THE SAL FORESTS. 361 



boo, " string " and all ; they are very neat, and possess 

 wonderful power for their size. A good shot among them 

 will strike the crown of a hat at fifty yards. Their arrows 

 are of two sorts ; those for ordinary use being tipped with 

 a plain iron head, and feathered from the wing of the pea- 

 fowl, while those intended for poisoning and deadly work 

 have a loose head, round which the poison is wrapped, and 

 which remains in the wound. These poisoned arrows are 

 altogether remarkably similar to those used by the Bushmen 

 of South Africa. Their axes are also of two sorts one, like 

 the ordinary axes of the Gonds, for cutting wood, and the 

 other, a much more formidable implement, called a tongid, 

 with a long semicircular blade like an ancient battle-axe 

 in miniature. All the iron for these weapons and for their 

 agricultural instruments is forged from the native ore of the 

 hills, by a class called Aguri^s, who seem to be a section 

 of the Gonds. A Byga" has been known to attack and destroy 

 a tiger with no other weapon than his axe. This little weapon 

 is also used as a projectile, and the Bygd will thus knock 

 over hares, peafowl, etc., with astonishing skill. 



Though thus secluded in the wilderness, the Mandla Byga 

 is by no means extremely shy, and will placidly go on cutting 

 his dhya while a train of strangers is passing him, when a 

 wild Gond or Korku would have abandoned all and fled to 

 the forest. They are truthful and honest almost to a fault, 

 being terribly cheated in consequence in their dealings with 

 the traders ; and they possess the patriarchal form of self- 

 government still so perfectly, that nearly all their disputes 

 are settled by the elders without appeal, though these, of 

 course, under our alien system, possess no legal authority. 

 Serious crime among them is almost unheard of. The 

 strangest thing about them is that, though otherwise cer- 



