(M63) In India even stone serpents are credited with a power of bestowing offspring on women. Thus the Komatis of Mysore “worship _Nága_ or the serpent god. This worship is generally confined to women and is carried on on a large scale once a year on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Srávana (July and August). The representations of serpents are cut in stone slabs and are set up round an _Asvattha_ tree on a platform, on which is also generally planted a margosa tree. These snakes in stones are set up in performance of vows and are said to be specially efficacious in curing bad sores and other skin diseases and in giving children. The women go to such places for worship with milk, fruits, and flowers on the prescribed day which is observed as a feast day.” They wash the stones, smear them with turmeric, and offer them curds and fruits. Sometimes they search out the dens of serpents and pour milk into the holes for the live reptiles.(268) § 7. Reincarnation of the Dead. (M64) The reason why snakes were so often supposed to be the fathers of human beings is probably to be found in the common belief that the dead come to life and revisit their old homes in the shape of serpents. This notion is widely spread in Africa, especially among tribes of the Bantu stock. It is held, for example, by the Zulus, the Thonga, and other Caffre tribes of South Africa;(269) by the Ngoni of British Central Africa;(270) by the Wabondei,(271) the Masai,(272) the Suk,(273) the Nandi,(274) and the Akikuyu of German and British East Africa;(275) and by the Dinkas of the Upper Nile.(276) It prevails also among the Betsileo and other tribes of Madagascar.(277) Among the Iban or Sea Dyaks of Borneo a man’s guardian spirit (_Tua_) “has its external manifestation in a snake, a leopard or some other denizen of the forest. It is supposed to be the spirit of some ancestor renowned for bravery or some other virtue who at death has taken an animal form. It is a custom among the Iban when a person of note in the tribe dies, not to bury the body but to place it on a neighbouring hill or in some solitary spot above ground. A quantity of food is taken to the place every day, and if after a few days the body disappears, the deceased is said to have become a _Tua_ or guardian spirit. People who have been suffering from some chronic complaint often go to such a tomb, taking with them an offering to the soul of the deceased to obtain his help. To such it is revealed in a dream what animal form the honoured dead has taken. The most frequent form is that of a snake. Thus when a snake is found in a Dyak house it is seldom killed or driven away; food is offered to it, for it is a guardian spirit who has come to inquire after the welfare of its clients and bring them good luck. Anything that may be found in the mouth of such a snake is taken and kept as a charm.”(278) Similarly in Kiriwina, an island of the Trobriands