7 66 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



seeks out a hollow tree, climbs it, drops down inside, and is from 

 that moment numbered among those who have " passed on." 



Other methods are observed by the red men. Some of them 

 are exposed to the winds of heaven, upon platforms raised on 

 poles, as our own Dakotas, Blackf eet, Mandans, and some Sioux ; 

 others are placed in trees, like the Ahts of Vancouver's Island, 

 where the height of the body indicates the social position of the 

 departed ; and not a few simply lay the cast-off " garment " on 

 the bosom of its Mother Earth for the winds and storms to dis- 

 pose of. In one place the body, in a canoe, is committed to the 

 " mother of all things," the sea ; and among the Hindoos it is often 

 devoted to the sacred Ganges, lying on a platform with candles 

 at the corners. 



The largest number of civilized people, including all Christen- 

 dom, bury in the earth, and, far less wise than the simple Indians 

 whose ways we scorn, endeavor to keep as long as possible the 

 " shell from which the pearl is gone " from its natural and much- 

 to-be-desired fate, dispersal into the elements. This custom of 

 burial arose partly from the desire of Christians to imitate the 

 dead Christ, who — as a Jew — was buried ; partly from a belief in 

 the resurrection of the body, and also influenced, no doubt, by 

 the difficulty during the early persecutions of performing Chris- 

 tian rites at a burning which must necessarily be public. 



The curious and peculiar manners connected with burial in 

 the earth are almost numberless, and edifying in the extreme. 

 The position differs : some sit as in life, and others are held stand- 

 ing, though most lie naturally. The direction of the head varies. 

 Many of our Indians turn the face to the west, toward their 

 " happy land " ; a few turn to the east. The dead Japanese heads 

 toward the north, for which reason the living never sleep that 

 way, and, to avoid the chance of it, carry a compass, or mark its 

 points on their houses. The Bongos of Africa carry the distinc- 

 tions of sex into the grave, and set the faces of men to the north 

 and of women to the south ; while the Niam-Niam, a neighbor- 

 ing tribe, consider the east the point of honor, and the west good 

 enough for the weaker sex. Quaintest of all is the burial of an 

 aged clergyman, a life-long pastor in an old-fashioned village on 

 Long Island, who is laid with his feet toward his congregation, 

 so that on the last day, when the trump shall sound, he may rise 

 facing them as usual, and prepared to lead them, a united flock — 

 his flock — into the Kingdom. 



Urn burial has attracted much attention since it was brought 

 prominently before the world at the Vienna Exposition some fif- 

 teen years ago. There had been a spasmodic revival of interest 

 in this manner of disposal of the body both in France and Italy, 

 but nothing of importance till this exposition. A warm convert, 



