Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/190

Rh reasoning, tradition and custom produce the reverse of what would seem natural and obvious to us or any observer from almost any other culture.

Among those who display their grief, it is easy to distinguish several groups and grades. There is the rank and file of mourners, comprising all the people belonging to the remaining three clans; for, when a notable dies, everyone in the village community puts on mourning, except the members of his own clan. A small group is busy about the body and the grave; this consists of the male children and brothers-in-law of the deceased. Nearest to the corpse and plunged most deeply in the mimicry of grief are seated a few women, among whom one, the widow, is conspicuous, supported by her daughters and sisters. In this group, and it may be in that of the sons also, an observer well acquainted with these natives would be able to distinguish an interesting interplay of feigned and merely histrionic grief with real and heartfelt sorrow.

With this sociological scheme before us, we can now follow the sequence of event and ritual which begins automatically with a man's death. When death is seen to be approaching, the wife and children, kinsmen and relatives-in-law crowd round the bed, filling the small hut to overflowing. The consummation of death is marked by a frantic outburst of wailing. The widow, Rh