ABSTRACT
The Be_rua, or Pátr-Be_rua, caste is an offshot of the Cha]n]dál tribe, with the members of which they still eat and drink, but do not intermarry. Their name is derived from the Hindi Be_rá, a raft of bamboos or reeds, used for catching mullet. It is the well known habit of this fish to jump over any obstacle it meets with in water. The Be_ruas at full tide throw a screen across a creek, and on the surface of the water below it they moor another. As soon as the mullet encounters the first and finds no opening, it leaps over and is caught on the second. The fish are sold in the market, but no Be _rua will cast a net, or earn a livelihood as the Kaibarttas do.
