No. ... 
 Division 
 Range 
 Skilf.... 
 Received .. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 DANIEL C. OILMAN. 
 

KARDOO, 
 
 THE HINDOO GIRL 
 
 BY HAEEIETTE G. BEITTAN, 
 
 /< 
 
 MISSIONABY SENT TO CALCUTTA BY THE " WOMAN'S UNION 
 MISSION ABY SOCIETY OF AMEKICA FOE HEATHEN LANDS. " 
 
 SECOND EDITION*. 
 
 NEW YOKE: 
 WILLIAM B. BODGE, 
 
 1869. 
 
ft 4 
 
 ENTERED according to an Act of Congress, in the year 
 1869, by the WOMAN'S UNION MISSIONARY SOCIETY OP 
 AMERICA FOR HEATHEN LANDS, in the Clerk's Office of the 
 District Court of the United States for the Southern Dis- 
 trict of New York. 
 
 THE President of the WOMAN'S UNION MISSION- 
 ARY SOCIETY, is Mrs. T. C. DOREMUS, No. 47 East 
 Twenty-first-street, New York. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 JO THEyVLlSSION JBANDS OP THE "^OMAN'S JJNION 
 ^MISSIONARY ^OCIETY OF^MERICA FOR J^EATHEN 
 
 JL.ANDS." 
 
 MY DEAE YOUNG FRIENDS: Knowing how 
 deeply your feelings of interest have been 
 excited towards the poor secluded women of 
 the Zenanas of India, I have written in one 
 continuous story, a number of incidents that 
 have come to my knowledge since my sojourn 
 in this land. 
 
 My principal object has been to give you 
 an insight into the manners, habits, and 
 modes of life of these poor heathen sisters, 
 and to rouse, if possible, stronger feelings of 
 love and commiseration towards them, than 
 you have hitherto possessed. I wish also to 
 interest many others who have heretofore 
 known little and cared less about these count- 
 
4 DEDICATION.- 
 
 less numbers of their own sex, who are living 
 lives of hopeless degradation, and then sink- 
 ing to eternal death. If this little book shall 
 arouse others to join you in your labor of 
 love, in working and praying for these poor 
 helpless beings, one object will be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 I trust also that by comparing your lives 
 with those of Hindoo girls, you will learn to 
 think less of the little privations you may 
 sometimes be called to endure, and have 
 hearts more filled with gratitude to God, that 
 you were born in a Christian, and not a hea- 
 then land. 
 
 With earnest prayers that this may be its 
 effect, I beg you to accept this little book, 
 
 from 
 
 Your loving friend, 
 
 H. G. BKITTAN. 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN presenting this little book, illustrative 
 of the condition of heathen women in India, 
 to the friends of our Mission work, but few 
 words are needed to commend it to their 
 kind interest. 
 
 Its author is the beloved and faithful mis- 
 sionary of a voluntary, undenominational or- 
 ganization of Christian women in America, 
 formed in 1861: Appreciating that the gos- 
 pel of Christ alone, has placed the women of 
 .our own favored land in the happy and envi- 
 able position they occupy, they have sought 
 by the direct agency of their own sex, to ele- 
 vate and Christianize the women of the East, 
 whose idolatry and superstition have doomed 
 them to lives of degradation and bitterness. 
 
 The readers of the " Missionary Link," the 
 organ of the "Woman's Union Missionary 
 Society," will recognize many of the facts and 
 incidents of the following pages, as they were 
 given in the journal of Miss Brittan. As she 
 
6 PKEFACE. 
 
 lias been an eye-witness of many scenes sim- 
 ilar to those she has here portrayed, we are 
 more willing to assert in the words of her 
 fellow-laborers, that "this sketch is an unde- 
 niably truthful picture " of the lives of high- 
 caste women in the Zenanas of Hindoos. 
 
 The book was written with the desire that 
 its proceeds should be devoted to the pur- 
 chase of Mission-premises in Calcutta, known 
 as the "American Home" for the use of the 
 missionaries and the work of the " Woman' 
 Union Missionary Society." 
 
 "We doubt not that each member of our 
 " Mission Bands " to whom the little volume 
 is dedicated, will take delight in owning, by 
 this means, one share at least in the "Home" 
 which forms the centre of our work in India. 
 But we come now to many idolized daugh- 
 ters of Christian homes, who have little 
 thought of or cared for their sex in heathen 
 countries, and ask if they will not arouse 
 from the day-dreaming and pleasure-seeking 
 which .have wrapped their souls in lethargy, 
 and put forth at least one effort for those who 
 dwell " in the land of the shadow of death." 
 
 S. D. D. 
 
 NEW YORK, March, 18C9. 
 
KARDOO, 
 THE HINDOO GIRL 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 MY name is Karcloo. What a strange 
 name, I think I hear some of you say. 
 Is it a boy's name ? No, it is a girl's 
 name, but not that of an American child. 
 My home is far away from yours, in a 
 beautiful country called India. 
 
 In that country, as you know, are the 
 highest mountains in the world, the tall- 
 est trees, and the most beautiful flowers 
 and birds, with very. much to delight the 
 eye to look upon ; but there is very lit- 
 
8 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 tie true happiness here, because very 
 few of my people know any thing about 
 the true God, the " God of love." 
 
 I have read many stories of children 
 who have lived in your country; how 
 much care their kind friends take of 
 them, how faithfully they are taught, 
 and especially how they are told of their 
 great Father God, who loves them and 
 takes care of them, and of the dear 
 Saviour who died for them, and has 
 gone to prepare a home for them in 
 heaven. 
 
 When I read these stories, I thought 
 perhaps you would like to hear some- 
 thing of the life of a Hindoo girl, for 
 there are thousands who live just such a 
 life as mine ; and then I am sure you 
 will thank God you were born in a Chris- 
 tian land. 
 
 Well, as I said, my name is Kardoo. 
 My father was a lawyer, who cared lit- 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 9 
 
 tie for his practice beyond the fame it 
 brought to him. He was of good caste, 
 and possessed great wealth. He had 
 received a good education, and prided 
 himself on his learning. This I heard 
 from others. I could not know it my- 
 self, because, being a girl, I saw very 
 little of my father after I was four years 
 old. The customs of our country forbid 
 females to appear in the apartments of 
 the men, or in the daytime a man to be 
 seen in the room used by his wife and 
 children. 
 
 My father was a tall, noble-looking 
 man, with a grave expression of counte- 
 nance. When I did see him, he always 
 spoke kindly and pleasantly to me ; but 
 he never took me up in his arms and 
 kissed me ; he never set me on his knee 
 and showed me pictures, or told me 
 pretty stories, as your father does. No ; 
 I was a girl ! There was no need for me 
 
10 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 to know any thing but how to cook* and 
 to braid my hair. When I was a little 
 baby my father used to pet me ; but as I 
 grew older, he took less and less notice 
 of me, and I knew nothing of that beau- 
 tiful love and respect a child should have 
 for a father. 
 
 But my mother, my dear, sweet moth- 
 er! how shall I tell you of my love to 
 her ? She was a very high caste woman, 
 and like many of her caste, very fair ; 
 her skin just dark enough to give a rich, 
 warm glow to her complexion ; her eyes 
 of a liquid softness, beaming with love 
 and tenderness, shaded by long silken 
 lashes ; exquisitely formed feet and 
 hands ; and a voice low and soft, whose 
 every tone was music. Such was my 
 mother a being tender and gentle, with 
 a heart whose love was deep and devo- 
 
 <* All women, even of the highest caste, cook for their 
 Imsbands. It is a great disgrace not to be a good cook. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 11 
 
 ted, and a soul capable of strong reli- 
 gious feeling. my mother, my mother! 
 would that you had known " the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he 
 has sent !" 
 
 I had one brother, about four years 
 older than myself. Two younger little 
 ones died, and when I was nine years 
 old another dear baby brother was given 
 to us. Thou precious little one, of what 
 joy and of what anguish wast thou the 
 cause ! 
 
12 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 I SHOULD like to describe to you the 
 house in which I lived, "but I am afraid 
 I cannot set it plainly before you, for 
 you have never seen any thing like it 
 It was large, built of brick, and covered 
 with a thick white plaster, called chu- 
 nam,.made from the powdered shells of 
 a small kind of snail. When this is first 
 put on the walls, it looks clean and 
 white, but after one rainy season it be- 
 comes discolored, almost black. 
 
 If you should look at our house on 
 the side towards the street, you would 
 see nothing but a high white wall, with 
 an arched doorway opening into the 
 street, and above that, another door 
 opening into a narrow verandah that 
 runs along the front of the house. In 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 13 
 
 this verandah the babus* would sit of an 
 evening. In very few of these houses do 
 you see any windows, and the few they 
 have, are small and barred like those of 
 a prison, instead of having glass. In the 
 rainy season these windows are closed 
 by shutters on the inside. 
 
 You enter through the lower door into 
 a narrow passage which leads under the 
 house ; then you come into a square 
 court, open to the heavens. The house 
 is built around this court on each of the 
 four sides. Two broad verandahs, an 
 upper and a lower one, are on three 
 sides of it. Into these verandahs a great 
 many doors open from different rooms. 
 The lower rooms are used for store- 
 houses, carriage -houses, servants, etc. 
 The upper rooms are used by the babus. 
 Some of these are very handsomely fur- 
 nished with matting, chairs, carpets, 
 
 * Balms native gentlemen. 
 
U KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 couches, pictures, placed in the greatest 
 confusion, and rarely dusted or kept 
 clean. Thick black cobwebs hang every- 
 where, it being considered a sin to dis- 
 turb a spider. Into this part of the 
 house none of the females are permitted 
 to enter after they are three or four 
 years old. 
 
 On the fourth side there is no upper 
 verandah, the lower one being much 
 higher and wider, having an elevated 
 roof like a dome, and supported on large 
 pillars. This is a sort of temple, or gods' 
 house. It is adorned with many chande- 
 liers and with pictures of the gods ; and 
 here, at the time of the Poojah, or feast 
 of the god, of which I will tell you, an 
 image of the god is placed. At one side 
 of this god's house, part of the upper 
 verandah is screened off by open cane- 
 work, similar to that which is used for 
 chair seats. Behind this screen, when 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 15 
 
 there are no lights, the females of the 
 house may place themselves at the time 
 of any Poojah or tomasha* to witness all 
 they can, but never do they join in any 
 of the festivities. 
 
 From this, you go into another passage, 
 and again you find yourself in another 
 verandah, running around a second 
 square building, enclosing an open court, 
 smaller than the first one I mentioned. 
 This is the women's part of the house. 
 The lower part is used for the cows, 
 cook-rooms, etc. The upper rooms are 
 used by the women and children of the 
 family. These rooms have no windows 
 or doors, except those opening into the 
 verandah, so that the women never catch 
 a glimpse of any thing going on in the 
 street. 
 
 From this court, the women's court, 
 
 > 
 
 * Toinasha fun frolic, the term generally used for any 
 amusement, 
 
16 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 we go through a passage under the 
 house into a spot of ground with a high 
 wall around it, within which is a tank or 
 pond, with a few plantains and cocoanut- 
 trees around it. This is our only gar- 
 den. Though this tank is fed by a 
 spring, it gets very green and muddy in 
 the dry season j but when the rains fill 
 it up, it is clean and fresh. However 
 green and muddy, the women bathe in 
 this every day, for the Hindoo religion 
 commands this to be done. 
 
 Perhaps you will think, as the babus 
 have handsome things in their rooms, 
 they would also give nice furniture to 
 adorn the rooms where the women spend 
 all their lives ; but not so. The floors 
 are the same as the walls, of brick cov- 
 ered with chunam. On these we sit, 
 without carpet or mats, a stool or chair. 
 There is a bedstead, with a mat cover- 
 ing it for a bed, two or three round, 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 17 
 
 hard pillows, a box or chest with a pad- 
 lock, in which to keep jewels or other 
 valuables, and a clothes-horse ; these, 
 with a brass lota or drinking vessel, com- 
 plete the furniture of a room where a 
 woman passes her life from her birth to 
 her death, only changing from her fa- 
 ther's to her husband's house. 
 
 I had no beautiful garden to play in, no 
 toys, no books to amuse me, no pleasant 
 walks in the fields, no school to attend. 
 None of these things are for Hindoo 
 girls. Oh, that you would have thank- 
 ful, grateful hearts to God for all his 
 good gifts to you ! 
 
13 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 Now that I have tried to describe our 
 house, I must tell you something about 
 our way of living. This large house 
 belonged to my grandfather. He had 
 six sons, my father being the oldest. 
 When each of these sons married, they 
 brought home their wives ; and as all 
 marry very young in our country, they 
 soon had children of a marriageable age. 
 At one time we had a household of sev- 
 enty people. 
 
 My own mother was my father's sec- 
 ond wife. He had married her while his 
 first wife was living, as she was childless. 
 It is almost an unknown thing for a Hin- 
 doo to take a second wife while the first 
 one is living, unless she be childless, 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 19 
 
 when it is generally done.* The firs! 
 wife of my father died before I was born, 
 but I have been told that she suffered 
 much from jealousy, and hated both my 
 mother and her child. 
 
 I knew and loved all my uncles bet- 
 ter than I did my father ; for younger 
 brothers may see their older brothers' 
 wives, go into their apartments, and con- 
 verse with them ; but an elder brother 
 may not see his younger brother's wife. 
 
 Every wife has an apartment for her- 
 self and her children, though a number 
 of us would often sit together in the ve- 
 randah opening on the inner court. If, 
 however, by any accident, one of the 
 husbands should be at home in the day- 
 time, and wished to go to his wife's 
 apartment, he would cough, or make a 
 great noise with his feet; then every 
 
 The Koolinee Brahmins are an exception to this rule, 
 as they sometimes marry twenty or thirty women. 
 
20 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 woman would draw her veil, or chud- 
 dah, over her face, and fly to her own 
 room, until he went away. 
 
 My grandfather was the head of his 
 house, and all the men submitted im- 
 plicitly to his rule in the direction of 
 their wives and children ; while among 
 the women, my grandmother, or Tuckoo- 
 Ma, as she was called, was supreme, no 
 one daring to dispute her commands. 
 No husband could protect his wife from 
 any unkindness, or even cruelty, on the 
 part of the Tuekoo-Ma. 
 
 The children are all spoiled in India, 
 being allowed their own way in almost 
 every thing. They are continually with 
 the mother ; and the fond parent who 
 dotes on her children, would not punish 
 a boy, because he is of the superior sex 
 and she will not punish a girl, because 
 she knows what a slave she will be when 
 married ; therefore she wishes to grant 
 
KAHDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 21 
 
 her every pleasure while she is a child. 
 Thus children grow up without any whole- 
 some restraint, but with a true, deep love 
 for their mothers. 
 
 Until I was six years old, my only 
 articles of dress were a gold necklace, 
 some gold bracelets, and some silver 
 bangles on my ankles. At that age I 
 began occasionally to wear a sarree. 
 This is the only article of clothing worn 
 by females. It consists of a long strip 
 of cloth a little over a yard wide, gen- 
 erally edged with a bright-colored bor- 
 der. This is fastened round the loins, 
 and then brought up over the chest and 
 head. The upper part, which covers 
 the head, is called the chuddah, or veil; 
 but little girls never wear this over the 
 head until they are married ; and even 
 after marriage, when they are in the 
 father's home, the head is left uncov- 
 ered. 
 
22 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 Our clothing was only one thickness 
 of cloth over the body, and was gener- 
 ally of mull muslin ; but at Poojahs, or 
 on special occasions, when we were sup- 
 posed to be dressed, the material was 
 as thin as gauze. 
 
 My time used to be spent playing with 
 the other children, though we had no 
 regular plays, as you have; trying to 
 help my mother cook, combing or braid- 
 ing her long hair, or lying on her lap 
 listening to stories told by her or some 
 of the other women, or to what was far 
 worse, the gossip of the barberess who 
 used to come every week to cut the toe 
 and finger nails of the female part of the 
 household, and to dye our fingers and 
 feet with henna* a barber performing 
 the same office for the men. 
 
 It was amazing the amount of mischief 
 
 Henna, a sort of paint, bright red, which remains for 
 several clays. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 23 
 
 this woman would do, the fearfully de- 
 praved and licentious stories that she 
 would carry from house to house, and 
 to which all, even the smallest child, 
 was permitted to listen. The more vile 
 and polluting the story, the more it was 
 enjoyed by the listeners. 
 
 I will here give you one of my moth- 
 er's stories ; it is about the best one I 
 ever heard told by a Hindoo. 
 
 THE STORY OF A FAKIRo AND AN IGNO- 
 RANT MAN. 
 
 An ignorant man asked a fakir : 
 "Who are you, what are you doing, and 
 why are you seated here ?" 
 
 The fakir replied : " I am a beggar in 
 God's service. I have abandoned the 
 world that I may* walk in God's ways, 
 
 A fakir is a religious beggar, or one supposed to be 
 very holy, who holds intercourse with the gods, and to 
 have subdued all his earthly passions and propensities, 
 This story is taken from a book of Hindoo tales. 
 
24 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 though to attain this I may have to en- 
 dure pain and suffer privation and sor- 
 row. I am studying human nature, and 
 the two classes of men of whom the 
 world is composed : the one given to the 
 pleasures of life, the other engaged in the 
 service of holiness and God. In man's 
 opinion there are several classes of per- 
 sons ; but in God's infallible judgment 
 there exists but two, the good and the 
 bad." 
 
 The ignorant man observed : " You 
 say that you are in God's service, and 
 that you know him, and are acquainted 
 with man's nature ; then pray allow me 
 to put to you three questions, which, if 
 you fail to answer, I will esteem you not 
 only a liar, but a deceitful, wicked per- 
 son, deluding others to earn for yourself 
 a dishonest livelihood. If it happens to 
 be as I think, I will beat you away from 
 here, and take all you possess." 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 25 
 
 The fakir replied: "By this speech 
 you show your own weak intellect ; but 
 I am satisfied with your proposal. Pray 
 tell me in what matter you desire my 
 opinion." 
 
 The ignorant man said: "Fakir, the 
 first question is this : Show God to me, 
 and tell me of what color he is ? 
 
