i8 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



on these rockets are laid and fired, all endeavouring to be the 

 first to light the pyre. But before this, as the bier with the 

 dead priest approaches, two sides are formed, ropes are 

 attached to the car, front and rear, and the two pull against 

 one another much as we do when playing at the tug of war ; 

 but generally it is a mere pretence, those retarding it give 

 way, and the triumphant party drag the coffin to the pyre 

 and quickly place it in position. 



The hubbub and noise are deafening, and the dust fearful. 

 Everybody is dressed to within half-an-inch of their lives, and 

 after some hours' jollification, in which women and children 

 freely mix and take a part, the whole of the structures so 

 carefully and tastefully erected are burned down, the crowd 

 separates, each one going on his or her way rejoicing. The 

 saturnalia begins two days before the cremation, but ends 

 soon after it. 



The scene, though repugnant to our ideas of what is 

 becoming at a funeral, is, whilst it lasts, a very gay one, and is 

 meant as a mark of respect to departed goodness. The gor- 

 geous apparel of the men and women, the numerous flags and 

 banners, the structures so gaily painted and resplendent with 

 tinsel, gold-leaf, and silver, help to light up the otherwise 

 sombre scene, or which ought to be one. 



Their priests are pure mendicants, they can possess no 

 property, and are supported by the charity of their parishioners. 

 They cannot speak to, or even look at, a woman ; they are 

 well housed by the people, and act as village school-masters, 

 and every Burman is taught to read and write his own 

 language. 



School commences about an hour before daybreak, and the 

 noise made by the pupils is deafening. When I first heard it 

 I thought it was an attack by Dacoits. Each lad spouts out 

 his lessons at the top of his voice. 



A phoongie can leave the priestly craft whenever he likes, 

 and become a layman ; but this is very seldom done, and one 

 who does it is looked down upon. All the pupils are neo- 

 phytes, and are dressed in a yellow robe, and go from house 

 to house every morning with a bowl suspended from the neck. 

 He solicits nothing, but accepts silently anything put into the 



