ABGRIG 
 
 TI-fE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
GIFT OF 
 HORACE W. 
 
 / 
 
TOD A WOMAN. 
 
TODA MAN 
 
TffE 
 
 ABORIGINAL TRIBES 
 
 THE NILGIPiI HILLS. 
 
 LIEUT.-COLONEL W. EOSS KING, F.E.G.S, F.S.A.S. 
 
 A Paper read before the Anthropological Societi/ of London, 
 
 May 3, 1870, and 2^Mished by the Society in the 
 
 Journal of Anthropology. 
 
 LONDON : 
 LON(;]VIANS, ailEEN, Axn Co. 
 
 1870. 
 

 Qa^^f^ 
 
 U^ 
 
THE 
 
 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 LIEUT.-COLOXEL W. ROSS KING, F.R.G.S., F.S.A.S., etc. 
 
 The tribes wliicli I am alioiit to describe are doubtless not alto- 
 gether unknown by report to various members of this Society, and 
 I do not claim for myself tbe credit of bringing forward many 
 new facts concerning tliem. My simple object is to promote at- 
 tention to the subject in hopes of ultimately eliciting some more 
 certain information than we possess as to the origin of races 
 whose early history is shrouded in mystery and doubt. 
 
 All personal experiences, however slight, are of value as con- 
 tributions to the general fund of information, and I have, there- 
 fore, not hesitated to comply with the request made to me, that 
 I would communicate such particulars concerning the hill-tribes 
 of the Xilgiris as came under my own observation during a three 
 years' sojourn on those hills, other^^'ise kno^^^l as the Blue 
 Mountains of the Deccan. 
 
 It is not necessary here to describe that well-known range 
 further than to observe, for better understanding the situation of 
 the tribes by whom it is inhabited, that it occupies a nearly 
 isolated position, has a superficial extent calculated at between 
 
 b2 
 
 5:<5U5uS 
 
4 ABORIGIXAL TKIBES OF THE NILGIIH HILLS. 
 
 six and seven luiiulred square miles, and an extreme central 
 altitude of 8,760 feet. Approaching them througli tlie flat 
 parched district of Coimbatoor, the great abruptness with which 
 these mountains rise from the plain adds to their apparent 
 height, and at a distance of many miles the grandeur of the lofty 
 blue line elicits the admiration of the traveller. Arrived at the 
 stifling village of MetapoUium, at their base, and near the forest en- 
 trance of the ascent by the Coonoor Pass, gazing upwards on their 
 hanging forests, rhododendron-sprinkled heights, and precij^itous 
 grey crags, towering almost perpendicularly to a height of 7,000 
 feet, one may fancy oneself enjoying a glimpse of another world. 
 Notwithstanding the temptation which its lofty verdant summits 
 must have offered to Europeans dwelling on the burning plains 
 below, this range remained, chiefly on account of the then almost 
 impenetrable belt of jungle, abounding in tigers and elephants, 
 and surrounding its base on every side, unexplored till the year 
 1819, and it was not till two years later that any road was opened 
 up to the summit. 
 
 Strange and imknown tribes were then found in possession of 
 this favoured region, a region of green hills and sheltered hollows, 
 of sparkling streams and tracts of primeval forest, with abundant 
 vegetation and delightful climate. Todas and Khotas occupied 
 the higher ranges, while Erulas and Kurumbas clustered here and 
 there in the lower belts on the mountain sides. 
 
 These tribes I shall notice in order. Before, however, pro- 
 ceeding to do so, I may render my account plainer by briefly 
 noticing another people who are located on the same ground, and 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 5 
 
 in constant intercourse with the more innnediate suLjects of our 
 notice, viz., the Yadacas or Badaghas, commonly called Burghers. 
 
 Though generally classed among the hill-tribes, they have, 
 comparatively speaking, but recently come among them, having 
 migrated from the plains l}'ing to the northward of the range, 
 not much more than two hundred years ago. Their history is 
 well known, and there is so little that is new or remarkable 
 about them, that were it not for their intimate connection with 
 the every-day life of the Todas and other liill-triljes, any detailed 
 mention of them would be unnecessary. Although simply 
 Hindoos, their original characteristics and dialect have naturally 
 become somewhat modified in the course of the six or seven 
 generations during which they have inhabited a locality so 
 different to that from which tliey emigrated. 
 
 Tliey are lighter in colour than the Hindoos proper, and also 
 than any of the true hill-tribes, from whom they are besides 
 easily distinguished at a distance on account of their wearing- 
 turbans. They are beardless, slightly Ijuilt, and smooth in limb. 
 
 Several different classes exist among them, the more wealthy 
 owning the only cows and oxen on the hills, as well as herds of 
 buffaloes; many cultivate considerable tracts of grain and other 
 agricidtural produce ; while tlie loAvest grade either work for the 
 others as labourers or hire themselves out to Europeans, being the 
 only people on these hills who do so. 
 
 Their worship is that of Siva, and a separate caste among them, 
 the Lingaits, are the priests. The Lingam is the combination 
 of tlie male and female Phallic s\Tnbol-^ of Siva and Parvati, but 
 
6 ABOllIGINAL TRIBES OF THE XILGIPJ HILLS. 
 
 this religion is free from the impurities that accompany the usual 
 forms of Hindoo Phallism, and is stern and severe. Every 
 Vadaca village has its Lingam, which, if not actually worshipped 
 by all, is held in universal reverence. The mass of the people 
 appear to believe in Eangasawmie and other minor deities. 
 These gods occupy thatched temples of sun-baked mud, and in 
 front of each is a roughly-hewn flat stone or altar for the recep- 
 tion of the offerings of the devout. 
 
 I found in a solitary part of the hills near Hoolicul, half- 
 hidden in lemon-grass nearly its own height, a temple of more 
 interest, dedicated to Hetti. It consisted of two parts, the temple 
 itself being a small thatched clay case like a large beehive, 
 standing on a platform raised five or six feet from the ground. 
 This contained, as I was told, portions of the clothing of a de- 
 ceased Vadaca of wealth and of his widow, who had undergone the 
 suttee with his corpse. Sutteeism, it may be observed, formerly 
 prevailed among these people, even after their arrival on the 
 hills, though now for some generations discontinued. Opposite 
 to, and a few paces from, this small memorial temple stood half- 
 a-dozen spear-headed stakes placed in two rows, and connected 
 by an ornamented transverse bar, having a seventh point, and 
 hung with grass cords. The sketch will convey a better idea of 
 it. These simple erections, from their perishable nature, and 
 from the custom which they commemorate, having become obso- 
 lete, are now rarely met with on the hills. 
 
 The Vadaca funeral rites are at the present day so far modified 
 as regards the suttee that the widow merely pretends to rush 
 
ABOEIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 7 
 
 towards the blazing pile to sacrifice herself with her husband's 
 dead body, and is pulled back by her friends, who throw her 
 robe on the funeral pyre instead, and she herself commences a 
 new lease of life with new clothing. 
 
 The villages of the Vadacas very much resemble those of the 
 Hindoos of the plains, and are more numerous and of greater 
 size than any others on the hills, frequently containing from 
 thirty to forty houses. The number of the tribe is computed to 
 be between eight and nine thousand, or fifteen to one, as com- 
 pared with the Todas. 
 
 All the Vadacas may be considered as feudal vassals of the 
 latter, by whose permission they remained on their first arrival, 
 in certain appointed districts, for the occupation of which they 
 pay tribute in grain — a certain fixed percentage on theu' crops. 
 They pay great deference to the Todas, and never pass them 
 without salaaming. Being a most industrious agricultural people, 
 they have largely increased in wealth, and are prosperous and 
 thriving. They are, nevertheless, besides being totally illiterate, 
 superstitious and timid to an extraordinary degree, and to this 
 cause may in part be attributed their continued subjection to the 
 mere handful of men which the Todas really are. 
 
 The Todas, though by no means the most numerous, are, from 
 an anthropological point of \iew, the most important and most 
 interesting, being, doubtless, also by far the most ancient of the 
 tribes of the Nilgiris. To them, therefore, the greater part of my 
 observations will be devoted. 
 
 Totally distinct in aspect, mould, and bearing from any of the 
 
8 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 
 
 various races of tlie low country, and as markedly difterent from 
 the rest of tlie tribes innnediately around them, their exceptional 
 and striking appearance at once arrests the eye of the most un- 
 observant. 
 
 The men are large in frame, tall and remarkal)ly well-propor- 
 tioned, with muscular, massive, and very hairy limbs and broad 
 chests ; a physique totally opposite in every respect to that of 
 the dwellers in the plains. Their countenances are manly, open, 
 and handsome, the features being unusually regular. They have 
 luxuriant black beards, and, wearing no turban or covering on 
 the head, display to full advantage their clustering bushy hair, 
 the European look of which is increased by their practice of 
 wearing it parted down the centre. In colour they are nearer 
 bro^^^l than black ; their lips are full rather than large, and their 
 cheek-bones marked but not high. The eyes are large and intel- 
 ligent, and the nose is elevated and arched. It is doubtless this 
 combination of the distinguishing features of the white race, with 
 an almost black complexion that gives them in part their peculiar 
 aspect. Many of them have a very Jewish expression, but the 
 general contour of the head and cast of countenance are rather 
 such as we are accustomed to associate with the ancient Eomans. 
 This similitude is also enhanced by their stately carriage and 
 flowing robe, the loose folds of wliich give them an appearance 
 best described by the term classic. This garment, in which the 
 Toda envelopes himself, is of a thick coarse cotton cloth of native 
 manufacture, white when clean, and having a red stripe or border. 
 It is hung over the left shoulder, brought across the back and 
 
ADOUIGIXAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIHI HILLS. 9 
 
 forward under tlie right arm, the point being flung backwards 
 over the left shoulder again, leaving the right arm at lil)erty, and 
 allowing the folds to fall gracefully al)o\it the lo\\-er part of the 
 person down to the knees. When herding their buffaloes, the 
 men carry a tlim straight rod or wand, about six feet in length, 
 and this is the only approach to implement or weapon that they 
 ever use. 
 
