118 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XII, 



which may be construed into a mimicking of the worship of the 



demon. The theory set forth above, therefore, seems to be 

 defective. 



The question, therefore, arises : Whether the theory is a 

 plausible one and, if so, whether its plausibility is borne out by 

 the evidence of any game, whether Indian or European, the 

 main incident whereof is a travesty of the worship of the 

 demon. Fortunately, we have found that a game answering 

 to the aforesaid description and mainly based upon the incident 

 of mimicking the worship of the demon, exists in Northern 

 India and that among a people still living in a low plane of 

 culture, namely, the Mundas of Chhota Nagpur. Among their 

 numerous dramatic games, that is to say, games which are 

 intended to afford amusement with instruction at the same 

 time and which are usually played in the evening, is one which 

 goes by the name of Kantara inu , or the "Jack-fruit game." 

 The mode in which it is played is as follows ; 



One boy represents a jack-fruit tree. A certain number 

 of boys and girls represent the fruits thereof. One boy acts 

 the part of the owner of the tree; another boy represents 

 a dog set to keep watch and ward over the fruits ; while a 

 third one personates a thief. The boys and the girls, who repre- 

 sent the jack-fruits, cling to the boy simulating the tree and 

 bawl out at the top of their voices : " Hete tere banda kuka, hete 

 tere banda huka." When, the owner is fast asleep, the thief 

 comes to the tree. The watch-dog, getting scent of him, barks 

 at him furiously. Disturbed by the dog's yelping, the 

 owner of the tree wakes up from his sleep and finds the thief 

 stealing his jack-fruits -whereupon he raises a hue and cry. 

 Ihereupon the thief takes to his heels and carries away with him 

 the jack-fruits he has helped himself to. 



The next momiug, the thief presents himself before the 

 proprietor of the tree and asks for the loan of a knife. There- 

 upon the latter asks the former the purpose for which he wants 

 It* i •? t^ef rephes th at, as he has slain a goat, he requires 

 the knife to skin and dress the beast with. Satisfied with this 

 reply, the proprietor lends him the knife. Chuckling over the suc- 

 cess of his ruse, the thief goes home with the knife, cuts open 

 ttie jack-trmtand helps himself to the toothsome contents thereof 

 as much as he can. When he goes to return it to the owner, the 

 latter smells it and enquires as to why it emits the smell of a jack- 

 truit Scarcely have these words issued from the proprietor's 

 mouth, the purloiner of the jack-fruit takes to his heels. On the 

 ensuing night also, the jack-fruits are again stolen by the thief. 

 As soon as the watch-dog observes the latter, it sets up a loud 

 Da ™8- He «mg tf»e dog's yelping, the proprietor wakes up 

 and, finding that his fruits have been stolen for the second 

 time, raises a hue and cry. But the thief runs away as fast as his 

 heels will carry htm, taking with him his boot v. The follow- 



