The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-09-20
Methods q Burning the Dead.

ceremony which took place in Siam.
where only those are buried who can
not pay the fees To be cremated in
Siam must be pleasure. When the
time for the funeral arrives the body is
laid in receptacle on the summit of
stately pyramid, the form and material
of which indicate the wealth and POI
sition 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 filed Golfers. The last is quite as
essential as the first to gorgeous ORR
entail funeral, since for rank without
money an East Indian has ever the most
profound contempt Both requisites
were fortunately united in the person
of the Queen Mother of King Pra- Nang-
Queen there was such display of ORR
entail magniticence asrarely falls to the
lot Of Western eyes to witness. The
embalmed body lay in state under a
golden canopy for eight months; the
myrrh, frankincense, and aromatic oils
used in its preparation cost upwards of
$1,000, 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. Incredible quantities
of massive jewelry dccked the shrunken
corpse. and diadem of glittering gems
casts its prismatic radiance over the
withered features. Tiny golden lamps,
fed with perfumed oil, burned day and
night around the pyre, while every
portion of the vast saloon was deco
rated with rare and beautiful flowers.
! arranged in all the various forms of
crowns, sceptres, temples, angels. birds.
lanterns, wreaths, and arches, till
Flora herself might have wondered mt
the boundless resources of her domain.
Day and night musical Instruments
were played, dirges walled forth, and
prostrations perpetually performed;
while twice every day the King, at
| tended by his whole court. made offer
| ings to the departed spirit. beat his
| breast, tore his hair, and declared life
"utterly uncomfortable without the
beloved one."
Here is an account of a cremation
among the North American Indians,
the Cocopa tribe, on the Colorado
River: A short Instance from the col
lection of matched huts which com.
| posed the village, shallow ditch had
been dug in the desert, in which were
| laid logs of the mezqute (prosopis and
strombocarpus), hard and dense wood,
which makes, rs all Western cam
| paigners know, very hot fire with
little flame or smoke. After 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 faggots were then placed on
top, few personal effects of the dead
man added, and fire applied. After a
time dense mass of dark colored
smoke arose; and the burning of the
body, which was much emaciated, pro-
'ceeded rapidly. (says the eye witness)
began to be rather tired of the specta-
Gle. and was about to go 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 assem-
blage, with a long pointed stick in his
hand. Going near to the burning body,
he removed the eyes, holding them sue
cessively in the direction of the sun,
with his face turned towards that
luminary, repeating at the same time
some words which | understood from
| our guide were prayer for the happi-
ness of the soul of the deceased. After
this more faggots were heaped on the
fire, which was kept up perhaps for
three or four hours longer. did not
remain, as there was nothing more OF
interest, but ! learned on inquiry that
after the fire was burned out it was the
custom to collect the fragments of bone
which remained and put them in a
terra Gotta vase, which was kept under
the care of the family.
The modes of disposing of the dead
are many and curious. The Hindoos,
for instance, 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 burials at sea, and pictures
the '.dead ship daily departing from the
strand with It's lifeless burden, and rev.
erently and prayerfully committing the
bodies to the deep" The only people,
it appears, who practice sea burial are
the aborigines of the Chatham Islands.
When fisherman there departs this
life they put baited rod in his hand,
and, after lashing him fast in a boat,
send him adrift to sea. According to
Mr. cassie, method of petrifaction has
been broached, but has met with nc
success. The system pursued by the
ancient Peruvians was ingenious, and
apparently effective. 1t consisted in
piling up coffins of plaster in. pyramid
fashion. One, carefully examined,
measured over 100000 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 interring it. A tribe in South
Australia place their deceased in a
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 itaway in the branches
of trees.
The following compilation from 9
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 Anthol
ogy:"-
o Earth! to thee we commend oul
brother; of thee he was formed, by thee
he was sustained, and unto thee he nov
returns.