OP THE RELIGION OP SASSAK. 
10/ 
gle widow who allowed herself to be krised. They have the choice 
of allowing' themselves to be burned, or krised. The first is the most 
rare. The wives of the Rajas however must suffer themselves to be 
burned. 'When a R&ja dies some women are alwaye burned, even 
should they be but slaves. The wives of the priests never kill them¬ 
selves. Having been present at one of these horrible spectacles I 
relate bow it was conducted. 
The gusti, who died at Ampanan, left three wives. One of them 
would let herself be krised for his honor, and that against the will of 
all on both sides of her family. The woman was still young and 
beautiful; she had no children. They said to me that a woman who, 
under such circumstances, suffered herself to be killed had indeed 
loved her husband. She intended to accompany him on his long 
journey to the gods, and she hoped to be his favorite in the other 
world. 
The day after the death of the gnsti his wife took many baths ; 
she was clothed in the richest manner ; she passed the day with her 
relatives and friends, in eating, drinking, chewing of sirih and pray¬ 
ing. About the middle of the space before the house they had erect¬ 
ed two scaffoldings or platforms of bambu of the length of a man, 
and three feet above the ground. Under these they had dug a small 
pit to receive the water and the blood that should flow. In a small 
house at one side and opposite these frame works were two others 
entirely similar. This house was immediately behind the ball bali. 
At four o’clock in the afternoon men brought out the body of the 
gusti wrapped in fine linen, and placed it on the left of the two cen¬ 
tral platforms. A priest of Mataram removed the cloth from the body 
while young persons hastened to cover the private parts of the dead 
with their hands. They threw much water over the corpse, washed 
it, combed the hair, and covered the whole body with champaka and 
kananga flowers. They then brought a white net. The priest took 
a silver cup filled with holy water (called chor) on which he strew¬ 
ed flowers. He first sprinkled the deceased with this water, and 
then poured it through the net on his body which he blessed, pray¬ 
ing, singing, and making various mystical and symbolical motions. 
