The Korwas in the Tributary States have other resources than
these. They are expert hunters, and to kill a bird flying or an
animal running is their greatest delight. They do not care to kill
their game without rousing it first. They are also very fond of
dacoity and often proceed on expeditions, their victims being usually
travellers, or the Ahirs who bring large herds of cattle to graze in
the Sarguja forests. These cattle do much damage to the village crops,
and hence the Korwas have a standing feud with the herdsmen. They
think nothing of murder, and when asked why he committed a murder,
a Korwa will reply, 'I did it for my pleasure'; but they despise both
house-breaking and theft as cowardly offences, and are seldom or never
guilty of them. The women are also of an adventurous disposition
and often accompany their husbands on raids. Before starting they
take the omens. They throw some rice before a chicken, and if the
bird picks up large solid grains first they think that a substantial
booty is intended, but if it chooses the thin and withered grains
that the expedition will have poor results. One of their bad omens
is that a child should begin to cry before the expedition starts;
and Mr. Kunte, who has furnished the above account, relates that on
one occasion when a Korwa was about to start on a looting expedition
his two-year-old child began to cry. He was enraged at the omen, and
picking up the child by the feet dashed its brains out against a stone.