n a varied
stock. Formerly the shop was little more than the place where the
goods were stored, and there was little attempt to attract the
passer-by, and only a languid effort to attend to his wants if he
stopped to express them.

The daily paper has become a regular part of the day's routine of the
much-leisured Hindu, and the demand has greatly improved the
character of the supply, and some of the vernacular papers furnish
up-to-date news, and the leaders are written with ability. The more
stringent measures which it became necessary to put in force because
of the seditious character of many of the vernacular papers has done
much to purify the Indian press, so that while many of the papers
retain an independent line, their criticisms are couched in
sufficiently decorous language.

Even amongst the working classes there is a great advance in comfort,
especially as regards clothing. The scanty dress of the Indian arose,
not so much because of the hot climate, but because he could only
afford a few yards of calico. Now he is not only much less unclothed
than he used to be, but his garments are of better material and more
skilfully made. The Indian villager also often wears cloth coats of
English shape, but he has not made much advance as regards
cleanliness. He does not wash all over much oftener than his English
rural brother, except in the hot weather if there is a river within
reach. He rarely washes his clothes, but wears them till they are so
dirty that he can wear them no longer, and then buys new ones; and he
appears to think that this is the best arrangement.

CHAPTER XLIII

INDIAN MOHAMMEDANS

Mohammedans and marriage. Their conception of heaven. Their
trading on board ships. The smell of India. The Indian
"send-off." Use of the plural. Mistakes concerning it.
Unappreciated English jocosity. Indian free-and-easiness.

A Mohammedan asked me whether if he became a Christian we would
provide him with a wife, and he appeared surprised to learn that as a
Christian he could only have one wife. "Our religion allows four," he
said. When I urged that more than one wife destroyed the idea of the
unity of husband and wife, he replied, "We consider one of our wives
as being our real wife, and the others are like servants." I said that
the additional marriages, under such conditions, could only be
contracted for the gratification of fleshly desires. His answer was,
"If a man can afford i