Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-01
BURNING THE DEAD.
The Methods of Cremation Practiced in
Various Countries.

The Methods of Cremation Practiced in
Various Countries.
AS much interest is being evinced just
now in the cremation question, says the
Pail Mall Gazette, the following account
Of some methods Of burning the dead are
aprOpOs:
/ A CREMATION IN SIAM.
Here is an account of a cremation
ceremony which took place in Siam,
where only those are buried who cannot
/ pay the fees. To be cremated in Siam
| must be pleasure. When the time for
the funeral arrives the body is laid in a
! receptacle on the summit of stately
! pyramid, the form and material OF which
! indicate the wealth and position of the
| deceased. 1t is thickly gilded, and the
receptacle lined with plates of solid gold
when the body has belonged to one of
| royal lineage and well-flled Golfers. The
| last is quite as essential as the first to a
! gorgeous Oriental funeral, since for rank
! without money an East Indian has ever
! the most profound contempt. Both re-
! quisites were fortunately united in the
! person of the Queen mother of King Pra-
| Nang-Klau. At the funeral of this aged
| Queen there was such a display of Orieu-
tai magnifcence as rarely falls to the lot
! of Western eyes to witness. The en-
| balmed body lay in state under a golden
! canopy for eight months; the myrth,
/ frankincense and aromatic oils used in its
J preparation cost upward of & 1000, and
! the golden pyre above 100000. The
! hangings were of the richest silks and
velvets, trimmed with bullion fringe and
costly lace, and the wrappings Of the
| body of pure white silk, embroidered
with pearls and precious stones. Incredi-
| BILE quantities of massive jeWelry decked
! the shrunken corpse, and diadem OF
| glitterlng gems cast its prismatic radi-
~ foo inv
| golden lamps, fed with perfumed oil,
! burned day and night around the pyre,
while every portion of the vast saloon
was decorated with rare and beautiful
| flowers, arranged in all the various forms
! of crowns, sceptres, temples, angels,
! birds, lanterns, wreathes and arches, till
! Flora herself might have wondered at the
| boundless resources of her domain. Day
! and night musical Instruments were
! played, dirges walled forth, and prostra-
! tions perpetually performed; while twice
! every day the King, attended by his
whole court, made offerings to the
departed spirit, beat his breast, tore his
hair and declared life 'utteTly unendura-
| BILE without the beloved one."
A CREMATION ON THE COLORADO RIVER.
Here is an account of a cremation
| among the North American$Indians, the
| Cocopa tribe, on the Colorado river: A
short distance from the collection Of
matched huts which composed the viii
! lage a shallow ditch had been dug in the
| desert, in which were laid logs of the
mesquite (prOsOpis and strombOcarpus },
! hard and dense woods, which make, as
! all Western campaigners know, a very
hot fire with little flame or smoke. After
a short time the body was brought from
! the village, surrounded by the family and
! other inhabitants, and laid on the logs in
! the trench. The relatives, as is usual
with Indians, had their faces disfgured
! with black paint, and the females, as is
! the custom with other savages, made very
! loud EXPLANATIONS of grief, mingled with
what might be supposed to be funeral
songs. Some smaller fagOts were then
! placed on top, few personal effects of
! the dead man added, and fire applied.
/ After a time a dense mass of dark
! colored smoke arose, and the burning of
! the body, which was much emac1ated,
! proceeded rapidly. l (says the eye-wit-
| messy began to be rather tired OF the
! spectacle, and was about to 60 away,
! when one of the Indians, in a few words
! of Spanish, told me to remain, as there
was something yet to be seen. An old
man then advanced from the assemblage,
with a long pointed stick in his hand.
! Going near to the burning body, he re-
moved the eyes, holding them success
sively in the direction of the sun, with
| his face turned toward that luminary, re-
peating at the same time some words
! which ] understood from our guide were
a PRAYER for the happiness of the soul Of
! the deceased. After this more fagots
were heaped on the fire, which was kept
up for perhaps three Orjfour hours longer.
did not remain, as there was nothing more
ofEinterest, but l learned on inquiry that
after the fire was burned out it was the
! custom to collect the fragments of bone
1 which remained and put them in terra
Gotta vase, which was kept under the
care of the family.
CURIOSITIES IN BURIAL.
The modes of disposlng of the dead are
many and curious. The HindOOs, for in
stance, expose their dead on the banks of
| the Gauges and the HooghlY to be carried
| away by alligatOrs. The Parsees expose
their bodies upon high gratings to feed
the birds of prey. Vertz advocates burial
| at sea, and pictures the 'dead ship daily
! departing from the stand with its lifeless
burden, and reverently and prayerfully
committing the bodies to the deep" The
only people, il appears, who practice sea
| burial are the abOrigines of the Chatham
Islands. When a fisherman there departs
this life they put baited rod in his hand,
| and. after flashing him fast in a boat, send
| him adrift to sea. According to Mr..
| cassie, a method of petrifactiOn has been
| preached, but has met with no success.
The system pursued by the ancient Peru
| Vians was ingenious and apparently effec-
tive. 1t consisted in piling up collins of
plaster in pyramid fashion. One, care
| fully examined, measured over 5000, 900
| of cubic feet, and was one mass of
| half-mummified bodies. OF burial in the
earth the most persistent practicers are
the Chinese. Then there is embalmment,
| and an analogous process which consists
| of drying up the body and then lnterring
it. A tribe in South Australia place their
| deceased in sitting posture near the top
| of the hut, and keep up the fire until it
is dry, when they proceed to bandage it,
eventually hiding it away IN the branches
| of trees.
THE BRAHAIIN BURIAL SERVICE.
The following compilation from a
| burial service Of the Brahmins, who are
the priests Of all the other castles of
HindOos that burn their dead, may prove
interesting to the reader. 1t is extracted
from the "Sacred Anthology"
| O EeTtb! to these we commend our
| brother; of thee he was formed, by thee
he was sustained, and unto thee he now
| returns,
O Fire thou hadst claim on our brother
! during life; he subsisted by thy influence
| in nature; to thee we commit his body,
thou emblem of purity; may his spirit be
| purified on entering a new state of eXis-
! tenee.
! 0 dir! while the breath of life con-
| tinued our brother respired by thee; his
| last breath is now departed; to thee we
| yield him.
0 Water! thou didst contribute to the
| life ofour brother; thou vert one his
sustaining elements; his remains are now
| dispersed receive thy share of him who
! has now taken an everlasting flight.
Electricity in Whey ards.