 The women are much lighter in hue than the men, the Ijody 
 being of a cafe-au-lait tint, and the face a shade darker. They 
 are as a rule very pleasing in expression, and the young women, 
 from fifteen to twenty, generally exceedingly good-looking. They 
 are above the middle height, large in frame and well developed, 
 though the hands and feet are very small. Their features are 
 reo'ular, the mouth not large, lips often thin, and the teeth even and 
 beautifully white ; the nose is straight, whilst the eyes are dark 
 and expressible. The most striking peculiarity about them is the 
 arrangement of their fine glossy black hair, which is dressed in 
 ringlets precisely such as ladies in this country wore about 
 twenty or five-and-twenty years ago. On the top of the head 
 the hair is smoothed and parted with the greatest care, and the 
 lono- rinolets hang on either side of the oval face with a neatness 
 and regularity strangely at variance with their apparently rough 
 mode of life ; the hair in both sexes is anointed with ghee, as is 
 also the skin. The female dress on ordinary occasions consists 
 simply of a single robe similar to that of the men, though it is 
 worn differently, being merely thrown over both shoulders and 
 clasped in front l^y the hand. This, as one very soon learns, 
 
10 AHOKIGIXAL TIUBES 0¥ THE XILGli;! HILLS. 
 
 generally constitutes the sole garment of the wearer, for the Toda 
 women have a habit, even in the presence of strangers, of throwing 
 open the mantle to the full extent of both arms for the purpose 
 of readjusting it on the shoulders. Some of them indeed hardly 
 take the trouble to hold it together in front at all, and this was 
 especially the case at a mund, near Coonoor, which, as I was 
 quartered in the immediate vicinity, I had frequently to pass. I 
 used to notice that the men watching their herds on the opposite 
 heights, separated by a wide glen from where I was, would an- 
 nounce my coming by shouting across to the women at home, 
 who were accordingly alM^ays on the qui vivc at the roadside pre- 
 pared to gTcet me with their usual begging cry Enam Kurroo, 
 "give me a present." The way that these men carry on conver- 
 sations with one another across wide intervening valleys, and 
 apparently without effort, reminded me of the Kaffir herdsmen, 
 every word of whose voices I have heard from hill-tops at 
 distances that seemed incredible. 
 
 I have on occasioiis of ceremony seen the women with under- 
 clothing fastened round the middle in addition to the above 
 everyday costume. I may observe that they often embroider the 
 corners of these robes with blue thread, and shew very consider- 
 able taste in the devices. 
 
 Neither slippers nor sandals are ever seen among them, men, 
 women, and children alike, going barefooted. The young children 
 are generally pleasing in their appearance. I noticed that the 
 boys up to eight or ten years old are of the same light colour 
 as the girls, the dark hue of later life being gradually developed 
 
ABOUIGIXAL TlilBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 11 
 
 -with each year's exposure to the sun and mountain air until the 
 age of manliood. It is to be noted, however, of the females that, 
 though equally exposed to climatic influences, their complexions 
 remain nearly the same all through life. 
 
 The lineaments and characteristics of the Telingan race, as 
 described by Pickering, seem to apply to this people in all points 
 save one, but that a very important one, namely, the nature of 
 the hair. According to the above author, the Telingans have 
 "straight fine hair", but, as the hair of the Toda men is clustering, 
 partially curled, and rather inclined to coarseness, the classifica- 
 tion of this tribe under that head seems out of the question. 
 
 The most noticeable of the ornaments, generally valuable and 
 always pleasing to the eye, worn by the Toda women, are their 
 massive and very handsome necklaces of solid gold and silver, 
 which, though of course varpng in size and detail of design, are 
 all of the same typical character, resembling some of the ancient 
 necklaces found in our own country. These ornaments they value 
 very higlily, and regard as heirlooms not to be parted with on 
 any consideration, so that to procure a specimen was a matter of 
 extreme difiiculty. The one now exhibited I managed after much 
 trouble to obtain through the medium of a friendly ]\Iora^'ian 
 missionary, from a female whose interest in dress and ornament 
 was, like herself, somewhat on the wane. Mr. j\letz, the mis- 
 sionary in question, in the course of a residence of many years 
 among these people, had gained their trust and confidence to an 
 almost unlimited extent; nevertheless, it required, in addition to his 
 oral arguments, several successive handfuls of small silver coin, 
 
12 ARORKilXAL TKIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 finally amounting to tliirty-five rupees to induce her to sell it. 
 Even this sum (which was ahout equivalent to £3 : 10 : 0, in 
 shillings and sixpences) the owner consented to accept only on 
 condition that nothing should be said to any of her tribe regard- 
 ing the transaction. This ornament is the work of the Khotas, 
 one of the tribes that will Ije presently described, and its weight 
 is nearly eight ounces of the purest silver. Xearly all the adult 
 women have similar necklaces, many of them being much larger 
 and more massive than the present specimen, and mostly having 
 bunches and rosettes of cowrie shells on blue cords affixed, which 
 hang down the back of the neck. 
 
 Their other ornaments are silver ear-rings and bracelets ; gold, 
 silver, and brass rings on the fingers, a couple of very large brass 
 armlets abo\'e the elbows, and a brass or sometimes silver belt 
 worn round the middle, and next to the skin. The use of the 
 latter I fancy may l)e the suspension of the underclothing when 
 worn. 
 
 The dwelling of the Toda, though in no way very remarkable, 
 differs, nevertheless, from that of any other uncivilised people 
 that I have met with. The Avails are made of roughly planed 
 boards joined with clay ; the sides are not more than three 
 feet high, by about twelve feet long, and the ends are gables about 
 eight feet high, having slightly rounded points. The roof is made 
 of reeds, and thatched with lemon-grass, a tall and very strong- 
 plant attaining a height of six to eight feet, having a strong per- 
 fume of lemon, and growing luxuriantly on the hills. 
 
 The whole structure is verv substantiallv and neatlv built, but 
 
2^ iu. 
 
 SILVER NECKLACE, TODA TRIBE. 
 
ABORIGINAL Tl'JRES OF THE XILOIIII HILLS. i:^) 
 
 there is no cliimney, and the smoke from the fires pours out at 
 the door and exudes from every crevice. The entrance is an 
 opening just sufficient to admit a full-groMii person on hands and 
 knees, and is made to close from witliin. Tliere is in front of tlie 
 dwellings, partly enclosed hy a low wall of loose stones, an open 
 grassy space or court, which, owing to the nomadic hal)its of the 
 Todas, is always of a fresh green. The huts are Iniilt close to- 
 gether on some naturally smooth knoll in clusters of three or four 
 only, and not in villages; these family groups are called ini'iul'i. 
 
 There is always one hut set apart for the reception of milk, and 
 this is placed a little to one side of the other huts, ^^■hich in con- 
 struction it precisely resemhles. It is entirely surrounded hy a 
 low wall, within which no females are permitted to enter on any 
 account, nor are they allowed even to milk the huftaloes ; a cus- 
 tom or rule M'hich I have found existing also among the Kaftirs 
 of Soutli Africa. 
 
 The munds are situated at considerahle distances apart, and 
 their inhahitants migrate periodically from one to another for 
 change of pasture. During the dry season — that is, from the he- 
 ginning of January to the end of April — they are in the hahit of 
 setting fire to the grass, with a view to promoting its hotter growth ; 
 another Kaffii' custom, and one, moreover, the heautiful effect of 
 which at night \\\\\ Ije rememhered hy all who ha^'e ever seen it 
 on so large a scale. 
 
 Before lea^'ing, the Todas close the entrar>ces to their dwellings, 
 hut take no furtlier care regarding them. T found several times 
 in the course of tiie tlnee years that T spent on tho>e hills, various 
 
14 ABORIGINAL TKIBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 
 
 wuiuh siKldouly deserted, and again, after an interval of some tAvo 
 or three months, as suddenly reoccupied. As there was nothing 
 to prevent any curions person from entering these empty huts, 
 I took the liberty of doing so in one or two instances, but always 
 found them totally destitute of either utensils or furniture, and 
 even of fixtures, beyond a raised earthen ledge along the foot of 
 the wall, answering the purpose of a table. They were all mth- 
 out any light, beyond that which could find an entrance through 
 the aperture which does duty as a door. 
 
 The total strength of the Todas at the present day is probalily 
 under eight hundred, of all ages. It is impossible to form an 
 estimate of the original importance and numbers of such a people ; 
 l)ut there are indications of former Toda munds where none now 
 exist, so that the tribe has doubtless been more numerous at some 
 past epoch. 
 
 It is the' Ijoast of the Todas that they are hereditary and 
 original lords of the soil, and owners of the whole of the Nil- 
 giris, a claim fully allowed by the other tribes, as evidenced 
 by their paying tribute for the land, and o^vning a sort of feudal 
 vassalage. Each Toda family has its own tenitorial property, or 
 district, and the Vadacas living on it are, as already stated, simply 
 tenants, paying an annual tax, or rent in kind, for the land they 
 live o]i or cultivate. We also, I believe, acknowledge their title 
 by paying a yearly tax for our occupation. The natural peace- 
 fulness of the Toda tril)e, together with their ignorance of war, 
 make it improbable that their ancestors ever forcibly usurped the 
 territory, and they have doubtless always been regarded by tlie 
 
ABOEIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIltl HILLS. 15 
 
 other tribes as a superior race, entitled to it from immemorial 
 possession and residence. 
 
