BUKIAL OF THE DEAD. 449 



is thrown over the body, which is held in a sitting posture, 

 with the knees doubled up under the chin, until life is ex- 

 tinct. A grave is then dug — ^very frequently in the cattle- 

 fold — six feet in depth, and about three in width, the interior 

 being rubbed over with a certain large bulb. The body, 

 having the head covered, is then conveyed through a hole 

 made for the purpose in the house and the surrounding fence, 

 and deposited in the grave in a sitting position, care beini^; 

 taken to put the face of the corpse against the north. " Por- 

 tions of an ant-hill are placed about the feet, when the net 

 which held the body is gradually withdrawn. As the gi-ave 

 is filled up, the earth is handed in with bowls, while two 

 men stand in the hole to tread it down round the body, great 

 care being taken to pick out every thing like a root or peb- 

 ble. When the earth reaches the height of the mouth, a 

 small twig or branch of an acacia is thrown in, and on the 

 top of the head a few roots of grass are placed. The grave 

 being nearly filled, another root of grass is fixed immediately 

 over the head, part of which stands above ground. When 

 this portion of the ceremony is over, the men and women 

 stoop, and with their hands scrape on to the little mound 

 the loose soil lying about. A large bowl of water, with an 

 infusion of bulbs, is now brought, when the men and women 

 wash their hands and the upper part of their feet, shouting 

 'Pula! piila!' (Rain! rain!) An old woman, probably 

 a relative, will then bring the weapons of the deceased (bow, 

 arrows, war-axe, and spears) ; also grain and garden-seeds of 

 various kinds; and even the bone of an old pack-ox, with 

 other things. They finally address the grave, saying, ' These 

 are all your articles.' The things are then taken away, and 

 bowls of water are poured on the grave, when all retire, the 

 women wailing ' Yo ! yo I yo !' with some doleful dirge, sor- 

 rowing without hope." 



" The ancients were of opinion that the face was always 

 the index of the mind. Modem physiognomists have gone 



