556 Notes upon a Tour through the Rajmahal Hills. [No. 7- 



The heads of the Indian corn when ripe are stocked in bambu 

 granaries of various shapes and which are raised off the ground on 

 posts ; whilst those required for immediate use are strung up to the 

 roof of the huts, and as required for food are submitted to the opera- 

 tion of being husked in a wooden mortar ; of the meal of this grain 

 a thick and nutritious hasty pudding is made which forms the prin- 

 cipal food of the hill people. 



The junera is treated in the same way, but the bora bean, kam 

 ruhur and pulses are beaten out either by rubbing with the hand or 

 by beating them on a log of wood. 



Religion of the Hill People. 



For much of the religious history of these people, I am indebted to 

 a paper published in the 4 th volume of the Asiatic Researches by 

 Lieutenant Shaw, and dated A. D. 1792. 



The religion of the Rajmahal hill people consists in the adoration 

 by prayer of an invisible spirit named Bedo Gosain, who made heaven 

 and earth, and who is invoked by several means and through the 

 medium of various gods, visible and invisible ; the visible gods being 

 wooden images, stones and trees, to which may be added heaps of 

 bones and skulls of wild animals ; sacrifices and numerous vicariously 

 performed ceremonies being the means of invoking Bedo Gosain. 



They inculcate that men should be kind to each other, especially to 

 the poor, and that men should labour for their food, that men should 

 not murder, nor punish without cause, that no one should mock or 

 oppress the poor, the lame, the blind or the unfortunate ; adultery and 

 fornication are forbidden, the punishment for disobedience to the com- 

 mands of Bedo Gosain being either temporal punishment of the souls 

 being condemned to inhabit some portion of the vegetable kingdom for 

 a certain number of years, or to suffer the eternal punishment of being 

 bound and cast into pits filled with fire and maggots. 



The self-murderer is expelled from the presence of Bedo Gosain 

 for ever. 



The reward for a good life in this world, they believe will be, that 

 after having enjoyed a short but happy residence with Bedo Gosain in 

 heaven, they will be born a second time on earth of woman and that 

 they will be exalted to posts of great honor, possessing an abundance 

 of worldly goods. 



