Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 4.djvu/12

KESSOA, MASON, AND HIS WIFE. performed by elders of the tribes and family connections; but they do not obtain, or perhaps seek, the services of Brahmins or other Hindoo priests on these occasions, as, indeed, it would be impossible to ask them to officiate. Some of the Dome tradesmen are migratory; and blacksmiths, masons, basket makers, and carpenters live in blanket tents for the whole or greater part of the year, travelling from village to village. They are not, however, allowed to reside within village precincts, nor to draw water from village wells. If they settle at all, they build huts or pitch their tents outside villages, and remain only as long as they obtain work. Some of their women are singers and dancers, and with the men, who act as musicians, give a rude kind of entertainment, consisting of ballads and recitations, the subjects of the latter being drawn from the adventures of Krishna, and as such are not of a very decent character. In regard to their food, the Domes cannot be said to have any restrictions. They eat the flesh of tame pigs, cattle that have died natural deaths, and game, if they can obtain it. Spirituous liquors are not forbidden to them, and on occasions of domestic feasts they indulge in them to excess. In the Himalayas, however, they affect the purity of the Rajpoots, and are more abstinent than in the plains. Domes burn their dead, and the ceremonies performed assimilate in a great degree with those of the Rajpoots. They are a widely spread tribe, and are found in most parts of India, differing little anywhere in condition or pursuits. Low as they are in social caste, yet the Halalkhores and other tribes are yet lower. Domes will not eat food prepared by them, nor take water from them. Thus they contrive to preserve a kind of caste, and any irregularities in their conduct are punished by caste tribunals, presided over by elders of families.