In the Bengalī schools a boy learns his letters by writing them, never
by pronouncing the alphabet, as in Europe; he first writes them on the
ground with a stick, or his fingers; next with an iron style, or a reed,
on a palm-leaf; and next on a green plantain-leaf. The Bengalī
schoolmasters punish with a cane, or a rod made of the branch of a tree;
sometimes a truant is compelled to stand on one leg, holding up a brick
in each hand, or to have his arms stretched out, until he is completely
tired. Almost all the villages contain common schools. The allowance to
the schoolmasters is very small: for the first year’s education, about a
penny a month, and a day’s provisions; when a boy writes on the
palm-leaf, twopence a month; after this, as the boy advances in
learning, as much as fourpence or eightpence a month is given. There are
no schools for girls among the Hindūs. “Jesus stooped down, and with his
finger wrote upon the ground.” (John viii. 6). Schools for children are
frequently held under trees in Bengal, and the children who are
beginning to learn, write the letters of the alphabet in the dust. This
saves pens, ink, and paper. “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of
iron.” (Jeremiah xvii. 1). The letters are formed by making incisions on
the palm-leaf: these books are very durable.
The scene now represents the _gyan-bapī_, or the well of knowledge,
which is regarded as peculiarly sacred by the Hindūs, and it is related
that it was dug by Isana with his _trisūl_, or trident, when he was
wandering about Kashī. One of the officiating Brahmans is seen receiving
the offerings of rice, &c. from a party of pilgrims, just about to
commence the circuit of the temples. If a rich Hindū present any thing
to an inferior, the latter, as a mark of respect, puts it on his head.
An offering of cloth, for instance, received at a temple, the receiver
not only places on his head, but binds it there. The rice and flowers
were formerly thrown into the well; but they rendered the water so
putrid, that a defence of planks has been since put up to prevent it.
The man near the _gyan-bapī_ carrying a staff, is a _dŭndī fakīr_. This
name is given because these devotees receive a staff (_dŭndŭ_) when they
first enter this order. The Brahmans, on meeting one, prostrate
themselves before him. The _dŭndī_ shaves his head and beard every four
months. He travels with a staff in one hand, and an alms-dish in the
other; he does not beg or cook his food, but is a guest at the houses of
the Brahmans. The ceremonies to which this order attend, are, repeating
the names of Vishnŭ, bathing once a day, and, with closed eyes,
meditating on the attributes of the god by the side of the river. When
about to bathe, they besmear themselves all over with the mud of the
Ganges. The _dŭndīs_ do not burn, but bury their dead, repeating certain
forms of prayer.