nce but in the return of
the spirits of the dead which induces the survivors to erect monuments
or memorials to them. In Tumleo these monuments consist for the most
part of young trees, which are cut down, stripped of their leaves, and
set up in the ground beside the house of the deceased. The branches of
such a memorial tree are hung with fruits, coco-nuts, loin-cloths, pots,
and personal ornaments, all of which we may suppose are intended for the
comfort and convenience of the ghost when he returns from deadland to
pay his friends a visit.[375] But the remains of the dead are not
allowed to rest quietly in the grave for ever. After two or three years
they are dug up with much ceremony at the point of noon, when the sun is
high overhead. The skull of the deceased, if he was a man, is then
deposited, as we saw, with one of the thigh bones in the men's
clubhouse, while of the remaining bones some are kept by the relations
and the others thrown away in a charnel-house. Among the relics which
the relations preserve are the lower arm bones, the shoulder-blades, the
ribs, and the vertebra. The vertebra is often fastened to a bracelet; a
couple of ribs are converted into a necklace; and the shoulder-blades
are used to decorate baskets. The lower arm bones are generally strung
on a cord, which is worn on solemn occasions round the neck so that the
bones hang down behind. They are especially worn thus in war, and they
are made use of also when their owner desires to obtain a favourable
wind for a voyage. No doubt, though this is not expressly affirmed, the
spirit of the departed is supposed to remain attached in some fashion to
his bones and so to help the possessor of these relics in time of need.
When the bones have been dug up and disposed of with all due ceremony,
several men who were friends or relations of the deceased must keep
watch and ward for some days in the men's clubhouse, where his grinning
skull now stands amid similar trophies of mortality on a table or shelf.
They may not quit the building except in case of necessity, and they
must always speak in a whisper for fear of disturbing the ghost, who is
very naturally lurking in the neighbourhood of his skull. However, in
spite of these restrictions the watchers enjoy themselves; for baskets
of sago and fish are provided abundantly for their consumption, and if
their tongues are idle their jaws are very busy.[376]

[Sidenote: Propitiation of the souls of the dead and