PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
465 
some information which I afterwards received concerning the manner CHAP, 
in which the dead were disposed of, namely, that the flesh is allowed to 
decay before the bones are placed in jars in the cemetery. May, 
From this place we ascended a hill covered with tombs, which were 
excavated in the rock in a manner very similar to those near Canton ; 
they had almost all of them niches, wherein bowls of tea, lamps, and cups 
were placed, and appeared to be kept in good order, as they had a 
cleanly and decent appearance. We wandered among these some time, 
without finding any open, but at last w'e came to one of an inferior kind, 
in which the door was loosely placed before the entrance ; it consisted 
of a large slab of red pottery, pierced with a number of holes about an 
inch in diameter. Having removed this, we saw about twenty jars of 
fine red pottery covered with lids shaped like mandarins caps ; the 
size of the jars was about twenty inches deep by eight in the broadest 
part, w'hich was one-third of the way from the mouth ; they were pei- 
forated in several places with holes an inch in diameter. AFe did not 
remove any of the lids, as it seemed to give offence, but were told that 
'^ti 0 jars contained the bones of the dead after the flesh had been 
stripped off or had decayed. On putting the question whether they 
burned the bones or the flesh off them, it was answered by surprise, and 
an inquiry whether we did so in England ? Therefore, unless the cus- 
tom has altered, the account of Supoa Quang, a learned Chinese, who 
visited Loo Choo in 1719, is incorrect. 
After visiting the grave of one of the crew of the Alceste who was 
buried in this island, we were satisfied with this tour of the tombs, and 
turned off inland, very much to the discomfiture of our guide, and in 
spite of a great many remonstrances. He was a silent companion until 
we came to a path that went back to the beach, and there, politely 
stepping forward, said it was the one that would take us where we 
wished to go, and, touching our elbow, he would have turned us into 
it had he not thought it rude ; but we pursued our original path, fol- 
lowed by a crowd of persons, who seemed to enjoy the discomfiture of 
our companion, and laughed heartily as we came to every track that 
crossed ours, each of which our officious and polite conductor would 
have persuaded us to take, as being far more agreeable than the other. 
