126 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 



that a "refusal" is scarcely known. The Pardhan is the 

 ambassador, and arranges the articles of the "marriage 

 settlement." In contradistinction to the Hindu practice, it 

 is at the bridegroom's house that the ceremony takes place, 

 so that the whole of the expense may fall upon him. EOndii- 

 ised tribes, however, practise the reverse. The actual cere- 

 monies consist, first, of an omen to discover the propitious 

 day, on which commences a series of repeated carryings to 

 and fro, anointings and sprinkhngs with various substances, 

 eating together, trying the garments together, dancing 

 together round a pole, being haH drowned together by a 

 douche of water, and the interchange of rings — all of which 

 may be supposed to syiaabohse the union of the parties. 

 The bridegroom sometimes places his foot on the bride's 

 back to indicate her subjection; and a feigned forcible 

 abduction of the bride is often a part of the ceremony — ^the 

 usual relic of olden times of the strong hand. Sacrifice to 

 the gods, and unlimited gorging and spirit-drinking, are 

 usually the wind-up of the affair. Widows are not pre- 

 cluded from re-marriage ; and among the Gonds it is even 

 the duty of a younger brother to take to wife the widow 

 of an elder. The converse is not, however, permitted. A 

 widow's re-marriage is accompanied by Httle ceremony. 



There is httle in any of these customs, it wiU be seen, to 

 distinguish these tribes from other races of savages; and 

 it would be unprofitable to devote further space to a record 

 of their details. They may nearly all be found repeated 

 among large masses of the so-caUed Hindii population of the 

 plains ; and, in fact, so far as rehgious and other customs 

 are concerned, I beheve that, were the Gonds not associated 

 with hiUs and forests into which the Hindus have not pene- 

 trated very far, they would long since have come to be 

 looked on merely as another caste in the vast social fabric 

 of Hinduism. The Korkus are more pecuhar, and, I think, 

 a far superior race in most respects ; and the Bygas or Bhiimias 

 of the eastern hills are still more worthy of observation by 

 the ethnologist. Something will be said of them in future 

 chapters. 



It is more important, as regards the Gonds and Korkiis 

 of the central and western hills, to inquire into their present 



