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62 touch and the better non-Bráhmans by entering their kitchens. But the Kóyas, like other hill tribes, have no respect at all for Bráhmans or other Hindus merely on account of their caste.

The Kóyas proper are chiefly engaged in agriculture. Their character is a curious medley. They excite admiration by their truthfulness; pity by their love of strong drink, listlessness and want of thrift; surprise by their simplicity, and their combination of timidity and self-importance; and aversion by their uncanny superstitions. Their truthfulness is proverbial, though it is said to be less characteristic than of yore, and they never break their word. Their intemperate ways are largely due to the commonness of the ippa (Bassia latifolia) tree, from the flowers of which strong spirit is easily distilled, and are most noticeable when this is in blossom. Their listlessness has often been remarked. "To the officer enquiring after khabar of game the reply is invariably lédu('nothing'); while if approached on the subject of the utilization of their labour, they passively obstruct all progress by their exasperating reply of repú ('tomorrow')." Their reckless and primitive modes of agriculture will be described in Chapters IV and V. Their ignorance and simplicity are attested by numerous stories. One, vouched for by Mr. Cain, relates how some of them, being despatched with a basket of fruit and a note describing its contents, and being warned that the note would betray any pilfering, first buried the note 'so that it could not see,' then abstracted some of the fruit, afterwards disinterred the note and delivered it and the basket, and were quite at a loss, when charged with the theft, to know how the note could have learnt about it. They are terribly victimized by traders and money-lenders from the low country, who take advantage of their guilelessness to cheat them in every conceivable way. Their timidity has on occasion driven them to seek refuge in the jungle on the appearance of a stranger in clean clothes, but, on the other hand, they expect (and receive) a considerable measure of respect from lowlanders whom they encounter. They are perfectly aware that their title 'Dora' means 'lord,' and they insist on being given it. They tolerate the address 'uncle' (mámá) from their neighbours of other castes; but they do not like being called Kóyas. When so addressed they have sometimes replied 'whose throat have I cut?' playing on the word kóya, which means to 'slice' or 'cut the throat.' When driven to extremes they are capable of much courage. Blood feuds have only recently become uncommon in British territory and in 1876 flourished greatly in the Bastar State.