Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/283

Rh Females wear two pieces of cloth, nine and two and a half cubits in length respectively, and folded in the middle. The larger is the lower garment, and the smaller upper garment is worn with two ends tied around the neck. Males wear brass finger and toe-rings, sometimes of silver. Some adorn their necks with wreaths of beads, from fifteen to thirty in number. Females wear ear-ornaments known as kātumani, which are rings of metal wire, four or five in number. Males generally allow their hair to grow, the face alone being now and then shaven. The Urālis eat rice for six months of the year, and subsist on roots, fruits, and other forest produce during the remaining half. A large portion of the paddy (rice) that the Urālis gather by cultivation goes to the low country in exchange for clothing and salt. The flesh of most animals is eaten, but the elephant and buffalo are held in such great respect that no Urāli ever ventures to hurt them. Even the approach of the buffalo is religiously avoided. They begin to fell forest trees in Dhanu (December- January), and seeds are sown by the end of Mētam (April- May). They have only a katti, which is a kind of chopping knife, for purposes of ploughing. After cultivation they change their abodes. They put up huts in the vicinity of the cultivated areas, and use bamboo and reeds as materials. After leaving the old, and before putting up the new hut, they live for several days in caves or under trees. They are very good watchmen, and take great care in putting up fences, weeding, and protecting cultivation from wild animals. They make excellent mats of reed. They are clever huntsmen, and are passionately attached to their hunting dogs. They hoard their grains in wicker baskets called virivallam. They possess copper and brass vessels, mortar, chopping knives, sickles,