Book III Travels in I N D T a. 17 i 



believe him to be a Devil, and throw him into Ganges, or any the next Pond 

 or River. In the places where the Apes breed, thef.e poor Infants are not fo 

 expos'd to the Crows; for where the Ape difcovers a Neft of thofe Birds, he 

 climbs the Tree, and throws the Neft one way, and the Eggs another. Some- 

 times Ibme charitable people among the Englijh, Hollanders, and Portugal*, com- 

 paflionating the misfortune of thofe Children, will take them away from the 

 Tree, and give them good education. 



All along the Coaft of Coromandel, when the Women are to be burnt with 

 their Husbands., they make a great hole in the ground nine or ten foot deep, 

 and twenty-five or thirty foot fquare, into which they throw a great quantity 

 of Wood and Drugs to make the fire burn more fiercely. When the fire is 

 kindled, they fet the body of the man upon the brink ; and then prefently up 

 comes the Woman dancing and chewing Betle ■, accompanv'd by her Friends and 

 Kindred, with Drums beating, and Flutes founding. Then the Woman takes 

 three ttrrns round the hole, and every time (he has gone the round, (he khXes 

 her Friends and Kindred. After, the third time the Bramins cart the Carcafs 

 of her Husband into the flame; and the Woman ftanding with her back to 

 the fire, is pufht in by the Bramins alio, and tumbles backward. Then her 

 Kindred and Friends caft Oil and other' combuitible Drugs upon the fire, to ! 

 make it burn more vehemently, that the Bodies may be the fooner con- 

 fum'd. 



In moft places upon th? Coaft of Coromandd, the Women are not burnt 

 with their deceas'd Husbands, but they are buried alive with them in holes 

 which the Bramins make a foot deeper than the tallneis of the man and wo- 

 man. Ufually they chufe a Sandy place; fo that when the. man and woman are 

 both let down together, all the Company with Baskets of Sand fill up the hole 

 above half a foot higher than the furface of the ground, after which they 

 jump and dance upon it, till they believe the woman to be ftifl'd. 



When fome of the Idolaters upon the Coaft of Coromandd are upon the point 

 of death, their Friends do not carry them to the fide of a River or Lake to 

 cleanfe their Souls, but they carry them to the fatteft Cow they can find ; 

 and laying the fick party juft beh'.nd the Cow, they lift up her Tail, and pro- 

 voke her to pifs. If (he pifs, fo that it falls upon the face of the fick party, all 

 the Company are overjoy 'd, laying, that his Soul is happy. But if the Cow 

 <io not pifs, to warn the fick parties face, they burn him with a great deal of 

 fadnefs. If a Cow be fick, the owner muft ke careful to lead her to a Pond 

 Or River ; for Ihould (he dye at his Houfe, the Bramins would fine him. 



CHAP. X. 



Remarkable Stories of Women that have been burnt after their 



Husbands deceafe. 



. 



THE Raja of Velou having loft his City and his life, through the lofs 

 of a Battel gain'd againft him by the King of Vapour's General, he 

 was extreamly lamented at Court. Eleven of his Wives alfo were no le(s 

 concern'd for his death, and refolv'd to be burnt when his Body was 

 burn'd. The General of Vfafour\ Army underftanding their refolution, thought 

 at firft to divert them, by promifing them all kind ufage. But finding perfwa- 

 fions would not prevail, he order'd them to be.fhut up in a Room. He who 

 had the order, going to put it in execution, the Women in a rage told him, 

 that 'twas to no purpofe to keep them' Prifoners,- for if they might not have 

 leave to do what they had refolv'd, in three hours there would not one of 

 them be alive. The perfon entrufted, laugh'd at their threats ; but the Keeper 

 of thofe women opening the door at the end of the three hours, found therrv 

 r *Z» at 



