[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—That charming and humorous missionary tale, Daughters of India, which came out not long after Miss Mayo's first book, incidentally and with lightness of touch corroborates much of what is there said of Indian morality. " Fatally over- sexed, burned to death ages ago . . . by a lust unrestrained by religion and encouraged by climate," is this writer's verdict on the India she loves. The remark of your corre- spondent, A. R. Caton, on the dangers run by unmarried Indian women is reflected in her heroine's experiences.
In her early days the disgUsted American girl frequently finds herself introduced by one of her native friends to another as " The Miss Sahib. A Virgin ! " And with her high caste mothers her chief difficulty is to persuade them to leave their children at school for another year or two after marriageable age. " Tell me now, is it true that in foreign countries little girls are left unmarried without being ruined ? " they ask her.
In face of facts like these, comparison between East and West can scarcely be said to be helpful.—I am, Sir, &c., C. M. Hunsorr.
Nutcombe Height, Hindhead.
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