THE FUNERAL DANCE. 49 



ments, which consisted merely in raisino- the feet in turns and orentlv 

 stamping on the ground. The central group of women danced 

 around the posts, partly skipping, partly hopping, each woman 

 holding up before her the article she bore, and regulating her steps 

 to the beats of the drum. Now and then the man at the drum 

 quickened his time, and the movements of the women of the ring 

 became more spirited ; whilst the central group of dancers skipped 

 more actively around, the foremost woman sprinkling at each bound 

 handfuls of lime over the dancers of the ring. As the weather was 

 raiu}-, many of the women — all of whom wore a " sulu " reaching 

 down to the knees — had their shoulders covered by their mats of 

 pandanus leaves. This dance was repeated on the following day 

 but with a smaller number of dancers. I was anxious to ascertain 

 the manner in which the body had been disposed ; but beyond the 

 fact that interment had taken place in the ground some distance 

 away, I could leam but little. It is, however, very probable that 

 the body was first burned between the charred posts, around which 

 the dance was performed, which would have served as supports for 

 the funeral pyre. Further reference to this custom will be found 

 on page 51. 



In making inquiries as to the obsequies paid to the dead queen, 

 I was much struck with the reluctance of the natives to refer to the 

 event. They mentioned the name of the deceased in a low subdued 

 tone as if it were wrono- to utter the names of the dead. This 

 mysterious dread which is associated with the mention of the names 

 of the dead is found, as Dr. Tylor points out in his " Early History 

 of Mankind" (3rd edit., p. 143), amongst many races of men. The 

 example of the Australian native who refuses to utter them may be 

 here cited as an extreme instance of this superstition. 



Three days after the death of Kaika, all the men of Alu, with 

 the exception of the chief and his sons, cut off their hair close to 

 the scalp as a symbol of mourning for the deceased, an observance 

 which produced a surprising change in the appearance of men whom 

 I had been familiar with as the owners of luxuriant bushy periwigs. 

 A similar custom of either shaving the scalp or of cutting the hair 

 close prevailed in other islands of the group which we visited, as at 

 Simbo and Ul^I. In the latter island the shaving is restricted to the 

 posterior half of the scalp. With this digression I will continue my 

 account of the mourning ceremonials observed at the death of Kaika. 



The news of the death of the principal wife of the Alu chief was 



D 