 "The second question is : Satan being 
 formed of fire, and hell composed of the 
 same element," (they have learned to 
 believe in Satan and hell from the Mus- 
 sulmans,) "how then can fire make any 
 impression on Satan ? 
 
 "The third is: You say that what- 
 ever is done in the world, is executed 
 by God himself, and not man, for man 
 can do nothing by his own power. Is it 
 so, or not ?" 
 
 The fakir began to muse for awhile on 
 the subject ; then, after a short time, 
 laughed, and looked at the ignorant man, 
 
26 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 and asked if those were all the questions 
 he had to put. 
 
 "Yes, father, and I have to request 
 their answer." 
 
 The fakir, looking here and there, 
 took up a ball of clay, which he aimed 
 at the ignorant man's head with a force 
 that stunned him. 
 
 The ignorant man soon roused, and 
 began to make a great noise and to call 
 out for help, crying and telling the vil- 
 lage men that the fakir had hit his fore- 
 head so hard a blow with a stone that 
 he was quite faint. 
 
 When the men had heard his com- 
 plaint, they began to call the fakir all 
 kinds of ill names, and to address him 
 thus: "You say that you are God's 
 beggar, but your culpable action shows 
 that you have come from the king- 
 dom of Satan. We will take you away 
 to the Cazi (judge), and then we will 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 27 
 
 see who will protect such a preten- 
 der." 
 
 So the men dragged him before the 
 cazi of the place. The cazi inquired why 
 they had offered insult and violence to 
 the poor fakir. The people said: "Cazi 
 sahib," (sahib, sir,) "this fakir is a pre- 
 tender. He is of so violent a temper, 
 that he has struck this poor fellow a se- 
 vere blow with a stone on his forehead, 
 which has nearly killed him, and all this 
 cruel usage he has perpetrated too, with- 
 out the least provocation." 
 
 Hearing this, the cazi was highly en- 
 raged at the fakir, and inquired why he 
 had inflicted pain, without any reason 
 for it. 
 
 The fakir, seeing and hearing things 
 not quite consonant with the character 
 of a cazi, told him that he too appeared 
 to be wanting in understanding. 
 
 The cazi sahib became more angry at 
 
28 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 what he considered the fakir's insolence. 
 He remarked: "You, father, appear in 
 sheep's clothing, but through the flimsy 
 coverlet the wolf is seen. For what rea- 
 sons, and by what indications, do you 
 recognize me to be a man of perverted 
 judgment?" 
 
 The fakir said: "Be not angry, for 
 anger is the symbol of ignorance. Con- 
 sider this truth, and reflect on the sub- 
 ject of that man's three questions." 
 
 The cazi, calling the man, asked what 
 were the three questions which, being 
 put to the fakir, gave him offence, and 
 led him to retort so rudely. 
 
 Hearing the questions, the cazi, turn- 
 ing towards the .fakir, asked, "Fakir 
 sahib, was it proper for you to strike 
 the man, instead of answering him ?" 
 
 The fakir said : " I have by that deed 
 answered his three questions already. 
 His first question was : ' Show God to 
 
KA11DOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 20 - 
 
 me, and tell me of what color he is?' 
 My answer is : Show me your pain, and 
 tell me its color, and I will show you 
 God, and tell you of what color he is. 
 His second question was : ' Satan is form- 
 ed of fire, and hell is composed of the 
 same element ; how then can fire make 
 any impression on Satan ? 7 My answer 
 is : Man is admitted to have clay for his 
 origin. This man asserts that fire makes 
 no impression on fire ; if so, a ball of clay 
 cannot hurt a body of clay. I did not 
 use any stick or stone to strike him, but a 
 lump of clay. According to his argument, 
 therefore, I am justified, for I could not 
 have hurt him. His third question was : 
 1 Whatever is done in the world, is exe- 
 cuted by God himself, and not man, for 
 man can do nothing by his own power.' 
 My answer is : If nothing is clone by 
 man, then I have not struck him ; but 
 God, according to his showing, did it< 
 
30 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 and I am therefore guiltless of the 
 charge.' 7 
 
 This is, as I before said, about the 
 best Hindoo story I ever heard. There 
 is scarcely another that you would con- 
 sider right or proper for children to hear. 
 Most of the stories were about the lives 
 of the gods and goddesses, or about the 
 transmigration of the soul. The Hin- 
 doos believe that after death the soul 
 assumes the body of some other human 
 being, or some animal, thus passing 
 from one to another until it has over- 
 come all its evil passions, and become 
 perfectly holy. We had no beautiful 
 stories to teach us to be good and holy, 
 and thus to be happy. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 31 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 AND now I suppose you would like to 
 hear what was our food, and how we ate 
 it. Take a look at us as we are eating 
 our dinner, and what do you see ? A 
 father and mother, with their children, 
 sitting down around a table spread with 
 a clean cloth, and before eating, lifting 
 up their hands and asking a blessing, 
 and giving thanks to the great Giver of 
 all? No, dear friends, you would see 
 nothing of this sort. 
 
 Our principal food consisted of curry 
 and rice. Curry is a mixture of spices 
 and saffron, in which meat, fish, or vege- 
 tables are cooked. But Hindoos never 
 eat any animal food, except fish; there- 
 fore ours was always a fish or vegetable 
 
32 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 curry. It was always eaten with rice, 
 which ray mother prepared twice a day. 
 
 The largest and best portion was al- 
 ways placed on a large brass plate and 
 carried to my father's room for him. 
 After he had eaten all he required, and 
 his plate was brought back, our mother 
 and we might then eat. The remainder 
 of the food was then put on another 
 brass plate, placed on the earthen or 
 brick floor, with a lota, or brass drink- 
 ing-vessel, beside it. We that is, my 
 mother and her children then seated 
 ourselves on the floor around the plate, 
 and each one putting his or her hand into 
 the dish, would take up a small portion 
 of rice, and squeezing that, with the 
 curry, into a round ball, would toss it 
 down the throat. 
 
 After we had eaten as much as we 
 wanted, we would take up the brass lota, 
 not putting it to our lips, but throwing 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 33 
 
 our heads back, hold the lota up high, 
 and thus let the water pour down our 
 throats. We had no spoons or knives 
 or forks. Then our meal was over, with- 
 out one thought of thankfulness to Him 
 who constantly supplied pur returning 
 wants. 
 
 Could you have seen us at our meals, 
 you would have wondered as much as I 
 did the first time I saw Europeans sit 
 down to eat. Now though we had a 
 good man-servant, my mother spent 
 much of her time in the preparation of 
 different kinds of curries ; for to excel 
 in cooking was at that time the only 
 accomplishment to which a Hindoo wom- 
 an might aspire. Helping my mother to 
 burn the spices for the curry, braiding 
 her hair, and listening to her strange 
 stories of the gods and goddesses were 
 my chief employments* 
 
 Besides our two principal meals of 
 
34 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 curry and rice, we had a great many 
 different kinds of sweetmeats which we 
 would eat at any or all times of the day. 
 They were composed of ghee, (clarified 
 butter,) sugar, milk, "and sometimes co- 
 coanut. Of these we were very fond, 
 and would eat a.number in the day. 
 
 Besides the fruits you have seen, such 
 as plantains and oranges, we had many 
 others, such as the guava, mango, leach, 
 jack-fruit, etc. God has been very 
 bountiful to my native land, in making 
 the earth to bring forth abundantly; 
 but, alas, alas, the poor people know 
 not Him "who is daily loading them 
 with benefits." 
 
 My infant lips were never taught to 
 lisp my heavenly Father's name. My 
 mother never told me of that good Shep- 
 herd, the dear Saviour, who gathers the 
 little lambs in his arms, and folds them 
 to his bosom. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 35 
 
 But you will ask, was I never taught 
 to pray to any god ? When I was quite 
 a little child, I was told that there were 
 many, many gods ; and as I before said, 
 I listened to strange and wonderful sto- 
 ries about them, and we had many pic- 
 tures and images of them in the house ; 
 but until I was six years old, though I 
 often saw my mother performing poojah, 
 (worship,) I was never taught to do so. 
 
 My mother! oh what bitter anguish of 
 soul comes to me when I think of thee ! 
 Thy name embodies to me all that is 
 pure, gentle, and lovely! My mother 
 had, as I have said, a truly devotional 
 spirit a strong religious tendency. The 
 god to whom she had devoted herself 
 was Sheve. This god is worshipped by 
 every woman in India, but by some only 
 occasionally, or on his annual feast-day. 
 
 Each .god has his annual feast, when 
 he is particularly worshipped ; but per- 
 
36 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 haps little thought of during the rest of 
 the year. A Hindoo, also, does not 
 worship every god, each one choosing 
 for himself or herself the particular ones 
 to whom he will pay most respect and 
 devotion. They believe really that there 
 are only a very few gods and goddesses, 
 but that each of these has become incar- 
 nate many times ; that is, appeared and 
 lived in the world under different forms ; 
 that he must be addressed for special 
 gifts ; and as in the Romish church, cer- 
 tain images of the Yirgin are supposed 
 to possess more power than others, so 
 here the same god under one form is 
 supposed to possess more power than he 
 does under another. 
 
 My mother spent about an hour a day 
 in J;he worship of Sheve. This is very 
 unlike the Christian's worship of the 
 "God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," which is simply going before 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 37 
 
 Him, to thank Him for his goodness, to 
 ask pardon for our many sins against 
 Him for Jesus' sake, and that He will 
 make us better, and beseeching Him, as 
 our Father, to supply our wants and 
 take care of us. This is how a Chris- 
 tian child is taught to pray, and this 
 they can understand when they are very 
 little. 
 
 It took me a long time to learn how 
 to pay poojah to Sheve. I sat by my 
 mother and watched her day after day, 
 and week after week, and month after 
 month, before I could do it right. She 
 had a little image of the god about three 
 inches high, made of mud. Before this 
 she would sit, and sprinkling it many 
 times with holy water from the Ganges 
 river, present to it flowers, grains of 
 rice, little bits of sweetmeats, and nuts ; 
 certain forms of words being used at 
 each part of the ceremony. The poo- 
 
38 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 jab was not performed if one word was 
 omitted >r said at the wrong time, or if 
 a flower was laid to the right, when it 
 ought to have been laid to the left. 
 There were a hundred motions and ges- 
 tures that had to be learned, before the 
 worship could be paid. I was a long 
 time in learning this, but my mother was 
 not contented until I could perform the 
 whole ceremony. The other women of 
 the house contented themselves with 
 . bowing, touching their heads to the 
 idols, or placing grains of rice or flow- 
 ers on the shrine. God Sheve is sup- 
 posed to be the creator. To him ev- 
 ery woman prays that she may have 
 that greatest of all blessings, offspring; 
 and him the loving mother continues to 
 worship, propitiating him for her chil- 
 dren. 
 
 In addition to Sheve, Kali and Jug- 
 gernaut were the gods worshipped by 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 39 
 
 our family ; and their annual feasts were 
 kept up at great cost at our house. 
 Then large images of the gods were 
 made, and placed in the gods' house in 
 the courts. A small car also of Jugger- 
 naut was made, and all the male ser- 
 vants, with the young boys of the fam- 
 ily, would draw it about the court and 
 the neighboring streets with infinite de- 
 light. I remember once asking my 
 mother why it was that Juggernaut was 
 so ugly. In answer, she. told me this 
 story : 
 
 A very rich rajah in the country, 
 built a magnificent temple, and devoted 
 it to one of the great gods. He then 
 said that he must have a new and very 
 beautiful image carved to place in his 
 temple, and the Brahmins would pray 
 the great god to come and dwell in this 
 image, to make it noted and renowned 
 as a great and powerful god. 
 
40 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 He therefore gave notice everj^where 
 that he wanted a good mistri* to come 
 and make this image. It must be more 
 beautiful than any thing that had ever 
 been made. If it was so, and ihe rajah 
 was satisfied, he would give him an im- 
 mense sum of money ; but if it was not 
 so, the mistri should be killed. Hear- 
 ing this, no mistri dare undertake the 
 work, and the beautiful temple remained 
 for several years without any god to 
 inhabit it. 
 
 At last an old man with a bundle of 
 carpenter's tools, presented himself to 
 the rajah. 
 
 The rajah looked at him a minute, 
 and said, "I am sure that you cannot 
 make any thing beautiful." The mistri 
 was old, dirty, and oh, so ugly! He 
 squinted with both eyes, had red hair, a 
 crooked back, and bandy legs. In fact, 
 
 * Mistri, a carpenter or other workman. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 41 
 
 he was a monster of ugliness. The old 
 man insisted that he could make the 
 most beautiful image that ever was 
 
 o 
 
 seen. 
 
 At last" the rajah, finding he could get 
 no one else to try, gave his consent ; 
 "but remember," he said, "if you do not 
 make it very beautiful, I shall take your 
 life." 
 
 To this the raistri agreed, but with 
 one condition, that all the time he was 
 employed in his work he should be shut 
 up in the temple, and not in the least 
 interfered with till his work was com- 
 pleted ; that if the temple doors were 
 opened, or he was interrupted in any 
 way, he would immediately leave his 
 work unfinished, and would never put 
 another stroke to it. The rajah did not 
 like this, as he wished to watch the 
 progress of the work ; but there was no 
 help for it, as the old mistri would only 
 6 
 
42 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 work upon liis own terms, and the rajah 
 could get no other to work at all. 
 
 The old mistri shut himself up in the 
 temple, and for three months nobody 
 saw him ; no one could tell hbw he got 
 food or water, for he never came out, and 
 nobody went in to him. 
 
 During the whole day and night a 
 most terrible noise and hammering were 
 heard in the temple, sometimes in one 
 part, sometimes in another. 
 
 The poor rajah was terribly fright- 
 ened ; it sounded as if his temple was 
 being knocked all to pieces. At length, 
 after some months had passed, and noth- 
 ing had been seen of the mistri, though 
 the noise continued as usual, the rajah 
 went to the door of the temple, and after 
 knocking a long time the mistri an- 
 swered him. He told the rajah he was 
 getting on beautifully with his work, but 
 on no account to interrupt him again. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 43 
 
 After this, the noise in the temple in- 
 creased so much, that it seemed as if 
 there were a hundred workmen ham- 
 mering away with all their might, in- 
 stead of one. 
 
 At last the poor rajah's patience be- 
 came utterly exhausted. Afraid that 
 his temple would be spoiled, after knock- 
 ing in vain for the mistri to open the 
 door, he had it burst open. The tem- 
 ple was the same as ever, and there 
 stood the mistri in the middle of the 
 floor, with the ugly little misshapen 
 image, about a foot high, before him, 
 with no hands, only stumps for arms, 
 and without feet. 
 
 The rajah in a great rage asked him 
 if he called that a beautiful figure. 
 
 11 You have interrupted me before I 
 had finished it,' 7 said the mistri; " no 
 one shall dare to alter it, or add any 
 thing to it. Ugly as it is, it is the great 
 
44 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 god Juggernaut, and in that form shall 
 he be worshipped all over India." 
 
 The rajah was in a fearful rage 
 aimed a blow to kill the mistri, when 
 suddenly he changed from the ugly old 
 man into a beautiful young man, and 
 rose up into the air above the rajah's 
 reach, saying, "As the great god Jug- 
 gernaut all shall worship that. 7 ' He then 
 disappeared through the roof of the tem- 
 ple, leaving the rajah in great dismay, 
 for now all knew the old mistri to be 
 none other than the great god Moha- 
 dave, and his work, none would dare to 
 touch ; the figure must be left just as it 
 was. 
 
 I then asked my mother why that Jug- 
 gernaut had such a fine car, and went 
 out for a ride sometimes, which none of 
 the other gods did. She could not tell 
 me ; but I have learned the story since, 
 and will crive it to you here. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 45 
 
 Juggernaut is very fond of bathing, 
 and in places where he is particularly 
 worshipped,* his temple is placed by 
 the side of a tank. The priests daily 
 take him to bathe, and then dress him. 
 But when the cold season commences, 
 he one day takes a severe cold in his 
 bath, and is laid up with a bad fever. 
 He is ill for three weeks. This is the 
 harvest-time of his priests, for during 
 his illness his votaries come every day 
 to inquire after his health, and to bring 
 offerings of ghee, fruit, powers, rice, 
 goats, which of course all belong to the 
 priests. 
 
 After three or four weeks he is pro- 
 
 Though people may have images and pictures of these 
 gods in their houses, yet when they want to pay .them any 
 particular reverence or homage, they will make a pilgrim- 
 age to some particular temple or shrine dedicated to the 
 worship of the god they wish to honor. Here many Brah- 
 min priests continually reside, who receive the offerings 
 of pilgrims, say many prayers, and offer sacrifices for 
 them. 
 
46 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 nounced a little better, and it is said 
 change of air will do him good. Wher- 
 ever he has a temple built, one for his 
 sister is placed about three miles off 
 consequently his great car is brought 
 out, he is placed on it with a great many 
 priests to take care of him, and thus in 
 state he is drawn down to his sister's 
 house. The people, frantic with joy at 
 . his recovery, draw the car along them- 
 selves ; others throw flowers, clothes, etc. ; 
 and others even cast themselves under 
 the heavy wheels of the car as an offer- 
 ing to the god. He remains at his sis- 
 ter's house for a week or two, and then 
 is brought back to his own house in the 
 same manner, though with much fewer 
 demonstrations of joy. 
 
 At our house every year a small car 
 of clay was made, and a clay image of 
 the god placed upon it, and for the whole 
 day it was dragged about with wild de- 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 47 
 
 light. In the night, sacrifices and poo- 
 jah were offered to it, and the next morn- 
 ing both car and god were consigned to 
 the Ganges. As they had been used for 
 holy purposes, they must not be left to 
 desecration, but must again become part 
 of the sacred clay of the holy river. The 
 excitement subsiding, Juggernaut was 
 again forgotten in most places for an- 
 other year. 
 
