The Sun.
London, England, 1810-06-13 00:00:00

A suTTEr.

• Being informed, that a Suttee was about to take
place in the iticinitrof trifhouse,,- I repaired tb•tite
spot, in company with a friend, instigited.-by a
strong and natural curiositr,-- to observe- narrowly
the deportment of a human being, about to take a
voluntary and pohhc Irate of existence,. and be-
hewing, from what tt e had read of similar casts, that.
our feelings would not be shocked: by any open ex-
hibition of the; aClual pains. of -dissolution. Jdo
,not recollect to have,,sw any accoont of a Suttee
whiCh did not, upOn the wh-ale, tell rather tat our-
able for the humanity of i hose whorn-an impel ions
ordinance of religion-,CallFr-upon presideior of-
ficiate at such ceremonialr-I•think it therefore a
duty .which -Lowe to the. cause'of truth to record at .
'least. one instance; on the other side of the clues-.
With this view,
.1,
,beg leave. to address my:-
:self to, you, in, the that you give Ute
narration a place in your valuable ne A spwer, ,wlie,n
you have nothing more interesting or aJyel to in 7
sert.

The Suttee in question 'took place at a spot by
the river side, about a quarter of,a•mile bel.)w Bar-
'nagore; at .eleven in the' .n-rorning;- We arrived
-about half' an• hour before that lime and foutut,the
widow;',batiling in the river, surrounded be a trial)
'of friends, chiefly men. It was then low water, and
the deep mud left by the tide prevett!cd our ap-
proaching sufficiently near to obste, with eccu.
racy, the ceremonies that .were 7 p:!rotot ming: Our
attention was attracted to the pile, wirch:was placed
about high-water mark. It was not altogethet more
than four and a'half or five feet long, to the best of
our observation, and consisted merely of some long
billets of chopped soondry-wood, tiesh and green
from the bazar, retained in their places, by tour
stakes driven into the ground at
.toe angles. The
whole was exceedingly little, if at all, longer, or
broadeG than one id toe common cots used by the
natives. The deceased was supported in_ a sitting
posture -by two men, close to• ilje pile, 'and, some
more billets of wood, qvith four or tive bundles of
-dry brush-wdod- and
,reeds lay- ready. fur .use.—
The whole o 4 the ceremonies observed :on the
oceasion were such as are usually gone through,
and ,as have been de-cribed so• utter in books.
The widow was dressed in a rube or sheet of
red silk, and had her hair hanging loose and disne-
veiled, and stuck through With in:iny_ wooden
cntnbi : her forehead was pai!ited- with, yellow
ochre, or orpiment, and she had dress-or
ornament whatever. From the bye-s:auderi we
learned, tiiat •herbusband •was..a common Nasher-

and that it warrior .expv:,,ted by .2,1. one 1 hat
• she -would have n'solved to burn.herseit, especially
a - she had a child three %ears otd„ kind as her,rela-
: tons. had offerrd them both, if she
Woulti coris;•nr to live. I shall- not- take up :your.
time by detailing the: -in •fly, ckJano..w.," that were.perfOrmed. The body of the tiosha d -WaS placed
on right side., and- in.dO, time: slke ascended-arid
lay down by its side, facing it, at,d:litetally locked_
in its arn►s. So.:*;Sh-Oi t was -the.. pile, thebye-;
slanders W..,re &,-li.;ed to bend the
much, to enable -tlie pitelo'contain jhom D
ali this “--dreadful note of '-preparation;" from hi st
to last, the -widow prese'rr the ut,t,c,fit,•tto most
entire lOrtitude..and cocuposurei otr. rather .apathy,
• and was unmoved even at parting he,
In het' processions round the bile;; she was ,supported
and hurried' Toimd through • the-crowd, by, many
men who held• her - by the armsand.shoulders,
made the populace give way.• '-From this we at first
concluded her' to be intoxicate 4. but were after-
wards convinced of our mistake, by seeing the
,steadiness of nerve, and perfeel- composure, wi
which she Sprinkled the corpse of her husband, and
Mounfed'on the pile- endr.ely, ttnas.3iSted and alnne.
We stood within six or seven feet •of the and
`could not be mistaken; I The remaining billets of
wood were now laid on the bodies, with a scanty
handfull'of dry reeds-here and there. .But the point
to which I wish especially to draw the attention of
your readers is, that thick strong ropes, thoroughly.
soaked in water, were previously tied round the
bodies of the-living and the dead, many places,
to preclude the possibility of .escape,. and in. seem-
ing anticipation of the dreadful scene that followed.
One Brarnin only was present-at the ceremony,• and
as soon as all was prepared, he
.otfered to the wi-
dow's child ...On-the arms n‘ another) a 'lighted -
brand. Thd child drew back in affright,. when
they • seized- its hand by force, and applied the fire
to the head •and afterwards. to the foot of the pile.
The shouting and noise of the crowd had been in-:
cessant front the beginning, but at this instant it
was incredibly loud. Four strung. green bamboos
were now laid accross the whole ple, which
strongly held by-eight men, so as to keep down all
attentipts.olthe miserable creaure within to rise,
a precaution not useles,, it be alloAed t0.C9i1.-
jecture from what we observed at the toot ut the pile,
near to which we stood. A quantity of ghee, Out,
.a pint in all, was s‘attered on
the scantine,s of this and the brushwood, and the
greettness of the billets, caused the pile to burti very
slowly, and rendered it necessary to apply fresh fire
.at. one time. I scarcely know how to paint, in co-
lours that shall nor disgust and shock your reader.,
the horrible close of the scene. Sullice it to say,
that soon after'the fire took cited, the wretched

,man within, in her torment, stretchel/41iorth-her
Iwhich now protruded from the kik-e; Leyond the
_scanty pile; and, by the quickness with which she

attetnpted to withdraw it, on its touching a burn-
ing brand, it was
_evident that she wds still too sen-
sible to the tortures she must then base been etiour-

*lug. Owing to the brush-wood being icatteied
only at the extremities of the pile, the fire there was
li&rcest. In a minute. (a- two more, the scorched
and mutilated limb was again thrust out, 40
consumed belnie our outraged eyes, t, tre-•