Indian Antiquary Vol 05

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 78

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[FEBRUARY, 1876.
Samvatsara, and the other Samvat. As the char- acter is common Kutila, the plate cannot be very ancient. But this much is proved that the plate is found in the old capital city of Orissa; that the grant recorded by it was made from Kataka, the old Kataka Chaud war,
and by Bhava Gupta, the lord paramount of Trikalinga, whose son Siva Gupts we suppose to have been a contemporary of Yayati Keśari, who reigned between the years 474 and 526 A.D., and that the Kesaris of Orissa were feudatories of the kings of Trikalinga.
MISCELLANEA.
WILD JUNGLE FOLK.
| led to my camp at a large village a few miles out Mr. Bond had the good fortune to procure an in the plains. After some coaxing, however, with interview with a couple of the wild folk who live promises of rice and tobacco, they consented to in the hill-jungles of the Western Ghâts, to the accompany me willingly. On reaching my tent in south-west of the Palanei Hills, and took the oppor- the evening I gave the man some clothes, and tunity to observe and note on the spot some of offered them a little money in small silver and their peculiarities. We had often heard of the copper coins. Each of them selected the latter, reexistence of some strange dwarfish people who fusing the silver pieces of ten times the value, occasionally frequented the jungles near our sta- saying that they could get rice with the copper, tion of Pemalei, a few miles west of Strivilliputtur, and apparently had no idea of the value of the at the north-west corner of the Tinnevelli district, former. I gave the woman some pieces of cloth but none of us, when visiting the Pêmalei hills for and a few small things, for which they both showed the purpose of selecting, building, or observing at their thanks by repeated prostrations on the this station, had seen any trace of them, except ground before me. that whilst observing the final angles we noticed "The rest of the day was spent in taking notes some fires burning at night far off in the distant on this strange pair, and in getting from them all valleys commonly stated to be entirely devoid the information I could through the hill-watchers, of villages and civilized inhabitants. When re. who were able to converse with them to a slight turning afterwards to Pemalei, in order finally to extent. They seemed as great a curiosity to the close and deliver over charge of the station to the villagers themselves as to myself; and a crowd local officials, Mr. Bond having heard that the assembled to watch them, expressing their surwild men of the woods occasionally came to Stri- prise at the ease and freedom with which they sat villiputtar with honey, wax, and sandalwood to ex. in my tent without showing any fear or any desire change for cloth, rice, tobacco, and betelnut, in- to run away. The following observations were duced three of the Kivalkars, or hill-watchers, noted on the spot: through whom principally this barter is carried "The man is 4 feet 6} inches in height, 26 on, to attempt to catch a specimen of this strange inches round the chest, and 184 inches horizontally folk. What follows is Mr. Bond's account:
round the head over the eyebrows. Ile has a round "Knowing a locality they frequented, whence head, coarso black, woolly hair, and a dark brown they could easily steal the remains of food and pots skin. The forehead is low and slightly retreating; left by the herdsmen, the three Kavalkars went the lower part of the face projects like the muzzle of there to look for them, and on the second day & monkey, and the mouth, which is small and oval sighted a couple, who at once made off through
with thick lips, protrudes about an inch beyond his the jungle for the rocks, with great fleetness and nose; he has short bandy legs, a comparatively long agility, using hands and feet in getting over the body, and arms that extend almost to his knees: the latter.
back justabuve the buttocks is concave, making the "After a difficult and exciting chase and a very stern appear to be much protruded. The hands careful search they were again caught sight of, and fingers are dumpy and always contracted, so crouching between two rocks, the passage to which that they cannot be made to stretch out quite was so narrow that it cost their captors a severe straight and flat; the palms and fingers are coverscratching to reach them and drag them out one ed with thick skin (more particularly so the tips at a time by the legs. They were brought to me l of the fingers), and the nails are small and imperin a state of great fear-a man and a woman-as I fect; the feet are broad and thick-skinned all over ; was descending the hill, and began to cry on being the hairs of his moustache are of a greyish white,
The alphabeta in use during the early centuries of the Christian era markedly differ from the Kutila, and only gradually approximate to it in later age, when it arose
out of preceding forms: hence there is no reason to suppose that the alphabet was in use very long before the date of the earlier inscriptions in that character.ED.