Page:Madras Journal of Literature and Science, series 1, volume 6 (1837).djvu/50

42 I may add as regards the name adverted to at the commencement of this digest, that the hand writing sometimes leaves it uncertain whether the word by which they are designated should be Cádulu, or Codulu, but from the way in which the á is sometimes written, I think it is not meant to be introduced into the word, which is I believe Codalu; but I make the remark that I may not wilfully lead into error. I am not sure if the she-buffalo often mentioned may not be a cow; which, however, a Hindu would not like to acknowledge. As to the term Baji it is to me unintelligible. But I think the term may receive some illustration from a passage which I extract from an account of a visit to the Raj-mehal hills near Bhaugulpore in Upper Hindustan. It is the following:

"At 11 we set off to visit the neighbouring villages. On reaching the former (Dundah-goddah) we found the inhabitants of both villages assembled for pooja and drinking.—Nearly all the people, to the amount of at least 100, were in a state of intoxication. The noise of the drums, cymbals and singing almost prevented us from hearing our own voices. We witnessed the Pooja which had just commenced,—a fowl and a pig were sacrificed, and a part of the blood of the latter, mixed with cooked grain and tuddee, drank by the Daimno." It is this last preparation which seems to me to harmonize with the way in which Báji is spoken of sometimes as a compound-food, sometimes as a feast. I may remark that I have met with the above extract since making the translation, consequently this was in no way influenced thereby. The Daimno of the Raj-mehal people is apparently the Jani of the Khoonds, and it seems to me that there is a close similarity between the customs of the two sets of mountaineers. Several coincidences appear in the account whence the above extract is made. I have otherwise heard that the hill people of Raj-mehal speak a language like Tamil. The name for village in the above extract goddah, or gudi, is perfectly common in the south, and in parts of Mysore. Any similarity of languages between insulated localities, so distant from each other, argues in favour of an early general language throughout India.

In the translated paper there are some things that appear otherwise curious, as the pouring out libations, a custom so familiar to the classic scholar; and an almost universal custom of heathen antiquity. The placing sticks and causing people to pass under, or through them, reminds one of the Furca of the Romans; though the import of the act in either case differs. However not to dwell on such things, nor on resemblances to customs heretofore among the South-sea-islanders, we may advance to that sacrifice which is briefly alluded to at the close, the merria sacrifice, on that of a human victim. This custom also pre-