General absence of Sun-worship in Indonesia.

The White Divinity of the Malays.

The Sun personified by the Semangs of the Malay Peninsula and by the Bataks of Sumatra.

THE worship of the Sun appears for the most part to be absent among the Malays and the other races who inhabit the Malay Peninsula and the great region known as Indonesia or the Indian Archipelago. We are told that among the deities of the Malay pantheon the White Divinity, who dwells in the Sun, and the Black Divinity, who dwells in the Moon, are of some importance, but nothing is said of any worship paid to them. The Malays also believe in a Yellow Divinity who dwells in the Yellow Sunset-glow; but they deem the sunset-glow most dangerous, and when they see it they try to put it out by spitting water towards it, which can hardly be regarded as a form of worship.1 The Semangs, a primitive aboriginal tribe of the Malay Peninsula, are said to worship the Sun, but the statement appears to be inaccurate.2 However, they are reported to personify the Sun as a female with an actual human figure, who is married to a husband called Ag-ag or the Crow.3 Such a personification is at least a step in the direction of deification. Again, of the Bataks, a people in the interior of Sumatra, who have always maintained their political and religious independence against the rising tide of Mohammedanism, we are told that “they know nothing of a worship of nature in the proper sense of the word. Sun, moon, and stars were created by Debata, but are not worshipped. The powers of nature are certainly feared, but not adored.”4 However, the Bataks conceive of the sun and moon as living persons, who sometimes wage war on each other.5 But here, again, personification is not worship, though it may be a step towards it.

Worship of the Sun in Timor and the adjoining islands.

Worship of spirits (nitu) in the Indian Archipelago.

However, a definite worship of the Sun is reported to be practised in a group of islands, of which Timor is much the largest and most important, situated in the south-eastern part of the Indian Archipelago, though even there the worship would seem to be not highly developed. In this respect the religion of the Timoreese and their neighbours differs notably from the religion of the other peoples of the Indian Archipelago.6 As a rule, the religions of the pagan peoples of the Archipelago conform to a single type, being based on a faith in spirits of nature and souls of the dead, both of which classes of spiritual beings are believed to be endowed with the power of benefiting or injuring mankind; both are accordingly feared and propitiated. The names for these formidable and worshipful beings vary in different parts of the Archipelago. The general name for both is nitu, which is widely diffused among the islands, though in some of them it is confined to the spirits of the dead, while in others it is applied by preference to the spirits of nature. Fear of both sorts of spirits is the fundamental motive of the religion and finds expression in a complicated ritual.7

Worship of spirits in Timor.

Worship of the Lord Sun (Usi-Neno) and of Lady Earth (Usi-Afu).

Sacrifices to these two deities.

Chiefs in Timor called Sons of the Sun.

Sacrifices for sun-shine or rain.

