The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1854-05-02
Mi5rrllanr'qI1B,
Buried Alive.


An English sailor, named Jackson spent two
years among the natives of the Fejee Islands,
in the South Sea. From the narrative of his
adventures, we quote one passage, describing
a burial alive. A young Fejee man was ailing
he had lost his appetite, anc fearing to be re-
preached by the Feiee' beauties for being
skeleton-shame being an uncomfortable emotion
resolved to be buried. alive, Jackson tried to
dissuade him from the sacrifice in vain, and
the scene now to be described followed.
"By this, time all his relations had collected
round the door. His father had kind ofwood.
en- spade to dig the grave with. his mother had
a new suit of tapa, his tsister some vermilon
and whales tooth, as all introduction
to the great god of Rage-Rage. He arose,
took up his. bed and walked, not for life but for
death, his father, mother and sister following
after with several other distant relations, whom
l accompanied, a. noticed that they seemed to
follow something in the same way that they
follow corpse in Europe to the grave, (that is,
as far as relationship and acquaintance are con-
cerned, but instead of lamenting, they were,
if not rejoicing, acting and chatting in very
unconcerned way. At last, we reached a place
where several graves could be seen, and spot
was soon selected by the man who was to be
buried. The old man, his father, began dig
ging his grave, while his mother assisted her
SON in putting or new tapa, and the girl This
sister, was besmeariug him with vermillion and
lampblack. so as to send him decent into the
invisible world, he the victin) delivering mes
sages that were to be told by his sister to people
then absent. His father then announced to
him and the rest that the grave was completed
and asked him, in rather surely tone, if he
was not ready at this time. The mother then
aosed him, and lkewi.e the sister. He said,
before die, should like drink of water. His
father made surely remark, and said, as he
ran to fetch it in leaf doubled up, you have
been considerable trouble during your life,
and it appears you are going to trouble us
at your DEATH The father returned with the
water which the son drank of, and then looked
up into tree covered with tough vines saying
he should prefer being strangled with vine
to being smothered in the grave. His father
became excessively angry, and spread the mat
at the bottom of the grave, told the son to die
'faka tamaqua,' (like man) when he stepped
into the grave, which was not more than tour
feet deep, and lay down on his back, with the
whales tooth in his hands, which were clasped
across his belly. The spare sides ofthe mat was
Tapped over him, as to prevent the earth from
getting to his body, and then about foot of
earth was shovelled in.upon him as quickly as
possible. His father stamped it immediately
down solid, and called odt in loud voice, 'Sa
tiko, sa tiko.' you are stopping there, you are
stopping there meaning good bye, goodbye
The son answered with very audible grunt,
and then about two feet more earth were shov-
elled in and stamped as before by the loving
father, and ''Sa tiko' called out again, which
was answered by another grunt, but much
fainter. The grave was then completely fiji.
led up, when for curiosity sake, said myself
Sa tiko,' but no answer was given, although l
fapcied or really did see the earth crackel a
little on the top Of the grave. The. father
and mother then turned back to back on the
middle of the grave, and having dropped
some kind of leaves from Their hands, walked
away in opposite directions to a running stream
ofwater hard by,>where they and all the rest
washed themselves, and made me wash myself
and then We returned to the town, where there
was feast prepared. AS soon as the feast
was over (it then being dark,) began the dance
and uproaf~hich are always carried ON either
at natural or violent deaths. All classes then
give themselves up to excess, especially u! un-
natural deaths of this sort, and create all man.
ner of uproar, by means of large bamboos'
trumpet shells, &c, which contributed to the
general noise which is considered requisite to
drive the spirit away, and deter him from de-
string to dwell or even hover about his late
residence"