Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/259

Rh the Coorgi and the Arab of Hyderabad are in the habit of sticking a large knife in their girdle; some of these knives are very handsome, and descend from father to son; many of them have silver handles adorned with turquoises and other precious or semi-precious stones. Some have supposed that the ancestors of the Coorgis came from the Concan, or from Canara, both which districts are on the western coast of the southern peninsula of India: they imagine that continued invasions into their country may have caused them to retreat into this wild and hilly region. Their religion is Hinduism, with a strong current of the older forms of ancestor, and of tree and serpent worship underlying it; but, whatever may be their origin, they seem to have preserved a perfectly distinct type of features, dress, and customs, from those who surround them.

Their natural surroundings, and the persecutions which the Coorgis had to endure at the hands of Tippoo Saib, and, later on, the oppressions of their own last native ruler, have, no doubt, contributed to make them what they now are—a brave and independent race, prepared to defend their country to the last inch of ground. The two national dances which we are about to describe will serve to illustrate the character of this people better than words can do.

As far as we could ascertain, it is the men only who dance. When we witnessed these dances no native women were present even as lookers-on, possibly the hour and the place may have had something to do with their absence. At 9 p.m. we found a considerable number of Coorgis assembled in a clearing in the natural jungle. It was a wild scene; the forest was only illumined by torches made of a resinous kind of wood. The torch-bearers formed a large circle within the open space; in the centre of this the musicians placed themselves; their instruments were drums and a kind of pipe. Two of the dances were especially remarkable, and they seemed perfectly adapted to the locality and the people. In the first of these each man placed himself in position, so as to be about two feet distant from his neighbours before, behind, and on either side of him. All the performers began dancing a rapid measure amongst and around each other. At given intervals every pair of dancers faced each other and pirouetted, then all once more commenced the same wild movements as before. They