or impure) Bheels, not in consequence of their complexions, but from the habits of the tribes thus distinguished. The white Bheels are said to have descended from Rajpoots, who in former times lost their caste. These refrain from carrion and animals that have died a natural death, which the impure Bheels do not.

The Bheels often make small mud figures of horses, which they range round the idol, to whom they promise a fine charger if he will hear their petition; and it is not unusual to place the image upon one of these figures. The extreme reverence of this rude race for the horse is very singular, and in many of their legends the principal event depends on the assistance of an enchanted horse.

The Bheels never build or frequent pagodas, or temples, but in general select for a place of worship some particular tree, which is consecrated by a few large stones put on an elevated terrace of mud, which is constructed at its root. In some places, however, a small open shed is erected for some particularly sacred image.

"At the Dasaharú (or Dusrah) many of the Bheels resort to the principal neighbouring towns to celebrate that feast, and sacrifice at the outside of the village to Durga, a goddess to whom they at all times pay adoration. But the most singular, and, perhaps, the original worship of the Bheels, is that which they pay to their deceased ancestors or chiefs of note. On the death of one of these, a brass bull or horse is formed, and delivered to the Bhaut, who makes an annual circuit of the hamlets with this image, performing the requisite ceremonies, and commemorating, in songs, the fame of the deceased; for which service he receives, as his dues, a piece of cloth, and the vessels and other articles used in the sacrifice. It is also common for the Bheels to raise, on such occasions, a cairn, or rude pile of stones, to the chief who is beatified; and the top of this pile is, at particular periods of worship, covered with oil, red-lead, and vermilion.

"The fixing of a marriage between a young couple is managed entirely by their relations. When the parents desire to marry their son, they send some friends to the parents of the girl whom they wish to become their son's bride. These make proposals, and present some (gur) raw sugar and

arrack, which, if partaken of, shows that the proposals are accepted Presents are then made by the bridegroom and his parents in person, and the young couple are, from that day, considered as regularly betrothed. The celebration of the marriage is afterwards fixed, according to circumstances and opportunity. During the week preceding the nuptials, which always takes place on a Saturday, mutual visits are exchanged by the families, and various ceremonies are performed.

"When a man wishes to contract a marriage with a widow, without incurring trouble and expens, he sends some of his friends to urge his suit with the woman, or with her parents or relations. If his proposals are accepted, the suitor is desired to bring presents of clothes, &c. to the house of his intended bride: the match is then considered settled. The visit must be on a Saturday night. The man takes with him friends, and requisites to form an entertainment, of which the woman's friends and his own partake. The woman dresses herself in the clothes brought to her, and she and her new spouse, after the departure of the guests, pass the night together. According to long established custom, the new married pair are obliged to leave the house before day-break, and pass the next day in the fields, in some solitary place, about the distance of three or four miles from the village, and they must not return till the dusk of the evening. Their friends, however, send them meat and drink. The necessity of the new married couple passing the first day of their marriage like outcasts, at a distance from any human habitation, is to mark that sense of degradation which all the natives of Hindustan, even the degraded race in question, entertain against a woman marrying a second husband.

"These second marriages are most frequently preceded, amongst the Bheels, by an elopement of the parties, which generally ends in the pardon of the parents and relations, who are appeased by the seasonable application of some presents.

"The Bheels always bury their dead, a very marked distinction from the Brahmanical practice of burning. The corpse is wrapt in a shroud of new coarse white cloth, and borne on a bier made of bamboos, or any kind of sticks. This is carried by some of the relations of the deceased to the

It is the

usual burying-ground, which is always on the bank of a stream. custom for the female relations of the deceased to observe a course of lamentation for five days. They commence their wailings in the mornings, keep them up for about a quarter of an hour, and then resume their domestic occupations.

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Disputes of a trifling nature amongst the Bheels are in general amicably settled by the heads of families. Should a Bheel kill another of a different tribe or family, he must be adjudged by a Panchayat, or court of arbitration, of the most respectable of the different hatis, or Bheel villages, near the place where the murder was committed. Efforts are always made to compound every crime, even murder, by fines, and the price of blood is generally given to the family of the man that has been killed. The sum is proportioned to the circumstances of the offender: sometimes it does not amount to more than ten or twelve rupees; at others, several heads of cattle are given. There is, however, often great difficulty in compounding for a murder; and as it is deemed against usage to put a man to death in cold blood, the cause of revenge is left to the relations of the man that has been murdered; and in such cases blood-feuds are often commenced, which continue for many years, and sometimes for generations. Consequently one murder amongst this wild race is usually attended with the loss of many lives, beyond that of the individual by whom it was perpetrated.

