oman in bearing the child. The custom obtains among some other
primitive races, but is now rapidly being abandoned by the Sonjharas.

5. Funeral rites

The bodies of the old are cremated as a special honour, and those
of other persons are buried. No one other than a member of the dead
man's family may touch his corpse under a penalty of five rupees. A
relative will remove the body and bury it with the feet pointing to
the river or burn it by the water's edge. They mourn a child for one
day and an adult for four days, and at the end the mourner is shaved
and provides liquor for the community. If there be no relative, since
no other man can touch the corpse, they fire the hut over it and burn
it as it is lying or bury hut and body under a high mound of sand.

6. Religion

Their principal deities are Dulha Deo, the boy bridegroom, Nira
his servant, and Kauria a form of Devi. Nira lives under an _umar_
[633] tree and he and Dulha Deo his master are worshipped every third
year in the month of Magh (January). Kauria is also worshipped once
in three years on a Sunday in the month of Magh with an offering of
a cocoanut, and in her honour they never sit on a cot nor sleep on
a stool because they think that the goddess has her seat on these
articles. The real reason, however, is probably that the Sonjharas
consider the use of such furniture an indication of a settled life and
permanent residence, and therefore abjure it as being wanderers. Some
analogous customs have been recorded of the Banjaras. They also revere
the spirit of one of their female ancestors who became a Sati. They
sacrifice a goat to the _genius loci_ or spirit haunting the spot
where they decide to start work; and they will leave it for fear of
angering this spirit, which is said to appear in the form of a tiger,
should they make a particularly good find. [634] They never keep
dogs, and it is said that they are defiled by the touch of a dog
and will throw away their food if one comes near them during their
meal. The same rule applies to a cat, and they will throw away an
earthen vessel touched by either of these animals. On the Diwali day
they wash their implements, and setting them up near the huts worship
them with offerings of a cocoanut and vermilion.

7. Social customs

Their rule is always to camp outside a village at a distance of not
less than a mile. In the rains they make huts with a roof of bamboos
sloping from a central ridge