221
made scissors, tweezers, &c., and a small mirror,
which is usually held in the hand of tlie person
operated upon.
780 (5,236). The Carpenter. “ Sutär. The Silage
carpenter is a very useful member of the
small republic, but there are evidences that he has
not advanced in skill during the last two generations.
There are inany beautifully carved old
houses in Marathi towns and yillages, the work
on which it would he difficult to equal now, and
the technical points of squareness, truly fitted joints,
and construction, generally are not so carefnlly
attended to as of old. Still, the carpenter has
some valuable traditions by which he faithfully
abides, and although the greater part of his work
is of a rough and ready sort, he is capable of
better things than would be imagined from a
survey of his scanty apparatus of tools. These
consist of saws, hammers, sometimes planes, the
universal and most useful adze, and two or three
chisels. Holes are invariably bored by a variety
of what English workmen call the fiddle-drill or
bow-drill. The toes are used to grip the work
tightly while both the ordinary plane and hand
saw are made two-handed instruments. He
makes and mends agricultural irnplements of
all kinds, and is usually paid in grain at harvest
time.
781 (5,237). The Blacksmith. “Lohar.” — The
blacksmith makes usually a good living in the
cotton districts, where gins, ploughs, and cartwheels
constitute the greater part of his work. _ It
is seldom that he is really skilful at welding.
Sometimes the weld comes right, and sometimes it
does not, the usual fault being that the iron is
burnt. Blacksmiths’ bellows are of various kinds;
those shown in the sketch are of the best pattem.
They are frequently shapeless leathern bags, not
fitted with ribs at all. A circular fire of pure cowdung
(cow-dung cakes of fuel are, for other purposes,
mixed with straw, leaves, or chaff) prepares
the tire for the wheel on which it is fitted precisely
as by wheelwrights in Europe. The blacksmith is
paid in money and also in grain. He does not
shoe horses or bullocks, this being the duty of the
«nälband.” Some of the best adzes, “ kuräd,”
are made by travelling blacksmiths of gipsy-like
appearance and habits. Near large towns, and
in connexion with the numerous railway and
other works, native smiths attain to great skill,
and in light work they are, with careful supervision,
capable of rivalling the English workman.
It is notable that the English anvil is used whenever
available by the “ lohar.”
782 (5,238). The “Bunia.” — The “bunia” sells
grain, cotton seed, ghee oil, and all sorts of produce,
and in the exercise of his business he perhaps
comes in for even more abuse than the “ sankar ”
or “ mahajun.” In seasons of scarcity the “ bunia ”
usually gets the credit of keeping up the price of
food grains, and he no doubt does his best to make
hay while the sun shines. But in these times qf
more free inter-communication between districts it
does not so much avail him as of old to collect all
the grain in his neighbourhood and to put a fancy
price on it; for supplies now come in frqm all
sides. He is a keen, if not always a very intelligent
trader. He prefers the seat in his little shop
in the narrow Street, but goes out on business on
his pony, which is somewhat gaily caparisoned
with red and yellow headstall, crupper, martingalc,
(8834.)
and girths, in none of which is there a morsel of
lc3.tli er
783 (5,239). ThePotter. “ Kumär.”—The“kumär”
or potter is not on the establishment of the village
Community in the same official manner as some
other craftsmen, but none the less he is a useful
and important person. He is usually of wandering
habits, but there are few villages in which the
reek of his fires is not seen and smelt. He usually
keeps many small donkeys, by the help of which
he and the numerous members of his family collect
fuel and clay. His irnplements are the potter’s
wheel, and a small pick to dig clay. After his
“ghurrahs” are shaped on the wheel he finishes
them by hand, and the way in which he handles
and pats the thin flexible vessel in the green state,
and yet preserves its circular form, is a feat which
most European potters who finish from the wheel
on the lathe would consider almost impossible.
He also makes roofing tiles ; these are “ thrown ”
on the wheel in the shape of tapering cylinders,
which are sliced in halves while wet.
784 (5,240). The “ Mahar.”— 1 The “ mahar ” is one
of the most useful of the village servants. He is
recognisable by the long bamboo he invariably
carries. He acts as an assistant to the “ patel,”
and serves as guide to passengers, he is also postrunner
and messenger to the village. He has a
right to the skins of all dead animals, which it is
his business to remove to a given spot near the
village. He is of low caste, but he boasts that
there are people lower still. The “ mahars ” and
one of their caste subdivisions of a village near
Nassiek have had a law-suit carried frqm court to
court for some time concerning their right to
certain fractions of the bodies and skins of dead
cattle. Although the touch of the “ mahar ” is
pollution to higher castes he is personally cheerful
and contented enough, and he makes a tolerable
living from his numerous duties, for which he
receives both money and grain as payment.
785 (5,241). The “ Mhang.”— 1 The “ mhang ” takes,
without repining, the lowest place in the social
scale. He is a musician, and plays on his most
simple instruments at weddings and other ceremonies.
He receives an allowance of grain at
harvest time, but, generally speaking, he lives as
he can. He may not be a very useful or distinguished
member of the commune, but at least_ he
is a modest and unassuming one.—J. L. Kipling,
Esq., Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art and
Industry, Bombay.
J. Grifiiths, Bombay.
Collection of Sketches in Water Colours by ths Exhibitor,
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy School of Arts,
Bombay. (From the London Exhibition of
1872.)
1.268 ( — ). Mahar girl, carrying a vessel on her
head.
1.269 ( — ). Mahar girl, with a basket under her
arm.
1.270 ( — ). Mahar girl, with a basket on her head.
.—Showing mode of wearing “ saree by this Community
of the Deccan and lvonkan.
1.271 ( —). Fisherwoman, carrying fish on her
head.
1.272 ( — ). Soortan.—Showing mode of wearing
“saree” and “cholec” by Guzerathi women of
the lower dass.
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