44 



Rota Vocabulary, [no. 7, new series, 



performed by one man in each village, whom they call 

 the Palicarpal, and who alone is allowed to go into the 

 dairy, which is considered a kind of sanctum in each Mand. 

 In the harvest time the men go about in all the Badaga 

 villages, and raise their tax in grain, which they call gudii, 

 and to which, the Badagas believe, they have, as the lords 

 of the soil, a certain right, but I have been witness a 

 great many times when it was only by the greatest force 

 that the Todas could get something from their tenants. 

 And if the Badagas were not afraid of their enchantment, 

 they certainly often would refuse to supply the lazy fellows, 

 whom they call Pitch ekarar, with the means of their sub- 

 sistence. Also the Toda women are as lazy as their hus- 

 bands, and except preparing the meal for the family, do 

 nothing at all. They sometimes during the absence of 

 their husbaads sit for hours together, talking and laugh- 

 ing, and curling their hair. 



Though the Badagas also do not know much of the 

 value of time, still they cultivate their ground, and in the 

 sowing and weeding season expose themselves to the in- 

 clemency of the weather very much, and I have no doubt 

 if they w r ere more industrious, they could easily supply 

 themselves with grain enough to live upon, but as this 

 is not the case, a very large quantity of Rdgy comes up 

 from the low country every week, which the Badagas buy 

 and consume. The Badaga women are very industrious, 

 and not for an hour they can be seen idle. If there is 

 no work in the field, they bring firewood to the house, 

 or do something else for the benefit of the family. Chiefly 

 on this account a youth has to give a very large dow- 

 ry for his wife, sometimes 150 and 200 Rs. because he 

 knows her usefulness. Also they have more modesty, and 

 are not so forward as the Toda women, at least not tow- 

 ards strangers. The Government tax, which the Badagas 

 pay for their land and buffaloes, is comparatively high 



