1S75.] T. H. Hendley — An Account of the llaiwdr BMls. 355 



fond of jewellery especially the silver waist belts — the Jcamarsdl and Icamar- 

 pattd of their neighbours. Those who can afford it have guns and swords, 

 but these are not national weapons. They do not tatoo the body. The hair 

 is worn long in their homes, but tied up abroad. 



The men usually shave the face, but sometimes wear a beard, as far as 

 I have observed, a scanty one. The head may be shaved, but a top knot is 

 always left. Shaving is a sign of mourning. 



Females. — In the villages where there are Hindus, the dress is that of 

 the women about them, but in the hills they generally wear only a simple 

 waisteloth, rather more full than that of the men, reaching half way down 

 their well-formed legs. Occasionally they use the small kanclili (corset), worn 

 by the women of Gujarat, and they adopt the mode of the inhabitants of 

 the same province in dressing their hair, which is parted into little squares, 

 and covered with small globular grape-like ornaments. They wear on their 

 arms and legs the lac and glass cliur'is of the poor Hindu ; but their nation- 

 al bangles and bracelets are made of brass, and are sharp-edged, rough, and 

 worn smooth by friction alone, often causing ulceration in the process. In 

 a set of bracelets are four rings (vide plate) — 



1. A plain bevelled ring. 



2. One semi-oval in section, grooved across obliquely. 



3. A double plain flat ring. 



4. A rough grooved ring with an octagonal boss. 

 Weight for one arm, 6£ ounces. 



For the leg are five ornaments — ■ 



1 and 2. Two plain rings (semi-oval in section). 

 3 and 4. Two flattened sharp-edged ones. 



5. A AA shaped ornament, worn only by married women. 

 Weight of bangles for one leg, 11-J ounces. Total weight of brass orna- 

 ments, 35-| ozs., or 2 ibs. 3|- ozs., an enormous load to drag about the hills, 

 although nothing to be compared with a Hindu Patrani, who will wear half 

 a maund on a festival day. The young women wear necklaces of beads, and 

 the children are kept without dress to an advanced age ; sometimes, however, 

 having a bead or charm by way of pudendal ornament. 



Manufactures, &e. — The Bhil brings in grass and wood and a few sup- 

 plies to Eajput villages, where he purchases ornaments, arrows, &c. He 

 collects ghi, and sells it to neighbouring banias, also honey, which is 

 procured by smoking out the bees with burning cowdung, and then cutting 

 open the comb and catching the honey in an earthen pot. 



Agriculture. — The system of agriculture is very rude. The ground is 



merely scratched below or near the hut of the labourer, and the seed 



thrown in broadcast. The ploughing takes place during the rains. Wood 



is burnt as a manure ; the fields are surrounded with temporary hedges of 



x x 



