great numbers, seat themselves opposite the criminal, who is placed in a ditch, partake of a banquet, and take leave of the condemned person as of one who is about to die. Cinders are then heaped about the doomed man. For slight faults, the criminal alone is punished, but for a great crime his children and grandchildren suffer with him; in some extraordinary cases his sin is visited upon his descendants to the seventh generation. The name of the king of this country is Yit khi; the nobles of the first rank are called Toui lou; those of the second, 'little' Toui lou; and those of the third, Na tu cha. When the king goes out, he is accompanied by tambours and horns. He changes the color of his dress at certain times; in the years of the cycle _kia_ and _y_, it is blue; in the years _ping_ and _ting_, it is red; in the years _ou_ and _ki_, it is yellow; in the years _keng_ and _sin_, it is white; and lastly, in those years which have the characters _jin_ and _kouei_, it is black. The cattle have long horns, and carry burdens, some as much as one hundred and twenty Chinese pounds. Vehicles, in this country, are drawn by oxen, horses, or deer. The deer are raised in the same manner that cattle are raised in China, and cheese is made from the milk of the females.[I-78] A kind of red pear is found there which is good at all seasons of the year. Grape-vines are also plentiful.[I-79] There is no iron, but copper is met with. Gold and silver are not valued. Commerce is free, and the people are not given to haggling about prices. This is the manner of their marriages: When a man wishes to wed a girl, he erects his cabin just before the door of hers. Every morning and evening he waters and weeds the ground, and this he continues to do for a whole year. If by the end of that time the girl has not given her consent to their union, his suit is lost and he moves away; but if she is willing, he marries her. The marriage ceremony is almost the same as that observed in China. On the death of their father or mother, children fast for seven days; grandparents are mourned for by a fast of five days, and other relations by a fast of three days' duration. Images of the spirits of the dead[I-80] are placed on a kind of pedestal, and prayed to morning and evening.[I-81] Mourning garments are not worn. The king does not meddle with affairs of government until he has been three years upon the throne. In former times the religion of Buddha was unknown in this country, but in the fourth of the years _ta ming_, in the reign of Hiao wou ti of the Soung dynasty (A.D. 458), five _pi khieou_ or missionaries, from the country Ki pin, went to Fusang and there diffused the Buddhist faith. They carried with them sacred books and images, they introduced the ritual, and inculcated monastic habits of life. By these means they changed the manners of the people.