{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_55822/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_55822","id":"gutenberg_55822","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55822","summary":null,"tags":["Barter -- Papua New Guinea -- Trobriand Islands","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- Trobriand Islands","Folklore -- Papua New Guinea -- Trobriand Islands","Kula exchange -- Papua New Guinea -- Trobriand Islands","Massim (Papua New Guinean people) -- Rites and ceremonies","Trobriand Islands (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs"],"text":"ARGONAUTS OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC\n\n                          An Account of Native\n                        Enterprise and Adventure\n                        in the Archipelagoes of\n                         Melanesian New Guinea\n\n\n                                   By\n                          Bronislaw Malinowski\n                     PH.D. (Cracow), D.Sc. (London)\n\n                             With a Preface\n                                   By\n                Sir James George, Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S.\n\n\n             With 5 Maps, 65 Illustrations, and 2 Figures,\n                 London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd.\n                      New York: E. P. Dutton & Co.\n                                  1922\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   To\n                         my friend and teacher\n                    Professor C. G. Seligman, F.R.S.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nBy Sir James G. Frazer\n\n\nMy esteemed friend, Dr. B. Malinowski has asked me to write a preface\nto his book, and I willingly comply with his request, though I can\nhardly think that any words of mine will add to the value of the\nremarkable record of anthropological research which he has given us\nin this volume. My observations, such as they are, will deal partly\nwith the writer's method and partly with the matter of his book.\n\nIn regard to method, Dr. Malinowski has done his work, as it appears\nto me, under the best conditions and in the manner calculated to\nsecure the best possible results. Both by theoretical training and\nby practical experience he was well equipped for the task which he\nundertook. Of his theoretical training he had given proof in his\nlearned and thoughtful treatise on the family among the aborigines\nof Australia [1]; of his practical experience he had produced no\nless satisfactory evidence in his account of the natives of Mailu\nin New Guinea, based on a residence of six months among them. [2]\nIn the Trobriand Islands, to the east of New Guinea, to which he\nnext turned his attention, Dr. Malinowski lived as a native among\nthe natives for many months together, watching them daily at work\nand at play, conversing with them in their own tongue, and deriving\nall his information from the surest sources--personal observation\nand statements made to him directly by the natives in their own\nlanguage without the intervention of an interpreter. In this way he\nhas accumulated a large mass of materials, of high scientific value,\nbearing on the social, religious, and economic or industrial life\nof the Trobriand Islanders. These he hopes and intends to publish\nhereafter in full; meantime he has given us in the present volume a\npreliminary study of an interesting and peculiar feature in Trobriand\nsociety, the remarkable system of exchange, only in part economic or\ncommercial, which the islanders maintain among themselves and with\nthe inhabitants of neighbouring islands.\n\nLittle reflection is needed to convince us of the fundamental\nimportance of economic forces at all stages of man's career from the\nhumblest to the highest. After all, the human species is part of the\nanimal creation, and as such, like the rest of the animals, it reposes\non a material foundation; on which a higher life, intellectual, moral,\nsocial, may be built, but without which no such superstructure is\npossible. That material foundation, consisting in the necessity of food\nand of a certain degree of warmth and shelter from the elements, forms\nthe economic or industrial basis and prime condition of human life. If\nanthropologists have hitherto unduly neglected it, we may suppose that\nit was rather because they were attracted to the higher side of man's\nnature than because they deliberately ignored and undervalued the\nimportance and indeed necessity of the lower. In excuse for their\nneglect we may also remember that anthropology is still a young\nscience, and that the multitude of problems which await the student\ncannot all be attacked at once, but must be grappled with one by\none. Be that as it may, Dr. Malinowski has done well to emphasise the\ngreat significance of primitive economics by singling out the notable\nexchange system of the Trobriand Islanders for special consideration.\n\nFurther, he has wisely refused to limit himself to a mere description\nof the processes of the exchange, and has set himself to penetrate\nthe motives which underlie it and the feelings which it excites in\nthe minds of the natives. It appears to be sometimes held that pure\nsociology should confine itself to the description of acts and should\nleave the problems of motives and feelings to psychology. Doubtless\nit is true that the analysis of motives and feelings is logically\ndistinguishable from the description of acts, and that it falls,\nstrictly speaking, within the sphere of psychology; but in practice\nan act has no meaning for an observer unless he knows or infers the\nthoughts and emotions of the agent; hence to describe a series of\nacts, without any reference to the state of mind of the agent, would\nnot answer the purpose of sociology, the aim of which is not merely\nto register but to understand the actions of men in society. Thus\nsociology cannot fulfil its task without calling in at every turn\nthe aid of psychology.\n\nIt is characteristic of Dr. Malinowski's method that he takes full\naccount of the complexity of human nature. He sees man, so to say, in\nthe round and not in the flat. He remembers that man is a creature of\nemotion at least as much as of reason, and he is constantly at pains\nto discover the emotional as well as the rational basis of human\naction. The man of science, like the man of letters, is too apt to\nview mankind only in the abstract, selecting for his consideration\na single side of our complex and many-sided being. Of this one-sided\ntreatment Moli\u00e8re is a conspicuous example among great writers. All his\ncharacters are seen only in the flat: one of them is a miser, another\na hypocrite, another a coxcomb, and soon; but not one of them is a\nman. All are dummies dressed up to look very like human beings; but\nthe likeness is only on the surface, all within is hollow and empty,\nbecause truth to nature has been sacrificed to literary effect. Very\ndifferent is the presentation of human nature in the greater artists,\nsuch as Cervantes and Shakespeare: their characters are solid, being\ndrawn not from one side only but from many. No doubt in science a\ncertain abstractness of treatment is not merely legitimate, but\nnecessary, since science is nothing but knowledge raised to the\nhighest power, and all knowledge implies a process of abstraction\nand generalisation: even the recognition of an individual whom we see\nevery day is only possible as the result of an abstract idea of him\nformed by generalisation from his appearances in the past. Thus the\nscience of man is forced to abstract certain aspects of human nature\nand to consider them apart from the concrete reality; or rather it\nfalls into a number of sciences, each of which considers a single part\nof man's complex organism, it may be the physical, the intellectual,\nthe moral, or the social side of his being; and the general conclusions\nwhich it draws will present a more or less incomplete picture of man\nas a whole, because the lines which compose it are necessarily but\na few picked out of a multitude.\n\nIn the present treatise Dr. Malinowski is mainly concerned with what\nat first sight might seem a purely economic activity of the Trobriand\nIslanders; but, with his usual width of outlook and fineness of\nperception, he is careful to point out that the curious circulation of\nvaluables, which takes place between the inhabitants of the Trobriand\nand other islands, while it is accompanied by ordinary trade, is by no\nmeans itself a purely commercial transaction; he shows that it is not\nbased on a simple calculation of utility, of profit and loss, but that\nit satisfies emotional and \u00e6sthetic needs of a higher order than the\nmere gratification of animal wants. This leads Dr. Malinowski to pass\nsome severe strictures on the conception of the Primitive Economic Man\nas a kind of bogey who, it appears, still haunts economic text-books\nand even extends his blighting influence to the minds of certain\nanthropologists. Rigged out in cast-off garments of Mr. Jeremy Bentham\nand Mr. Gradgrind, this horrible phantom is apparently actuated by no\nother motive than that of filthy lucre, which he pursues relentlessly,\non Spencerian principles, along the line of least resistance. If\nsuch a dismal fiction is really regarded by serious inquirers as\nhaving any counterpart in savage society, and not simply as a useful\nabstraction, Dr. Malinowski's account of the Kula in this book should\nhelp to lay the phantom by the heels; for he proves that the trade in\nuseful objects, which forms part of the Kula system, is in the minds\nof the natives entirely subordinate in importance to the exchange\nof other objects, which serve no utilitarian purpose whatever. In\nits combination of commercial enterprise, social organisation,\nmythical background, and magical ritual, to say nothing of the wide\ngeographical range of its operations, this singular institution appears\nto have no exact parallel in the existing anthropological record; but\nits discoverer, Dr. Malinowski, may very well be right in surmising\nthat it is probably a type of institution of which analogous, if not\nprecisely similar, instances will hereafter be brought to light by\nfurther research among savage and barbarous peoples.\n\nNot the least interesting and instructive feature of the Kula, as it\nis described for us by Dr. Malinowski, is the extremely important part\nwhich magic is seen to play in the institution. From his description\nit appears that in the minds of the natives the performance of magical\nrites and the utterance of magical words are indispensable for the\nsuccess of the enterprise in all its phases, from the felling of\nthe trees out of which the canoes are to be hollowed, down to the\nmoment when, the expedition successfully accomplished, the argosy\nwith its precious cargo is about to start on its homeward voyage. And\nincidentally we learn that magical ceremonies and spells are deemed\nno less necessary for the cultivation of gardens and for success in\nfishing, the two forms of industrial enterprise which furnish the\nislanders with their principal means of support; hence the garden\nmagician, whose business it is to promote the growth of the garden\nproduce by his hocus-pocus, is one of the most important men in the\nvillage, ranking next after the chief and the sorcerer. In short,\nmagic is believed to be an absolutely essential adjunct of every\nindustrial undertaking, being just as requisite for its success\nas the mechanical operations involved in it, such as the caulking,\npainting and launching of a canoe, the planting of a garden, and the\nsetting of a fish-trap. \"A belief in magic,\" says Dr. Malinowski,\n\"is one of the main psychological forces which allow for organisation\nand systematisation of economic effort in the Trobriands.\"\n\nThis valuable account of magic as a factor of fundamental economic\nimportance for the welfare and indeed for the very existence of the\ncommunity should suffice to dispel the erroneous view that magic,\nas opposed to religion, is in its nature essentially maleficent and\nanti-social, being always used by an individual for the promotion of\nhis own selfish ends and the injury of his enemies, quite regardless\nof its effect on the common weal. No doubt magic may be so employed,\nand has in fact probably been so employed, in every part of the\nworld; in the Trobriand Islands themselves it is believed to\nbe similarly practised for nefarious purposes by sorcerers, who\ninspire the natives with the deepest dread and the most constant\nconcern. But in itself magic is neither beneficent nor maleficent;\nit is simply an imaginary power of controlling the forces of nature,\nand this control may be exercised by the magician for good or evil,\nfor the benefit or injury of individuals and of the community. In\nthis respect, magic is exactly on the same footing with the sciences,\nof which it is the bastard sister. They, too, in themselves, are\nneither good nor evil, though they become the source of one or other\naccording to their application. It would be absurd, for example,\nto stigmatise pharmacy as antisocial, because a knowledge of the\nproperties of drugs is often employed to destroy men as well as to\nheal them. It is equally absurd to neglect the beneficent application\nof magic and to single out its maleficent use as the characteristic\nproperty by which to define it. The processes of nature, over which\nscience exercises a real and magic an imaginary control, are not\naffected by the moral disposition, the good or bad intention, of the\nindividual who uses his knowledge to set them in motion. The action\nof drugs on the human body is precisely the same whether they are\nadministered by a physician or by a poisoner. Nature and her handmaid\nScience are neither friendly nor hostile to morality; they are simply\nindifferent to it and equally ready to do the bidding of the saint\nand of the sinner, provided only that he gives them the proper word\nof command. If the guns are well loaded and well aimed, the fire\nof the battery will be equally destructive, whether the gunners are\npatriots fighting in defence of their country or invaders waging a\nwar of unjust aggression. The fallacy of differentiating a science\nor an art according to its application and the moral intention of the\nagent is obvious enough with regard to pharmacy and artillery; it is\nequally real, though to many people apparently it is less obvious,\nwith regard to magic.\n\nThe immense influence wielded by magic over the whole life and thought\nof the Trobriand Islanders is perhaps the feature of Dr. Malinowski's\nbook which makes the most abiding impression on the mind of the\nreader. He tells us that \"magic, the attempt of man to govern the\nforces of nature directly by means of a special lore, is all-pervading\nand all-important in the Trobriands\"; it is \"interwoven into all the\nmany industrial and communal activities\"; \"all the data which have\nbeen so far mustered disclose the extreme importance of magic in the\nKula. But if it were a question of treating of any other aspect of the\ntribal life of these natives, it would also be found that, whenever\nthey approach any concern of vital importance, they summon magic to\ntheir aid. It can be said without exaggeration that magic, according\nto their ideas, governs human destinies; that it supplies man with the\npower of mastering the forces of nature; and that it is his weapon and\narmour against the many dangers which crowd in upon him on every side.\"\n\nThus in the view of the Trobriand Islanders, magic is a power of\nsupreme importance either for good or evil; it can make or mar the life\nof man; it can sustain and protect the individual and the community,\nor it can injure and destroy them. Compared to this universal and\ndeep-rooted conviction, the belief in the existence of the spirits of\nthe dead would seem to exercise but little influence on the life of\nthese people. Contrary to the general attitude of savages towards the\nsouls of the departed, they are reported to be almost completely devoid\nof any fear of ghosts. They believe, indeed, that the ghosts return\nto their villages once a year to partake of the great annual feast;\nbut \"in general the spirits do not influence human beings very much,\nfor better or worse\"; \"there is nothing of the mutual interaction,\nof the intimate collaboration between man and spirit which are the\nessence of religious cult.\" This conspicuous predominance of magic\nover religion, at least over the worship of the dead, is a very notable\nfeature in the culture of a people so comparatively high in the scale\nof savagery as the Trobriand Islanders. It furnishes a fresh proof\nof the extraordinary strength and tenacity of the hold which this\nworld-wide delusion has had, and still has, upon the human mind.\n\nWe shall doubtless learn much as to the relation of magic and religion\namong the Trobrianders from the full report of Dr. Malinowski's\nresearches in the islands. From the patient observation which he has\ndevoted to a single institution, and from the wealth of details with\nwhich he has illustrated it, we may judge of the extent and value\nof the larger work which he has in preparation. It promises to be\none of the completest and most scientific accounts ever given of a\nsavage people.\n\n\nJ. G. Frazer.\n\nThe Temple, London.\n7th March, 1922.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\nBy the Author\n\n\nEthnology is in the sadly ludicrous, not to say tragic, position,\nthat at the very moment when it begins to put its workshop in order, to\nforge its proper tools, to start ready for work on its appointed task,\nthe material of its study melts away with hopeless rapidity. Just now,\nwhen the methods and aims of scientific field ethnology have taken\nshape, when men fully trained for the work have begun to travel into\nsavage countries and study their inhabitants--these die away under\nour very eyes.\n\nThe research which has been done on native races by men of academic\ntraining has proved beyond doubt and cavil that scientific, methodic\ninquiry can give us results far more abundant and of better quality\nthan those of even the best amateur's work. Most, though not all, of\nthe modern scientific accounts have opened up quite new and unexpected\naspects of tribal life. They have given us, in clear outline, the\npicture of social institutions often surprisingly vast and complex;\nthey have brought before us the vision of the native as he is, in\nhis religious and magical beliefs and practices. They have allowed\nus to penetrate into his mind far more deeply than we have ever done\nbefore. From this new material, scientifically hall-marked, students\nof comparative Ethnology have already drawn some very important\nconclusions on the origin of human customs, beliefs and institutions;\non the history of cultures, and their spread and contact; on the laws\nof human behaviour in society, and of the human mind.\n\nThe hope of gaining a new vision of savage humanity through the labours\nof scientific specialists opens out like a mirage, vanishing almost\nas soon as perceived. For though at present, there is still a large\nnumber of native communities available for scientific study, within\na generation or two, they or their cultures will have practically\ndisappeared. The need for energetic work is urgent, and the time\nis short. Nor, alas, up to the present, has any adequate interest\nbeen taken by the public in these studies. The number of workers is\nsmall, the encouragement they receive scanty. I feel therefore no\nneed to justify an ethnological contribution which is the result of\nspecialised research in the field.\n\nIn this volume I give an account of one phase of savage life only, in\ndescribing certain forms of inter-tribal, trading relations among the\nnatives of New Guinea. This account has been culled, as a preliminary\nmonograph, from Ethnographic material, covering the whole extent of\nthe tribal culture of one district. One of the first conditions of\nacceptable Ethnographic work certainly is that it should deal with\nthe totality of all social, cultural and psychological aspects of the\ncommunity, for they are so interwoven that not one can be understood\nwithout taking into consideration all the others. The reader of this\nmonograph will clearly see that, though its main theme is economic--for\nit deals with commercial enterprise, exchange and trade--constant\nreference has to be made to social organisation, the power of magic,\nto mythology and folklore, and indeed to all other aspects as well\nas the main one.\n\nThe geographical area of which the book treats is limited to the\nArchipelagoes lying off the eastern end of New Guinea. Even within\nthis, the main field of research was in one district, that of the\nTrobriand Islands. This, however, has been studied minutely. I have\nlived in that one archipelago for about two years, in the course\nof three expeditions to New Guinea, during which time I naturally\nacquired a thorough knowledge of the language. I did my work entirely\nalone, living for the greater part of the time right in the villages. I\ntherefore had constantly the daily life of the natives before my eyes,\nwhile accidental, dramatic occurrences, deaths, quarrels, village\nbrawls, public and ceremonial events, could not escape my notice.\n\nIn the present state of Ethnography, when so much has still to be\ndone in paving the way for forthcoming research and in fixing its\nscope, each new contribution ought to justify its appearance in\nseveral Points. It ought to show some advance in method; it ought\nto push research beyond its previous limits in depth, in width, or\nin both; finally, it ought to endeavour to present its results in a\nmanner exact, but not dry. The specialist interested in method, in\nreading this work, will find set out in the Introduction, Divisions\nII-IX and in Chapter XVIII, the exposition of my points of view and\nefforts in this direction. The reader who is concerned with results,\nrather than with the way of obtaining them, will find in Chapters\nIV to XXI a consecutive narrative of the Kula expeditions, and the\nvarious associated customs and beliefs. The student who is interested,\nnot only in the narrative, but in the ethnographic background for it,\nand a clear definition of the institution, will find the first in\nChapters I and II, and the latter in Chapter III.\n\nTo Mr. Robert Mond I tender my sincerest thanks. It is to his generous\nendowment that I owe the possibility of carrying on for several years\nthe research of which the present volume is a partial result. To\nMr. Atlee Hunt, C.M.G., Secretary of the Home and Territories\nDepartment of the Commonwealth of Australia, I am indebted for the\nfinancial assistance of the Department, and also for much help given\non the spot. In the Trobriands, I was immensely helped in my work\nby Mr. B. Hancock, pearl trader, to whom I am grateful not only for\nassistance and services, but for many acts of friendship.\n\nMuch of the argument in this book has been greatly improved by\nthe criticism given me by my friend, Mr. Paul Khuner, of Vienna,\nan expert in the practical affairs of modern industry and a highly\ncompetent thinker on economic matters. Professor L. T. Hobhouse has\nkindly read the proofs and given me valuable advice on several points.\n\nSir James Frazer, by writing his Preface, has enhanced the value of\nthis volume beyond its merit and it is not only a great honour and\nadvantage for me to be introduced by him, but also a special pleasure,\nfor my first love for ethnology is associated with the reading of the\n\"Golden Bough,\" then in its second edition.\n\nLast, not least, I wish to mention Professor C. G. Seligman, to whom\nthis book is dedicated. The initiative of my expedition was given by\nhim and I owe him more than I can express for the encouragement and\nscientific counsel which he has so generously given me during the\nprogress of my work in New Guinea.\n\nB. M.\n\nEl Boquin,\nIcod de los Vinos,\nTenerife.\nApril, 1921.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nACKNOWLEDGEMENTS\n\n\nIt is in the nature of the research, that an Ethnographer has to rely\nupon the assistance of others to an extent much greater than is the\ncase with other scientific workers. I have therefore to express in\nthis special place my obligations to the many who have helped me. As\nsaid in the Preface, financially I owe most to Mr. Robert Mond, who\nmade my work possible by bestowing on me the Robert Mond Travelling\nScholarship (University of London) of \u00a3250 per annum for five years\n(for 1914 and for 1917-1920). I was substantially helped by a grant\nof \u00a3250 from the Home and Territories Department of Australia,\nobtained by the good offices of Mr. Atlee Hunt, C.M.G. The London\nSchool of Economics awarded me the Constance Hutchinson Scholarship\nof \u00a3100 yearly for two years, 1915-1916. Professor Seligman, to\nwhom in this, as in other matters I owe so much, besides helping\nme in obtaining all the other grants, gave himself \u00a3100 towards the\ncost of the expedition and equipped me with a camera, a phonograph,\nanthropometric instruments and other paraphernalia of ethnographic\nwork. I went out to Australia with the British Association for the\nAdvancement of Science in 1914, as a guest, and at the expense,\nof the Commonwealth Government of Australia.\n\nIt may be interesting for intending field-workers to observe\nthat I carried out my ethnographic research for six years--1914 to\n1920--making three expeditions to the field of my work, and devoting\nthe intervals between expeditions to the working out of my material and\nto the study of special literature, on little more than \u00a3250 a year. I\ndefrayed out of this, not only all the expenses of travel and research,\nsuch as fares, wages to native servants, payments of interpreters, but\nI was also able to collect a fair amount of ethnographic specimens,\nof which part has been presented to the Melbourne Museum as the\nRobert Mond Collection. This would not have been possible for me,\nhad I not received much help from residents in New Guinea. My friend,\nMr. B. Hancock, of Gusaweta, Trobriand Islands, allowed me to use his\nhouse and store as base for my gear and provisions; he lent me his\ncutter on various occasions and provided me with a home, where I could\nalways repair in need or sickness. He helped me in my photographic\nwork, and gave me a good number of his own photographic plates,\nof which several are reproduced in this book (Plates XI, XXXVII,\nand L-LII).\n\nOther pearl traders and buyers of the Trobriands were also very kind\nto me, especially M. and Mme. Raphael Brudo, of Paris, Messrs. C. and\nG. Auerbach, and the late Mr. Mick George, all of whom helped me in\nvarious ways and extended to me their kind hospitality.\n\nIn my interim studies in Melbourne, I received much help from the\nstaff of the excellent Public Library of Victoria, for which I have to\nthank the Librarian, Mr. E. La Touche Armstrong, my friend Mr. E. Pitt,\nMr. Cooke and others.\n\nTwo maps and two plates are reproduced by kind permission of Professor\nSeligman from his \"Melanesians of British New Guinea.\" I have to thank\nthe Editor of Man (Captain T. A. Joyce) for his permission to use\nhere again the plates which were previously published in that paper.\n\nMr. William Swan Stallybrass, Senior Managing Director of\nMessrs. Geo. Routledge & Sons, Ltd., has spared no trouble in meeting\nall my wishes as to scientific details in the publication of this book,\nfor which I wish to express my sincere thanks.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPHONETIC NOTE.\n\n\nThe native names and words in this book are written according to\nthe simple rules, recommended by the Royal Geographical Society\nand the Royal Anthropological Institute. That is, the vowels are to\nbe pronounced as in Italian and the consonants as in English. This\nspelling suits the sounds of the Melanesian languages of New Guinea\nsufficiently well. The apostrophe placed between two vowels indicates\nthat they should be pronounced separately and not merged into a\ndiphthong. The accent is almost always on the penultimate, rarely on\nthe anti-penultimate. All the syllables must be pronounced clearly\nand distinctly.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n\nPreface by Sir James Frazer                                         vii\n\nForeword by the Author                                               xv\n\nIntroduction: The Subject, Method and Scope of This Enquiry\n\n    I--Sailing, and trading in the South Seas; the Kula. II--Method\n    in Ethnography. III--Starting field work. Some perplexing\n    difficulties. Three conditions of success. IV--Life in a\n    tent among the natives. Mechanism of \"getting in touch\" with\n    them. V--Active methods of research. Order and consistency\n    in savage cultures. Methodological consequences of this\n    truth. VI--Formulating the principles of tribal constitution\n    and of the anatomy of culture. Method of inference from\n    statistic accumulation of concrete data. Uses of synoptic\n    charts. VII--Presentation of the intimate touches of native\n    life; of types of behaviour. Method of systematic fixing of\n    impressions; of detailed, consecutive records. Importance\n    of personal participation in native life. VIII--Recording of\n    stereotyped manners of thinking and feeling. Corpus inscriptionum\n    Kiriwiniensium. IX--Summary of argument. The native's vision of\n    his world                                                         1\n\nI The Country and Inhabitants of the Kula District\n\n    I--Racial divisions in Eastern New Guinea. Seligman's\n    classification. The Kula natives. II--Sub-divisions of the Kula\n    district. III--Scenery at the Eastern end of New Guinea. Villages\n    of the S. Massim; their customs and social institutions. IV--The\n    d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago. The tribes of Dobu. The mythological\n    associations of their country. Some of their customs and\n    institutions. Sorcery. A vision on Sarubwoyna beach. V--Sailing\n    North. The Amphlett Group. Savage monopolists                    27\n\n\nII The Natives of the Trobriand Islands\n\n    I--Arrival in the coral Islands. First impression of\n    the native. Some significant appearances and their deeper\n    meaning. II--Position of women; their life and conduct before\n    and after marriage. III--Further exploration in the villages. A\n    cross country walk. Gardens and gardening. IV--The native's\n    working power; their motives and incentives to work. Magic and\n    work. A digression on Primitive Economics. V--Chieftainship:\n    power through wealth; a plutocratic community. List of the various\n    provinces and political divisions in the Trobriands. VI--Totemism,\n    the solidarity of clans and the bonds of kinship. VII--Spirits of\n    the dead. The overweening importance of magic. Black magic. The\n    prowling sorcerers and the flying witches. The malevolent visitors\n    from the South, and epidemics. VIII--The Eastern neighbours of\n    the Trobrianders. The remaining districts of the Kula            49\n\nIII The Essentials of the Kula\n\n    I--A concise definition of the Kula. II--Its economic\n    character. III--The articles exchanged; the conception of\n    vaygu'a. IV--The main rules and aspects of the Kula: the\n    sociological aspect (partnership); direction of movement; nature\n    of Kula ownership; the differential and integral effect of these\n    rules. V--The act of exchange; its regulations; the light it throws\n    on the acquisitive and \"communistic\" tendencies of the natives;\n    its concrete outlines; the sollicitory gifts. VI--The associated\n    activities and the secondary aspects of the Kula: construction\n    of canoes; subsidiary trade--their true relation to the Kula;\n    the ceremonial, mythology and magic associated with the Kula; the\n    mortuary taboos and distributions, in their relation to the Kula 81\n\nIV Canoes and Sailing\n\n    I--The value and importance of a canoe to a native. Its\n    appearance, the impressions and emotions it arouses in those\n    who use or own it. The atmosphere of romance which surrounds\n    it for the native. II--Analysis of its construction, in\n    relation to its function. The three types of canoes in\n    the Trobriand Islands. III--V--Sociology of a large canoe\n    (masawa). III--(A)--Social organisation of labour in constructing\n    a canoe; the division of functions; the magical regulation of\n    work. IV--(B)--Sociology of canoe ownership; the toli-relationship;\n    the toliwaga, \"master\" or \"owner\" of a canoe; the four privileges\n    and functions of a toliwaga. V--(C)--The social division of\n    functions in manning and sailing a canoe. Statistical data about\n    the Trobriand shipping                                          105\n\nV The Ceremonial Building of a Waga\n\n    I--Construction of canoes as part of the Kula proceedings. Magic\n    and mythology. The preparatory and the ceremonial stage of\n    construction. II--The first stage: expelling the wood-sprite\n    Tokway; transport of the log; the hollowing-out of the log and\n    the associated magic. III--The second stage: the inaugural rite\n    of Kula magic; the native at grips with problems of construction;\n    the wayugo creeper; the magical spell uttered over it; caulking;\n    the three magical exorcisms. IV--Some general remarks about the two\n    stages of canoe-building and the concomitant magic. Bulubwalata\n    (evil magic) of canoes. The ornamental prow-boards. The Dobuan\n    and the Muruwan types of overseas canoe                         124\n\nVI Launching of a Canoe and Ceremonial Visiting--Tribal Economics in\nthe Trobriands\n\n    I--The procedure and magic at launching. The trial run\n    (tasasoria). Account of the launching and tasasoria seen on the\n    beach of Kualukuba. Reflections on the decay of customs under\n    European influence. II--Digression on the sociology of work:\n    organisation of labour; forms of communal labour; payment for\n    work. III--The custom of ceremonial visiting (kabigidoya);\n    local trade, done on such expeditions. IV--VII--Digression\n    on gifts, payments, and exchange. IV--Attitude of the native\n    towards wealth. Desire of display. Enhancement of social\n    prestige through wealth. The motives of accumulating food\n    stuffs. The vilamalya (magic of plenty). The handling of\n    yams. Psychology of eating. Value of manufactured goods,\n    psychologically analysed. V--Motives for exchange. Giving, as\n    satisfaction of vanity and as display of power. Fallacy of the\n    \"economically isolated individual\" or \"household.