Cuar. XVII] FORMS OF TOMBS. 323 
some time, they call upon the relatives, and inform 
them, that for some cause which they affect to ex- 
plain, it is absolutely necessary to remove and re- 
inter it. Should the relations object to this, the 
answer is, ‘Very well, I don’t care, but your 
children and relations will also be regardless of 
your remains when you die, and you will be miser- 
able in your graves.” The feelings of the poor de- 
luded people are thus wrought upon, and a further 
sum of money is extracted for finding a more suit- 
able grave. 
The late Mr. Lay, during one of his rambles 
amongst the hills on the banks of the river Min, was 
present at one of these ceremonies, and the relatives 
of the deceased crowded round him and consulted 
him as to the site of the grave, under the impres- 
sion that he was well versed in such matters. He 
remarks in his journal, that “much good or much 
evil is thought to betide the survivors from a right 
or wrong position. Keangse practitioners in this 
‘te-le’? and ‘fung shwuy, or soothsaying from 
the influence of the earth’s local modalities, get 
large moneys by the trade; but as they do not 
agree amongst themselves, the people are fain to ask 
counsel of a stranger.” 
In my travels in the south of China I often came 
upon graves in the most retired places amongst the 
hills; they were all more or less of the same form, 
namely, a half circle cut out of the hill side, having 
the body interred behind it. Sometimes, indeed 
x¥2 
