gruel, water and a tooth-stick
are placed on the grave nightly for some days after death. As an
interesting parallel instance, near home, of the belief that the
soul starts on a long journey after death, the following passage
may be quoted from Mr. Gomme's Folklore: "Among the superstitions
of Lancashire is one which tells us of a lingering belief in a long
journey after death, when food is necessary to support the soul. A
man having died of apoplexy at a public dinner near Manchester,
one of the company was heard to remark, 'Well, poor Joe, God rest
his soul! He has at least gone to his long rest wi' a belly full o'
good meat, and that's some consolation!' And perhaps a still more
remarkable instance is that of the woman buried in Curton Church,
near Rochester, who directed by her will that the coffin was to have
a lock and key, the key being placed in her dead hand, so that she
might be able to release herself at pleasure." [425]

After the burial a dead fish is brought on a leaf-plate to the
mourners, who touch it, and are partly purified. The meaning of this
rite, if there be any, is not known. After the period of mourning,
which varies from three to nine days, is over, the mourners and their
relatives must attend the next weekly bazar, and there offer liquor
and sweets in the name of the dead man, who upon this becomes ranked
among the ancestors.

9. Occupation and social customs

The Parjas are cultivators, and grow rice and other crops in the
ordinary manner. Many of them are village headmen, and to these the
term Dhurwa is more particularly applied. The tribe will eat fowls,
pig, monkeys, the large lizard, field-rats, and bison and wild
buffalo, but they do not eat carnivorous animals, crocodiles, snakes
or jackals. Some of them eat beef while others have abjured it, and
they will not accept the leavings of others. They are not considered
to be an impure caste. If any man or woman belonging to a higher
caste has a _liaison_ with a Parja, and is on that account expelled
from their own caste, he or she can be admitted as a Parja. In their
other customs and dress and ornaments the tribe resemble the Gonds
of Bastar. Women are tattooed on the chest and arms with patterns of
dots. The young men sometimes wear their hair long, and tie it in a
bunch behind, secured by a strip of cloth.

Pasi

List of Paragraphs

1. _The nature and origin of the caste_.
2. _Brahmanical legends_.
3