They are +all wanderers, both men and beasts. You can easily guess why they wander. +It is to find sufficient grass for the cattle. + +Every six weeks the Tartars move to a new place. Yet one place is so like +another, that no place appears new;--there is always the same immense +plain--without a cottage, or an orchard, a green hill, or running brook, +to make any spot remembered. It is great labor to the Tartar women to +pack up the tents and to place them on the backs of the camels, and then +to unpack and to pitch the tents. It is a great disgrace to the men to +suffer the women to work as hard as they do: but the men are very idle, +and like to sit by their tents smoking and drinking, while their wives +are toiling and striving with all their might. The women have the care of +all the cattle: and the men attend only to the horses. Perhaps they would +not even do this, were it not that they are very fond of riding; and such +riders as the Tartars are seldom seen. + +To give you an idea how they ride, I will describe one scene that took +place on the steppe. + +Some travellers from Europe were on a visit to a Tartar prince: (for +there are _princes_ in the desert,) and they were taken to see a herd of +wild horses. The prince wished to have one of these wild horses caught. +It is not easy to do this. But Tartars know the way. Six men mounted a +tame horse, and rushed into the midst of the wild horses. Each of the men +had a great noose in his hand. They all looked at the prince to know +which horse he would have caught. When they saw the prince give a sign, +one of the men soon noosed a young horse. The creature seemed terrified +when it found that it was caught: his eyes started out, his nostrils +seemed to smoke. Presently a man came running up, sprang upon the back of +the wild horse, and by cutting the straps round his neck, set him at +liberty. In an instant the horse darted away with the swiftness of an +arrow; yet the man firmly kept his seat. The animal seemed greatly +alarmed at his strange burden, and tried every plan to get rid of +it;--now suddenly stopping,--now crawling on the grass like a worm,--now +rolling,--now rearing,--now dashing forward in a fast gallop through the +midst of the herd; yet all would not do; the rider clung to the horse as +closely as ever. + +But how was the rider ever to get off his fiery steed? That would be +difficult indeed; but help was sent to him by the prince. Two men on +horseback rode after him, and between them they snatched away the man +from the trembling and foaming horse. The animal, surprised to find his +load suddenly gone, stood stupefied for a moment, and then darted off to +join his companions. What _this_ man did,--_many_ Tartars can do: and +even _little boys_ will mount wild horses, and keep on by clinging to +their manes: _women_, too, will gallop about on wild horses. + +In Circassia the customs are very different; for though _men_ ride so +well, _women_ there never ride at all; and surely it is far better not to +ride than to be as bold as a Tartar woman. + +FOOD.--What can be the food of the Tartars? Not bread, (for there is no +corn,) nor fruit, nor vegetables. The flocks and herds are the food. The +favorite meat is horse-flesh; though mutton and beef are eaten also. Then +there is plenty of milk--both cow's milk and sheep's milk. As there is +milk, there is butter and cheese. But it is very unwholesome to live on +meat and milk without bread and vegetables. The water, too, is very bad; +for it is taken from the muddy rivers, and not from clear springs. It is +a comfort for the Tartar that he can procure tea from China. Their tea is +indeed very unlike the tea brought to England; for it comes to Tartary in +hard lumps, shaped like bricks. It is boiled in a saucepan with water, +and then mixed with milk, butter, and salt. Thus you see the Tartar needs +neither tea-kettle, teapot, nor sugar basin. + +It would be well if tea and milk were the only drinks in Tartary; but a +sort of spirit is distilled by the Tartars from mare's milk; and brandy +also is brought from Russia. + +TENTS.--A Tartar tent is very unlike an Arab tent. + +It is in the shape of a hut, for the sides are upright, and the roof only +is slanting, and there is a small hole at the top to let the smoke +escape. Neither is it made of skins, but of thick woollen stuff, called +felt, which keeps the cold out. At night the entrance is closed, and the +family sleep on mats around the fire in the midst. + +APPEARANCE.--The Tartars are not handsome like the Turks and Circassians. +They are short and thick; their faces are broad and bony, their eyes very +small, and only half open; their noses flat, their lips thick, their +chins pointed, their ears large and flapping, and their skin dark and +yellow. + +Their dress is warm, and well suited for riding in the desert. Different +tribes have different dresses: this is the dress of the Kalmuck Tartar. +He wears a yellow cloth cap trimmed with black lamb-skin; wide trowsers, +a tight jacket, and over all a loose tunic, fastened round the waist. His +boots are red, with high heels. The women dress like the men; but they +let their hair grow in two long tresses, while the men shave part of +their heads, and keep only _one_ lock of hair hanging on their shoulders. + +[Illustration: TARTAR TENTS.] + +You see that the Tartars are much like the Chinese in their persons and +dress; but they are a much stronger, bolder people, and much more +ignorant. No wonder, therefore, that many years ago the Tartars got over +the Chinese wall, and took possession of the Chinese throne. You must not +forget that the Emperor of China is a Tartar. + +GOVERNMENT.--To whom does Tartary belong? Has it a king of its own? No. +Once it had many kings, called khans; but now the khans have lost their +power, and are only _called_ khan to do them honor. Now Tartary belongs +to the great empires on each side of it,--Russia and China. Part of +Tartary is called Russian Tartary, and part--Chinese Tartary. There is +only a small part that is not conquered; and it is called Independent +Tartary. + +There are many different tribes, and each tribe keeps to a certain part +of the land, and never ventures to wander beyond its own bounds. + +RELIGION.--The religion is the same as that which is so common in +China,--the religion of Buddha; but in some parts of Tartary there is the +religion of Mahomet. It is sad to think that far more people in the world +worship Buddha, the deceiver, than Jesus, the Son of God. The Tartars +think to please their false god by making a loud noise. It would astonish +a stranger to hear their jingling bells, shrill horns, squeaking shells, +bellowing trumpets, and deafening drums. How unlike is their senseless +noise to the sweet sound of a Christian hymn! + +The Tartars think also to please their gods by glaring colors; so their +priests dress in red and yellow, and bear flags, adorned with strips of +gay silk. A band of priests looks something like a regiment of soldiers. + +The chief priest is called the Lama, and he is worshipped as a god; but +his situation is not very pleasant; for he is not allowed to walk without +help. Whenever he attempts to walk, he is held up by a man on each side, +as if he were an infant; and usually he is drawn in a car, or carried in +a palanquin. From want of exercise, he becomes very weak and helpless. +When he dies, his body is burned, and the ashes are gathered up and made +into an idol. Thus he continues to be a god after he is dead. Another +Lama is chosen by one of the princes. There are many Lamas in Tartary for +the various tribes. + +As the Tartars are always moving about, a tent serves for a temple; and +the idols are carried in great chests. They cannot walk, therefore they +must be carried. What use are such gods? + +The Tartars have found out a way of praying without any trouble; and it +is a way that suits idols very well. They get some prayers written, and +place them in a drum, and then turn the drum round and round with a +string. This they call praying; and while they are thus praying, they can +be chattering, smoking, and even quarrelling. The princes have a still +easier way of offering up prayers. They write prayers upon a flag, and +then place it before their tents for the wind to blow it about. + +This is _their_ way of praying to their gods. + +And what, my dear child, is _your_ way of praying to your God? + +Have missionaries visited the Tartars? + +Yes; I will tell you of two German missionaries, who tried to convert a +tribe of Tartars called the Kalmucks, living near the Caspian Sea and the +river Volga. These good men were treated with great contempt by the +Tartars. The missionaries translated the Gospel of St. Matthew into the +Tartar language. One of the Tartars, instead of thanking them, observed, +"I wonder you should take so much trouble to prepare a book that we shall +never read." When the precious books were given to the Tartars, some of +them returned the books; and when it was read to them, they scornfully +said, as they turned away, "It is only the history of Jesus." + +At last one Tartar, named Sodnom, believed in Jesus. He said to the +missionaries, "Now the Tartars, from my example, may turn to the Lord: +for as, when sheep are to be washed, each is afraid to enter the water +till _one_ has been in, so it may be with my countrymen." + +Sodnom read every evening in the Testament to his family in the tent. At +first his wife was displeased, and said that her husband wasted the +fire-wood in making a light to read a book that was of no use. But +afterwards she listened, and made the children keep quiet. The neighbors +also listened, and _twenty-two_ turned to the Lord! + +Then the prince and the priests grew angry, and said the Christians must +leave the camp. Where could the Christians go? There was a village called +Sarepta, where some Germans lived. There they determined to go, though it +was two hundred miles off. One of the missionaries led the way on +horseback; the Tartars followed on foot: then came camels bearing the +tents and the women, while a bullock-cart contained the young children. +The flocks and herds were driven by the bigger children. + +The good Germans in Sarepta received the Tartars with great joy. One +gray-headed man of eighty-three came to meet them, leaning upon his +staff. He said he had been praying that he might see a _Christian_ Tartar +before he died. He heard these Tartars sing hymns to the praise of +Jesus, and he felt his prayers were answered. Two days afterwards he +died. Like old Simeon, he might have said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy +servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." + +The Christians went to live in a small island in the river Volga. When +the river was frozen, the Germans went over the ice to visit them. Sodnom +gave them tea mixed with fat in a large wooden bowl; and to please him, +the kind Germans drank some, though they did not like it. Many Tartars +assembled in Sodnom's tent, and seated on the ground smoking their pipes, +talked together about heavenly things; and before they parted, they put +away their pipes, and folding their hands, sang hymns in their own +language. The Germans, in taking leave, divided a large loaf among the +company; for bread is considered quite a dainty by the Tartars. + +The change that had taken place in these Tartars filled the Germans with +joy; and more missionaries would have gone to teach the heathen Kalmucks, +had not the Emperor of Russia forbidden them. + + +ASTRACAN. + +This city is on the Caspian Sea. It is very unpleasant, on account of the +heat and the gnats. + +Not only Tartars dwell there, but many people of all nations, Russians, +Hindoos, and Armenians. The chief trade of Astracan is in the fish of the +sea, and in the salt on the shores. + + +BOKHARA (IN TARTARY). + +This is a kingdom in the midst of Tartary. It lies at the south of the +Caspian Sea. It is not like the rest of Tartary, for it is a sweet green +spot. Travellers have said that it is the most beautiful spot in the +world, but that is not true. The reason that travellers have said so, is +that, after passing through a great desert, they have been charmed at +seeing again running streams, and shady groves. + +But though Bokhara is a beautiful place, it is a wicked place. + +The king is one of the greatest tyrants in the world. He is called the +Amir. + +The city where he dwells is called Bokhara (which is also the name of the +whole country). His palace is on a high mound, in the midst of splendid +mosques, and mansions. Amongst these grand buildings is the prison, a +place of horrible cruelty. There the prisoners lie in the dark, and the +damp. One use of the prison is to keep water cool for the king in summer; +it feels therefore just like a cellar. + +But the worst dungeon, is filled with stinging insects, called "ticks," +reared on purpose to torment prisoners. In order to keep the ticks alive +when no prisoners are there, raw meat is thrown into the place. There is +also a deep pit into which men are let down with ropes; as once the holy +Jeremiah was in Jerusalem. + +Once a fortnight the prisoners are judged by the Amir. Even when the +ground is covered with snow they stand with bare feet, waiting for hours +till the Amir appears. + +Can so cruel a monarch be happy? No. He lives in constant fear of his +life. + +He is afraid of drinking water, lest it should be poisoned. All that he +drinks is brought from the river in skins, and sealed, and guarded by two +officers; it is then taken to the chief counsellor, called the Vizier, +and tasted by him, and his servants; it is then sealed again, and sent to +his majesty. + +The Amir's dinner when it is ready, is not placed on the royal table, but +locked up in a box, and taken to the Vizier to be tasted, before it is +served up in the palace. + +But it is not the Amir only who is afraid of poison. No one will accept +fruit from another, unless that other tastes it first. It must be very +terrible to live in the midst of such murderers as the people of Bokhara +seem to be. + +The Amir is so much afraid of people making plans to destroy him, that he +chooses to see all the letters that are written by his subjects; if a +husband write to his wife, the letter must first be shown to the Amir. +There are boys, too, going about the city listening to all that is said, +that they may let the Amir know, if any one speak against him. + +But while the Amir is watching his people, _they_ are watching _him_; for +his chief officers hire men to listen to the Amir's conversation, that +they may know if he intends to kill them. Yet every person _appears_ to +approve all the Amir does, saying on every occasion, "It is the act of a +king; it must be good." They are such people as Jeremiah describes in the +Bible. "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit; one +_speaketh_ peaceably to his neighbor, but in his _heart_ he lieth his +wait."--(Jer. ix. 8.) + +APPEARANCE.--The people in Bokhara are much handsomer than other +Tartars; their complexions are fairer, and their hair is of a lighter +color. They wear large white turbans, and several dark pelisses with +high-heeled boots. These high heels prevent their walking well, and most +people, both men and women, ride; but the ladies always hide their faces +with a veil of black hair cloth. + +The large court of the palace is filled from morning to night with a +crowd of noisy people, most of them mounted on horses and donkeys. + +In the midst of the court is the fruit market. It is wonderful to behold +the quantity, and beauty of the fruits. The same fruits grow in Bokhara +as in England, only they are much finer. _Such_ grapes, plums, and +apricots, mulberries, and melons, are never seen in Europe, and they are +made more refreshing by being mixed with chopped ice. Large piles of ice +stand all the summer long in the market-place, and even beggars drink +iced water. But hot tea is preferred before any other drink. In every +corner of the market there are large urns of hot tea, and small bowls of +rich milk, surrounded all day by a thirsty crowd. How much better is this +sight than the gin palaces of London! + +But there is one great inconvenience in Bokhara, for which all its fruits +can scarcely make amends. There is bad water. For Bokhara is not built +on the banks of a river, or among running brooks: all the water is +brought by canals, from a small stream near the town, and when the canals +are dried up by the heat, there is no water, except in the tanks where it +is kept. This stagnant water produces a disease called the Guinea worm. +In this complaint the skin is covered with painful swellings, and when +they burst, a little flat worm is discovered in each, which must be drawn +out before the poor sufferer can recover. + +RELIGION.--It is the Mahomedan. The Amir is a strict observer of his +religion. Every Friday he may be seen going to prayers in his great +mosque. The Koran is carried before him, and four men with golden staves +accompany him, crying out, "Pray to God that the Commander of the +Faithful may act justly." As he passes by, his people stroke their beards +to show their respect. Bokhara is reckoned by Mahomedans a very religious +city; for in every street there is a mosque; every evening people may be +seen crowding to prayers; and if boys are caught asleep during service, +they are tied together, and driven round the market by an officer, who +beats them all the way with a thick thong. + +There is a school, too, in almost every street of Bokhara, and there the +poor boys sit from sunrise, till an hour before sunset, bawling out +their foolish lessons from the Koran; and during all that time they are +never allowed to go home, except once for some bread. They have no time +for play, except in the evening, and no holiday, except on Friday. Seven +years they spend in this manner, learning to read and write. When they +leave school, if they wish to be counted very wise, they go to one of the +colleges; for there are many in Bokhara. Some spend all their lives in +these colleges, living in small cells, and meeting in a large hall to +hear lectures about the Mahomedan religion. It is a happy thing, however, +that in summer the students go out to work in the fields; for how much +better is it to work with the hands, than to fill the head with the +wicked inventions of Mahomed. + +The Mahomedans, however, are very proud of their religion, because they +_say_, they do not worship idols; (yet they do worship at Mecca, a black +stone, and other like things in other places). They imagine that _all_ +Christians are idolaters, for they know that the Russians bow down to +pictures. + +Once the Vizier of Bokhara conversed a long while with two Englishmen +about their religion. + +He asked them, "Do you worship idols?" + +The Englishmen replied, "No." + +The Vizier would not believe them, but said, "I am sure you have images +and crosses hung round your necks." + +Upon which, they opened their vests to show there was nothing hidden. + +Then the Vizier smiled, and said to his servants, "They are not bad +people." + +As the servants were preparing tea, the Vizier took a cup, and said to +the travellers, "You must drink with us, for you are people of the Book," +meaning the Bible. + +Yet you must not suppose because the Vizier seemed to approve these +Christians, that he, and the Amir, would allow missionaries to settle in +the kingdom. + +It is dangerous for Englishmen to visit Bokhara. When they do come, they +must be very careful not to give offence, or they will lose their lives. +Englishmen are more dreaded than any other people, because it is known in +Bokhara, that they have conquered Hindostan, and therefore the Amir fears +lest they should conquer his kingdom also. As soon as an Englishman +enters Bokhara, he is forbidden to write a letter, for fear he should +contrive some plan to bring enemies there. Neither is he allowed to ride +in the streets; none but Mahomedans are allowed to ride in them, though +any one may ride _outside_ the city. + +Some years ago two Englishmen came to Bokhara, named Colonel Stoddart, +and Captain Conolly. They acted foolishly in writing letters, and trying +to send them secretly to their friends. They were found out, and shut up. + +Colonel Stoddart behaved very wickedly in one respect; he pretended to be +a Mahomedan! Was not this wicked? Soon he grew sorry, and declared +himself a Christian. At last both Stoddart and Conolly were sentenced to +die. They were led with their hands tied behind them to a place near the +palace, to be executed. Conolly as he went along, cried out, "Woe, woe to +me, for I have fallen into the hands of a tyrant." At the place of +execution the two Englishmen kissed each other. + +Stoddart said to the king's minister, (for the Amir was not present,) +"Tell the Amir that I die a disbeliever in Mahomed, but a believer in +Jesus. I am a Christian, and a Christian I die." + +Then Conolly said to his friend, "We shall see each other in paradise +near Jesus." + +These were their last words. Immediately afterwards their heads were cut +off with a knife. + +Some time after this cruel murder, a clergyman, named Joseph Wolff, +arrived at Bukhara. He had travelled all the way from England, and all +alone, on purpose to inquire after Conolly, who had been his dear friend. +The Amir was surprised at his coming, and said, "I have taken thousands +of _Persians_ and made them slaves, and no one came from Persia to +inquire what was become of them; but as soon as I take two ENGLISHMEN +prisoners, behold a man comes all this long way to inquire after _them!_" + +The Amir did not know how precious are the lives of Englishmen in the +eyes of their countrymen. + +Joseph Wolff found it hard to get away from Bokhara. He was kept a long +while in prison, and he feared he should be slain; for when he asked the +Amir to give him the bones of Stoddart and Conolly to take to England, +this was the Amir's answer: "I shall send YOUR bones!" Yet, after all, he +was permitted to leave Bokhara, the Lord graciously inclining the tyrant +to let him go. + +How can Missionaries be sent to such a country! + + * * * * * + +Bokhara is the only large town in the kingdom. + +The sea of Aral lies to the north of the kingdom: it is an immense lake, +but not nearly so large as the Caspian Sea. + +The river Oxus flows into the Caspian. It is famous for its golden sands. + +The great trade of Bokhara is in black woolly lamb-skins, to make caps +for the Persians: the younger the lamb the more delicate the wool. Thus +many a pretty lambkin dies to adorn a Persian noble. + +The best raisins in the world come from Bokhara.[8] + + +THE TOORKMAN TARTARS. + +You have heard a great deal of the Tartars, and you have been told that +they are a quiet and peaceable nation. But not _all_; there is a tribe of +Tartars called the Toorkmans, of a very different character. They wander +about in the country between Bokhara and Persia, and their chief +employment is to steal men from Persia, and to sell them in Bokhara as +slaves. A whole troop, mounted on horses, rush sword in hand upon a +Persian city, and return to the camp with hundreds of beasts and human +creatures as their captives. + +Some English travellers once met five men chained together, walking with +sad steps in the deep sands of the desert. They were Persians just caught +by the Toorkmans, and on their way to Bokhara. When the Englishmen saw +these poor captives, they uttered a sorrowful cry, and the Persians began +to weep. One of the travellers stopped his camel to listen to their sad +tale; and he heard that a few weeks before, while working in the fields, +they had been seized and carried off. They were hungry and thirsty; for +the Toorkmans cruelly starve their slaves, in order that they may be too +weak to run away. The traveller gave them all he had, which was a melon, +to quench their thirst. + +But the worst part of the Toorkmans' conduct remains yet to be told. When +they have taken many captives, they usually _kill_ the old people, +because they would not get much money for them in Bokhara; and they +choose _one_ of their captives to offer up as a thank-offering to their +god!! Who is their god? The god of Mahomed. But though they are +Mahomedans, they have no mosques, and are too ignorant to be able to read +the Koran. + +Robbery is their whole business. For this purpose they learn to ride and +to fight. They understand well how to manage a horse, so as to make him +strong and swift. They do not let him eat when he pleases, but they give +him three meals a day of hay and barley, and then rein him up that he may +not nibble the grass, and grow fat; and sometimes they give him no food +at all, and yet make him gallop many miles. By this management the horses +are very thin, but very _strong_, and able to bear their masters eighty +miles in a day when required; and they are so swift that they can outrun +their pursuers. + +It is not surprising that the Toorkmans do not eat these thin horses, +though other Tartars are so fond of horse-flesh. They prefer mutton. When +they invite a stranger to dinner, they boil a whole sheep in a large +boiling-pot; then tear up the flesh,--mix it with crumbled bread, and +serve it up in wooden bowls. Two persons eat from one bowl, dipping their +hands into it, and licking up their food like dogs. The meal is finished +by eating melons. + +These coarse manners suit such fierce and wild creatures as the +Toorkmans. It is their boast that they rest neither under the shadow of a +TREE nor of a KING: meaning that they have neither trees nor kings to +protect them in the desert. + +The men wear high caps of black sheep-skin, while the Women wear high +white turbans. The tents are adorned with beautiful carpets, not only the +floors, but the sides, and it is the chief employment of the women to +weave them. As for the men, they spend most of their time in sauntering +about among the tents; for the fierce dogs guard the flocks. But when +their hands are idle, their thoughts are still busy in planning new +robberies and murders. + +It was by such men that the earth was inhabited when God sent the flood +to destroy it. It is written, "The earth was filled with VIOLENCE." + +Is there any man brave enough to go to these men to warn them of the +judgment to come, and to tell them of pardon for the penitent, through +the blood of Jesus?