NOHTll (^IKKNSLAM) KTHN(>(;i;.\I'l[V — liOTH. oiS 1 



also ciyiniL'-. In order to get the corpse into the graxe, they have 

 to ask the mother to step out. And wlien slie has done so, they 

 put in the corpse, cover it with bark, and then the whole with 

 soil.. Then the grave diggers as well as the women who had 

 followed the corpse to the grave, commence to cry there again. 

 Once the corpse is buried, some of tlie other women approach the 

 graxe for lamentation. And coming from all directions— east, 

 west, south and nortli, they build a camp of considerable size 

 around the grave, the corpse resting in the centre. Next day, 

 the dead man's wife coiiies along crying, offering her head to all 

 tlie Dien ai'ound to be struck ; and they strike her too with a 

 wommera until she is covered with blood. During the da}', the 

 women plait mourning strings''" for the dead. This done, they 

 smear a lot of strings witli cUy and wind tliem around their necks 

 and the two arm-pits : they tear up dilly-bags and pull them over 

 their heads. These of course are plaited, only by the women, not 

 by the men, but they give the bags to them to put on. The 

 deceased's father also tears some up and makes an opening into 

 theni big enough to let his head go through and wears them round 

 his neck : furthermore, he draws some all over his body, and a 

 small one over his liead (PI. Ixviii., lig. 3). The other men only just 

 use the strings [beltsj''^ or the white clay, not everything like the 

 women.'- When the striking ceremony with the wife is over, 

 they are no longer angry with her. But why do they hit the 

 woman at all ? What a question ! Because when her husliand 

 was alive, they both had been jealous of each other, anil had 

 ([ua)-relled and fought : this they could not approve of, and they 

 tlierefore strike the woman just in tlie same way as tiie okl men 

 spear the husband in the leg after his wife's death.-' • By and liye, 

 two of the men go off as messengers to invite the friends for the 

 funeral, but before they get to the camp they smear their bodies 

 with white clay and so put in an appearance : as soon as the 

 people visited see them coming, they slioutitout to all the others. 

 Then the messengers separate, and sit apart at a distance 

 from the camp, whence an individual will ap[)roacli to hear what 

 tliev have to say : they tell him all the news, also of the occur- 

 rence of the death : and the person who has approached passes on 



=« Described in Bull. 1— Sect. 12. 



•^1 In the case of the males, wlio wear tlieui around the waist, the mourning- 

 belt is of a different pattern, and is described in Bull. 1— Sect. 15. 



"- If bee's wax is available both male and fensale mourners will fix up their 

 liair with it into thronis. 



^^ i.e. to cry quits— see previous footnote. 



