1S75.] T. H. Hendley — An Account of the Makodr BMls. 351 



contented himself with disturbing by his howls the devotions of the holy 

 brethren. 



A writer in J. A. S. B., Vol. VIII., of 1839, notices the accumulation of 

 mud horses about Abu, which he says are thought to be placed at spots of 

 victory. There seems to be no trace of serpent worship amongst them. 



Festivals. — The Bhils keep up the Holi and the Dasahra, as they are 

 then afforded opportunities of drinking to excess, and so indulging themselves, 

 that at these seasons they appear more like beasts than men. Although it 

 is stated that the Holi has always been observed amongst them, it does not 

 appear that its origin is other than pure Hindu, as the mode of celebration 

 does not differ from that in vogue elsewhere. It is kept up ten days, guldl 

 (red powder) is thrown about, dances take place, rude jests are made, and the 

 women attack and insult travellers until they release themselves by paying 

 a small fine. The Bhagar Bhils (J. A. S. B., Vol. IX., 1810) are said to 

 keep up the Holi fire throughout the year. 



There are two feasts in the year, though not at fixed times, although 

 the cultivators hold one at the ingathering of harvest. 



Fairs are attended in the Tracts, and afford opportunities for feasting. 

 All Bhils worship at Kakabnath, seven miles from Khairwara, a shrine which 

 is said to have been discovered by one of their people 900 years ago. 



Superstitions. — Foremost amongst these is the belief in witches (da- 

 kran) and the power of the witch-finders (bhopas) to detect them. 



Any one who is willing and has a grievance, sickness, or otherwise, has 

 only to bribe a witch-finder sufficiently to obtain a victim, generally the 

 wife or relative of an enemy, who is at once swung, head downwards, on a 

 tree, where she is tortured by applications of red pepper to her eyes, nostrils, 

 &c. Not twenty years ago, during the rains, a woman was swung in this 

 way in the presence of British officers, who were unable to rescue her, as 

 an impassable river lay between them. Should the unlucky woman escape 

 death, she is turned out of the village, or, perhaps, the bhopa finds out under 

 the influence of another douceur, that he was mistaken. The crime was a 

 very common one, and even now cases are often reported, and where detec- 

 tion follows, the witch-finders are severely punished. 



At the confluence of the Son river with the Myhi, four miles from 

 Khairwara, I met a grey-haired man, who complained that he was turned 

 out of the pals by the inhabitants, who said that his presence ruined their 

 crops ; he had been tried for murder, but acquitted for want of evidence, the 

 people, however, thought that the curse of Heaven was upon him. 



Bhils are firm believers in omens ; for example, a person sneezing, or a 

 cat passing him, would make a man return home without accomplishing the 

 work he had set out to do. A lizard also is looked upon as a harbinger of 

 good or evil under certain conditions. They believe in Bhiits and Churails 



