1865.] Religion &c. among the Karens. 207 
again. Make us strong, make us vigorous; all of us. When we fall 
on the wood, hew it through; when we fall into the coffin, split it 
open, [%. e. raise us up from the point of death]. Establish us, make 
us immoveable. Let not plots, let not devices against us succeed. 
Let us have large crops, let us have good paddy. Let us have little 
grass, let us have few weeds. Let our labour be light, let us eat 
whatever we want. Let us succeed in our works; let us eat with 
little work. Let the effects of our labours increase, let our produce 
swell up, like rice in boiling. Let us ascend to the tops of the moun- 
tains, let us descend to the depths of the valleys. Let us spear hogs, 
let us seize captives. Let us purchase kyee-zees, let us dig out the 
pangolin, [7. e. let us accomplish difficult things]. In the water, let 
us be great rocks; on land, let us be large wood-oil trees. Let not the 
tiger seize us, let not the tiger kill us. When the tiger would leap on 
us, may he growl; when man would seize us, may he cough. When 
tigers would leap on us, may they wait for each other; when men 
would seize us, may they feel abashed. Let us devour a stream to its 
source, let us eat a creek to its mouth, [¢. e. get possession of the 
whole valley]. Let us eat up the rock to atoms, let us eat the sand 
to dust, [7. e. overcome every difficulty].” 
The priestess next lays her left hand on the neck of the hog, and 
with her right, she grasps the hand of the oldest person in the com- 
pany, and shaking it slowly up and down, she repeats the above 
prayer. In this way, she goes round the whole company from the 
~ oldest to the youngest, repeating the prayer with each. 
_ The hog is killed next, but it is not killed with a knife or spear ; 
_ but a sharpened bamboo is forced into it on the right side, under the 
fore leg. When the bristles have been singed off, a part of the flesh 
‘ is cooked with rice flour in a chatty, and a part in joints of bamboo ; 
: but the head is hung up whole on the posts of the table. 
When the rice and meat is spread out, the priestess shakes hands 
again with each one, and prays as before. She then tastes the food, 
and after her the others taste it in succession, from the oldest to the 
youngest. 
This done, they rise up, and the priestess tastes the spirits; and, as 
before, all the rest follow her example according to seniority. After 
this they all return to the food again. 

