The Sketcher.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 12, 13 January 1877, Page 2

The Sketcher.

» PREHISTORIC MAN. Some interesting particulars respecting recently examined traces of prehistoric man in Provence have juat been communicated to the French Academy of Sciences by M. Jaubert. In the extract from Ins paper which appears in " Compter Kendus 'it is stated that Provence, in virtue of its position, climate, rivers, and extensive coast-line, appears io have possessed great attractions for rrimeval noic |n^f j .so much so that if; contains

j Riaus, Chateau Double, and G-menos, where bro aze implements have been found along with others made of flint, tho neighbourhood of Barjols, Varage, Cabasse, Saint Jullien, Montferrat, and that of many otber villages, may be mentioned as almost unexplored prehistoric stations, where .-traces of the presence of man are 4gjjj->f ound, not merely^ caves, but eveu in some places on the surface of the ground— as, for example, in the beds of shells near Hyerea, where polished flints and bronze points are to be picked up. These traces of man become more plentiful"as one ascends towards' the BassesAlpes, on account of the existence in thia district of numerous natural giottoes. i Some of the -narrow valleys— that of Ver- ■ don in particular— exhibit tbe singular ( spectacle of parallel -caves piercing tbeii I scarped sides. There are many of th.se - natural excavations in the vicinity o_ j Gr.oulx and Caste-Hane ; soin_ of them ; such as those at Moustiers, being verj j large, -nnd many lhave been successive!} i revealed and destroyed by the worke ol ! tbe Verdon Canal In tbe village of -Gr.---j oulx, which is built on a bill-side, manj I houses have these grottoes ifor cellars, ant , M. -Jaubert has no doubt that the whole oi them have been inhabited in prehistoric times. The -articles which have beei found in the various caves' -of Pro venct , comprise cut-aiul polished fliuts— some ol them veiy 4inely exec-toted— bodkins oi i 'decrs' horn:, .numerous fragments of earth . »enwar_ vases more or less coarse, some • times reddish, sometimes black, and mixec i with grains of quartz. This black pottery i which is exactly similar to the Danisl , types', nw.st have been brought from { ; distance, .as there is neither black clay noi quartzose sand in the neighbourhood. As to the flints, it is asserted that there was i : manufactory of them not tar from For cal ; .quier: The only two nearly intact vessels which M. Jaubert has met with bear tht ; marks <of fire. The larger vases have beer ornamented with digital impressions; ban , dies, and sunk or raised mouldings, somt of them having boles through which ; tc pass -cords for hanging them up. Some have been only slightly baked, and accordingly are very brittle ; but others have been well fired. Besides ithese fragments of pottery. lay pieces of wood, more oi less charred. • The few bones of lowei animals as yet discovered are chiefly those of the wolf or dog, the stag or deer, and the wild boar or pig ; some small earnivora "and rodentia, and a bird which M, Jaubert believes, to have been an avoset, complete the list • The first human skeleton discovered was buried al the entrance of cne of the caves wth several flint weapons ; other remains lay f arther in. Now these grottoes, by reason of their length, were only! habitable iii the illuminated portion, and "they have accordingly, been apparently walled up at a distance of twelve or fifteen metres from tlie entrance, the inmost recesses being reserved for burial places, if one may judge from the quantity of bones discovered, at certain accessible points, where they have, however, been unfortunately disturbed by bun-owing animals — rabbits or badgers. The village of Gremilx, built upon, the very site of these caves, must be regarded as a continuation of the primitive habitations, and the existing race as sprung moie or less directly from these ancient tribes. DACOITS AND DACOITEB. One of the most powerful and daring tribes was that of the Budhuks, ' located in the jungle forming the northern boun daiy of Oudh, of whom it was said, "Once a Budhuk always a Budhuk, and all Budhuks are Da.-oits." According to another pre verb, by which the leaders sought to throw the responsibility of their acts upon destiny— "The tiger's offspring are tigers; young Budhuks are born Dacoits." Many of these leaders claimed to descend from ancestors who for twenty years had followed the same "Imperial business" — Padshali-ji-Kam. The Nawab Shooja-ood-Dawlah;' indeed, attempted to reclaim them by raising a regiment of 1,200 Bud, huks, but the experiment failed through his folly in appomting their old leaders as officers. The result was that in a very short time the "Wolf Regiment," as it was commonly called, had to be disbanded, when. -the "wolves" returned to their original and more congenial employment. When the prize was sufficiently attractive, the Budhuks never hesitated to attack armed escorts, though always taking care to be numerically stronger, and trusting a good deal to the suddenness of their onslaught. Until quite recent times it was customary to despatch treasure in bullock-carts, guarded by armed police or Sepoys ; and many days would be occupied on the tedious .march, the party frequently passing the night within the walls qf a. serai. On one occasion a band of Budhuks scaled the walls of a. serai within which sixty armed police were supposed to be mounting guard over a treasure on its way up-country from Benares, and, after killing eight and wounding seventeen' pf the escort, made off with nearly £8,000 in silver specie without the loss of a single man. At another time gold and silver coin to the value of upwards of £3,000, while on its way to the Royal Treasury at Lucknow under the protection of thirty of the Oudh soldiery, was placed for one night outside the gate of a small fortalice, while two loaded guns commarulel the road. Secure in this apparently safe position, the guard suffered themselves to be surprised and overpowered by eighty Dacoits, of whom twenty rushed upon the guns and spiked them, while an equal number made fast the gate of tbe fort by a strong chain to prevent the garrison from coming out to the rescue, and the remaining forty mastered the treasure. A not less dashing achievement was the cutting oif a party consisting of five Oudh Sepoys and five troopers, while passing along a road through a thick jungle. By means of spies the Dacoits were usually kept well informed as to the despatch of treasure and the numbers and progress of the escort. They had therefore prepared an ambush for this party by fastening ropes across the road in their front, and by attaching them at a certain distance to trees on only one side. As soon as the guard had cleared the latter point the Dacoits sprang up fron, their place of concealment, ran the ropes across to the other side, and from either flank poured in a fire of small shot, thoir object being to frighten rather than to kill." The corporal in command nevertheless was killed and two troopers were wounded ; and while the others were thinking only of effecting their escape, tbe robbers secured th_ booty. The Budhuks were computed at about t 5,000 /strong, divided into villages of 300 [ or 400 huts grouped round a small fort. As they gave one-fourth of their spoils to ( the zemindar, or lord of the manor, they 1 were sure of his protection, and were L often j retaiued by him to fight his battles

