When a Kar Nicobarese becomes moribund he is taken to the "deadhouse," or "house of pollution," and there left to die, with bunches of "devil-exorcising" leaves about his bed. After the end has come, all friends bring a piece of cotton, in which the corpse is swathed subsequent to being washed in coconut water. It is then lifted by two men and, while kept in an upright position, lowered down the ladder and delivered to a number of friends waiting below, who try to prevent its burial. These, with the intention of returning it to the house occupied in life, attempt to bear it towards the village, but the movement is opposed by the rest of the community, who are in the majority. Much struggling takes place about the corpse, and it is very roughly handled, but at length it is forced towards the burial-ground and flung violently into the grave. Sucking pigs and fowls are then killed, and after blood from them is sprinkled over the body, are placed beneath the arms and legs.[210] The grave is then filled up, and on the third day is decorated, and marked by three bamboos, to which young coconuts are fastened for the purpose of engrossing the attention of the ghost. The house of mourning is also covered with young coco-palm leaves and sprinkled with sacrificial pigs' blood. After the death of a person, houses, canoes, and the ground about the village are covered with palm leaves to prevent the ghost from entering. Theoretically, all the possessions of the deceased are destroyed,[211] but the practice is now confined to personal property, as spoons, _dáos_, clothes. Some of his pigs are killed, a few coco palms cut down, and on rare occasions his house is burnt, or unroofed and left deserted. What remains goes to the children. There is no belief in a future state, but it is thought that, for a time, the ghost will haunt the vicinity. For some days after a death the _tamiluanas_ institute ceremonies for the purpose of expelling the ghost from the village. Tall bamboos, festooned with palm leaves and cotton, are erected on the shore at _Elpanam_, and the _tamiluanas_ take their place beneath. After scattering stones and ashes, they run about, uttering a mouse-like squeak the while, until they capture the spirit and imprison it in a bunch of leaves. Several men then grasp the bunch, and placing in it a small figure, made in human likeness of coco-palm leaf, twist up the whole, and throw it into the sea. From time to time villages go through ceremonials somewhat similar, for the purpose of expelling such devils as may be haunting the place. Shaving the head is sometimes indulged in as a sign of mourning, together with frequent bathing and abstinence from work. A man will also change his name to show grief at the loss of a friend, and will take another title if it comes to his knowledge that a namesake, even a comparative stranger, is dead.[212]