 Every household of standing has be- 
 longing to it a gooroo, or Brahmin priest, 
 who is the head man at the celebration 
 of poojah, marriages, shaads or ceremo- 
 nies after death. This priest is permit- 
 ted to enter the women's part of the 
 house, to give them instruction in the 
 rites and ceremonies of their religion. 
 At any time when he wishes the* females 
 of the house to visit his wife, he sends 
 his own palky for them, and it is a great 
 insult to him if they do not go. They 
 
48 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 never see him when visiting at his house, 
 only his wife and the females of his fam- 
 ily. These old Brahmin priests have 
 full as much sway and power over the 
 minds of the people here as the Eomish 
 priests have in Catholic countries. 
 
 When I was a little girl I went once 
 or twice with my mother 4o the gooroo's 
 house, also twice on a visit to her father's 
 house. We went each time in a palky. 
 
 A palky is an upright box just high 
 enough for a person to sit up in it. It is 
 painted black. You get into it by doors 
 at the sides, which slide back ; and when 
 these doors are shut it is as close as a 
 box. It has a pole at each end, and is 
 carried on men's shoulders. This would 
 be brought into our verandah, my moth- 
 er and 1 would get in, the door shut, 
 and a thick red cloth would be covered 
 over all, so that not one ray of light or 
 breath of air could enter. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 49 
 
 I well remember how frightened I 
 was, how I crept close to my dear mother 
 when the bearers lifted us up, when we 
 would get into the noisy streets, and hear 
 the strange confusion of sounds around 
 us, but were not able to see any thing. 
 
 On these occasions I wore a sarree 
 made of the finest gauze, my legs, arms, 
 head, and neck loaded with jewelry- 
 bracelets, and chains so heavy that they 
 made me ache all over, though I was 
 very proud of them. Those whom we 
 visited gave us a profusion of sweet- 
 meats, and then we would return home 
 the same way. 
 
 When my mother went to my grand- 
 father's house, however, she generally 
 remained several days. Occasionally 
 her relatives, or those of the other 
 daughters-in-law, would visit us in the 
 same way. Thus I have told you some- 
 what of our way of living. 
 
50 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 I WAS about eight years old when I 
 began to think. 
 
 My uncle Chundro was a fine young 
 man about eighteen years of age. I was 
 very fond of him, and he used often to 
 come to my mother's room after his 
 school to play with me. One day he 
 brought me some beautiful flowers, of 
 which I was very fond. I kissed them, 
 pressed them to my heart, laughed and 
 talked to them". 
 
 Just then my mother was going to 
 perform her poojah to Sheve ; she called 
 me, and told me to give my flowers to 
 the idol. At first I positively refused ; 
 but she, speaking more sternly than 1 
 ever remember, commanded it to be 
 done. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 51 
 
 Crying and sobbing, I ran and flung 
 them at the idol ; but not all her com- 
 mands or entreaties then, could make me 
 join in the worship. I -ran away to my 
 uncle Chundro, (being a younger brother 
 he was allowed to be in the women's 
 verandah.) I told him my grief, and he 
 tried to comfort me ; and pointing to the 
 bit of blue sky seen from the verandah, 
 he said, "Look, my little Kardoo, up 
 there above the sky. there is a beautiful 
 place called heaven. The great God 
 lives there, and if you love him and are 
 a good little girl, you will one day go to 
 live in that beautiful place with him." 
 
 "I don't want to go there,' 7 I an- 
 swered; "for if he is like the Takoo 
 (idol) my mother worships, he will take 
 away all my pretty things, and never 
 give me any thing." 
 
 " But he is not like that Takoo," said 
 he. "He is the great God who made 
 
52 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 every thing ; he made you, and he gives 
 you all things that you have. He loves 
 you like a father, and you must try. to 
 learn to love him. He 'has done so much 
 for you, that you should love him better 
 than anybody else, and try to do what 
 will please him." 
 
 "But, uncle, my mother tells me that 
 my father gives me my food and all 
 things that I have. You say the great 
 God gives them to me. How is that ?" 
 
 " God gives them to your father, Kar- 
 doo, and he gives them to you. I do 
 not know much about this God, but I am 
 trying to learn, and I will teach you if 
 you will listen to me." One of the other 
 boys coming up to us just then, he quick- 
 ly closed the book that he held in his 
 hand, and moved away. 
 
 The next day my mother began to 
 reprove me for my conduct about the 
 flowers, and told me I ought to be wil- 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 53 
 
 ling to give all I had to the god. " He 
 is a very great a'nd powerful god, my 
 child. He is the creator who made you 
 and all other things." 
 
 " Did he make the flowers ?" 
 " Yes ; whatever he likes he can do." 
 " Then, if he can make as many as he 
 likes, and when he likes, why does he 
 want to take mine away ? He is very 
 greedy. But my uncle Chundro told me 
 that Sheve was only mud, that he could 
 not keep himself from being broken, if I 
 were to throw him down ; and he told 
 me that the great God who made all 
 things lives in heaven.' 7 
 
 "What has your uncle been saying to 
 you ? Oh, my child, my child, do n't lis- 
 ten to him j he has been reading the vile 
 Christian books, and I fear they are turn- 
 ing him from the sacred religion of his 
 fathers. I shall not let you go near him 
 if he talks to you like this." 
 
54 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 I loved my uncle very dearly, and 
 these threats, prevented me from ever 
 again telling her any thing he said on 
 the subject of religion. The book I had 
 seen him read was the Bible. He did 
 not dare to talk much about it to others ; 
 but often, after this time, he would take 
 me in his arms and tell me pretty sto- 
 ries, which I have since found were Bible 
 stories; and how, or by what means I 
 know not, but he impressed on my child- 
 ish mind the conviction that 1 was a great 
 sinner, and that if I could find no means 
 of expiating those sins, I must be miser- 
 able for ever. 
 
 About this time we kept the festival 
 or poojah of Kali in very great style 
 and expense. 
 
 Kali is the goddess of vengeance, and 
 she is generally worshipped by the Hin- 
 doos. All trouble they suppose comes 
 from her, and in all time of affliction 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 55 
 
 they offer to her propitiatory sacrifices, 
 and make promises of large gifts and 
 offerings. But once a year, at the an- 
 nual festival, almost every family of 
 wealth has an image of her erected in 
 the god's house, and all the friends and 
 poor neighbors are invited to attend the 
 feast. 
 
 At these feasts, females were rarely 
 if ever present ; and though rich and 
 poor men were invited, and partook of 
 the refreshments provided, yet there was 
 a marked difference made. The more 
 intimate friends of the household and the 
 Brahmins were received in the babus' 
 own rooms and in the verandah; those less 
 intimate in the lower verandah ; while 
 the crowd of poor neighbors were not 
 permitted to go above the court. If one 
 of the more intimate friends was seen 
 for an instant standing among the crowd, 
 some one was instantly despatched to 
 
56 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 bring him into the room above ; or if 
 any man was seen above that they did 
 not wish there, he was quickly invited 
 to go below. 
 
 For a week before the poojah took 
 place, the whole household was busy 
 preparing for it. Immense piles of 
 sweetmeats and curries of every kind 
 were made by the females, while in the 
 outer court other preparations were go- 
 ing on. This court, around which the 
 house was built, was fifty feet square. 
 
 Every moment that my mother could 
 spare me was spent behind the screen, 
 watching what was going on below. 
 They were whitewashing and clearing 
 the court, putting up chandeliers, and 
 posts from which to hang lamps, stretch- 
 ing a canvas roof over the open court. 
 But that which I watched with the great- 
 est interest was the construction of the 
 Takoo, or god. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIBL. 57 
 
 The figures for there were two, as I 
 shall describe to you were first made 
 just like a wooden skeleton ; then they 
 were covered over thickly with straw, 
 and then they were plastered over and 
 made into shape with the sacred mud or 
 clay from the holy Ganges. After the 
 whole is formed with the clay, it is left 
 for two or three days to dry, and is then 
 painted, and then placed in the gods' 
 house to be worshipped. 
 
 Kali, as I before said, is the goddess 
 of destruction, or vengeance. She is rep- 
 resented as a gigantic woman of a deep 
 blue color, standing on the body of a 
 man of the same size, which is painted 
 white. She has four hands : in one she 
 holds a bleeding head ; in the second 
 she brandishes a large knife ; while the 
 other two are uplifted, but empty. 
 Around her neck, for a garland, she has 
 forty bleeding heads ; around her waist 
 
58 KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 a girdle of human hands. She is repre- 
 sented as loaded with jewelry, but stain- 
 ed in many places with the blood of the 
 trophies she carries. Her tongue sticks 
 out so far that it almost touches her 
 chest. Her position is on the man's 
 body, but starting back as if in horror. 
 The reason of her being represented 
 thus, is that she is worshipped only from 
 fear ; and it is thought that this appear- 
 ance, and the story belonging to it, will 
 inspire a salutary fear and terror, and 
 indeed it does ; for the impressions in 
 this way made upon children in their 
 earliest days are scarcely ever effaced. 
 
 The story told is this : A great giant 
 rebelled against her, and would not wor- 
 ship her. So she set out to punish him. 
 She is returning after slaying him and 
 his forty sons : their hands she cut off 
 and wears as a girdle, and their heads 
 as a garland, while she carries the fa- 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 59 
 
 ther's head in her hand. As she is 
 stalking along in triumph, not looking 
 on the ground, she steps upon a man's 
 body who is lying asleep. She starts 
 back in horror, to find she is treading 
 upon her husband whom she is bound to 
 venerate. 
 
 But now to the poojah. During the 
 day, immense piles of sweetmeats and 
 fruits were placed in the gods' house 
 first to be offered in sacrifice to the god- 
 dess, then to be distributed to the guests. 
 The gooroo; or family priest, with a num- 
 ber of other priests, arrived about seven 
 o'clock. They took their place in front 
 of the goddess, repeating a continuous 
 succession of munters, (prayers, or sort 
 of invocations,) until after ten o'clock. 
 About eight o'clock the guests began to 
 arrive, and continued coming in until 
 after twelve. They took little or no 
 part in the worship, that being appa- 
 
60 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 rently confined to the* priests. Beside 
 them was a large tray of flowers, a ves- 
 sel with the holy water of the Ganges, 
 and a chafing-dish for burning incense. 
 The priest would take a flower, say a 
 munter over it, sprinkle it with holy 
 water, then place it somewhere on or 
 about the goddess. Hundreds were used 
 in this way. Sometimes the perform- 
 ance would be varied by tinkling a 
 small bell, upon which the priests would 
 bow with their faces to the ground. The 
 people looked on, but except, that occa- 
 sionally, a man would go up the steps 
 and bow, none seemed to take part in 
 the worship. 
 
 During this time, there were six men, 
 each with a drum almost as high as him- 
 self, with which he tried to make as much 
 noise as possible, without in the least re- 
 garding either tune or time.* About ten 
 
 In later days, I once went into a Koman-catholio 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 61 
 
 o'clock, three more drums were brought 
 in, so large that the bodies of those who 
 carried them were entirely concealed. 
 Then ttere were trumpets and two or 
 three gongs. One man with a heavy 
 iron mallet struck a large iron shield, 
 thus producing the deep tone of a bell. 
 
 One of the officiating priests then 
 <eame down into the court', and a servant 
 brought him a large pumpkin, a cucum- 
 ber, and a bundle of sugar cane. Then, 
 with a sharp knife, he instantly severed 
 each one, the pieces flying about among 
 the crowd, who eagerly picked them up. 
 Then this old Brahmin began a wild, 
 strange "dance, with most extravagant 
 gestures. In a few minutes all the 
 
 church, and saw them performing the service of the mass, 
 and I was much surprised to see how much it resembled 
 our Kali poojah. Instead of Kali poojah, however, there 
 was a crucifix, with three tall candles on each side, the 
 flowers, the burning incense, the ringing of the bell, and 
 the bowing and kneeling of the priests, and the sprinkling 
 with holy water. 
 
62 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 drummers and musicians except the bell- 
 man began to dance around him, each 
 carrying his instrument, and continuing 
 to play upon it. At length the gooroo 
 passed a lamp with ten burners up and 
 down and around the idol ; he then sud- 
 denly prostrated himself before it ; in- 
 stantly all the Brahmins and all the 
 babus who were on or near the platform 
 of the gods' house did the same ; the 
 music ceased, and a general shouting 
 and clapping of hands took place. . 
 
 My uncle Chundro had just come to 
 where I was standing. I turned and 
 asked him the meaning of these shouts. 
 " Listen, Kardoo," he said, "and try to 
 understand. A long time ago our peo- 
 ple were very ignorant ; then they 
 thought that those images were them- 
 selves gods, but they are not so ignorant 
 and stupid now. They cannot believe 
 that those clay things which their own 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 63 
 
 hands have made are gods ; but they do 
 believe that if they make this figure, 
 and then the priests pray and invoke the 
 goddess enough, she will descend from 
 heaven and take up her abode in the 
 image, thus blessing the house where 
 she is. Now the gooroo has been pray- 
 ing for the goddess to come into this 
 image, and when he lifted up the light 
 and examined it just now, he said the 
 goddess had arrived ; therefore the peo- 
 ple prostrated themselves, not before the 
 clay, but before the goddess supposed to 
 be in the image.' 7 
 
 "Do you believe this, Uncle Chun- 
 dro?" 
 
 "No, Kardoo, I do not. I believe 
 there is but one God, and he lives in 
 heaven ; and if the Christian's book be 
 true, he has forbidden us to make any 
 image or representation of him." 
 
 "But, Uncle Chundro," I said, "to- 
 
64 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 morrow that image will be thrown into 
 the Ganges ; why is that ?" 
 
 He replied : "To-morrow morning the 
 gooroo will say a prayer, thanking the 
 goddess for her visit, and telling her 
 now she may return home. She is sup- 
 posed then to return to heaven ; but the 
 image, though again only clay, is con- 
 sidered to have been made sacred by 
 the residence of the goddess, therefore it 
 is cast into the holy river." 
 
 My uncle was called away ; I saw him 
 no more that night. But the whole 
 night was spent in feasting and watching 
 the dancing girls. We also had a nautch, 
 a sort of theatrical performance. The 
 worship was all over. Formerly goats 
 were offered with the sweetmeats in 
 sacrifice to Kali, and sometimes human 
 sacrifices, but the latter have been en- 
 tirely done away with. After the shouts 
 and exclamations that accompanied the 
 
KAHDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. G5 
 
 supposed arrival of the goddess had sub- 
 sided, she was thought of no more that 
 night. Such is the Kali poojah, one of 
 the'great acts of religions worship among 
 the Hindoos. 
 
 Xaifloo. 
 
66 KAHDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 A FEW days after the poojah, my uncle 
 Chundro was talking to my mother, when 
 she said to him : "Chundro, I was yery 
 sorry to see that you did not join in the 
 acts of worship to our great goddess. 
 You did not bow or prostrate yourself 
 once before her. How can you expect 
 that evil will be averted from your own 
 head, or from that of our family, when 
 so many of you only look on, instead of 
 joining in the solemn act of worship ?" 
 
 "Why, sister, you could not surely 
 suppose that hideous thing which we 
 had down there to be a divine or holy 
 thing?" 
 
 "Not after the sacred presence was 
 gone, but during the time that Kali took 
 lip her abode in it, it was holy ; and it 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. G7 
 
 was your solemn' duty to adore the visi- 
 ble presence. You and others of the 
 household did not do it, and I fear 
 calamities will befall our family.' 7 
 
 " But, my sister, I cannot believe that 
 a great and holy being could like to be 
 represented, even for an hour, by an 
 object such as that, or would take up its 
 abode in it, or could wish to be regarded 
 as so cruel and bloodthirsty. What 
 would you think of any woman who 
 could cut off the heads of her enemies, 
 then hang them for a necklace, all bleed- 
 ing and ghastly, around her neck ? You 
 would shrink from such a woman with 
 horror ; and surely these gods ought to 
 be better than we. No, 1 am disgusted 
 with this our religion ; it is only the 
 Christian religion that teaches of a holy 
 and pure God." 
 
 My mother burst into a passionate 
 flood of tears. " wicked blasphe- 
 
G8 KARDOO, THE HIN-DOO GIHL. 
 
 mer," she said, "remain not li^ere, or 
 you will call down the vengeance of the 
 angry goddess on me as well as yourself. 
 Why, why have 'I listened to you so 
 Jong, instead of telling your mother how 
 these beef-eating Christians are destroy- 
 ing you !" 
 
 "My sister, I have not said I was a 
 Christian; but indeed, indeed I wish 
 that I had been born one, that I might 
 not be tempted to distrust and abhor 
 the religion of my fathers." 
 
 "What is this that I hear, my son, 
 my son, the jewel of my heart, my pearl, 
 the star of my lips, my treasure ! ?? ex- 
 claimed my grandmother, who had come 
 into the room behind him, without his 
 being aware of it, and heard his last 
 remark. " Oh, what is this that I hear; 
 you, my moon of gold, my star of silver, 
 my necklace of pearl, to wish or to think 
 of such a thing as being a Christian ! 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 69 
 
 to be like those beef-eating, unclean 
 Christians, those filthy outcasts !" 
 
 " Mother, I am not a Christian, but I 
 have read much about their religion. It 
 teaches of a holy God a God of love, 
 not one of vengeance, like that hideous 
 image we had below. This great God 
 is our Father, holy and pure, and he 
 wishes us to be like him. He had a dear 
 Son Jesus Christ, who came into the 
 world to bear the punishment due to us 
 for our sins ; and oh, my mother, if we 
 believe in him, when we die we shall go 
 to live with him for ever in heaven." 
 
 ' ' What nonsense is that you are talk- 
 ing ? We all know that we are sinners, 
 and to expiate the sins we have commit- 
 ted in this life, we must pass through 
 several births, either as human beings 
 or as animals, until we have performed 
 good deeds enough to outweigh our evil 
 deeds." 
 
70 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 ; ' Nay, nay, my mother, God's Son 
 came into the world, and died a cruel 
 death, as an atonement for all our sins ; 
 and if we only believe in him, there will 
 be no future punishment for us, but only 
 everlasting happiness." 
 
