OP KAMAON. 225 



no grain sown with Iiis hand can ever vegetate. Each district has its heredi- 

 tary Bddi, who is supported by annual contributions on grain from the inha- 

 bitants, and by remunerations for his performancej at the occasional festivals 

 in question. 



In the Komao?i districts, a practice prevailed at the festival of the Bag- 

 ^ali, of the males of several villages meeting together at a particular spot, 

 and there, divided into two parties, engaging with slings. Each party took 

 post on the opposite bank of a stream, the passage of which formed the object 

 of contest : as the mountaineers are generally expert in throwing stones with 

 this instrument, bones were frequently broken, and even fatal accidents some- 

 times occurred in this sport. The apprehension of incurring a charge of 

 murder in the event of such fatal termination, has led to the almost total ces- 

 sation of the practice since 1815. 



12 K 



