- FUNERALS^103
When a man dies, the corpse (called Maiat, except in the case of a Raja, when it
is called Jĕnaja or Jĕnazah) is laid on its back, and composed with the feet
towards Mecca, and the hands crossed (the right wrist resting upon the left just
below the breast-bone, and the right fore-finger on the top of the left arm). It is
next shrouded from head to foot in fine new sarongs, one of which usually
covers the body from the feet upwards to the waist, the other covering it from the
waist to the head. There are generally (in the case of the peasantry) three or four
thicknesses of these sarongs, but when a rich man (orang kaya) dies, as many as
seven may be used, each of the seven being made in one long piece, so as to
cover the body from the head to the feet, the cloth being of fine texture, of no
recognised colour, but richly interwoven with gold thread, while the body is laid
upon a mattress, which in turn rests upon a new mat of pandanus leaf; finally, all
but the very poorest display the hangings used on great occasions. At the head of
the corpse are then piled five or six new pillows, with two more on the right and
left side of the body resting against the ribs, while just below the folded hands
are laid a pair of betel-nut scissors (kachip bĕsi), and on the matting at either side
a bowl for burning incense is placed. Some say that the origin of laying the
betel-nut scissors on the breast is that once upon a time a cat brushed against the
body of a dead person, thereby causing the evil influence (badi) which resides in
cats to enter the body, so that it rose and stood upon its feet. The “contact with
iron”^104 prevents the dead body from rising again should it happen by any
mischance that a cat (which is generally the only animal kept in the house, and
which should be driven out of the house before the funeral ceremonies
commence) should enter unawares and brush against it. From this moment until
the body is laid in the grave the “wake” must be religiously observed, and the
body be watched both by day and night to see that nothing which is forbidden