CYPRESS. 
211 
beries, like those representations of death which 
the Romans were accustomed to shew to their 
guests even amid the transports of boisterous 
mirth. 
The ancients consecrated the Cypress to the 
Fates, the Furies, and Pluto. They placed it 
near tombs. The people of the East have re¬ 
tained the same custom. Their cemeteries are 
not scenes of desolation and neglect. Covered 
with trees and flowers, they are places of public 
resort, which are continually bringing together 
the living and the dead. The favourite tree 
for burial-grounds is the Cypress, which the 
Turks plant not only at the head and foot, but 
also upon the graves of deceased friends. Such, 
indeed, is their reverence for the dead, that 
they frequent the cemeteries more than the 
mosques themselves, for the purpose of prayer 
and religious meditation. There are many pious 
Mussulmans who do not suffer a day to pass 
without praying at the grave of their parents, 
children, relatives, or friends. You may see at 
every hour of the day and even of the night 
some person or other either watering or planting 
fragrant shrubs and flowers in these abodes of 
peace. 
