Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/215

Rh the community have been summed up as follows by a district official.* " This individual has all the dirty work of the village allotted to him. He is of the lowest caste, and hence makes no scruple of doing any manner of work that he may be called upon to perform. The removal and sepulture of unclaimed dead bodies, the cleansing of choultries, rest-houses and the like, where travellers carrying infectious diseases might have halted, and other gruesome duties are entrusted to him. In spite of all this, the Toti is one of the most trusted of the humbler servants of the village community. Considering his humble status and emoluments, which average between Rs. 3 and Rs. 4 a month, his honesty with regard to pecuniary matters is wonderful. He may be trusted with untold wealth, as is often done when he is the sole custodian of the revenue collections of his village to the tune of several thousands at a time, when on their way from the collecting officers to the Government Treasury." Testimony is borne to the industry of the Tōti in the proverb that if you work like a Tōti, you can enjoy the comforts of a king. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Tōti is returned as a sub-division of Chakkiliyan. The Tōti of Mysore is defined by Mr. L. Rice † as a menial among the village servants, a deputy talāri, who is employed to watch the crops from the growing crop to the granary. Odiya Tōti is a Tamil synonym for Oriya Haddis employed as scavengers in municipalities in the Tamil country.  Tottiyan.— In the Census Report, 1901, Mr.W. Francis writes that the Tottiyans are " Telugu 