the equator, and bring the culminating glory of the feast. So great a day must commence with appropriate ceremonial, and _in this instance it is bathing_. In country places the women run early in the morning to the _nearest tank_ and _plunge bodily in without undressing_." [This is alluded to by Mr Gover as "an innovation so uncomfortable and possibly dangerous;" but no evidence is adduced of its being an innovation, and its being the custom of the "country parts" would incline us to the contrary belief.] The men also bathe very carefully, as if the occasion _were very solemn_. Reference is made to the Rig Veda, i. 23, 15-24 (Wilson, i. 57); but in these verses occur the words, "waters take away whatever sin has been found in me." "Dripping wet, the women proceed, without changing their clothes, to prepare the feast, ... new chatties, or earthen vessels had been purchased for the occasion; one of them is now taken and is filled with rice, milk, sugar, dholghee or clarified butter, grain, and other substances, calculated to produce a tasty dish.... The ingathering must be celebrated with things that have just been garnered. Usually Hindoos will not eat new rice, as it is indigestible" (refer to Leviticus xxiii. 10-14). Another incident is that--"The head of the house approaches the image (of Ganesa), and performs pûja. Then follows a procession of the young married couples to propitiate their mothers-in-law.... So a present, the best the house can provide, is carefully put together on a tray. It may be fruit, or brass pots, or ghee, or whatever else may be thought most acceptable. Then a small procession is formed. In front go three or four men, beating on tom-toms and blowing pipes. Then follows the gift, held aloft. Over it, if the family be respectable, is held an umbrella, carried by a servant who walks behind the bearer of the gift.... The nearest relative steps forward and asks that the daughter and her husband may come to the 'boiling,' to fill up the family circle. Then follows the boiling of the pot; 'as the milk boils, so will the coming year be.' The Pongol is one long series of visits, entertainments, and social joys." (Comp. Mandan Festival, _supra_.)