e
malignity of ghosts and spirits, are almost invariably set down to the
machinations of sorcerers. Only the deaths of decrepit old folks are
regarded as natural. When a man has died, and his death is believed to
have been caused by magic, the people resort to divination in order to
discover the wicked magician who has perpetrated the crime. For this
purpose they place the corpse on a bier, cover it with a mat, and set it
on the shoulders of four men, while a fifth man taps lightly with an
arrow on the mat and enquires of the departed whether such and such a
village has bewitched him to death. If the bier remains still, it means
"No"; but if it rocks backward and forward, it means "Yes," and the
avengers of blood must seek their victim, the guilty sorcerer, in that
village. The answer is believed to be given by the dead man's ghost, who
stirs his body at the moment when his murderer's village is named. It is
useless for the inhabitants of that village to disclaim all knowledge of
the sickness and death of the deceased. The people repose implicit faith
in this form of divination. "His soul itself told us," they say, and
surely he ought to know. Another form of divination which they employ
for the same purpose is to put the question to the ghost, while two men
hold a bow which belonged to him and to which some personal articles of
his are attached. The answer is again yes or no according as the bow
moves or is still.[398]

[Sidenote: Funeral and mourning customs.]

When the author of the death has been discovered in one way or another,
the corpse is decked with all the ornaments that can be collected from
the relatives and prepared for burial. A shallow grave is dug under the
house and lined with mats. Then the body is lowered into the grave: one
of the sextons strikes up a lament, and the shrill voices of the women
in the house join in the melancholy strain. When he lies in his narrow
bed, the ornaments are removed from his person, but some of his tools,
weapons, and other belongings are buried with him, no doubt for his use
in the life hereafter. The funeral celebration, in which the whole
village commonly takes part, lasts several days and consists in the
bringing of offerings to the dead and the abstinence from all labour in
the fields. Yams are brought from the field of the departed and cooked.
A small pot filled with yams and a vessel of water are placed on the
grave; the rest of the provisions is consumed by the m