give great delight, as my servants fall in with them.
They pick the leaves; and running with them to me, cry, "See, sir,
see, our holy plants are here!" and congratulate each other on having
found some indication of a better land than they are generally
inclined to consider the country of the Pariahs. The happiness these
simple remembrances shed over the whole party is so enlivening, that
every distress and fatigue seems to be forgotten. When we behold a
servant approaching with a sprig of the _Dona_ in his hand, we hail it
as the olive-branch, that denotes peace and good-will for the rest of
the day, if, as must sometimes be the case, they have been in any way
interrupted.

Even these little incidents speak so warmly in favour of the Hindoo
disposition, that, in spite of much that may be uncongenial to an
European in their character, they cannot fail to inspire him with
esteem, if not affection. I wish that many of my countrymen would
learn to believe that the natives are endowed with feelings, and
surely they may gather such an inference from many a similar trait
to the one I have related. Hardness of heart can never be allied
to artless simplicity: that mind must possess a higher degree of
sensibility and refinement, that can unlock its long-confined
recollections by so light a spring as a wild flower.

I have often witnessed, with wonder and sorrow, an English gentleman
stoop to the basest tyranny over his servants, without even the poor
excuse of anger, and frequently from no other reason than because he
could not understand their language. The question, from the answer
being unintelligible, is instantly followed by a blow. Such scenes are
becoming more rare, and indeed are seldom acted but by the younger
members of society; they are too frequent notwithstanding: and should
any thing that has fallen from me here, induce the cruelly-disposed to
reflect a little upon the impropriety and mischief of their conduct,
when about to raise the hand against a native, and save one stripe
to the passive people who are so much at the mercy of their masters'
tempers, I shall indeed be proud.

[Again, speaking of the condition of servants, Captain Skinner
remarks--]

It is impossible to view some members of the despised class without
sorrow and pity, particularly those who are attached, in the lowest
offices, to the establishments of the Europeans. They are the most
melancholy race of beings, always alone, and apparently unh