inkling in the gloom, though the uninstructed European might
easily mistake it for a glow-worm. No sooner do they catch sight of it
than they bawl out, "Come hither, fetch the fire, and burn him who burnt
thee." If the tinder blazes up at the name of a sorcerer, it is flung
towards the village where the man in question dwells. And if at the same
time a glow-worm is seen to move in the same direction, the people
entertain no doubt that the ghost has appeared and fetched the soul of
the fire.[453]

[Sidenote: Necessity of destroying the sorcerer who caused a death.]

In whichever way the author of the death may be detected, the avengers
of blood set out for the village of the miscreant and seek to take his
life. Almost all the wars between villages or tribes spring from such
expeditions. The sorcerer or sorcerers must be extirpated, nay all their
kith and kin must be destroyed root and branch, if the people are to
live in peace and quiet. The ghost of the dead calls, nay clamours for
vengeance, and if he does not get it, he will wreak his spite on his
negligent relations. Not only will he give them no luck in the chase,
but he will drive the wild swine into the fields to trample down and
root up the crops, and he will do them every mischief in his power. If
rain does not fall, so that the freshly planted root crops wither; or if
sickness is rife, the people recognise in the calamity the wrath of the
ghost, who can only be appeased by the slaughter of the wicked magician
or of somebody else. Hence the avengers of blood often do not set out
until a fresh death, an outbreak of sickness, failure in the chase, or
some other misfortune reminds the living of the duty they owe to the
dead. The Kai is not by nature warlike, and he might never go to war if
it were not that he dreads the vengeance of ghosts more than the wrath
of men.[454]

[Sidenote: Slayers dread the ghosts of the slain.]

If the expedition has been successful, if the enemy's village has been
surprised and stormed, the men and old women butchered, and the young
women taken prisoners, the warriors beat a hasty retreat with their
booty in order to be safe at home, or at least in the shelter of a
friendly village, before nightfall. Their reason for haste is the fear
of being overtaken in the darkness by the ghosts of their slaughtered
foes, who, powerless by day, are very dangerous and terrible by night.
Restlessly through the hours of darkness these unquiet spiri