bers which the same kindred has counted in the past. At a designated day, all the members of the family present themselves there to make their sacrifices. The ceremonies are directed by the nearest or most aged relative. The character of the offerings depends upon the tastes the ancestors are supposed to have had while living. No pictures or statues of the ancestors are erected to preserve their features; only the name is to be seen on the altar, inclosed in a little tabernacle and written in large letters upon a tablet. The image of the ancestor is in the Annamite's heart, and is not represented materially by painting or sculpture. It is not presumed that the souls of the ancestors are present at the repast which is prepared for them; but it is understood that, in offering sacrifices to them, gratitude is expressed for the time when the worshiper was the object of their constant solicitude, and faithful recognition is given of the days when he was held upon their knees, and the painful moment is recalled when they were forever separated from their children. Filial piety is the motive of all the acts of the Annamites' life. Their feeling was thus described to M. d'Estrey by an Annamite: "We have a desire to discharge the debt that we owe to our parents; to that tender mother who carried us in her womb, who brought us forth in pain, nourished us with her milk, and caressed us on her knees for years; to that watchful father who laboriously brought us up and constituted himself our first guide in the labyrinth of the world. It is a common remark that every service rendered ought to be recompensed. The benefaction by which it is given us to enjoy life, to know what is, to raise ourselves through the spectacle of the virtue of our parents, from the simple creature to the most high—what other can be compared to it? It is for this reason before every other one, to render ourselves worthy of our parents, to make their name as illustrious as possible, that we try to obtain a rank among men that shall do honor to our house, and in which we may some day serve the great interests of humanity. We hope that in this way the spirits of our parents may enjoy a peaceful happiness in contemplating us from the celestial world."
M. Mahé de la Bourdonnais has given an account, also in the "Revue Scientifique," of tribes of people inhabiting portions of Annam, who, although considered savages by the Annamites themselves, are still possessed of a civilization which is of the greatest interest.
Some of them pay tribute to the King of Siam, others to Annam, while all are more or less under the control of certain prefects. A chief, whom they regard as a father, acts as judge, punishes the guilty, and vigilantly guards the observation of the ancient rites and ceremonies. Much respect is shown to these patriarchs, and their people aid them in building, labor in their fields, and yield implicit obedience to them. The wives of the chiefs generally marry one of their own rank, but this is not compulsory. If they marry beneath them,
