FURTHER EXPERIENCES OF MR. FRESH, 
Sunday dress over a Sunday outward demeanour, while 
the heart within is utterly unchanged, for there 
the great “ Mari” still reigns supreme, although 
it may be in quiescent repose gathering up strength 
for the ensuing six days. They do not even attempt 
to drive him away, but, on the contrary, encourage 
him, foster, and increase all the ideas he suggests. 
“ To-morrow we will do it.” Nothing is further 
from their thoughts than to drive him offj and were 
he freely and of hia own accord to take his departure 
they would be sorry and exclaim, Ma^rai ! oh, Marai ! 
come back, come back. ” The fact is, cooly nature 
is just a low, a very low type of human nature in 
general, in a very low state of civilization, or rather 
in an utterly uncivilized condition. Such were some 
of Mr. Fresh’s ideas as he musingly sat in his verandah 
after breakfast. After a little he took a stroll out 
to see what was going on, and on reaching the lines 
he stood a little way off, closely observing all the 
orgies. A large temporary shed was erected in front 
of the kanganr’s room, made of light sticks and rudely 
decorated with stems and leaves of the plaintain tree ; 
bunches of flowers were tied to light strings and hung 
in festoons all round the erection, inside which were 
gravely seated cross-legged, or on their hind legs, the 
chief dignitaries of the estate, as also of several 
neighbouring ones. There they sat, and spake never 
a word, in solemn state, in fitting solemnity, on this 
very critical occasion. A little way off some rude 
stones were set up to answer the purpose of an altar, 
in front of which several smaller ones were erected, 
meant to represent gods, or into which their gods 
were supposed for a short period to enter ; or to state 
it more clearly, the spirits of the deities worshipped 
we'’0 supposed for the time being to, permeate the 
stones. From this explanation the general reader will 
at once perceive it is a popular error in the opinion 
of many that these people actually worship a real 
stone or block of wood. It is not so; they worship 
the spirit whom their abjurations have called forth, 
and which these abjurations have called forth merely 
for a time, to be on the spot and hear the supplications 
of the devotees. We do not believe there are any races 
of people, however low in the scale of human life, 
who are so utterly senseless and ignorant as to worship 
stocks and stones ; ” there is always some hidden 
meaning in the background, similar or somewhat similar 
to what has been explained, just precisely on the same, 
principle and reasoning on which many of the Romanists 
disclaim the charge of bowing and worshipping before 
images, pictures and crucifixes, on the statement that it is 
not these they worship, it is the real personification o| 
