ntil they have
exhausted all the disposable tea and sheep. If the patient recovers, it
is a clear proof that the prayers have been efficaciously recited; if he
dies, it is a still greater proof of the efficaciousness of the prayers,
for not only is the devil gone, but the patient has transmigrated to a
state far better than that he has quitted.

The prayers recited by the Lamas for the recovery of the sick are
sometimes accompanied with very dismal and alarming rites. The aunt of
Tokoura, chief of an encampment in the Valley of Dark Waters, visited by
M. Huc, was seized one evening with an intermittent fever. "I would
invite the attendance of the doctor Lama," said Tokoura, "but if he finds
that there is a very big _Tchutgour_ present, the expenses will ruin me."
He waited for some days; but as his aunt grew worse and worse, he at last
sent for a Lama; his anticipations were confirmed. The Lama pronounced
that a demon of considerable rank was present, and that no time must be
lost in expelling him. Eight other Lamas were forthwith called in, who
at once set about the construction, in dried herbs, of a great puppet,
which they entitled the _Demon of Intermittent Fevers_, and which, when
completed, they placed on its legs by means of a stick, in the patient's
tent.

The ceremony began at eleven o'clock at night; the Lamas ranged
themselves in a semicircle round the upper portion of the tent, with
cymbals, sea-shells, bells, tambourines, and other instruments of the
noisy Tartar music. The remainder of the circle was completed by the
members of the family, squatting on the ground close to one another, the
patient kneeling, or rather crouched on her heels, opposite the _Demon of
Intermittent Fevers_. The Lama doctor-in-chief had before him a large
copper basin filled with millet, and some little images made of paste.
The dung-fuel threw, amid much smoke, a fantastic and quivering light
over the strange scene.

Upon a given signal, the clerical orchestra executed an overture harsh
enough to frighten Satan himself, the lay congregation beating time with
their hands to the charivari of clanging instruments and ear-splitting
voices. The diabolical concert over, the Grand Lama opened the Book of
Exorcisms, which he rested on his knees. As he chanted one of the forms,
he took from the basin, from time to time, a handful of millet, which he
threw east, west, north, and south, according to the Rubric. The tones
of his