(iv.) Alug putz nitz ithtothi. “Alug come, stand he must.” The Melgars man must stand by a certain tree with the alug when he comes to the new place during the migration of the ti buffaloes.
(v.) Erd pünrs ithtothi. “Two pünrs (four days) he must be.” He stays at Anto from the Sunday on which the buffaloes migrate till the following Wednesday.
In addition to these privileges, it is also the duty of the Melgarsol to carry out rebuilding or repairing operations at a ti mad, and he has also to assist in carrying the body of a dead palol.
The special duties of the Melgarsol are not limited to the ceremonial of the ti, but in certain other ceremonies it is essential that a Melgars man shall be present or take part. He must milk a buffalo to provide milk for Tarthar women coming out of the seclusion-hut both after the hand-burning [[662]]ceremony of pregnancy and after childbirth. He does this for women of his own clan and for those of all other Tarthar clans except that of Kwòdrdoni. A Melgars man must be present on the second day of the irpalvusthi ceremony of the kugvalir of Taradr, and the ceremony of this day, which is called irpataduthti, cannot take place if a Melgars man is not present.
It was also said that a Melgars man must be present whenever a feast is given at the end of a period called pon in any clan, but I am very doubtful as to the necessity of this. I think it is probable that no feast ever occurs at which a Melgars man fails to put in an appearance, and that my informants had come to regard his presence as necessary, but it seemed very doubtful whether his presence was an essential condition for the occurrence of this, as it certainly was in the case of certain other ceremonies.
There was some difference of opinion as to the reasons why the Melgarsol enjoyed these exceptional privileges. The Melgars people themselves believed that their exceptional position was due to the connexion of Kwoto with their clan. They said that when Kwoto became superior to all the gods, and was called Meilitars, these privileges were given to the clan to which he belonged. According to another account, the position of a Melgars man at the head of the procession of the Nòdrs ti was settled by Anto in order to appease the buffalo Enmars when two of its bells were taken away and given to the Pan ti. Others, again, said that the privileges of the Melgarsol were given as a recompense when this clan was deprived of its privilege of becoming palol. There is little doubt that the real reason for the Melgars privileges has been lost and that different reasons have been sought in the Toda legends. The Melgars people have chosen a reason which gratifies their pride in claiming Kwoto as one of themselves, while other Todas have reasons which serve to add to the importance of the sacred institution of the ti, of which they are so proud.
There are other special features in which the Melgars people differ from the rest of the Tarthar clans. They have no wursulir, though they can become wursol to other clans, so [[663]]that, in this respect, they resemble the Teivaliol in being able to tend buffaloes which they do not themselves possess. Another difference is that the palikartmokh of the Melgarsol uses tudr bark in his ordination ceremonies, and this gives him a higher rank than other tarpalikartmokh. It is on this account that a Melgars palikartmokh may not visit the tarvali of another clan (see p. [66]).
The Melgarsol again resemble the Teivaliol in not shaving the head after a funeral, as is done by Tarthar clans other than that of Melgars.
The Melgarsol resemble the Teivaliol in so many respects that it is tempting to suppose that this clan must at one time have formed part of the Teivali division and for some reason was transferred to the Tartharol. Every Toda whom I questioned on the point was, however, certain that the Melgars people had always been members of the Tartharol.
There are two facts which show that there is some special relation between the people of Melgars and those of Kwòdrdoni. One is that intermarriage is said to be prohibited between members of these two clans; the other is that the milking by a Melgars man when a Tarthar woman is leaving the seclusion-hut does not take place in the case of a Kwòdrdoni woman. These facts point to some relation between the two clans of which I was unable to obtain any account.