Funeral procession on the Vaart

Near the mill, Vincent encountered a curious funeral, which he mentioned in his letters: 
'The countryside is very beautiful - I happened upon a rather curious funeral in a barge today - there were about six women wrapped in cloaks in the barge, while the men pulled the barge through the canal in the heath. The vicar - wearing a tricorne and shorts like a character in a Meissonier painting - followed on the other side.'

It was tradition for close relatives to sit in the barge, wrapped in cloaks.