Little Falls herald., 1913-01-10
WHEN Done [.
Some Peoples Give Their Dead to
Animals to Oev0ur.
PECULIAR FUNERAL CUSTOMS

Among Many Races There Are Differ
snt Methods Of Burial For Men and
:Women-Rites That Are Inspired by
Fear Of the Spirit Of the Departed.
Strange indeed are many Of the cere-
monies attending the disposal of the
dead in different parts Of the world,
and. following the natural order. Of
things, the more primitive the nation
the more primitive its methods The
rudest mode now prevalent is that of
simply leaving the body exposed. but
the ways of exposure vary consider.
ably. Some wandering tribes act on
the maxim. Where the tree falls.
there let it lie." and. leaving the dead
behind. move their camp to pastures
new. The Wanyamwesi, however, carry
their dead into the forest to be de-
voured by beats of prey, while some
Of the tribes of Guinea throw the
corpse into the sea.
The Kamchadales keep dogs to con-
sumo their dead. under the strange i'm
preston that those who are devoured
by dogs will be the masters Of fine
dogs in the world beyond. The Par
sees, although a cultured nation.
place their dead in round tower,
called tower of science. and the
vultures who make such towers their
habitation finish the work. In Da-
honey it was been stated that a per-
son whose body has been struck by
lightning is hacked to pieces and de-
voured by the priests.
Burial, of course, has many Diff
ferent forms. the simplest Of which
is perhaps the piling of stones or
thorns over the body to keep of wild
beasts. Some tribes bury their chill
dren by the roadside, so that their souls
may enter into the bodies of the pas
sersby. Burial in the earth is an ear
.lier custom than that Of cremation,
embalming, or drying the body by sus-
pending it from tree. and many
nations have more than one custom
for instance, merely burying their
women, while the men are embalmed
or dried.
An instance Of several customs be-
ing in common use In one tribe is to
be seen among the Kalmucks. They
either expose, bury. burn, throw the
body into the water, pile over it a heap
Of stones or build hut over it, doing
whatever the priest considers to be
the most suitable. The position of the
body also varies considerably. but as
a general rule the head is laid either
to the east or to the west The Bon
gos, however. are an exception, for
they bury the women with the face
to the south, and the men with the
face to the north.
Among the primitive nations the
expressions of grief at the loss of the
deceased, grief not untinged with fear
of him in his new state. and vent In
self inflicted tortures and other tre-
mendously exaggerated expressions Of
woe. The inhabitants of New Zealand
the aborigines that is-bedaub them
selves with pigment and wound them.
selves with broken shells. The Ha
waiians go still further, knocking out
their teeth and cutting off an ear or
finger joint. while, when Hawaii was
under the rude of monarchs, at the
kings death the nation at large feign-
ed madness through grief, and this
was the signal for unbridled license Of
every description.
No nation is there, as q whole, which
believes that the soul does not con-
hnue to exist after it leaves the body.
and the origin Of many funeral rites
is the belief that death means the
soul's transition from one state to an
other and that it is necessary. to enter
tain the soul on the journey: hence It
is that wives. servants, horses, money,
weapons, musical instruments, meat
and drink are among the things buried
with the body. The Laplanders sup
ply the corpse with flint. steel and tin
der wherewith tn obtain light by the
way, and the Clouds even place tooth
picks In the grave
Rather touching custom is preva-
lent among the Greenlanders. for on
the death OF child they bury dog
with it to guide it, certain that dog
will find his way anywhere. The Rus
slams have custom of placing paper
passport IN the hand of the deceased
to be shown to Peter at the gate Of
heaven. while at one time in Wales
''sin eaters" were employed. who by
eating a loaf of bread over the dead
body took upon themselves the burden
Of the deceased's sins
1t would seem that the fear of being
haunted by the ghost Of the departed
has had no small effect upon many Of
the rites prachced for the Egyptians
turn the body round and round so as
to confuse the spirits idea of direc
ton. while the peasants of Branden.
burg pour pail Of water after the
corpse to prevent its return. and the
aborigines of Australia remove the
nails of the dead. so that they may
not scratch their way out Of the grave
London Globe
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