Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/85

Rh or head of the family, and they usually constitute the panchāyat. Both Kūttan and Mudali are called Mūppanmar or elders. The whole caste is sometimes loosely spoken of as Mūppan. In a case of proved adultery, a fine of sixteen fanams (the amount of the marriage fee), and a sum equal to the expenses of the wedding, including the present to the parents of the bride, is the usual form of punishment. The Chemmi or Shemmi is, I am informed, a sort of priest or minister. He was appointed, in olden days, by the chieftains under whom the Paniyans worked, and each Chemmi held authority over a group of villages. The office is hereditary, but, should a Chemmi family fail, it can be filled up by election.

No ceremony takes place in celebration of the birth of children. One of the old women of the village acts as midwife, and receives a small present in return for her services. As soon as a child is old enough to be of use, it accompanies its parents to their work, or on their fishing and hunting expeditions, and is initiated into the various ways of adding to the stock of provisions for the household.

The dead are buried in the following manner. A trench, four or five feet deep, and large enough to receive the body to be interred, is dug, due north and south, on a hill near the village. At the bottom of this excavation the earth is scooped out from the western side on a level with the floor throughout the length of the grave, so as to form a receptacle for the corpse, which, placed on a mat, is laid therein upon its left side with the head pointing to the south and the feet to the north. After a little cooked rice has been put into the grave for the use of the departed spirit, the mat, which has been made broad enough for the purpose, is folded up and tucked in under