Chap. III. 



CEREMONIES AT TOMBS. 



63 



has a very pretty effect, particularly when one 

 is planted on each side of the tomb. These 

 trees are planted in a half-circle round the grave, 

 leaving the front open. Within this half-circle 

 is the tomb itself, the most common kind being 

 covered with a large mound of earth faced with 

 stone in front, on which the name and age of 

 the deceased are cut and painted. In front of 

 this again is a stone pavement with smooth stone 

 seats, whether destined for the visitor or for the 

 spirit of the departed I cannot tell. Sometimes 

 I met with tombs of the most elaborate work- 

 manship, and constructed in many different ways. 

 Each told its tale of wealth or poverty ; some 

 must have cost very large sums, while others 

 consisted of the coffin laid upon the surface of 

 the ground, and thatched with a little straw. It 

 is a pretty sight, and yet a painful one too, to 

 see the relations of the dead visiting the tombs 

 of their ancestors, which they do at stated pe- 

 riods, for the purpose of burning sycee paper 

 and incense, and chanting prayers to the gods or 

 spirits of the departed. Sometimes a mother may 

 be seen with her children, the youngest probably 

 still an infant in her arms, assembled in front of 

 the grave of the husband and father. The widow 

 is wailing and lamenting her bereavement^ and the 

 poor little ones look on so seriously, while every 

 now and then they prostrate themselves before 

 the grave. Or, it may be, it is the aged who are 

 paying the same respect to the last resting-place 



