274 G - A - J- VAN DER SANDE. 



is also, high up in the mountains, almost inaccessible to Europeans, a cave, where, according 

 to the missionary, many skeletons are lying; this is also reported of Rôn (Ellis [1888, 31]). 

 On Lake Jamur, the dead are laid in a tree trunk, hollowed-out in the shape of a boat, which 

 after a certain time is brought into the house; I, however, found none. Of Serué, ROBIDÉ 

 VAX DER A A [1879, 261] mentions a similar arrangement after the smoking of the dead, but 

 the boat is hère laid on the shore, or up a tree. 



Of the mourning cérémonies of Humboldt Bay I only know, that some considé- 

 rable time after the death, the relatives hâve to give a feast, like that celebrated in the 

 temple during the stay of the expédition. A requiem is then sung, called : utia, the religious 

 character of the feast being pre-eminent (Chapter XII). 



The weeping over the deceased, I heard only at Asé, where, on the occasion 

 of a visit to the house of the village chief, most of the women hid themselves, but one old 

 woman, busily repairing fishing nets, evidently in her dévotion found the necessary courage 

 to remain quietly seated, moaning verses in a high toned voice the while. M y Papuan inter- 

 préter whispered to me that she had received news of the death of a friend in another 

 village. In Geelvink Bay, on the occasion of a death, old women are hired to weep as loudly 

 as possible (Van Hasselt [1S86, 589]). 



Above (p. 64), I hâve demonstrated how the use of hair tresses like N os . 221 — 222 of 

 the collection, and caps of hair (the term "cap-shaped wigs" is confusing) like N°. 223, less 

 used in H. B. than in the more western coast villages, is to be taken as a mourning dress. 

 In the Huon Gulf the widow (HaGEN [1899, 263]) also often wears bundles of hair. Of British 

 N. G., MACGREGOR [1897, 30] mentions the shaving of the head in mourning; in Geelvink 

 Bay the head of the widow must be shaved (Van HaSSELT [1886, 592]). At Wâri I saw a 

 number of raen and women, who, as can also be seen on fig. 169, had strung large beads, 

 mostly white, on a tress of hair on the right or on the left temple, or on both sides; 

 sometimes the tress was divided at the bottom into two parts as with N°. 212 (PI. VII, 

 fig. 12). A similar head dress, used, however, only by the men, Van Balen [1886, 557] 

 mentions of Rôn ; — at the death of a relative they shave off the hair, with the exception 

 of a lock above the forehead, to which beads are fastened, the lock (ringlet) hanging down 

 along the back of the ear, as far as the breast. According to Van HaSSELT [1886, 591] the 

 Numfôr prefer, for this purpose, dark blue beads. The woman, who is squatting near the 

 grave on fig. 170, was more ornamented than the other women, and was certainly sitting 

 there dutifully lamenting, for, whilst the whole population was more or less occupied with 

 the visit of the expédition, she faithfully maintained her crouching position. The ornaments 

 of this woman may be looked upon as a mourning dress. In K. W. Land (KRIEGER [1899, 

 180]) the widow must for some months, both morning and evening, sit and mourn on the 

 grave, while on the contrary the Numfôr widow must stay indoors for some months (Van 

 HaSSELT [1886, 592]). In mourning for parents, husband or wife, Van DER GOES [1858, 147] 

 mentions rattan neck bands; for a child, brother or sister, armlets, which on Rôn (Van Balen 

 [1. c, 562]) are ornamented with strips of calico. 



The wearing of parts of the skeleton of a deceased by the relatives, custo- 

 mary in British N. G. and in K. W. Land, e. g. the coccyx (D'Albertis [1880, II, 97]), the 

 lower jaw as an armlet (FlNSCH [1S88, 132]), or a couple of ribs as a neck ring (MEYER and 



