e of ancient sculpture. Secondly, it is to be rememed that the high cultivation of the Italian race and warm, ripening airs of the southern clime asurably decreased the obstacles these sculptors ountered in seeking perfection in the portraiture of dren: Yet after all is said and done, this explanamerely dimly illumines the technical triumph of se men. Their imperishable merit is this: In their lptures of children, without ever being sweet and real, they have been able by means of wonderful ative imagination to make the inner spirit shine ough the outer substance and so free to the breeze, it were, the profound secret of the child-soul."-THE ERARY DIGEST. "The news of the discovery spread along the shore like a flash of powder, and the afternoon of the same day hundreds of peasants and fishermen assembled to view the mysterious ruins. Verséd in local tradition, a schoolmaster remembered an old legend that spoke of a town engulfed by the sea in this same place. The worthy pedagog had been served well by his memory. The ruins so suddenly brought to light were those of a large village overwhelmed by the sea toward the end of the fifteenth century. "While fishermen and peasants dug about the ruined houses in the hope of finding treasure, the news, published in The Daily Mirror with photographs, made something of a sensation in London scientifie circles. An archeological society shortly prepared an expedition to excavate the region given up by the sea. Alas! When it reached its destination, HEAD OF DONATELLO'S "DAVID." The fourteenth-century sculptures of children, "without ever being sweet and unreal," are "the profound secret of the child-soul." From the sea-depths-and back. Not often does the ocean give up tribute that it 8 once claimed. An exception is recounted by a atributor to La Nature (Paris, April 4) under the le "Curious Results of a Storm." A village on the rfolk coast in England, after resting for three cenfies beneath the waves, suddenly reappeared for as ny days, after which the sea as suddenly claimed again. A curious conjunction of favorable winds tides seems to have been responsible for both pearance and disappearance. We read in the ench magazine: The storm raged two days. When it was over, a tive thought he was dreaming when he saw numestone walls, covering a vast space where the od man was certain that he had seen waves rolling three days before! A Norfolk coast town three centuries under water. several days later, the ruins had vanished again! The sea had regained possession of its age-long conquest. "What happened may be easily understood. Combining its efforts with those of a violent southeast wind, the tide had displaced an enormous volume of sand, under which the ruins lay buried. During two days these remained so far uncovered that the treasureseekers were able to dig, but without much success since their finds were limited to a few domestic articles -keys, pottery, and tools. "But the third day, less than two hours after the taking of the photograph herewith reproduced, the rising tide, aided this time again by the wind, returned to the attack and washed the sand into its former position. The ruins were buried anew, perhaps for several more centuries-who knows? "Some witnesses of this brief reapparition affirm that the old church tower stood 30 feet above the ground when first discovered, but that it crumbled on the following night. "Strange as it may seem, the phenomenon just described is not unique. In the West Indies, the sea has sometimes been known to draw back a mile or two from shore, revealing pavements and walls whose existences no one had suspected."-THE LITERARY DIGEST. ARTS AND MANUFACTURES OF THE ORAONS HE Oraons of Chota Nagpur have long Temerged from the lowest stages of civilization. Although their Fine Arts are still in a rudimentary stage of tioning, as it is now fast falling into disuse. It resembles in shape the damaru we read of in ancient Hindu literature, a diminutive form of which is still met with Patterns of Tattoo-marks of the Oraons. evolution, they have made comparatively better progress in the mechanical arts. They have long evolved and now employ several mechanical means of economizing human labour. (1) FINE ARTS. Of their fine arts, we referred in a previous article to the rude figures of animals and flowers they occasionally paint on the mud-walls of their huts. We also mentioned in a previous article that their women-folk tattoo their limbs by making a series of punctures in the skin and applying a particular blue-black pigment into them. These tattoo-marks with which Oraon women decorate the surfaces of the body are of two classes of patterns,-viz., patterns of flowers of various kinds and patterns of simple geometrical figures. The accompanying illustrations show the most commonly used patterns of tattoo-marks of Oraon women. Oraon women also decorate the borders of their clothes with patterns of flowers and birds sewn by themselves with red thread and a bamboo needle. Besides these rude attempts at decorating the walls of their