The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-12-12
an carry out, will emancipate them at a

single dow.
The great marrying month Of the Mini
covites is May, shortly after the return Of
the feet with their candies of rice, their
silks and their silver ornaments, which they
bring from Bengal and other trading ports,
as presents for wives already made, or we'd
ding gifts for brides to be. In 1892 there
were 50 marriages on the island, 81 of which
took place in the golden month of May.
No marriage Is performed without the girFs
consent. To make sure that this is volun-
tarily given the kali (priesD sends two
mukris (sextons) to obtain the true senti-
ments of the girl. so that she shall not be
forced into hateful alliance.
The MinIcOvite women having firm hand
on the domestic strings, use every effort to
keep the family together. This they. be-
economy. You may see grandmothers,
mothers and daughters with their three
generations of male cOunterparts all living
peac afully together under the same roof and
eating from the same common dish.
Should the members of the Brown house
hold grow rather too numerous for their
quarters, the males of the Brown family are
sat to work to put up new house near by,
in which the eldest daughter, say the mar
ried Angelina, is duly installed and the new
branch becomes distinguished from the old
by being called the Brown-Smiths.
Although mile long the township is not
very broad extending not over three
hundred yards inland at it's broadcast. 1t is
very compact, we'll laid out, and scrupul-
ously neat, the divisions into varangis and
attiris doubtless inducing a fine rivalry as
to which shall be the greatest credit to the
town.
The Minicoy houses are fairly large stone
and mortar matched buildings and con-
nected with them are we'll cultivated gar
dens. The whole premises is enclosed with
in dry stone wall or else fence made of
plated cocoanut palm leaves. All round
ia ho1
the rafters of which hang the swinging cots
in which the inmates sleep. Thick cotton
mosquito netting give all the privacy the
inmates desire and also prevent them from
being devoured in their slumbers by blood,
thirsty mosquitoes which for size and fero-
city beat anything l ever saw, not except
ing their brethren in New Jersey.
The wealth of family is indicated by
the carvings of the pillars of their YER
andas, and by certain brackets and cor
nices on the walls.
In the garden and suspended from dry
tree branches, one end of which had been
thrust into the ground, we noticed a num-
Der of peculiar vessels formed of cocoanut
shells. Those contained the family supply
of palm juice tOddy, an unfermented sweet
liquor from which they prepared sugar
and some very excellent sweetmeats.
Their gardens produce sweet potatoes,
vans in several verieties, betel vines and
Indian corn. These with the wild fruits
of the island fish, and imported rice, COM
pose the principal articles of thier diet.
In the afternoon we got considerable
amount of amusement in watching rat
hunt in the cocoanut orchard behind the
town. 1t is nut gathering time and the
varangi ladies will be along presently with
their baskets but first the professional tree
climbers must get rid of those little Great
ures so terrifying to women the world
over.
This orchard is veritable rats paradise.
Plenty to eat and drink and save for the
regular harvest attack of man, this Eden
of rats is without a serpent 1t hasn't even
rat snake. The critters live in the tops
OF the palms, in cosy corners where the
branches shoot out from the trunk.
A dozen strong sineway tree climbers
swarm up and begin to poke among the
branches with their short sticks. The re-
suit is a perfect shower of rats which have
taken headers to elude their pursuers. But
they are not to escape, for the company be-
low are ready for them and the slaughter
begins. They are caught in mid air as
you would catch a base ball and hurled
with bone breaking force upon the ground
| if a catcher should miss, the rats fate
| is no better, for an outer circle of men
and boys await him, and he is Drained
with a stick. The more sagacious of them
| leap into another three and if it should be
without climber, they either escape alto
Sether or postpone their late until that
| tree is reached by their pursuers.
After the boys had collected the slain
and taken them away, the varangis APP
pear or at least detachment form each
of them, and collect the nuts into baskets
as they are thrown down by the climber
For this service the women get four nuts
each and per cent of all they gather.
The nuts are stripped of their husks
which are worked up into yarns before
explained, and then they are stored until
opportunity arrives to send them to the
mainland to be sold on behalf of the gov
eminent revenue
At the northern end of the island is a
! collection of small huts, wherein dwell
those afflicted with leprosy. On the APP
pearance of this disease the sufferer is at
once sent to the leper colony. A hut is
! built for him, and he is supplied with food
| and drink by his relatives, who leave it
| on the ground at a safe distance.
| From an old inhabitant we learned the
| Minicovite tradition that in days gone by
! the island was so harassed by robbers of
all sorts that the people finally placed
| themselves under the protection of Mann
| mali, the great corsair. In a certain
| part of the island he said, were to be seen
| the cave in which the inhabitants used to
| hide from their tormentors.
| Expecting to find something romantic,
we took way thither, but we soon dis
| covered that our aged informant was
| given to exaggeration. Our trip was not
| without success, however, for we fonud
I under a rough slab of limestone, lying fiat
| on the ground, a neat hole of human con-
| struction, evidently the entrance to a long
| narrow tunnel. This must have been of
| great length, for so yards away we found
| where the top had caved in, exposing what
| was undoubtedly a continuation of the
| same passage. These people must have
| burrowed into the earth like rabbits Sure
| ly of all devices used by human beings
| to escape enemies of their own race this
| was the oldest One can imagine the
| establishment of the bloodthirsty maraud-
| ers on finding their prospective victims
| vanished, leaving nothing behind them but
their empty habitations.
| Before leaving for the Maldves we paid
| a visit to the only European on the island.
/ the lighthouse keeper, and glad enough he
| was to US.
| Then we returned to our steamer. and
| sailed away with half cargo of pres
ents, thoroughly delighted with our visit.
| and only sorry that we had not had weeks
instead of only a few hours to spend with
| such a hospitable and interesting peonIe
| A PET BEAR
Battles With a Catamount md Snva.
| Its Master.