The other consideration is of a different kind and tends to show not only that the Todas are not so black as they are painted, but that they are not so black as they paint themselves.
By means of the genealogical record I was able to work out the relationship to one another of forty-three individuals suffering from colour-blindness. Since this condition runs mainly in the female line, it does not afford very cogent evidence of paternity; but a full examination of my records [[533]]seems to show that colour-blind men, or rather males of colour-blind families, had colour-blind descendants more often than perhaps might have been expected if the Todas are in practice quite as promiscuous as their social regulations allow them to be. The record of the affinity of the colour-blind suggests that in spite of the theoretical promiscuity, the husbands are, in practice, very often the fathers of their children.
A few histories of individuals may be given as examples of the various marriage customs which have been described in this chapter. One of the most married of Toda women is Puvizveli of Kusharf (65). She was married in infancy to Singudr (55), of the same clan as Sinkòrs, the mother of Puvizveli, and the two were probably the matchuni of one another, though only in a distant way. Puvizveli was taken from Singudr by Madsu and Koboners (58), who gave for her three buffaloes. From them she was transferred to Kangudr of Piedr (62), it being arranged that he should pay eleven buffaloes. Soon after joining Kangudr, Puvizveli became ill, and since there is a prohibition of marriages between the clans of Piedr and Kusharf, it was agreed that the pair should separate, and the woman was taken by Tütners and Etamudri (58). The eleven buffaloes had never been paid by Kangudr, so Tütners and his brother gave their buffaloes directly to Madsu and Koboners, but only four instead of eleven. All these transactions took place while Puvizveli was still young, but by her new husbands she had a son who died soon after birth. During her second pregnancy, she was taken by Perpakh and Tebkudr (68), who gave six buffaloes. The transference took place before the pursütpimi ceremony had been performed. Perpakh gave the bow and arrow, and the daughter since born is regarded as the child of Perpakh and Tebkudr. Puvizveli has also a Tarthar mokhthodvaiol.
Edjog of Kuudr (56) was married in infancy to Nargudr (62), the son of her mother’s brothers, and therefore her matchuni in the nearest sense. From him Kiudners (70) and his two brothers took her for five buffaloes, Kiudners died [[534]]before the buffaloes had been paid, and Edjog was taken by Mavòdriners (65), who arranged to pay the five buffaloes to Nargudr. He did not do so, but after having a son by Edjog, he sent her back to the father, paying a kwadr of one buffalo. So far, Nargudr had not received his five buffaloes, but he now obtained them from Kaners and Kudrievan (63), who took the woman although she was the granddaughter of their sister Narskuti. The marriage met with disapproval among the Todas on this account, though there does not appear to be any definite regulation against such a marriage; and at the time of my visit Edjog, a young woman of about twenty-seven, was still the wife of the two old men, aged about seventy and sixty-seven respectively.
Kuriolv of Kuudr (52) first married Punaveli (65), by whom he had two children. He then took to live with him Pilimurg (7), a Tarthar woman, giving to Pepners (44), the husband of the woman, fifteen buffaloes. Though Pilimurg is only legally his sedvaitazmokh, Kuriolv treats her as a wife. She lives at one of the Kuudr villages, while Punaveli lives at another. Pilimurg has had one son, Meilitars, since she has been living with Kuriolv, and Kuriolv always speaks of the boy as his son, though legally he is the son of Pepners, and his name will be found in the genealogies among the children of this man.
Recently Kuriolv has also married Sintharap (68), sharing her with Ònadj (57), of the same clan as Kuriolv, but belonging to a different family. Sintharap has had three children, for the first of whom Kuriolv performed the pursütpimi ceremony, and since no one has performed this ceremony for the succeeding children, they are also regarded as the children of Kuriolv. One of these children was Sinerani, whose funeral ceremonies have been described.
Kuriolv’s son, Kulpakh (52), married Toridz (65), sharing her with Kiladrvan (60), of the same clan as Kulpakh, but of a different family. At the first pregnancy Kulpakh gave the bow and arrow, and was regarded as the father of that child and of two succeeding children who were born while Kulpakh was alive. After the birth of the third child Kulpakh died, [[535]]and Toridz has since continued to live with Kiladrvan and has had two more children. Kuriolv, the father of the dead man, succeeded in preventing Kiladrvan from performing the pursütpimi ceremony before the birth of either of these children, and consequently they are regarded as the children of the dead Kulpakh and belong to Kuriolv’s division (pòlm) of the clan and not to that of Kiladrvan. Here, by virtue of the pursütpimi ceremony, a dead man is the legal father of two children who are known to be really the sons of his fellow-husband.
In the preceding cases the people belong to the Teivaliol. Among the Tartharol there are similar histories.
Pupidz of Kwòdrdoni (35) was married in infancy to two brothers, Kalgeners and Kinagudr, belonging to the same clan as the mother of Pupidz, so that she would probably have called them matchuni, though they were not nearly related. From these boys Pupidz was taken by Patser (26), who gave for her three buffaloes. From Patser she was taken by Siriar (20) for five buffaloes. Some time later Pepob (44) wished to marry Pupidz, but both she and Siriar were unwilling to be separated. Pepob, however, persuaded the council to arrange that he should have the woman for three buffaloes, and soon after five or six men carried off the woman by force, entering Siriar’s hut at night. Two of the men held Siriar while the others carried off his wife, who became pregnant by Pepob, but Siriar, who had been trying to get back his wife, succeeded when she was about at the sixth month. The hand-burning ceremony had already been performed, but Siriar gave the bow and arrow, and is therefore the legal father of the boy born afterwards, although Pepob is known to have been the real father. Siriar had to give Pepob eleven buffaloes, though he had only received three, and had given five to the previous husband.