houses the limbs of their women-folk, and the borders of their clothes, the Oraons have also evolved a rude style of music and dancing which can, however, be hardly dignified with the name of Fine Arts'. An interesting musical instrument with earthen sides and goat-skin tops is particularly worth men in the hands of travelling jugglers. The Oraon ins trument is known as the Runj and is played not with the hands but with two curved sticks made of bamboo. (See illustration). Some ornamental decorations made by Oraon women with paddy-sheares may also be referred to while speaking of their Fine Arts. The most (2) MANUFACTURES AND INDUSTRIES. The Oraons are not a manufacturing people. Only a few raw materials grown in their fields or gathered in their native jungles are worked into suitable forms either with the hand or with some rude mechanical contrivances. Thus, the cotton grown on their fields is spun by Oraon women with a spindle called charkhi made of wood and iron. The seeds are previously taken out of the cotton with an instrument called rahta, and the cotton is teased out with a cotton-cleaner called chirkhi. The thread is gathered on a bamboo Ghurni, and twisted with the help of a stone-instrument called dhera. Oraon young men and women are skilful at hemming garments with a bambooneedle called thathra. Decorative borders are made on their clothes with red thread, floral patterns being generally used. FIBRE-WORK. Ropes are made by Oraon men of fibres of kudrum (Hibiscus cannabinus), of the sabai grass, and of sunn or hemp. Kudrum is grown on the ridges of uplands; and kudrum stems are gathered in OctoberNovember, made into bundles, and put out in the sun to dry. Later, these stems are made to rot in water by being immersed in tank or pool for about a week, and then taken up and dried. The fibre is then extracted from the pith by breaking the latter in small pieces and separating them with the fingers. The fibres thus extracted are twisted into ropes with the dhera or rope-twister. Ropes are similarly made of sabai (Pallinia-eripoda) grass and of chop fibre (Banhinia Vahtu). These ropes are used by the Oraon in house-building and other domestic and agricultural purposes. The Oraon also weaves ropes into carrying-nets or sikas. Less frequently, hemp and aloe fibres are worked up into ropes by the same process. Fishing nets are made by the Oraons themselves with the help of a bamboo shuttle (Khakhs.) WORK IN LEAVES, GRASS, AND STRAW, ETC. Oraon women weaves mats (pitri) of various sizes with the leaves of the wild date-palm khijur (Faenix sylvestris). Leaves of the gungu creeper are made into chhupi or a rain-hat with wide brim occasionally worn by Oraons while at work in the fields during the rains. A longer water-proof covering for the head and back is the gungu. This reaches down to the back of the knees and is also made of gungu-leaves and rimmed with bamboo splinters. A few kinds of head-ornaments and neck-ornaments of different ornamental patterns are made by Oraon young men and women, with a few varieties of wild grass which grows on high sandy soil, and the phutchira grass which grows on damp soil by the side of tanks and pools. Fishtraps (Kumni) are also made of these two varieties of wild grass. A few varieties of grass are used by the Oraons in making into brooms for sweeping the floors and courtyards of their houses. Leaves and cups made of leaves of the Sal tree are made by Oraon women by stitching together the leaves with small thin bamboo splinters or reeds. Pads (binda) for water-vessels, etc., either when carried on the head or placed on the ground, are made by Oraon women with straw and leaves, or only with date-palm leaves. Straw is plaited by Oraon men and made into oval-shaped grain receptacles (moras and tibsis) of different sizes. Stands for these grain-receptacles are also made of straw. WORK IN WOOD. The Oraon is mostly his own carpenter. With the help of the chisel (rukhna) and the adge (basila) he makes the mortar (chunjkga) and pestle (man) with which his woman husk rice, the oil-mill (kulhu) with which his womanfolk extract oil at home, and the oil-press (tosung chapua) with which Oraon women extract oil in the jungles, the ploughs with which the Oraon tills the soil, the dhenki or rice-pounder with which his women husk their grains, the Kando or wooden seat on which the Oraon squats while taking his meals, and The Plough, axe and javelin of the Oraons. fastened in its place by an iron hoop. The plough-share when in use requires cons tant mending by the village blacksmith. The third part is the wooden beam. The fourth part which is the Yoke (Joal) is fitted on to the beam with leather-straps ( (nadha) bought of a Chamar or worker in leather. The fifth part is the handle (chandli) which is a piece of wood with a crook at the end. The ploughman seizes the curved end with his hands when driving the plough. Yoke, Harrow and other agricultural implements of the Oraons. wooden the balli or door-plank of his house, the makri or balk with which he keeps the doors of