This was in
order that they might be at once destroyed. By no special dispensation
could those vessels ever again be purified for the use of a respectable
Hindoo; even a pariah would have felt insulted if he had been asked to
eat from them; and if the knives and forks and spoons had not been my
own, they must have shared the fate of the platters. But this prejudice
must be taken in a Pickwickian sense,--it covered no objection simply
personal to the Sahib. In some castes it is forbidden to eat from any
plate twice, even in the strictest privacy of the family; and many
natives, however wealthy, scrupulously insist upon leaves. All
respectable Hindoos lift their food with their fingers, using neither
knife, fork, nor spoon; and for this purpose they employ the right hand
only, the left being reserved for baser purposes. In drinking water,
many of them will not allow the _lotah_ to touch the lips; but, throwing
the head back, and holding the vessel at arm's length on high, with an
odd expertness they let the water run into their mouths. The sect of
Ramanujas obstinately refuse to sit down to a meal while any one is
standing by or looking on; nor will they chew betel in company with a
man of low caste. Ward has written, "If a European of the highest rank
touch the food of a Hindoo of the lowest caste, the latter will
instantly throw it away, although he may not have another morsel to
allay the pangs of hunger";--but this is true only of certain very
strait sects.
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