1S75.] T. H. Hendley — An Account of the Maiwdr Bhils. 353 



Gotaniji in the wall of the hut, but these with other portions of the rite are 

 Hindu. The girl is placed on the shoulders of her relations, one after the 

 other, one leg hanging down before, one behind, and danced round in a circle, 

 all over the village until she is half dead, and they too weary for further 

 exertion . 



In the absence of a Waiti, any elderly member of the family or party 

 may join the pair together. The number of wives is limited by inclination 

 and wealth alone, it rarely exceeds two. The following incident would seem 

 to prove that the bond is not a very strong one. At a shooting party, a 

 man had the misfortune to lose an eye ; as the other organ was showing signs 

 of sympathetic irritation, its removal was recommended, but declined, as 

 the sepoy's seven wives — he said — would support him if only blind, but 

 with a blemished one-eyed unlucky husband would have nothing to do. 

 I heard afterwards that they forsook him, in spite of their promises, when 

 blindness ensued. A sepoy had two children born by different mothers on 

 the same day when I was at Khairwara. The girl has no choice in the 

 selection of a husband. Widows may re-marry. The women are very chaste, 

 and rarely have intrigues with strangers. An attempt of this kind on the 

 part of a foreigner lately gave rise to trouble, the whole pal resenting the 

 outrage. The men of the Maiwar Bhil Corps leave their wives at home, 

 making almost nightly, often very long journeys, to be with them. Large 

 families are not uncommon. An unchaste woman would not be married ; if 

 she were, she and her husband would become outcasts. The adulterer 

 is fined 210 Shahinshahi rupees (or about Us. 187 Imperial) ; if the 

 woman be married, the husband receives the money, and may repudiate his 

 wife if he please, and so she becomes an outcaste, otherwise she escapes 

 punishment. For a virgin the offender pays Us. GO (Shahinshahi, the 

 Udaipur currency), and marries the girl. Women may be divorced for 

 adultery, cases being settled by the panchayat. 



Death and Burial. — The Bhil becomes an old man in his fiftieth or 

 sixtieth year, and is then treated by his people with consideration. 



When a death takes place, the body is carried to the burning place, 

 usually near a river, the hair is removed, the corpse washed, and money put 

 in the mouth. It is then placed upon the pile, and the friends walk round 

 with burning wood and then light it. After washing they retire, one of their 

 number coming occasionally to see that the cremation progresses favourably. 

 After having consulted a priest, they go to select the bones, taking with them 

 several small earthen pots, a larger vessel of earth, and a little rice. The lat- 

 ter is cooked, and placed with the large pot, filled with water, upon the ashes, 

 while the bones placed in an earthen vessel are put in the hollow of a tree, 

 and afterwards buried or taken to some sacred spot near or at Khairwara. 

 A bone or some teeth are carried either to the Saniblaji River, the Gotamji 



