292 A NATUSALIST IN CELEBES CH. xt 



of the child, that is, from the room in which it was born 

 to the ground. 



Three or four wahans come, and the child is brought 

 down, and then either bathed or its head only slightly 

 damped by the female attendant of the woman who has just 

 been confined. It is considered to be a very unlucky sign if 

 at this point anyone sneezes ; but, nevertheless, the luck can 

 be restored if the priests and nurse take the chUd back again, 

 chew betel for a little while as if nothing had happened, and 

 then start afresh, saying, ' Now it is another day.' 



When the bathing ceremony is over, the pig is brought 

 out which is shortly afterwards to be sacrificed and eaten. 

 The child is then made to kick with its tiny feet the pig 

 three times, that the gods may know that the sacrifice is 

 made on its behalf. In some districts the mother also kicks 

 the pig three times, but this is not universally the custom. 



The child, its parents and a few relatives are now taken 

 to the river by a female walian, who brings with her some 

 fire, a coco-nut husk, and an oily nut called kemiri (the 

 seed probably of a species of Hernandia). With her golden 

 cord of office round her neck, she carries the chUd into 

 the river, and, taking the kemiri out of the coco-nut husk, 

 dips them both into the river, just damps the child's fore- 

 head with the water, and rubs it with the oily nut. When 

 this is done she throws the fire, the husk, and the kemiri 

 into the water, muttering a formula for the exorcism of the 

 evil spirits. The party next return to the house, the gong 

 and kolintang are sounded, and a great noise of rejoicing 

 and congratulation arises. 



The pig is then killed and roasted whole, but it is not 

 cut open until it has been allowed to cool for about three 

 hours, and in the meanwhile the chief priest relates the 

 names of the greater and lesser empungs, and gives an 

 account of their deeds and prowess. 