[9] + + [8] Taken from Sir Alexander Burnes, and from Kanikoff, the + Russian, and from Rev. Joseph Wolff. + + [9] Extracted from Sir Alexander Burnes' "Bokhara." + + + + +CHINESE TARTARY. + + +Very little is known in Europe of this part of Tartary; and why? Because +the Emperor of China, who reigns over it, does not like travellers to go +there. + +It is divided by high and snowy mountains from the rest of Tartary. When +a traveller has passed over these mountains, he finds on the other side +Chinese officers, who inquire what business he has come upon. If he have +come only to wander about the country, he is desired to go home again; +because the Chinese are afraid lest strangers should send spies, and then +ARMIES--to conquer their empire. + +One traveller, because he stayed too long in Tartary, was imprisoned for +three months; and before he was let go, a picture of him was taken. What +was done with this picture? It was copied, and the copies were sent to +various towns on the borders of Chinese Tartary, with this command, "If +the man, who is like this picture, enter the country, his head is the +Emperor's, and his property is _yours_." Happily the traveller heard of +this command, and was never seen again in the country. You see how +cunning it was of the Chinese to allow any one who killed the traveller +to have his property; for thus they made it the interest of all to kill +him. + +There is one city in Chinese Tartary where many strangers come to trade +with the people. It is called Yarkund. There caravans arrive from Pekin, +laden with tea, after a journey of five months over the wilds of Tartary. +Then merchants come from Bokhara to buy the tea, and to carry it home, +where it is so much liked. + + + + +AFFGHANISTAN. + + +This land is not a desert. Yet there are but few trees, and because there +is so little shade, the rivulets are soon dried up. Yet it might be a +fruitful land, if the inhabitants would plant and sow. But they prefer +wandering about in tents, and living upon plunder, to settling in one +place and living by their labor. The Tartar has good reason for roaming +over his plains, because the land is bad; but the Affghan has no reason, +but the _love_ of roaming. + +The plains of Affghanistan are sultry, but the mountains are cool; for +their tops are covered with snow. The shepherds feed their flocks on the +plains during the winter; but in the spring they lead them to the +mountains to pass the summer there. Then the air is filled with the sweet +scent of clover and violets. The sheep often stop to browse upon the +fresh pasture; but they are not suffered to linger long. The children +have the charge of the lambs; an old goat or sheep goes before to +encourage the lambs to proceed, and the children follow with switches of +green grass. Many a little child who can only just run alone, enjoys the +sport of driving the young lambs. The tents are borne on the backs of +camels. The men are terrible-looking creatures, tall, large, dark, and +grim, with shaggy hair and long black beards. They wear great turbans of +blue check and handsome jackets, and cloaks of sheep-skin; they carry in +their girdles knives as large as a butcher's; and on their shoulders a +shield and a gun. + +Besides these wild wanderers, there are some Affghans who live in houses. + +Cabool, the capital, is a fine city, and the king dwells in a fine +citadel. The bazaar is the finest in all Asia. It is like a street with +many arches across it; and these people sell all kinds of goods. + +But what is a fine _bazaar_ compared to a beautiful _garden?_ Cabool is +surrounded by gardens: the most beautiful is the king's. In the midst is +an octagon summer-house, where eight walks meet, and all the walks are +shaded by fruit-trees. Here grow, as in Bokhara, the best fruits to be +found in an English garden, only much larger and sweeter. The same kind +of birds, too, which sing in England sing among its branches, even the +melodious nightingale. It is the chief delight of the people of Cabool to +wander in the gardens: they come there every evening, after having spent +the day in sauntering about the bazaar; for they are an idle people, +talking much and working little. + +The noise in the city is so great that it is difficult to make a friend +hear what you say: it is not the noise of rumbling wheels as in London, +for there are no wheeled carriages, but the noise of chattering tongues. + +The Affghans are a temperate people; they live chiefly upon fruit with a +little bread; and as they are Mahomedans, they avoid wine, and drink +instead iced sherbets, made of the juice of fruits. In winter excellent +_dried_ fruits supply the place of fresh. + +But the Affghan, though living on fruits, is far from being a harmless +and amiable character; on the contrary, he is cruel, covetous, and +treacherous. Much British blood has been shed in the valleys of +Affghanistan. + +We cannot blame the Affghans for defending their own country. It was +natural for them to ask, "What right has Britain to interfere with us?" + +A British army was once sent to Affghanistan to force the people to have +a king they did not like, instead of one they did like. + +I will tell you of a youth who accompanied his father to the wars. This +boy looked forward with delight to going as a soldier to a foreign land, +and his heart beat high when the trumpet sounded to summon the troops to +embark. Joyfully he quitted Bombay, crossed the Indian Ocean, and landed +near the mouth of the Indus. When the army began its march towards +Affghanistan, he rode on a pony by his father's side. + +At first it seemed pleasant to pitch the tent in a new spot every day, to +rest during the heat, and to travel in the dead of the night, till the +sun was high in the sky. But soon this way of life was found fatiguing, +for the heat was great, and the water scarce. The air, too, was clouded +by the dust the troops raised in marching; and green grass was seldom +seen, or a shady tree under which to rest. The food, too, was dry and +stale, and no fresh food could be procured, for the Affghans, before they +fled, destroyed the corn and fruit growing in the fields, that their +enemies might not eat them. The camels, too, which bore the baggage of +the British army, grew ill from heat and thirst; for it is not true that +camels can live _long_ without water; in three or four days they die. +Besides this, the hard rocks in the hilly country hurt their feet, and +hastened their death. Many a camel died as it was seeking to quench its +thirst at a narrow stream in the valley, and its dead body falling into +the water, polluted it. Yet this water the soldiers drank, for they had +no other, and from drinking it they fell ill. The father of the youthful +soldier was one of these, and he was compelled to stop on the way for +several weeks; and because the heat of a tent was too great, he took +shelter in a ruined building. Here his son nursed him with a heavy heart. +Where was the delight the youth had expected to find in a soldier's life? + +At last the British army reached a strong fort built on the top of a +hill; Guznee was its name. Its walls and gates were so strong that it +seemed impossible to get into the city; yet the British knew that if they +did _not_, they must die either by the Affghan sword, or by hunger and +thirst among the rocks. For some time they were much perplexed and +distressed. At last a thought came into the mind of a British captain, +"Let us blow up the gates with gunpowder." The plan was good; but how to +perform it,--there was the difficulty. Soon all was arranged. In the +night some sacks of gunpowder were laid very softly against the gates; +but as no one could set fire to the sacks when _close_ to them, a long +pipe of cloth was filled with gunpowder, and stretched like a serpent +upon the ground; one end of the pipe touched the sack, and the other end +was to be set on fire. But before the match was applied, a British +officer peeped through a chink in the gates to see what the Affghans were +doing within. Behold! they were quietly smoking, and eating their supper, +not suspecting any danger! The match was applied--the gunpowder exploded, +and the strong gates were shattered into a thousand pieces; the army +rushed in sword in hand, and the Affghans fled in wild confusion. + +Where was our young soldier? He was running into the fort between two +friendly soldiers, who kindly helped him on; each of them was holding one +of his arms, and assisting him to keep up with the troops, as they rushed +through the gates. As he ran, he heard horrible cries, but the darkness +hindered him from seeing the dying Affghans rolling in the dust, only he +felt their soft bodies as he hastily passed over them. He heard his +fellow-soldiers shouting and firing on every side. Some fell close beside +him, and others were wounded, and carried off on the shoulders of their +comrades, screaming with agony. + +Half an hour after the gates were fired, the city was taken. The news of +the victory spread among the Affghans on the mountains, and the plains, +and the whole country submitted to the British. + +The army soon marched to Cabool, that proud city. No one opposed their +entrance, and the bazaar, and the king's garden, and the royal citadel +were visited by our soldiers. + +After spending two months in beautiful Cabool, resting their weary limbs +and feasting on fine fruits, the army was ordered to return home. They +began to march again towards the coast, a distance of fifteen hundred +miles, over cragged rocks, and scorching plains. + +In the course of this terrible journey, the father of the young soldier +again fell ill, and was forced to stop by the way. His affectionate son +nursed him night and day; closed his eyes in death, and saw him laid in a +lowly grave in the desert. With a bleeding heart the youth embarked to +return to Bombay. + +During the voyage, a furious storm arose, and all on board despaired of +life. _Then_ it was the youth remembered the prayers he had offered up by +his dying father's bed; _then_ it was he felt he had not turned to God +with all his heart, and _then_ it was he vowed, that if the Lord would +spare him this _once_, he would seek his face in truth. God heard and +spared. + +And did the youth remember his prayers and vows? He did, though not at +_first_,--yet after a little while he _did_. He read the word of God, he +prayed for the Spirit of God, and at length he enjoyed the peace of God; +and now he neither fears storm nor sword, because Christ is his shelter +and his shield. + + + + +BELOOCHISTAN. + + +Just underneath Affghanistan, lies Beloochistan, by the sea coast. It is +separated from India by the river Indus. You may know a Beloochee from an +Affghan by his stiff red cotton cap, in the shape of a hat without a +brim; whereas, an Affghan wears a turban. Yet the religion of the +Beloochee is the same as that of the Affghan, namely, the Mahomedan, and +the character is alike, only the Beloochee is the fiercer of the two: the +country also is alike, being wild and rocky. + +Beloochistan has not been conquered by the British: it has a king of its +own; yet the British have fought against Beloochistan. On one occasion a +British army was sent to punish the king of Beloochistan for not having +sent corn to us, as he had promised. + +The army consisted of three thousand men, and amongst them was the young +soldier, of whom you have heard so much already. His father was ill at +the time, and could not fight; but the youth came upon his pony, with a +camel to carry his tent, and all his baggage. + +The troops as usual marched in the night. In the morning, about eight +o'clock, they first caught sight of Kelat, the capital of Beloochistan. +It was a grand sight, for the city is built on a high hill, with a +citadel at the top. The dark Beloochees were seen thronging about the +walls and the towers, gazing at the British army, but not daring to +approach them. + +Our soldiers, when they first arrived, were too much tired to begin the +attack, and therefore they rested on the grass for two hours. At ten +o'clock the word of command was given, and the attack was made. The +British planted their six cannons opposite the gates, and began to fire. + +Where was the young soldier? He was commanded to run with his company +close up to the wall, and there to remain. As he ran, he was exposed to +the full fire of the enemy. The youth heard bullets whizzing by as he +passed, and he expected every moment that some ball would lay him low; +but through the mercy of God he reached the wall in safety. _Close_ +underneath the wall was not a dangerous post, for the bullets passed over +the heads of those standing there. + +About noon, the British cannons had destroyed the gates. Then the British +soldiers rushed into the town. Amongst the first to enter was the young +soldier; because when the gates fell he was standing close by. As he +passed along the streets, he saw no one but the dead and the dying; for +the Beloochees had fled for refuge to their citadel on the top of the +hill. The king himself was there. + +The citadel was a place very difficult for an enemy to enter; for the +entrance was through a narrow dark passage underground. Into this passage +the British soldiers poured, but soon they came to a door, which they +could not get through, for Beloochee soldiers stood there, sword in hand, +ready to cut down any one who approached. "Look at my back," said one +soldier to his fellow. The other looked, and beheld the most frightful +gashes gaping wide and bleeding freely. Such were the wounds that each +soldier, who ventured near that door, was sure to receive. + +At this moment a cry was heard, saying, "Another passage is found." When +the Beloochees heard this cry, they gave up all hopes of keeping the +enemy out of the citadel; so they left off fighting, and cried "Peace." + +But their king was already dead; he had fallen on the threshold of the +passage last found. The _first_ man who tried to get in by that way the +_king_ had killed; but the _second_ had killed the king. The British, as +they rushed in by this new way, trampled on the body of the fallen +monarch. He was a splendid object even in death; his long dark ringlets +were flowing over his glittering garments, and his sharp sword, with its +golden hilt, was in his hand. The British hurried by, and climbed the +steep and narrow stairs leading to the top of the citadel, and the enemy +no longer durst oppose their course. + +On the terrace at the top of the citadel, in the open air, stood the +nobles of Beloochistan. There were princes too from the countries all +around. It was a magnificent assembly. These men were the finest of a +fine race. Some were clad in shining armor, and others in flowing +garments of green and gold. Thus they stood for a _moment_, and the +_next_--they were rolling on the ground!! + +How was this? Had not peace been agreed upon on both sides? Yes, but a +British soldier had attempted to take away the sword of one of the +princes. The prince had resisted, and with his sword, had wounded the +soldier; and instantly every British gun on that spot had been pointed at +the nobles of Beloochistan. + +This was why the nobles were lying in the agonies of death. + +Our young soldier was not one of those who slew the nobles. He was +standing on another part of the terrace, when, hearing a tremendous +volley of guns, he exclaimed to a friend, "What can that be?" Going +forward, he beheld heaps of bleeding bodies, turbans, and garments--in +one confused mass. The dying were calling for water, and the very +soldiers who had shot them, were holding cups to their quivering lips, +though themselves parched with thirst. But water could not save the lives +of the fallen nobles: one by one they ceased to cry out, and soon--all +were silent--and all were still. The VICTORY was WON! But how awful had +been the last scene! How cruelly, how unjustly, had the lives of that +princely assembly been cut short! + +The conquerors returned that evening to their camp. On their way, they +passed through the desolate streets of the city; the mud cottages on each +side were empty, and blood flowed between. The young officer, as he +marched at the head of his company, was struck by seeing a row of his own +fellow-soldiers lying dead upon the ground. They had been placed there +ready for burial on the morrow. Their ghastly faces, and gaping wounds +were terrible to behold. The youth remembered them full of life and +spirits in the morning, unmindful of their dismal end; _then_ he felt how +merciful God had been in sparing his life; and when he crept into his +little tent that night, he returned him thanks upon his knees; though he +did not love him _then_ as his Saviour from eternal death. Wearied, he +soon fell asleep, but his sleep was broken by dreadful dreams of blood +and death. + +The next day he walked through the conquered town, and saw the British +soldiers dragging the dead bodies of their enemies by ropes fastened to +their feet. They were dragging them to their grave, which was a deep +trench, and there they cast them in and covered them up with earth. + +Such is the history of the conquest of Kelat.[10] How many souls were +suddenly hurled into eternity! How many unprepared to meet their Judge, +because their sins were unpardoned, and their souls unwashed! But in war, +who thinks of souls and sins! O horrible war! How hateful to the Prince +of Peace! + + [10] September 13, 1839. + + + + +BURMAH. + + +Of all the kings in Asia, the king of Burmah is the greatest, next to the +emperor of China. He has not indeed nearly as large a kingdom, or as many +subjects as that emperor; but like him, he is worshipped by his people. +He is called "Lord of life and death," and the "Owner of the sword," for +instead of holding a _sceptre_ in his hand, he holds a golden sheathed +_sword_. A sword indeed suits him well, for he is very cruel to his +subjects. Nowhere are such severe punishments inflicted. For drinking +brandy the punishment is, pouring molten lead down the throat; and for +running away from the army, the punishment is, cutting off both legs, and +leaving the poor creature to bleed to death. A man for choosing to be a +Christian was beaten all over the body with a wooden mallet, till he was +one mass of bruises; but before he was dead, he was let go. + +Every one is much afraid of offending this cruel king. The people tremble +at the sound of his name; and when they see him, they fall down with +their heads in the dust. The king makes any one a lord whom he pleases, +yet he treats even his lords very rudely. When displeased with them, he +will hunt them out of the room with his drawn sword. Once he made forty +of his lords lie upon their faces for several hours, beneath the broiling +sun, with a great beam over them to keep them still. It was well for them +that the king did not send for the men with spotted faces. Who are those +men? The executioners. Their faces are always covered with round marks +tattooed in the skin. The sight of these spotted faces fills all the +people with terror. Every one runs away at the sight of a spotted face, +and no one will allow a man with a spotted face to sit down in his house. +In what terror the poor Burmese must live, not knowing when the order for +death will arrive. Yet the king is so much revered, that when he dies, +instead of saying, "He is dead," the people say, "He is gone to amuse +himself in the heavenly regions" + +The king has a great many governors under him, and they are as cruel as +himself. A missionary once saw a poor creature hanging on a cross. He +inquired what the man had done, and finding that he was not a murderer, +he went to the governor to entreat him to pardon the man. For a long +while the governor refused to hear him: but at last he gave him a note, +desiring the crucified man to be taken down from the cross. Would you +believe it?--the Burmese officers were so cruel that they would not toke +out the nails, till the missionary had promised them a _piece of cloth_ +as a reward! When the man was released, he was nearly dead, having been +seven hours bleeding on the cross; but he was tenderly nursed by the +missionary, and at last he recovered. Yet all the agonies of a cross had +not changed the man's heart, and he returned to his old way of life as a +thief. Had he believed in that Saviour who was nailed to a cross for his +sins, he would, like the dying thief, have repented. Though the Burmese +are so unfeeling to each other, they think it wrong to kill animals, and +never eat any meat, except the flesh of animals who have died of +themselves. Even the fishermen think they shall be punished hereafter for +catching fish; but they say, "We must do it, or we shall be starved." You +may be sure that such a people must have some false and foolish religion; +and so they have, as you will see. + +[Illustration: IDOL CAR AND PAGODA.] + +RELIGION.--It is the religion of Buddha. This Buddha was a man who was +born at Benares, in India, more than two thousand years ago; and people +say, that for his great goodness was made a boodh, or a god. Yet the +Burmese do not think he is alive now; they say he is resting as a reward +for his goodness. Why then do they pray to him, if he cannot hear them? +They pray because they think it is very good to pray, and that they shall +be rewarded for it some day. What reward do they expect? It is this--to +_rest_ as Buddha does--to sleep forever and ever. This is the reward they +look for. Every one in Burmah thinks he has been born a great many times +into the world,--now as an insect,--now as a bird,--now as a beast, and +he thinks that because he was very good,--as a reward he was made a +_man_. Then he thinks that if he is very good as a _poor_ man, he shall +be born next time to be a _rich_ man; and at last, that he will be +allowed to rest like Buddha himself. What is it to be good? The Burmese +say that the greatest goodness is making an idol, and next to that, +making a pagoda. You know what an idol is, but do you know what a pagoda +is? It is a house, with an idol _hidden_ inside, and it has no door, nor +window, therefore no one can get into a pagoda. Some pagodas are very +large, and others very small. As it is thought so very good to make idols +and pagodas, the whole land is filled with them; the roads in some places +are lined with them; the mountains are crowned with them. + +Next to making idols, and building pagodas, it is considered good to make +offerings. You may see the father climbing a steep hill to reach a +pagoda, his little one by his side, and plucking green twigs as he goes. +He reaches the pagoda, and strikes the great bell, then enters the +idol-house near the pagoda, and teaches his young child how to fold its +little hands, and to raise them to its forehead, while it repeats a +senseless prayer; then leaving the green twigs at the idol's feet, the +father descends with his child in his arms. How many little ones, such +as Jesus once took in his arms, are taught every day to serve Satan. + +The people who are thought the best in Burmah, are the priests. Any one +that pleases may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out +begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands; but they +get them well filled, and then return to the handsome house, all shining +with gold, in which they live together in plenty and in pride. They are +expected to dress in rags, to show that they are poor; but not liking +rags, they cut up cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces together to +make their yellow robes; and this they call wearing rags. They pretend to +be so modest, that they do not like to show their faces, and so hide them +with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their way, that +is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they give him is +Guadama, while the Chinese call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty +stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a +bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good +whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king. + +CHARACTER.