re are some clans
amongst them which are prohibited by the ordinance of _sang_, or taboo,
from eating certain articles. The following are some instances:--

The Cherra Siem family cannot eat dried fish (_'kha-piah_); the
Siem of Mylliem must not eat the gourd (_u pathaw_); a fish called
_ka'kha-lani_ is taboo to some of the _Siem-lih_ class. Some of the
War people must not eat _ka ktung_ (preserved fish), and the clan
_'khar-um-nuid_ in Khyrim is debarred from the pleasure of partaking
of pork. The flesh of the sow is _sang_ to the _'dkhar_ clan, although
that of the male pig may be eaten.

Drink.

The Khasis are in the habit of regularly drinking considerable
quantities either of a spirit distilled from rice or millet (_ka'iad
pudka_), or of rice-beer, which is of two kinds (1) _ka'iad hiar_,
(2) _ka'iad um_. Both of these are made from rice and, in some places,
from millet, and the root of a plant called _u khawiang_. _Ka'iad hiar_
is made by boiling the rice or millet. It is then taken out and spread
over a mat, and, when it cools, fragments of the yeast (_u khawiang_)
are sprinkled over it. After this it is placed in a basket, which
is put in a wooden bowl. The basket is covered tightly with a cloth
so as to be air-tight, and it is allowed to remain in this condition
for a couple of days, during which time the liquor has oozed out into
the bowl. To make _ka'iad um_ the material, the rice or millet from
which the _ka'iad hiar_ was brewed, is made use of. It is placed in
a large earthen pot and allowed to remain there for about five days
to ferment, after which the liquor is strained off. _Ka'iad hiar_ is
said to be stronger than _ka'iad um_. The former is used frequently by
distillers of country spirit for mixing with the wort so as to set up
fermentation. The people of the high plateaux generally prefer rice
spirit, and the Wars of the southern slopes of the Khasi and Jaintia
Hills customarily partake of it also. The Khasis of the western hills,
e.g. of the Nongstoin Siemship, and the Lynngams, Bhois, Lalungs,
and Hadems almost invariably drink rice-beer, but the Syntengs, like
the Khasi uplanders, drink rice-spirit. Rice-beer (_ka'iad um_) is
a necessary article for practically all Khasi and Synteng religious
ceremonies of importance, it being the custom for the officiating
priest to pour out libations of liquor from a hollow gourd (_u klong_)
to the gods on these occasions. As there is no Excise in the distri