GON
518
Theses of the completion of tte settlement, and then relapse into neglect. which are known by the name " daharchandi," are especially frequent and well-marked in Th^ru villages, where they may be found in groups of ten or more at the edge of the cultivated lands-
crosses,
More especially in the northern parganas are Jak and Jakin revered. These are male and female, and usually protect separate, but contiguous villages. Jak is supposed, from motives of gallantry, to carry off the produce of the village in which he resides and present it to the lady, whose village is in consequence the more fertile of the two.
No one will plant a grove or dig a tank to the south of his house. The knowledge of this custom may be found of importance for the settlement of disputed village boundaries.
When cholera has settled in a village, the inhabitants, at the coimmand of Bhawani, which she signifies through the divine possession of one of the After having spent a people, leave their houses and encajnp in a grove. few days in prayer, and offered sacrifices of grain, pigs, and goats according to their means, they select a goat and tie on its back, in the manner in which pack buUocks are loaded, a cloth steeped in turmeric, and full on one side of rice, and on the other of barley. They then drive the animal beyond the village boundary, beseeching the goddess to accept this as a substitute for themselves. The goat henceforth belongs to her, and any one who takes it will surely die. The divine inspiration is recognised by gesture, for which the local name is " abhnand,." The victim lets his hair loose and waves his head frantically from side to side, uttering incoherent ejaculations. If he stands it is Kali, if he sits it is Bhawani, who has visited him. The phenomenon occurs with people of all castes. Good omens at the commencement of a journey are drawn from a jackal's howl on the right hand, a loaded jackass, and a dog in the act of sacrificing to Cloacina bad, from the sound of a potter's wheel, a goat's sneeze, a fox crossing the path, and, worst of all, from meeting an oilman just outside the village. A sneeze to the front or right hand is good, to the left bad. full pitcher or a snake swimming propitious £ pitcher empty, or snake on the grormd unpropitious. Few things strike more coldly on an enterprise than a one-eyed man, who is upheld in proverbs as a monster of villany and omen of every misfortune.
A
Bloody
sacrifices, except at the Dasahra festival and the Debi Patau or the occasional immolation of pigs for cholera and small-pox, and as a bait to catch bhuts and other village demons, are unknown. The usual offerings are flowers, milk, and grain. Bhairon is conciliated by feeding a black dog to surfeit, and the Bhtimia Rani, by spreading flat cakes and fair,
sweetmeats on the ground, which, having been exposed for some time to the sun, are eventually consumed by the worshipper and his family.
Image worship is but little known. In thakurdwaras are dolls representing the favourite incarnations of Vishnu, but they are even less the objects of idolatry than the images of saints are to lower classes of Catholics. The Saligram, or penates of each family or individual, is a small smooth pebble, which the more devout will sometimes carry about with them wherever they go, washing it periodically, and decorating it with flowers but in