--The Burmese are a blunt and rough people. They are not like +the Chinese and the Hindoos, ready to pay compliments to strangers. When +a Burmese has finished a visit, he says, "I am going," and his friend +replies, "Go." This is very blunt behavior. But all blunt people are not +sincere. The Burmese are very deceitful, and tell lies on every occasion; +indeed, they are not ashamed of their falsehoods. They are also very +proud, because they fancy they were so good before they were born into +this world. All the kind actions they do are in the hope of getting more +merit, and this bad motive spoils all they do. They are kind to +travellers. In every village there is a pretty house, called a Zayat, +where travellers may rest. As soon as a guest arrives, the villagers +hasten to wait upon him;--one brings a clean mat, another a jug of water, +and a third a basket of fruit. But why is all this attention shown? In +the hope of getting merit. The Burmese resemble the Chinese in their +respect to their parents. They are better than the Chinese in their +treatment of their children, for they are kind to the _girls_ is well as +to the boys; neither do they destroy any of their infants. They are +temperate also, not drinking wine,--having only two meals in the day, and +then not eating too much. In these points they are to be approved. They +are, however, very violent in their tempers; it is true they are not very +easily provoked, but when they are angry, they use very abusive language. +Thus you see they are by no means an amiable people. + +APPEARANCE.--In their persons they are far less pleasing than the +Hindoos; for instead of _slender_ faces and figures, they have broad +faces and thick figures. But they have not such dark complexions as the +Hindoos. + +They disfigure themselves in various ways. To make their skins yellow, +they sprinkle over them a yellow powder. They also make their teeth +black, because they say they do not wish to have white teeth like dogs +and monkeys. They bore their ears, and put bars of gold, or silver, or +marble through the holes. + +The women wear a petticoat and a jacket. The men wear a turban, a loose +robe, and a jacket; they tie up their hair in a knot behind, and tattoo +their legs, by pricking their skin, and then putting in black oil. They +have the disagreeable custom of smoking, and of chewing a stuff called +"coon," which they carry in a box. + +Every one (except the priests) carries an umbrella to guard him from the +sun; the king alone has a white one; his nobles have gilded umbrellas; +the next class have red umbrellas; and the lowest have green. + +FOOD.--Burmah is a pleasanter country than Hindostan, for it is not so +hot, and yet it is as fruitful. The people live chiefly upon rice; but +when they cannot get enough, they find abundance of leaves and roots to +satisfy their hunger. + +ANIMALS.--There are many tigers, but no lions. The Burmese are fond of +adorning their houses with statues of lions, but never having seen any, +they make very strange and laughable figures. The pride of Burmah is her +elephants; but they all belong to the king, and none may ride upon one +but himself, and his chief favorite. Carriages are drawn by bullocks, or +buffaloes; and there are horses for riding, so the Burmese can do very +well without the elephants. The king thinks a great deal too much of +these noble animals. There was a white elephant that he delighted in so +much, that he adorned it with gold, and jewels, and counted it next to +himself in rank, even above the queen. + +HOUSES.--The Burmese build their houses on posts, so that there is an +empty place under the floors. Dogs and crows may often be seen walking +under the houses, eating whatever has fallen through the cracks of the +floor. + +The king allows none but the nobles to build houses of brick and stone; +the rest build them of bamboos. This law is unpleasant; but there is +another law which is a great comfort to the poor. It is _this_;--any one +may have land who wishes for it. A man has only to cultivate a piece of +spare land, and it is counted his, _as long_ as he continues to cultivate +it; therefore all industrious people have gardens of their own. + + +THE KARENS. + +Among the mountains of Burmah, there are a wild people called the Karens, +very poor and very ignorant; yet some have attended to the voice of the +missionaries. They are not so proud as the Burmese; for they have no gods +at all, and no books at all: they have not filled their heads with five +hundred and fifty stories about Gaudama; therefore they are more ready to +listen to the history of Jesus. + +The Karens live in houses raised from the ground, and so large is the +place underneath, that they keep poultry and pigs there. Every year they +move to a new place, and build new houses, clear a new piece of ground, +by burning the weeds, dig it up, and sow rice. Thus they wander about, +and they number their years by the number of houses they have lived in. + +Of all the Eastern nations, they sing and play the most sweetly, and when +they become Christians, they sing hymns, very sweetly indeed. + +There is one Christian village among the mountains, called Mata, which +means love; and every morning the people meet together in the Zayat, or +travellers' house, to sing and pray. Before they were Christians, the +Karens were in constant fear of the Nats; (not _insects_, but evil +spirits), and sometimes in order to please their Nats, they were so cruel +as to beat a pig to death. The Christian Karens have left off such +barbarous practices, and have become kind and compassionate. When the +missionaries told them that they ought to love one another, some of them +went secretly the next day to wait upon a poor leper, and upon a woman +covered with sores. Another day, without being asked, they collected some +money and brought it to the missionaries, saying, they wished to set free +a poor Burman who had been imprisoned for Christ's sake. It is cheering +to the missionaries to see them turning from their sins.[11] + +AVA. + +This city was once the capital of Burmah, and then it was called the +"golden city." But now the king lives in another city, and the glory of +Ava has passed away. + +MAULMAIN. + +This city, though in Burmah, may be called a British city, because the +British built it; for they have conquered great part of Burmah. There are +missionaries there. One there is, named Judson, who has turned more than +a hundred Burmese to the Lord. But he has known great troubles. His wife +and his little girl shared in these troubles. + +I will now relate the history of the short life of little Maria Judson. + +THE MISSIONARY'S BABE. + +The missionary's babe, little Maria, was born in a cottage by the side of +a river, and very near the walls of the great city of Ava, where the king +dwelt. + +It was a wooden cottage, thatched with straw, and screened by a verandah +from the burning sun. It was not like an English cottage, for it was +built on high posts, that the cool air might play beneath. It contained +three small rooms all on one floor. The country around was lovely; for +the green banks of the river were adorned with various colored flowers +and with trees laden with fine fruits. + +In this pretty cottage, the infant Maria was lulled in her mother's arms +to sleep, and often the tears rolling down the mother's cheeks, fell upon +the baby's fair face. Why did the mother weep? It was for her husband she +wept. He was not dead, but he was in prison. He was a missionary, and the +king of Ava had imprisoned him in the midst of the great city. Was his +wife left all alone with her babe in her cottage? No, there were two +little Burmese girls there. They were the children of heathen parents, +and they had been received by the kind lady into her cottage, and now +they were learning to worship God. Their new names were, Mary, and Abby. +There were also two men servants, of dark complexion, dressed in white +cotton, and wearing turbans. It was a sorrowful little household, because +the master of the family was absent, because he was in distress, and his +life was in danger. Every day his fond wife visited him in his prison. +She left her babe under the care of Mary, and set out with a little +basket in her hand. After walking two miles through the streets of Ava, +she came to some high walls--she knocked at the gate--a stern-looking +man opened it. The lady, passing through the gates, entered a court. In +one corner of the court, there was a little shed made of bamboos, and +near it, upon a mat, eat a pale, and sorrowful man. His countenance +brightens when he perceives the lady enter. She refreshes him with the +nice food she has brought in her basket, and comforts him with sweet and +heavenly words:--then hastens to return to her babe. As soon as she +enters her cottage, she sinks back, half fainting, in her rocking-chair, +while she folds again her little darling in her arms. Happy babe! thy +parents are suffering for Jesus--and they are blessed of the Lord, and +their baby with them. + +Greater sorrows still, soon befell the little family. One day, a +messenger came to the cottage, with the sad tidings that the bamboo hut +had been torn down, the mat, and pillow taken away, and the prisoner, +laden with chains, thrust into the inner prison. The loving wife hastened +to the governor of the city to ask for mercy; but she could obtain none, +only she was permitted to see her husband. And _what_ a sight! He was +shut up in a room with a hundred men, and without a _window!!_ Though the +weather was hot no breath of air reached the poor prisoners, but through +the cracks in the boards. No wonder that the missionary soon fell ill of +a fever. His wife, fearing he would die, determined to act like the widow +in the parable, and to weary the unjust judge by her entreaties. She left +her quiet cottage, and built a hut of bamboos at the governor's gate, +and there she lived with her babe, and the little Burmese girls. The +prison was just opposite the governor's gate, so that the anxious wife +had now the comfort of being near her suffering husband. The governor was +wearied by her importunity, and at last permitted her to build again a +bamboo hovel for the prisoner in the court of the prison. The sick man +was brought out of the noisome dungeon, and was laid upon his mat in the +fresh air. He was supplied with food and medicine by his faithful wife, +and he began to recover. + +But in three days, a change occurred. Suddenly the poor wife heard that +her beloved had been dragged from his prison, and taken, she knew not +where. She inquired of everybody she saw, "Where is he gone?" but no +answer could she obtain. At last the governor told her, that his prisoner +was taken to a great city, named A-ma-ra-poora. This city was seven miles +from Ava. The wife decided in a moment what to do. She determined to +follow her husband. Taking her babe in her arms, and accompanied by the +Burmese children, and one servant, she set out. She went to the city up +the river in a covered boat, and thus she was sheltered from the +scorching sun of an Indian May. But when she arrived at Amarapoora, she +heard that her husband had been taken to a village six miles off. To this +village she travelled in a clumsy cart drawn by oxen. Overcome with +fatigue, she arrived at the prison, and saw her poor husband sitting in +the court chained to another prisoner, and looking very ill. He had +neither hat, nor coat, nor shoes, and his feet were covered with wounds +he had received, as he had been driven over the burning gravel on the way +to the prison: but his wounds had been bound up by a kind heathen +servant, who had torn up his own turban to make bandages. + +When the missionary saw his wife approaching with her infant, he felt +grieved on her account, and exclaimed, "Why have you come? You cannot +live here?" But she cared not where she lived, so that she could be near +her suffering husband. She wished to build a bamboo hut at the prison +gate: but the jailor would not allow her. However, he let her live in a +room of his own house. It was a wretched room, with no furniture but a +mat. Here the mother and the children slept that night, while the +servant, wrapped in his cloth, lay at the door. They had no supper that +night. Next day, they bought food in the village, with some silver that +the lady kept carefully concealed in her clothes. + +A new trouble soon came upon them. Mary was seized with a small-pox of a +dreadful sort. Who now was to help the weak mother to nurse the little +Maria? Abby was too young. The babe was four months old, and a heavy +burden for feeble arms; yet all day long the mother carried it, as she +went to and fro from the sick child to the poor prisoner. Sometimes, when +it was asleep, she laid it down by the side of her husband. He was able +to watch a _sleeping_ babe, but not to nurse a babe _awake_, owing to his +great weakness, and to his mangled feet. Soon the babe herself was +attacked by the small-pox, and continued very ill for three months. This +last trial was too much for the poor mother. Her strength failed her, and +for many weeks she lay upon her mat unable to rise. She must have +perished, if it had not been for the faithful servant. He was a native +of Bengal, and a heathen. Yet he was so much concerned for his sick +mistress and imprisoned master, that he would sometimes go without food +all day, while he was attending to their wants; and he did all without +expecting any wages. + +The poor little infant was in a sad case now its mother was lying on the +mat. It cried so much for milk, that once its father got leave to carry +it round the village to ask the mothers who had babes, to give some milk +to his. By this plan, the little creature was quieted in the day, but at +night its cries were most distressing. + +The time at length arrived, when these trials were to end. The king sent +for the missionary, not to put him to death, as he had once intended, but +to ask for his help. What help could he render to the king? The reason +why the missionary had been imprisoned so long was, that a British army +had attacked Burmah. The king had feared, lest the missionary should take +part with the enemy, and therefore he had shut him up. Now there were +hopes of peace, and an interpreter was wanted to help the Burmese to +speak with the British. The missionary knew both the English language and +the Burmese, and he could explain to the king what the English general +would say. + +For this purpose he was brought to Ava. He was not driven along the road +like a beast, but relieved from his chains, and treated with less cruelty +than formerly. Yet he was still a prisoner. + +The mother was now well enough to make a journey, though still very weak. +She returned to her cottage by the river-side, and soon she had the +delight of seeing her husband enter it. It was seventeen months since he +had been torn from it by the king's officers, and ever since, he had been +groaning in irons. But he was not now come to remain in his cottage, but +only to obtain a little food and clothing to take with him to the Burmese +camp. His wife felt cheered on his account, hoping that as an interpreter +he would be well treated. + +No sooner was he gone, than she was seized with that deadly disease, +called spotted fever. What now would become of little Maria? Through the +tender mercy of God, on the very day the mother fell ill, a Burmese woman +offered to nurse the babe. Every day the mother grew worse, till at last +the neighbors came in to see her die. As they stood around, they +exclaimed, in their Burmese tongue, "She is dead, and if the king of +angels should come in, he could not recover her." _Their_ king of angels +could _not_, but _her_ KING of ANGELS could, for he can raise the dead. +But this dear lady was _not_ dead, though nearly dead. + +The Lord of life showed her mercy. A friend entered the sick chamber. It +was Dr. Price, a missionary and a prisoner, but who had obtained leave +from the king to visit the sick lady. He understood her case, and he +ordered her head to be shaved, and blisters to be applied to her feet. +From that time, she began to recover, and in a month, she had strength to +stand up. The governor, who had once been so slow to hear her complaints, +now sent for her to his house. He received her in the kindest manner. +What was her joy, when she foiled her husband there, not as a prisoner, +but as a guest. Many prayers had she offered up, during her long illness, +and they were now answered. The promise she had trusted in was fulfilled. +This was _that_ promise: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I WILL +DELIVER THEE, and thou shalt glorify me." + +But still brighter days were at hand. The King of Burmah had peace with +the British, and had agreed to deliver the missionaries into their hands. +Glad, indeed, were they to escape from the power of the cruel monarch. +Little Maria and her parents, as well as Mary and Abby, were conveyed in +a boat down the river to the place where the English army had encamped. +The English general received them with fatherly kindness, and gave them a +tent to dwell in near his own. What a fortnight they spent in that tent. +It was a morning of joy, after a night of weeping. Little Maria was now, +for the first time, dwelling with _both_ her parents. + +Soon afterwards she was taken to a new home in a town in Burmah, built by +the English. It was called Amherst[12]. Here the missionary might teach +the Burmese to know their Saviour, without being under the power of the +cruel Burmese king. + +It seemed as if the little family, so long afflicted, were now to dwell +in safety, and to labor in comfort. But there is a rest for the people of +God, and to this rest one of this family was soon removed. + +The missionary determined to go to Ava, to plead with the king for +permission to teach his subjects. He parted from his beloved wife, +little thinking he should never see her again. + +During her husband's absence, she watched with deep anxiety over her +little Maria. The child was pale, and puny, yet very affectionate and +intelligent. Whenever her mamma said, "Where is dear papa gone?" the +little creature started up, and pointed to the sea. She could not speak +plainly, for she was only twenty months old. + +Not long did she enjoy her mother's tender care. The poor mother, worn +with her past watching, and weeping, was attacked by fever. As she lay +upon the bed, she was heard to say, "The teacher is long in coming, I +must die alone, and leave my little one; but as it is the will of God, I +am content." + +She grew so ill, that she took no notice of anything that passed around +her; but even then she called for her child, and charged the nurse to be +kind to it, and to indulge it in everything till its father returned. +This charge she gave, because she knew the babe wan sick, and needed the +tenderest care. At last the mother lay without moving, her eyes closed, +and her head resting on her arm. Thus she continued for two days, and +then she uttered one cry, and ceased to breathe. Her illness had lasted +eighteen days. Then she rested from her labors, and slept in Jesus. + +What now became of little Maria? The wife of an English officer receded +her in her house for a few weeks, and then a missionary and his wife came +to Maria's home, and took charge of the child. Maria was pleased to come +back to her own home, and she fancied that kind Mrs. Wade was her own +mother. + +What a day it was when the poor father returned home! No wife to meet +him, with love and joy; only a sickly babe, who had forgotten him, and +turned from him with alarm. Where could he go, but to the grave to weep +there? then he returned to the house to look at the very spot where he +had knelt with his wife in prayer, and parted from her in hope of a happy +return. + +Little Maria was nursed with a mother's care, though not in a mother's +arms; but her delicate frame had been shaken by her infant troubles, and +care and comforts came TOO LATE. After drooping day by day, she died at +the age of two years and three months, exactly six months after her +mother. Her father was near to close her faded eyes, and fold her little +hands on her cold breast, and then to lay her in a little grave, close +beside her mother's, under the Hope Tree. + +The words of the poet would suit well the case of this much tried +infant:-- + + "Short pain, short grief, dear babe, were thine, + _Now_, joys eternal and divine." + +Like Maria's are the sufferings of many a missionary's babe, and many lie +in an early tomb. But they are dear to the Saviour, for their parents' +sakes, and their deaths are precious in his sight, and their spirits and +their dust are safe in his hands. + + [11] Taken from "Travels in Eastern Asia," by Rev. Howard Malcolm. + + [12] Amherst is only thirty miles from Maulmain. + + + + +SIAM. + + +Cross a river, and you pass from Burmah to Siam. These two countries, +like most countries close together, have quarrelled a great deal, and +now Britain has got in between them, and has parted them; as a nurse +might come and part two quarrelsome children. Britain has conquered that +part of Burmah which lies close to Siam, and has called it British +Burmah; so Siam is now at peace. + +But though these two countries have been such enemies, they are as like +each other as two sisters. Siam is the little sister. Siam is a long +narrow slip of a country, having the sea on one side, and mountains on +the other. + +The religion of Siam is the same as that of Burmah, the worship of +Buddha. But in Siam he is not called Buddha: the name given him there is +"Codom." You see how many names this Buddha has; in China he is Fo; in +Burmah he is Gaudama; in Siam, he is Codom. Neither is he honored in Siam +in exactly the same way as in Burmah. Instead of building magnificent +pagodas, the Siamese build magnificent image houses or temples. + +The Siamese resemble the Burmese in appearance, but they are much worse +looking. Their faces are very broad, and flat; and so large are the jaws +under the ears, that they appear as if they were swollen. Their manner of +dressing their hair does not improve their looks; for they cut their hair +quite close, except just on the top of their heads, where they make it +stand up like bristles; nor do they wear any covering on their heads, +except when it is very hot, and then they put on a hat in the shape of a +milk pan, made of leaves. They do not disfigure themselves, as the +Burmese do, with nose-rings, and ear-bars; but they, love ornaments quite +as much, and load themselves with necklaces and bracelets. Their dress +consists of a printed cotton garment, wound round the body. This is the +dress of the women as well as of the men; only sometimes the women wear a +handkerchief over their necks. + +In disposition the Siamese are deceitful, and cowardly. It has been said +of them, that as _friends_ they are not to be _trusted_, and as _enemies_ +not to be _feared:_ they cannot be trusted because they are deceitful: +they need not be feared because they are cowardly. This is indeed a +dreadful character; for many wicked people are faithful to their friends, +and brave in resisting their enemies. + +No doubt the manner in which they are governed makes them cowardly; for +they are taught to behave as if they were worms. Whoever enters the +presence of the king, must creep about on hands and knees. The great +lords require their servants to show them the same respect. Servants +always crawl into a room, pushing in their trays before them; and when +waiting, they walk about on their knees. How shocking to see men made +like worms to gratify the pride of their fellow-men! The rule is never to +let your head be higher than the head of a person more honorable than +yourself; if he stand, you must sit; if he sit, you must crouch. + +The Siamese are like the Burmese in cruelty. When an enemy falls into +their hands, no mercy is shown. + +A king of a small country called Laos, was taken captive by the Siamese. +This king, with his family, were shut up in a large iron cage, and +exhibited as a sight. There he was, surrounded by his sons and grandsons, +and all of them were heavily laden with chains on their necks and legs. +Two of them were little boys, and they played and laughed in their +cage!