n-law's house, and not for him to take his bride home, as is
the case in other communities. This arrangement amongst the Khasis
is no doubt due to the prevalence of the matriarchate. As long as the
wife lives in her mother's house, all her earnings go to her mother,
who expends them on the maintenance of the family. Amongst the Khasis,
after one or two children are born, and if a married couple get on
well together, the husband frequently removes his wife and family to
a house of his own, and from the time the wife leaves her mother's
house she and her husband pool their earnings, which are expended
for the support of the family. Amongst the Syntengs, however, and the
people of Maoshai, the case is different, for with them the husband
does not go and live in his mother-in-law's house, he only visits her
there. In Jowai some people admitted to me that the husband came to
his mother-in-law's house only after dark, and that he did not eat,
smoke, or even partake of betel-nut there, the idea being that because
none of his earnings go to support this house, therefore it is not
etiquette for him to partake of food or other refreshment there. If a
Synteng house is visited, it is unusual to find the husbands of any
of the married daughters there, although the sons of the family may
be seen in the house when they have returned from work. Generally
in the day-time you will find in a Synteng dwelling an old crone,
who is the grandmother, or even the great-grandmother, of the family,
also grandchildren or great-grandchildren; but the husbands of the
married daughters are not there. The Syntengs seem to have more closely
preserved the customs of the matriarchate than the Khasis, and the
Syntengs claim that their _niam_ or religious ceremonies are purer,
i.e. that they more closely correspond to what they were in ancient
times than those of the Khasis. Amongst the Syntengs, occasionally,
a widow is allowed to keep her husband's bones after his death,
on condition that she does not remarry; the idea being that as
long as the bones remain in the widow's keeping, the spirit of her
husband is still with her. On this account many wives who revere
their husband's memories, and who do not contemplate remarriage,
purposely keep the bones for a long time. If a widow marries, even
after the customary taboo period of one year, whilst her deceased
husband's bones are still in her keeping, she is generally looked down
upon. Her children in such a