The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-09-03

for they constantly disappear, and are
as frequently replenishel by pious men
and women, who hope to gain heaven
by emptying baskets Of live cells into
this sacred pond, to be devoured by
the crocodiles. The dark-skinned wa
ter snakes are shy, and only come to
the surface when the coast is clear; but
the crocodiles are perfectly tame and
familiar with the priests. who
keep the temple, and seem
to have the power of even
distinguishing their voices; for only
when called in their we'll known tones
Will they come to the sur face to receive
the rice. bananas, and custard apples
that are brought to them daily. All
round the temple are planted groves of
sacred trees, cighty-one OF which sur
rounded the pond afording most de-
ilghtful and agreeable shade. Such was
the temple and surroundings where I
witnessed one of the most curious and
mystica! ceremonies knownto the Budd-:
hists Of to-day. When I, planted NV.
self under one of the sacred trees, in
what, L considered a~most >favorx blepo!si'
sition to command fine view of the
mystic rites, while watching, at the
same time, the operations Of the holv
crocodiles, was told the position was
too sacred one for an outsider. and.
after some reluctance on the part Of
certain law officers, whose business it
was to attend to the crowd, was per.
mitted to seat myself on fallen branch
of one of the most ancient of the sa-
cred trees, so sedueously. prcserv-
ed that the removal Of q
single twig is prohibited, and
even the fallen leaves, as they are scat.
tered by the wind are collected with
reverence as relics of the holy place.
An immense ccncourse of worshippers
| and interested spectators were seated
in circular form outside Of the inner
circle made by the trees. An open sala
on the east was occupied by band Of
male and female musicians, both vocal
and instrumental. Troops of bright
young pirls, gaily dressed in crimson
and gold, carried baskets of flowers and
fruit as offerings to the sacred beasts in
the pond. There were boys with torch
es flaring in broad daylight; there were
women with silver and golden dishes Of
preserves ard confectionery for the
priests; there were slaves, gorgeously
dressed, bearing costly gifts to the great
sleeping idol; there were great ladies
brilliantly attired in sparkling jewels
that reflected tens Of thousands of suns
on their necks and arms, fingers and
toes, reclining on silken cushions.
There was nothing wanting to complete
the oriental and barbaric pomp of the
strange scene before me.
Presently the conch.shells were
blown loud and shrill, and we saw
lorg line Of priests in yellow garments,
bare-headed and closel y-shorn, with
eyes cast down and, yelling their
faces with jeweled fans, enter through
the open gateway. A general stir was
manifested in the crowd; merry boys
and girls pressed forward; devout and
brilliantly -attired ladies bent the knee
and folded their hands reverentially.
while the slaves and attendants crouched
down and hid their faces in the dust.
As soon as the long line Of priests ap-
preached the pond, they joined hands
and performed sort of march around
it: then they turned their backs to the
pond, and stood still forming q circle,
and each facing one of the sacred trees;
they were eighty-one in numbers
priest for every tree. A loud and sud-
den peal of music now gave the signal
that the ceremony was about to com.
mence, and Immediately seven laymcn,
keepers Of the temple, stepped forward,
with large balls of unspun
cotton thread in their hands, which
they proceeded first to wind round
the trunks of the sacred trees, then
round the body Of each priest-this
was done as many as seven or nine
times; l am not quite sure which
having bound them in long lines to the
trees, SO as to form double circle, one
round the sacred trees and one round
the priests, with straight lines passing
from the body Of each priest toward
the trees; the ends of the thread were
all collected and carried in long lines
thu ough the open doors and windows of
the temple, and placed in an united and
closely-twisted knot in the left palm Of
the sleeping figure of the Buddha.
This was followed by . low, solemn
chant from the priests in concert, dur
ing which each one laid his outstretched
arms lightly on the mystic web of un-
spun cotton that united the living,
breathing, thinking man to the dumb,
mysterious life hidden awsy in the hard,
insensible heart of the tree, and thence
to the hand Of the great sleeping god in
the temple, with whose birth, life and
death the Bhode tree was so intimately
associated. The entire crowd pros
trated themselves, and solemn silence
prevailed during the chant of prayer,
which extolled the praises of the Budd-
ha, enumerated the Is. 10000 ''asong-
kies'' or metempsychoses through
which he struggled to attain divine om-
niscience, and Of which he is supposed to
remember every form he ever entered,
beholding with the clear eyes Of q god
the endless diversities of transmigra-
ton through the vegetable. ANIMAL hu-
man, and angelic worlds throughout the
spaceless, timeless, numberless universe
of visible and invisible life. At length
this weird metaphysical rhapsody end