of the king. They were all on foot, and without their
turbans in token of mourning. A large party of Brahmins formed around
them as an immediate escort. The two wives who were to be burned with
the corpse came next, each borne on a palanquin. During the journey they
appeared calm and cheerful. The troops kept off the immense crowds who
were assembled from every direction.

The two queens, loaded with jewels, were attended by their favorite
women, with whom they occasionally conversed, and by their relations of
both sexes. To many of these they had made presents before leaving the
palace. They were also accompanied by thousands of Brahmins, collected
from different quarters. These were followed by an innumerable multitude
of persons of both sexes. When they arrived at the ground where they
were to be burned, the two victims were made to descend from their
palanquins, for the purpose of performing the preparatory ceremonies.
They went through the whole without showing any fear until towards the
close, when their countenances began to change, and their three circuits
around the pile were not performed without considerable effort to
maintain calmness.

In the meantime, the body of the king had been placed on the scaffold
over the platform. The two queens were also laid down beside the corpse,
one on the right hand, and the other on the left, and they joined hands
by stretching them over the body. The astrologer having then declared
that the happy moment was come for firing the pile, the Brahmins
repeated several prayers in a loud voice, and sprinkled the pile with
holy water. When these ceremonies were finished, a signal was given, and
the pillars which supported the pyramid and the scaffold were suddenly
taken away. Immediately the women were covered with the falling mass of
timber, which tumbled over them with a crash. At the same instant the
pile was fired in all its parts. On one side, the nearest relative of
the king applied his torch, and on the other side, the priest; while the
Brahmins, in every quarter, were pouring jars of melted butter on the
flames, creating so intense a heat as must instantly have consumed the
victims. Then the multitude shouted for joy, and the relations
approaching the pile also set up a loud cry, calling them by their
names. They supposed that they heard a voice in answer pronouncing
_Enna?_ that is, _What_? but the fall of the platform, and the immediate
bursting out of the flames, must h