CUSTOMS OF THE FEEJEE GROUP. 105 



men again scrub themselves, and are newly dressed. After the feast, 

 ava is prepared and set before the priest, who goes through many 

 incantations, shiverings, and shakings, and prays for long life and 

 abundance of children. The soul of the deceased is now enabled to 

 quit the body and go to its destination. During these ten days, all 

 the women in the town provide themselves with long whips, knotted 

 with shells ; these they use upon the men, inflicting bloody wounds, 

 which the men retort by flirting from a piece of split bamboo little 

 hard balls of clay. 



When the tabooed person becomes tired of remaining so restricted, 

 they send to the head chief, and inform him, and he replies that he 

 will remove the taboo whenever they please ; they then send him 

 presents of pigs and other provisions, which he shares among the 

 people. The tabooed persons then go into a stream and wash them- 

 selves, which act they call vuluvulu ; they then catch some animal, a 

 pig or turtle, on which they wipe their hands : it then becomes 

 sacred to the chief. The taboo is now removed, and the men are 

 free to work, feed themselves, and live with their wives. The taboo 

 usually lasts from two to ten months in the case of chiefs, according 

 to their rank ; in the case of a petty chief, the taboo would not exceed 

 a month, and for a common person, not more than four days. It is 

 generally resorted to by the lazy and idle ; for during this time they 

 are not only provided with food, but are actually fed by attendants, 

 or eat their food from the ground. On the death of a chief, a taboo 

 is laid upon the cocoa-nuts, pigs. &c, of a whole district. 



Taking off a taboo is attended with certain ceremonies. It can be 

 done by none but a chief of high rank. Presents are brought to the 

 priest, and a piece of ava, which is brewed and drunk ; he then makes 

 a prayer (sevu-sevu), and the ceremony is finished. 



In laying a taboo, a stone about two feet in length is set up before 

 the mbure, and painted red ; ava is chewed ; after which the priest 

 makes a prayer, and invokes maledictions on the heads of those who 

 shall break it. Trees that are tabooed have bands of cocoa-nut or 

 pandanus-leaves tied around them, and a stick is set in a heap of 

 earth near by. We had an instance of this at the time of our arrival, 

 when we found all the cocoa-nuts tabooed. We in consequence 

 could obtain none, until I spoke to the chiefs of Ambau, who removed 

 the taboo. 



To the funeral ceremonies we have described, others are added, in 

 some parts of the group, and there are differences in some of the details 



vol. in. 27 



