686 



pretended ignorance, thus allowing me a share of the unlimited 

 confidence he enjoys among them. 



It is a well-known feature of the "savage" outlook tnat 

 he is not satisfied with what we call natural causes of death. 

 This means, strictly speaking, that whenever a death occurs 

 there is the belief that some sorcerer has been the cause of it. 

 This mental attitude was mentioned when black magic and 

 sorcery were discussed, and it also influences certain detaJs 

 in the native burial customs. 



When a man, woman, or child dies the death throws a 

 more or less large section of the community into mourning, 

 and consequently upsets the course of normal village life. In 

 the case of a child, woman, or insignificant man, the disturb- 

 ance is slight; but in that of a full-grown and influential man 

 his dea<th puts its stamp on many aspects of tribal life. It 

 has been mentioned above (chap, iii., sec. 5) that the system 

 of taboos imposed on coconuts varies in name and general 

 character, according to whether there was an important deatii 

 in the clan or not. Again, after the death of a man, a series 

 of feasts are held, and these are undoubtedly connected with 

 the big feast (see below). Again, the mourners undergo 

 certain food taboos which modify the tribal ceremonies, and 

 so on. Broadly speaking, a death entails more essential 

 changes in a savage community, relatively to its size, than it 

 does in those of a higher level of civilization. 



The M owners. — As the principal features of burial and 

 mourning are the same in all cases, being only in the case 

 of an influential adult more elaborate and entailing more social 

 activities, I shall describe such a case, illustrating the general 

 statements by a concrete example — that of Bua, the recently 

 deceased, influential Mailu village constable, and, according to 

 my conjecture, the chief Barau or sorcerer. The genealogy 

 given below will serve as a basis for the kinship designations. 



The chief mourners are called Nandma. This class con- 

 sists of the elder brothers (Uini'egi) and sisters (Uiniavetsa), 

 and of the younger brothers (Rauegi) and sisters 

 (Rdu'avetsa) in the classificatory sense of the term, which 

 implies the inclusion of the man's own brothers and sisters 

 and his first cousins, male and female ; or, as the term cousin 

 is not unequivocal, the children of both his father's and 

 mother's elder and younger brothers and sisters. But it must 

 be emphatically remarked that in the case of the Nandmci the 

 classificatory relationship is not extended beyond this limit. 

 I was assured that the grandfathers or grandmothers (paternal 

 or maternal), brothers' or sisters' grandchildren ( = second 

 cousins) would not be Nandma, and if they were not so in the 

 case of such an influential man as BiVa, it settles the matter. 



