Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/487

Rh ceremonies last only one day, and on the Pachaimalais a Thursday is generally selected. The marriage on the latter range consists in all the relatives present dropping castor-oil on to the heads of the pair with a wisp of grass, and then pronouncing a blessing on them. The terms of the blessing are the same as those used by the Konga Vellālas. The bridegroom ties the tāli. On the Kollaimalais, the girl is formally invited to come and be married by the other party's taking her a sheep and some rice. On the appointed day, offerings of a cock and a hen are made to the gods in the houses of both. The girl then comes to the other house, and she and the bridegroom are garlanded by the leading persons present. The bridegroom ties the tāli, and the couple are then made to walk seven steps, and are blessed. The garlands are then thrown into a well, and, if they float together, it is an omen that the two will love each other. "Both sections bury their dead. On the Kollaimalais, a gun is fired when the corpse is taken out for burial, and tobacco, cigars, betel and nut, etc., are buried with the body.

"Two curious customs in connection with labour are recognised on both ranges. If a man has a press of work, he can compel the whole village to come and help him, by the simple method of inviting them all to a feast. He need not pay them for their services. A different custom is that, when there is threshing to be done, any labourer of the caste who offers himself has to be taken, whether there is work for him or not, and paid as if he had done a good day's work. This is a very hard rule in times of scarcity, and it is said that sometimes the employer will have not only to pay out the whole of the harvest, but will also have to get something extra from home to satisfy the labourers."