places which they look upon as most holy are on that side. They afterwards begin to sing the story of Gasjendre Mootsjam; but in case the sun be not yet risen, they sing some hymn. This being done they rise, wash their mouths and their teeth; or if there be any sacred river near their houses, or some Tan, i. e. pool of water, they then go and wash at home, and put themselves in it; but in case there be none, they bathe at home, and put on clean clothes.

The Bramins call such clothes clean as have not been put on since they have been washed, or have been wetted since they were worn they are looked upon as clean so long as they have not been worn nor touched by any person. But as silks are spoiled by wetting, they have found out a remedy in this case, by declaring that silk clothes are naturally pure. However, if any one were to eat with a silk gown on, it would immediately become unclean; and for this reason they throw it off before they sit down to table.

Being dressed, they sit down again in the same place, and take some well-water just drawn; for if it were a day old, it would be too stale; in this they dip that thing with which they mark their faces, pour water into their hands thrice, and throw it as many times into their mouths, observing not to touch it with their hands. This being done, they repeat the twenty-four names of God, which they call making Japon, by touching so many parts of the body.

At sunrise they pour water thrice into the hollow of their hands, and throw it on the ground, repeating a short prayer at the same time. This ceremony, which is performed for the sun's sake, is founded on the chimera that the sun rises between certain mountains, and is obliged to pass through a narrow passage, which is infested by certain genii or spirits, who endeavour to check his progress. Some Bramins one day threw up water into the sun, which made such a noise, that it frightened away those devils, and put them to flight. We are very sensible, say the modern Bramins, that what we now do is of no manner of advantage to the sun; however, we thereby give him a testimony of the good-will we bear him, in imitation of those who really succoured him.

They afterwards begin again to throw water thrice into their mouths, as they pay their adorations to the sun, and to the beings who preside over the worlds situated under the heavens. If they be of the sect of the Vishnuvas, they take a kind of chaplet, the beads of which are made of a very fragrant wood called Toleja; but the beads of those of the caste of the Seivias are made of coral or crystal. Some put this chaplet about their necks; others hold it in their hands, but hidden under their coats,

or in a pocket made for that purpose. At the end of every prayer they let drop a bead. Those who have not much time to spare say only twenty-eight prayers; those who have more leisure, repeat one hundred and twenty-eight; but those devotees who have nothing to do, repeat a thousand.

These prayers being ended, they worship Salagrammas, and wash it with clean water. This is an idol made of a particular stone, having a hole in it, in which they say are the coats of arms of God. Tiertum is the name of the water in which they wash it, which is kept for another religious use, as will be seen in the sequel. The idol Salagramma being

thus washed, is dressed in a clean suit, or wrapped up in linen, and anointed with a perfume composed of sandal, odoriferous flowers, and leaves of toleja. The same ceremony is performed before another little idol of copper, on each side of which they light up one or more wax tapers, according to their circumstances or devotion. They present the victuals just dressed, or else fruits or milk. They scatter flowers over it, turn thrice, and sometimes more, round it; and at every turn they fall prostrate on the ground, with their hands clasped and their arms stretched out. They afterwards set the idol on the ground, take the tiertum, or water with which they had washed Salagramma, throw it once on their heads and thrice in their mouths, with a few leaves of toleja, and anoint their foreheads with some angaram, which is a preparation of the gum called benjamin. It is said that the angaram has the virtue of fortifying the mind against sin, but then it must have been offered to the idol; as also the toleja, which they put into their ears, to prevent the impurity they might otherwise contract by touching a dead carcass or a Sondra. The virtue of the tiertum is so great as to purify them from all the sins they may have committed from their infancy. After having presented the whole company with tiertum, they burn a little incense, and then have the liberty to go and breakfast with those Bramins who assisted at the ceremony. They pray before and after meals, wash their hands, throw water thrice into their mouths, make japon, and take tiertum again; and after this ceremony, they are altogether as pure as they were before. They repeat this ceremony as often as they imagine they have been polluted.

If they do not breakfast nor eat before noon, the ablution at daybreak is not sufficient; they therefore repeat it, and return to their idol, before which they strew flowers, or for want of these, some toleja, and present it with whatever they are to eat; for the Bramins dare not take any sustenance before it has been offered to it. A little before sunset they wash themselves again, mark themselves, perform japon, and give water to the If they be Grahastas-i. e., married-they sup. It has been already observed, that the Bramasariis and the Sansjasii make but one meal a day. Lastly, they say a prayer, and after that go to rest.

sun.

In the morning, at noon, and in the evening, after they have performed the ceremony of the twenty-four names of God, they read the Poranes, or ancient chronicles; and this book is held in such great veneration among these people, that they carefully observe to wash their ears, in order that being pure, they thereby may be more worthy to hear so holy a work

read.

