Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/469

Rh good-natured lot, with loose morals, and no restrictions regarding food, but they are proud, and will only eat in the houses of the higher castes, though most Sūdras look down upon them. Polygamy and divorce are freely allowed to men, and women are only restricted from changing partners after having had eighteen. Even this limit is not set to the men." Women who have had seven husbands are said to be much respected, and their blessing on a bridal pair is greatly praised. There is a common saying that a widow may mount the marriage dais seven times.

In the Census Report, 1871, the Oddēs are described as being "the tank-diggers, well-sinkers, and road-makers of the country who live in detached settlements, building their huts in conical or bee-hive form, with only a low door of entrance. They work in gangs on contract, and every one, except very old and very young, takes a share in the work. The women carry the earth in baskets, while the men use the pick and spade. The babies are usually tied up in cloths, which are suspended, hammock fashion, from the boughs of trees. They are employed largely in the Public Works Department, and in the construction and maintenance of railways. They are rather a fine-looking race, and all that I have come across are Vaishnavites in theory, wearing the trident prominently on their foreheads, arms, and breasts. The women are tall and straight. They eat every description of animal food, and especially pork and field-rats, and all drink spirituous liquors."

Of the Oddēs, the following brief accounts are given in the Nellore, Coimbatore, and Madura Manuals: —

Nellore. — " These people are the tank-diggers. They sometimes engage in the carrying trade, but beyond this, they only move about from place to place