[Death.] 4. The dead are cremated in the standard Hindu form. After the cremation all the mourners touch fire with the eight parts of their bodies, and sit for an hour in silence with the chief mourner. Next morning the chief mourner goes to the pyre, collects the ashes, and throws them into an adjoining stream. They set up an earthen vessel on a pîpal tree through which water drops for the refreshment of the thirsty spirit. While in the state of impurity, the chief mourner is armed with a stick, pointed with iron, to enable him to keep off ghosts. Every day he lays out food for the ghost along the road to the cremation ground. On the tenth day he offers lumps of rice and milk, which he throws into a tank, and all the mourners shave. On the eleventh day the Mahâpâtra receives all the personal effects of the dead man, which he is supposed to pass on to the deceased in the land of the dead. On the twelfth day the chief mourner offers sixteen balls (pinda) to ancestors, and returning, feasts the Mahâpâtra and gives him a cow and a loin cloth. On the thirteenth day Brâhmans are fed. During the fortnight (pitri-paksha), sacred to the manes, in the month of Kuâr, the ground under the eaves of the house is plastered, and some water and a tooth brush stick is left out; and flowers and rice are scattered about for the use of the dead visitors. On the fifteenth day of Kuâr Brâhmans are feasted. [Religion.] 5. They principally worship Devi through Brâhmans. The local gods (dih) they worship through the Baiga with sacrifices of pigs and goats. [Superstitions.] 6. Their superstitions are similar to those of the surrounding castes. They swear by touching their sons’ heads, the feet of a Brâhman, the tail of a cow, or by standing in running water. They believe in the Evil-eye, which is obviated by an Ojha blowing on some dust, and sprinkling it over the person attacked, and repeating appropriate spells (mantra). [Taboos.] 7. Very few drink liquor: none eat beef or pork. They will not touch the wife of a younger brother or the wife of an elder brother-in-law. They will not eat the flesh of the lizard, alligator, snake, jackal, or rat. The women eat separate from the men. [Status.] 8. They rank as respectable high caste Hindus. They are either landholders or tenants with occupancy rights. They dress and wear ornaments like ordinary Râjputs, and among the low tribes around them their claim to that rank is generally accepted. Bâjgi. [211]—A tribe of musicians found in the lower ranges of the Hills. They are possibly akin to the Nats. The name of the tribe is derived from Hindi bajâna, “to play a musical instrument.” In Dehra Dûn they consider themselves indigenous to the district.