PRAYER-WHEELS 431 



the most mechanical of religious devices. But I find that 

 it amounts to no more than a species of rosary. It con- 

 sists of a small cylindrical box, perhaps three inches in 

 diameter by four long, through the centre of which runs 

 a spindle with a wooden handle. A three-inch chain with 

 weifi'hted end is fastened to one side of the box, and its 

 centrifugal force will keep the box revolving easily on the 

 spindle. The owner pays the priest to write him a suit- 

 able prayer, which may be for the recovery of one sick, 

 for the repose of a deceased relative, or for forgiveness of 

 sins. This prayer he puts into the box, and then twirls 

 it about, while he recites (pardon misspelling) : " Oo manee 

 pay mee boon!" (O God, hear my prayer!) "Wherein this 

 is more idolatrous than the fingering of beads, or genu- 

 flections, or bowings, or the sign of the cross, or kissing 

 relics, or than any mere form of any religion, I fail to 

 see. It is a simple means of keeping the simple devotee 

 faithful in the performance of a holy duty. The box, by- 

 the-vvay, has usually the words of the ejaculation engraved 

 on its margin. 



The Thibetans have perhaps the queerest of all customs 

 in disposing of their dead — or, at least, many of the tribes 

 have. JSTo doubt the Hindoos, especially in view of their 

 hot climate, use the wisest method of burial — to wit, burn- 

 ing. The Hindoo body is placed on an ordinary pile of 

 wood, and the fire is lighted by a relative with certain 

 ceremonies ; the ashes are cast into the nearest river, and 

 thrice happy he who is burned on the banks of the holy 

 Ganges. The Parsees, on the other hand, consider the 

 elements — fire, earth, water — as too sacred to be polluted 

 by dead bodies. They expose their dead in Towers of Si- 

 lence, where the vultures devour them — an operation 

 which lasts a bare hour. The Thibetans cut up their dead 

 into small pieces, and cast these forth to the birds and 



