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the inspection of friends and relations, after which it is fastened up 

 in a coffin (generally of mango wood) and buried the third day. 

 The period that elapses between the death and burial greatly 

 depends, however, on the circumstances of interested survivors : in 

 some instances the body is embalmed, and not buried for twelve 

 months perhaps, but a lapse of this length seldom occurs, except in 

 the case of Tswabwas or other chiefs. During these bacchanalian 

 gatherings the most obscene scenes transpire, and often quarrels 

 arise resulting in bloodshed. Myself and followers were asked to 

 join in the dance round the corpse, which we did, much to the 

 satisfaction of the father of the deceased. The dance was simply 

 a walk-round in slow time, at each step, the knee being raised as near 

 the shoulder as possible, and time kept to the music, (which con- 

 sisted of a drum and three gongs) on short sticks with which we 

 were all provided. The gesticulations were barbarously indecent, 

 and unmistakably suggestive ; but the viler the joke, the better it 

 was appreciated by men, women, and children. On occasions of 

 this sort the usual etiquette of leaving by the same door entered at, 

 is suspended, and all are allowed to enter and depart as they please, 

 it not being an uncommon practice for visitors to cut their way 

 through the mat walls. At the four corners of the burial ground 

 were erected offerings to the ndtoi the forest, consisting of bamboo 

 crosses, with a gilded bamboo mat shield suspended to one end, 

 and a wooden gilded dah to the other. Here I also noticed a peculiar 

 pellet-bow, with a single cane for the string, the cradle for the 

 pellet being formed by a slit in the cane which is kept apart by a 

 couple of small props. 



240. Shortly after leaving Ahyane-da-mah, we met the daughter 

 of the Kantee Tswabwa on her way to Mandalay, where she was to 

 have been presented in marriage to the king ; — vassalage perhaps 

 would have been a more apropos term. These people are, I believe, 

 a branch of the Mauroo clan, and the women are celebrated 

 for their long hair and beauty, but I was not allowed an opportu- 

 nity of judging for myself, the party were comfortably housed on 

 a bamboo raft, boats not being obtainable much north of Talo. 

 Reached Hokah by 6 p.m. The river had varied little in width 

 throughout the day, and the water had remained clear, displaying 

 a pebbly bottom ; rocks crop up here and there, rendering naviga- 

 tion difficult, and reducing the main channel to about seventy yards 

 wide. Disturbed over-night by the trumpeting of elephants that 

 had come down from the hill to feed on the sugarcane. 



241. Tuesday, 20th January 1874. — Thermometer 43° at 6 a.m., 

 a clear crisp morning. Went for a ramble on shore, and visited 



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