--so thoughtless are children! But the elder sons looked very +miserable; they hung down their heads, and fixed their eyes on the +ground; and well they might; for within their sight were various horrible +instruments of torture;--spears with which to pierce them;--an iron +boiler, in which to heat oil to scald them;--a gallows on which to hang +their bodies, and--a pestle and mortar in which to pound the children to +powder. You see how Satan fills the heart of the heathen with his own +cruel devices. The people who came to see this miserable family, rejoiced +at the sight of their misery: but they lost the delight they expected in +tormenting the old king, for he died of a broken heart; and all they +could do _then_, was to insult his body; they beheaded it, and then hung +it upon a gibbet, where every one might see it, and the beasts and birds +devour it. + +What became of his unhappy family is not known. + +But though so barbarous to their _enemies_, the Siamese in some respects +are better than most other heathen nations, for they treat their +_relations_ more kindly. They do not kill their infants, nor shut up +their wives, nor cast out their parents. Yet they show their cruelty in +this:--they often sell one another for slaves. They also purchase slaves +in great numbers; and there are wild men in the mountains who watch +Burmans and Karens to sell them to the great chiefs of Siam. It is the +pride of their chiefs to have thousands of slaves crawling around them. + +BANKOK. + +This city is built on an island in a broad river, and part of it on the +banks of the river. It ought therefore to be a pleasant city, but it is +_not_, owing to its extreme untidiness. The streets are full of mud, and +overgrown with bushes, amongst which all the refuse is thrown; there are +also many ditches with planks thrown across. There is only one pleasant +part of the town, and that is, where the Wats are built. The Wats are the +idol-houses. Near them are shady walks and fragrant flowers, and elegant +dwellings for the priests. The people think they get great merit by +making Wats, and therefore they take so much trouble: for the Siamese are +very idle. So idle are they that there would be very little trade in +Bankok, if it were not for the Chinese, who come over here in crowds, and +make sugar, and buy and sell, and get money to take back to China. You +may tell in a moment a Chinaman's garden from a Siamese garden; one is +so neat and full of flowers;--the other is overgrown with weeds and +strewn with litter. + +The most curious sight in Bankok, is the row of floating houses. These +houses are placed upon posts in the river, and do not move about as boats +do; yet if you _wish_ to move your house, you can do so; you have only to +take up the posts, and float to another place. + +Besides the floating houses, there are numerous boats in the river, and +some so small that a child can row them. There are so many that they +often come against each other, and are overset. A traveller once passed +by a boat where a little girl of seven was rowing, and by accident his +boat overset hers. The child fell out of her boat, and her paddle out of +her hand; yet she was not the least frightened, only surprised; and after +looking about for a moment, she burst out a laughing, and was soon seen +swimming behind her boat (still upside down), with her paddle in her +hand. These little laughing rowers are too giddy to like learning, and +they are not at all willing to come to the missionaries' schools; but +some poor children, redeemed from slavery, are glad to be there, and have +been taught about Christ in these schools. + + + + +MALACCA. + + +This is a peninsula, or almost an island, for there is water almost all +round it. In shape it is something like a _dog's_ leg, even as Italy is +like a _man's_ leg. + +The weather in Malacca is much pleasanter than in most parts of India, +because the sea-breezes make the air fresh. There is no rainy season, as +in most hot countries, but a shower cools the air almost every day. The +country, too, is beautiful, for there are mountains, and forests, and +streams. + +Yet it is a dangerous country to live in, for the people are very +treacherous. There are many pirates among them. What are pirates? Robbers +by sea. If they see a small vessel, in a moment the pirates in their +ships try to overtake it, seize it, take the crew prisoners, and sell +them for slaves. The governors of the land do not punish the pirates; far +from punishing them, they share in the gains. That is a wicked land +indeed, where the governors encourage the people in their sins. + +Malacca has no king of her own; the land belongs to Siam, except a very +small part. The inhabitants are called Malays. They are not like the +Siamese in character; for instead of being cowardly, they are fierce. +Neither have they the same religion, for instead of being Buddhists, they +are Mahomedans. Yet they know very little about the Koran, or its laws. +One command, however, they have learned, which is--to hate infidels. They +count all who do not believe in Mahomet to be infidels, and they say that +it is right to hunt them. They are proud of taking Christian vessels, and +of selling Christians as slaves. + +There are some valuable plants in Malacca. There is one which has a seed +called "pepper." There is a tree which has in the stem a pith called +sago. Who collects the pepper and the sago? There are mines of tin. Who +digs up the tin? The idle Malays will not take so much trouble, so the +industrious Chinese labor instead. The Chinese come over by thousands to +get rich in Malacca. As there is not room for them in their own country, +they are glad to settle in other countries. But though the Chinese set an +example of _industry_, they do not set an example of _goodness_; for they +gamble, and so lose their _money_, they smoke opium, and so lose their +_health_, and they commit many kinds of wickedness by which they lose +their _souls_. + +As for the Malays, they are so very idle, that when trees fall over the +river, and block up the way, they will not be at the trouble of cutting a +way through for their boats,--but will sooner creep _under_ or climb +_over_ the fallen trees. + +The capital of Malacca is Malacca, and this city belongs to the English; +but it is of little use to them, because the harbor is not good. + + +SINGAPORE. + +This city also belongs to the English, and it is of great use to them, +because the harbor is one of the best in the world. Many ships come there +to buy, and to sell, and amongst the rest, the Chinese junks. The city is +built on a small island, very near the coast. There are many beautiful +country houses perched on the hills, where English families live, and +there are long flights of stone steps leading from their houses to the +sea. + +But many of the Malays have no home but a boat, hardly large enough to +lie down in. There they gain a living by catching fish, and collecting +shells, and coral, to exchange for sago, which is their food. These men +are called "Ourang-lout," which means "Man of the water." Does not this +name remind you of the apes called "Ourang-outang," which means "Man of +the woods?" There are Ourang-outangs in the forests of Malacca, and they +are more like men, and are more easily tamed than any other ape. Yet +still how different is the _tamest_ ape from the _wildest_ man; for the +one has an immortal soul, and the other has none. + +The Malay language is said to be the easiest in the world, even as the +Chinese is the most difficult. The Malay language has no cases or +genders, or conjugations, which puzzle little boys so much in their Latin +Grammars. It is easy for missionaries to learn the Malay language. When +they know it, they can talk to the Chinese in Malacca in this language. + +I will tell you of a school that an English lady has opened at Singapore +for poor Chinese girls. + + +THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL-GIRLS. + +The two elder girls were sisters, and were called Chun and Han. Both of +them, when they heard about Jesus, believed in him, and loved him. Yet +their characters were very different, Chun being of a joyful +disposition, and Han of a mournful and timid temper. They had no father, +and their mother was employed in the school to take care of the little +children, and to teach them needle-work; but she was a heathen. + +When Chun and Han had been three years in the school, their mother wanted +them to leave, and to come with her to her home. The girls were grieved +at the thought of leaving their Christian teacher, and of living in a +heathen home; yet they felt it was their duty to do as their mother +wished. But they were anxious to be baptized before they went, if they +could obtain their mother's consent. Their kind teacher, Miss Grant, +thought it would be of no use to ask leave _long_ before the time, lest +the mother should carry her girls away, and lock them up. So she waited +till the very evening fixed for the baptism. Miss Grant had been praying +all day for help from God, and the two sisters had been praying together; +and now the bell began to ring for evening service. Now the time was come +when the mother must be asked. + +"Do you know," said Miss Grant to the mother, "that the children are +going to church with me?" "Yes," replied the mother, "wherever Missie +pleases to take them." Then the lady told her of the baptism, and +entreated her consent. At last the heathen mother replied, "If you wish +it, I will not oppose you." Miss Grant, afraid lest the mother should +change her mind, hastened into her palanquin, and the sisters hastened +into theirs. Looking back, the lady perceived the mother was standing +watching the palanquins. Seeing this, she stopped, saying, "Nomis, why +should not you come, and see what is done?" To the lady's surprise, the +mother immediately consented to come; and so this heathen mother was +present at the baptism of her daughters. Their teacher, (who was their +_mother in Christ_,) rejoiced with exceeding joy to see her dear girls +give themselves to the Lord, and to hear them answer in their broken +English, "All _dis_ I do steadfastly believe." + +Soon after their baptism, the girls went to live in their mother's house. +To comfort them, Miss Grant promised to fetch them every Sunday, to spend +the day with her. She came for them at five o'clock in the morning, +before it was light, and took them back at nine, when it was quite dark. +If she had not fetched them herself, they would not have been allowed to +go. + +After awhile, they were _not_ allowed to go. The reason was, that the +heathen mother wanted Chun to marry a heathen Chinaman. Chun refused to +commit such a sin. Then her mother was angry, mocked her, and prevented +her going to see Miss Grant. Still Chun refused. She saw her mother +embroidering her wedding-dresses, but she still persisted that she would +not marry a heathen, especially as she would have to bow down before an +idol at her marriage. Chun grew very unhappy, and looked very pale, she +wrote many letters to her kind friend, and offered up many prayers to her +merciful God. And did the Lord hear her, and did He deliver her? He did. +A Christian Chinaman, who had been brought up by a missionary, heard of +Chun, and asked permission to marry her. He had never seen her, for it is +not the custom in China for girls to be seen. + +Miss Grant was delighted at the thought of her darling Chun marrying a +Christian, and she helped to prepare for the wedding. There was no bowing +down before an idol at that wedding, but an English clergymen read the +service. Chun's face, according to the custom, was covered with a thick +veil, and even her hands and feet were hidden. A few days after the +wedding, Miss Grant, according to the custom, called on the newly +married. She found the room beautifully ornamented, like all Chinese +rooms at such times, but there were two ornaments seldom seen in +China--two Bibles lying open on the table. + +Chun long rejoiced that she had so firmly refused to marry a heathen. One +day, Miss Grant said to her, playfully, "Has your husband beaten you +yet?" (for she knew that Chinamen think nothing of beating their wives.) +Chun replied, with a sweet look, "O no! he often tells me, that _first_ +he thanks God, and then _you_, Miss, for having given me to him as his +wife." + +There was another girl at Miss Grant's school, named Been. Sometimes she +was called Beneo, which means Miss Been, just as Chuneo means Miss Chun. +Miss Grant hoped that Been loved the Saviour, and hated idols, but she +soon lost her, for her parents took her to their heathen home. + +After Been had been home a short time her mother died. The neighbors were +astonished to find that Been refused to worship her mother's spirit, and +to burn gold paper, to supply her with money in the other world. While +her relations were busily occupied in their heathen ceremonies, Been sat +silent and alone. Soon afterwards, her father, who cared not for her, +sold her to a Chinaman to be his wife, for forty dollars. + +Miss Grant heard her sad fate, and often longed to see her, but did not +know where to find her. One evening, as she was paying visits in her +palanquin, she saw a pair of bright black eyes looking through a hedge, +and she felt sure that they were her own Been's. She stopped, and +calling the girl, saluted her affectionately. She was glad she had found +out where Been lived, as she would now be able to pay her a visit. + +Soon she called upon her, in her own dwelling;--a poor little hut in the +midst of a sugar plantation. She brought as a present, a New Testament in +English, and in large print. Been appeared delighted. + +"Do you remember how to read it?" inquired Miss Grant. + +"Yes, how could I forget?" Been sweetly replied. + +"Well then, read," said Miss Grant. + +Been read, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep." + +"Do you understand?" inquired the lady. + +"Yes," said Been, and she translated the words into Malay. + +As Miss Grant was rising to depart, she observed a hen gathering her +brood under her wings. + +"Of what does that remind you, Been?" + +"I know," said the poor girl; "I remember what I learnt at school;" and +then in her broken English, she repeated the words: "As a hen _gaderet_ +her chickens under her wings, so would I have _gaderd de_, but _dou_ +wouldest not." + +At this moment, Been's husband came in. The girl was glad, for she wanted +Miss Grant to ask him as a great favor, to allow her to spend next Sunday +at the school. The husband consented. There was a joyful meeting indeed, +on that Sunday, between Been, and Chun, and Han; nor was their +affectionate teacher the least joyful of the company. + + + + +SIBERIA. + + +This is a name which makes people _shiver_, because it reminds them of +the cold. It is a name which makes the Russians _tremble_, because it +reminds them of banishment, for the emperor often sends those who offend +him to live in Siberia. + +Yet Siberia is not an ugly country, such as Tartary. It is not one dead +flat, but it contains mountains, and forests, and rivers. Neither is +Siberia a country in which nothing will grow; in some parts there is +wheat, and where _wheat_ will not grow _barley_ will, and where _barley_ +will not grow _turnips_ will. Yet there are not many cornfields in +Siberia, for very few people live there. In the woods you will find +blackberries, and wild roses, like those in England; and _red_ berries, +as well as _black_ berries, and _lilies_ as well as _roses_. + +Still it must be owned that Siberia is a very cold country; for the snow +is not melted till June, and it begins to fall again in September; so +there are only two whole months without snow; they are July and August. + +INHABITANTS.--The Russians are the masters of Siberia, and they have +built several large towns there. But these towns are very far apart, and +there are many wild tribes wandering about the country. + +One of these tribes is the Ostyaks. Their houses are in the shape of +boxes, for they are square with flat roofs. There is a door, but you must +stoop low to get in at it, unless you are a very little child; and there +is a window with fish-skin instead of light. There is a chimney, too, and +a blazing fire of logs in a hole in the ground. There is a trough, too, +instead of a dining-table, and out of it the whole family eat, and even +the dogs sometimes. The house is not divided into rooms, but into stalls, +like those of a stable; and deer-skins are spread in the stalls, and they +are the beds; each person sits and sleeps in his own stall, on his own +deer-skin, except when the family gather round the fire, and sitting on +low stools, warm themselves, and talk together. + +In one of these snug corners, an old woman was seen, quite blind, yet +sewing all day, and threading her needle by the help of her tongue. She +wore a veil of thick cloth over her head, as all the Ostyak women do, and +as she did not need light, she hid her head completely under it. + +But though the Ostyaks are poor, they possess a great treasure in their +dogs, for these creatures are as useful as horses, and much more +sensible. They need no whip to make them go, and no bridle to turn them +the right way; it is enough to _tell_ them when to set out, and to stop, +or to turn, to move faster, or more slowly. These dogs are white, spotted +with black; the hair on their bodies is short, but long on their handsome +curling tails. They draw their masters in sledges, and are yoked in +pairs. There are some large sledges, in which a man can lie down in +comfort: to draw such a sledge twelve dogs are necessary; but there are +small sledges in which a poor Ostyak can just manage to crouch, and two +dogs can draw it. When the dogs are to be harnessed, they are not caught, +as horses are, but only called. Yet they do not like work better than +horses like it, and when they first set out they howl, but grow quiet +after a little while. + +The driver is sometimes cruel to these poor dogs, and corrects them for +the smallest fault, by throwing a stone at them, or the great club he +holds in his hand, or at least a snow-ball: if a hungry dog but stoop +down to pick up a morsel of food on the road, he is punished in this +manner. Yet it must be owned, that the dogs have their faults; they are +greedy, and inclined to thieving. To keep food out of their way, the +Ostyaks build store-houses, on the tops of very high poles. The dogs are +always on the watch to slip into their master's houses. If the door be +left open ever so little, a dog will squeeze in, if he can; but he does +not stay _long_ within, for he is soon thrust out with blows and kicks; +the women scream at the sight of a dog in the hut, for they fear lest he +will find the fish-trough. Yet after long journeys, the dogs are brought +into the hut, and permitted to lie down by the fire, and to eat out of +the family trough. At other times they sleep in the snow, and eat +whatever is thrown to them. When they travel, bags of dried fish are +brought in their sledges, to feed them by the way. The puppies are +tenderly treated, and petted by the fire; yet many are killed for the +sake of their fleecy hair, which is considered a fine ornament for +pelisses. + +The Ostyaks have another, and a greater treasure than dogs; they have +reindeer. Those who live by fishing have dogs only, but those who dwell +among the hills, have deer as well as dogs. Reindeer are like dogs in one +respect, they can be driven without either a whip or a bit, which are so +necessary for horses. But though they do not need the lashing of a whip; +they require to be gently poked with a long pole; and though they do not +need a bit, they require to be guided by a rein, fastened to their +heads; because they are not like dogs, so sensible as to be managed by +speaking. + +But deer are very gentle, and are much more easily driven than horses. To +drive horses four-in-hand is very difficult, but to drive four reindeer +is not. The four deer are harnessed to the sledge all in a row, and a +rein is fastened to the head of one; when _he_ turns all the rest turn +with him. Usually they trot, but they _can_ gallop very fast, even down +hill. When they are out of breath the driver lets them stop, and then the +pretty creatures lie down, and cool their mouths with the snow lying on +the ground. + +Men ride upon reindeer; not upon their _backs_, but on their _necks_; for +their backs are weak, while their necks are strong. Riders do not mount +reindeer as they do horses,--by resting on their backs, and then making a +spring, for that would hurt the poor animals; they lean on a long staff, +and by its help, spring on the deer's neck. But it is not easy, when +seated, to keep on; _you_ would certainly fall off, for all strangers do, +when they try to ride for the _first_ time. The Ostyak knows how to keep +his balance, by waving his long staff in the air, while the deer trots +briskly along. But these reindeer have some curious fancies; they will +not eat any food but such as they pluck themselves from the ground. It +would be of no use at the end of a long journey, to put them in a +stable;--they would not eat; they must be let loose to find their own +nourishment, which is a kind of moss that grows wild among the hills. + +The reindeer, after he is dead, is of as much use to the Ostyak, as when +he was alive; for his skin is his master's clothing. Both men and women +dress alike, in a suit that covers them from head to foot; the seams are +well joined with thread, made of reindeer sinews, and the cold is kept +well out. The Ostyak lets no part of his body be uncovered but just his +face, and that would freeze, if he were not to rub it often with his +hands, covered over with hairy reindeer gloves. The women cover their +faces with thick veils. The Ostyak wears a great-coat made of the skin of +a white deer; this gives him the appearance of a great white bear. He +carries in his hand a bow taller than himself. His arrows are very long, +and made of wood, pointed with iron. With these he shoots the wild +animals. He is very glad when he can shoot a sable; because the Russian +emperor requires every Ostyak to give him yearly, as a tax, the skins of +two sables. The fur of the sable is very valuable, and is made into muffs +and tippets, and pelisses for the Russian nobles. + +But without his snow-shoes, the Ostyak would not be able to pursue the +wild animals, for he would sink in the snow. These shoes are made of long +boards, turned up at the end like a boat, and fastened to the feet. What +a wild creature an Ostyak must look, when he is hunting his prey, wrapped +in his shaggy white coat,--his long dark hair floating in the wind,--his +enormous bow in his hand, and his enormous shoes on his feet! + +What is the character of this wild man? Ask what is his religion, and +that will show you how foolish and fierce a creature he must be. The +Ostyak says, that he believes in ONE God who cannot be seen, but he does +not worship him _alone_; he worships other gods. And such gods! Dead men! +When a man dies, his relations make a wooden image of him, and worship it +for three years, and then bury it. But when a _priest_ dies, his wooden +image is worshipped _more_ than three years; sometimes it is _never_ +buried; for the priests who are alive, encourage the people to go on +worshipping dead priests' images, that they may get the offerings which +are made to them. + +But what do you think of men worshipping DEAD BEASTS? Yet this is what +the Ostyaks do. When they have killed a wolf or a bear, they stuff its +skin with hay, and gather round to mock it, to kick it, to spit upon it, +and then--they stick it up on its hind legs in a corner of the hut, and +WORSHIP it! Alas! how has Satan blinded their mind! + +And in what manner do they worship the beasts? With screaming,--with +dancing,--with swinging their swords,--by making offerings of fur, of +silver and gold, and