\" Absence of\n    gain in exchange. VI--Exchange of gifts and barter. List of gifts,\n    payments and commercial transactions: 1. Pure gifts; 2. customary\n    payments, repaid irregularly and without strict equivalents;\n    3. payments for services rendered; 4. gifts returned in strictly\n    equivalent form; 5. exchange of material goods against privileges,\n    titles and non-material possessions; 6. ceremonial barter with\n    deferred payment; 7. trade pure and simple. VII--Economic duties\n    corresponding to various social ties; table of eight classes\n    of social relationship, characterised by definite economic\n    obligations                                                     146\n\nVII The Departure of an Overseas Expedition\n\n    Scene laid in Sinaketa. The local chiefs. Stir in the village.\n    The social differentiation of the sailing party. Magical rites,\n    associated with the preparing and loading of a canoe. The\n    sulumwoya rite. The magical bundle (lilava). The compartments\n    of a canoe and the gebobo spell. Farewells on the beach         195\n\nVIII The First Halt of the Fleet on Muwa\n\n    I--The definition of an uvalaku (ceremonial, competitive\n    expedition). II--The sagali (ceremonial distribution) on\n    Muwa. III--The magic of sailing                                 207\n\nIX Sailing on the Sea-arm of Pilolu\n\n    I--The landscape. Mythological geography of the regions\n    beyond. II--Sailing: the winds; navigation; technique of\n    sailing a canoe and its dangers. III--The customs and taboos\n    of sailing. Privileged position of certain sub-clans. IV--The\n    beliefs in dreadful monsters lurking in the sea                 219\n\n\nX The Story of Shipwreck\n\n    I--The flying witches, mulukwausi or yoyova: essentials of\n    the belief; initiation and education of a yoyova (witch);\n    secrecy surrounding this condition; manner of practising this\n    witch-craft; actual cases. II--The flying witches at sea and\n    in ship-wreck. Other dangerous agents. The kayga'u magic; its\n    modes of operation. III--Account of the preparatory rites of\n    kayga'u. Some incantations quoted. IV--The story of ship-wreck\n    and rescue. V--The spell of the rescuing giant fish. The myth\n    and the magical formula of Tokulubwaydoga.                      237\n\nXI In the Amphletts--Sociology of the Kula\n\n    I--Arrival in Gumasila. Example of a Kula conversation.\n    Trobrianders on long visits in the Amphletts. II--Sociology of\n    the Kula: 1. sociological limitations to participation in the\n    Kula; 2. relation of partnership; 3. entering the Kula\n    relationship; 4. participation of women in the Kula. III--The\n    Natives of the Amphletts: their industries and trade; pottery;\n    importing the clay; technology of pot-making; commercial\n    relations with the surrounding districts. IV--Drift of\n    migrations and cultural influences in this province             267\n\nXII In Tewara and Sanaroa--Mythology of the Kula\n\n    I--Sailing under the lee of Koytabu. The cannibals of the\n    unexplored jungle. Trobriand traditions and legends about\n    them. The history and song of Gumagabu. II--Myths and reality:\n    significance imparted to landscape by myth; line of distinction\n    between the mythical and the actual occurrences; magical\n    power and mythical atmosphere; the three strata of Trobriand\n    myths. III--V--The myths of the Kula. III--Survey of Kula mythology\n    and its geographical distribution. The story of Gere'u of Muyuwa\n    (Woodlark Island). The two stories of Tokosikuna of Digumenu and\n    Gumasila. IV--The Kudayuri myth of the flying canoe. Commentary\n    and analysis of this myth. Association between the canoe and the\n    flying witches. Mythology and the Lukuba clan. V--The myth of\n    Kasabwaybwayreta and the necklace Gumakarakedakeda. Comparison of\n    these stories. VI--Sociological analysis of the myths. influence\n    of the Kula myths upon native outlook; myth and custom. VII--The\n    relation between myth and actuality restated. VIII--The story,\n    the natural monuments and the religious ceremonial of the\n    mythical personalities Atu'a'ine, Aturamo'a and their sister\n    Sinatemubadiye'i. Other rocks of similar traditional nature     290\n\nXIII On the Beach of Sarubwoyna\n\n    I--The halt on the Beach. The beauty magic. Some incantations\n    quoted. The spell of the ta'uya (conch shell). II--The magical\n    onset on the Koya. Psychological analysis of this magic.\n    III--The Gwara (taboo) and the Ka'ubana'i spell                 334\n\nXIV The Kula in Dobu--Technicalities of the Exchange\n\n    I--Reception in Dobu. II--The main transactions of the Kula and\n    the subsidiary gifts and exchanges: some general reflections on\n    the driving force of the Kula; regulations of the main transaction\n    vaga (opening gift) and yotile (return gift); the sollicitory gifts\n    (pokala, kwaypolu, kaributu, korotomna); intermediary gifts (basi)\n    and final clinching gift (kudu); the other articles sometimes\n    exchanged in the main transaction of the Kula (doga, samakupa,\n    beku); commercial honour and ethics of the Kula. III--The Kula\n    proceedings in Dobu: wooing the partner; kwoygapani magic;\n    the subsidiary trade; roamings of the Boyowans in the Dobu\n    district                                                        350\n\nXV The Journey Home--The Fishing and Working of the Kaloma Shell\n\n    I--Visits made on the return trip. Some articles acquired. II--The\n    spondylus shell fishing in Sanaroa lagoon and in home waters: its\n    general character and magic; the Kaloma myth; consecutive account\n    of the technicalities, ceremonial and magic of the diving for the\n    shell. III--Technology, economics and sociology of the production\n    of the discs and necklaces from the shell. IV--Tanarere, display\n    of the haul. Arrival of the party home to Sinaketa              366\n\nXVI The Return Visit of the Dobuans to Sinaketa\n\n    I--The uvalaku (ceremonial expedition) from Dobu to Southern\n    Boyowa: the preparations in Dobu and Sanaroa; preparations in\n    Gumasila; the excitement, the spreading and convergence of news;\n    arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Nabwageta. II--Preparations\n    in Sinaketa for the reception of the visiting party. The\n    Dobuans arrive. The scene at Kaykuyawa point. The ceremonial\n    reception. Speeches and gifts. The three days' sojourn of the\n    Dobuans in Sinaketa. Manner of living. Exchange of gifts and\n    barter. III--Return home. Results shown at the tanarere     376\n\nXVII Magic and the Kula\n\n    I--The subject matter of Boyowan magic. Its association with\n    all the vital activities and with the unaccountable aspects of\n    reality. II--V--The native conception of magic. II--The methods of\n    arriving at its knowledge. III--Native views about the original\n    sources of magic. Its primeval character. Inadmissibility\n    to the native of spontaneous generation in magic. Magic a\n    power of man and not a force of nature. Magic and myth and\n    their super-normal atmosphere. IV--The magical acts: spell\n    and rite; relation between these two factors; spells uttered\n    directly without a concomitant rite; spells accompanied by\n    simple rite of impregnation; spells accompanied by a rite of\n    transference; spells accompanied by offerings and invocations;\n    summary of this survey. V--Place where magic is stored in\n    the human anatomy. VI--Condition of the performer. Taboos\n    and observances. Sociological position. Actual descent and\n    magical filiation. VII--Definition of systematic magic. The\n    \"systems\" of canoe magic and Kula magic. VIII--Supernormal or\n    supernatural character of magic; emotional reaction of the natives\n    to certain forms of magic; the kariyala (magical portent); r\u00f4le of\n    ancestral spirits; native terminology. IX--Ceremonial setting of\n    magic. X--Institution of taboo, supported by magic. Kaytubutabu\n    and kaytapaku. XI--Purchase of certain forms of magic. Payments\n    for magical services. XII--Brief summary                        392\n\nXVIII The Power of Words in Magic--Some Linguistic Data\n\n    I--Study of linguistic data in magic to throw light on native\n    ideas about the power of words. II--The text of the wayugo spell\n    with literal translation. III--Linguistic analysis of its u'ula\n    (exordium). IV--Vocal technique of reciting a spell. Analysis\n    of the tapwana (main part) and dogina (final part). V--The text\n    of the Sulumwoya spell and its analysis. VI--XII--Linguistic\n    data referring to the other spells mentioned in this volume and\n    some general inferences. VI--The tokway spell and the opening\n    phrases of the canoe spells. VII--The tapwana (main parts)\n    of the canoe spells. VIII--The end parts (dogina) of these\n    spells. IX--The u'ula of the mwasila spells. X--The tapwana and\n    the dogina of these spells. XI--The kayga'u spells. XII--Summary\n    of the results of this linguistic survey. XIII--Substances\n    used in these magical rites. XIV--XVIII--Analysis of some\n    non-magical linguistic texts, to illustrate ethnographic\n    method and native way of thinking. XIV--General remarks about\n    certain aspects of method. XV--Text No. 1, its literal and free\n    translation. XVI--Commentary. XVII--Texts No. 2 and 3 translated\n    and commented upon                                              428\n\nXIX The Inland Kula\n\n    I--To'uluwa, the chief of Kiriwina, on a visit in Sinaketa. The\n    decay of his power. Some melancholy reflections about the folly\n    of destroying the native order of things and of undermining\n    native authority as now prevailing. II--The division into \"Kula\n    communities;\" the three types of Kula, with respect to this\n    division. The overseas Kula. III--The inland Kula between two \"Kula\n    communities\" and within such a unit. IV--The \"Kula communities\"\n    in Boyowa (Trobriand Islands)                                   464\n\nXX Expeditions Between Kiriwina and Kitava\n\n    I, II--Account of an expedition from Kiriwina to Kitava. I--Fixing\n    dates and preparing districts. II--Preliminaries of the\n    journey. Departure from Kaulukuba Beach. Sailing. Analogies and\n    differences between these expeditions and those of the Sinaketans\n    to Dobu. Entering the village. The youlawada custom. Sojourn in\n    Kitava and return. III--The So'i (mortuary feast) in the Eastern\n    district (Kitava to Muyuwa) and its association with the Kula   478\n\nXXI The Remaining Branches and Offshoots of the Kula\n\n    I--Rapid survey of the routes between Woodlark Island (Murua\n    or Muyuwa) and the Engineer group and between this latter\n    and Dobu. II--The ordinary trade carried on between these\n    communities. III--An offshoot of the Kula; trading expeditions\n    between the Western Trobriand (Kavataria and Kayleula)\n    and the Western d'Entrecasteaux. IV--Production of mwali\n    (armshells). V--Some other offshoots and leakages of the Kula\n    ring. Entry of the Kula vaygu'a into the Ring.                  494\n\nXXII The Meaning of the Kula                                        509\n\nIndex                                                               519\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n              A ceremonial act of the kula                 Frontispiece\n\n    Plate                                                   Facing page\n\n    I         The ethnographer's tent on the beach of\n              Nu'agasi                                                6\n    II        The chief's lisiga (personal hut) in Omarakana          6\n    III       Street of Kasana'i (in Kiriwina, Trobriand\n              Island)                                                 7\n    IV        Scene in Yourawotu (Trobriands)                         7\n    V         Scenes on the beach of Silosilo (Southern\n              Massim district)                                       33\n    VI        Village scenes during a so'i feast                     37\n    VII       In the Amphletts                                       46\n    VIII      Group of natives in the village of Tukwa'ukwa          48\n    IX        Men of rank from Kiriwina                              49\n    X         Fishermen from Teyava                                  49\n    XI        A typical nakubukwabuya (unmarried woman)              52\n    XII       Boyowan girls                                          53\n    XIII      Kaydebu dance                                          56\n    XIV       Dancers in full decoration                             57\n    XV        A family group                                         72\n    XVI       Armshells                                              80\n    XVII      Two men wearing armshells                              81\n    XVIII     Two necklaces, made of red spondylus discs             88\n    XIX       Two women adorned with necklaces                       89\n    XX        A Kula gathering on the beach of Sinaketa              98\n    XXI       A masawa canoe                                        106\n    XXII      Putting a canoe into its hangar                       106\n    XXIII     Canoe under sail                                      107\n    XXIV      The fishing canoe (kalipoulo)                         112\n    XXV       The dug-out in the village                            124\n    XXVI      Carving a tabuyo                                      125\n    XXVII     Construction of a waga                                138\n    XXVIII    Sail making                                           139\n    XXIX      Rolls of dried pandanus leaf                          139\n    XXX       Launching of a canoe                                  148\n    XXXI      The tasasoria on the beach of Kaulukuba               148\n    XXXII     A chief's yam-house in Kasana'i                       149\n    XXXIII    Filling a yam-house in Yalumugwa                      149\n    XXIV      Display of pigs and yams at a distribution\n              (sagali)                                              170\n    XXXV      Communal cooking of mona (taro dumplings)             170\n    XXXVI     Scene in the wasi (ceremonial exchange of\n              vegetables for fish)                                  171\n    XXXVII    Vava, direct barter of vegetables for fish            171\n    XXXVIII   Koutau'ya, one of the chiefs of Sinaketa              196\n    XXXIX     A loaded canoe                                        197\n    XL        A waga sailing on a Kula expedition                   224\n    XLI       The rigging of a canoe                                225\n    XLII      Scenery in the Amphletts                              268\n    XLIII     Landing in the main village of Gumasila               269\n    XLIV      Technology of pot-making (I)                          284\n    XLV       Technology of pot-making (II)                         285\n    XLVI      Fine specimens of Amphlett pots                       288\n    XLVII     A canoe in Gumasila loading pots                      289\n    XLVIII    A Kula fleet halting to perform the final\n              rites of mwasila                                      334\n    XLIX      The beauty magic of the mwasila                       335\n    L (A)     Working the kaloma shell (I)                          370\n    L (B)     working the kaloma shell (II)                         371\n    LI        Working the kaloma shell (III)                        372\n    LII       Working the kaloma shell (IV)                         373\n    LIII      On the beach of Nabwageta                             376\n    LIV       The Dobuan canoes pulled up on Sinaketa beach         388\n    LV        Some canoes moored on the shallow lagoon near\n              the shore                                             388\n    LVI       Dobuan visitors in Sinaketa                           389\n    LVII      A magical spell associated with pregnancy             406\n    LVIII     A rite of war magic                                   406\n    LIX       A rite of garden magic                                407\n    LX        Armshells brought from Kitava                         470\n    LXI       Bringing in a soulava                                 471\n    LXII      Offering the soulava                                  471\n    LXIII     Ceremonial destruction during a so'i feast            486\n    LXIV      Nagega canoe                                          496\n    LXV       A corpse covered with valuables                       512\n\n\nMAPS\n\n    I        Eastern New Guinea                                  xxxiii\n    II       Racial distribution in Eastern New Guinea               26\n    III      The Kula district                                       30\n    IV       The Trobriand archipelago                               50\n    V        The Kula ring                                           82\n\n\nTABLES\n\n    I        Chronological list of Kula events witnessed by\n             the writer                                              16\n    II       Time-table of the uvalaku expedition, Dobu to\n             Sinaketa, 1918                                         381\n    III      Table of Kula magic and of the corresponding\n             activities                                         415-418\n\n\nFIGURES IN TEXT\n\n    I        Diagram of canoe stability and construction            109\n    II       Diagrammatic sections of canoes                        111\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION: THE SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE OF THIS INQUIRY\n\n\nI\n\nThe coastal populations of the South Sea Islands, with very few\nexceptions, are, or were before their extinction, expert navigators\nand traders. Several of them had evolved excellent types of large\nsea-going canoes, and used to embark in them on distant trade\nexpeditions or raids of war and conquest. The Papuo-Melanesians,\nwho inhabit the coast and the out-lying islands of New Guinea,\nare no exception to this rule. In general they are daring sailors,\nindustrious manufacturers, and keen traders. The manufacturing centres\nof important articles, such as pottery, stone implements, canoes, fine\nbaskets, valued ornaments, are localised in several places, according\nto the skill of the inhabitants, their inherited tribal tradition,\nand special facilities offered by the district; thence they are traded\nover wide areas, sometimes travelling more than hundreds of miles.\n\nDefinite forms of exchange along definite trade routes are to be found\nestablished between the various tribes. A most remarkable form of\nintertribal trade is that obtaining between the Motu of Port Moresby\nand the tribes of the Papuan Gulf. The Motu sail for hundreds of miles\nin heavy, unwieldy canoes, called lakatoi, which are provided with the\ncharacteristic crab-claw sails. They bring pottery and shell ornaments,\nin olden days, stone blades, to Gulf Papuans, from whom they obtain\nin exchange sago and the heavy dug-outs, which are used afterwards\nby the Motu for the construction of their lakatoi canoes. [3]\n\nFurther East, on the South coast, there lives the industrious,\nsea-faring population of the Mailu, who link the East End of New\nGuinea with the central coast tribes by means of annual trading\nexpeditions. [4] Finally, the natives of the islands and archipelagoes,\nscattered around the East End, are in constant trading relations with\none another. We possess in Professor Seligman's book an excellent\ndescription of the subject, especially of the nearer trades routes\nbetween the various islands inhabited by the Southern Massim. [5]\nThere exists, however, another, a very extensive and highly complex\ntrading system, embracing with its ramifications, not only the islands\nnear the East End, but also the Louisiades, Woodlark Island, the\nTrobriand Archipelago, and the d'Entrecasteaux group; it penetrates\ninto the mainland of New Guinea, and exerts an indirect influence over\nseveral outlying districts, such as Rossel Island, and some parts of\nthe Northern and Southern coast of New Guinea. This trading system,\nthe Kula, is the subject I am setting out to describe in this volume,\nand it will be seen that it is an economic phenomenon of considerable\ntheoretical importance. It looms paramount in the tribal life of\nthose natives who live within its circuit, and its importance is\nfully realised by the tribesmen themselves, whose ideas, ambitions,\ndesires and vanities are very much bound up with the Kula.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nBefore proceeding to the account of the Kula, it will be well to\ngive a description of the methods used in the collecting of the\nethnographic material. The results of scientific research in any branch\nof learning ought to be presented in a manner absolutely candid and\nabove board. No one would dream of making an experimental contribution\nto physical or chemical science, without giving a detailed account\nof all the arrangements of the experiments; an exact description\nof the apparatus used; of the manner in which the observations were\nconducted; of their number; of the length of time devoted to them,\nand of the degree of approximation with which each measurement was\nmade. In less exact sciences, as in biology or geology, this cannot\nbe done as rigorously, but every student will do his best to bring\nhome to the reader all the conditions in which the experiment or the\nobservations were made. In Ethnography, where a candid account of such\ndata is perhaps even more necessary, it has unfortunately in the past\nnot always been supplied with sufficient generosity, and many writers\ndo not ply the full searchlight of methodic sincerity, as they move\namong their facts and produce them before us out of complete obscurity.\n\nIt would be easy to quote works of high repute, and with a scientific\nhall-mark on them, in which wholesale generalisations are laid down\nbefore us, and we are not informed at all by what actual experiences\nthe writers have reached their conclusion. No special chapter or\nparagraph is devoted to describing to us the conditions under which\nobservations were made and information collected. I consider that\nonly such ethnographic sources are of unquestionable scientific\nvalue, in which we can clearly draw the line between, on the one\nhand, the results of direct observation and of native statements\nand interpretations, and on the other, the inferences of the author,\nbased on his common sense and psychological insight. [6] Indeed, Some\nsuch survey, as that contained in the table, given below (Div. VI of\nthis chapter) ought to be forthcoming, so that at a glance the reader\ncould estimate with precision the degree of the writer's personal\nacquaintance with the facts which he describes, and form an idea\nunder what conditions information had been obtained from the natives.\n\nAgain, in historical science, no one could expect to be seriously\ntreated if he made any mystery of his sources and spoke of the past\nas if he knew it by divination. In Ethnography, the writer is his own\nchronicler and the historian at the same time, while his sources are no\ndoubt easily accessible, but also supremely elusive and complex; they\nare not embodied in fixed, material documents, but in the behaviour\nand in the memory of living men. In Ethnography, the distance is\noften enormous between the brute material of information--as it is\npresented to the student in his own observations, in native statement,\nin the kaleidoscope of tribal life--and the final authoritative\npresentation of the results. The Ethnographer has to traverse this\ndistance in the laborious years between the moment when he sets foot\nupon a native beach, and makes his first attempts to get into touch\nwith the natives, and the time when he writes down the final version\nof his results. A brief outline of an Ethnographer's tribulations,\nas lived through by myself, may throw more light on the question,\nthan any long abstract discussion could do.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nImagine yourself suddenly set down surrounded by all your gear,\nalone on a tropical beach close to a native village, while the launch\nor dinghy which has brought you sails away out of sight. Since you\ntake up your abode in the compound of some neighbouring white man,\ntrader or missionary, you have nothing to do, but to start at once\non your ethnographic work. Imagine further that you are a beginner,\nwithout previous experience, with nothing to guide you and no one to\nhelp you. For the white man is temporarily absent, or else unable or\nunwilling to waste any of his time on you. This exactly describes my\nfirst initiation into field work on the south coast of New Guinea. I\nwell remember the long visits I paid to the villages during the first\nweeks; the feeling of hopelessness and despair after many obstinate\nbut futile attempts had entirely failed to bring me into real touch\nwith the natives, or supply me with any material. I had periods of\ndespondency, when I buried myself in the reading of novels, as a man\nmight take to drink in a fit of tropical depression and boredom.\n\nImagine yourself then, making your first entry into the village, alone\nor in company with your white cicerone. Some natives flock round you,\nespecially if they smell tobacco. Others, the more dignified and\nelderly, remain seated where they are. Your white companion has his\nroutine way of treating the natives, and he neither understands, nor is\nvery much concerned with the manner in which you, as an ethnographer,\nwill have to approach them. The first visit leaves you with a hopeful\nfeeling that when you return alone, things will be easier. Such was\nmy hope at least.\n\nI came back duly, and soon gathered an audience around me. A few\ncompliments in pidgin-English on both sides, some tobacco changing\nhands, induced an atmosphere of mutual amiability. I tried then to\nproceed to business. First, to begin with subjects which might arouse\nno suspicion, I started to \"do\" technology. A few natives were engaged\nin manufacturing some object or other. It was easy to look at it and\nobtain the names of the tools, and even some technical expressions\nabout the proceedings, but there the matter ended. It must be borne\nin mind that pidgin-English is a very imperfect instrument for\nexpressing one's ideas, and that before one gets a good training in\nframing questions and understanding answers one has the uncomfortable\nfeeling that free communication in it with the natives will never be\nattained; and I was quite unable to enter into any more detailed or\nexplicit conversation with them at first. I knew well that the best\nremedy for this was to collect concrete data, and accordingly I took\na village census, wrote down genealogies, drew up plans and collected\nthe terms of kinship. But all this remained dead material, which led no\nfurther into the understanding of real native mentality or behaviour,\nsince I could neither procure a good native interpretation of any of\nthese items, nor get what could be called the hang of tribal life. As\nto obtaining their ideas about religion, and magic, their beliefs in\nsorcery and spirits, nothing was forthcoming except a few superficial\nitems of folk-lore, mangled by being forced into pidgin-English.\n\nInformation which I received from some white residents in the district,\nvaluable as it was in itself, was more discouraging than anything else\nwith regard to my own work. Here were men who had lived for years\nin the place with constant opportunities of observing the natives\nand communicating with them, and who yet hardly knew one thing about\nthem really well. How could I therefore in a few months or a year,\nhope to overtake and go beyond them? Moreover, the manner in which\nmy white informants spoke about the natives and put their views was,\nnaturally, that of untrained minds, unaccustomed to formulate their\nthoughts with any degree of consistency and precision. And they\nwere for the most part, naturally enough, full of the biassed and\npre-judged opinions inevitable in the average practical man, whether\nadministrator, missionary, or trader; yet so strongly repulsive to\na mind striving after the objective, scientific view of things. The\nhabit of treating with a self-satisfied frivolity what is really\nserious to the ethnographer; the cheap rating of what to him is a\nscientific treasure, that is to say, the native's cultural and mental\npeculiarities and independence--these features, so well known in the\ninferior amateur's writing, I found in the tone of the majority of\nwhite residents. [7]\n\nIndeed, in my first piece of Ethnographic research on the South coast,\nit was not until I was alone in the district that I began to make\nsome headway; and, at any rate, I found out where lay the secret of\neffective field-work. What is then this ethnographer's magic, by which\nhe is able to evoke the real spirit of the natives, the true picture\nof tribal life? As usual, success can only be obtained by a patient\nand systematic application of a number of rules of common sense and\nwell-known scientific principles, and not by the discovery of any\nmarvellous short-cut leading to the desired results without effort\nor trouble. The principles of method can be grouped under three\nmain headings; first of all, naturally, the student must possess\nreal scientific aims, and know the values and criteria of modern\nethnography. Secondly, he ought to put himself in good conditions of\nwork, that is, in the main, to live without other white men, right\namong the natives. Finally, he has to apply a number of special\nmethods of collecting, manipulating and fixing his evidence. A few\nwords must be said about these three foundation stones of fieldwork,\nbeginning with the second as the most elementary.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nProper conditions for ethnographic work. These, as said, consist\nmainly in cutting oneself off from the company of other white men,\nand remaining in as close contact with the natives as possible,\nwhich really can only be achieved by camping right in their villages\n(see Plates I and II). It is very nice to have a base in a white man's\ncompound for the stores, and to know there is a refuge there in times\nof sickness and surfeit of native. But it must be far enough away\nnot to become a permanent milieu in which you live and from which\nyou emerge at fixed hours only to \"do the village.\" It should not\neven be near enough to fly to at any moment for recreation. For the\nnative is not the natural companion for a white man, and after you\nhave been working with him for several hours, seeing how he does his\ngardens, or letting him tell you items of folk-lore, or discussing\nhis customs, you will naturally hanker after the company of your own\nkind. But if you are alone in a village beyond reach of this, you go\nfor a solitary walk for an hour or so, return again and then quite\nnaturally seek out the natives' society, this time as a relief from\nloneliness, just as you would any other companionship. And by means\nof this natural intercourse, you learn to know him, and you become\nfamiliar with his customs and beliefs far better than when he is a\npaid, and often bored, informant.\n\nThere is all the difference between a sporadic plunging into the\ncompany of natives, and being really in contact with them. What does\nthis latter mean? On the Ethnographer's side, it means that his life\nin the village, which at first is a strange, sometimes unpleasant,\nsometimes intensely interesting adventure, soon adopts quite a natural\ncourse very much in harmony with his surroundings.\n\nSoon after I had established myself in Omarakana (Trobriand Islands),\nI began to take part, in a way, in the village life, to look forward\nto the important or festive events, to take personal interest in the\ngossip and the developments of the small village occurrences; to wake\nup every morning to a day, presenting itself to me more or less as\nit does to the native. I would get out from under my mosquito net,\nto find around me the village life beginning to stir, or the people\nwell advanced in their working day according to the hour and also to\nthe season, for they get up and begin their labours early or late,\nas work presses. As I went on my morning walk through the village, I\ncould see intimate details of family life, of toilet, cooking, taking\nof meals; I could see the arrangements for the day's work, people\nstarting on their errands, or groups of men and women busy at some\nmanufacturing tasks (see Plate III). Quarrels, jokes, family scenes,\nevents usually trivial, sometimes dramatic but always significant,\nformed the atmosphere of my daily life, as well as of theirs. It\nmust be remembered that as the natives saw me constantly every day,\nthey ceased to be interested or alarmed, or made self-conscious by\nmy presence, and I ceased to be a disturbing element in the tribal\nlife which I was to study, altering it by my very approach, as\nalways happens with a new-comer to every savage community. In fact,\nas they knew that I would thrust my nose into everything, even where\na well-mannered native would not dream of intruding, they finished\nby regarding me as part and parcel of their life, a necessary evil\nor nuisance, mitigated by donations of tobacco.