All the cattle of the villages are herded together. There is one dairy for the village, and all the cattle are milked there by special dairymen. After milking, these men give out so much milk as is needed to every one in the village; from the balance they make butter which they divide to the men of the village according to the number of cattle each owns. We have already said that the Todas raise no crops. The Badagas and Kotas live on the land of the Todas; they are stronger and more vigorous than the Todas, and both tribes have weapons and could easily defeat them in battle. But they live in peace with them and pay them, as rent for their land, grains and other produce they need. We have spoken of the common village herds. There are other (sacred) herds, which are cared for by dairymen priests, who are themselves almost worshipped. The priest has an assistant who cuts wood for him and otherwise serves him. When the priest milks the sacred cows, and he alone may do so, he repeats a prayer. He does the same when he carries the milk into the dairy. The village people treat him and his assistant with great respect and may not touch them, nor any of the implements they use. Men and boys may go to the wall that encloses the dairy buildings, but may not enter. Women may not go near the place. The cows in the sacred herds have descended from sacred cows of the past. In each herd there is an especially sacred “bell-cow.” This means that she is the owner of an ancient cow-bell which the dairyman priest keeps in the dairy. It belonged to her mother before her and to _her_ mother, and so on back. When a bell-cow dies, the bell has to be put upon her daughter. The priest brings it out from the dairy and waves it around and around the head of the cow morning and night for three days. As he does so he says:— “What a fine cow your predecessor was. How well she supported us with milk; Won’t you supply us in like manner? You are a god among us. Do not let the Tirieri[2] go to ruin. Let one become a thousand! Let all be well! Let us have plenty of calves! Let us have plenty of milk!” The cow wears the bell for three days and nights, after which it is taken off forever. It is not used again until the old cow dies and her daughter is then made bell-cow in her place. Footnote 2: Sacred dairy. [Illustration: GROUP OF TODAS (VERNEAU).]