 Their language affords no clue to their origin, and is as strange 
 and peculiar as themselves. It is deep-toned, harsh, and difficult 
 of pronunciation, and without written character. It is neither 
 spoken nor understood by the other hill- tribes with whom they 
 are in almost daily contact, though one would have imagined 
 that the necessity for communication for purposes of barter or 
 exchange would, in course of time, have caused a mutual know- 
 ledge of their languages ; but it is the Todas only who have ac- 
 quired the means of communication, having just so much know- 
 ledge of the speech of their vassals as is demanded by the most 
 ordinary requirements. The Toda tongue is said to comprise 
 words of Sanskrit and Tamul origin, and to have a certain limited 
 similarity in grammatical structure to the latter language. In 
 all other respects, it differs widely from it or any known tongue 
 either of the vast Indian empire, or of any other country. Eecent 
 research has disproved the formerly accepted theory that the 
 languages of Southern India, viz., Telinga, Carnataca, Tamul, and 
 Malayalim, were corrupt derivatives of Sanskrit, and it is believed 
 that the few Sanskrit words which occur in the Toda tongue have 
 merely been engrafted on it. 
 
 With reference to the Tamul, a partial similarity, or even iden- 
 tity, in the vocabulary of any language might arise simply from 
 lengthened local proximity, and is only considered by philolo- 
 gists as of any value when it occurs in M'liat are suj^posed to l)e 
 the most ancient words ; namely, those which pertain to every- 
 
10 Al'.finiCIXAI, TRIBES OF THK NILCIKI IHLT.S. 
 
 (l;iy life, siicli as no nation, even its most primitive state, could 
 l)e without, and wliieli would he the least likely to he exchanged 
 for foreign words. As to the resemhhmce in grammatical con- 
 struction, which is said to consist in some i)lurals and in the 
 terminations of certain verhs, an oral language so difficult of pro- 
 nunciation will naturally demand a great amount of carefid study 
 and an intimate acquaintance, in order to determine with 
 certainty the value of this affinity. Moreover, supposing it to 1 )e 
 estahlished, it ap])ears to be a question wdiether the Tamul might 
 not owe its root to the aboriginal Toda, instead of vice versa. 
 
 In mental constitution the Toda is intelligent and thouglit- 
 ful ; altliough naturally indolent, capable of being roused to 
 considerable exertion on occasions of necessity ; and, notwith- 
 standing his singularly peaceful disposition, and total want 
 of \veapons, is inherently brave and bold. It has been said 
 that he is too lazy to hunt the wild game, large or small, 
 which abounds on every side ; but it must be remembered 
 that he does not eat flesh. Possessing no implements of agri- 
 culture, lie consequently does not till the ground, but the grain 
 which he uses is supplied l)y his vassals as a qidd pro quo, in 
 which respect he differs little from the wealthy classes in more 
 civilised countries. The very use of grain at all by the Todas is 
 probably an innovation of recent date. That physical courage is 
 not wanting in an aA^crage Toda may be inferred from the bloody 
 funeral customs which, as will be presently descril^ed, prevail in 
 his country. His moral fearlessness of character, with its accom- 
 panying consciousness of power, are felt and acknowledged by all 
 
ABOItlGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIPJ HILLS. 17 
 
 the other tribes, who involuntarily bow to an influence they can 
 neither cope with nor emulate. His contempt of danger is also 
 exhil)ited in his carrying no weapon of defence against the 
 numerous cheetahs, black panthers, bears, Avild dogs, and tigers 
 which haunt the hills, although the latter, as I can testify, fre- 
 quently attack and kill his buffaloes. During my sojourn out 
 there, parties of Todas would often come many miles distance to 
 give us information of these occurrences, both for the sake of the 
 cnam, or present, they got for so doing, as well as to obtain the 
 assistance of a rifle or two, to rid them of their enemy. The 
 practice on these occasions is to repair to the spot where the 
 carcase of the partly-eaten buffalo has been left, and to lie in 
 wait till dark for the tiger, which invariably returns at night to 
 feast on his prey. To show the activity and endurance of these 
 men, I may mention that I have seen them at such times, after 
 liaving walked ten or twelve miles in the heat of the sun, stand 
 talking to one another till our horses were ready, and then, witli- 
 out any sort of refreshment or rest whatever, set out on their re- 
 turn with the greatest alacrity, keeping up with us the whole way. 
 The buffaloes in question are of the kind one sees in Egypt and 
 on tlie plains of India, black-skinned, ungainly animals, sparsely 
 sprinkled with long coarse bristles, and having wide-spreading 
 flattened horns. The herds belonging to the Todas comprise, 
 liowever, very much larger and finer animals than are to be found 
 in tlie low country ; they are, moreover, exceedingly savage when 
 Europeans come near them. I have frequently been charged by 
 a whole herd when on horseback, and obliged to take to a smart 
 
18 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 canter to avoid them. Nevertheless, one may see them any day 
 driven at will l)y little naked Toda urchins. Each mund has an 
 enclosure or pen called a tooel, in which the Ijuffaloes are con- 
 fined at night; it is generally circular in form, and consists of a 
 low wall of loose stones sm-rounding a sunk area withm. As 
 these pens are never cleaned out, the interior becomes in time so 
 much elevated, that the fence has to be heightened by the addi- 
 tion of thorns and cut branches. When the buffaloes come home 
 at evening, the Todas who may be standing near invariably salute 
 them with the greatest gravity and respect. Though they have 
 numerous large herds of these animals, the Todas never kill them 
 for food, keeping them solely for the sake of their milk. There 
 are a certain number of sacred buffaloes belonging to each of their 
 Terrarees, or holy places, and these are never milked, but with 
 their young by their sides, lead a privileged life, the honour being 
 apparently hereditary. Milk is, it may be mentioned, the prin- 
 cipal diet of these people, either in its natural state, or sour, like 
 that used by the natives of South Africa. All vegetable food, 
 except the wild fruits which they gather themselves, such as 
 yellow blackberries, wild plums, the hUl-gooseberry,* or cherry, as 
 some call it, is obtained from theVadacas,as already explained. This 
 consists generally of green pulse, barley, millet, and other seeds, 
 which it is the women's duty to winnow and grind, performing 
 the latter operation between two roughly formed circular stones, 
 
 * Physalis edulis, a plant about twelve to eighteen inches high, bearing 
 bladder-like pods, enclosing a round yellow frait, about the size of a common 
 gooseberry, of a very agreeable subacid flavour. 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 19 
 
 the lower one fixed, and the upper revohdng on it, similar 
 to the ancient qnerns of Great Britain. It is singular that, 
 though so attached to their buftaloes, the Todas keep no other 
 domestic animal, not even the ubiquitous dog, the companion of 
 man in every quarter of the globe from the polar regions to the 
 equator. I never once saw or heard of a dog in any of their 
 mu7icls. This peculiarity, hj the way, was specially remarked as 
 a distinguishing trait in the history of the people of the Euro- 
 pean Drift period ; and the dislike, and even abhorrence, evinced 
 toM'ards tliat animal by tlie ancient Jews is well known. 
 
 I should have mentioned that the Toda tribe is divided into 
 two classes — tlie sacred, and what may be called for w^ant of a 
 better term the lay. The latter and more numerous class are 
 called Klwotas, whilst the former are known as the Terrallees. 
 These appear to stand in regard to the rest of the community 
 somewhat as did the Levites of old to the childi-en of Israel, as 
 it is from among them alone that the priests can be elected. No 
 marriage can by Toda law take place between these two classes, 
 though it is now sometimes evaded, and the l^reach wdnked at. 
 ]Moreover, a priest, so long as he holds that office, cannot marry, 
 and must keep aloof from all others, excepting those who, like 
 himself, are invested VN'itli the sacred character. In order to 
 qualify for this, however, he has to undergo certain initiatory 
 ceremonies and trials, such as long fasting, sleeping in the forest, 
 naked and alone, for several nights in succession; the danger fi'om 
 wild beasts, and the endurance of the chiU night-air of these 
 elevated regions, being deemed sufficiently severe tests of his 
 
 c2 
 
20 ABoPxIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 fitness for the office. When fully appointed, the chief priests 
 are distinguished by a different dress from their confreres. The 
 subordinate priests, or coadjutors, whose native title, like the 
 others, I cannot recal, undergo a shorter and less severe period 
 of initiation. Both are often dairymen, an office of great honour 
 and importance ; but a Klioota is equally eligible, pro^dded he 
 goes through certain preparatory rites in order to purify himself 
 for it. The especial duties of the priests are to tend the sacred 
 herds just mentioned ; to conduct the periodical sacrifice of a 
 calf to invoke fruitfulness among their herds ; to present the 
 daily offering of milk at their temples ; and to superintend the 
 funeral rites. Of actual or of assembled worship, they have none, 
 so far as I could discover, though, individually, they offer up 
 occasional prayers to an Invisible Being for recovery or preserva- 
 tion from sickness. 
 
 Their temples differ but little in appearance from the ordinary 
 huts. One of them, standing in a pretty little glen, near the 
 road between Jakatalla and Coonoor, I made an examination of 
 at a time when the mund, about half a mile off, to which it be- 
 longed was deserted by its inhabitants. Creeping in on all 
 fours, I discovered, as well as the darkness permitted, that it 
 contained notliing whatever but a square metal bell and a shape- 
 less black stone, about twice the size of a man's head, the latter 
 placed alone on the floor at the end furthest from the entrance. 
 Being unwilling to bring this out to the light, I could not 
 ascertain whether its colour was natural or artificial. The size 
 precluded the notion of its being an aerolite, although it is well 
 
ABOEIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 21 
 
 known that meteoric stones have been, in the early history of 
 many countries, regarded with religious awe. To this temple, I 
 had often previously seen the priest from the neighbouring mund 
 bring, in the early morning, a vessel of new milk ; but whether 
 the offering was poured out, as some say it is, as a libation, or 
 merely presented and taken away again, I had no means of 
 ascertaining without the risk of giving annoyance. 
 
