’18

INDIA

pigs swarming in plenty around them, there is no lack of
interest in their pursuits, or of food in ordinary times.
The centre of Gondwana may be located north of the
Indravati, in the Mardian hills, Here dwell the Maria
Gonds. South of the Indravati, in the fork formed by its
junction with the Godavari, are the Gotturs ; and south of
them again, abutting in the low-lying provinces of the
Godavari basin, are the Kois. These are all Gond tribes
speaking a common dialect, but they differ a good deal in
social customs, the primitive habits of the southern people
being much modified by contact with the Hindus of the
plain country. The Koi (otherwise Koiwar) is a small
wiry man with Turanian features, dark skinned, lazy in
habits, and physically wanting in muscle. His hair is
twisted off his head into a knot; he has no hair on his
face, and his high-pitched (though not unmusical) voice
and fancy for beads and ornaments (which are generally
displayed in great profusion round his neck and arms)
give him a particularly effeminate appearance. The dress
of the Koi is usually limited to a single loin-cloth, and a
vast quantity of beads round the neck, which represent
more or less his wealth and social status. He is fond of
aping the manners of his Hindu neighbours, when he
has any ; and near the Godavari he is generally known as
Koi Dora (or Koi gentleman), a distinction which is
somehow admitted by the other tribes. His gentlemanly
instincts are shown by his aversion to hard work, and he
much prefers tending cattle and basking in the sun to any
form of manual labour.
The Gottur is taller, fairer, and physically stronger.
He is much more suggestive of the aboriginal yellow
races of Chaldzea than any other Dravidian I have met.
The Marias are the wildest of the Gonds, and it is
very difficult to establish intercourse with them. Many
of the Marias are light in colour, and the absence of
hair on their faces is not so universal as one would
expect in the purest type of Gond. Living in the fastnesses
 of the hills they are exposed to great vicissitudes
of climate, and their habit of sleeping between fires