ORISSA TRIBUTARI STATES. 473 and children ; and all share the common meal prepared by the grandmother. The clan consists of a number of families sprung from a common father; and the tribe is made up in like manner of a number of clans who claim descent from a common ancestor. The head of the tribe is usually the eldest son of the patriarchal family; but if the eldest son is not fit for the post, he is set aside, and an uncle or a younger brother is appointed. According to the old Kandh theory of existence, a state of war might lawfully be presumed against all neighbours with whom no express stipulation had been made to the contrary. Murders within the tribe were punished by blood revenge ; the kinsmen within a certain degree being one and all bound to pursue and kill the slayer, unless appeased by a paynient of cattle or grain. A stolen article niust be returned, or its equivalent made good. This may seen a slight penalty for theft. But the Kandh twice convicted of stealing was driven forth from his tribe, the greatest punishment known to the race. A favourite method of settling disputes among the Kandhs was trial by combat. Such duels, and annual raids upon the lowlands, formed the principal recreations of the tribe till they came under British rule, forty years ago. The Kandh is a well-made man; and his boldly developed muscles, broad forehead, and full but not thick lips, present a type of intelligence, strength, and determination, blended with good humour, which make him an agreeable companion in peace and a formidable enemy in war. He never asks for quarter, and adorns himself for battle as for a feist. The Patriarch or Chief used to send out swift messengers from glen to glen bearing an arrow as a summons to war. Before engaging, each side sacrificed to the gods. The most approved f was to go on fighting day after day, till one side or the other was exterminated. Such a battle yielded a pleasurable excitenent, not only to the warriors engaged, but to both their villages. The women and old men stood behind the combatants, handing them pots of water and cooked food, together with much gcod advice as to the conduct of the fight. The father selects a wife for his son, and usually chooses one older than the boy. The girl may be fourteen, while the boy is only ten. The reason of this is, that the bride remains as a servant in her new father-in-law's house till her boy husband grows old enough to live with her. The Kandh engages only in husbandry and war, and despises all other work. But attached to each village is a row of hovels inhabited by a lower race, who are not allowed to hold land, or to go forth to battle, or to join in the village worship. These poor people do the dirty work of the hamlet, and can never rise in the social scale. They can give no account of their origin ; but they are supposed to be the remnants of ruder tribes, whom the Kandhs found in possession of