 It will be borne in mind that black stones have, from the 
 earliest times, been objects of reverence or actual adoration from 
 east to west ; as, for instance, in Mecca, also among the ancient 
 Eomans, and even in the western islands of Scotland, where, 
 moreover, milk was offered to tliem. Bells, too, have been, in 
 past ages, regarded with veneration, and as having mysterious 
 powers over demons and evil spirits, not only by various Eastern 
 races and castes, but in ancient Britain. 
 
 The Todas believe in the existence of an invisible and 
 supreme Spirit, and in a future state, though tliis they seem to 
 regard as one of a somewhat mundane character, inasmuch as 
 buffaloes and abundance of milk are to be the portion of the 
 faithful. They also pay reverence to, though they do not wor- 
 ship, inferior objects, such as hills and forests and the rising sun, 
 precisely as did the ancient Celts. In connection with the ador- 
 ation of light, they also make an obeisance to their evening 
 lamps on lighting them. The observance of this custom in 
 Europe is mentioned by Edward Spencer, wdio, writing in 1596' 
 states that, " at the kindling of fire and lighting of candles, the 
 Scots and Irish use superstitious rites."* 
 
 * Earhj Races of Scotland. 
 
22 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 The ]5resence in their temples of large stones, which have, by 
 superficial observers, been regarded as gods, has led to the belief 
 that these people are idolaters ; but this is certainly not the 
 case. There is no doubt that the shapeless symbols are merely 
 representatives of an unseen power, and not in tliemselves actual 
 objects of worship ; though with other races, preserving less 
 strictly tlieir primitive character, this original use has degene- 
 rated into idolatry. The fact, therefore, that this tribe has so 
 preserved to the present day, in the midst of a heathen country, 
 the primary object and intention of such symbols, is one worthy 
 of notice ; and leads to the supposition that the Todas may be 
 equally unchanged in all other respects since the earliest days of 
 their corporate existence as a people. 
 
 It would be a most interesting point to determine satisfac- 
 torily whether or not the early progenitors of the Todas were 
 the erectors of the numerous Druidical circles and remains 
 found on their hills, and which crown tlie summit of almost 
 every peak throughout the Nilgiri range. Several of the crom- 
 lechs have, rather against the wishes of the hill-tribes, been 
 examined at different times, and found to contain urns of clay 
 fiQed with black earth, charred fragments of human bones, and 
 roughly made clay figures of buffaloes, and in some instances 
 beUs ; the whole lying under large flat stones within the circle. 
 It is to be noted, too, that these urns, as well as the bells, 
 very closely resemble those that have been found in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Within the last few months, " a set of iron implements" has 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE XILGIRI HILLS. 23 
 
 been found in a cromlech on the southern side of the Nilgiri 
 range. The description given of them is as yet so vague that it 
 is impossible to judge of their exact character; but I believe 
 that they resemltle the bill-hook and sword or dagger form. 
 
 1 found cairns and other remains in the straths running up 
 between the higher summits — on which, as before stated, they are 
 more usually found — as stone altars, surrounded by a ring of 
 smaller stones, and mounds of earth enclosed by circular walls. 
 
 The circles are evidently regarded with veneration by the 
 Todas, as well as by the Vadacas; but it is difficult to elicit 
 information concerning them. Though the former tribe neitber 
 use sepulchral lu'ns nor erect monuments at the present day, they 
 invariably burn the remains of their dead within a circle of 
 stones, and afterwards bury them there, as will be hereafter de- 
 scribed ; while the presence of the buftalo images, and the simi- 
 larity in make and texture of the ancient urns to the modern 
 pottery of their workpeople, the Khotas, seem to indicate some 
 connection between the Todas of past days and the remains in 
 question. 
 
 The Todas are especially remarkable for the practice of poly- 
 andry, a custom which exists among but few tribes, as, for 
 instance, in parts of Thibet and of the Himalayas, among 
 the Xayrs of Malabar, and one or two other races only. A 
 Toda woman often has three or four husbands, who are all 
 brothers, and with each of whom she cohabits a month at a 
 time. What is more singular, such young men as, by the paucity 
 of women anions the tribe, are prevented from obtaining a share 
 
24 ABORKilNAL TRIBES OF THE XILGIRI IllLLS. 
 
 in a wife, are allowed, with the permission of the fraternal luis- 
 bancls, to become temporary partners with them. 
 
 Notwithstanding these singular family arrangements, the 
 greatest harmony appears to prevail among all parties — hus- 
 bands, wives, and lovers. The children live happily with their 
 putative parents, equally well treated on every side, and as 
 common to all alike, though, I believe, if any special reason 
 demands it, the senior husband can claim the elder children. 
 
 The betrothal to the first husband commences at a very early 
 age ; and all subsequent brothers of the bridegroom-elect be- 
 come from their birth bound to the common prospective wife. 
 The compact, as regards the first pair, is conducted by their 
 respective male parents ; the father of the bridegroom in esse 
 presenting a buffalo and a new robe to the other, the acceptance 
 of which is understood to ratify the agreement. When, in due 
 course of time, the marriage takes place, the bride, who is prob- 
 ably about fifteen or sixteen years of age, receives from her father 
 a dowry of several buffaloes, together with necklaces, armlets, and 
 ear-rings. The ceremony is generally celebrated by a dance, 
 which, though not of a very exciting description, seems to afford 
 sufficient satisfaction to these cheerful, good-natured people. It 
 consists of stamping on each foot alternately, the body being 
 jerked half round at one step, and back again at the next, to the 
 time of a very monotonous song. 
 
 When about to become a mother, in place of receiving every 
 comfort and consideration, the Toda woman is sent out, or, what 
 amounts to the same thing, is by custom expected to go out into 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 25 
 
 the forest, and there remain alone, protected only in case of 
 stormy weather by the shelter of the bushes. After the child is 
 born, it is not allowed to be seen by anyone but its parents for 
 some weeks, at the end of which time it is duly named and pre- 
 sented in public. 
 
 It is a fact worth noticing that, notwithstanding the scarcity 
 of w^omen (said to be owing to the practice of female infanti- 
 cide which prevailed till within a very fcAv years ago), the Todas 
 never contract marriages with the other tribes, though living 
 together on most friendly terms. That there never has been any 
 mixture of the races, is sufficiently evident from the strongly 
 marked distinctions that continue to exist between theuL 
 
 It is not less singular, on the other hand, that, in spite of the 
 system of intermarriage which has thus prevailed among the Todas 
 for many generations, or it may be ages, there should not only 
 be no sign of physical deterioration, but that both sexes should 
 be so remarkable for their stature, x-)leasing exterior, and noble 
 bearing. This would seem to confirm the theory that the marriage 
 of relations, however closely connected, would, in cases of mutual 
 faultless constitution and physical torm, result in these excel- 
 lences of the parents being transmitted, just as in the opposite 
 case physical and mental defects common to both are transmitted, 
 and even augmented. 
 
 When a death occurs among the Todas, the corpse, covered 
 over with certain aromatic herbs, is left in the hut either till 
 distant friends are summoned, or until the occurrence of a propi- 
 tious day for the burial ; these people being firm believers in 
 
26 ABOKIGINAL TRIBP:S OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 
 
 lucky and unlucky days. Each night and morning of the in- 
 terval between the death and the funeral, a lament or coronach 
 is sung over the body by the family and relatives of the deceased. 
 In this they are often joined by passing friends, or by those who 
 have come for the purpose of tlius testifying their respect for the 
 dead, and spnpathy with the survivors — a trait in the character 
 of this people exhibited in many other ways, and more remark- 
 ably than with even many civilised nations. 
 
 The day of a death is observed by the immediate relatives, as 
 it was among the ancient Jews, as a solemn fast. Tlieir neck- 
 laces and ear-rings are also taken off, and the hair is cut short, 
 as a sign of grief and mourning. Both sexes are obliged to 
 conform to this custom on the death of a near male relation, 
 though when a female dies the men do not do so. The sacred 
 class, or Terralees, are exempt in either case. 
 
 On an appointed day, the relatives from a distance having duly 
 arrived in obedience to the summons, the body covered over with 
 a mantle, but having the face exposed, is carried in procession on 
 a sort of bier to the Tcrraree, or sacred ground belonging to the 
 family, and, under the superintendence of the high priest at- 
 tached thereto, assisted by his subordinate, is burned with certain 
 solemnities and much wailing ; the relatives, prior to the corpse 
 being placed on the funeral pile, cutting off a few locks from the 
 head. 
 
 The above are, however, only the preliminary honours paid to 
 the dead, the principal rites being deferred to a subsequent period, 
 wliicli may be a few weeks, or as many months later. 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE XILGIRI HILLS. 27 
 
 "With a view to the coming rites, portions of the deceased's 
 ashes are saved from the pyre, and, together with the locks of 
 hair, his ear-rings and other ornaments, are carefully folded in his 
 own mantle, and laid by until the proper time arrives. 
 
