The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-01-07

the desire for company and from Iazi-
ness. In hammering or pounding a
group viii be formed, one member Of
which sings a long, monotonous chant
and at the end Of each verse all strike
in unison. It is estimated that thirty
strikes an hour is fast work. Women
do most of the heavy labor. Several
able-bodied men viii lift a large stone
or heavy burden to woman's head
and she will walk off with 1t. one
workman when asked if he was, OBJ
serving a certain religious fast, replied
that ne was not, as he was working and
required his food. but that he was
making his wife keep 1t.
The musical instruments Of Ceylon
consist Of ivory horns, drums ana
tom toms" the latter being sort OF
tanbourfne made of well-cured sheep
skin tightly stretched over wooden
frame 1t is struck with the fingers,
and men. women and children never
seem to tire Of It as an accompaniment
to interrnfnable songs. In all temples
huge conch shells are used as
trumpets, and the average house OF
worship is as noisy as boiler factory.
The military band Of a famous Sin
0haIese king was composed Of sixty
four kinds of drums, which the htstor-
lan AYERS produced a roar like thunder,
while the shrieking Of numberless
conch shells disturbed the repose OF
heaven-and all the neighbors.
A Demon Doctors Dose.
The lower classes Of Ceylon are de7
mon woTshipers. They attribute every
sickness to evil spirits. and the priests
have ceremonies to intercept the tor
ments Of these evil agencies. In fe-
yer case an ugly image, supposed to
reDreseut the demon that infests the
uatient is placed at the head of the
bed. A live fowl is then tied to the
sufferers feet. A demon doctor wear
ing rings on his fingers and toes then
appears and begins to shout and dance
in the most frantic manner. AT inter-
walls he haIts TO shout in the mouth Of
the patient to make the demon pass
from her body to that Of the fowl. The
ceremony ends by a mock funeral pro-
cession passing through the room. in
GLIDING an image of a dead body. Thus
the evil spirit is deceived and the sick
one is saved.
The natives Of Ceylon are great be-
levers in miracles. A story is told of
q young girl who eInained in a trance
for several years IN one Of the
churches Of the interior. Every Friday
she suffered all the fortunes Of cruel
that they saw blood trickiing from her
hands and feet. Thousands Of pilgrims
visited the place where this miracle
was to be SEEN and the report of the
marvellous affair Travelled throughout
the length and breadth OF the land.
Many natural objects are given sym
bolical names. such as 'Tree Of the
Oath Rock OF the Peacock "City
of the Strange Shadow" Garden Of
-, Il
Demons Pleasure"
The Buddhist priests wear long yell
low robes so arranged as to expose
the right arm and shoulder, thus pro-
ductng e fine harmony in brown and
yellow. A yellow palm leaf is carried
50 that the holy brother may veil his
eyes If ne happens to meet anything so
evil and distraoting as a woman, but
its use for this purpose cannot be said
to be universal. The priesthood of
the Buddhist religion in CeyIon is a
last resort for henpecked husbands.
because the DOMINIC of the yellow robe
dissolyes the marriage tie. This ar
rangement is convenient for the reason
that the Wearer may at any moment
throw off his robe and return to the
station Of an ordinary mortal, begin
ming life anew with another wife. The
well patronized divorce courts of
America could nar04y nOId out against
competition like this.
Steamboat Jewels for Tourists.
There are many contrasting types in
the streets OF Colombo. The Moor
men have pale brown compilations and
generally wear black boards. Their
speciality is vending precious stones.
Aside from real gems they usually
have a choice assortment Of sham
jewels which they palm off on tourists.
The cheating has become so notorious