836 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A missionary in Batavia states that the people of the Island of 

 Sumba, in the residence of Timor, drape the corpses of their dead, and 

 bind them in a sitting posture to a post which is planted in front of 

 the house of the deceased. The body of a chief is allowed to remain 

 there till it decays ; but the bodies of other persons, after two or three 

 days, are buried in a grave which is dug in the shape of a well, and is 

 afterward covered with a heavy stone. The clothes of the deceased 

 and his jewelry are buried with him. The friends of the dead man 

 are expected, while the body is exposed, to visit it, bringing gifts 

 of clothing and other articles of value. The graves are situated in 

 the midst of the towns, and are carefully attended to by the inhab- 

 itants. 



According to the descriptions of a Dutch missionary, the funeral 

 feasts of the Island of Halmahera are quite elaborate affairs. The cere- 

 monies begin, after the deceased has been put in his coffin, with a 

 rope-dance between the young men and the maidens, in which either 

 party tries to pull the rope away from the other, to the music of a mo- 

 notonous antiphonal chant, and which is continued through several 

 evenings, with complete freedom from interference by the old people. 

 Then follow four or five days of feasting, to which the whole neigh- 

 borhood is invited to contribute in provisions and services, marchers 

 and dancers, the men and the women taking the prominent part in the 

 ceremonies on alternate days. On the last day of the feast, as large 

 a company as possible is collected, to give effect to the final ceremo- 

 nies. The body is placed in the grave, and is adorned with ornaments, 

 lights, and garlands, and supplied with dishes of betel and provisions. 

 Another banquet is served, the rope-dance is repeated, and a new cere- 

 mony, called the toku, is performed. For this, the young men and the 

 girls take places in opposite rows, each confronting pair joining hands. 

 A child, festively dressed, is lifted up and made to walk upon the road 

 formed by the pairs of hands, singing a refrain, to which the partners 

 in the files chant a response. Each hand-joined couple in the rows 

 withdraws as soon as the child has passed it, and takes a new place at 

 the farther end, so as to prolong the walk to the extent that the occa- 

 sion may seem to call for. As soon as this play is over, the rope-dance 

 is transferred to the sea-beach, and the funeral ends with a ducking- 

 match between the boys and the girls. 



Dr. Miclucho Maclay describes the Orang-Sakai tribes of 'New 

 Guinea as having a terrible fear of the dead. As soon as any one 

 among them becomes critically sick, he is carried out into the forest 

 and left there with a small supply of food. His hut is immediately 

 destroyed, and no one will ever build again on the place where it 

 stood. The remains of abandoned unfortunates are frequently met in 

 the wilderness, as well as the ruins of huts which have been given up 

 on account of the occurrence of death among their inmates. 



Herr J. C. Dieterle has published an account of the curious royal 



