


























212 Religion &c. among the Karens. [No. 4, 
a lord of the earth, but there is also a lord to every country and 
land and district. 
Lorp or tue Harts. 
The lord of the earth appears to be confounded with the king of 
Hades, and clearly comes from the Hindu pantheon, but probably 
through the Buddhists. The Sgaus furnish the following account of 
him :— 
“The lord of the earth existed at the creation of the world, and 
the elders say, he rules over the whole world. If we go to a distant 
region, and swear or use foul language, he makes the tigers devour 
us, or the serpents bite us, or brings sickness upon us. Hence, if we 
go to another district, or into the jungle, we are afraid’ to speak 
unadvisedly, or to use bad language. We fear the lord of the earth — 
will hate us. Therefore before we eat, we offer him a little of our 
food, and pray : ‘ Lord of the earth, eat first and preserve us, O lord!’ 
“Tf we transgress in our language, while in a distant land, the : 
lord of the earth will kill us before dark; but if we are in our own 
country, and are guilty of swearing or using indecent words, we make 
him an offering and pray: ‘ We are dark ignorant people. Whatever 
transgressions we may have been guilty of in our words by swearing 
or obscenity, do not, O lord, set against us. We will make offerings 
to thee annually, every year. If we do not die, your lordship shall _ 
eat of our food continually and of our children’s food, generation on 
generation.’ ”’ 
The spirits which are denied admittance into Hades and are con- 
demned to become evil spirits on earth, are regarded as the servants 
of the god of the earth, and employed to execute his orders. 
Among the Sgaus in the south, an annual festival» usually in 
January, is observed, for making offerings to this god and his followers. 
The Bghais observe a similar custom, but it is varied a little. 
Once in three years is the usual period for its performance; but in 
calamitous times once in two years, while a succession of good crops 
and general prosperity will delay it to four or five years. The Bghai 
festival is held, when the paddy is well up, about the month of July. 
As the rite has been described to me, the first thing done is to. 
take a hog to a central position in the village lands, and placing it 
