NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

2JI

of such as have lost their cast altogether. This last circum-stance is a great obstacle to the progress of Christianity inIndia. As Europeans ear the flesh of that animal whichthe Hindoos deem sacred, and drink intoxicating liquors,in which practices they are imitated by the converts toChristianity, this sinks them to a level with the Pariars,the most contemptible and odious race of men. SomeCatholic missionaries were so sensible of this, that theyaffected to imitate the dress and manner of living ofBrahmins, and refused to associate with the Pariars, or toadmit them to the participation of the sacraments. Butthis was condemned by the apostolic legate Tournon, asinconsistent with the spirit and precepts of the Christianreligion; Voyage aux Indes Orientales, par M, Sonnerat,torn. i. p. $8- note. Notwithstanding the labor of mis-sionaries for upwards of two hundred years , (fays a lateingenious writer,) and the establishments of different:Christian nations, who support and protect them, out of,perhaps, one hundred millions of Hindoos , there are nottwelve thousand Christians , and those almost entirelyChancalas , or outcasts. Sketches relating to the history,religion, learning, and manners of the Hindoos, p. 48.The number of Mahomedans, or Moors, now in Indostan,is supposed to be near ten millions; but they are not theoriginal inhabitants of the country , but the descendants ofadventurers, who have been pouring in from Tartary,Persia, and Arabia, ever since the invasion of Mahmoudof Gazna, A. D. 1002, the first Mahomedan conquerorof India. Orme Hist. of Military Transact, in Indostan,vol. i. p. 24. Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient, artic. Gaznaviab.As the manners of the Indians in ancient times seem tohave been, in every respect, the same with those of thepresent age, it is probable, that the Christians and Maho-medans, said to be so numerous in India and China, werechiefly foreigners, allured thither by a lucrative commerce,or their descendants. The number of Mahomedans inChina has been considerably increased by a practice, com-

0.4