 "Oh, this is a dreadful dream that 
 my son should talk thus, that you should 
 think or wish to leave us or desert us! 
 Who was it loved ' and cherished you 
 from your earliest infancy? and now, 
 my heart's treasure, you are thinking to 
 desert me ! Oh, if such a thing should 
 happen, I should die. I would drain the 
 poison to its dregs ! Oh, that such a 
 calamity should have befallen me !" and 
 she burst into tears, wringing her hands 
 and moaning piteously. 
 
 Then suddenly rising, with the most 
 furious gestures she exclaimed, "I shall 
 curse you! Yes, my son, my heaviest 
 curse will rest upon you, a mother's 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 71 
 
 curse, if I ever hear another word like 
 this ?" 
 
 "Oh no, my mother, curse me not, 
 curse me not !" he exclaimed, falling at 
 her feet. "Bless me, bless me, my 
 mother ! It has been my earnest love 
 to you, and the dread only of your curse, 
 that has kept me from becoming a Chris- 
 tian. How can I leave all I love how 
 can I incur your curse ! God ! 
 God ! teach me what to do ; but bless 
 me now, my mother. 7 ' 
 
 The old woman flung her arms around 
 her son, lavishing the most endearing 
 caresses upon him, and all those tender 
 epithets which are used by the Orien- 
 tals: " Jewel of my existence, I cannot 
 live without you. Your love to me is 
 as the sun to the flower as the moon 
 in the dark night to the traveller. Go 
 now, my beloved one ; I will pray to the 
 gods to avert their anger from you." 
 
72 KAJIDOO, THE HINDOO GIB'L. 
 
 Chundro left the verandali with a 
 heart-broken look, and immediately my 
 mother and grandmother prostrated 
 themselves before a picture of Kali that 
 hung in my mother's room, and with 
 prayers and tears besought the goddess 
 not to let her anger fall upon them, prom- 
 ising many gifts and offerings to assuage 
 her wrath.* 
 
 * These gifts and offerings, after being presented to the 
 goddess, go to the gooroo or priest ; therefore they are 
 constantly working upon the fears of these poor women, 
 and giving instruction as to the proper way in which wor- 
 ship is to be performed. 
 
KARDOO THE HINDOO GIRL. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FOR some days after this conversation 
 with my uncle Chundro, my mother and 
 grandmother were much together, pray- 
 ing, weeping, and talking in subdued 
 whispers. At length, one day my grand- 
 mother came into my mother's room with 
 a bright, smiling face, and said, "It is 
 all right; I have done it.' 7 
 
 "What is right? what have you done ?" 
 inquired my mother. 
 
 " Chundro's father* has business at 
 Benares which requires some one to be 
 there for some months. He was going 
 himself; but I have persuaded him to 
 
 * A woman never speaks of her husband as my husband, 
 but always as such a one's father ; and a woman, except 
 in her father's house, is never called by her given name. 
 She is called Bo, which means daughter-in-law, and ac- 
 cording to which son's wife she is, she is called Major Bo, 
 Monar Bo, etc. 
 
 10 
 
74 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 let Chundro go instead. Thus he will 
 be away a long time from all these Chris-, 
 tian influences, and being in that holy 
 place, we may hope that he will soon 
 return to the full faith in the religion of 
 his forefathers ; and should death over- 
 take him there, which may Kali avert, 
 even this liking for the Christians will 
 not prevent his going to heaven. 77 * 
 
 My mother highly approved this plan. 
 It was their love for him that sent this 
 young man from his home, for they fully 
 believed that no more fearful calamity 
 could befall him, than to become a Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 I went up quietly to my grandmother, 
 and said, "And Berash, grandmother, 
 will she go too with my uncle Chundro, 
 or will she be sent away ? 
 
 * Benares is considered such a holy place that, no mat- 
 ter how wicked the person is who dies there, even the 
 beef-eating Christian, the vilest of all, goes directly to 
 heaven. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 75 
 
 " No, child, no, you will not lose your 
 little playfellow ; Berasli will remain 
 here." 
 
 I must tell you who Berasli was. I 
 suppose you do not know a very strange 
 and bad custom we have here in India. 
 When a little girl is ten years old, 
 often younger, her father looks about 
 among his acquaintance to see who has 
 a son that is not married ; generally a 
 young man of eighteen or twenty, some- 
 times, it may be an old man of sixty, or 
 even seventy. When he finds one he 
 would like for a son-in-law, he sends a 
 message to the boy's father, proposing 
 the marriage. If the father likes the 
 family, he consents to the meeting, and 
 they talk the matter over together ; and 
 if they can agree together about the 
 money and presents to be given to the 
 children, the match is decided upon 
 without the boy and girl even seeing 
 
76 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 each other, or having one word to say 
 on the subject. They are never consult- 
 ed in the matter. The presents are ex- 
 changed, and in ,two or three weeks the 
 marriage ceremony takes place. The 
 little bride remains for a week at her 
 father's house, where great feasting goes 
 on. She then goes to her mother-in-law's 
 house to -make her a visit for a few weeks 
 or months.* 
 
 From the day of her marriage, her 
 mother-in-law has the control of her ac- 
 tions much more than her mother, and 
 she continually insists on her making vis- 
 its to her, of longer or shorter duration, 
 according to her pleasure. These visits 
 are exceedingly irksome to the poor child. 
 Instead of enjoying the uncontrolled lib- 
 erty and license of a fond mother, she 
 goes among a number of strange women, 
 
 It is not said she goes to her husband's, but to her 
 mothar-in-law's house ; but she does not go to live there 
 until three or four years after her marriage. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 77 
 
 none of whom she has ever seen before. 
 She is made to assist in the cooking, and 
 to learn to prepare those curries and 
 sweetmeats of which her husband is es- 
 pecially fond, being constantly scolded 
 for her awkwardness. In her mother-in- 
 law's presence she must always keep her 
 veil, or chuddah, drawn over her face ; 
 she must not speak above a whisper, or 
 sit down unless she expressly commands 
 her. In these visits she rarely sees her 
 . husband, and therefore feels utterly des- 
 olate and alone. 
 
 Now Berash had been married a few 
 months previous to my uncle Chundro, 
 and she was at our house on a long visit. 
 She was a dear little thing, very pretty 
 and gentle. I loved her very much, and 
 we were continually together ; though 
 whenever she saw Uncle Chundro com- 
 ing, she would run away and hide her- 
 self in my grandmother's room.- She 
 
78 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 had really never seen him; for when he 
 came near, she drew her veil tightly 
 over her face ; and though they -had 
 been married some months, she had 
 scarcely spoken to him. It was decided 
 by my grandmother that Berash should 
 remain at our house during my uncle's 
 absence. I was glad of this, for I did 
 not want to lose both my uncle and play- 
 fellow too. 
 
 A few days after this, my uncle Cliun- 
 dro came to bid us good-by. He was in . 
 good spirits, hoping to do well in the 
 business which he was about to start. 
 He begged my mother to be good and 
 kind to Berash ; and taking me in his 
 arms, held me tightly for an instant, then 
 putting me down, he said, " God bless 
 my little Kardoo," and turning away, he 
 was gone. I little thought that would be 
 the last time I should ever see him. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 79 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 ABOUT a week after my uncle Chun- 
 dro went away, one of my little cousins, 
 who lived in our house, was married; 
 and as I shall soon have to tell you of my 
 own marriage, perhaps you would like to 
 know how the ceremony is performed. 
 I can better tell you this when another 
 was the principal actor, than when I was 
 myself the bride, as then, I was so fright- 
 ened I hardly knew what was done. 
 
 Mohenee, my cousin, was about a year 
 older than myself. Two weeks after the 
 Kali poojah, my uncle came in and told 
 my aunt that he had made arrangements 
 for Mohenee to be married, and that she 
 must get every thing ready for the wed- 
 ding in two weeks. Oh, what a scene of 
 bustle and preparation there was in the 
 
80 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 house. What varieties of sweetmeats 
 and curries had to be made ; what ex- 
 changing of presents, fruits, sweetmeats, 
 etc., daily;* while Mohenee, poor child, 
 was in a great state of fever and excite- 
 ment. 
 
 Many thousand rupees' worth of jew- 
 els were bought by her father and given 
 to her, these forming her wedding dow- 
 er. f During these two weeks the little 
 bride was constantly bathed in perfumed 
 water, her feet and hands dyed each day 
 afresh with henna, and the last four days 
 she was obliged to sit holding in her hand 
 a little instrument with which to blacken 
 her eyelids and lashes. This is in shape 
 like a teaspoon with a cover. The rea- 
 
 Sometimes a wedding costs sucli immense sums of 
 money, that the family are impoverished by it for years. 
 
 f When the bride goes to live at her husband's house, 
 her mother-in-law takes possession of these, and she is 
 never allowed to wear them except by her permission, 
 and then only such as she chooses to let her have. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 81 
 
 son of this custom, as of many others, I 
 never could learn. All that any one 
 could tell, was, "It is our custom." 
 
 I hope I shall not weary you with the 
 many descriptions of our customs, but I 
 want you to see the difference between 
 our manners and yours, that you may 
 the better feel the reason you have to 
 be grateful that you were born in a 
 Christian land. 
 
 Towards the evening of her wedding- 
 day, Mohenee was bathed in rosewater, 
 her feet and hands dyed afresh. She 
 was dressed in a red silk sarree em- 
 broidered with gold, with a golden bor- 
 der. On her head was an elegant or- 
 nament of gold, most richly wrought 
 and set with jewels ; a fringe of gold 
 and pearls hanging over her forehead. 
 This is placed just where the hair meets 
 the forehead, and passes round to the 
 back of the head, while from the centre 
 
 Kardoo. 11 
 
82 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 of the forehead another band exactly 
 similar passes across the parting, and 
 joins the back hair. The ears were 
 pierced in six places, and loaded down 
 with earrings of the most exquisite work- 
 manship ; some of them were so long 
 they touched the neck, while the hoops 
 of others were three inches in diameter. 
 A necklace of pearls clasped her throat, 
 and below this, around her neck, were a 
 dozen chains, each longer than the up- 
 per one, and of different workmanship. 
 Both arms were covered with armlets 
 and bracelets, excepting just at the bend 
 of the elbow. Passing four times around 
 her loins was a very heavy gold chain, 
 fastened by a massive gold buckle set 
 with precious stones. 
 
 She had as many as a dozen silver 
 bangles on each leg, some falling over 
 the foot as far as the toes, these being 
 very wide, and edged with a fringe of 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 83 
 
 small silver bells that made a soft tink- 
 ling noise, like little bells, as she moved. 
 If poor Mohenee had been obliged to 
 walk, the weight of the jewels would 
 have been dreadful. Our poor people 
 have never learned those beautiful words 
 of the apostle Paul to woman, that they 
 adorn themselves "not with broidered 
 hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.' 1 
 They know nothing of the beauty of ho- 
 liness. 
 
 As soon as I had seen Mohenee dress- 
 ed, I ran away into the verandah behind 
 the gods' house, that I might see all I 
 could of the ceremony. As I had never 
 witnessed a wedding before, I was anx- 
 ious to see all. At this time there was no 
 image of any god in the gods' house, but 
 a great part of the ceremony was per- 
 formed there. When I first looked down, 
 the two fathers were sitting there with 
 the gooroos of each family. These goo- 
 
84 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIBL. 
 
 roos were going through a set form, very 
 tedious, which generally occupies an hour 
 or two, telling the fathers-in-law what 
 was their duty, and making all necessary 
 settlements and promises. In the mean- 
 time the babus of the house went about 
 among the guests, sprinkling them with 
 rosewater from a little silver vase, and 
 some of the boys presented to each guest 
 a bouquet of flowers, and threw a small 
 wreath of white flowers around each per- 
 son's neck. Again, a small silver box 
 was passed among the higher class of 
 guests, filled with exquisite perfume ; 
 into this each one dipped his fingers. 
 Of course the Brahmins are first served 
 with every thing. 
 
 While this was going on, I heard a 
 loud shout : 
 
 "The bridegroom comes!" and then 
 five or six little girls of the house (I was 
 thought too old to join in this, as they 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 85 
 
 must not be over six years old) with 
 lighted torches, ran through the court 
 out into the street, and brought in the 
 bridegroom. He was led in, and seated 
 on a handsome carpet, which had been 
 placed for him in the middle of the court. 
 He was dressed in a sarree of dark pur- 
 ple silk ; on his head a high conical cap, 
 like a mitre, made of white silk and tin- 
 sel. Here he remained sitting for about 
 half an hour ; one of the gooroos spoke 
 to him, and then he went out through 
 another passage under the house to the 
 women's court. I ran out quickly to see 
 what was going on. 
 
 Down in the court were a number of 
 our women with their chuddahs drawn 
 closely over their faces, and most of the 
 little children were standing there also. 
 The bridegroom was standing in the mid- 
 dle of the court, motionless as a statue ; 
 and on the ground nearly in front of him 
 
86 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 stood a small pan of flaming coals. Near 
 his side was the barber, blowing a trum- 
 pet at intervals.* 
 
 The barber continued blowing on his 
 horn for five minutes. Then five women 
 appeared, all closely veiled, each having 
 on her head a sort of tray made of wick- 
 er-work. The first one was tlie bride's 
 mother, who wore a handsome silk sar- 
 ree. In the tray on her head she car- 
 ried red hot or blazing coals, something 
 being placed between the tray and the 
 coals to prevent them burning through. 
 She also carried in her hand a chatteef 
 of water. The other women had each 
 various kinds of fruit in their trays. 
 
 They passed around the bridegroom 
 seven times, the mother spilling the wa- 
 ter so as to. form a circle around him. 
 At the seventh time, when .she was be- 
 
 o The barber or barberess, by the way, is master of 
 ceremonies, as he or she generally forms the match, 
 f A vessel for carrying water. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 87 
 
 hind the groom, she suddenly threw the 
 tray of burning coals on his head, they 
 falling at his feet in front. She then 
 r 'urned the tray wrong side up, and stood 
 upon it. With her hands closed together 
 she touched his forehead, lips, and chin 
 with oil, plantain, salt, etc. She moved 
 away, and then the little bride appeared 
 for the first time. 
 
 Mohenee was seated on a board, on 
 which a variety of figures were chalked, 
 and was carried by the barber and his 
 assistant six times around the groom, 
 within the circle marked by the water. 
 She was then placed at his feet, still sit- 
 ting on the board. He had not moved 
 a muscle. 
 
 At this time her sarree was not drawn 
 
 over her face, but she held it down so 
 
 that he could not see her at all. The 
 
 barber and his assistant now lifted the 
 
 * bride to a level with the groom's face ; 
 
88 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 a large sheet was brought and held over 
 the heads of all, the bride's mother and 
 one of the aunts standing under the 
 sheet. They held lights close up to the 
 pair, who were supposed now to look at 
 each other for the first time. The bride- 
 groom did not look at his bride, how- 
 ever, that I could see, and poor little 
 Mohenee kept her face buried in her 
 hands. They remained in this position 
 about five minutes ; during this time the 
 barber would vary his performance of 
 blowing the horn by occasionally utter- 
 ing a wild shriek. This was impreca- 
 ting curses on whoever should presume 
 to say any thing evil of the young 
 couple. 
 
 The sheet was now removed, and the 
 groom passed through the passage again 
 into the gods' house ; Mohenee was car- 
 ried after him. Here they were seated 
 opposite each other on a circle elabo- 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 89 
 
 rately chalked on the floor. Between 
 them there was a choice vase filled with 
 flowers, on which the back of the groom's 
 hand was placed ; while the back of the 
 bride's hand was placed in his. "Wreaths 
 of flowers were then bound around their 
 hands, and ten rupees placed on the top. 
 These were for the priests. 
 
 The gooroo of each family now laid 
 down the law most emphatically to the 
 opposite father-in-law. Not one word 
 was said to either of the parties them- 
 selves.* Then Mohenee's father and one 
 of the priests seated themselves in front 
 of the couple. By the father was a large 
 silver dish filled with Ganges water ; in 
 this a beautiful ruby ring and a thin iron 
 bracelet were placed. The ring was 
 given to the groom and the bracelet to 
 the bride ; then some of the water was 
 
 In case either father is dead, the nearest male relative 
 takes his place. 
 
 12 
 
90 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 sprinkled upon them, and soine of the 
 flowers thrown at them. Mohenee was 
 lifted up, carried first to his right side, 
 then to his left. Here a corner of their 
 sarrees was tied together; this pro- 
 nounced them man and wife. 
 
 The groom then stood up ; Mohenee 
 was placed standing in front of him, with 
 her .back towards him, and his arms were 
 put around her. A plate was placed in 
 her hand with some rice and plantains, 
 and a wisp of straw was lighted and 
 placed flaming at her feet. She was 
 seated again at his side, some red pow- 
 der was put upon her hair at the front 
 parting, and the chuddah drawn over 
 her head.* 
 
 The ceremony was now ended; the 
 groom went among the babus, and the 
 
 Until she is married, a girl does not wear the chud- 
 dah over her head ; that and the red powder which is put 
 on fresh every day is a sign she is married. A widow 
 never wears the powder. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 91 
 
 little bride came back to us. The whole 
 night was spent in feasting, watching the 
 dancing girls, etc. The feasting was 
 kept up for several days. Then Mohe- 
 iiee went for two or three weeks to visit 
 'her mother-in-law. 
 
 Such were our marriage ceremonies. 
 How different from the simplicity of a 
 Christian wedding, where the blessing of 
 God is invoked on loving hearts. I 
 could never find out any reason for all 
 these ceremonies, except the lighting of 
 the wisp of straw. The bridegroom is 
 supposed to promise by this, that how- 
 ever poor ,he may become, he will at 
 least find as much as a wisp of straw 
 with which to burn or scorch his wife's 
 face at her death. 
 
92 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 AFTER my cousin Mohenee's marriage, 
 every thing went on in its usual course for 
 two or three months ; when one day, as 
 I was sitting on my mother's lap listen- 
 ing to one of her marvellous stories about 
 the gods, we were startled by the most 
 piercing shrieks proceeding from my 
 grandmother's room; and in a minute 
 she appeared, tearing her hair, uttering 
 the wildest cries of lamentation, and ex- 
 claiming: " Oh, my son, my son!" She 
 flung herself on the floor, grovelling in 
 the dust. 
 
