A RUN THROUGH KATHIAWAR. 235 



greater part of the peninsula. There are about 1500 

 families of them in Kathiawar, and three-fourths of 

 these are devoted to secular pursuits, especially to the 

 art of government ; while the remainder, who devote 

 themselves to religious duties, are specially called 

 Brahmans but all are of Brahmanical caste. As a 

 priesthood they have no weight in the country ; but 

 they have a great deal of importance from their ability 

 as administrators, and from the way in which they 

 have got the affairs of the chiefs into their hands. 

 The Kocani Brahmans, or those of the Southern 

 Koncan, are considered the cleverest and the most 

 restless and pushing of the Brahmans of \Vestern 

 India ; many of them have light-coloured eyes ; and 

 they have a tradition which might be interpreted as 

 indicating (though they would utterly repudiate such 

 an interpretation) that at some foKmer period their 

 blood had mingled with that of shipwrecked European 

 mariners. But Vishnii Yenayek, a very clever young 

 Kocani Brahman whom I had with me, and who was 

 very desirous of obtaining some more permanent 

 employment in Kathiawar, soon found that there was 

 no hope for him there, so closely was everything held 

 in the hands of the Xagars, and so averse were these 

 to any other caste finding employment in the country. 

 There are, however, a number of Kocani and Deccani 

 Brahmans in the employment of the British Agency, 

 and in states administered by officers appointed by 

 the Bombay Government ; and I noticed that these 



