Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 5, 1894.djvu/36

28 robbery is in their blood, and they are not deterred even by exile to the Andaman Islands. The wild, weird howl of the Kullen women, when transportation to the "island beyond the sea" is the doom of a Kullen gang, shows how this form of restraint is appreciated.

Cattle-lifting is a perennial source of enjoyment. No matter where or how securely kept, cattle are never safe from the Kullens.

Their popular game is an exhibition of skill in dealing with savage animals. The most savage bull is led by ropes; a handkerchief is tied round its horns or round its neck. The victor is he who can get the handkerchief after the bull is let loose. Off it goes at full speed across country towards its home, from which it has been taken several miles. The Kullens dance in front of it like fiends, tempt it this way and that, lying flat on the ground to avoid being gored, dodging in every conceivable way, until at last one man seizes the handkerchief. Several villages join in this, and there is a jollification.

Their great skill in thieving, and their persistence in using it, enables the Kullens to levy blackmail far and wide. It is impossible, without being wearisome, to convey to you the tremendous power which this community wields, in the face of our strong administration of law and order. It is of great interest, for there is no doubt it is a very old affair; and it may have grown out of methods of harassing the conquering races, who overran their country from the northwards. Of these, which now form perhaps the greater part of the population, the Telugu-speaking Naiks seem to be the best representatives.

Before the advent of the British, the Kullens and the Maravans were largely employed as watchmen, and guardians of the roads and villages. In consideration for certain grants of land, and so on, they guaranteed safety to travellers. I have a translation of a copper-plate inscription, given by the great King Tirumal Naik (began to reign 1623) to a Kullen chief, detailing the honours he