59 Memoir of the Surve?/ of Travancore. [January 



number or value, they are generally limited to a silver pen fixed to 

 the waist, a chain of the same metal forms a girdle, to which seals 

 or keys are attached, the fingers are sometimes loaded with rings 

 each having several ; a knife six or eight inches long, the hilt of 

 which is carved, invariably accompanies the pen, this is an indis- 

 pensable article performing all sorts of offices, even the lower classes 

 are never seen without one stuck in the girdle. The female orna- 

 ments are more numerous, though by no means of that complex cha- 

 racter worn by those of the neighbouring countries, a perverted taste 

 distends the lobe of the ear to a most extravagant size, it frequently 

 reaching to the top of the shoulder, the appertures thus formed are 

 filled by ponderous pendants of ivory or ebony, or by the leaf of 

 the palmyra rolled uito a circular form, they occasionally lavish 

 much of their finery on the neck, which is sometimes observed en- 

 compassed by a collar or necklace of gold, from which a few 

 trinkets are suspended, but the more general ornament is the Tally, 

 which is merely a thin cotton cord, to which is aflfixed a small 

 gold ornament; amongst the wealthier classes a single bracelet of 

 the above metal is occasionally observed, this distinction is only 

 assumed by the other sex when conferred by the chief. 



Subsistence is almost entirely derived from agricultural labours, 

 nor do the temptations of commerce attract even the wealthier 

 classes from rural pursuits, which are most esteemed, the handicraft 

 professions being, it has been seen, abandoned to the very lower 

 ranks, nor does the practice of them always secure a certain liveli- 

 hood, though that might be earned without the interrupted appli- 

 cation of industry, might be concluded from the abstemious charac- 

 ter of their diet, even that of the higher ranks knows but few deli- 

 cacies, those not at all intelligible to our luxury are even disregard- 

 ed by their neighbours, v/ho decry the extreme simplicity of their 

 taste. Conjee or Rice soup (a leaf invariably performing the office 

 of a spoon) forms the first meal, the second consists of Rice (dry 

 grains being very little used) their condiments are of the most 

 ordinary kind. The pulp of the mango reduced to a paste and 

 dried, having been spread on mats for this purpose, is amongst the 

 best. The ordinary oil is a common substitute for ghee, but little 

 animal food is consumed in the interior, those living near the sea in 

 a great measure draw their support from that element. The cocoa- 

 nut in all its shapes constitutes one of the chief articles of subsis- 

 tence, and the jack, plantain, and mango, are here articles of the 

 first necessity rather than luxuries — the kernel of the latter is 



