158 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
seducing address with which they go through the sub- 
tile course of their negotiations. If you become 
angry at their exorbitant terms, they endure your 
abuse with a suavity and gentle assumption of dignity 
which at once disarm your rage and restore your con- 
fidence. 
Malabar was one of the last places conquered by 
the Mohammedan arms, having been governed by its 
own native princes until the year 1766, when it fell 
under the dominion of Ilyder Ally: the original 
manners and customs of the Hindoos have conse- 
quently been preserved in greater purity here than 
in almost any other part of India. Within the 
last half century the Mohammedan population has 
increased to a great extent ; still their number col- 
lectively is far inferior to that of the Hindoos, who 
retain their original habits without molestation from 
the more warlike strangers who have settled among 
them, and by whom they have been subdued. 
The native population of Malabar is divided into 
five classes, — Brahmins, Nairs, Tiars, Malears, and 
Poliars. The first, of course, constitute the sacred 
order; the second, for the most part, the military 
class, — though there are numerous exceptions, the 
Nairs frequently occupying themselves in trade and 
different domestic employments. The Tiars are the 
cultivators of the soil, to which occupation they exclu- 
sively confine themselves. The Malears are the lowest 
caste, being musicians and jugglers, and are generally 
a profligate race, often undertaking to “ conjure a 
man dead,” as they term it ; which literally signifies. 
