[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

104 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

In Vao I had occasion to attend a death-feast.
The hero of the day was still alive and in excellent
health; but he did not quite trust his family, and
wishing to make sure that his death-feast would not
be forgotten, he held it during his lifetime. His
anxiety about the feast is explained by the following
facts. According to Vao beliefs, the souls of the
dead travel to the island of Ambrym, and after five
days climb a narrow trail up to the volcano. In
order that the soul may not starve on the way, the
survivors often make a small canoe, load it with food
and push it off into the sea, thinking it will drift after
the soul. It is generally stranded behind the nearest
point, bringing the neighbours a welcome addition
to the day’s rations. This custom is in contradiction
to the feeding of the body through a tube, and proves
that quite contradictory customs can exist simultane-
ously, without the natives noticing it. Half-way up
the volcano sits a monster with two immense shears,
like a crab. If no pigs have been sacrificed for the
soul by the fifth day, the poor soul is alone and the
monster swallows it; but if the sacrifice has been
performed, the souls of the sacrificed pigs follow after
the human Soul, and as the monster prefers pig, the
human has time to escape and to reach the entrance
to paradise on top of the volcano, Where there are
' pigs, women, dancing and feasting in plenty.

The feast I was to attend had been in preparation
for some time. On all the dancing-grounds long
bamboos were in readiness, loaded with yams and
flowers, as presents to the host. Everything was