47 
1671 ] of the Island Dauphine , &c. 
they were tir’d of them they had them assassinat’d or 
poison’d. Accordingly a Prince of that time provid’d an 
Edict, by which he prohibit’d these Baignans from marry¬ 
ing more than once in their lifetime, & that after the death 
of the husband the wife should be oblig’d to burn herself 
alive with the dead body of her husband, a thing which 
has always been executed by the Baignans since that 
time, & at present passes for Religion among them. 
Thus the Fathers of children marry them during their 
most tender youth, & when they are of sufficient age 
bring them together & they consummate the marriage. 
When the wife dies first, the husband remains a widower 
all his life; & if the husband dies first, the wife is oblig’d 
to do that which I have just report’d. 
I’ve said that the wives were oblig’d to burn themselves Wives of 
alive with the dead body of their husbands, because they are S obiig'd 
are forc’d to do so, but at present the Prince, having had themselves. 
his attention drawn to this, leaves them the choice of 
doing it if they wish: & as it is a great infamy among 
them not to do so, & that those who do not burn them¬ 
selves pass as being infamous, there are but very few who 
exempt themselves from it. 
The Husbands being dead, the wives are solicited by 
their parents & friends to burn themselves, as I’ve said ; 
& when they consent to it, they are oblig’d to go to 
request permission from the Governor of the place, who 
gives it them for a certain sum of money which is furnish’d 
him : when they have obtain’d this permission they are 
unable any more to retract. This is why their parents & 
friends seize them, praise their courage, their fidelity & 
their virtue. Then the mother and all go with her, to the 
sound of instruments, with great ceremony where the dead 
body of her husband, which is on a pile of wood in an 
enclos’d locality, & expressly made of combustible matter. 
She enters boldly into a passage made for her, which they 
