otton; rice is the food, and
cotton is the clothing of the Hindoo: and quantities of these are sent to
England, for though we have wheat for food, we want rice too; and though
we have wool for clothing, we want cotton too.

RELIGION.--There is no nation that has so many gods as the Hindoos. What
do you think of three hundred and thirty millions! There are not so many
people in Hindostan as that. No one person can know the names of all
these gods; and who would wish to know them? Some of them are snakes, and
some are monkeys!

The chief god of all is called Brahm. But, strange to say, no one
worships him. There is not an image of him in all India.

And why not? Because he is too great, the Hindoos say, to think of men on
earth. He is always in a kind of sleep. What would be the use of
worshipping him?

Next to him are three gods, and they are part of Brahm.

Their names are--

I. Brahma, the Creator.
II. Vishnoo, the Preserver.
III. Sheeva, the Destroyer.

Which of these should you think men ought to worship the most? Not the
destroyer. Yet it is _him_ they do worship the most. Very few worship
Brahma the creator. And why not? Because the Hindoos think he can do no
more for them than he has done; and they do not care about thanking him.

Vishnoo, the preserver, is a great favorite; because it is supposed that
he bestows all manner of gifts. The Hindoos say he has been _nine_ times
upon the earth; first as a fish, then as a tortoise, a man, a lion, a
boar, a dwarf, a giant; _twice_ as a warrior, named Ram, and once as a
thief, named Krishna. They say he will come again as a conquering king,
riding on a white horse. Is it not wonderful they should say that? It
reminds one of the prophecy in Rev. xix. about Christ's second coming.
Did the Hindoos hear that prophecy in old time? They may have heard it,
for the apostle Thomas once preached in India, at least we believe he
did.

Why do the people worship Sheeva the destroyer? Because they hope that if
they gain his favor, they shall not be destroyed by him. They do not know
that none can save from the destroyer but God.

The Hindoos make images of their gods. Brahma is represented as riding on
a goose; Vishnoo on a creature half-bird and half-man; and Sheeva on a
bull.

Sheeva's image looks horribly ferocious with the tiger-skin and the
necklace of skulls and snakes; but Sheeva's _wife_ is far fiercer than
himself. Her name is Kalee. Her whole del