the
mark of her hand when she placed a _tika_ or sign there with coloured
rice. The Deswars are also called Dui Duaria or 'Those having two
doors,' because they have a back door to their huts which is used
only by women during their monthly period of impurity and kept shut
at all other times. One of the septs is named Manakhia, which means
'man-eater,' and it is possible that its members formerly offered human
sacrifices. Similarly, the Rakat-bund or 'Drop of blood Deswars' may
be so called because they shed human blood. A member of the Telasi or
'Oil' sept, when he has killed a deer, will cut off the head and bring
it home; placing it in his courtyard, he suspends a burning lamp over
the head and places grains of rice on the forehead of the deer; and
he then considers that he is revering the oil in the lamp. Members of
the Surajgoti or sun sept are said to have stood as representatives
of the sun in the rite of the purification of an offender.

3. Marriage.

Marriage within the sept is prohibited, and usually also between
first cousins. Girls are commonly married a year or two after they
arrive at maturity. The father of the boy looks out for a suitable
girl for his son and sends a friend to make the proposal. If this
is accepted a feast is given, and is known as Phul Phulwari or 'The
bursting of the flower.' The betrothal itself is called Phaldan or
'The gift of the fruit'; on this occasion the contract is ratified
and the usual presents are exchanged. Yet a third ceremony, prior to
the marriage, is that of the Barokhi or inspection, when the bride
and bridegroom are taken to see each other. On this occasion they
exchange copper rings, placing them on each other's finger, and the
boy offers vermilion to the earth, and then rubs it on the bride's
forehead. When the girl is mature the date of the wedding is fixed,
a small bride-price of six rupees and a piece of cloth being usually
paid. If the first signs of puberty appear in the girl during the
bright fortnight of the month, the marriage is held during the dark
fortnight and vice versa. The marriage-shed is built in the form of
a rectangle and must consist of either seven or nine posts in three
lines. The bridegroom's party comprises from twenty to forty persons of
both sexes. When they arrive at the bride's village her father comes
out to meet them and gives them leaf-pipes to smoke. He escorts them
inside the village where a lodging has been prepared for th