times round in a circle, at the same pace at which
they arrived, and still sitting in their litters, they
were forthwith taken out of their vehicles, one
after another, in order to be placed in the troughs.
Presently five men, and one or two women, approached
them, pulling off all the flowers with
which they were adorned, while, at each occasion,
holding their joined hands above their heads, they
raised the pieces of the offering which the other
women posted behind, laid hold of, and threw upon
the ground, as well as the flowers. Some of the attendants
set loose a pigeon or a fowl, to mark by that
that their soul was on the point of taking its flight
to the mansions of the blessed.
“ At this last signal they were divested of all their
garments, except their sashes; and four of the men
seizing the victim, two by the arms, which they
held out extended, and two by the feet, the victim
standing, the fifth prepared himself for the
execution, the whole being done without covering
the eyes.
“ Some of the most courageous demanded the
poignard themselves, which they received in the
right hand, passing it into the left, after respectfully
kissing the weapon. They wounded their
right arms, sucked the blood which flowed from
the wound, and stained their lips with it, making
with the point of the finger a bloody mark on the
forehead. Then returning the dagger to their exebutioners,
they received a first stab between the
false ribs, and a second, from the same side, under
the shoulder blade, the weapon being thrust up to
the hilt, in a slanting direction, towards the heart.
As soon as the horrors of death were visible in the
countenance, without a complaint escaping them,
they were permitted to fall prone on the ground, their
limbs were pulled from behind, and they Were stripped
of the last remnant of their dress, so that they
were left in a state of perfect nakedness.
“ The executioners receive, as their reward, two
hundred and fifty pieces of copper money, of about
the value of five sols each. The nearest relations,
if they be present, or persons hired for the occasion
if they are not come, after the execution, and
wash the bloody bodies, and having sufficiently
cleaned them, they cover them with wood in such
a manner, that the head only is visible, and, having
applied fire to the pile, they are consumed to
ashes.
“ The women were already poignarded, and the
greater number of them in flames, before the dead
body of the queen arrived, borne on a superb
Badi, of a pyramidal form, consisting of eleven
steps, and supported by a number of persons proportioned
to the rank of the deceased. At each
side of the body were seated two women, one
holding an umbrella, and the other a flapper of
horse-hair, to drive away the insects. Two priests