THE ABORIGIXAL TRIBES. 147 



sections, but a little way below the surface, and which, 

 among the undiluted denizens of the wilder regions, are 

 yet found in their primitive purity. 



It is not an easy matter for the inquirer among 

 such tribes really to ascertain the peculiarities of their 

 language, religion, or ideas, Like all savages there 

 is a child-like vagueness about their conceptions which 

 it is very difficult to get the better of, and to this 

 is added a suspiciousness which frequently leads them 

 to deliberately withhold information the object of which 

 they are unable to comprehend. In the case of these 

 particular tribes, moreover, the admixture of Hinduism 

 has proceeded so far that one has to be constantly on 

 his guard against admitting as belonging to them what 

 is in fact of foreign origin. An intimate acquaintance 

 with Hindu beliefs and peculiarities is therefore the 

 first essential quality of him who attempts to ascertain 

 the distinctive features of these races ; and from the 

 want of this great mistakes have constantly been made 

 in describing them. The poverty of their languages 

 is another great obstacle to the inquirer. In the 

 aboriginal tongues there seem to be no expressions 

 for abstract ideas, the few such which they possess being 

 derived from the Hindi. In fact, the aboriginal roots 

 are really almost confined to the exjDression of the 

 barest necessities of savage existence. The names even 

 of most of their personal deities, the nomenclature of 

 religious ceremony, of moral qualities, and of nearly 

 all the arts of life they possess, are all Hindi. The 

 form, and particularly the termination, of these imported 

 words is, however, frequently a good deal modified, 

 the pronunciation being as a rule broadened ; and thus 

 an imperfect acquaintance with the dialects of Hindi 



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