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Singhafaua, or throne of the fun. He is a married man of hereditary rank, and-wears the linga, of which the Jangal-u are not confidered worthy. When one of themgoes to the Guru, he makes a profound reverence, and, according, to inis {lendermeans, prefents a fmall fum. The Guru, in return, gives them fome confeerateda flies of cow-dung, with which they make the mark of Siva on their foreheads; andhe takes their beads in his hand, by which the prayers repeated on them becomemore efficacious. At their marriages the panchanga reads prayers (mantrams ). Atthe Amavafya, or new moon, they faftj but they obferve no ceremony in honour oftheir parents.
The Afagaru, Afagas, or waffiermen, in this country are of two kinds, Sudra,and Whalliaru. ' The former are of two nations, Telinga and Karnata. Thefe Iaflare by far the molt numerous; and, although they will not intermarry with theTelinga waffiermen, yet they will eat in common. They have no hereditary chiefs ;but the collector of the diftrict, who is appointed by the government, and receives afalary, carries all complaints to the cutwal of the Kafba, or police officer of the chieftown of the diftrict, who fettles them according to cuftom. The waffiermen of everyvillage, whofe office is hereditary, waffies all the fanners clothes, and, according tothe number of perfons in each family, receives a regulated proportion of the crop.Out of this he muff pay to government a certain fum, which in general is collectedby the head wafherman of the Kafba. They follow no profeffion but that of wafhing ;and in all public proceffions, are bound, without reward, to'carry a torch before theimages, and the chief officer of government. Both men and women wafh. Theirproper beafts of burthen are- affes, each houfe keeping for breeding and labour two?or three ffie affes. The female colts are referved to keep up the breed; and themales are fold to the different petty traders that ufe this kind of cattle. The waffier-men confine their marriages to a few families that they know to be of pure defcentc.They marry a number of wives if they can afford it; but that is feldom. the cafe.The girls, even after the age of puberty, continue to be marriageable; but cannottake a fecond huffiand. They can be divorced for no other caufe than adultery.None of them can read: in fact, although admitted to be Sudras, they are a caff;moil deplorably ignorant. They never take the vow of Daferi. They are allowedto drink fpirituous liquors, and to eat fifh, fowls, and hogs; but will not touch car-rion. They worfhip a god called Bhuma Devaru, who is reprefented by a fhapelefsftone. At Bangalore , and fome other large towns, they have temples dedicated to.this god, and i’erved. by a pujari of, their own caff. To Bhuma Devaru they offerfruit, and folicit him not to burn or deftroy their cloth. They facrifice animalsto Ubbay ; which, fo far as I can underhand, means fleam.. They conceive that itis God who makes their water boil, and occafionally burns their cloth - r and alfo thatthe fleam, iffuing front the water, is the more immediate refidence of the divinity,whom therefore they call Ubbay; but they believe Ubbay and Bhuma to be the fame.This feems to be the proper worfhip of the caff:; but they addrefs themfelves to anyother object of fuperftition that comes in their way, praying to Viffinu. and. the othergreat gods, and facrificing to Putalima and the Saktis . Thefe prayers and facrificesfeem intended merely to procure temporal profperity. I could, not perceive that they,had the fmalleft knowledge or belief of a flate of future exiftence.. Their Gurus areof the Satanana caff;; but where they live, or what they do, is to their followers totallyunknown. They come round occafionally, bellowing holy water, and getting foodand money as charity. The panchanga attends at marriages, and tells them the timesof the new moon; at which period almoft all Hindus obferve a faff; in memory of
their