Their apparel is a cloak or mantle of
cotton cloth, leaving one arm bare, but some wear inner vests or shirts
of silk or cotton. All go bareheaded, except the priests, who have a
kind of caps of two spans long on their heads, with a knob on the top
about the size of an acorn, all sparkling with gold. They delight in
ear-rings, but have neither rings nor bracelets. The complexion of the
natives inclines towards fair, as the air is more temperate than at
Calicut. In their tillage and reaping there is little difference from
the manner of Italy.
[Footnote 86: It is not easy to conceive by what means this could be, as
Pegu, Ava, Aracan, and Tipera, intervene between Tanaserim and Bengal,
and the bay of Bengal between Tanaserim and Narsinga or the Carnatic,
none of the powers mentioned being possessed of any maritime force. - E.]
When the king or any of the priests or great men die, their bodies are
burnt on a large pile of wood, and all the while the assistants
sacrifice to the devil. The ashes are then gathered into earthen jars
like those of _Samos_, and are preserved or buried in their houses.
While the bodies are burning, they cast into the fire all manner of
perfumes, as wood of aloes, myrrh, frankincense, storax, sandal-wood,
and many other sweet gums, spices, and woods: In the mean time also,
they make an incessant noise with drums, trumpets, pipes, and other
instruments, much like what was done of old by the Greeks and Romans,
when deifying their departed great men.
