64 MR. R. B. BAINBR1DGE ON 



and some of the blood is sprinkled over the food ; while the blood is being sprinkled, the 

 Demno seizes the goat, and, placing his mouth to the severed neck, drinks the blood. 

 He also eats the mixture in his plate. The deceased's relatives have all placed some- 

 thing in the plate according to request, or, according to their own wishes. The Dem- 

 no' s mouth and face are smeared with blood. He yells and groans : he is truly an ap- 

 palling spectacle ! The opportunity is taken by the deceased's relatives to ask questions 

 as to why he left them, etc., etc., and these are answered according to the ingenuity of 

 the Demno, or they are met by requests for articles ! Menstruating females are not 

 permitted to feed the Demno. Having satiated himself with blood, the Demno says, 

 "lam now going back, I have eaten and drunken and I am going back to Ber Gosain 

 or Laihu Gosain ; saying this, he falls down in a fit, rigid, and, to all intents and purposes, 

 dead ! Water is then poured over him and uncooked rice is thrown on him. This 

 brings him back to consciousness. He then takes water, and, after striking the near 

 relatives with his matted locks, he sprinkles the water on the assembled crowd, saying, 

 " All sins are washed away. ' He now throws away the straw. The articles collect- 

 ed by him, while personating the deceased, become his own property. Having been 

 given to the deceased, at his own request, no one dares to touch them except the Demno 

 and his personal companions ; gifts called bdkdra (Malto). All parties then adjourn 

 to the feast which lasts all night to the beating of drums. Dances are given by the 

 girls and men and the feast lasts as long as the pochai and food hold out. Before the 

 guests leave, the nearest male relatives of the deceased on the father's and mother's 

 side offer a piece of broiled liver and pochai and rice to Ber Gosain, saying, " L,et not 

 such a feast be given again in his house, let such feasts be given again only on occasions 

 of rejoicing and festival ! ' This ceremony is callen amte (Malto), bhauj and farewell 

 (Hindi). Then the relatives and guests give money or other gifts to their hosts; 

 and the hosts present two pigs or more to their guests. These are shot with arrows, 

 and, after being cut up, the guests divide the meat, leaving one share to the hosts, and 

 then take their departure after a general shaking of hands in the English 

 fashion : the shaking of the right hand is a very old custom amongst men and 

 women. 



These ceremonies apply to men, females and boys, but not to infants unable to 

 speak. Such infants are buried outside the regular graveyard, and the bearers, before 

 re-entering the village, are sprinkled with water by the Banddri. He also breaks an egg 

 by casting it into the jungle, saying, " May the disease which killed the child not attack 

 the villagers." 



A man or woman dying of small-pox is not buried. The body is covered with 

 thorns, or wood, and left in the jungle in a hole ! The five days' ceremony does not 

 take place. When the village is free from disease the feast and rejoicings described 

 above take place. In such cases only clothes go with the corpse ; and on the amte 

 day the bearers get an extra share of the feast. In cholera the same customs are 

 followed and the village is under taboo. In neither case is the corpse placed on the 

 ground for a last view on its way to the jungle. 



In case of death by accident, or snake-bite, the usual ceremony is observed. In 



