may proceed from the house or
from a pearl shell which the sorcerer holds in his hand; but come from
where it may, it is taken as a certain proof that the man who has just
been named did the deed, and he is dealt with accordingly. Many a poor
wretch in New Britain has been killed and eaten on no other evidence
than that of the fatal tapping.[641]

[Sidenote: Burial customs in the Duke of York Island. Preservation of
the skull.]

When a man of mark is buried in the Duke of York Island, the masters of
sorcery take leaves, spit on them, and throw them, with a number of
poisonous things, into the grave, uttering at the same time loud
imprecations on the wicked enchanter who has killed their friend. Then
they go and bathe, and returning they fall to cursing again; and if the
miscreant survived the first imprecations, it is regarded as perfectly
certain that he will fall a victim to the second. Sometimes, when the
deceased was a chief distinguished for bravery and wisdom, his corpse
would be exposed on a high platform in front of his house and left there
to rot, while his relatives sat around and inhaled the stench,
conceiving that with it they absorbed the courage and skill of the
departed worthy. Some of them would even anoint their bodies with the
drippings from the putrefying corpse for the same purpose. The women
also made fires that the ghost might warm himself at them. When the head
became detached from the trunk, it was carefully preserved by the next
of kin, while the other remains were buried in a shallow grave in the
house. All the female relatives blackened their dusky faces for a long
time, after which the skull was put on a platform, a great feast was
held, and dances were performed for many nights in its honour. Then at
last the spirit of the dead man, which till that time was supposed to be
lingering about his old abode, took his departure, and his friends
troubled themselves about him no more.[642]

[Sidenote: Prayers to the spirits of the dead.]

The souls of the dead are always regarded by these people as beings
whose help can be invoked on special occasions, such as fighting or
fishing or any other matter of importance; and since the spirits whom
they invoke are always those of their own kindred they are presumed to
be friendly to the petitioners. The objects for which formal prayers are
addressed to the souls of ancestors appear to be always temporal
benefits, such as victory over enemies and plenty