"What the effect would have been had we been gifted with the command of language they have themselves, we cannot tell; but, as it was, they either sat or stood in amazement, repeating after us what we said, and wondering at it amongst themselves. The women seemed especially interested. They came out in crowds, with their infants in their arms, and, unlike the falsely-modest Bengali females, listened and asked questions, shewing, in many cases, a deeper interest and a higher intelligence than their male companions. THEIR CUSTOMS. "The Santals are very ceremonious in their salutations. When a young man goes to the house of an aged relative, he prostrates himself in his presence, and takes one foot of his senior, and puts it on his neck. When equals meet, they make their johar-stretching out their arm, with the fist closed, till they nearly touch each other; then opening the hand, and raising it gently till it touches the forehead. When a male visitor comes to a house, the young females prostrate themselves on their knees before him, and touch the earth with their forehead, whilst he slowly makes johar, bringing the side of the left hand to right angles with the back of the right, as the latter touches the forehead. The young lady then washes the feet of the visitor with water, and anoints them with oil. The old women do not go on their knees, but placing the palms of their hands together, and bowing before the men, they raise their hands to the forehead very slowly and solemnly. The men also shew them much respect. All at first made salaam to us, but latterly we made johar to them (as they do to equals); and at this they were greatly pleased. "Their villages are, in general, neat and clean-quite a contrast to Bengali villages. They usually cousist of only one street, and the houses are ranged in lines, gable to gable, on each side. Nearly every house has a kind of ox-stall attached, at the end of which there is also a small enclosure for the fowls, and one for the pigs. Bullocks, or buffalos, fowls and pigs, are to be seen on almost every steading. Usually the house is enclosed by a railing, or by a high hedge of tree-branches firmly bound together, so as to exclude the cold in the winter, at which time they are renewed. In the summer these high hedges afford a pleasant shade, when kept in repair; but for the most part, the leaves have by that time decayed and withered away, so that the fence is left open, and pervious to the wind. The houses are built very low, although with much taste; but this is of little consequence to a Santal, who usually sleeps, in the hot season, in the open air, there being a little tidily-kept court or yard in front of each dwelling for this and other purposes. Few of them sleep on the ground, as Bengalis do; but nearly all have charpoys, or small rude bedsteads, the bottom of which is made of thick cord. In the winter they think it an advantage to have a small house, for reasons obvious enough, when we consider their lack of clothes. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND FESTIVALS. "Each village is ruled by a manjhi, or headman. He is responsible to the parganite, who may be ruler of twenty villages or so, and who is also, in turn, amenable to the desh, or country parganite, who perhaps rules over as many as sixty villages. He (the desh parganite) is responsible to Government. Each manjhi, however, is held responsible by Government for his own village. Hence, on any one going with the desire to see the people of a certain village, he always enquires, first of all, for the manjhi. To his house there is a certain index-i. e., the little shed standing outside his enclosure, which covers the little stones or pieces of wood representing his ancestors. Here, at certain times of the year, offerings of hariya, the native drink, are made, for the manjhi is supposed to be the father of the village, and of course his ancestors are the ancestors of every one in it. "The principal feast of the country is the Harvest Home, which usually falls towards the close of January. It lasts for five days, and is attended with great rejoicings and much drunkenness. All the native sports are then exhibited, as shooting (at which they are very expert), wrestling, dancing, &c. With Badan, who accompanied me on my tour, I happened one day to be present in a village when they were performing their sword-dance, and they would not allow us to leave till we had witnessed it. The women came along from a distance with leaves of the sal tree in their hands, singing a kind of jingling song, and now and then wheeling round with a shout. Men then joined them with the bashi, or lute, a rude instrument made by themselves from bamboo. Then four or six others came from the house of the manjhi, with clubs, and swords, and wicker shields, which they laid down at my feet. With much ceremony, they took them up, then prostrated themselves, first at the ancestral shrine of the manjhi, and then before me. After this, to the sound of the music conducted by men and women, they went through a series of evolutions that almost made one giddy to look at. They turned somersaults, sword in hand, and flew round, brandishing their weapons; and yet, strange to say, they hit no one, and their weapons never clashed. The dance being done, they made obeisance as before, and laid down their swords, clubs, and shields at my feet. They were all the worse of liquor, but begged hard that I should give them some money to enable them to buy what would intoxicate them. 