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.
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