152 NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Among the Koiari tribe the bodies of the dead are not 
buried, but are dried and preserved in the following manner:—* 
“A fire is kept burning day and night at the head and 
feet for months. The entire skin is removed by means: of 
the thumb and forefinger and ae juices plastered all over 
the faceand body of fhe operator (parent, husband, or wife 
of the deceased). The fire gradually desiccates the flesh, so 
that little more than the skeleton is left. Their next anxiety 
is to discover by whose sorceries he or she has died. ‘The 
mode of proceeding is as follows: the wise man of the tribe 
places on the body as many bits of dried grass as there are 
known villages round about, each bit being placed m the 
correct relative position. The incantation begins; at length 
a fly cr some other insect alights on one of these straws, 
probably attracted by the smell. lt is now evident to the 
wise man that an inhabitant of the village indicated by the 
straw occasioned the death of their friend by sorcery, for 
has not the god spoken? That same night revenge must 
be obtained! The desiccated body is well wrapped up and 
fixed in a lofty tree. The ashes of the two fires are rubbed 
over the faces of the relatives and other watchers, a grand 
feast and dancing concluding the whole.” The resemblance 
of some of these incidents to the customs of the islanders 
of Buru and Timor and of the Australian aborigines is 
worthy of remark: Forses has noticed that the Timorese, 
like the Australians, cannot understand why any one should 
die unless he be lalled and seek, after a death, the person 
whose malevolent influence has caused it.¢ ‘The same people 
suspend dead bodies, folded at the thighs and wrapped in 
mats, in lofty trees. t 
In districts where burial is practised (e. g., Port Moresby) 
a stake is planted beside the grave to which are tied the 
spear, club, bow and arrow of the deceased, (if a man), 
* Mr. Gin es out that D’Axusenrtis in his work on New 
Guinea [vol. u, pp. 188, 134], has furnished evidence of a similar 
practice ae among the natives of the Fly River, 500 miles 
further west. 
+ Eastern Archipelago, 404, 438, 
t 1d., p. 434. 
