642 PROCERDINOS OF SECTION O. 



the form of tlio i'eptil(^, ko., and would lip (jiiiptec] ]»y liaving 

 a " decent burial." 



Mourning- for the dead was continued for weeks or months, 

 according' to the rank of the deceased. At such times the 

 mourners would neglect their jaersons, wear no ornaments, 

 and clothe themselves in rags or refuse. While the chief lay 

 dead, or the mourners were still assembled, the j)aths near the 

 spot, and the lagoon in the vicinity were t.ilm. No one was 

 allowed to ])ass, and travellei's were required to make a detour 

 in other directions. 



Widows and orpiians were respected and generously cared 

 for by their relatives. Sometimes the widow would retui'u to 

 her own relations, or be fetched away ))y members of her 

 family. Formerly the deceased husband's brother considered 

 it his duty to take the widow to become his wife, although he 

 might be already married. This was done mostly for the 

 purpose of retaining the children and land and property in 

 the husband's family. 



In the Loyalty Islands, among the Pa))uan inhabitants, 

 sickness and death Avere attributed to the action of evil spirits, 

 often, it was supposed, in consequence of misdeeds, or 

 infractions of tabu, &:c. Probably soi'cery would be suspected, 

 and then the curser, would besought out, either to propitiate 

 his anger or to inflict vengeance. When death appeared to 

 be near the friends assembled around the house, the near 

 relations inside, and they united in a chorus of loud screams, 

 wailings, and lamentations, and continued the noise till long- 

 after death had taken place. 



The funeral arrangements were very simple at Tai (Uveae): 

 the sea was the common receptacle of the dead. The corpse 

 was bound to a log of wood or a banana stump, put into 

 the lagoon, and thence floated out to sea: the current generally 

 set seaward to the N.W. The l)odies of chiefs and other 

 notabilities were carried by near relatives and deposited in 

 caverns which abounded in these coral islands, or lowered 

 into deep pits in the rocky ground. Many a Petra mausoleum 

 may be f()und in the sides of the cliffs near the sea shore. 

 Here the l)odies were fixed in various postures — some stand- 

 ing- against the sides of the cavern, some sitting on the floor, 

 and others were more decently placed on shelves and niches 

 of the caves*. At Wide Bay, on the island of Lifu, there is 

 a larse rock near the beach which looks like a Malukott 



* I was anxious to visit a necvoijolis of tlie kind at tlie south of tlie island, 

 but on finding that the natives were iinwilling that I should do sci, I gave up 

 the attempt. 