 It was a long time before any of us 
 could get an account of her anguish. 
 We could only tell that something had 
 happened to one of her sons. All of her 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 93 
 
 daughters-in-law were, standing round 
 her in extreme anxiety, each one dread- 
 ing to hear some ill news of her own hus- 
 band; for 'bad as a husband may be, a 
 widow's fate is more to be dreaded than 
 any other in India. At length my moth- 
 er, who was a great favorite with her, 
 succeeded in drawing from her the cause 
 of her grief. 
 
 Her story was very broken, being 
 continually interrupted by shrieks and 
 wails of grief; in which, as she proceed- 
 ed, she was joined by all the other wom- 
 en present. 
 
 Her account was briefly this. My 
 uncle Chundro had settled in Benares, 
 and was carrying on successfully the 
 business his father had intrusted to 
 him, when one evening he left his place 
 of business to return to his house, with a 
 considerable sum of money about him. 
 He never reached his home ; for the next 
 
94 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 morning his body was found in the road. 
 He had been strangled and robbed. 
 
 The neighborhood where his body was 
 found had long had the reputation of 
 being a noted haunt of Thugs. It was 
 a piece of jungle, or land covered with 
 brushwood and low, stunted trees. My 
 uncle had been warned never to pass by 
 there alone after dark ; but he was a 
 brave, courageous young man, and be- 
 lieved that most of the stories he had 
 heard of that place were untrue ; so he 
 paid for his daring with his life. This 
 was, as you may suppose, a very sad 
 tale for us to hear, and heart-rending 
 was the grief that accompanied the tell- 
 ing. The only thing that could, in the 
 least mitigate the anguish was, that it 
 had taken place in Benares ; therefore 
 the soul of the departed had gone to 
 live with the gods ; but the last sad rites 
 had been performed for him by strangers. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 95 
 
 Before I go on with my story, 1 must 
 stop to tell you who and what are the 
 Thugs. They are a sect of men in" India 
 devoted to the worship or service of 
 Kali. Now you must remember that 
 Kali is the goddess of vengeance ; that 
 she hates all mankind, and takes delight 
 in their misery and death ; consequently, 
 continual sacrifices are offered to her, 
 to avert evil from the heads of those 
 who are supposed to have fallen under 
 her displeasure. But the sacrifices she 
 likes best are human sacrifices. For 
 this reason the Thugs are continually 
 seeking new victims to offer to her. 
 They are a sort of secret brotherhood, 
 known to each other, but to no one else ; 
 Because were they known, they would 
 be both feared and hated. A man may 
 he- a Thug, and his nearest friend not 
 know it ; but the father teaches the sons, 
 so that Thugism descends in families. 
 
96 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 A Thug being once caught and sen- 
 tenced to death for his crime, acknowl- 
 edged that he had put to death between 
 forty and fifty. On being asked if he 
 did not feel sorry or grieved for what 
 he had done, he declared he did not; 
 why should he ? His father was a Thug ; 
 he was born a Thug; it was the busi- 
 ness to which he was born ; how could 
 he help himself. In India, a son always 
 follows the same calling as his father. 
 
 If a Hindoo is known to say a word 
 disrespectful of any of the gods, that 
 man is immediately marked out for de- 
 struction ; and he is watched and fol- 
 lowed, until some convenient time ar- 
 rives to despatch him. The victim is 
 always strangled ; the instrument of 
 death being ever at hand. The long 
 cloth worn by the natives of India can 
 in an instant be stripped off the person, 
 and wound around the neck of the vie- 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 97 
 
 tim. They become so expert in this, 
 that no cry can ever escape the lips. 
 All that is known is, that the frightful- 
 looking corpse is found lying on its back, 
 with distended eyes, protruding tongue, 
 and clenched hands. As every corpse 
 that has been destroyed by the Thugs is 
 found in precisely the same attitude, 
 with its tongue and eyes resembling 
 somewhat the pictures of Kali, they are 
 instantly known as victims dedicated to 
 her. Therefore these poor infatuated 
 idolaters never seek to find the murder- 
 ers and bring them to punishment ; fear- 
 ing if they did so, a terrible vengeance 
 from Kali. Eich persons, or those car- 
 rying money about them, are thus con- 
 tinually murdered, as whatever prop- 
 erty the victim has about him belonged 
 by right to the self-constituted priest of 
 Kali. 
 
 Now Benares, though the most holy 
 
 K.rdoo. 13 
 
98 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 city, was also the most noted resort of 
 these Thugs ; for one reason rich per- 
 sons were constantly coming there to 
 offer gifts at the temples. But the prin- 
 cipal reason was this : to kill a Brah- 
 min was a crime which nothing could 
 expiate. A Thug might, and frequently 
 did, kill a Brahmin by mistake ; but if 
 he lived and died in the holy city, he 
 need not trouble himself whether his 
 victims were Brahmins or not, as even 
 the crime of killing fifty Brahmins would 
 not prevent his going to heaven. 
 
 Such I say was Thugism ; for since 
 the English rule in India, these murder- 
 ers have been hunted down, though 
 their crimes were of frequent occurrence 
 at the time of which I am writing. 
 
 The day after we heard of the death of 
 my uncle was spent by all the females of 
 our family in weeping, fasting, and pray- 
 ers. Yows, mingled with imprecations on 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 99 
 
 Kali, were continually pouring from the 
 lips of some, while a goat, with some 
 rice, fruits, etc., was sent to the goo- 
 roo, for him to offer in the temple of 
 Kali, of which there were several in the 
 city. 
 
 Then began the sufferings of my poor 
 little friend Berasli. My grandmother 
 immediately declared that henceforth 
 she was never, to return to her father's 
 house, but remain with us to live out 
 her widowhood. She was just eleven 
 years old. My grandmother continu- 
 ally lamented that on account of her 
 son's dying so far away from home, the 
 proper respect could not be paid to him 
 at his' funeral, of having his wife burned 
 with him. As Berasli could not suffer 
 death with her husband, my grandmother 
 considered it an incumbent duty, in honor 
 of his memory, to make the poor child's 
 life one of suffering, by exacting most 
 
100 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 rigorously all the penalties and inflic- 
 tions imposed upon widows. 
 
 Every girl, or wife, wears at least one 
 gold necklace, with a bracelet on each 
 arm ; but from the moment she becomes 
 a widow, she is never permitted the 
 slightest ornament. She is stripped of 
 her jewelry. The henna is carefully 
 removed from her feet and finger-nails ; 
 she is clothed in a sarree of very coarse 
 cloth, without a border such as is gen- 
 erally worn by the women. She must 
 never sleep again on a bedstead, but 
 must always lie on a mat on the floor. 
 She must never sit down in the pres- 
 ence of her mother-in-law or elder sis- 
 ters-in-law, unless they expressly com- 
 mand her to do so. She must do all 
 the commonest, meanest drudgery in 
 the house, and never eat until every 
 one else has finished, and then very 
 sparingly, and of the poorest food. But 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 101 
 
 worse than all, besides many' occasional 
 fasts, she is compelled to fast two whole 
 days in each week, not a drop of water 
 being allowed to pass her lips, even if 
 she is dying; and the sufferings from 
 thirst in this hot climate are dreadful. 
 
 If a woman's husband dies worth ever 
 so much money, she has no benefit of it. 
 His eldest male relative becomes her 
 guardian, and he doles out to her just 
 enough for a bare subsistence, and the 
 rest all goes to her husband's male rela- 
 tions. If she has children, the same 
 person is their guardian; and he gives 
 what he sees fit for their education, sup- 
 port, marriage, etc. Such is the unhap- 
 py lot of a poor widow in our country. 
 Oh, how different from the commands of 
 the Christian's God with regard to the 
 " widow and the fatherless!" 
 
 My dear little Berash was a very del- 
 icate child very gentle and timid. She 
 
102 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 submitted without a murmur or com- 
 plaint to all that my grandmother com- 
 manded ; but the rigorous course of 
 treatment which she endured was too 
 much for her tender frame, and a few 
 short months ended her career on earth. 
 During the last few months of her life, 
 she became so enfeebled that she could 
 do nothing but lie on the mat. 
 
 The whole time that she was ill, no 
 one came near, to give her food or speak 
 a kind word to her, except my dear 
 mother and myself. If she was too 
 weak any day to crawl to the place 
 where her food was placed, she had to 
 go without it until one of us brought it 
 for her. She was a widow ; and accord- 
 ing to the women's superstitions, if they 
 showed pity or compassion for her, the 
 like calamity would befall them. But 
 my beloved mother, though she believed 
 moro truly, in all their superstitions than 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 103 
 
 the rest did, yet would not be prevent- 
 ed, by the fear of dreadful misfortune to 
 herself, from doing all she could to re- 
 lieve the poor little sufferer. 
 
 The day before she died, Berash called 
 me to come and lie down on the mat be- 
 side her. She was lying out on the ve- 
 randah, and had for some time been sha- 
 ding her eyes with her hands, and look- 
 ing up into the sky. " Kardoo, tell me 
 again what your uncle* told you about 
 that beautiful place up there, and the 
 good God who lives there. You said 
 your uncle told you he was not like 
 Kali, who hates us, but that he loves us 
 like a father. Oh, how I want some- 
 body to love me. Your dear mother 
 speaks kindly to me, and looks sorry 
 for me, but I want somebody to love 
 me like my own dear mother." 
 
 * No woman ever uses the given name of her husband ; 
 and if she meets with it in reading, she will not speak it 
 aloud. 
 
104 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 " I love you, Berash," I said. 
 
 She put her poor little thin arms 
 about me, and put her cheek to mine. 
 "Yes, I know you do,' 7 she said, "and 
 I love you ; but I want some one who is 
 strong to love me, who is very strong, 
 I feel so weak and helpless. I know 
 I am going away from this world very 
 soon, and oh, it makes me so frightened 
 to think of what they tell me that 
 because I was not burned with your un- 
 cle, as soon as I leave this body I shall 
 become some ugly animal. I could not 
 help his dying when he was away, and 
 if he had been here I know not what I 
 should have done, for oh, it must be so 
 dreadful to be burned! But tell me 
 again about that God who lives up 
 there." 
 
 I told her again, as I had done several 
 times, all that my uncle Chundro had 
 told me : that the God who lives in 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 105 
 
 heaven loves us, and always likes to see 
 us happy ; that we were all sinful, and 
 often did things that God did not like ; 
 but that God had a Son I could not 
 tell his name who loved us very much ; 
 that he had done something I could not 
 tell what it was that had pleased the 
 great God ; and that now, if we asked 
 God to forgive us the naughty things 
 we had done, he would forgive us for 
 that Son's sake ; and then, when we die, 
 instead of being changed into some ani- 
 mal, we should go up to live above the 
 sky ; and oh, he said that was such a 
 beautiful place, and if anybody went 
 there they would never be sick any more, 
 nor hungry, nor thirsty, and this Son of 
 God would love them and take care of 
 them. 
 
 " Oh, I should like it so much, Kar- 
 doo. I have prayed to that God ever 
 since you told me about him. I pray to 
 14 
 
106 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 him every day that, because his Son was 
 good, he would love me, and let me go 
 to live in that beautiful place." 
 
 "But, Berash, I do not know that it 
 is true. Uncle Chundro said it was, but 
 mother said it was not true ; but then I 
 think my uncle must know best, because 
 he knew so much more than my mother." 
 
 "Well, Kardoo, my mother used to 
 say that there were a great many gods, 
 so many that one person could not re- 
 member them all, and that they very 
 often quarrelled and were angry with 
 each other ; and then, if anybody offend- 
 ed one of these gods, the other was 
 pleased with him, and would reward 
 him. Now Kali is angry with me, and 
 the Tuckoo-Ma* tells me that she will 
 never forgive me, and that, after I have 
 been born into the world many times, if 
 I ever get to heaven, it will be because 
 
 Grandmother, female head of the house. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 107 
 
 some other god has helped me. I have 
 thought about this a great many times. 
 For many weeks I have been too weak 
 to go to pay poojah to Sheve, and you 
 told me that your uncle Chundro called 
 this god the great God, and said that we 
 might pray to him at any time, or in any 
 place, and he would hear us. Oh, I do 
 hope he is a greater God than Kali, then 
 perhaps he can help me. I ask him 
 every day to help me, because of what 
 his Son did. I wish I knew what that 
 
 was. 7 ' 
 
 She lay for a long time perfectly ex- 
 hausted, a burning spot in each cheek, 
 her eyes bright and her lips parched. 
 At length she turned to me, imploring 
 me to give her a few drops of water from 
 the lota in my mother's room. "I know 
 it is very wicked to do it to-day ; but oh, 
 I suffer so much, and, Kardoo, I have 
 several times crawled to your mother's 
 
108 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 room and taken some water when you 
 were all away. I knew it was very 
 wicked to do it on these fast days ; but 
 I could not help it, and I prayed direct- 
 ly to the great God, who, you said, does 
 not like to see us in pain, to forgive me 
 Oh, give me some now !" 
 
 At first I refused ; I did not dare. 1 
 knew my grandmother would punish me 
 most severely if I were caught giving 
 her any ; but at length I thought of an 
 expedient to alleviate her sufferings, and 
 yet not run the risk of being caught. I 
 ran to the lota and dipped the corner of 
 my sarree into the water, then returned 
 and squeezed the drops of water into 
 her mouth. This I repeated several 
 times, till her thirst was somewhat re- 
 lieved. She then put her little arms 
 around my neck, and whispered, " I 
 think I shall go to sleep now ; but, Kar- 
 doo, if the great God hears me, and lets 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 109 
 
 me go to that beautiful place, then I will 
 ask him to let you come there to." 
 
 I left her for a time. Before going to 
 bed I went to her again, and she was 
 sleeping. The next morning when I 
 awoke, I found they were just preparing 
 to take Berash away to the burning 
 ghat.* She had passed away in the 
 night; how, or when, no one knew. She 
 was found cold and stiff. She was so 
 small and emaciated by sickness, that a 
 bier was not needed to carry her. A 
 bier is a coarse frame of wood with rope 
 woven across it, on which the bodies of 
 adults are carried to the burning ghat, 
 where a pile of wood is erected ; the 
 body laid upon it ; more wood is piled 
 upon that ; the pile is kindled, and the 
 body left to be consumed. In cases of 
 
 * The burning gliat is a large enclosed space on the 
 banks of the Ganges, where the dead bodies are burned, 
 and the ashes cast into the river. If they are only par- 
 tially consumed, the remains are then cast into the river- 
 
110 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 the poorer class, or of young girls, this 
 expense is rarely incurred, it being then 
 considered sufficient just to light a large 
 wisp of straw, blacken the face with it, 
 and then cast the body into the Ganges. 
 
 The little body of Berash was thrown 
 over the shoulder of a servant, covered 
 with a cloth, aud carried to the burning 
 ghat. Then she was laid on the ground, 
 while the servant went to buy a small 
 bundle of straw. This he lighted and 
 blackened her face with it ; and then the 
 poor little body was flung into the Gan- 
 ges, to be eaten by a shark or alligator. 
 I doubt not that her liberated spirit was 
 carried by angels into the presence of 
 her Redeemer. 
 
 Since I have become a Christian and 
 learned to know somewhat of the love of 
 God in Christ, I feel a strong hope of 
 meeting that little one hereafter in "the 
 the kingdom of God's dear Son." Did 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. Ill 
 
 any ever coine to Him, in however fee- 
 ble or impotent a manner, and were cast 
 out. 
 
 Oh, how I mourned and wept for my 
 little friend ! My mother shed a few 
 tears ; but her name was not mentioned, 
 nor did her death seem to be more 
 thought of than that of a dog. 
 
 Dear readers, you can little know how 
 a false religion hardens the heart, and 
 deadens it to all the holiest feelings of 
 humanity. 
 
112 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 IT was thought, now that my uncle 
 Chundro r who had slighted the goddess, 
 and his little wife were both dead, her 
 vengeance would be appeased for a time ; 
 but fresh troubles were in store for us. 
 My brother Prosonno was stricken down 
 with a most alarming sickness. He was 
 my mother's idol; the fondest, deepest 
 devotion of her heart was lavished upon 
 him, her first-born, her son.* My moth- 
 er had lost three little ones, who had 
 only seen the light before they were 
 taken from the evil to come ; and now 
 he, her pride, her joy, lay for days hov- 
 ering between life and death. Her grief 
 and anguish were unutterable. She felt 
 
 Ask Hindoo parents how many children they have, 
 and they will answer, One child and three girls. Girls are 
 regarded with perfect contempt, in comparison with boys. 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 113 
 
 that now the wrath of Kali was being 
 poured upon her head, for ever having 
 heard the disparaging words spoken by 
 my uncle Chundro. She vowed many 
 gifts and sacrifices to Kali, if her boy 
 was only spared. 
 
 At length, in the extremity of her 
 grief, she made a solemn vow, that if 
 her Prosonno was spared to her, and if 
 she had another son, she would sacrifice 
 him to Kali. My father was present, 
 heard and approved the vow; and as 
 from that time Prosonno began to get 
 better, it was supposed that the goddess 
 had heard and accepted the vow. 
 
 During my brother's illness I saw 
 more of my father than I had done for 
 years, all the spare time he could get 
 being passed in nursing and attending 
 my brother, which he did with a wom- 
 an's tenderness and patience, sitting be- 
 side him for hours, bathing his brow, 
 
 Kardoo. 15 
 
114 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 fanning, and rubbing his weared limbs ; 
 for was he not his son, his pride, his 
 glory, his only child ! 
 . Much to the surprise of all, Prosonno 
 recovered, and about five months after, 
 my little brother Luckie was born, a 
 beautiful, bright, healthy little fellow. 
 
 But now who can describe the hourly 
 pain that wrung my mother's heart ? 
 Formerly she had worn a cheerful, hap- 
 py look, with a smile of welcome to me 
 when I entered her presence. Now she 
 never smiled. She would hold her little 
 one in her arms, with her eyes riveted 
 on its form, the slow tears coursing down 
 her cheeks ; and if any one hastily en- 
 tered the room, she would clasp her 
 babe to her breast, as if she expected 
 it to be torn from her arms. 
 
