THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF KWEICIIOW 



175. 



as indicative of an independent spirit (see sketch). They 

 live under a patriarchal system, and unlike the other tribes 

 they have priests though not temples. The priests have 

 tents divided into two parts, of which one is holy and the 

 other holiest. Their sacrifices have to be of flawless crea- 

 tures — cows and fowls. Their sorcerers are men who wield 

 great power, and it is a hereditary profession : the sorcerer 

 must wear a special kind of hat when he is engaged in divina- 

 tion, without it he is powerless : and he has special books 

 with movable disks super-imposed one on the other for casting 

 horoscopes. These books are handed down from generation 

 to generation, and nowadays are printed. Such books were 

 brought by a Christianized sorcerer to be burnt, but the 

 missionary asked leave to< keep them instead, explaining 

 their historical value. The accompanying illustration is 



taken from one of these priceless old MSS. describing the 

 creation and the deluge. It is written on a brittle kind of 

 paper, extremely worn and fragile, and the leaves are 

 fastened together with twisted strips of paper, acting as a 

 string. This is a peculiarly Chinese method of binding, such 

 as you may see students practising any day in class to keep 

 their notes together. The colour of the paper is brown, the* 

 characters black, and the illustrations are painted in several 

 shades of yellow and brown, forming a harmonious whole. 

 The upper circle, containing a bird, is the moon, and the 

 lower circle, containing a beast, is the earth. The script 



