Of the Maria Gonds, Colonel Glasfurd wrote [83] that "They are a
timid, quiet race, docile, and though addicted to drinking they
are not quarrelsome. Without exception they are the most cheerful,
light-hearted people I have met with, always laughing and joking
among themselves. Seldom does a Maria village resound with quarrels
or wrangling among either sex, and in this respect they present a
marked contrast to those in more civilised tracts. They, in common with
many other wild races, bear a singular character for truthfulness and
honesty, and when once they get over the feeling of shyness which is
natural to them, are exceedingly frank and communicative." Writing in
1825 Sleeman said: "Such is the simplicity and honesty of character
of the wildest of these Gonds that when they have agreed to a jama
[84] they will pay it, though they sell their children to do so, and
will also pay it at the precise time that they agreed to. They are
dishonest only in direct theft, and few of them will refuse to take
another man's property when a fair occasion offers, but they will
immediately acknowledge it." [85] The more civilised Gonds retain
these characteristics to a large extent, though contact with the
Hindus and the increased complexity of life have rendered them less
guileless. Murder is a comparatively frequent crime among Gonds, and
is usually due either to some quarrel about a woman or to a drunken
affray. The kidnapping of girls for marriage is also common, though
hardly reckoned as an offence by the Gonds themselves. Otherwise crime
is extremely rare in Gond villages as a rule. As farmservants the
Gonds are esteemed fairly honest and hard-working; but unless well
driven they are constitutionally averse to labour, and care nothing
about provision for the future. The proverb says, 'The Gond considers
himself a king as long as he has a pot of grain in the house,' meaning
that while he has food for a day or two he will not work for any
more. During the hot weather the Gonds go about in parties and pay
visits to their relatives, staying with them several days, and the
time is spent simply in eating, drinking when liquor is available,
and conversation. The visitors take presents of grain and pulse with
them and these go to augment the host's resources. The latter will
kill a chicken or, as a great treat, a young pig. Mr. Montgomerie
writes of the Gonds as follows: [86] "They are a pleasant people, and
leave kindly memories in those who have to do with them. Comparatively
truthful, always ready for a laugh, familiar with the paths and animals
and fruits of the forest, lazy cultivators on their own account
but good farmservants under supervision, the broad-nosed Gonds are
the fit inhabitants of the hilly and jungly tracts in which they are
found. With a marigold tucked into his hair above his left ear, with an
axe in his hand and a grin on his face, the Gond turns out cheerfully
to beat for game, and at the end of the day spends his beating pay
on liquor for himself or on sweetmeats for his children. He may, in
the previous year, have been subsisting largely on jungle fruits and
roots because his harvest failed, but he does not dream of investing
his modest beating pay in grain."