' 
a 
ON THE STATISTICS OF DUKHUN. 277 
basket; the lid, in case it has a lid, is sealed down with cow- 
dung, and in case it has not a lid, a plaster of cow-dung a 
couple of inches thick is put over the grain; a little cap, or 
roof of grass, is put over the basket, and it is left exposed till 
required, being deemed equally protected from the elements 
and man. In the Mawuls, in the hct months, the whole of the 
grain baskets of the village, full of grain, may be seen assembled 
in front of the village temple, and left to the custody of the 
village god. The roofs of all the houses are of grass in the 
Mawuls, and the dread of fires (the people having no chimneys 
to their houses) induces them to put their monsoon and winter 
stores in a place of safety, the extreme dryness of the period 
rendering accidents by fire frequent. It is not an unfrequent 
practice with the Koonbees of the Mawuls to unroof their 
houses for the months of April and May. 
In addition to the baskets for the preservation of grain, 
earthen jars, called Kothee, made by the people themselves, 
are met with to hold grain, but they are not common. 
Preparing Grain for Food.—The preparation of grain 
for food is the last process. Husk grains, such as rice, 
Wuree, (Panicum miliare); and Sawa, (Panicum frumen- 
taceum); and the Johr, or husked wheat, require to be 
_ pounded to remove the husks. This process is entirely 
_ within the province of the women: the implements used may 
be called the pestle and mortar; the mortar is called the 
_ ookul, and the pestle, moosul. The mortar in the Mawuls is 
_ frequently very rude in form, being a rough stone with a hole 
scooped in the middle of it to receive the grain. Inthe Desh, 
_ however, the mortar is of wood, of a good form, and some- 
_ times carved. The moosul, or pestle, is always of wood, four 
or five feet long, tipped with iron, and in thickness and weight 
_ suitable to the strength of the person to use it. The final 
__ process is the grinding the corn; this also is the duty of the 
women, and two of them are usually employed at the mill. 
_ Christ says, ‘‘ There shall be two women grinding at the mill ;* 
one shall be taken and the other left.” 
Hand Mill.—The mill is portable, and is called Jatuh: it 
_ Consists of two flat circular stones, fourteen or eighteen inches in 
_ diameter, placed one on the other; the lower one has an upright 
__ peg in it, the upper one has a hole in the centre through which 
_ the peg of the lower stone passes, and the upper stone is made 
_ to perform an horizontal rotatory motion round the peg by 
means of another upright peg near its margin. The grain is 
put in at the hole in the centre. This form of mill must be 
* Matth. xxiv. 41. 
