the new moon they observe as a Sabbath and fast-day, doing no work in the fields or in the house. They bathe and pray three times a day, in the morning, afternoon, and in the evening, saying Bishno! Bishno! instead of the ordinary Hindu Râm! Râm! Their clothing is the same as of other Bâgris, except that their women do not allow the waist to be seen, and are fond of wearing black woollen clothing. They are more particular about ceremonial purity than ordinary Hindus are, and it is a common saying that if a Bishnoi’s food is on the first of a string of twenty camels and a man of another caste touches the last camel of the string, the Bishnoi would consider his food defiled and throw it away. [Ceremony of initiation.] 6. “A number of representative Bishnois assemble, and before them a Sâdh or Bishnoi priest, after lighting a sacrificial fire (hom), instructs the novice in the duties of the faith. He then takes some water in a new earthen vessel, over which he prays in a set form (Bishno gâyatri), stirring it the while with his string of beads (mâla), and after asking the consent of the assembled Bishnois he pours the water three times into the hands of the novice, who drinks it off. The novice’s scalp-lock (choti) is then cut off and his head shaved, for the Bishnois shave the whole head and do not leave a scalp-lock like the Hindus; but they allow the beard to grow, only shaving the chin on the father’s death. Infant baptism is also practised, and thirty days after birth, the child, whether boy or girl, is baptized by the priest (Sâdh) in much the same way as an adult; only the set form of prayer is different (garbh gâyatri), and the priest pours a few drops of water into the child’s mouth, and gives the child’s relatives each three handfuls of the consecrated water to drink; at the same time the barber clips off the child’s hair. The baptismal ceremony has the effect of purifying the house, which has been made impure by the birth (sûtak).