1 92 POPULATION, MANNERS, AND CUSTOM?:
2 the fact that it is not only the favoured wife,
3 but a whole host of females, that sometimes are
4 oflfered up to blaze on the pyre of their deceased
5 lord. In most cases of Suttee, it will generally
6 be observed, that a slow, reluctant promise has
7 been extracted from, or made by, the wretched
8 woman in an unguarded moment, when under
9 the influence of grief. A multitude is imme-
10 diately assembled round her dwelling and person;
11 clamour and precipitancy succeed, — no time is
12 permitted for reflection: honour, shame, and
13 duty, all now combine to strengthen her bloody
14 resolution, — and the scene is hurried through,
15 and closed.
16 " Debtors and revenue defaulters who abscond,
17 and find protection in a foreign state, are
18 seldom demanded ; and if demanded, never sur-
19 rendered by even the most petty chief. The
20 promise is made, that when the delinquent has
21 the means he shall discharge whatever sum may
22 appear, on a scrutiny into his accounts, to be
23 fairly due by him. It is not uncommon for a
24 deputation composed of the heads, or of some
25 respectable inhabitants, of a town or village from
26 which a person has removed, to proceed and wait
27 upon the chief with whom a fugitive may find an
28 asylum, and entering into stipulations for his per-
29 sonal safety, to receive him back if he be willing
30 to return,"