The Vedars of Travancore are summed up by the Rev. S. Mateer [119] as "living in jungle clearings or working in the rice fields, and formerly sold and bought as slaves. They have to wander about in seasons of scarcity in search of wild yams, which they boil and eat on the spot, and are thorough gluttons, eating all they can get at any time, then suffering want for days. Polygamy is common, as men are not required to provide for the support of their wives. Some, who have been converted to Christianity, show wonderful and rapid improvement in moral character, civilisation and diligence." For the following note on the Mala (hill) Vedans of Travancore, I am indebted to Mrs. J. W. Evans. [120] "They live in wretched huts amid the rice-flats at the foot of the hills, and are employed by farmers to guard the crops from the ravages of wild beasts. The upper incisor teeth of both men and women are filed to a sharp point, like crocodile's fangs. One ugly old man, Tiruvatiran by name (the name of a star), had the four teeth very slightly filed. On being pressed for the reason why he had not conformed to Mala Vedar fashion, he grinned, and said 'What beauty I was born with is enough for me.' Probably the operation had been more painful than he could bear, or, may be, he could not afford to pay the five betel leaves and areca nuts, which are the customary fee of the filer. Any man may perform the operation. A curved bill-hook, with serrated edge, is the instrument used. On being asked whether they had any tradition about the custom of tooth-filing, they replied that it was to distinguish their caste, and the god Chattan would be angry if they neglected the custom. It may be noted that tooth-filing is also practiced by the jungle Kadirs (q.v.). Both males and females wore a cotton loin-cloth, mellowed by wear and weather to a subtle greenish hue. Red and blue necklaces, interstrung with sections of the chank shell (Turbinella rapa) adorned the necks and chests. One woman was of special interest. Her neck and breasts were literally concealed by a medley of beads, shells, brass bells, and two common iron keys--these last, she said, for ornament. Around her hips, over her cloth, hung several rows of small bones of pig and sambar (Cervus unicolor). The Mala Vedans find these bones in the jungle. An aged priest said that he used to perform devil-dancing, but was now too stiff to dance, and had to labour like the younger men. The Mala Vedans apparently possess no temples or shrines, but Hindus permit them to offer money at the Hindu shrines from a distance, at times of sudden sickness or during other seasons of panic. Their god Chattan, or Sattan, has no fixed abode, but, where the Mala Vedans are, there is he in the midst of them. They bury their dead in a recumbent posture, near the hut of the deceased. The Mala Vedans practice the primitive method of kindling fire by the friction of wood (also practiced by the Kanakars), and,