Manchester Memoirs, Vol. lix. (191 5), No. 10. 95 



by a string ; the hair of the head and face was cut off 

 and thrown away ; the length of the nose was then 

 measured with a piece of wax, which was preserved by a 

 female relative for subsequent use in making a wax mask 

 for the prepared skull. The dead man's bow and arrow 

 and his stone-headed club were laid beside him" (p. 129). 

 The Egyptian analogies in all of these procedures is quite 

 obvious. 



" Five men wearing masks performed a series of 

 manoeuvres ending up with flexion of the arms and a 

 bending of the head. This movement was said to indicate 

 the rising and setting of the sun and to be symbolic of 

 the life and death of man. 



" Mourners then took the body and placed it upon a 

 wooden framework, which stood upon four wooden sup- 

 ports at a little distance from the house of the deceased. 

 The relatives then took large yams and placed them 

 beside the body on the framework ; they also hung large 

 bunches of bananas upon the bamboos around. This 

 was regarded as nourishment for the ghost, which was 

 supposed to eat it at night-time (p. 135). 



"In two or three days when the skin of the body had 

 become loose the framework was taken up to the reef in 

 a small canoe ; the epidermis was then rubbed off and by 

 means of a sharp shell a small incision was made in the 

 side of the abdomen (in the right side, at least, in the 

 case of women), whence the viscera were extracted. 



" The perineum was incised in the males." 



From a study of all the literature regarding this 

 custom, as well as the actual specimens now in Sydney 

 and Brisbane, it is clear that, the incision may be made 

 either in the left or right flank or in the perineum, and 

 that sex does not determine the site. 



11 The abdominal cavity was then filled up with pieces 



