Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 116

JUNGLE TRIBES
76
numerous
in
many
places in the Malabar
hills,
or
Western
Ghauts, where they are known by the generic name of
Kadu-Kurumbars. These savages live in the forests, but
have no fixed abode. After staying a year or two in one
Having selected the spot
place they move on to another.
for their temporary sojourn, they surround it with a kind
of hedge, and each family chooses a little patch of ground,
which is dug up with a sharp piece of wood hardened in
There they sow small seeds, and a great many
the fire.
pumpkins, cucumbers, and other vegetables and on these
they live for two or three months in the year. They have
little or no intercourse with the more civilized inhabitants
The latter indeed prefer to keep
of the neighbourhood.
them at a distance from their houses, as they stand in con-
siderable dread of them, looking upon them as sorcerers
or mischievous people, whom it is unlucky even to meet.
If they suspect a Kadu-Kurumbar of having brought about
illness or any other mishap by his spells, they punish him
severely, sometimes even putting him to death.
During the rains these savages take shelter in miserable
;
huts.
Some find refuge in caves, or holes in the rocks, or
In fine weather they
in the hollow trunks of old trees.
camp out in the open. At night each clan assembles at
a given spot, and enormous fires are lit to keep off the cold
and to scare away wild beasts. Men, women, and children
The poor wretches
all sleep huddled together anyhow.
wear no clothes, a woman's only covering being a few
sewn together and tied round the waist. Knowing
only of the simple necessities of existence, they find enough
Roots and other
to satisfy their wants in the forest.
natural products of the earth, snakes and animals that they
can snare or catch, honey that they find on the rugged
rocks or in the tops of trees, which they climb with the
agility of monkeys; all these furnish them with the means of
satisfying the cravings of hunger. Less intelligent even than
the natives of Africa, these savages of India do not possess
bows and arrows, which they do not know how to use.
It is to them that the dwellers in the plains apply when
they require wood with which to build their houses. The
leaves
jungle tribes supply them with all materials of this kind,
in exchange for a few valueless objects, such as copper