Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/122

BRINJARIES. sound is heard above all others, and a smaller set of bells, which tinkle as he steps along. The great leader is never in a hurry, for he knows that the herd following ought not to straggle, and must do so if his own pace is too rapid; he therefore steps on slowly and majestically, surrounded by other leaders, all handsomely decorated, but none so profusely as himself. The chief of the tandah, or company, steps by him at the same easy pace, for the march is never a long one, rarely exceeding eight or ten miles. Every company has its leading bullock, and every separate company has its separate leader and smaller standard, and the whole, even the smallest bullock, has a sonorous or tinkling bell round its neck. The chorus of bells is therefore strange to hear, but not unmusical; it has even a solemn effect in its monotony, and varies in effect, especially where the road is hilly or broken, like the bells of the shepherds. Some of the bells are cast, and musical, others are made of copper plates, and some even of wood. By this procession of cattle great and small, sometimes amounting to thousands, and rarely less than hundreds, march the men and women, the latter always in groups, most remarkable for the variety in rich colour of all their costumes, both saris and petticoats, the latter being generally tucked up, revealing very shapely limbs and perfect feet, and the softer tinkling of their brass or silver anklets and small bells, mingle with the deeper chime of those of the cattle. Many of them carry children on their hips or astride on one shoulder, the boys and girls who can walk the stage, help to drive the cattle, others are seated upon backs of oxen between bags of corn, and the whole convoy is escorted by a tribe of powerful dogs, who prevent the cattle from straying, and watch the camp at night.

Arrived at the stage, generally some open piece of uncultivated ground, the various heads of droves file into their proper positions, the loads and pack saddles are all removed, and properly piled up in ranks, the cattle are driven to water, and afterwards into the grazing grounds, which, if they belong to a village, the leader of the company pays for according to number. The women begin to cook, and by evening all work is finished, the cattle tied up to their pegs, and the men assemble round the watch fire, where they smoke and sing, or time women dance, till the night is well advanced. A free untramelled life, which for centuries has passed over this peculiar people without change. It is strange that no good pictures have been painted of them, for there is no brighter or more varied costume existing, and the grace and frequently the beauty of the women is beyond question.

But there are dark blots here and there in the lives of the Brinjaries. They are more than accused of habitual infanticide of female children, of secret murders, and of dacoity. Whether the Lambanees, who, to all appearance are the same as the Brinjaries, are identically the same, cannot be determined. It has been proved again and again that Lambanees are among the most desperate of dacoits,