Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/399

Rh service, which is demanded from all others." At the Sankaranthi festival, the Savaras bring loads of firewood, yams (Dioscorea tubers), pumpkins, etc., as presents for the Bissoyi, and receive presents from him in return. Besides cultivating, the Savaras collect Bauhinia leaves, and sell them to traders for making leaf platters. The leaves of the jel-adda tree (Bauhinia purpurea) are believed to be particularly appreciated by the Savara spirits, and offerings made to them should be placed in cups made thereof. The Savaras also collect various articles of minor forest produce, honey and wax. They know how to distil liquor from the flowers of the mahua (Bassia latifolia). The process of distillation has been thus described.* "The flowers are soaked in water for three or four days, and are then boiled with water in an earthenware chatty. Over the top of this is placed another chatty, mouth downwards, the join between the two being made air-tight by being tied round with a bit of cloth, and luted with clay. From a hole made in the upper chatty, a hollow bamboo leads to a third pot, specially made for the purpose, which is globular, and has no opening except that into which the bamboo pipe leads. This last is kept cool by pouring water constantly over it, and the distillate is forced into it through the bamboo, and there condenses." In a report on his tour through the Savara country in 1863, the Agent to the Governor of Madras reported as follows. "At Gunapur I heard great complaints of the thievish habits of the Soura tribes on the hills dividing Gunapur from Pedda Kimedy. They are not dacoits, but very expert burglers, if the term can be applied to digging a hole in the night through a mud wall. If