" I gave him a present, and told him
that I hoped to see him soon.
The inhabitants of the inland villages are probably the aborigines, who
have been driven back to the hills by the robuster race now occupying
their plantations on the coast. Their habits and customs are curious and
interesting. They cook the heads of their slain enemies, to secure clean
skulls to put on sacred places.
They have one great spirit--Palaku Bara, who dwells in the mountains.
They worship him unitedly in one place. Each family has a sacred place,
where they carry offerings to the spirits of deceased ancestors, whom
they terribly fear. Sickness in the family, death, famine, scarcity of
fish, etc.--these terrible spirits are at work and must be propitiated.
Pigs are never killed but in the one place, and then they are offered to
the spirit. The blood is poured out there, and the carcase is then
carried back to the village, to be divided, cooked, and eaten.
Pigs' skulls are kept and hung up in the house. Food for a feast, such
as at house-building, is placed near the post where the skulls hang, and
a prayer is said.
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