His wife deserts him, his children refuse to
acknowledge him as their father, and his property is absorbed by his
society or caste. All this for no crime, no immorality; and he may be a
noble and true man. If he chooses to be a tinker, instead of a trader, all
the gods of Hindu antiquity light upon his head, and worry him to the
funeral pyre by the shore."
"That is quite true, Captain, and I join with you in condemning this
grossly heathen institution," added Sir Modava. "But time and Christianity
will yet do their work, and my country will be saved. But I submit, my dear
Captain, that there is another side to the question."
"Quite true, and I was about to state it. The man who remains faithful to
the requirements of the society is protected and supported. Wherever he
goes, at whatever distance from his country he may be, he finds a roof and
a hearthstone which he may make his own for the time. If gone for years, he
will find the house and the field of his fathers undisturbed, of which he
may take possession. This institution may remove care and anxiety from the
mind of the man, and make him, as we find here, calm and contented, but
without the ambition of the business-man. I have taken most of this from a
book I found in Bombay."
"The most influential caste here are mostly Jains and Buniahs; and though
they belong to different tribes, they are united in business matters.
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