Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 471

HOW BOOKS ARE BOUND
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and gives them a darker colour, thus rendering them
distinct and readable.
This mode of writing is undoubtedly more convenient
and more simple than ours, so far at least as writing on
a small scale is concerned, for it does not require all the
letters
more
materials that we need on such occasions
but it will be
readily understood that it is not equally convenient for
writings of a somewhat voluminous nature.
As in our ancient manuscripts, the absence of every kind
of punctuation, and the confusion arising from words and
phrases not being sufficiently separated, render the perusal
of the works of Hindu authors extremely difficult.
The
complicated rules of orthography pertaining to some of
their languages, and especially to Tamil, tend to increase
this difficulty still further.
Very often the most experienced
person is unable to read without difficulty, especially if the
writer has adhered strictly to the rules of grammar, which
are generally, however, either ignored or neglected.
When Hindus write on paper they do not use a quill
A Brahmin could not, without defilement, touch so
pen.
impure an instrument. Consequently a thin reed is used,
called kalam, a word evidently of modern origin borrowed
from the Portuguese. The kalam is somewhat thicker than
our quill pen, and is mended in the same manner. Hindus
employed under Europeans, however, lay aside these
scruples, and use the same materials as their masters.
When a Hindu wishes to make up a book of the palm
leaves on which he has written, he has no need of a book-
He merely bores a small hole at each extremity
binder.
of the leaves, and fastens them all together by means of
two small pegs or sticks of wood or iron. Two thin boards,
of the same length and breadth as the leaves, are then
placed at the top and bottom of them, and thus form the
binding or covers of the book. A long string fastened to
one of the covers serves to hold the leaves together. If
this plan is simple, it certainly is not convenient
for
whenever one wishes to consult the book, the string must
be loosened, the pegs by means of which the leaves arc
strung together must be removed, and the whole volume
taken to pieces.
It will thus be seen that the Hindu system of writing and
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