H I N D O 
Linn.] There were about twenty women fitting on their 
hams round her, holding a white handkerchief, extended 
horizontally over her' head, to (hade her from the fun, 
which was excefilvely hot, it being then about noon. 
“ At about twenty yards from where fire was fitting, 
and facing her, there were feveral Brahmins bufy in con- 
ftrufling a pile with billets of fire-wood : the pile was 
about eight feet long and four broad. They firft began 
by driving fome upright ftakes into the ground, and then 
built up the middle to about the height of three feet and 
a half with billets of wood. The dead huiband, who, 
from his appearance, feemed to be about fixty years of age, 
was lying clofe by, flretched out on a bier made of bam¬ 
boo canes. Four Brahmins walked in procefiion three 
times round the dead body, firft in a direction contrary 
to the fun, and afterwards other three times in a direction 
with the fun, all the while muttering incantations ; and 
at each round or circuit they made, they untwifted, and 
immediately again twilled up, the linall long lock of hair 
which is left unihaven at the back of their heads. Some 
other Brahmins were in the mean time employed in fprink- 
ling water out of a green leaf, rolled up like a cup, upon 
a fmall heap of cakes of dry cow-dung, with which the 
pile was afterwards to be fet on fire. An old Brahmin 
fat at the north-eaft corner of the pile upon his hams, 
with a pair of fpeftacles on, reading, I luppoie, the Shaf- 
ter, or their fcriptures, from a book compofed of cajan 
leaves. 
“ Having been prefent now nearly an hour, I inquired 
when they meant to fet the pile on fire : they anfwered 
in about two hours. As this fpe&acle was moil melan¬ 
choly, and naturally ftruck me with horror, and as I had 
only gone there to affure rnyfelf of the truth of fuch ia- 
crifices being made, I went away towards the fort. Af¬ 
ter I was gone about five hundred yards, they fent fome 
one to tell me they would burn immediately ; on which 
I returned, and found the woman had been moved from 
where ihe was fitting to the river, where the Brahmins 
were bathing her. On taking her out of the water they 
put fome money in her hand, which ihe dipped in the ri¬ 
ver, and divided among the Brahmins ; ihe had then a 
yellow cloth rolled partially round her. They put fome 
red colour, about the fize of a fixpence, on the centre of 
her forehead, and rubbed fomething that appeared to me 
to be clay. She was then led to the pile, round which 
{he walked three times as the fun goes; ihe then mounted 
it at the north-eaft corner, without any aftiltance ; and 
fat herfelf down on the right fide of her huiband, who 
had been previoufly laid upon the pile. She then un- 
fcrewed the pins which fattened the jewels or filver rings 
on her arms: after ihe had taken them oft’, file ihut them, 
and fcrewed in the pins again, and gave one to each of 
two women who were ftanding : ,ihe unfcrewed her ear¬ 
rings and other toys with great compofure, and divided 
them among the women who were with her. There 
feemed to be fome little fquabble about the diiiribution 
of her jewels, which ihe fettled with great precifion ; and 
then, falling gently backwards, pulled a fold of yellow 
cloth over Iter face, turned her breafl towards her Jmf- 
band’s fide, and laid her right arm over his breaft; and 
in this pofturq file remained without moving. 
“ Juft before Ihe lay down, the Brahmins put fome rice 
in her lap, and alfo fome into the mouth and on the long 
grey beard of her huiband : they then fprinkled fome wa¬ 
ter on the head, breaft, and feet, of both, and tied them 
gently together round the middle with a (lender bit of 
rope : they then railed as it were a little wall of wood 
lengthways on two fides of the pile, fo as tp raiie it above 
the level of the bodies ; and then put crofs pieces fo as 
to prevent the billets of wood from preiling on them: 
they then poured on the pile, above w'here the woman 
lay, a potful of fomething that appeared to me to be oil: 
after this they heaped on more wood, to the height of 
about four feet above where the bodies were built in ; io 
-that all I now' law was a ftack of fire-wood. One of the 
Vol.X. No. 648. 
