MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTKICT. 217 



There is no marriage or birth ceremony. Wlien a boy comes CHAP. IX, 

 of age he chooses a wife for himself, and there is no previous PART IV. 

 betrothal. The Irulas bury their dead, and their funeral customs ethnology. 



are entirely different to those of the other tribes. Having dug 



a grave, they place the body in it in a sitting posture with a lamp ceremonies. 

 beside it. After dancing round the corpse for some time, they fill 

 up the grave with earth and place a small upright stone to mark 

 the spot. Each village or motta has its burial-ground. I can 

 hear of no other ceremony. 



They have no traditions whatever, though they appear to have Traditions, 

 been made the subject of some fables. Their neighbours below 

 the ghdts declare that they possess the power of taming tigers, 

 and that Irula women, when they go into the woods, leave their 

 children to the care of a tiger. Their familiarity with the habits 

 of game has probably given rise to these fables. 



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