Their value is
doubled when it is known that under each there is either a well or a
cistern.
9th February. Indergur, a small, unimportant town. We approached
today very much nearer to the low mountains which we had already
seen yesterday. We soon found ourselves in narrow valleys, whose
outlets appeared to be closed with high, rocky wells. Upon some of
the higher mountain peaks stood little kiosks, dedicated to the
memory of the Suttis. The Suttis are those women who are burnt with
the corpse of their husbands. According to the statement of the
Hindoos, they are not compelled to do so, but their relations insult
and neglect them when they do not, and they are driven out of
society; consequently the poor women generally give their free
consent. Upon the occasion, they are handsomely dressed and
ornamented, and frequently stupefied with opium almost to madness;
are led with music and singing to the place where the corpse of the
husband, wrapped in white muslin, lies upon the funeral pile. At
the moment that the victim throws herself upon the corpse, the wood
is lighted on all sides.
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