The pregnancy ceremony referred to above is called pursutpimi, or bow (and arrow) we touch. According to the account given to me by several independent witnesses, the woman proceeds, accompanied by members of the tribe, on a new moon-day in the fifth or seventh month of her pregnancy, to a shola, where she sits with the man who is to become the father of her child near a kiaz tree (Eugenia Arnottiana). The man asks the father of the woman if he may bring the bow, and, on obtaining his consent, goes in search of a shrub (Sophora glauca), from a twig of which he makes a mimic bow. The arrow is represented by a blade of grass called nark (Andropogon Schoenanthus). Meanwhile a triangular niche has been cut in the kiaz tree, in which a lighted lamp is placed. The woman seats herself in front of the lamp, and, on the return of the man, asks thrice "Whose bow is it?" or "What is it?" meaning to whom, or to which mand does the child belong? The bow and arrow are handed to the woman, who raises them to her head, touches her forehead with them, and places them near the tree. From this moment the lawful father of the child is the man from whom she has received the bow and arrow. He places on the ground at the foot of the tree some rice, various kinds of grain, chillies, jaggery (crude sugar), and salt tied in a cloth. All those present then leave, except the man and woman, who remain near the tree till about six o'clock in the evening, when they return to the mand. The time is determined, in the vicinity of Ootacamund, by the opening of the flowers of Onothera tetraptera (evening primrose), a garden escape called by the Todas aru mani puv (six o'clock flower), which opens towards evening. [46] It may be noted that, at the second funeral of a male, a miniature bow and three arrows are burnt with various other articles within the stone circle (azaram). A few years ago (1902), the Todas, in a petition to Government, prayed for special legislation to legalise their marriages on the lines of the Malabar Marriage Act. The Government was of opinion that legislation was unnecessary, and that it was open to such of the Todas as were willing to sign the declaration prescribed by section 10 of the Marriage Act III of 1872 to contract legal marriages under the provision of that Act. The Treasury Deputy Collector of the Nilgiris was appointed Registrar of Toda marriages. No marriage has been registered up to the present time.