"Why do they wait so long?" Frank asked.
"The real reason is," was the reply, "to enable the surviving relatives to make the proper preparations for the funeral, and it has been so long the custom that it is now fixed as a social and religious observance.
"Immediately after the death of a king, his body is embalmed and laid in state, with a great deal of ceremony, in the Maha Prasaht. It is the duty of his successor to arrange the funeral ceremonies; and he immediately notifies the governors of four of the northern provinces, where the finest timber of Siam is found, that each of them may send a stick to form one of the four corners of the P'hra Mane, or funeral pile. The sticks must be perfectly straight, and not less than two hundred feet long; at the same time twelve smaller sticks are called for from as many of the other provinces; and there is also a demand for timber for the construction of halls and other buildings needed for the ceremony.
"All the timber must be new, as it would not be proper for royalty to have any wood about its funeral pile that had been used before in any way. Several months are required to procure the timber and erect the pile and its various annexes, as they cover at least half an acre of ground. The whole of the work, outside and in, is painted in green and yellow, and a good deal of gold and silver leaf is spread on in various places, so that it appears to be of great richness. A large open dome is in the centre of the edifice, and it contains a small temple, with a platform on which the body is to be placed. Around the great building there are sheds and houses to accommodate the priests, who come from all parts of the kingdom to participate in the ceremonies; and outside of these sheds there are twelve small pagodas, that are decorated to represent the large temple. The whole mass of edifices for the funeral costs a great deal of money, and it is evidently an expensive thing in Siam for a king to die.
CHARACTERS IN THE PROCESSION.
"On the appointed day there is a grand procession of soldiers and others dressed to represent various nationalities—not much unlike the procession at the ceremony of the royal hair-cutting. The entire royal family is out, and usually the procession takes not less than three hours to pass a given point. The festivals last ten days; various amusements are provided during the daytime in the shape of theatricals and other exhibitions, and in the evening they have fireworks, tumbling, rope-dancing, and the like. At certain intervals handfuls of money are thrown among the people, and a very lively scrambling is the result. Finally the body is burnt with a great deal of ceremony, the king being the first to apply the torch to the funeral pile of his predecessor.
"When the burning is completed, the ashes are thrown into the river, and the bones are placed in an urn and carried to one of the temples in the palace enclosure. Then the princes and governors who have come from the various parts of the kingdom, are at liberty to return home; and the same is the case with the priests who have visited the capital on the same mission. There is probably no royal display in any part of Europe that can surpass the cremation of a king in Siam."
"Do the widows of the king go on the funeral pile to be burnt?" Frank asked. "Is the custom in Siam the same that it used to be in India?"