Nevertheless, this exercise is not so punctually observed, but that a great many Bramins dispense with several circumstances in it. However, they are indisputably obliged to perform the tiertum and the japon; and if a single person in a house performs everything according to the foregoing injunctions, it suffices for the whole family. Indeed, very few execute punctually all the things prescribed by the law, except those who are employed in the public worship of the idols.

CUSTOMS OBSERVED DURING THE SICKNESS, OR AT THE DEATH OF THE BRAMINS, AND OF THEIR BURIAL.

When a Bramin falls sick, though the vessels of the body be ever so much overcharged with blood, they yet always prefer abstinence to bleeding; but then they frequently make him fast so long, that he quite loses the habit of eating; by which means he is unable to swallow, when they afterwards think proper to give him sustenance.

When the symptoms of death appear, a Bramin is sent for to pray with the sick person, and alms are given to the poor. In the mean time, the sick person is repeating continually the name of God; and when he is no longer able to do it, his friends ring it incessantly in his ears.

The Vedam declares, that as God has promised to assist those who think on his name, and repeat it, he is obliged to succour them in this extreme; but in case their speech fails them, and their friends do this office for them, it is the same thing as if they themselves had performed it. If the sick person be married, and his senses are not yet gone, he asks his wife whether she will be burned, or buried with him. If she answers in the affirmative, she is obliged to adhere to her promise, and it then becomes her duty, because of the oath by which she bound herself at her marriage, in presence of the Bramin and the fire Homam. She then took an oath that her soul should not be separated from that of her husband, and she could not, without being guilty of a great sin, violate an oath which the presence of the Bramin and the fire had made sacred. In case she has any children, and loves them better than she did her deceased husband, then she is at liberty either to live with them or die with him. If she dreads the fire, she must not be forced to throw herself into it; but the general opinion is, that no virtuous woman will refuse to make herself a sacrifice on this occasion; for, according to the Vedam, the duty of a wife consists in the three following particulars :-The first is, a blind and implicit compliance in all the desires and wishes of her husband.

The second duty of a virtuous wife is to observe a great modesty and simplicity in her dress, and not to lead a dissolute life when her husband is out of town.

The third is to die when her husband leaves the world. However, some women, before they marry, put in this clause, viz., that they shall not be burned with him, and oblige their husbands to ratify it. The Bramins leave a woman at her liberty to answer either "yes" or "no," when her husband asks her in his expiring moments, whether she be willing to follow him to death. They themselves confess that the forcing a woman to it, either by violence or threats, is a crime that merits hell. But the Settreas, who are the nobles, constrain their wives to submit to this cruel custom, thinking that their surviving them would cast a stain on their honour; and once, at the death of a Settrea, threescore women threw themselves on his funeral pile, and were there consumed.

They believe that when the sick person is at the point of death, two Jamma-doutas, or judges of hell, always appear to him, whose hideous figure terrifies him; but then a Vishnu-douta is present at the same time.

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* Grail & Lai ƒ pressin viici a Ferrea makes, who, a found a vous prene i va as me drum, when they kitten tavat lie soe. The veng ûne, one of the company preaches

a Dali è tale, and vierte tim is empire equally extends 3. Aganore the young and sit rich and poor; that those who baha da af vuon dual se ingy the dead, but that those who tread ta you a I von was expet mailing bu tarment

A. tia Bras in are not burned if their deaths; for some of them weyond. 14 Viatoue and Smanas are always burned, from an opinion When proven hung them, that though they have served Vishnu ever so first by they yet Contrat certain impurities, which are thoroughly purged by fire. On the contrary, the Seivias and Sansjasiis maintain, that their sins will not be imputed to them, though they have not exactly filled up all the duties of life; consequently, that they have no occasion for this purification, and therefore may be quietly laid in the ground. The former have an eye chiefly to God's justice; the latter rely more on his mercy,

OF WOMEN WHO ARE BURNT OR BURIED WITH THEIR HUSBANDS.

When a woman has promised to follow her husband, either to the funeral pile or the grave, he is no sooner dead than preparation is immediately inade for the interment of both; nor can she retract nor suspend the performance of her promise. She must be consumed on the same day, and in the same fire in which her husband's body is burnt. The Bramins and Voingjas are extremely rigorous on this article; but the Settreas allow their wives to burn themselves at different times, and in different places, when their husbands either died in a foreign country, or many years before.

Notion being given of the husband's death, the woman is seated in a chaic botire the door, splendidly dressed after the manner of the country. Then the instruments begin to strike up; the drums beat; upon which betol is given her to chew, and she is entertained by conversation, for fear Not by thinking too intensely on her impending fate, she should repent of