OCR Text |
Show ABYSSINIAN FUNERAL. An Abyssinian funeral is as singular singu-lar as the wedding ceremonies. When a new-born Infant dies it is, almost immediately, buried under the floor of the cabin. After the demise of an adult, the body is washed in water sweetened with honey, wrapped In a shroud, and then sewed up in a mat of braided straw laid upon a litter made of boughs cut from trees. This bier Is borne to the church If the dead man or woman was a Christian. The lamentations of the relatives resound among the cliffs, and the news is rapidly communicated to all the people of the neighborhood, who at once set out to condole with the mourners. As soon as they catch sight of the funeral procession, they begin to weep and cry aloud. When they join it. the men range themselves on one side of the bier, the women on the other, and all the newcomers add their voices to the weird lament chanted by the friends of the deceased. de-ceased. At intervals the women fall upon I their knees, and taking up handfuls of dust from the path, throw it upon their heads. When the religious ceremony Is over, the corpse is buried in the churchyard. |