THE ANIMALLAI HILLS. 



127 



to obtain permission for me to kill two elephants in a tract of for- 

 est on the hills belonging to an old native prince, the Rajah of 

 Kulungud, which adjoined the Government Leased Forest. jVIi-. 

 T. had done the old Rajah many a good turn in preventing the 

 stealing of timber from his land, and after a good deal of talking 

 and much diplomacy on the part of my friend, the matter was 

 finally arranged, and I was given 

 a written peiTnit to kill two tusk- 

 er elephants in the Kulungud 

 Forest. 



The day after I reached Toona- 

 cadavoo I formed a regular hunt- 

 ing gang of five picked men to 

 serve me in the jungles as track- 

 ers, guides, game-carriers, por- 

 ters, and general assistants. 1 

 was fortunate in finding there a 

 hill-tribe, the Mulcers, of which 

 every man is willing to work hard 

 when well fed, is skilled in wood- 

 craft, and is not in the least af- 

 flicted with caste prejudice, which 

 is the most important point of alL 

 The Mulcers are really agricult- 

 urists, but they will do any kind 

 of work that pays, and live right 

 beside it. They ai-e, by i:)refer- 

 ence, carnivorous in their habits, 

 being very fond of flesh of aU 

 kinds, save that of the tiger, and, 

 possessing no fire-arms them- 

 selves, they hail the visit of a 

 sportsman with delight. \Yhen 



well fed, the men are very strong and capable of great physical en- 

 durance. Two of my men once carried a dead wild boar, weighing 

 230 lbs,, three miles through the jungle, up and down hill, halting 

 only twice to rest. 



The Mulcer men are of medium stature, well proportioned, 

 very dark-skinned, with rather thick lips and slightly flattened 

 noses, after the African type, wearing no ornaments whatever as a 

 rule, and no other clothing than the loin-cloth. Ordinarily, their 



Pera Vera. 

 (A Mulcer BunUr.) 



