Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/252

240, a little spider which is looked for on the grave, and is regarded as the relic of the heart. Sometimes the ceremony is delayed for several years; and if sickness occurs in the family in the mean time, it is considered an infliction on account of the neglect. The grave having been cleared up, rice is scattered over it, and clothing and jewelry are laid upon it. The family then squat around it, stretch out their hands, and invite the mŏkŏmŏkŏ to come, and delay not; all the relatives are there waiting for it. A piece of clothing is lifted up, and a spider is discovered under it—they are running all around, for that matter, by the dozen. It is not caught at once, but is invited to come upon the outstretched hand. Now it is discovered that it has six legs, and can not be the mŏkŏmŏkŏ spider, for that should have only four legs; no, it is the right one, after all, for two of the supposed legs are only hairs. When the genuine mŏkŏmŏkŏ is found and identified, it is put into a bamboo cane and brought to the dela (bridge), a kind of gathering-place of the dead, where a stone is planted for each deceased person, before which potsherds are set to represent a plate and a flask. A kind of festival is held here, after which the mŏkŏmŏkŏ spider is set free close to the ancestral image, which it is supposed to enter. An egg is offered by each person present, and the family are counted over before the image, and prosperity is invoked for each one, as well as for their herds and fields. If a crack appears in the image, which is of wood, they say that the mŏkŏmŏkŏ has escaped from it, and a new image must be made and instituted with a repetition of the ceremonies.

The religion of the Nihas consists really of the worship of demons and of ancestors, while there are two beings who are neither, to one of whom the highest power is ascribed, and whoso name is invoked in oaths; but they are worshiped only in an indefinite sort of a way.

Their psychology is very peculiar. Besides the spirit sheha, whose transmission to posterity in noble families has been described, they speak of the breath or soul, noso, which has a kind of pre-existence—not in a personal form, but as a part of the general soul-stock, from which each person's portion is weighed out or cut off from a line—each one being asked at birth how much of it he will have. Upon his answer, and his consequent allotment, will depend the length of life that he will enjoy. The immortal part, bechoe zïmata—a spirit distinct from the sheha—is regarded as a mere shadow, having a hypothetical continued existence.

A peculiar central position, and a multitude of functions, are ascribed to the heart. It is the seat of thought, understanding, and feeling; and a remnant of it comes out from the grave after