Wanika, 
121 
shall dream of them by night. No, no ; we must keep 
away the korma (spirits) from our sleeping hours/' So 
they provide abundance of food ; the toddy-bowl goes 
round ; the drum, the dance, the song, all are called 
into requisition to drive away the gloom, and to keep 
all ghosts and hobgoblins at a distance. The be- 
reaved family has to provide the necessary means for 
keeping up the celebration, even though the doing so 
prove its ruin. 
The ceremony lasts a certain number of days, 
according to the importance of the individual 
deceased. For a child three days are sufficient ; for 
ordinary grown up people about seven days ; while 
for a leading man or chief it is continued much longer, 
sometimes being carried on at intervals through many 
months. The Wanika, however, are growing more 
indifferent to these things now than they were for- 
merly, indeed, there are many irregularities creeping 
into all their customs. 
The Wanika bury their dead in deep, well-dug 
graves. The corpse is carefully wrapped, first, in a 
sanza (shroud), of new cloth when it can be obtained, 
and then in another covering of skins or matting 
over that. The bottom of the grave is cut out to 
pattern, so as to form a kind of earthen coffin, with 
ledges higher than the body. On the ledges are laid 
boards, poles, etc., so as to cover the corpse, and to 
prevent the soil from coming into immediate contact 
with it. Elders are buried in the " Kaya " or capital, 
which is supposed to be the especial abode of the 
" korma," but as it is not lawful to bury any one in the 
Kaya" except those who die in it, old men are 
always conveyed thither as the time of dissolution 
