India is a big country, and there are many different races of people living within its borders, the two principal ones being the Mohammedans and the Hindus. The Mohammedans number about sixty millions and there are about a hundred and eighty millions of Hindus, who are by far the superior race. The intelligence of the Hindus is of a very high order, but, like all Eastern races, they have many superstitions. Their attention to their food and drink and personal cleanliness is remarkable, and, though their customs in this respect are peculiar, they follow a healthful and sanitary manner of living which might well be practised by Western folk. The arts and crafts of the Hindus and their trades and professions are very strange and interesting, and the young people themselves invariably grow up in the same occupations as their elders. There is no mixing of the races or _castes_, and members of one caste always associate with those of the same class. But the English influence is making itself so strongly felt, that frequently the children learn English as early in life as they do their own language; so our little American cousins would almost always be able to make of them good playfellows and would perhaps be able to learn many valuable lessons from Our Little Hindu Cousins. B. McM. SUEZ, _January, 1907_. Contents CHAPTER PAGE I. CHOLA AT HOME 1 II. A DAY IN THE BAZAAR 16 III. THE CHILDREN'S HOLIDAY 35 IV. THE CHILDREN TRAVEL IN THE BIG OX-WAGON 50 V. THE CHILDREN SEE BENARES AND GO HOME FOR A WEDDING 66 VI. THE LITTLE SAHIB SEES THE BIG ELEPHANTS 80 VII. CHOLA GOES ON A TIGER HUNT 94 List of Illustrations PAGE CHOLA IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP (_See page 19_) _Frontispiece_ BUYING SWEETS IN THE BAZAAR 30 "FIRST THERE CAME A BIG ELEPHANT" 57 "THESE THE CHILDREN TWISTED INTO WREATHS AND THREW INTO THE RIVER" 69 THE MARRIAGE OF SHRIYA 76 "SUDDENLY, UP OUT OF THE JUNGLE, THERE SPRANG A GREAT YELLOW TIGER" 102 [Illustration: _Map of_ INDIA _showing places mentioned in_ OUR LITTLE HINDU COUSIN] Our Little Hindu Cousin CHAPTER I CHOLA AT HOME IT was barely light when little Chola rolled out of his blanket and gave his cousin Mahala a shake as he lay stretched out beside him. "Lazy one, listen! I hear little kids bleating below in the courtyard; the new goats with the long hair must have come. Hasten! We will be the first to see them!"