Chap. XXVI. THE COORGS. 443 



flowing forth as the river Cauvery. The sage, on his return, 

 ran after her, but the only consolation that was left to liim 

 was to explain to his beloved the course she ought to take in 

 flowing towards the eastern sea. 



The Cauvery Brahmins, as persons of that caste are called 

 in Coorg, wear the sacred thread, and perform iwojah to Amma, 

 the goddess of the river. They number about forty families, 

 but are fast dying out. They are often very rich, and are 

 employed in the pagoda, or as clerks in the Superintendent's 

 office. The Coorgs themselves, the inhabitants of this moun- 

 tainous district, are divided into thii-teen castes.^ They 

 generally retain the old devil- w^orship of the Scythic or 

 Dravidian race from which they are descended, and are 

 addicted to the use of charms and sorceries. They marry at 

 a ripe age, but the wives of brothers are considered as com- 

 mon property. All the men wear a silver-mounted dagger, 

 secured round the waist by a silver chain ; and the women, 

 who are often very pretty, wear a white cotton cloth round 

 the head, with the ends hanging half-way do^^^a the back. 

 The men are an independent, hard-working race, tall, wdth 

 comparatively fair skins. They are very keen sportsmen, 

 and most of them possess a gun, the boys practising with 

 pellet-bows. 



Coorg consists of a succession of lofty wooded ridges and 

 long deep valleys, forty miles broad by sixty long, between 

 lat. 12° and 13° N. It is bounded on the north by the river 

 Hemavati, on the south by the Tambacheri pass, on the west 

 by IMalabar and South Canara, and on the east by Mysore. 

 South of Mercara the country appears covered with forest. 



* Namely, the Amma Kodagas or [tivators; the Budiya or drawers of 

 Cauvery Brahmins ; the Kodagas or toddy from the Caryota urens palm ; 

 chief tribe ; tlie Himhokulu or herds- I the Meda or basket - makers ; the 

 men ; the Meggade or cultivators ; the I Kaleya or farm-labourers ; the Uoleya 

 Art or carpenters ; the Badige or ' or slaves ; and the Yerawa or slaves 

 smiths ; the Kuruha or honey ga- i from IMalabar, cheaper tlian cattle, 

 therers ; the Kavati or jungle cul- | 



