1865.] Description of a Mystic Play. 79 



the rulers of the burial-ground* proceeding with dancing, take up the 

 corpse, f making the gesture of the trident. Heruka, a god holding in 

 his right hand a lance with a flag, and in the left a man's heart and a 

 snare, % enters attended by the Lady mother (Heruka's wife) having in 

 "her right hand a club (Khatomka, Sanscrit Khatwanga) and in her left 

 hand, a skull. 



Four incantations with bells and faces ; four women, who cany a 

 snare, a little child's corpse, § a heart, and a cymitar ; their dress a wide 

 human skin, a potka, and leopard skin petticoat. Dancing and music 

 continue, while the last that enter are four Tiger coats, (warriors with 

 bows and arrows). 



In the 4th act, the dancers are four Libators of Chang, and eight 



other performers (some unintelligible words here follow.) 



A mask named "Large mouth" with a censer, another with a drum 

 and Hashang with his children || now come on the scene and the 

 MS. concludes with a number of cyphers indicating the number of 

 the steps in each dance. 



* Viz. two male and two female demons. 



f Lying on the triangle-shaped framework. 



J A magic rope for catching noxious beings. 



§ Such things as the little child's corpse and the human skin are not real, 

 the former is a small figure, the latter a loose counterfeit made of silk or other 

 stuff. 



|| Hashang was originally a Chinese pi'iest whom I find mentioned in Tibetan 

 historical books as a preacher of heretical doctrines. Here in this play, Hashang 

 seems represented as a sort of school-master masked as a very old man and 

 attended by a lot of masked children. 



