Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/254

POROJA of rice to the parents of the girl, and present the two girls with a similar quantity. The three girls then return to their homes. Again several months elapse, and then the man's parents go to fetch the bride, and a feast and dance take place. The pair are then man and wife.

In another account of the marriage customs of the Nanga Porojas, it is stated that pits are dug in the ground, in which, during the cold season, the children are put at night, to keep them warm. The pit is about nine feet in diameter. In the spring, all the marriageable girls of a settlement are put into one pit, and a young man, who has really selected his bride with the consent of his parents, comes and proposes to her. If she refuses him, he tries one after another till he is accepted. On one occasion, a leopard jumped into the pit, and killed some of the maidens. In a note on Bhonda marriage, Mr. May writes * that "a number of youths, candidates for matrimony, start off to a village, where they hope to find a corresponding number of young women, and make known their wishes to the elders, who receive them with all due ceremony. The juice of the salop (sago palm) in a fermented state is in great requisition, as nothing can be done without the exhilarating effects of their favourite beverage. They then proceed to excavate an underground chamber (if one is not already prepared), having an aperture at the top, admitting of the entrance of one at a time. Into this the young gentlemen, with a corresponding number of young girls, are introduced, when they grope about and make their selection, after which they ascend out of it, each holding the young lady of his choice by the