Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/149

Rh


 * 72 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
 * 73 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
 * 74 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
 * 75 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
 * 76 ♦♦♦♦♦♦
 * 77 ♦
 * 78 ♦
 * 79 ♦
 * 80
 * 81 ♦

A thing of exceeding joy to the Todas was my Salter's hand-dynamometer, the fame of which spread from mand to mand, and which was circulated among the crowd at funerals. Great was the disgust of the assembled males, on a certain day, when the record of hand-grip for the morning (73 lbs.) was carried off by a big-boned female, who became the unlovely heroine of the moment. The largest English feminine hand-grip, recorded in my laboratory note-book, is only 66 lbs. One Toda man, of fine physique, not satisfied with his grip of 98 lbs., went into training, and fed himself up for a few days. Thus prepared, he returned to accomplish 103 lbs., the result of more skilful manipulation of the machine rather than of a liberal dietary of butter-milk. The routine Toda dietary is said to be made up of the following articles, to which must be added strong drinks purchased at the toddy shops: —


 * (a) Rice boiled in whey.


 * (b) Rice and jaggery (crude sugar) boiled in water.


 * (c) Broth or curry made of vegetables purchased in the bazar, wild vegetables and pot-herbs, which, together with ground orchids, the Todas may often be seen rooting up with a sharp-pointed digging-stick on