 The concluding ceremonies are, perhaps, the most singular 
 and interesting of all the Toda customs, and I was fortunate in 
 having an unusually favourable opportunity of witnessing them. 
 For, familiar as some of their practices have latterly become in 
 the neighboiu'hood of our new Hill-stations, their funeral obse- 
 quies are only celelirated in the more remote parts of the moun- 
 tains, and are consequently seldom seen by any European. 
 Indeed, I do not know that the presence of Captain J. and 
 myself would have been tolerated on the occasion to which I 
 refer, had we not been accompanied, or rather introduced, by the 
 Mora"\dan ■ missionary, Mr. Metz, whom I have already men- 
 tioned as being so much esteemed by the tribe. 
 
 Our ride to Kapilla, the scene of these interesting rites, lay for 
 some miles over a fine open undulating table-land dotted with 
 enormous rhododendrons, which were loaded witli clusters of 
 dark crimson ilo'^'ers. Gradually ^ve got into higher ground, now 
 pressing our hill-ponies up steep acclivities, now skirting the 
 edge of great forest belts stretching downwards for many a mile 
 into the sultry valleys at our feet, till, guided by the appearance 
 of a few distant natives wending their way towards an isolated 
 wood on one of the surrounding mist-covered peaks, we at length 
 came within hearing of the shrill and very peculiar sound of 
 Khota hautboys. 
 
28 ABOIUGINAL TKIBES OF THE NILGIIU HILLS. 
 
 Leaving our ponies, we entered a deep shadowy wood of moss- 
 grown trees, whose gnarled and twisted stems and branches were 
 also completely covered overhead and down to the ground with 
 ferns, orchids, long pendent tufts of grey lichen, and parasitical 
 plants, one with dark glossy leaves and an orange flower being 
 especially beautiful. 
 
 In an open space, near the centre of this shady grove, and lit 
 up by the bright rays of the midday sun, was a surging crowd of 
 white-robed Todas, and half-naked Khotas with wild and excited 
 looks, whose unmusical pipes drowned all other sounds. Outside 
 the wood, on an open green space, stood a Toda temple, having its 
 gable-ends of polished wood thickly studded over with silver 
 coins of various sizes, fixed in perpendicular rows on each 
 alternate plank. Near at hand was a small temporary shed, or 
 ridge-shaped tent, made of pieces of native cloth, whilst at a little 
 distance off was a large circular toocl, or cattle kraal, with a wall 
 both higher and thicker and altogether much more substantial than 
 usual. It was constructed of stones and sun-baked clay, the 
 entrance being barred with stout poles. 
 
 Within this enclosure stood ten splendid buffaloes, their clean 
 bright skins and polished horns indicating that some pains had 
 been taken to improve their naturally fine appearance. 
 
 Crowds of women and children stood or sat about the temple, 
 in which a party of the former had just placed the deceased's 
 robe and ornaments, together with two bags containing his ashes. 
 With the exception of the younger children, who were naked, 
 the whole were clad in clean, white, soft-looking mantles, and 
 
ABOlilOINAL TKIRES OF THE XILGIRI HILLS. 29 
 
 wore ear-rings and necklaces of gold and silver. A plaintive 
 monotonous wail was sustained while eacli man arriving passed 
 before and bowed toward.s the dead man's ashes. 
 
 All the males, except one or two grey-headed old patriarchs 
 who sat with great dignity a little aside, now danced together in 
 a circle holding hands, the Khota musicians accompanying them 
 with tom-toms and pipes. 
 
 When this was concluded half-a-dozen yoimg men, evidently 
 selected for their strength and activity, came forward, each 
 carrying a long heavy club made of dark wood and pointed at 
 the thicker end. Having thro\\Ti off the usual mantle, they stood 
 in a kind of kilt of thick Avhite cloth, having a red border round 
 the lower edge, or skirt, the upper part of their bodies, as well 
 as the legs, being bare. In this picturesque and most becoming 
 costume they looked exceedingly handsome fellows, models as 
 they were of muscular symmetry. At once advancing towards 
 the cattle enclosure, with all the women and children running 
 after them in the gTcatest excitement, these combatants leaped 
 in among the buffaloes, the crowd instantly closing round and 
 completely covering the wall, each endeavouring to get as good a 
 view as possible of the coming spectacle. 
 
 The liuifaloes were, as may be supposed, alarmed by these 
 unusual proceedings, and their alarm became all the greater 
 when the clubmen dancing vdldly in their midst commenced 
 striking them -with their clubs. When their panic was at its 
 height the men, watching their opport-unity, sprang two together 
 on the necks of three of the largest animals simidtaneously, 
 
30 ABORIGINAL THIBES OF THE NILOIRI HILLS. 
 
 seizing them by the horns and nostrils and endeavouring to bear 
 them to the ground, and affix a collar and bell round their necks. 
 Tliis bell is of the kind usually worn l)y one or more animals in 
 every herd when grazing, and is of the ancient four-sided form, 
 made of n. single plate of metal and roughly riveted. 
 
 Marvellous was the agility displayed by these gladiators, as 
 we may term them, in avoiding the savage thrusts of the huge 
 sharp-pointed horns and in getting in behind them on to the 
 anunal's neck, wrestling in desperate strife as they were borne 
 here and there among the trampling feet, now dashed against the 
 wall, now on the ground. 
 
 To escape unhurt in such a combat was impossible, and it was 
 not long before we saw one of the men receive a dangerous 
 wound in the neck from the thrust of a horn, wdiich ripped open 
 a wide gash from the collar-bone to the ear. He at once became 
 an object of the greatest solicitude among the women, and was 
 led away as a hero to the small tent, where he received every 
 care and attention at their gentle hands. 
 
 As, one after another, fresh animals w^ere attacked and borne to 
 the ground with terrific struggles, those already belled and 
 liberated turned on the common enemy, angrily tossing their 
 formidable horns and butting so savagely that, had it not been 
 for the extreme quickness and coolness of these men, some of 
 them must have been killed. Their clubs now swung round and 
 aloft witli greater rapidity, and the heavy blows fell thicker and 
 faster, the loud shouts and excited gestures of the male spectators, 
 the exiilting Han, hair of llie combatants, the terror and occa- 
 
ABOKIGIXAL TRIBES OF THE XILGIPJ HILLS. 31 
 
 sional shrieks of the women, the stampiiig and rusliing in the 
 arena, the bellowing of the buffaloes, w-hose nostrils were covered 
 with blood and foam, and the circling clouds of dust half-hiding 
 the writhing mass, formed a whole more easily pictured in the 
 mind than in words. A bag of the deceased's ashes was now 
 laid at the entrance to the kraal, and the high priest, taking a 
 handful or two of earth, threw some of it on the ashes, and 
 some into the kraal amongst the buffaloes. One of these lay- 
 dead in the enclosure, and the rest were one by one led, or 
 ratlier dragged out to their final doom, struggling \dolently, and 
 plunging right and left m yain endea\'om-s to escape from their 
 bra"^Tiy captors, who again clung to their necks. Forced up to a 
 post fixed in the ground, at the foot of which lay the robe, orna- 
 ments, and ashes brought from the temple, the battered, bleeding 
 animals were at length despatched there by the high priest's 
 sacrificial axe as an offering to the dead. 
 
 Though the women had beheld with interest and excitement 
 the torture of these unfortunate brutes, they now exhibited the 
 greatest gTief at their death, sitting and kneeling round the car- 
 cases with clasped hands and streaming eyes, addressing them 
 in the most affectionate terms, as " Are you happy ?" "Is it well 
 with you ?" 
 
 The mourners, male and female, next drew near to each other 
 in couples, the man putting out first the right foot and then the 
 left towards the woman he approached, who, dropping on one 
 knee, touched it with her forehead. Both parties then seated 
 themselves on the gTound close to and facing eacli otlier, and 
 
32 ABORICINAL TltlRES OF T1[E NTLOIRI HILLS. . 
 
 bringing their foreheads together remained in that attitude, with 
 their hands placed either on each other's knees or shouklers, the 
 woman weeping alo^^d, and having her mantle drawn closely over 
 the head. In a few minutes the man would rise, and with a 
 plaintive ejaculation, go to another to perform again the same 
 ceremony, invariably offering first his foot, wliich was always 
 saluted with tlie forehead. 
 
 All this weeping and wailing, divided as it was between the 
 buffaloes and the dead man, had a most striking effect. So un- 
 feigned did their grief appear that I could not but feel that our 
 presence was an intrusion. This scene continued until the 
 mourners, who formed only a portion of those present, had all 
 gone through the ceremony one with the other, wlien the priest, 
 standing by the deceased's ashes and robe, laid on them a handful 
 of what appeared to me, as far as I could see, to be some kind of 
 seed or grain, and then, accompanied by the under priest, bore it 
 back again with great reverence to the temple, the crowd falling 
 back to permit the passage of the priests and their charge. 
 
 With this seemed to terminate the first part of the obsequies, 
 and a sudden change came over the whole scene. The dead 
 buffaloes were removed by noisy parties of Khotas, who had 
 either bought them, or earned them by their services just con- 
 cluded ; and the crowd of Todas again assumed their every-day 
 deportment, as they prepared for a general meal or feast. 
 
 We found that the rites w^ould not be resumed till dark, wdien 
 the robe and ornaments were to be Tjurned ; l)ut, as we had no 
 shelter to go to for tlie intervening seven hours, and no food for 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 3'S 
 
 either ourselves or our ponies, which were, moreover, shivering 
 from the cold of this elevated position, we were obliged to forego 
 the gratification of witnessing the conclusion, but were shown 
 the spot where it was to take place. This was within a circle of 
 stones, exhibitmg signs of many former burnings, and occupying 
 a retired situation at the edge of the grove. 
 
