the egg on its end on the ground and puts thirty tiny pieces of dog’s
flesh on each side of it. The gate is then opened and after the usual
chanting the ceremony is at an end. A village which has done the
oyantsoa “genna” must not allow any uncooked rice to leave the village
till after the next Tuku “genna.”
After the oyantsoa “genna” and before the fields are cut for the next
year’s cultivation, some villages perform a ceremony called Pyotsoja in
honour of Tchhüpfu, the godling of rivers. On the appointed day the
Puthi sets out from the village early in the morning, accompanied by
all the grown-up men of the community. A bird-hunt is organized, and
when one has been caught alive all go down to the Doyang. On the bank
the Puthi kills a hen and lays out ten scraps of its flesh on his
up-stream hand for Tchhüpfu and nine scraps on his down-stream hand. A
miniature raft of bamboos is made, on which are put an egg, a little
cotton wool and the live bird tied by the leg. The raft is then allowed
to float down-stream. If it upsets it is a bad omen and it is believed
that someone will be drowned during the term of office of the Puthi. A
little poison is then pounded into the stream and the Puthi gets into
the water and flounders about like a stupefied fish. His Yenga plunges
in and seizes him and calls out, “I have caught such and such a fish!
No, it is such and such a fish! No it is not; it is such and such a
fish,” and so on, calling out the names of different kinds of fish. Of
the fish killed the first is offered to Tchhüpfu as the chicken was,
and the rest are divided up among those present.