AUGUREEAS. 127 



defence of the dead bodies against animals of 

 prey. 



Such a method of burying the dead was un- 

 known to any of the people of whom I made en- 

 quiry, nor had they any tradition by which they 

 could account for such collections of stones, which, 

 however, were supposed to be marks where 

 there had been villages, inhabited by Bouctas. 



There are other casts of Hindoos who inhabit 

 the district of Ramghur, and gain their liveli- 

 hood by manufacturing iron, with which the 

 whole countiy is more or less impregnated, and 

 it is the chief article of exportation. 



The first class of these people I shall describe 

 are known by tne name of Augureeas, and are 

 of the very lowest description of human beings. 

 In the hot months they are all naked, with the 

 exception of a small piece of leather or rag hang- 

 ing from their middle ; but in the cold and rainy 

 season, most of them have the skin of some 

 animal thrown over their bodies. Their huts are 

 loosely made with green branches of trees, thinly 

 covered with grass, not sufficient to shelter them 

 from any inclemency of weather. 



