The Abaza Tribe, Burials

The Abaza Tribe, Burials

THE Abaza (a Circassian tribe) have a strange way of burying their Beys. They put the body in a coffin of wood, which they nail on the branches of some high trees, and make a hole in the coffin by the head, that the Bey, as they say, may look unto Heaven. Bees enter the coffin, and make honey, and cover the body with their comb. If the season comes they open the coffin, take out the honey and sell it, therefore much caution is necessary against the honey of the Abazas.—Evlia Effendi.