the planks are washed to insure their cleanliness, and lined with white cloth (alas puteh). About three inches of earth is put into the karanda ordinarily, but if the coffin is to be kept, about a span's depth of earth, quicklime, and several katis [641] of tea-leaves, rush-piths (sumbu kumpai), and camphor are also deposited in it, in successive layers, the rush-piths at the top. Afterwards when the corpse has been laid on the top, tea-leaves are put at front and back of the corpse as it lies. The next operation is to wash the corpse, which is carried for this purpose into the front or outer room. If there are four people to be found who are willing to undertake this disagreeable duty, they are told to sit upon the floor in a row, all looking the same way, and with their legs stretched out (belunjor kaki), the body being then laid across their laps (riba). Several men are then told off to fetch water in jars, scoop it out of the jars and pour it on the body in small quantities by means of the "scoop" (penchedok ayer), which is usually a small bowl, saucer, or cocoa-nut shell (tempurong). It frequently happens, however, that this unpleasant task finds no volunteers, in which case five banana stems are turned into improvised "rollers" (galang), on which the body is raised from the floor during the process of washing (meruang). When the body is ready for washing, a chief washer (orang meruang) is engaged for a fee of about a dollar; this is usually the Bilal or Imam, who "shampoos" the body whilst the rest are pouring water on it. The body then undergoes a second washing, this time with the cosmetic called ayer bedak which is prepared by taking a handful of rice (sa-genggam b'ras), two or three "dips" of lime (cholek kapur),and a pinch of gambier (gambir sa-chubit)--the last three being the usual concomitants of a single "chew" of the betel-leaf--and pounding them up together with the rice. When pounded they are mixed with water (di-banchor [642]) in a large bowl holding about two gallons, the water at the top being poured off into a vessel of similar capacity, and scooped up and sprinkled as before on the corpse. The next washing is with juice of limes. Four or five limes (limau nipis) are taken, the ends cut off, and each lime slashed crosswise on the top without completely severing the parts. These limes are then squeezed (di-ramaskan) into another large bowl containing water, and the washing repeated. The final washing, or "Nine Waters" (ayer sambilan, so called from the water being scooped up, and poured thrice to the right, thrice to the left, and thrice over the front of the corpse from head to foot) is performed with fresh water as at first, and the whole ceremony when completed is called bedara. The washing completed, the orifices--e.g. ears, nostrils, eyes--are generally stopped with cotton, and the body is carried back to its mattress, and laid in a shroud of white cotton