his descendants, unless they have offended him deeply; and the
more powerful the dead ancestor was, the stronger and safer do his
descendants feel under the protection of his spirit. If a man has no
powerful ancestral ghost, he joins some strong clan, and strives for
the favour of its tutelary spirit by means of rich sacrifices. The
spirits admit those who bring many sacrifices to their special favour
and intimacy; these people are supposed to have gone half-way to the
spirit-world, and even in this life they are dreaded and enormously
influential; for the spirits will help him in every way, the elements
are his servants, and he can perform the most terrible sorceries. Thus
he terrorizes the country, becomes chief, and after death he joins
the other ghosts as a powerful member of their company.

The "Suque" transferred the hierarchy of the spirit-world into this
world, and regulated the number of castes and the method of rising
in caste; it also originated the rules for entering into connection
with the other world. Its origin probably goes back to one of those
secret societies so highly developed in Melanesia, of which I shall
speak later.

Caste is obtained by sacrificing tusked pigs; it is possible that
this has taken the place of former human sacrifices. The "Suque" is
the community of all the men who have sacrificed tusked pigs. It is
an international society, divided into numerous groups composed of the
men of different islands, districts, villages or clans. It is the only
means to assure oneself of bliss hereafter, and to obtain power and
wealth on earth, and whoever fails to join the "Suque" is an outcast,
a man of no importance, without friends and without protectors, whether
living men or spirits, and therefore exposed to every ill-treatment
and utter contempt. This explains the all-important position of the
"Suque" in the life of the natives, being the expression both of
religion and of ambition.

Frequently a young boy will join the "Suque," an uncle on the mother's
side donating pigs to be sacrificed in his name after he has touched
them with his hand. The boy is then free of the gamal, the "Suque"
club-house. Later he works his way up in the society by attending
numberless feasts and ceremonies, by having endless discussions
on tusked pigs, by borrowing, buying and lending pigs, by plotting
and sacrificing.

The number of castes varies on different islands: in Ambrym there are
fourteen, in Venua Lava