6 Migratory Tribes of [No. 145. 



with toil and want, has stunted their growth and made them black 

 and shrivelled in their form. Their numbers are great. They range 

 from the snowy Himalayahs in the north through the vast plains of 

 Hindustan, till at Cape Comorin, beneath the equator, the Indian 

 ocean checks their further progress.* From each valley and each 

 forest that civilized man has as yet left unoccupied, or has once again 

 abandoned to the wild creatures of nature, the hunter obtains his 

 means of subsistence. The creatures that they kill they eat, for, with 

 the exception of the cow and bullock, all animals, the elephant, the 

 tiger, and the leopard, the jungle dog and jungle cat, the wild-boar, 

 the wolf, the iguana, and the rat and mouse, are used as food by the 

 Bhourie. They obtain a little money by disposing of the skins of the 

 animals they destroy, and often earn large rewards for destroying the 

 leopards and wolves that at all times prowl about the outskirts of 

 villages. The women, on visiting a town, gain a little money by 

 disposing of charms and antidotes to the bite of a snake or scorpion's 

 sting. 



The langauge of the Bhourie seems to have little relation to that of 

 any of the other migratory nations. It has many words like the Gu- 

 zerattee and Mahrattee, and several of pure Sanscrit. The Bhourie 

 are divided into five tribes, receiving among themselves the names, 1. 

 Rhatore or Mewara ; 2. Chowhone ; 3. Sawundia ; 4. Korbiar ; and 5- 

 Kodiara. It would appear that the hunters dwell in distinct locali- 

 ties, restrained from migrating to the hunting-grounds of other 

 branches by custom and the fear of punishment, instances having 

 lately occurred where the magistrate's authority has been called in to 

 drive back tribes, who, urged by want, or enticed by more promising 

 wilds, had quitted their own, and located themselves on the hunting 

 grounds of a neighbouring community. 



These communities are governed by chiefs, termed " Howlia," who 

 attain to their office by descent. It was difficult to obtain exact in- 

 formation regarding these head men ; they would seem to be consider, 

 ed spiritual as well as civil guides, and among the wild untutored 

 minds of these rude creatures, there seemed to be some vague idea that 



* Lieut De Butts, in his Rambles in Ceylon, describes a race termed " Veddahs" 

 who, from his description, seem to be the same as the Bhouries of India. 



