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2 CHAPTER VIII.
3 POPULATION, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS.
4 No regular census having ever been taken, it is
5 extremely difficult to arrive at even an approxi-
6 mation to the amount of the Sikh population.
7 Bumes computed it at 3,500,000, exclusive
8 of the Kashmirians, Ladakhis, and Bultis, (na-
9 tives of Ladakh and Bulti), who might amount
10 to 1,200,000 more ; but native authorities give a
11 much larger estimate, and other European travel-
12 lers fall below Burnes's computation. This popu-
13 lation is composed of a great variety of races
14 and religions ; but the bulk may be said to be
15 divided into Hindoos and Mahomedans, the
16 former of whom are in the proportion of three
17 to one of the latter.
18 The Sikhs or Punjaubees, who form the mass of
19 the regular resident population as distinct from
20 the fluctuating visitors, are a handsome race of
21 men, resembling Hindoos in general, but with a
22 £2