Ill 
ON Till: MALAYS Ol l'AI'I' foWN 
The funeral party came winding up the hill, and along the narrow paths amongst the flowers, till they halted at a newly- 
dug grave, not perpendicular, like ours, but hollowed out from the side of the pit. There was no coffin; the hotly, 
wrapped in white cloths, was borne upon a bier, covered with a canopy of rose-coloured cotton. Two men descended 
into the grave, and the corpse with great care was slipped gently down from the bier, hid from sight beneath a sheet 
held by four men, who thus conceal the grave, until the body is carefully laid in the niche or recess, and shut in with 
hoards and stopped with grass, by the officiating priest. No women were present. During the whole time the body is 
being slipped down into the grave and arranged in its resting-place, a prayer is rapidly muttered by the men. As 
the clods of earth were shovelled in, a young Malay scattered bunches of lovely white flowers, roses and narcissus, 
into the grave at intervals, amongst the clods. When the grave was tilled up, the head was marked by a small upright 
stone, and one bunch of flowers reserved to lay there, with a stone upon it to prevent its being blown away by the wind. 
The mourners were now picturesquely seated in groups around the grave, in the fading daylight; the priest in his robes, 
with his Arabic scroll, sitting at the top, and chanting in a loud voice some words, which were repeated by the company 
several hundred times in a singing chorus. A boy sat cross-legged with a brass tea-kettle, from which the priest poured 
water up and down upon the new-made grave. When the three words of prayer had died upon their lips from repetition, 
the old priest would commence again with renewed energy. The ceremony over, the group, with the empty bier, wound 
down the hill, amidst the beautiful mountain scenery, in the amber light of evening. 
A Malay wedding-party may form a pleasing contrast to the funeral scene we have just described. 
1 was invited to witness a Malay wedding by one of the priests, whose daughters were amongst the bridemaids. 1 
went about four o’clock in the afternoon ; the bride had been given away by the priest, and some prayers said, and the 
feasting had commenced in earnest; it. was literally “ a marriage-feast." The house, which was small, was crowded to 
excess; in an inner room, beneath an illuminated mirror, decorated with artificial flowers, sat the bride, surrounded by 
about thirty y oung girls as bridemaids; they were all dressed in white, with satin handkerchiefs crossed over their 
shoulders, and their luxuriant black hair plastered with more than ordinary care in the Malay style with cocoa-nut oil 
and gum, and fastened behind with a gold bodkin. The bridemaids occupied the seats on each side of the bride, round 
a table groaning beneath the weight of sweetmeats, fruits, and millet-cakes; lofty columns of oranges, placed one on the 
top of another, looked as though they would fall down the instant the table was touched; and pots of preserved ginger 
and nutmegs were handed about. Drinking tea and coffee, and feasting, went on till about eleven o’clock at night, varied 
by occasional singing. Otic man appeared to unite the character of a buffoon with that of master of the ceremonies, and 
used every effort to diffuse merriment and encourage the young girls to sing. They chanted some amorous ditties in a low, 
warbling voice, which was followed by a chorus from the men. As the party breaks up, the bridemaids lead the bride 
to her chamber, where she awaits the arrival of the bridegroom. One old man then shuts the door, and keeps him out, 
the bridegroom remonstrating all the while, and endeavouring by every means to gain access. This joke is kept up for 
some time, till at last the bridegroom forces the door and joins the bride, when the party immediately separates. 
1 was favoured with a sight of the bedroom and marriage-bed prepared for the reception of the bride by her husband. 
The room was tastefully decorated with white muslin and artificial flowers: bunches of artificial flowers were placed on 
the curtains and toilet; everything was beautifully white and clean; and the carpet, lied, and the entire room, were scattered 
over with small shreds of gilt and variously-coloured paper: these were strewn thickest on the bed and by the bedside. 
An elderly matron, in a rich dress, performed the honour, which is a distinguished one, of shewing the marriage-chamber 
to the friends of the bride and bridegroom, who inspected it one at a time. 
