Tibetans have
curious customs of their own. The most uncommon method, owing to the
great scarcity of fuel, is that of cremation, which is only employed in
the case of wealthy people or Lamas, and is effected in exactly the same
fashion as among the Shokas. Another and more usual plan is to double up
the body, sew it into skins, and let it be carried away by the current of
a stream. But the commonest method of all is the revolting ceremony which
I now proceed to describe.

[Illustration: A RED LAMA]

The body of the deceased is borne to the top of a hill, where the Lamas
pronounce certain incantations and prayers. Then the crowd, after walking
seven times round the body, retire to a certain distance, to allow ravens
and dogs to tear the corpse to pieces. It is considered lucky for the
departed and his family when birds alone devour the greater portion of
the body; dogs and wild animals come, say the Lamas, when the deceased
has sinned during his life. Anyhow, the almost complete destruction of
the corpse is anxiously watched, and, at an opportune moment, the Lamas
and crowd, turning their praying-wheels, and muttering the everlasting
"_Omne mani padme hun_," return to the body, round which seven more
circuits are made, moving from left to right.[25] Then the relatives
squat round. The Lamas sit near the body, and with their daggers cut to
pieces what remains of the flesh. The highest Lama present eats the
first morsel, then, muttering prayers, the other Lamas partake of it,
after which all the relations and friends throw themselves on the now
almost denuded skeleton, scraping off pieces of flesh, which they devour
greedily; and this repast of human flesh continues till the bones are dry
and clean!

[Illustration: CUP MADE OF HUMAN SKULL]

The idea of this ghastly ceremony is that the spirit of the departed, of
whom you have swallowed a piece, will for ever keep on friendly terms
with you. When birds and dogs do not shrink from feeding, it is a sign
that the body is healthy, and fit for themselves.

[Illustration: CHOKDEN, OR TOMB OF A SAINT]

Revolting beyond words is the further fact that, when a man has died of
some pestilential disease, and, owing to the odour, the birds will not
peck at the body, nor will the famished dogs go near it, then a large
number of Lamas, having made the usual exorcisms, sit down by it, and do
not get up again until they have devoured the whole of the rotten human
flesh! The relative