In its essential features the religion of the Timoreese does not diverge from this general type. It is mainly concerned with the spirits of the dead and the spirits of nature, especially with the spirits of earth (nitu), because these mighty beings are supposed to exercise far greater influence on human affairs than the celestial deities, and consequently far more offerings are made to them. But besides these lower spirits the Timoreese recognize the existence of certain higher divinities, and this recognition constitutes the distinctive feature of their religion. Amongst these higher divinities the most exalted is Usi-Neno, whose name means “Lord Sun”, from usi “lord” and neno “sun”. It does not mean “Lord of the Sun”, which would be Neno-Usi. Thus Usi-Neno is a direct personification and deification of the physical sun; he is not simply a god or spirit who resides in the sun and regulates its operations. He is conceived as the male principle, but as too exalted to meddle much with terrestrial affairs. Next to him in rank is Usi-Afu, whose name means “Lady Earth”. She is thus the physical earth personified as a goddess, the wife of the Lord Sun. From their union the whole creation is thought to have originated, and it is their union which still imparts fertility and growth to every living thing. The Earth-goddess receives, along with the other earth-spirits, more sacrifices than are offered to the Sun-god; indeed, apart from certain special rites, the Sun-god appears to be worshipped with a great sacrifice only once a year, at the end of the harvest. At that festival his wife, the Earth-goddess, is not forgotten, but her share of the offerings is small, consisting only of a few grains of rice and maize thrown on the ground. But at other times she, like her husband, receives bloody sacrifices of fowls, goats, pigs, and buffaloes. Horses are sacrificed to the Sun-god alone, but such sacrifices appear to be rare. The victims offered to the Sun-god must be male and of a white or red colour; the victims offered to the Earth-goddess must be female; according to one account their colour is indifferent, but according to other writers the victims destined for the Earth-goddess and the other earth-spirits must be black.8 It is said that the people may not directly invoke the Sun-god and implore his blessing; the ancestral spirits (nitu) are thought to be the indispensable intermediaries between the great god and men; it is they who are charged with the duty of presenting the prayers of mortals to Usi-Neno and acting as their advocates with him; hence to induce them to use their good offices it is customary from time to time to offer sacrifices on their graves.9 One of our authorities for Sun-worship in Timor says nothing about the Earth-goddess Usi-Afu, but does mention a certain Usi-Paha, “Lord of the Earth”, whom he classes among the evil spirits. On the other hand, he tells us that the Timoreese worship the Moon as a goddess, whom they call Funan and regard as the only and eternal consort of the Sun-god.10 Such inconsistencies may be due to the imperfect information of our authorities; but more probably, perhaps, they are inherent in the vague and unsystematic thinking of the natives themselves. In Timor some chiefs of distinction and authority bear the honourable title of Nenoh-ana or Neno-o-ân, “Son of the Sun”.11 If it rains too much or threatens to rain when dry weather is wanted, the Timoreese sacrifice a white or red pig to obtain sunshine; but if they desire to procure rain, they sacrifice a black pig. Probably, though our chief authority docs not say so,12 the white or red pig is sacrificed to the Sun-god and the black pig to the Earth-goddess.13 In any case the colour of the victim is no doubt adapted to the object in view, the white or red answering to the brightness of sunshine, and the black to the darkness of rain-clouds. Such an adaptation is common in ceremonies intended to procure sunshine or rain; it is based on the principle of sympathetic or imitative magic.14

Absence of Sun-worship in Sumba.

While the elements of Sun-worship appear thus to exist in Timor, it is significant of the variety of religious beliefs prevalent in these islands, that in the neighbouring island of Sumba no worship is paid to the sun, moon, and stars, though the people believe in a god who lives above the clouds; they call him Umbu Walu Mendoku, which means “the Lord who makes everything”, but they do not worship him directly.15

Doubtful worship of the Sun in Rotti.

The natives of Rotti, an island to the south-west of Timor, believe in the existence of certain invisible beings, some kindly, some malignant, endowed with mysterious powers, to whose action they ascribe every event that happens to them in life, whether it be good or bad fortune, joy or sorrow, prosperity or adversity. Their chief deity is called Mane-tua-lai, which is thought to mean “Great Lord of Heaven” or simply “Heavenly Lord”. Some people hold that this great divinity has his scat in the Sun (ledoh); but others, and indeed the majority, are of opinion that he dwells in the moon (bulak) From him, even should he not be propitiated by sacrifices, men have nothing to fear: still out of simple gratitude it behoves them now and then, after a successful undertaking, to offer to the deity a sacrifice, which must always consist of white victims, whether fowls, sheep, or what not. But at such ceremonies the name of the divinity may not be uttered; he is too lofty and too awful a being for his name to be profaned by human lips.16

Worship of the Sun, Moon, and Earth in Solor.

Doubtful worship of the Sun in Wetar.

