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

DEATH AND DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 585
sak, is nam, Nimalikh suk glu/mm mberl misaghele, nimal/ikh se
duuat wk yengen ispqï¬Åw min (“ The kava of the yams, the kava of
garden mine, let it be good. The kava of banana my may it be
good. The kava mine this here may it make I am not sick.
The kava of woman mine may she carry a child "). It is
interesting that in this prayer deï¬Ånite reference is made to the
desire for children, for as we have seen in the prayers addrased
to the departed in Lambumbu such matters may not be
mentioned.
' The Land of the Dead
The Land of the Dead is called by the Big Nambas Bwialou,
which it seems is, like Iambi, conceived as being underground.
Like Iambi, too, the entrance to it is near a big rock, in this
instance one standing in the neighbourhood of the village Ten
M/arou, on which it is said there are “picturesâ€ù, whose exact
nature was not described. On their way to Bwialou the spirits
of the dead have to pass by a “ghostâ€ù called Lisevsep who
guards the route and it is said destroys those who lived evil lives
on earth. There is, however, also an idea that the road to Bwialou
liifurcatcs (presumably where Lisevscp is sitting), and that the
right hand track goes to a " good " place ior the souls of " good "
men, the left hand one to a “bad â€ù place for those who have
been " bad "I There is no mention of any test, such as Tomes
Savsiip sets to the ghosts of Seniang, but Liscvsep herself ‘ is
rgprresï¬Årrted/Hl>y a geometrical ï¬Ågure (see Fig. 37¢), which is
§!;élg.i1,§:'l1‘.l,yvithUthut called " The Path which the ghosts Of
n?1}il‘i;l7i{§ist iliay have to complete if they are to reach Wies in
.
/:.. H 1. x‘ >-. EASTMALEKULA‘
H l ‘From the districts of East Malehula practically nothing is
reported of the funeral rites or‘ beliefs, but there is enough to
show that fundamentally they are the same as in the west.
In Senbarei a poor man was said to be buried in a prone
position. The grave was not dug in the house, however, but
near the village, perhaps in a sort of graveyard.“ A chief was
, , 1 Temes Savsap is deï¬Ånitely stated to beafemale ghost: the sex oILisevsep
is not %€I1QiO!10d, but there are indications that this being also is I Woman.-
1-1
I Deaoun seems to be very doubtful as to the accuracy of the 1“: part of
this stntement.—C. H. w.
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