hildren of
their own.

But after many years luck changed. The family was constantly ill and
every year a child died. The _jan guru_ who was consulted declared
that a _Kisar bonga_ was responsible for their misfortunes. He told
the sons how their father had found the money in the ground and said
that the _bonga_ to whom the money belonged was responsible for their
misfortunes and was named Mainomati.

He told them how to get rid of the _bonga_. They were to dig up
the buried money and place it in bags; and load it on the back of a
young heifer; and take five brass nails and four copper nails, and
two rams. If the _bonga_ was willing to leave the house the heifer
would walk away to another village directly the bags were placed on
its back; but if the _bonga_ would not go the heifer would not move.

So they did as the _Janguru_ advised and when the bags were placed
on the heifer it walked away to a large peepul tree growing on the
banks of a stream in another village and there it stopped. Then they
sacrificed the rams and uttering vows over the nails drove them into
the peepul tree and went home, turning the heifer loose. From that
time their troubles ceased.

But that evening a man driving his cattle home saw a young woman
nailed to the peepul tree; and not knowing that she was a _bonga_
he released her and took her home and married her.

CHAPTER V

Part V.

The legends and customary beliefs contained in this part are definitely
connected with the Santals.

CLX. The Beginning of Things.

In the days of old, Thakur Baba had made everything very convenient for
mankind and it was by our own fault that we made Thakur Baba angry so
that he swore that we must spend labour in making things ready for use.

This is the story that I have heard.

When the Santals lived in Champa and the Kiskus were their kings, the
Santals were very simple and religious and only worshipped Thakur. In
those days the rice grew ready husked, and the cotton bushes bore
cloth all ready woven and men did not have to pick the lice out of
each others' hair; men's skulls grew loose and each man could lift
off his own skull and clean it and then replace it. But all this was
spoilt by the misdeeds of a serving girl of one of the Rajas. When
she went into the field for purposes of nature she would at the same
time pick and eat the rice that grew by her; and when she had made
her hands dirty cleaning out a cow house she would wipe them