The inhabitants of Solor, an island to the north-west of Timor, profess Mohammedanism, but retain many heathenish superstitions. They speak, indeed, of Allah, the great invisible God, who created everything and dwells in the sky; but that does not prevent them from invoking also the Sun (Rarak), the Moon (Wulan) and the Earth (Tanah) and making offerings to them on special occasions. They believe that the ghosts of the first human pair, by name Nuba and Nara, still roam the earth, haunt old fig-trees, the clefts of rocks and so forth, and transmit the petitions of mortals to the higher gods, supporting them by their intercession.17 In Wetar, an island to the north of Timor, the people recognize a deity whom they call the Great Lord or the Ancient up above (Wawaki or Wawahaki) who dwells in the sun (lelo) or in the vault of heaven, and represents the male principle as distinct from the female principle, which they identify with the earth (rae or raa). Their ideas of him are vague, but they pray and sacrifice to him in sickness or after an evil dream and on other occasions.18

Worship of the Sun under the name of Upulero or Dudilaa in Leti, Sermata, Babar and Timorlaut.

Marriage of the Sun and Earth at a great festival.

Prayer to the Sun-god.

To the east of Timor stretches an archipelago, or rather series of small archipelagos, including the Leti, Sermata, Babar, and Timorlaut groups of islands. The pagan inhabitants of all these islands worship the Sun as their highest deity under the title of Upulero or Upulera, that is, Lord Sun. In the Timorlaut Islands he is also known as Dudilaa. His worshippers regard him as a male principle who fertilizes the Earth or female principle, who in the Leti Islands, is called Upunusa or Grandmother Earth. No images are made of the Sun-god, but he is worshipped under the form of a lamp made of coco-nut leaves, which may be seen everywhere hanging on the houses and on the branches of the sacred fig-trees. Under these trees lies a large flat stone which serves as an altar. On it the heads of slain foes were and are still placed in some of the islands. Once a year, at the commencement of the rainy season, when the east monsoon begins to blow, a great festival, called poreka poreke, or porka, and lasting usually a month, is held in honour of the Sun-god.19 At that time the deity is believed to descend into the sacred fig-tree in order to fertilize Grandmother Earth. To facilitate his descent, a ladder, with seven or ten rungs and adorned with carved figures of cocks, is considerately placed at his disposal under the tree; and in the Babar archipelago, to attract his attention, blasts are blown on a triton-shell. Pigs and dogs are sacrificed in profusion. Men and women alike indulge in a saturnalia; and the mystic union of the Sun and the Earth is dramatically represented in public, amid song and dance, by the real union of the sexes under the tree. The object of the festival, we are told, is to procure rain, plenty of food and drink, abundance of cattle and children, and riches from Grandfather Sun. The arrangements for the festival are made by a man and woman, the ministers of the local deities who protect the village. During the festival the man prays thrice to the Sun-god. His first prayer runs somewhat as follows: “O Lord or Grandfather Sun, come down! The fig-tree has put forth new shoots; the former shoots have turned to leaves and have fallen off. The pig's flesh is ready, cut in slices. The canoes of the village are full to overflowing of offerings. Lord or Grandfather Sun, thou art invited to the feast Cut and eat Cleave the bamboo and drink. There are heaps of rice, there are packets of cooked rice. O drink indeed! We have given the heart of a fowl that is excellent, the liver of a pig that is excellent. The fowl has bright eyes, the liver of the pig is red in colour. O come indeed, Lord or Grandfather Sun! We expect that thou wilt give into our hands much ivory, much gold. Let the goats cast two or three young apiece. Let the number of the nobles increase, let the number of the people increase or multiply. Replace the dead goats and pigs by living ones. Replace the rice and betel that are used up. Make the empty rice-basket full, make the empty sago-tub full, that the village and the canoes suffer no lack.“In the Babar archipelago a special flag is hoisted at this festival as a symbol of the creative energy of the Sun; it is of white cotton about nine feet high, and consists of the figure of a man in an appropriate attitude.20

Woman's prayer to the Sun-god Upulero for offspring.

