rple garments
were worn and their hair was carefully decked with wreaths, a thing
which was never done at home. [305] And when Leonidas and his three
hundred were holding the pass of Thermopylae, and Xerxes sent scouts
to ascertain what the Greeks were doing in their camp, the report was
that some of them were engaged in gymnastics and warlike exercises,
while others were merely sitting and combing their long hair. If
the hypothesis already suggested is correct, the Spartan youths so
engaged were perhaps not merely adorning themselves for death, but,
as they thought, obtaining their full strength for battle. "The custom
of keeping the hair unshorn during a dangerous expedition appears to
have been observed, at least occasionally, by the Romans. Achilles
kept unshorn his yellow hair, because his father had vowed to offer
it to the river Sperchius if ever his son came home from the wars
beyond the sea." [306]

When the Bhils turned out to fight they let down their long hair
prior to beginning the conflict with their bows and arrows. [307]
The pirates of Surat, before boarding a ship, drank _bhang_ and
hemp-liquor, and when they wore their long hair loose they gave no
quarter. [308] The Mundas appear to have formerly worn their hair long
and some still do. Those who are converted to Christianity must cut
their hair, but a non-Christian Munda must always keep the _chundi_
or pigtail. If the _chundi_ is very long it is sometimes tied up in
a knot. [309] Similarly the Oraons wore their hair long like women,
gathered in a knot behind, with a wooden or iron comb in it. Those
who are Christians can be recognised by the fact that they have cut
off their pigtails. A man of the low Pardhi caste of hunters must
never have his hair touched by a razor after he has once killed
a deer. As already seen, every orthodox Hindu wore till recently
a _choti_ or scalp-lock, which should theoretically be as long
as a cow's tail. Perhaps the idea was that for those who were not
warriors it was sufficient to retain this and have the rest of the
head shaved. The _choti_ was never shaved off in mourning for any
one but a father. The lower castes of Muhammadans, if they have lost
several children, will allow the scalp-lock to grow on the heads of
those subsequently born, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan
saints. The Kanjars relate of their heroic ancestor Mana that after
he had plunged a bow so deeply into the ground that no one could
withdr