MANUAL OF THE NIIAOIRI DISTRICT. 



21. 



five men gave their height as 61 "78 inches. They are very dark, CHAP. IX, 

 as the term Irula denotes, and their hair, which is straight and I'ART lY. 

 seldom very long, is worn by the women parted in front and tied in ethnology. 

 a knot behind. The men shave their heads and wear the Ktidmui. 



The men seldom wear anything but the Hnguti when at home Dress. 

 in their villages, but when they work on plantations they occa- 

 sionally adopt the loose cotton cloth worn by the other tribes. 

 The women wear a square cloth reaching from the waist to the 

 knees, the upper part of the body being nude. They are fond 

 of ornaments, and wear ear and nose rings, wire bracelets and 

 armlets, and strings of beads round their necks. 



Dr. Shortt gives two classes of Irulas — the UraN and Knrutali. Censns and 

 " The TJrali "^ he says, " mean rulers of the country, the Kurutali ^^^'^^'o^^- 

 the serfs or common people.'' Mr. Breeks distinctly states that 

 "they have no castes or divisions." By the Census of 1871 the 

 distribution was as follows : — 



Number of males and females are equal. 



Near Raagasami's Peak, and scattered about the slopes and Mode of life. 

 base of the hills to the south and south-east, there are several 

 mottas} These villages consist of seven or eight huts, generally 

 built round a square. Patches of ragi and tenne surround them, 

 in the care of which men and women take an equal share. Near 

 their villages they have large gardens of plantain and lime trees, 

 and cultivate the neighbouring ground in the Catucadu fashion, 

 changing the field every year.^ 



They attend the market (or shandy) held at Mettapollium every 

 Saturday, carrying down jungle produce, such as timber, bamboos 

 and game, &c., to exchange for tobacco, salt, and cloths. A few 

 mottas are scattered on the northern and western slopes of the 

 Hills, but their inhabitants lead a harder life from the severity of 

 the monsoon and their isolated position. 



They seldom make any provision for the winter, but subsist on 

 a crop of grain as long as it lasts, and trust for seed and what 



1 Strictly village-men. 



^ Derived from maram, a tree. 



' Buchanan. 



