Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/72

 68 Ling-Nan.

hills described are the great natural feature of the district, which brings, according to popular belief, good luck to the land, and the people look with jealous eyes upon the visits of “outside barbarians,” who, professedly attracted by the charms of natural scenery, they suspect of coming to spy out and carry off the luck of the place. They have peopled the hills with spirits and deities of varions kinds and degrees of power, and offer them constant worship. Beside these regular offerings to the presiding genii, special religious festivals are frequently held, in which theatrical performances play a prominent: part. Their theatres are large square structures, com~ posed of bamboo framework covered with matting and palm-leaf thatch. A gallery is set apart for ladies, and the women of Sai-tsin show their independence by going in large numbers to the theatre. The perform- ances are kept up day and night, and through their attempts to light the place with the imperfect means at command accidents frequently happen. A frightful oceurrence took place a few years ago in this district, in which a theatre capable of holding ten thousand people was destroyed by fire. The narrow entrance, and the dense crowds driven to desperation in their fear, made escape difficult, so that no less than three thousand people, most of them women, perished in the flames. Despite such experiences the semi-religious performances in these theatres are still regarded as means of good luck to the place.

The high-spirited disposition of the Sai-tsin women is shown in the organisation of on anti-matrimonial league, in which the fair damsels of this fortunate district