Old Daniel | Page 8

not be found, the skill of the best mechanic in the locality was
called into exercise to make something that would do as well as a
crooked branch. Then, in the course of years, some original genius
improved upon nature by adding, when needed, a harder substance than
wood; and hence the bit of iron now added to form the Indian
ploughshare. Beyond this the farmer who lived a thousand years since
in the Mysore country did not venture to go; and the present race of
cultivators, relying with implicit confidence on the wisdom of the
ancients, look with suspicion on all proposed improvements. This
primitive instrument, represented in the engraving, having been tied to
a bar of wood laid across the neck of two bullocks, and placed under
the management of a ploughboy, the ground is scratched a few inches
deep after every shower. This process prepares the ground for the seed,
and nature being generous, a very fair crop is produced. In the Mysore
country the farmers were never so prosperous as they are at the present
day. Thanks to English authority, the people are not oppressed as they
were under the despotic rule of their own native princes. The
Government is the great landlord; the rent of round has not been very
much increased; the taxes have been reduced, and the produce of the
soil fetches three times the price it did forty years ago.
CHAPTER NINE.
HOW A SCHOOLMASTER BECAME A GOD.
We have seen how some old swords were worshipped by Daniel's
parents and friends, and we will now show how, many years ago, a god
was made out of an old schoolmaster, and is worshipped at the present
day. The legend is that, about two hundred years ago, there lived in
Goobbe a very efficient schoolmaster, who was celebrated all over that
part, of the country for his learning, wisdom, and sanctity. He lived to a
good old age, and then died. The respect in which he had been held
during his life was manifested at his funeral, when there was a very
large gathering of mourners. His death was looked upon as a public
calamity. But he would doubtless soon have been forgotten had it not

been for the gratitude and activity of one of his pupils, named Burree
Gowda. This man had, during the course of twenty or thirty years,
become very rich, and a person of considerable influence. He attributed
all his success in life to the teaching and good example of his old
schoolmaster, and he felt disposed to do something to perpetuate his
memory. He therefore one day called together all the influential men of
Goobbe, amongst whom there were probably a few of Burree Gowda's
fellow-students, and to this assembly he opened his mind fully. He
enumerated the excellencies of his old teacher, and stated his
conviction that the good schoolmaster was something more than an
ordinary mortal; indeed, that he was an incarnation of some deity;
adding that, being divine, he ought to be worshipped. To this opinion
the assembly assented. He next proposed that a temple should be
erected, and all arrangements secured for the schoolmaster being
worshipped as the god `Goobbe-appa'--that is, Goobbe-father. All
agreed to this also, as being calculated to benefit the people of Goobbe,
as well as to do honour to the schoolmaster. But when Burree Gowda
proposed to meet all the expenses himself, we may fairly conclude hat
the proposal was carried by acclamation. In due time the temple was
built, an idol (the bust of a man with a face of gold) was made, and,
with the usual ceremonies, "Prana pratishta" was performed. This is a
special ceremony, by which the Hindoos think life is imparted to an
image, or that a god is made to enter into an idol. Thus they supposed
that the deified old schoolmaster entered into the image of
`Goobbe-Appa,' which had been made for him to dwell in. And there,
in that temple, he is the most popular god of all within twenty or thirty
miles of Goobbe. He is not only worshipped daily by many who live in
the town, but also once a year by eight or ten thousands of people who,
at the anniversary, come in from all the adjacent towns and villages.
When Daniel was about fourteen or fifteen years of age, he had to take
part in one of these annual festivals. It appears that some rich man,
probably a descendant of Burree Gowda, had determined that year to
have a specially grand procession. He, therefore, months before the
time, began to make preparations. He had a car, or carriage, made,
purchased fireworks, lamps, torches, etcetera. The washermen far and
near were told to bring cloths of different colours with which