"The mountain Bheels live in small clusters of rude huts, which are to the north of the Nermada termed párás, and to the south hatis. They are under the authority of a Náyaca or Tarwi, whose power resembles that of the Patél. A number of these small colonies are often united in general obedience to one chief, who has a title according to his class and the usages of the country.

"There is a natural spirit of independence in the mountain Bheels, which compels chiefs who have a desire to establish an authority that supersedes that of the Tarwis of small colonies, to entertain followers from a distant country. Besides, when the sphere of plunder is extended to any distance from their native wilds, the Bheels are not so fit for such enterprizes as many others of the predatory tribes. Their arms and their habits are more

suited to the ravines, the woods, and the mountains amid which they live. If he descends into the plain it is at night, to thieve and plunder; or if in the day, to drive away unguarded cattle, or to attack defenceless travellers, who (if not killed) are kept till they are ransomed.

A few words (adds the able author of this excellent essay) will complete the picture of this extraordinary race, as far as relates to their past and present condition. Existing, as they have hitherto done, under despotic governments, which placed them beyond the pale of civil society, and which not only gave them no encouragement or protection, but authorized the lowest of the fiscal officers to take their lives without trial, considering themselves a proscribed and contemned race, ignorant to a deplorable degree, believing in witchcraft, blindly obedient to the orders of their chiefs, subject to extraordinary privations, and constantly exposed to danger from their fellow creatures, and from the ferocity of the wild beasts, with whom they shared the forests, the Bheels have, in consequence, become the enemies of order and peace. They have cherished predatory habits, as the means of subsistence; and receiving no mercy or consideration, they have sought, from natural impulse, to revenge the wrongs they have sustained. Time has interwoven their habits of life and feelings with their superstitions, until they actually believe that they were created to prey upon their neighbours. I am Mahadeva's thief,' is the common answer of a Bheel detected in a crime; and his promise of amendment is usually so qualified, as to period, that it seems more like a truce, than a pact of permanent good conduct. Nevertheless, from what has occurred since this tribe became subject to the British Government, we may anticipate a gradual, and ultimately a complete change in their character and condition. The men, though habituated to a life of rapine, are not sanguinary; and the females of the tribe, who possess great influence over them, are of kind dispositions, and many of them are intelligent and industrious.

To reclaim this race (I speak from much reflection and considerable experience), they must be treated with great attention to their prejudices and condition. Reform with them, as with all such classes, must commence with their superiors. We cannot break the link by which they are

attached to their chiefs; and if we could, it would not be wise or desirable to do so. We must endeavour, by every act, to elevate the Bheels in the community, and to raise them in their own esteem, or else we cannot succeed in altering their habits. We must, by making roads through their hills and forests, by employing them in honest occupations, by establishing markets for the produce of the tract they inhabit, bring this race into daily and familiar intercourse with those among whom they live. While we use preventive means to check and eradicate their evil habits, we must temper our firmness with mercy; taking care, however, that certain rules should never be infringed, and that protection and punishment should be alike certain when merited. But, above all, the object should be, to give to this hitherto injured race a stake in the general prosperity; and then, and not before, we may rest satisfied that they will become the defenders, instead of the disturbers of the general welfare."

The RAJPOOTS and KATTEES.

The peninsula of Guzerat, commonly known under the name Kattiwar, is situated within the 69th and 72d degrees of east longitude, and the 20th and 23d of north latitude.

The inhabitants of the province may be classed under the following heads :

1. Rajpoots, amongst whom there are several tribes, standing in power and wealth thus: 1. Jharejah; 2. Jhalla; 3. Goil; and 4. Jetwah.

2. Kattee, of whom there are three families, Walla, Khacher, and Khooman. They are originally of the same stock, but have now their respective districts.

3. Koolies, Kauts, and Scindies, called Bawars.

4. Koombies, Mares, Ahars, Rhebarries, and the other industrious classes. "The Jharejahs, who are the most powerful and numerous of the Rajpoot tribes, and who possess all the western part of the peninsula, are a branch of the family of Rao of Kutch, who in consequence of intestine feuds, left their country about A.D. 800; and having crossed the run of the head