of reindeer. These reindeer they kill very cruelly, +by stabbing them in various parts of their bodies, to please the cruel +gods, or rather cruel devils whom they worship. + +Has no one tried to convert the Ostyaks to God? The emperor of Russia +will not allow protestant missionaries to teach in Siberia. He wishes the +Ostyaks to belong to the Greek church, and he has tried to bribe them +with presents of cloth to be baptized; and a good many have been +baptized. But what good can such baptisms do to the soul? + +The Russians do much harm to their subjects, by tempting them to buy +brandy. There is nothing which the Ostyaks are so eager to obtain, as +this dangerous drink. On one occasion, a traveller was surrounded by a +troop of Ostyaks, all begging for brandy, and when they could get none, +they brought a large heap of frozen fish, and laid it at the travellers +feet, saying, "Noble sir, we present you with this." They did get some +brandy in return. Then, hoping for more, they brought a great salmon, and +a sturgeon, as long as a man. They seemed ready to part with all they +had, for the sake of brandy. + +Thus you see how much harm the Ostyaks have learned from their +acquaintance with the Russians. The chief good they have got, has been +learning to build houses; for once they lived only in tents. + + +THE SAMOYEDES. + +This tribe lives so far to the north, that they see very little of the +Russians, though they belong to the emperor of Russia. They live close by +the Northern Sea. Imagine how very cold it must be. The Samoyedes inhabit +tents made of reindeer skins, such as the Ostyaks used to live in. They +are a much wilder people than the Ostyaks. The women dress in a strange +fantastic manner; not contented with a reindeer dress, as the Ostyaks +are, they join furs and skins of various sorts together; and instead of +veiling their faces, they wear a gay fur hat, with lappets; and at the +back of their necks a glutton's tail hangs down, as well as long tails of +their own hair, with brass rings jingling together at the end. + +But if their taste in _dress_ is laughable, their taste in _food_ is +horrible, as you will see. A traveller went with a Samoyede family for a +little while. They were drawn by reindeer, in sledges, and other reindeer +followed of their own accord. When they stopped for the night, they +pitched the tent, covering the long poles with their reindeer skins, +sewed together. The snow covered the ground inside the tent, but no one +thought of sweeping it away. It was easy to get water to fill the kettle, +as a few lumps of snow soon melted. Some of the men slept by the blazing +fire, while others went out, armed with long poles, to defend the deer +from the wolves. There was in the party a child of two years old, with +its mother. The child was allowed to help himself to porridge out of the +great kettle. The traveller offered him white sugar; but at first he +called it snow, and threw it away; soon, however, he learned to like it, +and asked for some whenever he saw the stranger at tea. At night, the +child was laid in a long basket, and was closely covered with furs; in +the same basket also, he travelled in the sledge. + +One day the traveller saw a Samoyede feast. A reindeer was brought, and +killed before the tent door; and its bleeding body was taken into the +tent, and devoured, all raw as it was, with the heartiest appetite. It +was dreadful to see the Samoyedes gnawing the flesh off the bones; their +faces all stained with blood, and even the child had his share of the raw +meat. Truly they looked more like wolves than men. + +I might go on to tell you of many other tribes; but I must be content +just to mention a few. + +There is a tribe who live in the eastern part of Siberia, called the +Yakuts, and instead of deer, and dogs, they keep horses, and oxen, and +strange to say, they _ride_ upon the oxen; and _eat_ the horses. A +horse's head is counted by them a most dainty dish. The cows live in one +room, and the family live in the next, with the calves, which are tied to +posts by the fire, and enjoy the full blaze. You may suppose that the +calves need the warmth of the fire, when I tell you that the windows of +the house are made of ice, but that the cold is so great, that the ice +does not melt. + +There is a large tribe called the Buraets. They dwell in tents. They are +Buddhists. At one time the Russians allowed missionaries to go to them. +There was an old man named Andang, who used to attend the services very +regularly. His wife accompanied him. One Sunday the preacher spoke much +of heaven and its glories. The old woman, on returning to her tent, said +to her husband, "Old man, I am going home to-night." Her husband did not +understand her meaning: then she said, "I love Jesus Christ, and I think +I shall be with him to-night." She lay down in her tent that night, but +rose no more. In the morning, the old man found her stiff and cold. He +saddled his horse, and set off to tell the missionary. "O sir," said he, +with tears, "my wife is gone home." When the missionary heard the account +of her death, he felt cheered by the hope that the old woman, though born +a heathen, had died a Christian, and had left her tent to dwell in a +glorious mansion above; for how was it that she felt no fear of death, +and how was it that she felt heaven was her home? Was it not because +Jesus loved her, and because she loved Jesus? + + +THE BANISHED RUSSIANS. + +Siberia is the land to which the emperor sends many of his people, when +they displease him. In passing through Siberia, you would often see +wagons full of women, children, and old men, followed by a troop of young +men, and guarded by a band of soldiers on horseback. You might know them +to be the banished Russians. What is to become of them? Some are to work +in the mines, and some are to work in the factories. Some are to have a +less heavy punishment; they are to be set free, in the midst of Siberia, +to support themselves in any way they can. Gentlemen and ladies have a +small sum of money allowed them by the emperor, and they live in the +towns. + +These people are called in Siberia, "the unfortunates." Some of them have +not deserved to be banished; but some have been guilty of crimes. + +CITIES. + +There are a few cities in Siberia, but only a few, and they have been +built by the Russians. + +The three chief cities are,-- + + Tobolsk, on the west, on the river Oby. + Irkutsk, in the midst, on the lake Baikal. + Yarkutsk, on the east, on the river Lena. + +OF THESE CITIES, + + Tobolsk is the handsomest. + Irkutsk is the pleasantest. + Yarkutsk is the coldest. + +It is not surprising that Tobolsk should be the handsomest, for there the +governor of Siberia resides. + +A great many Chinese come to Irkutsk to trade, and they bring quantities +of tea. + +Yarkutsk is the coldest town in the world; there may be others nearer the +north, but none lie exposed to such cold winds. The inhabitants scarcely +dare admit the light, for fear of increasing the cold; and they make only +one or two very small windows in their houses. Yet in summer vegetables +grow freely in the gardens. + + The Ostyaks live near the Oby. + The Buraets live near lake Baikal. + The Yakuts live near the Lena. + + +THE URAL MOUNTAINS. + +They are full of treasures; gold, silver, iron, copper, and precious +stones. They are dug up by the banished Russians, and sent in great +wagons to Russia, to increase the riches of the emperor. + + + + +KAMKATKA. + + +It is impossible to look at Siberia, without being struck with the shape +of Kamkatka, which juts out like a short arm. It is a peninsula. A +beautiful country it is; full of mountains, and rivers, and woods, and +waterfalls, and not as cold as might be expected. But there are not many +people dwelling in it; for though it is larger than Great Britain, all +the inhabitants might be contained in one of our small towns. And why +are there so few in so fine a country? Because the people love brandy +better than labor. They have been corrupted by the Russian soldiers, and +traders, and convicts, and they are sickening and dying away. + +A traveller once said to a Kamkatdale, "How should you like to see a ship +arrive here from China, laden with tea and sugar?" "I should like it +well," replied the man, "but there is one thing I should like better--to +see a ship arrive full of _men_; it is men we want, for our men are sick; +of the twelve here, six are too weak to hunt or fish." + +But the ship that would do the most good to Kamkatka, is a missionary +ship. The Greek church is the religion; but _no_ religion is much thought +of in Kamkatka; hunting and fishing only are cared for. Yet I fear if +missionaries were to go to Kamkatka, the emperor of Russia would send +them away. + +Where there are few men, there are generally many beasts and birds; this +is the case in Kamkatka. + +One of the most curious animals in Siberia, is the Argalis, or mountain +sheep. It is remarkable for its enormous horns, curled in a very curious +manner. Think not it is like one of our quiet, foolish sheep; there is no +animal at once so strong and so active. It is such a climber, that no +wolf or bear can follow it to the high places, hanging over awful +precipices, where it walks as firmly as you do upon the pavement. +Sometimes a hunter finds it among the mountains, and just as he is going +to shoot it, the creature disappears:--it has thrown itself down a +precipice! Is it dashed to pieces? No, it fell unhurt, and has escaped +without a bruise; for its bones are very strong, and its skin very thick. + +The bears of Kamkatka live chiefly upon fish and berries, and seldom +attack men. Yet men hunt them for their skins, and for their fat. The +skins make cloaks, and the fat is used for lamps; but their flesh is +thrown to the dogs. Many of the bears are very thin. It is only _fat_ +bears that can sleep all the winter in their dens without food; _thin_ +bears cannot sleep long, and even in winter they prowl about for food. +Dogs are very much afraid of them. A large party of travellers, who were +riding in sledges, drawn by dogs, observed the dogs suddenly begin to +snuff the air, and lo! immediately afterwards, a bear at full speed +crossed the road, and ran towards a forest. Great confusion took place +among the dogs; they set off with all their might; some broke their +harness, others got entangled among the trees, and overturned their +sledges. But the bear did not escape; for the travellers shot him through +the leg, and afterwards through the body; and the dogs feasted on _his_ +flesh, instead of the bear feasting on _theirs_. + +Hunting seals is one of the occupations of the Kamkatdales. Three men in +sledges, each sledge drawn by five dogs, once got upon a large piece of +ice, near the shore. They had killed two seals upon the ice, when they +suddenly perceived that the ice was moving, and carrying them out to sea. +They were already too far from land, to be able to get back. They knew +not what would become of them, and much they feared they should perish +from cold and hunger. The ice was so slippery that they were in great +danger of sliding into the sea. To prevent this, they stuck their long +poles deep into the ice, and tied themselves to the poles. They were +driven about for many days; but one morning,--to their great joy, they +found they were close to the shore. They did not forget to praise God for +so mercifully saving their lives; though they were so weak from want of +food, as scarcely to be able to creep ashore. + +CHARACTER.--The Kamkatdales are generous and grateful. A poor family will +sometimes receive another family into the house for six weeks; and when +the food is nearly gone, the generous host, not liking to tell his +visitors of it, serves up a dish of different sorts of meat and +vegetables, mixed together; the visitors know this is a sign that the +food is almost exhausted, and they take their leave. + +Did I say the Kamkatdales are grateful? I will give you an instance of +their gratitude. A traveller met a poor boy. He remembered his face, and +said, "I think I have seen you before." "You have," said the boy; "I +rowed you down the river last summer, and you were so kind as to give me +a skin, and some flints; and now I have brought the skin of a sable as a +present for you." The traveller, perceiving the boy had no shirt, and +that his skin dress was tattered, refused the present; but seeing the boy +was going away in tears, he called him back, and accepted it. A Chinese +servant, who was standing by, pitied so much the ragged condition of the +boy, that he gave him one of his own thin nankin shirts. + + + + +THIBET. + + +I cannot tell you much about Thibet; and the reason is, that so few +travellers have been there. And why have so few been there? Is it because +the mountains are so steep and high, the paths so narrow and dangerous? +All this is true; but it is not mountains that keep travellers out of +Thibet; it is the Chinese government; for Thibet belongs to China, and +you know how carefully the emperor of China keeps strangers out of his +empire. + +How did the Chinese get possession of Thibet? A long while ago, a Hindoo +army invaded the land, and the people in their fright sent to China for +help. The Chinese came, drove away the Hindoos, and stayed themselves. +They are not hard masters, they govern very mildly; only they require a +sum of money to be sent every year to Pekin, as tribute. + +But though Thibet belongs to China, the Chinese language is not spoken +there. + +The people are like the Tartars in appearance; they have the same bony +face, sharp black eye, and straight black hair; but a much fresher +complexion, owing to the fresh mountain air they breathe. + +The Himalaya mountains, the highest in Asia, lie between Thibet and +Hindostan. Their peaks are always covered with snow, and rapid streams +pour down the rugged sides. The snow on the mountain-tops makes Thibet +very cold; but there are warm valleys where grapes, and even rice +flourish. + +The people build their houses in the warmest spots they can find; they +try to find a place sheltered from the north wind, by a high rock, and +lying open to the south sun. Their dwellings are only made of stones, +heaped together, and the roofs are flat. Their riches consist in flocks +of sheep and goats. They have, another animal, which is not known in +England, and yet a very useful creature, because, like a cow, it yields +rich milk, and like a horse, it carries burdens. This animal is called +the Yak, and resembles both a horse and a cow. Its chief beauty is its +tail, which is much finer than a horse's tail, and is black, and glossy, +soft and flowing. Many of these tails are sent to India, where they are +used as fly-flappers. + +The sheep and goats of Thibet are more useful than ours; for they are +taught to carry burdens over the mountains. They may be seen following +each other in long trains, with large packs fastened on their little +backs, and climbing up very narrow and steep paths. + +And what is in these packs? Wool: not sheep's wool, but goat's wool: for +the goats of Thibet have very fine wool under their hair. No such wool is +found on any other goats. But though the people of Thibet can weave +common cloth, they cannot weave this beautiful wool, as it deserves to be +woven. Therefore they send it to a country the other side of the Himalaya +mountains, called Cashmere; and there it is woven into the most beautiful +shawls in all the world. + +But wool is not the only riches of Thibet. There is gold to be found +there; some in large pieces, and some in small dust. There are also large +mines of copper. And what use is made of these riches? The worst in the +world. With the gold and copper many IDOLS are made; for Thibet is a land +of idols. The religion is the same there as in China,--the Buddhist;--and +that is a religion of idols. + +But there is an idol in Thibet, which there is not in China. It is a +LIVING IDOL. He is called the Grand Lama. There are Lamas in Tartary, but +the GRAND Lama is in Thibet. He is looked up to as the greatest being in +the world, by all the Lamas in Tartary, and by all the people of the +Buddhist religion. There are more people,--a _great many_ more,--who +honor _him_, than who honor our GREAT GOD. + +But this man leads a miserable life. When one Lama dies, another is +chosen;--some little baby,--and he is placed in a very grand palace, and +worshipped as a god all his life long. I have heard of one of these baby +Lamas, who, when only eighteen months old, sat up with great majesty on +his pile of cushions. When strangers entered, he looked at them kindly, +and when they made a speech to him, he bowed his little head very +graciously. What a sad fate for this poor infant! To be set up as a god, +and taught to think himself a god--while all the time he is a helpless, +foolish, sinful, dying creature! + + +LASSA. + +This is the chief city of Thibet. Here is the palace of the Grand Lama. +If is of enormous size. What do you think of TEN THOUSAND rooms? Did you +ever hear of so _large_ a house? Neither did you ever hear of so _high_ a +house. It is almost as high as the pinnacle of St. Paul's church. There +are seven stories, and on the highest story are the state apartments of +the Grand Lama. It is no matter to him how many flights of stairs there +may be to reach his rooms; for he is never allowed to walk; but it is +fatiguing for his worshippers to ascend so high. I suppose the priests +make their Grand Lama live so high up, that he may be like our God who +dwells in the highest heavens. Who occupy the ten thousand rooms of the +palace? Chiefly idols of gold and silver. The house outside is richly +adorned, and its roof glitters with gold. + +There are many magnificent houses in Thibet, where priests live. No one +could live with them, who could not bear a great noise: for three times a +day the priests meet to worship, and each time they hollo with all their +might, to do honor to Buddha. The noise is stunning, but they do not +think it loud enough; so on feast days, they use copper instruments, such +as drums and trumpets, of the most enormous size, and with them they send +forth an overwhelming sound. + +This unmeaning noise may well remind us of a sound--louder far--that +shall one day be heard; so loud that _all the world_ will hear it. It is +the sound of the LAST TRUMPET! It will wake the dead. Stout hearts will +quail; devils will tremble; but all those who love the Lord, will rejoice +and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save +us."--(Is. xxv. 9.) + + + + +CEYLON. + + +This is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Part of it indeed +is flat--that part near Hindustan; but in the midst--there are mountains; +and streams running down their sides, and swelling into lovely rivers, +winding along the fruitful valleys. Such scenes might remind you of +Switzerland, the most beautiful country in Europe. + +The chief beauty of Ceylon is her TREES. + +I will mention a few of the beautiful, curious, and useful trees of this +delightful island. The tree for which Ceylon is celebrated, is the +CINNAMON tree. For sixty miles along the shore, there are cinnamon +groves, and the sweet scent may be perceived far off upon the seas. If +you were to see a cinnamon-tree, you might mistake it for a laurel;--a +tree so often found in English gardens. The cinnamon-trees are never +allowed to grow tall, because it is only the upper branches which are +much prized for their bark. The little children of Ceylon may often be +seen sitting in the shade, peeling off the bark with their knives; and +this bark is afterwards sent to England to flavor puddings, and to mix +with medicine. + +There are also groves of cocoa-nut trees on the shores of Ceylon. A few +of these trees are a little fortune to a poor man; for he can eat the +_fruit_, build his house with the _wood_, roof it with the _leaves_, make +cups of the _shell_, and use the oil of the _kernel_ instead of candles. + +The JACK-TREE bears a larger fruit than any other in the world;--as large +as a horse's head,--and so heavy that a woman can only carry one upon her +head to market.. This large fruit does not hang on the tree by a stalk, +but grows out of the trunk, or the great branches. This is well arranged, +for so large a fruit would be too heavy for a stalk, and might fall off, +and hurt the heads of those sitting beneath its shade. The outside of +this fruit is like a horse-chestnut, green, and prickly; the inside is +yellow, and is full of kernels, like beans. The wood is like +mahogany,--hard and handsome. + +But there is a tree in Ceylon, still more curious than the jack-tree. It +is the TALPOT-TREE. This is a very tall tree, and its top is covered by a +cluster of round leaves, each leaf so large, that it would do for a +carpet, for a common-sized room; and one single LEAF, cut it in +three-cornered pieces, will make a TENT! When cut up, the leaves are used +for fans and books. But this tree bears no fruit till just before it +dies,--that is till it is _fifty_ years old: THEN--an enormous bud is +seen, rearing its huge head in the midst of the crown of leaves;--the bud +bursts with a loud noise, and a yellow flower appears,--a flower so +large, that it would fill a room! The flower turns into fruit. THAT SAME +YEAR THE TREE DIES! + +PEOPLE.--And who are the people who live in this beautiful land? + +In the flat part of the island, towards the north, the people resemble +the Hindoos, and speak and think like them; and they are called Tamuls. + +But among the mountains of the south a different kind of people live, +called the Cingalese. They do not speak the Tamul language, nor do they +follow the Hindoo religion. They follow the Buddhist religion. You know +this is the religion of the greater part of the nations. Ceylon is full +of the temples of Buddha. In each temple there is an inner dark room, +very large, where Buddha's image is kept,--a great image that almost +fills the room. + +[Illustration: DEVIL PRIESTS.] + +The priests in their yellow cloaks, with their shaven heads and bare +feet, may be seen every morning begging from door to door; but _proud_ +beggars they are,--not condescending to _speak_,--but only standing with +their baskets ready to receive rice and fruit; and the only thanks they +give--are their blessings. + +There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the +worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It +is the worship of the DEVIL! