202 



Statistical Beporfoh the Northern and [No. 38, 



wretched and degraded of the inhabitants of southern India, Beam- 

 ing about the trackless forests that skirt the Grodavery, 011 its 

 northern bank, these miserable creatures share with the inferior 

 animals, the tiger and the wild buffaloe, the terrible penalties of 

 the primitive curse, their life is a constant struggle to maintain 

 existence, sowing no grain, planting no tree, they are cast on rude 

 nature for a subsistance. Nothing that is not actually poisonous, 

 which they can masticate, do they reject, the most tasteless and 

 least succulent fruits, the bitterest of herbs, the most loathsome 

 flesh, and carrion, are accepted as bountiful gifts from their hard 

 hearted step-mother, who is bountiful only to those who labour. 

 The seeds of the bamboo, and of the uncultivated grasses, they have 

 in lieu of bread. A few who collect together in villages, may 

 possess buffaloes, breed fowls, and cultivate coarse grain, but the 

 genuine Grond is a true savage, with the instinct of the inferior ani- 

 mals, the sight of cotton cloth, scares him, and sends him in fright 

 and terror to his hiding place in the jungle, it is the garment of 

 civilized man whom he looks on as a natural foe. Such are the 

 castes found in Telinganah ; at one time I thought of giving them, 

 in the order of their rank, but this was impossible, that not being 

 fixed among themselves, but determined often by the condition 

 of the members, so that the inferior caste in one Sircar may 

 be the superior in the other. The Brahmins, the only legitimate ar- 

 biters in such matters, will not, through contempt or apprehension, 

 determine it, and endless disputes often arise as to precedence. 

 The truth is, except among the holier and more learned Brahmins 

 themselves, whose position at the head of all is universally conced- 

 ed on religious grounds, caste is a civil rather than a religious dis- 

 tinction, a wealthy shepherd or even a monied Kullal will often 

 have concessions made to his caste in one locality, that are con- 

 temptuously withheld in another. The eating of beef and of car- 

 rion are the sole conditions that can exclude a Hindoo from a cer- 

 tain degree of respect, if he merits it. Some most whimsical rules 

 with regard to eating particular kinds of food are observed, a Brah- 

 min will not eat a carrot because the central part bears some re- 

 semblance to a bone, and the outer part to flesh. The Paunch 

 Bhaee decline eating the Phunnus or Jack-fruit because their cli- 

 ents, or Munguc wallahs, are called Phunnassooloo, and they might 

 be reproached with dieting off their dependants ; songs it is* said 

 govern nations, it would appear that nick names, sometimes regu- 



