183/.] An Account of the Tribe of Mhadeo Kolies. 



is cultivated on the hills and in the mallzumeen ; it is prepared and 

 eaten after the same fashion as rice. Mukkah (ZeaMays) or Indian 

 corn — a little of this grain if^sown in June, and sometimes in Decem- 

 ber — it ripens in three months. The Kolies prize the ears much when 

 toasted. Ambarry (Hibiscus Canabinus) — this is sown at the begin- 

 ning of the monsoon. Some of the poor people eat the seed, mixed 

 with other flour, the leaves are very bitter, but when mixed with red 

 pepper and salt, it is much eaten with bread. The stalk is soaked in 

 water and used as hemp for making ropes, &c. Tag, (Crotalaria 

 Juncea ) — this is sown in the beginning of the rains, and ripens in No* 

 vember and December. The stalk is used as hemp, for making ropes 

 and a coarse material for bags, used by the Banjarahs for grain, salt, 

 &c. and they feed their cattle on the seed. Sugar cane — Mahratta, 

 Oos — they plant the canes entire, and close to each other (that is the 

 end of the one joining the other), in the bhautt churries, which have 

 been well manured and prepared for the occasion. This is in the month 

 of October or November ; the dew during the cold season keops the soil 

 moist, and the cane shoots up six or eight inches before the Hooly (at 

 the vernal equinox). The cane is cut down in the following December 

 — cane, grown after this mode, is said to produce sugar of a much better 

 description, than that constantly watered from a well or stream. 

 Jowarry and bajeere are not cultivated in these hills. The Kolies bor- 

 dering on the plains, grow some bajeere. 



They cultivate a few cf the vegetables and legumes, commonly grown 

 in the open country. Their jungles supply them also with a great 

 variety of vegetables, from twenty to thirty sorts, besides fruits, ber- 

 ries, &c. The principal jungle roots are the anway, kaudur, chaie, 

 sardull, pundah and turpull. The anway grows in the hardest red 

 soil among the rocks, and consequently it is a difficult and laborious 

 task to dig it up. In appearance, and in many respects in quality, it 

 resembles the yam. The root is found from one to two feet buried in 

 the ground ; it sends forth a shoot like a creeper, which clings to any 

 bush or tree near it. The substance of this plant is white, and it is 

 boiled in milk. The natives of rank prize it much. The plant of 

 which arrow root is made, grows abundantly in the hills and near some 

 of the villages. The Kolies call it Sillinda, but they do not use it for 

 any purpose. 



The kaudur resembles the plantain tree. The root is much #aten by 

 the Thakoors and some Kolies during a scarcity. They also eat the 

 root of the turpull, pundah and chaie, when grain is dear. The sar- 

 dull is a large bulbous root, and is also eaten by the Kolies in time of 

 scarcity ; it is extremely rough and unpleasant to the taste. They use 

 it also to cure the guinea worm. 



