252 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



Cloth— yards 125,000 



Calico— do 82,000 



Serge — pieces 6,485 



Cloth— do 4,016 



Great coats 50,000 



Suits of clothing 92,000 



Shirts 35,000 



Shoes 96,000 



Shoe soles 15,000 



Calico— pieces 22,212 



&c. &c. &c. 



Canteens 50,000 



Haversacks 54,000 



Hats and caps 16,000 



Pouches and belts 240,000 



Pieces sheeting 762 



On their passage. 



Cloth— pieces 238 



Shirts 4,100 



Pouches 47,000 



Shoes 78,000 



Shoe soles 35,000 



Boots 8,100 



To be shipped as soon as received 

 from contractors. 



Boots 28,400 



Shoes 233,400 



Suits 100 



Pouches 150,150 



Cloth— yards 125,000 



Suraty June 30 Yesterday a 



Suttee, or ceremony of a Brahmin 

 woman burning herself vi^ith the 

 body of her deceased husband, took 

 place at Phooltarah, a village about 

 two miles from Surat, on the banks 

 of the Taptie. I went there very 

 early, and arrived at the spot long 

 before any preparations were made 

 for the approaching solemnity. At 

 length twelve slightpoleswerefixed 

 as uprights in the ground, round 

 which a wall of Jewarriu stalks was 

 placed, as was a roof also of the 

 same stalk, forming a shed of six 

 or seven feet square, and about six 

 feet high, with a small door-way 

 facing the river. A platform or 



bed was then formed of billets 

 of wood, six feet long, and be- 

 tween two and three feet wide, and 

 two feet high. This was the fune- 

 ral pile. In a short time after, the 

 body of the deceased arrived, pre- 

 ceded by tomtome, and followed 

 by the Suttee, surrounded by Brah- 

 mins, and attended by her son, a 

 youth of about 18 years. The de- 

 ceased was ail old man with grey 

 hairs ; the woman appeared about 

 forty, and was very stout. She sat 

 down before the door of the pile, 

 and after performing a few ceremo- 

 nies, she attended the body of her 

 husband to the river, where she 

 performed various ablutions. The 

 Brahmins all this time, as well as 

 at her first arrival at the pile, pros- 

 trated themselves at her feet, as to 

 a superior being. At her return 

 from the river, she sat down near 

 the opening of the pile, and the bo- 

 dy of her husband was placed be- 

 side her. The body was then un- 

 covered, on which she, with one 

 of the most emphatic, expressive 

 smiles I ever saw, bowed her head 

 towards his face, and said in a mild 

 tone of voice, in the Moorish lan- 

 guage, " Ah, my husband !" Her 

 look to me indicated more : as 

 though she vvouldhavesaid — Never 

 mind, my husband, we shall not be 

 long separated. The body of the 

 deceased was then carried into the 

 inclosure,and placed lengthways on 

 the funeral pile. She then went 

 through various mysteries and cere- 

 monies too intricate for me to un- 

 derstand ; but, among others, she 

 poured ghee several times on the 

 sacred fire which was placed before 

 her, when her son took some of 

 the ashes and put them in her 

 mouth, which she swallowed. She 

 then drank three separate times of 



conse- 