 My father never took any notice of 
 the babe ; never nursed or caressed it, 
 as all fathers do their infant children 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 115 
 
 here, particularly their boys. And when 
 his eyes fell upon it, he would turn away 
 with a stern, angry look, which I could 
 not then understand ; for at that time I 
 knew nothing of the vow, and therefore 
 was not aware that he was trying to 
 steel his heart against his child. My 
 father was a bigoted Hindoo ; the laws, 
 customs, and religion of his forefathers 
 must be most strictly observed, though 
 it should cost him all that was dear on 
 earth, even his life. 
 
 I could not understand how it was, 
 that when other mothers looked with 
 delight upon their smiling infants, my 
 mother's look upon her babe, who I 
 thought more beautiful than any I had 
 ever seen, should be only one of grief. 
 It was my constant delight to help her 
 tend this child ; to no other arms but 
 mine was he ever intrusted, and never 
 would she for an instant trust him out 
 
116 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 of her sight. When she was cooking, I 
 would be beside her, with the dear little 
 fellow ever in view. 
 
 When our little Luckie was six months 
 old, my mother received a visit from the 
 gooroo, accompanied by my father. It 
 was then I heard for the first time of the 
 vow concerning my little brother, and 
 that my mother with her own hands was 
 to cast him into the Ganges. The old 
 Brahmin had come now to insist upon 
 the performance of the vow, threatening 
 Kali's direct vengeance if it was not per- 
 formed. My father upholding the goo- 
 roo, my mother in a wild burst of an- 
 guish, flung herself at the gooroo's feet, 
 clasping them in her hands, kissing the 
 ground, and imploring in heart-rending 
 accents for a little delay. She would 
 keep her vow, she would give her child 
 as she -had promised, but oh, let her 
 keep him a little while longer until she 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 117 
 
 could wean her heart from him ; she 
 would do it, only give her a little time. 
 She was not well, not strong enough to 
 lake the journey now ; as soon as she 
 was quite well she would do it. Her 
 anguish would have touched the hardest 
 heart. 
 
 My father was moved by her entrea- 
 ties, and besought the gooroo to offer a 
 goat now, and he would promise in a few 
 weeks, when my mother was stronger, 
 the vow should be accomplished. The 
 old priest went away very much dis- 
 pleased, muttering that we might expect 
 more trouble if we thus treated the sa- 
 cred gods. 
 
 From that time I could fully join in 
 my mother's feeling for the little dar- 
 ling ; and as day after day passed, how 
 precious did he become in my eyes. 
 And then a feeling of great horror crept 
 over me, as I thought perhaps all this 
 
118 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 trouble had come upon us on my ac- 
 count ; for had I not helped Berash to 
 pray to the great God against Kali ! 
 Oh, dear friends, thank God that you 
 were brought up in the Christian faith, 
 to know, not a God of hate, but a God 
 of love : "The Lord God, merciful and 
 gracious, long suffering, and abundant in 
 goodness." 
 
 For nearly three months longer we 
 kept our little treasure, my mother still 
 continuing very weak, and struggling 
 with a constant, slow fever, brought on, 
 I believe, by excitement. Then my fa- 
 ther was taken down with cholera ; he 
 got over it, but for several days after he 
 was very low ; at length he recovered. 
 My mother then told me that she was 
 going to accompany my father on a pil- 
 grimage to a mela ; they would be gone 
 for a week or two, and of course must 
 take the baby with them. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 119 
 
 The melas are certain religious festi- 
 vals held at holy spots on the banks of 
 the Ganges at stated seasons of the year. 
 To attend them and worship for some 
 days, is considered a great and merito- 
 rious act of religion, and thither multi- 
 tudes of every class resort. Women of 
 the highest caste, who all the rest of 
 their lives are kept in the strictest se- 
 clusion, may attend . them. A number 
 of tents are pitched here, as the mela 
 lasts for several weeks, and the richer 
 portion of the pilgrims use these tents. 
 Here also are collected a number of the 
 holy jogees, or fakirs, of whom I shall 
 tell you more hereafter, and an innu- 
 merable company of peddlers of every 
 description, to sell their wares. 
 
 My mother told me that my father was 
 going to perform this pilgrimage out of 
 thankfulness to the gods for his recov- 
 ery, and he wished her to go with him. 
 
120 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 I begged to be allowed to go, but was 
 instantly told I could not. 
 
 My heart sank within me directly. I 
 feared, but dared not express my fears, 
 that Luckie, my darling, was to be sac- 
 rificed. Since the first day my father 
 was taken ill, my mother was so altered. 
 I had not once seen her kiss or embrace 
 her darling. No tear was in her eye 
 when she looked at him. She only took 
 him in her arms to feed him. There was 
 something about her I could not under- 
 stand. She seemed petrified to stone. 
 Her every movement seemed as though 
 it were, by some means, independent of 
 her will. 
 
 During my father's illness, thus the 
 babe became my especial charge, and 
 oh, how every chord of my heart was 
 wound around that little one. At length 
 the day came when they were to start 
 on their pilgrimage. My mother and 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 121 
 
 her babe went in one palky, and a maid- 
 servant in another. I cannot tell you 
 what I felt when I bade my little dar- 
 ling a last good-by, as I felt sure it 
 would be. 
 
 Perhaps you will think that I am ex- 
 pressing feelings too strong for a child ; 
 but remember that in India girls are 
 women, and often mothers, at the age of 
 twelve. Then remember too, that we^ 
 have no dolls to love or care for or 
 think about. When we do love, we lo^ e 
 intensely. 
 
 16 
 
122 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 IN about ten days my father and 
 mother returned, and, as I had feared, 
 without the baby. To all my questions, 
 tears, entreaties, or endearments, my 
 mother returned no answer, still pre- 
 serving the same frigid appearance and 
 manner. It seemed as if her heart had 
 really been turned to stone. I never 
 again received from her any of those 
 caresses she had been wont to lavish 
 upon me. The servant who went with 
 my mother did not return for a week 
 after. From her I obtained an account 
 of the sacrifice of my brother. My fa- 
 ther intended to remain five days at the 
 mela. During these days he and my 
 mother were continually performing re- 
 ligious rites. On the evening of the 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 123 
 
 fifth, my brother was to be devoted to 
 the goddess, and then they were imme- 
 diately to return home. I will give you 
 the servant's account of that day. 
 
 " The previous evening, your mother 
 took the baby from my arms and lulled 
 him to sleep. She then sat gazing at 
 him, without moving a finger, for at least 
 an hour. The gooroo had told her it 
 would impair the benefit of the sacrifice 
 if she wept or mourned. At the end of 
 that time she quickly arose, and placed 
 the child in my arms without a word. 
 He slept with me. The next day when 
 he cried, she told me to feed him, but 
 she never looked at him. 
 
 About five o'clock in the afternoon, 
 while he was sleeping in my arms, she 
 came and took him from me, casting part 
 of her chuddah over the infant's face. 
 She bade me follow. She walked quickly 
 down to the river's brink, and without 
 
124 KA11DOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 pausing an instant, flung her babe from 
 her as far as she could into the water. 
 He sunk, rose again instantly, and as 
 instantly the immense head and open 
 jaws of an alligator appeared beside him ; 
 the next moment the headless trunk of 
 the babe floated before us, dyeing the 
 water with its blood. Your mother ut- 
 tered a wild cry, and would have flung 
 herself after the child, had I not held 
 her back. In a few moments she fell to 
 the earth in strong convulsions. I called 
 some men, who assisted me to carry her 
 to her tent. For two or three days she 
 was very ill. On recovering, she told 
 me on no account to mention her babe 
 to her again ; and if you love your moth- 
 er, you will not, Kardoo." 
 
 I did love my mother, and I thank 
 God who enabled me from that hour to 
 determine that I would nevermore be 
 disobedient to her, as I had some- 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 125 
 
 times been, but would try by every 
 means I could to make up for the little 
 one she had lost. Never after but once 
 did I hear her allude to the child. She 
 was talking to me of our duty to the 
 gods, and I was expressing strong repug- 
 nance to what was required of us. A 
 shiver passed over her frame ; and lay- 
 ing her hand solemnly on my head, "Oh, 
 my child, my child, speak not so ! If we 
 rebel against the gods, or think hard 
 thoughts of them, they will punish us 
 until we repent, ay, taking from us our 
 very heart's blood. And why should 
 they not? They are all-powerful, they 
 made us, they give us all that we have, 
 and we must do what they wish us." 
 
 You will think, my dear young friends, 
 that I am telling you a very sad story, 
 and indeed I am, for " The dark places 
 of the earth are full of the abodes of cru- 
 elty." 
 
126 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 
 
 My mother from this time never recov- 
 ered her cheerfulness ; she never told 
 me any more of the stories I loved to 
 listen to. She was quiet and gentle, but 
 never spoke unless she was obliged to. 
 You will ask me if I had no pleasure, no 
 enjoyment in my life? Such as I have 
 told you of, at the poojahs, or at wed- 
 dings, when we had plenty of sweetmeats 
 to eat, and could look down through our 
 screen at what was going on. 
 
 When I was about eleven years old, 
 my father came to my mother's room 
 one day, and told her she must make 
 arrangements speedily for my marriage. 
 He had just betrothexl me to the son of 
 an old Koolenee Brahmin, and he was 
 much pleased, and wished the marriage 
 to take place very soon. 
 
 A Koolenee is the highest caste among 
 Brahmins, and it is considered a great 
 honor to be in any way allied to them. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 127 
 
 They are frequently very poor, but usu- 
 ally marry the daughters of rich babus, 
 the honor on one side being consid- 
 ered equivalent to the wealth on the 
 other side. These Koolenees are also 
 privileged to marry as many wives as 
 they please. It is seldom that other 
 Hindoos marry a second wife during the 
 lifetime of the first, except where the 
 first wife is childless, though they gen- 
 erally marry again a few days after her 
 death. But as soon as the money 
 brought by the first wife is expended, 
 the Koolenee marries another, and so 
 on, until he may have fifty wives. He 
 may live with each one, when and as 
 long as he pleases, or he may never see 
 her again from the time he marries and 
 gets her money ; but if he dies, every 
 one of these poor girls is a widow, and 
 has to undergo the widow's penalties. 
 There is one custom, however, which is 
 
128 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 favorable for the wife of a Koolenee. 
 Except a few short, occasional visits to 
 the mother-in-law's house, she lives at 
 her father's, even while her husband lives 
 with her. In her father's house she is 
 subject to fewer restrictions, and can 
 constantly see and associate with her 
 own brothers ; and oftentimes a very 
 warm love springs up between brothers 
 and sisters. 
 
 As I have already told you about our 
 marriage ceremonies, I shall not describe 
 mine. When I was lifted up to look* at 
 my husband, I trembled so violently that 
 I did not dare to look in his face. I 
 could only see that he was a very tall 
 man, while I was a very little girl, very 
 small for my age. 
 
 After the ceremony was over, I was 
 taken to my mother-in-law's house for 
 three weeks. Oh, what a trial that was 
 to me ! I, who had always worn my 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 129 
 
 sarree loosely over my shoulders, was 
 obliged to have it drawn completely over 
 my head and face, so that it could not 
 be seen, and I could scarcely see through 
 the muslin ; and instead of running in 
 and out of my mother's room, and talk- 
 ing freely to her, as I had been used, I 
 could not move or speak without the 
 permission of my mother-in-law, who was 
 a cross, ugly old woman, in whose pres- 
 ence I might not sit down, or remove my 
 veil, or speak above the slightest whis- 
 per. This restraint was most irksome to 
 me. However, it was of short duration, 
 and I never but once afterwards visited 
 my husband's family. 
 
 Every thing passed on quietly in the 
 house for nearly two years, my husband 
 staying occasionally for weeks together 
 at our house ; then he came to live there 
 altogether. He was kind and gentle, 
 and when I could overcome my fear of 
 
 Ka;doo. 17 
 
130 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 him, I began in some degree to like him. 
 But oh, how different from the love of 
 husband and wife in a Christian land, 
 where the wife is the chosen companion, 
 friend, comforter, and sharer of the hus- 
 band's joys and sorrows. I knew noth- 
 ing of my husband's companions or em- 
 ployments, except through the barber- 
 ess, who, being a woman of low caste, 
 could go about everywhere and pick up 
 all the gossip, to retail it in the family 
 where she visited. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 131 
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 AND now I am coming to the saddest 
 part of my story. I almost hesitate to 
 tell it, for fear you -will think I am sta- 
 ting that which is not true. Alas, it is 
 only too true ! We heard through the 
 barberess that my father had had a great 
 quarrel with an old friend of his. They 
 had been close friends from their child- 
 hood, but now Babu Gopal had become 
 my father's bitter enemy. In some busi- 
 ness transaction he thought my father 
 had overreached him, and he had taken 
 an oath to be revenged on him. Now I 
 must relate the circumstances as they 
 took place, not as they came to my 
 knowledge. 
 
 Babu Gopal had determined on a plan 
 
132 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 of fiendish revenge ; while at the same 
 time he wrote to my father, begging him 
 by their old friendship to let the quarrel 
 be forgotten, and to make friends again. 
 My father consented, and again they 
 exchanged visits. 
 
 Now that you may understand what 
 follows, you must know that for a Ben- 
 gali woman of good caste to be seen by 
 any man except the gooroo, or servants, 
 even by her. own fatheMn-law or broth- 
 er-in-law, would be not only a great 
 disgrace to herself, but it would bring 
 shame on the whole family, especially 
 her husband. It is considered an insult 
 for one babu to ask after the health of 
 another man's wife ; it is pollution even 
 to take her name upon his lips ; such dis- 
 grace can only be wiped out by death. 
 I must also tell you that the dancing- 
 girls who exhibit at the poojahs and 
 feasts are always the lowest and* most 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 133 
 
 abandoned characters. You will now 
 understand what I am about to relate. 
 
 On a certain day Babu Gopal sent a 
 note to my father, saying he intended to 
 have a grand tomasha at his house that 
 evening, begging him to come by six 
 o'clock, and he would show him a beauti- 
 ful dancing-girl who had come from the 
 country, and they would have time to 
 see and talk with her before the toma- 
 sha began. My father consented to go. 
 
 In the mean time Gopal sent to our 
 family gooroo ; asked for the loan of his 
 palky and bearers, which being grant- 
 ed, he immediately despatched them to 
 my father's house, with a message to 
 my mother, supposed to come from the 
 gooroo, that she should repair to his 
 house. My mother was feeling particu- 
 larly unwell that day, therefore disin- 
 clined to go ; but as she stood in great 
 fear of the old Brahmin, she felt obliged 
 
134 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 to. I braided her hair, fastened on her 
 jewels, and when she was quite prepared 
 I looked at her, thinking how handsome 
 she was, though so quiet and still. 
 
 How shall I go on? .My heart utterly 
 fails rne in the attempt to record what 
 follows. Of course, neither my mother 
 nor the rest of the household had the 
 least suspicion of foul play, or that she 
 was going anywhere but to the gooroo's 
 house. The thick red cloth was covered 
 over the palky; she was lifted up and 
 carried away. Alas, my mother! But 
 I must relate the story without yielding 
 to bursts of grief. 
 
 My mother was carried along for some 
 distance. At last the palky was set 
 down, the covering removed, and the 
 doors slid back. My mother supposing 
 she was in the apartment of the gooroo 
 to which she had previously been taken, 
 .stepped out, and expecting to see only 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 135 
 
 the gooroo's wife, her chuddah was not 
 drawn over her face. 
 
 She immediately perceived that there 
 were three or four other babus in the 
 room, who had been invited, as my 
 father had been, to see the pretty dan- 
 cing girl. And that my father's disgrace 
 might be the more complete, she felt a 
 man's hand laid on her shoulder, and 
 heard a mocking voice call my father's 
 name, and say, "See, here is the pret- 
 ty dancing -girl I promised to show 
 you." 
 
 My mother turned in utter bewilder- 
 ment and saw my father. With a cry 
 for help she rushed towards him. He 
 very quietly lifted her in his arms, re- 
 placed her in the palky, ordering the 
 bearers to return with her to his house. 
 Then turning to Babu Gopal, in a very 
 dignified manner he thanked him for his 
 hospitality and the enjoyment he had 
 
136 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 received, wished the other babus good 
 evening, without the least appearance of 
 being discomposed, and departed. 
 
 In the meantime my mother arrived 
 at home in a state of great fear and 
 alarm, and terribly excited at the griev- 
 ous insult that had been put upon her. 
 She well knew that though perfectly in- 
 nocent, she had been used as the means 
 of bringing foul disgrace upon my father 
 and his family. She sat cowering in the 
 corner of the room, trembling in every 
 limb, and good cause had she for fear. 
 I remained, trying to soothe her. 
 
 At length my father's voice was heard 
 in the verandah. My mother rose and 
 went to meet him as he entered the 
 room ; but ere she could utter one word, 
 my father with a blow of the fist struck 
 her to the earth. He then jumped upon 
 her body, and with both fists and feet 
 began beating her life out of her. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 137 
 
 I ran screaming towards her, but in an 
 instant was struck senseless to the earth. 
 Happily for me, I did not recover con- 
 sciousness for many hours ; when I did, 
 my grandmother was sitting beside me. 
 I had a dull, heavy pain in my head, 
 and on putting up my hand, found it 
 bound up with wet cloths. I started up, 
 crying, "My mother!" but I was sternly 
 bade to lie down again, and made to 
 swallow the draught she presented to 
 me. The draught was a sleeping potion, 
 and I did not awake until the evening of 
 the next day. My brother Prosonno 
 was sitting beside me when I waked, 
 fanning me. He spoke kindly, and 
 asked if I felt better. It was some min- 
 utes before I could collect my scattered 
 senses ; then struggling into a sitting 
 posture, and finding how weak I was, I 
 burst into tears, begging him to take me 
 
 into my mother's room. 
 18 
 
138 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 " Your mother our mother," he said, 
 and covering his face with his hands he 
 sobbed aloud. ; 'They did not tell you 
 you do not know, then, my poor sister, 
 that she has departed." 
 
