260 FROM THE PASSAGE OF MOUNT H.EMUS, 
CHAP. Roman superstitions. Their religion is said to 
< ., ^ , „ / be that of the Greek Church : and if a number 
Religion. ^£ ^j^^ Hiost ridiculous forms and absurd cere- 
monies may bear the name of religion, it is 
perhaps nearer to the Greek than to any other. 
But in the meat-offerings made for the dead, we 
observed customs that were strictly Roman, 
although not peculiar to the Roman people ; 
Buch as the placing a dish of boiled wheat upon 
the body of a deadperson\ This we saw after- 
wards in Bukorest. The Romans used bread for 
(l) BaRon Born, in his "Travels through theBannatof TeraeswaF," 
(Let. 3. p. 19. Loml.mj.) mentions similar customs of the same 
people. " Wine," he says, " is thrown upon the grave, and frankin- 
cense burned around it, to drive away evil spirits and witches. This 
done, they go home ; bake bread of wheat flour , which, to the expiation 
of the deceased, they eat ; plentifully drinking, to be the better com- 
forted themselves. The solemn shrieks, libations of wine, and 
fumigations about the tomb, continue during some days, nay, even 
some weeks, repeated by the nearest relations." His account of the 
howling interrogation which takes place at the sinking of the corpse 
into the grave, seems to prove the Celtic origin of the TVdlacliians, 
and of the Romans their forefathers. " At this moment, the friends 
and relations of the deceased raise horrid cries. They remind the 
deceased of his friends, parents, cattle, house, and household; and 
ask ybr what reason he left them." Ibid. Upon the subject of their 
settlement in Walachia, and the origin of their name, the following 
observations occur in the Decads of Bonfinius. " Valachi enim 6 
Romanis oriundi, quod eorum lingua adhuc fatetur, quum inter tarn 
varias Barbarorum gentes sita, adhuc extirpari non potuerit, ulterio- 
remlstri plagam, quam Daci ac Geta; quondam incoluere,habitarunt. 
nam citerioroui Bulgiiri; qui ^ Sarmati^ prodiere, deiude occupa- 
