“I have read the Koran and the Shastras, I have read the Vedas and the Bible,” replied Bál Mukand, “and I compare the books with the people who severally profess to make such various writings the rule of their faith. The Mohammedan is commanded to fast in the Ramadan, and he fasts; he is commanded to pray five times a day, and he prays. The Hindu is told to reverence the Brahman; and lo! he is ready to drink the water in which the holy man’s feet have been washed. The Hindu makes pilgrimages and visits temples, performs ablutions, and will rather starve than eat that which he deems unclean.”