displayed, either by Daniel's father or by any of his ancestors, is not
upon record. However, we do know that when his old grandfather left his
native town and came to live at Goobbe, though he did not bring the
image of the family goddess with him, he did bring some old swords which
had been in the family very many years. These swords had often been
worshipped by Daniel's forefathers. We may here observe, in passing,
that all Hindoo mechanics and other workpeople regularly worship their
tools and other instruments by which they gain their living. They put
up any of their implements as representations of _Vishwa Karma_, the
architect and artificer of the gods, (_Vishwa_ means the World or the
Universe, and _Karma_ means Work), and pray to these tools for success
in business, war, agriculture, etcetera. Thus a carpenter places a
hammer or a saw before him, and putting both his hands to his forehead
bows to the instrument, and asks for its help in the work to be done.
The barber worships his razor; the blacksmith worships his bellows; and
the farmer his plough, oxen, etcetera, etcetera. Daniel's forefathers
having worshipped these old swords, Veera Chickka continued the
time-honoured custom. On a special occasion he invited his relatives
and friends to come and join in the worship, and in the feast which
always followed it. This happened when Daniel was about thirteen or
fourteen years of age. Preparatory to the worship, his parents cleaned
the rusty swords, decorated them with flowers, and placed them upright
against a wall. When the proper time came, they and their visitors made
offerings to the swords, of plantains, cocoa-nuts, rice, etcetera.
After this, they burned incense to their ancestors who were the original
owners of the swords, and then falling prostrate before them they all
cried out, "O, our gods, prosper us: O, our gods, defend us." After the
worship was over, all the visitors partook of the feast prepared, passed
the evening pleasantly in conversation, and the next morning returned to
their own homes. Daniel says, "I was much impressed with the
foolishness of all these proceedings, and I said to myself, `What
benefit can be derived from the worshipping of these old swords? I am
determined to put a stop to this in some way.'" He thought the matter
over several days, and by that time his plan was formed. So one day,
when no one saw him, he took the swords, with the box in which they had
been c