\n\nLater on in the day, whatever happened was within easy reach, and\nthere was no possibility of its escaping my notice. Alarms about the\nsorcerer's approach in the evening, one or two big, really important\nquarrels and rifts within the community, cases of illness, attempted\ncures and deaths, magical rites which had to be performed, all these I\nhad not to pursue, fearful of missing them, but they took place under\nmy very eyes, at my own doorstep, so to speak (see Plate IV). And it\nmust be emphasised whenever anything dramatic or important occurs it is\nessential to investigate it at the very moment of happening, because\nthe natives cannot but talk about it, are too excited to be reticent,\nand too interested to be mentally lazy in supplying details. Also,\nover and over again, I committed breaches of etiquette, which the\nnatives, familiar enough with me, were not slow in pointing out. I\nhad to learn how to behave, and to a certain extent, I acquired \"the\nfeeling\" for native good and bad manners. With this, and with the\ncapacity of enjoying their company and sharing some of their games\nand amusements, I began to feel that I was indeed in touch with the\nnatives, and this is certainly the preliminary condition of being\nable to carry on successful field work.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nBut the Ethnographer has not only to spread his nets in the right\nplace, and wait for what will fall into them. He must be an active\nhuntsman, and drive his quarry into them and follow it up to its most\ninaccessible lairs. And that leads us to the more active methods of\npursuing ethnographic evidence. It has been mentioned at the end of\nDivision III that the Ethnographer has to be inspired by the knowledge\nof the most modern results of scientific study, by its principles\nand aims. I shall not enlarge upon this subject, except by way of one\nremark, to avoid the possibility of misunderstanding. Good training\nin theory, and acquaintance with its latest results, is not identical\nwith being burdened with \"preconceived ideas.\" If a man sets out on an\nexpedition, determined to prove certain hypotheses, if he is incapable\nof changing his views constantly and casting them off ungrudgingly\nunder the pressure of evidence, needless to say his work will be\nworthless. But the more problems he brings with him into the field,\nthe more he is in the habit of moulding his theories according to\nfacts, and of seeing facts in their bearing upon theory, the better\nhe is equipped for the work. Preconceived ideas are pernicious in any\nscientific work, but foreshadowed problems are the main endowment of\na scientific thinker, and these problems are first revealed to the\nobserver by his theoretical studies.\n\nIn Ethnology the early efforts of Bastian, Tylor, Morgan, the German\nV\u00f6lkerpsychologen have remoulded the older crude information of\ntravellers, missionaries, etc., and have shown us the importance\nof applying deeper conceptions and discarding crude and misleading\nones. [8]\n\nThe concept of animism superseded that of \"fetichism\" or\n\"devil-worship,\" both meaningless terms. The understanding of\nthe classificatory systems of relationship paved the way for the\nbrilliant, modern researches on native sociology in the field-work of\nthe Cambridge school. The psychological analysis of the German thinkers\nhas brought forth an abundant crop of most valuable information in\nthe results obtained by the recent German expeditions to Africa,\nSouth America and the Pacific, while the theoretical works of Frazer,\nDurkheim and others have already, and will no doubt still for a long\ntime inspire field workers and lead them to new results. The field\nworker relies entirely upon inspiration from theory. Of course he may\nbe also a theoretical thinker and worker, and there he can draw on\nhimself for stimulus. But the two functions are separate, and in actual\nresearch they have to be separated both in time and conditions of work.\n\nAs always happens when scientific interest turns towards and begins\nto labour on a field so far only prospected by the curiosity of\namateurs, Ethnology has introduced law and order into what seemed\nchaotic and freakish. It has transformed for us the sensational, wild\nand unaccountable world of \"savages\" into a number of well ordered\ncommunities, governed by law, behaving and thinking according to\nconsistent principles. The word \"savage,\" whatever association it\nmight have had originally, connotes ideas of boundless liberty, of\nirregularity, of something extremely and extraordinarily quaint. In\npopular thinking, we imagine that the natives live on the bosom of\nNature, more or less as they can and like, the prey of irregular,\nphantasmagoric beliefs and apprehensions. Modern science, on the\ncontrary, shows that their social institutions have a very definite\norganisation, that they are governed by authority, law and order\nin their public and personal relations, while the latter are,\nbesides, under the control of extremely complex ties of kinship\nand clanship. Indeed, we see them entangled in a mesh of duties,\nfunctions and privileges which correspond to an elaborate tribal,\ncommunal and kinship organisation (see Plate IV). Their beliefs and\npractices do not by any means lack consistency of a certain type,\nand their knowledge of the outer world is sufficient to guide them\nin many of their strenuous enterprises and activities. Their artistic\nproductions again lack neither meaning nor beauty.\n\nIt is a very far cry from the famous answer given long ago by a\nrepresentative authority who, asked, what are the manners and customs\nof the natives, answered, \"Customs none, manners beastly,\" to the\nposition of the modern Ethnographer! This latter, with his tables\nof kinship terms, genealogies, maps, plans and diagrams, proves an\nextensive and big organisation, shows the constitution of the tribe,\nof the clan, of the family; and he gives us a picture of the natives\nsubjected to a strict code of behaviour and good manners, to which\nin comparison the life at the Court of Versailles or Escurial was\nfree and easy. [9]\n\nThus the first and basic ideal of ethnographic field-work is to\ngive a clear and firm outline of the social constitution, and\ndisentangle the laws and regularities of all cultural phenomena\nfrom the irrelevances. The firm skeleton of the tribal life has\nto be first ascertained. This ideal imposes in the first place the\nfundamental obligation of giving a complete survey of the phenomena,\nand not of picking out the sensational, the singular, still less\nthe funny and quaint. The time when we could tolerate accounts\npresenting us the native as a distorted, childish caricature of\na human being are gone. This picture is false, and like many other\nfalsehoods, it has been killed by Science. The field Ethnographer has\nseriously and soberly to cover the full extent of the phenomena in\neach aspect of tribal culture studied, making no difference between\nWhat is commonplace, or drab, or ordinary, and what strikes him as\nastonishing and out-of-the-way. At the same time, the whole area of\ntribal culture in all its aspects has to be gone over in research. The\nconsistency, the law and order which obtain within each aspect make\nalso for joining them into one coherent whole.\n\nAn Ethnographer who sets out to study only religion, or only\ntechnology, or only social organisation cuts out an artificial field\nfor inquiry, and he will be seriously handicapped in his work.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nHaving settled this very general rule, let us descend to more detailed\nconsideration of method. The Ethnographer has in the field, according\nto what has just been said, the duty before him of drawing up all\nthe rules and regularities of tribal life; all that is permanent\nand fixed; of giving an anatomy of their culture, of depicting the\nconstitution of their society. But these things, though crystallised\nand set, are nowhere formulated. There is no written or explicitly\nexpressed code of laws, and their whole tribal tradition, the whole\nstructure of their society, are embodied in the most elusive of all\nmaterials; the human being. But not even in human mind or memory are\nthese laws to be found definitely formulated. The natives obey the\nforces and commands of the tribal code, but they do not comprehend\nthem; exactly as they obey their instincts and their impulses, but\ncould not lay down a single law of psychology. The regularities in\nnative institutions are an automatic result of the interaction of\nthe mental forces of tradition, and of the material conditions of\nenvironment. Exactly as a humble member of any modern institution,\nwhether it be the state, or the church, or the army, is of it and\nin it, but has no vision of the resulting integral action of the\nwhole, still less could furnish any account of its organisation,\nso it would be futile to attempt questioning a native in abstract,\nsociological terms. The difference is that, in our society, every\ninstitution has its intelligent members, its historians, and its\narchives and documents, whereas in a native society there are none\nof these. After this is realised an expedient has to be found to\novercome this difficulty. This expedient for an Ethnographer consists\nin collecting concrete data of evidence, and drawing the general\ninferences for himself. This seems obvious on the face of it, but was\nnot found out or at least practised in Ethnography till field work was\ntaken up by men of science. Moreover, in giving it practical effect,\nit is neither easy to devise the concrete applications of this method,\nnor to carry them out systematically and consistently.\n\nThough we cannot ask a native about abstract, general rules, we can\nalways enquire how a given case would be treated. Thus for instance,\nin asking how they would treat crime, or punish it, it would be vain\nto put to a native a sweeping question such as, \"How do you treat\nand punish a criminal?\" for even words could not be found to express\nit in native, or in pidgin. But an imaginary case, or still better,\na real occurrence, will stimulate a native to express his opinion and\nto supply plentiful information. A real case indeed will start the\nnatives on a wave of discussion, evoke expressions of indignation,\nshow them taking sides--all of which talk will probably contain a\nwealth of definite views, of moral censures, as well as reveal the\nsocial mechanism set in motion by the crime committed. From there,\nit will be easy to lead them on to speak of other similar cases,\nto remember other actual occurrences or to discuss them in all their\nimplications and aspects. From this material, which ought to cover\nthe widest possible range of facts, the inference is obtained by\nsimple induction. The scientific treatment differs from that of good\ncommon sense, first in that a student will extend the completeness and\nminuteness of survey much further and in a pedantically systematic and\nmethodical manner; and secondly, in that the scientifically trained\nmind, will push the inquiry along really relevant lines, and towards\naims possessing real importance. Indeed, the object of scientific\ntraining is to provide the empirical investigator with a mental chart,\nin accordance with which he can take his bearings and lay his course.\n\nTo return to our example, a number of definite cases discussed will\nreveal to the Ethnographer the social machinery for punishment. This\nis one part, one aspect of tribal authority. Imagine further that\nby a similar method of inference from definite data, he arrives at\nunderstanding leadership in war, in economic enterprise, in tribal\nfestivities--there he has at once all the data necessary to answer\nthe questions about tribal government and social authority. In actual\nfield work, the comparison of such data, the attempt to piece them\ntogether, will often reveal rifts and gaps in the information which\nlead on to further investigations.\n\nFrom my own experience, I can say that, very often, a problem seemed\nsettled, everything fixed and clear, till I began to write down a\nshort preliminary sketch of my results. And only then, did I see the\nenormous deficiencies, which would show me where lay new problems,\nand lead me on to new work. In fact, I spent a few months between my\nfirst and second expeditions, and over a year between that and the\nsubsequent one, in going over all my material, and making parts of\nit almost ready for publication each time, though each time I knew I\nwould have to re-write it. Such cross-fertilisation of constructive\nwork and observation, I found most valuable, and I do not think I\ncould have made real headway without it. I give this bit of my own\nhistory merely to show that what has been said so far is not only an\nempty programme, but the result of personal experience. In this volume,\nthe description is given of a big institution connected with ever so\nmany associated activities, and presenting many aspects. To anyone who\nreflects on the subject, it will be clear that the information about\na phenomenon of such high complexity and of so many ramifications,\ncould not be obtained with any degree of exactitude and completeness,\nwithout a constant interplay of constructive attempts and empirical\nchecking. In fact, I have written up an outline of the Kula institution\nat least half a dozen times while in the field and in the intervals\nbetween my expeditions. Each time, new problems and difficulties\npresented themselves.\n\nThe collecting of concrete data over a wide range of facts is thus one\nof the main points of field method. The obligation is not to enumerate\na few examples only, but to exhaust as far as possible all the cases\nwithin reach; and, on this search for cases, the investigator will\nscore most whose mental chart is clearest. But, whenever the material\nof the search allows it, this mental chart ought to be transformed\ninto a real one; it ought to materialise into a diagram, a plan,\nan exhaustive, synoptic table of cases. Long since, in all tolerably\ngood modern books on natives, we expect to find a full list or table\nof kinship terms, which includes all the data relative to it, and\ndoes not just pick out a few strange and anomalous relationships\nor expressions. In the investigation of kinship, the following up\nof one relation after another in concrete cases leads naturally to\nthe construction of genealogical tables. Practised already by the\nbest early writers, such as Munzinger, and, if I remember rightly,\nKubary, this method has been developed to its fullest extent in the\nworks of Dr. Rivers. Again, studying the concrete data of economic\ntransactions, in order to trace the history of a valuable object, and\nto gauge the nature of its circulation, the principle of completeness\nand thoroughness would lead to construct tables of transactions,\nsuch as we find in the work of Professor Seligman. [10] It is in\nfollowing Professor Seligman's example in this matter that I was able\nto settle certain of the more difficult and detailed rules of the\nKula. The method of reducing information, if possible, into charts\nor synoptic tables ought to be extended to the study of practically\nall aspects of native life. All types of economic transactions may\nbe studied by following up connected, actual cases, and putting them\ninto a synoptic chart; again, a table ought to be drawn up of all the\ngifts and presents customary in a given society, a table including the\nsociological, ceremonial, and economic definition of every item. Also,\nsystems of magic, connected series of ceremonies, types of legal acts,\nall could be charted, allowing each entry to be synoptically defined\nunder a number of headings. Besides this, of course, the genealogical\ncensus of every community, studied more in detail, extensive maps,\nplans and diagrams, illustrating ownership in garden land, hunting\nand fishing privileges, etc., serve as the more fundamental documents\nof ethnographic research.\n\nA genealogy is nothing else but a synoptic chart of a number of\nconnected relations of kinship. Its value as an instrument of research\nconsists in that it allows the investigator to put questions which\nhe formulates to himself in abstracto, but can put concretely to\nthe native informant. As a document, its value consists in that it\ngives a number of authenticated data, presented in their natural\ngrouping. A synoptic chart of magic fulfils the same function. As\nan instrument of research, I have used it in order to ascertain,\nfor instance, the ideas about the nature of magical power. With a\nchart before me, I could easily and conveniently go over one item\nafter the other, and note down the relevant practices and beliefs\ncontained in each of them. The answer to my abstract problem could\nthen be obtained by drawing a general inference from all the cases,\nand the procedure is illustrated in Chapters XVII and XVIII. [11] I\ncannot enter further into the discussion of this question, which would\nneed further distinctions, such as between a chart of concrete, actual\ndata, such as is a genealogy, and a chart summarising the outlines\nof a custom or belief, as a chart of a magical system would be.\n\nReturning once more to the question of methodological candour,\ndiscussed previously in Division II I wish to point out here, that\nthe procedure of concrete and tabularised presentation of data ought\nto be applied first to the Ethnographer's own credentials. That\nis, an Ethnographer, who wishes to be trusted, must show clearly\nand concisely, in a tabularised form, which are his own direct\nobservations, and which the indirect information that form the bases\nof his account. The Table on the next page will serve as an example\nof this procedure and help the reader of this book to form an idea\nof the trustworthiness of any statement he is specially anxious to\ncheck. With the help of this Table and the many references scattered\nthroughout the text, as to how, under what circumstances, and with what\ndegree of accuracy I arrived at a given item of knowledge, there will,\nI hope remain no obscurity whatever as to the sources of the book.\n\n\n\n       CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF KULA EVENTS WITNESSED BY THE WRITER\n\nFirst Expedition, August, 1914-March, 1915.\n\n    March, 1915. In the village of Dikoyas (Woodlark Island) a few\n    ceremonial offerings seen. Preliminary information obtained.\n\nSecond Expedition, May, 1915-May, 1916.\n\n    June, 1915. A Kabigidoya visit arrives from Vakuta to Kiriwina. Its\n    anchoring at Kavataria witnessed and the men seen at Omarakana,\n    where information collected.\n\n    July, 1915. Several parties from Kitava land on the beach of\n    Kaulukuba. The men examined in Omarakana. Much information\n    collected in that period.\n\n    September, 1915. Unsuccessful attempt to sail to Kitava with\n    To'uluwa, the chief of Omarakana.\n\n    October-November, 1915. Departure noticed of three expeditions\n    from Kiriwina to Kitava. Each time To'uluwa brings home a haul\n    of mwali (armshells).\n\n    November, 1915-March, 1916. Preparations for a big\n    overseas expedition from Kiriwina to the Marshall Bennett\n    Islands. Construction of a canoe; renovating of another;\n    sail making in Omarakana; launching; tasasoria on the beach of\n    Kaulukuba. At the same time, information is being obtained about\n    these and the associated subjects. Some magical texts of canoe\n    building and Kula magic obtained.\n\nThird Expedition, October, 1917-October, 1918.\n\n    November, 1917-December, 1917. Inland Kula; some data obtained\n    in Tukwaukwa.\n\n    December-February, 1918. Parties from Kitava arrive in\n    Wawela. Collection of information about the yoyova. Magic and\n    spells of Kaygau obtained.\n\n    March, 1918. Preparations in Sanaroa; preparations in the\n    Amphletts; the Dobuan fleet arrives in the Amphletts. The uvalaku\n    expedition from Dobu followed to Boyowa.\n\n    April, 1918. Their arrival; their reception in Sinaketa; the\n    Kula transactions; the big intertribal gathering. Some magical\n    formul\u00e6 obtained.\n\n    May, 1918. Party from Kitava seen in Vakuta.\n\n    June, July, 1918. Information about Kula magic and customs\n    checked and amplified in Omarakana, especially with regard to\n    its Eastern branches.\n\n    August, September, 1918. Magical texts obtained in Sinaketa.\n\n    October, 1918. Information obtained from a number of natives in\n    Dobu and Southern Massim district (examined in Samarai).\n\n\n\nTo summarise the first, cardinal point of method, I may say each\nphenomenon ought to be studied through the broadest range possible of\nits concrete manifestations; each studied by an exhaustive survey of\ndetailed examples. If possible, the results ought to be embodied into\nsome sort of synoptic chart, both to be used as an instrument of study,\nand to be presented as an ethnological document. With the help of\nsuch documents and such study of actualities the clear outline of the\nframework of the natives' culture in the widest sense of the word, and\nthe constitution of their society, can be presented. This method could\nbe called the method of statistic documentation by concrete evidence.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nNeedless to add, in this respect, the scientific field-work is far\nabove even the best amateur productions. There is, however, one point\nin which the latter often excel. This is, in the presentation of\nintimate touches of native life, in bringing home to us these aspects\nof it with which one is made familiar only through being in close\ncontact with the natives, one way or the other, for a long period of\ntime. In certain results of scientific work--especially that which has\nbeen called \"survey work\"--we are given an excellent skeleton, so to\nspeak, of the tribal constitution, but it lacks flesh and blood. We\nlearn much about the framework of their society, but within it,\nwe cannot perceive or imagine the realities of human life, the even\nflow of everyday events, the occasional ripples of excitement over a\nfeast, or ceremony, or some singular occurrence. In working out the\nrules and regularities of native custom, and in obtaining a precise\nformula for them from the collection of data and native statements,\nwe find that this very precision is foreign to real life, which\nnever adheres rigidly to any rules. It must be supplemented by the\nobservation of the manner in which a given custom is carried out,\nof the behaviour of the natives in obeying the rules so exactly\nformulated by the ethnographer, of the very exceptions which in\nsociological phenomena almost always occur.\n\nIf all the conclusions are solely based on the statements of\ninformants, or deduced from objective documents, it is of course\nimpossible to supplement them in actually observed data of real\nbehaviour. And that is the reason why certain works of amateur\nresidents of long standing, such as educated traders and planters,\nmedical men and officials, and last, not least, of the few intelligent\nand unbiassed missionaries to whom Ethnography owes so much, this is\nthe reason why these works surpass in plasticity and in vividness most\nof the purely scientific accounts. But if the specialised field-worker\ncan adopt the conditions of living described above, he is in a far\nbetter position to be really in touch with the natives than any other\nwhite resident. For none of them lives right in a native village,\nexcept for very short periods, and everyone has his own business,\nwhich takes up a considerable part of his time. Moreover, if, like a\ntrader or a missionary or an official he enters into active relations\nwith the native, if he has to transform or influence or make use of\nhim, this makes a real, unbiassed, impartial observation impossible,\nand precludes all-round sincerity, at least in the case of the\nmissionaries and officials.\n\nLiving in the village with no other business but to follow native life,\none sees the customs, ceremonies and transactions over and over again,\none has examples of their beliefs as they are actually lived through,\nand the full body and blood of actual native life fills out soon the\nskeleton of abstract constructions. That is the reason why, working\nunder such conditions as previously described, the Ethnographer is\nenabled to add something essential to the bare outline of tribal\nconstitution, and to supplement it by all the details of behaviour,\nsetting and small incident. He is able in each case to state whether\nan act is public or private; how a public assembly behaves, and\nwhat it looks like; he can judge whether an event is ordinary or an\nexciting and singular one; whether natives bring to it a great deal\nof sincere and earnest spirit, or perform it in fun; whether they do\nit in a perfunctory manner, or with zeal and deliberation.\n\nIn other words, there is a series of phenomena of great importance\nwhich cannot possibly be recorded by questioning or computing\ndocuments, but have to be observed in their full actuality. Let us\ncall them the imponderabilia of actual life. Here belong such things\nas the routine of a man's working day, the details of his care of\nthe body, of the manner of taking food and preparing it; the tone of\nconversational and social life around the village fires, the existence\nof strong friendships or hostilities, and of passing sympathies and\ndislikes between people; the subtle yet unmistakable manner in which\npersonal vanities and ambitions are reflected in the behaviour of\nthe individual and in the emotional reactions of those who surround\nhim. All these facts can and ought to be scientifically formulated and\nrecorded, but it is necessary that this be done, not by a superficial\nregistration of details, as is usually done by untrained observers,\nbut with an effort at penetrating the mental attitude expressed in\nthem. And that is the reason why the work of scientifically trained\nobservers, once seriously applied to the study of this aspect, will,\nI believe, yield results of surpassing value. So far, it has been\ndone only by amateurs, and therefore done, on the whole, indifferently.\n\nIndeed, if we remember that these imponderable yet all important facts\nof actual life are part of the real substance of the social fabric,\nthat in them are spun the innumerable threads which keep together\nthe family, the clan, the village community, the tribe--their\nsignificance becomes clear. The more crystallised bonds of social\ngrouping, such as the definite ritual, the economic and legal duties,\nthe obligations, the ceremonial gifts and formal marks of regard,\nthough equally important for the student, are certainly felt less\nstrongly by the individual who has to fulfil them. Applying this to\nourselves, we all know that \"family life\" means for us, first and\nforemost, the atmosphere of home, all the innumerable small acts and\nattentions in which are expressed the affection, the mutual interest,\nthe little preferences, and the little antipathies which constitute\nintimacy. That we may inherit from this person, that we shall have to\nwalk after the hearse of the other, though sociologically these facts\nbelong to the definition of \"family\" and \"family life,\" in personal\nperspective of what family truly is to us, they normally stand very\nmuch in the background.\n\nExactly the same applies to a native community, and if the Ethnographer\nwants to bring their real life home to his readers, he must on no\naccount neglect this. Neither aspect, the intimate, as little as\nthe legal, ought to be glossed over. Yet as a rule in ethnographic\naccounts we have not both but either the one or the other--and, so\nfar, the intimate one has hardly ever been properly treated. In all\nsocial relations besides the family ties, even those between mere\ntribesmen and, beyond that, between hostile or friendly members of\ndifferent tribes, meeting on any sort of social business, there is\nthis intimate side, expressed by the typical details of intercourse,\nthe tone of their behaviour in the presence of one another. This\nside is different from the definite, crystalised legal frame of the\nrelationship, and it has to be studied and stated in its own right.\n\nIn the same way, in studying the conspicuous acts of tribal life,\nsuch as ceremonies, rites, festivities, etc., the details and tone of\nbehaviour ought to be given, besides the bare outline of events. The\nimportance of this may be exemplified by one instance. Much has\nbeen said and written about survival. Yet the survival character\nof an act is expressed in nothing as well as in the concomitant\nbehaviour, in the way in which it is carried out. Take any example\nfrom our own culture, whether it be the pomp and pageantry of a\nstate ceremony, or a picturesque custom kept up by street urchins,\nits \"outline\" will not tell you whether the rite flourishes still\nwith full vigour in the hearts of those who perform it or assist at\nthe performance or whether they regard it as almost a dead thing,\nkept alive for tradition's sake. But observe and fix the data of\ntheir behaviour, and at once the degree of vitality of the act will\nbecome clear. There is no doubt, from all points of sociological,\nor psychological analysis, and in any question of theory, the manner\nand type of behaviour observed in the performance of an act is of the\nhighest importance. Indeed behaviour is a fact, a relevant fact, and\none that can be recorded. And foolish indeed and short-sighted would\nbe the man of science who would pass by a whole class of phenomena,\nready to be garnered, and leave them to waste, even though he did\nnot see at the moment to what theoretical use they might be put!\n\nAs to the actual method of observing and recording in field-work\nthese imponderabilia of actual life and of typical behaviour, there\nis no doubt that the personal equation of the observer comes in here\nmore prominently, than in the collection of crystalised, ethnographic\ndata. But here also the main endeavour must be to let facts speak for\nthemselves. If in making a daily round of the village, certain small\nincidents, characteristic forms of taking food, of conversing, of\ndoing work (see for instance Plate III) are found occurring over and\nover again, they should be noted down at once. It is also important\nthat this work of collecting and fixing impressions should begin\nearly in the course of working out a district. Because certain subtle\npeculiarities, which make an impression as long as they are novel,\ncease to be noticed as soon as they become familiar. Others again can\nonly be perceived with a better knowledge of the local conditions. An\nethnographic diary, carried on systematically throughout the course\nof one's work in a district would be the ideal instrument for this\nsort of study. And if, side by side with the normal and typical,\nthe ethnographer carefully notes the slight, or the more pronounced\ndeviations from it, he will be able to indicate the two extremes\nwithin which the normal moves.\n\nIn observing ceremonies or other tribal events, such, for instance as\nthe scene depicted in Plate IV, it is necessary, not only to note down\nthose occurrences and details which are prescribed by tradition and\ncustom to be the essential course of the act, but also the Ethnographer\nought to record carefully and precisely, one after the other, the\nactions of the actors and of the spectators. Forgetting for a moment\nthat he knows and understands the structure of this ceremony, the\nmain dogmatic ideas underlying it, he might try to find himself only\nin the midst of an assembly of human-beings, who behave seriously or\njocularly, with earnest concentration or with bored frivolity, who\nare either in the same mood as he finds them every day, or else are\nscrewed up to a high pitch of excitement, and so on and so on. With his\nattention constantly directed to this aspect of tribal life, with the\nconstant endeavour to fix it, to express it in terms of actual fact,\na good deal of reliable and expressive material finds its way into\nhis notes. He will be able to \"set\" the act into its proper place in\ntribal life, that is to show whether it is exceptional or commonplace,\none in which the natives behave ordinarily, or one in which their\nwhole behaviour is transformed. And he will also be able to bring\nall this home to his readers in a clear, convincing manner.\n\nAgain, in this type of work, it is good for the Ethnographer sometimes\nto put aside camera, note book and pencil, and to join in himself\nin what is going on. He can take part in the natives' games, he can\nfollow them on their visits and walks, sit down and listen and share\nin their conversations. I am not certain if this is equally easy\nfor everyone--perhaps the Slavonic nature is more plastic and more\nnaturally savage than that of Western Europeans--but though the degree\nof success varies, the attempt is possible for everyone. Out of such\nplunges into the life of the natives--and I made them frequently not\nonly for study's sake but because everyone needs human company--I\nhave carried away a distinct feeling that their behaviour, their\nmanner of being, in all sorts of tribal transactions, became more\ntransparent and easily understandable than it had been before. All\nthese methodological remarks, the reader will find again illustrated\nin the following chapters.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nFinally, let us pass to the third and last aim of scientific\nfield-work, to the last type of phenomenon which ought to be recorded\nin order to give a full and adequate picture of native culture. Besides\nthe firm outline of tribal constitution and crystallised cultural\nitems which form the skeleton, besides the data of daily life and\nordinary behaviour, which are, so to speak, its flesh and blood,\nthere is still to be recorded the spirit--the natives' views and\nopinions and utterances. For, in every act of tribal life, there is,\nfirst, the routine prescribed by custom and tradition, then there\nis the manner in which it is carried out, and lastly there is the\ncommentary to it, contained in the natives' mind. A man who submits\nto various customary obligations, who follows a traditional course\nof action, does it impelled by certain motives, to the accompaniment\nof certain feelings, guided by certain ideas. These ideas, feelings,\nand impulses are moulded and conditioned by the culture in which\nwe find them, and are therefore an ethnic peculiarity of the given\nsociety. An attempt must be made therefore, to study and record them.