﻿A SECT COMMONLY DENOMINATED NUTS. 457 



a§ title, wliirh in reality appears to be rather a 

 HuidoQ'i ill ;..i a l/oo/^/ ////// //'s apj)eri:ition. 



The extraordinary tVats ot'auil;ty whirh the wo- 

 men )f this set exliibit, are so well known as to 

 render any description unnecessary, '\[\<d\ have no 

 rcgiiiar hal)itations. ht:ng contented, wiih temporary 

 huts, formed of the iloogia * or S'lrktc mars, and 

 when they have occasion to change their stations, it 

 is attended, as \\rx\ easily be* imagined, wirh but 

 little trouble, both h;)use and furniture would hardly 

 be a load f )r one person. 



The pt'ople ot each set are, like our actors, hired by 

 the Sunhir or nianai>;er of a company for a certain 

 period, g-eneraliy one year ; after which, they are at 

 lil)eii\ to join any other party. No person can 

 estaolish a set w itiiout the sanction of the Nardar 

 Boutah, who, I believe, receives a f chout of the 



profits, 



* The first appears to be of the j?ag, or sedge kind, of great use 

 •for slight enclosures and for lining straw and tiled roofs, either to .aiti- 

 gate che heat of the sun, or to give the inside a finished appearance. 

 Alter the conflagrations so common in ali parts of India, the poor buf- 

 ferers generally have recourse to the Hocgla or iiiriee, with which they 

 shelt'-r themselves in temporary habitations from the weather. It is pos- 

 sibh^ enough that the iitx famed Inrbour of Hooglee derives its name 

 from the banks of the river (which we h?ve ternried the Hoog lee also,) 

 having been at that place in days of yore ovtrgrown with thib very 

 planr, whica is seldom if ever met with in the interior or higher pirts 

 of Htndoi,5tan. This supposition derives weight from Hijlee, the 

 place w" ansurdlv name higelhe., beu.g famous ti>r che production of a 

 tree termed Hijul, a compound prob..hly ox hee life, ^nd jul water, to 

 denote the soil it thrives in. The Sirkfe on the contrary is in abun- 

 dance in the upper provinces, and seems of the rush species. It is also 

 used much in the same manner as the other, though growing in low 

 grounds it is nor socomple eiy an aquatic plant as the Hoogla. As the 

 lining of Bungla roofs, it looks much neater in every respect, and is by 

 far more durable. 



+ "W^z fourthy and the notorious tax or duty which the Muhmttat 

 have often claimed without success on our revenues. It is aibO sup- 

 posed to be the standard quantum of public or private peculation, to 

 which no extraordinary odium is attached among ihe natives, who are 

 too apt to consider one fourth of their master's property entrusted to 

 them at once, as the shikar: kulal oz fair game, for every honest ser- 

 vant's pursuit. 



