plants have
a ghostly self, upon which the human ghosts feed, seems to involve
the idea during the life of those plants; and in that case one sees
no reason why the ghost of the plant should not survive the plant
itself, just as the ghost of the living person survives him at his
death. Also the existence of a ghostly element in human excrement
opens out a wide field of ghostly possibilities.

Spirits which have never been human beings are also malevolent;
though when we come to the operations of magic men or sorcerers,
and to incantations and the use of charms, the powers in connection
with all of which appear to be ascribed to spirits, it will be noticed
that these are by no means necessarily and invariably engaged or used
for malevolent purposes.

I was not able to obtain any satisfactory information as to these
spirits, or their supposed attributes, nor, except as regards illness
and death, as to the nature of, and ground for, the fears which the
natives feel concerning them; indeed, this is a subject upon which
most natives all over the world are inclined to be reticent, partly
or largely from fear. Even as regards the sacred places which these
spirits are supposed to haunt, though the natives are not unwilling
to pass them, and will mention the fact that they are sacred, they
are unwilling to talk about them. My notes as to spirits, other than
those in connection with sorcery producing illness and death, must
therefore be practically confined to the sacred places haunted by the
spirits, and the demeanour and acts of the natives with reference to,
and when they pass, these places.

Speaking generally, any place which has something specially peculiar
or unusual in its appearance is likely to be regarded as the abode of
a spirit. A waterfall, or a deep still pool in the course of a river
(but not the river itself), or a deep narrow rocky river ravine,
or a strangely shaped rock come under this category. There are also
certain trees and creepers which are regarded as implying the presence
of a spirit in their vicinity, although that vicinity has in itself
nothing unusual. I can, however, only give a few illustrative examples
of this general idea.

There are three special trees and two or three special creepers
which imply the presence of a spirit. What the creepers are I could
not ascertain; but the trees are a very large palm which grows
on the mountains and not on the coast, a form of pine tree, [109]
and the