Of the figures given in our article, the one on the extreme left is a Lama, or Sikkim priest, having in his hand a dorge, or double-headed thunderbolt; next to him, a monk; next to the monk, a priest, with a praying cylinder; and at the extreme right, another monk.
A HEAD-BREAKER.
With many savage nations it is a custom when prisoners have been captured in war, to keep them in confinement for some time, till the preparations for a grand festival have been completed, and then to put them to death in the presence of the great men and chief priests of the country. They were slaughtered, sometimes as offerings to the gods, sometimes as sacrifices to the spirits of those slain in the war in which they were captured, and at other times as incentives to the young warriors who were to be the future defenders of the nation. In all these cases, appropriate and peculiar ceremonies were prescribed, and the victims were generally despatched by a particular official, whose especial duty it was to perform the bloody deed. A particular weapon was also used, and one of these is sketched at the head of our article. It was used by one of the tribes which inhabit the shores of Nootka Sound. It is intended to represent the sacred bird of their nation, and is made of wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, with a blade of basalt. The lower end is hollow for the insertion of a handle.
ANCIENT STONE COLLARS.
Perhaps the most singular relics of that Pagan period in Scotland when the use of metals was in a great measure unknown, are two stone collars, found near the celebrated parallel roads of Glenroy, and now preserved at the mansion of Tonley, Aberdeenshire. We here give an engraving of them.