ClIAP. IX. 
OFFERINGS TO THE GODS. 
157 
now in the widest and finest street in the city, which 
seemed in a blaze of hght and unusually lively for any 
part of a Chinese town after nightfall. The sounds of 
music fell upon my ear, the gong, the drum, and the more 
plaintive and pleasing tones of several wind instruments. 
I was soon near enough to observe what was going on, 
and saw, at a glance, that it was a public offering to the 
gods, but far grander and more striking than I had 
before witnessed. The table was spread in the open 
street, and everything was on a large and expensive 
scale. Instead of small dishes, whole animals were 
sacrificed on the occasion. A pig was placed on one. 
side of the table, and a sheep on the other, the former 
scraped clean, in the usual way, and the latter skinned ; 
the entrails of both were removed, and on each were 
placed some flowers, an onion, and a knife. The other 
parts of the table groaned with all the delicacies in 
common use amongst the respectable portion of the 
Chinese, such as fowls, ducks, numerous compound 
dishes, fruits, vegetables, and rice. Chairs were placed 
at one end of the table, on which the gods were sup- 
posed to sit during the meal, and chopsticks were 
regularly laid at the sides of the different dishes. A 
blaze of light illuminated the whole place, and the smoke 
of the fragrant incense rose up into the air in wreaths. 
At intervals the band struck up their favourite plaintive 
national airs, and altogether the whole scene was one 
of the strangest and most curious which it has ever 
been my lot to witness. 
There is another ceremony of a religious character 
which I frequently observed in the northern cities— I 
