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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY..
of time. With the exception of the abovementioned, corpses are usually burnt. A cow or a bullock is slain, and the tail cut off and put in the dead person's hand, after the cot on which the corpse is carried has been placed upon the funeral pile. If a pujárt or Koi priest is present, he not unfrequently claims a cloth or two belonging to the dead person. The cot is then removed and the body burnt. Mr. Vanstavern reports having seen part of the liver of the slain animal placed in the mouth of the corpse. The friends of the deceased then retire, and proceed to feast upon the animal slain for the occasion. Three days afterwards they generally return bringing contributions of cholam, and having slain one or more animals have a second feast. They are not very nice in their tastes, as they by no means object to the presence of blood in the flesh used at their feasts.
The general idea of the Kois is that the spirits of the dead wander about the forest in the form of pishúchas.
They do not believe that any one dies what is commonly called a natural death, but always assert that the death of every one is caused by the machinations of a sorcerer, instigated thereto by an enemy of the deceased or of the deceased's friends. So, in former years, inquiry was always made as to the person likely to have been at such enmity with the deceased as to wish for his death; and having settled upon a suspicious individual, the friends of the deceased used to carry the corpse to the accused, ad call upon him to clear himself by undergoing the ordeal of dipping his hands in boiling oil or water. Within the last two years I have known of people running away from their village because of their having been accused of having procured, by means of a wizard, the death of some one with whom they were at enmity about a plot of land.
Blood revenge has scarcely yet died out in British territory, and in the Bastar country it is said to be in full exercise.
Reputed wizards and witches are held in great abhorrence, and at times the British rule is complained of as unjust in not allowing these people to be put to death.†
Birth ceremonies.-The Koi women are very hardy and careless about themselves. After the
Three months ago a Koi living in the Bejji taluka, Bastar, not far from the border, was compelled by his
[SUPPLEMENT, 1876.
birth of a child they do not indulge in the luxury of a cot, but, according to their usual custom, continue to lie upon the ground, bathe in cold water, and eat their accustomed food. Directly the child is born, it is placed upon a cot, and the mother resumes her ordinary work of fetching water, wood, leaves, &c., cooking for the family, &c. On the seventh day the child is well washed, and all the neighbours and near relations assemble together to name the child. Having placed the child on a cot, they put a leaf of the mhowa tree in the child's hand, and pronounce some name which they think suitable to the child. If the child cry, they take it as a sign that they must choose another name, and so they throw away the leaf and substitute another leaf and another name, until the child shows its approbation by ceasing to cry. Any public-spirited person in the vil lage or neighbourhood who is honoured by having his name bestowed upon it, ever afterwards regards the child with some amount of interest. Most Kois now name their children without all the elaborate ceremonial mentioned above. A feast is always held at the end of the days of ceremonial uncleanness.
Formerly on a certain day in the year the Koi men of each village were driven into the jungle by the women to hunt, and were not allowed to return unless they brought home some game,-a small bird, or even a rat, being enough to give them the right to be welcomed back. This practice is still carried on by the Kois in the Bastar country, and also by many in the Nizam's territory. Mr. Vanstavern, whilst boring for coal at Beddadanolu, was visited on that day by all the Koi women of the village, dressed up in their lords' clothes, and they told him that they had that morning driven their husbands to the forest to bring home game of some kind or other. Mr. Vanstavern also states that the Kois round Beddadanolu do not eat the goat annually offered for a prosperous harvest, but leave it to itself in the jungle tied up to a tree.
The Kois say that the following gods and goddesses were appointed to be worshipped by the Sûdras:-Muttelam ma, Maridimahalakshmi, Poturazu, and Korrazulu, and the following were to receive adoration from the Kois:-Kommalamma, Kâtûradu,
neighbours to kill a near female relative, because they regarded her as an adept in the black art.
