20 JOHN FRASER, B.A., LL.D. 



nine or ten days, and that part of them was a solemn meal 

 and a solemn bathing, or purification by water; thereafter 

 instruction was given. So, also, a young Brahman must 

 reside with his preceptor for some time, until he has gained 

 a thorough knowledge of the holy books; he must pass 

 through certain purificatory rites, which remove the taint of 

 former sin ; one of these is the cutting off of the hair, and 

 with this seems to correspond the knocking out of a front 

 tooth practised by some of our tribes in Australia.* The 

 singing and the dancing are everywhere essential parts of 

 the heathen worship, and the dance is in its origin religious. 



(G.) Then come the washing and the purification which 

 I have just spoken of, but after that they join hands 

 all round, dance round the fire, and then jump into it and 

 through it. 



(g.) Analogies to this purification and protection by fire 

 are abundant. In Bretagne, at this hour, the farmers protect 

 their horses from evil influences by the service of fire. They 

 kindle fires at nightfall ; then, at dawn of day, the horses are 

 led thrice round the fires, and a particular prayer, known only 

 to a few, is said before the dying flame ; as the last words are 

 pronounced, they all leap on the embers with their feet joined. 

 The ancient British Kelts, to which stock the modern Bretons 

 belong, did much the same thing. On May Day the Druids 

 used to light large fires on the summits of the highest hills, 

 into which they drove their four-footed beasts, using certain 

 ceremonies to expiate the sins of the people. Until very 

 lately, in different parts of Ireland, it was the common 

 practice to kindle fires in milking yards on the first day of 

 May, and then many women and children leaped through 

 them, and the cattle were driven through in order to avert 

 evil influences. In ancient Rome, on the feast of Pales, in 

 April, the same forms of purification and dedication were 

 observed. The Hottentots of the present day retain the old 

 customs, for they make their cattle pass through the fire as a 

 preservative against the attacks of wild dogs. In India, the 

 youth, when about to be invested with the sacred thread, 

 stands opposite the sun and walks thrice round the fire, and 

 in the marriage ceremony the bride is led thrice round the 

 sacred fire. An incantation used by the oldest Chaldaean 

 sourcerers has these words : " May the god Fire, the hero, 

 dispel their enchantments or spells for the injury of others/' 

 An Australian gin, going to the river to fetch water after 

 nightfall, carries for protection a burning stick ; and the men 



* In some parts of Australia the hair is cut off or singed off in the Bora. 



