Curious Native Customs. 431 



A huge tank, almost resembling a pond, in which the Hindoos 

 thrice daily performed their ceremonies, and went through 

 their ablutions, lies in front of the temple, surrounded on its 

 remaining sides by buildings for various purposes, while a 

 stately elephant, specially consecrated to the service, is kept 

 on the side next the temple, which carries up a pitcher 

 of water every forenoon from the pool in front of the pagoda, 

 one of the servants attached to the temple sitting on his 

 back holding it, while a second, seated behind him, keeps 

 waving a fan in either hand. The elephant is first con- 

 ducted round the temple and then inside, in order to pre- 

 sent the water to the god. This elephant (which animal 

 it seems is itself an incarnation of Vishnu) had the dis- 

 tinguishing mark of the sect, as also several other indica- 

 tions of a similar nature richly tatooed upon his huge broad 

 forehead. Every evening during the continuance of the 

 fourteen days' festival, the various temples and dancing 

 booths w^re briUiantly illuminated with wax tapers and oil 

 lamps, but admission was refused to the profane, and in the 

 eyes of Brahmah, unbelieving Europeans, a rule which was 

 everywhere enforced with much politeness but unvarying 

 firmness. Moreover, everything that the hand of a Euro- 

 pean has touched is unclean to the Hindoo. Only the 

 Pariah, or " outcaste," the very lowest class of the people, 

 eats any food that has been prepared in the kitchen of a 

 Christian. 



The most substantial part of the festival, however, was 



