OF BHABATAVAK8A OR INDIA. 
147 
Little is kncwn about their former history. The Kora- 
gas are now treated like Pariahs, though according to tradi- 
tion they also were once a governing race. Dr. Francis 
Buchanan states that : " Hubushica, chief of the savages 
as a slave, is ricUy content with his ignorance, with his koppu, and with his 
squalid poverty. Ambition finds in him no place. He eats but the rotten 
flesh of the dead cattle. He clothes himself but with rags. . . The dress of 
the Koragar does not greatly differ from that which the lower classes, such 
as the Billawars, make use of during their daily labour, the only point of 
difference is, that the poverty of the Koragar does not allow him to replace 
the narrow piece of threadbare cloth, little better than a rag, by a more 
recent suit of clothes on festive occasions ; while the other classes invariably 
reserve some sort of finery for gala days. The di'ess of the females, how- 
ever, is very peculiar. "While the males gird a piece of cloth around their 
loins, the females cover their waist with the leaves of the forest interwoven 
together. The custom of their nudity is attributed to different reasons ; and 
a tradition, which has been handed down to posterity among the upper classes, 
who boast of the glory of the past, is hardly worthy of belief. . . One of these 
' blacklegged ' (the usual expression by which they are referred to during the 
night) demanded a girl of high birth in marriage. Being enraged at this, the 
upper class withheld, after the overthrow of the Koraga empire, every kind 
of dress from the Koraga women, who, to protect themselves from disgrace, 
have since had recourse to the leaves of the forest . . .Within his own 
circle, he has three divisions : 1 . TJie Ande Koragars. — These are described 
as having a pot suspended from their neck. This class, which is the lowest, 
has been rarely seen since the establishment of British rule in Canara. 
They were considered so unholy, that they were not allowed to this on the 
public way; and, consequently, the pot was worn for this purpose. 2. The 
Vastra Koragars. — This appellation has reference to their wearing clothes 
■uch as were used to shroud a dead body and were given to them in the shape 
of charity, the use of a new cloth being prohibited. 3. The Sappu Koragars, 
— These Koragars are such as we now generally see, wearing leaves for 
dlothes. These three divisions are named simply after their different kinds 
of dress." (This extract is from M. Sherring's vol. Ill, and the following 
Jjsrtly also from the Indian Antiquary.) 
" When a Koragar dies, as a matter of simple duty, reference is made to 
his landlord, and with his permission the deceased is buried in a place con- 
secrated for the purpose, and in his honour four balls of rice are made and 
placed on the grave, which must be done within twelve months from the 
date of his death. Koragars were, it is said, originally worshippers of the 
Bun. . . They have no separate temple for their god ; but a place beneath 
a Kasarkana tree is consecrated for the worship of their deity, which 
Is exclusively their own, and is called Kata. . . The Koragars have no fixed 
feasts exclusively their own. Now, while liberty shines throughout the 
■world under this Christian Government, slavery still lurks in those darkest 
comers where the lays of education have yet to penetrate. The Koragar* 
tuA. Holey as are victims to this vestige of past despotism. The ceremony 
