iem is subjected to the following process:--It is
wrapped in a cloth and placed in the hollowed-out trunk of a tree,
_ka-shyngoid_, there being a small hole with a plug at the bottom of
this receptacle. Spirit is then poured into the _shyngoid_ until the
whole body is immersed, the liquor being allowed to stand for three
days. After the body has been thus steeped, the liquor is allowed to
run out, and the body is washed with warm water, after which it is
allowed to dry for a day. Then a quantity of lime-juice is poured
in, the latter being obtained from the fresh fruit of the lime
(_u soh jew_). The body is thus exposed to a process of pickling,
which continues until the whole is thoroughly dry and becomes like
that of a mummy. It is then placed in a coffin, which is kept in
the house of the Siem family until it is time to perform the funeral
obsequies. These ceremonies entail a very large amount of expense,
and it sometimes happens that they cannot be completed for some years
after the death of a Siem. The body of a deceased Siem according
to the Cherra custom should be burnt by his successor otherwise the
latter is not Siem according to the Khasi religion. The last Siem of
Cherra, U Hajon Manik, did not perform the funeral obsequies of his
predecessor U Ram Singh, and it is stated that many of his subjects
did not regard him as Siem, according to the Khasi religion, in
consequence. There are at the present time the corpses of two Siems
of Cherra which have been preserved in the manner described above,
awaiting cremation. The first Siem, U Ram Singh, died as far back as
1875, and the second, U Hajon Manik, died in 1901.

Sir Joseph Hooker and other authorities have stated that the
bodies of deceased Siems of Cherra used to be embalmed in honey,
and an amusing story is told regarding the necessity of exercising
caution in purchasing honey from Cherra (honey being plentiful in
this neighbourhood), except in the comb, for fear of honey which
has been used for embalming purposes being passed off on the unwary
purchaser. But the members of the Siem family and the old residents
deny that honey is used for this purpose nowadays, possibly in the
interests of the trade. It is, however, not unlikely that honey
was so utilized in days gone by, as it is a well-known agent for
embalming. The bodies of priests in Burmah are said to be embalmed
in honey, _vide_ Yule's "Embassy to Ava."

The Disposal of the Dead.

The collecti