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Show 90 MOURNING- CBOWS. take into consideration how many analogies have been found in comparing old and new world funeral observances, and the statements made by Bruhier, Lafitau, Muret, and others, who give a number of examples of this peculiar mode of burial. For instance, the Tartars sometimes ate their dead, and the Massageties, Derbices, and Effedens did the same, having previously strangled the aged and mixed their flesh with mutton. Horace and Tertulian both affirm that the Irish and ancient Britons devoured the dead, and Lafitau remarks that certain Indians of South America did the same, esteeming this mode of disposal more honorable and much to be preferred than to rot and be eaten by worms. To the credit of our savages, this barbarous and revolting practice is not believed to have been practiced by them. MOURNING, FEASTS, FOOD, DANCES, SONGS, GAMES, POSTS, FIRES, AND SUPERSTITIONS IN CONNECTION WITH BURIAL. The above subjects are coincidental with burial, and some of them, particularly mourning, have been more or less treated of ip. this paper, yet it may be of advantage to here give a few of the collected examples, under separate heads. MOURNING. One of the most carefully described scenes of mourning at the death of a chief of the Crows is related in the life of Beckwourth,* who for many years lived among this people, finally attaining great distinction as a warrior. " I dispatched a herald to the village to inform them of the head chiefs death, and then, burying him according to his directions, we slowly proceeded homewards. My very soul sickened at the contemplation of the scenes that would be enacted at my arrival. When we drew in sight of the village, we found every lodge laid prostrate. We entered amid shrieks, cries, and yells. Blood was streaming from every conceivable part of the bodies of all who were old enough to comprehend their loss. Hundreds of fingers were dismembered; hair torn from the head lay in profusion about the paths; wails and moans in every direction assailed the ear, where unre- * Autobiography of James Beckwourth, 1856, p. 269. |