OTHER DOMESTICATED CATTLE 187 
are considered sacred by the Todas, and it is by no 
means necessary that the bulls selected to run with 
these sacred herds should themselves be of sacred 
origin. At the present day only men are permitted 
to tend the buffaloes, women being also prohibited 
from milking them or from taking any part in the 
dairy operations carried on in the huts. There is, 
however, a tradition among the Todas that in former 
times the women were allowed to attend to the cows 
when calving. These people believe that buffaloes 
were created by one of their deities — On and his wife 
— those created by On himself being the progenitors 
of the sacred herds, while the ordinary buffaloes trace 
their descent to those created by the female deity. 
A more or less sacred character likewise attaches 
to the buffalo-dairies of the Todas, this sacred 
character having, in the opinion of Mr. Rivers, been 
probably transferred from the buffaloes to the dairies 
and their utensils. 
" It is in favour of this view," writes the author, 
"that the buffaloes seem at one time to have been 
more sacred, or to have received more definite signs 
of reverence than at the present time. The evidence 
of the legends points to a time when buffaloes were 
regarded as having anthropomorphic characters, and 
they probably indicate a belief in the sacred character 
of these animals." 
It has been stated that in former days when the 
buffaloes of a Toda village were about to be penned 
for the night, they were saluted by all the members 
of the family to which they belonged, each of whom 
raised his or her hand to the face. This practice 
seems, however, to have fallen into disuse at the 
present day ; and the only definite sign of reverence 
