The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-14

hrophesied their own death at an early
day. When they died they would be
crammed into these stone boxes and
sunk deep into the Gauges.
Returning to the Burning Chat, I saw
that they had heaped wood into two
square masses about eight feet long and
four wide and high. At the edge of the
river the bodies they were going to burn
lay covered with sheets on rope bed
steads, half in and half out of the water.
Two white-haired Brahmans officiatcd;
the corpse may not be touched bv any
other hand than theirs. They had re-
moved all clothing but waistcloth, and
their gaunt, withered forms and callous,
lmmobile faces seemed appropriate to
the work they had to do. When they
had piled the wood to their satisfact on,
they threw the sheet from one of the
bodies-that of man as old as them
selves, and dragged it carelessly. as one
may drag a log of wood, and threw it
on the pyre. Owing to it's long soaking
in the water its rigidity was gone, and
it fell in limp mass, one arm however,
gradually sinking down on one side
with a CHASTITY mimicry of life They
piled more wood on the poor dishon-
ored corpse, and then the daughter of
the dead man, woman wholly shroud-
ed in q great white veil, rose from
where she had been sitting unperceived.
She lifted her veil and showed a color
less face of the pale yellow Brahman
complexion, and a shining head just
shaved in token of mourning. "Hail
to the fire of the funeral pile"
she said, and walking three
times round it carrying wisp
of lighted grass in her hand, she
set fire to the wood Then she threw in
a handful of sesame-seed and poured
little saucers of oil and ghee upon the
growing flames, and returning to her
place sat down quietly and covered her
head again. One of the Brahmans now
sprinkled little earth and a few drops
of water on the fire, and marchedround
and round it, rapidly muttering words
| which could not understand, nor could
he. / think it was the ancient Sanskrit
Farewell to the Dead' that he was
saying, but it was only form to him,
and he could have had little perception
of the pathetic grandeur of the words he
was Cabling so carelessly. "Go, o
Man, unto the Earth, the wide and holy
Earth. And do thou, 0 Earth, receive
him as friend with sweet greeting;
gather him pitifully to thy bosom; en-
fold him as mother wraps her child in
her robe"
"Here now it is bad fragrance" said
Srishti, as the smoke rolled our way and
brought bitter smell of burning flesh
with it. Even the lean dogs recognized
it, and awakening from their drowsi-
ness rose and shifted the "bad fragrance"
with glittering eyes. The Brahmans
seemed to like it too, the old vultures,
crouched down close to the fire and
talked with something like cheerfulness.
The girl sat apart quite motionless, hid
den by her veil. A little later one of
the old men rose, and went to another
great fire which must have been burn
inc there for several hours. had for
gotten that this too must contain a
corpse, and was the more shocked
when, raking with his staff in the
embers, he exposed a naked skull, part
of it scorched, part cleaning white.
Raising his stick he deliberately shat
tered this relic of mortality with a
heavy blow, and covering it up once
more with the hot Goals, returned to his
seat. The people had now formed a
staring, laughing, unfeeling ring about
the performers. At the high palace
windows above could see the faces oil
women looking down; this was their
dissipation, poor prisoners; rather an
old story to them, but still amusing.
The newly-lighted funeral pile blazed
higher and hig CHER, the wide yellow beach
and the sunny fields beyond the river
danced with the quivering of the hot
air rising from it. The other had now
burned low, and at last the two Brah
mans came to it prepared for work.
had hoped that there would be nothing
worse here than the little white bones
that turned up occasionally as they drew
the brands away and swept aside the
glowing ashes. But it seemed thai
there had not been wood enough tt
consume the body entirely. For, al
Keats saws of somewhat similar search
"at last they found the kernel OF thu
grave and horrible mass OF some
thing half charred came to the surface
and was tossed into the water. A dread
full odor of death filled all the place
and accompanied by clamorous GROVE
of kites and crows that wretched rem
nant of what had once been fellow
being foated down the river.
This, however, was not the end; afte
the tragedy came the farce. The TIVE
men grew less apathctc, and Worke!
with a certain eagerness. They tool
away all the larger cinders and tn
half-burned sticks, and then began
pouring water on the remaining heal
of ashes. This was gradually carried
away by the stream of water, and whe1
it was mostly gone they began search
ing as IL rag picker searches in a dust
heap. It seemed that the lc Y had beer
that of woman. According TO custom
she had been burned with all her brace
lets and bangles on her arms an
ankles, and these were the perquisite
of the Brahmans, who were washing tn
ashes to find them, just as Californian
miners wash the sand of stream to lint
gold. And presertly one of them cam
| to me holding forth lump of mixe'
, silver and copper, and in whining
tone begged me to buy it.
, A little dazed by all this, | FOLLOWED
my Babu friends to Man Singh's Oh
7 servatory, which was not far away. I
was built in 1898 by Jai Singh, Raja o
Amber or Jaipur in Raiputana, a states
t man and an astronomer of great cele