described. To see montane Nature as they saw it, it would be necessary to go into the obscure and less frequented parts of the Palani hills, of the Nilgris, and of the Western Ghats of South Malabar and Travancore. It would be necessary to walk across the mule paths in primaeval forests, to rest in natural caves formed on mountain sides where the tiger or the bear has but recently left its footprints, to startle the deer grazing among the tall grass, to listen to the infant brook trickling over the stones, to watch the elephant bend the bamboo for its mate, to hear the bear at night digging deep into the anthills so that the glow-worms scatter about in consternation "as sparks from the smithy's anvil."² It would be necessary to climb thousands of feet above the plains, to receive the hospitality of folk who depend on hunting for much of their food, and to warm oneself by the fire meant to keep off the wild animals and the cold.

The life in kuriñci as depicted in the poems is a life intimate with Nature. To the chief, the hero of the conventional love poem, belong the mountain heights. They are lofty and so too is his character and his nobility. Under his rule are the dwellers of the hills. Their chief occupation is hunting. They startle their prey by pelting stones among the grasses and thickets, and by loud whistles. Near their hamlets are thick dense tropical forests where wild beasts roam, especially the elephant that wanders at night destroying the crops which they have laboured to raise. The bear and panther prowl stealthily to prey among the cattle.

Men keep awake at night in ambushes on the tops of trees to scare away the wild animals from the crops. They keep a fire burning, and in poetry, in order to show the wealth of the region, the fire is said to be made of logs of sandalwood, the most fragrant timber of the locality. Should they hear the stir of wild beasts they aim stones from their slings in the direction of the sound. The lover that comes surreptitiously at night to keep his tryst runs the risk of being mistaken for a wild animal and consequently of being attacked by the watchmen.³

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