after the men or women themselves were gathered to their fathers. For
example, men who were bold and resolute in battle during their life will
be invoked long after their death, whenever a stout heart is needed for
some feat of daring. And men who were notorious thieves and villains in
the flesh will be invited, long after their bodies have mouldered in the
grave, to lend their help when a deed of villainy is to be done. The
names of men or women who were eminent for good or evil in their lives
survive indefinitely in the memory of the tribe. Thus before a battle
many a Kai warrior will throw something over the enemy's village and as
he does so he will softly call on two ghosts, "We and Gunang, ye two
heroes, come and guard me and keep the foes from me, that they may not
be able to hurt me! But stand by me that I may be able to riddle them
with spears!" Again, when a magician wishes to cause an earthquake, he
will take a handful of ashes, wrap them in certain leaves, and pronounce
the following spell over the packet: "Thou man Saiong, throw about
everything that exists; houses, villages, paths, fields, bushes and tall
forest trees, yams, and taro, throw them all hither and thither; break
and smash everything, but leave me in peace!" While he utters this
incantation or prayer, the sorcerer's body itself twitches and quivers
more and more violently, till the hut creaks and cracks and his strength
is exhausted. Then he throws the packet of ashes out of the hut, and
after that the earthquake is sure to follow sooner or later. So when
they want rain, the Kai call upon two ghostly men named Balong and Batu,
or Dinding and Bojang, to drive away a certain woman named Yondimi, so
that the rain which she is holding up may fall upon the earth. The
prayer for rain addressed to the ghosts is combined with a magical spell
pronounced over a stone. And when rain has fallen in abundance and the
Kai wish to make it cease, they strew hot ashes on the stone or lay it
in a wood fire. On the principle of homoeopathic magic the heat of the
ashes or of the fire is supposed to dry up the rain. Thus in these
ceremonies for the production or cessation of rain we see that religion,
represented by the invocation of the ghosts, goes hand in hand with
magic, represented by the hocus-pocus with the stone. Again, certain
celebrated ghosts are invoked to promote the growth of taro and yams.
Thus to ensure a good crop of taro, the suppliant will hold a bud