Morning journal and courier., 1890-05-16
KINGS OF THE JUNGLE.
A Strange and Little Known Peopl
 Who Live In India.

Strange and Little Known People
 Who Live In India.
 Only about twenty miles north of Cape Comorin, the most southern point of India. live very curious people known as the Kan ikaras, or "Kings of the Jungle" Hidden as they are among the festnesses of the southern Ghauts. vely little is known of them, for they seldom venture down to the cosst towns, and explorers have neglected them. They are one of the tribes of savages who live in a few parts of India, and who are nearly as wild as though they wandered in the jungles of Africa instead of dwelling in one of the most populors parts of the world.
 Mir. George Cadell, while engaged in sur veys for the forest department of India, re- gently had occasion to visit the Kings of the Jungle. They are a humble sort of kings and are compelled to be veiy careful not to offend against the laws of caste, for they are regarded as the lowest of the low, and it is a part of their duty to keep at a very respect ful distance from all the other people who inhabit the little native province where they live.
 They are not allowed, for instance, to sp- proach within twenty paces of any of the shop keeping or trading cle3ses. When they
 wish to make purchase they must deposit their money on a stump or a stone, and then retire until the money has been replaced by the s-ticle they have bargained for. Their abject position makes them very timid. They ran away into the jungle whenever they saw MT. Cadeil coming, though he did not spise them. He found, however, an easy
 way to win their friendship. All he had to
 do yves to hang small tin of gunpowder at their door post, and e1 soon fs the natives saw 1t they were always certain that any one who made them so fine a present was their good friend. They would then invite him to the best entertainment they could provide and would build him e hut among branches of the trees; for these curious natives sleep on platforms built in the forks of trees, and over the platforms they rear grass roofs. They are thus out of reach of wild elephants,
 who are apt to be uncomfortably inquisitive in the night time.
 The Kanikaras are great hunters, and their
 weapons are commonly bows and ALLOWS, though some of them have very poor match locks. All elephants are the property of the Maharajah of the Travancore province, where they live, aud the Kings of the Jungle are required to help hunt the elephant when his highness wants little ivory. They are also required to furnish wax for some of the temples, bu. render no other SCI vice to the
 state. They wear nothing but narrow loin cloth and a few ornaments. and bead neck laces and leaden eai rings are the most con- spicuous articles of women's dress. A very curious fact about them is that they have the decimal system of enumeration, though they can count only to ten. They have peb. bles each of which represents ten units, and if the articles they wish to count are repre- scented, for instance, by three pebbles, 1t means that the articles number three tens, or thii.y units.
 Living within . few miles of civilization and big towns, these primitive savages still make a fire by revolving stick of hard wood in the hollow of diy bamboo. The Eam- boo, by the way, serves to indicate the age of kanikara. Any man who has seen bam- boo blossom three times is regarded es q very venerable person.