Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/401

Rh for salt. [Honey and wax are said to be collected by the Kondhs and Benias, who are expert climbers of precipitous rocks and lofty trees. The Kondhs recognise four different kinds of bees, known by the following Oriya names: — (a) bhaga mohu, a large-sized bee (Apis dorsata); (b) sattapuri mohu, building its comb in seven layers (Apis indica); (c) binchina mohu, with a comb like a fan; (d) nikiti mohu, a very small bee.] * Wet paddy is, of course, grown in the valleys and low-lying bottoms, where water is available, and much ingenuity is exercised in the formation of bunds (embankments)to retain the natural supply of moisture. The Khond has a dead eye for a natural level; it is surprising how speedily a seemingly impracticable tract of jungle will be converted into paddy fields by a laborious process of levelling by means of a flat board attached to a pair of buffaloes. The chief feature of the dry cultivation is the destructive practice of kumeri. A strip of forest, primeval, if possible, as being more fertile, is burnt, cultivated, and then deserted for a term of years, which may vary from three to thirty, according to the density or otherwise of the population. The Kutiah Khonds are the chief offenders in respect of kumeri, to which they confine themselves, as they have no ploughs or agricultural cattle. In the rare instances when they grow a little rice,the fields are prepared by manual and pedal labour, as men, women, and children, assemble in the field, and puddle the mud and water until it assumes the desired consistency for the reception of the seed.

"The hair is worn long during childhood, but tied into a club when maturity is reached, and turbans are seldom worn. A narrow cloth is bound round the loins,