The Sun-god Upulero is thought to possess the power of bestowing offspring on childless women. Hence in the Babar Archipelago, when a woman desires to have a child, she invites a man who is himself the father of a large family to pray on her behalf to Upulero. A doll is made of red cotton, which the woman clasps in her arms as if she would suckle it. Then the father of many children takes a fowl and holds its feet to the woman's head, saying, “O Upulero, make use of the fowl; let fall, let descend a child, I beseech you, I entreat you, let a child fall and descend into my hands and on my lap”. Then he asks the woman, “Has the child come?” and she answers, “Yes, it is sucking already”. After that the man lets the fowl's feet rest on the husband's head, while he mumbles some form of words. Next the fowl is killed at a blow by being knocked against the house-posts, in order that omens may be drawn from its veins or heart. Whether the omens are favourable or not, the fowl is laid, with some betel, on the domestic place of sacrifice. After that, notice is sent round the village that the woman has been brought to bed, and her gossips come and wish her joy. Lastly, her husband borrows a rocking-cradle from a neighbour, and his wife rocks the doll in the cradle for seven days.21 In this ceremony the prayer and sacrifice to the Sun-god are reinforced by the imitation and pretence of motherhood: religion is assisted, as often, by sympathetic or imitative magic.

Worship of the Sun-god and the Moon-goddess in the Kei Archipelago.

Still farther to the north-east of Timor lies the Kei Archipelago. The pagan inhabitants of the islands worship a supreme god called Duad-lerwuan or Duadlera, who has his dwelling in the sun. His consort is Duan-luteh, a personification of the moon. The Sun-god is deemed the creator and also the sustainer of all things; he it is who bestows the rain and sunshine and fertility. The inhabitants of one of the islands (Du-roa or Dulah-laut) say that long ago the Sun-god descended to the island and, finding it uninhabited, fashioned puppets out of clay, into which he afterwards breathed the breath of life. The Sun-god is consulted when it is desired to ascertain the future, or when some offence has been committed for which punishment is feared, or again occasionally for the healing of sickness. His wife, the Moon-goddess, is hardly worshipped at all; only now and then an offering is made to her at the rising of the moon. The native pantheon includes a number of other deities, such as the god who guards seafarers, the god of agriculture, and the village gods. Images are made of all the deities. The Sun-god is represented as a man in a crouching posture, generally armed with a pike. His wife, the Moon-goddess, is portrayed as a woman, sometimes standing and sometimes sitting. The village gods are also represented in human shape either seated or standing. But while every village has its image of its own local god, either set up in the open, or protected by a roof, or lodged in a little wooden house, images of the Sun-god and the Moon-goddess are very rare; they are to be found, if at all, scattered here and there over the islands.22

Offerings to the Sun-god before a battle.

Women's prayer to the Sun and Moon for the men in battle.

In former days, before the islands fell under the sway of the Dutch Government, wars were frequent among the natives of the Kei Archipelago. When it was determined to meet the foe in the field, or to attack his village, an offering used to be made to the Sun-god, Duad-lerwuan, at sunrise on the morning of the battle for the purpose of ascertaining whether the expedition would be successful or not. The offering, which consisted of some gold scrapings wrapt in a banana-leaf, was intended to ensure the forgiveness of the deity for all sins that had been committed. All the warriors who purposed to march out to battle carried the offering in procession to the beach, where the priest (metuduan) waited to cast it into the sea. When that had been done, the warriors went down into the sea and ducked their heads thrice under the water, after which they returned to the village to gird on their weapons and don their amulets; for they might not thus array themselves until the offering and the purification by bathing had been accomplished. In full martial pomp they next assembled in the middle of the village to learn whether the Sun-god had accepted their offering. Meantime, while the men were down on the beach at their ablutions, the women had cooked a great quantity of rice and piled it on a mat in the place of assembly. All who were to take part in the fight now gathered in a circle round the heap of rice. The priest then commanded silence; and, rising from his place, the leader of the expedition stepped up to the heap of rice and gathered a handful of the grain. Looking up to the sky he put the rice in his mouth, and endeavoured to swallow it at one gulp. If he succeeded, the Sun-god smiled on the undertaking; if he failed, the expedition was deferred. All the warriors had to submit to the same ordeal: such as bolted the rice at one gulp went to fight: such as boggled or chewed the rice stayed at home and lived to fight another day. When the stalwarts had thus been sorted out from the chicken-hearted, they danced the war-dance in a circle round the priest, who, going from man to man, looked them in the eyes and bade them put all fear away. And as they marched out of the gate, the priest stood by it and gave his last blessing to the departing brave. When they had gone and the gate was closed behind them, the women who were left behind brought out from the houses certain baskets containing fruit and stones. These they anointed with oil and placed on a board, and as they did so they prayed, saying, “O Lord Sun, Moon, let the bullets rebound from our husbands, brothers, betrothed, and other relations, just as raindrops recoil from these things which are smeared with oil”. And no sooner did the sound of the first shot ring out than the women dropped the baskets, and seizing their fans ran through the village waving them in the direction of the enemy. As they did so, they sang, “O golden fans, let our bullets hit and let those of the enemy miss!”23 Here again religion is reinforced by magic; the slipperiness of the oil and the waving of the fans were clearly supposed to parry such bullets as the Sun-god might fail to stop.

