rat, are held in great esteem, and are so frequently observed 
— to be subsequently a yen that some have been 
ans known, in hopes of future good fortune, to set up the 
ide «stad bankruptcy without any necessity. The class 
_ of Bhauts, or Bharots, abound more in this province 
than in any other part of India. They are a very ho- 
- nourable tribe, and are principally occupied as histori- 
ans, heralds, soothsayers, recorders of births and deaths, 
‘itinerant bards or minstrels, trading or begging on their 
way. In this last capacity, they repeat verses (which 
are either of their own composition, or selected from 
_ the Hindoo legends) with a pleasing modulation of 
_ voice, and gracefulness of action ; and one of them is 
te acai with the household of every Hin- 
raj or Mahratta chief, attending them on days 
_ of public ceremony, enumerating their titles, and pro- 
aibenibes their praises. They become ntees 
_ of treaties between princes, securities for bonds between 
‘private persons, or cautioners for the payment of reve- 
-nues from districts, and farmers of the taxes. They 
_ -receive an annual sti |, or a per centage from the dis- 
tricts, villages, or individuals whom they thus guaran- 
‘tee; and, upon signing the agreement, add the figure 
ofa as their seal, and as an emblem of the fatal 
-consequences attending a breach of contract. Should 
any pasty fail in the obligation, the Bhaut, who had of- 
t himself as ntee, proceeds to the house of the 
‘defaulters, and there destroys himself or one of his fa- 
-mily, imprecating the vengeance of the gods upon the 
-heads of those, who had compelled him by their mis- 
‘conduct to commit the deed of desperation. Tobe the 
object of these imprecations, is accounted by the Hin- 
doos the most direful of all catastrophes ; and hence the 
security of a Bhaut is the strongest and most sacred of 
‘allbonds. They are frequently also engaged in agri- 
seulture ; but, as a privileged class, are exempted from 
all payment of taxes; and, when any attempts have 
been made: to subject them to assessments, they do not 
fail to murder some of their tribe, with the usual im- 
-precations on those who have infringed their rights. 
‘The Charons are nearly allied to the Bhauts in manners 
‘and customs ; and, being generally possessed of large 
droves of carriage cattle, they carry on an inland traffic 
‘in grain to a considerable distance. They are frequent- 
ly Fired for the protection of travellers ; and, when at- 
tacked by banditti, they take a solemn oath to die by 
their own hands, if any injury be done to the persons 
under their care. So great is the veneration in which 
they are held by the a yer eat natives, that this 
threat of suicide is generally effectual in restraining the 
most ferocious plunderers. The Ungreas, whose pro- 
fession is that of money-carriers, are of all casts, and 
generally athletic'and well armed. Though extremely. 
‘poor, they are remarkable for their honesty in convey- 
“ing the largest sums. They conceal the money in their 
quilted clothes ; and though rewarded for their servi- 
ces only with a small pittance, they will fight with-the 
‘utmost desperation in defence of the property with 
which they are entrusted. In the northern and west- 
ern of the province, is a class named Puggies, 
whose business it isto trace the steps of a thief, and 
they are so expert in the office, that, if set upon the 
pursuit early in the morning, after the theft has been 
‘committed, before many Lg have been moving about 
-the vicinity, they seldom, fail to point out the village 
¥ 
Pind 
cept the Brahmins, who take snuff very freely. 
GUZERAT. 
595 
where the thief has taken refuge. The Dheras of Gu- Guzerat. 
zerat are similar to the Pariars of Malabar, and are obli. ~~ — 
ged to live apart from the other inhabitants. They live Dheras, 
on all kinds of carrion, and are much addicted to pil- 
fering and intoxication, They are compelled by ancient 
custom to serve the state and travellers as carriers of 
baggage ; and also to act as scavengers for the remo- 
ving of filth from the roads and villages, ‘Ihe Koon- 
bees, which is the name given in Guzerat to the Hin- 
doos of the pure Sudra, or fourth cast, form the great 
body of the agricultural ntry ; and are supposed 
to have emigrated obighaelty from Ajimeer, or Hindos- 
tan Proper. , They hold portions of government land ; 
and are called Patells, in. distinction from the Gracias. 
They are peaceable, industrious subjects under ev 
change of rulers ; and, as they seldom repair to the ci- 
ties, their manners are altogether simple and inoffen- 
sive. They rarely leave the village where their fathers 
lived and died, but continue in the same place, to plou 
the fields, and reap the harvest, and tend the cattle, 
while their women are employed in spinning cotton, 
grinding corn, and preparing the usual repast of milk, 
pulse, and other vegetables. Toolarge a proportion of 
the produce of their lands is collected for the govern- 
ment and subordinate chiefs ; but still a sufficiency ge- 
nerally remains for the supply of their wants, which are 
extremely few and simple. In the more remote dis- 
tricts icularly, their mode of living is remarkabl 
primitive. A hut built of mud, and thatched wit 
straw, is the ordinary habitation of the villager. A few 
earthen pots for cooking, a large jar of unburnt cla 
for holding grain, another of burnt clay, for hold- 
ing water, and a glazed jug for holding oil, form 
the chief part of his furniture. A couple of yards of 
cotton cloth tied round the middle, and sometimes a 
turban on the head, cémposes the whole clothing of the 
men; and a long piece of similar cloth, put on in 
graceful folds, is the usual dress of the females. * They 
testify great hospitality to strangers, who are usually 
Koonbees. 
presented at the entrance of the village’ with fruit, 
milk, butter, fire-wood, and earthen utensils; and some- 
times compelled, at their departure, to take with them 
one day’s provisions. They are a contented people, 
and their condition tolerably comfortable in seasons 
of peace ; but they. have no idea of liberty, and are sub- 
jected to every species of suffering in time of war. But 
wherever British influence extends, their comforts are 
increased, and their security better provided for. In 
the north-western quarters, many barbarous practices 
prevail among them ; and among the Coolees and Raj- 
poots icularly, besides what may be called the pre- 
scri cruelties of their religion, it is not uncommon 
for many persons of both sexes to cut off their noses, 
as a security against the malignant influence of witches. 
‘The unnatural practice of putting to death the female Female 
infants, which prevailed among the Jahrejahs, a race of Infanticide. 
Rajpoots in the peninsula of Guzerat, was abolished )in 
1808, by the humane exertions of Jonathan Duncan, 
Esq. late governor of Bombay, and of Colonel Walker, 
British resident in the province ; + and within the dis- 
tricts acquired by the East India Company, many other 
degrading customs are gradually disappearing. The 
province of Guzerat, in short, presents am its dit- 
ferent inhabitants instances of the extremes of civiliza- 
tion, exhibiting all the rudeness of the pastoral and al- 
# It fe a universal practice among all the Mahommedans of both sexes, and the Hindoo males throughout Guzerat, to smoke tobacco} ¢x- 
+ See Cormnck’s Account of the Abolition of Female Infunicide in Guverat, 
