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258
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[OCTOBER, 1899.
to this time occupied, and is laid immediately under the centre of the roof of the hut.66 The mourners then assemble round the body, the nearest relatives resting their heads or elbows thereon, and the remainder ranging themselves behind, while the last farewells are attered in heart-broken accents and with bitter wailings, termed shidiang-kamapdh. This lasts but for & short time, and then, at a given signal, some young men who are in readiness at the entrance approach and, hastily raising the body, carry it head-foremost down the ladder, and convey it away swiftly to the cemetery. One or more of the mournergo not unfrequently cling to the corpse and have to be forcibly parted from it. Such persons will sometimes even allow themselves to be dragged half-way to the grave, where also they usually make a feint of throwing themselves upon the body after it has been lowored; but a slight show of resistance on the part of the bystanders generally saffices to frustrate any such attempts.
The menlaana then commands the disembodied spirit to go quietly to the grave with the corpse and remain there until the first memorial feast (entoin), when it will be required to proceed to Hades. It is farther exhorted not to wander about in the meantime and frighten the living with its ghostly presence.
When the body has been laid in the grave the peculiar * -shaped pegs, called shinpan or shanipán, to which allusion has already been made, are brought into use : 5, 7 or 9 of these are driven into the ground across the body at regular intervals from the head downwards in order that the Evil Spirite, known as Mong-wanga, may be unable to abstract the remains," a work which is sapposed to be the special function and delight of this class of Demons.
After the corpse has been laid in the grave dai-la-loang (1. e., leaves of the kõang) are again waved over it in order to disperse any spirits which may still chance to be hovering near; for it is held that, through sympathy with the deceased, the spirits of the bystanders, and even a stray demon, might by overhaste be interred with the corpse. To make assurance doubly sure, therefore, a dry cocoanat-leaf toroh, such as is used in these islands when fishing
Up to this stage in the proceedings the position of the corpae has been mahown below in the diagram marked "A," where"." representa the entrance at the top of the hut-ladder; "b" the fire-place; "on the corpse, with ita hond towards the entrance and foot near the fire-place; and "&" the chul-on fetich, already referred to in the foregoing. The oorpeo is now placed me in the diagram marked "B" 1. ., at right-angles to its first position, and in the oentre of the hat, with the head towards the oluk-fum.
The only reason given, at lont in the Central group, for taking the corpse out of the hat head-foremost is that it is more convenient to the bearers who reach the grave at the lower or foot end. There does not appear to be among them any trace of the superstition held by some races that if the dead person is carried out of his home in this manner he will be able to find his way back again. (Anthrop. Inst. Journ. Vol. XV. p. 73.)
As soon as the corpse has been removed for burial the fire which has up till that time been kept burning near the foot of the hut-ladder is extinguished by water,
Women and children do not necessarily nocompany the body to the grave, but are not prohibited from doing so.
10 It is, however, related that on one cousion mourner Overome all resistanoo thus offered and threw himself into the grave, where he so injured himself by falling on the phone.pon that death resulted.
For analogous customs olsewhere vide J. G. Fraser, Jowrah. Anthrop. Inst. Vol. XY. Pp. 86-06.
