MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 65
by the name of vina. This instrument has a rather agreeable tone, and would be still more pleasing if the sounds extracted from it were more varied. It has always been a favourite amongst the better classes; and its invention must date from an extremely remote period, for it is often mentioned in Hindu books, where the gods themselves are represented as playing on the vina to soothe themselves with its sweet melodies. It is generally taught by Brahmins; and as their lessons are very expensive, and they
persuade their pupils that a great many are necessary in order to attain proficiency, it is obvious that none but the rich can afford themselves this pleasure.
The vina of the Hindus is probably the same as the cithara l, or harp, of the Jews, in playing which King
David excelled, and with which he produced those melodies which soothed and calmed his unfortunate master Saul, after God had given Saul up as a prey to his evil passions.
Besides the vina, the Brahmins have another stringed instrument called Icinnahra, which is something like a
guitar, and the tone of which is not unpleasant.
The Hindus do not use gut for the strings of their instruments, as Europeans do. They would not dare to touch anything so impure, for if they did they would consider themselves defiled by the contact. To avoid such a serious impurity they use metal strings.
I will now turn to the nomadic castes, which swell the number of wretched and degraded beings amongst the nation I am describing. Without any fixed abode, wandering about from one country to another, the individuals of which these vagabond tribes are composed pay little or no attention to the various customs which are obligatory on every respectable Hindu
; and this is why they are so cordially detested.
One of the largest of these castes is that which is known in the south by the name of Kuravers or Kurumarus.
This is subdivided into two branches, one of which carries on a trade in salt. Gangs of men bring this article from the coast and distribute it in the interior of the country, using asses, of which they possess considerable numbers,
1
The Mahomedans of Northern India have a stringed instrument known as cithar.— Ed.
DUBOIS
D