generally supposed. It also throws light on the rôle the idol plays in Polytheism.

The counterpart of theology is demonology. The Katkarīs share the universal belief in wicked spirits. It would be an interesting study to see how far their demonology is the same with, or differing from, that of the Atharvaveda.

They say there are many evil spirits in the world; and they live on dead men's flesh and bones. They try to kill men. They are all bad."

"The Katkariis believe the evil spirits live in set-up stones and they come into the stones from the ground. They also believe that gods (or spirits) live in cows and peacocks. Al. though the Sone Katkarīs kill peacocks and eat them, they will never kill a cow."

"They set up stones at births and burials, and seem to recognise stones set up by Brahmins; but they do not pay specific worship to them. If they have an enemy, they will go to some such set-up stone, and make a vow, and offer up a cocoanut or a cock, hoping that the indwelling spirit will go and kill their enemy. If their enemy falls sick soon afterwards, they attribute this to the stone-spirit."

"When a Katkarī falls sick he calls for another Kātkari on whom the demon must come (which means that he must get t into a sort of frenzy as if possessed). He will break a cocoanut, or kill a cock in presence of the sick man, and offer all to the demon or spirit. After this he takes the cock or cocoanut into the jungle, and cooks the cock and devours the offerings all alone. And then, they say, the sick man gets up and feels recovered. When a Katkarī is sick with a contagious disease, the others try to charm it away by singing and playing on some instrument and offering flowers and a cocoanut-apparently to the sickness itself."

Witchcraft, including black as well as white magic, is flourishing among these tribes left to themselves for thou

sands of years. The number of their witches is great. "Young girls learn witchcraft from old women all alone in the jungle. When the art is learnt they will be able to walk on a thread stretched from one tree to another, and can change their body into that of a dog or a rat."

"The people believe that the witches are able to kill a man by putting into his body old clothes or other things which he cannot digest, and of which he will die unless medicine is given to him at the right time. If they suspect a man to be under the influence of a witch, they will at once fetch the root of a certain plant from the jungle, which the sufferer has to eat. Meantime all the men of the village sit round and watch the effect. The medicine is a strong purgative, but if too much or too little is administered, the patient will die all the same.

"If they suspect one of their own people to be possessed by the devil, they will call a certain Katkarī, on whom the demon has to come. If he decides that the person is possessed, they fetch water from a tanpit. They then prick or cut the tongue of the victim, and make him drink the tan-water mingled with his own blood from the wound. Then he is violently beaten, and sent out of the village, and never to come into it again--no matter whether he leaves behind a wife or family." No wonder they are very much afraid of witchcraft and look upon new things with a suspicious eye.

Opinions seem to be divided among the Katkaris on eschatological questions, as far as the individual is concerned. "It seems they all believe that the soul will live on after death; but how and where, most of them do not know. Some say the soul is carried by angels (Yem, Yama ?) into the presence of God above. If during life a man has not given alms to the blind and lame, or has done bad deeds, he will receive punishment from God, and will be dragged over iron teeth; but if he has done good he will not suffer."

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Some say that the soul comes back the same day after death to his former hut, and will sit there at the door till the

body is carried away. They say also that the soul will go to relations living far away and inform them of the death. They do not know where the soul goes after the burial; it certainly does not haunt the grave regularly. Some say the souls sometimes come back as ghosts and give trouble to the survivors."

"The burial song quoted above, in its reference to manifold migrations,' etc., reveals a clear belief in transmigration of souls, no trace of which is found among the (Khandalla) Kātkaris. It is evidently a case of infiltration from Hinduism into those sections who live in close connection with Hindu villages."

.

The Katkaris' standard of morality is determined by the voice of their conscience, influenced by their religious views, their physical life and material surroundings. The Katkarī knows in the main quite well what is right or wrong. Purity, honesty, are notions as clear to him as to anyone whose moral views have not been distorted by Ueberkultur. Unfortunately these clear notions find little support in the hazy, religious, in particular dogmatic, tenets. The vague ideas. about God, as well as the unformulated beliefs about the future life with a definite punishment and reward, leave the moral dictates without the necessary sanction. The want of a theoretical, and still more that of a practical, ideal to look up to and to imitate, also deprives them of a powerful stimulus and sure guide in their moral struggle. Their physical life, though hard and healthy, being half a scramble and half a shirk, is fraught with temptations, and their wretched surroundings make many a Kātkarī a thief who would be honest if the empty belly did not drive him into dishonesty.

Nor is the mentality of the Katkarī favourable to the embrac ing of, and steadily clinging to, a fixed moral code. Their undisciplined temper only too readily leads them to actions for which they are heartily sorry when they coolly survey and realise the situation. On one occasion the Kātkarīs had stolen

away from the Khandalla settlement to have a drinking bout. When they came back they began to destroy the yarn for weaving, the very means of their livelihood. They broke pots and threw stones at the house of the weaving master, otherwise quite a popular person. The superintending Brother was called, and when he got there he found a crowd of Katkaris gathered on a hillock armed with bows and arrows. Some kind words brought them back to their senses.

Strong temptations, with passion at the back or want in front of them, no Kātkari can or will resist. He is far too much a creature of impulse for that. He knows that it is bad to steal, to commit adultery, to tell lies, and do other wrong things. The hope however that he will resist the temptation is very small as long as there is a chance for him of not being caught. An ordinary temptation the Katkari can and will resist when once he is taught in the proper manner that the thing is wrong and some higher motive is put before him. Long and detailed experience has shown that he is capable of responding to the light when it once shines upon him. Though the uplift of these tribes may appear a hopeless task to the man who attempts it with purely physical and mechanical means, or wants to see to-morrow the fruits of his labour of to-day, for the heroically unselfish worker who has to offer a higher life, and can abide the time of harvest, the Katkarīs prove an object of attention and love not less worthy than any other member of the human race.

Sources: 1. Information from the Missionaries in charge of the Kuna settlement.

2. Bombay Gazetteer. Especially Vol. XIII, Part. I. Thana. Bombay, Govt. Press, 1882. Passim.

3. Linguistic Survey of India, by G. A. Grierson, Vol. VII, Indo-Aryan Family, Southern Group. Calcutta, Govt. Printing, 1905. Pp. 130 ff.

4. Notes on Criminal Tribes in the Bombay Presidency, by M. Kennedy. Bombay, Govt. Press, 1908.

5. Bombay Census Report of 1911.

6. Ethnography (Castes and Tribes) by Sir Athelstane Baines. Encyclopædia of Indo

Aryan Research, II. 5. Strassburg, Trübner,

1912.

7. "The Examiner," 1916, Sept. 9th, 16th; 1919, April 12th, 19th, 26th, May 3rd.

N.B.-Where the source is not given, the quotations are from the "Examiner."

8. Personal observation.

DRINK

IN THE SCRIPTURES OF THE NATIONS.

BY D. D. GILDER, ESQ.

(Read on 30th March, 1921.)

Introduction. The study of the Drink Question presents so many different aspects, that each phase or aspect would require a volume by itself for its complete illustration and elucidation. It will not be out of place here to mention only a few of these phases, e.g., the legal, including direct control, local option and prohibition; political, with regard to exports to and imports from foreign countries; social, medical and economic, including the effects of the traffic on labour, and family life, and its relations to society and the community as a whole. Then there are the historical and religious sides of the question. All these different aspects and others not mentioned here are so dovetailed, one with another, that it is difficult to study one aspect only at a time, without being confronted to a greater or less extent by the others. In this way the Drink Question becomes a purely