at least one such ancestral image, which
forms the medium whereby the soul of the deceased communicates with his
or her surviving relatives. These images or Penates, as we may call
them, are carved of wood, about a foot high, and represent the deceased
person in a standing, sitting, or crouching attitude, but commonly with
the hands folded in front. The head is disproportionately large, the
nose long and projecting, the mouth wide and well furnished with teeth;
the eyes are formed of large green or blue beads with black dots to
indicate the pupils. Sometimes the male figures carry a shield in the
left hand and brandish a sword in the right; while the female figures
are represented grasping with both hands a serpent which stands on its
coiled tail. Rags of many colours adorn these figures, and the hair of
the deceased, whom they represent, is placed between their legs. Such an
ancestral image is called a _korwar_ or _karwar_. The natives identify
these effigies with the deceased persons whom they portray, and
accordingly they will speak of one as their father or mother or other
relation. Tobacco and food are offered to the images, and the natives
greet them reverentially by bowing to the earth before them with the two
hands joined and raised to the forehead.

[Sidenote: Such images carried on voyages and consulted as oracles. The
images consulted in sickness.]

Such images are kept in the houses and carried in canoes on voyages, in
order that they may be at hand to help and advise their kinsfolk and
worshippers. They are consulted on many occasions, for example, when the
people are going on a journey, or about to fish for turtles or trepang,
or when a member of the family is sick, and his relations wish to know
whether he will recover. At these consultations the enquirer may either
take the image in his hands or crouch before it on the ground, on which
he places his offerings of tobacco, cotton, beads, and so forth. The
spirit of the dead is thought to be in the image and to pass from it
into the enquirer, who thus becomes inspired by the soul of the deceased
and acquires his superhuman knowledge. As a sign of his inspiration the
medium shivers and shakes. According to some accounts, however, this
shivering and shaking of the medium is an evil omen; whereas if he
remains tranquil, the omen is good. It is especially in cases of
sickness that the images are consulted. The mode of consultation has
been described as follows