is not engaged his place is taken by a relative, who is called
_sawasa_, and is either the sister's husband, daughter's husband,
or father's sister's husband, of the head of the family. They permit
widow-remarriage and divorce, and in the southern Districts effect
a divorce by laying a pestle between the wife and husband. They burn
their dead and observe mourning for the usual period. After a death
they will not again put on a coloured head-cloth until some relative
sets it on their heads for the first time on the expiry of the period
of mourning. They revere the ordinary Hindu deities, and like the
Chamars they have a family god, known as Mair, whose representation
in the shape of a lump of clay is enshrined within the house and
worshipped at marriages and deaths. In Saugor he is said to be the
collective representative of the spirits of their ancestors. In some
localities they eat flesh and drink liquor, but in others abstain from
both. Among the Hindus the Mochis rank considerably higher than the
Chamars; their touch does not defile and they are permitted to enter
temples and take part in religious ceremonies. The name of a Saugor
Mochi is remembered who became a good drawer and painter and was
held in much esteem at the Peshwa's court. In northern India about
half the Mochis are Muhammadans, but in the Central Provinces they
are all Hindus.

7. Shoes

In view of the fact that many of the Mochis were Muhammadans and that
slippers are mainly a Muhammadan article of attire Buchanan thought
it probable that they were brought into India by the invaders, the
Hindus having previously been content with sandals and wooden shoes. He
wrote: "Many Hindus now use leather slippers, but some adhere to the
proper custom of wearing sandals, which have wooden soles, a strap
of leather to pass over the instep, and a wooden or horn peg with a
button on its top. The foot is passed through the strap and the peg
is placed between two of the toes." [280] It is certain, however,
that leather shoes and slippers were known to the Hindus from a fairly
early period: "The episode related in the Ramayana of Bharata placing
on the vacant throne of Ajodhya a pair of Rama's slippers, which he
worshipped during the latter's protracted exile, shows that shoes
were important articles of wear and worthy of attention. In Manu and
the Mahabharata slippers are also mentioned and the time and mode of
putting them on pointed out. The Vishnu Purana en