pervasive。’Whenanativesaysthatheisaman，’writesDr。
Codrington，’hemeansthatheisamanandnotaghost；notthatheisamanandnotabeast。Theintelligentagentsofthisworldaretohismindthemenwhoarealive，andtheghoststhemenwhoaredead。’Dr。CodringtonspeaksofMelanesia；fromwhatIhavelearnedhiswordsareequallytrueofthePolynesian。Andyetmore。AmongcannibalPolynesiansadreadfulsuspicionrestsgenerallyonthedead；andtheMarquesans，thegreatestcannibalsofall，arescarcelikelytobefreefromsimilarbeliefs。I
hazardtheguessthattheVehinehaearethehungryspiritsofthedead，continuingtheirlife’sbusinessofthecannibalambuscade，andlyingeverywhereunseen，andeagertodevourtheliving。
AnothersuperstitionIpickedupthroughthetroubledmediumofTariCoffin’sEnglish。Thedead，hetoldme，cameanddancedbynightaroundthepaepaeoftheirformerfamily；thefamilywerethereuponovercomebysomeemotionbutwhetherofpioussorroworoffearIcouldnotgather，andmust’makeafeast，’ofwhichfish，pig，andpopoiwereindispensableingredients。Sofarthisisclearenough。ButhereTariwentontoinstancethenewhouseofTomaandthehouse-warmingfeastwhichwasjusttheninpreparationasinstancesinpoint。Dareweindeedstringthemtogether，andaddthecaseofthedesertedruin，asthoughthedeadcontinuallybesiegedthepaepaesoftheliving：werekeptatarm’s-length，evenfromthefirstfoundation，onlybypropitiatoryfeasts，and，sosoonasthefireoflifewentoutuponthehearth，swarmedbackintopossessionoftheirancientseat?
IspeakbyguessoftheseMarquesansuperstitions。OnthecannibalghostIshallreturnelsewherewithcertainty。Anditisenough，forthepresentpurpose，toremarkthatthemenoftheMarquesas，fromwhateverreason，fearandshrinkfromthepresenceofghosts。