Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-01-04
SLOTHFUL TODAS
THEY ARE THE LATEST PEOPLE IN
THE WORLD.


VIII Neither Hunt Nor Work and
Who Are Proud of Their Reputa-
tion For Downright Incidence.
In these days of push and energy it
sounds strange to talk of people as be-
ing lazy, and still the Todas hill
tribe Of India, are the LATEST people in
the world.
The Todas are not ashamed Of their
reputation and are free TO confess that
they know Of nothing so foolish and
stupid as work. Their one and only
pursuit is the raising Of buffaloes They
are far too indolent to follow the chase.
An ak Is their only weapon, although
they know how to make others. They
use this for waging war and for fell
ing trees. They Will not till the lane,
considering this unnecessary labor To
make housekeeping easier all their nat
ural products are held in common. The
idea Of property is only restricted to
the hut, its contents and live stock
The buffaloes, which they own in
large quantities, furnish them with
skins for clothing and the hut, and the
meat Is used as food. But milk is
their principal diet They do not even
relish the idea of milking their cattle.
| The head mixers are the only ones
| that are to be persuaded to do this la
Dor. These men are chosen from the
| class OF "peiki," or sons Of God"
They are the priests and practice celib-
acy Although the priests tend to the
| cattle each householder owns his cat
| tie
Much as these men dislike the caring
| for their cattle, they find farming a
| less dIgnified calling Some years ago
they went to war with their neighbOrs,
the Badaga and Kotas, as they might
be able to levy tax of one-eighth on
their grain products. When their grain
grows scarce they live on roots and
berries. They will sell their land or
give it away. but they will not cult
vate 1t at any price.
The building of bamboo huts does not
interest them any more than the cult
waiting of the soil. and they make this
task easy by making the boys cut the
/
1t is not unusual for three families to
share one abode. The men are often
80 lazy that they cannot afford one wife
alone, but even this does not worry
them Two or three brothers manage
to support one wife. IndOlent and
slothfu, they sit listless for hours, un-
concerned about all things. What they
know they know we'll They are intel
ligent within certain narrow limits, but
they are too lazy to Increase their store
of knowledge Whatever has to be
done must be cared for by the women
and children.
Strangely their appearance does not
disclose this most marked characters
tic. They are tall and well proportion
ed. They look like Roman senators a.
they walk wrapped in skins resembling
the ancient toga. Their appearance /:
not only prepossesslng, but bold anC
self reliant.
Many an amusing story is told of this
small hill tribe numbering about 4O'
men. An American missionary wa:
working among them when one day h'
saw some women and boys building
: hut OF bamboo He inquired why th'
{ men were not performing this labor
: and one woman explained, Husband
mine don't work: me and boys builC
house"
, The missionary made no further com
ment. but when the hut was built h
told the husband that he must built
? another hut, as he could not live in ;
home made by women and children
But the surprised Toda answered: INC
: no. Me no work Man has boys AM
wife to work"
The Toda meant what he said. A
though the missionary argued and finaI
" horseYhipped the native, he coul
not get him to build hut.
An equally amusing story is told b,
i an English officer He was so takel
!, by the handsome appearance of one o
the natives he wanted to take him I
r England and place him in his own reg
p ment. The officer gave the nativ
skins and silks until the Toda prom
ised to become an English soldier. III
was delighted with the officers bright
; CAV uniform. He did not feel ba
y about leaving his country, his wife an
children, but when he was told tina
soldiers work he said:
"Me no be an English soldier; me b
: Toda. Ne no work; me no like work.
n When the English officer tried TO pei
Ia yr-Ar-
f wife and boys; they be English so
: diers-like work Ne stay home an
d rest; me be Toda "-Cbicago Tribune.