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2|- feet apart ; and the sand is banked up near them. The woman 
then sits down on a skin placed on the sand, puts her feet up against 
the stakes, and clasps her ankles with her hands, her arms being 
inside the knees. Her friends take it in turn to support her back, 
and at times aid her by pressing or rubbing the abdomen. Another 
friend squats down before her to receive the child as soon as born. 
The sand, of course, moulds itself to the woman’s body, and being 
pushed down in front, might almost be said to support the perinseum. 
A lire is kept burning in the hut, and a very thin porridge is given 
the woman at short intervals. She keeps remarkably quiet, and 
often never moves from her first position until after the child is 
born, her friends keeping up all the time a low kind of chant, and 
doing all they can to encourage her. When the child is born, the 
cord is cut by a stone knife as a rule, but sometimes it is bitten. 
Should the cord bleed, the woman who has received the child takes 
the cord in her mouth and squeezes it with her teeth, so stopping 
all haemorrhage. They never tie the cord. The placenta is buried 
in a hole dug outside the hut — that of the boys on one side, that of 
girls on the other. Still births are very rare. 
When all is over, the mother is gently moved to the side of the 
lire, where she lies down on a bed made of dried grass covered with 
a skin. As soon as the child is born, it is cleaned by gentle rubbing, 
and then smeared with oil and wrapped up in a soft skin, after 
which it is shown to its father, grandfather, and other friends. In 
about an hour after birth it is put to the breast. The mother gets 
about again in three or four days. She then sits with her child 
in the 'door of her hut, and receives the congratulations of her 
friends. The woman is not allowed to eat meat for about a week 
after her confinement. 
On the occasion of a child’s name being given it, a fowl is killed 
by the father and grandfather before assembled friends. They cut 
off the animal’s head, apply some of the blood to the child, and 
pronounce the name. It is not at all Uncommon for children to be 
named according to the season in which they are born — e.y., Kran- 
obu = famine ; Kradaru = hunting seasom At other times they are 
called after their deceased relations, rarely after living ones. Family 
names do not obtain, but a son bears his father’s name in addition 
to his own; more frequently, however, pet names are used. 
