rARROW.] MORTUARY CUSTOMS OF THE PERSIANS. 103 
the remains to the grave, but they more often employ others to bury the body for 
them, usually women. Mourning is similar in this tribe as in others, and it consists 
in cutting off the hair, fasting, &c. Horses are also killed at the grave. 
The Caddoes, Ascena, or Timber Indians, as they call themselves, 
follow nearly the same mode of burial as the Wichitas, but one custom 
prevailing is worthy of mention: 
If a Caddo is killed in battle, the body is never buried, but is left to be devoured 
by beasts or birds of prey, and the condition of such individuals in the other world 
is considered to be far better than that of persons dying a natural death. 
In a work by Bruhier* the following remarks, freely translated by 
the writer, may be found, which note a custom having great similarity 
to the exposure of bodies to wild beasts mentioned above 
The ancient Persians threw out the bodies of their dead on the roads, and if they were 
promptly devoured by wild beasts it was esteemed a great honor, a misfortune if not. 
Sometimes they interred, always wrapping the dead in a wax cloth to prevent odor. 
- 
M. Pierre Muret,t from whose book Bruhier probably obtained his 
information, gives at considerable length an account of this peculiar 
method of treating the dead among the Persians, as follows: 
It is a matter of astonishment, considering the Persians have ever had the renown 
of being one of the most civilized Nations in the world, that notwithstanding they 
should have used such barbarous customs about the Dead as are set down in the 
Writings of some Historians; and the rather because at this day there are still to be 
seen among them those remains of Antiquity, which do fully satisfie us, that their 
Tombs have been very magnificent. And yet nevertheless, if we will give credit to 
Procopius and Agathias, the Persians were never wont to bury their Dead Bodies, so far 
were they from bestowing any Funeral Honours upon them: But, as these Authors tell 
us, they exposed them stark naked in the open fields, which is the greatest shame our 
. Laws do allot to the most infamous Criminals, by laying them open to the view of all 
upon the highways: Yea, in their opinion it was a great unhappiness, if either Birds 
or Beasts did not devour their Carcases ; and they commonly made an estimate of the 
Felicity of these poor Bodies, according as they were sooner or later made a prey of. 
Concerning these, they resolved that they must needs have been very bad indeed, 
since even the beasts themselves would not touch them; which caused an extream 
sorrow to their Relations, they taking it for an ill boding to their Family, and an in- 
fallible presage of some great misfortune hanging over their heads; for they persuaded 
themselves, that the Souls which inhabited those Bodies being dragg’d into Hell, 
would not fail to come and trouble them; and that being always accompanied with the 
Devils, their Tormentors, they would ane give them a great deal of disturbance. 
And on the contrary, when these Corpses were presently devoured, their joy was 
very great, they enlarged themselves in praises of the Deceased ; every one esteeming 
them undoubtedly happy, and came to congratulate their relations on that account: 
For as they believed assuredly, that they were entered into the Elysian Fields, so they 
were persuaded, that they would procure the same bliss for all those of their family. 
They also took a great delight to see Skeletons and Bones scatered up and down in 
the fields, whereas we can scarcely endure to see those of Horses and Dogs used so. 
And these remains of Humane Bodies, (the sight whereof gives us so much horror, 
that we presently bury them out of our sight, whenever we find them elsewhere than 
in Charnel-houses or Church-yards) were the occasion of their greatest joy; because 
they concluded from thence the happiness of those that had been devoured, wishing 
after their Death to meet with the like good luck. 
*L’incertitude des Signes de la Mort, 1749, t. 1, p. 439, 
t Rites of Funeral, Ancient and Modern, 1683, p. 45. 
