Ixviii APPETfBTX. 



seek safety in these mountains, they may have been taught by expe- 

 rience that it is wiser for them to live in fellowship, or quiescent submis- 

 sion, than to proToke hatred or hostility. 



They, however, assert a claim to the soil, and declare that it was only 

 by their sufferance that the other tribes came to reside on it ; that 

 they receive from them a payment in kind, not, however, for so many 

 kaunies or acres, but for such a spot, measuring it with the eye ; an 

 indefinite sort of demarkation, which, where land is so plentiful, and 

 the inhabitants so few, is not attended with any inconvenience. 



Of the tribes here aUuded to, one whom they call the Marves,* a 

 race of Hindus, who but a few generations ago emigrated hither, to 

 escape the oppression and tyranny of their masters, and who are ten 

 times more numerous than the Todas themselves, speak of the latter, 

 and treat them with a respect and observance denoting, that they either 

 consider them superior in natural qualities, or that this deference is 

 due to them by prescriptive right. 



Wlatever their religion may be, it is evident that it is generally mis- 

 understood : and perhaps the true nature of it is altogether unknown. 

 Of itself it forms a subject of curious inquiry; and one of which a 

 correct understanding will perhaps go further than any other, to deve- 

 lope the history of this extraordinary people. 



Nor has their rehgion, as far as I am able to judge, any resemblance 

 to that of the Buddhist, the Moslem, or of any other people of the 

 present day. They salute the sun in its rising, and believe, that after 

 death the soul goes to Huiua-norr or Om-norr,t a country, respecting 

 which, they seemed rather to look to me for information. 



Their language, the pronunciation of which is deeply pectoral, appears 

 to be quite distinct from the languages of the surrounding countries. 

 With the Sanscrit it has not the least affinity in roots, construction, or 

 sound ; and, if I may ventm-e to say so, as Kttle with any other Asiatic 

 language of the present day. 



It may, perhaps, be said to have some resemblance to the vernacular 

 Hindu languages of the Peninsula, but only in so far as these languages 

 still possess simple words, not of Sanscrit origin j and the Tamil 

 possessing by far the greater number of such words, the resemblance 

 to it is consequently greatest. There are also two sounds, the Zah 



* More generally known by the name of Barghers, Badaoars, or 

 Tadacars. 



+ Literally, the great coimtry. 



