188 FUNERAL CEREMONIES 



was- in a house made like one of their Kuims* rising in a conical form, 

 and about thirty feet in height. The stage was made of bamboos an<* 

 wood, and the house which contained it was covered with paper, and 

 over-laid with leaf-gold. By the side of this stage lay the coffin in which 

 the body was to be carried out; this, also, was over-laid with gold, and 

 ornamented with several figures, designed to represent death in a variety 

 of forms. In the court yard two large four-wheeled carriages were pre- 

 paring, one to carry the coffin, and the other the stage with its apparatus. 

 The carriage in which the corpse was to be drawn, had another stage 

 built upon it, similar to the one in the house, only it was larger, and fixed 

 upon an elephant, made in a kneeling posture. 



When the time for the ceremony approached, the principal people of 

 every street were commanded, each to prepare a rocket, and an image, 

 (the shape of some animal,) to which the rocket was to be fixed. Besides 

 these large rockets, a great number of smaller ones- was also prepared, 

 as well as other fire-works. The Burman new year began either on the 

 13th or 14th of April, I do not exactly remember which, when the festi- 

 val celebrated by sprinkling of water commenced, which would have 

 continued six or seven days, had not the viceroy put a stop to it to admit 

 of the burning of this Telapoy. On the 17th, the figures to which the 

 rockets were to be fastened, were drawn in procession round the town ; 

 and from this day to the end of the ceremony, all the people of the town 

 and its vicinity, both male and female, were compelled to assist. The 



* This is the name of the buildings occupied by the Burman priests, who live in 

 societies subject to the chief of the Kuim, who is distinguished by his age, or learning. 

 The Kuims are a sort of colleges, where instruction is given to any one who wishes for it ; 

 but the members are subject to a discipline not very different from that of a monastery. 



