Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/77

Rh money payment of two pies a day on each successful boat. In addition to this, the Rajah annually levies a tax of Rs. 2-4-0 on every boat. Half of the sharks'fins are also claimed by the Rajah's poocha meen contractor."

Writing concerning the Mogērs, Buchanan * states that "these fishermen are called Mogayer, and are a caste of Tulava origin. They resemble the Mucuas (Mukkuvans) of Malayala, but the one caste will have no communion with the other. The Mogayer are boatmen, fishermen, porters, and palanquin-bearers. They pretend to be Sudras of a pure descent, and assume a superiority over the Halepecas (Halēpaiks), one of the most common castes of cultivators in Tulava; but they acknowledge themselves greatly inferior to the Bunts." Some Mogērs have abandoned their hereditary profession of fishing, and taken to agriculture, oil-pressing, and playing on musical instruments. Some are still employed as palanquin-bearers. The oil-pressers call themselves Gānigas, the musicians Sappaligas, and the palanquin-bearers Bōvis. These are all occupational names. Some Bestha immigrants from Mysore have settled in the Pattūr tāluk, and are also known as Bōvis. The word Bōvi is a form of the Telugu Bōyi (bearer).

The Mogērs manufacture the caps made from the spathe of the areca palm, which are worn by Koragas and Holeyas. The settlements of the Mogēr fishing community are called pattana, e.g., Odorottu pattana, Manampade pattana. For this reason, Pattanadava is sometimes given as a synonym for the caste name. The Tamil fishermen of the City of Madras are, in like manner,