44 MR, R. B. BAINBRIDGE ON 



be obviously illogical to attack the theory of a Dravidian origin on the sole ground 

 of dissimilarity of physique. But it is well that facts ascertained should be dispas- 

 sionately enumerated. Nor is this all, there are other obstacles : The inviolable 

 ramifications of the totemistic system are absent ; endogamy and exogamy are not the 

 arbiters of nuptial alliances ; marriage is regulated solely by the prohibitions of blood 

 relationship ; and the termination of the interdict, and the appearance of the fourth 

 cousin, are simultaneous. 



Turning to the moral faculty, it will be observed that some of the differences 

 gradually disappear. The Sonthal and the Saoria are indiscriminate in appetite ; 

 articles regarded with loathing by Aryans are to them clean and wholesome. An 

 animal that has died of anthrax or rinderpest is eaten. Sexual license though 

 prohibited in theory is tolerated in practice. Professional prostitution is abhorred, 

 but a religious festival, and a feast end in riotous indulgence. In both peoples there 

 is the same amazing capacity for alcohol, a capacity by no means confined to the 

 men. In the Sonthal there is a trait of treachery. In the Saoria it is lacking. The 

 Sonthal is apt to trade upon his apparent simplicity, and conceals, beneath his stolid 

 exterior, a large measure of low cunning. Less influenced by civilization, and adapt- 

 able to circumstances, the craft of the Saoria is superficial. The Sonthal hankers 

 after strange gods and the flesh pots of Egypt. The Saoria prefers starvation on his 

 beloved hills, and renders loyal allegiance to his confused pantheon of godlings and 

 demons. Education and foreign association fail to equip the Saoria with the tortuous 

 windings of the Oriental mind when bent on evil ; whereas, in the Sonthal, they 

 enable him to cope not unsuccesfully with the sagacity of the Brahman. Thriftless to 

 a degree the Saoria garners but to squander at a festival, or to become the fortunate 

 possessor of a godling. Superstition, and its handmaid Imagination, mould him at 

 will, and in the grove, or the tree he beholds with terror the " Jampori " (Demno 

 ghost) and invests the inexplicable power of the railway train with a capacity for com- 

 passing the direst evil. He ascribes an epidemic of small-pox, or cholera, to the 

 advent of inimical spirits by railway. He exorcises them by constructing a rude 

 model of a train, wheels it through the village, and into the jungle, and desires the 

 invisible passengers to journey onwards. Such is the Saoria of to-day, and such has 

 he been for countless generations. 



The exploits of the Saoria, with the bow and spear, form the subject of many a 

 Hindu ballad. The Maharatta horsemen harrowed the rich valley of the Ganges ; 

 but his fierce charge was stemmed by the dense jungle and the poisoned arrow of the 

 Hillman. The resolute claims to independence maintained by the ill-equipped Hill- 

 man prove that the Mogul too was baffled. 



What the sword failed to accomplish the tact and discrimination of Cleveland 

 well nigh achieved. Under his masterly hands was evolved the "Hill assembly," a 

 tribunal composed of chiefs, and vested with authority to try misdemeanants and 

 felons. Under him the Hillman was weaned from lawlessness by the payment of 

 stipends. These arrangements met with the approbation of the illustrious Warren 

 Hastings. The inducements offered were, indeed, calculated to persuade the Saoria 



