Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/416

IRULA manner with wreaths of plaited straw. Their necks, ears, and ankles were decorated with ornaments formed of the same material, and they carried little dried gourds, in which nuts or small stones had been inserted. They rattled them as they moved, and, with the rustling of their rural ornaments, gave a sort of rhythm to their motion. The dance was performed in front of a little thatched shed, which, we learnt, was their temple. When it was concluded, they commenced a sacrifice to their deity, or rather deities, of a he-goat and three cocks. This was done by cutting the throats of the victims, and throwing them down at the feet of the idol, the whole assembly at the same time prostrating themselves. Within the temple there was a winnow, or fan, which they called Mahri — evidently the emblem of Ceres; and at a short distance, in front of the former, and some paces in advance one of the other, were two rude stones, which they call, the one Moshani, the other Konadi Mari, but which are subordinate to the fan occupying the interior of the temple." A village near a coffee estate, which I inspected, was, at the time of my visit, in the possession of pariah dogs and nude children, the elder children and adults being away at work. The village was protected against nocturnal feline and other feral marauders by a rude fence, and consisted of rows of single-storied huts, with verandah in front, made of split bamboo and thatched, detached huts, an abundance of fowl-houses, and cucurbitaceous plants twining up rough stages. Surrounding the village were a dense grove of plantain trees, castor-oil bushes, and cattle pens. When not engaged at work on estates or in the forest, the Irulas cultivate, for their own consumption, rāgi (Eleusine Coracana), sāmai (Panicum miliare), tenai