t out of caste. On the 15th day of Jeth (May) the village Sunar
stops work for five days and worships his implements after washing
them. He draws pictures of the goddess Devi on a piece of paper and
goes round the village to affix them to the doors of his clients,
receiving in return a small present.

The caste usually burn their dead and take the ashes to the Nerbudda
or Ganges; those living to the south of the Nerbudda always stop
at this river, because they think that if they crossed it to go to
the Ganges, the Nerbudda would be offended at their not considering
it good enough. If a man meets with a violent death and his body is
lost, they construct a small image of him and burn this with all the
proper ceremonies. Mourning is observed for ten or thirteen days, and
the _shraddh_ ceremony is performed on the anniversary of a death,
while the usual oblations are offered to the ancestors during the
fortnight of Pitr Paksh in Kunwar (September).

5. Social position

The more ambitious members of the caste abjure all flesh and liquor,
and wear the sacred thread. These will not take cooked food even from
a Brahman. Others do not observe these restrictions. Brahmans will
usually take water from Sunars, especially from those who wear the
sacred thread. Owing to their association with the sacred metal gold,
and the fact that they generally live in towns or large villages, and
many of their members are well-to-do, the Sunars occupy a fairly high
position, ranking equal with, or above the cultivating castes. But,
as already stated, the goldsmith was a village menial in the Maratha
villages, and Sir D. Ibbetson thinks that the Jat really considers
the Sunar to be distinctly inferior to himself.

6. Manufacture of ornaments

The Sunar makes all kinds of ornaments of gold and silver, being
usually supplied with the metal by his customers. He is paid according
to the weight of metal used, the rate varying from four annas to
two rupees with an average of a rupee per tola weight of metal for
gold, and from one to two annas per tola weight of silver. [643]
The lowness of these rates is astonishing when compared with those
charged by European jewellers, being less than 10 per cent on the
value of the metal for quite delicate ornaments. The reason is
partly that ornaments are widely regarded as a means for the safe
keeping of money, and to spend a large sum on the goldsmith's labour
would defeat this end, as it would b