\n\nBut is this possible? Are these subjective states not too elusive and\nshapeless? And, even granted that people usually do feel or think\nor experience certain psychological states in association with the\nperformance of customary acts, the majority of them surely are not\nable to formulate these states, to put them into words. This latter\npoint must certainly be granted, and it is perhaps the real Gordian\nknot in the study of the facts of social psychology. Without trying to\ncut or untie this knot, that is to solve the problem theoretically,\nor to enter further into the field of general methodology, I shall\nmake directly for the question of practical means to overcome some\nof the difficulties involved.\n\nFirst of all, it has to be laid down that we have to study here\nstereotyped manners of thinking and feeling. As sociologists, we\nare not interested in what A or B may feel qua individuals, in the\naccidental course of their own personal experiences--we are interested\nonly in what they feel and think qua members of a given community. Now\nin this capacity, their mental states receive a certain stamp, become\nstereotyped by the institutions in which they live, by the influence\nof tradition and folk-lore, by the very vehicle of thought, that is\nby language. The social and cultural environment in which they move\nforces them to think and feel in a definite manner. Thus, a man who\nlives in a polyandrous community cannot experience the same feelings\nof jealousy, as a strict monogynist, though he might have the elements\nof them. A man who lives within the sphere of the Kula cannot become\npermanently and sentimentally attached to certain of his possessions,\nin spite of the fact that he values them most of all. These examples\nare crude, but better ones will be found in the text of this book.\n\nSo, the third commandment of field-work runs: Find out the typical\nways of thinking and feeling, corresponding to the institutions and\nculture of a given community, and formulate the results in the most\nconvincing manner. What will be the method of procedure? The best\nethnographical writers--here again the Cambridge school with Haddon,\nRivers, and Seligman rank first among English Ethnographers--have\nalways tried to quote verbatim statements of crucial importance. They\nalso adduce terms of native classification; sociological, psychological\nand industrial termini technici, and have rendered the verbal contour\nof native thought as precisely as possible. One step further in this\nline can be made by the Ethnographer, who acquires a knowledge of\nthe native language and can use it as an instrument of inquiry. In\nworking in the Kiriwinian language, I found still some difficulty in\nwriting down the statement directly in translation which at first I\nused to do in the act of taking notes. The translation often robbed\nthe text of all its significant characteristics--rubbed off all its\npoints--so that gradually I was led to note down certain important\nphrases just as they were spoken, in the native tongue. As my knowledge\nof the language progressed, I put down more and more in Kiriwinian,\ntill at last I found myself writing exclusively in that language,\nrapidly taking notes, word for word, of each statement. No sooner had\nI arrived at this point, than I recognised that I was thus acquiring\nat the same time an abundant linguistic material, and a series of\nethnographic documents which ought to be reproduced as I had fixed\nthem, besides being utilised in the writing up of my account. [12]\nThis corpus inscriptionum Kiriwiniensium can be utilised, not only\nby myself, but by all those who, through their better penetration\nand ability of interpreting them, may find points which escape my\nattention, very much as the other corpora form the basis for the\nvarious interpretations of ancient and prehistoric cultures; only,\nthese ethnographic inscriptions are all decipherable and clear,\nhave been almost all translated fully and unambiguously, and have\nbeen provided with native cross-commentaries or scholia obtained from\nliving sources.\n\nNo more need be said on this subject here, as later on a whole chapter\n(Chapter XVIII) is devoted to it, and to its exemplification by several\nnative texts. The Corpus will of course be published separately at\na later date.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nOur considerations thus indicate that the goal of ethnographic\nfield-work must be approached through three avenues:\n\n1. The organisation of the tribe, and the anatomy of its culture\nmust be recorded in firm, clear outline. The method of concrete,\nstatistical documentation is the means through which such an outline\nhas to be given.\n\n2. Within this frame, the imponderabilia of actual life, and the\ntype of behaviour have to be filled in. They have to be collected\nthrough minute, detailed observations, in the form of some sort of\nethnographic diary, made possible by close contact with native life.\n\n3. A collection of ethnographic statements, characteristic narratives,\ntypical utterances, items of folk-lore and magical formul\u00e6 has to be\ngiven as a corpus inscriptionum, as documents of native mentality.\n\nThese three lines of approach lead to the final goal, of which an\nEthnographer should never lose sight. This goal is, briefly, to grasp\nthe native's point of view, his relation to life, to realise his vision\nof his world. We have to study man, and we must study what concerns\nhim most intimately, that is, the hold which life has on him. In\neach culture, the values are slightly different; people aspire after\ndifferent aims, follow different impulses, yearn after a different\nform of happiness. In each culture, we find different institutions\nin which man pursues his life-interest, different customs by which he\nsatisfies his aspirations, different codes of law and morality which\nreward his virtues or punish his defections. To study the institutions,\ncustoms, and codes or to study the behaviour and mentality without the\nsubjective desire of feeling by what these people live, of realising\nthe substance of their happiness--is, in my opinion, to miss the\ngreatest reward which we can hope to obtain from the study of man.\n\nThese generalities the reader will find illustrated in the following\nchapters. We shall see there the savage striving to satisfy certain\naspirations, to attain his type of value, to follow his line of\nsocial ambition. We shall see him led on to perilous and difficult\nenterprises by a tradition of magical and heroical exploits, shall\nsee him following the lure of his own romance. Perhaps as we read\nthe account of these remote customs there may emerge a feeling of\nsolidarity with the endeavours and ambitions of these natives. Perhaps\nman's mentality will be revealed to us, and brought near, along\nsome lines which we never have followed before. Perhaps through\nrealising human nature in a shape very distant and foreign to us,\nwe shall have some light shed on our own. In this, and in this case\nonly, we shall be justified in feeling that it has been worth our\nwhile to understand these natives, their institutions and customs,\nand that we have gathered some profit from the Kula.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE COUNTRY AND INHABITANTS OF THE KULA DISTRICT\n\n\nI\n\nThe tribes who live within the sphere of the Kula system of trading\nbelong, one and all--with the exception perhaps, of the Rossel\nIsland natives, of whom we know next to nothing--to the same racial\ngroup. These tribes inhabit the easternmost end of the mainland of\nNew Guinea and those islands, scattered in the form of the long-drawn\narchipelago, which continue in the same south-easternly trend as\nthe mainland, as if to bridge over the gap between New Guinea and\nthe Solomons.\n\nNew Guinea is a mountainous island-continent, very difficult of access\nin its interior, and also at certain portions of the coast, where\nbarrier reefs, swamps and rocks practically prevent landing or even\napproach for native craft. Such a country would obviously not offer the\nsame opportunities in all its parts to the drifting migrations which\nin all probability are responsible for the composition of the present\npopulation of the South Seas. The easily accessible portions of the\ncoast and the outlying islands would certainly offer a hospitable\nreception to immigrants of a higher stock; but, on the other hand,\nthe high hills, the impregnable fastnesses in swampy flats and shores\nwhere landing was difficult and dangerous, would give easy protection\nto the aborigines, and discourage the influx of migrators.\n\nThe actual distribution of races in New Guinea completely justifies\nthese hypotheses. Map II shows the Eastern part of the main island\nand archipelagoes of New Guinea and the racial distribution of the\nnatives. The interior of the continent, the low sago swamps and deltas\nof the Gulf of Papua--probably the greater part of the North Coast and\nof the South-West Coast of New Guinea, are inhabited by a \"relatively\ntall, dark-skinned, frizzly-haired\" race, called by Dr. Seligman\nPapuan, and in the hills more especially by pygmy tribes. We know\nlittle about these people, swamp tribes and hill tribes alike, who\nprobably are the autochtons in this part of the world. [13] As we shall\nalso not meet them in the following account, it will be better to pass\nto the tribes who inhabit the accessible parts of New Guinea. \"The\nEastern Papuasians, that is, the generally smaller, lighter coloured,\nfrizzly-haired races of the eastern peninsula of New Guinea and its\narchipelagoes now require a name, and since the true Melanesian element\nis dominant in them, they may be called Papuo-Melanesians. With regard\nto these Eastern Papuasians, Dr. A. C. Haddon first recognised that\nthey came into the country as the result of a 'Melanesian migration\ninto New Guinea,' and further, 'That a single wandering would not\naccount for certain puzzling facts.'\" [14] The Papuo-Melanesians\nagain can be divided into two groups, a Western and an Eastern one,\nwhich, following Dr. Seligman's terminology, we shall call the Western\nPapuo-Melanesians and the Massim respectively. It is with these latter\nwe shall become acquainted in the following pages.\n\nIf we glance at a map and follow the orographical features of Eastern\nNew Guinea and its coast line, we see at once that the high main\nrange of mountains drops off between the 149th and 150th meridians,\nand again that the fringing reef disappears at the same point,\nthat is, at the west end of Orangerie Bay. This means that the\nextreme East End of New Guinea, with its archipelagoes, in other\nwords, the Massim country, is the most easily accessible area,\nand might be expected to be inhabited by a homogeneous stock of\npeople, consisting of immigrants almost unmixed with the autochtons\n(Cf. Map II). \"Indeed, while the condition actually existing in the\nMassim area suggests that there was no slow mingling of the invaders\nwith a previous stock, the geographical features of the territory of\nthe Western Papuo-Melanesians with its hills, mountains and swamps,\nare such that invaders could not have speedily overrun the country,\nnor failed to have been influenced by the original inhabitants...\" [15]\n\nI shall assume that the reader is acquainted with the quoted work of\nDr. Seligman, where a thorough account is given of all the main types\nof Papuo-Melanesian sociology and culture one after the other. But\nthe tribes of the Eastern Papuo-Melanesian or Massim area, must be\ndescribed here somewhat more in detail, as it is within this fairly\nhomogeneous area that the Kula takes place. Indeed, the Kula sphere\nof influence and the ethnographic area of the Massim tribes almost\ncompletely overlap, and we can speak about the Kula type of culture\nand the Massim culture almost synonymously.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nThe adjacent Map III shows the Kula district, that is, the easternmost\nend of the main island and the archipelagoes lying to its East\nand North-East. As Professor C. G. Seligman says: \"This area can\nbe divided into two parts, a small northern portion comprising the\nTrobriands, the Marshall Bennets, the Woodlarks (Murua), as well as\na number of smaller islands such as the Laughlans (Nada), and a far\nlarger southern portion comprising the remainder of the Massim domain\"\n(op. cit., p. 7).\n\nThis division is represented on Map III by the thick line isolating\nto the North the Amphletts, the Trobriands, the small Marshall\nBennet Group, Woodlark Island and the Laughlan Group. The Southern\nportion, I found convenient to divide further into two divisions\nby a vertical line, leaving to the East Misima, Sud-Est Island and\nRossel Island. As our information about this district is extremely\nscanty, I have preferred to exclude it from the area of the Southern\nMassim. In this excluded area, only the natives of Misima enter into\nthe Kula, but their participation will play a very small part only in\nthe following account. The western segment, and this is the part of\nwhich we shall speak as the district of the Southern Massim, comprises\nfirst the East End of the mainland, the few adjacent islands, Sariba,\nRoge'a, Side'a, and Basilaki; to the South, the island of Wari, to\nthe East the important, though small archipelago of Tubetube (Engineer\nGroup); and to the North, the big archipelago of the d'Entrecasteaux\nIslands. From this latter, only one district, that of Dobu, interests\nus more specially. The culturally homogeneous tribes of the Southern\nMassim have been marked off on our map as district V, the Doubans as\ndistrict IV.\n\nReturning to the two main divisions into the Southern and Northern\nportion, this latter is occupied by a very homogeneous population,\nhomogeneous both in language and culture, and in the clear recognition\nof their own ethnic unity. To quote further Professor Seligman, it\n\"is characterised by the absence of cannibalism, which, until put\ndown by the Government, existed throughout the remaining portion of\nthe district; another peculiarity of the Northern Massim is their\nrecognition\" in certain districts, though not in all, of chieftains\nwho wield extensive powers (op. cit. p. 7). The natives of that\nnorthern area used to practise--I say used because wars are a thing\nof the past--a type of warfare open and chivalrous, very different\nfrom the raids of the Southern Massim. Their villages are built in\nbig compact blocks, and they have storehouses on piles for storing\nfood, distinct from their rather miserable dwellings, which stand\ndirectly on the ground and are not raised on piles. As can be seen\non the map, it has been necessary to sub-divide this Northern Massim\nfurther into three groups, first, that of the Trobriand Islanders,\nor the Boyowans (the Western Branch); secondly that of the natives\nof Woodlark Island and the Marshall Bennets (the Eastern Branch);\nand, thirdly, the small group of the Amphlett natives.\n\nThe other big sub-division of the Kula tribes is composed of the\nSouthern Massim, of which, as just said, the western branch mainly\nconcerns us. These last natives are smaller in stature, and with,\nbroadly speaking, a much less attractive appearance than those\nof the North. [16] They live in widely scattered communities,\neach house or group of houses standing in its own little grove\nof palm and fruit trees, apart from the others. Formerly they were\ncannibals and head-hunters, and used to make unexpected raids on their\nadversaries. There is no chieftainship, authority being exercised by\nthe elders in each community. They build very elaborately constructed\nand beautifully decorated houses on piles.\n\nI have found it necessary for the purpose of this study to cut out of\nthe western branch of the southern portion of the Massim the two areas\n(marked IV and V on the Map III), as they are of special importance to\nthe Kula. It must, however, be borne in mind that our present knowledge\ndoes not allow of any final classification of the Southern Massim.\n\nSuch are the general characteristics of the Northern and Southern\nMassim respectively, given in a few words. But before proceeding with\nour subject, it will be good to give a short but more detailed sketch\nof each of these tribes. I shall begin with the southernmost section,\nfollowing the order in which a visitor, travelling from Port Moresby\nwith the Mail boat, would come in contact with these districts,\nthe way indeed in which I received my first impressions of them. My\npersonal knowledge of the various tribes is, however, very uneven,\nbased on a long residence among the Trobriand Islanders (District I),\non a month's study of the Amphletts (District III); on a few weeks\nspent in Woodlark Island or Murua (District II), the neighbourhood\nof Samarai (District V), and the South Coast of New Guinea (also V);\nand on three short visits to Dobu (District IV). My knowledge of some\nof the remaining localities which enter into the Kula is derived\nonly from a few conversations I had with natives of this district,\nand on second-hand information derived from white residents. The\nwork of Professor C. G. Seligman, however, supplements my personal\nacquaintance in so far as the districts of Tubetube, Woodlark Island,\nthe Marshall Bennets, and several others are concerned.\n\nThe whole account of the Kula will therefore naturally be given\nfrom the perspective, so to speak, of the Trobriand district. This\ndistrict is often called in this book by its native name, Boyowa,\nand the language is spoken of as Kiriwinian, Kiriwina being the main\nprovince of the district, and its language considered by the natives\nas a standard speech. But I may add at once that in studying the\nKula in that part, I ipso facto studied its adjacent branches between\nthe Trobriands and the Amphletts, between the Trobriands and Kitava,\nand between the Trobriands and Dobu; seeing not only the preparations\nand departures in Boyowa, but also the arrival of the natives from\nother districts, in fact, following one or two of such expeditions\nin person. [17] Moreover, the Kula being an international affair,\nthe natives of one tribe know more about Kula customs abroad than\nthey would about any other subject. And in all its essentials, the\ncustoms and tribal rules of the exchange are identical throughout\nthe whole Kula area.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nLet us imagine that we are sailing along the South coast of New\nGuinea towards its Eastern end. At about the middle of Orangerie Bay\nwe arrive at the boundary of the Massim, which runs from this point\nnorth-westwards till it strikes the northern coast near Cape Nelson\n(see Map II). As mentioned before, the boundary of the district\ninhabited by this tribe corresponds to definite geographical\nconditions, that is, to the absence of natural, inland fastnesses,\nor of any obstacles to landing. Indeed, it is here that the Great\nBarrier Reef becomes finally submerged, while again the Main Range\nof mountains, which follows up to this point, always separated from\nthe foreshore by minor ranges, comes to an end.\n\nOrangerie Bay is closed, on its Eastern side, by a headland, the\nfirst of a series of hills, rising directly out of the sea. As we\napproach the land, we can see distinctly the steep, folded slopes,\ncovered with dense, rank jungle, brightened here and there by bold\npatches of lalang grass. The coast is broken first by a series of\nsmall, land-locked bays or lagoons; then, after Fife Bay, come one or\ntwo larger bays, with a flat, alluvial foreshore, and then from South\nCape the coast stretches in an almost unbroken line, for several miles,\nto the end of the mainland.\n\nThe East End of New Guinea is a tropical region, where the distinction\nbetween the dry and wet season is not felt very sharply. In fact,\nthere is no pronounced dry season there, and so the land is always\nclad in intense, shining green, which forms a crude contrast with\nthe blue sea. The summits of the hills are often shrouded in trailing\nmist, whilst white clouds brood or race over the sea, breaking up the\nmonotony of saturated, stiff blue and green. To someone not acquainted\nwith the South Sea landscape it is difficult to convey the permanent\nimpression of smiling festiveness, the alluring clearness of the beach,\nfringed by jungle trees and palms, skirted by white foam and blue\nsea, above it the slopes ascending in rich, stiff folds of dark and\nlight green, piebald and shaded over towards the summit by steamy,\ntropical mists.\n\nWhen I first sailed along this coast, it was after a few months'\nresidence and field work in the neighbouring district of the\nMailu. From Toulon Island, the main centre and most important\nsettlement of the Mailu, I used to look towards the East end of\nOrangerie Bay, and on clear days I could see the pyramidal hills of\nBonabona, of Gadogado'a, as blue silhouettes in the distance. Under\nthe influence of my work, I came to regard this country within the\nsomewhat narrow native horizon, as the distant land to which perilous,\nseasonal voyages are made, from whence come certain objects--baskets,\ndecorated carvings, weapons, ornaments--particularly well formed, and\nsuperior to the local ones; the land to which the natives point with\nawe and distrust, when speaking of specially evil and virulent forms\nof sorcery; the home of a folk mentioned with horror as cannibals. Any\nreally fine touch of artistic taste, in Mailu carvings, would always\nbe directly imported or imitated from the East, and I also found that\nthe softest and most melodious songs and the finest dances came from\nthe Massim. Many of their customs and institutions would be quoted\nto me as quaint and unusual, and thus, I, the ethnographer working\non the borderland of two cultures, naturally had my interest and\ncuriosity aroused. It seemed as if the Eastern people must be much\nmore complex, in one direction towards the cruel, man-eating savage,\nin the other towards the finely-gifted, poetical lord of primitive\nforest and seas, when I compared them with the relatively coarse and\ndull native of Mailu. No wonder, therefore, that on approaching their\ncoast--travelling on that occasion in a small launch--I scanned the\nlandscape with keen interest, anxious to catch my first glimpse of\nnatives, or of their traces.\n\nThe first distinctly visible signs of human existence in this\nneighbourhood are the patches of garden land. These big clearings,\ntriangular in shape, with the apex pointing uphill, look as if they\nwere plastered on to the steep slopes. From August to November, the\nseason when the natives cut and burn the bush, they can be seen,\nat night, alight with slowly-blazing logs, and in daytime, their\nsmoke clings over the clearings, and slowly drifts along the hill\nside. Later on in the year, when the plantation sprouts, they form\na bright spot, with the light green of their fresh leaves.\n\nThe villages in this district are to be found only on the foreshore,\nat the foot of the hills, hidden in groves of trees, with here and\nthere a golden or purplish bit of thatch showing through the dark\ngreen of the leaves. In calm weather a few canoes are probably not\nfar off, fishing. If the visitor is lucky enough to pass at the time\nof feasts, trading expeditions, or any other big tribal gathering,\nmany a fine sea-going canoe may be seen approaching the village with\nthe sound of conch shells blowing melodiously.\n\n\nIn order to visit one of the typical, large settlements of these\nnatives, let us say near Fife Bay, on the South coast, or on the island\nof Sariba, or Roge'a, it would be best to go ashore in some big,\nsheltered bay, or on one of the extensive beaches at the foot of a\nhilly island. We enter a clear, lofty grove, composed of palms, bread\nfruit, mangoes, and other fruit trees, often with a sandy subsoil,\nwell weeded-out and clean, where grow clumps of ornamental bushes,\nsuch as the red-flowering hybiscus, croton or aromatic shrub. Here we\nfind the village. Fascinating as may be the Motuan habitations standing\non high piles in the middle of a lagoon, or the neat streets of an\nAroma or Mailu settlement, or the irregular warren of small huts on\nthe Trobriand coast, all these cannot compete in picturesqueness or\ncharm with the villages of the Southern Massim. When, on a hot day,\nwe enter the deep shadow of fruit trees and palms, and find ourselves\nin the midst of the wonderfully designed and ornamented houses hiding\nhere and there in irregular groups among the green, surrounded by\nlittle decorative gardens of shells and flowers, with pebble-bordered\npaths and stone-paved sitting circles, it seems as if the visions of\na primeval, happy, savage life were suddenly realised, even if only\nin a fleeting impression. Big bodies of canoes are drawn high up the\nbeach and covered with palm leaves; here and there nets are drying,\nspread out on special stands, and on the platforms in front of the\nhouses sit groups of men and women, busy at some domestic work,\nsmoking and chatting.\n\nWalking along the paths which lead on for miles, we come every few\nhundred yards on another hamlet of a few houses. Some of these are\nevidently new and freshly decorated, while others are abandoned,\nand a heap of broken household objects is lying on the ground,\nshowing that the death of one of the village elders has caused it to\nbe deserted. As the evening approaches, the life becomes more active,\nfires are kindled, and the natives busy themselves cooking and eating\nfood. In the dancing season, towards dusk, groups of men and women\nforegather, singing, dancing, and beating drums.\n\nWhen we approach the natives closer and scan their personal appearance,\nwe are struck--if we compare them with their Western neighbours--by\nthe extreme lightness of their skin, their sturdy, even lumpy stature,\nand a sort of soft, almost effete general impression which their\nphysique produces. Their fat, broad faces, their squashed noses, and\nfrequently oblique eyes, make them appear quaint and grotesque rather\nthan impressively savage. Their hair, not so woolly as that of the pure\nPapuans, nor growing into the enormous halo of the Motuans, is worn in\nbig mops, which they often cut at the sides so as to give the head an\noblong, almost cylindrical shape. Their manner is shy and diffident,\nbut not unfriendly--rather smiling and almost servile, in very great\ncontrast to the morose Papuan, or the unfriendly, reserved South Coast\nMailu or Aroma. On the whole, they give at first approach not so much\nthe impression of wild savages as of smug and self-satisfied bourgeois.\n\nTheir ornaments are much less elaborate and more toned down than\nthose of their Western neighbours. Belts and armlets plaited of a dark\nbrown fern vine, small red shell disks and turtle shell rings as ear\nornaments are the only permanent, every-day decorations worn. Like all\nMelanesians of Eastern New Guinea, they are quite cleanly in their\npersons, and a personal approach to them does not offend any of our\nsenses. They are very fond of red hibiscus flowers stuck in their\nhair, of scented flower wreaths on their head, of aromatic leaves\nthrust into their belts and armlets. Their grand, festive head-dress\nis extremely modest compared with the enormous erections of feathers\nused by the Western tribes, and consists mainly of a round halo of\nwhite cockatoo feathers stuck into their hair (see Plate V and VI).\n\nIn olden days, before the advent of white men, these pleasant,\napparently effete people were inveterate cannibals and head-hunters,\nand in their large war-canoes they carried on treacherous, cruel\nraids, falling upon sleeping villages, killing man, woman and child,\nand feasting on their bodies. The attractive stone circles in their\nvillages were associated with their cannibal feasts. [18]\n\nThe traveller, who could settle down in one of their villages and\nremain there sufficiently long to study their habits and enter into\ntheir tribal life, would soon be struck by the absence of a well\nrecognised general authority. In this, however, the natives resemble\nnot only the other Western Melanesians of New Guinea, but also the\nnatives of the Melanesian Archipelago. The authority in the Southern\nMassim tribe, as in many others, is vested in the village elders. In\neach hamlet the eldest man has a position of personal influence and\npower, and these collectively would in all cases represent the tribe\nand carry out and enforce their decisions--always arrived at in strict\naccord with tribal tradition.\n\nDeeper sociological study would reveal the characteristic totemism\nof these natives, and also the matrilineal construction of their\nsociety. Descent, inheritance, and social position follow the\nfemale line--a man always belongs to his mother's totemic division\nand local group, and inherits from his mother's brother. Women also\nenjoy a very independent position, and are exceedingly well treated,\nand in tribal and festive affairs they play a prominent part (see\nPlates V and VI). Some women, even, owing to their magical powers,\nwield a considerable influence. [19]\n\nThe sexual life of these natives is extremely lax. Even when we\nremember the very free standard of sex morals in the Melanesian\ntribes of New Guinea, such as the Motu or the Mailu, we still find\nthese natives exceedingly loose in such matters. Certain reserves\nand appearances which are usually kept up in other tribes, are here\ncompletely abandoned. As is probably the case in many communities\nwhere sex morals are lax, there is a complete absence of unnatural\npractices and sex perversions. Marriage is concluded as the natural\nend of a long and lasting liaison. [20]\n\nThese natives are efficient and industrious manufacturers, and great\ntraders. They own large sea-going canoes, which, however, they do\nnot manufacture themselves, but which they import from the Northern\nMassim district, or from Panayati. Another feature of their culture,\nwhich we shall meet again, consists of their big feasts, called So'i\n(see Plates V and VI), associated with mortuary celebrations and\nwith a special mortuary taboo called gwara. In the big inter-tribal\ntrading of the Kula, these feasts play a considerable r\u00f4le.\n\nThis general, and necessarily somewhat superficial description,\nis meant to give the reader a definite impression of these tribes,\nprovide them, so to speak, with a physiognomy, rather than to give\na full account of their tribal constitution. For this the reader is\nreferred to Professor C. G. Seligman's treatise, our main source of\nknowledge on the Melanesians of New Guinea. The above sketch refers\nto what Professor Seligman calls the Southern Massim, or more exactly\nto the portion marked off in the Ethnographic sketch Map No. III as\n\"V, the Southern Massim\"--the inhabitants of the Easternmost mainland\nand the adjacent archipelago.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nLet us now move North, towards the district marked \"IV, the\nDobu,\" in our map, which forms one of the most important links\nin the chain of Kula and a very influential centre of cultural\ninfluence. As we sail North, passing East Cape, the Easternmost\npoint of the main island--a long, flat promontory covered with\npalms and fruit belts, and harbouring a very dense population--a\nnew world, new both geographically and ethnographically, opens up\nbefore us. At first it is only a faint, bluish silhouette, like\na shadow of a distant mountain range, hovering far north over the\nhorizon. As we approach, the hills of Normanby, the nearest of three\nbig islands of the d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, become clearer and\ntake more definite shape and substance. A few high summits stand\nout more distinctly through the usual tropical haze, among them the\ncharacteristic double-peaked top of Bwebweso, the mountain where,\naccording to native legend, the spirits of the dead in these parts\nlead their latter existence. The South Coast of Normanby, and the\ninterior are inhabited by a tribe or tribes of which we know nothing\nethnographically, except that they differ culturally from the rest\nof their neighbours. These tribes also take no direct part in the Kula.\n\nThe Northern end of Normanby, both sides of the Dawson Straits\nwhich separate the two islands of Normanby and Fergusson, and the\nSouth-eastern tip of Fergusson, are inhabited by a very important\ntribe, the Dobu. The heart of their district is the small extinct\nvolcano forming an island at the Eastern entrance to Dawson\nStraits--Dobu, after which island they are named. To reach it, we\nhave to sail through this extremely picturesque channel. On either\nside of the winding, narrow strait, green hills descend, and close it\nin, till it is more like a mountain lake. Here and there they recede,\nand a lagoon opens out. Or again they rise in fairly steep slopes, on\nwhich there can be plainly seen triangular gardens, native houses on\npiles, large tracts of unbroken jungle and patches of grass land. As\nwe proceed, the narrow straits broaden, and we see on our right a\nwide flank of Mt. Sulomona'i on Normanby Island. On our left, there\nis a shallow bay, and behind it a large, flat plain, stretching far\ninto the interior of Fergusson Island, and over it, we look into wide\nvalleys, and on to several distant mountain ranges. After another\nturn, we enter a big bay, on both sides bordered by a flat foreshore,\nand in the middle of it rises out of a girdle of tropical vegetation,\nthe creased cone of an extinct volcano, the island of Dobu.