May 1861.1 



Report on JSustar. 



25 



inches long and very narrow in the blade, and a knife in the waist 

 cloth small and of varying form. The language of the Moriahs is a 

 mixture of several, the principal of which appear to be the Hindu, 

 Telugu, Canarese and Mahratta. They eat indiscriminately all 

 kinds of grain and the flesh of most animals excepting the buf- 

 faloe, fox, dog, cat and snakes, though only within their own 

 caste. The men are robust, strong and active, generally intelli- 

 gent, well disposed, and bear the character of being very trust- 

 worthy under proper management ; they would appear to be 

 susceptible of great improvement. Their mode of arranging and 

 celebrating the marriage ceremony, is worth relating, as it is uni- 

 versally followed by all. The betrothal and propriety of the mar- 

 riage of any two members of the caste is referred to two of the 

 elder and more respectable men of the village (one being chosen 

 by each party) who having met by appointment, fill an earthen 

 vessel with water and each gently drops a grain of rice one in the 

 name of the boy and one in the name of the girl at opposite sides 

 of the vessel, which are watched with much interest, the success 

 of the suit being dependent on the meeting of the two grains, in 

 which case the proposal is looked upon as propitious, is accepted 

 and arranged accordingly. Afterwards on an appointed day, the 

 bride and bridegroom are anointed with saffron and oil, their gar- 

 ments tied together and their foreheads marked ; the friends on 

 both sides then eat and drink together. The dieties chiefly wor- 

 shipped by the Moriahs in common with the Mariahs are three in 

 number namely : — 



1st. Bhoo Devi or The Earth. 

 2nd. Dongar Deo or The Hills. 

 3rd. Bhimpen. 



of the two first no representation is made, but a small hut (mundar) 

 is erected as the house of the god or goddess, where the people 

 offer fermented liquor, drinking the remainder themselves. The 

 third appears to be the peculiar deity of the people of Bustar and 

 is called indiscriminately Bhimpin, Bhima or Bhim Deo ; the repre- 

 sentation of it (apparently signifying a God and a Goddess) being 

 made by the insertion in the ground of two pieces of wood 3 to 4 feet 

 in length, one a little shorter than the other. The worship of this 



