Natural characteristics in the same manner determine the quality of holiness attributed to certain spots by the natives of Africa. Holy places among them are those where a god dwells either visibly or invisibly; particular buildings, huts, or hills; or trees which are remarkable for age, size, and strength. They have also sacred groves into which no negro, not being a priest ventures to intrude. One of the tribes asserts that their god has his dwelling-place in the cavern of a rock that is situated in the bushes (G. d. M., p. 326). A singular example of a holy place in a more advanced religion is the neighborhood of the Bo tree, or Bogaha tree, in Ceylon, under whose shade the people worship at the great festival. This tree derives its sanctity from the circumstance of its having sheltered Buddha at an eventful crisis of his life. Near it ninety kings are interred; huts are erected around it for the use of the devotees who repair to it; and as "every sort of uncleanness and dust must be removed from the sacred spot," the approaches are continually swept by persons appointed for the purpose. Besides the Bo tree, and the pagodas—or public temples—many of the Singhalese have private holy places in their own houses. They "build in their yards _private_ chapels, which are little houses like to closets," and in these they place an image of the Buddha which they worship (H. R. C., p. 73). Graves of the dead whom we have loved are apt to become holy places to us all; and in some religious creeds, such as those of Islam and Christianity, this veneration is extended to the tombs of persons who have been distinguished by their sanctity. Mussulmans "pray at the tomb of those they repute saints;" and expect by offering vows at such places, to obtain "relief, through their saintly intercession, from sickness, misfortune. sterility, &c." Miracles take place at these tombs, and supernatural lights float over them (Dervishes, pp. 79, 80). It is believed, too, that "the merits of the deceased will insure a favorable reception of the prayers which they offer up in such consecrated places" (Dervishes, p. 272). Sometimes, again, the place where some striking event in the history of religion has occurred, acquires a holiness of its own. Thus the Scala Santa at Rome enjoys a preëminent holiness possessing the merit of procuring a considerable remission of punishment for those who perform the task of ascending it on their knees.