Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/135

Rh sky was clear but the illusion of a city was perfect. I especially noted the curls of smoke between the towers such as O'Flaherty saw at Skerd. I have sketches taken in July or August, 1872, and in June, 1918. I do not recall the date or appearance of the first occasions when I saw it from 1868 to 1872.

 

indication of the increasing desire to collect, before it is too late, the scattered folklore of the rural districts is the publication of this official scheme for investigation in Wales. The plan has been well conceived, and the syllabus defining the questions on which information is required from students in colleges and schools seems to have been judiciously prepared. The pamphlet should be in the hands of all who are interested in the subject, and we hope that the scheme will be adopted throughout the British Islands.

 

following extract from a letter just received from an old pupil, Mr. Christopher Gimson, I.C.S., now in Manipur (between Assam and Burma), may interest you:

"Last year was a time of drought in Manipur, and the highly civilised and Hinduised Manipuris, headed by their English educated Maharaja, set to work to produce rain. One of the earliest attempts was the ordinary pujā on Nonmaijing Hill, where stands a stone shaped like an umbrella—the obvious residence of a rain god. This ceremony only resulted in about ·05 inch of rain, and much more was needed. So 108 cows were collected and brought to the Palace, where they were milked on the ground in front of the temple of Govinda-ji. For some reason or other, this expensive remedy was a total