is the
god who averts disease and accident, and the offering made to him
should consist of a fowl or goat of reddish colour. Bhimsen is the
deity of rainfall, and Dharti Mata or Mother Earth is considered to be
the wife of Thakur Deo, and must also be propitiated for the success
of the crops. The grain itself is worshipped at the threshing floor
by sprinkling water and liquor on to it. Certain Hindu deities are
also worshipped by the Baigas, but not in orthodox fashion. Thus it
would be sacrilege on the part of a Hindu to offer animal sacrifices
to Narayan Deo, the sun-god, but the Baigas devote to him a special
oblation of the most unclean animal, the pig. The animal to be
sacrificed is allowed to wander loose for two or three years, and is
then killed in a most cruel manner. It is laid across the threshold of
a doorway on its back, and across its stomach is placed a stout plank
of _saj_-wood. Half a dozen men sit or stand on the ends of this, and
the fore and hind feet of the pig are pulled backwards and forwards
alternately over the plank until it is crushed to death, while all
the men sing or shout a sacrificial hymn. The head and feet are cut
off and offered to the deity, and the body is eaten. The forests are
believed to be haunted by spirits, and in certain localities _pats_
or shrines are erected in their honour, and occasional offerings are
made to them. The spirits of married persons are supposed to live in
streams, while trees afford a shelter to the souls of the unmarried,
who become _bhuts_ or malignant spirits after death. Nag Deo or the
cobra is supposed to live in an ant-hill, and offerings are made to
him there. Demoniacal possession is an article of faith, and a popular
remedy is to burn human hair mixed with chillies and pig's dung near
the person possessed, as the horrible smell thus produced will drive
away the spirit. Many and weird, Mr. Low writes, are the simples
which the Baiga's travelling scrip contains. Among these a dried bat
has the chief place; this the Baiga says he uses to charm his nets
with, that the prey may catch in them as the bat's claws catch in
whatever it touches. As an instance of the Baiga's pantheism it may
be mentioned that on one occasion when a train of the new Satpura
railway [93] had pulled up at a wayside forest station, a Baiga was
found offering a sacrifice to the engine. Like other superstitious
people they are great believers in omens. A single crow bathing in
a str