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there +was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to +worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point. + +There are many _devil priests_. When any one is sick, it is supposed that +the devil has caused the sickness, and a devil priest is sent for. And +what can the priest do? He dances,--he sings,--with his face +painted,--small bells upon his legs,--and a flaming torch in each hand; +while another man beats a loud drum. He dances, he sings--all night +long,--sometimes changing his white jacket for a black, or his black for +a white,--sometimes falling down, and sometimes jumping up,--sometimes +reeling, and sometimes running,--and all this he does to please the +devil, and to coax him to come out of the sick person. This is what he +_pretends_;--but in _reality_, he seeks to get money by his tricks. The +people are very fond of these devil-dancers; it _tires_ them to listen to +the Buddhist priests, mumbling out of their books, the five hundred and +fifty histories of Buddha; but it _delights_ them to watch all night the +antics of a devil priest. + +What is the character of these deceived people? They are polite, and +obliging, but as deceitful as their own priests. They are not even +_sincere_ in their wrong religion, but are ready to _pretend_ to be of +any religion which is most convenient. The Portuguese once were masters +of Ceylon, and they tried to make the people Roman Catholics. Then the +Dutch came, who tried to force them to be Protestants. Many infants were +baptized, who grew up to be heathen priests. Now the English are masters +of Ceylon; they do not _oblige_ the people to be Christians, yet many +pretend to be Christians who are not. + +A man was once asked, "Are you a Buddhist?" + +"No," he replied. + +"Are you a Mahomedan?" + +"No." + +"Are you a Roman Catholic?" + +"No." + +"What is your religion?" + +"Government religion." + +Such was his answer. This man had no religion at all,--he only wished to +obtain the favor of the governor. But will he obtain the favor of the +Governor of the world, the King of kings? + +We have said nothing yet about the appearance of the Cingalese. Both men +and women wear a piece of cloth wound round their waists, called a +comboy; but they do not, like the Hindoos, twist it over their shoulders; +they wear a jacket instead. Neither do the men wear turbans, as in India, +but they fasten their hair with a comb, while the women fasten theirs +with long pins. The Cingalese ladies and gentlemen imitate the English +dress, especially when they come to a party at the English Governor's +house. Then they wear shoes and stockings instead of sandals; the +gentlemen contrive to place a hat over their long hair, by first taking +out the combs; yet they still wind a comboy over their English clothes. +The Hindoos do not thus imitate the English, for they are too proud of +their own customs. Hindoo ladies never go into company; but Cingalese +ladies may be seen at parties, arrayed in colored satin jackets, and +adorned with golden hair-pins, and diamond necklaces. + +You have heard of the foolish ideas the Hindoos entertain about castes. +It is the Brahmin priests who teach _them_ these opinions. The Buddhist +priests say nothing about castes; yet the Cingalese have castes of their +_own_; but not the _same_ castes as the Hindoos. There are twenty-one +castes in all; the highest caste consists of the husbandmen, and the +lowest of the mat-weavers. + +Below the lowest caste, are the OUTCASTS! The poor outcasts live in +villages by themselves, hated by all. When they meet any one, who are not +outcasts, they go as near to the hedge as they can, with their hands on +the top of their heads, to show their respect. These poor creatures are +accustomed to be treated as if they were dogs. What pride there is in +man's heart! How is it one poor worm can lift himself up so high above +his fellow-worm, though both are made of the same dust, and shall lie +down in the same dust together! + + +KANDY. + +This town is built among the high mountains. It was built there for the +same reason that the eagle builds her nest on the top of a tall rock,--to +get out of the reach of enemies. But the proud king, who once dwelt +there, has been conquered, and now England's Queen rules over Ceylon. No +wonder that the proud king had enemies, for he was a monster of cruelty. +His palace is still to be seen. See that high tower, and that open +gallery at the top! There the _last king_ used to stand to enjoy the +sight of his subjects' agonies. Those who had offended him were killed in +the Court below,--killed not in a common manner, but in all kinds of +barbarous ways,--such as by being cut in pieces, or by swallowing melted +lead. At length the Cingalese invited the English to come and deliver +them from their tyrant; the English came and shut him up in prison till +he died, and now an English governor rules over Ceylon. + +The greatest curiosity to be seen at Kandy is a TOOTH! a tooth that the +people say was taken out of the mouth of their Buddha. It is kept in a +splendid temple on a golden table, in a golden box of great size. There +are seven boxes one inside the other, and in the innermost box, wrapped +up in gold, there is a piece of ivory, the size of a man's thumb,--that +is the tooth of Buddha! Every day it is worshipped, and offerings of +fruit and flowers are presented. + + +COLOMBO. + +This is the chief _English_ town of Ceylon, as Kandy is the chief +_Cingalese_ town. The English governor lives here, but he has a house at +Kandy too, where he may enjoy the cool mountain air. There is a fine road +from Colombo to Kandy, broader and harder than, English roads; yet it is +out through steep mountains, and winds by dangerous precipices. But there +are laborers in Ceylon stronger than any in England. I mean the +ELEPHANTS. It is curious to see this huge animal meekly walking along +with a plank across its tusks, or dragging wagons full of large stones. +Among the mountains there are herds of _wild_ elephants, sometimes a +hundred may be seen in one herd. There are no elephants in the world as +courageous as those of Ceylon, yet they are very obedient when tamed. If +you wished to visit the mountains, you might safely ride upon the back of +the sure-footed elephant, and all your brothers and sisters, however +many, might ride with you. + +MISSIONARIES.--There are some in Ceylon, and some of the heathens have +obeyed their voice. + +There was once a devil priest. Having been detected in some crime, he was +imprisoned at Kandy, and while in prison he read a Christian tract, and +was converted. Thus (like Onesimus, of whom we read in the Bible,) he +escaped from _Satan's_ prison, while shut up in _man's_ prison. When he +was set free, he was baptized by the missionary at Kandy, and he chose to +be called Abraham. What name did he choose for his son, a boy of +fourteen? Isaac. He buried his conjuring books, though he might have sold +them for eight pounds. His cottage was in a village fifteen miles from +Kandy. He had left it--a _wicked_ man; lib returned to it a _good_ man. + +After some time, a missionary went to visit Abraham in his cottage. A +good Cingalese was his guide. The walk there was beautiful, along narrow +paths, amidst fields of rice, through dark thickets, and long grass. No +one in Abraham's village had ever seen the fair face of an Englishman; +and the sight of the missionary alarmed the inhabitants. Abraham's family +was the only Christian family in that place. How glad Abraham felt at the +sight of the missionary,--almost as glad as the _first_ Abraham felt at +the sight of the three angels. When the missionary entered, Abraham was +teaching his wife, for she was soon to be baptized. By what name? By the +name of Sarah. There were seven children in the family. How hard it must +be for Abraham to bring them up as Christians, in the midst of his +heathen neighbors. Even his brothers hate him, wound his cattle, and +break down his fences. Once they pointed a gun at him, but it did not go +off. Abraham's comfort is to walk over to Kandy every Saturday, to +worship God there on Sunday with the Christians; and he does not find +fifteen miles too far for his willing feet. May the Lord preserve +Abraham, faithful in the midst of the wicked. + + + + +BORNEO. + + +This is the largest island in the world, except one. Borneo is of a +different shape from our Britain, but if you could join Britain and +Ireland in one, both together would not be as large as Borneo. Yet how +unlike is Borneo to Britain! Britain is a Christian island. Borneo is a +heathen island. Yet Borneo is not an island of _idols_, as Ceylon is. +_All_ heathens do not worship idols. I will tell you who live in Borneo, +and you will see why there are so few idols there. + +Many people have come from Malacca, and settled in Borneo; so the island +is full of Malays. These people have a cunning and cruel look, and no +wonder;--for many of them are PIRATES! It is a common custom in Borneo to +go out in a large boat,--to watch for smaller boats,--to seize them--to +bind the men in chains, and to bring them home as slaves. There are no +seas in the world so dangerous to sail in, as the seas near Borneo, not +only on account of the rocks, but on account of the great number of +pirates. What is the religion of Borneo? It is Mahomedanism. But the +Malays do not follow the laws of Mahomet as the Turks do. They do not +mind the hours of prayer, nor do they attend regularly at the mosque. +This is not surprising, for they do not understand the Koran. Mahomet +wrote in Arabic, and the Malays do not understand Arabic. Why do they not +get the Koran translated? Mahomet did not wish the book to be translated. +Why then do not the Malays learn Arabic? I wonder they do not, but I +suppose they are too idle, and too careless. The boys go to school and +learn to read and write their own easy language--the Malay; and they +learn also to repeat whole chapters of the Koran, but without +understanding a word. Still they think it a great advantage to know these +chapters, because they imagine that by repeating them, they can drive +away evil spirits. + +The Malays observe Mahomet's law against eating pork; but many of them +drink wine, though Mahomet forbids it. However, they follow Mahomet in +not having dancing at their feasts; indeed, their behavior at feasts is +sober and orderly, for they amuse themselves chiefly by singing, and +repeating poems. They have only two meals a day, and they live chiefly +upon rice, which they eat, sitting cross-legged on the floor. They get +tea from China, and drink many cups during the day, in the same way as +the Chinese. + +The ladies are treated like the ladies of Turkey, and shut up in their +houses, to spend their time in folly and idleness. + +The men scarcely work at all, but employ the slaves they have stolen at +sea, to labor in their fields. Their houses are not better than barns, +and not nearly as strong; for the sides and roof are generally made only +of large leaves. They are built upon posts, as in Siam. It is well to be +out of the reach of the leeches, crawling on the ground. + +The Malays dress in loose clothes, trowsers, and jacket, and broad sash; +the women are wrapped in a loose garment, and wear their glossy black +hair flowing over their shoulders. The rich men dress magnificently, and +quite cover their jackets with gold, while the ladies delight to sparkle +with jewels. + + +BRUNI. + +This is the capital. It is often called Borneo, and it is written down in +the maps by this name. It is one of the most curious cities in the world; +for most of the houses are built in the river, and most of the streets +are only water. Every morning a great market is held on the water. The +people come in boats from all the country round, bringing fruit and +vegetables to sell, and they paddle up and down the city till they have +sold their goods. + +The Sultan's palace is built upon the bank, close to the water; and the +front of his palace is open; so that it is easy to come in a boat, and to +gaze upon him, as he sits cross-legged on his throne, arrayed in purple +satin, glittering with gold. + +There is a mosque in Bruni; but it is built only of brick, and has +nothing in it but a wooden pulpit; and hardly anybody goes there, though +a man stands outside making a loud noise on a great drum, to invite +people to come in. + + +THE DYAKS. + +These are a savage people who inhabit Borneo. They lived there before the +Malays came, and they have been obliged to submit to them. They are +savages indeed. They are darker than the Malays; yet they are not black; +their skin is only the color of copper. Their hair is cut short in front, +but streams down their backs; their large mouths show a quantity of black +teeth, made black by chewing the betel-nut. They wear very little +clothing, but they adorn their ears, and arms, and legs, with numbers of +brass rings. Their looks are wild and fierce, but not cunning like the +looks of the Malays. They are not Mahomedans; they have hardly any +religion at all. They believe there are some gods, but they know hardly +anything about them, and they do not want to know. They neither make +images to the gods, nor say prayers to them. They live like the beasts, +thinking only of this life; yet they are more unhappy than beasts, for +they imagine there are evil spirits among the woods and hills, watching +to do them harm. It is often hard to persuade them to go to the top of a +mountain, where they say evil spirits dwell. Such a people would be more +ready to listen to a missionary than those who have idols, and temples, +and priests, and sacred books. + +Their wickedness is very great. It is their chief delight to get the +heads of their enemies. There are a great many different tribes of Dyaks, +and each tribe tries to cut off the heads of other tribes. The Dyaks who +live by the sea are the most cruel; they go out in the boats to rob, and +to bring home, not _slaves_, but HEADS! And how do they treat a head when +they get it? They take out the brains, and then they dry it in the smoke, +with the flesh and hair still on; then they put a string through it, and +fasten it to their waists. The evening that they have got some new heads, +the warriors dance with delight,--their heads dangling by their +sides;--and they turn round in the dance, and gaze upon their heads,--and +shout,--and yell with triumph! At night they still keep the heads near +them; and in the day, they play with them, as children with their dolls, +talking to them, putting food in their mouths, and the betel-nut between +their ghastly lips. After wearing the heads many days, they hang them up +to the ceilings of their rooms. + +No English lord thinks so much of his pictures, as the Dyaks do of their +heads. They think these heads are the finest ornaments of their houses. +The man who has _most_ heads, is considered the _greatest_ man. A man who +has NO HEADS is despised! If he wishes to be respected, he must get a +head as soon as he can. Sometimes a man, in order to get a head, will go +out to look for a poor fisherman, who has done him no harm, and will come +back with his head. + +When the Dyaks fight against their enemies, they try to get, not only the +heads of _men_, but also the heads of _women_ and CHILDREN. How dreadful +it must be to see a poor BABY'S HEAD hanging from the ceiling! There was +a Dyak who lost all his property by fire, but he cared not for losing +anything, so much as for losing his PRECIOUS HEADS; nothing could console +him for THIS loss; some of them he had cut off himself, and others had +been cut off by his father, and left to him! + +People who are so bent on killing, as these Dyaks are, must have many +enemies. The Dyaks are always in fear of being attacked by their enemies. +They are afraid of living in lonely cottages; they think it a better plan +for a great many to live together, that they may be able to defend +themselves, if surprised in the night. Four hundred Dyaks will live +together in one house. The house is very large. To make it more safe, it +is built upon _very high posts_, and there are ladders to get up by. The +posts are sometimes forty feet high; so that when you are in the house, +you find yourself as high as the tall trees. There is one very large +room, where all the men and women sit, and talk, and do their work in the +day. The women pound the rice, and weave the mats, while the men make +weapons of war, and the little children play about. There is always much +noise and confusion in this room. There are a great many doors along one +side of the long room; and each of these doors leads into a small room +where a family lives; the parents, the babies, and the girls sleep there, +while the boys of the family sleep in the large room, that has just been +described. + +You know already what are the ornaments on which each family prides +itself,--the HEADS hanging up in their rooms! It is the SEA Dyaks who +live in these very large houses. + +The HILL Dyaks do not live in houses quite so large. Yet several families +inhabit the same house. In the midst of their villages, there is always +one house where the boys sleep. In this house all the HEADS of the +village are kept. The house is round, and built on posts, and the +entrance is underneath through the floor. As this is the best house in +the village, travellers are always brought to this house to sleep. Think +how dreadful it must be, when you wake in the night to see thirty or +forty horrible heads, dangling from the ceiling! The wind, too, which +comes in through little doors in the roof, blows the heads about; so that +they knock against each other, and seem almost as if they were still +alive. This is the HEAD-HOUSE. + +These Hill Dyaks do not often get a new head; but when they do, they come +to the Head-House at night, and sing to the new head, while they beat +upon their loud gongs. What do they say to the new head? + +"Your head, and your spirit, are now ours. Persuade your countrymen to be +slain by us. Let them wander in the fields, that we may bring the heads +of your brethren, and hang them up with your heads." + +How much Satan must delight in these prayers. They are prayers just +suited to that great MURDERER and DESTROYER! + +The Malays are enemies to all the Dyaks; and they have burnt many of +their houses, cut down their fruit trees, and taken their children +captives. The Dyaks complain bitterly of their sufferings. Some of them +say, "We do not live like men, but like monkeys; we are hunted from place +to place; we have no houses; and when we light a fire, we fear lest the +smoke should make our enemies know where we are." + +They say they live like monkeys. But why do they behave like tigers? + +An English gentleman, named Sir James Brooke, has settled in Borneo, and +has become a chief of a large tract of land. His house is near the river +Sarawak. He has persuaded the Sultan of Borneo, to give the English a +VERY LITTLE island called the Isle of Labuan. It is a desert island. Of +what use can this small island be to England? English soldiers may live +there, and try to prevent pirates infesting the seas. If it were not for +the pirates, Borneo would be able to send many treasures to foreign +countries. It is but a little way from Borneo to Singapore, and there are +many English merchants at Singapore, ready to buy the precious things of +Borneo. Gold is found in Borneo, mixed with the earth. But I don't know +who would dig it up, if it were not for the industrious Chinese, who come +over in great numbers to get money in this island. Diamonds are found +there, and a valuable metal called antimony. + +The sago-tree, the pepper plant, and the sugar-cane, and the cocoa-nut +tree are abundant. + +The greatest curiosity that Borneo possesses are the eatable nests. These +white and transparent nests are found in the caves by the sea-shore, and +they are the work of a little swallow. The Chinese give a high price for +these nests, that they may make soup for their feasts. + +ANIMALS.--Borneo has very few large animals. There are, indeed, enormous +alligators in the rivers, but there are no lions or tigers; and even the +bears are small, and content to climb the trees for fruit and honey. The +majestic animal which is the pride of Ceylon, is not found in Borneo: I +mean the elephant. + +Yet the woods are filled with living creatures. Squirrels and monkeys +sport among the trees. The leaps of the monkeys are amazing; hundreds +will jump one after the other, from a tree as high as a house, and not +one will miss his footing; yet now and then a monkey has a fall. The +most curious kind of monkey is found in Borneo--the Ourang-outang; but it +is one of the least active; it climbs carefully from branch to branch, +always holding by its hands before it makes a spring. These +Ourang-outangs are not as large as a man, yet they are much stronger. All +the monkeys sleep in the trees; in a minute a monkey makes its bed by +twisting a few branches together. + +Beneath the trees--two sorts of animals, very unlike each other, roam +about,--the clumsy hog, and the graceful deer. As the _largest_ sort of +_monkeys_ is found in Borneo, so is the _smallest_ sort of _deer_. There +is a deer that has legs only eight inches long. There is no more elegant +creature in the world than this bright-eyed, swift-footed little deer. + + + + +JAPAN. + + +This is the name of a great empire. There are three principal islands. +One of these is very long, and very narrow; it is about a thousand miles +long,--much longer than Great Britain, but not nearly as broad. Yet the +three islands _together_ are larger than our island. There is a fourth +island near the Japan islands, called Jesso, and it is filled with +Japanese people. + +You know it is difficult to get into China; but it is far more difficult +to get into Japan. The emperor has boats always watching round the coast, +to prevent strangers coming into his country. These boats are so made, +that they cannot go far from the shore. No Japanese ship is ever seen +floating in a foreign harbor. If it be difficult to get _into_ Japan, it +is also difficult to get _out_ of her. There is a law condemning to +_death_ any Japanese who leaves his country. The Chinese also are +forbidden to leave their land; but _they_ do not mind their laws as well +as the Japanese mind _theirs_. + +I shall not be able to tell you much about Japan; as strangers may not go +there, nor natives come from it. English ships very seldom go to Japan, +because they are so closely watched. The guard-boats surround them night +and day. When it is dark, lanterns are lighted, in order the better to +observe the strangers. One English captain entreated permission to land, +that he might observe the stars with his instruments, in order afterwards +to make maps; but he could only get leave to land on a little island +where there were a few fishermen's huts; and all the time he was there, +the Japanese officers kept their eye upon him. He was told that he must +not measure the land. It seems that the Japanese were afraid that his +_measuring_ the land would be the beginning of his taking it away. +However, he had no such intention, and was content with measuring the +SEA. + +He asked the Japanese to sell him a supply of fruit and vegetables for +his crew, and a supply was brought; but the Japanese would take no money +in return. He wanted to buy bullocks, that his crew might have beef, but +the Japanese replied, "You cannot have _them_; for they work hard, and +are tired, they draw the plough; they do their duty, and they ought not +to be eaten; but the _hogs_ are lazy; they do no work, you may have them +to eat, if you wish it." The Japanese will not even milk their cows, but +they allow the calves to have all the milk. + +If you wish to know _why_ the Japanese will not allow strangers to land, +I must relate some events which happened three hundred years ago. + +Some Roman Catholic priests from Spain and Portugal settled in the land, +and taught the people about Christ, but they taught them also to worship +the cross, and the Virgin Mary. Thousands of the Japanese were baptized, +and were called Christians. After some years had passed away, the emperor +began to fear that the kings of Spain and Portugal would come, and take +away his country from him, as they had taken away other countries; so the +emperor began to persecute the priests, and all who followed their words. +One emperor after another persecuted the Christians. There is a burning +mountain in Japan, and down its terrible yawning mouth many Christians +were thrown. One emperor commanded his people instead of _worshipping_ +the cross, to _trample_ upon it. To do either--is wicked; to do either is +to insult Christ. + +All Christians are now hated in Japan. The Dutch tried to persuade the +emperors to trust _them_; but they could only get leave to buy and sell +at one place, but not to settle in the land. + +There are many beautiful things in Japan, especially boxes, and screens, +and cabinets, varnished and ornamented in a curious manner, and these are +much admired by great people in Europe. There is silk, too, and tea, and +porcelain in Japan; but they are not nearly as fine as China. There is +gold also. + +There are as many people in Japan, as there are in Britain; for the +Japanese are very industrious, and cultivate abundance of rice, and +wheat. Oh! how sad to think that so many millions should be living and +dying in darkness; for the chief religion is the false, and foolish +religion of Buddha, or, as he is called in Japan, "Budso." How many names +are given to that deceiver! Buddha in Ceylon; Fo, in China; Gaudama, in +Burmah; Codom, in Siam--and Budso in Japan! + +What sort of people are the Japanese? + +They are a very polite people--much politer than the Chinese, but very +proud. They are a learned nation, for they can read and write, and they +understand geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. There is a college where +many languages are taught, even English. The dress of the gentlemen is +elegant;--the loose tunic and trowsers, the sash, and jacket, are made of +a kind of fine linen, adorned with various patterns; the stockings are of +white jean; sandals are worn upon the feet, but no covering upon the +head, although most of the hair is shaven, and the little that remains +behind, is tied tightly together; an umbrella or a fan is all that is +used to keep off the sun;--except on journeys, and then a large cap of +oiled paper, or of plaited grass is worn. The great mark by which a +gentleman is known, is wearing two swords. + +The Japanese houses are very pretty. In the windows--flower-pots are +placed; and when real flowers cannot be had, artificial flowers are used. +In great houses, the ladies are shut up in one part; while in the other, +company is received. The house is divided