 In the centre of this ring, on a pile of dry wood, the priests 
 place the mantle, bags of ashes, ornaments, and wand of the 
 deceased, together with gourds and grass baskets of grain, for his 
 sustenance in the other world, and the whole are ignited as the 
 mourners stand round, the women with their heads still covered 
 by the mantle, and the men joining in a monotonous cry of heh- 
 hey, heh-hah. Every vestige of the remains is on this occasion 
 destroyed by fire, and the metal ornaments having been carefully 
 searched for, the ashes are buried under a large flat stone in the 
 centre of the circle. This done, the ornaments are taken home by 
 the family with every sign of respect and affection for the lost one. 
 
 Tlie Khotas. — Next to the Todas in point of interest, and 
 probably also in antiquity of race, as well as of settlement on the 
 Hills, stand the Khotas, though the two races have nothing in 
 common either as regards physical development, countenance, 
 usages, or dwellings. 
 
 A party of Kliotas seated, as I have often seen them, in the 
 evening, outside their dingy huts, presents an exceedingly ^vild and 
 weird appearance. Thin and spare in form, and very black, the 
 men wear only a dirty cloth round the loins, and the uncomely 
 women the common Avrapper of the country. The bare heads of 
 
 D 
 
34 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 both sexes are shaggy, with matted locks of dusty hair, sometimes 
 tied in a knot behind, and invariably uncombed from the day of 
 their birth. This hair is different in nature from that of the Toda, 
 and could it by any possibility be disentangled would be found 
 naturally long and straight, instead of curly and clustering ; the 
 bushy beard is also absent, and every feature is of an opposite 
 character to those of the tribe with which they are so closely in 
 contact ; the countenance being entnely destitute of that intelli- 
 gent and pleasing expression so noticeable in the other. 
 
 Dirty in their dwellings and persons, they are also unclean 
 feeders, devouring dead cattle, putrid flesh, birds of prey, or 
 vermin, -with as much apparent relish as fresh buffalo-meat, for 
 which, unlike the Todas, they have a great predilection. I have 
 myself seen a Khota carry home for food a dead rat thrown out 
 of the stable a day or two previously by my glioravMllali. Prac- 
 tising such habits, it is not to be wondered at that the Todas con- 
 sider them an unclean people. 
 
 On the other hand, they are a peaceful and industrious race, 
 ingenious artisans, and indispensable to the other tribes, for whom 
 they manufacture gold and silver ornaments, pottery, agricultural 
 implements, wood-work, and baskets, besides acting, as already 
 described, in the capacity of musicians at the funeral and other 
 ceremonies of their less skilled neighbours. For these varied 
 ser\4ces they receive payment from the Todas in coin or buffaloes, 
 and from the Vadacas in grain and other produce. It is to be 
 observed though, that they do not, like the latter, hire themselves 
 out as labourers, but preserve a certain independence, entirely 
 
ABOKIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 35 
 
 confining their meclianical labours to the supply of their own 
 wants and those of these two tribes ; I never saw a Kliota 
 labouring either for a European, or on the public works, which 
 at Jakatalla gave emplo}Tnent to so many of the neighbouring 
 Yadacas. 
 
 Though their pottery (made exclusively by the women) is of a 
 coarse and inferior quality, many of their gold and silver orna- 
 ments are, as will be seen by an examination of the necklace 
 before noticed, artistic in conception, and exceedingly well 
 executed. Its solid beads on either side are alternate polygonal 
 cubes, and double rings of pellets, and are evidently cast in a 
 mould; the centre ornament is an oval of more elaborate design, 
 and is of beaten silver. One of their chief musical instruments is 
 the pipe, also before mentioned as being used at the Toda funerals, 
 and of this I managed to obtain the specimen exliibited. It is a 
 sort of hautboy, being played by means of a reed, and ha^-ing a 
 bell-mouth, which is remarkably well made out of a solid piece 
 of hard wood. I cannot, however, say much in favour of the 
 iausical properties of this instrument, the tones of which are loud 
 and harsh, and bear an inferior resemblance to those of the 
 Highland bagpipes. 
 
 It is probable that the Khotas have been as long resident on 
 the Hills as the Todas, to whom they were doubtless originally, 
 as at the present time, inferior, both physically and in general 
 condition. Their ability as artisans is as much the result of 
 manual dexterity as of intelligence, in which they are by no 
 means superior to the Todas. 
 
 2 D 
 
36 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 As there were in the days of Adam, pastoral tribes and 
 mechanical ("such as have cattle," as well as "artificers in brass 
 and iron"), each following their own special occupation, so these 
 two tribes may have held their present position with regard to 
 one another through successive ages to the present time. 
 
 The Khota tongue is said, by those who have examined it 
 critically, to be in its root and origin allied to that of the Todas, 
 though, as far as mere sound goes, which is the only experience 
 of it that I possess, they are very unlike ; nor do the two tribes 
 understand one another. 
 
 In place of the deep pectoral and sonorous tones of the Toda, 
 who always speaks with dignity and deliberation, the Khota has 
 a rapid utterance with a somewhat nasal twang. The simLlarity 
 that really exists in the formation of some words is, however, 
 worthy of careful notice. 
 
 Though occupied chiefly as artisans, the Khotas, like their 
 neighbours, keep up herds of buffaloes, and moreover, cultivate 
 the ground to some extent, producing fair crops of grain, millet, 
 garlic, mustard, poppy, pulse of several kinds, and what at first 
 much surprised me, of om- well-known garden flower called 
 "prince's-feather."* The mustard is not used by them as far as 
 I could learn, but is grown as an article of exchange, or barter 
 with the low-country people ; but the poppy is largely consumed 
 among themselves, in the form of opium. Each family has a 
 larger or smaller patch of land, not generally close to its dwelling, 
 but in any suitable spot on the neighbouring verdant slopes. The 
 
 * Amaranthus tristis. 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 37 
 
 effect thus produced is often very beautiful : at one season sheets 
 of scarlet poppy set in green, at another, of yellow-flowered 
 mustard, alternating with brilliant ridges of crimson amaranthus, 
 suggest rather the idea of ornamental "ribbon border" gardens of 
 native design than practical farming. The prince's-feather is 
 grown for its seed, which is called keerie; mixed with the flour of 
 other grain, it is much used as food in the shape of porridge. 
 
 As is very generally the case among imcivilised tribes, a great 
 proportion of the field work is performed by the women, whose, 
 in this instance, not very pleasing form and features are by no 
 means improved thereby. In addition to daily household duties, 
 it is also their business to thrash out and winnow the grain, 
 which latter operation they perform just outside their huts 
 seated on a clean grass mat. Raising the corn or seed in baskets 
 to the full upward extent of the arms, they pour it out so that 
 the Mind shall carry the chaff to one side. Afterwards the 
 grain is parched a light bro\\Ti colour, and finally ground between 
 two stones, the meal being most ordinarily used in the form 
 of porridge, as above stated. Every hut has in front a threshing- 
 floor made of sun-baked and evenly smoothed clay, and this is 
 also a favourite place of resort in the evening. 
 
 Though, like the Todas, they have numerous buffaloes, these 
 keep them for an entirely opposite purpose; for, whereas the 
 others feed them solely for the sake of their milk, and never use 
 them for food, the Khotas do not milk them at all, but kill them 
 as required, for the sake of their flesh only. It has been stated 
 that they make no use whatever of their buffaloes, neither 
 
38 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 slaughtering them nor milking them, but this is an error. They 
 use a good deal of the meat, more or less fresh, and are also in 
 the habit of drying strips of it in the sun for future use, like the 
 biltong of the South Africans. 
 
 The Khotas number at the present time probably about two 
 thousand souls. One of their largest villages is that at Khotagiri, 
 close to which I took up my abode for several weeks, on two 
 different occasions. Though, as has been seen, the Toda 7iiunds 
 never comprise more than four or five huts, the Khota villages 
 cover some extent of ground, and the dwellings are of a totally 
 different character to the others, in form as well as material. 
 These are simply rough square-built cabins, with ridge roofs, 
 thatched with grass, the walls being a mixture of clay and 
 buffalo dung plastered over a framework of wattle and posts. 
 
 In each village are separate temples for the men and women, 
 the larger, intended for the male sex, being dedicated to an 
 imaginary deity, and the other to an equally mythological goddess. 
 These temples, if they can be so called, are built similarly to the 
 huts, except that they have the upper part of the gable-ends 
 open, and the chief temple, which is double the size of an or- 
 dinary dwelling, is distinguished by several tall poles projecting 
 above the ridge, and having feathers and bits of cloth attached 
 and fluttering in the breeze. I was freely allowed to enter the 
 large temple at Khotagiri, but found it a mere empty shed, no 
 stones or symbols of any land being visible. This confirmed 
 what I had previously heard, namely, that the religion of these 
 people does not partake of idolatry in any degree whatever, all 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 39 
 
 their deities, of which there are several of both sexes, being 
 purely ideal. 
 
 They have no separate sacred class like the Todas, though each 
 \illage appears to have a family claiming an hereditary right to 
 the priesthood, and from it a suitable man is selected to perform 
 their simple and not very frequent religious ceremonies. He is 
 paid and maintained by the rest for doing so, and is exempted 
 fi'om all manual labour so long as he continues to hold the office. 
 The principal festival of their calendar is an annual one, lasting 
 for several days, and held apparently for the purpose of invoking 
 prosperity for their manufactures and tillage. 
 
 As with the Jews, the Kaffirs, and many savage races, as well 
 as with the Celts of old, the new moon is observed as a season of 
 festival. Once a year at this time, the different trades of the 
 village bring to the temple an offering of their first-fruits, each 
 presenting a specimen of his own craft, being the first article 
 manufactured in the commencing year. After this, a feast (to 
 which every family in the place has previously been called on 
 by the priest to contribute) is held in the temple with many in- 
 troductory forms. A general dance takes place after dark round 
 a blazing fire to the music of pipes and tom-toms. It was a 
 striking scene to witness these wild-looking half-naked figures 
 gesticulating and singing round the brightly blazing pile, clapping 
 their hands in time to the fantastic dance. 
 
