Chota Nagpore. By F. B. Bradley-Birt. B.A. (Smith, Elder, and
Co. 12s. 6d. net.)—Nagpore, in the Central Provinces, has been administered by British rulers for about a century and
quarter. A somewhat haphazard system brought about a • rebellion in 1820; after this the Government was more intelligently organised and far better managed. The population consists largely of aboriginal tribes, among whom the Kola, the Mundors, and the Santals are the most important. A considerable portion of these aborigines are more or less Hincluised, for though Hinduism is, in theory, an hereditary, not a proselytising religion, in practice it has its converts. There is a great multitude of Brahmins, and some of them earn their living by acquiring disciples. They practise a sort of adoption, giving candidates a sham pedigree, so to speak, which connects them with the genuine stock. Others of the tribes offer a promising field to Christian missions. Here the secular motive is the feeling of the savage, who has no elaborate defence of spiritual pride, that the mis- sionary is one of the ruling class. Mr. Bradley-Birt has studied the legendary lore, the history, and the present life of the people with good effect, making a highly interesting and instructive account of the region and its inhabitants.
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