FROiM TONKIN TO INDIA 



he should seek to place his hands upon a child of the debtor. 

 By this process a terrible malediction is conferred on the 

 defaulter. 



Should a rich man fall sick and fail of a cure, he procures a con- 

 senting pauper, dresses him in his own finery, gives him his arms, 



and turns him 

 adrift, in the hope 

 that the evil spirit, 

 hoodwinked by 

 the disguise, will 

 transfer his atten- 

 tions, and torment 

 h i m no more. 

 But if no willing 

 scapegoat can be 

 found even for such 

 a tempting bribe, a 

 straw manikin ma)' 

 be decked in a 

 similar fashion, and 

 left outside. The 

 clothes generally 

 disappear, if not 

 the disease. 



Rich folk, when 



they have attained a certain age, hold their own funeral obsequies 

 in advance with feasting and prayers for a good end. 



When the Thibetans have to defer the burial of their dead for 

 any length of time, they place the corpse in a doubled-up attitude, 



with the head between the knees and the back broken. It is 



236 



A Tliibetan of Tsekou. 