\n\nWe are now in the centre of a densely populated and ethnographically\nimportant district. From this island, in olden days, fierce and daring\ncannibal and head-hunting expeditions were periodically launched, to\nthe dread of the neighbouring tribes. The natives of the immediately\nsurrounding districts, of the flat foreshore on both sides of the\nstraits, and of the big neighbouring islands were allies. But the\nmore distant districts, often over a hundred miles away by sail,\nnever felt safe from the Dobuans. Again, this was, and still is,\none of the main links in the Kula, a centre of trade, industries and\ngeneral cultural influence. It is characteristic of the international\nposition of the Dobuans that their language is spoken as a lingua\nfranca all over the d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, in the Amphletts,\nand as far north as the Trobriands. In the southern part of these\nlatter islands, almost everyone speaks Dobuan, although in Dobu\nthe language of the Trobriands or Kiriwinian is hardly spoken by\nanyone. This is a remarkable fact, which cannot be easily explained\nin terms of the present conditions, as the Trobrianders, if anything,\nare on a higher level of cultural development than Dobuans, are more\nnumerous, and enjoy the same general prestige. [21]\n\nAnother remarkable fact about Dobu and its district is that it is\nstudded with spots of special, mythological interest. Its charming\nscenery, of volcanic cones, of wide, calm bays, and lagoons overhung\nby lofty, green mountains, with the reef-riddled, island-strewn ocean\non the North, has deep, legendary meaning for the native. Here is the\nland and sea where the magically inspired sailors and heroes of the dim\npast performed feats of daring and power. As we sail from the entrance\ninto Dawson Straits, through Dobu and the Amphletts to Boyowa, almost\nevery new configuration of the land which we pass is the scene of some\nlegendary exploit. Here the narrow gorge has been broken through by a\nmagic canoe flying in the air. There the two rocks standing in the sea\nare the petrified bodies of two mythological heroes who were stranded\nat this spot after a quarrel. Here again, a land-locked lagoon has\nbeen a port of refuge to a mythical crew. Apart from its legends,\nthe scenery before us, fine as it is, derives still more charm from\nthe knowledge that it is, and has been a distant Eldorado, a land\nof promise and hope to generation after generation of really daring\nnative sailors from the Northern islands. And in the past these lands\nand seas must have been the scene of migrations and fights, of tribal\ninvasions, and of gradual infiltrations of peoples and cultures.\n\nIn personal appearance, the Dobuans have a very distinct physique,\nwhich differentiates them sharply from the Southern Massim and from the\nTrobrianders; very dark-skinned, small of stature, with big heads and\nrounded shoulders, they give a strange, almost gnome-like impression\non a first encounter. In their manner, and their tribal character,\nthere is something definitely pleasant, honest and open--an impression\nwhich long acquaintance with them confirms and strengthens. They are\nthe general favourites of the whites, form the best and most reliable\nservants, and traders who have resided long among them compare them\nfavourably with other natives.\n\nTheir villages, like those of the previously described Massim, are\nscattered over wide areas. The fertile and flat foreshores which\nthey inhabit are studded with small, compact hamlets of a dozen or\nso houses, hidden in the midst of one continuous plantation of fruit\ntrees, palms, bananas and yams. The houses are built on piles, but\nare cruder architecturally than those of the S. Massim, and almost\nwithout any decorations, though in the olden days of head-hunting\nsome of them were ornamented with skulls.\n\nIn their social constitution, the people are totemic, being divided\ninto a number of exogamous clans with linked totems. There is no\ninstitution of regular chieftainship, nor have they any system of\nrank or caste such as we shall meet in the Trobriands. Authority is\nvested in the elders of the tribe. In each hamlet there is a man who\nwields the greatest influence locally, and acts as its representative\non such tribal councils as may arise in connection with ceremonies\nand expeditions.\n\nTheir system of kinship is matrilineal, and women hold a very good\nposition, and wield great influence. They also seem to take a much\nmore permanent and prominent part in tribal life than is the case among\nthe neighbouring populations. There is notably one of the features of\nDobuan society, which seems to strike the Trobrianders as peculiar,\nand to which they will direct attention while giving information,\neven although in the Trobriands also women have a good enough social\nposition. In Dobu, women take an important part in gardening, and\nhave a share in performing garden magic, and this in itself gives\nthem a high status. Again, the main instrument for wielding power\nand inflicting penalties in these lands, sorcery, is to a great\nextent in the hands of women. The flying witches, so characteristic\nof the Eastern New Guinea type of culture, here have one of their\nstrongholds. We shall have to go into this subject more in detail\nwhen speaking about shipwreck and the dangers of sailing. Besides\nthis, women practice ordinary sorcery, which in other tribes is only\nman's prerogative.\n\nAs a rule, amongst natives, a high position of women is associated with\nsex laxity. In this, Dobu is an exception. Not only are married women\nexpected to remain faithful, and adultery considered a great crime,\nbut, in sharp contrast to all surrounding tribes, the unmarried girls\nof Dobu remain strictly chaste. There are no ceremonial or customary\nforms of licence, and an intrigue would be certainly regarded as\nan offence.\n\nA few more words must be said here about sorcery, as this is a matter\nof great importance in all inter-tribal relations. The dread of sorcery\nis enormous, and when the natives visit distant parts, this dread is\nenhanced by the additional awe of the unknown and foreign. Besides\nthe flying witches, there are, in Dobu, men and women who, by their\nknowledge of magical spells and rites, can inflict disease and cause\ndeath. The methods of these sorcerers, and all the beliefs clustering\nround this subject are very much the same as those in the Trobriands\nwhich we shall meet later on. These methods are characterised by\nbeing very rational and direct, and implying hardly any supernatural\nelement. The sorcerer has to utter a spell over some substance, and\nthis must be administered by mouth, or else burnt over the fire in\nthe victim's hut. The pointing stick is also used by the sorcerers\nin certain rites.\n\nIf his methods are compared with those used by flying witches, who\neat the heart and lungs, drink the blood, snap the bones of their\nenemies, and moreover possess the powers of invisibility and of flying,\nthe Dobuan sorcerer seems to have but simple and clumsy means at his\ndisposal. He is also very much behind his Mailu or Motu namesakes--I\nsay namesakes, because sorcerers throughout the Massim are called\nBara'u, and the same word is used in Mailu, while the Motu use the\nreduplicated Babara'u. The magicians in these parts use such powerful\nmethods as those of killing the victim first, opening up the body,\nremoving, lacerating or charming the inside, then bringing the victim\nto life again, only that he may soon sicken and eventually die. [22]\n\nAccording to Dobuan belief, the spirits of the dead go to the top\nof Mt. Bwebweso on Normanby Island. This confined space harbours\nthe shades of practically all the natives of the d'Entrecasteaux\nArchipelago, except those of Northern Goodenough Island, who, as I was\ntold by some local informants, go after death to the spirit land of\nthe Trobrianders. [23] The Dobuans have also the belief in a double\nsoul--one, shadowy and impersonal, surviving the bodily death for a\nfew days only, and remaining in the vicinity of the grave, the other\nthe real spirit, who goes to Bwebweso.\n\nIt is interesting to note how natives, living on the boundary\nbetween two cultures and between two types of belief, regard the\nensuing differences. A native of, say, Southern Boyowa, confronted\nwith the question:--how it is that the Dobuans place spirit-land on\nBwebweso, whereas they, the Trobrianders, place it in Tuma?--does not\nsee any difficulty in solving the problem. He does not regard the\ndifference as due to a dogmatic conflict in doctrine. Quite simply\nhe answers:--\"Their dead go to Bwebweso and ours to Tuma.\" The\nmetaphysical laws of existence are not yet considered subject to\none invariable truth. As human destinies in life change, according\nto varieties in tribal custom, so also the doings of the spirit! An\ninteresting theory is evolved to harmonise the two beliefs in a mixed\ncase. There is a belief that if a Trobriander were to die in Dobu,\nwhen on a Kula expedition, he would go for a time to Bwebweso. In\ndue season, the spirits of the Trobrianders would sail from Tuma,\nthe spirit land, to Bwebweso, on a spirit Kula, and the newly departed\none would join their party and sail with them back to Tuma.\n\nOn leaving Dobu, we sail the open sea, a sea studded with coral patches\nand sand-banks, and seamed with long barrier reefs, where treacherous\ntides, running sometimes as much as five knots, make sailing really\ndangerous, especially for helpless native craft. This is the Kula sea,\nthe scene of the inter-tribal expeditions and adventures which will\nbe the theme of our future descriptions.\n\nThe Eastern shore of Ferguson Island, near Dobu, along which we are\nsailing, consists first of a series of volcanic cones and capes,\ngiving the landscape the aspect of something unfinished and crudely\nput together. At the foot of the hills there stretches for several\nmiles beyond Dobu a broad alluvial flat covered with villages--Deide'i,\nTu'utauna, Bwayowa, all important centres of trade, and the homes of\nthe direct Kula partners of the Trobrianders. Heavy fumes can be seen\nfloating above the jungle, coming from the hot geysers of Deide'i,\nwhich spurt up in high jets every few minutes.\n\nSoon we come abreast of two characteristically shaped, dark rocks,\none half hidden in the vegetation of the shore, the other standing\nin the sea at the end of a narrow sand-spit dividing the two. These\nare Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, two men turned into stone, as mythical\ntradition has it. Here the big sailing expeditions, those starting\nnorthwards from Dobu, as well as those arriving from the North,\nstill make a halt--just as they have done for centuries, and, under\nobservation of many taboos, give sacrificial offerings to the stones,\nwith ritual invocations for propitious trade.\n\nIn the lee of these two rocks, runs a small bay with a clean, sandy\nbeach, called Sarubwoyna. Here a visitor, lucky enough to pass at\nthe right moment of the right season would see a picturesque and\ninteresting scene. There before him would lie a huge fleet of some\nfifty to a hundred canoes, anchored in the shallow water, with swarms\nof natives upon them, all engaged in some strange and mysterious\ntask. Some of these, bent over heaps of herbs, would be mumbling\nincantations; others would be painting and adorning their bodies. An\nonlooker of two generations ago coming upon the same scene would no\ndoubt have been led to suspect that he was watching the preparations\nfor some dramatic tribal contest, for one of those big onslaughts in\nwhich the existence of whole villages and tribes were wiped out. It\nwould even have been difficult for him to discern from the behaviour\nof the natives whether they were moved more by fear or by the spirit of\naggression, as both these passions might have been read--and correctly\nso--into their attitudes and movements. That the scene contained no\nelement of warfare; that this fleet had come here from about a hundred\nmiles sailing distance on a well regulated tribal visit; that it had\ndrawn up here for the final and most important preparations--this would\nnot have been an easy guess to make. Nowadays--for this is carried out\nto this day with undiminished pomp--it would be an equally picturesque,\nbut of course, tamer affair, since the romance of danger has gone\nfrom native life. As we learn in the course of this study to know\nmore about these natives, their general ways and customs, and more\nespecially about their Kula cycle of beliefs, ideas and sentiments,\nwe shall be able to look with understanding eyes upon this scene,\nand comprehend this mixture of awe with intense, almost aggressive\neagerness and this behaviour, which appears cowed and fierce at the\nsame time.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nImmediately after leaving Sarubwoyna and rounding the promontory\nof the two rocks, we come in sight of the island of Sanaroa, a big,\nsprawling, coral flat, with a range of volcanic hills on its western\nside. On the wide lagoon to the East of this island are the fishing\ngrounds, where year after year the Trobrianders, returning from Dobu,\nlook for the valuable spondylus shell, which, after their arrival home,\nis worked into the red discs, which form one of the main objects of\nnative wealth. In the North of Sanaroa there is a stone in one of\nthe tidal creeks called Sinatemubadiye'i, once a woman, the sister\nof Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, who, with her brothers came in here and\nwas petrified before the last stage of the journey. She also receives\nofferings from canoes, coming either way on Kula expeditions.\n\nSailing further, some fine scenery unfolds itself on our left, where\nthe high mountain range comes nearer to the sea shore, and where\nsmall bays, deep valleys and wooded slopes succeed one another. By\ncarefully scanning the slopes, we can see small batches of some three\nto six miserable huts. These are the dwellings of the inhabitants,\nwho are of a distinctly lower culture than the Dobuans, take no part\nin the Kula, and in olden days were the cowed and unhappy victims of\ntheir neighbours.\n\nOn our right there emerge behind Sanaroa the islands of Uwama and\nTewara, the latter inhabited by Dobuan natives. Tewara is of interest\nto us, because one of the myths which we shall get to know later on\nmakes it the cradle of the Kula. As we sail on, rounding one after\nthe other the Eastern promontories of Fergusson Island, a group\nof strongly marked monumental profiles appears far on the horizon\nfrom behind the receding headlands. These are the Amphlett Islands,\nthe link, both geographically and culturally, between the coastal\ntribes of the volcanic region of Dobu and the inhabitants of the\nflat coral archipelago of the Trobriands. This portion of the sea\nis very picturesque, and has a charm of its own even in this land of\nfine and varied scenery. On the main island of Fergusson, overlooking\nthe Amphletts from the South, and ascending straight out of the sea\nin a slim and graceful pyramid, lies the tall mountain of Koyatabu,\nthe highest peak on the island. Its big, green surface is cut in half\nby the white ribbon of a watercourse, starting almost half-way up and\nrunning down to the sea. Scattered under the lea of Koyatabu are the\nnumerous smaller and bigger islands of the Amphlett Archipelago--steep,\nrocky hills, shaped into pyramids, sphinxes and cupolas, the whole\na strange and picturesque assemblage of characteristic forms.\n\nWith a strong South-Easterly wind, which blows here for three quarters\nof the year, we approach the islands very fast, and the two most\nimportant ones, Gumawana and Ome'a, almost seem to leap out of the\nmist. As we anchor in front of Gumawana village at the S.E. end of\nthe island, we cannot but feel impressed. Built on a narrow strip\nof foreshore, open to the breakers, and squeezed down to the water's\nedge by an almost precipitously rising jungle at its back, the village\nhas been made sea-proof by walls of stone surrounding the houses with\nseveral bulwarks, and by stone dykes forming small artificial harbours\nalong the sea front. The shabby and unornamented huts, built on piles,\nlook very picturesque in these surroundings (see Plates VII and XLIII).\n\nThe inhabitants of this village, and of the four remaining ones in\nthe archipelago, are a queer people. They are a numerically weak\ntribe, easily assailable from the sea, getting hardly enough to\neat from their rocky islands; and yet, through their unique skill\nin pottery, their great daring and efficiency as sailors, and their\ncentral position half way between Dobu and the Trobriands, they have\nsucceeded in becoming in several respects the monopolists of this part\nof the world. They have also the main characteristics of monopolists:\ngrasping and mean, inhospitable and greedy, keen on keeping the trade\nand exchange in their own hands, yet unprepared to make any sacrifice\ntowards improving it; shy, yet arrogant to anyone who has any dealings\nwith them; they contrast unfavourably with their southern and northern\nneighbours. And this is not only the white man's impression. [24]\nThe Trobrianders, as well as the Dobuans, give the Amphlett natives\na very bad name, as being stingy and unfair in all Kula transactions,\nand as having no real sense of generosity and hospitality.\n\nWhen our boat anchors there, the natives approach it in their canoes,\noffering clay pots for sale. But if we want to go ashore and have a\nlook at their village, there is a great commotion, and all the women\ndisappear from the open places. The younger ones run and hide in the\njungle behind the village, and even the old hags conceal themselves\nin the houses. So that if we want to see the making of pottery,\nwhich is almost exclusively women's work, we must first lure some\nold woman out of her retreat with generous promises of tobacco and\nassurances of honourable intentions.\n\nThis has been mentioned here, because it is of ethnographic interest,\nas it is not only white men who inspire this shyness; if native\nstrangers, coming from a distance for trade, put in for a short time\nin the Amphletts, the women also disappear in this fashion. This very\nostentatious coyness is, however, not a sham, because in the Amphletts,\neven more than in Dobu, married and unmarried life is characterised\nby strict chastity and fidelity. Women here have also a good deal of\ninfluence, and take a great part in gardening and the performance of\ngarden magic. In social institutions and customs, the natives present\na mixture of Northern and Southern Massim elements. There are no\nchiefs, but influential elders wield authority, and in each village\nthere is a head man who takes the lead in ceremonies and other big\ntribal affairs. Their totemic clans are identical with those of Murua\n(District II). Their somewhat precarious food supply comes partly\nfrom the poor gardens, partly from fishing with kite and fish trap,\nwhich, however, can only seldom be carried out, and does not yield very\nmuch. They are not self-supporting, and receive, in form of presents\nand by trade, a good deal of vegetable food as well as pigs from the\nmainland, from Dobu and the Trobriands. In personal appearance they\nare very much like the Trobrianders, that is, taller than the Dobuans,\nlighter skinned, and with finer features.\n\nWe must now leave the Amphletts and proceed to the Trobriand Islands,\nthe scene of most of the occurrences described in this book, and\nthe country concerning which I possess by far the largest amount of\nethnographic information.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE NATIVES OF THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS\n\n\nI\n\nLeaving the bronzed rocks and the dark jungle of the Amphletts for\nthe present--for we shall have to revisit them in the course of our\nstudy, and then shall learn more about their inhabitants--we sail\nNorth into an entirely different world of flat coral islands; into\nan ethnographic district, which stands out by ever so many peculiar\nmanners and customs from the rest of Papuo-Melanesia. So far, we have\nsailed over intensely blue, clear seas, where in shallow places the\ncoral bottom, with its variety of colour and form, with its wonderful\nplant and fish life, is a fascinating spectacle in itself--a sea\nframed in all the splendours of tropical jungle, of volcanic and\nmountainous scenery, with lively watercourses and falls, with steamy\nclouds trailing in the high valleys. From all this we take a final\nfarewell as we sail North. The outlines of the Amphletts soon fade\naway in tropical haze, till only Koyatabu's slender pyramid, lifted\nover them, remains on the horizon, the graceful form, which follows\nus even as far as the Lagoon of Kiriwina.\n\nWe now enter an opaque, greenish sea, whose monotony is broken only\nby a few sandbanks, some bare and awash, others with a few pandanus\ntrees squatting on their air roots, high in the sand. To these banks,\nthe Amphlett natives come and there they spend weeks on end, fishing\nfor turtle and dugong. Here is also laid the scene of several of\nthe mythical incidents of primeval Kula. Further ahead, through the\nmisty spray, the line of horizon thickens here and there, as if faint\npencil marks had been drawn upon it. These become more substantial,\none of them lengthens and broadens, the others spring into the distinct\nshapes of small islands, and we find ourselves in the big Lagoon of\nthe Trobriands, with Boyowa, the largest island, on our right, and with\nmany others, inhabited and uninhabited, to the North and North-West.\n\nAs we sail in the Lagoon, following the intricate passages between\nthe shallows, and as we approach the main island, the thick, tangled\nmatting of the low jungle breaks here and there over a beach, and we\ncan see into a palm grove, like an interior, supported by pillars. This\nindicates the site of a village. We step ashore on to the sea front,\nas a rule covered with mud and refuse, with canoes drawn up high\nand dry, and passing through the grove, we enter the village itself\n(see Plate VIII).\n\nSoon we are seated on one of the platforms built in front of a\nyam-house, shaded by its overhanging roof. The round, grey logs, worn\nsmooth by contact with naked feet and bodies; the trodden ground of\nthe village-street; the brown skins of the natives, who immediately\nsurround the visitor in large groups--all these form a colour scheme\nof bronze and grey, unforgettable to anyone, who, like myself, has\nlived among these people.\n\nIt is difficult to convey the feelings of intense interest and suspense\nwith which an Ethnographer enters for the first time the district that\nis to be the future scene of his field-work. Certain salient features,\ncharacteristic of the place, at once rivet his attention, and fill\nhim with hopes or apprehensions. The appearance of the natives,\ntheir manners, their types of behaviour, may augur well or ill for\nthe possibilities of rapid and easy research. One is on the lookout\nfor symptoms of deeper, sociological facts, one suspects many hidden\nand mysterious ethnographic phenomena behind the commonplace aspect of\nthings. Perhaps that queer-looking, intelligent native is a renowned\nsorcerer; perhaps between those two groups of men there exists some\nimportant rivalry or vendetta which may throw much light on the\ncustoms and character of the people if one can only lay hands upon\nit? Such at least were my thoughts and feelings as on the day of my\narrival in Boyowa I sat scanning a chatting group of Trobriand natives.\n\nThe great variety in their physical appearance is what strikes one\nfirst in Boyowa. [25] There are men and women of tall stature, fine\nbearing, and delicate features, with clear-cut aquiline profile and\nhigh foreheads, well formed nose and chin, and an open, intelligent\nexpression (see Plates IX, XV, XVII). And besides these, there are\nothers with prognathic, negroid faces, broad, thick-lipped mouths,\nnarrow foreheads, and a coarse expression (see Plates X, XI, XII). The\nbetter featured have also a markedly lighter skin. Even their hair\ndiffers, varying from quite straight locks to the frizzly mop of the\ntypical Melanesian. They wear the same classes of ornaments as the\nother Massim, consisting mainly of fibre armlets and belts, earrings\nof turtle shell and spondylus discs, and they are very fond of using,\nfor personal decoration, flowers and aromatic herbs. In manner they\nare much freer, more familiar and confident, than any of the natives\nwe have so far met. As soon as an interesting stranger arrives, half\nthe village assembles around him, talking loudly and making remarks\nabout him, frequently uncomplimentary, and altogether assuming a tone\nof jocular familiarity.\n\nOne of the main sociological features at once strikes an observant\nnewcomer--the existence of rank and social differentiation. Some of\nthe natives--very frequently those of the finer looking type--are\ntreated with most marked deference by others, and in return, these\nchiefs and persons of rank behave in quite a different way towards the\nstrangers. In fact, they show excellent manners in the full meaning\nof this word.\n\nWhen a chief is present, no commoner dares to remain in a physically\nhigher position; he has to bend his body or squat. Similarly, when\nthe chief sits down, no one would dare to stand. The institution\nof definite chieftainship, to which are shown such extreme marks of\ndeference, with a sort of rudimentary Court ceremonial, with insignia\nof rank and authority, is so entirely foreign to the whole spirit\nof Melanesian tribal life, that at first sight it transports the\nEthnographer into a different world. In the course of our inquiry,\nwe shall constantly meet with manifestation of the Kiriwinian chief's\nauthority, we shall notice the difference in this respect between the\nTrobrianders and the other tribes, and the resulting adjustments of\ntribal usage.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nAnother sociological feature, which forcibly obtrudes itself on the\nvisitor's notice is the social position of the women. Their behaviour,\nafter the cool aloofness of the Dobuan women, and the very uninviting\ntreatment which strangers receive from those of the Amphletts, comes\nalmost as a shock in its friendly familiarity. Naturally, here also,\nthe manners of women of rank are quite different from those of low\nclass commoners. But, on the whole, high and low alike, though by\nno means reserved, have a genial, pleasant approach, and many of\nthem are very fine-looking (see Plates XI, XII). Their dress is also\ndifferent from any so far observed. All the Melanesian women in New\nGuinea wear a petticoat made of fibre. Among the Southern Massim,\nthis fibre skirt is long, reaching to the knees or below, whereas in\nthe Trobriands it is much shorter and fuller, consisting of several\nlayers standing out round the body like a ruff (compare the S. Massim\nwomen on Plates V and VI with the Trobrianders on Plate IV). The\nhighly ornamental effect of that dress is enhanced by the elaborate\ndecorations made in three colours on the several layers forming the\ntop skirt. On the whole, it is very becoming to fine young women,\nand gives to small slender girls a graceful, elfish appearance.\n\nChastity is an unknown virtue among these natives. At an incredibly\nearly age they become initiated into sexual life, and many of the\ninnocent looking plays of childhood are not as innocuous as they\nappear. As they grow up, they live in promiscuous free-love, which\ngradually develops into more permanent attachments, one of which ends\nin marriage. But before this is reached, unmarried girls are openly\nsupposed to be quite free to do what they like, and there are even\nceremonial arrangements by which the girls of a village repair in\na body to another place; there they publicly range themselves for\ninspection, and each is chosen by a local boy, with whom she spends\na night. This is called katuyausi (see Plate XII). Again, when a\nvisiting party arrives from another district, food is brought to them\nby the unmarried girls, who are also expected to satisfy their sexual\nwants. At the big mortuary vigils round the corpse of a newly deceased\nperson, people from neighbouring villages come in large bodies to take\npart in the wailing and singing. The girls of the visiting party are\nexpected by usage to comfort the boys of the bereaved village, in a\nmanner which gives much anguish to their official lovers. There is\nanother remarkable form of ceremonial licence, in which indeed women\nare openly the initiators. During the gardening season, at the time of\nweeding, the women do communal work, and any strange man who ventures\nto pass through the district runs a considerable risk, for the women\nwill run after him, seize him, tear off his pubic leaf, and ill-treat\nhim orgiastically in the most ignominious manner. Side by side with\nthese ceremonial forms of licence, there go, in the normal course of\nevents, constant private intrigues, more intense during the festive\nseasons, becoming less prominent as garden work, trading expeditions,\nor harvesting take up the energies and attention of the tribe.\n\nMarriage is associated with hardly any public or private rite or\nceremony. The woman simply joins her husband in his house, and later\non, there is a series of exchanges of gifts, which in no way can\nbe interpreted as purchase money for the wife. As a matter of fact,\nthe most important feature of the Trobriand marriage is the fact that\nthe wife's family have to contribute, and that in a very substantial\nmanner, to the economics of her household, and also they have to\nperform all sorts of services for the husband. In her married life,\nthe woman is supposed to remain faithful to her husband, but this\nrule is neither very strictly kept nor enforced. In all other ways,\nshe retains a great measure of independence, and her husband has to\ntreat her well and with consideration. If he does not, the woman simply\nleaves him and returns to her family, and as the husband is as a rule\neconomically the loser by her action, he has to exert himself to get\nher back--which he does by means of presents and persuasions. If she\nchooses, she can leave him for good, and she can always find someone\nelse to marry.\n\nIn tribal life, the position of women is also very high. They do not as\na rule join the councils of men, but in many matters they have their\nown way, and control several aspects of tribal life. Thus, some of\nthe garden work is their business; and this is considered a privilege\nas well as a duty. They also look after certain stages in the big,\nceremonial divisions of food, associated with the very complete and\nelaborate mortuary ritual of the Boyowans (see Plate IV). Certain\nforms of magic--that performed over a first-born baby, beauty-magic\nmade at tribal ceremonies, some classes of sorcery--are also the\nmonopoly of women. Women of rank share the privileges incidental to\nit, and men of low caste will bend before them and observe all the\nnecessary formalities and taboos due to a chief. A woman of chief's\nrank, married to commoner, retains her status, even with regard to\nher husband, and has to be treated accordingly.\n\nThe Trobrianders are matrilineal, that is, in tracing descent and\nsettling inheritance, they follow the maternal line. A child belongs\nto the clan and village community of its mother, and wealth, as well\nas social position, are inherited, not from father to son, but from\nmaternal uncle to nephew. This rule admits of certain important and\ninteresting exceptions, which we shall come across in the course of\nthis study.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nReturning to our imaginary first visit ashore, the next interesting\nthing to do, after we have sufficiently taken in the appearance and\nmanners of the natives, is to walk round the village. In doing this,\nagain we would come across much, which to a trained eye, would reveal\nat once deeper sociological facts. In the Trobriands, however, it\nwould be better to make our first observations in one of the large,\ninland villages, situated on even, flat ground with plenty of space,\nso that it has been possible to build it in the typical pattern. In\nthe coastal villages, placed on marshy ground and coral outcrop,\nthe irregularity of the soil and cramped space have obliterated the\ndesign, and they present quite a chaotic appearance. The big villages\nof the central districts, on the other hands, are built one and all\nwith an almost geometrical regularity.\n\nIn the middle, a big circular space is surrounded by a ring of yam\nhouses. These latter are built on piles, and present a fine, decorative\nfront, with walls of big, round logs, laid crosswise on one another,\nso as to leave wide interstices through which the stored yams can be\nseen (see Plates XV, XXXII, XXXIII). Some of the store-houses strike\nus at once as being better built, larger, and higher than the rest,\nand these have also big, ornamented boards, running round the gable\nand across it. These are the yam houses of the chief or of persons\nof rank. Each yam house also has, as a rule, a small platform in\nfront of it, on which groups of men will sit and chat in the evening,\nand where visitors can rest.\n\nConcentrically with the circular row of yam houses, there runs a ring\nof dwelling huts, and thus a street going all round the village is\nformed between the two rows (see Plates III, IV, VIII). The dwellings\nare lower than the yam houses, and instead of being on piles, are\nbuilt directly on the ground. The interior is dark and very stuffy,\nand the only opening into it is through the door, and that is usually\nclosed. Each hut is occupied by one family (see Plate XV), that is,\nhusband, wife and small children, while adolescent and grown-up boys\nand girls live in separate small bachelor's houses, harbouring some\ntwo to six inmates. Chiefs and people of rank have their special,\npersonal houses, besides those of their wives. The Chief's house often\nstands in the central ring of the store-houses facing the main place.\n\nThe broad inspection of the village would therefore reveal to\nus the r\u00f4le of decoration as insignia of rank, the existence of\nbachelors' and spinsters' houses, the great importance attached to\nthe yam-harvest--all these small symptoms which, followed up, would\nlead us deep into the problems of native sociology. Moreover, such\nan inspection would have led us to inquire as to the part played by\nthe different divisions of the village in tribal life. We should then\nlearn that the baku, the central circular space, is the scene of public\nceremonies and festivities, such as dancing (see Plates XIII, XIV),\ndivision of food, tribal feasts, mortuary vigils, in short, of all\ndoings that represent the village as a whole. In the circular street\nbetween the stores and living houses, everyday life goes on, that is,\nthe preparation of food, the eating of meals, and the usual exchange\nof gossip and ordinary social amenities. The interior of the houses\nis only used at night, or on wet days, and is more a sleeping than\na living room. The backs of the houses and the contiguous groves are\nthe scene of the children's play and the women's occupations. Further\naway, remote parts of the grove are reserved for sanitary purposes,\neach sex having its own retreat.