sometimes do this; if he declines a sweeper
must be fetched. When a sweeper has to enter a house in order to
take out the body of an animal, it is cleaned and whitewashed after
he has been in. In Hoshangabad an objection appears to be felt to
the entry of a sweeper by the door, as it is stated that a ladder
is placed for him, so that he presumably climbs through a window. Or
where there are no windows it is possible that the ladder may protect
the sacred threshold from contact with his feet. The sweeper also
attends at funerals and assists to prepare the pyre; he receives the
winding-sheet when this is not burnt or buried with the corpse, and
the copper coins which are left on the ground as purchase-money for
the site of the grave. In Bombay in rich families the winding-sheet
is often a worked shawl costing from fifty to a hundred rupees. [248]
When a Hindu widow breaks her bangles after her husband's death, she
gives them, including one or two whole ones, to a Bhangia woman. [249]
A letter announcing a death is always carried by a sweeper. [250]
In Bengal a funeral could not be held without the presence of a Dom,
whose functions are described by Mr. Sherring [251] as follows:
"On the arrival of the dead body at the place of cremation, which
in Benares is at the basis of one of the steep stairs or _ghats_,
called the Burning-Ghat, leading down from the streets above to the
bed of the river Ganges, the Dom supplies five logs of wood, which he
lays in order upon the ground, the rest of the wood being given by the
family of the deceased. When the pile is ready for burning a handful of
lighted straw is brought by the Dom, and is taken from him and applied
by one of the chief members of the family to the wood. The Dom is the
only person who can furnish the light for the purpose; and if for any
reason no Dom is available, great delay and inconvenience are apt to
arise. The Dom exacts his fee for three things, namely, first for the
five logs, secondly for the bunch of straw, and thirdly for the light."

19. Occupation (continued)

During an eclipse the sweepers reap a good harvest; for it is believed
that Rahu, the demon who devours the sun and moon and thus causes
an eclipse, was either a sweeper or the deity of the sweepers,
and alms given to them at this time will appease him and cause
him to let the luminaries go. Or, according to another account,
the sun and moon are in Rahu's debt, and he comes and duns them,
and