some as he was vicious, killed the favorite ox of his grandfather
Maha-deva, and was banished by his father to the Jodpur desert. Banished
to its remotest southern corner, he married; and soon his descendants
filled the whole country. They scattered along the Vindya ridge, on
the western frontier of Malva and Kandesh; and, later, in the woody
wilderness, on the shores of the rivers Maha, Narmada and Tapti. And all
of them, inheriting the beauty of their forefather, his blue eyes and
fair complexion, inherited also his turbulent disposition and his vice.

"We are thieves and robbers," naively explained the relative of the
Babu's "chum," "but we can't help it, because this is the decree of our
mighty forefather, the great Maha-deva-Shiva. Sending his grandson to
repent his sins in the desert, he said to him: 'Go, wretched murderer of
my son and your brother, the ox Nardi; go and live the life of an exile
and a brigand, to be an everlasting warning to your brethren!... ' These
are the very words of the great god. Now, do you think we could
disobey his orders? The least of our actions is always regulated by our
Bhamyas--chieftains--who are the direct descendants of Nadir-Sing, the
first Bhil, the child of our exiled ancestor, and being this, it is only
natural that the great god speaks to us through him."

Is not it strange that Apis, the sacred ox of the Egyptians, is honored
by the followers of Zoroaster, as well as by the Hindus? The ox Nardi,
the emblem of life in nature, is the son of the creating father, or
rather his life-giving breath. Ammianus Marcellinus mentions, in one of
his works, that there exists a book which gives the exact age of Apis,
the clue to the mystery of creation and the cyclic calculations. The
Brahmans also explain the allegory of the ox Nardi by the continuation
of life on our globe.

The "mediators" between Shiva and the Bhils possess such unrestricted
authority that the most awful crimes are accomplished at their lightest
word. The tribe have thought it necessary to decrease their power to a
certain extent by instituting a kind of council in every village. This
council is called tarvi, and tries to cool down the hot-headed fancies
of the dhanis, their brigand lords. However, the word of the Bhils is
sacred, and their hospitality is boundless.

The history and the annals of the princes of Jodpur and Oodeypur confirm
the legend of the Bhil emigration from their primitive desert, but how
they