Note 8 — A

Death ceremonies. 17. The dead, except young children and those dying of small-pox, are cremated in the jungle. This is done very carelessly, and in times of epidemic disease the corpses are merely exposed in the jungle to be eaten by wild animals. The corpse is laid face upwards on the pyre with the feet to the south. The nearest kinsman moves five times round the pyre and touches the face of the corpse five times with a straw torch. As soon as the pyre blazes all go and bathe. Then they fill their vessels (lota) with water and return to the house of the deceased, where each pours the water he has brought in the court-yard. No fire is lit and no cooking done in the house that day. The food is cooked at the house of the brother-in-law (bahnoi) of the dead man. On the tenth day the clansmen assemble at some running water, and then go and eat at the house of the deceased. The bones which remain after cremation are thrown into the nearest running stream. They are not buried, and subsequently, when convenient, conveyed to the Ganges, as is the custom with the similarly named tribe in Chota Nâgpur.8