nature which laughs with scorn at so-called
Eastern mysticism, you will come away, as has
many a visitor before you, with an impression
sufficient to last through an ordinary lifetime.''
Further on he says ``If you do not come away
convinced that you have been witness of a
spectacle which makes you disbelieve the evidence
of your own eyes and your most matter-
of-fact judgment, then you are a man of
stone.'' All of which proves nothing more
than that Mr. Reid was inclined to make
positive statements about subjects in which he
knew little or nothing.

He tells us further that formerly this rite
was performed only in the spring and fall,
when, beside the gratuities of the foreigners,
the native worshipers brought ``gifts of wine,
large trays of fish, fruit, rice cakes, loaves,
vegetables, and candies.'' Evidently the
combination of box-office receipts with donation
parties proved extremely tempting to the
thrifty priests, for they now give what might
be termed a ``continuous performance.''

Those who have read the foregoing pages
will apply a liberal sprinkling of salt to the
solemn assurance of Mr. Reid, advanced on
the authority of Jinrikisha boys, that ``for
days beforehand the priests connected with