1834.] Memoir of the Survey of Travancor§» 64 



mation of the widow on the funeral pile seems unknown here,* at 

 least they do not now aspire to the honor of this superstitious, san- 

 guinary, but generous devotion, for which is substituted the easier 

 ceremony of consuming the Tally. Nothing can exceed the pre- 

 cautions taken by the Nomboories, to seclude their women from 

 the gaze of profane eyes, guarded with more than moslim jealousy, 

 their nearest relations are interdicted communication : even brothers 

 and sisters are separated in early age. The women are known by 

 no other term than Unterjennem or Agotamar, which may be trans- 

 lated the concealed, their seclusion is more strict than that of a 

 cloister, if venturing to some neighbouring temple, rolled in cloth, 

 fortified by a large umbrella, and preceded by a female servant, 

 wIto commands the absence of all intruders, they escape the view 

 of the curious. Where chastity is so strictly guarded, a breach of 

 it is not easy, instances of frailty however are not unknown. If the 

 crime be committed with a man of a lower rank, both offenders es- 

 cheating to the Circar, are sold as slaves to some of the inferior 

 classes, in earlier times it was visited by still further severities. But 

 the indignation it excites is in no measure extended to similar trans- 

 gressions of the other sex, a ready casuistry reconciles them to the 

 practice of forming connections with the Nair women, a Nomboo- 

 rie being supposed to honor the family from which he chooses a 

 paramour, finds one in every house. The Nomboories are compa- 

 ratively fair, well formed, and their women said to be distinguished 

 by their beauty, — their costume except in being somewhat 

 less scanty differs in nothing from that of the Nairs, the privilege of 

 wearing gold bracelets is the only peculiarity in their ornaments, 

 their cleanliness deserves commendation, and might be ranked as 

 almost a secondary virtue, did not much of it arise from superstition. 



Numbuddy, Mootoodda, Aghapaud, Ovel, and Eeheadoo are inferior 

 casts of Nomboories, each forming different ranks; they are the de- 

 scendants of bramins who were degraded from the station they 

 once held for various transgressions at some remote date ; tradition 

 has handed down the story of their disgrace, but it is unnecessary 

 to repeat the tale. 



Of Foreign Bramins — The prospect of gain and the high vene- 

 ration experienced by the bramin cast in Travancore, attracts 

 crowds from the surrounding countries. The Putters trace the date 

 of their first emigrations to the period of the earliest Kshetry Princes, 



* Although it would appear very common on the other side of the Ghauts 

 as is seen, in the number of rude monuments commemorating this event in 

 Shencottah. 



