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Later on the Siem, with the high priest and other attendant priests, walks with extremely slow gait to a small hill where a stone altar has been prepared, and sacrifices a cock in honour of u'lei Shillong, or the god of the Shillong Peak. Having danced before the altar, the party returns to the house of the Siem priestess and executes another dance in the great courtyard.

In the Mawiong State the ancient custom was that six basans appointed the Siem, subject to the approval of the people of the Siemship. In the Nobosohpoh State there are two Siem families, the "Black" and the "White" from either of which it has apparently been the custom for the people to select a Siem, as they wished.

U 'rai-shan is cultivated in rotation with the potato, u 'rai-soh and u 'rai-truh are generally cultivated on jhumed land, where they thrive well. The following are the best known varieties: Ka kait khún, ka kait siem, ka kait kulbuit, ka kait bamon, ka kait shyieng.

All that the Siem usually receives from his people in the way of direct revenue is the State subscription, or pynsuk, mentioned above. Even this is supposed to be a voluntary contribution, and it is not demanded in some States. This tax is nominally a collection to meet the expenses of the State ceremonies, but is really a means of increasing the chief's private income.

Accordingly, when all the people sat in a circle, and the child was placed in the midst, he went to no one, and, although the king called and coaxed him much, he nevertheless refused to go. Then the king said, "Remember who is absent." All replied, "There is no one else except U Manik Raitong." The Siem replied, "Call, then, U Raitong."

He is appointed by the Siem with the consent of the adult males of the villages which he is to supervise. The Siem family of Nongkhlaw, or Khadsawphra, is believed to have been founded by a Synteng of the name of U Shajer, who left the Jowai hills with his sister, Ka Shaphlong, because she had failed to obtain her share of the family property in Jaintia.

On this occasion a pig is sacrificed to u'lei lyngdoh and a goat to ka lei long raj. The parties at fault are then outcasted. As mentioned in another place, the sin of incest admits of no expiation for the offenders themselves. In other Siemships such property passes to the Siem.

After some generations the lyngdoh of Mairang with his villages became subject to the Siem of Nongkhlaw, an event which finds mention in the annals of the Nongkhlaw State as the conquest of the territory of the "Black" Siem of Nongspung. Another lyngdoh was appointed in place of the one whose territory had been thus annexed.

Nadúh ki sngi ki Siem Tymmen haduh ki sngi U Ram Singh Siem ia kane ka blei bah ka kymai u lei ba khraw ki kñia da ki briew ár-ngùt shi snem shi snem hamar u bynái ba ki puja ne ai ngúh ha Jaintiapur. kata, hamar u 'nái wieng bad u 'nái nohprah. Ynda ki la kñia ha Jaintiapur da ki Bramon, ki sa ia lam ia ki sha ka iew Mawshái ne ka iew Shangpung ba ki'n bám shiwa katba mon na kata ka iew.

Here there is no special electoral body; all the adults of the state have the right to vote at the election of a Siem. In Bhawal State Siems are appointed by the heads of eight clans whose decision is apparently final, provided that it is unanimous. In Malai-Sohmat a bare majority of the heads of six clans would be sufficient for the election of a Siem.