THE SAORIAS OF THE RAJMAHAL HILLS. 49 



Tattooing is exclusively her privilege ; and the men frankly admit an unbounded 

 admiration for the marks on the faces of their girls. 



Tradition has no tales to tell in regard to this interesting custom. Legend weaves 

 no history, either in song or story among the hill-folk. Fashion appears to be the origin 

 of tattooing. In days gone by, it is probable that the custom was not in vogue 

 among the Saorias. Impenetrable jungle clad the fastnesses of the hill-folk, paths 

 there were but few, and danger not unknown, — hence the hill- women did not extend 

 their excursions to the plains, and render themselves liable to be enslaved by a custom, 

 which was, no doubt, common enough in the broad valley of the Ganges. 



Among the hill-people tattooing demands no preliminary ceremonies, and no 

 special diet is observed by the subject during the period of operation. The non-Hindu- 

 ized Paharia does not employ a professional artist. A jungle flower, an arrow, 

 a spear, the stars, are ever at hand to serve as models, and one girl essays her rude 

 powers of imitation on the person of another. 



The wife of a hill chief employs no special design to mark her position. All designs 

 are common property and heredity plays no part in their existence. The hill-folk 

 proper tattoo the face as shown by the illustrations annexed. 1 With the Sonthals 

 human-milk is employed for mixing the pigment ; with the Paharia the juice of the 

 " mahua " tree is utilized. The difference in the materials used, human-milk and 

 " mahua " juice, indicates that the interpretation, with respect to the Sonthal, is to be 

 found in religious belief and tradition. In fact it is so. Tattooing among the Sonthals 

 is intimately connected with certain immemorial superstitions. The philosophy which 

 regards death as the donor of endless life and beatitude, may vest tattooing with 

 power to propitiate a deity, or comfort a soul on its last journey. To the Saoria, 

 death is the mysterious and the terrible ! It may produce a spirit with an infinite 

 capacity for evil, or it may be the portal to annihilation. In such a creed the exquisite 

 sense of comfort possessed by the faithful is lacking. But it is not without its com- 

 pensations ; and the Saoria claims to be of the same caste as the " Sahib " ; and in 

 his own simple way glories in propounding opinions that find elaboration among the 

 materialistic philosophers of Europe. 



V. Marriage. 



I would note that I have given an exact translation of what the Saorias have 

 themselves related to me, in their own language, at various times, regarding their cus- 

 toms and ceremonies. What the narrative probably lacks in style, it gains in accuracy 

 of detail : a desideratum in a work on ethnology. 



There is no fixed time for marriages, they may take place all the year round. 

 Oracles are not consulted. The girl should have reached the age of puberty, and the 

 youth should be at least 17 or 18 years old. Marriages do not take place in the month 

 of Pus, and during the dark o' the moon. The youth's mother begins the negotiations. 

 vSeeing a suitable girl, she betakes herself to the house of the parents. Her first enquiry 



1 I am indebted to my wife for the illustrations which indeed give an excellent idea of tattooing among the Saorias. 



