Note 35 — Chapter X · FURTHER RESULTS

The old custom of the Yaos (at any rate in the case of a chief) is to bury the dead man inside his hut (or where he has several, in that of his principal wife), which is then closed, and allowed to decay. Lengths of calico (the quantity being proportioned to the wealth of the deceased) are draped over the roof and left there. Perhaps the building of a house over the grave, which appears to be done sometimes near Lake Nyasa, is a later modification of this custom.—[Tr.]