PRESENTS. 103 



to a house to carry a present to the owner, who gives some 

 thing of equal value on returning the visit.&quot; Other races 

 show us this mutual propitiation taking other forms. 

 Markham, writing of Himalayan people, states that ex 

 changing caps is &quot; as certain a mark of friendship in the 

 hills, as tw T o chiefs in the plains exchanging turbans.&quot; But 

 the most striking development of gift-making into a form, 

 occurs in Bootan; where &quot; between people of every rank 

 and station in life, the presenting of a silk scarf constantly 

 forms an essential part of the ceremonial of salutation.&quot; 



&quot;An inferior, on approaching a superior, presents the white silk 

 scarf; and, when dismissed, has one thrown over his neck, with the 

 ends hanging down in front. Equals exchange scarfs on meeting, 

 bending towards each other, with an inclination of the body. No in 

 tercourse whatever takes place without the intervention of a scarf; 

 it always accompanies every letter, being enclosed in the same packet 

 however distant the place to which it is despatched.&quot; 



How gift-making, first developed into a ceremony by 

 fear of the chief ruler, and made to take a wider range by 

 fear of the powerful, is eventually rendered general by fear 

 of equals who may prove enemies if they are passed over 

 when others are propitiated, we may gather from Euro 

 pean history. Thus in Rome, &quot; all the world gave or re 

 ceived New Year s gifts.&quot; Clients gave them to their 

 patrons; all the Romans gave them to Augustus. &quot; He 

 was seated in the entrance-hall of his house; they defiled 

 before him, and every citizen holding his offering in his 

 hand, laid it, when passing, at the feet of that terrestrial 

 god . . . the sovereign gave back a sum equal or supe 

 rior to their presents.&quot; Because of its association with 

 pagan institutions, this custom, surviving into Christian 

 times, was condemned by the Church. In 578 the Council 

 of Auxerre forbade Xew Year s gifts, which it character 

 ized in strong words. Ives, of Chartres, says &quot; There are 

 some who accept from others, and themselves give, devil 

 ish Xew Year s gifts.&quot; In the twelfth century, Maurice, 



