rice is commonly eaten, though it is often mixed with cambu (ganti) and ragi (tsódi). In the Agency, cholam (jonna) is the commonest food. Bráhmans, Kamsalas, and the Gavara and Lingadhári Kómatis are apparently the only castes which do not eat meat. Málas and Mádigas will eat beef and carrion, and Nakkalas are fond of jackal. A good many castes will eat hare, which elsewhere is often considered unclean.
The labouring classes have three meals a day, at 8 A.M., midday, and 8 P.M.; orthodox Bráhmans two meals, at about 11 A.M., and 8 P.M.; while officials and the richer people eat at 10 A.M., 3 P.M., and 8 P.M., and often have early coffee as well at about 7 A.M. But coffee is much less drunk in this district than in the south. Smoking, on the contrary, is a habit with all except the orthodox Bráhmans. Even the women of many castes smoke, and little boys and girls may also often be seen with cheroots in their mouths. Opium is freely eaten by most classes, especially, it is said, as a prophylactic against fever. It is also considered an excellent tonic for children and the aged.*[1]
The boys of the district play much the same kinds of games as in the south. They fly kites and play at marbles, tipcat (gónibilla), a kind of rounders (banthulu), a sort of blind man's buff and many other games. Girls and women of the higher castes have quieter indoor pastimes, such as tossing up and catching tamarind seeds, and various games with cowries on a board. Men have no outdoor sports, but play cards and chess. A popular local card-game is called dasávatári. This is played with a pack of 120 cards, containing ten suits of twelve cards each. Each suit consists of a king, a vizier and ten plain cards and is called after, and marked with the image of, one of the ten incarnations (avatárs) of Vishnu. In half the suits the higher plain cards take the lower, as in English cards, and in the other half the opposite is the case. A trump card is turned up and the tricks are won in much the same way as at Bridge. All except the higher classes are devoted to cock-fighting. Boatmen going down the river often take their cocks with them to pit them against the birds of the villages on the way. Puppet shows are very common. The puppets are concealed from the audience by a sheet on to which their shadows are thrown by a light behind them.
- ↑ * The two common medicines of the district are nalla mandu ('black medicine,' i.e., opium) and tella madu ('white medicine,' i.e., a preparation of mercury). These are everywhere known and frequently used. The latter is a laxative. The former has a contrary effect.
