s or other _debris_ is
carefully scraped from about the grave for several feet, so that the
ground is left smooth and clean. It is seldom the case that the
relatives accompany the remains to the grave, but they more often
employ others to bury the body for them, usually women. Mourning is
similar in this tribe, as in others, and it consists in cutting off
the hair, fasting, &c. Horses are also killed at the grave.

The Caddoes, _Ascena_, or Timber Indians, as they call themselves,
follow nearly the same mode of burial as the Wichitas, but one custom
prevailing is worthy of mention:

If a Caddo is killed in battle, the body is never buried, but is
left to be devoured by beasts or birds of prey, and the condition of
such individuals in the other world is considered to be far better
than that of persons dying a natural death.

In a work by Bruhier[9] the following remarks, freely translated by the
writer, may be found, which note a custom having great similarity to the
exposure of bodies to wild beasts mentioned above:

The ancient Persians threw out the bodies of their dead on the
roads, and if they were promptly devoured by wild beasts it was
esteemed a great honor, a misfortune if not. Sometimes they
interred, always wrapping the dead in a wax cloth to prevent odor.

M. Pierre Muret,[10] from whose book Bruhier probably obtained his
information, gives at considerable length an account of this peculiar
method of treating the dead among the Persians, as follows:

It is a matter of astonishment, considering the _Persians_ have ever
had the renown of being one of the most civilized Nations in the
world, that notwithstanding they should have used such barbarous
customs about the Dead as are set down in the Writings of some
Historians; and the rather because at this day there are still to be
seen among them those remains of Antiquity, which do fully satisfie
us, that their Tombs have been very magnificent. And yet
nevertheless, if we will give credit to _Procopius_ and _Agathias_,
the _Persians_ were never wont to bury their Dead Bodies, so far
were they from bestowing any Funeral Honours upon them: But, as
these Authors tell us, they exposed them stark naked in the open
fields, which is the greatest shame our Laws do allot to the most
infamous Criminals, by laying them open to the view of all upon the
highways: Yea, in their opinion it was a great unhappiness, if