paid to
the animal from whom the name is derived. At present the Audhelias
forbid marriage within the same _gotra_ and also the union of first
cousins. Girls are married between five and seven years of age as their
numbers are scarce, and they are engaged as early as possible. Unless
weddings are arranged by exchanging girls between two families, a
high bride-price, often amounting to as much as Rs. 60, is paid. No
stigma is incurred, however, if a girl should remain unmarried till
she arrives at adolescence, but, on the contrary, a higher price is
then obtained for her. Sexual licence either before or after marriage
is considered a venial offence, but a woman detected in a _liaison_
with a man of one of the lowest castes is turned out of caste. Widow
marriage and divorce are freely allowed.

3. Religion, birth and death.

The Audhelias venerate Dulha Deo and Devi, to whom they usually offer
pigs. Their principal festival is the Holi, at which their women were
formerly engaged to perform as professional dancers. They usually burn
their dead and remove the ashes on the third day, throwing them into
the nearest stream. A few of the bones are picked up and buried under
a pipal tree, and a pitcher with a hole in the bottom is hung on the
tree so that water may trickle down on to them. On the tenth day the
caste-people assemble and are shaved and bathe and rub their bodies
with oil under the tree. Unmarried men and persons dying of cholera
are buried, the head being placed to the north. They consider that if
they place the corpse in the reverse position it would be an insult
to the Ganges equivalent to kicking the holy river, as the feet of
the body would then be turned towards it.

Badhak

List of Paragraphs

1. _Introductory notice._
2. _The Badhak dacoits._
3. _Instances of dacoities._
4. _Further instances of dacoities._
5. _Disguise of religious mendicants._
6. _Countenance and support of landowners._
7. _Pride in their profession._
8. _Caste rules and admission of outsiders._
9. _Religion. Offerings to ancestors._
10. _The wounded haunted by spirits._
11. _Pious funeral observances._
12. _Taking the omens._
13. _Suppression of dacoity._
14. _The Badhaks or Baoris at the present time._
15. _Lizard-hunting._
16. _Social observances._
17. _Criminal practices._

1. Introductory notic