Note 8 — Chapter XIII · SACRIFICE AND OFFERINGS

There is one feature of the sacrifice which might be held to be out of harmony with this suggestion—viz., that the sacrificed calf is a young male, and hence a comparatively worthless animal. The name of the ceremony means strictly “we kill a male buffalo,”8 and it is possible that at one time an adult male was sacrificed, but even then the sacrifice would be of an animal comparatively little valued by the Todas. As we shall see, the animals killed at funerals are always female, but there is an obvious reason for this, as the buffaloes are to be of use to the dead person in the other world. Formerly large numbers of buffaloes were killed at funerals, and it is possible that it was found impracticable to use female buffaloes also for the erkumptthpimi sacrifice.