It is not the object of this book to offer directly any analysis of animism or of the religion of the Prophet, still less to follow any of the many side tracks taken by Hindu philosophy, but primarily to record as many customs as possible before it is too late, and to attempt to show how far the concept of a supernatural cosmic power dominates popular practice. The reader will find few references to customs collected by other writers, and this is because the author could not but think that the circular questionnaire which has so often been the means of gathering information led to many errors.