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after the manner of Calicut. And for burning the dead body they light a fire of the most odoriferous things that can be found, such as aloes-wood, benzoin, sandal-wood, brazilwood, storax and amber, incense, and some beautiful

1 In the original, " verzino ;" but I am at a loss to account for the etymology of the word. It cannot be a corruption of " Brazil," for Conti uses it half a century before the discovery of that country in his brief description of Ternasseri:-"Tutto il paese ch'è al'intorno è copioso di elephanti, e vi nasco molto verzino." (Ramusio, vol. i. p. 332.) The Latin original has verzano, which by a mistake, such as the most careful translators sometimes fall into, is rendered "a species of thrush" in the translation of De' Conti's travels contained in India in the Fifteenth Century, ii. p. 9. The wood indicated is doubtless the Sappan, (Cæsalpina sappan,) which abounds in this quarter. Mr. O'Riley, in his Vegetable Products of the Tenasserim Provinces, writes: "For many years past a trade from Mergui to Dacca in Sapan wood has been prosecuted by the native boats, the article being obtained from the Sapan-wood forests lying near the frontier hills, from the eastern side of which large supplies are annually imported through Bangkok into Singapore. It is also found throughout the valley of the Great Tenasserim river." (Journal of the Indian Archipelago, vol. iv. p. 60.) With regard to the dye-wood in question, Crawfurd says: "It has, like many indigenous products, a distinct name in the different languages, the only agreement, and this not perfect, being between the Malay and Javanese, in the first of which it is called Sapang, the origin of the European commercial and scientific names, and in Javanese Sâchang. In one language of the true Moluccas we have it as Samya, and in another as Roro, while in Amboynese it is Lolan, and in the Tagala of the Philippines Sibukao," (Dictionary of the Indian Islands, p. 376;) and I may add that the Arabic name is Bákkam. None of these, however, afford any clue to the Italian word verzino. If the latter has any relationship with the term "Brazil," is it not possible that that name was a corruption of the earlier verzino, and was given to the country so called on account of the quantity of Sappan-wood found there?

Since writing the above, I have lighted on the following interesting note by Mr. J. Winter Jones, which places the subject beyond dispute: "The name given to this country [Brazil] by the discoverers was Santa Cruz, which was afterwards changed to Brazil, from the immense quantity of the wood so called found there. There is early evidence to prove that the wood gave the name to the country and not the country to the wood. The following passage occurs in the Liber Radicum of the Rabbi Kimchi, a Spaniard who lived in the thirteenth century :'Algummin (2 Chron. ix. 10) alias Almugim (1 Kings, x. 12;) both

branches of coral,' which things they place upon the body, and while it is burning all the instruments of the city are sounding. In like manner, fifteen or twenty men, dressed like devils, stand there and make great rejoicing. And his wife is always present, making most exceedingly great lamentations, and no other woman. And this is done at one or two o'clock of the night.2

THE CHAPTER SHOWING HOW THE WIFE IS BURNT ALIVE AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND.

In this city of Tarnassari, when fifteen days have passed after the death of the husband, the wife makes a banquet for

stand for the same, and in common language it is called Corallo; but some persons declare it to be a sort of wood used for dying, called in Arabic, Albakam, and in common language Brazil." HAKL. Soc. Puв8., Divers Voyages touching the Disc. of America, p. 46, n.

1 Grampa de coralli. CORAL, in large Branches, five and six Ryals the Mallaya Taël," is enumerated in Captain Saris's list among the articles most vendible in the Indian Archipelago. GREENE, vol. i. p. 503.

2 Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, (if he is to be believed,) witnessed the funeral of the king of Siam, which he describes as follows:-"A mighty great pile was forthwith erected, made of sandal, aloes, calembas, and benjamin; on the which the body of the deceased king being laid, fire was put to it, with a strange ceremony: during all the time the body was a burning, the people did nothing but wail and lament beyond all expression; but in the end, it being consumed to ashes, they put them into a silver shrine, which they imbarqued in a Laulea very richly equipped, that was accompanied with forty Seroos full of Talagrepos, which are the highest dignity of their Gentile Priests, and a great number of other vessels, wherein there was a world of people...All these vessels got to land at a Pagode, called Quiay Poutor, where the silver shrine, in which the king's ashes were, was placed." (Voyages and Adventures, p. 276.) Captain Low says that the Burmans and Peguers of the Tenasserim provinces generally burn their dead, but that all under fifteen years of age are buried. He adds: "The body of the high priest also, who died at Martaban, just after its capture, was burned in the way which is described in Symes's Ava." Journal of the R. A. Society, vol. ii. p. 274.

