296 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. xi 



{Livistonia) to prevent the priest and the spirit from getting 

 wet, the priest follows carrying the spirit in the sarong, and 

 then another priest armed with sago- sago (sword) and mumu, 

 which he keeps swaying backwards and forwards to keep 

 away the spiteful sakits who wish to recapture the patient's 

 spirit. When they have reached the chamber, the priest 

 opens the sarong over the head of the patient and says with 

 great satisfaction and assurance, 'Now is your soul re- 

 turned.' 



This being done the patient should get well again, but 

 if he does not it is a sign that his time has come and his 

 spirit can no longer be retained (22) . 



Whatever men may do, however, in the way of medicines 

 and prayers, the time must come when the Minahasser 

 dies, and it is only natural to find that, as upon every im- 

 portant occasion in his life, the event of his death is marked 

 by many curious and quaint ceremonies. Just as the birth 

 of a child is regarded as a matter not only for family but 

 also for general rejoicing, so on the death of a man or 

 woman, the lamentations are by no means confined to the 

 members of the bereaved family, but are heard all over the 

 village. The gain or loss of a single individual is not a matter 

 of slight importance or indifference to a savage race which 

 is constantly on the war path. Every man and woman 

 has an important part to play in life, a part which can be 

 appreciated by the community at large, and his loss must 

 be carefully guarded against, and wailed and bemoaned 

 with fitting ceremony and style whenever it occurs. 



The first thing that is heard when a sufferer brings his 

 life's journey to a close is a piercing and unearthly waU of 

 lamentation from those who are in attendance. Those in 

 the house raise their voices and shout his name in the dead 

 man's ears, those without join in the chorus and make the 

 whole negori and the surrounding forests resound with their 



