Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/70

 SAONRAS. (355)

HE Saonras are one of the sections of the aboriginal tribes of the Central Provinces, not far separated from the Gonds, either in appearance or in habits; but they have the credit of being one of the most industrious and peaceful of the jungle tribes. Their occupations are cultivation and the collection of jungle products, such as honey, bee's wax, fruits, &c., by the sale of which they maintain themselves. They are most numerous about Rajgurh, but appear to have no very settled habitation. Their manner of life, customs, and worship, seem, even by Grant's Gazetteer, to be unknown, and they are even rarely mentioned, and then only in connection with other tribes like themselves. They do not appear, like Gonds and Bheels, to bear arms, and probably are too limited in number to attract much attention. They do not intermarry with the Gonds, who probably esteem them a lower race than themselves.