I CLANS INCLUDED IN TERM LUSHAI 133

those wise men who are ever ready to interpret every custom
as affording evidence of their particular theories.

Marriage.—The Ngente young man is no more restricted in
the choice of his wife than is the Lushei, but the price is fixed
at seven guns, which are taken as equivalent to Es. 14G/~. Of this
sum the girl's nearest male relative receives Es. 120/-, the
remainder being distributed as follows :•—Es. 8/~ to the " pu,"
maternal grandfather or uncle, Es. 6/- to her elder sister, Es. 4/~
to her paternal aunt, Es. 2/- to the " pSlal," or trustee. Should
a woman die before the whole of her price has been paid, her
relatives can only claim half the remainder.

Childbirth.—Three months before the birth, the mother
prepares zu, which is known as " nao-zu"—i.e., baby's beer, which
must on no account be taken outside the house and which is
drunk in the child's honour on the day of its birth. Women
are delivered at the head of the bedstead, and the afterbirth is
placed in a gourd and hung up on the back wall of the house,
whence it is not removed. The puithiam sacrifices a cock and
hen, which must not be white, outside the village, and, having"
cooked the flesh there, he takes it to his own house for con-
sumption. On the third day after the birth the child is named
by its " pu," who has to give a fowl and a pot of m A red cock
is killed and some of its feathers are tied round the necks of
the infant and other members of the family.

Death Ceremonies.—The Ngento do not attach any importance
to burying their dead near their place of abode. They put up no
memorials and offer no sacrifices, and make no offerings to the
deceased's spirit. The dead are buried wherever it is most
convenient. This is a most singular divergence from the
general custom.

festivals.—The Khuangohoi, Chong, Pawl-kut are observed
In place of the Mim-kut they celebrate a feast called Nao-lam-
kut, which takes place in the autumn. For two nights all the
men and women must keep awake, and they are provided with
boiled yams and zn to help them in doing BO, On the third
day some men dress themselves up as women and others as
Chins, colouring their faces with charcoal They then visit every
house in which a child has been born since the last Mao-lam-
kut and treat the inmates to a dance, receiving presents of