'What we have drunk,' they said, 'won't make us insensible,—it is only our own manufacture; but if the saheb will give us some money, we shall get something from the liquor-shop (kept by a Bengali), which will put us right over. Need I say that they did not get it? "The last day of this feast is spent in the greatest debauchery their means will allow, and for several days after few of them are fit for work. It is their national festival, and is looked forward to by them all with great delight. Other gatherings there are throughout the year, and at many of them fowls are slain in sacrifice, and eaten. The unfortunate traveller who goes through the district at such times must make up his mind to some hardships, as even fowls, the staple of our Indian diet, are scarcely to be had. In some large villages we found them unprocurable, and it was only after much searching that my servant obtained a kid, for which we had to give an exorbitant price. Kids, as you are aware, are also used largely in sacrifice, as are likewise pigs. "The Chatom (or Umbrella) Puja is held in the beginning of the rains, and is the signal for a very large concourse of people in the districts where it is attended to. A high pole is anointed by the naiki, or priest, with milk and ghee, and adorned with flowers; and then, in the top of it, is fixed a white umbrella. The pole being elevated in a small scaffolding made for the purpose, all the people dance round it, singing and shouting. This puja is also a time of much drunkenness. "If you ask what is the religious belief of the Santals, I answer I believe they have none. They live and die like beasts; and if at their death some friendly relative will take a bone of their body to the Dumoodar-what they call, par excellence, the Nai (river)-all is well. Some of them are found with the jot, or tangled mass of hair, which they keep, like the Hindus, till a certain time in the year, when they make a pilgrimage to some Hindu shrine, and have it shaved off, presenting a few pice and some edibles at the time. The latter is undoubtedly the most meritorious part of the ceremony in the sight of the Brahmins, who are the instigators of it. They fear the demons which are supposed to infest the woods, but they have no object of veneration and love-not even the licentious Krishna, or uxorious Shiva of the Hindoos. We have, therefore, in their case, comparatively unoccupied hearts to bring under the loving influences of the Gospel." THE MISSION IN DELHI. The letters which Mr. Smith has sent will give our readers interesting information of its state and prospects. Mr. Smith is carrying on the work with his accustomed energy, and with encouraging signs of success. We wish it was in his power to carry out all his views; but time and patience are needed where the work is surrounded with difficulties that appear almost insuperable. He writes as follows: PROSPECTS OF THE MISSION. "In some respects the mission looks very encouraging: the congregations are excellent everywhere. In the Choock the crowds are increasing, and more The prayer meetings visitors come for conversation to the mission-house. among enquirers and native Christians are well attended. On Monday evening I had more than 100 present at Meerka Gunge; last evening I had fifty at Delhi Darwara. This morning I visited Pahar Gunge, and had much interesting conversation with a number of people. Our native agents are generally working well. We have just had one party of three of them out to Gurgauw and Rewanee, and they were received enthusiastically by the people generally. Bhagwan has just returned from Bhagput, a large town where we have taken a house and are sending a teacher. He says, day after day, until late at night, he was engaged in preaching and conversation, and he could scarcely get even necessary sleep. I have visited two of our new stations, and was much encouraged by the number of apparently earnest enquirers who came to me for conversation. Several were anxious for baptism, and, if they continue, will in due time be received. In the district the desire for teachers is very great, and we are meeting it as far as we can; but we are much shackled for funds, and must have present help. The mission has suffered much, and it will take some time to remove bad impressions; still, I think we shall gradually regain the confidence of the Christian public. Our expenses are nearly Rs. 300 per month, and we cannot decrease them without impairing the efficiency of our operations. (To be continued.) HOME PROCEEDINGS. The meetings which have been held during the past month have not been, as far as we have knowledge of them, very numerous. Mr. Parsons has attended one in Denmark Place, and has gone to Stroud and its neighbourhood to represent the Society, and St. Alban's, where he was joined by the Senior Secretary, who also, with the Revs. W. G. Lewis and A. Saker, was present at Great Leigh, in Essex. Mr. Saker also visited Markyate Street, and Dr. Underhill has represented the Committee at a great missionary festival at Wolkhagen, near Rotterdam. We beg to call attention to the following resolution, passed at the annual meeting of the Worcestershire Association of Baptist Churches, assembled at Upton-on-Severn, June 7th, 1864:-"That whilst this Association earnestly sympathises with the Baptist Mission, and expresses its confidence in its Committee and officers, desires also to express its conviction that country churches are not sufficiently represented on its Committee, and suggests that each Association of Churches be allowed to elect one or more members to sit upon the Committee, and that the travelling and other expenses be met by the constituency." As the same sort of feeling may exist elsewhere, we beg to state for the information of our friends, that they will see in the forthcoming Report all the changes which have been suggested in the constitution of the Society, in order to meet such cases. But it remains with the constituent body to determine what changes shall be made. The Committee have no power whatever to effect any. They can only act in accordance with rules in existence. Without doubt these suggestions will receive the most careful consideration, and we earnestly hope the members of the Society, when they meet next April, will be guided in their deliberations, and be led to adopt those which will tend to knit the affections of the Churches more strongly than ever to the Mission. The Rev. T. Evans has been engaged during the past month in Anglesey. He visited twelve churches, preaching on Lord's days, delivering lectures on India during the week. He then passed over into Carnarvonshire, preaching and lecturing, the attendance at these meetings being large, and an evident interest being awakened. Our Welsh friends are determined they will not let their countryman remain idle. Never before having seen a missionary from the field who speaks, like Mr. Evans, in their own tongue, their reception of him has been enthusiastic, and he has not failed to meet their expectations. We have great pleasure in acknowledging the gift of one hundred copies of the Rev. J. Mursell's admirable address as Chairman of the Baptist Union, for distribution among our missionary brethren. They will receive it with great pleasure, and be gratified that they have been thus kindly borne in mind. |
