Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/457

Rh a great part of the play was traditional, and the audience knew what to expect at any given period in the performance. At one stage it was whispered that now the giant would come in, and lift up a sheep with his teeth. In a few moments he made his appearance, and proved to be a highly comic monster. His arms, legs, and body were tightly swathed in neatly twisted straw ropes, leaving only his feet and hands bare. His head was covered by a huge canvas mask, flat on front and back, so that the actor had the appearance of having introduced his head into the empty shell of some gigantic crab. On the flat front of this mask-dial was painted a terrible giant's face with portentous tusks. Thus equipped, the giant skipped round the various characters, to the terror of the buffoon, brandishing a quarter-staff, and executing vigorous moulinets. An unwilling sheep was pushed into the ring, and the giant, after much struggling, tossed the animal bodily over his head with a dexterous fling that convinced most of the onlookers that he had really performed the feat with his teeth."  Malava.—The Malavas or Mala Bhōvis are a small cultivating caste in South Canara, "the members of which were formerly hunters and fishermen. They profess Vaishnavism, and employ Shivalli Brāhmans as their priests. Hanumān is their favourite deity. Like the Bants and other castes of Tuluva, they are divided into exogamous septs called balis, and they have the dhare form of marriage. They speak Canarese."* They are said to be really Mōgers, who have separated from the fishing community. The term Bhōvi is used to denote Mōgers who carry palanquins, etc.  Malavarāyan. — A title of Ambalakkāran. 