Concerning witchcraft—More about burials—The gentle art of making love—The rain-makers.

Superstition and witchcraft are strongly in evidence in the New Hebrideans, and the natives have more than their share of both. Besides those things to which I have already alluded, there is a peculiar idea held in some of the islands that certain sacred men have the power of killing by witchcraft. The method adopted by them is similar in many respects to the usual custom, that of making an image of the man or woman whose death is required, and then doing to it what it is wished shall happen to the original. In the island of Tanna the method differs slightly, for here, instead of an image being made, part of the person’s property is stolen and taken to the sacred man who works destruction to its late owner, but he must have this property in his possession, or his maledictions will fail. {164}

The sacred men who are supposed to possess these powers are called Narak-burners, and they hold their position through being the possessors of certain stones known as Narak stones, which they, or their fathers, have at some time found and buried in the vicinity of their house. Some of these stones are in the British Museum and show no signs of anything supernatural about them, but the natives hold them in great dread and reverence.

When a man desires the death of any one, he visits the Narak—he may only desire to give him a disease, but it is usually death he is after when calling on the Narak-burner—and brings with him some hair or food or some particle of clothing belonging to the man he wishes shall suffer. This he presents to the Narak, who doctors it up and then wraps it in leaves and burns it over a sacred fire, lit, it is presumed, over or near the place where the Narak stones are hidden. As the article begins to burn, so sickness falls upon the owner, who goes on getting worse until the article is completely turned to ashes; then death comes.
A SACRED MAN, AOBA, NEW HEBRIDES

Such is the superstition, but of its power I cannot speak. A large payment of shell-money {165} or pigs has to be made to the Narak-burner before he starts his work, and if a man hears that his effigy is being thus dealt with, or fancies it is because he feels sick, he will hurry off to the “burner” and offer him a bigger price for his freedom than his enemy has paid for his death. The result of this may be guessed, and a keen bidding often results; if he be rich he is allowed to live, but a poor man has no chance.

It is through the fear of Narak burning and evil wishing that the natives bury their hair when they cut it off, and also take care never to leave any half-finished food about. They throw all their refuse into a stream of water, which it is believed removes the power of the Narak-burner.

There are so many quaint ceremonies connected with the lives of these natives that a whole volume might be devoted to them alone; and even then to deal with them all thoroughly the volume would have to be a big one. In this book I only intend touching on the outskirts of those which affect their lives most closely, and even then many of the details must be left out, partly because they can only be explained in a scientific work, and partly because they are so intricate. The whys and the wherefores would lead into endless paths. {166}

If a native is rich, the first way he shows it is by changing his name, and, as in England, money has to be spent for this privilege; in the New Hebrides it means a feast, and a big one at that. On announcing his desire for a new name to the chief, and proving that he has the means of paying for it, the native goes away by himself for a few weeks, during which time he is considered “duli” and is not allowed to see a woman, and only permitted to eat certain things, as in the case of the New Guinea natives when they become ibito.

After his seclusion he is known by his new name, and attends the big religious feast which he himself has provided.

Other ways are found for changing names, and certain natives are rewarded for their bravery and good deeds by being given a new one, in much the same way as a man is knighted in England.

The marriage laws are similar to those in the other islands; and pigs are often given to the parents in exchange for their daughter. The girl being chosen more often for her working capabilities than for her beauty.

The burial ceremony and disposal of the corpse vary considerably in the different islands, but since the introduction of Christianity they are changing {167} to the ordinary Christian burial. In Oceania the author says that in old days “In Efaté the body was carefully prepared for burial and then dressed. The burial was accompanied with much solemnity, and great wailing, and animals were slain in sacrifice to the dead at the grave. It was supposed that the spirits or essence of the animals slain would accompany the souls of the deceased to the spirit-world, the entrance to whi............