The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 90

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some medicine. It was at this time that the witch-
doctors had made several failures with their treat-
ments in Wembo Nyama’s village, and I was told
that Omadjela had actually driven away a witch-
doctor who had insisted upon offering his services.
I, therefore, had hoped for better results from my
treatment, and it was with some feeling of mis-
givings and regret that I rode up to the house on
that Sunday morning on my way to Sunday-school.
However, I told the people gathered there that no-
body knew everything except God, and they seemed
to have no resentment toward me. After the meet-
ing at the church was over, the evangelist came to
the house to hold the burial-service. The deceased
had been propped up in a chair with his cloth
around him and his cap on his head. ‘There was
no coffin. They placed the body in mats and tied
them securely around it with the fiber of vines.
While this was going on, one of the men grasped
each of the two little nephews of the dead man and
passed them in succession over his head and back
again, at the same time uttering words which we
did not catch. We afterwards learned the meaning
of this rite. - It seems that the two little nephews
were much beloved by the dead man and he had
taken care of them a great deal, and the words of
the man who passed the children above the: dead
man’s head besought the latter to leave the children
behind and not take them with him. A grave had
been dug under the palm-trees back of the house;
for it is the custom to bury the dead near at hand,
at times even inside the house itself.

The corpse was lowered into the grave, some
men having leaped down there to receive it. Then
the question arose as to the position of the head.
It seems that the head had to be in a certain posi-
tion or direction. I have questioned several per-
sons in regard to this since, but their answers have
not been very satisfactory. Some seemed to think
it was just a matter of placing the head straight,

_while one seemed to think that it was done from

fear lest the head should come off if it were turned
to the side. Anyway, this having been arranged
satisfactorily, the ceremony began.

The evangelist read from the Bible and prayed,
and a hymn was sung. ‘The poor wife, scantily
clad, had been standing at one side, apparently very
sad and depressed. Now she approached the head

_ Of the grave with faltering and listless step, took
_. upa handful of dirt, and cast it down into the
"grave beside her dead husband. ‘Then, apparently
without saying a word, she slowly retraced her

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Evidently some of the people were dis-
pleased with her performance, thinking that she
should have done or said something more; but she
did not return. Next the sister-in-law, the mother
of the two little nephews, came to the head of the
grave, and with tearful eye she, too, cast in her
handful of dirt and said, as though the dead man
could hear her, that she had long lived with him
and had never had a quarrel with him. Next came
the brother, a rather old man, and he looked quite
pitiful as he squatted down at the graveside. He
seemed quite distressed as he looked down at his
dead brother, telling him in a long speech that he
had lived peaceably with him, and now that he was
going away he had no quarrel with him. In the
mean time the others, taking the throwing in of
a handful of dirt as a signal, did the same. This
is the custom and quite the proper thing to do,
though the grave-diggers are supposed to do most
of the work in filling up the grave. It is considered
proper, too, to sift the grass out of the dirt which
is returned into the grave, especially if the dead
person was one of the upper. class.

After everything is finished and the burial over,
it is the custom to place upon the grave various
articles used by the deceased. Such things as belts,
chairs, pipes, bottles, and food-pots are used for
this purpose. What a pathetic monument these are
to the memory of the dead! Once during a funeral
ceremony I noticed on another grave near by that
there still remained a folding-chair and a belt.
Apparently the natives respect these articles left
upon graves and do not often molest them. How-
ever, I once saw a large gourd-pipe broken at the
grave before the mourners left it, so as to make it
unusable.

steps.

These people must look to something beyond
the grave, as shown by their conversation with the
dead. One woman, whose husband died at the hos-
pital after a long illness, talked to him while she
was preparing his body for burial as though she
felt he heard her and as though she felt he was
happy in heaven. However, as a rule, they seem
to have a great deal of fear of the dead. It is
the task of Christianity to supplant in their minds
the fear of the dead with hope for the dead and
faith in a life of eternal bliss, faith in Him who
has conquered death and brought life and immor-
tality to light.

“Wix China to Christ, and the most powerful
stronghold of Satan upon earth will have: fallen.”