60 PROFESSOR SIR W. , TURNER ON 



of Bengal and their Feudatories, by C. J. O'Donnell, M.A., l.C.S. ; Report on the 

 Central Provinces and Feudatories, by B. Robertson, l.C.S. ; Reports on Anthro- 

 pology in Bulletin of Madras Government Museum, Madras, 1897-1900, by Edgar 

 Thurston; The Distribution of the Negritos, by A. B. Meyer, M.D., Dresden, 1899. 



Aborigines. 



Before I enter on the description of the craniological characters of the different 

 aboriginal tribes, it will be useful to say something of the geographical position of the 

 districts in which they live, and of the distribution and physical characteristics of the 

 people of each tribe. 



Chuta Nagpur is a division of Bengal situated to the south of Mirzapur, in the 

 North- West Provinces, and to the north and east of the Central Provinces. It con- 

 tains, amongst others, the districts of Singbhum, Manbhum, Hazaribagh and the 

 tributary state of Sargiija, from all of which skulls had been obtained. In the 

 Lohardaga district is the town of Ranchi, where there is an important jail, from which 

 had been procured the crania of some prisoners who had been executed or had died 

 of disease — many of whom were natives of the adjoining villages. The country is 

 broken up into hills, valleys, and raised plateaux. Hindus form the largest element 

 of the population, but interspersed among them are semi-Hinduised natives 

 and aboriginal tribes. 



The Central Provinces are a large territory which extends as far south as the 

 Godavery River, the Nizam's dominions, and the north part of the Madras Presidency. 

 Skulls have been examined from Bastar, Raipur, and other districts in the provinces. 

 The country is diversified and contains tablelands, which in some parts are 2000 feet 

 high, ranges of hills, valleys, and wide plains. The Hindus are the preponderating 

 element amongst the people, but numbers of aborigines are to be found, especially on 

 the Satpura plateau and in the hill districts of the feudatory state of Bastar. 



Orissa is an extensive province on the west side of the Bay of Bengal, and is 

 bounded on the west by Chuta Nagpur and the Central Provinces. Along the coast 

 line it possesses a border of alluvial land, but the interior is an undulating country 

 intersected by ranges of hills, the highest peaks of which are from 3000 to 4000 feet. 

 Hindus constitute the mass of the people, but the aborigines and semi-Hinduised 

 aboriginal tribes form an important element. Skulls have been obtained from 

 Keunjhar, Kandh-mals, Cuttack, and other parts of Orissa. 



In the several provinces under consideration the Hindus occupy and cultivate the 

 valleys and more fertile lands. The aboriginal tribes live in the hills and on the 

 higher plateaux, and preserve more or less completely their religion and tribal customs. 

 Where the Hindus have come into immediate contact with the aborigines, the latter, 

 whilst retaining to some extent their ancient forms of faith and customs, have, in other 

 respects, adopted the Hindu religion and modes of thought. 



