3| 3 and 4. Erulars and Curumbars.—-At the feet of these
mountains and for a short distance within therfoPests which
skirt the plains, live a raee?bf people termed Erulars.
Above these, at a height varying from one to two thousand
.feet, in the clefts? of the mountains and imrcthe openings of
the woods, which gird them at this elevation, live another
race, calling themselves Curumbars.
In other parts of the Peninsula there are tribes, bearing,
the sameuuames, but these ofthe ]Nilagiri;seem tortie distinct
from ;them.
Tillage is practiced by neither of these tribes ; ; .they are
nearly barbarians, but have some of the, customs of Hindoos,.
Their languages are jargons made up of a mixture of. Tamil,
Karnataca, and Malay alma ? that of the Curumbars is
intermixed with the Tuda. Thé Tudas gdonot eonslderîihe
Erulars as inhabitants of these hills, but allow that designation
to the Curumbars, whom they tèrm-Curè&i y
The following is the description of the Curumbars : i
“ The village of the Curumbars was still more«iserable,”
says Captain Harkness, “ than that of the Erulars. It
consisted of a few miserable- hovels, constructed of, the
boughs and leaves of trees and loôsely covered with dried
grass. There was no temple, but their religfon iseems to$be
the same as that of the Erulars, except thatÿtheyare not
particular as to the disposal of their dead, but burn and
bury .them as it may be most convenient, u
“ Swarthy and unwholesome in countenance,- small of
stature, the head but thinly covered with sickly-loaking
hair ; littleor no eye-lashes, small eyes, always blood-shot ;
pot-bellied, and with water running from their mouths ;
they have more the resemblance of savages than of civilised
men. The women and children have the same squalid
appearance, though on their necks and breasts they wear
ornaments made of wild seeds and berries. Many of the
men wear ornaments in their ears of straw, plaited with
some degree of ingenuity ; but in their general appearance
they are much like the Erulars, pictures of wretchedness
and misery. They gave us an abundant supply of honey
and of fruits from the higher parts of the mountains.”
Théir only marriage ceremony is performed by pouring
pots of wster over the parties,. Like the Erulars, they culti-
vktefm littlefpatches of ground, millet and other small grain,
the plantain, the chilly,?and otheheseulent roots.
The same race also.-inhabitsmther, parts of the mountains,
where the-streams falling,from them, can be made to flow
in'any direction. This ^ives to the, Curumbars much con-
seejueneeC'amon^ thewlcultivators below. They arc also
dreaded omaocóunt .of their supposed magical powers, an
impression arising/rom their singularity of character, and
fromltkeir living in places where otliersicannot pass a night*
The Buddagursiapplyié® them whenever any of their people
fahCy themselves bewitehedt-Hi^
, Itanay be remarked that qf the difference dn physical
character between the Tndas.and Curumbars results from
therpeculiar qualities of the regions,whieh they respectively
inhabit, / i This- is a ivory strong instance of thé efficacy of
such' influences. Both tiabes are considered as native races ;
but the Tudas* occupy elevated and salubrious tracts in the
higher parts of the mountains, and the Curumbars the low
sides of the hills/ rendered unhealthy by the jungle or low
forests which cover them.
5. The Cohatars are another of these races.- They are a
singular people, have no distinction of castes, and differ as
much from the other mountaineers as from the people of
India in general.. They eatheefo, are not defiled by touching
dead bodies. They cultivate millet, poppiea.and barley;
are the artisans of tbè hills,—^potterSi smiths, mechanics.
They are not Hindoos, but worship god;s of their own, of
which they have no images. Their villages are pleasantly
situated onthe tops of hills ; and every hill so ^occupied is
termed Cohatagiri. The Tudas call them Curs,. meaning
mechanics. In each village there are two good buildings
dedicated to a god. whom they term Cumataraga, and to
the goddess. In neither is there-any symbol, but on a
post supporting the roof are nailed two plates of silver, a
sort of palladium, marking the dwelling of the “ deus loci.”
Mows and offerings are made in these temples, and a festival
is held from the new. moon to the full in every March.