In severe illness their fertile knavery prescribes a strange remedy by which the Raulins gain no small advantage. The wife, children or the relations of the patient bedeck an altar on which is placed an image, and place it in a well furnished room wherein are assembled the priests and relatives as for a grand banquet. The Master of the Ceremonies dances and hops about until he is exhausted. A rope is then fastened to the ceiling and the performer supports himself by it and jumps higher and higher until he falls down in a swoon which is considered to be a divine trance Everyone pretends to be envious of his good luck, as they are sure he is enjoying a tête á tête with his god. The priests, who solemnly preside at this fantastic ceremony, anoint the sick man with oil and perfumes, and, if he happens to die they never blame themselves. They say that his death is a blessing from the gods who have taken him from this vale of tears to the mansions of the blest. Their gross superstitions are seen to best advantage in their funeral rites. Whilst the priests are chanting prayers and burning incense, the friends and relatives of the deceased thump copper vessels in order to scare away black cats, for if by ill luck one of these animals were to touch the corpse, the soul of the deceased would be exiled from the heavenly abode where it would have its fill of pleasures of all sorts and would be reincarnated in mortal shape. There is a certain sect of priests who believe that they share in the power of the gods. They are summoned to a grand banquet by the relatives of the deceased, and if they refuse the invitation, it is a sign that the soul of the dead man has been cast into the nethermost hell. Hired mourners are engaged to make a loud outcry. The dead whose relatives have not been able to honour with a funeral pyre, are exposed at the water's edge, and are carried away by the stream. Sometimes the corpses are devoured by birds of prey, which latter having always plenty of available foodstuff increase and multiply and even attack buffaloes and oxen.