of this period she is
bathed and dressed in good clothes, and her relatives bring presents
for the child. Some people do not let her oil or comb her hair during
these days. The custom would seem to be a relic of the period of
impurity of women after childbirth. On the fortieth day the child
is placed in a cradle for the first time. In some localities a rite
called Ukika is performed after the birth of a child. It consists of a
sacrifice in the name of the child of two he-goats for a boy and one
for a girl. The goats must be above a year old, and without spot or
blemish. The meat must be separated from the bones so that not a bone
is broken, and the bones, skin, feet and head are afterwards buried
in the earth. When the flesh is served the following prayer is said by
the father: "O, Almighty God, I offer in the stead of my own offspring
life for life, blood for blood, head for head, bone for bone, hair
for hair, and skin for skin. In the name of God do I sacrifice this
he-goat." This is apparently a relic of the substitution of a goat for
Ishmael when Abraham was offering him as a sacrifice. The Muhammadans
say that it was Ishmael instead of Isaac who was thus offered, and they
think that Ishmael or Ismail was the ancestor of all the Arabs. [311]

11. Shaving the hair and ear-piercing.

Either on the same day as the Ukika sacrifice or soon afterwards the
child's hair is shaved for the first time. By the rich the hair is
weighed against silver and this sum is distributed to beggars. It is
then tied up in a piece of cloth and either buried or thrown into a
river, or sometimes set afloat on a little toy raft in the name of a
saint. Occasionally tufts of hair or even the whole head may be left
unshaven in the name of a saint, and after one or more years the child
is taken to the saint's tomb and the hair shaved there; or if this
cannot be done it is cut off at home in the name of the saint. [312]

When a girl is one or two years old the lobes of her ears are bored. By
degrees other holes are bored along the edge of the ear and even
in the centre, till by the time she has attained the age of two or
three years she has thirteen holes in the right ear and twelve in the
left. Little silver rings and various kinds of earrings are inserted
and worn in the holes. But the practice of boring so many holes has
now been abandoned by the better-class Muhammadans.

12. Birthdays.

The child's birthday is known as _sal-gi