e much
improved, and there is every prospect of their rising into a higher
position. They bear, and for many a year they may be expected to bear,
indubitable marks of having been for ages a servile, despised,
downtrodden class, having no respect from others, and entertaining
little respect for themselves. Their improved circumstances will do
something towards raising them in the social scale, but we cannot look
for high moral excellence and real manhood till they come under the
power of the Gospel.

On account of the abundance of work which the formation of an English
station was sure to afford, a colony of these people erected a village
for themselves on the side of the Ranee Khet hill below the Bazar. I had
when in Almora conversed frequently with Doms. At Ranee Khet I saw much
of them, and had more encouragement among them than among any other
class. To some who expressed regret they could neither read nor write, I
said it was not too late; that I would take care that they be taught if
they were willing to learn. To test them I opened a night-school, and a
number availed themselves of it. It was a gratifying sight to see them,
at ages varying from fifteen to thirty-five, conning their
spelling-books at the door of the school-house as evening was coming on,
or trying to form letters on their slates. A few became soon
discouraged, but a number held on, night after night for two or three
hours, with the greatest eagerness, till they could read, write, and
count very fairly. One result of the school was that they began to
attend, with great regularity, a service held every Sabbath afternoon in
the hall of the school-house. During the last year of our residence in
Ranee Khet, the attendance at this service was larger than at any
previous period, and it was mainly composed of Doms. Nothing could
exceed the quietness and apparent interest with which they heard the
simple addresses given. I cannot say I saw any evidence of spiritual
awakening, but the torpor of their previous life was shaken in a way
which inspired the hope of their being brought into the fold of Christ.

I have mentioned the fierceness of the Cashmeeree Mussulmans. This
charge cannot be brought against them all. One of their number, a young
lad, came to the school, and was in every respect one of the best pupils
in it. With another, one so trusted by the rest that he was the
go-between in the arrangements for work with the English engineer, I had
much int