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Proceedings of the Royal Society 
handed ronnd their baskets, from which each person takes a seed. 
As soon as this ceremony is over the whole company separates into 
two parties, the men on the one side, the women on the other, of 
the glade. The people belonging to different villages group them- 
selves together, the food is set out, and the midday meal takes 
place. The afternoon is spent in singing and dancing, and at 
sunset they return to the chiefs village, where large fires are lit, and 
a convivial evening closes the day. 
The next in importance of the For festivals is the great 
Mohammedan feast of Bairam, which lasts for eight or ten days. 
A large level piece of ground is enclosed by stones and strewed 
with sand. Within this enclosure the male portion of the popula- 
tion meet after breakfast, prayers are said for an hour or an hour 
and a half, and sometimes a short exhortation is delivered by one 
of the elder puggees. The rest of the day is spent in feasting, 
singing, and dancing, in which latter of course the men are joined 
by the women. During the days of this festival an entire holiday 
is taken by all the people, work in the fields ceases, and their time 
is wholly given up to prayer and feasting. 
I have now to describe the proceedings which follow the birth of a 
child. A few hours after the child is born messages are sent round 
by the happy father to all his friends and relations living in the 
neighbourhood, inviting them to assemble in the village yard. A 
puggee is also invited to attend, and for this duty he receives a 
present. It is true that he generally makes a show of declining 
the gift, saying that it is his duty to come, but it would be con- 
sidered bad form on the part of the father were he not to insist on 
its acceptance. Prayers of thanksgiving for the birth of the child 
are first said by the puggee and the grown-up men • these prayers 
last about half an hour. Afterwards the boys join the men, and a 
feast takes place; the father provides the guests with food, but it is 
considered a friendly and complimentary thing for each to bring a 
little offering of food. When the meal is over the old men are 
invited by the father to accompany him to his house to drink, while 
the younger men and boys, being joined by the fair sex, spend the 
night in dancing. Seven days after the child’s birth the people 
assemble again outside the father’s hut. The father and mother, 
who holds the child, stand in the doorway, and their nearest 
