176 
ON THE ORIGIXAL IXH.VBITAXTS 
revere Venkatesvara of Tripati, or Siva and Kali in their 
cruder forms, the latter especially as Mariamma ; Gurunatha, 
a village god, whose presence is indicated by a rude stone 
situated under a tree, is also an object of their veneration, 
though some Kurumbas claim him as their special god. Their 
own elders generally fill the position of priests. 
They practise polygamy and are said to pawn their wives 
for debt. Their family disputes are decided by arbitrators, 
but they often nurse their quarrels to such an extent that an 
interminable law suit is called a Kurava's strife. 
They have different sub-divisions in various parts of the 
country, either according to their various clans or the occu- 
pation they follow, and the latter soon becomes a tribal 
distinction. Dr. Francis Buchanan mentions a classification 
with in Bejapore, Bellarj', Hyderabad and throughout Canara. . . Their 
food differs from that of the Hindoo as well as the Mahomedan ; they never 
eat the cow or bullock, but the jackal, porcupine, hog and wild boar, deer 
and tigers are sought after and used by them. They deny that robbery is 
ever made a regular mode of earning a subsistence ; an honesty, however, 
that the people among whom they dwell give them but little credit for. . 
They live by thieving, making gi'ass screens and baskets. The men likewise 
attend at festivals, marriages, and births, as musicians, which has obbiined 
for them the name of Bajantri. . . The women, too, earn a little money by 
tattooing on the skin the marks and figures of the gods, which the females 
of all castes of Hindus ornament their arms and foreheads with. . . The 
age for marrying is not a fixed time ; and, different from everj- other people 
in India, the youth of the female is not thought of consequence. ... It is 
not unusual to have two, three, or four wives in one household, among this 
people. . . This people live virtuously ; the abandonment of their daughters is 
never made a trade of, and other classes speak favorably of their chastity. 
Thev respect Brahmins ; though they never . . seem to respect the gods of the 
Hindoo mythology. . . The Teling Korawa (generally known as Kusbi, 
Korawa, Aghare Pal W.ale, prostitute Korawas) gain a livelihood by basket- 
making and selling brooms, in making which their wives assist ; but their 
chief means of subsistence is in the prostitution of their female relatives 
whom, for tliat purpose, they devote to the gods from their birth. . . The 
goddess, in whose service tlie lives of the Teling Koi-awas' devoted women 
are thus to be spent, has her chief shrine near Bellary. They never devote 
more than cue of their daughters ; the rest are married and made honest 
women of . . This branch bury their dead, and tlie food that was most liked 
bv the deceased is placed at the head of the grave. The most favorable 
■smeu of the .sttite of the departed soul is drawn from its being eaten by 
a crow; less auspicious if by a cow : but if both the crow and cow declint to 