The Sun and Moon invoked as witnesses to oaths.

At the conclusion of peace these pious islanders again invoked the Sun-god to witness their troth. The chiefs of the two sides swore, saying, “O Lord Sun, Moon, and so forth, if I break my oath, if the opposite side breaks the treaty, then may the head of the perjurer be stuck in the ground and his feet erected skyward both here on earth and in the life hereafter”. Finally an arrow, with a little gold fastened to it, was shot towards the sky, while all present raised a cry of “Ju ju huwe!”24 The Kei Islanders apparently conceive the Sun-god as the guardian not only of good faith but of the sanctity of the marriage-tie. When after a birth the infant persists in squalling, and other approved methods of stopping it have been tried in vain, the painful conclusion is forced upon the parents that one of them has been unfaithful. A friend is called in to examine the matter. If he succeeds in eliciting a confession from the culprit, he offers some gold scrapings to the Sun-god (Duadlera) in expiation of the sin.25

The Sun-god invoked to heal the sick by casting out the devils who possess them.

The natives of the Kei Islands also resort to the Sun-god Duad-lerwuan for the healing of sickness. As commonly happens in the Indian Archipelago, the natives attribute sickness to the agency of an evil spirit, who has taken possession of the patient's body to torment and destroy him. The Sun-god accordingly must be invoked to cast out the devil, and for that purpose it is essential that he should himself enter into the body of the sufferer; indeed, how else could he expel the foul fiend? To facilitate this delicate operation the sick man is brought out of the house and set down in the yard, where the priest has already erected an altar. In front of the altar the priest thereupon sets a wooden vessel full of food, a sort of three-cornered hat, a chain of coco nut leaves fastened together, and a cup of oil, behind which he spreads a small mat. Beside the altar a bamboo is thrust into the ground in a slanting position; on its top a coco-nut leaf is stuck, and at the lower end of the leaf a little bag is fastened to contain offerings. Then the priest puts on his official costume, and with his face turned towards the sun kneels down on the mat. After that he takes the three-cornered hat, which is made of the leaf of a coco-nut palm, and anoints it with the oil from the cup; then standing up he claps the hat on his head and sets the dish of food on the altar. Some of the food he takes and puts in the little bag as an offering to induce the Sun-god to descend and settle on the coco-nut leaf impaled on the bamboo; the rest of the food he scatters on the ground as an offering to the souls of the dead. Next he tries to ascertain whether the Sun-god will consent to help or not. For this purpose he splits a coco-nut in two, and, after waving it thrice circularly in the air, lets it fall on the ground. From the position in which the two halves of the nut rest on the ground he infers whether the Sun-god will lend his aid or not. If the omen is favourable, the sick man is connected with the altar by the chain of coco-nut leaves, which serves the Sun-god as a ladder that enables him to descend into the body of the sufferer from the coco-nut leaf. At the same time the priest entreats the deity so to do. As soon as he perceives that the god has complied with his request, he stops praying and watches until the patient has made an involuntary gesture, which the priest accepts as a sign that the demon of sickness has been driven out, and that the patient will recover.26

Worship of the Sun, Moon, mid Earth in the Aruand Watubela Islands.

