anced gravely, marched other
masks, costumed in silks of brilliant hues and wearing on their heads
golden crowns, fashioned with six lotus-like flowers on each, surmounted
by a tall dart in the centre. Each of these masks carried a drum.

These disguises made three turns about the masts, to the sound of a
noisy and incoherent music, and then seated themselves on the ground,
around Thlogan-Pondma-Jungnas, a god with three eyes, who gravely
introduced two fingers into his mouth and emitted a shrill whistle. At
this signal, young men dressed in warrior costumes--with ribbon-decked
bells dangling about their legs--came with measured steps from the
temple. Their heads were covered by enormous green masks, from which
floated triangular red flags, and they, too, carried tambourines. Making
a diabolical din, they whirled and danced about the gods seated on the
ground. Two big fellows accompanying them, who were dressed in tight
clown costumes, executed all kinds of grotesque contortions and
acrobatic feats, by which they won plaudits and shouts of laughter from
the spectators.

Another group of disguises--of which the principal features were red
mitres and yellow pantaloons--came out of the temple, with bells and
tambourines in their hands, and seated themselves opposite the gods, as
representatives of the highest powers next to divinity. Lastly there
entered upon the scene a lot of red and brown masks, with a "third eye"
painted on their breasts. With those who had preceded them, they formed
two long lines of dancers, who to the thrumming of their many
tambourines, the measured music of the trumpets and drums, and the
jingling of a myriad of bells, performed a dance, approaching and
receding from each other, whirling in circles, forming by twos in a
column and breaking from that formation to make new combinations,
pausing occasionally to make reverent obeisance before the gods.

After a time this spectacular excitement--the noisy monotony of which
began to weary me--calmed down a little; gods, demigods, kings, men and
spirits got up, and followed by all the other maskers, directed
themselves toward the temple door, whence issued at once, meeting them,
a lot of men admirably disguised as skeletons. All those sorties were
calculated and prearranged, and every one of them had its particular
significance. The _cortege_ of dancers gave way to the skeletons, who
advanced with measured steps, in silence, to the masts, where they
s