e, he was very angry, and said, "This boy is born to
destroy our gods and customs." For several days he would not allow me
to enter his house: but in two or three weeks my father's displeasure
passed away, and the matter of the swords was not mentioned again. But
all the members of our family complained that I never bowed to the idol
when I passed the temple as they and all the other people in the village
did. To this, when questioned, I had only one answer, namely, "I don't
believe that any image made by human hands can be God." This boy was
evidently taught of God, without the aid of any human means. He could
not read; the example of his parents and friends was bad, very bad; and
he had never heard one word of Gospel Truth.

Everyone who has seen an English plough will know that a few old swords
would not supply material for one English ploughshare, but an Indian
plough is a very different thing, and is well represented by the
accompanying sketch. All the iron required is a little bit at the point
which enters the ground. The plough is very light, and may easily be
carried by a _boy_ from the farmer's house to his field in the morning,
and back again in the evening. A _man_ may be often seen carrying _two_
ploughs, one on each shoulder.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

INDIAN AGRICULTURE.

We may imagine that the first plough ever used in India was a crooked
branch of a tree; and we may also imagine that when a suitable branch
could not be found, the skill of the best mechanic in the locality was
called into exercise to make something that would do as well as a
crooked branch. Then, in the course of years, some original genius
improved upon nature by adding, when needed, a harder substance than
wood; and hence the bit of iron now added to form the Indian
ploughshare. Beyond this the farmer who lived a thousand years since in
the Mysore country did not venture to go; and the present race of
cultivators, relying with implicit confidence on the wisdom of the
ancients, look with suspicion on all proposed improvements. This
primitive instrument, represented in the engraving, having been tied to
a bar of wood laid across the neck of two bullocks, and placed under the
management of a ploughboy, the ground is scratched a few inches deep
after every shower. This process prepares the ground for the seed, and
nature being generous, a very fair crop is produced. In the Mysore
country the farmers were never so prosperous as t