. And
when night came again, and the stars came out, the sun saw how the
moon had deceived him and cursed her, saying that she should die for
fifteen days in every month. And this is the reason for the waxing
and waning of the moon. Ever since this event fire has remained hidden
in a _rengal_ tree, and when the Bhuiyas want him they rub two pieces
of its wood together and he comes out. This is the Bhuiya explanation
of the production of fire from the friction of wood.

12. Religious dancing.

In the month of Kartik (October), or the next month, they bring from
the forest a branch of the _karm_ tree and venerate it and perform
the _karma_ dance in front of it. They think that this worship and
dance will cause the _karma_ tree, the mango, the jack-fruit and the
mahua to bear a full crop of fruit. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are
considered the proper days for worshipping the deities, and children
are often named on a Friday.

13. Funeral rites and inheritance.

The dead are either buried or burnt, the corpse being placed always
with the feet pointing to its native village. On the tenth day the
soul of the dead person is called back to the house. But if a man is
killed by a tiger or by falling from a tree no mourning is observed
for him, and his soul is not brought back. To perish from snake-bite
is considered a natural death, and in such cases the usual obsequies
are awarded. This is probably because they revere the cobra as their
first mother. The Pabudia Bhuiyas throw four to eight annas' worth
of copper on to the pyre or into the grave, and if the deceased had
a cow some _ghi_ or melted butter. No division of property can take
place during the lifetime of either parent, but when both have died
the children divide the inheritance, the eldest son taking two shares
and the others one equal share each.

14. Physical appearance and occupation.

Colonel Dalton describes the Bhuiyas as, "A dark-brown,
well-proportioned race, with black, straight hair, plentiful on
the head, but scant on the face, of middle height, figures well
knit and capable of enduring great fatigue, but light-framed like
the Hindu rather than presenting the usual muscular development of
the hillman." Their dress is scanty, and in the Tributary States
Dalton says that the men and women all wear dresses of brown cotton
cloth. This may be because white is a very conspicuous colour in the
forests. They wear ornaments and beads, and a