64 THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 



mountainous district of the basin of the Cauvery, he 

 writes : ' In this hilly tract are a number of people, of 

 a rude tribe called Soligas, or Soligaru, who use a kind of 

 cultivation called the Cotu-cadu, which a good deal resem- 

 bles that which in the eastern parts of Bengal is called 

 Jumea. In the hot season the men cut the bushes that 

 grow on any spot of land on the side or top of a mountain, 

 where between the stones there is a tolerable soil. They 

 burn the bushes when these have become dry, and leave 

 to the women the remainder of the labour. When the 

 rains commence, these, with a small hoe, dig up the ground 

 to the depth of three inches. They then clear it of weeds, 

 and next day sow it broadcast with ragi, here and there 

 dropping in a seed of avary, tovary, mustard, maize, or 

 pumpkin. The seed is covered by another hoeing. A 

 woman can in one day hoe ten cubits square, and on the next 

 can sow it. The sowing season lasts about two months, so 

 that the quantity sown in a year by every woman may be 

 estimated at somewhat less than the sixth part of an acre. 

 The custom, however, is for all the people of one village 

 to work one day at one family's ground, and the next day 

 at another's, in regular succession. The villages in general 

 contain four or five families. The women perform also 

 the whole harvest. 



' These people have also plantain gardens. To form 

 one of these they cut down the bushes, and form pits with 

 a sharp stick. In each of these they set a plantain 

 sucker, and ever afterwards keep down the grass and 

 bushes, so as to prevent them from choking the garden/ 



Of a short journey from Bellata Angady, in Canara, he 

 writes : ' I went a short journey to Jamal-Abad. . . . 

 The country through which I passed to-day was almost 

 entirely covered with wood ; but much of it has a good 

 soil, and might be watered by means of the small river 

 which we twice crossed. . . , In this neighbourhood 

 the hills that are cultivated after the Cotu-cadu or Cumri 

 manner are ah 1 private property. The Mulucaras, or pro- 

 prietors, have alienated the whole right of cultivating 



