[Occupations and social position of the Eastern Doms.] 38. The occupation and social position of the Eastern Doms differ much according to the sub-castes. One duty of the ordinary Dom is to supply fire for cremation. Mr. Sherring [351] describes the custom at Benares as follows:—“On the arrival of the dead body at the place of cremation, which in Benares is at the base of one of the steep stairs (ghât) called the Burning Ghât, leading down from the streets above to the bed of the River Ganges, the Dom supplies five logs of wood, which he lays in order upon the ground, the rest of the wood being given by the family of the deceased. When the pile is ready for burning, a handful of lighted fire is brought by the Dom, and applied by one of the chief members of the family to the wood. The Dom is the only person who can furnish the light for this purpose; and if, from any circumstance, the services of one cannot be obtained, great delay and inconvenience are apt to occur. The Dom exacts his fee for three things, namely, first, for the five logs, secondly, for the bunch of straw, and thirdly, for the light.” There is no fixed fee, and as the Dom naturally makes the best of his position and raises his demands according to the position and wealth of his customers, this class of Dom, who is known as Kâshiwâla or “he of Benares,” has a bad reputation for insolence and extortion. 39. From his business and environment the Dom is, of course, regarded by all respectable Hindus with contempt, fear, and abhorrence. No one will touch food or water from his hands. The Magahiya Dom of Gorakhpur will eat anything except the flesh of the monkey, serpent, and lizard. Mr. Kennedy says that they eat most things, including carrion; but certain animals, beasts of prey, cats, and dogs, etc., they will not eat. In Mirzapur I have seen them squabbling over the carcass of a dead horse in an obvious condition of advanced decomposition. They are always on the look out for tiger flesh, but they say that they stew it down more than once, as it is very heating. They will, as already stated, refuse the leavings of a Dhobi, and to this the more settled Doms of Mirzapur add those of the Hela, Musahar, and Chamâr. Doms who have adopted more cleanly occupations than their vagrant and scavenger brethren, such as basket-making, are naturally becoming more Hinduised and more careful in matters of diet. Those Doms who have settled down, like the Bânsphor and the Dharkâr, to working in cane, and the Jallâd to scavenging and acting as public executioners, are fairly respectable, industrious people. Those who work in cane use a peculiar curved knife known as bânki. They make fans (bena), baskets (dauri), boxes (petâra), scales (tarâzu), winnowing fans (sûp), lampstands (dîwat), irrigation baskets (dala), and betel boxes (belhara). These workers in cane are known in cities by the Persian title of Bedbâf [352] (Pers. bed, “cane;” bâftan, “to weave”). They split the cane into