36 COFFEE : ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



Turanian family. They may be separated into four distinct 

 peoples, according to their four principal languages Telugu, 

 Canarese, Tamil, and Malayalam. Secondly, by the wild 

 aboriginal races, some of them Negroid, and as dark in com- 

 plexion as Africans, and others of a type similar to the savages 

 of Australia. They are now usually called Kolarians. Their 

 irruptions preceded the advent of the Dravidians, and they are 

 still found in the hills and other outlying localities. Of the 

 Dravidians the Telugu and Tamil speakers are by far the 

 majority, each numbering fifteen or sixteen millions. The 

 Tamil race, who occupy the extreme south from Madras to 

 Cape Comorin, are active, hard-working, industrious, and 

 independent. Their difficult and highly accentuated language 

 reflects their character, and possesses quite a distinct literature 

 of its own. The Telugu people, inhabiting the Northern 

 Circars and the Nizam's territory, are also remarkable for their 

 industry, and their soft language, abounding in vowels, is the 

 Italian of the East. The Canarese of Mysore resemble the 

 Telugu race in language and character, just as the Malayalams 

 of the Malabar coast resemble the Tamils. I noticed that the 

 seafaring Tamils of the southern coast near Ramnad, Rames- 

 varam, and Tuticorin are much more able-bodied and athletic 

 than ordinary Hindoos. Numbers of them migrate to Ceylon, 

 and at least half-a-million form a permanent part of the popu- 

 lation of that island. They are to be found in all the Coffee 

 plantations, and work much harder than the Singhalese. 

 Indeed, all the races of South India seem to me to show readi- 

 ness and aptitude for any work they are required to do, and 

 great patience, endurance, and perseverance in the discharge 

 of the most irksome duties. The lower classes may be seen 

 everywhere earning their bread by the veritable sweat of their 

 brow, and submitting without a murmur to a life of drudgery 

 and privation. But they are not, as a rule, physically strong, 

 and their moral character, like their bodily constitution, 

 exhibits little stamina." 



Whatever the descent of the coolies employed 

 (and districts often vary greatly in this respect), the 



