8o THE LCJSHEI CLANS CHAP.

for the performer to laugh, so he holds a porcupine in his arms,
and if he laughs by accident they say," The porcupine laughed."
The idea of the performer disguising himself as a woman is
that the spirit of the dead tiger may he humbled, thinking
that it has been shot by a woman; and the giving of the flints
while the performer eats eggs is to show the power of the
performer over the the tiger, as he eats the eggs easily, while
the tiger is unable to chew the flints.

HaohuJc Ai.—The Ai of a " haohuk," or gibbon, means a feast
given to all who care to attend. Twenty pots of zu are
required, but they are of a small size. A pig has to be killed
and eaten. This Ai is especially necessary because of the
superstition connected with the killing of these animals, which
will be found in Chapter V.

8. Lohman.—When the jhum house has been completed, the

fieeseon- sacr^ce ^as ^° be performed by the owner of the jhum. The

neeted puithiam has to be called and two fowls killed by him. A

11mm- small hole is dug in the ground under the house and lined

ing. with plantain leaves and then filled with water, and three

small stones are dropped in. The puithiam cuts the throats

of the fowls, allowing the blood to fall into the hole. The

sherh are then cut off and hung under the house, and the

rest of the flesh is cooked and eaten in the jungle. The

next day is hrilh. The first day after this on which they work,

some rice and vegetables are placed on the top of one of the

posts of the house platform as an offering to the Ram-huai.

JFanodawi,—The chief prepares zu in his house. Puithiam
and two upas go just outside the village on the road to the
jhum and sacrifice a cock, and its wings are hung on either side
of the road and the sherh are placed in the middle of the road.
Next day is hrilh; no one goes out of the village except to
carry water. This is to make grain fill in the ear, and is
'"? performed in July.

5. Priest- There is no regular priesthood ; the nearest approach to
hood. priests are the puithiam (great knowers). These men pretend to
be able, by feeling a sick man's pulse, to tell which sacrifice is
needed. The only training necessary is to commit to memory
the various " hla," or charms, which have to be muttered while
performing the sacrifices. Any man who thinks he has a call