166 Proceedings of the Royal Iruh Academy. 



especial expression of the manifestation of a deity. The deity usually 

 worshipped at the springs by the semi-aborigines is Ilata or Mai^ the 

 mother goddess, one of the forms of Kali^ and large melas or fairs are 

 held in her honour. She is especially worshipped by those suffering 

 from itch and other skin diseases ; also by the barren, both male and 

 female, who all bathe in the water and drink some of it. Goats, &c., 

 are sacrificed to her, and the rocks are daubed with vermilion or red 

 lead, and pieces of coloured rags are tied to the nearest bush or tree 

 in her worship. At Tat-loi the mela is held in January, and is 

 attended by over 100,000 persons. At IS'un-bil the goddess is called 

 Nim-lil devi^ and she is believed to reside in a large sal tree {Shorrea 

 rolusta) over the spring ; her mela (or fair) is held in December, and 

 is also attended by about 100,000 persons. The melas at the other 

 springs are less numerously attended. At Jhariya, the Bhuniya 

 ghatwals of Dravidian type, with short frizzly hair, worship with a 

 fowl for sacrifice, and offerings of rice, the spirit of Son-mon Pande, a 

 Brahmin priest who is said to have died there. The more Hinduized 

 worshippers, however, believe that their favourite god, Mahadeva, is 

 present at all these hot springs, and to him they offer worship, except 

 at Sita-kund, where worship of Earn and Sita is performed." ^ 



The mention in the above extract of the custom among the abori- 

 ginal inhabitants of tying pieces of coloured rags to the bushes will 

 naturally excite the attention of those who are aware of the preva- 

 lence of a similar custom in this country, as is also the case, I believe, 

 in certain other parts of Western Europe. During the past year I was 

 present on an occasion when this, as being a custom practised in 

 Ireland and among Celtic nations generally, was being discussed, and 

 my statement that it was prevalent in India, at least in those parts 

 with which I am most familiar, and which are largely inhabited by 

 the so-called aboriginal races, was received with some surprise. I 

 could not help regretting that I had not given the subject closer 

 investigation, when I had the opportunity, in India, I have, how- 

 ever, frequently noticed rags thus tied to bushes in the regions 

 referred to ; and in the Himalayas I have noted near Darjiling the 

 practice of attaching pieces of calico with block-printed prayers in 

 the Tibetan language, on the bushes and planted poles near the 

 temples. This last is perhaps a not wholly analogous practice. The 

 Abbe Dubois- indicates in the following passage that the custom is 



1 J. A. S. B., vol. lix., 1890, pt. ii., p. 233. 



2 " Manners and Customs of the People of India," p. 436. Madras, 1879. 



