CUSTOMS OP THE FEEJEE GROUP. 99 



consider strengthening. It is named immediately, by some relative or 

 friend. If, through neglect or accident, a name should not be forth- 

 with given, the child would be considered as an outcast, and be 

 destroyed by the mother. 



Girls reach the age of puberty when about fourteen years old, and 

 boys when from seventeen to eighteen. This period in a girl's life is 

 duly celebrated by her ; for which purpose she requests the loan of a 

 house from a friend, and takes possession of it, in company with a 

 number of young girls. The townspeople supply them with provi- 

 sions for ten days, during which they anoint themselves with turmeric 

 and oil. At the expiration of this time, they all go out to fish, and 

 are furnished by the men with provisions. 



The only general fact to be derived from the various opinions in 

 relation to the spirits of the dead, which have been stated in the way 

 we received them, is, that a belief in a future state is universally 

 entertained by the Feejeeans. In some parts of the group, this has 

 taken the following form, which, if not derived from intercourse with 

 the whites, is at least more consistent with revealed truth than any of 

 those previously recorded. Those who hold this opinion, say that all 

 the souls of the departed will remain in their appointed place, until 

 the world is destroyed by fire and a new one created ; that in the 

 latter all things will be renovated, and to it they will again be sent to 

 dwell thereon. 



This belief in a future state, guided by no just notions of religious 

 or moral obligation, is the source of many abhorrent practices. 

 Among these are the custom of putting their parents to death when 

 they are advanced in years ; suicide ; the immolation of wives at the 

 funeral of their husbands, and human sacrifices. 



It is among the most usual occurrences, that a father or a mother 

 will notify their children that it is time for them to die, or that a son 

 shall give notice to his parents that they are becoming a burden to 

 him. In either case, the relatives and friends are collected, and 

 informed of the fact. A consultation is then held, which generally 

 results in the conclusion, that the request is to be complied with, in 

 which case they fix upon a day for the purpose, unless it should be 

 done by the party whose fate is under deliberation. The day is 

 usually chosen at a time when yams or taro are ripe, in order to furnish 

 materials for a great feast, called mburua. The aged person is then 

 asked, whether he will prefer to be strangled before his burial or 

 buried alive. When the appointed day arrives, the relatives and 



