64 THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 
mountainous district of the basin of the Cauvery, he 
writes :—‘In this hilly tract are a number of people, of 
a rude tribe called Soligas, or Soligaru, who use a kind of 
cultivation called the Cotu-cadu, which a good deal resem- 
bles that which in the eastern parts of Bengal is called 
Jumea. In the hot season the men cut the bushes that 
grow on any spot of land on the side or top of a mountain, 
where between the stones there is a tolerable soil. They 
burn the bushes when these have become dry, and leave 
to the women the remainder of the labour. When the 
rains commence, these, with a small hoe, dig up the ground 
to the depth of three inches. They then clear it of weeds, 
and next day sow it broadcast with ragi, here and there 
dropping in a seed of avary, tovary, mustard, maize, or 
pumpkin. The seed is covered by another hoeing. A 
woman can in one day hoe ten cubits square,and on the next 
can sow it. The sowing season lasts about two months, so 
that the quantity sown in a year by every woman may be 
estimated at somewhat less than the sixth part of an acre. 
The custom, however, is for all the people of one village 
to work one day at one family’s ground, and the next day 
at another’s, in regular succession. The villages in general 
contain four or five families, The women perform also 
the whole harvest. | 
‘These people have also plantain gardens. To form 
one of these they cut down the bushes, and form pits with 
a sharp stick. In each of these they set a plantain 
sucker, and ever afterwards keep down the grass and 
bushes, so as to prevent them from choking the garden.’ 
Of a short journey from Bellata Angady, in Canara, he 
writes :—‘ I went a short journey to Jamal-Abad. . ‘ 
The country through which I passed to-day was almost 
entirely covered with wood;‘but much of it has a good 
soil, and might be watered by means of the small river 
which we twice crossed. . . . In this neighbourhood 
the hills that are cultivated after the Cotu-cadu or Cumri 
manner are all private property. The Mulucaras, or pro- 
prietors, have alienated the whole right. of cultivating 
