istic in their form or features. Colonel Sealy says that the
Bheels are generally of short stature1^sometimes with, short
Curly hair and thick lower lips, of;1 very dark complexion;
and more masculine in form than the Hindoos. Bishop Heber
says that the Bheels whom he saw were small spare men.
He thought them less broad-shouldered and with faces less
Celtic,—he seems to mean less} broad and flat,—than-the
Paharias or mountaineers of Rajmahal, and not quite so
dark in complexion as these last. Their beards and hair
were not at all woolly, but thick and dishevelled, and their
whole appearance very dirty and ill-fed. They ,spoke
cheerfully; their countenances were open and the expression
of their eyes and lips good-tempered.* They are very
active. “ When pursued,” says Mr. Elphinstone, “ a Bheël
with a child on each shoulder will leap from rock to rock
and from bush to bush with as much nimbleness as a he?
goat ; and he will coil himself up in a'bush so 'ftiU^ly that
the pursuer will often pass him unnoticed; They a'reJhtM-t
ligent, lively, patient of fatigue and vigilant, and attached
to their children.”
2*r—The Kbits.
The Kulis or Coolies are another tribe of mountaineers
who inhabit the north of India. They are often identified
with the Bhils, but by some writers are said4o Jbe.a distinct
people from that race, from whom they are separated by the
highest summits of the Western Ghauts, the Kfilis being on
the western side of that chain, and the Bhils towards the
east. The country of the Kulis is that part of the chain of
Ghauts termed Baglana, or Baaglan, which, according to
Mr. Elphinstone means “ mountain-land.” It lies towards
the south and south-west of Kandeish, and extends with its
lower hill-terraces in front towards the sea coast and the
haven of Bassen to the northward of Bombay. Hordes of
the same people also inhabit the mountainous parts in the
interior of Guzerat.
The Kulis resemble the Bhils in general, but they are
* Heber’» Travel» in India, page 82.
said to be less barbarous and predatory in their habits.
They are described by Bishop Heber as manly and boldlooking
people^lbut as very troublesome and ferocious,
armed with short* kirtles, swords, shields, quivers, and
I B M
3’.-—The Ramusis.
The Ramfisis are a tribe , of semi-barbarous people who
K H a mountainous tract further i Southward than the
Bhils, who, as we have, ikeen, reach in the inland parts as
far southward as Poonah. They reside chiefly in the outskirts
of towns and vill^es, in the valleyspof the Maun, Neera,
Bheema and Para rivers,, and in the actjoining highlands
within the dominions of the Raja of Sattara, and in the
districts of Pooriah and Ahmednagara, and the higher
course of the Godavery.^ The '(.country is about two hundred
.males tn length and from eighty to one hundred and
twenty inTlength.
The’Berdars are by some |®the people of the adjoining
couutry^lpppsed to be the same race as the Ramusis. But
we are informed that the Ramusi'k in the district east of
Sattara hold no intercourse with the Berdars, who are spread
pyer^the district of Soorapur and on the banks of f!§| Tam-
bfidra river, and to fha east apd south of Bejapur. Both
tribes consider theinseiyesas distmat., £
In the opinion of Captain A. Mackintosh, who has written
a work on the Ramusis, in which he has given much original
information, the Ramusikare probably a tribe of emigrants
from the ancient kingdom o.f Telingana. He says, that in
the scanty remains which they have of a distinct language
there are many words which resemble the Teloogoo, and
their idiom appears to have been.-a dialect of that tongue.
They live in villages governed by hereditary Rakwalldars or
village-warders. They have many curious customs which
are minutely described by Captain.Mackintosh.
* Elphinstone on the British Territories ihy'the Dekhah, Asiatic Journal,
vol. 28.—Bitter, Erdkuncle von Asien, 4; 659.—Bishop- Heber’s Narrative of
a Journey through India, vol. 8.