ANEITYUM, NEW HEBRIDES. 711 



Wizards. 



The power of the sorcerer is supposed to descend from 

 father to son in the same family. He was supposed to obtain 

 his magic power by constant devotion to the service of the 

 gods or " Natmases ; " these were unseen spii'its. These 

 men were held in great fear and veneration by the native 

 community ; their ])ower was equally on the side of good and 

 evil, by bringing rain or driving it away, or by causing sickness 

 or driving sickness away ; also supposed to have the remark- 

 able power of making thunder and lightning, causing hurri- 

 canes, &c., also of making the different kinds of food to 

 grow, as well as giving or withholding the fish in the sea. 

 These men used to prepare (and also eat) the greater portion 

 of the food given by the natives to propitiate the spirits or 

 " Natmases," 



Another class prepared sacred earth for young men 

 wherewith to bewitch young women whom they wished to 

 seduce. This was composed of a piece of wood, a piece of 

 banana leaf, and a lizard, burnt to charcoal and put into a 

 section of bamboo, to be kept till wanted. 



Death. 



In nearly all cases of the death of leading men the cause 

 of death was set down to sorcery by the burning of some 

 remains of food of which the deceased had eaten (called 

 " nehken "), such as the skin of a banana or the chewings of 

 sugar cane. This was, as a rule, carefully kept by the eater 

 until he got the opportunity of burning it himself, lest an 

 enemy should get it and carry it to the disease-maker or 

 sacred-man. In heathen days the dead body was decorated 

 with strips of native cloth tied round the body to bind the 

 arms and legs ; a stone was tied to the feet, and, after the face 

 had been painted with red clay, the body was carried to the 

 edge of the reef and thrown into the sea. Only the highest 

 chiefs were buried on land ; in that case the head was left 

 above ground, and female mourners watched the body until 

 the skin, &c. on skull was decomposed, which was duly kept 

 in a cave or in the sacred grove. During this time the spirit 

 of the chief was fed by small quantities of food being placed 

 in a basket and hung on a branch of some tree near by. In 

 ordinary cases of burying in the sea a fire was lit on the 

 beach so that the spirit of the departed might come and warm 

 himself if he felt so inclined. 