all her relations and all those of her husband. And then they go with all the relations to the place where the husband was burnt, and at the same hour of the night. The said woman puts on all her jewels and other objects in gold, all that she possesses. And then her relations cause a hole to be made of the height of a human being, and around the hole they put four or five canes, around which they place a silken cloth, and in the said hole they make a fire of the abovementioned things, such as were used for the husband. And then the said wife, when the feast is prepared, eats a great deal of betel, and eats so much that she loses her wits, and the instruments of the city are constantly sounding, together with the abovementioned men clothed like devils, who carry fire in their mouths, as I have already told you in Calicut. They also offer a sacrifice to Deumo.1 And the said wife goes many times up and down that place, dancing with the other women. And she goes many times to the said men clothed like devils, to entreat and tell them to pray the Deumo that he will be pleased to accept her as his own. And there are always present here a great many women who are her relations. Do not imagine, however, that she is unwilling to do this; she even imagines that she shall be carried forthwith into heaven. And thus running violently of her own free will, she seizes the abovementioned cloth with her hands, and throws herself into the midst of the fire. And immediately her relations and those most nearly allied to her fall upon her with sticks and with balls of pitch, and this they do only that she may die the sooner. And if the said wife were not to do this, she would be held in like estimation as a public prostitute is among us, and her relations would put her to death. When such an event takes place in this country the king is always present. However, those who undergo such a death are the most noble of the land: all, in

1 See note 2 on p. 137 ante.

general, do not do thus.1 I have seen in this city of Tarnassari another custom, somewhat less horrible than the beforementioned. There will be a young man who will speak to a lady of love, and will wish to give her to understand that he really is fond of her, and that there is nothing he would not do for her. And, discoursing with her in this wise, he will take a piece of rag well saturated with oil, and will set fire to it, and place it on his arm on the naked flesh, and whilst it is burning he will stand speaking with that lady, not caring about his arm being burnt, in order to show that he loves her, and that for her he is willing to do every great thing.2

'It would appear from the foregoing narrative that the practice of Satí at Tenasserim was confined to a particular sect, which did not include the royal family of Siam; for Pinto relates that the widow of the king, whose funeral he describes, subsequently "married Uquumcheniraa, who had been one of the purveyors of her house, and caused him to be crowned king in the city of Odiaa, the eleventh of November, 1545." Voyages and Adventures, p. 278.

The proof by fire, in default of written or testimonial evidence, appears to have formed part of the judiciary system of Siam; but I have met with nothing to corroborate its use in the wooing of Tenasserim lovers. Captain Low describes the modern ceremony of marriage, omitting all mention of the fiery ordeal :-" The Elder now gives the bride a nosegay, and makes her repeat some Bali sentences, first directed to her father, again to her mother, next to the parents of the bridegroom, and lastly to her husband. The bridegroom goes through the same ceremony, beginning with his parents and relatives, but does not address the bride. The Elder then takes the flower from the bride, and places it on the wall of the house; she takes a little rolled-up betel-leaf and presents it to the bridegroom, who exchanges the flower for it. They then both sit on one mat, the bridegroom on the right; a feast ensues, and they finish the ceremonies by eating out of the same dish." Journ. Roy. As. Soc., vol. ii. p. 270.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE WHICH IS OBSERVED IN TARNASSARI.

He who kills another in this country is put to death, the same as in Calicut. With respect to conveying and holding, it is necessary that it should appear by writing or by witnesses. Their writing is on paper like ours, not on the leaves of a tree like that of Calicut. And then they go to a governor of the city, who administers justice for them summarily. However, when any foreign merchant dies who has no wife or children, he cannot leave his property to whomsoever he pleases, because the king wills to be his heir. And in this country, that is, the natives, commencing from the king, after his death his son remains king. And when any Moorish merchant dies, very great expense is incurred in odoriferous substances to preserve the body, which they put into wooden boxes and then bury it, placing the head towards the city of Mecca, which comes to be towards the north. If the deceased have children, they are his heirs.

1 That is, by impalement; see p. 147 ante. Turpin, in his History of Siam, describes the horrible process as follows:-"The criminal is made to lie down on his belly, and after being securely tied, a stake of wood is forced up his fundament by the blows of a club, and it is driven till it comes out, either through the stomach or through the shoulders: they afterwards raise this stake, and fix it in the earth. It often happens that the sufferer dies under the operation, but sometimes the stake passes through the body without injuring any of the noble parts, and then the poor wretch endures for several days the most agonizing torments." PINKERTON, vol. ix. p. 594.

"I infer from Pinto, who states that the son of the king, whose death he records, succeeded his father, though he was shortly after poisoned by the queen mother, that the sovereignty of Siam was hereditary. The same order of succession probably prevailed as regards the Viceroys of the principal provinces. See note on p. 197 ante, where the ruler of the dependency of Tenasserim is styled "perpetual Captain."

3 This is another incidental proof that Varthema's Tarnassari was not on the coast of Bengal, which is nearly in the same latitude as Meccah.

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