THE PRIMITIVE GHOST AND HIS RELATIONS. 671 



mans wave towels about, or sweep the ghost out with a besom,* just 

 as in old Rome the heir solemnly swept out the ghost of his predeces- 

 sor with a broom made specially for the purpose, f In ancient Mexico 

 professional " chuckers-out " were employed, who searched the house 

 diligently till they found the lurking ghost of the late proprietor, whom 

 they there and then summarily ejected.^ 



The favorite " beat " of the ghost is usually the spot where he died. 

 Hence, in order to keep him at least from the house, the Caffres carry 

 a sick man out into the open air to die, and the Maoris used to remove 

 the sick into sheds. If a Caffre or Maori died before he could be car- 

 ried out, the house was tabooed and deserted.* There are traces in 

 Greece, Rome, and China of this custom of carrying dying persons 

 into the open air. || 



But in case the ghost should, despite all precautions, make his 

 way back from the grave, steps were taken to barricade the house 

 against him. Thus, in some parts of Russia and East Prussia an axe 

 or a lock is laid on the threshold, or a knife is hung over the door, A 

 and in Germany as soon as the coffin is carried out of the house all the 

 doors and windows are shut, whereas, so long as the body is still in the 

 house, the windows (and sometimes the doors) are left constantly open 

 to allow the soul to escape.^ In some parts of England every bolt and 

 lock in the house is unfastened, that the ghost of the dying man may 

 fly freely away. J 



But, if primitive man knew how to bully, he also knew how to out- 

 wit the ghost. For example, a ghost can only find his way back to 

 the house by the way by which he left it. This little weakness did 

 not escape the vigilance of our ancestors, and they took their meas- 

 ures accordingly. The coffin was carried out of the house, not by the 

 door, but by a hole made for the purpose in the wall, and this hole 

 was carefully stopped up as soon as the body had been passed through 

 it ; so that, when the ghost strolled quietly back from the grave, he 

 found to his surprise that there was no thoroughfare. The credit of 

 this ingenious device is shared equally by Greenlanders, Hottentots, 



* Wuttke, 725, 737 ; F. Schmidt, Sitten u. Gebraiiche in Thiiringen," p. 85 ; Kohler, 

 " Volksbrauch," p. 254. 



f Festus, s. v. everriator ; cf. Gray, " China," i, p. 287. 

 \ Bancroft, "Native Races of the Pacific States," i, p. 641. 



* Lichtenstein, "Travels in Southern Africa," i, pp. 258, 259; J. Campbell, "South 

 Africa," p. 515, sq. ; Taylor, "New Zealand," p. 170 ; Yates, "New Zealand," p. 86. 



| Euripides, " Alcestis," v, 234 sqq., cf. 205 ; Scholiast on Aristophanes, " Lysistrata," 

 v, 611 ; Seneca, Epist. I, xii, 3 ; Gray, " China," i, p. 279. In modern Greece, as soon as 

 the corpse is out of the house, the whole house is scoured (C. Wachsmuth, " Das alte 

 Griechenland im neuem," p. 120). 



A Ralston, p. 318; Wuttke, 736, 766. 



Sonntag, p- 169 ; Wuttke, 737, 725 ; Gubernatis, " Usi funebri," p. 47 ; Lammert, 

 " Volksmedezin," pp. 103, 105, 106. 



X Dyer, "English Folk-lore," p. 230; Brand, "Popular Antiquities," ii, p. 231. 



