When a Burman priest dies, his body is embalmed. The process of embalming is conducted in the following manner. The body is opened, the intestines taken out, and the spaces filled with various descriptions of spices, the orifice being closed up again, and sewed together. After this the whole body is covered by a layer of wax, to prevent the air from injuring it; over the wax is placed a layer of lac, together with some bituminous compound, and the whole is covered with leaf gold. The ceremony somewhat reminds one of the description given by Herodotus of ancient Egyptian embalming.[126] The arms are laid across the breast of the body. The preparation of the body takes place at the house.[127] About a year afterward the body is removed to a house built expressly for such purposes, where it is kept until the other priests order it to be burnt. In this house the body is disposed upon a raised stage of bamboo and wood, and the house itself is ornamented with paper and leaf gold. By the stage, the coffin, overlaid with gold and painted with figures of death in various ways, was placed. In the courtyard of the house two four-wheel carriages await the time fixed for the burning, one being intended for the coffin, the other for the stage, with its apparatus. The carriage on which the corpse is placed has another stage built upon it, similar to the one in the house, with the difference of its being larger, and fixed upon an elephant in a kneeling posture. The people of the place have to prepare rockets and other fireworks, as well as images of animals to which the rockets are fixed. The images are then drawn through the streets and round the town; all the citizens, when the ceremonies are strictly observed, being compelled to assist. The procession opens with some flags; then a number of dancing girls and boys follow; after this the carriages with the figures, drawn by boys and bullocks; and on the occasion which Mr. Carey describes, there followed, by the express command of the governor, a quantity of young women “dancing and singing, with an older woman between each row to keep them in order.” Then came the principal persons of the place under umbrellas, a sign of rank, as in ancient Nineveh, and all modern Asiatic countries. Lastly, the procession was closed by men, dancing and singing in like manner. The images on the carriages are usually very large, much larger than life, and represented buffaloes, elephants, horses, and men. Each street attends its own carriage in the procession. The following day the townspeople are divided into two parties, and strange indeed must be the sight of the multitude. The carriage containing the corpse has four large cables attached to it, and the two parties of the townspeople pull against one another, and strive to draw away the carriage and its contents. This contest is continued till superior strength puts an end to it, or till the cable breaks, and the losing party tumble head over heels.