 In reference to this ancient custom of dancing at particular 
 changes of the moon, I cannot resist quoting the following extract 
 from Strabo, given in Col. Forbes-Leslie's Eaiiy Races of Scotland: 
 
40 ABOKIGINAL TRIBES O'F THE NILGIKI HILLS. 
 
 " The Celtiberians sacrifice to a nameless god every full moon at 
 night, before their doors, the whole family passing the night in 
 dancing and festival." This exactly describes the above scene, as 
 well as many similar ones that I have witnessed among the races 
 of South Africa. 
 
 Besides their modern temples there are some very interesting 
 carved stones in" different parts of the Hills which have appa- 
 rently been erected at distant epochs. These most probably 
 belong to this race, seeing that they are the only hill-people 
 acquainted with the use of tools. 
 
 I accidentally discovered a very cilrious and perfect object of 
 this character, and of evident antiquity, when shooting at the 
 head of the Khotagiri Pass. In searching for a quail which had 
 fallen into a dense bit of jungle, through which it was difficult 
 to make a way, I came suddenly on a beautiful kistvaen, or per- 
 haps dolmen, for it partook of the characters of each. It con- 
 sisted of several large vertical slabs forming three sides of an 
 oblong square, and having others laid horizontally on the top as 
 a roof. It was divided by a centre slab into two cells, or com- 
 partments, the whole interior, that is to say, the inner face of 
 each slab, being covered over with carving. The nature of these 
 has now completely escaped my memory, and unfortunately a 
 carefully-made sketch which I took at the time was afterwards 
 lost in the Mysore country, together with my collection of 
 portraits of the different hill-tribes ; and of Toda songs and 
 traditions. The latter, written in German, had been kindly pre- 
 sented to me by Mr. j\Ietz, who had collected them among the 
 natives. 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 41 
 
 Referring to these carved stones, it may not be out of place 
 here to remind you of the eastern character of some of the sym- 
 bols found on the incised monoliths in our own country; the 
 elephant, for instance, being one frequently met with in Scotland. 
 
 The Khotas, unlike their aristocratic neighbours, who all rank 
 equal in the social scale, are of different indi^^dual degrees of 
 wealth, and consequent consideration. The funeral rites of the 
 poorer are of necessity of a very simple character, the body being 
 burned by the friends without ceremony, and the ashes forthwith 
 buried. When a well-to-do Khota dies, the body is placed on the 
 funeral pyre with some form, and the ashes are at the end of the 
 year collected by the friends and candied in procession to the place 
 of seprdture, the final honours very much resembling those in 
 vogue among the Todas. 
 
 The Knrumhas. — About two-thirds of the way down the moun- 
 tain sides, which at that height are encii^cled by a continuous 
 belt of forest, we find the Kurumbas, the third of the hill-tribes, 
 properly so-called.* They, in their turn, differ widely from both 
 of those that have been described. Their language has a great 
 many words belonging to, and seemingly borrowed from, the Toda, 
 a fact doubtless due merely to their local position midway be- 
 tween that race and the Erulas, whose strange mixture of various 
 low-country languages forms another portion of the Kurumba vo- 
 
 * This tribe is of another race from the shepherd Kurumbas, described by 
 Sir Walter Elliot as having a distinct priesthood, and worshipping the god 
 Bhyra. The Nilgiri tribe have neither cattle nor sheep, and, in language, 
 dress, and customs, have no affinity whatever with their namesakes. 
 
42 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 cabiilaiy. They have no written character, and their tongue is 
 rather a jargon of corrupted dialects than a language. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that strange and mysterious stories 
 should be circvdated and credited of a people whose dwelling is 
 in the recesses of an unhealthy jungle, avoided alike by natives 
 and Europeans, haunted by wild beasts, and all but impenetrable. 
 Seldom visible, even at a distance, they fly from the approach of 
 civ-ilised man with extraordinary agility, slipping over the steepest 
 crags like the monkeys, their companions, and instantaneously 
 disappearing into the forest-depths. I cannot, however, bear out 
 the popular statements, either that " they have their dwelling in 
 the tops of the highest trees," or are " thickly covered with haii'." 
 Their chief food is wild roots and berries, or grain soaked in water, 
 with occcisional porcupines or polecats. Their dwellings are no- 
 thing more than a few branches jailed together like heaps of dead 
 brushwood in a plantation, often simply holes or clefts among the 
 rocks. Their clotliing is, with the males, a small dii'ty cloth round 
 the loins ; and with the females, a rag thrown on any way that its 
 condition and size render most available. 
 
 With no regular supply of food beyond a little patch of millet 
 here and there in some open spot, which receives no other pre- 
 paration beyond being scratched with a stick before sowing, and 
 with only a few j^lantains or occasional jack-fruit, their starvation 
 w^ould be at times inevitable, but for certain allowances from the 
 Vadacas in the form of grain, bestowed on them through fear of 
 their supposed demonocracy and power of evil. For example 
 when any of those industrious, l^ut most superstitious of agricul- 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 43 
 
 turalists, are about to commence the ploughing of tlieir land, it 
 is absolutely indispensable for good luck that the first furrow 
 should be tm-ned over by a Kurumba, otherwise the evil power 
 at his command might be let loose to blight the expected crop. 
 The wily savage, who, though evincing an extraordinary respect 
 for the lordly Toda, despises the more wealthy Vadaca, is cun- 
 ning enough to encourage the dread and secret dislike, in which 
 he sees that he is held, the former owing to his strange iimnunity 
 from the jungle fever and wild beasts, so dreaded by others, and the 
 latter to his own repulsive personal appearance. He accordingly 
 demands, as a preparatory sacrifice, a calf, or a goat, or a cock, ac- 
 cording to the means of the occupier of the land, thus enhancing 
 the solemnity of the ceremony to his own profit. A quantity of 
 the native porridge being made for the occasion is also partaken 
 of by all present. In return for tlie important protection sup- 
 posed to be conferred by the foregoing rites, the neglect of which 
 the Vadacas consider as certain to entail loss and disaster, and 
 further, in order to ensure fortunate harvest weather, the magical 
 Kurumba is again summoned when the season arrives, to reap 
 the first handful of corn, receiving for his own use a liberal per- 
 centage on the crop. The women eke out their miserable exist- 
 ence by collecting gum and wild honey, for which they find a 
 sale among the Hindoos. 
 
 The appearance of these rude people is wretched and even dis- 
 agreeable. Low in stature, they are also ill-made ; the com- 
 plexion is of an unhealthy hue, and their heads are thinly covered 
 with mangy-looking hair. They have bleared eyes, a rather wide 
 
44 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 mouth, and often projecting teeth. Spare to leanness, there is 
 also a total absence of any apparent muscle, and the arms and 
 legs are as much like black sticks as human limbs. 
 
 The tribe is widely scattered round the range, and is believed to 
 number nearly nine hundred. Their religion resembles that of the 
 Hindoos, so far as one can say that they have any religion at all, for 
 they have neither priests nor temples. Their chief god is the popu- 
 lar Eangasawmie, but he receives no further notice than the small 
 and easily-paid attentions of a plantain or a little grain laid be- 
 fore his stone image. No such ceremony as marriage exists 
 among these people, who live together like the brute creation. 
 Their dead are sometimes burned, sometimes buried ; in either 
 case, with as little form or trouble as possible. They are, in 
 short, among the most debased types of mankind. 
 
 The Erulas. — The Erulas have been mentioned as inhabiting 
 the immense tracts of forest clothing the lower ranges of the 
 Hills, and, in fact, extend nearly to their base ; so that they are 
 less strictly hill-tribes than the others, though regarded as such 
 by the inhabitants of the adjoining plains. 
 
 In point of numbers, they are rather superior to the last men- 
 tioned tribe, and are divided into two hereditarily distinct 
 classes, an upper and a lower, the latter of which comprises the 
 bulk of the people. This division is not in any way connected 
 with their religion, but is altogether a social matter ; and it is 
 one the peculiarity of which becomes more striking when we 
 reflect on their degraded and poverty-stricken state, and on the 
 fact that class distinctions, otherwise than for religious reasons, 
 do not prevail among any of their neighbours. 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 45 
 
 In general appearance, the Erulas are something between the 
 Kurumbas and the Hindoo pariah, but their hair is more abun- 
 dant than that of the former, and they are altogether less 
 wretched looking specimens of humanity, though by no means 
 either well formed or pleasing in expression. The only appre- 
 ciable difference between the upper and the lower classes is, that 
 the former are perhaps more frequently decorated with necklaces 
 and bracelets, made of dried berries or of millet straw, and some- 
 times have large rings of silver in the ears. The dress is similar 
 to that of the Kurumbas. 
 
 Their dwellings, though but rough sheds, are a degree or two 
 better than those of the latter ; and they provide their idol, 
 EangasawTuie, with a rude shelter from the weather. They have 
 very few religious rites beyond the simple offering made to it, 
 and the occasional sacrifice of a cock to propitiate evil spirits. 
 
 This custom is interesting, as having existed from the earliest 
 ages among partially civilised races, in widely separated coun- 
 tries, both of the old and new world. In the East, we find it prac- 
 tised at the present day, as of old, among several wild tribes of India, 
 by the Cingalese and others. Its progress westward is traceable 
 among the Arabs ; and, coming to the western limit of Europe, 
 it is found to have existed, not only in the sim worship of the 
 Celts, but to have been practised both in Scotland and Ireland to 
 within a comparatively recent period. 
 
