138 SUKALI, GIPSY TRIBE. 



darker side of their doings previous to 1847, when they 

 were frequently connected with daring gang-robberies. 

 It appears they adopted the habit of travelhng con- 

 siderable distances, presumably as carriers of grain and 

 salt, their real object being to waylay the unwary, and 

 it required considerable sagacity, which Colonel Taylor 

 possessed in a very high degree, and which eventually 

 enabled him to put a stop to their crimes. These gipsies 

 are very peculiar people, and have to be humoured a 

 good deal. They worship their own deity of the forest, 

 " Baneshankari," and are guided by their own laws 

 and customs, which they keep secret ; they also speak 

 their own language. The women's dress is very pictu- 

 resque, and totally difierent from that worn by any 

 other class. It consists of a tartan petticoat and a 

 brownish shawl or mantle, elaborately embroidered, 

 which covers the head and upper part of the body. 

 The hair is worn in ringlets or plaits, hanging down 

 each side of the face, decorated with small shells, and 

 terminating in tassels. Their arms and ankles are 

 profusely covered with rings and trinkets made of bone, 

 brass, and other materials. They dance solos, and in 

 groups, to the accompaniment of timbrel and castanets, 

 and the whole performance, nay, the people altogether, 

 in appearance, as well as in their odd habits, remind 

 one of the Zingfari of Wallachia and the Gitani of 



