untry, that you have come all this way for it?" To which I got
the reply: "You, sir, have come much farther than we have done. Had you
no food to eat in your country?" I must acknowledge I felt myself shut
up under this rebuff.

During my residence at Ranee Khet I had much intercourse with two
classes widely separated from each other--educated young men, and Doms.

I have mentioned that from the Almora Mission School a number of young
men had gone into all parts of the Province. Several got situations in
the public offices of Ranee Khet, and to them in the course of time
persons of the same class were added from Bengal. I visited these at
their quarters, and did all in my power to maintain friendly intercourse
with them. A room in the school-house, supplied, partly at their own
expense and partly by the liberality of friends, with newspapers,
periodicals, and books, was turned into a reading-room, which was always
open in the evening. One evening in the week they met me in class, when
we had as our text-book the Advanced Reader of the Christian Vernacular
Education Society, which furnished full opportunity for conversation on
the most useful and important subjects. The attendance was not so steady
as could be desired. All were friendly in their bearing, and some seemed
much interested in our study and talk. A few professed Brahmist views,
but none were inclined to join the Brahmist community and break with
their own people. There was no indication of the spiritual concern which
compels the soul to earnest investigation, with a view to following
truth wherever it may lead.

[Sidenote: MISSION WORK AMONG THE DOMS.]

The other class with whom I had much to do at Ranee Khet were the Doms,
to whom reference has already been made as in all probability the
descendants of the aborigines of the country previous to the Hindu
invasion. They are a most useful part of the community. As the artisans
of the country, the people of every caste have much to do with them.
They are largely engaged in agriculture. They do things by which the
caste people would be defiled, such as carrying away the carcases of
animals. In a high-caste village it is not uncommon to see, a little
aside from it--if the ground permits, below it--a number of houses
occupied by Doms. The pigs and fowls around the meaner dwellings, and
the poorer looks of the inhabitants, tell what they are. As artisan
work is now in great demand the circumstances of the Doms ar