94 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



is deposited becoming too small, a second, a third, even to a 

 sixth, increasing in dimensions, is placed over it.&quot; And, 

 occasionally, the gifts made by subordinate rulers to the 

 ghost of a supreme dead ruler, simulate the tribute paid to 

 him when living. Concerning a royal funeral in Toiiquin, 

 Tavernier writes: 



&quot;There proceeds afterwards Six Princesses who carry Meat and 

 Drink for the deceased King. . . . Four Governours of the four 

 chief provinces of the Kingdom, each bearing a stick on his shoulder, 

 on which hangs a bag full of Gold and several Perfumes, and these 

 bags contain the Presents which the several Provinces make unto the 

 deceased King, for to be buried with his corps, that he may make use 

 of the same in the other World.&quot; 



Nor can there be any doubt about the likeness of intention. 

 When we read that a chief among the New Caledonians says 

 to the ghost of his ancestor &quot; Compassionate father, here 

 is some food for you; eat it; be kind to us on account of 

 it; &quot; or when the Yeddah, calling by name a deceased rela 

 tive, says &quot; Come and partake of this. Give us mainte 

 nance, as you did when living; &quot; we see it to be undeniable 

 that present-giving to the dead is like present-giving to the 

 living, with the difference that the receiver is invisible. 



Noting only that there is a like motive for a like propitia 

 tion of the undistinguished supernatural beings which 

 primitive men suppose to be all around them noting that 

 whether it be in the fragments of bread and cake left for 

 elves by our Scandinavian ancestors, or in the eatables 

 which Dyaks place on the tops of their houses to feed the 

 spirits, or in the portions of food cast aside and of drink 

 poured out for the ghosts before beginning their meals, by 

 various races throughout the world; let us go on to observe 

 the developed present-making to the developed supernatural 

 being. The things given and the motives for giving them 

 remain the same; though the sameness is disguised by the 

 use of different words oblations to a deity and presents to 

 a living person. The original identity is well shown in the 



