Two sticks are prepared, one short, the other long. In the former a square cavity is scooped out, and it is held firmly on the ground, while the long stick is twisted rapidly to and fro in the cavity. No charcoal powder is used, but a rag, or even dried leaves are set fire to.
The head-quarters of the Yānādis is the island of Srīharikota in the Nellore district. Their primitive condition attracted notice in 1835, when the island came into the possession of the Government, which endeavoured to ameliorate their position by supplying them with a liberal allowance of grain, clothing, tobacco, and money, in return for the jungle produce, which they collected. The demand for labour naturally rose, and the Government offered to pay to parents 2 annas 6 pies on the birth of a male, and 1 anna 3 pies on the birth of a female child — a bounty on productivity justified by special local causes. In 1858, the Government opened a school for the teaching of Telugu, which was rendered attractive by offers of rice and clothing to those who attended it. An industrial department gave lessons in basket-making, and land was assigned for the cultivation of chay-root (Oldenlandia umbellata), which yields the beautiful red dye formerly much employed in the dyeing of cotton fabrics, but has had its nose put out of joint by the introduction of aniline and alizarin dyes. But the industries proved unsuccessful, and the strength of the school gradually declined, so that it was abolished in 1877.
At the census, 1891, the Yānādis returned as many as 89 sub-divisions, of which the two most important numerically were Chenchu and Manchi. A division into classes exists according to dietary, occupation, residence, etc. There are, for example, the Reddi Yānādis, the Challa (refuse-eating), Adavi, and Kappala (frog-eaters).
