A person may at the first stage of his recovery from a severe and long-standing illness, or an attack of delirium, inform his relatives that he has received a revelation, and therefore desires to become a _mafai_. This is communicated to the _tamiluanas_, and they, as well as other elderly people of the village, assemble in his house, and after making a formal examination, pronounce the verdict, _tafuknu chuat_--"sunken eyes." A preliminary ceremony is then performed, called _Hanata_--"adorning the invalid." They spread round his couch "devil-expelling" leaves from _Mal_,[209] and decorate the cane wall of the house, at his side, with festoons, tassels, beads, wire, garlands, etc., placing near him spoons, forks, and other electro-plated ware, with a few bottles of toddy. They twist silver wire about his neck, arms, and legs, and adorn him with necklaces, tassels, breastplate, and armlets, made of silver coins, and then place him in a large decorated chair with a Chinese straw hat on his head. A silver-handled stick (sceptre of the _tamiluana_) and a small dagger to kill the devil are given him, together with a bottle of toddy, furnished with a hollow reed to suck the liquid through. He is now proclaimed a _mafai_, and information is sent to his friends and relatives in other villages, who all come with presents to see the holy man. From this time forward, until he is thoroughly recovered, the people of his village, with other friends and relatives, provide his food and other necessaries by turns. This they do on a liberal scale. There is a performance every night in the village, lasting till midnight, during which he sits on a chair in the midst of the ring of dancers, whom sometimes he may join. This exercise is to increase his strength, and he is freely supplied with toddy, as it is considered a tonic. From time to time his neighbours take him, sometimes spontaneously and sometimes by invitation, from house to house and village to village, in procession, and give performances. _Ai-yu-a-kare_ is one of these, and means "going to a feast adorned with jewels." He never walks, but is always carried in a _kantéra_ (chair), which in shape resembles a palanquin, covered with chintz and decorated with spoons, forks, and soup-ladles. The chair is borne by a dozen strong men. The spectacle of a returning _mafai_ and his party is extremely comical, for, besides being fatigued by the night's exertions, every one is completely intoxicated. The people venerate the _mafai_ exceedingly, and take him at midnight to the sick, that he may heal them by touch or by shampooing, when he pretends to extract gravel and stones from the bodies of the invalids. So matters continue until the _mafai_ considers himself strong enough to work for his living, when, with the approval of the _tamiluanas_, he resigns his _mafai_-ship in a final ceremony called _Luinj-lare Mafai_--undressing the _mafai_.