o see where the soul is, and to discover what is
the proper ceremony for the case. When there is serious illness, the
witch doctor affirms that the spirit of the afflicted person has already
left the body and is on its way to the other world, but that he may be
able to overtake it and bring it back, and restore it to the person to
whom it belongs. He pretends to converse with the evil spirit that
troubles the sick man, repeating aloud the answers that the spirit is
supposed to make.

There are many different ceremonies resorted to in cases of illness, but
the following is what is common to all _Manang_ performances.

In the public hall of the Dyak house, a long-handled spear is fixed
blade upwards, with a few leaves tied round it, and at its foot are
placed the medicine boxes of all the witch doctors who take part in the
ceremony. This is called the _Pagar Api_ ("fence of fire"). Why it is
called by this curious name is not clear.

The _Manangs_ all squat on the floor, and the leader begins a long
monotonous drawl, the rest either singing in concert, or joining in the
choruses, or singing in turn with him. After a tiresome period of this,
they stand up and march with slow and solemn step in single file round
the _Pagar Api_. The monotonous chant sometimes slackens, sometimes
quickens, as they march round and round the whole night through, with
only one interval for food in the middle of the night. The patient
simply lies on his mat and listens.

Most of what is chanted consists of meaningless sounds, it being
supposed that what is not understood by man is intelligible to the
spirits. But some parts of it can be understood by the careful
listener. The witch doctors call upon the sickness to be off to the ends
of the earth and return to the unseen regions from whence it came. They
invoke the aid of spirits, as well as their own ancestors, and spin out
the invocation to last till early morning. Then they rush round the
_Pagar Api_ as hard as they can go, still singing their incantation. One
of their number suddenly falls on the floor and lies motionless. The
others sit down round him. He is covered over with a blanket, and all
wait, while his spirit is supposed to hurry away to the other world to
find the wandering soul and bring it back. Presently he revives, and
looks vacantly round like a man just waking out of sleep. Then he raises
his right hand clenched as if holding something. That hand contains the
soul, and he