“The spirits of their departed ancestors were among their gods. Chiefs who reached an advanced age were, after death, deified, addressed by name, and prayed to on various occasions. They were supposed especially to preside over the growth of the yams and the different fruit-trees. The first-fruits were presented to them, and in doing this they laid a little of the fruit on some stone or shelving branch of the tree, or some more temporary altar.., in the form of a table.... All being quiet, the chief acted as high priest and prayed aloud thus: ‘Compassionate father, here is some food for you; eat it; be kind to us on account of it.’ And instead of an Amen, all united in a loud shout.” Similar evidence is abundant elsewhere. I summarise a little of it. Every year the Kochs of Assam, when they gather their first-fruits, offer some to their ancestors, calling them even by name, and clapping their hands to summon them. The people of Kobi and Sariputi, two villages in Ceram, “offer the first-fruits of the paddy in the form of cooked rice to their ancestors as a token of gratitude.” {299}The ceremony is called “Feeding the Dead.” In the Tenimber and Timorlaut Islands, the first-fruits of the paddy are offered to the spirits of the ancestors, who are worshipped as guardian gods or household lares. The people of Luzon worship chiefly the souls of their ancestors, and offer to them the first-fruits of the harvest. In Fiji the earliest of the yams are presented to the ancestral ghosts in the sacred stone enclosure; and no man may taste of the new crop till after this presentation.