So many admirable works have appeared of late, illustrating scenes in India, both with pen and pencil, that I offer these sketches in all humility, pleading the force of example.
“THE CAMELS WERE BEING BRANDED WITH HOT IRONS FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE, AND THE SPIDER CAME TO BE MARKED ALSO[5].”
For four-and-twenty years have I roamed the world,—
“I NEITHER WENT TO MEKKA NOR MUDĪNA, BUT WAS A PILGRIM NEVERTHELESS[6].”
The [Frontispiece] represents the idol Gănésh, the deified infant whom I have invoked.
The sign Sri, at the top of the page, implores his triple eyes to look with favour on the undertaking,—in the same manner that this sign, ♃, the old heathen invocation to Jupiter, sought his blessing; and is equivalent to the usual invocation of the poets to the Muses,—the Muhammadan authors to the Prophet,—or the “Laus Deo,” with which merchants’ clerks formerly began their books,—a practice not yet quite extinct.
“Sri” is written at the top of all Hindi writings; the meaning of the word is “prosperity;” it is put as a title of respect before proper names; frequently they write the same word twice over (“Sri, Sri,”)—or they write “Sri Gănésh.” The Muhammadans, in a similar manner, dedicate their writings to God by a character on the first page, which, as in short-hand writing, implies a whole sentence.
The history of Gănésh is as follows:
“I SPEAK TO THOSE WHO HAVE DAUGHTERS, AND LET THOSE WHO HAVE SONS LISTEN[7]!”