Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/38

KADIR the offering to Kāli, a number of virgins are asked to bathe as a preliminary to the preparation of the offering, which consists of rice and some vegetables cooked in honey, and made into a sweet pudding. The rice for this preparation is unhusked by these girls. The offering is considered to be sacred, and is partaken of by all men, women, and children assembled."

When Kāadirs fall sick, they worship the gods by saluting them with their hands to the face, burning camphor, and offering up fruits, cocoanuts, and betel. Mr. Vincent tells me that they have a horror of cattle, and will not touch the ordure, or other products of the cow. Yet they believe that their gods occasionally reside in the body of a " bison," and have been known to do pūja (worship) when a bull has been shot by a sportsman. It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that wild elephants are held in veneration by them, but tame ones are believed to have lost the divine element. The Kādirs are said, during the Hindu Vishu festival, to visit the plains, and, on their way, pray to any image which they chance to come across. They are believers in witchcraft, and attribute all diseases to the miraculous workings thereof. They are good exorcists, and trade in mantravadam or magic. Mr. Logan mentions * that "the family of famous trackers, whose services in the jungles were retained for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales'(now King Edward) projected sporting tour in the Ānamalai mountains, dropped off most mysteriously, one by one, shortly afterwards, stricken down by an unseen hand, and all of them expressing beforehand their conviction that they were under a certain individual's spell, and were doomed to certain death at an early date. They