a religious solemnity observed both in Persia and India with extraordinary splendor. It lasts for ten days, during which the Shiites keep up continual mourning for the martyr's fate, giving themselves up to sighs and groans, fastings and tears. They abstain from shaving their heads, from bathing, and even from changing their clothes. The observances consist of a series of representations of the successive scenes in the life of Hossein, from the date of his flight from Medina to his martyrdom on the plains of Kerbela; and the exhibition of each day is preceded by the reading in a plaintive tone a portion of the history of Hossein.