\n\nThe baku (central place) is the most picturesque part, and there the\nsomewhat monotonous colour scheme of the brown and grey is broken by\nthe overhanging foliage of the grove, seen above the neat fronts and\ngaudy ornamentation of the yam-houses and by the decorations worn by\nthe crowd when a dance or ceremony is taking place (see Plates XIII,\nXXXIII). Dancing is done only at one time in the year, in connection\nwith the harvest festivities, called milamala, at which season also\nthe spirits of the dead return from Tuma, the nether-world, to the\nvillages from which they hail. Sometimes the dancing season lasts only\nfor a few weeks or even days, sometimes it is extended into a special\ndancing period called usigola. During such a time of festivities,\nthe inhabitants of a village will dance day after day, for a month\nor longer, the period being inaugurated by a feast, punctuated by\nseveral more, and ending in a big culminating performance. At this\nmany villages assist as spectators, and distributions of food take\nplace. During an usigola, dancing is done in full dress, that is,\nwith facial painting, floral decorations, valuable ornaments, and\na head-dress of white cockatoo feathers (see Plates XIII, XIV). A\nperformance consists always of a dance executed in a ring to the\naccompaniment of singing and drum-beating, both of which are done by\na group of people standing in the middle. Some dances are done with\nthe carved dancing shield.\n\nSociologically, the village is an important unit in the\nTrobriands. Even the mightiest chief in the Trobriands wields his\nauthority primarily over his own village and only secondarily over the\ndistrict. The village community exploit jointly their garden lands,\nperform ceremonies, wage warfare, undertake trading expeditions,\nand sail in the same canoe or fleet of canoes as one group.\n\nAfter the first inspection of the village, we would be naturally\ninterested to know more of the surrounding country, and would take a\nwalk through the bush. Here, however, if we hoped for a picturesque\nand varied landscape, we should receive a great disappointment. The\nextensive, flat island consists only of one fertile plain, with a\nlow coral ridge running along portions of the coast. It is almost\nentirely under intermittent cultivation, and the bush, regularly\ncleared away every few years, has no time to grow high. A low, dense\njungle grows in a matted tangle, and practically wherever we move\non the island we walk along between two green walls, presenting no\nvariety, allowing of no broader view. The monotony is broken only\nby an occasional clump of old trees left standing--usually a tabooed\nplace--or by one of the numerous villages which we meet with every mile\nor two in this densely populated country. The main element, both of\npicturesqueness and ethnographic interest, is afforded by the native\ngardens. Each year about one quarter or one fifth of the total area\nis under actual cultivation as gardens, and these are well tended,\nand present a pleasant change from the monotony of the scrub. In\nits early stages, the garden site is simply a bare, cleared space,\nallowing of a Wider outlook upon the distant coral ridge in the East,\nand upon the tall groves, scattered over the horizon, which indicate\nvillages or tabooed tree clumps. Later on, when the yam-vines, taro,\nand sugar cane begin to grow and bud, the bare brown soil is covered\nwith the fresh green of the tender plants. After some more time still,\ntall, stout poles are planted over each yam-plant; the vine climbs\nround them, grows into a full, shady garland of foliage, and the\nwhole makes the impression of a large, exuberant hop-yard.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nHalf of the natives' working life is spent in the garden, and around\nit centres perhaps more than half of his interests and ambitions. And\nhere we must pause and make an attempt to understand his attitude\nin this matter, as it is typical of the way in which he goes about\nall his work. If we remain under the delusion that the native is a\nhappy-go-lucky, lazy child of nature, who shuns as far as possible\nall labour and effort, waiting till the ripe fruits, so bountifully\nsupplied by generous tropical Nature, fall into his mouth, we shall not\nbe able to understand in the least his aims and motives in carrying\nout the Kula or any other enterprise. On the contrary, the truth is\nthat the native can and, under circumstances, does work hard, and\nwork systematically, with endurance and purpose, nor does he wait\ntill he is pressed to work by his immediate needs.\n\nIn gardening, for instance, the natives produce much more than they\nactually require, and in any average year they harvest perhaps twice as\nmuch as they can eat. Nowadays, this surplus is exported by Europeans\nto feed plantation hands in other parts of New Guinea; in olden days\nit was simply allowed to rot. Again, they produce this surplus in a\nmanner which entails much more work than is strictly necessary for\nobtaining the crops. Much time and labour is given up to \u00e6sthetic\npurposes, to making the gardens tidy, clean, cleared of all debris;\nto building fine, solid fences, to providing specially strong and big\nyam-poles. All these things are to some extent required for the growth\nof the plant; but there can be no doubt that the natives push their\nconscientiousness far beyond the limit of the purely necessary. The\nnon-utilitarian element in their garden work is still more clearly\nperceptible in the various tasks which they carry out entirely for\nthe sake of ornamentation, in connection with magical ceremonies,\nand in obedience to tribal usage. Thus, after the ground has been\nscrupulously cleared and is ready for planting, the natives divide\neach garden plot into small squares, each a few yards in length and\nwidth, and this is done only in obedience to usage, in order to make\nthe gardens look neat. No self-respecting man would dream of omitting\nto do this. Again, in especially well trimmed gardens, long horizontal\npoles are tied to the yam supports in order to embellish them. Another,\nand perhaps the most interesting example of non-utilitarian work\nis afforded by the big, prismatic erections called kamkokola, which\nserve ornamental and magical purposes, but have nothing to do with\nthe growth of plants (comp. Plate LIX).\n\nAmong the forces and beliefs which bear upon and regulate garden work,\nperhaps magic is the most important. It is a department of its own,\nand the garden magician, next to the chief and the sorcerer, is the\nmost important personage of the village. The position is hereditary,\nand, in each village, a special system of magic is handed on in the\nfemale line from one generation to another. I have called it a system,\nbecause the magician has to perform a series of rites and spells over\nthe garden, which run parallel with the labour, and which, in fact,\ninitiate each stage of the work and each new development of the plant\nlife. Even before any gardening is begun at all, the magician has to\nconsecrate the site with a big ceremonial performance in which all\nthe men of the village take part. This ceremony officially opens the\nseason's gardening, and only after it is performed do the villagers\nbegin to cut the scrub on their plots. Then, in a series of rites,\nthe magician inaugurates successively all the various stages which\nfollow one another--the burning of the scrub, the clearing, the\nplanting, the weeding and the harvesting. Also, in another series\nof rites and spells, he magically assists the plant in sprouting,\nin budding, in bursting into leaf, in climbing, in forming the rich\ngarlands of foliage, and in producing the edible tubers.\n\nThe garden magician, according to native ideas, thus controls both\nthe work of man and the forces of Nature. He also acts directly\nas supervisor of gardening, sees to it that people do not skimp\ntheir work, or lag behind with it. Thus magic is a systematising,\nregulating, and controlling influence in garden work. The magician,\nin carrying out the rites, sets the pace, compels people to apply\nthemselves to certain tasks, and to accomplish them properly and\nin time. Incidentally, magic also imposes on the tribe a good deal\nof extra work, of apparently unnecessary, hampering taboos and\nregulations. In the long run, however, there is no doubt that by its\ninfluence in ordering, systematising and regulating work, magic is\neconomically invaluable for the natives. [26]\n\nAnother notion which must be exploded, once and for ever, is that of\nthe Primitive Economic Man of some current economic text books. This\nfanciful, dummy creature, who has been very tenacious of existence\nin popular and semi-popular economic literature, and whose shadow\nhaunts even the minds of competent anthropologists, blighting their\noutlook with a preconceived idea, is an imaginary, primitive man,\nor savage, prompted in all his actions by a rationalistic conception\nof self-interest, and achieving his aims directly and with the\nminimum of effort. Even one well established instance should show\nhow preposterous is this assumption that man, and especially man on\na low level of culture, should be actuated by pure economic motives\nof enlightened self-interest. The primitive Trobriander furnishes\nus with such an instance, contradicting this fallacious theory. He\nworks prompted by motives of a highly complex, social and traditional\nnature, and towards aims which are certainly not directed towards\nthe satisfaction of present wants, or to the direct achievement of\nutilitarian purposes. Thus, in the first place, as we have seen,\nwork is not carried out on the principle of the least effort. On\nthe contrary, much time and energy is spent on wholly unnecessary\neffort, that is, from a utilitarian point of view. Again, work and\neffort, instead of being merely a means to an end, are, in a way an\nend in themselves. A good garden worker in the Trobriands derives\na direct prestige from the amount of labour he can do, and the size\nof garden he can till. The title tokwaybagula, which means \"good\" or\n\"efficient gardener,\" is bestowed with discrimination, and borne with\npride. Several of my friends, renowned as tokwaybagula, would boast to\nme how long they worked, how much ground they tilled, and would compare\ntheir efforts with those of less efficient men. When the labour, some\nof which is done communally, is being actually carried out, a good\ndeal of competition goes on. Men vie with one another in their speed,\nin their thoroughness, and in the weights they can lift, when bringing\nbig poles to the garden, or in carrying away the harvested yams.\n\nThe most important point about this is, however, that all, or almost\nall the fruits of his work, and certainly any surplus which he can\nachieve by extra effort, goes not to the man himself, but to his\nrelatives-in-law. Without entering into details of the system of\nthe apportionment of the harvest, of which the sociology is rather\ncomplex and would require a preliminary account of the Trobriand\nkinship system and kinship ideas, it may be said that about three\nquarters of a man's crops go partly as tribute to the chief, partly\nas his due to his sister's (or mother's) husband and family.\n\nBut although he thus derives practically no personal benefit in\nthe utilitarian sense from his harvest, the gardener receives much\npraise and renown from its size and quality, and that in a direct\nand circumstantial manner. For all the crops, after being harvested,\nare displayed for some time afterwards in the gardens, piled up in\nneat, conical heaps under small shelters made of yam vine. Each man's\nharvest is thus exhibited for criticism in his own plot, and parties\nof natives walk about from garden to garden, admiring, comparing and\npraising the best results. The importance of the food display can be\ngauged by the fact that, in olden days, when the chief's power was\nmuch more considerable than now, it was dangerous for a man who was\nnot either of high rank himself, or working for such a one, to show\ncrops which might compare too favourably with those of the chief.\n\nIn years when the harvest promises to be plentiful, the chief will\nproclaim a kayasa harvest, that is to say, ceremonial, competitive\ndisplay of food, and then the straining for good results and the\ninterest taken in them are still higher. We shall meet later on with\nceremonial enterprises of the kayasa type, and find that they play a\nconsiderable part in the Kula. All this shows how entirely the real\nnative of flesh and bone differs from the shadowy Primitive Economic\nMan, on whose imaginary behaviour many of the scholastic deductions\nof abstract economics are based. [27] The Trobriander works in a\nroundabout way, to a large extent for the sake of the work itself,\nand puts a great deal of \u00e6sthetic polish on the arrangement and\ngeneral appearance of his garden. He is not guided primarily by the\ndesire to satisfy his wants, but by a very complex set of traditional\nforces, duties and obligations, beliefs in magic, social ambitions\nand vanities. He wants, if he is a man, to achieve social distinction\nas a good gardener and a good worker in general.\n\nI have dwelt at this length upon these points concerning the motives\nand aims of the Trobrianders in their garden work, because, in the\nchapters that follow, we shall be studying economic activities, and\nthe reader will grasp the attitude of the natives best if he has it\nillustrated to him by various examples. All that has been said in this\nmatter about the Trobrianders applies also to the neighbouring tribes.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nWith the help of this new insight gained into the mind of the native,\nand into their social scheme of harvest distribution, it will be\neasier to describe the nature of the chief's authority. Chieftainship\nin the Trobriands is the combination of two institutions: first,\nthat of headmanship, or village authority; secondly, that of totemic\nclanship, that is the division of the community into classes or castes,\neach with a certain more or less definite rank.\n\nIn every community in the Trobriands, there is one man who wields the\ngreatest authority, though often this does not amount to very much. He\nis, in many cases, nothing more than the Primus inter pares in a group\nof village elders, who deliberate on all important matters together,\nand arrive at a decision by common consent. It must not be forgotten\nthat there is hardly ever much room for doubt or deliberation,\nas natives communally, as well as individually, never act except on\ntraditional and conventional lines. This village headman is, as a rule,\ntherefore, not much more than a master of tribal ceremonies, and the\nmain speaker within and without the tribe, whenever one is needed.\n\nBut the position of headman becomes much more than this, when he\nis a person of high rank, which is by no means always the case. In\nthe Trobriands there exist four totemic clans, and each of these\nis divided into a number of smaller sub-clans,--which could also\nbe called families or castes, for the members of each claim common\ndescent from one ancestress, and each of them holds a certain,\nspecified rank. These sub-clans have also a local character, because\nthe original ancestress emerged from a hole in the ground, as a rule\nsomewhere in the neighbourhood of their village community. There is\nnot one sub-clan in the Trobriands whose members cannot indicate its\noriginal locality, where their group, in the form of the ancestress,\nfirst saw the light of the sun. Coral outcrops, water-holes, small\ncaves or grottoes, are generally pointed out as the original \"holes\"\nor \"houses,\" as they are called. Often such a hole is surrounded by\none of the tabooed clumps of trees alluded to before. Many of them\nare situated in the groves surrounding a village, and a few near the\nsea shore. Not one is on the cultivable land.\n\nThe highest sub-clan is that of the Tabalu, belonging to the Malasi\ntotem clan. To this sub-clan belongs the main chief of Kiriwina,\nTo'uluwa, who resides in the village of Omarakana (see Plate II and\nFrontispiece). He is in the first place the headman of his own village,\nand in contrast to the headmen of low rank, he has quite a considerable\namount of power. His high rank inspires everyone about him with the\ngreatest and most genuine respect and awe, and the remnants of his\npower are still surprisingly large, even now, when white authorities,\nvery foolishly and with fatal results, do their utmost to undermine\nhis prestige and influence.\n\nNot only does the chief--by which word I shall designate a headman\nof rank--possess a high degree of authority within his own village,\nbut his sphere of influence extends far beyond it. A number of\nvillages are tributary to him, and in several respects subject to\nhis authority. In case of war, they are his allies, and have to\nforegather in his village. When he needs men to perform some task,\nhe can send to his subject villages, and they will supply him with\nworkers. In all big festivities the villages of his district will\njoin, and the chief will act as master of ceremonies. Nevertheless,\nfor all these services rendered to him he has to pay. He even has to\npay for any tributes received out of his stores of wealth. Wealth,\nin the Trobriands, is the outward sign and the substance of power,\nand the means also of exercising it. But how does he acquire his\nwealth? And here we come to the main duty of the vassal villages to\nthe chief. From each subject village, he takes a wife, whose family,\naccording to the Trobriand law, has to supply him with large amounts of\ncrops. This wife is always the sister or some relation of the headman\nof the subject village, and thus practically the whole community has\nto work for him. In olden days, the chief of Omarakana had up to as\nmany as forty consorts, and received perhaps as much as thirty to\nfifty per cent. of all the garden produce of Kiriwina. Even now,\nwhen his wives number only sixteen, he has enormous storehouses,\nand they are full to the roof with yams every harvest time.\n\nWith this supply, he is able to pay for the many services he\nrequires, to furnish with food the participants in big feasts,\nin tribal gatherings or distant expeditions. Part of the food he\nuses to acquire objects of native wealth, or to pay for the making\nof them. In brief, through his privilege of practising polygamy, the\nchief is kept supplied with an abundance of wealth in food stuffs and\nin valuables, which he uses to maintain his high position; to organise\ntribal festivities and enterprises, and to pay, according to custom,\nfor the many personal services to which he is entitled.\n\nOne point in connection with the chief's authority deserves special\nmention. Power implies not only the possibility of rewarding, but\nalso the means of punishing. This in the Trobriands is as a rule done\nindirectly, by means of sorcery. The chief has the best sorcerers\nof the district always at his beck and call. Of course he also has\nto reward them when they do him a service. If anyone offends him,\nor trespasses upon his authority, the chief summons the sorcerer, and\norders that the culprit shall die by black magic. And here the chief\nis powerfully helped in achieving his end by the fact that he can do\nthis openly, so that everybody, and the victim himself knows that a\nsorcerer is after him. As the natives are very deeply and genuinely\nafraid of sorcery, the feeling of being hunted, of imagining themselves\ndoomed, is in itself enough to doom them in reality. Only in extreme\ncases, does a chief inflict direct punishment on a culprit. He has\none or two hereditary henchmen, whose duty it is to kill the man who\nhas so deeply offended him, that actual death is the only sufficient\npunishment. As a matter of fact, very few cases of this are on record,\nand it is now, of course, entirely in abeyance.\n\nThus the chief's position can be grasped only through the realisation\nof the high importance of wealth, of the necessity of paying for\neverything, even for services which are due to him, and which could\nnot be withheld. Again, this wealth comes to the chief from his\nrelations-in-law, and it is through his right to practise polygamy\nthat he actually achieves his position, and exercises his power.\n\nSide by side with this rather complex mechanism of authority, the\nprestige of rank, the direct recognition of his personal superiority,\ngive the chief an immense power, even outside his district. Except\nfor the few of his own rank, no native in the Trobriands will remain\nerect when the great chief of Omarakana approaches, even in these\ndays of tribal disintegration. Wherever he goes, he is considered\nas the most important person, is seated on a high platform, and\ntreated with consideration. Of course the fact that he is accorded\nmarks of great deference, and approached in the manner as if he were\na supreme despot, does not mean that perfect good fellowship and\nsociability do not reign in his personal relations with his companions\nand vassals. There is no difference in interests or outlook between\nhim and his subjects. They sit together and chat, they exchange\nvillage gossip, the only difference being that the chief is always\non his guard, and much more reticent and diplomatic than the other,\nthough he is no less interested. The chief, unless he is too old,\njoins in dances and even in games, and indeed he takes precedence as\na matter of course.\n\n\nIn trying to realise the social conditions among the Trobrianders\nand their neighbours, it must not be forgotten that their social\norganisation is in certain respects complex and ill-defined. Besides\nvery definite laws which are strictly obeyed, there exist a number\nof quaint usages, of vague graduations in rules, of others where the\nexceptions are so many, that they rather obliterate the rule than\nconfirm it. The narrow social outlook of the native who does not\nsee beyond his own district, the prevalence of singularities and\nexceptional cases is one of the leading characteristics of native\nsociology, one which for many reasons has not been sufficiently\nrecognised. But the main outlines of chieftainship here presented,\nwill be enough to give a clear idea of it and of some of the flavour\nof their institutions, as much, in fact, as is necessary, in order\nto understand the chief's r\u00f4le in the Kula. But it must to a certain\nextent be supplemented by the concrete data, bearing upon the political\ndivisions of the Trobriands.\n\nThe most important chief is, as said, the one who resides in Omarakana\nand rules Kiriwina, agriculturally the richest and most important\ndistrict. His family, or sub-clan, the Tabalu, are acknowledged to\nhave by far the highest rank in all the Archipelago. Their fame is\nspread over the whole Kula district; the entire province of Kiriwina\nderives prestige from its chief, and its inhabitants also keep all\nhis personal taboos, which is a duty but also a distinction. Next to\nthe high chief, there resides in a village some two miles distant,\na personage who, though in several respects his vassal, is also his\nmain foe and rival, the headman of Kabwaku, and ruler of the province\nof Tilataula. The present holder of this title is an old rogue named\nMoliasi. From time to time, in the old days, war used to break out\nbetween the two provinces, each of which could muster some twelve\nvillages for the fight. These wars were never very bloody or of\nlong duration, and they were in many ways fought in a competitive,\nsporting manner, since, unlike with the Dobuans and Southern Massim,\nthere were neither head-hunting nor cannibalistic practices among\nthe Boyowans. Nevertheless, defeat was a serious matter. It meant\na temporary destruction of the loser's villages, and exile for a\nyear or two. After that, a ceremony of reconciliation took place,\nand friend and foe would help to rebuild the villages. [28] The ruler\nof Tilataula has an intermediate rank, and outside his district he\ndoes not enjoy much prestige; but within it, he has a considerable\namount of power, and a good deal of wealth, in the shape of stored\nfood and ceremonial articles. All the villages under his rule, have,\nof course, their own independent headman, who, being of low rank,\nhave only a small degree of local authority.\n\nIn the West of the big, Northern half of Boyowa (that is of the main\nisland of the Trobriand Group) are again two districts, in past\ntimes often at war with one another. One of them, Kuboma, subject\nto the chief of Gumilababa, of high rank, though inferior to the\nchief of Kiriwina, consists of some ten inland villages, and is very\nimportant as a centre of industry. Among these villages are included\nthose of Yalaka, Buduwaylaka, Kudukwaykela, where the quicklime is\nprepared for betel chewing, and also the lime pots made. The highly\nartistic designs, burnt in on the lime pots, are the speciality of\nthese villagers, but unfortunately the industry is fast decaying. The\ninhabitants of Luya are renowned for their basket work, of which the\nfinest specimens are their production. But the most remarkable of all\nis the village of Bwoytalu, whose inhabitants are at the same time\nthe most despised pariahs, the most dreaded sorcerers, and the most\nskilful and industrious craftsmen in the island. They belong to several\nsub-clans, all originating in the neighbourhood of the village, near\nwhich also, according to tradition, the original sorcerer came out of\nthe soil in the form of a crab. They eat the flesh of bush-pigs, and\nthey catch and eat the stingaree, both objects of strict taboos and of\ngenuine loathing to the other inhabitants of Northern Boyowa. For this\nreason they are despised and regarded as unclean by the others. In\nolden days they would have to crouch lower and more abjectly than\nanyone else. No man or woman would mate with anyone from Bwoytalu,\nwhether in marriage or in an intrigue. Yet in wood carving, and\nespecially in the working out of the wonderful, round dishes, in the\nmanufacture of plaited fibre work, and in the production of combs, they\nare far more skilful than anyone else, and acknowledged to be such;\nthey are the wholesale manufacturers of these objects for export,\nand they can produce work not to be rivalled by any other village.\n\nThe five villages lying on the western coast of the northern half,\non the shores of the Lagoon, form the district of Kulumata. They are\nall fishing villages, but differ in their methods, and each has its\nown fishing grounds and its own methods of exploiting them. [29]\nThe district is much less homogeneous than any of those before\nmentioned. It possesses no paramount chief, and even in war the\nvillagers used not to fight on the same side. But it is impossible\nto enter here into all these shades and singularities of political\norganisation.\n\nIn the southern part of Boyowa, there is first the province of Luba,\noccupying the waist of the island, the part where it narrows down\nto a long isthmus. This part is ruled by a chief of high rank, who\nresides in Olivilevi. He belongs to the same family as the chief of\nOmarakana, and this southern dominion is the result of a younger line's\nhaving branched off some three generations ago. This happened after an\nunsuccessful war, when the whole tribe of Kiriwina fled south to Luba,\nand lived there for two years in a temporary village. The main body\nreturned afterwards, but a number remained behind with the chief's\nbrother, and thus the village of Olivilevi was founded. Wawela,\nwhich was formerly a very big village, now consists of hardly more\nthan twenty huts. The only one on the Eastern shore which lies\nright on the sea, it is very picturesquely situated, overlooking a\nwide bay with a clean beach. It is of importance as the traditional\ncentre of astronomical knowledge. From here, for generation after\ngeneration up to the present day, the calendar of the natives has\nbeen regulated. This means that some of the most important dates are\nfixed, especially that of the great annual festival, the Milamala,\nalways held at full moon. Again, Wawela is one of the villages where\nthe second form of sorcery, that of the flying witches, has its main\nTrobriand home. In fact, according to native belief, this form of\nsorcery has its seat only in the Southern half, and is unknown to the\nwomen in the North, though the Southern witches extend their field\nof operations all over Boyowa. Wawela, which lies facing the East,\nand which is always in close touch with the villages of Kitava and\nthe rest of the Marshall Bennetts, shares with these islands the\nreputation of harbouring many women who can fly, kill by magic, who\nalso feed on corpses, and are especially dangerous to seamen in peril.\n\nFurther down to the South, on the Western shore of the Lagoon, we come\nto the big settlement of Sinaketa, consisting of some six villages\nlying within a few hundred yards from one another, but each having\nits own headman and a certain amount of local characteristics. These\nvillages form, however, one community for purposes of war and of\nthe Kula. Some of the local headmen of Sinaketa claim the highest\nrank, some are commoners; but on the whole, both the principle of\nrank and the power of the chief break down more and more as we move\nSouth. Beyond Sinaketa, we meet a few more villages, who practice a\nlocal Kula, and with whom we shall have to deal later on. Sinaketa\nitself will loom very largely in the descriptions that follow. The\nSouthern part of the island is sometimes called Kaybwagina, but it does\nnot constitute a definite political unit, like the Northern districts.\n\nFinally, south of the main island, divided from it by a narrow channel,\nlies the half-moon-shaped island of Vakuta, to which belong four small\nvillages and one big one. Within recent times, perhaps four to six\ngenerations ago, there came down and settled in this last mentioned one\na branch of the real Tabalu, the chiefly family of highest rank. But\ntheir power here never assumed the proportions even of the small\nchiefs of Sinaketa. In Vakuta, the typical Papuo-Melanesian system of\ngovernment by tribal elders--with one more prominent than the others,\nbut not paramount--is in full vigour.\n\nThe two big settlements of Sinaketa and Vakuta play a great part\nin the Kula, and they also are the only two communities in the\nwhole Trobriands where the red shell discs are made. This industry,\nas we shall see, is closely associated with the Kula. Politically,\nSinaketa and Vakuta are rivals, and in olden days were periodically\nat war with one another.\n\nAnother district which forms a definite political and cultural unit\nis the large island of Kayleula, in the West. The inhabitants are\nfishermen, canoe-builders, and traders, and undertake big expeditions\nto the western d'Entrecasteaux islands, trading for betel-nut, sago,\npottery and turtle shell in exchange for their own industrial produce.\n\nIt has been necessary to give a somewhat detailed description of\nchieftainship and political divisions, as a firm grasp of the main,\npolitical institutions is essential to the understanding of the\nKula. All departments of tribal life, religion, magic, economics\nare interwoven, but the social organisation of the tribe lies at the\nfoundation of everything else. Thus it is essential to bear in mind\nthat the Trobriands form one cultural unit, speaking the same language,\nhaving the same institutions, obeying the same laws and regulations,\nswayed by the same beliefs and conventions. The districts just\nenumerated, into which the Trobriands are sub-divided, are distinct\npolitically and not culturally; that is, each of them comprises the\nsame kind of natives, only obeying or at least acknowledging their\nown chief, having their own interests and pursuits, and in case of\nwar each fighting their own fight.\n\nAgain, within each district, the several village communities have\neach a great deal of independence. A village community is represented\nby a headman, its members make their gardens in one block and under\nthe guidance of their own garden magician; they carry on their own\nfeasts and ceremonial arrangements, mourn their dead in common, and\nperform, in remembrance of their departed ones, an endless series of\nfood distributions. In all big affairs, whether of the district or\nof the tribe, members of a village community keep together, and act\nin one group.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nRight across the political and local divisions cut the totemic clans,\neach having a series of linked totems, with a bird as principal\none. [30] The members of these four clans are scattered over the whole\ntribe of Boyowa, and in each village community, members of all four are\nto be found, and even in every house, there are at least two classes\nrepresented, since a husband must be of a different clan from his wife\nand children. There is a certain amount of solidarity within the clan,\nbased on the very vague feeling of communal affinity to the totem\nbirds and animals, but much more on the many social duties, such as\nthe performance of certain ceremonies, especially the mortuary ones,\nwhich band the members of a clan together. But real solidarity obtains\nonly between members of a sub-clan. A sub-clan is a local division of\na clan, whose members claim common ancestry, and hence real identity\nof bodily substance, and also are attached to the locality where\ntheir ancestors emerged. It is to these sub-clans that the idea\nof a definite rank attaches. One of the totemic clans, the Malasi,\nincludes the most aristocratic sub-clan, the Tabalu, as well as the\nlowest one, the local division of the Malasi in Bwoytalu. A chief of\nthe Tabalu feels very insulted if it is ever hinted that he is akin\nto one of the stingaree-eaters of the unclean village, although they\nare Malasi like himself. The principle of rank attached to totemic\ndivisions is to be met only in Trobriand sociology; it is entirely\nforeign to all the other Papuo-Melanesian tribes.