To the east of the Kei Islands lies the Aru Archipelago. The Aru Islanders also worship the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth as powers that exercise great influence on human life, and accordingly they offer them sacrifices.27 Once more the natives of the Watubela Islands, situated on the north-west of the Kei Islands, revere Grandfather Sun (Tata lat kola) as the male principle in nature in contrast to Mistress Earth (Latu hila la balaa or Latu bumu). Offerings are made to the Sun-god through the agency of a priest to secure the divine favour on various occasions, such as in sickness, on a voyage, at hard labour in childbirth, and in war; and further people render thank-offerings to the same deity on their return after a long absence. The offerings consist of rice, sago, bananas, roasted fowls, betel, and so forth. All the food, after being presented to the deity, is consumed by the priest.28

• 1.

  W. W. Skeat, Malay Magic (London, 1900), pp. 92 sq.

• 2.

  W. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula (London, 1906), ii. 202. The authors quote Newbold as the authority for the statement, but I do not find the statement in the passage to which they refer. But speaking of the wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula in general, Newbold affirms that most of them “possess only faint glimmering ideas respecting the existence of a Supreme Being; but with the savages of Tartary and North America, they adore a superior power, not in temples made with hands, not in the form of graven, sculptured, or painted images, but through the medium of one of the greatest and most splendid of his apparent created works—the Sun—the Baal of the Chaldeans—the Mithras of the Persians—and the Belphegor of the Moabites”. See T. J. Newbold, Political and Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca (London, 1839), ii. 385. But little weight can be attached to this vague and rhetorical statement.

• 3.

  W. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, ii. 202.

• 4.

  J. Warneck, Die Religion der Batak (Leipzig, 1909), pp. 1, 125. Debata, the Batak name for God, is apparently the Hindoo Devata, “godling”, a diminutive of Deva, “God”. See J. Warneck, op. cit. p. 1; W. Crooke, Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India, i. 3 sq. The same name occurs, with variations, in other parts of the Indian Archipelago. See A. C. Kruijt, “Indonesians”, in J. Hastings’ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vii. 249 sq.

• 5.

  J. Warneck, Die Religion der Batak, p. 6.

• 6.

  G. A. Wilken, Handleiding voor de vergelijkende Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië (Leyden, 1893), pp. 625 sq.

• 7.

  J. Warneck, Die Religion der Batak, pp. 1-3; G. A. Wilken, Handleiding voor de vergelijkende Volkenkunde van, Nederlandsch-Indië, pp. 544 sqq., 554, 624 sq.

• 8.

  J. S. G. Gramberg, “Een maand in de binnenlanden van Timor”, Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, xxxvi. (1872) pp. 206-209; S. Müller, Reizen en Onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel (Amsterdam, 1857), ii. 261-263; A. Bastian, Indonesien, ii. Timor und umliegende Inseln (Berlin, 1885), pp. 1 sq.; H. Zondervan, “Timor en de Timoreezen”, Tijdschrift van het Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, Tweede Serie, v. Afdeeling: Meer uitgebreide artikelen (Leyden, 1888), pp. 397-399, 403 sq.; G. A. Wilken. Handleiding voor de vergelijkende Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indit, pp. 624-626; id., “Het animisme bij den volken van den Indischen Archipel”, Verspreide Geschriften (The Hague, 1912), iii. 173 sq. Our principal authority is Gramberg; his evidence is reproduced by Zondervan and Wilken. S. Müller describes the worship of the Sun-god Usi-Neno, but not that of the Earth-goddess Usi-Afu.

• 9.

  S. Müller, Reizen en Onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel, ii. 261.

• 10.

