FASCICULI MALATENSES 
of * tree-burial * are recognized, the one permanent, the other only temporary; 
the latter being followed in the case of persons who are regarded as having 
died a normal death. In this case (Fig, 5) the body, after being washed, is 
placed on an inclined platform, the head being lower than the feet, within a 
rectangular wooden chest, which is raised on poles some ten or twelve feet 
above the ground, either immediately behind the village temple or somewhere 
else in its vicinity. Properly the head should be directed towards Aiyuthia, 
the old capital of Siam; but this rule is frequently neglected. It is left in the 
chest for some months, until a lucky day occurs and the relations have sufficient 
money to pay for the subsequent ceremony and the feast that accompanies it. 
Should white ants eat the poles or the chest before this date, the bones are 
collected in a rice-bag of plaited Pandanits -leaf and placed either behind the altar 
in the temple, or in little huts erected within sacred ground outside. Finally, 
what remains of the body is cremated, and the ashes, in glass or stone bottles 
or earthenware coo king-pots, are either deposited in the temple or else are 
kept at home, in the latter case being frequently preserved in urns of carved 
wood elaborately gilded and decorated with pendant spangles and pieces of 
looking-glass, or, sometimes, in vases of ancient Siamese earthenware. 
The other type of ‘ tree-burial ' (Fig. 6) more properly deserves the 
name. In Patalung it is generally reserved for those who have died a bad 
