THE ABOKIGINAL TRIBES. 159 



seen, to clistinsfuish these tribes from other races of 

 savages ; and it would be unprofitable to devote further 

 space to a record of their details. They may nearly 

 all be found repeated among large masses of the 

 so-called Hindii population of the plains ; and, in fact, 

 so far as religious and other customs are concerned, I 

 believe that, were the Gonds not associated with hills 

 and forests into which the Hindus have not penetrated 

 very far, they would long since have come to be looked 

 on merely as another caste in the vast social fabric of 

 Hinduism. The Korkiis are more peculiar, and, I think, 

 a far superior race in most respects ; and the Bygas or 

 Bhiimias of the eastern hills are still more worthy of 

 observation by the ethnologist. Something will be 

 said of them in future chapters. 



It is more important, as regards the Gonds and 

 Korkiis of the central and western hills, to inquire 

 into their present economical position and their probable 

 future. Their methods of subsistence in the interior of 

 the hills have already been described ; and their life 

 has been shown to be one of great hardship and toil. 

 Although so far inured to malaria as to be able to exist, 

 and in some measure continue the race, in the heart 

 of jungles which are at some seasons deadly to other 

 constitutions, the effect of the climate and a poor diet 

 is seen in impoverishment of the constitution, constant 

 attacks of fever and bowel diseases, and often chronic 

 enlargement of the spleen. Imported diseases like 

 cholera and small-pox also commit dreadful ravages 

 among^ them. The life of labour which both sexes 

 undergo, and their low physical vigour, result in very 

 small families, of whom moreover a large percentage 

 never attain maturity. There has been no accurate 



