where
the deceased person is lying, and sticks this fowl at the head of the
corpse as an offering. The more distant relatives do not perform this
rite, but each leads a sheep to the house of mourning, and the son of
the deceased man strikes each animal three times with a white wand,
while the Peh-mo (priest or magician) stands by, and announcing the
sacrifice by calling 'so and so,' giving of course the name, presents
the soft woolly offering.

"Formerly the Nou-su burned their dead. Said a Nou-su youth to me years
ago, 'The thought of our friends' bodies either turning to corruption or
being eaten by wild beasts is distasteful to us, and therefore we burn
our dead.' The corpse is burnt with wood, and during the cremation the
mourners arrange themselves around the fire and chant and dance. The
ashes are buried, and the ground leveled. This custom is still adhered
to among the Nou-su of the independent Lolo territory or more correctly
Papu country of Western Szech'wan. The tribesmen who dwell in the
neighborhood of Weining and Chao-t'ong have adopted burial as the means
of disposing of their dead, adding some customs peculiar to themselves.

"On the day of the funeral the horse which the deceased man was in the
habit of riding is brought to the door and saddled by the Pehmo. The
command is then given to lead the horse to the grave. All the mourners
follow, and marching or dancing in intertwining circles, cross and
recross the path of the led horse until the poor creature, grown frantic
with fear, rushes and kicks in wild endeavor to escape from the
confusion. The whole company then raise a great shout and call, 'The
soul has come to ride the horse, the soul has come to ride the horse.' A
contest then follows among the women of the deceased man's household for
the possession of this horse, which is henceforth regarded as of extreme
value. It is difficult to discover much about the religion of the
Nou-su, because so many of their ancient customs have fallen into disuse
during the intercourse of the people with the Chinese. At the
ingathering of the buckwheat, when the crop is stacked on the threshing
floor, and the work of threshing is about to begin, the simple formula,
'Thank you, Ilsomo,' is used. Ilsomo seems to be a spirit who has
control over the crops; whether good or evil, it is not easy to
determine. Ilsomo is not God, for at present, when the Nou-su wish to
speak of God, they use the word Soe, which means Master