88 ELLIOT SMITH, Distribution of Mummification. 



for him to elucidate in detail. It will suffice to say here 

 that the traditions of the inhabitants of the various islands 

 of Malaysia, no less than their heterogeneous customs 

 and beliefs, provided him with very precise evidence in 

 demonstration of the complex constitution of the " helio- 

 lithic" culture, and of the fact that it was brought to the 

 islands by an immigration from the west. 



There is less need for me to analyse the vast literature 

 relating to the burial practices in the islands of the Malay 

 Archipelago since this useful service has already been 

 accomplished by Hertz (33). Although I dissent from 

 the main contention in his interpretation of the facts, his 

 accurate record is none the less valuable on that account — 

 perhaps indeed it is more useful, as it certainly cannot be 

 accused of bias in favour of the views I am expounding. 



A great variety of burial customs, in most respects 

 closely analogous to the practices of the Naga tribes of 

 India, is found in Indonesia ; — exposing the dead on trees 

 or platforms, burial in hollow trees, smoking and other 

 methods of preservation, temporary burial, and cremation. 



Apart from the definite evidence of preservation of 

 the dead found in scattered islands from one end of the 

 Archipelago to the other, there are much more generally 

 diffused practices which are unquestionably derived from 

 the former custom of mummification. 



In the account of mummification as practised in the 

 more savage African tribes, it was seen that the practice 

 was restricted in most cases to the bodies of kings ; and 

 even then the failure to preserve the body in a permanent 

 manner compelled these peoples to modify the Egyptian 

 methods. Realising that the corpse, even when preserved 

 as efficiently as the) 7 were able to perform the work of 

 embalming, would undergo a process of disintegration 

 within a few months, it became the practice to rescue the 



