so-called Bavarian Forest. This part of the country, although it boasts
beautiful scenery, is seldom visited by tourists, probably for the
reason that the charms of the region are little known even in Germany.
This part of Bavaria has been in many ways untouched by civilization,
and owing to its seclusion from the outer world some very strange
customs are still in vogue, strongly reminding one of the Middle Ages.
One of these strange customs, strictly observed by the population,
is the way in which they keep alive the memory of their dead by the
erection of what are called “totenbretter,” or “death-boards.” These
are wooden planks cut in the shape of tombstones and roughly painted.
Sometimes they bear also the image of a saint. They are erected--often
in a row of thirty and more--on the roadside, in fields and meadows,
near chapels and crucifixes, in the village streets--in short,
everywhere; they are even nailed to houses and barns. They do not mark
burial-places, as might be supposed. As soon as a person has died the
corpse is put on a board, and there it lies in state until it is put
into the coffin shortly before the funeral. These boards, then, are the
so-called “death-boards,” and after the funeral they are cut into a
suitable shape, and decorated with an inscription containing the name
of the deceased, his age, and, in most cases, some lines of poetry.
These short poems, which are, of course, meant in sober earnest, are
occasionally very amusing. The boards are then stuck somewhere near
the road, or in the fields, where they sometimes accumulate to an
alarming number. In the poorer districts these boards are not always
cut into shape and painted, but are simply deposited just as they are
at the foot of some crucifix, where they remain untouched until they
moulder away. It must be admitted that the custom, though interesting,
seems open to objection from a hygienic point of view, nor is it very
exhilarating for the tourist to be reminded of death wherever he may
turn.
[Illustration: BAVARIAN “DEATH-BOARDS”--THEY DO NOT MARK BURIAL-PLACES,
AND ARE TO BE FOUND IN ALL SORTS OF ODD SITUATIONS.
_From a Photo. by Kester, Berlin._]
This wonderful fungus, found in the Garo Hills in Assam, has been
supplied by Nature with a delicate network of fine translucent
material, which seems to be intended to protect the stalk from the
attacks of insect life. The head of the plant, on the other hand,
is covered with some substance which attracts minute flies in great
numbers. For further defence Nature has given this weird fungus the
power of spreading around it a most offensive smell.
[Illustration: AN EXTRAORDINARY FUNGUS--IT GROWS IN A NIGHT AND BY
MID-DAY HAS ENTIRELY WITHERED.
_From a Photograph._]
The beautiful white tracery grows up in the night, commences to droop
as soon as the first rays of the sun reach it, and by midday has
entirely withered away.
[Illustration: IN SOME PARTS OF CHINA IT IS STILL CONSIDERED A VERY
MERITORIOUS ACT FOR A WIDOW TO COMMIT SUICIDE AFTER THE DEATH OF HER
HUSBAND--THIS PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS A WIDOW ABOUT TO MAKE AWAY WITH HERSELF
IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IMMENSE AND ADMIRING CROWD.]
Old customs die very hard in China, and in several parts of the
Celestial Empire it is still considered a high act of virtue for a
woman to commit suicide after the death of her husband. According to
the law the proceeding is actually legal in some provinces, and such is
the state of public opinion that in districts where it is officially
prohibited the authorities rarely interfere. The striking photograph
which we reproduce on this page shows one of these extraordinary
voluntary sacrifices about to take place, with the widow herself,
clad in white--the Chinese mourning colour--the gallows erected for
the occasion, and the immense crowd gathered to witness the gruesome
spectacle.
[Illustration: AN ARIZONA BEDROOM--SO HOT IS THE CLIMATE, AND SO
NUMEROUS THE INSECTS AND REPTILIAN PESTS, THAT THE DWELLERS ON THE
VERGE OF THE DESERT FIND IT NECESSARY TO SLEEP IN WIRE CAGES SIMILAR TO
THAT HERE SHOWN.
_From a Photograph._]
The desert bordering on the Colorado River, in Southern Arizona, is
probably the hottest part of the United States in summer, where the
condition humorously generalized at “a hundred and forty in the shade,
and no shade,” prevails from June until September. The intense heat
of the sun-baked houses then makes them unbearable even at night to
the average sleeper, and open-air sleeping apartments are accordingly
needful for comfort. The photograph shows one of these airy adjuncts
to a desert home. The wire screen that encloses the little room, like
a bird-cage, serves to keep out pestiferous insects, snakes, and other
vermin.
[Illustration: THE MAP-CONTENTS OF “THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE,” WHICH
SHOWS AT A GLANCE THE LOCALITY OF EACH ARTICLE AND NARRATIVE OF
ADVENTURE IN THIS NUMBER.]
Transcriber's Note:
Table of Contents added.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.