credulous class.

Services and ceremonies of an appropriate character--that is, in
accordance with the faith of this people--are constantly going on in
and about the Temple of the Tooth, night and day, all the year round.
Our hotel at Kandy was opposite and very near to the old shrine, and
night was made hideous for us by the senseless howling of the priests
and the notes of the drum, cymbals, and fife, supplemented now and
again by the blowing of blasts upon a conch-shell, more shrill and
piercing than a fishhorn signaling in a fog. The unearthly noises
which issued from the open doors of the temple of Malagawa was
something dreadful at midnight, and utterly inexcusable upon any
pretense whatever.

"How can these priests and their assistants maintain sufficient
interest to keep up this terrible din so ceaselessly?" was asked of a
local planter.

"The funds of the temple are ample," was the reply. "There is a
constant flow of rupees into the treasury, and these people are well
paid for their services in keeping up the sham."

"Whence comes the money?" was asked.

"Large sums come from India and from visiting pilgrims, besides which
the faithful native Singhalese contribute in the aggregate no
inconsiderable amount."

"Credulous orientals," was our response.

"You must remember," was our companion's reply, "that this edifice and
the surroundings, including the bo-tree, is considered the holiest
spot in all the Buddhistic world."

The ceremonies which took place within the temple during a brief visit
by the author consisted of grotesque dances and the beating of drums
and blowing of horns, all without any apparent rhyme or reason. A
procession of dirty priests, preceded by a drum and fife, passed
hither and thither before an altar upon which incense was burning. No
coherence of purpose, however, was exhibited by any one, but each
person seemed to be trying to make all the noise and grotesque
gesticulations possible. A North American Indian powwow would be a
fair comparison to the performance which was witnessed on this
occasion. A few pilgrims, after first pouring water upon their hands
and feet, purchased flowers from venders who frequent the doors of the
temple, and placed them on and about the altar. This was the most
sensible and consistent procedure which was adopted by priest or
layman inside the temple walls. The flowers were the white blossoms of
the frangipani, whose fragrance was oppressively strong.