ANIMAL LIFE ALONG THE JUMNA. 67 



in a red cotton cloth. Then more straw was piled upon the body 

 and a very little wood upon that, after which one of the i-ela- 

 tives touched a lighted match to the straw. The mourners sat 

 down upon their heels in a group to windward of the pile, and 

 chatted sociably while they watched it bum. The wind was 

 strong and it burned fiercely for about three minutes, then very 

 moderately for about ten more, by the end of which time the fuel 

 was all consumed. Then the mourners arose, dipped water from 

 the river and drowned out the fire ; the corpse lay there almost 

 intact, and we aU saw that it was a woman. The limbs were 

 drawn up and the face contorted, the hair was burned away, and 

 the entire remains were black and hideous, yet only the skin and 

 hair were burned. Presently one mourner put a stout stick 

 vmder the neck, another put another stick ujider the hips, and at 

 the word the cai'cass was tumbled over the edge of the bank and 

 feU into the water with a loud splash. A few yards further down 

 it reappeared at the surface for a moment ; upon which one of the 

 cremators reached out with his stick and pushed it under, after 

 which we saw it no more. Not more than ten yards below that 

 we saw the heads of two large gavials that floated at the surface, 

 watching the proceedings with evident interest 



AU the ashes and bits of wood were thrown into the river and 

 the spot w^ashed clean, after which the mourners took their depart- 

 ure. The Jumna never seemed so filthy and repulsive as at that 

 moment, and I was glad I never drank from it. 



That body-burning was a mere shallow pretence, and might 

 just as well have been dispensed with, for all it amounted to in 

 reaUty. But rehgion is rehgion, and the form, at least, must be 

 carried out.* 



In some portions of India, where fuel is exceedingly scarce and 

 dear, the poorest of the low-caste natives fulfil the letter of their 

 religion by simply putting a live coal upon the tongue of the corpse, 

 and they call this " burning." After all, is not that as sensible and 

 complete a "burning," as a few drops of water sprinkled upon one's 

 head is a "baptism," or "burial" with Christ? To my mind one 

 is no less absurd than the other. 



Upon reaching Etawah again we stopped at the wide sand-bar 

 opposite the bathing-ghaut, and while at work with our specimens, 



♦Natives who are sufl&ciently wealthy provide fuel enough to entirely con- 

 sume the body, so that nothing remains after cremation except a few pieces 

 of calcined bone. 



