1 APPENDIX — SUTTEES. 215
2 made by the wretched woman in an unguarded moment,
3 when under the impulse of grief. A multitude is imme-
4 diately assembled round her dwelling and person; cla-
5 mour and precipitancy succeed, no time is permitted for
6 reflection ; honor, shame, and duty all now combine to
7 strengthen her bloody resolution, and the scene is hurried
8 through and closed.*
9 * In 1826, after the domain of Umbala lapsed to the Hon'ble Company,
10 a very young Brahmin woman heard of the demise of her husband in a
11 foreign land and expressed a determination to immolate herself with part
12 of his clothes. A concourse of people instantly gathered around her and
13 the utmost excitation prevailed. Being absent at the time, the office
14 Moonshee, theThanadar of Umbala, and the Soobadar on duty, all three
15 Hindoos of high caste, took upon themselves the task and responsibility
16 of preventing the sacrifice, dispersed the multitude, and induced the
17 young creature to await a reply to the express they had despatched to
18 me. A threat to confine and prosecute all instigators, and a pension of
19 three rupees per month saved the Brahminee, and she survives, honored
20 in her family and respected in society as a living Suttee, totally falsifying
21 the current belief, that recantation brings disgrace, scorn, and contempt.
22 On the demise of the Hill Rajas of Bulaspoor and Nahun in 1824 and
23 1827 there was no Suttee, and the practice has disappeared in the Hill
24 States under the protection of British Government.