his hut closed, the paila or cup with which he measu res his grain, and a few other articles of domestic use. AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS. Let us now proceed to a description of the principal agricultural implements used by the Oraon. The first and foremost is of course the plough. It consists of five parts or components. The plough-proper (har) is a thick piece of Sal (shorea bobusta) wood about two feet and a half long. It is generally fashioned into shape by the Oraon cultivator himself out of wood brought by himself from the village-jungle or from some neighbouring jungle. The ploughshare (phar) is made by the village blacksmith and consists of a straight piece of iron from three-quarters. of a feet to one feet long and about an inch broad. It is fixed on to a groove in the upper part of the plough proper (har) and HARROW. or The harrow patta is a narrow piece of wood about 2 yards long with two apertures in it. Two thin bamboos or split pieces of dhantha of wood are fitted into the two apertures and joined to the yoke at one point so as to form a triangle. It is worked by a man standing on the patta and driving the bul locks attached to the yoke. The patta serves to press down and pulverize the soil and to bury the seeds in after they are sown. LEVELLER. The leveller or hanga is required to leve fields and press the soil. It is thus describ ed by Mr. (afterwards Sir) F. S. Slacke. "It is like a large oblong wooden shovel with a short handle. In the blade are two holes not on the same plane, so that when the handle is let go, the blade (which is buffaloes being pulled by bullocks or the holes by yokes passing through in the blade) falls over leaving behind it the earth it was bringing up". EARTH-REMOVER. The earth-remover or Karha used by Oraons has been thus described. "It consists of a short plank about 18 inches Report on the Settlement of the Estate of the Maharaja of Chot Nagpur (1888), page 15. + Basu, Report on the Agriculture of the District of Lohardaga, (1897, Bengal Secretariat Press.) field broad and 4ft. long. It is drawn by a pair of oxen, in the same way as the patta. The plank is held slightly inclined to the ground by means of a short handle at the middle of its upper edge. The Karha is used for levelling down the unevenness of a newly-made rice-field. For this purpose the is first ploughed, and the Karha is drawn over it to carry the soil from the high parts of the field to the lower. It is held tightly at an angle to the ground and drawn forward, carrying with it a certain amount of loose soil. On reaching a depression which wants to be filled up, the handle is let go, and the soil which was being carried forward is left in the depression." The sickle or hansua is a hooked iron instrument with a toothed edge. It is used by the Oraon to reap his crops with. CROW-BAR. The crow-bar or Sabar is a bar of iron sharpened at one end. With it the Oraon cultivator occasionally digs holes in the earth or removes large stones. It is manufactured by the village blacksmith. CHISEL AND ADGE-MALLET. The mortising chisel or rukna and the adge-mallet or basila are used by the Oraons in working wood with, as in making their ploughs. The village black smith makes the chisel and the adge-mallet for the Oraon. SPADE. The spade or kari consists of three bamboo parts, namely, a or wooden handle about a yard long; an iron socket (pasa) which fits into the handle; and a flat steel blade which is welded on to the socket. The Oraon uses it for earth-work, constructing ridges and embankments. such as digging fields, and repairing and AXE. The axe or tanga, like the spade, consists of a bamboo or wooden handle, an iron socket which fits into the handle, and a steel blade. The Oraon uses it for hewing timber, or chopping wood with and for similar other purposes. LOAD-CARRIER. The ordinary load-carrying contrivance of the Oraon consists of a bamboo or wooden pole about a yard and a half long called bahinga (Oraon ugi) with two ropenets or Sikas (O., epta) suspended one at each end of the rod. Things to be carried, such as paddy-seedlings to be carried to the fields or reaped crops to be carried to the threshing-floor, are put into these nets, which and the bahinga pole is placed cross-wise on the sholder of the carrier. COUNTRY-CART. The country-cart or Sagar of the Oraon is an wooden frame with two black wheels in three pieces. GRAIN-MEASURES. The Oraon measures his grains in cupshaped pailas (O., acka) either made of wood by themselves or made of brass by braziers.* Such are the principal arts and manufactures that the Oraon of Chota Nagpur has evolved. The material, style, workmanship, and mode of manufacture, are indeed very poor. But when compared with those employed by some other aboriginal tribes of Chota Nagpur, such as the Korwas, the Asurs, and the Bir-hors, the Oraons appear to have evolved a comparatively higher civilization than their ruder aboriginal neighbours. SARAT CHANDRA ROY. * For a further account of these see subsection on 'Weights and Measures'. |