Mrs. Sharp, not because she is an English woman,
but because she is a very worthy person," added his lordship.

"You are quite right, my lord, and she has had a romantic history;" and
before they retired he had told the whole of it.

At the usual time the next day the company were assembled in Conference
Hall; and when the commander announced that Lord Tremlyn would address them
on the general subject, "The People of India," they manifested their
interest by a liberal salvo of applause.

CHAPTER XII

THE POPULATION AND PEOPLE OF INDIA

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to appear before you, and to look you all
in the face," his lordship began as the applause subsided. "The task befaw
me is to put a gallon of fluid into a pint pot. It cawn't be done. I shall
not attempt to do what is quite impossible. I can only put in what the
vessel will hold. I cawn't say all there is to be said about the people of
India in an hour, or even two or three hours."

The noble gentleman was an easy, pleasant, and fluent speaker, evidently
quite accustomed to addressing public assemblies; but he had certain
peculiarities of speech, a very few of them, which sounded just a little
odd to the Americans, as doubtless some of their pronunciation did to the
Britons. But there is hardly a perceptible difference in the pronunciation
of highly trained speakers of one nation and the other. It is not necessary
to indicate any farther the slightly peculiar speech of the accomplished
gentleman.

"I can only select from the mass of material before me what I think will be
most interesting and useful to you; for I have been warned that I must not
talk all day," continued the viscount.

"We leave that to your lordship's own judgment," added Captain Ringgold.

"I will be merciful, Mr. Commander: as merciful as possible. Next to China,
India is the most populous country on the globe; and without Nepaul, it
numbered, in 1891, 287,223,917, or more than one-seventh of the people on
the face of the earth; and the increase in the last decade was almost
28,000,000,--enough to populate about a dozen of your larger States.

"In spite of its vast population, India cannot be said to be a very densely
peopled region; 184 to the square mile for the whole country. The mountain
territory is quite thinly settled. All the native states have but 108 to
the square mile, though the plains of the Ganges show