Ancestor worship the religion of the New Hebrides—Temples and strange figures, and some sacred dances.

Ancestor worship was undoubtedly the original religion of the New Hebrideans, and in many islands the present form of worship is based upon it. According to Mr. Macdonald, a resident in Exate, the followers of it believe that after death the soul passes through six stages before it finally dies. When its earthly life is over it goes to the gate of Hades, which is situated at Tukitaki, at the western extremity of the island. Here it meets Seritan the cannibal executioner, and his two assistants Vanas and Maxi. Certain questions are then put by them to the soul, and if it does not answer them satisfactorily it is passed on to Maseasi, who cuts out its tongue, splits its head open, and twists it back. If the questions asked by these officials at the gate are well answered, then the {154} soul is permitted to go on in peace through its various stages.

Seritan in olden days was a noted cannibal chief, hence his work now in Hades seems particularly suitable to his past experience. This idea of the hereafter has a faint resemblance to the Maori beliefs; they hold that there are certain stages to be gone through, and the same belief of questions being asked is adhered to—though their final end, if they be worthy men and true, is not annihilation, as far as I could gather from the older chiefs, but a life of pleasure.

The trouble is, however, that they have undoubtedly got their ideas mixed up—a fault one finds with nearly all the savage races of to-day.

In Efaté there are certain classes of people who are allowed to pass unquestioned into Hades—those belonging to the Namtaku tribe, and others who have certain figures carved on their bodies. Why they don’t all go through this operation and escape the chance of having their necks broken is a mystery, but they are not the only believers in certain religious rites who do not bother about testing them.
THE “M’AKI” GROUND AND THE JAWS OF THE SACRED PIGS, NEW HEBRIDES

Modifications of the above belief are also held in other islands, and in Malekula it is supposed {155} that three stages only are gone through before the perfect spiritual condition is reached, and that the soul then fades away into nothingness.

The sacred men of these islands will tell you that they periodically visit the first stopping-place of the departed souls, and they say it is a long way under the ground. In this place all the important affairs of the world are discussed and arranged, and it is from here that the spirits work and punish those who do not follow the dictates of the sacred men. These priests or sacred men in this way have gained a tremendous control over their fellow-men, for superstition is strong and no native dare disobey a sacred man.

Sacrifices of pig and other foods have to be made to inhabitants of the under world, and feasts are laid out for them, which they are supposed to devour when no one is near—a spiritual feast, so spiritual, indeed, that none but those who believe in these things can see the slightest signs of any of the food having been touched. Such incredulity, however, has no effect on the natives, they look at you in a pitying way when you infer that the food has not been touched—such is belief.

In connection with their religion certain peculiarly shaped stones are denominated sacred and {156} are said to contain the spirits of departed relatives. In the case of a chief the stone is placed in a hut to preserve it from rough weather, and round it are arranged effigies of the chief, and perhaps of one or two of his nearest relations.

These images, or demits as they are called, are ghastly looking things, and when one comes suddenly up against them their full horror is apparent. After death the chief is decapitated and the skull is cleaned and bleached, and then, with a preparation of clay and fibre, a face representing his, as it was while he was alive, is modelled on the bare skull; his peculiarities in feature are emphasised to a degree bordering on caricature, but they are not meant as caricatures, but are intended only to bring back to the beholders the characteristic points of the chief’s face.
A MEMORIAL EFFIGY, MALEKULA, NEW HEBRIDES

This figure represents a departed chief who has gone to the under world and become a “Demit.”

The figure is made on a framework of wood or bamboo, covered with clay and vegetable fibre. The head is the real skull of the chief covered in the same way as the body with real hair and beard; the arms, round which are pigs’ tusks, are made from a small plant, the root forming the hands. One of the reasons the natives have for making figures in this way is that the chief may still be able to look upon his friends. At the side of the figure is a bundle of sacred pigs’ jaws; in front is a priest.

The body of the effigy is built up on a framework of wood, and covered with the same preparation of clay and fibre and modelled in a like manner, but, as a rule, it is seriously out of proportion. When this imitation body is finished it is coloured in three shades, red, black, and white (sometimes blue is found on them, but as the natives are unable to obtain this colour naturally it is only used where the traders can supply it). Down the trunk of the body long stripes are made, running {157} vertically or horizontally, and round the legs bands of these alternate colours are painted. The shoulders and knees are decorated with grotesque faces, surmounted by tufts of fibre which often rise to a distance of three or four inches. A bamboo cane is stuck in each of these tufts, and on the top of it splendid specimens of boars’ tusks are sometimes to be seen.

The hands of these idols are made from the roots of a sapling, and add to the weirdness of the picture. Bracelets of boars’ tusks are also found on some of these effigies.

Other sheds and places of worship contain somewhat different things. The sacred stone is guarded by nude wooden figures of men and women, cut in t............