nary ceremonies of mourning, which go by the name of _djawarra_.

A month afterwards round cakes of sago are baked on the fire, and all
the members of the family, their friends, and the persons who assisted
at the burial receive three such cakes each. Only very young children
are now allowed to eat sago-porridge. This ceremony is called _djawarra
baba_.

[Sidenote: Festival of the dead. Wooden images of the dead.]

When a year or more has elapsed, the so-called festival of the dead
takes place. Often the festival is held for several dead at the same
time, and in that case the cost is borne in common. From far and near
the people have collected sago, coco-nuts, and other food. For two
nights and a day they dance and sing, but without the accompaniment of
drums (_tifa_) and gongs. The first night, the signs of mourning are
still worn, hence no sago-porridge may be eaten; only friends who are
not in mourning are allowed to partake of it. The night is spent in
eating, drinking, smoking, singing and dancing. Next day many people
make _korwars_ of their dead, that is, grotesque wooden images carved in
human form, which are regarded as the representatives of the departed.
Some people fetch the head of the deceased person, and having made a
wooden image with a large head and a hole in the back of it, they insert
the skull into the wooden head from behind. After that friends feed the
mourners with sago-porridge, putting it into their mouths with the help
of the chopsticks which are commonly used in eating sago. When that is
done, the period of mourning is at an end, and the signs of mourning are
thrown away. A dance on the beach follows, at which the new wooden
images of the dead make their appearance. But still the drums and gongs
are silent. Dancing and singing go on till the next morning, when the
whole of the ceremonies come to an end.[513]

[Sidenote: Fear of the ghost.]

The exact meaning of all these ceremonies is not clear, but we may
conjecture that they are based in large measure on the fear of the
ghost. That fear comes out plainly in the ceremony of stroking the
corpse with leaves in order to prevent the ghost from killing the
survivors. The writer to whom we are indebted for an account of these
customs tells us in explanation of them that among these people death is
ascribed to the influence of evil spirits called _manoam_, who are
supposed to be incarnate in some human beings. Hence they often seek to
avenge a