302 CUSTOMS OF THE KAR NICOBARESE 



There is a performance every night in the village, lasting 

 till midnight, during which he sits on a chair in the midst of the 

 ring of dancers, whom sometimes he may join. This exercise 

 is to increase his strength, and he is freely supplied with toddy, 

 as it is considered a tonic. 



From time to time his neighbours take him, sometimes spon- 

 taneously and sometimes by invitation, from house to house and 

 village to village, in procession, and give performances. Ai-yu-a- 

 kare is one of these, and means " going to a feast adorned with 

 jewels." 



He never walks, but is always carried in a kantira (chair), 

 which in shape resembles a palanquin, covered with chintz and 

 decorated with spoons, forks, and soup-ladles. The chair is borne 

 by a dozen strong men. The spectacle of a returning mafai and 

 his party is extremely comical, for, besides being fatigued by the 

 night's exertions, every one is completely intoxicated. 



The people venerate the mafai exceedingly, and take him at 

 midnight to the sick, that he may heal them by touch or by sham- 

 pooing, when he pretends to extract gravel and stones from the 

 bodies of the invalids. 



So matters continue until the mafai considers himself strong 

 enough to work for his living, when, with the approval of the 

 tamiluanas, he resigns his ;;/<7/rt/-ship in a final ceremony called 

 LtdnJ-lare Mafai — undressing the mafai. 



The same man may eventually become a tamiluana (one 

 who chases devils), or he may become Yom Ap and Yom Elpanain, 

 i.e., *' Grandfather or Guardian of Chaura canoes, and Guardian of 

 Elpanam." 



The mafai is a peg on which many festivals and customs 

 are hung. The following ceremony is one as occasionally carried 

 out in the village of Mus. It is called Aviutna Kuv — reveal- 

 ing to the invalid. 



The tamiluanas of the village decorate themselves and go 

 to a place called Mai, outside the village, and there clear a 

 certain spot in the midst of thick bush. They take with them 

 a few yards of red cloth, a cage containing a score of fowls, a 



