e. He then adjures the Siem, the elders,
and all the people who do not belong to either of the two clans, and
pours out liquor three times as before. The three pieces of dried fish
are first placed on the _tympan_, the high rack above the fire-place,
then removed and tied to the ridge-pole of the house, amidst shouts
of _Ho, hoi, hoi, hoi_. The poor then sacrifice a fowl, and the rich
a pig without blemish (_uba tlem_), to _u Suid nia_ and _ka Iaw-bei_
(the spirits of deceased ancestors of the family), and present them
with _dykhot_, or pieces of flesh. Two or three days afterwards,
the bride, accompanied by her female relatives, pays a visit to the
bridegroom at his house, and after this they go and come as they like
to one another's houses. After two or three children have been born,
they take down the pieces of dried fish from the roof and sacrifice
two pigs, one on behalf of the husband and another on behalf of the
wife. Then they say there can be no possible _sang_, and husband
and wife use each other's things and pool their earnings, and if the
husband has a house of his own, the wife can go and live with him;
this, however, is not the custom amongst many of the Syntengs, who more
strictly observe the principles of the matriarchate. The cost of the
marriage ceremonies amongst Khasis, Syntengs and Wars, may be put down
at between Rs. 50 and Rs. 200 according to the position of the parties.

Lamdoh Ceremony.

This ceremony is identical with that of _Pynhiar synjat_, except that
the bride and bridegroom do not interchange rings, and that there is
no sacrifice of the pig. The parties merely buy some pig's flesh and
perform a puja with a small portion of the flesh of the legs of the
animal. Amongst the poor, fish sometimes takes the place of pork at the
_Iadih-kiad_ ceremony. The latter consists of a drinking bout mingled
with muttered sentences by a _nongkinia_ (sacrificer), the invocations
and prayers being the same as at the _Pynhiar synjat_. The _Lamdoh_
and _Iadih-kiad_ ceremonies take the place of the more elaborate
_Pynhiar synjat_ in most places now-a-days.

Lynngam Marriages.

The ritual observed at these marriages is described as under:--First
of all a proposal is made in the following manner. A _ksiang_, or
go-between, is sent, with the brother of the girl for whom a husband
is required, to the house of the father of the young man (not to the
house of the mother as is the case with the Khasis). If th