[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

CHAPTER XIX
DEATH AND TI-IE DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD IN THE
NORTH
LAMBUMBIJ, LAGALAG, AND LARAVAT -
According to the Lagalag legend death was introduced into
the world through the foolishness of one oi the ï¬Årst two human
creatures created by the mythical being Hambut. Because this
person misquoted the formula " Die, die, live ", which Hambut
had commanded them to say, and said instead " Die, die, die
for good and all", people do not Come alive again, but remain
dead for ever.
The Disposal 0f the Dead _
Unlike the practice of Seniang and Mewun, the bodies of the
dead in Lambumbu, Laravat, and Lagalag are buried and not
exposed. The most full account of the rites was obtainetlfrom
the Lambumbu district. '1
Except for certain nien of the village oi Lembelag ancl tor
the official magicians of the clan Ran Nembew, at whose disposal
special precautions are taken to prevent the head from coming
into contact with the soil, the corpse is laid prone in at shallow
grave at the back of the deceased's house. A year atter a body
has been interred the skull and bones are dug up and placed
in a basket. This is then carried amidst a crowd of people
to the um! maul, or sacred place, of the clan of the deceased.
Into this only one man enters, and here he lays the skull on the
ground, ereets a number of small upright stones around it, and
covers it over with a stone slab, thus enclosing it in a miniature
stone chamber. We are not told what is done with the other’
bonzs. The only exception to this disposal of the skull in
Lambumbu is the practice of putting the skulls of the magicians
of the Ran Nembew clan and perhaps of those of Lernbelag into
the village elub—house not into the um! maul.‘
1 In Seniang and Mewun this removal of the bones it done at the clan
lartility ceremony. In lzmlbumbu, and presumably in Lagalag also, these clan
fertility rites, Nogharn. are only performed once every eight years and hence
cannot also serve as an occasion for the exhumation of those who have died
during the year.—C. H. w.
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