into rooms by large screens, +and as these can be moved, the rooms can be made larger, or smaller, as +the master pleases. There are no chairs, for the Japanese, though so much +like the Chinese, do not sit like them on chairs, but on mats beautifully +woven. The emperor's palace is called, "The Hall of the Thousand Mats." +Every part of a Japanese house is covered with paper, and adorned with +paintings, and gold, and silver flowers; even the doors, and the +ceilings, are ornamented in this manner. Beautiful boxes, and porcelain +jars, add to the beauty of the rooms. + +The climate is pleasant, for the winter is short, and the sun is not as +hot as in China; so that the ladies, and gentlemen, are almost as fair as +Europeans, though the laborers are very dark. + +[Illustration: JAPANESE GENTLEMAN.] + +But Japan is exposed to many dangers, from wind, from water, and from +fire--three terrible enemies! The waves dash with violence upon the rocky +shores; the wind often blows in fearful hurricanes; while earthquakes and +hot streams from the burning mountains, fill the people with terror. + +But more terrible than any of these--is wickedness; and very wicked +customs are observed in Japan. It is very wicked for a man to kill +himself, yet in Japan it is the custom for all courtiers who have +offended the emperor, to cut open their own bodies with a sword. The +little boys of five years old, begin to learn the dreadful art. They do +not really cut themselves, but they are shown _how_ to do it, that when +they are men, they may be able to kill themselves in an elegant manner. +How dreadful! Every great man has a white dress, which he never wears, +but keeps by him, that he may put it on when he is going to kill himself: +and he carries it about with him wherever he goes, for he cannot tell how +suddenly he may want it. When a courtier receives a letter sentencing him +to die, he invites his friends to a feast; and at the end of it, his +sentence is read aloud by the emperor's officer; then he takes his sword, +and makes a great gash across his own body; at the same moment, a servant +who stands behind him, cuts off his head. + +This way of dying is thought very fine, and as a reward, the emperor +allows the son of the dead man to occupy his father's place in the court. +But _what_ a place to have, when at last there may be such a fearful +scene! Missionaries cannot come into Japan to teach the people a better +way of dying, and to tell them of a happy place after death. + + + + +AUSTRALIA. + + +This is the largest island in the world. It is as large as Europe (which +is not an _island_, but a _continent_). But how different is Australia +from Europe! Instead of containing, as Europe does, a number of grand +kingdoms, it has not one single king. Instead of being filled with +people, the greater part of Australia is a desert, or a forest, where a +few half naked savages are wandering. + +A hundred years ago, there was not a town in the whole island; but now +there are a few large towns near the sea-coast, but only a very few. It +is the English who built these large towns, and who live in them. + +Australia is not so fine a land as Europe, because it has not so many +fine rivers; and it is fine _rivers_ that make a fine _land_. Most of the +rivers in Australia do not deserve the name of rivers; they are more like +a number of water-holes, and are often dried up in the summer; but there +is one very fine, broad, long, deep river, called the Murray. It flows +for twelve hundred miles. Were there several such rivers us the Murray, +then Australia would be a fine land indeed. + +Why is there so little water? Because there is so little rain. Sometimes +for two years together, there are no heavy showers, and the grass +withers, and the trees turn brown, and the air is filled with dust. I +believe the reason of the want of rain is--that the mountains are not +high; for high mountains draw the clouds together. There are no mountains +as high as the Alps of Europe; the highest are only half as high.[13] + +THE NATIVES.--The savages of Australia have neither god, nor king. Some +heathen countries are full of idols, but there are no idols in the wilds +of Australia. No,--like the beasts which perish, these savages live from +day to day without prayer, or praise, delighting only in eating and +drinking, hunting and dancing. + +Most men build some kind of houses; but these savages are satisfied with +putting a few boughs together, as a shelter from the storm. There is just +room in one of these shelters for a man to creep into it, and lie down to +sleep. They do not wish to learn to build better huts, for as they are +always running about from place to place, they do not think it worth +while to build better. + +A native was once sitting in the corner of a white man's hut, and looking +as if he enjoyed the warmth. The white men began to laugh at him, for not +building a good hut for himself. For some time the black man said +nothing, at last he muttered, "Ay, ay, white fellow think it best +that-a-way. Black fellow think it best that-a-way." A white man rudely +answered, "Then black fellow is a fool." Upon hearing this, the black +fellow, quite affronted, got up, and folding his blanket round him, +walked out of the hut. How much pride there is in the heart of man! Even +a savage thinks a great deal of his own wisdom, and cannot bear to be +called a fool. + +Sometimes the natives build a house _strong_ enough to last during the +whole winter, and _large_ enough to hold seven or eight people. They make +it in the shape of a bee-hive. + +Their reason for moving about continually, is that they may get food. +They look for it, wherever they go, digging up roots, and grubbing up +grubs, and searching the hollows of the trees for _opossums_. (Of these +strange animals more shall soon be mentioned.) + +The women are the most ill-treated creatures in the world. The men beat +them on their heads whenever they please, and cover them with bruises. A +gentleman once saw a poor black woman crying bitterly. When he asked her +what was the matter, she told him that her husband was going to beat her +for having broken his pipe. The gentleman went to the husband, and +entreated him to forgive his "gin" (for that is the name for a _wife_ or +_woman_). But the man declared he would not forgive her, unless a new +pipe was given to him. The gentleman could not promise one to the black +man, as there were no pipes to be had in that place. The next morning the +poor gin appeared with a broken arm, her cruel husband having beaten her +with a thick stick. + +The miserable gins are not _beaten_ only; they are _half starved_; for +their husbands will give them no food, and _they_--poor things--cannot +fish or hunt, or shoot; they have nothing but the roots they dig up, and +the grubs, and lizards, and snakes they find on the ground. Their looks +show how wretchedly they fare; for while the men are often strong and +tall, the women are generally thin, and bent, and haggard. + +Yet the _woman_, weak as she is, carries all the baggage, not only the +babe slung upon her back, but the bag of food, and even her husband's gun +and pipe; while the _man_ stalks along in his pride, with nothing but +his spear in his hand, or at most a light basket upon his arm; for he +considers his wife as his beast of burden. At night the woman has to +build her own shelter, for the man thinks it quite enough to build one +for himself. + +Such is the hard lot of a native woman, while she _lives_; and when she +_dies_, her body is perched in a tree, as not worth the trouble of +burying. + +I have already told you, that the natives have no GOD; yet they have a +DEVIL, whom they call Yakoo, or debbil-debbil. Of him they are always +afraid, for they fancy he goes about devouring children. When any one +dies, they say, "Yakoo took him." How different from those happy +Christians who can say of their dead, "God took them!" + +People who know not God, but only the devil, must be very wicked. These +savages show themselves to be children of debbil-debbil by their actions. +They kill many of their babes, that they may not have the trouble of +nursing them. Old people also they kill, and laugh at the idea of making +them "tumble down." One of the most horrible things they do, is making +the skulls of their friends into drinking-cups, and they think that by +doing so, they show their AFFECTION! They allow the nearest relation to +have the skull of the dead person. They will even EAT a little piece of +the dead body, just as a mark of love. But generally speaking, it is +only their _enemies_ they eat, and they _do_ eat them whenever they can +kill them. There are a great many tribes of natives, and they look upon +one another as enemies. If a man of one tribe dare to come, and hunt in +the lands of another tribe, he is immediately killed, and his body is +eaten. + +The bodies of dear friends--are treated with great honor, placed for some +weeks on a high platform, and then buried. Mothers prize highly the dead +bodies of their children. A traveller met a poor old woman wandering in +search of roots, with a stick for digging in her hand, and with no other +covering than a little grass mat. On her back she bore a heavy load. What +was it? The dead body of her child,--a boy of ten years old; this burden +she had borne for three weeks, and she thought she showed her love, by +keeping it near her for so long a time. Alas! she knew nothing of the +immortal spirit, and how, when washed in Jesus' blood, it is borne by +angels into the presence of God. + +But though these savages are so wicked, and so wild, they have their +amusements. Dancing is the chief amusement. At every full moon, there is +a grand dance, called the Corrobory. It is the men who dance, while the +women sit by and beat time. Nothing can be more horrible to see than a +Corrobory. It is held in the night by the light of blazing fires. The men +are made to look more frightful than usual, by great patches, and stripes +of red and white clay all over their bodies; and they play all manner of +strange antics, and utter all kinds of strange yells; so that you might +think it was a dance in HELL, rather than on earth. + +It may surprise you to hear these wild creatures have a turn both for +music and drawing. There are figures carved upon the rocks, which show +their turn for drawing. The figures represent beasts, fishes, and men, +and are much better done than could have been supposed. There are few +savages who can sing as well as these natives; but the _words_ of their +songs are very foolish. These are the words of one song, + + "Eat great deal, eat, eat, eat; + Eat again, plenty to eat; + Eat more yet, eat, eat, eat." + +If a pig could sing, surely this song would just suit its fancy. How sad +to think a man who is made to praise God forever and ever, should have no +higher joy than eating! + +And what is the appearance of these people? + +They are ugly, with flat noses, and wide mouths, but their teeth are +white, and their hair is long, glossy, and curly. They adorn their +tresses with teeth, and feathers, and dogs' tails; and they rub over +their whole body with fish oil and fat. You may imagine, therefore, how +unpleasant it must be to come near them. + + +THE COLONISTS OR SETTLERS. + +_Once_ there were only black people in Australia, and no white; _now_ +there are more white than black; and it is probable, that soon, there +will be no black people, but only white. Ever since the white people +began to settle there, the black people have been dying away very fast; +for the white people have taken away the lands where the blacks used to +hunt, and have filled them with their sheep and cattle. + +There are two sorts of white people who have come to Australia. They are +called "Convicts," and "Colonists." + +Convicts are some of the worst of the white people;--thieves, who instead +of being kept in prison, were sent to Australia to work hard for many +years. It is a sad thing for Australia, that so many thieves have been +sent there, because after their punishment was over, and they were set at +liberty, some remained in the land, and did a great deal of harm. + +Colonists are people who come of their own accord to earn their living as +best they can. + +It is a common sight when travelling in Australia, to meet a dray drawn +by bullocks, laden with furniture, and white people. It is a family going +to their new farm. In the dray there are pigs, and you may hear them +grunting; there are fowls, too, shut up in a basket; and besides, there +are plants and tools. When the family arrive at the place where they mean +to settle, they find no house, nor garden, nor fields, only a wild +forest. Immediately they pitch a tent for the mother and her daughters to +sleep in, while the father, his sons, and his laborers, sleep by the fire +in the open air. The next morning, the men begin to fell trees to make a +hut, and they finish it in a week;--not a very grand dwelling, it is +true, but good enough for the fine weather; the floor is made of the hard +clay from the enormous ant hills; the walls--of great slabs of wood; the +roof--of wooden tiles, and the windows--of calico. When the hut is +finished, a hen-house, and a pig-sty are built, and a dairy also +underground. A garden is soon planted, and there the vines, and the +peach-trees bear beautiful fruit. The daughters attend to the rearing of +the fowls, and the milking of the cows, and soon have a plentiful supply +of eggs and butter. The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow +wheat and potatoes. Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied; +and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large +rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of +the laborers. This is the way of life in the "Bush;" for such is the name +given to the wild parts of Australia. + +Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the +wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads +a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon +the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in +troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as +they can. Happily there are no _large_ wild beasts, such as wolves, and +bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as +the sheep. + +But there are _men_, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts. +These are convicts who have escaped from punishment. They often come to +the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants. + +The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked _white_ men; +indeed _they_ are generally very harmless, unless provoked by +ill-treatment. They are willing to make themselves useful, by reaping +corn, and washing sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a +blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks +will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when +they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women +can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much +besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give +a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats +so much, that he can work no more that day. + +Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was +one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every +morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of +waking him,--light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and +set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting +his hand affectionately on the hand of the sleeper would whisper in his +ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind +and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the +white man. + +This black was as faithful, as he was affectionate. Once he was sent by a +farmer on a message. It was this, "Take this letter to my brother, and +he will give you sixpence, and then spend the sixpence in pipes for me." +The black man took the letter, and went towards the place where the +brother lived. He met him on horseback. The brother after reading the +letter, rode away without giving the sixpence to the bearer. What was the +poor black man to do? "Shall I go back," thought he, "without the pipes? +No. I will try to get some money." He went to a house that he knew of, +and offered to chop some wood for sixpence, and with _that sixpence_ he +bought the pipes. Was not this being a good servant? This was not +eye-service; it was the service of the heart. But there are not many +natives like this man. They are generally soon tired of working. For +instance, a boy called Jackey, left a good master who would have provided +for him, to live again wild in the woods, and went away with the blanket +off his bed. + +ANIMALS.--There are few of _our_ animals in Australia, or of _their_ +animals in England. There is no hare, no rabbit, no nightingale, no +thrush, in Australia. _Once_ there were no horses, nor cows, nor sheep, +nor pigs; but _now_ there are a great many. Much terrified were the +natives at the sight of the first horse which came from England; for they +had never seen such a large animal before. + +The largest beast in Australia is the Kangaroo, remarkable for its short +fore-legs, and its great strong hind-legs, and for the pocket in which it +shelters its little one. It is a gentle creature, and can be easily +tamed. A pet kangaroo may often be seen walking about a settler's garden, +cropping the grass upon the lawn. But though easily _tamed_, a wild +kangaroo is not easily _caught_; for it makes immense springs in the air, +far higher than a horse could leap, though it is not as big as a sheep. +When hunted by dogs, it gets, when it can, into the water, and turning +round, and standing still, dips the dogs, one by one, till it drowns +them. + +There is another beast, called the opossum, not much bigger than a large +cat, and it also has a pocket for its young ones. But instead of cropping +the grass, it eats the leaves of trees. It has a gentle face like a deer, +and a long tail like a monkey. It hides itself, as the squirrel does, in +the hollows of trees. Like the owl, it is never seen in the day, but at +night it comes out to feed. The blacks are very cunning in finding out +the holes where the opossums are hidden, and they know how to drag them +out by their long tails, without getting bitten by their sharp teeth. +With the skin of the opossum the natives make a cloak. + +The wild dogs, or dingoes, are odious animals. They may be heard yelling +at night to the terror of the shepherd, and the farmer. They are bold +enough to rush into a yard, and to carry off a calf, or a pig; and when +they have dragged it into the woods, they cruelly eat the legs first, and +do not kill it for a long while. + +These three--the kangaroo, the opossum, and the dingo,--are the principal +beasts of Australia. + +Among the birds, the emu is the most remarkable. It is nearly as tall as +an ostrich, and has beautiful soft feathers, though not as beautiful as +the ostrich's. But the most curious point in the emu is,--it has no +tongue. You may suppose, therefore, that it is neither a singing bird, +nor a talking bird; it only makes a little noise in its throat. But if +_it_ is silent, there are numbers of parrots, and cockatoos, to fill the +air with their screams. In England, these birds are thought a great deal +of, but in Australia, they are killed to make into pies, or into soup. +Parrot-pie and cockatoo-soup, are common dishes there. However, many of +the parrots and cockatoos, are caught by the blacks, and sold to the +English, who send them to England in the ships. + +There are not such singing birds in Australia, as there are here. Though +there is a robin red-breast there, he does not sing as sweetly as he does +here. But there are _laughing_ birds in Australia. There is a bird called +the "laughing jackass." He laughs very loud three times a day. He begins +in the morning;--suddenly a hoarse loud laugh is heard,--then another, +then another,--till a whole troop of birds seem laughing all together, +and go on laughing for a few minutes;--and then they are all quiet again. +Such a noise must awaken many a sleeper on his bed. At noon the laugh is +heard again. At evening there is another general fit of laughter. These +birds are not like children, who laugh at no particular hour, but often +twenty times a day. The laughing jackass is almost as useful as a clock, +and it is called, "the bushman's clock." + + +BOTANY BAY. + +This is a famous place, for here the English first settled, and here it +was thieves were sent from England as a punishment. Some were sent there +for fourteen years, and some for twenty-one years, and some for life. How +did the place get the beautiful name of Botany? which means "the +knowledge of flowers." Because there were so many beautiful flowers seen +there, when Captain Cook first beheld it. Yet the name Botany Bay, does +not seem beautiful to us; for it reminds us not of roses, but of rogues; +not of violets, but of violent men; not of lilies, but of villains. + + +SYDNEY. + +This town is close to Botany Bay. It is the largest town in Australia. +It is a very wicked city, because so many convicts have been sent there. +Many of the people are the children of convicts, and have been brought up +very ill by their parents. Of course there are many robberies in such a +city, far more than there are in London. Who would like to live there! +yet it is a fine city, and by the sea-side, with a harbor, where hundreds +of ships might ride,--safe from the storm. It is plain, too, that Sydney +is full of rich people, for the streets are thronged with carriages, +driving rapidly along. The convicts often become rich, after their time +of punishment is over, by keeping public-houses, and when rich they keep +carriages. + +If you were in Sydney, you would hardly think you were in a savage +island; for you would see no savages in the streets. What is become of +those who once lived in these parts? They are all dead, or gone to other +parts of the island. The last black near Sydney, used to talk of the old +times, and say, "When I was a pick-a-ninny, plenty of black fellow then. +Only one left now, mitter." + + +ADELAIDE. + +It is much better to live here than in Sydney, because convicts have +never been sent here. Numbers of honest poor people are leaving England +and Ireland, every year, to go to Adelaide. When they arrive at the +coast, they get into cars, and are driven seven miles, passing by many +pretty cottages, and gardens, till they arrive at Adelaide. There they +find themselves in the midst of gardens; for the houses are not crowded +together, as in our English towns, but are placed in the midst of trees, +and flowers, and grass; because there is plenty of room in Australia. + +But there is one great evil both in Sydney and in Adelaide, which is the +dust blown from the desert, and which almost chokes the inhabitants. If +there were more rain in Australia, there would be less dust. + +Australia is divided into three parts:-- + + I. New South Wales. Capital, Sydney. + II. Western Australia. Capital, Perth. + III. South Australia. Capital, Adelaide. + + [13] The Australian mountains are about seven thousand feet high. + + + + +VAN DIEMAN'S LAND. + + +This island is as cool as Great Britain; yet it is not a pleasant land to +live in; for it is filled with convicts. There are no natives there now; +they died away gradually, except a few, who were taken by the English to +a small island near, called "Flinder's Island." They were taken there +that they might be safe; yet they never ceased to sigh, and to cry after +their native land. + + +THE YOUNG SAVAGES. + +Many travellers have tried to see the land in the midst of Australia, but +hitherto they have not succeeded. After going a little way, they have +been obliged to return, and why? Because they have found no water. + +I will give you an account of the journey of Mr. Eyre. This traveller +wished to go into the midst of the land, but finding he could not, he +travelled along the coast, at that part called the Great Bight (or the +Great Bay). + +He set out from Adelaide with a large party, but various accidents +occurred by the way, and at last he found himself with only one +Englishman, and three native boys. The eldest was almost a man. His name +was Wylie, and he was a good-tempered, lively youth. The second was named +Neramberein. I shall have nothing good to relate of him, but a great deal +of evil; for he was indeed a very wicked boy. The youngest was called +Cootachah--a boy who was easily induced to follow bad examples. + +Mr. Eyre was the chief person in the party, and his English companion was +Mr. Baxter. Ten horses carried the