Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/192

Rh mucus from their noses, and all the liquids of grief are carefully displayed and smeared over their bodies or otherwise conspicuously disposed. Outside, certain women, usually relatives-in-law of the dead man, perform a slow rhythmic dance (the vaysali) with relics in their hands (pl. II).

The sons in the meantime dig the grave, which in olden days was always on the central place of the village, but which now, by the white man's decree, must be on the outskirts. A few hours after death the body is laid in it, wrapped in mats, and is covered with logs, which leave a shallow space above. On this layer of logs the widow lies down to keep vigil over the corpse. Her daughter may be beside her; round the brink of the grave are her sisters, kinswomen and friends, and the other relatives-in-law of the dead man. As night draws on, the central place fills with people; for even nowadays the white man's regulations against burial in the baku are circumvented by making a temporary grave there, or placing the corpse on the ground. Here the mourners, the kinsmen, all the villagers and many guests from far afield congregate to hold a most remarkable wake {yawali).

The chief mourners and kinsmen in appropriate groups keep the central position round the grave. Outside this inner ring, the villagers and guests are seated, each community in a separate body, their mood and behaviour becoming less tragic as they are farther removed from the corpse, until on the outskirts of the crowd, we find people in animated conversation, eating and chewing betel nut. The central group of mourners intones the deep wail of Rh