New-York tribune., 1886-05-23
DEATH IN BENARES.
uoppIpJE CEREMONIAL.


ON ancient and in respects anlntcIesting, even
Soscirotirc. city, The CHATS along the river are my
ror;,e promenadcs Iu the evening am sure to
"a q cur,ous crowd assembled there. The native
nobiemen are conspicuous among their followers py
tho bright -coored silks and satins thae they "ca'
One sees more of Oriental magnltcencc Il, ne""io'
than IN any Indian city under dltect Dii.i''' '"
.r,t In the native States. however, where inc
1rs ara not transformations black coats nut
,rinccs who. when they dress at all dress ike SOL
omon In all his glory, there Is '""on
more gayety and display. NO onc can
form any idea of the picturesque s'"o "a
Eastern life who has not visited haiu'r"o"" III ',o
n"scan or one of the great Rajput capitals.
Denares is city of the Brahmans ana one WIN nov
of,on observe here that superb mixture OF pride
sa1 no,itopess the frank and gallant bearing that
erorvvbere charactcrizes the Raiput lk'hattrlya
or warrior) who Is the true gentleman OF Ihdi'|
,ovvever the Brahman or Kayasth Babu may
orrorato that title Here on the CHATS at BenaieS'
however meet with great courtesy from an Ioi"
thc fat Raja waddling by in his flowing SILK rooe'
IN the poor washerman spreading his Clothes ou' ~
dry on the mud of the river bank.
Twas walking along the CHATS last niEi .;t,
young students tribe very co''i''' III o. os
and Gathered from all parts ot lhu'"' VI" ~,
nomed Srishti-followed by a great many sS'''o'oS
hrnh
othor strange sounds that failed to catch lheSc
- a;scnsscd Hindu theology with me as we
s.,olioa along and. in the true Babu fashion, IN
s;sted on talking English. though they did nor
tno,v II very we'll One would begin sentence
,d stick fast in the middle of it; the other woud
CORY il on till the first got his breath again. alteI
which they would finish 1T IN chorus "ha' 'hey
meant. however. was always rather uhcer' am
They knew a great deal these young BabnS; they
l,ev that Christopher Columbus discovered
America and could tell how many wives Henry 1he
VIIlth had and what he did with them all Never
4becss they accepted these statements with GER
tain reserve For instance. the Purauas saln tha'
tbe world consisted of one great continent. Jambu
Dwipa Now if America existed there must
be two continents. Hence it seemed hke'y
+bat CHRISTOPHER Columbus had been laborlng
rrdor hallucina,iO ion, and that America was a ne
+ior ofter all This conclusion |, being an Aner-
CON refused 10 CONSIDER as final. Probably, SAID
America was Suvarnathe Golden Land wmchagah
occorling TO the PnraupS lies beyond the bia'N
Water uhe ocean,. This rash theory th'y refused
~ accent without confirmative evidence was
there gold in America I" they asked ana wheh l
sad there was a greal deal they were harpy ana
began TO form more favorable opinion OF Chris-
topher Columbus. We did not get on as wei III
,L.otccv Wh,nI asked them if they were wOr-
SINNERS &
ous. Shlv lSiva they SAID was everywhere. they
were Shiv was Shiv, "even that dog. NANCY
thoueh ne might b. was Shiv." "My Elder Is infor-
,noti,ned 10 tins from Kunnelcnt." SAID Bhutia,
tv which | understood HIM TO say that MS
oder brother hal learned these pant nihelslc
ideas from our countrympn, Colonel Olcott, the
prophet Of EsOtcric Buddhism. kunpelcut was, ne
aided a very wise inal. but not he thought, a high-
cast Brahman a people sad. He asked ne II
Kunnelcut wore the sacred thread round his neck,
bur was unable to say.
Meanwhile we passed the Mosque OF Aufangzeb'
high on the cliff above. 1T mn1rets. though only
80 feet high SCENE 10 tower an lnhnle d''a zee
NJ into The SKY, and could hardly believe that
had climbed up to that dizzy point few days be-
tore. Further on was the little pool of greasy
water with steps leadin- down 10 IT, which Is sad
t. he the sweat of VIshnu, and great bath nc
ploce Above 1t were the high. dark-rcd spires "f
the Ncpalese temple the largest IL Belares' Win
Gilt flags hying nj the top they fly all the tipe IN
windy weather or qulet, beng merely trllhsu-
lar sheets of tin. Then we came 10 Inc
Bnrninc Chat. wh,re the bodies of the dead are
crenated With UNUSUAL fraakneos Tor baDuS' nv
friends renarke tlat the w stern cu'toh oi Dufal
which described 10 them, was 4 very barparouS
idea But that is what yOu 10 with your J'gis
thermits,. SAID IN self lefence. They told me,
buried bar thrown INTO the river Al IL proof Of
this Showed me fur her Oh two stone colin, boxes
about fonr feet square of strong sab, OF treeStone
emofy now but rca Il t. receive tho bodies OF two
Jogi> These men had prpphe este th II own death
at an early day; wn they died, tncy wond %
cramil "A into these stone boxes and sunk deep III
the G8ngcs.
Returning to the Burning Chat saw that they
had hcaped wood into two square masses about
eight ie4 long aud four wide and hlgn. Al the
edge of the rlver the bodies they were gong t.
burn Law covered with sheets on rope bedsteais,
laif IN and half out of the water. Two
vLite-haired Brahmans O1ic atcd; the corpse
nav not be touched by any other hand than theirs
They had removed clothing but Il walStcoth
and their gaunt, wi,hercd forms and Gallons, IN
mobile faces seemed appropriate 10 the work they
had 10 do When they had piled the wood TO their
satisfaction, they threw the sheet from one o1 the
bodie>-that ot "A man rs old as themselves ana
dragged II carnlessly. as one NAV drag log OF
wood and threw il Oh the pyre. Owing to Its long
soaking IN the water it, rIgldlty was gone ana II
fell IN limp mass one arm, however, gIadlaHy
sinking down on one side with a ghastly mmlcry
Of lfe They piled nOre wood on the poor dlshoh-
ored corn~e and then the daughter of the dead man,
a woman wholly sbrouded in great white ven,
rose from where she had been sitting unpcrceived
She lifted ner veil and showed coiorl,sS lace OF
the pale yellow Bgahman complexion, and a
shining head just shaved III token OF
mourning. Hail to the fire of the funeral piie,'
she SAID and walking three tunes round
it carrying wsp Of lighted grass in her hand' she
set tire To the wood. Then she threw IN handful
Of sesame-eed and poured little sancers OF OIL ana
phee upon the growing flames AID returning 10
her place sat dow quietly and covered her head
again one of the irahmans now sprinitled a little
earth and q few drops Of water on tie fire, ana
marched round and round II, RAPIDLY muItcIihs
words which could not understand, nOr could ne
think II was the ancient San>kTt -" Farewell 10
the Dead" that he saying. put II va, only
form TO him. and he could have had httlo percep-
ION Of the patAetIc grandeur # the - he
Cabling so carelcs,iv. Go O Nan unto the
Earth. the wide and holy Earth. Aud do thou o
Fart h. receive him as friend with sweet greeting;