\n\nAs regards kinship, the main thing to be remembered is that the natives\nare matrilineal, and that the succession of rank, membership in all\nthe social groups, and the inheritance of possessions descend in the\nmaternal line. The mother's brother is considered the real guardian of\na boy, and there is a series of mutual duties and obligations, which\nestablish a very close and important relation between the two. The\nreal kinship, the real identity of substance is considered to exist\nonly between a man and his mother's relations. In the first rank of\nthese, his brothers and sisters are specially near to him. For his\nsister or sisters he has to work as soon as they are grown up and\nmarried. But, in spite of that, a most rigorous taboo exists between\nthem, beginning quite early in life. No man would joke and talk freely\nin the presence of his sister, or even look at her. The slightest\nallusion to the sexual affairs, whether illicit or matrimonial, of\na brother or sister in the presence of the other, is the deadliest\ninsult and mortification. When a man approaches a group of people\nwhere his sister is talking, either she withdraws or he turns away.\n\nThe father's relation to his children is remarkable. Physiological\nfatherhood [31] is unknown, and no tie of kinship or relationship\nis supposed to exist between father and child, except that between a\nmother's husband and the wife's child. Nevertheless, the father is by\nfar the nearest and most affectionate friend of his children. In ever\nso many cases, I could observe that when a child, a young boy or girl,\nwas in trouble or sick; when there was a question of some one exposing\nhimself to difficulties or danger for the child's sake, it was always\nthe father who worried, who would undergo all the hardships needed,\nand never the maternal uncle. This state of things is quite clearly\nrecognised, and explicitly put into words by the natives. In matters\nof inheritance and handing over of possessions, a man always shows\nthe tendency to do as much for his children as he is able, considering\nhis obligations to his sister's family.\n\nIt is difficult, in one phrase or two, to epitomise the distinction\nbetween the two relations, that between a boy and his maternal uncle,\nand that between a son and a father. The best way to put it shortly\nmight be by saying that the maternal uncle's position of close relation\nis regarded as right by law and usage, whereas the father's interest\nand affection for his children are due to sentiment, and to the\nintimate personal relations existing between them. He has watched\nthe children grow up, he has assisted the mother in many of the\nsmall and tender cares given to an infant, he has carried the child\nabout, and given it such education as it gets from watching the elder\nones at work, and gradually joining in. In matters of inheritance,\nthe father gives the children all that he can, and gives it freely\nand with pleasure; the maternal uncle gives under the compulsion of\ncustom what he cannot withhold and keep for his own children.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nA few more words must be said about some of the magico-religious ideas\nof the Trobrianders. The main thing that struck me in connection with\ntheir belief in the spirits of the dead, was that they are almost\ncompletely devoid of any fear of ghosts, of any of these uncanny\nfeelings with which we face the idea of a possible return of the\ndead. All the fears and dreads of the natives are reserved for black\nmagic, flying witches, malevolent disease-bringing beings, but above\nall for sorcerers and witches. The spirits migrate immediately after\ndeath to the island of Tuma, lying in the North-West of Boyowa, and\nthere they exist for another span of time, underground, say some, on\nthe surface of the earth, though invisible, say others. They return\nto visit their own villages once a year, and take part in the big\nannual feast, milamala, where they receive offerings. Sometimes, at\nthis season, they show themselves to the living, who are, however, not\nalarmed by it, and in general the spirits do not influence human beings\nvery much, for better or worse. [32] In a number of magical formul\u00e6,\nthere is an invocation of ancestral spirits, and they receive offerings\nin several rites. But there is nothing of the mutual interaction,\nof the intimate collaboration between man and spirit which are the\nessence of religious cult.\n\nOn the other hand, magic, the attempt of man to govern the forces of\nnature directly, by means of a special lore, is all-pervading, and\nall-important in the Trobriands. [33] Sorcery and garden magic have\nalready been mentioned. Here it must suffice to add, that everything\nthat vitally affects the native is accompanied by magic. All economic\nactivities have their magic; love, welfare of babies, talents and\ncrafts, beauty and agility--all can be fostered or frustrated by\nmagic. In dealing with the Kula--a pursuit of immense importance\nto the natives, and playing on almost all their social passions and\nambitions--we shall meet with another system of magic, and we shall\nhave then to go more into detail about the subject in general.\n\nDisease, health, or death are also the result of magic or\ncounter-magic. The Trobrianders have a very complex and very definite\nset of theoretical views on these matters. Good health is primarily\nof course the natural, normal state. Minor ills may be contracted\nby exposure, over-eating, over-strain, bad food, or other ordinary\ncauses. Such ailments never last, and have never any really bad\neffects, nor are they of immediate danger. But, if a man sickens for\nany length of time, and his strength seems to be really sapped, then\nthe evil forces are at work. By far the most prevalent form of black\nmagic, is that of the bwaga'u, that is the black sorcerer, of whom\nthere are a number in each district. Usually even in each village\nthere are one or two men more or less dreaded as bwaga'u. To be one\ndoes not require any special initiation except the knowledge of the\nspells. To learn these--that is, to learn them in such a manner as\nto become an acknowledged bwaga'u--can only be done by means of high\npayment, or in exceptional circumstances. Thus, a father will often\n\"give\" his sorcery to his son, always, however, without payment; or\na commoner will teach it to a man of rank, or a man to his sister's\nson. In these two latter cases a very high payment would have to be\ngiven. It is important as a characteristic of the kinship conditions\nof this people, that a man receives sorcery gratis from his father,\nwho according to the traditional kinship system is no blood-relation,\nwhereas he has to pay for it to his maternal uncle, whose natural\nheir he is.\n\nWhen a man has acquired the black art, he applies it to a first victim,\nand this has always to be some one of his own family. It is a firm\nand definite belief among all the natives that if a man's sorcery has\nto be any good, it must first be practised on his mother or sister,\nor any of his maternal kindred. Such a matricidal act makes him a\ngenuine bwaga'u. His art then can be practised on others, and becomes\nan established source of income.\n\nThe beliefs about sorcery are complex; they differ according as to\nwhether taken from a real sorcerer, or from an outsider; and there\nare also evidently strata of belief, due perhaps to local variation,\nperhaps to superimposed versions. Here a short summary must suffice.\n\nWhen a sorcerer wants to attack someone, the first step is to cast\na light spell over his habitual haunts, a spell which will affect\nhim with a slight illness and compel him to keep to his bed in his\nhouse, where he will try to cure himself by lying over a small fire\nand warming his body. His first ailment, called kaynagola, comprises\npains in the body, such as (speaking from our point of view) would be\nbrought about by rheumatism, general cold, influenza, or any incipient\ndisease. When the victim is in bed, with a fire burning under him, and\nalso, as a rule, one in the middle of the hut, the bwaga'u stealthily\napproaches the house. He is accompanied by a few nightbirds, owls\nand night-jars, which keep guard over him, and he is surrounded by\na halo of legendary terrors which make all natives shiver at the\nidea of meeting a sorcerer on such a nocturnal visit. He then tries\nto insert through the thatch wall a bunch of herbs impregnated with\nsome deadly charm and tied to a long stick, and these he attempts to\nthrust into the fire over which the sick man is lying. If he succeeds,\nthe fumes of the burnt leaves will be inhaled by the victim, whose\nname has been uttered in the charm, and he will be seized by one or\nother of the deadly diseases of which the natives have a long list,\nwith a definite symptomatology, as well as a magical etiology. Thus\nthe preliminary sorcery was necessary, in order to keep the victim\nto his house, in which spot only can the mortal magic be performed.\n\nOf course, the sick man is on the defensive as well. First of all,\nhis friends and relatives--this is one of the main duties of the wife's\nbrothers--will keep a close watch over him, sitting with spears round\nthe hut, and at all approaches to it. Often have I come across such\nvigils, when walking late at night through some village. Then, the\nservices of some rival bwaga'u are invoked (for the art of killing\nand curing is always in the same hand), and he utters counter-spells,\nso that at times the efforts of the first sorcerer, even should he\nsucceed in burning the herbs according to the dreaded toginivayu rite,\nare fruitless.\n\nShould this be so, he resorts to the final and most fatal rite, that\nof the pointing-bone. Uttering powerful spells, the bwaga'u and one or\ntwo accomplices, boil some coco-nut oil in a small pot, far away in a\ndense patch of jungle. Leaves of herbs are soaked in the oil, and then\nwrapped round a sharp stingaree spine, or some similar pointed object,\nand the final incantation, most deadly of all, is chanted over it. Then\nthe bwaga'u steals towards the village, catches sight of his victim,\nand hiding himself behind a shrub or house, points the magical dagger\nat him. In fact, he violently and viciously turns it round in the\nair, as if to stab the victim, and to twist and wrench the point in\nthe wound. This, if carried out properly, and not counteracted by a\nstill more powerful magician, will never fail to kill a man.\n\nI have here summarised the bare outlines of the successive application\nof black magic as it is believed by sorcerer and outsider alike to\nbe done, and to act in producing disease and death. There can be no\ndoubt that the acts of sorcery are really carried out by those who\nbelieve themselves to possess the black powers. It is equally certain\nthat the nervous strain of knowing one's life to be threatened by\na bwaga'u is very great, and probably it is much worse when a man\nknows that behind the sorcerer stands the might of the chief, and this\napprehension certainly contributes powerfully towards the success of\nblack magic. On the other hand, a chief, if attacked, would have a\ngood guard to protect him, and the most powerful wizards to back him\nup, and also the authority to deal directly with anyone suspected\nof plotting against him. Thus sorcery, which is one of the means of\ncarrying on the established order, is in its turn strengthened by it.\n\nIf we remember that, as in all belief in the miraculous and\nsupernatural, so also here, there is the loophole of counterforces,\nand of the sorcery being incorrectly or inefficiently applied, spoilt\nby broken taboos, mispronounced spells, or what not; again, that\nsuggestion strongly influences the victim, and undermines his natural\nresistance; further that all disease is invariably traced back to\nsome sorcerer or other, who, whether it is true or not, often frankly\nadmits his responsibility in order to enhance his reputation, there\nis then no difficulty in understanding why the belief in black magic\nflourishes, why no empirical evidence can ever dispel it, and why the\nsorcerer no less than the victim, has confidence in his own powers. At\nleast, the difficulty is the same as in explaining many contemporary\nexamples of results achieved by miracles and faith healing, such as\nChristian Science or Lourdes, or in any cure by prayers and devotion.\n\nAlthough by far the most important of them all, the bwaga'u is only one\namong the beings who can cause disease and death. The often-mentioned\nflying-witches, who come always from the Southern half of the island,\nor from the East, from the islands of Kitava, Iwa, Gava, or Murua, are\neven more deadly. All very rapid and violent diseases, more especially\nsuch as show no direct, perceptible symptoms, are attributed to the\nmulukwausi, as they are called. Invisible, they fly through the air,\nand perch on trees, house-tops, and other high places. From there,\nthey pounce upon a man or woman and remove and hide \"the inside,\"\nthat is, the lungs, heart and guts, or the brains and tongue. Such a\nvictim will die within a day or two, unless another witch, called for\nthe purpose and well paid, goes in search and restores the missing\n\"inside.\" Of course, sometimes it is too late to do it, as the meal\nhas been eaten in the meantime! Then the victim must die.\n\nAnother powerful agency of death consists of the tauva'u, non-human\nthough anthropomorphic beings, who cause all epidemic disease. When,\nat the end of the rainy season the new and unripe yams have come in,\nand dysentery rages, decimating the villages; or, when in hot and\ndamp years an infectious disease passes over the district, taking\nheavy toll, this means that the tauva'u have come from the South, and\nthat, invisible, they march through the villages, rattling their lime\ngourds, and with their sword-clubs or sticks hitting their victims, who\nimmediately sicken and die. The tauva'u can, at will, assume the shape\nof man or reptile. He appears then as a snake, or crab, or lizard,\nand you recognise him at once, for he will not run away from you,\nand he has as a rule a patch of some gaudy colour on his skin. It\nwould be a fatal thing to kill such a reptile. On the contrary, it\nhas to be taken up cautiously and treated as a chief; that is to say,\nit is placed on a high platform, and some of the valuable tokens of\nwealth--a polished green stone blade, or a pair of arm-shells, or a\nnecklace of spondylus shell beads must be put before it as an offering.\n\nIt is very interesting to note that the tauva'u are believed to come\nfrom the Northern coast of Normanby Island, from the district of\nDu'a'u, and more especially from a place called Sewatupa. This is the\nvery place where, according to Dobuan belief and myth, their sorcery\noriginated. Thus, what to the local tribes of the originating place\nis ordinary sorcery, practised by men, becomes, when looked at from a\ngreat distance, and from an alien tribe, a non-human agency, endowed\nwith such super-normal powers as changing of shape, invisibility,\nand a direct, infallible method of inflicting death.\n\nThe tauva'u have sometimes sexual intercourse with women; several\npresent cases are on record, and such women who have a familiar tauva'u\nbecome dangerous witches, though how they practise their witchcraft\nis not quite clear to the natives.\n\nA much less dangerous being is the tokway, a wood-sprite, living in\ntrees and rocks, stealing crops from the field and from the yam-houses,\nand inflicting slight ailments. Some men in the past have acquired\nthe knowledge of how to do this from the tokway, and have handed it\non to their descendants.\n\nSo we see that, except for the very light ailments which pass quickly\nand easily, all disease is attributed to sorcery. Even accidents are\nnot believed to happen without cause. That this is the case also with\ndrowning, we shall learn more in detail, when we have to follow the\nTrobrianders in their dangerous sea-trips. Natural death, caused by\nold age, is admittedly possible, but when I asked in several concrete\ncases, in which age was obviously the cause, why such and such a man\ndied, I was always told that a bwaga'u was at the back of it. Only\nsuicide and death in battle have a different place in the mind of the\nnatives, and this is also confirmed by the belief that people killed\nin war, those that commit suicide, and those who are bewitched to\ndeath have, each class, their own way to the other world.\n\nThis sketch of Trobriand tribal life, belief and customs must suffice,\nand we shall still have opportunities of enlarging upon these subjects\nthat most matter to us for the present study.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTwo more districts remain to be mentioned, through which the Kula\ntrade passes on its circuit, before it returns to the place from\nwhere we started. One of them is the Eastern portion of the Northern\nMassim, comprising the Marshall Bennett Islands (Kitava, Iwa, Gawa,\nKwayawata), and Woodlark Island (Murua), with the small group of Nada\nIslands. The other district is that of St. Aignan Island, called by\nthe natives Masima, or Misima, with the smaller island Panayati.\n\nLooking from the rocky shores of Boyowa, at its narrowest point, we\ncan see over the white breakers on the fringing reef and over the sea,\nhere always blue and limpid, the silhouette of a flat-topped, low rock,\nalmost due East. This is Kitava. To the Trobrianders of the Eastern\ndistricts, this island and those behind it are the promised land\nof the Kula, just as Dobu is to the natives of Southern Boyowa. But\nhere, unlike in the South, they have to deal with tribesmen who speak\ntheir own language, with dialectic differences only, and who have very\nmuch the same institutions and customs. In fact, the nearest island,\nKitava, differs only very little from the Trobriands. Although the\nmore distant islands, especially Murua, have a slightly different\nform of totemism, with hardly any idea of rank attached to the\nsub-clans, and consequently no chieftainship in the Trobriand\nsense, yet their social organisation is also much the same as in the\nWestern province. [34] I know the natives only from having seen them\nvery frequently and in great numbers in the Trobriands, where they\ncome on Kula expeditions. In Murua, however, I spent a short time\ndoing field-work in the village of Dikoyas. In appearance, dress,\nornaments and manners, the natives are indistinguishable from the\nTrobrianders. Their ideas and customs in matters of sex, marriage,\nand kinship are, with variations in detail only, the same as in\nBoyowa. In beliefs and mythology, they also belong to the same culture.\n\nTo the Trobrianders, the Eastern islands are also the chief home and\nstronghold of the dreaded mulukwausi (flying witches); the land whence\nlove magic came, originating in the island of Iwa; the distant shores\ntowards which the mythical hero Tudava sailed, performing many feats,\ntill he finally disappeared, no one knows where. The most recent\nversion is that he most likely finished his career in the white man's\ncountry. To the Eastern islands, says native belief, the spirits of\nthe dead, killed by sorcery, go round on a short visit not stopping\nthere, only floating through the air like clouds, before they turn\nround to the North-West to Tuma.\n\n\nFrom these islands, many important products come to Boyowa (the\nTrobriands), but none half as important as the tough, homogeneous\ngreen-stone, from which all their implements were made in the past,\nand of which the ceremonial axes are made up till now. Some of these\nplaces are renowned for their yam gardens, especially Kitava, and it is\nrecognised that the best carving in black ebony comes from there. The\nmost important point of difference between the natives of this district\nand the Trobrianders, lies in the method of mortuary distributions,\nto which subject we shall have to return in a later part of the book,\nas it is closely connected with Kula.\n\nFrom Murua (Woodlark Island) the Kula track curves over to the South\nin two different branches, one direct to Tubetube, and the other to\nMisima, and thence to Tubetube and Wari. The district of Misima is\nalmost entirely unknown to me--I have only spoken once or twice with\nnatives of this island, and there is not, to my knowledge, any reliable\npublished information about that district, so we shall have to pass\nit over with a very few words. This is, however, not so alarming,\nbecause it is certain, even from the little I know about them, that\nthe natives do not essentially differ from the other Massim. They\nare totemic and matrilineal; there is no chieftainship, and the form\nof authority is the same as in the Southern Massim. Their sorcerers\nand witches resemble those of the Southern Massim and Dobuans. In\nindustries, they specialise in canoe-building, and in the small\nisland of Panayati produce the same type of craft as the natives of\nGawa and Woodlark Island, slightly different only from the Trobriand\ncanoe. In the island of Misima, a very big supply of areca (betel)\nnut is produced, as there is a custom of planting a number of these\nnuts after a man's death.\n\nThe small islands of Tubetube and Wari, which form the final link of\nthe Kula, lie already within the district of the Southern Massim. In\nfact, the island of Tubetube is one of the places studied in detail\nby Professor Seligman, and its ethnographical description is one of\nthree parallel monographs which form the division of the Southern\nMassim in the treatise so often quoted.\n\nFinally, I want to point out again that the descriptions of the\nvarious Kula districts given in this and in the previous chapter,\nthough accurate in every detail, are not meant to be an exhaustive\nethnographic sketch of the tribes. They have been given with a few\nlight touches in order to produce a vivid and so-to-speak personal\nimpression of the various type of natives, and countries and of\ncultures. If I have succeeded in giving a physiognomy to each of the\nvarious tribes, to the Trobrianders, to the Amphlettans, the Dobuans,\nand the Southern Massim, and in arousing some interest in them,\nthe main purpose has been achieved, and the necessary ethnographic\nbackground for the Kula has been supplied.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA\n\n\nI\n\nHaving thus described the scene, and the actors, let us now proceed\nto the performance. The Kula is a form of exchange, of extensive,\ninter-tribal character; it is carried on by communities inhabiting a\nwide ring of islands, which form a closed circuit. This circuit can be\nseen on Map V, where it is represented by the lines joining a number\nof islands to the North and East of the East end of New Guinea. Along\nthis route, articles of two kinds, and these two kinds only, are\nconstantly travelling in opposite directions. In the direction of the\nhands of a clock, moves constantly one of these kinds--long necklaces\nof red shell, called soulava (Plates XVIII and XIX). In the opposite\ndirection moves the other kind--bracelets of white shell called mwali\n(Plates XVI and XVII). Each of these articles, as it travels in its\nown direction on the closed circuit, meets on its way articles of\nthe other class, and is constantly being exchanged for them. Every\nmovement of the Kula articles, every detail of the transactions is\nfixed and regulated by a set of traditional rules and conventions,\nand some acts of the Kula are accompanied by an elaborate magical\nritual and public ceremonies.\n\nOn every island and in every village, a more or less limited number of\nmen take part in the Kula--that is to say, receive the goods, hold them\nfor a short time, and then pass them on. Therefore every man who is in\nthe Kula, periodically though not regularly, receives one or several\nmwali (arm-shells), or a soulava (necklace of red shell discs), and\nthen has to hand it on to one of his partners, from whom he receives\nthe opposite commodity in exchange. Thus no man ever keeps any of the\narticles for any length of time in his possession. One transaction\ndoes not finish the Kula relationship, the rule being \"once in the\nKula, always in the Kula,\" and a partnership between two men is a\npermanent and lifelong affair. Again, any given mwali or soulava\nmay always be found travelling and changing hands, and there is no\nquestion of its ever settling down, so that the principle \"once in\nthe Kula, always in the Kula\" applies also to the valuables themselves.\n\nThe ceremonial exchange of the two articles is the main, the\nfundamental aspect of the Kula. But associated with it, and done\nunder its cover, we find a great number of secondary activities\nand features. Thus, side by side with the ritual exchange of\narm-shells and necklaces, the natives carry on ordinary trade,\nbartering from one island to another a great number of utilities,\noften unprocurable in the district to which they are imported, and\nindispensable there. Further, there are other activities, preliminary\nto the Kula, or associated with it, such as the building of sea-going\ncanoes for the expeditions, certain big forms of mortuary ceremonies,\nand preparatory taboos.\n\nThe Kula is thus an extremely big and complex institution, both in\nits geographical extent, and in the manifoldness of its component\npursuits. It welds together a considerable number of tribes, and it\nembraces a vast complex of activities, interconnected, and playing\ninto one another, so as to form one organic whole.\n\nYet it must be remembered that what appears to us an extensive,\ncomplicated, and yet well ordered institution is the outcome of ever\nso many doings and pursuits, carried on by savages, who have no laws\nor aims or charters definitely laid down. They have no knowledge of\nthe total outline of any of their social structure. They know their\nown motives, know the purpose of individual actions and the rules\nwhich apply to them, but how, out of these, the whole collective\ninstitution shapes, this is beyond their mental range. Not even\nthe most intelligent native has any clear idea of the Kula as a big,\norganised social construction, still less of its sociological function\nand implications. If you were to ask him what the Kula is, he would\nanswer by giving a few details, most likely by giving his personal\nexperiences and subjective views on the Kula, but nothing approaching\nthe definition just given here. Not even a partial coherent account\ncould be obtained. For the integral picture does not exist in his mind;\nhe is in it, and cannot see the whole from the outside.\n\nThe integration of all the details observed, the achievement of a\nsociological synthesis of all the various, relevant symptoms, is the\ntask of the Ethnographer. First of all, he has to find out that certain\nactivities, which at first sight might appear incoherent and not\ncorrelated, have a meaning. He then has to find out what is constant\nand relevant in these activities, and what accidental and inessential,\nthat is, to find out the laws and rules of all the transactions. Again,\nthe Ethnographer has to construct the picture of the big institution,\nvery much as the physicist constructs his theory from the experimental\ndata, which always have been within reach of everybody, but which\nneeded a consistent interpretation. I have touched on this point of\nmethod in the Introduction (Divisions V and VI), but I have repeated it\nhere, as it is necessary to grasp it clearly in order not to lose the\nright perspective of conditions as they really exist among the natives.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nIn giving the above abstract and concise definition, I had to reverse\nthe order of research, as this is done in ethnographic field-work,\nwhere the most generalised inferences are obtained as the result\nof long inquiries and laborious inductions. The general definition\nof the Kula will serve as a sort of plan or diagram in our further\nconcrete and detailed descriptions. And this is the more necessary\nas the Kula is concerned with the exchange of wealth and utilities,\nand therefore it is an economic institution, and there is no other\naspect of primitive life where our knowledge is more scanty and our\nunderstanding more superficial than in Economics. Hence misconception\nis rampant, and it is necessary to clear the ground when approaching\nany economic subject.\n\nThus in the Introduction we called the Kula a \"form of trade,\" and we\nranged it alongside other systems of barter. This is quite correct,\nif we give the word \"trade\" a sufficiently wide interpretation, and\nmean by it any exchange of goods. But the word \"trade\" is used in\ncurrent Ethnography and economic literature with so many different\nimplications that a whole lot of misleading, preconceived ideas have\nto be brushed aside in order to grasp the facts correctly. Thus the\naprioric current notion of primitive trade would be that of an exchange\nof indispensable or useful articles, done without much ceremony or\nregulation, under stress of dearth or need, in spasmodic, irregular\nintervals--and this done either by direct barter, everyone looking\nout sharply not to be done out of his due, or, if the savages were\ntoo timid and distrustful to face one another, by some customary\narrangement, securing by means of heavy penalties compliance in\nthe obligations incurred or imposed. [35] Waiving for the present\nthe question how far this conception is valid or not in general--in\nmy opinion it is quite misleading--we have to realise clearly that\nthe Kula contradicts in almost every point the above definition of\n\"savage trade.\" It shows to us primitive exchange in an entirely\ndifferent light.\n\nThe Kula is not a surreptitious and precarious form of exchange. It is,\nquite on the contrary, rooted in myth, backed by traditional law, and\nsurrounded with magical rites. All its main transactions are public\nand ceremonial, and carried out according to definite rules. It is\nnot done on the spur of the moment, but happens periodically, at\ndates settled in advance, and it is carried on along definite trade\nroutes, which must lead to fixed trysting places. Sociologically,\nthough transacted between tribes differing in language, culture,\nand probably even in race, it is based on a fixed and permanent\nstatus, on a partnership which binds into couples some thousands of\nindividuals. This partnership is a lifelong relationship, it implies\nvarious mutual duties and privileges, and constitutes a type of\ninter-tribal relationship on an enormous scale. As to the economic\nmechanism of the transactions, this is based on a specific form of\ncredit, which implies a high degree of mutual trust and commercial\nhonour--and this refers also to the subsidiary, minor trade, which\naccompanies the Kula proper. Finally, the Kula is not done under\nstress of any need, since its main aim is to exchange articles which\nare of no practical use.\n\nFrom the concise definition of Kula given at the beginning of this\nchapter, we see that in its final essence, divested of all trappings\nand accessories, it is a very simple affair, which at first sight\nmight even appear tame and unromantic. After all, it only consists\nof an exchange, interminably repeated, of two articles intended for\nornamentation, but not even used for that to any extent. Yet this\nsimple action--this passing from hand to hand of two meaningless\nand quite useless objects--has somehow succeeded in becoming the\nfoundation of a big inter-tribal institution, in being associated with\never so many other activities. Myth, magic and tradition have built\nup around it definite ritual and ceremonial forms, have given it a\nhalo of romance and value in the minds of the natives, have indeed\ncreated a passion in their hearts for this simple exchange.\n\nThe definition of the Kula must now be amplified, and we must describe\none after the other its fundamental characteristics and main rules,\nso that it may be clearly grasped by what mechanism the mere exchange\nof two articles results in an institution so vast, complex, and\ndeeply rooted.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nFirst of all, a few words must be said about the two principal\nobjects of exchange, the arm-shells (mwali) and the necklaces\n(soulava). The arm-shells are obtained by breaking off the top and\nthe narrow end of a big, cone-shaped shell (Conus millepunctatus),\nand then polishing up the remaining ring. These bracelets are highly\ncoveted by all the Papuo-Melanesians of New Guinea, and they spread\neven into the pure Papuan district of the Gulf. [36] The manner of\nwearing the arm-shells is illustrated by Plate XVII, where the men\nhave put them on on purpose to be photographed.\n\nThe use of the small discs of red spondylus shell, out of which\nthe soulava are made, is also of a very wide diffusion. There is a\nmanufacturing centre of them in one of the villages in Port Moresby,\nand also in several places in Eastern New Guinea, notably in Rossell\nIsland, and in the Trobriands. I have said \"use\" on purpose here,\nbecause these small beads, each of them a flat, round disc with a hole\nin the centre, coloured anything from muddy brown to carmine red, are\nemployed in various ways for ornamentation. They are most generally\nused as part of earrings, made of rings of turtle shell, which are\nattached to the ear lobe, and from which hang a cluster of the shell\ndiscs. These earrings are very much worn, and, especially among the\nMassim, you see them on the ears of every second man or woman, while\nothers are satisfied with turtle shell alone, unornamented with the\nshell discs. Another everyday ornament, frequently met with and worn,\nespecially by young girls and boys, consists of a short necklace,\njust encircling the neck, made of the red spondylus discs, with one\nor more cowrie shell pendants. These shell discs can be, and often\nare, used in the make-up of the various classes of the more elaborate\nornaments, worn on festive occasions only. Here, however, we are more\nespecially concerned with the very long necklaces, measuring from two\nto five metres, made of spondylus discs, of which there are two main\nvarieties, one, much the finer, with a big shell pendant, the other\nmade of bigger discs, and with a few cowrie shells or black banana\nseeds in the centre (see Plate XVIII).