 In respect to food, these people fare no better then their half- 
 starved neighbours, the Kurumbas. As they bestow no labour 
 on the ground, simply sowing their grain in a careless manner 
 
46 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 on any half-cleared patch that offers itself, the produce is natu- 
 rally not very great, and the little there is, is never harvested 
 nor stored. The daily supply is cut just as required, and so long 
 as any remains they give themselves no care for the future, but 
 consume what they want on the spot, roughly beating out the 
 grain, and parching it in a rude and primitive way on heated 
 stones. At other seasons, their food consists of wild fruits, 
 roots, and berries. In times of drought, these precarious 
 means of subsistence frequently fail them, and many die of 
 starvation : a fact which, nevertheless, fails to teach any lesson 
 of prudence or industry to the survivors. In the monsoon, the tribe 
 is scattered in all directions, each individual seeking his own 
 subsistence without any regard to the rest, begging or stealing, 
 according to circumstances. 
 
 The funeral rites, or rather practices, of the Erulas are most 
 singular ; but, as I have not witnessed these myself, I can only 
 speak from the description of others. The almost universal 
 Indian custom of cremation is not resorted to at all ; but each 
 of the two classes has its peculiar burial-place as follows. 
 Within a hut of considerable size, placed a little apart from the 
 village, is a large and very deep pit dug in the centre of the 
 earthen floor. The opening into this hole is covered over with 
 the trunks of young trees laid close together, side by side, with 
 a mound of earth raised over them. This is removed for the recep- 
 tion of each fresh corpse, which is flung in headlong like that 
 of a dog, without any ceremony or preparation whatever. 
 
 Like the Kurumbas, they have no notion of marriage, but 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 47 
 
 live promiscuously one with the other, save that the two classes 
 keep themselves to themselves. 
 
 Both these unfortunate races have doubtless retrograded, men- 
 tally and physically, under their long continued endurance of 
 hardship, and are, probably, in a lower and more debased condi- 
 tion at tlie present day, than ages ago, on their first arrival in 
 the locality. 
 
 In conclusion, it is difficult to believe that any of the tribes I 
 have thus endeavoured to describe (excepting, of course, the 
 Vadacas) can be in any way allied to the inhabitants of the 
 plains ; whilst it appears almost impossible as regards the Todas, 
 a tribe as distinct from all its various surrounding neighbours as 
 an oasis in the desert. Superior in physique, countenance, and 
 character^ free from the inherent thirst for blood so universal 
 among all wild races, and yet brave and courageous, by moral 
 influence alone exercising dominion over larger tribes, exclusively 
 pastoral, practising polyandry, speaking an unknown tongue, 
 l)elie^ing in an invisible deity, — they stand totally isolated in 
 the very midst of an enormous population of civilised and pro- 
 gressing people, of an utterly different religion ; and after, it may 
 be, thousands of years, still retain unchanged their primitive 
 character, and the observance of religious rites and customs prac- 
 tised in prehistoric times. 
 
 There is no doubt that all these hill-tribes are aborigines of 
 the peninsula of India, the whole area of which was probably 
 once occupied by them. Some liaA^e thought it possible that 
 they may all have been originally of one race ; and others 
 
 / 
 
48 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIRI HILLS. 
 
 have more boldly argued that, even in the extreme instances of 
 the Toda and the Kiirumba, the difference in physical character 
 may be attributed to the nature of the regions they respectively 
 inhabit. This is allowing extraordinary power to such influ- 
 ences, and is, moreover, entirely contradicted by actual fact in the 
 case of the Khotas. That tribe, occupying precisely the same regions 
 as the Todas, is as opposite to them in physical character as is 
 the Kurumba. Why, unless originally different, should one 
 tribe have short clustering hair, with bushy beards, while another 
 in the same district has long straight locks, with little or no 
 beard; why should the one tribe be brown, with women fair, 
 and the other have both sexes perfectly black ; and what 
 influence of climate could convert a Kurumba's nose into a 
 Eoman one ? 
 
 It is very probable that the two most degraded of these tribes 
 — namely, the Erulas and Kurumbas — were originally one, and 
 that the slight physical differences existing between them may 
 have resulted from the nature of their respective situations 
 and consequent modes of life. The Todas and Khotas, however, 
 can never have been one people ; and the characterising 
 differences of the present day must have always been equally 
 marked. The preservation of their respective characteristics 
 may be due to the fact of these tribes having escaped pursuit, 
 or even observation, at the hands of the successive subjugators 
 of the country, owing to the lofty and inaccessible retreat 
 which they selected for themselves in the Nilgiri mountains. 
 The Todas might indeed have been located there in earlier ages, 
 
ABOEIGIXAL TRIBES OF THE XILGIRI HILLS. 49 
 
 not only previous to the irruption of tlie Hindoos across the 
 Indus and through the plains of the Deccan, but anterior to the 
 nations that preceded them, and possibly from the earliest ages. 
 The Erulas and Kurumbas, flying thither for refuge, and finding 
 the summit already in possession of a superior people, would 
 naturally shelter themselves in the untenanted solitudes lower 
 down, hiding in the dense forest of the mountain sides as at the 
 present day. Their partial inoculation with the religion and 
 language of neighbouring races seems also to confirm the theory 
 of isolation in respect to the other, and further removed, tribes. 
 In the Todas, therefore, is it not possible that we may have a 
 remnant of one of the earliest races that inhabited Asia ; whose 
 rites and customs, if not introduced into Europe by a westward 
 migration, were doubtless analogous to those of the Celts of 
 Britain ? IMay they not be a living link connecting the present 
 with ages of which we stiU know next to nothing; and in their 
 singular social customs, religious rites, and even personal ap- 
 pearance may we not picture to ourselves, probably with a very 
 near approach to accuracy, the scenes and people of an era 
 coeval with, or even prior to, the stone monuments which on 
 their mountains, as in this land, have excited so much interest 
 and speculation ? 
 
 The Todas have been, in turn, considered as outcast Jews, 
 Eoman colonists, and Celto-Scythians ; one vTiter asks if they 
 could be Aryans, or might not rather be Turanians, and another 
 propounds their afhnity to the Tasmanians. I do not pre- 
 sume to advance an opinion on so difficult a subject as this, but 
 
 E 
 
.jO aboriginal tribes of the XILGirxI HILLS. 
 
 have thought it interesting to point out the striking analogy that 
 exists between their rites, customs, and monuments, and those of 
 the Celts of Early Britain, an analogy not unknown to antiquarians. 
 On the other hand, I have drawn attention to the many points 
 of resemblance existing between them and the Kaffirs. The 
 number of these I might have added to, for I have left unnoticed 
 here some with which I was much struck at the time. I have 
 also glanced at the few points they have in common with the 
 Jews of old, and also with the ancient Romans, Avhose coins 
 have, by the way, been found plentifully in the Deccan. 
 
 Though I do not deduce any theory of origin from the above 
 resemblances, they are equally entitled to notice with the former, 
 and may possibly qualify the soundness of conclusions that have 
 been drawn from Celtic analogy. 
 
 The real origin of the Todas and Khotas is a question which, 
 if ever to be elucidated, we are not, as yet perhaps, sufficiently 
 acquainted with their language satisfactorily to determine, and I 
 would earnestly recommend the subject to this Society as one 
 worthy of its investigation. There is, in fact, hardly any more 
 inviting field for the anthropologist than that of Hindostan, almost 
 every quarter of which furnishes wild tribes of whose history 
 little is known. There were two others of these which interested 
 me very much, namely, the Brinjarries and the Niadis. 
 
 The former are the gypsies of India, a nomadic tribe roaming 
 the Deccan with large herds of bullocks. The lineaments of the 
 white race are plainly visible in their sable countenances. Their 
 dress, too, is a partial approach to that of the European, though 
 
ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIIU HILLS. ol 
 
 the tall handsome women wear very singular armlets, bangles, 
 and necldaces. One of the latter which I procnred, will l)e 
 found worth the inspection of tliose acc|iiainted with other eastern 
 ornaments of that nature. 
 
 The second tribe, that of the Niadis, is of a totally opposite 
 character. They are a wretched people scattered over the low 
 hills and waste districts of Malabar. They are nearly naked, liut 
 are only to be seen at some little distance, generally in parties of 
 ten or twelve, and invariably retreat on the approach of 
 strangers. They attracted the attention of my party by ho-wling 
 in the most unearthly tones, from a rising ground several hundred 
 yards from the road. Looking at them through the glass, they 
 were seen to be miserably thin and wretched-looking creatures 
 of the wildest possible aspect. By the advice of a Hindoo Jcotiral, 
 I put down a few annas on a rock by the roadside, for which, as 
 soon as we were at a safe distance, they raced down howling and 
 chattermg like so many vnld beasts. 
 
 Cock sacrifice is practised by these people also, and no doultt 
 many interesting customs and rites might be discovered if pro- 
 perly investigated ; but I must not digress from my subject. ]\Iy 
 only reason for thus incidentally mentioning either of these tiibes 
 is to show what material exists for inquiry among the tribes of 
 Southern India, whether on the hills or on the plains. 
 
 To return for a moment to the former, I may add in conclusion 
 that the Todas and Khotas of the present day are unfortunately 
 degenerating. Both tribes are, I think, naturally capable of 
 considerable improvement, both mentally and morally, but, so far 
 
52 ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE NILGIKI HILLS. 
 
 as I saw, and especially in the case of the former, their contact 
 with the European has hitherto produced only its too common 
 results, intoxication, licentiousness, and cupidity, threatening to 
 add to the long list of so-called uncivilised races that the white 
 man has assisted to demoralise. 
 
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