There are nearly fifty millions of Mohammedans among the two
hundred and fifty millions of India's population, and it is to
them we must chiefly look for the regeneration of the native
races.
As we pass through the country we are surprised at the crowds of
gayly-dressed natives waiting at the crossings to pass the line,
and at the stations to take the trains. All the colors of the
rainbow are to be seen in their wraps. It is the season of
idleness just now, their two months of rest in the country, and
the entire population seem to be running about in holiday attire,
forming a striking contrast to their fellows in the towns, who sit
in their hovels hard at work, one crowding another in his seat.
Before England established free dispensaries for these masses the
rate of mortality must have been something incredible; even now it
is very high, although last year in the two provinces alone no
fewer than eleven hundred thousand patients were treated or
prescribed for by these institutions, which we rejoice to see
scattered throughout the country wherever we go. Nor in all her
illustrious record do we know a brighter page than that which
chronicles the rise and progress of these truly English
organizations.
Manufactures in India are not profitable at present: during the
scarcity of cotton, owing to the American war, large quantities
were grown here and fortunes made in the business; eventually
cotton mills were built in Bombay and jute mills in Calcutta,
which prospered for a time, but now that America, under the system
of free labor, has demonstrated her ability to supply cheaper and
better cotton than India, these enterprises languish.
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