 "Then my father killed her!" I ex- 
 claimed ; and amid my deep grief I 
 burst into the most bitter imprecations 
 against him. 
 
 My brother laid his hand upon my 
 mouth and stopped me ; and checking 
 with a great effort his own deep anguish, 
 he said, " No, my sister, it was right ; 
 my mother must die ; nothing else could 
 wipe out the disgrace she was exposed 
 to. That man had dared even to touch 
 her. It was impossible she should live 
 after this. Much as I love my mother, 
 I could not wish her to live after being 
 so polluted." Then a fresh burst of an- 
 guish choked his voice. 
 
 I cannot dwell upon my own grief; 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 139 
 
 suffice it to say, that with my mother my 
 every joy and happiness in life was gone, 
 for I had no child ; and when, a few 
 weeks later, my brother left his home to 
 live in a different part of the country, I 
 felt utterly alone. I was aimless, hope- 
 less, spiritless. I lived in a sort of 
 dream, except when the sight or thought 
 of my father roused in my bosom feel- 
 ings of bitter hate. All other feelings 
 seemed dead. 
 
 At this time all remembrance of what 
 my uncle Chundro had told me of the 
 God of love was utterly forgotten. My 
 only thought of God was of Kali, and 
 towards her my feelings were those of 
 fear and hate. 
 
 When I became calm enough to be 
 told about it, I heard that my father had 
 continued his abuse of my mother, jump- 
 ing upon her prostrate form, and striking 
 her until he was sure life was perfectly 
 
140 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 extinct. Then four of the servants were 
 told to bring a bier, her body was placed 
 upon it, covered with a sheet, and my 
 father and brother followed her to the 
 burning ghat. Then my father bought 
 a costly pile of wood, the poor body was 
 laid upon it, and more wood was put^ 
 over it. My brother with a torch set 
 fire to the pile, and when the whole was 
 thoroughly ignited, they returned home, 
 leaving a servant to take up the ashes 
 after the body was consumed, and cast 
 them into the Ganges. Thus perished 
 my beloved mother. 
 
 In India there is no coroner's inquest, 
 no doctor's certificate, no one to examine 
 whether the body is really dead, or how 
 it died. It is nobody's business to make 
 any inquiry, and the family give what 
 account they please, of the death or dis- 
 appearance of any member of it. Oh, 
 who shall tell the deeds of darkness that 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 141 
 
 have been committed there. Pray, dear 
 young friends, that the day may come 
 when the light of the knowledge of the 
 glory of God may penetrate into every 
 one of these abodes. 
 
142 KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 I NEVER heard that my father sought 
 in any way, to punish the villain who 
 deceived and injured him. The inno- 
 cent victim was slain, the disgrace was 
 wiped out in her blood. Her death was 
 made known among our friends, but the 
 manner of it was concealed. I do not 
 know that her relations ever inquired 
 the cause of her death. I have before, 
 said, it is forbidden to speak to a babu 
 about the female members of his family ; 
 indeed, had it been known how she died, 
 all would probably have agreed in the 
 wisdom of the act. No enemy could 
 ever'prove the crime against my father, 
 as all traces of it were soon destroyed. 
 No man saw the body after death, and 
 in a short time nothing remained save a 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 143 
 
 few ashes. In cases of murder here, un- 
 less there are actual witnesses, it is im- 
 possible to bring the criminals to justice. 
 As the body is always burned, there is 
 no means of proving that the crime was 
 committed. 
 
 From that time my father was a chan- 
 ged man. Heretofore he was calm, dig- 
 nified, and gentle ; now he became stern 
 and forbidding; continually performing 
 religious services, going often to poo- 
 jahs and on pilgrimages to different 
 places ; giving large sums of money to 
 the Brahmin priests and fakirs ; thus 
 laying up, as he thought, a store of mer- 
 its. He seemed not to have the least 
 peace or ease except when performing 
 some one of these good works, while? 
 they w^ere far from satisfying his con- 
 science. He became more sullen and 
 morose, until he was dreaded by the 
 whole household. After my grandfa- 
 
144 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 ther's death he became the head or 
 guardian, whom the whole family were 
 obliged to obey implicitly ; and as he 
 wanted to make all in the house as sub- 
 missive to the exactions of the priests as 
 he was, our only time of comfort was 
 when he went on a pilgrimage. 
 
 About six months after my mother 
 had departed, as her death was always 
 thus spoken of, my grandmother let a 
 piece of wood fall upon her toe, and in- 
 flammation set in. One of her sons was 
 a doctor, and was attentive in doing all 
 he could for her. But in two weeks the 
 inflammation spread, and after much suf- 
 fering, gangrene 'set in. My uncle the 
 doctor declared there was no hope ; she 
 might linger in great agony for a week 
 or two, but her recovery was a thing 
 impossible. Upon hearing this, my fa- 
 ther determined she should be carried 
 to the Ganges to die. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 145 
 
 My uncles opposed this, and they, be- 
 ing younger than my father, had seen 
 more of Christianity, and had read Chris- 
 tian books ; were less bigoted, and be- 
 gan to see the evil of some of the Hindoo 
 practices. But my father, as a strict 
 Hindoo, thought he was attending to the 
 welfare of her soul, in thus following the 
 ancient custom. He therefore ordered 
 her to be placed upon a bier similar to 
 those on which the dead are carried, and 
 covered with a sheet, to be taken to a 
 small open shed on the banks of the 
 river, close by the burning ghat. This 
 shed is expressly built to shelter the 
 dying, who are placed in view of the 
 river, so that their last look may be on 
 its holy waters. They are never brought 
 here until they are thought to be in the 
 last extremity of suffering; and after 
 coming here, they must have neither 
 food, drink, .nor medicine given to them. 
 
 Kardoo. . 19 
 
146 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 If it should occur, as sometimes it 
 docs, that those who are subjected to 
 this exposure recover, they are out- 
 casts ; for they are supposed to be so 
 wicked that the holy gods will not re- 
 ceive them. Consequently, all their 
 friends disown them ; and even if they 
 are Brahmins, they lose all caste be- 
 come beggars or outcasts. 
 
 My father was determined that my 
 grandmother should have the benefit of 
 dying hy the holy river ; therefore, in 
 spite of the entreaties of my uncles, she 
 was carried off while in a state of un- 
 consciousness. Here he expected that 
 a few hours at the utmost would termi- 
 nate her existence ; so he sat down to 
 watch her, and have her carried to the 
 burning ghat after she expired. It was 
 the duty of the oldest son to have the 
 funeral-pyre prepared ; to lay the body 
 on it, and to ignite it himself. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 147 
 
 When a night and two days had 
 passed, and still his mother lived, he 
 hastened to end her sufferings. He de- 
 scended to the river, and taking some 
 of the sacred mud of the bed of the 
 river, put it into her nostrils and her 
 mouth. In a few moments she was suf- 
 focated. Thus having performed the 
 duties of an affectionate son, the funeral- 
 pyre was kindled, and he remained to 
 see the ashes cast into the water ere he 
 returned home. 
 
 A short time after this my father 
 called me into his room the one my 
 grandfather had formerly occupied 
 and told me very quietly that hence- 
 forth I must never expect to see my 
 husband. My father said that as I had 
 no children, my husband made this the 
 excuse to marry again. Hitherto my 
 father had supported both my husband 
 and myself, sending me a small weekly 
 
148 KARDOO,-THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 allowance for providing food, and pur- 
 chasing a new sarree for me when he 
 thought I needed it. Therefore, as my 
 husband had never supported me or 
 made me his companion and though 
 not cross or unkind, yet never showed 
 me as much love as he did to a dog I 
 I received this news with perfect indif- 
 ference. It was of little consequence to 
 me whether he came or stayed away. 
 
 Alas, when will the day come when 
 the Hindoo woman shall become the be- 
 loved friend and companion of her hus- 
 band ? 
 
 From this time, for about three years, 
 we lived a quiet, monotonous life. One 
 day passed away just like another. No 
 pleasant Sundays, nothing to divide our 
 time from week to week or from month 
 to month, except at three periods of the 
 year, when we celebrated poojahs to dif- 
 ferent gods. I heard that my husband 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 149 
 
 had married three more wives, but I 
 never saw him. 
 
 One day, when my father had been 
 away on one of his pilgrimages rather 
 longer than usual, thinking he was still 
 absent, I went into his room, and found 
 him lying asleep on the floor. He was 
 moaning, his chuddah had fallen off, and 
 his back was bare. I stared with dis- 
 may on perceiving that it was dread- 
 fully swollen and inflamed, with four 
 gaping wounds in it, where the flesh 
 must have been torn and lacerated. I 
 ran quickly out of the room ; met my 
 brother on the verandah, he being on a 
 visit at our house for a few days. I be- 
 sought him to come into my room while 
 I told him what I had seen. 
 
 "My sister, do not speak of it; my 
 father will be very angry if you do." 
 
 "Why? tell me what is the matter 
 with him!" 
 
150 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 "I will tell you; but you must not 
 speak of it again. My father is a strange 
 man. Most men, when they perform 
 great religious acts, wish every one to 
 know it ; but my father cannot bear to 
 have others allude to them ; he never 
 feels satisfied with them, knowing that 
 we younger men, who have had inter- 
 course with the English, think them not 
 only foolish, but very wicked. You 
 know he is always going on pilgrimages, 
 or praying, or fasting. He feels that 
 he, or some of our family, have done 
 very wicked things ; that the anger of 
 the gods is continually shown towards 
 them ; therefore he is trying by every 
 . means to appease their fury. Feeling 
 that in former days he has been a great 
 sinner, he is trying now to make com- 
 pensation, but never thinks he has done 
 enough, or that the gods are pleased 
 with him." 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 151 
 
 "My mother!' 7 1 said. 
 
 "Oh, no, sister; no; you would not 
 say my father acted wickedly about my 
 mother. No ; cruel and bitter as I felt 
 was the loss of my beloved mother, it 
 was right. Nothing but her death- 
 instant death could have wiped out 
 the disgrace. My father was right there ; 
 but in some of these old Hindoo notions 
 I think my father is wrong. We young 
 men are better taught, and we think dif- 
 ferently, from the older ones; but he is 
 our father, and we must respect him. 
 
 11 My father had been attending lately 
 . a festival which, since the English came 
 here, they have tried to stop, though it 
 is practised in many places. . It is called 
 the churruck, or swinging-poojah. A 
 large beam with a cross-pole, like a gal- 
 lows, is erected ; from the end of the 
 cross-pole two long ropes are suspended ; 
 on the other end of the ropes sharp iron 
 
152 KARDOO, THE HLNDOO GIRL. 
 
 hooks are fastened. Some poor super- 
 stitious man is persuaded by the Brah- 
 min priests that he will do God service 
 by having these great hooks run into 
 his flesh under the shoulders, and then 
 being swung up into the air. They give 
 him some strong drugs, which quite in- 
 toxicate him; then, after these hooks 
 are placed, they bind a cloth several 
 times around his body, so that a good 
 part of his weight comes upon the cloth. 
 He swings thus in -the air for^ perhaps 
 ten minutes; then he is detached, his 
 wounds are dressed, and another victim 
 takes his place. Now, my sister, the 
 gooroo has persuaded our father to en- 
 dure this suffering to bring peace to his 
 conscience ; but he would be very angry 
 if one should speak of it." 
 
 From this time feelings of pity rather 
 than of hate grew up in my heart tow- 
 ards my poor father. But my life was 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 153 
 
 a very lonely one. While numbers were 
 in the house with me, not one heart loved 
 me. I only saw my brother when busi- 
 ness occasionally brought him home. 
 My heart craved love and sympathy. 
 In playing with and amusing the little 
 ones of the family, I found my only 
 pleasure and occupation. 
 
 20 
 
154 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 WHEN I had been married about eight 
 years, my father came in one day, call- 
 ing for me in a great hurry. He told 
 me to dress myself quickly in my best 
 sarree, and come with him. 
 
 I was much astonished at the idea of 
 my father taking me out; such a thing 
 had never happened in my life before. 
 But I must ask no questions ; only obey. 
 I put on, therefore, my jewels and my 
 finest sarree, and got into the palky that 
 was waiting for me. My father saw me 
 get in, covered the red cloth over me, 
 and I was borne away. Where I was 
 going I knew not. 
 
 Thus was I carried for many hours. 
 I knew my father was near, for occa- 
 sionally I heard his voice giving direc- 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 155 
 
 tions to the bearers. Then the palky 
 was put down ; and from what I heard, 
 for I could see nothing, I found we were 
 in a boat, soon gliding over the waters. 
 At last my father opened the palky, 
 gave me some sweetmeats and a lota of 
 water, but he would not answer my 
 questions, saying I would know soon 
 enough. At length I fell asleep, wa- 
 kening only when I felt the palky again 
 lifted up and borne away. After some 
 time being carried thus, the palky was 
 set down. My father opened the door, 
 and told me to get out. It was very 
 late at night, but the moon made it light 
 enough for me to see that we were far 
 away from the city, on the edge of a jungle. 
 My father took me into a little hut 
 that was at the side of the road ; bade 
 me sit down, while he seated himself 
 opposite. He then said our family were 
 becoming very degenerate and bad; 
 
156 KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 they were deserting the good old cus- 
 toms of their fathers ; that he had been 
 trying for years to avert from them the 
 anger of the gods ; but it seemed as if 
 they would not be appeased. Now, he 
 said, the time was come when I should 
 perform my part by the sacrifice of my- 
 self, and thus not only gain felicity, but 
 confer a lasting benefit on my family. 
 
 As my father spoke I started up in 
 horror, not knowing what he was about 
 to do with me. 
 
 He sternly commanded me to be 
 seated. He then told me my husband 
 had died of cholera, therefore he had 
 brought me to perform the suttee, which 
 was not only what was my duty, but 
 should be my pleasure.* He said that 
 each of the other wives were anxious to 
 be the privileged one. It was consid- 
 
 * The suttee is the immolation of a widow, by being 
 burned alive on the funeral pyre with the body of her 
 deceased husband. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 157 
 
 ered a much greater privilege, because 
 .my husband was a Koolenee Brahmin. 
 But as Lwas the first wife, though I had 
 not seen him for several years, I was 
 entitled to this high honor; and on no 
 account would my father allow any other 
 to take my place. 
 
 Oh, the agony of that night ! I flung 
 myself at my father's feet, imploring him 
 to save me from such a fate, such a fear- 
 ful death. 
 
 He spurned me from him in indigna- 
 tion that one of his family should be so 
 degenerate, so wanting in courage as to 
 prefer a life of scorn, ignominy, and 
 shame for such would be my lot, if I 
 refused the suttee to the prospect of so 
 glorious and triumphant a death, with an 
 immediate entrance into heaven, instead 
 of going into the body of some unclean 
 animal. 
 
 All he said to quiet me was in vain. 
 
158 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 I screamed with fear, tore my hair, beat 
 myself about until I fell exhausted on 
 the floor. I had nothing to live for no 
 hope ; but still I was young, I was in 
 health, and life itself was sweet. This 
 death ! ah, it was fearful ; and then the 
 dread unknown beyond ! 
 
 While I. lay exhausted in the corner 
 of the room I heard voices, and in a few 
 minutes some men came in bearing a 
 bier. My father called me to come and 
 look at my husband, but I would not 
 move. He then lifted me in his arms, 
 and bore me to the side of the corpse. 
 The work of dissolution had progressed 
 so far that I could not recognize him 
 who was once my husband. A heavy, 
 sickly odor proceeded from the body. 
 My father then left the hut, fastening me 
 in, and went to give orders and oversee 
 the preparations of the funeral pyre, 
 leaving me with the dead body. 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 159 
 
 Oh. what a night that was! no hope 
 for time, no hope for eternity ; for if the 
 sacrifice is not made willingly, the poor 
 sufferer has to undergo some amount of 
 future punishment. It was in vain I 
 sought to escape from the hut. It was 
 too well secured ; and if I could have 
 gotten outside, I knew not where to flee. 
 
 At length the day began to dawn. I 
 knew then I had but an hour 'to live; 
 but by my previous violence I had so 
 exhausted myself, that resistance seemed 
 no longer possible ; they did with me as 
 they pleased. My father and the gooroo 
 came into the hut, and gave me a lota of 
 water to drink. I eagerly seized it, took 
 a long draught of it, and as I was very 
 thirsty. As I put the lota down, I re- 
 member thinking the water had a strange 
 taste. In a few minutes I began to feel 
 as if in a dream. I felt as if I were 
 walking in the air, could dance and 
 
1GO KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 sing, and would have done all sorts of 
 foolish things if I had not been re- 
 strained. 
 
 The Brahmin priests are very skilful 
 in the use of drugs ; and doubtless, when 
 the poor victims have met this dreadful 
 fate with composure, or even exultation, 
 as has sometimes been described, it 'has 
 been from the effects of these powerful 
 narcotics. Certainly in this there is 
 mercy ; it deprives death of its worst 
 terrors, those of the mind, and probably 
 in some cases the victim expires without 
 much suffering. If the wood of the pyre 
 was green, she might die of suffocation 
 ere the flames reached her body. 
 
 After the sun rose, I was taken out 
 and seated near the pyre. The dead 
 body was laid beside me, with the head 
 placed on my lap. When I lifted my 
 eyes, I was startled to see a crowd of 
 human faces all gazing at me. I had 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 161 
 
 never seen so many men before, and I 
 drew my chuddah over my face in shame. 
 Near me were a number of priests with 
 gongs, trumpets, and cymbals, with 
 which they made a deafening noise, so 
 that if the victim screamed, the sound t>f 
 her voice would be completely over- 
 powered. 
 
 As I have said, I sat with the ghastly 
 head of my husband in my lap, the crowd 
 growing more dense. Now the fatal 
 moment had arrived ; the priests had 
 gone through all their prayers and cere- 
 monies. My father approached, told me 
 to take off my jewels and chains, and 
 give them to him. Afterwards they were 
 given to the gooroo and other priests. 
 While I did this the corpse was lifted up. 
 and laid on the wood ; my father, taking 
 me by the arm, assisted me to mount the 
 pyre. 
 
