DANG BHILS AND PHAS PARDHIES 



sacred and will never assist in the destruction of this 

 animal. 



Thoroughly disliking work of any kind, they do very 

 little cultivation. They are ruled by their separate chiefs, 

 or Naiks, who have very high ideas of their dignity as 

 Rajahs, claiming to be descended from the Rajpoots, 

 consequently never descend to labour or work of any sort, 

 thinking this fit only for their subjects. They, when not 

 resting or idling otherwise, roam about the jungles with 

 bows and arrows in search of hare or peacocks. 



The country which these Dang Bhils inhabit is most 

 unhealthy and difficult of access, consisting as it does of 

 a mass of steep, wooded, flat-topped hills, lying to the 

 north-west of the District of Khandesh. 



While on the subject of Bhils and the sporting pro- 

 clivities of these people, I am reminded of another class or 

 clan, for they can scarcely be termed a tribe, who, though 

 quite distinct from the Bhils, are also sportsmen, but of a 

 somewhat lower order, for to describe them accurately, 

 they are professional hunters or snarers of game. 



These Phas Pardhies, as they are called the word Phas 

 meaning a " snare " are extraordinarily clever in catch- 

 ing partridges and quails whose calls they have learned 

 to imitate with an accuracy quite remarkable for any 

 human voice to have acquired. In their methods too they 

 are equally proficient and the snares they employ are most 

 ingeniously contrived. They consist of a rack or light 

 bamboo rail about four and a half inches high; this rail 

 or frame has upright poles of bamboo fastened to it about 

 six inches apart, between these pieces is a running noose 

 of horse-hair. This apparatus being concealed in the grass, 

 the birds are slowly driven towards the trap, and in trying 

 to pass between the poles are caught by the head, neck, 

 or feet as the case may be. 



I was fortunate in being able to secure one of these 

 traps, the men being very loath to part with them, and was 

 much struck with the ingenuity of the contrivance and 

 exquisite delicacy of the workmanship which, as they said 

 truly, cannot be attained nowadays. 



Their traps for catching deer and pigs are made much on 

 the same plan, though naturally on a much larger scale 



L 145 



