Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-11

ming L stepped into the telegraph
Office for n chat with my friend. Al Luslc,
the night station master. We were both inter-
eSted in hunting the big carnivora, which were
to be found in the jungles close at hand. While
we were discussing the efficiency Of the hollow
nosed bullet in stopping the charge of
wounded, and therefore doubly dangerous tiger
or leopard, man from the Baidyanath country
entered the Office recognized him Bhulna.
q shikarri who had accompanied me on a trip
had taken into that section in search of a
black leopard pslt. He said:
"Sahibs. the cattle men of Baidyanath are
sore distressed. they have worked like slaves to
raise cattle in order to support their families
and pay the taxes which the government i'm
poses on the people. Now comes along satan
in the form of tiger or leopard and destroys
the fruits of their labor Which of these it is
we have not yet found out 1t may be that
both kinds of devils causing destruction
among the herds"
80 you would like to have US take up the
JOB Of getting rid Of the cattle lfters" Al said
Eyes, Sahib, we would esteem it a great
FAVOR to all of our people. We have already
spent many rupees for material to build in
closures into which drive our herds every
night since the slaughter began. On several
nights only young animals we.e taken a fact
that makes us think that leopard may be one
OF the killers. At other times the strongest
bulls have been dragged Off and devoured Only
o tiger could have done this.
I suggested that both obtain a leave of
absence and proceed the next day to the village
OF Baidyanath with Bhulna AL fell in with the
idea readily. Telling Bhulna to return with
his bullock wagon for us the next day we pro-
ceeded to put our plan into shape
THE next forenoon Bhulna arrived with the
y bullock wagon We took our Martini rifles
land plentiful supply of the kind of ammu-
milton we had agreed on. We reached Bald
yanath in the afternoon. All the people of
the village turned out to welcome us 1t was
cheerful scene. Large earthen pots filled with
rice were carried by the women to the different
nuts to be prepared for the evening meal 1
may say here that the Santals are one of the
aboriginal tribes of India. They have lam
glage of their own, but the majority of them
profess the Hindu religion.
In front of the head-mans dwelling a space
was swept and charpoyS placed to serve as seats
Tor u.s. These charpoys a very useful article
In the household arrangements of the Santals
serving the purpose of seat bed. The
majority of the huts in the village were con-
structed of bamboo and palm leaves The more
pretentiouS buildings were made OF kacka brick
which means bricks dried in the sum- Pariah
dogs were numerous. While waiting for the
cool OF the evening before setting out for the
scene OF the cattle-killer'S activities we talked
with some Of the elders of the village One of
education, being well versed in the ancient
books gave us an account Of the belief in the
transmigration Of souls. Speaking in Urdu he
said:
"SahibS, We believe that it was written truly
by the wise men of olden times that when a
man or woman has lived evil life in this
world then the spirit of that person passes into
the body of an animal which Is an enemy of
mankind. For example, any one who has been
OF mean nature debauched and treacherous
would be hyena.
ION the other hand there are those who
while they excelled in deeds which did great
harm to their fellowmen, yet had something
noble in their natures which did not allow
them to Stoop to petty things. They were
guilty Of violence perhaps. but they betrayed
not their friends nor committed the small
crimes which indicate mind little and mean.
We think that the souls of such people are
permitted to animate the tiger and the leopard"
Wishing to acquire further information on
this abstr,tse subject I said:
"Ciuru 0eacher), what Of the elephant? That
wise beast is surely not possessed by the spirit
of criminal"
The guru smiled and proceeded to explain
the intricacieS of the beliefs entertained by the
Santals on this important matter
3: 'The elephant is an animal of great UNDER
standing 1t is easy to see that the soul which
moves that huge body must at one time have
been that of philosopher
One of the herdSmen then expressed his
opinion. His name was Matuli. He had escaped
with his life on more than one occasion from
the claws of the carnivora.
"Sahibs, I have been in peril from the
striped and spotted devils of the jungles more
times than I can remember. I have ALWAYS
thought that the leopard displayed more cum
ming then the tiger. Therefore my belief is
that he must be animated by the spirit of
money lender"
It was now late in the afternoon and large
platter Of rice with side dishes of vegetable
curry was set before us. There were no forks