he religious as
well as the secular head, e.g. in the Cherra State, where the Siem
is also _lyngdoh_. In Khyrim State the Siem has sacerdotal duties to
perform at different religious ceremonies, especially at the time of
the annual Nongkrem dance. It is the custom for the Siem to consult
the auspices with the soothsayers for the good of the State. The Siem
in matters judicial acts as a judge, the whole body of the _durbar_
being the jury. In olden days the Siem marched to war at the head of
his army. It is not customary to recognize an heir-apparent, and the
young men of the Siem family pursue the ordinary avocations of a Khasi,
not comporting themselves in the least like scions of royalty. In
quite recent years there have been instances of Siems having been
summoned, like the Roman Cincinnatus, from quite humble positions,
to undertake the duties of chief. We will now turn to an examination
of the systems in the different Siemships. In the Kyrim or Nongkrem
State there is a spiritual head, i.e. a High Priestess, _Ka Siem Sad_,
who is responsible for the due performance of the State religious
ceremonies, although, as already stated, the Siem also performs some
of these duties. The temporal power here is delegated by the High
Priestess to a Siem, who is her son or her nephew, or occasionally some
more distant male descendant. It is the duty of an official called
a _lyngskor_, who is the official spokesman of the Siem's _durbar_,
to propose a new Siem to the six _lyngdohs_, or priests, and to the
heads of the twenty-four _mantri_ clans. The latter then decide in
_durbar_ whether the proposed Siem should be appointed. In the event
of their disapproving of the _lyngskor's_ nominations they proceed
to elect another Siem. The High Priestess is appointed by the above
electors, the order of succession to the post wing as follows:--She
is succeeded by her eldest surviving daughter; failing daughters,
by the eldest daughter of her eldest daughter; failing daughters of
her eldest daughter; by the eldest daughter of her second daughter,
and so on. If there are no daughters or grand-daughters, as above,
she is succeeded by her eldest sister. In the absence of sisters, she
is succeeded by the eldest daughter of her mother's eldest sister, and
so on. In this State the tradition runs that the first High Priestess
was Ka Pah Syntiew, i.e. the flower-lured one. Ka Pah Syntiew was a
beautiful maiden who had as her abode a cave at Marai, ne