OSTAN. 137 
Brahmins, I obferved, flood at the end of the pile next 
the woman’s head, was calling to her through the inter- 
ftices of the wood, and laughed feveral times during the 
converfation. Laltly, they overfpread the pile with wet 
ftraw, and tied it on with ropes. 
“ A Brahmin then took a handful of ftraw, which he 
fet on fire at the little heap of burning cakes of cow- 
dung ; and, ftanding to windward of the pile, he let the 
wind drive the flame from the ftraw till it catched the 
pile. Fortunately, at this inftant, the wind role much 
higher than it had been any part of the day, and in an 
inftant the flames pervaded the whole pile, and it burnt 
with great fury. I liftened a few feconds, but could not 
diilinguiih any ihrieks ; and in a very few minutes the 
pile became a heap of allies. 
“ During the whole time of this procefs, which lafted 
from firft to lalt above two hours before we loft iight of 
the woman by her being built up in the middle of the pile, 
I kept my eyes almoft conllantly upon her ; and I declare 
to God that I could not perceive, either in her counte¬ 
nance or limbs, the leall trace of either horror, fear, or 
liefitation.” 
The moil recent account tranfmitted to England of a 
facrifice of this nature, is from an Engliih officer, dated 
Surat, June 30, 1808, in the following words : 
“ Yelterday the ceremony of a Brahmin woman burn¬ 
ing herfelf with the body of her deceafed huiband, took 
place at Phooltarah, a village about two miles from Surat, 
on the banks of the Taptie. I went there very early, and 
arrived at the fpot long before any preparations were made 
for the approaching lolemnity. At length twelve flight 
poles were fixed as uprights in the ground, round which 
a wall of iewarrie-ftalks was placed, as was a roof alfo of 
the fame ilalk, forming a Hied of fix or feven feet fquare, 
and about fix feet high, with a fmall door-way facing the 
river. A platform or bed was then formed of billets of 
wood, fix feet long, and between two and three feet wide, 
and two feet high. This was the funeral pile. In a 
iliort time after, the body of the deceafed arrived, pre¬ 
ceded by tomtoms, or drums, and followed by the widow, 
furrounded by Brahmins, and attended by her fon, a youth 
about eighteen years of age. The deceafed was an old 
man with grey hairs ; the woman appeared about forty, 
She fat down before the door of the pile, and, after per T 
forming a few ceremonies, ihe attended the body of her 
huiband to the river, where ihe performed various ablu¬ 
tions. The Brahmins all this time, as well as at her firil 
arrival at the pile, occafionally proftrated tl^mfelves at 
her feet, as to a fuperior being. At her return from the 
river, ihe fat down near the opening of the pile, and the 
body of her huiband was placed befide her. The body 
was then uncovered, on which the, with one of the moil ex- 
preflive fmiles I ever faw, bowed her head towards his face. 
The body of the deceaied was then carried into the inclo- 
fure, and placed lengthways on the funeral pile. She then 
went through various myfteries and ceremonies, too intri¬ 
cate for me to underftand ; but, among others, ihe poured 
ghee feveral times on the facred fire which was placed be¬ 
fore her, when her fon took fome of the allies and put them 
in her mouth, which ihe fwallowed. She then drank three 
feparate times of confecrated water. On returning the 
loote to one of the officiating Brahmins, he found a little 
left, which he fwallowed with great avidity ; ihe then re¬ 
ceived a few rupees at two different times from her fon, 
and prefented them as offerings to the priefts. Three fe¬ 
male relations were then allowed to approach her; they 
threw themfelves at her feet, and feemed imploring for 
fomething : ihe touched all their foreheads, and gave each 
fome blades of grafs, rice, and flour; and they departed. 
She was then decorated with a necklace of camphire, 
and bracelets of the fame—as alfo a wreath forming a 
turban, indicative of her throwing off the nature of wo¬ 
manhood, and aifuming that of the man ; all thefe myile- 
ries being concluded, flie arofe an^gprepared^o walk round 
the pile leven times. The firft round .two Brahmins of- 
Nn fered 
