SUPERSTITIOUS RITE. 
189 
other people upon earth, and which are an indication 
of that repulsive heartlessness so common to this 
f placid and gentle' race, — for these are the terms by 
which they have been frequently though falsely cha- 
racterized. We saw a group of persons slowly ap- 
proaching the river, bearing a heavy burden, which 
proved to be a human body, apparently in the last 
stage of existence ; still it was sufficiently manifest 
that some time must elapse before life, in the ordi- 
nary course of nature, would become extinct. As our 
boat was close to the shore, I could see the miserable 
victim occasionally move his limbs, and could even hear 
him speak. He was extended upon a rude frame of 
matting, stretched over four bamboos, little exceed- 
ing the length and breadth of the body which lay 
upon it, and was placed close to the waters edge, in 
order that his last sigh might expire upon the banks 
of the sacred river. He was accompanied, as we soon 
learnt, by his nearest of kin, who looked on with the 
greatest indifference whilst the last rites of a most re- 
volting sacrifice were about to be performed, and when 
all was prepared, eagerly participated in the ceremony 
that immediately followed. The frame upon which the 
dying man lay was placed so near the stream that 
the body was washed by every ripple of the water, so 
that the least push would launch it upon its placid 
bosom. The mouth and nostrils of the passive suf- 
ferer were now crammed with the consecrated mud 
of the Ganges, and this last act of kindred humanity 
was the consummation of a holy rite, which was to 
secure to the happy soul of the now departing saint 
a passport to the realms of everlasting bliss, by ob- 
