280 ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 



The way with the head, from which every particle of flesh 

 and fibre must be removed before setting up, was to bury 

 it, leaving the ants and other agencies to clean it perfectly, 

 as they would do. It took several weeks for this process 

 to be completed and the bones quite clean. 



As a rule, we had with us among our beaters, coolies, etc., 

 some of those little Churmers of whom dishonourable men- 

 tion was made earlier, and who, being of no caste to speak 

 of, objected to nothing in the way of meat, fresh or decayed, 

 rather preferring the latter. However, they were necessary 

 evils in a camp, for no one else could or would do their work, 

 and to them was entrusted the skinning, under the Doray's 

 eye ; they could be left to themselves to scrape off every 

 atom of flesh, so greedy were they and so thoroughly did 

 they enjoy their job. 



One evening, on reaching the confines of the camp, we 

 were assailed by a horrible odour, and F. said he was sure 

 these folk had dug up a head, which proved to be the case. 

 They thought it had been buried too soon, with too much 

 good food on it, which they begrudged to the moles and the 

 ants. In any stage of decay meat was meat to them, and 

 presently we came upon them enjoying themselves to their 

 hearts' content, although it must have been seething with 

 maggots. They cried on all occasions, these strange beings, 

 and did so now. Seeing the Doray coming they all got up, 

 and without venturing nearer, begged with tears in their 

 eyes to be allowed to keep the head a while, promising to 

 re-bury it for good when they had done with it. After a 

 show of anger at their daring in digging up what the master 

 had had buried, F. gave the permission they asked, with 

 orders to take themselves and their bonne-bouche farther off. 



The odd thing is that these people are always well and 

 strong and healthy-looking, whereas by rights, or rather 

 by every rule of hygiene, they should be quite the con- 

 trary, eating any sort of carrion as they, and even their tiny 