 The fear of the eyes of those men for 
 
 Karaoo. 21 
 
162 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 the instant overpowered my dread of 
 the flames. The dose they had given 
 me was not strong enough to produce 
 drowsiness, as they expected, and just 
 then its effects began to pass away, 
 le'aving every feeling and sensation more 
 intensified than before. I lay down, 
 however, as my father bade me, placed 
 my arm under my husband's head, and 
 closed my eyes. 
 
 Amid a tumultuous noise, beating of 
 drums, clashing of cymbals, blowing of 
 horns, shrieks and shouts from the priests, 
 my father took a lighted torch and ap- 
 plied it to the four corners of the pile. 
 The wood being dry, soon began to 
 blaze furiously. I bore the anguish as 
 long as I could, then tossing my hus- 
 band's body from me, I flung myself 
 from the pile on to the ground. Instant- 
 ly my father and several priests lifted 
 me, and with many execrations put me 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 163 
 
 again upon the funeral pyre ; but once 
 more, in the intensity of my sufferings, 
 I leaped up, and sprang to the ground. 
 In falling, I must have struck my head 
 and become unconscious, for I knew noth- 
 ing for several days. 
 
 On recovering my senses I found my- 
 self lying on a clean bed, a white sheet 
 over me, and on a table were glasses and 
 articles I had never seen before. A 
 pleasant-looking Bengali girl was sitting- 
 near, reading, and dressed differently 
 from any I had seen. I looked in per- 
 fect bewilderment, then asked, "Where 
 am I ?" 
 
 Nistarenee, the girl, started at the 
 sound of my voice, came to look at me, 
 and then said, " Oh, you are better. I 
 will call the ma'am sahib." 
 
 In a few minutes she returned with a 
 white lady. Dear lady ! how I shall love 
 you to all eternity. She came up to my 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 bed, looked at me with a kind, loving 
 expression; but I covered my head in 
 fear and terror, for I had never seen a 
 white person before. 
 
 " Poor child! You see she is afraid 
 of me. Nistarenee, you must attend to 
 her until she knows me better, and learns 
 not to fear me. I see my very presence 
 excites her. I will leave her." 
 
 As she spoke in Bengali, I understood 
 what she said. I pulled away the cov- 
 ering, and watched her as she left the 
 room ; then I eagerly demanded again, 
 ''Where am I ? Am I with Christians ?" 
 
 "You must not talk now, dear; take 
 this drink and go to sleep, and when you 
 wake, feeling better, I will tell you all." 
 
 "Am- 1 with those polluted, degraded 
 Christians of whom I have heard so 
 much? and do you want to make me 
 drink their vile drink, and lose my 
 caste ?" 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 165 
 
 She told me that I had been very ill ; 
 during my unconscious hours I had drank 
 many times. 
 
 I then angrily struck the cup out of 
 her hand, and burst out crying. She 
 tried to soothe me, arid finally I fell 
 asleep from sheer exhaustion. On awa- 
 king I called for water, being very 
 thirsty. I drained the cup unconscious- 
 ly; then dashing it away, exclaimed, "I 
 am for ever lost !" and screamed so vio- 
 lently that poor Nistarenee was fright- 
 ened, and brought in the ma'am sahib. 
 
 The dear lady approached my bed, 
 saying in a kind, calm, very decided 
 tone, "My child, you must stop this in- 
 stantly and listen to me." 
 
 In a moment my sobs were stifled ; I 
 lay still as death. Nor when she un- 
 covered me, and began to dress the 
 wounds I now became aware of, did I 
 move a muscle or utter a sound. 
 
166 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 She then smoothed back my hair, 
 caressingly patted my cheeks and hands. 
 "And now, my child,' 7 she said, "I think 
 it best to tell you why and how you 
 came here, as you seem to have forgot- 
 ten about it. I think, if you know all, it 
 will make you better satisfied to remain 
 quiet." 
 
 She said that her husband and herself 
 were missionaries ; that the night before 
 the suttee occurred, the magistrate of the 
 place received a notice of the fact. He 
 informed her husband, the padre sahib, 
 as the missionary is always called, that 
 he was going with a company of soldiers 
 to the place in order to prevent it, and 
 asked him to go with them. They ar- 
 rived, and rode into the midst of the 
 crowd just when I had flung myself the 
 second time out of the flames. 
 
 As soon as the magistrate arrived the 
 crowd scattered, and were soon lost in 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 167 
 
 the jungle. These were but spectators, 
 and could not be punished. The only 
 guilty person they succeeded in captur- 
 ing was an old gooroo, whom they sent 
 to prison for seven years. My father 
 could nowhere be found. 
 
 In the mean time the missionary placed 
 me on the bier, which had borne the dead 
 body of my husband. He dipped some 
 rags in oil that he brought with him, 
 bound them on my wounds, and then car- 
 ried me to his mission station. Here I lay 
 for many days between life and death, 
 ere my wounds began to heal ; and now 
 the dear lady called upon me to thank 
 the good God who had been so kind to 
 me. 
 
 When I heard all this, I looked at her 
 with astonishment. "Yes," I said, "I 
 remember it all ; but why do you come 
 near me? I am a pariah,* an outcast. 
 
 If a woman escapes after being brought to the suttee, 
 
1G8 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 Do n't you know you will be polluted by 
 touching me ?" 
 
 "My poor child," the dear lady said, 
 still 'stroking my face, "I do not feel 
 polluted by touching you ; and you know 
 among your own people you have lost- 
 caste, and may not go back to them. 
 Being among Christians now, cannot 
 harm you, so try to get well; and re- 
 member there is no one here who despi- 
 ses you, or thinks that your touch pol- 
 lutes them." 
 
 I caught her hand, held it to my lips, 
 and said : " You are like an angel j* but 
 will not all these Bengalees hate and 
 despise me ?" 
 
 she is considered the vilest outcast. No member of her 
 family, not even her own child, dare speak to her, or if 
 dying, give her a drop of water. She generally perishes 
 in the utmost misery, and is supposed to pass after death 
 into the body of some reptile ; and any one who shall 
 speak to or help her, will likewise inhabit the body of 
 some animal. 
 
 * The Hindoos have a faint idea of some sort of supe- 
 rior heavenly beings. 
 
KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 1(J9 
 
 "No, DO, my child; they will do all 
 they can to help you ; to teach you that 
 we are all children of one great God- 
 the God of love. They will tell you 
 that we are all sinners, and polluted in 
 God's eyes, as well as you ; but that 
 Jesus Christ, God's Son, will take away 
 all sins, both yours and mine." 
 
 "Jesus Christ! that was God's Son. 
 Uncle Chundro told me about him, long, 
 long ago. But I forget; tell me more 
 about him.' 7 
 
 "I will, my child ; but you have talked 
 enough. Eest now ; and before you sleep 
 say this little prayer: 'Lord Jesus, for- 
 give my sins, and help me to know 
 thee.' " 
 
 After this I always longed for the 
 presence of the kind lady who addressed 
 me as "dear child!" and no one had 
 done that, since my mother's death. 
 
 Thus I associated her with my mother, 
 22 
 
170 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 and therefore her words had greater 
 weight with me, than the words of any 
 one else. Oh, ye who would win souls 
 to Christ, be wise in this, that ye win 
 by love. 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 171 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 AND now my story of Kardoo, the 
 Hindoo zenana-girl, is nearly finished. 
 It was many months before I got quite 
 well j for the burns I received by the 
 fire were very deep, and have made me 
 a cripple for life. 
 
 During this time the dear lady and 
 Nistarenee took pains to enlighten my 
 dark mind. They taught me to read 
 and to sew; and though I learned the 
 folly of idolatry, yet it was long, long 
 before I became a real Christian ; before 
 I could "receive the truth as it is in 
 Jesus.' 7 I was continually trying to do 
 something by which I could merit for- 
 giveness. I would sometimes think, 
 Oh, if I could be more sorry for my 
 sins if I could repent more bitterly 
 
172 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 could only love Christ more ! I wanted 
 to do something to earn God's forgive- 
 ness, instead of going to him just as I 
 was, and believing that, although guilty, 
 he had promised to receive me for 
 Christ's sake, and take my heart and 
 cleanse it and sanctify it himself, and 
 make me what he would have me to be. 
 My poor heathen notions of trying to 
 merit pardon clung to me ; and what is 
 strange, I have found among those who 
 were born and lived in a Christian land 
 the same heathen ideas of thinking they 
 must do something, by prayer, repent- 
 ance, or almsgiving, to merit the favor 
 of God. 
 
 I can well remember the day when a 
 flood of light poured in upon my soul. 
 It was a beautiful Sabbath evening, some 
 months after my restoration to health. 
 I had been sitting thinking over all God's 
 dealings with me in my past life ; feeling 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIEL. 173 
 
 that my heart should be full of love and 
 deep gratitude to him, for all his mercies 
 to me ; wishing, " Oh, if I could do some 
 great thing for him ! then I should be- 
 lieve I was really God's child ; received 
 and forgiven by him." 
 
 That evening our dear padre sahib 
 preached to us from the parable of the 
 prodigal son. After describing the ini- 
 quity and degradation of the lost one, 
 he told us that when "he came to him- 
 self" he had not correct views of his 
 father. He did not put perfect trust 
 and confidence in that father's forgiving 
 love. And he said: "I will go to him 
 and say, Let me be as one of thy hired 
 servants." He wanted to work out by 
 his own good conduct, a title to his fa- 
 ther's forgiveness. This is always the 
 awakened sinner's first thought "I 
 must do something." But when he 
 comes to that father's presence, and 
 
174 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 finds that, degraded as be is, his father 
 runs to meet him when he feels the 
 fond clasp of his arms and the warm kiss 
 upon his cheek, then he fully realizes 
 that father's love. And what does he 
 say now ? He confesses his sin and re- 
 lents, saying: "Father, I have sinned; 
 I am not worthy to be called thy son." 
 Not one word does he add about being 
 a hired servant, working for forgive- 
 ness. He feels that it would wound 
 that fond, loving heart, for an instant to 
 distrust the free pardon or the tender 
 love lavished upon him. He receives 
 the father's expressions of love with a 
 heart too full to speak. He immedi- 
 ately takes the place of a child. He 
 has still much about him of evil habits, 
 of the ragged garments, and of the pol- 
 lution he has contracted in his wander- 
 ings. His father does not wait until he 
 was arrayed in clean garments before he 
 
KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 175 
 
 acknowledged him. Now that he has 
 owned and received him as his child, he 
 will see that the ragged, filthy garments 
 are exchanged for those befitting his 
 son. 
 
 Thus our heavenly Father runs to 
 meet us, when he sees us returning. 
 He receives us just as we are his chil- 
 dren. And when he has welcomed us, 
 he takes off our filthy garments, and 
 puts on us the robes of Christ's right- 
 eousness. Then he expects from us the 
 fond love of children, not the duty of 
 hired servants. Believe God ; trust 
 him ; take him at his word. 
 
 It was during this discourse that a 
 flood of light poured into my soul. 
 From that time I felt that God was my 
 Father God in Christ and that I was 
 indeed his reconciled child. I no longer 
 wanted to do some great thing to prove 
 my love for him ; but 1 felt that each 
 
176 KARDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 little act and word should show forth his 
 love and praise. Every duty seemed 
 now different, because I was doing it to 
 please my loving Father. 
 
 During my long sickness, I became a 
 proficient in sewing, and my work was 
 much praised. When I recovered, I 
 I told the ma'am sahib that though I 
 could do little requiring active exercise, 
 I could help her in teaching the little 
 ones to sew ; for we had a large orphan- 
 school on the mission premises. At 
 first I used to get very impatient with 
 the stupidity of the children ; but when 
 I remembered they were our Father's 
 little ones, that I was teaching them for 
 Him, the work seemed lighter, and many 
 a happy hour have I since passed in 
 teaching them Bible stories and telling 
 them of the love of Christ. How often 
 have I prayed that the day may soon 
 come when of India it may be gaid: 
 
KAJRDOO, THE HINDOO GIHL. 177 
 
 "And all her sons are taught of God," 
 and when every parent shall delight to 
 tell to his children the words of Christ. 
 
 I had been living very peacefully and 
 happily, and I trust usefully, in my 
 home at the mission station for some 
 years. I had not heard any thing of 
 my family during this time ; but I knew 
 I was degraded, was an outcast from 
 them, that they never wished to see or 
 hear from me ; and all I could do was 
 to pray for them. I often thought of 
 my poor father, wondered if he was still 
 going on pilgrimages, still trying to in- 
 flict pain on his body to atone for the 
 sin of his soul. 
 
 One day while sitting at work, I saw 
 our padre sahib, who had been away for 
 -a few days, come into the compound,* 
 
 The houses of Europeans in India stand in a garden 
 or yard with a high wall around. Inside the walls are 
 also the servants* houses, stables, etc., and on mission 
 
 Kaidoo. 23 
 
178 KARDOO, JTHE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 and with him were some men carrying 
 what appeared to be a dead body on a 
 bier. There was a little house near by, 
 unoccupied ; into this they carried the 
 man, laid him on a bed, and in a little 
 while after I saw the doctor go in. 
 
 At evening worship, the padre sahib 
 told us that on his return from his tour 
 he had passed through the village of 
 
 S ,* forgetting it was the time of the 
 
 feast of Juggernaut. While he waited 
 to let the car and the crowd pass him, 
 two wretched jogees, or fakirs, flung 
 themselves in front of the ponderous 
 machine. " It passed over them instant- 
 ly. The police came, scattered the crowd 
 right and left, but it was too late ; one 
 was dead, the other had both his legs 
 
 premises, tlie church, schoolhouse, etc., all stand within 
 these walls. This is called the compound. 
 
 * A place sacred to Juggernaut, where a large car is 
 always kept, and where the feast is celebrated every year 
 by. great crowds, with rejoicings, though the gooroos now 
 try to prevent the sacrifice of human life. 
 
KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 179 
 
 crushed in a frightful manner. The po- 
 lice did not know what to do with him, 
 and no one knew any thing of him. So 
 our padre sahib had him brought to our 
 house. 
 
 He said he had called a Brahmin to 
 come and cook for him,* and told us all, 
 that we must be careful not to go near 
 or touch the cooking vessels that were 
 used for him, as he knew the man would 
 rather starve to death than eat any 
 thing, that a Christian had touched. 
 "Some, of you may go in to see him, if 
 you like, 7 ' he added, "and point him to 
 the only Atonement for sin. The doc- 
 tor tells me he cannot recover, but he 
 may live for weeks, perhaps months." 
 
 The next day I went in to see the 
 sick man. His hair was shaved from 
 his head, except one patch behind. This 
 
 Orthodox Hindoos would rather starve than eat food 
 cooked by any other than a Brahmin. 
 
180 KAKDOO, THE HINDOO GIKL. 
 
 was allowed to grow long, and was plait- 
 ed in several small braids. Each braid 
 was matted together with the excre- 
 ments of the cow. This, also, mixed 
 with earth, was smeared in spots all 
 over his body. His only clothing was 
 a small scrap of filthy rag around his 
 loins. 
 
 In this disgusting object, I recognized 
 my once noble-looking father. With a 
 loud cry I rushed towards him. He 
 then recognized me, and with expres- 
 sions of extreme loathing, he ordered me 
 away from him. 
 
 "What! a vile outcast like you dare 
 to approach one so holy as. I!" With 
 many curses he bade me begone, and 
 not pollute the air he breathed with my 
 presence. I hastily retired in deep 
 grief. Our sahib told me afterwards I 
 could pray for him, but in the present 
 condition of his mind I had better not 
 
KAEDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 131 
 
 see him, as even the sight of me threw 
 him into such paroxysms of rage, that 
 they feared it would kill him. Thus I 
 had to be content with the knowledge 
 that he was visited by older and more 
 experienced Christians than myself, and 
 that they would do all they could for his 
 soul. I could only pray for him. 
 
 He lingered for three months. One 
 day I was told that he asked for me : I 
 went hastily into his hut. He held out 
 his hand. I took it eagerly, kissing it, 
 and knelt by his side. He had changed 
 much, since his first appearance among 
 us. He had permitted the filthy, mat- 
 ted hair to be cut off, his head and body 
 to be washed, though this must be done 
 in Ganges water, and his body was more 
 decently covered than before, with a 
 clean cloth. 
 
 He laid his hand upon my head, and 
 said, " We are both wicked sinners, my 
 
182 KABDOO, THE HINDOO GIRL. 
 
 child ; I feel that all I have done has 
 not won for me the favor of the great 
 God ; but they tell me, that his Son died 
 to take away our sins. God grant it 
 may be so.' 7 He fell back dead. 
 
 My grief was deep for my father, 
 though it was riot destitute of hope ; for 
 I have strong faith that through the 
 blood of Christ I shall meet my father, 
 my uncle Chundro, and Berash in heav- 
 en. We know our blessed Saviour has 
 said, "To whom little is given, of them 
 little will be required.' 7 
 
 How my heart leaps with joy, in the 
 hope that light is now dawning upon my 
 poor heathen sisters. Kind ladies from 
 Christian lands, even from far-off Amer- 
 ica, are spending their days in our pris- 
 on homes, telling of Jesus and his love. 
 Alas, my beautiful mother, that you did 
 not live to hear these sweet words, and 
 
KA11DOO, THE. HINDOO GIKL. 183 
 
 to teach to us, your children, the true 
 worship of the true God. 
 
 And now my tale is told. If I ever 
 meet you in heaven, I shall reach it in 
 the same way you will as a poor sinner, 
 saved by grace. Let me, as a daughter 
 of India, thank you that you are work- 
 ing, for her deliverance from the gross 
 darkness of heathenism ; and to your 
 work, let me beg you, join your earnest 
 prayers that her children may soon turn 
 from their dumb idols to serve the liv- 
 ing God. Each soul brought to God by 
 your prayers, will adorn as a bright 
 jewel the crown that you will cast at the 
 Redeemer's feet. 
 
 That every one who reads these pages 
 may have many such bright .jewels in 
 their heavenly diadem, is the earnest 
 prayer of Kardoo, the once Hindoo ze- 
 nana-girl. 
 
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