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DEATH AND DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 523
over to various of Apwil Naandu’s relatives, including his classiï¬Å-
catory brothers‘ and sisters’ sons.‘ This distribution of the pigs
is termed retdt mu. The men who were members of the N alawan
society then retired once more behind the amel, while others
went inside and passed out to them, through the back wall,
the temes naainggol, which are used in Nalawan ceremonies.
On these they blew the signal nemen singgew ï¬Åve times. Mean-
while other men prepared a coverlet for the corpse. This was made
of the bark of the naai rew tree, painted red, white, and black
with a design representing Temes Savsap, the spirit who guards
the gate which leads to the home of the dead (v, Fig. 35).‘ During
its construction the men at the gongs beat out the rhythm
ravrap, which is the signal of Nalawan Nimbwilei Tzmggor,
and a member of the Nalawan, wearing a simple spider's web
headdress (mmggmggablew), danced round the bier. As soon as
he had ï¬Ånished, the corpse was covered, ï¬Årst with the leaves
of neriviw bamnggimfi then with a mat (nimlum), which was one
of those given to Apwil Naandu by the bridegroom on his
daughter's marriage, and, ï¬Ånally, with the bark coverlet which
had just been made. After arraying the corpse in this manner,
the men repaired to the deceased's house and inside it they all
helped to dig a large oval hole (numlnmw) with digging sticks.
When this was completed two posts were set up at one end of
the hole and a horizontal crossbar was lashed to them. The bier
was then brought in and placed over the hole in such a way that
the end on which the head of the corpse lay was resting on the
crossbar, the other end on the ground. Here at the foot of the
nivifat the men planted the we-vet nambar, the carved stone image
which Apwil Naandu had erected when he purchased membership
of Nalawan Nevet Nambnr. Around it they also planted sprigs
and even a whole bush of malamir muluwu/n, a shrub of great
beauty with purple leaves and white flowers, which is the token
of the higher grades in the Nimangki. Beyond the ma-vet nambar
‘ Amanrantus did not remember exactly to whom the pigs were given,
Rutéiegtated that they would be distributed among the kin 0! the deceased.-
' 1 This coverlet is said to be the privilege oi those who are members of the
Nalau./rm Wivï¬År at the entrance to which a pig is paid for it. No Nalnwzn grade
of this name has been recorded from Seniang, It is possible that it represents
an alternative name for one 0! the grades which have been mentioned, or it
may be a grade peculiar to Wilernp (to which district Apwil Naandu belonged)
Or to some other district in the s0uth.—-C. H. W.
’ These are the leaves used for cooking puddings in.-A. B. D.
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