ine, in
irrigated gardens roofed with thatch for protection from the sun,
is very highly prized by the Hindus. It is offered with areca-nut,
cloves, cardamom and lime rolled up in a quid to the guests at all
social functions. It is endowed by them with great virtues, being
supposed to prevent heartburn, indigestion, and other stomachic and
intestinal disorders, and to preserve the teeth, while taken with
musk, saffron and almonds, the betel-leaf is held to be a strong
aphrodisiac. The juice of the leaf stains the teeth and mouth red,
and the effect, though repulsive to Europeans, is an indispensable
adjunct to a woman's beauty in Hindu eyes. This staining of the mouth
red with betel-leaf is also said to distinguish a man from a dog. The
idea that betel preserves the teeth seems to be unfounded. The teeth of
Hindus appear to be far less liable to decay than those of Europeans,
but this is thought to be because they generally restrict themselves
to a vegetable diet and always rinse out their mouths with water after
taking food. The betel-leaf is considered sacred; a silver ornament
is made in its shape and it is often invoked in spells and magic. The
original vine is held to have grown from a finger-joint of Basuki,
the Queen of the Serpents, and the cobra is worshipped as the tutelary
deity of the _pan_-garden, which this snake is accustomed to frequent,
attracted by the moist coolness and darkness. The position of the
Barai is the same as that of the Mali; his is really a low caste,
sometimes coupled with the contemned Telis or oil-pressers, but he
is considered ceremonially pure because the betel-leaf, offered to
gods and eaten by Brahmans and all Hindus, is taken from him. The
Barai or Tamboli was formerly a village menial in the Maratha villages.

29. Other village traders and menials.

The castes following other village trades mainly fall into this
group, though they may not now be village menials. Such are the
Kalar or liquor-vendor and Teli or oil-presser, who sell their
goods for cash, and having learnt to reckon and keep accounts, have
prospered in their dealings with the cultivators ignorant of this
accomplishment. Formerly it is probable that the village Teli had the
right of pressing all the oil grown in the village, and retaining a
certain share for his remuneration. The liquor-vendor can scarcely
have been a village menial, but since Manu's time his trade has
been regarded as a very impure one, and