There are, in North Malabar, many individuals, whose fathers were European. Writing, in 1887, concerning the Tiyan community, Mr. Logan states *[1]that "the women are not as a rule excommunicated if they live with Europeans, and the consequence is that there has been among them a large admixture of European blood, and the caste itself has been materially raised in the social scale. In appearance some of the women are almost as fair as Europeans." On this point, the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, states that "in the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation, if the Sudra girl could boast of her Brahmin lover, the Tiyan girl could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white man of the ruling race. Happily the progress of education, and the growth of a wholesome public opinion, have made shameful the position of a European's concubine; and both races have thus been saved from a mode of life equally demoralizing to each."
During a visit to Ootacamund on the Nīlgiri hills, I was enabled to examine the physique of the elder boys at the Lawrence Asylum, the object of which is "to provide for children of European and East Indian officers and soldiers of Her Majesty's Army (British and Native), and of Europeans and East Indians in the Medical Service, military and civil, who are serving, or have served within the limits of the Presidency of Madras, a refuge from the debilitating effects of a tropical climate, and from the serious drawbacks to the well-being of children incidental to a barrack life; to afford for them a plain, practical, and religious education; and to train
- ↑ * Manual of Malabar.
