DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12673#0241
222
GOA AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
foreigner attempted to satisfy his curiosity by any-
thing like forcible measures.
The Tian * of Malabar is to the Nair what the
villein was to the feoffee of feudal England. These
two families somewhat resemble each other in
appearance, but the former is darker in complexion,
and less " castey " in form and feature than the
latter. It is the custom for modest women of the
Tiyar family to expose the whole of the person
above the waist, whereas females of loose character
are compelled by custom to cover the bosom. As
this class of Hindoo, generally speaking, provides
the European residents with nurses and other
menials, many of our countrymen have tried to
make them adopt a somewhat less natural costume.
The proposal, however, has generally been met
pretty much in the same spirit which would be
displayed were the converse suggested to an Eng-
lishwoman.
In writings the Tiyar are styled Eelavun. They
are supposed to be a colony of strangers from an
island of that name near Ceylon. An anomaly in
the Hindoo system they certainly are: learned
* The masculine singular of this word is Tian (fern. Tiatti),
in the plural Tiyar.
GOA AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
foreigner attempted to satisfy his curiosity by any-
thing like forcible measures.
The Tian * of Malabar is to the Nair what the
villein was to the feoffee of feudal England. These
two families somewhat resemble each other in
appearance, but the former is darker in complexion,
and less " castey " in form and feature than the
latter. It is the custom for modest women of the
Tiyar family to expose the whole of the person
above the waist, whereas females of loose character
are compelled by custom to cover the bosom. As
this class of Hindoo, generally speaking, provides
the European residents with nurses and other
menials, many of our countrymen have tried to
make them adopt a somewhat less natural costume.
The proposal, however, has generally been met
pretty much in the same spirit which would be
displayed were the converse suggested to an Eng-
lishwoman.
In writings the Tiyar are styled Eelavun. They
are supposed to be a colony of strangers from an
island of that name near Ceylon. An anomaly in
the Hindoo system they certainly are: learned
* The masculine singular of this word is Tian (fern. Tiatti),
in the plural Tiyar.