er shortly becoming a widow herself. The bridegroom goes to
the widow's house with his male friends and two wooden seats are set
side by side. On one of these a betel-nut is placed which represents
the deceased husband of the widow. The new bridegroom advances with
a small wooden sword, touches the nut with its tip, and then kicks it
off the seat with his right toe. The barber picks up the nut and burns
it. This is supposed to lay the deceased husband's spirit and prevent
his interference with the new union. The bridegroom then takes the seat
from which the nut has been displaced and the woman sits on the other
side to his left. He puts a necklace of beads round her neck and the
couple leave the house in a stealthy fashion and go to the husband's
village. It is considered unlucky to see them as they go away because
the second husband is regarded in the light of a robber. Sometimes
they stop by a stream on the way home, and, taking off the woman's
clothes and bangles, bury them by the side of the stream. An exorcist
may also be called in, who will confine the late husband's spirit in
a horn by putting in some grains of wheat, and after sealing up the
horn deposit it with the clothes. When a widower or widow marries a
second time and is afterwards attacked by illness, it is ascribed to
the illwill of their former partner's spirit. The metal image of the
first husband or wife is then made and worn as an amulet on the arm or
round the neck. A bachelor who wishes to marry a widow must first go
through a mock ceremony with an _akra_ or swallow-wort plant, as the
widow-marriage is not considered a real one, and it is inauspicious for
any one to die without having been properly married once. A similar
ceremony must be gone through when a man is married for the third
time, as it is held that if he marries a woman for the third time he
will quickly die. The _akra_ or swallow-wort (_Calotropis gigantea_)
is a very common plant growing on waste land with mauve or purple
flowers. When cut or broken a copious milky juice exudes from the
stem, and in some places parents are said to poison children whom
they do not desire to keep alive by rubbing this on their lips.

10. Customs at birth

During her monthly impurity a woman stays apart and may not cook
for herself nor touch anybody nor sleep on a bed made of cotton
thread. As soon as she is in this condition she will untie the cotton
threads confining her hair and throw them awa