t even a few inches apart from his fellows, people
would say he was out of caste; and in recent times, since those out
of caste have been allowed to attend the feasts, they sit a little
apart in this manner. The Gowaris fine a man who uses abusive language
to a fellow-casteman at a caste feast, and also one who gets up and
leaves the feast without the permission of the caste headman. The
Hatkars have as the names of two exogamous groups _Wakmar_, or one
who left the Pangat or caste feast while his fellows were eating; and
_Polya_, or one who did not take off his turban at the feast. It has
been seen also [207] that in one or two castes the exogamous sections
are named after the offices which their members hold or the duties
they perform at the caste feast. Among the Halbas the illegitimate
subcaste Surait is also known as Chhoti Pangat or the inferior feast,
with the implication that its members cannot be admitted to the proper
feast of the caste, but have an inferior one of their own.

83. Taking food at initiation.

When an outsider is admitted to the caste the rite is usually
connected with food. A man who is to be admitted to the Dahait caste
must clean his house, break his earthen cooking-vessels and buy new
ones, and give a feast to the caste-fellows in his house. He sits
and takes food with them, and when the meal is over he takes a grain
of rice from the leaf-plate of each guest and eats it, and drinks a
drop of water from his leaf-cup. After this he cannot be readmitted
to his own caste. A new Mehtar or sweeper gives water to and takes
bread from each casteman. In Mandla a new convert to the Panka caste
vacates his house and the caste _panchayat_ or committee go and live
in it, in order to purify it. He gives them a feast inside the house,
while he himself stays outside. Finally he is permitted to eat with
the _panchayat_ in his own house in order to mark his admission into
the caste. A candidate for admission in the Mahli caste has to eat
a little of the leavings of the food of each of the castemen at a
feast. The community of robbers known as Badhak or Baoria formerly
dwelt in the Oudh forests. They were accustomed to take omens from
the cry of the jackal, and they may probably have venerated it as
representing the spirit of the forest and as a fellow-hunter. They
were called jackal-eaters, and it was said that when an outsider was
admitted to one of their bands he was given jackal's flesh to eat.

A