650 



Again, one of my informants — a very reliable man — 

 assured me that whenever a Bard'u comes to the village and 

 enters a house with the intention of killing a man, he always 

 tries to have connection with some female member of the 

 household in her sleep — the man's wife, or his sister or 

 daughter. The man, bewitched by the Bard'u, does not 

 remember the fact after he awakes ; but the woman is 

 always aware of having been interfered with in her sleep, and 

 much valuable information as to the crimes committed by 

 sorcerers, and even as to their identity, is supposed to be 

 obtained in this way. As to the questions whether the Bard'tt 

 is invisible to the woman, and, if so, how she can recognize 

 him, my informant could not give me satisfactory answers^ 

 though he did not on that account waver in his belief. 



I wish to add that although I was not able to obtain 

 many esoteric details with reference to the Mailu sorcery, I 

 have had exceptionally good opportunities of grasping the 

 general attitude of the native mind towards the question of 

 night-terrors and sorcery, and of laying bare certain psycho- 

 logical features of their beliefs, which mere inquiry could not 

 have elucidated. For some time I was staying in a disused 

 mission house, not far from the present Mission Station. 

 Somehow the news spread about that there were ghosts in the 

 house, and both my cook-boy and some village boys, who used to 

 come and sleep there, refused to continue to do so, leaving me 

 to sleep alone. Finding this state of things convenient on 

 account of the protection it afforded my belongings when I 

 went with my boy to the village at night, I did not discourage 

 the belief, nor did I betray any scepticism with regard to it. 

 One evening, while sitting with my boy and some Mailu men, I 

 listened to their conversation, carried out in Motu. I found 

 that they were discussing the question of the ghosts that 

 haunted my house. Seeing that they took the matter very 

 seriously and expressed views extremely valuable to the ethno- 

 logist, because they exemplified the native beliefs on a concrete 

 basis, I joined the conversation and asked their opinion and 

 advice with regard to my case. They certainly were under the 

 impression that I was concerned for my safety, and they gave 

 me their bond fide view of the matter. I asserted emphatically 

 that, as a white man, I was afraid only of ghosts, but I added 

 that, not knowing the habits of the local evil powers, I would 

 like to know what I had to fear and how I should best protect 

 myself. It was these questions which elicited most of the 

 information given above — information which had until then 

 been withheld from me. I need not add that I was not satis- 

 fied with one conversation, but subsequently had several 