Consisting of some 1,200 families, they | were frequently engaged by rival princes \ and barons to decide their quan-.i_, and . not unfrequently terminated a contest by j their fierce hardihood. Unhappily, it was i not only in fair fight tbat tbey displayed . their fearlessness of personal consequences. The Ulwar chief, being reduced to great extremity by the Jeypore general, offered a large reward to whoever would assassin ate tho enemy's leader. B hart Sing uni dertook the task, and supported by four or five Bagrees, made hits way unseen to the • tent in which the Jeypore general was ■ sleeping. Leaving his followers outside, he i boldly entered alone, but. shrank fiom . taking the .life of aa unarmed and dc- - fenceless man. Carrying off the general's • sword, shield, and turban, he returned to r the Ulwar camp, aud told his comrade, s Bijee Sing, that he could not bring iiimE self to murder a brave soldier. The latter . was less chivalrous, and having gained the r unguarded tent, stabbed the Jeypore • leader to the heart. The Bagrees were as f devout as they were unscrupulous, aiid - never omitted to set aside a portion of .' their ipl under ;&s an offering to their deities 1 — especially -to the spirit of some .ref nowncd ancestor — and as alms for the J poor. Like -all the Dacoits, tbey were exJ : cessively superstitious, and were guided 2 by omens in all their freebooting operaf fi.ii_. One of then-offshoots, the Bowrees, f ■ prided themselves on the antiquity, of - | their descent, and averred tbat their ah- - I .ester Pardhee accompanied Rama in his 1 j expedition to Lunka — the modern Ceylon . ; — to recover his contort Sita from tho i , demon prince Ravana, •" If any prince," • ; said one of the approvers in 1839, "hapr I pened to have an enemy whom he wished s J to be made away with, he sent for some of i i our tribe and' said, 'Go, aud bring me - I sudb or such a oneVhead.' We would go s | and steal into his sleeping apartments., aud J | take off the person's head without any i 1 ! other person knowing anything about it. - If the prince wa.ited, not the bead of his J 'enemy, but the I 'gold tassels of the bed on > which he lay asleep, 1 we brought -them to J him. In consequence bf our skill Hi these • matters we : were held everywhere in high 5 esteem r ; and we served princes* 'and had 1 never occasion to labour at tillage."