RISE OF FATHERRIGHT 9 



therefore it is not etiquette for him to partake of food 

 or other refreshment there. If a Synteng house is 

 visited, it is unusual to find the husbands of any of the 

 married daughters there, although the sons of the 

 family may be seen in the house when they have 

 returned from work." Elsewhere the same writer 

 says that both among the Syntengs and their neigh- 

 bours the Khasis, whose marital relations we shall 

 consider directly, there is "no gainsaying the fact 

 that the husband, at least in theory, is a stranger 

 in his wife's home, and it is certain that he can take 

 no part in the rites and ceremonies of his wife's family, 

 and that his ashes after death can find no place within 

 the wife's family tomb, except in certain cases among 

 the Syntengs." The exception is thus stated : 

 "Amongst the Syntengs occasionally a widow is 

 allowed to keep her husband's bones after his death, 

 on condition that she does not remarry ; the idea 

 being that as long as the bones remain in the widow's 

 keeping the spirit of her husband is still with 

 her. On this account many wives who revere their 

 husband's memories, and who do not contemplate 

 remarriage, purposely keep the bones for a long time. 

 If a widow marries, even after the customary taboo 

 period of one year, whilst her husband's bones are 

 still in her keeping, she is generally looked down 

 upon. Her children in such a case perform the 

 ceremony of handing over the bones of their father 

 to his clan in a building specially erected for the 

 purpose. The widow cannot enter therein, or even 

 go near it, whilst the ceremony is proceeding, no 

 matter whether the/wa^ sang, or the price for removing 

 the taboo after the husband's death, has been paid 



