As soon as the flames began to rage, the poor woman, now in the midst of them, was called upon by name, from all sides; but as insensible as the corpse on which she lay, she made no answer.  She entered eternity, suffocated at once, most probably, by the flames.

The second case of suttee which I shall mention took place at the death of the rajah, or king of Tanjore.  He left behind him four wives.

The Brahmins having determined that two of these four should be burned with the corpse of their husband, and having selected the two whom they thought best to sacrifice, they told them of what awaited them.  They received the information with apparent joy.  A refusal would have been attended with their utter disgrace.

One day only was necessary to get ready for the funeral ceremonies.  They were conducted as follows:  In a field somewhat distant from the palace, the people made a hollow, not very deep, but about twelve or fifteen feet square.  Within it they made a pyramid of the sweet-smelling sandal-wood.  On the middle of the pyramid, a scaffold was built in such a manner that the posts could easily be taken away, by which means the scaffold would fall at once.  On the four corners of the platform, large jars were placed, filled with melted butter, to besmear the pyramid, that it might be the more easily set on fire.

The following was the order of the procession.  It was headed by a great number of soldiers under arms.  They were followed by a multitude of musicians, chiefly trumpeters, who made the air reecho with their melancholy sounds.  Next came the body of the king upon a splendid palanquin, richly adorned.  This was surrounded by the nearest relations and by the priest of the king.  They were all on foot, and without their turbans in token of mourning.  A large party of Brahmins formed around them as an immediate escort.  The two wives who were to be burned with the corpse came next, each borne on a palanquin.  During the journey they appeared calm and cheerful.  The troops kept off the immense crowds who were assembled from every direction.

The two queens, loaded with jewels, were attended by their favorite women, with whom they occasionally conversed, and by their relations of both sexes.  To many of these they had made presents before leaving the palace.  They were also accompanied by thousands of Brahmins, collected from different quarters.  These were followed by an innumerable multitude of persons of both sexes.  When they arrived at the ground where they were to be burned, the two victims were made to descend from their palanquins, for the purpose of performing the preparatory ceremonies.  They went through the whole without showing any fear until towards the close, when their countenances began to change, and their three circuits around the pile were not performed without considerable effort to maintain calmness.