y one whom they regard as a friend." In other
parts of India the Siddis are usually beggars and are described as
'Fond of intoxicating drinks, quarrelsome, dirty, unthrifty and
pleasure-loving, obstinacy being their leading trait.' They worship
Baba Ghor, an Abyssinian saint. [500]

It is recorded that the medicine called Silajit, a nervine tonic for
the generative power, was formerly believed to be prepared from the
flesh of Abyssinian boys. Mr. Hooper writes: "Silajit is allied to
another ancient drug named Momiayi which has long been employed in
the East. The original drug is said to have been made from Egyptian
mummies, and subsequently to have been prepared by boiling down and
extracting the essence of Abyssinian boys. Since the last source of
supply has become scarce, several bituminous exudations are reported
to have been substituted." [501] The drug is now said to be made from
the gum of some stone in Hardwar, and this must be the bitumen referred
to by Mr. Hooper. The virtue ascribed to the flesh of Abyssinian boys
was no doubt based on their superior bodily strength and perhaps
partly on the prolificacy of the negroes. In the case of mummies,
as the body of the mummy was believed to have retained life or the
capacity of life for many ages, its material would naturally possess
extraordinary vitality and should be capable of imparting this quality
to others when assimilated into their bodies.

_Sidhira_, _Sithira_.--A small occupational caste of Sambalpur and
the Uriya States. The caste is not found elsewhere in India. They
are braziers by trade, and in spite of their small numbers say they
have three subcastes, one of which, the Luhura, works in iron. They
are an impure caste, whose touch conveys pollution in Sambalpur. They
accept alms from a Munda or Oraon on the occasion of a death in the
latter's family, and have totemistic septs. They eat fowls and rats
and consume much liquor. They also admit outsiders into the caste. It
may be concluded, therefore, that they are an occupational caste
formed from the tribes above mentioned or others, through adopting the
calling of brass-workers. The adultery of a Sidhira woman with a man
of any higher caste is looked upon as an absolutely trifling offence,
and this is a common feature of low castes of mixed origin. As among
many primitive tribes, one particular sept performs the ceremony of
readmitting offenders to caste intercourse by sprinkling a little
Ganges water