BURIAL RITES. 
205 
always carefully observed. Those who die in 
war, or by a violent death, are buried ; those 
who die at home are placed on the detached 
boulders of coral which dot the coast, or on a 
platform erected on the sandy shore. A chief, 
or one to whom they would do honour, is always 
buried in this latter way. A decorated prahu- 
shaped cottin is specially made, and the body is 
enveloped in calico. On the top of the coffin-lid 
are erected tall flags, and figures of men playing 
gongs, shooting guns, and gesticulating wildly, 
to frighten away evil influences from the sleeper. 
When the post-holder's child died, they were most 
averse to its being buried, and the family had to 
keep a watch over its grave, upon which they 
dared make no outward mark until the people 
had forgotten that the child was buried there. 
If a man loses his head in war, a cocoa-nut 
is placed in the grave to represent the missing 
member, and to deceive and satisfy bis spirit. 
When a body is decomposed, one of the family 
brings home the skull, which is placed in a small 
platform in the house. But this custom is not 
always observed, and in walking by the shore 
one had to be careful not to stumble over the 
skulls which lay scattered there. One evening 
after dark a man came to our house with a great 
