148 
FUNERAL FLOWERS. 
their favourite wive.s, were surrounded with 
beautiful gardens, and the representation of 
flowers in gems, and costly marbles, enriched 
the gorgeous interiors of these “ sculptured 
tombs of Hindoostan.” 
In Chateaubriand’s delightful romance, 
called after its heroine, Atala, with which 
most of our readers must be acquainted, we 
have these allusions to the funeral customs of 
some of the tribes of North America : “ We 
passed near the tomb of a child, which served 
as a boundary to two nations. It was placed 
near the public road, according to custom, that 
virgins, in going to the fountain, might breathe, 
and receive into their bosoms the soul of the 
little innocent, and restore it to their country. 
u We then saw newly married brides, who, 
desiring the joys of maternity, sought among 
the flowers the soul of the infant, which they 
imagined to be hovering around. At last came 
the mother, and placing a bunch of maize and 
lilies upon the grave, she seated herself upon 
the turf, and thus addressed her departed 
child 
