170 OCCASIONAL NOTES. - 
his face on the bottom of a pot, eats ducks and chickens raw, 
_ and drinks wine by the bucketful. This is proof positive that 
the old savage owners inside of him and is having a real good 
time. Then he is requested to make a formal cession of the 
land in question. If the farmer is a a rich man the spirit does 
not yield for several days, if he is poor it is settled as soon as 
possible. A sum is fixed upon, a few hundred ligatures say, 
and this is promptly paid, in funeral money of course, which - 
can be bought fora shilling or two. The possessed THa1-PHapP 
signs for the departed savage, planting a thumb dipped m ink 
at the bottom of the written conveyance. Then the medium 
is restored from his mesmerised state, the paper house is burnt, 
and with it the sum of money formally agreed upon. It is” 
usually also stipulated that a pig shall be sacrificed every three 
years or oftener for the better comfort of the old land-owner. 
After this it is hard if the farmer does not enjoy peace o’ nights. 
The household ancestry, as we have said, are worshipped 
more or less all the year round; but the especial great season 
for every one, rich and poor, is the new year, the Tir, the 
Annamese new year of course, which corresponds with the 
Chinese, and falls about the beginning of February. Then 
every one, down to the poorest, who at other times may nob 
have the means or the leisure to pay proper attention to their 
forefathers, betakes himself to the last resting-place of his 
progenitors, and there is much burning of incense and funeral 
money, much scattering of rice and heaping up of fruit and 
flowers, during four days. The grass and other vegetable 
growths round about the tombs are carfully weeded away, and 
at the head of each a leaf of gold or silver is placed, and on 
this a stone to prevent it from being carried off by the wind. 
The belief is that, at a season such as the Tir, the evil spirits 
are particularly active and spiteful on account of the general 
rejoicing and feasting which they see going on upon earth. 
They are therefore exceptionally likely to do harm to ordinary, — 
easy-going souls, such as those of the rude forefathers of the ~ 
hamlet. But their cupidity thwarts them. They clutch at 
the glittering leaf placed at the grave-head, and, while they 
are doing so, the respectable spirit down below has time to 
scurry off toa place of safety. The Plaine des Tombeaux at 
