OF NORTHEASTERN BENGAL. 101 



from this time they worshipped both the beautiful sun and 



the wicked mountain spirit, Marang Barn ; and afterward 

 many other false beings or " Bongas," with which by de- 

 grees they invested all existing things, trees, stones, etc. 

 This account of the religion of the Santhals, I take from 

 the record- of the Danish mission in Ebenezer, Bengal. 



Col. Dalton (Ethnology of Bengal) mentions a tradition 

 which says that "a wild goose coming from the great ocean, 

 alighted and laid two eggs, from which came out a man 

 and a woman, the progenitors of the Santhal race. As 

 they increased in numbers they changed their locality, and 

 were called Kharwars ; and they at last came to a place 

 where they remained for several generations. Fleeing 

 from a powerful enemy, they reached the 'great moun- 

 tain', Marang Barn, which interposed its mass in the way 

 of their pursuers, and thus they became worshippers of 

 Marang Baru, sacrificing to him goats; after many wan- 

 derings they came to their present location." 



Some think that the "wild goose'' was a white-sailed 

 vessel which brought them across the bay of Bengal from 

 the southwest. They know that their sacred Damuda 

 river flows into this sea; on this explanation, they prob- 

 ably first landed on the east coast of Bengal, going after- 

 ward westward and northward; their traditions seem to 

 indicate that they came from the south. 



They have no single great chief around whom they 

 gather, but live scattered in villages, each of which forms 

 a little whole in itself. Each village has live officers : a 

 head man or manjhi, a supervisor of youth, a herald or 

 crier, a town priest and a country priest. The first two 

 have each an assistant, making seven in all, but these are 

 closely watched by certain townsmen chosen for the pur- 

 pose. These officials, with some of the principal men, 

 constitute the local court of justice, from which a ease 

 can be carried to a higher tribunal, presided over by the 



