292 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
pile. Notwithstanding the pomp and parade 
of this ceremony, it was, upon the whole, not 
solemn, and indeed in all respects scarcely even 
decorous. The persons not immediately con¬ 
cerned in the performance of the funeral-rites, 
laughed and talked as at a common meeting; 
and the solemnity of the occasion seemed to 
affect no one beyond the husband, the son, and 
the female relations. The spectators in general 
seemed to view the ceremony with some vanity, 
as a grand national and religious display, but 
nothing farther. Even the husband, who shed 
some tears, was not altogether insensible to the 
pomp and circumstance of the occasion. He 
turned round to me, and said, “ Have you ex¬ 
amined my wife’s paraphernalia ? There they 
are behind you ; I beg you to look at them. 
They were all bestowed upon her by the glo¬ 
rious King.” The high-priest, while he was still 
sitting on the ground, and when he had hardly 
done with the prayer, turned round, upon ob¬ 
serving us, laughed very heartily, and said un¬ 
concernedly, 44 Who are these strangers ?” Kau- 
len Mengyi, the virtual first Minister, who took 
an active share in the ceremony throughout, 
told him who we were, styling him “ my Lord.” 
He retired without saying any thing; for to be¬ 
tray curiosity or interest in any temporal mat- 
