Among the Mahrattas, and some other tribes, whose custom it is to bury their dead, the sacrifice is made in a different manner. The widow is escorted to the grave by a solemn procession; having listened to the exhortations of the Bramins, and parted her jewels among friends, she places upon her head a pot filled with rice, plantain, betel, and water; then with clasped hands she bids farewell to the spectators, and descends into the grave by means of a bamboo ladder; she seats herself by the body of her husband, the ladder is drawn up, and the music resounds, while the relatives throw in a quantity of earth to suffocate the poor creature. The Shaster, or Hindoo Bible, forbids a woman to see dancing, hear music, wear jewels, blacken her eyebrows, eat dainty food, sit at a window, or view herself in a mirror, during the absence of her husband; and it allows him to divorce her if she has no sons, injures his property, scolds him, quarrels with another, or presumes to eat before he has finished his meal. Truly, in no part of the world does the condition of women appear more dreary than in Hindostan. The arbitrary power of a father disposes of them in childhood; if the boy to whom they are betrothed dies before the completion of the marriage, they are condemned forever after to perpetual celibacy; under these restraints, if their affections become interested and lead them into any imprudence, they are punished with irretrievable disgrace, and in many districts with death; if married, their husbands have despotic control over them; if unable to support them, they can lend or sell them to a neighbor; and in the Hindoo rage for gambling, wives and children are frequently staked and lost; if they survive their husbands, they must pay implicit obedience to the oldest son; if they have no sons, the nearest male relative holds them in subjection; and if there happen to be no kinsmen, they must be dependent on the chief of the tribe. Having spent life with scanty opportunities to partake of its enjoyments, they become objects of contempt if they refuse to depart from it, in compliance with a most cruel custom. The self-immolation of widows is of great antiquity. The natives have a tradition that women many centuries ago frequently murdered their husbands; and the Bramins, finding the severest punishments of no avail, put an effectual check to it, by saying it was the will of the gods, that widows should be burned on the funeral pile of their husbands. The English government have made great exertions to abolish this abominable practice, and it is now prohibited by law in every part of British India. The Hindoo character is proverbial for patient mildness; yet their religious superstitions continually lead them to the most ferocious deeds. Fond as the women are of their children, they make a great merit of throwing them to the sacred crocodiles, and not unfrequently cast them from steep rocks, in fulfilment of some superstitious vow.