Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/280

256 is taken out of the hut, if it is at all possible to remove him without causing instant death, as the spirits obtain easier access to the Scherm than to the interior of the hut. A hole is cut in the Scherm to enable the spirits to enter, as they cannot do so through the doorway of mortals. The friends of the dying man then take leave of him and seat themselves outside the Scherm to await the end. Two old women, blood-relations of the family, now take charge of the invalid. These heartless creatures resort to the most barbarous acts, which one really cannot fully describe. Suffice it to say that ere life is extinct they place their victim in the recognisedly correct posture, namely in an upright position with the knees drawn up towards the chin and the arms bent from the elbow, the hands resting under the chin. They then bind him securely so that he cannot move his limbs. Incases where the patient is becoming stiff before he is bound up, hot water is poured constantly over the joints to keep them supple. Where death has been unexpected and the limbs are too set to bend, the sinews are severed at the elbows, knees, and hips in order to be able to place the dead in the correct position for burial.

As soon as death has occurred a skin is thrown over the corpse, and is not allowed to be lifted off it again. The old women then begin a dismal wailing cry which tells the watchers outside that all is over. They immediately throw ashes on their heads and join in the weeping, placing their hands on their bowed heads and prostrating themselves before the dead. All friends are then summoned, and each brings a present of grain for the departed, on his journey. They then kill an ox as a sacrifice, which is cooked after