DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0056
34
J. Roscoe
sacrifices they entail, is without doubt the belief that the soul is immortal and that the
ghost has power to bring about events in the daily life of the survivors which may materi-
ally affect them for good or for evil, according as the ghost happens to feel well or ill
disposed to them. The reasonings of primitive man revolve around the concerns and
interests of life as he knows it; his own likes and dislikes are taken as his guide to the con-
ditions which will make the ghost’s lot pleasant or the reverse: hence his actions in regard
to the ghost and his mode of worshiping it are suggested by what he finds gratifying to him-
self in this life and what he therefore considers most likely to meet the needs of the ghost.
For a concrete example let us first examine the practice of some of the agricultural
tribes. The Baganda, living on the northwestern shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza,
throw open their sick-chambers to all friends and relatives, who are invited to come and
see the sick man. These people realize that it is imperative that they should visit the sick,
or, if unable to do so in person, should send some responsible representative lest their
absence should suggest that they themselves were the cause of the illness, and should imply
a desire on their part that the sick man die. The hut of a sick man is full of visitors who
talk freely about all kinds of commonplace subjects quite irrelevant to the case, while
from time to time they pass a few remarks as to the condition of the man, and condole
with him if he is in pain. When death takes place, these friends leave the hut to the widows
who set up the death wail. Their cries consist of words belauding the dead husband.
Often they hold up to view various garments and ornaments he gave them and ask who is
to supply them now, unless he returns to their help. Frequently, too, they throw them-
selves upon the dead body in their frenzy, allowing tears to fall freely, and often discarding
outer clothing as they rend the air with piteous cries of woe and beat their hands upon
their breasts. These same women may be found shortly after talking cheerfully with
friends outside the hut, and they will a little later relieve their companions in woe and con-
tinue their wailing with the same tokens of uncontrollable grief as before.
The chief widow is usually mistress of the ceremonies in preparing the body for the
grave; she closes the eyes of the dead man, crosses his arms over his chest, or in other
instances lays them along the sides of his body, straightens the legs, and ties the great
toes together. The next act is to wash the body and cover it with a new bark cloth. It
is then moved to a resting place, which is a bed made by placing the trunks of plantain
trees side by side, to the width and length required, reversing every second layer added,
until the required height is attained. A portion of the reed wall which divides the room
into compartments is now cut, laid upon the plantain tree trunks, and covered with a bark
cloth, upon which the body is then laid, with the head towards the door. This bed is
made near the door of the hut, leaving room for a person to walk round it. The relatives
of the dead man are next summoned to a farewell-taking, which often delays the funeral
J. Roscoe
sacrifices they entail, is without doubt the belief that the soul is immortal and that the
ghost has power to bring about events in the daily life of the survivors which may materi-
ally affect them for good or for evil, according as the ghost happens to feel well or ill
disposed to them. The reasonings of primitive man revolve around the concerns and
interests of life as he knows it; his own likes and dislikes are taken as his guide to the con-
ditions which will make the ghost’s lot pleasant or the reverse: hence his actions in regard
to the ghost and his mode of worshiping it are suggested by what he finds gratifying to him-
self in this life and what he therefore considers most likely to meet the needs of the ghost.
For a concrete example let us first examine the practice of some of the agricultural
tribes. The Baganda, living on the northwestern shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza,
throw open their sick-chambers to all friends and relatives, who are invited to come and
see the sick man. These people realize that it is imperative that they should visit the sick,
or, if unable to do so in person, should send some responsible representative lest their
absence should suggest that they themselves were the cause of the illness, and should imply
a desire on their part that the sick man die. The hut of a sick man is full of visitors who
talk freely about all kinds of commonplace subjects quite irrelevant to the case, while
from time to time they pass a few remarks as to the condition of the man, and condole
with him if he is in pain. When death takes place, these friends leave the hut to the widows
who set up the death wail. Their cries consist of words belauding the dead husband.
Often they hold up to view various garments and ornaments he gave them and ask who is
to supply them now, unless he returns to their help. Frequently, too, they throw them-
selves upon the dead body in their frenzy, allowing tears to fall freely, and often discarding
outer clothing as they rend the air with piteous cries of woe and beat their hands upon
their breasts. These same women may be found shortly after talking cheerfully with
friends outside the hut, and they will a little later relieve their companions in woe and con-
tinue their wailing with the same tokens of uncontrollable grief as before.
The chief widow is usually mistress of the ceremonies in preparing the body for the
grave; she closes the eyes of the dead man, crosses his arms over his chest, or in other
instances lays them along the sides of his body, straightens the legs, and ties the great
toes together. The next act is to wash the body and cover it with a new bark cloth. It
is then moved to a resting place, which is a bed made by placing the trunks of plantain
trees side by side, to the width and length required, reversing every second layer added,
until the required height is attained. A portion of the reed wall which divides the room
into compartments is now cut, laid upon the plantain tree trunks, and covered with a bark
cloth, upon which the body is then laid, with the head towards the door. This bed is
made near the door of the hut, leaving room for a person to walk round it. The relatives
of the dead man are next summoned to a farewell-taking, which often delays the funeral