oth speak a corrupt Tamil, and the Yerukalas are said to
call one another Kurru or Kura. It has been supposed that Korava was
the Tamil name which in the Telugu country became Yerukalavandlu or
fortune-teller. Mr. (Sir H.) Stewart thought there could be no doubt
of the identity of the two castes, [725] though Mr. Francis points out
differences between them. [726] The Yerukalas are expert thieves. They
frequent villages on the pretence of begging, and rob by day in regular
groups under a female leader, who is known as Jemadarin. Each gang
is provided with a bunch of keys and picklocks. They locate a locked
house in an unfrequented lane, and one of them stands in front as
if begging; the remainder are posted as watchers in the vicinity,
and the Jemadarin picks the lock and enters the house. When the
leader comes out with the booty she locks the door and they all
walk away. If any one comes up while the leader is in the house
the woman at the door engages him in conversation by some device,
such as producing a silver coin and asking if it is good. She then
begins to dispute, and laying hold of him calls out to her comrades
that the man has abused her or been taking liberties with her. The
others run up and jostle him away from the door, and while they are
all occupied with the quarrel the thief escapes. Or an old woman
goes from house to house pretending to be a fortune-teller. When
she finds a woman at home alone, she flatters and astonishes her by
relating the chief events in her life, how many children she has,
how many more are coming, and so on. When the woman of the house is
satisfied that the fortune-teller has supernatural powers, she allows
the witch to cover her face with her robe, and shuts her eyes while
the fortune-teller breathes on them, and blows into her ears and sits
muttering charms. Meanwhile one or two of the latter's friends who
have been lurking close by walk into the house and carry away whatever
they can lay their hands on. When they have left the house the woman's
face is uncovered and the fortune-teller takes her fee and departs,
leaving her dupe to find out that her house has been robbed. [727]
The conjugal morals of these people are equally low. They sell or
pledge their wives and unmarried daughters, and will take them back on
the redemption of the pledge with any children born in the interval,
as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When a man is
sentenced to imprisonment his wife