packages, and six sheep were made to +follow, that they might be killed one by one for food. + +All these poor animals suffered terribly from want of water. Sometimes +they went a hundred miles without a refreshing draught. The horses became +so weak, that the travellers were unwilling to mount their backs; and as +for the sheep, they could scarcely crawl along. + +Many ways of getting water were tried. One way was digging up the roots +of trees. A little,--a very little,--water may often be squeezed out of +the end of a root; because the root is the mouth of the tree, and sucks +up water from the ground. Another way of getting water was by gathering +up the dew in a sponge. Enough dew to make a cup of tea might sometimes +be obtained; but not enough for the poor beasts to have any. When the +travellers, by digging, could make a well, then they were glad indeed; +for then the beasts could be refreshed as well as themselves. + +The whole party were become so weak from fatigue and thirst, that they +could not get on fast, and they found it necessary to save their food as +much as possible, that it might last to the end of the long journey. They +took a little flour every day out of their bag, and made it into a paste. +Sometimes they caught a fish, or shot a bird or beast, and then they had +a hearty meal. When they killed one of their sheep, then they had plenty +of mutton. At last, all the sheep were killed but one. + +It happened at this time, that one of the horses was so sick that he +could not move. It was plain he would soon die; therefore the travellers +determined to kill him, and eat his flesh. Mr. Eyre was grieved at the +thought of killing his horse, neither could he bear the idea of eating +horse flesh; but then he feared, that if the horse were not killed, the +whole party would be starved. + +The native boys were delighted when they knew the horse was to be eaten; +for they had long been fretting for more food. They would like to have +devoured it _all_ on the spot; but they were not allowed to do so; the +greater part of the flesh was cut off in thin slices, dipped in salt +water, and then hung up in the sun to dry, to serve as provision for many +days to come. The boys were permitted to devour the rest of the carcase. + +With what haste they prepared the feast! They made a fire close to the +carcase, and then cut off lumps of flesh, which they roasted quickly, and +then ate. They spent the whole afternoon in this manner, looking more +like ravenous wolves than human creatures. When night came, they were not +willing to leave their meat, but took as much as ever they could carry +into their beds, that they might eat whenever they awoke. Next day, they +returned to the roasting and eating, and the next night again they took +meat with them to bed. + +Mr. Eyre wondered at their gluttony and he thought it necessary to give +them an allowance of food, instead of letting them eat as much as they +liked. He gave five pounds of meat to each boy every day. Five pounds is +as much as a shoulder of mutton--and ten English boys would think it +quite enough for dinner; but the Australian boys were not satisfied! + +Mr. Eyre began to suspect that in the night they stole some of the meat +hanging up to dry on the trees. Therefore one night he weighed the meat, +and in the morning weighed it again. He found that four pounds were gone. +He thought it was very ungrateful of boys, to whom he gave so much, to +steal from his small stock. As a punishment he gave them less meat next +day than usual. + +He entreated the boys to tell him who was the thief. The eldest and +youngest declared that they had not stolen any meat; but Neramberein +would not answer at all, and looked sulky and angry, and muttered +something about going away, and taking Wylie with him. Mr. Eyre replied, +that he might go if he pleased, while at the same time he warned him of +the dangers of the way. + +The next morning, as soon as breakfast was over, the three boys all rose +up and walked away. Mr. Eyre called back the youngest, as he felt he was +misled by his elders, but he let the others go. They had stayed with him +till the horse was all eaten up, except the dried pieces--but now they +hoped to get more food, when travelling alone, than with Mr. Eyre. + +As soon as the boys were gone, Mr. Eyre determined to stop some time +longer where he was, that he might not overtake them. There was one sheep +still remaining, and which seemed very restless all by itself. This +sheep was killed for food, and in that place there was plenty of water; +so that the little company fared well that day and the next; especially +as Mr. Baxter had the good fortune to kill an eagle, which made an +excellent stew. + +Just as the travellers had finished their evening meal, they were +astonished to see the two runaway boys approaching. Wylie came running +up, declaring that both he and his companions were sorry for their bad +behavior, and were anxious to be received again, not being able to get +enough to eat. But though Wylie acted in this frank manner, his companion +was very sulky. He said nothing, but seated himself by the fire, pouting +and frowning, and evidently much vexed at being obliged to come back. Mr. +Eyre thought it well to give the boys a lecture on their bad conduct, +especially upon their thefts; for they now owned that they had stolen +meat from the trees, though they had before denied it. But though Mr. +Eyre reproved the boys, he treated them very kindly, for he gave them +some tea, and bread and meat for supper. + +The next day the whole party continued their journey. They were obliged +to be very sparing of their food, lest when it was gone they should get +no more. But their greatest trial was the want of water. + +After travelling during four days, they stopped one evening in a rocky +place at the top of high cliffs, hoping that if any rain should fall, +some might be caught in the hollow places among the rocks. That evening +they ate no supper; for having had dinner, they might do without supper. + +Before they lay down to sleep, they made themselves places to sleep in, +by setting up boughs, as shelters from the wind. They also piled up their +goods in a great heap, and covered it with oil skin, to keep out the +damp. Mr. Eyre did not sleep when the rest did, for he undertook to watch +the horses till eleven at night, and then he agreed to change places with +Mr. Baxter. + +The hour was almost come, and Mr. Eyre was beginning to lead the horses +towards the sleeping place, when he was startled by hearing a gun go off. +He called out,--but receiving no answer, he grew alarmed, and leaving the +horses, ran towards the spot, whence the noise had come. + +Presently he met Wylie, running very fast, and crying out, "Oh! Massa, +Oh! Massa, come here." + +"What is the matter?" inquired Mr. Eyre. + +Wylie made no answer. + +With hurried steps, Mr. Eyre accompanied him towards the camp. What a +sight struck his eyes! His friend Baxter, lying on the ground, weltering +in his blood, and in the agonies of DEATH. + +The two younger boys were not there, and the goods which had been covered +by the oil-skin, lay scattered in confusion on the ground. It was too +clear that one of the boys had KILLED poor Baxter. No doubt it was +Neramberein who had done it! + +It seems that the boys had attempted to steal some of the goods, and that +while they were gathering them together, Baxter had awaked, and had come +forth from his sleeping place, and that _then_ one of the boys had shot +him. + +Mr. Eyre raised the dying man from the ground where he was lying +prostrate, and he then found that a ball had entered his left breast, and +that his life was fast departing. In a few minutes he expired! + +What were the feelings of the lonely traveller! Here he was in the midst +of a desert, with no companion but one young savage, and that young +savage was not one whom he could trust; for he knew not what part Wylie +had taken in the deeds of the night. He suspected that he had intended to +go away with the other boys, but that when Baxter was murdered, he had +grown alarmed. Wylie indeed denied that he had known anything of the +robbery, but then he was not a boy whose word could be believed. + +The remainder of that dreadful night was passed by Mr. Eyre, in watching +the horses. Anxiously he waited for the first streak of daylight. He then +drove the horses to the camp, and once more beheld the body of his +fellow-traveller. How suddenly had his soul been hurried into eternity, +and into the presence of his God! + +It was Wylie's business to light the fire, and prepare the breakfast. +Meanwhile, Mr. Eyre examined the baggage to see how much had been stolen. +These were the chief articles he missed. All the bread, consisting of +five loaves, some mutton, tea and sugar, tobacco and pipes, a small keg +of water, and two guns. And what was left for the traveller? A large +quantity of flour, a large keg of water, some tea and sugar, a gun, and +pistols. But would these have been left, had the ungrateful boys been +strong enough to carry them away? + +Mr. Eyre desired before leaving the fatal spot to bury the body of his +friend; but the rocks around were so hard, that it was impossible to dig +a grave. All he was able to do, was to wrap the corpse in a blanket +before he abandoned it forever. + +Slowly and silently he left the sorrowful spot, leading one horse, +while Wylie drove the others after it. During the heat of the day, they +stopped to rest. It was four in the afternoon, and they were soon going +to set out again, when they perceived at a distance--TWO WHITE FIGURES! +two white figures! and soon knew them to be the two guilty boys, wrapped +in their blankets. + +Mr. Eyre had some fear lest the young murderer should shoot him also; yet +he thought it wise to advance boldly towards him, with his gun in his +hand. He perceived that each of the wicked youths held a gun, and seemed +ready to shoot. But as he approached, they drew back. He wished to speak +to them in order to persuade them not to follow him on his journey, but +to go another way; however he could not get near them; but he heard them +cry out, "O Massa, we don't want you; we want Wylie." The boys repeated +the name of Wylie over and over again; yet Wylie answered not, but +remained quietly with the horses. At length Mr. Eyre turned away, and +continued his journey. The boys followed at some distance, calling out +for Wylie till the darkness came on. + +Mr. Eyre was so anxious to get beyond the reach of these wicked youths, +that he walked eighteen miles that evening. And he never saw them again! +I do not know whether he had ever told them of the true God, of that EYE +which never SLEEPS, of that EYE which beholds ROBBERS and MURDERERS in +the night;--but whether he had told them or not of this great God, they +must have KNOWN that they were acting wickedly when they robbed their +benefactor, and murdered his friend; and they must have felt very +MISERABLE after they had done those deeds. + +Alone with Wylie, Mr. Eyre pursued his journey along the high clefts of +the Great Bight, or Bay. + +For five days they were without water for the horses; at last they dug +some wells in the sand. But by this time one of the horses was grown so +weak, that he could scarcely crawl along. This horse, Mr. Eyre determined +to kill for food. Wylie, delighted with the idea, exclaimed, "Massa, I +shall sit up, and eat the whole night." And he kept his word. While his +master was skinning the poor beast, he made a fire close by, and soon +began tearing off bits of flesh, roasting, and eating them, as fast as he +could. Mr. Eyre, after cutting off the best parts of the flesh to dry, +allowed Wylie to eat the rest. See the young glutton, with the head, the +feet, and the inside, permitted to devour it as best he could! He +hastened to make an oven, in which to bake about twenty pounds to feast +upon during the night. It is not wonderful, if during that night he was +heard to make a dismal groaning, and to complain that he was very ill. +He _said_, indeed, that it was _working_ too _hard_, had made him ill, +but his master thought it was _eating_ too _much_, for whenever he woke, +he found the boy gnawing a bone. + +Next day, Wylie was not able to spend his whole time over the carcase, +for he had to go, and look for a lost foal; but the day after, it was +hard to get him away from the bones. + +For some time the travellers lived upon dried horse flesh, with a +kangaroo, or a fish, as a little change. Wylie continued to eat +immoderately, though often rolling upon the ground, and crying out, +"Mendyat," or ill. + +One night he appeared to be in a very ill-humor, and Mr. Eyre tried to +find out the reason. At last Wylie said in an angry tone, "The dogs have +eaten the skin." It seems he had hung the skin of a kangaroo upon a bush, +intending to eat it by-and-bye, and the wild dogs had stolen the dainty +morsel. Wylie was restored to his usual good-humor by the sight of some +fine fishes his master had caught. Next time the boy shot a kangaroo, he +took good care of the skin, folding it up, and hiding it. + +One day he was so happy as to catch two opossums in a tree. His master +determined to see how Wylie would behave, if left entirely to himself. +He sat silently by the fire, while Wylie was cooking one opossum. The +boy, having got it ready for his supper, took the other to his sleeping +place. His master inquired what he intended to do with it. Wylie replied, +"I shall be hungry in the morning, and I am keeping it for my breakfast." +Then Mr. Eyre perceived that the greedy boy intended to offer him neither +supper nor breakfast. Accordingly he took out his bag of flour, and said +to Wylie, "Very well, we will each eat our own food; you eat the opossums +you shot, and I eat the flour I have; and I will give you no more." In +this manner, Mr. Eyre hoped to show the boy the folly of his selfishness. +Wylie was frightened at the idea of getting no more flour, and +immediately offered the smaller opossum to his master, and promised to +cook it himself. What a selfish, and ungrateful boy! Wylie had a wicked +heart by nature, and so have _we_. Only _he_ had not been taught what was +right, as _we_ have been. This is a prayer which would suit well every +child, and every man in the world, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, +and renew a right spirit within me." + +Mr. Eyre continued to be kind to Wylie, though he saw the boy did not +really love him. + +But the troubles of the journey were nearly at an end. At last the +travellers saw a ship a few miles from the shore. Oh I how anxious they +were that the sailors should see them! What could they do? They kindled a +fire on a rock, and they made a great deal of smoke come out of the fire. +Soon a boat was seen approaching the shore. How great was the joy of the +weary travellers. The sailors in the boat were Frenchmen, but they were +not the less kind on that account. They invited Mr. Eyre and Wylie to +accompany them to their ship. + +When the young savage found himself on board, he was almost wild with +delight, for he had now as much to eat as he could desire, and he began +eating biscuits so fast, that the sailors began to be afraid lest he +should eat them all; and they were glad to give him fishes instead, as +they could catch plenty of them. + +For twelve days Wylie and his master lived in the ship, and then left it, +laden with provisions, and dressed in warm clothes. + +They had still many miles to go along the shore, but they suffered no +more from want of food and water. + +Great was their rapture when they first caught sight of the hills of St. +George's Sound; for then they knew their journey would soon end. But they +had rivers to cross on the way, and in trying to get the horses over, +they nearly lost the poor beasts, and their own lives too. For three days +their clothes were dripping with wet, and the last night was one of the +worst; but then they knew it was the LAST, and that thought enabled them +to bear all. So does the Christian feel when near the end of his journey. +He is in the midst of storms, and wading through deep waters, even the +deep waters of DEATH; but he knows that he is near HOME. + +It was in the midst of a furious storm, that these travellers arrived at +their journey's end. Though they were now close to the town of Albany, +neither man nor beast were to be seen; for neither would venture out. At +last, a native appeared, and he knew Wylie, and greeted him joyfully, +telling him at the same time that his friends had given him up for dead a +long while ago. This native, by a loud shrill cry, let his countrymen +know that Wylie was found; and presently a multitude of men, women, and +children, came rushing rapidly from the town, and up the hill to meet +him. His parents and brethren folded him in their arms, while all around +welcomed him with shouts of joy. His master was kindly received at the +house of a friend; but he did not meet with so warm a welcome as Wylie, +for he was not like him in the midst of his family. + +The kind master overlooked all Wylie's faults during the journey, and +remembered only his kindness in keeping with him to the end. He even +spoke in his favor to the government, requesting that Wylie might have a +daily allowance of food as a reward for his good conduct. What great +reason had this young savage to rejoice that he had not listened to the +enticements of his wicked comrades, when they called him so often by his +name, and tried to induce him to forsake his kind master! + + +LITTLE MICKEY. + +Mickey was born in the wilds of Australia; yet he was a highly favored +boy; for he became servant to a missionary. This was far better than +being, like Wylie, the companion of a traveller. + +Mickey was a merry and active little fellow, and was a great favorite +with his master's children. The older ones taught him to read, and the +little ones played with him. During the day, Mickey took care of the +cattle, and at night he slept in a shed close by his master's house. He +might have been a happy boy, but he soon fell into sin and sorrow. + +One evening he was in the cooking-house, eating his supper with another +native boy, his fellow-servant. The oven was hot, and the bread was +baking. Mickey opened the door of the oven, and looked in. That was +wrong; it was the first step towards evil. Mickey had eaten a good +supper, and ought to have been satisfied; but, like his countrymen, he +had an enormous appetite, and was always ready to eat too much when he +could. He took some of the hot bread, and gave some to his +fellow-servant. How like was his conduct to that of Eve, when she took +the fruit, and gave some to Adam! + +That night Mickey was nowhere to be found, nor his little fellow-servant +either. Where could they be? Their master sent people to search for them; +but no one had seen them. It seemed strange indeed, that a boy who had +been so kindly treated, and who had seemed as happy as Mickey, should run +away. The good missionary and his children were in great grief, fearing +that some accident had befallen the lads. + +But when the time came to take the bread out of the oven, they began to +suspect why Mickey had gone away. They saw some one had stolen large +pieces of bread. They said, "Perhaps it was Mickey who stole the bread, +and perhaps he is ashamed, and so he has run away." What a pity it was +that Mickey did not come, and confess his fault; he would have been +pardoned and restored to favor. Even a good boy may fall into a great +sin; but then he will own it, and ask forgiveness, both of God and man. +Still Mickey was not like those hardened boys who robbed Mr. Eyre, for he +was ashamed. + +Month after month passed away, but no Mickey appeared. The missionary +feared that the boy would never return, but live and die amongst his +heathen countrymen. + +One day, however, he was told that a man was at the door, who wanted to +speak to him. + +"Who is he?" inquired the missionary. + +"A schoolmaster, sir," replied the servant. + +"And what does he want?" + +"He has brought with him some native boys, and he wants you to come out +and see them, and speak a few words to them about their Saviour." + +The missionary gladly consented to go out to behold so pleasing a sight, +as a school of native boys. As soon as he appeared, several young voices +called out, "Mickey no come." + +The missionary was surprised, and inquired of the boys, "What do you +mean? where is Mickey?" + +"Mickey no come," repeated the boys. "He too much frightened." + +"Why is he afraid?" asked the missionary. + +"Because he steal de bread," replied the boys. + +The missionary now began to look around, and soon espied Mickey, trying +to hide himself behind a fence. He called him; but Mickey, instead of +coming, went further off. Two or three boys then ran towards him, and +attempted to bring him back, but Mickey resisted. + +The missionary then went into the house hoping that the trembling +culprit, seeing he was gone, would come out of his hiding-place. + +Very soon he was told, that Mickey was standing with the other +boys at the door. Then the good missionary appeared again. Looking kindly +at Mickey, he said, "Why did you run away?" + +"Because me steal de bread; me very sorry." + +The missionary held out his hand to the sorrowful offender, saying, "I +forgive you, Mickey." The boy eagerly seized the kind hand, and holding +it fast, and looking earnestly up in the missionary's face, he said, +"When me steal again, you must whip me--and whip me--and whip +me--very--very much." Again the missionary assured the boy he had +entirely forgiven him--and then Mickey began to jump about for joy. + +How glad Mickey would have been to return to the service of his old +master! But that could not be; for that master was just going to set sail +for England, to visit his home and friends, and he could not take Mickey +with him. Just before he went, he provided a feast for many of the native +children, and gave them a parting address. Mickey was there--no longer +afraid--but glad to look up in the face of his beloved friend; for now he +knew he was forgiven. + +When the moment came to say "Farewell," the children ran forward, eager +to grasp the missionary's hand--but none pressed that hand so warmly and +so sorrowfully, as the little runaway. + +I know not whether that generous master, and that penitent servant ever +again met upon earth; but I have much hope they will meet in heaven; for +Mickey seems to have been sorry for his sin; and we know the promise: "If +we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." +And why? Because the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. There are +many sinners who were once as much afraid of God, as Mickey was of his +master; but who have been pardoned, and who will be present at his +HEAVENLY FEAST. + + +THE END. + +[Illustration: A CEDAR TREE.] + + + + +ATTRACTIVE AND INTERESTING + +JUVENILE BOOKS, + +PUBLISHED BY + +ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS. + + * * * * * + +Blossoms of Childhood. + By the author of the "Broken Bud." 16mo. 75 cents. + +Bunbury. + Glory, Glory, Glory, and other Narratives. 25 cents. + +Cameron. + The Farmer's Daughter. Illustrated. 30 cents. + +Commandment with Promise. + By the author of "The Week," &c. Illustrated. 75 cents. + +Duncan, Henry. + Tales of the Scottish Peasantry. 18mo. 50 cents. + The Cottage Fireside. 40 cents. + +Duncan, Mary Lundie. + Rhymes for my Children. 25 cents. + +Far Off in Asia and Australia. + Described by the author of the "Peep of Day," &c. Illustrated. 16mo. + +Fry, Caroline. + The Listener. Illustrated. $1 00. + +Frank Netherton. + Or, the Talisman. Illustrated. 16mo. + +Infant's Progress. + By the author of "Little Henry and his Bearer." Illustrated. 75 cts. + +Jamie Gordon. + Or, the Orphan. Illustrated. 75 cents. + +Kennedy, Grace. + Jessy Allan. 18mo. 25 cents. + Decision, or Religion must be all or nothing. 25 cents. + Anna Ross. Illustrated. 30 cents. + +Michael Kemp. + The Happy Farmer's Lad. Illustrated. 40 cents. + +My School Boy Days. + Illustrated. 18mo. 30 cents. + +My Youthful Companions. + A Sequel to the above. Illustrated. 30 cents. + +My Grandfather Gregory. + Illustrated. 25 cents. + +My Grandmama Gilbert. + By the same author. 25 cents. + +New Cobwebs + To Catch Young Flies. Illustrated. Square. 50 cents. + +Opie, Amelia. + Tales and Illustrations of Lying. 18mo. 40 cents. + +Old Humphrey's + Addresses--Observations--Thoughts--Walks in London--Homely + Hints--Country Strolls--Sea Captain--Grandparents--Isle of + Wight--Pithy Papers--Pleasant Tales--North American Indians. + 12 volumes. 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