unbi towards agricultural
improvements has hitherto probably been something the same as that of
the Sussex farmer who said, 'Our old land, it likes our old ploughs'
to the agent who was vainly trying to demonstrate to him the advantages
of the modern two-horse iron plough over the great wooden local tool;
and the emblem ascribed to old Sussex--a pig couchant with the motto
'I wun't be druv'--would suit the Kunbi equally well. But the Kunbi,
too, though he could not express it, knows something of the pleasure
of the simple outdoor life, the fresh smell of the soil after rain,
the joy of the yearly miracle when the earth is again carpeted with
green from the bursting into life of the seed which he has sown,
and the pleasure of watching the harvest of his labours come to
fruition. He, too, as has been seen, feels something corresponding to
"That inarticulate love of the English farmer for his land, his mute
enjoyment of the furrow crumbling from the ploughshare or the elastic
tread of his best pastures under his heel, his ever-fresh satisfaction
at the sight of the bullocks stretching themselves as they rise from
the soft grass."

24. Social and moral characteristics

Some characteristics of the Maratha people are noticed by Sir
R. Jenkins as follows [41]: "The most remarkable feature perhaps in the
character of the Marathas of all descriptions is the little regard they
pay to show or ceremony in the common intercourse of life. A peasant
or mechanic of the lowest order, appearing before his superiors,
will sit down of his own accord, tell his story without ceremony,
and converse more like an equal than an inferior; and if he has a
petition he talks in a loud and boisterous tone and fearlessly sets
forth his claims. Both the peasantry and the better classes are often
coarse and indelicate in their language, and many of the proverbs,
which they are fond of introducing into conversation, are extremely
gross. In general the Marathas, and particularly the cultivators,
are not possessed of much activity or energy of character, but they
have quick perception of their own interest, though their ignorance
of writing and accounts often renders them the dupes of the artful
Brahmans." "The Kunbi," Mr. Forbes remarks, [42] "though frequently all
submission and prostration when he makes his appearance in a revenue
office, is sturdy and bold enough among his own people. He is fond
of asserting his independence and the helplessnes