he illness and funeral.
The best of the mats would be laid on the body of the dying man that he
might have the comfort of seeing them before he closed his eyes for
ever. Dr. George Brown thought that the spirits of the mats thus laid on
the body of the dying chief were supposed to accompany his soul to the
other world. It is possible that their spirits did so, but it is certain
that their material substance did not; for after the funeral all the
mats and other valuables so presented were distributed among the
mourners and friends assembled on the occasion, so that every one who
had brought a gift took away something in return on his departure.[153]

[153] W. T. Pritchard, _op. cit._ pp. 147, 150 _sq._;
G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 141 _sq._, 146; S. Ella, _op. cit._ p.
639; J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, p. 180; G. Brown, _Melanesians
and Polynesians_, pp. 220, 401, 405 _sq._

If the dying man happened to be a chief, numbers crowded round him to
receive a parting look or word, while in front of the house might be
seen men and women wildly beating their heads and bodies with great
stones, thus inflicting on themselves ghastly wounds, from which the
blood poured as an offering of affection and sympathy to their departing
friend or lord. It was hoped that, pleased and propitiated by the sight
of their devotion, the angry god might yet stay his hand and spare the
chief to his people. Above all the tumult and uproar would rise the
voice of one who prayed aloud for the life then trembling in the
balance. But if the prayer seemed likely to prove ineffectual, it was
exchanged for threats and upbraiding. "O thou shameless spirit," the
voice would now be heard exclaiming, "could I but grasp you, I would
smash your skull to pieces! Come here and let us fight together. Don't
conceal yourself, but show yourself like a man, and let us fight, if you
are angry."[154]

[154] J. B. Stair, _Old Samoa_, pp. 181 _sq._

Immediately after death, all the mats on the floor of the house were
thrown outside, and the thatched sides of the house were either torn
down or knocked in with clubs; while the relatives and assembled crowds
wrought themselves up to frenzy, uttering loud shrieks, rending their
garments, tearing out their hair by handfuls, burning their bodies with
firebrands, beating their faces and heads with clubs and stones, or
gashing themselves with shells and shark's teeth, till the blood ran
freely down. This they calle