t that no one should be allowed
to shoot on their land, but at the same time they asked that they
might be assessed at lower rates than their neighbours, on the ground
that the antelope, being thus left undisturbed, did more damage to
their crops; but I told them that this would lessen the merit (_pun_)
of their actions in protecting the animals, and they must be treated
just as the surrounding villages were. They consider it a good deed to
scatter grain to pigeons and other birds, and often have a large number
of half-tame birds about their villages. The day before the new moon
(Amawas) they observe as a Sabbath and fast-day, doing no work in the
fields or in the house. They bathe and pray three times a day, in the
morning, afternoon and evening, saying 'Bishnu! Bishnu!' instead of
the ordinary Hindu 'Ram! Ram.' Their clothing is the same as that of
other Bagris, except that their women do not allow the waist to be
seen, and are fond of wearing black woollen clothing. They are more
particular about ceremonial purity than ordinary Hindus are, and it is
a common saying that if a Bishnoi's food is on the first of a string of
twenty camels and a man of another caste touches the last camel of the
string, the Bishnoi would consider his food defiled and throw it away."

4. Initiation and baptism.

The ceremony of initiation is as follows: "A number of representative
Bishnois assemble, and before them a Sadh or Bishnoi priest, after
lighting a sacrificial fire (_hom_), instructs the novice in the duties
of the faith. He then takes some water in a new earthen vessel, over
which he prays in a set form (_Bishno gayatri_), stirring it the while
with his string of beads (_mala_), and after asking the consent of
the assembled Bishnois he pours the water three times into the hands
of the novice, who drinks it off. The novice's scalp-lock (_choti_)
is then cut off and his head shaved, for the Bishnois shave the whole
head and do not leave a scalp-lock like the Hindus, but they allow the
beard to grow, only shaving the chin on the father's death. Infant
baptism is also practised, and thirty days after birth the child,
whether boy or girl, is baptised by the priest (Sadh) in much the
same way as an adult; only the set form of prayer is different, and
the priest pours a few drops of water into the child's mouth, and
gives the child's relatives each three handfuls of the consecrated
water to drink; at the same time the barber clips