Note 193 — Chapter I · THE EVIL EYE AND THE SCARING OF GHOSTS.

Among the Buddhists of the Himâlaya, Moorcroft was present at the consecration of the food of the dead.193 The Lâma consecrated barley and water and poured them from a silver saucer into a brass vessel, occasionally striking two brass cymbals together, reciting or chanting prayers, to which from time to time an inferior Lâma uttered responses aloud, accompanied by the rest in an undertone. This was intended for the use of the souls in hell, who would starve were it not provided. The music and singing, if we may apply the analogy of Indian practices, are intended to scare the vagrant ghosts, who would otherwise consume or defile the food.