the season's prospects, the future of the bereaved family, etc. The collected rice is regarded as sacred, and is partaken of by all. Each sept has its own goppamane, which is a rectangular space with mud walls on three sides. In cases in which the corpse has been buried close to the village, the grave is marked by a file of stones. Two or three years afterwards, the body is exhumed, and the bones are collected, and placed in front of the house of the deceased. All the relations weep, and the son conveys the bones to Nirgundi, where he buries them. On the eighth day he revisits the spot, and erects a stone with the ceremonial already described. The Uralis worship a variety of minor deities, and sacrifice sheep and goats to Palrayan. They observe two annual festivals, viz.:--(a) Thai nombu, when the whole house is cleaned, and margosa (Melia Azadirachta) twigs and spikes of Achyranthes aspera are tied together, and placed in front of the house over the roof, or stuck into the roof overhanging the entrance. A sumptuous repast is partaken of. This ceremonial takes place in the month Thai (December-January). (b) In the month Vyasi (March-April) a large trough is placed close to a well, and filled with a mixture of salt and water. The cattle, decorated with leaves and flowers, are brought, one by one, to the trough, and made to drink the salt water. Uril Parisha.--A class of Mussad. Uru.--Ur, Uru, meaning village, is the name of a division of Bedar, Boya, Golla, Korava, Kuruba, Madiga, and Odde. The Bedars and Boyas are divided into two main divisions, Uru or those who dwell in villages, and Myasa (grass-land or forest people) who live away from villages. In like manner, the Uru Oddes are those who have abandoned a nomad life, and settled in villages. Among some of the Tamil cultivating classes, the headman is known as the Ur Goundan. Ur-Udaiyan (lord of a village).--A synonym of Nattaman. Urukathi (a kind of knife).--An exogamous sept of Toreva. Urukkaran, a class of Muhammadan pilots and sailors in the Laccadive islands. (See Mappilla.) Urumikkaran.--The Urumikkarans, or those who play on the drum (urumi), are said [83] to be "Tottiyans in Madura, and Parayans elsewhere." The Kappiliyans say that they migrated with the Urumikkarans from the banks of the Tungabadra river, because the Tottiyans tried to ravish their women. At a Kappiliyan wedding, a Urumikkaran must be present at the distribution of betel on the second day, and at the final death ceremonies a Urumikkaran must also be present. Usira (usirika, Phyllanthus Emblica).--A sept of Komati. Utla.--Utla or Utlavadu has been recorded as an occupational sub-caste of Yerukala, and an exogamous sept of Boya and Padma Sale. The name is derived from utlam, a hanging receptacle for pots, made of palmyra fibre, which some Yerukalas make and sell. [84] Uttareni (Achyranthes aspera).--An exogamous sept of Boya.