Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/252

ULLADAN used for catching fish in rivers, lagoons, and tanks. The arrow is between two and three feet in length, and has an iron hook at one end. Attached to it is a thin but strong string, one end of which is tied to the hook, while the other end passes through a small hole in the wooden part of the arrow, and is fastened to the cross-bar of the bow. This string is about thirty feet in length, and serves not only to drag the captured fish out of the water, and land it, but also to prevent the arrow from being lost. The origin of the cross-bow, which I have not found in the possession of any other tribe, puzzled me until the word Firingi was mentioned in connection with it. The use of this word would seem to indicate that the cross-bow is a survival from the days of the Portuguese on the west coast, Firingi (a Frank) or Parangi being used by Natives for European or Portuguese.

For the following note on the Ullādans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer.* "Their huts are situated in the forest of the plains, by the side of paddy (rice) flats, or in cocoanut gardens remote from those of the members of the higher castes. Only Christian Moplahs are found in the neighbourhood. Their huts are erected on short bamboo posts, the roof and four sides of which are covered with plaited cocoanut leaves. A bamboo framework, of the same leaves, serves the purpose of a door. A few plaited cocoanut leaves, and a mat of their own weaving, form the only furniture,and serve as beds for them at night. Their vessels in domestic use consist of a few earthen pots for cooking and keeping water in, and a few shallow earthen dishes, from which they drink water, and take their food. Some large pieces of the bark of the areca palm, containing