hief's death the divine dignity goes to his eldest son, while
the youngest son gets the property. In regard to funeral rites, the
Koles first burn and then bury the remains, placing a stone over the
grave.

Besides the Or[=a]ons' totem of the mouse, the Sunth[=a]ls have a
goose-totem, and the Garos and Kassos (perhaps not to be included in
either of the two groups), together with many other tribes, have
totems, some of them _avatars_, as in the case of the tortoise. The
Garos, a tribe between Assam and Bengal, are in many respects
noteworthy. They believe that their vessels are immortal; and, like
the Bh[=a]rs, set up the bamboo pole, a religious rite which has crept
into Hinduism (above, p. 378). They eat everything but their totem,
immolate human victims, and are divided into 'motherhoods,'
M[=a]h[=a]ris, particular M[=a]h[=a]ris intermarrying. A man's sister
marries into the family from which comes his wife, and that sister's
daughter may marry his son, and, as male heirs do not inherit, the
son-in-law succeeds his father-in-law in right of his wife, and gets
his wife's mother (that is, his father's sister) as an additional
wife.[22] The advances are always made by the girl. She and her party
select the groom, go to his house, and carry him off, though he
modestly pretends to run away. The sacrifice for the
wedding is that of a cock and hen, offered to the sun. The god they
worship most is a monster (very much like Civa), but he has no local
habitation.

Of the Sav[=a]ras or Sauras of the Dekhan the most interesting deity
is the malevolent female called Th[=a]kur[=a]n[=i], wife of Th[=a]kur.
She was doubtless the first patroness of the throttling Thugs (_thags_
are _[t.]haks_, assassins), and the prototype of their Hindu
K[=a]l[=i]. Human sacrifices are offered to Th[=a]kur[=a]n[=i], while
her votaries, as in the case of the Thugs, are noted for the secrecy
of their crimes.

Birth-rites, marriage-rites, funeral rites (all of blood), human
sacrifice, _tab[=u]_ (especially among the Burmese), witchcraft,
worship of ancestors, divination, and demonology are almost universal
throughout the wild tribes. In most of the rites the holy stone[23]
plays an important part, and in many of the tribes dances are a
religious exercise.

Descendants of the great Serpent-race that once ruled M[=a]gadha
(Beh[=a]r), the Bh[=a]rs, and Ch[=i]rus (Cheeroos) are historically of
the greatest importance, though now but minor tribes of B