The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-05-27

~, - ".''i .he ioliUhiBe account "a
'he burning of a llindoo W,day. W. "
eye witness To the Occurrence. and ~
ooFeS us II IS correctly described.
From The Bengat Htrkafu, .4yg. "a r..
ACCOUNT OF \ sUTrEr
Beng informed that the ,l.,n,,L,.
histnokaunt Dose Sirlair. had res,, - u
immediate herself pn the funeral pie ef NV ~
husband, :. Budunchundrr boss, who did
sunday The ltl inst. proceeded n 4 ~
iershait Oh the morning Of the Tu..d
/ iolf'h'ug, IA order 10 witness. for onc..
my HE, this horrible sacrifice. I'll !.
the place about half past g o'rlnel N ~,
found the Sattee* had arrived brror, a,n
She was sitting in palanke,.n Win i'''
motlier and young girl and IN -. ne
palahkeen hard by, were her daughter ~,
li"f Son-il-law. Sine appeared to he ;,Ln,t
i"enty-sm years of age !; and accordiug -
my ldeas OF Indian beauty, She was H.
ioEelIest native woman have eyer So. '''o
| entered INTO conversation Will, b.r,
the medium of AN Interpreter, and .spa',
whether she came there of her own &C..
ana II IL was OF her own free will that sl.
proposed to burn herself with the body -
her husband ? She replied in the atIi t,, u
tive. l endeayorcd to dissuade her r.,
her purpose, telling her, that if She w n"@,
consent to live, myself would imm.t;t,
~ make her present of thousand -,
pees, and would ensure her against waot :.
long as she lived. NO" she reulied q
want nothing in this world what bayeI,1
do with my life my heart is there wiz
my husband. But there, (she continnaa
pointing to her daughter) there /, m"
daughter, give her what you have to be-
stow"
Seeing my arguments were of no aya;I
turned from her and went to observe tL,,
preparations of the pile. 1t was f,rn,eJ
as follows First they dug pit about ,
feet deep, 8 or 4 wide and long, and STA.
ked il along the two sides with Soond,,-
wood They then put two stout pieces al
timber, about 0 inchesin diameter upon III,
mouth of the pit, lengthwlse, aud four mr.
five pieces across. This is the foundation
of the pile, and secures free circulation or
air from below in order to make il burr,
brskly. Above these cross pieces Of tim
Der they first placed IA quantity of broken
hre-wood, then good thick layer of div
reeds (such as grow in the Salt Lake. and
dry bamboos. Over this they spread kind
OF tow which was s,irated with ghee and
dammer "a kind ofcaurse resin and other
combustble materials. Over this again
was placed another layer Of fre-wood
then another layer of reeds and bamhoos
over which, lastly, they again spread
layer OF tow filed with combustble mate
rails as before, and covered the whole with
piece of coarse cloth (baitah) forming as
1t were, bed for the dead and living body
about to be committed to the flames. The
whole thus consisted of six layers-two Of
tlrc-wood, of reed and rotten bamboos, g.
two OF tow and other inlammabe mate
rails and 1t rose nearly 8 feet above the
ground.
The pile was now all ready, but there
was stall one cause of delay; the Darogah
had not made his appearance. In the in
terral of suspense returned to the Suffice.
She seemed extremely anxious that the
sacrifice of which she was to be the vic
tim, should he permitted immediateIy.-
She complained of the tedious delay that
had taken place, saying 8" | have been here
since morning, il is now g" Bee gul Beah"
past mid day and still all is not ready
How long do you mean to keep me from
joining my husband viii You delay all
day let it be done immediately" Short
~ after the DaDgah came aud put To her
the usual questions: Whether she sacrif.
ced herself of her own free will and if no.
thing had been administered to intoxcate
her! Having answered all these questions
satisfactorily, the tom toms struck up, and
She was led in triumph towards the pile
conducted and supported by her mother,
daughter, and several other near relations
When She arrived ut the fatal spot, she
presented herself at the feet of her de
ceased husband who was already placed
upon it, But before her arrival there, her
daughter appeared and after changing her
dress made mixture Of rice, ghce, sc.
and placed II handful of it at the mouth OF
the deceased. Some of the woman's re
Iatlons now gave her also handful of rice,
pawn, &c. which she put into her mouth
and seemed to eat it, with the greatest
composure but others imagined she only
chewed the pawn and spit it out. as sever
al of the attendants seemed anxious to
obtain portion Of it after mastication.-.
One of those baskets formed in the shape
ol crown, used by the Natives, filled
with cowrlfs, .lal-pan, &c. was then placed
IN her hand, and by her father, the only
person who indicated any touch of feeling,
embraced her aiitclonately. They then
conducted her round the pile, supported
BY her relations, the crowd pushing and
dragging her about in tumutuous man
ner, us all were scrambling to get some Of
the presents (cowries, jewels or other trim
kets &c.) which she kept distributing from
the basket as she proceeded round. AT
this time as was standing near the SUIT
tee, She recognized me from the con,cr-
satlon had previously had with her, and
stretched out her arm several times, TO put
some token into my hand hnf The nrrsOns