full consent bought and sold and hired out, although, of course, the transaction must be kept secret for fear of the penalties of the Penal Code, which came into force in 1862, and was the real final blow at slavery in India. The slaves, however, as a caste will never understand what real freedom means, until measures are adopted to give them indefeasible rights in the small orchards occupied by them as house-sites." It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that "though slavery has been abolished many years ago, the name valliyal (a person receiving valli, i.e., paddy given to a slave) still survives." By the Penal Code it is enacted that-- Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives, or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to a fine. Whoever habitually imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, traffics or deals in slaves, shall be punished with transportation for life, or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall be liable to a fine. Whoever unlawfully compels any person to labour against the will of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with a fine, or with both. "Very low indeed," Mr. S. Appadorai Iyer writes, [28] "is the social position of these miserable beings. When a Cherumar meets a person of superior caste; he must stand at a distance of thirty feet. If he comes within this prohibited distance, his approach is said to cause pollution, which is removed only by bathing in water. A Cherumar cannot approach a Brahman village or temple, or tank. If he does so, purification becomes necessary. Even while using the public road, if he sees his lord and master, he has to leave the ordinary way and walk, it may be in the mud, to avoid his displeasure by accidentally polluting him. To avoid polluting the passer-by, he repeats the unpleasant sound 'O, oh, O--'. [In some places, e.g., Palghat, one may often see a Cheruman with a dirty piece of cloth spread on the roadside, and yelling in a shrill voice 'Ambrane, Ambarane, give me some pice, and throw them on the cloth.'] His position is intolerable in the Native States of Cochin and Travancore, where Brahman influence is in the ascendant; while in the Palghat taluk the Cherumars cannot, even to this day, enter the bazaar." A melancholy picture has been drawn of the Cherumans tramping along the marshes in mud, often wet up to their waists, to avoid polluting their superiors. In 1904, a Cheruman came within polluting distance of a Nayar, and was struck with a stick. The Cheruman went off and fetched another, whereupon the Nayar ran away. He was, however, pursued by the Cherumans. In defending himself with a spade, the Nayar struck the foremost Cheruman on the head, and killed him.