156 



FUNERAL PROCESSION. 



Chap. VJII. 



the deceased belonged, also clad in white, then the 

 servants and undertaker, and last of all a long 

 train of priests. 



I stood on one side of the lake, in front of the 

 temple, in order to get a good view of the pro- 

 cession as it winded round the other. It was a 

 beautiful October morning ; the sun was now 

 peeping over the eastern mountains behind the 

 monastery and shedding a flood of light on water, 

 shrubs, and trees, while every leaf sparkled with 

 drops of dew. In such a scene this long and strik- 

 ing procession had a most imposing effect. The 

 boys with their flags, the chief mourner moving 

 slowly along with his candles burning in the clear 

 daylight, the long line of priests with their shaven 

 heads and flowing garments, the lake in front, and 

 the hills covered with trees and brushwood be- 

 hind, were at once presented to my view. As we 

 passed a bridge, a little way from the temple, a 

 man belonging to the family of the deceased, and 

 who carried a basket containing cash — a Chinese 

 coin — presented a number of the followers with 

 a small sum, which they received with apparent 

 reluctance. Most of the priests followed the bier 

 but a short distance from the temple ; but the 

 chief mourner, the intimate friends, and servants, 

 with a band of music, followed the body to its last 

 resting-place. The spot selected was a retired and 

 beautiful one, on the lower side of a richly-wooded 

 hill. Here, without further ceremonies than the 

 firing of some rockets, we left the coffin on the 



