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

576 MALEKULA
dead man has been buried is carefully swept and all sticks and
stones rcrnoved, so that the ghost may pass along it noisclessly.
All ï¬Åres in the village are extinguished and everything commonly
used by the deceased, such as his bow, clubs, penis sheath, etc.
(hut apparently not his yam grater), is carried out of his house.
Complete silence rnust reign throughout the village; even if
a dog barks it is hurriedly quieted. Then at some point near the
rim long four crotons are placed in a row and the four grave
diggers come and squat down on their haunches, one in front of
each crotono He who covered the head of the dead rnan squats
before the ï¬Årst croton; he who covered his chest before the
second ; he who covered his belly before the third, and he who
covered the legs before the fourth. The ï¬Årst man then calls
out: " We . . . ma! â€ù and the other three respond i.n turn:
" Oué,â€ù " OM," “ Oué." Then the ï¬Årst man picks up his croton
and wheels round ; the other three do likewise and follow him
in a line. Each man must take very great care not to let his
croton touch anyone, for any person so touched would have to
be killed, The four go thus in procession to the hmise of the
deceased, where the body is interred. On arriving there theygo
up to the open door and the leader calls out: “ Gumbzmzrah
level tat gulnggulrm not sum" (" Arise, come and look at thy
garden "). All four then shake their crotons at the open door,
after which they divide into two pairs and step back, one pair
to the left, the other to the right of the house, and plant their
erotons, two on either side of the building. Those crotons are now
no longer “potent â€ù and it is safe for anyone to touch them.
The shaking of them at the open door is supposed to make the
ghost of the dead man come out and proceed to the rim long,
which like the naaimbur in Lambumbu, is the special enclosure
set apart for it: a pied-A-tcrre_ for it to reside in during the
haunting period after the decease, so that it may not molest
those dwelling in the house. The ghost is feared and this is in
part a dodge to trick it and keep it from visiting the houses of
the village. Considerable uneasiness is felt about going past
this structure at night.
Thcrc is no account preserved of the funeral rites of Lagalag,
but the evidence seems to show that they were identical with
those of Lambumbu. The two erections called noaimbw in the
latter district are known in Legalag as naghambï¬År.