CHAP. I. 
TRIPOLI. 
19 
allowed to see them,) conducted with great splendour ; the night 
is the time chosen for the bride to be conveyed to the house of her 
husband, when she is attended by a large troop of women, who 
carry torches, and utter loud and repeated cries of joy. 
Their Burials have nothing remarkable ; the body being merely 
put into a shell, which is covered with a cloth, having sentences of 
the Koran worked round the edges. The friends of the deceased 
follow in a hurried manner, singing verses and religious sentences. 
The grave of a man is as usual distinguished by a piUar of stone, 
having a turban carved on it, placed at the head. The funerals of 
women are in some cases far more interesting, and are conducted 
with a considerable degree of pomp and ceremony. One instance of 
this, I witnessed myself. It was the daughter of the Minister, and 
grand-daughter of the Bashaw, whom I saw carried to the grave. 
Her coffin was covered with a rich purple cloth, embroidered with 
gold, and having large golden characters from the Koran sewed on it. 
At the head was placed a large nosegay of the choicest and most 
beautiful flowers ; the clothes and many costly ornaments of the de- 
ceased were laid on the coffin ; and the accumulation of rich waist- 
coats, shirts, caps, &c. had a most splendid effect. The mourners car- 
ried bunches of flowers in their hands, and, in contrast to the shining 
decorations of the bier, were dressed in soiled and old clothes, 
without antimony on their eyelids, and, in fact, studiously avoiding 
the use of any ornaments. The Minister himself headed the pro- ' 
cession, and although not in general considered a man of very acute 
feelings, appeared in this instance much affected. It is the custom 
at aU funerals to liberate one or more slaves, who may at the time 
belong to the family of the departed ; and it is equally a rule to 
distribute food amongst the poor, who, on these occasions, never 
fail to attend in great numbers. These offerings are of course regu- 
D 2 
