picturesque disc is rapidly dying out. When the common paper cards are used it is considered always correct to deal from the bottom, and as the packs are well thumbed and often damaged, it is not unusual for certain cards to be easily identified by all immediately they have left the dealer's hand, but this only seems to increase the hilarity of the players. The "Tommy dod" is played with cowries, fifteen of these being taken in the hand, shaken and thrown down on a board, the company betting on which side the most turn up, the split side or the smooth. People seem to drift from one "table" to another during the course of the night, for this aspect of the festival goes on without a break for some days, and where stakes run high, or the betting is keen, excited crowds gather round, cheering lustily at any unexpected turn of the game.
On the tenth and last day of the Dassera festival, it is usual for the Nepali to visit his superiors, in order to pay his respects and at the same time to present a small gift as a token of the burra din or "great day"
