spirits, so that all who wished could assemble there and communicate
with them, was proposed and put into operation. In these buildings,
however, the spirits did not choose always, to appear to
order--sometimes they quitted the spot where the edifice had been
erected; sometimes they would only appear there periodically; and
sometimes, out of perversity, they would appear when least expected.
But whether occult manifestations really took place in these buildings
or not, those assembled to see them were persuaded by those in charge
of the building, who saw thereby an opportunity of making money, that
the spirits were actually there; and in due time these buildings
became known as temples, and their showmen as priests. Every temple
was dedicated to an individual spirit--one to the Spirit Bara-boo;
another to the Spirit Karaboro, and so on; whilst in the absence of
genuine spirit manifestations, prayers, incantations and rituals,
invented by the priests, always attracted a large concourse of people
to these temples, and finally proved a greater source of attraction
than the spirits themselves.

It was to gain favours from the Occult Powers that donations from the
public were at first invited, then demanded; and the priests in this
manner accumulated vast fortunes. Later on, too, there sprang up, in
connection with these temples, colleges for the training of young
men--invariably selected from the wealthy classes--to the priesthood;
and from the parents of these youthful aspirants large fees, which in
course of time became exorbitant, were extracted, thereby furnishing
another source of revenue to the priests. The most famous colleges for
the training of priests in Atlantis were those of Bara-boo-rek[11] at
Keisionwo, Karaboro-rek at Diniangek, and Ballygarap-rek at Tijimin.

It was in the reign of Barrahneil,[12] fifty-first sovereign of the