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them, after the manner of the Borneo manang and the 
Malay puwang, are much believed in and feared, and, like 
the latter, adopt a feigned voice and use much singing and 
chanting in their incantations. They have the reputation of 
being expert poisoners, and wars are undertaken and mur- 
ders committed on their representations. It is no wonder 
that the sorcerer “ gets the best of everything—best pig, best 
food, best tomahawk, best shelis.”? There are sorceresses 
also. So, among the islanders of Buru, the “‘Swangi,” who 
has a familiar spirit at his command and is able to cause 
sickness or disaster, receives presents, not only from those 
anxious to retain his goodwill, but also from those who wish 
to use his power to the injury of an enemy.* 
Of social customs, or ceremonies at births and marriages, 
there is no account. It would appear to be the custom for 
the husband to purehase his wife, one chief having stated to 
Mr. Cuatmers that he had naid “an enormous sum” for 
his consort, viz., ten arm shells, three pear! shells, two strings 
of dogs teeth, several hundreds of cocoa-nuts, a large quan- 
tity of yams, and two pigs. But in another district (up 
the William River) a man pays nothing on marriage for a 
girl, but has to pay heavily it the object of his choice be a 
widow ! 
Accounts of burial customs vary according to the different 
localities and tribes visited. Of the natives of Suau, or 
South Cape, Mr. Gitu says: “‘ All the members of a family 
at death oceupy the same grave (above which a small housce 
is erected ), the earth that thinly covered the last occupant 
being sccoped out to admit the new-comer. These graves 
are shallow; the dead being buried in a sitting posture, 
hands folded. The earth is thrown in up to the mouth only. 
An earthen pot covers the head. After a time the pot is 
taken off, the perfect skull removed and cleansed—-eventu- 
ally to be hung up in a basket or net inside the dwelling of 
the deceased- over the fire to blacken in the smoke. 
* Forbes, Eastern Archipelago, 404 ( Buru), 338 ( Timor ). 
