358 T. H. Hendley — An Account of the Maiwar BMfs. [No. 4, 



The hunter is very patient, he will sit for hours to get a chance shot at 

 a fish; should he miss, as he usually does, his arrows float, and when his 

 quiver is empty, he jumps into the stream and brings them out again al- 

 though the pool may be swarming with alligators. 



He is a clever fisherman, often cutting off part of a stream with a net- 

 work arrangement of stones and bushes, through which the water p; 

 leaving the fish behind, he also nets the stream, swimming into the river to 

 secure his prey. Almost every Bhil, man, woman, and child, can swim ; they 

 generally jump into the water feet foremost, they will dive to great depths 

 and long distances, and to avoid risk from bites of alligators usually go into 

 the streams in large numbers. These creatures they also deter further by 

 striking the water with the foreparts of their feet, progressing Maltese fa- 

 shion, forming line and shouting. With aline of noisy Bhils to keep alliga- 

 tors away, a bath in the Maiwar streams and lakes can be very safeiy 

 indulged in. With these precautions a single Bhil does not fear to enter the 

 pool to remove his arrows or wounded fish. The traveller may occasional- 

 ly see large parties of women and children enjoying the pleasure of a good 

 swim in the hill torrents, while some of their friends sit on the banks play- 

 ing the flute, or herding the flocks. 



The forest paths are narrow, necessitating marching in Indian file, a 

 mode of progress which men and women generally preserve when the road 

 is wide enough to walk otherwise. 



The Bhil is an excellent woodman, knows the shortest cuts over the 

 hills, can walk the roughest paths and climb the steepest crags without 

 slipping or feeling distressed. He is often called in old Sanskrit works Yena- 

 puka, Child of the Forest ; Pal Indra, Lord of the Pass — these names well 

 describe his character ; his country is approached through narrow defiles — 

 Pal or Nal (a causeway). Through these none can pass without his per- 

 mission. In former days he always levied ' rakhwali' or black-mail, and even 

 now native travellers find him quite ready to assert what he deems his just 

 rights. It has been stated that when the mutineers of the Cavalry detach- 

 ment stationed at Khairwara attempted to escape through the hills in 

 1858-9, they were compelled to return in many instances, as the Bhils 

 stripped them of everything, even their clothes. 



Though robbers, and timorous, owing to ages of ill-treatment, the 

 men are brave when trusted, and very faithful ; they have been looked upon 

 by the Rajputs as wild beasts to be hunted down as vermin, and are now 

 only beginning to feel themselves men. There is a great difference in this 

 respect between the inhabitants of the district round Khairwara and those 

 more remote. At the time the Maiwar Bhil Corps was raised, it was thought 

 necessary to pay certain Thakurs for their supposed influence over the Bhils, 

 but their aid in obtaining recruits was almost nominal, and is now useless, as 



