OCR Text |
Show A REMARKABLE RACE. It is said that Major Biddulph, stationed off the Cashmere boundary, has prepared a report upon the customs, the languages and the folklore of the singular community among whom he has been residing for a long time. From Major Biddulph's peculiar advantages and opportunities may be expected (says the Calcutta Pioneer), a complete account of people who are a survival of the old Aryans form whom all civilized mankind of the present day is probably descended. Surgeon Major Bellow, meanwhile, has been examining a few men from the cantons on the southwest of Dardistan, peopled by a similar race, who in one respect are still more interesting, for their country has never been visited by a civilized traveler. But in appearance and language they closely resemble the Dards, and, unlike them, have not embraced the creed of Mohammedan neighbors. The tongues spoken in all these hills are, for the most part, Aryan, not descended from Sanskrit, and, indeed, of earlier origin than that classical language. On the northern slopes of the mountain Parsee words prevail; in the southern cantons some of the words resemble Greek, some Latin, some those of modern Europe. They make (and freely consume) grape wine, something like a crude Burgundy. Those who are not Mussulmans believe in one God, but employ the intercession of minor powers, represented by images. They also occasionally canonize great men whom they have lost by death. They are usually monogamous, opposed to divorce, and strict defenders of the chastity of their unmarried girls. These latter have blue, gray or hazel eyes; black hair is the exception among them, and when young, they are of such remarkable comeliness as to be in great demand in the slave markets of adjacent countries. Authentic information concerning these interesting races cannot but be anxiously awaited by all who realize the nature of the questions involved. |