Bless us in spite of the faults in this our worship.”
Bualchuam hill is the hill in which the first men built their first village, Buhmām the hill on which the first bird’s nest was built by a crow. The other hills mentioned give a clue to the village sites of the first Lushei chiefs. The omission of a prayer to be preserved from the danger of gunshots shows that the chant has remained unaltered in spite of the gun having superseded the dah and the spear.
2. Khāl. There are many sorts of Khāl. The following are some of the most important.
Vok-te-Khāl.—A small pig killed near the head of the parents’ sleeping platform, flesh cooked inside the house, and the skull hung over the sleeping place. The sherh consisting of the heart and liver and fat, are kept for the night in a pot with salt and rice and then thrown away. The day of the sacrifice and the night following are “hrilh” for the household.
Ar-Khāl.—Similar to the Vok-te, but a red cock is killed, and instead of the head, the long feathers from above the tail, called “fep” by the Lushais, are strung on a cane and hung over the parents’ sleeping place. The sherh, consisting of the head, feet, heart and liver, and wings, are placed in a small basket and thrown away in the morning.
Kel-Khāl.—A goat is killed in a place where the water tubes are kept; its flesh is cooked inside the house. The sherh are hung on a cane in the front verandah. The hrilh lasts three days, and during that time no intercourse must be held with strangers, nor must any of the household enter the forge.
These three sacrifices should always be performed soon after marriage, but poor persons postpone them till ill-health shows that the Huais will wait no longer. Dreams are also the means of notifying when a Khāl should be performed. If a person dreams of a beautiful stranger of the opposite sex who laughs constantly, then the Vok-te-Khāl should be performed, and if the dream is repeated often Ar-Khāl must follow or the dreamer will certainly get ill. Should a tiger bite the dreamer, Kel-Khāl is most urgently needed, and if not performed the dreamer will certainly die. Persons who dream this dream are so frightened that they will not leave their houses after dark, nor stir beyond the village during the day, for fear of a tiger seizing them.
Vān-chung-Khāl.—A white cock is killed on the hearth and the flesh cooked inside the house. The sherh are placed in a winnowing basket on the top shelf over the hearth with salt and a little rice taken from the pot before anyone has eaten. The next morning it is thrown away. Hrilh only for one night.
Khāl-chuang or Mei-awr-lo.—“Tail not worn”—because it is not obligatory for the performer to wear the tail on a string round his neck as is is done in Kel-Khāl.
A goat is killed as in Kel-Khāl and the sherh are treated in the same way, but the flesh must not be cooked till the next day, and it is “thiang-lo” to eat “thei-hai” fruit. Though this sacrifice is so very similar to the Kel-Khāl, yet it is considered more efficacious.