DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.641#0126
THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 119
very heartily in the presence of his friends. The bank
being high, I could not leave the boat till we had proceeded
to a considerable distance from the place where the man
sat. As I was running towards the spot, I heard the people
on the top of the boat call out, " He is drowned! he is
drowned i" His attendants, who appeared to be his rela-
tives, had assisted him to descend the bank; but whether
they pushed him in, or whether he went into the water of
his own accord, I cannot tell. He made great efforts to
resist the stream, and reach the side, and struggled much
before he sunk.—I endeavoured to impress on the spec-
tators the heinousness of this crime; but they smiled at
my concern, and said, they had only complied with the
wishes of the deceased, who had been deprived by disease
of his hands and feet.'
Another friend, in a letter written at Cutwa, in the year
1812, says, * Last week I witnessed the burning of a leper
A pit about ten cubits in depth was dug, and a fire placed
at the bottom of it. The poor man rolled himself into it,
but instantly on feeling the fire begged to be taken out,
and struggled hard for that purpose. His mother and
sister, however, thrust him in again; and thus, a man who
to all appearance might have survived several years, was
eruelly burnt to death. I find that the practice is not un-
common in these parts.' This poor wretch died with the
notion, that by thus purifying his body in the fire, he should
receive a happy transmigration into a healthful body:
whereas, if he had died by the disease, he would, after four
births, have appeared on earth again as a leper.
Mr. C. in a letter from Agra, dated in the year 1812,
says, * I went out a few mornings ago, and came to an en-
closed place, which, on enquiry, I found had been rendered
very heartily in the presence of his friends. The bank
being high, I could not leave the boat till we had proceeded
to a considerable distance from the place where the man
sat. As I was running towards the spot, I heard the people
on the top of the boat call out, " He is drowned! he is
drowned i" His attendants, who appeared to be his rela-
tives, had assisted him to descend the bank; but whether
they pushed him in, or whether he went into the water of
his own accord, I cannot tell. He made great efforts to
resist the stream, and reach the side, and struggled much
before he sunk.—I endeavoured to impress on the spec-
tators the heinousness of this crime; but they smiled at
my concern, and said, they had only complied with the
wishes of the deceased, who had been deprived by disease
of his hands and feet.'
Another friend, in a letter written at Cutwa, in the year
1812, says, * Last week I witnessed the burning of a leper
A pit about ten cubits in depth was dug, and a fire placed
at the bottom of it. The poor man rolled himself into it,
but instantly on feeling the fire begged to be taken out,
and struggled hard for that purpose. His mother and
sister, however, thrust him in again; and thus, a man who
to all appearance might have survived several years, was
eruelly burnt to death. I find that the practice is not un-
common in these parts.' This poor wretch died with the
notion, that by thus purifying his body in the fire, he should
receive a happy transmigration into a healthful body:
whereas, if he had died by the disease, he would, after four
births, have appeared on earth again as a leper.
Mr. C. in a letter from Agra, dated in the year 1812,
says, * I went out a few mornings ago, and came to an en-
closed place, which, on enquiry, I found had been rendered