"I slay myself for the love of (such a god)!" Then he takes another
knife and sticks it through his other arm, and takes a third knife and
runs it into his belly, and so on until he kills himself outright. And
when he is dead his kinsfolk take the body and burn it with a joyful
celebration.[NOTE 8] Many of the women also, when their husbands die and
are placed on the pile to be burnt, do burn themselves along with the
bodies. And such women as do this have great praise from all.[NOTE 9]
The people are Idolaters, and many of them worship the ox, because (say
they) it is a creature of such excellence. They would not eat beef for
anything in the world, nor would they on any account kill an ox. But there
is another class of people who are called Govy, and these are very
glad to eat beef, though they dare not kill the animal. Howbeit if an ox
dies, naturally or otherwise, then they eat him.[NOTE 10]
And let me tell you, the people of this country have a custom of rubbing
their houses all over with cow-dung.[NOTE 11] Moreover all of them, great
and small, King and Barons included, do sit upon the ground only, and the
reason they give is that this is the most honourable way to sit, because
we all spring from the Earth and to the Earth we must return; so no one
can pay the Earth too much honour, and no one ought to despise it.