  S. Müller, op. cit. ii. 262. A similar statement as to the Moon-goddess (Funan) and her relation to the Sun in Timor is made by A. Bastian (Indonesien, ii. Timor und umliegende Inseln, p. 1), but he may be copying S. Müller.

• 11.

  J. S. G. Gramberg, op. cit. p. 185; J. G. F. Riedel, “Prohibitieve teekens en tatuage-vormen op het eiland Timor”, Tijdschrift van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, xlix. (Batavia, 1907) p. 5 (separate reprint). Compare A. Bastian, Indonesien, ii. Timor und umliegende Inseln, p. 8, who gives as the title Nena-Anak, “Children of the Sun”.

• 12.

  J. S. G. Gramberg, op. cit. p. 209.

• 13.

  This is expressly affirmed by II. Zondervan (op. cit. pp. 403 sq.), whose account, however, appears to be based on that of Gramberg.

• 14.

  For examples see The Golden Bough, Part I. The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, i. 290 sqq.

• 15.

  S. Roos, “Bijdragen tot de Kennis van Taal, Land en Volk of het eiland Soemba”, Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, xxxvi. (1872) pp. 59 sq.

• 16.

  S. Müller, Reizen en Onderzockingen in den Indischen Archipel, ii. 272 sq. As to the meaning of the name Mane-tua-lai, compare C. Heijmering, “Zeden en gewoonten op het eiland Rottie”, Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie, 1844, vol. i. 86 sqq., who gives a fuller list (pp. 85 sqq.) of the numerous gods and spirits who are revered or feared in Rotti. He tells us that lai means heaven or the sky.

• 17.

  S. Müller, Reizen en Onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel ii. 285 sq.

• 18.

  J. G. F. Riedel, De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua (The Hague, 1886), p. 436.

• 19.

  According to Riedel (op. cit. p. 372) the word poraka (sic) signifies the coming of the spirits to eat at the time when the fig-tree changes leaf. This seems to be the season of the annual festival.

• 20.

  J. G. F. Riedel, De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, pp. 314 (Luang-Sermata), 337 (Babar archipelago), 372-375 (Leti, Moa, and Lakor), 410 sq. (Keisar or Kisser); G. W. W. C. Baron van Hoëvell, in Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde, xxxiii. (1890) pp. 204 sq., 206 sq. (Leti, Babar, Sermata, and Timorlaut); id., “Einige weitere Notizen über die Formen der Götterverehrung auf den Süd-wester en Süd-oster Inseln”, Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, viii. (1895) p. 134; J. A. Jacobsen, Reisen in die Inselwelt des Banda-Meeres (Berlin, 1896), pp. 123, 125 (Kisser); J. H. De Vries, “Reis door cenige eilandgroepen der Residentie Amboina”, Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, Tweede Serie, xvii. (Leyden, 1900) pp. 594, 612, 615 sq. (Babar and Kisser). The Sun-god's name is variously given as Upulero (Riedel), Upulera. (van Hoëvell), Upulere (De Vries), and Opolere (Jacobsen). According to Jacobsen (p. 123) the name Opolere is compounded of opo “the Old Man,” and lere “Son.” I have described the festival more briefly in The Golden Bough, Part I. The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, ii. 98 sq.

• 21.

  J. G. F. Riedel, De sluik-en kroeskarige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, p. 353.

• 22.

  C. M. Pleyte, “Ethnographische Beschrijving der Kei-eilanden”, Tijdschrift van het Kon. Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, Tweede Serie, x. (Leiden, 1893) pp. 564, 828 sq.

• 23.

  C. M. Pleyte, op. cit. pp. 804 sq.

• 24.

  C. M. Pleyte, op. cit. pp. 806 sq.

• 25.

  C. M. Pleyte, op. cit. pp. 818 sq.

• 26.

  C. M. Pleyte, op. cit. pp. 62 sq., 829-831.

• 27.

  J. G. F. Riedel. De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, p. 252.

• 28.

  J. G. F. Riedel, op. cit. p. 195.