of the house, standing above the place where the body is lying and waving the garment in the air, calls the name of the dead man, announcing to the spirits that he is dead.
As soon as possible after death all the members of the family dress in the regulation mourners' costume, which is made of a sort of coarse linen or grass cloth, of a yellow, muddy color. I am quite sure that this is the real "sackcloth" of which we read so much in the Bible. All black or other colored articles of clothing are laid aside, and only white or yellow, the color of the sackcloth, is worn. A mourner will not even use a black umbrella during the period of mourning, which lasts for three years in the case of a father. When a death occurs in the royal family, the entire nation puts on mourning. In such cases the ordinary white clothes are not exchanged for the sackcloth, but the black hat is replaced with a white one, and all other colored articles are laid aside. It is a strange sight to see a whole nation dressed in mourning for two or three years at a time.
The costume worn by a son in mourning for a father or mother consists of a cap, long coat, and leggings, all made of coarse sackcloth. The long coat reaches almost to the ankles, and is not hemmed around the bottom; the sleeves are great bags that would easily hold a bushel each, and the entire coat is made after the most baggy pattern and fastened around the waist with a hemp rope as large as a man's thumb. The mourner's hat never fails to attract the attention of those who are not accustomed to it. It is made of
