They seem at least some of them-to have practised female infanticide as well. The officers, appointed to the task of suppressing these abominable practices, studied the Language, and Grammars have been published. Several Dialects are noted, as might be expected in a Language which comes into contact with the Uriya of the Aryan and Telugu of the Dravidian Family. The standard is quite uncertain, but there are separate Dialects at 1. Goomsur, 2. Daringahadi, 3. Rumes, and 4. in the Orissa Muhals. There is neither Character nor Literature, and it is to be regretted, that the political domination of the Uriya people has led to some Khond books being published in the Uriya Character. Others have been published in the Roman Character. The Language is now one of those, for the acquirement of which encouragement is given by Government. The number of victims rescued from the Meriah-sacrifice, and transferred to mission schools, gave excellent opportunities of studying the Language. It is quite distinct from Gond, and has a closer resemblance to Tamil and Kanarese than to Telugu and Gond. The number of the Khonds in the Bengal Province amounts to fifty thousand, and in the Madras Province to eighty-eight thousand. A great many books have been published regarding the Khonds.

GOND.

The Gond Language comes next under consideration. In old maps of India a large territory was marked Gondwána, which is now part of the Central Provinces. The tribe of Gonds is found also in the Provinces of Bengal and Madras. In fact, the tract reaches from the Vindhyan Mountains to the River Godavery, and from the country of the Khonds in the Cuttack Tributary Muhals as far as the country of the Bhils in Khandesh and Malwa to the West. It is, however, divided into two considerable enclaves. There are at least a million and a half Gonds in the Central Provinces, and an uncertain population beyond these limits. Some are Pagans; some have adopted a

semi-Hindu religion and culture; some conform entirely to Hinduism, and claim to be Rajpoots; some are Mahomedan, their chiefs having become so from interested motives; and now, as there are several Missions at work in their midst, some few are Christians. Many of them have abandoned their native Language, and speak a Dialect of Hindi, Uriya, Maráthi, or Telugu. Some are respectable and civilised agriculturists; others are in the lowest state of wild and shy savagery, and nearly entirely naked. It is admitted, that so late as 1852 Gondwana was a totally unexplored country, a Sahára in our maps, and that the boundaries of the adjoining Languages, Hindi, Uriya, Maráthi, and Telugu, were unknown. This tract had, in fact, been a bit of cover, in which, when the plains were swept by hunters, the wild tribes had taken refuge, and thus survived the ever-advancing Hindu immigration, and the ever-absorbing Mahomedan conquest. So long as the independent kingdom of Nagpúr lasted, this was the state of affairs, but, when the Central Provinces were formed into a separate administration, the clouds began to be raised. It was found that among the Northern Gonds the following Dialects existed:-1. Gayeti, 2. Rutluk, 3. Naikude, 4. Kolámi, 5. Mahadeo, 6. Raj. Among the Southern Gonds also the following:-7. Maria, 8. Maree, 9. Gotta, 10. Koi or Koitor. We have Vocabularies of these Dialects, and descriptions of these tribes. It is to the Missionaries, that we are indebted for Grammatical Notices, and text and translation of Gond songs. There is clearly a close affinity in the Gond Language to Tamil, Telugu, and Kanarese, in some particulars to one, and in some to others. There are a great many Hindi loan-words, and on all sides there are transitional forms of debased admixture of Gond with the adjoining great Languages. It has a very elaborate conjugational system, and, as this is not a feature of other Dravidian Languages, the idea is hazarded, that it may have been borrowed from the contact of Kolarian neighbours. It is impossible to define its exact boundaries, but

generally the Hindi-speaking cultivator has seized the plains, and pushed the Gonds to the hills. Portions of the Bible have been translated into this Language in the Nagári Character. There is every reason to expect, that it will hold its own, and not give way to its encroaching neighbours. The Missionaries at Dumagúden report the necessity of using in the schools the Koi Dialect of Gond, and the preparation of Grammatical Notes and Vocabularies in that Dialect. The part of the country, where the wildest Gonds live, is in the independent State of Bustar, and a portion of it called Abajmárd or Mádian, but the name of the tribe is Máree. Much more is required to do justice to this Language. There is neither Character nor Literature.

ORAON.

The Oraons of Chutia-Nagpur and other places in the Province of Bengal number six hundred thousand. They are called also Khurukh and Dhangars, and are an industrious race, known far and wide as day-labourers. They are Pagans, and dwell to a certain extent intermixed with the Mundáris, who will be noticed further on; and sometimes even the Oraons have been confusedly designated as Koles, with whom, however, they have no connection. Dalton gives a full account of their customs, and Flex has published a Grammar. The Language unquestionably is Dravidian, but the Aryan neighbours and conquerors of this tribe have influenced not only the customs of the people, but their Language to such an extent, that gradually the pronunciation and orthography have been modified. There are a great number of Hindi loan-words. The syntactical structure of the sentence has also been modified. The Dravidian element has survived in the first few numerals, the pronouns, specially the personal pronouns, and the declensional and conjugational structure. The latter is extremely irregular and complicated. Flex remarks, that this Language has been severely

handled by the Aryans, and, though struggling hard for independence, bears the stamp of the Aryan mind on its brow. It has neither Character nor Literature, and the Roman Character is used. It will scarcely survive the struggle for life, which has now commenced.

RAJMUHÁLI.

In the Province of Bengal, in the hills, which actually overhang the Ganges at Rajmuhál, dwell the mountaineer tribe known as the Rajmuháli, or Malers, or Paháris. The skirts and valleys of these hills are occupied by the Sontháls of the Kolarian Family, who will be noticed further on. But these hill-men have attracted notice since last century, when they were weaned from lawless pursuits by the judicious management of Mr. Cleveland. They are still Pagan, and in a low state of civilisation; and it is a remarkable fact, that they have retained their unmistakably Dravidian Language notwithstanding the neighbourhood of the superior Aryan races and the encroaching Kolarian. We have nothing beyond Vocabularies, but Caldwell remarks, that the evidence of the lowest numerals and pronouns is clear. There is a large admixture of Aryan loan-words; there is neither Character nor Literature. But as this Language is on the extreme flank of the Dravidian Family, and the nearest to the Tibeto-Burman, it deserves a more particular study. In many respects the people and Language resemble the Oraons. Their numbers are said to amount to four hundred thousand, but it is a question, whether their Language will survive.

KEIKÁDI.

In Hunter's list of Non-Aryan Languages appears a Vocabulary of Keikádi, which is described by Hislop as that of a wandering tribe, whose route lies more remote from the Tamil country than the Telugu, and yet the Language approaches Tamil more than other Dravidian Languages. Nothing further is known of this Language,

which is only provisionally entered as a separate Language in the present state of our knowledge. Probably it will subside into the position of a Dialect of Tamil on a more intimate acquaintance.

YERUKÁLA.

In Hunter's list of Non-Aryan Languages appears a Vocabulary of Yerukála. In Hodgson's Aborigines of the Eastern Ghats we find that a Madras civil officer supplied a Vocabulary of this tribe, and from his notice I conclude, that their habitat is somewhere in the hilly country of Vijigapatam District of the Madras Province. The tribe is also mentioned in Bustar of the Central Provinces. Nothing further is known, and this Language is provisionally entered as a Dravidian Language in the present state of our knowledge. It will probably subside to the position of a Dialect of Telugu.