Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/273

Rh Some Gadaba women wear immense earrings made of long pieces of brass wire wound into a circle, which hanof down from a hole in the ear, and sometimes reach to the shoulders. The wire is sold in the shandy (market) at so much a cubit. The head-dress of some of the women consists of a chaplet of Oliva shells, and strings of beads of various sizes and colours, or the red and black berries of Abrus precatorius, with pendants which hang over the forehead. The women also wear bead necklaces, to which a coin may sometimes be seen attached as a pendant. Bracelets and rings are as a rule made of brass or copper, but sometimes silver ring-s are worn. Toe-rings and brass or silver anklets are considered fashionable ornaments. Among the Olāro Gadabas, the wearing of brass anklets by a woman indicates that she is married. For teaching backward children to walk, the Gadabas employ a bamboo stick split so as to make a fork, the prongs of which are connected by a cross-bar. The apparatus is held by the mother, and the child, clutching the crossbar, toddles along. Among the Bodo and Olāro sections, the following septs occur: — Kōra (sun), Nāg (cobra), Bhāg (tiger), Kīra (parrot), and Gollāri (monkey). The Gadabas who have settled in the plains seem to have forgotten the sept names, but will not injure or kill certain animals, e.g., the cobra.

Girls are as a rule married after puberty. When a young man's parents think it time for him to get married, they repair to the home of an eligible girl with rice and liquor, and say that they have come to ask a boon, but do not mention what it is. They are treated to a meal, and return home. Some time afterwards, on a day fixed by the Disāri, three or four aged relatives of the young