196 The “ Kols’’ of Chota-Nagpore. 
The arms of the Kols are to this day what they were in the days of 
““ Rama’—the bow and arrow and battle-axe. The bow is simply 
a piece of bamboo, and the string is of the same material. The war 
arrows have large broad blades doubly and trebly barbed, but they 
make them of all shapes: poison they do not use. They commence 
practice with the bow and arrow at the earliest age. In Singbhoom 
boys three and four years old and upwards, when herding cattle or 
otherwise engaged, have always their bow, and blunt and sharp arrows ; 
the former for practice, the latter to bring down birds when they have 
a chance. 
Tn the villages of Chota-Nagpore where the Oraon and Moondah are 
mixed up together, the difference of character between the two races 
is not much marked ; but if we compare the Singbhoom Hos or Chota- 
Nagpore Mankees and the Oraons, we see strong contrasts. The Oraon 
has the lively happy disposition of the Negro. He is fond of gaiety, 
decorating rather than clothing his person, and whether toiling or 
playing, is always cheerful. 
The Ho or Moondah has more the dignity and reserve of the North 
American Indian, at least when he is sober. He appears to less 
advantage when he is drunk, and he is not unfrequently in that state. 
At all festivals and ceremonies, deep potations of the rice-beer called 
“‘eeley”’ ave freely indulged in by both sexes. Inspirited by this 
beverage, the young men and girls dance together all day and half the 
night; but the dances are perfectly correct, and whenever these 
meetings have led to improprieties, it is always attributed to a too 
free indulgence in eeley. As a rule, the men are reserved and highly 
decorous in their treatment of the women; and the girls, though 
totally free from the prudery that secludes altogether or averts the 
head of a Hindoo or Mahommedan maiden when seen by a man, have 
a modest demeanour, combined with frank open manners and womanly 
grace. @ 
It is said by some, that at the seasons of their great festivals 
amongst themselves, breaches of chastity are of frequent occurrence ; 
but the mere freedom of intercourse allowed to the sexes is likely to 
be viewed with unmerited prejudice and misconstrued by their neigh- 
bours of different race who place such restrictions upon it, and I believe 
that this may give rise to false imputations of impropriety. It is, at 
