The following extraordinary vow is performed by some of the Hindoo at their festival of Charak Puja:—Stretching himself on the earth on his back, the devotee takes a handful of moist earth, and placing this on his under lip, he plants in it some mustard-seed, and exposes himself to the dews of the night and the heat of the day till the seed germinates. In this posture the man must lie in a fixed motionless condition, without food or drink, till the vegetable process liberates him, which will generally be about the fourth day.
THE ARRANGEMENT OF ABBEY BUILDINGS.
At the dissolution of the Abbeys in England, under King Henry VIII., 190 were dissolved, of from £200 to £35,000 a year; amounting to an aggregate sum of £2,853,000 per annum. The principal buildings of an Abbey, were, first, the church, differing little from one of the cathedrals of the present day. Attached to one side of the nave, commonly the southern, was, secondly, the great cloister, which had two entrances to the church, at the eastern and western ends of the aisles of the nave, for the greater solemnity of processions. Over the western side of the cloister, was, thirdly, the dormitory of the monks; a long room, divided into separate cells, each containing a bed, with a mat, blanket, and rug, together with a desk and stool, and occupied by a monk. This apartment had a door, which opened immediately into the church, on account of midnight offices. Attached to the side of the cloister, opposite to the church, was fourthly, the refectory, where the monks dined; near to which, was the locutorium, or parlour, an apartment answering to the common room of a college, where in the intervals of prayer and study, the monks sat and conversed. Beyond, was the kitchen and its offices; and, adjoining to it, the buttery, &c. On the eastern side of the cloisters was, in the centre, the chapter-house, where the business of the Abbey was transacted; and near it, the library, and scriptorium, where the monks employed themselves in copying books. On this side, also, was the treasury, where the costly plate and church ornaments were kept. The abbot and principal officers of the convent, had all separate houses, to the eastward of the cloister; in which part of the building, were usually the hostelry and question hall—rooms for the entertainment of strangers; and, also, the apartment of novices. Westward of the cloister was an outward court, round which was the monks' infirmary, and the almery. An embattled gatehouse led to this court, which was the principal entrance of the Abbey. The whole was surrounded with a high wall, including in its precincts, gardens, stables, granary, &c. Some of the great Abbeys—as Glastonbury, and Furness—covered sixty acres of ground. The situation chosen for the site of an Abbey was as different from that of the castle as the purpose to which it was applied. The one meant for defence stands boldly on the hill; the other, intended for meditation, is hid in the sequestered valley. The abbots were originally laymen and subject to the bishop.
TAME FISH.
In sailing down the river Irawadi, in the neighbourhood of Amarapoora, the capital of the empire of Burmah, Captain Yule met with some tame fish, which he thus describes:—
"Having gone over the little island, I returned to my boat, where a sight awaited me, that I confess astonished me more than anything I have ever seen before.
"On nearing the island as we descended the river, the headman in the boat had commenced crying out tet-tet! tet-tet! as hard as he could, and on my asking him what he was doing, he said he was calling the fish. My knowledge of Burmese did not allow me to ask him further particulars, and my interpreter was in the other boat, unwell. But, on my coming down to the boat again, I found it surrounded on both sides with large fish, some three or four feet long; a kind of blunt-nosed, broad-mouthed dog-fish. Of these there were, I suppose, some fifty. In one group, which I studied more than the others, there were ten. These were at one side of the boat, half their bodies, or nearly half, protruded vertically from the water, their mouths all gaping wide. The men had some of the rice prepared for their own dinners, and with this they were feeding them, taking little pellets of rice, and throwing these down the throats of the fish. Each fish, as he got something to eat, sunk, and having swallowed his portion, came back to the boatside for more. The men continued occasionally their cry of tet-tet-tet! and, putting their hands over the gunnel of the boat, stroked the fish on the back, precisely as they would stroke a dog. This I kept up for nearly half an hour, moving the boat slightly about, and invariably the fish came at call, and were fed as before. The only effect which the stroking down or patting on the back of the fish seemed to have, was to cause them to gape still wider for their food. During March, I am told, there is a great festival here, and it is a very common trick for the people to get some of the fish into the boat, and even to gild their backs by attaching some gold leaf, as they do in the ordinary way to pagodas, &c. On one of these fish remains of the gilding were visible. I never was so amused or astonished. I wished to have one of the fish to take away as a specimen, but the people seemed to think it would be a kind of sacrilege, so I said nothing more on the point. The Phoongyis are in the habit of feeding them daily, I was informed. Their place of abode is the deep pool formed at the back of the island, by the two currents meeting round its sides. And it is, it appears, quite a sight, which the people from great distances come to see, as well as to visit the Pagoda, which is said to be very ancient and much venerated."
ANCIENT WEAPON.