\n\nThe arm-shells on the one hand, and the long spondylus shell strings\non the other, the two main Kula articles, are primarily ornaments. As\nsuch, they are used with the most elaborate dancing dress only,\nand on very festive occasions such as big ceremonial dances, great\nfeasts, and big gatherings, where several villages are represented,\nas can be seen in Plate VI. Never could they be used as everyday\nornaments, nor on occasions of minor importance, such as a small\ndance in the village, a harvest gathering, a love-making expedition,\nwhen facial painting, floral decoration and smaller though not quite\neveryday ornaments are worn (see Plates XII and XIII). But even\nthough usable and sometimes used, this is not the main function of\nthese articles. Thus, a chief may have several shell strings in his\npossession, and a few arm-shells. Supposing that a big dance is held\nin his or in a neighbouring village, he will not put on his ornaments\nhimself if he goes to assist at it, unless he intends to dance\nand decorate himself, but any of his relatives, his children or his\nfriends and even vassals, can have the use of them for the asking. If\nyou go to a feast or a dance where there are a number of men wearing\nsuch ornaments, and ask anyone of them at random to whom it belongs,\nthe chances are that more than half of them will answer that they\nthemselves are not the owners, but that they had the articles lent to\nthem. These objects are not owned in order to be used; the privilege\nof decorating oneself with them is not the real aim of possession.\n\nIndeed--and this is more significant--by far the greater number of the\narm-shells, easily ninety per cent., are of too small a size to be worn\neven by young boys and girls. A few are so big and valuable that they\nwould not be worn at all, except once in a decade by a very important\nman on a very festive day. Though all the shell-strings can be worn,\nsome of them are again considered too valuable, and are cumbersome\nfor frequent use, and would be worn on very exceptional occasions only.\n\nThis negative description leaves us with the questions: why, then,\nare these objects valued, what purpose do they serve? The full answer\nto this question will emerge out of the whole story contained in the\nfollowing chapters, but an approximate idea must be given at once. As\nit is always better to approach the unknown through the known, let us\nconsider for a moment whether among ourselves we have not some type of\nobjects which play a similar r\u00f4le and which are used and possessed in\nthe same manner. When, after a six years' absence in the South Seas and\nAustralia, I returned to Europe and did my first bit of sight-seeing\nin Edinburgh Castle, I was shown the Crown jewels. The keeper told\nmany stories of how they were worn by this or that king or queen\non such and such occasion, of how some of them had been taken over\nto London, to the great and just indignation of the whole Scottish\nnation, how they were restored, and how now everyone can be pleased,\nsince they are safe under lock and key, and no one can touch them. As\nI was looking at them and thinking how ugly, useless, ungainly, even\ntawdry they were, I had the feeling that something similar had been\ntold to me of late, and that I had seen many other objects of this\nsort, which made a similar impression on me.\n\nAnd then arose before me the vision of a native village on coral soil,\nand a small, rickety platform temporarily erected under a pandanus\nthatch, surrounded by a number of brown, naked men, and one of them\nshowing me long, thin red strings, and big, white, worn-out objects,\nclumsy to sight and greasy to touch. With reverence he also would name\nthem, and tell their history, and by whom and when they were worn,\nand how they changed hands, and how their temporary possession was a\ngreat sign of the importance and glory of the village. The analogy\nbetween the European and the Trobriand vaygu'a (valuables) must be\ndelimited with more precision. The Crown jewels, in fact, any heirlooms\ntoo valuable and too cumbersome to be worn, represent the same type as\nvaygu'a in that they are merely possessed for the sake of possession\nitself, and the ownership of them with the ensuing renown is the main\nsource of their value. Also both heirlooms and vaygu'a are cherished\nbecause of the historical sentiment which surrounds them. However ugly,\nuseless, and--according to current standards--valueless an object\nmay be, if it has figured in historical scenes and passed through\nthe hands of historic persons, and is therefore an unfailing vehicle\nof important sentimental associations, it cannot but be precious to\nus. This historic sentimentalism, which indeed has a large share in\nour general interest in studies of past events, exists also in the\nSouth Seas. Every really good Kula article has its individual name,\nround each there is a sort of history and romance in the traditions\nof the natives. Crown jewels or heirlooms are insignia of rank and\nsymbols of wealth respectively, and in olden days with us, and in New\nGuinea up till a few years ago, both rank and wealth went together. The\nmain point of difference is that the Kula goods are only in possession\nfor a time, whereas the European treasure must be permanently owned\nin order to have full value.\n\nTaking a broader, ethnological view of the question, we may class\nthe Kula valuables among the many \"ceremonial\" objects of wealth;\nenormous, carved and decorated weapons, stone implements, articles of\ndomestic and industrial nature, too well decorated and too clumsy for\nuse. Such things are usually called \"ceremonial,\" but this word seems\nto cover a great number of meanings and much that has no meaning at\nall. In fact, very often, especially on museum labels, an article is\ncalled \"ceremonial\" simply because nothing is known about its uses and\ngeneral nature. Speaking only about museum exhibits from New Guinea,\nI can say that many so-called ceremonial objects are nothing but\nsimply overgrown objects of use, which preciousness of material and\namount of labour expended have transformed into reservoirs of condensed\neconomic value. Again, others are used on festive occasions, but play\nno part whatever in rites and ceremonies, and serve for decoration\nonly, and these might be called objects of parade (comp. Chap. VI,\nDiv. I). Finally, a number of these articles function actually as\ninstruments of a magical or religious rite, and belong to the intrinsic\napparatus of a ceremony. Such and such only could be correctly called\nceremonial. During the So'i feasts among the Southern Massim, women\ncarrying polished axe blades in fine carved handles, accompany with a\nrhythmic step to the beat of drums, the entry of the pigs and mango\nsaplings into the village (see Plates V and VI). As this is part\nof the ceremony and the axes are an indispensable accessory, their\nuse in this case can be legitimately called \"ceremonial.\" Again,\nin certain magical ceremonies in the Trobriands, the towosi (garden\nmagician) has to carry a mounted axe blade on his shoulders, and with\nit he delivers a ritual blow at a kamkokola structure (see Plate LIX;\ncompare Chapter II, Division IV).\n\nThe vaygu'a--the Kula valuables--in one of their aspects are overgrown\nobjects of use. They are also, however, ceremonial objects in the\nnarrow and correct sense of the word. This will become clear after\nperusal of the following pages, and to this point we shall return in\nthe last chapter.\n\nIt must be kept in mind that here we are trying to obtain a clear and\nvivid idea of what the Kula valuables are to the natives, and not to\ngive a detailed and circumstantial description of them, nor to define\nthem with precision. The comparison with the European heirlooms or\nCrown jewels was given in order to show that this type of ownership\nis not entirely a fantastic South Sea custom, untranslatable into our\nideas. For--and this is a point I want to stress--the comparison I\nhave made is not based on purely external, superficial similarity. The\npsychological and sociological forces at work are the same, it is\nreally the same mental attitude which makes us value our heirlooms,\nand makes the natives in New Guinea value their vaygu'a.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nThe exchange of these two classes of vaygu'a, of the armshells and the\nnecklaces, constitutes the main act of the Kula. This exchange is not\ndone freely, right and left, as opportunity offers, and where the whim\nleads. It is subject indeed to strict limitations and regulations. One\nof these refers to the sociology of the exchange, and entails that\nKula transactions can be done only between partners. A man who is in\nthe Kula--for not everyone within its district is entitled to carry\nit on--has only a limited number of people with whom he does it. This\npartnership is entered upon in a definite manner, under fulfilment of\ncertain formalities, and it constitutes a life-long relationship. The\nnumber of partners a man has varies with his rank and importance. A\ncommoner in the Trobriands would have a few partners only, whereas\na chief would number hundreds of them. There is no special social\nmechanism to limit the partnership of some people and extend that of\nthe others, but a man would naturally know to what number of partners\nhe was entitled by his rank and position. And there would be always the\nexample of his immediate ancestors to guide him. In other tribes, where\nthe distinction of rank is not so pronounced, an old man of standing,\nor a headman of a hamlet or village would also have hundreds of Kula\nassociates, whereas a man of minor importance would have but few.\n\nTwo Kula partners have to kula with one another, and exchange other\ngifts incidentally; they behave as friends, and have a number of\nmutual duties and obligations, which vary with the distance between\ntheir villages and with their reciprocal status. An average man has a\nfew partners near by, as a rule his relations-in-law or his friends,\nand with these partners, he is generally on very friendly terms. The\nKula partnership is one of the special bonds which unite two men\ninto one of the standing relations of mutual exchange of gifts and\nservices so characteristic of these natives. Again, the average man\nwill have one or two chiefs in his or in the neighbouring districts\nwith whom he kulas. In such a case, he would be bound to assist and\nserve them in various ways, and to offer them the pick of his vaygu'a\nwhen he gets a fresh supply. On the other hand he would expect them\nto be specially liberal to him.\n\nThe overseas partner is, on the other hand, a host, patron and ally\nin a land of danger and insecurity. Nowadays, though the feeling of\ndanger still persists, and natives never feel safe and comfortable\nin a strange district, this danger is rather felt as a magical one,\nand it is more the fear of foreign sorcery that besets them. In\nolden days, more tangible dangers were apprehended, and the partner\nwas the main guarantee of safety. He also provides with food, gives\npresents, and his house, though never used to sleep in, is the place\nin which to foregather while in the village. Thus the Kula partnership\nprovides every man within its ring with a few friends near at hand,\nand with some friendly allies in the far-away, dangerous, foreign\ndistricts. These are the only people with whom he can kula, but,\nof course, amongst all his partners, he is free to choose to which\none he will offer which object.\n\nLet us now try to cast a broad glance at the cumulative effects\nof the rules of partnership. We see that all around the ring of\nKula there is a network of relationships, and that naturally the\nwhole forms one interwoven fabric. Men living at hundreds of miles'\nsailing distance from one another are bound together by direct or\nintermediate partnership, exchange with each other, know of each\nother, and on certain occasions meet in a large intertribal gathering\n(Plate XX). Objects given by one, in time reach some very distant\nindirect partner or other, and not only Kula objects, but various\narticles of domestic use and minor gifts. It is easy to see that in\nthe long run, not only objects of material culture, but also customs,\nsongs, art motives and general cultural influences travel along the\nKula route. It is a vast, inter-tribal net of relationships, a big\ninstitution, consisting of thousands of men, all bound together by\none common passion for Kula exchange, and secondarily, by many minor\nties and interests.\n\nReturning again to the personal aspect of the Kula, let us take a\nconcrete example, that of an average man who lives, let us assume,\nin the village of Sinaketa, an important Kula centre in the Southern\nTrobriands. He has a few partners, near and far, but they again fall\ninto categories, those who give him arm-shells, and those who give\nhim necklaces. For it is naturally an invariable rule of the Kula that\narm-shells and necklaces are never received from the same man, since\nthey must travel in different directions. If one partner gives the\narmshells, and I return to him a necklace, all future operations have\nto be of the same type. More than that, the nature of the operation\nbetween me, the man of Sinaketa, and my partner, is determined by our\nrelative positions with regard to the points of the compass. Thus I,\nin Sinaketa, would receive from the North and East only arm-shells;\nfrom the South and West, necklaces are given to me. If I have a near\npartner next door to me, if his abode is North or East of mine,\nhe will always be giving me arm-shells and receiving necklaces\nfrom me. If, at a later time he were to shift his residence within\nthe village, the old relationship would obtain, but if he became\na member of another village community on the other side of me the\nrelationship would be reversed. The partners in villages to the North\nof Sinaketa, in the district of Luba, Kulumata, or Kiriwina all supply\nme with arm-shells. These I hand over to my partners in the South,\nand receive from them necklaces. The South in this case means the\nsouthern districts of Boyowa, as well as the Amphletts and Dobu.\n\nThus every man has to obey definite rules as to the geographical\ndirection of his transactions. At any point in the Kula ring, if\nwe imagine him turned towards the centre of the circle, he receives\nthe arm-shells with his left hand, and the necklaces with his right,\nand then hands them both on. In other words, he constantly passes the\narm-shells from left to right, and the necklaces from right to left.\n\nApplying this rule of personal conduct to the whole Kula ring,\nwe can see at once what the aggregate result is. The sum total\nof exchanges will not result in an aimless shifting of the two\nclasses of article, in a fortuitous come and go of the armshells and\nnecklaces. Two continuous streams will constantly flow on, the one\nof necklaces following the hands of a clock, and the other, composed\nof the arm-shells, in the opposite direction. We see thus that it\nis quite correct to speak of the circular exchange of the Kula, of a\nring or circuit of moving articles (comp. Map V). On this ring, all\nthe villages are placed in a definitely fixed position with regard\nto one another, so that one is always on either the arm-shell or on\nthe necklace side of the other.\n\nNow we pass to another rule of the Kula, of the greatest importance. As\njust explained \"the armshells and shell-strings always travel in their\nown respective directions on the ring, and they are never, under\nany circumstances, traded back in the wrong direction. Also, they\nnever stop. It seems almost incredible at first, but it is the fact,\nnevertheless, that no one ever keeps any of the Kula: valuables for\nany length of time. Indeed, in the whole of the Trobriands there are\nperhaps only one or two specially fine armshells and shell-necklaces\npermanently owned as heirlooms, and these are set apart as a special\nclass, and are once and for all out of the Kula. 'Ownership,'\ntherefore, in Kula, is quite a special economic relation. A man who\nis in the Kula never keeps any article for longer than, say, a year\nor two. Even this exposes him to the reproach of being niggardly, and\ncertain districts have the bad reputation of being 'slow' and 'hard'\nin the Kula. On the other hand, each man has an enormous number of\narticles passing through his hands during his life time, of which\nhe enjoys a temporary possession, and which he keeps in trust for a\ntime. This possession hardly ever makes him use the articles, and\nhe remains under the obligation soon again to hand them on to one\nof his partners. But the temporary ownership allows him to draw a\ngreat deal of renown, to exhibit his article, to tell how he obtained\nit, and to plan to whom he is going to give it. And all this forms\none of the favourite subjects of tribal conversation and gossip,\nin which the feats and the glory in Kula of chiefs or commoners are\nconstantly discussed and re-discussed.\" [37] Thus every article moves\nin one direction only, never comes back, never permanently stops,\nand takes as a rule some two to ten years to make the round.\n\nThis feature of the Kula is perhaps its most remarkable one, since it\ncreates a new type of ownership, and places the two Kula articles in a\nclass of their own. Here we can return to the comparison drawn between\nthe vaygu'a (Kiriwinian valuables) and the European heirlooms. This\ncomparison broke down on one point: in the European objects of this\nclass, permanent ownership, lasting association with the hereditary\ndignity or rank or with a family, is one of its main features. In\nthis the Kula articles differ from heirlooms, but resemble another\ntype of valued object, that is, trophies, gauges of superiority,\nsporting cups, objects which are kept for a time only by the winning\nparty, whether a group or an individual. Though held only in trust,\nonly for a period, though never used in any utilitarian way, yet the\nholders get from them a special type of pleasure by the mere fact of\nowning them, of being entitled to them. Here again, it is not only\na superficial, external resemblance, but very much the same mental\nattitude, favoured by similar social arrangements. The resemblance\ngoes so far that in the Kula there exists also the element of pride\nin merit, an element which forms the main ingredient in the pleasure\nfelt by a man or group holding a trophy. Success in Kula is ascribed\nto special, personal power, due mainly to magic, and men are very\nproud of it. Again, the whole community glories in a specially fine\nKula trophy, obtained by one of its members.\n\nAll the rules so far enumerated--looking at them from the\nindividual point of view--limit the social range and the direction\nof the transactions as well as the duration of ownership of the\narticles. Looking at them from the point of view of their integral\neffect, they shape the general outline of the Kula, give it the\ncharacter of the double-closed circuit. Now a few words must be said\nabout the nature of each individual transaction, in so far as its\ncommercial technicalities are concerned. Here very definite rules\nalso obtain.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nThe main principle underlying the regulations of actual exchange\nis that the Kula consists in the bestowing of a ceremonial gift,\nwhich has to be repaid by an equivalent counter-gift after a lapse\nof time, be it a few hours or even minutes, though sometimes as much\nas a year or more may elapse between payments. [38] But it can never\nbe exchanged from hand to hand, with the equivalence between the two\nobjects discussed, bargained about and computed. The decorum of the\nKula transaction is strictly kept, and highly valued. The natives\nsharply distinguish it from barter, which they practise extensively,\nof which they have a clear idea, and for which they have a settled\nterm--in Kiriwinian: gimwali. Often, when criticising an incorrect,\ntoo hasty, or indecorous procedure of Kula, they will say: \"He conducts\nhis Kula as if it were gimwali.\"\n\nThe second very important principle is that the equivalence of the\ncounter-gift is left to the giver, and it cannot be enforced by any\nkind of coercion. A partner who has received a Kula gift is expected\nto give back fair and full value, that is, to give as good an arm-shell\nas the necklace he receives, or vice versa. Again, a very fine article\nmust be replaced by one of equivalent value, and not by several minor\nones, though intermediate gifts may be given to mark time before the\nreal repayment takes place.\n\nIf the article given as counter-gift is not equivalent, the recipient\nwill be disappointed and angry, but he has no direct means of redress,\nno means of coercing his partner, or of putting an end to the whole\ntransaction. What then are the forces at work which keep the partners\nto the terms of the bargain? Here we come up against a very important\nfeature of the native's mental attitude towards wealth and value. The\ngreat misconception of attributing to the savage a pure economic\nnature, might lead us to reason incorrectly thus: \"The passion of\nacquiring, the loathing to lose or give away, is the fundamental and\nmost primitive element in man's attitude to wealth. In primitive man,\nthis primitive characteristic will appear in its simplest and purest\nform. Grab and never let go will be the guiding principle of his\nlife.\" [39] The fundamental error in this reasoning is that it assumes\nthat \"primitive man,\" as represented by the present-day savage, lives,\nat least in economic matters, untrammelled by conventions and social\nrestrictions. Quite the reverse is the case. Although, like every\nhuman being, the Kula native loves to possess and therefore desires\nto acquire and dreads to lose, the social code of rules, with regard\nto give and take by far overrides his natural acquisitive tendency.\n\nThis social code, such as we find it among the natives of the Kula is,\nhowever, far from weakening the natural desirability of possession;\non the contrary, it lays down that to possess is to be great, and that\nwealth is the indispensable appanage of social rank and attribute of\npersonal virtue. But the important point is that with them to possess\nis to give--and here the natives differ from us notably. A man who\nowns a thing is naturally expected to share it, to distribute it,\nto be its trustee and dispenser. And the higher the rank the greater\nthe obligation. A chief will naturally be expected to give food to any\nstranger, visitor, even loiterer from another end of the village. He\nwill be expected to share any of the betel-nut or tobacco he has\nabout him. So that a man of rank will have to hide away any surplus of\nthese articles which he wants to preserve for his further use. In the\nEastern end of New Guinea a type of large basket, with three layers,\nmanufactured in the Trobriands, was specially popular among people\nof consequence, because one could hide away one's small treasures\nin the lower compartments. Thus the main symptom of being powerful\nis to be wealthy, and of wealth is to be generous. Meanness, indeed,\nis the most despised vice, and the only thing about which the natives\nhave strong moral views, while generosity is the essence of goodness.\n\nThis moral injunction and ensuing habit of generosity, superficially\nobserved and misinterpreted, is responsible for another wide-spread\nmisconception, that of the Primitive communism of savages. This, quite\nas much as the diametrically opposed figment of the acquisitive and\nruthlessly tenacious native, is definitely erroneous, and this will\nbe seen with sufficient clearness in the following chapters.\n\nThus the fundamental principle of the natives' moral code in\nthis matter makes a man do his fair share in Kula transaction and\nthe more important he is, the more will he desire to shine by his\ngenerosity. Noblesse oblige is in reality the social norm regulating\ntheir conduct. This does not mean that people are always satisfied,\nand that there are no squabbles about the transactions, no resentments\nand even feuds. It is obvious that, however much a man may want to\ngive a good equivalent for the object received, he may not be able to\ndo so. And then, as there is always a keen competition to be the most\ngenerous giver, a man who has received less than he gave will not keep\nhis grievance to himself, but will brag about his own generosity and\ncompare it to his partner's meanness; the other resents it, and the\nquarrel is ready to break out. But it is very important to realise\nthat there is no actual haggling, no tendency to do a man out of his\nshare. The giver is quite as keen as the receiver that the gift should\nbe generous, though for different reasons. Then, of course, there is\nthe important consideration that a man who is fair and generous in\nthe Kula will attract a larger stream to himself than a mean one.\n\nThe two main principles, namely, first that the Kula is a gift repaid\nafter an interval of time by a counter-gift, and not a bartering;\nand second, that the equivalent rests with the giver, and cannot\nbe enforced, nor can there be any haggling or going back on the\nexchange--these underlie all the transactions. A concrete outline of\nhow they are carried on, will give a sufficient preliminary idea.\n\n\"Let us suppose that I, a Sinaketa man, am in possession of a\npair of big armshells. An overseas expedition from Dobu in the\nd'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, arrives at my village. Blowing a conch\nshell, I take my armshell pair and I offer it to my overseas partner,\nwith some such words as 'This is a vaga (opening gift)--in due time,\nthou returnest to me a big soulava (necklace) for it!' Next year,\nwhen I visit my partner's village, he either is in possession of an\nequivalent necklace, and this he gives to me as yotile (return gift),\nor he has not a necklace good enough to repay my last gift. In this\ncase he will give me a small necklace--avowedly not equivalent to my\ngift--and he will give it to me as basi (intermediary gift). This means\nthat the main gift has to be repaid on a future occasion, and the basi\nis given in token of good faith--but it, in turn, must be repaid by me\nin the meantime by a gift of small arm-shells. The final gift, which\nwill be given to me to clinch the whole transaction, would then be\ncalled kudu (clinching gift) in contrast to basi\" (loc. cit., p. 99).\n\nAlthough haggling and bargaining are completely ruled out of the\nKula, there are customary and regulated ways of bidding for a piece\nof vaygu'a known to be in the possession of one's partner. This is\ndone by the offer of what we shall call solicitary gifts, of which\nthere are several types. \"If I, an inhabitant of Sinaketa, happen\nto be in possession of a pair of arm-shells more than usually good,\nthe fame of it spreads, for it must be remembered that each one of\nthe first-class armshells and necklaces has a personal name and a\nhistory of its own, and as they circulate around the big ring of\nthe Kula, they are all well known, and their appearance in a given\ndistrict always creates a sensation. Now, all my partners--whether\nfrom overseas or from within the district--compete for the favour of\nreceiving this particular article of mine, and those who are specially\nkeen try to obtain it by giving me pokala (offerings) and kaributu\n(solicitary gifts). The former (pokala) consist as a rule of pigs,\nespecially fine bananas, and yams or taro; the latter (kaributu)\nare of greater value: the valuable, large axe-blades (called beku),\nor lime spoons of whale bone are given\" (loc. cit., p. 100). The\nfurther complication in the repayment of these solicitary gifts and a\nfew more technicalities and technical expressions connected herewith\nwill be given later on in Chapter IV.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nI have enumerated the main rules of the Kula in a manner sufficient\nfor a preliminary definition, and now a few words must be said about\nthe associated activities and secondary aspects of the Kula. If we\nrealise that at times the exchange has to take place between districts\ndivided by dangerous seas, over which a great number of people have to\ntravel by sail, and do so keeping to appointed dates, it becomes clear\nat once that considerable preparations are necessary to carry out the\nexpedition. Many preliminary activities are intimately associated with\nthe Kula. Such are, particularly, the building of canoes, preparation\nof the outfit, the provisioning of the expedition, the fixing of dates\nand social organisation of the enterprise. All these are subsidiary\nto the Kula, and as they are carried on in pursuit of it, and form one\nconnected series, a description of the Kula must embrace an account of\nthese preliminary activities. The detailed account of canoe building,\nof the ceremonial attached to it, of the incidental magical rites,\nof the launching and trial run, of the associated customs which aim\nat preparing the outfit--all this will be described in detail in the\nnext few chapters.\n\nAnother important pursuit inextricably bound up with the Kula,\nis that of the secondary trade. Voyaging to far-off countries,\nendowed with natural resources unknown in their own homes, the Kula\nsailors return each time richly laden with these, the spoils of\ntheir enterprise. Again, in order to be able to offer presents to his\npartner, every outward bound canoe carries a cargo of such things as\nare known to be most desirable in the overseas district. Some of this\nis given away in presents to the partners, but a good deal is carried\nin order to pay for the objects desired at home. In certain cases,\nthe visiting natives exploit on their own account during the journey\nsome of the natural resources overseas. For example, the Sinaketans\ndive for the spondylus in Sanaroa Lagoon, and the Dobuans fish in\nthe Trobriands on a beach on the southern end of the island. The\nsecondary trade is complicated still more by the fact that such big\nKula centres as, for instance, Sinaketa, are not efficient in any\nof the industries of special value to the Dobuans. Thus, Sinaketans\nhave to procure the necessary store of goods from the inland villages\nof Kuboma, and this they do on minor trading expeditions preliminary\nto the Kula. Like the canoe-building, the secondary trading will be\ndescribed in detail later on, and has only to be mentioned here.\n\nHere, however, these subsidiary and associated activities must be\nput in proper relation with regard to one another and to the main\ntransaction. Both the canoe-building and the ordinary trade have\nbeen spoken of as secondary or subsidiary to the Kula proper. This\nrequires a comment. I do not, by thus subordinating the two things\nin importance to the Kula, mean to express a philosophical reflection\nor a personal opinion as to the relative value of these pursuits from\nthe point of view of some social teleology. Indeed, it is clear that\nif we look at the acts from the outside, as comparative sociologists,\nand gauge their real utility, trade and canoe-building will appear\nto us as the really important achievements, whereas we shall regard\nthe Kula only as an indirect stimulus, impelling the natives to sail\nand to trade. Here, however, I am not dealing in sociological, but\nin pure ethnographical description, and any sociological analysis I\nhave given is only what has been absolutely indispensable to clear\naway misconceptions and to define terms. [40]\n\nBy ranging the Kula as the primary and chief activity, and the rest\nas secondary ones, I mean that this precedence is implied in the\ninstitutions themselves. By studying the behaviour of the natives and\nall the customs in question, we see that the Kula is in all respects\nthe main aim: the dates are fixed, the preliminaries settled, the\nexpeditions arranged, the social organisation determined, not with\nregard to trade, but with regard to Kula. On an expedition, the big\nceremonial feast, held at the start, refers to the Kula; the final\nceremony of reckoning and counting the spoil refers to Kula, not to\nthe objects of trade obtained. Finally, the magic, which is one of the\nmain factors of all the procedure, refers only to the Kula, and this\napplies even to a part of the magic carried out over the canoe. Some\nrites in the whole cycle are done for the sake of the canoe itself,\nand others for the sake of Kula. The construction of the canoes is\nalways carried on directly in connection with a Kula expedition. All\nthis, of course, will become really clear and convincing only after\nthe detailed account is given. But it was necessary at this point to\nset the right perspective in the relation between the main Kula and\nthe trade.\n\nOf course not only many of the surrounding tribes who know nothing\nof the Kula do build canoes and sail far and daringly on trading\nexpeditions, but even within the Kula ring, in the Trobriands for\ninstance, there are several villages who do not kula, yet have canoes\nand carry on energetic overseas trade. But where the Kula is practised,\nit governs all the other allied activities, and canoe building and\ntrade are made subsidiary to it. And this is expressed both by the\nnature of the institutions and the working of all the arrangements\non the one hand, and by the behaviour and explicit statements of the\nnatives on the other.\n\nThe Kula--it becomes, I hope, more and more clear--is a big,\ncomplicated institution, insignificant though its nucleus might\nappear. To the natives, it represents one of the most vital interests\nin life, and as such it has a ceremonial character and is surrounded by\nmagic. We can well imagine that articles of wealth might pass from hand\nto hand without ceremony or ritual, but in the Kula they never do. Even\nwhen at times only small parties in one or two canoes sail overseas\nand bring back vaygu'a, certain taboos are observed, and a customary\ncourse is taken in departing, in sailing, and in arriving; even the\nsmallest expedition in one canoe is a tribal event of some importance,\nknown and spoken of over the whole district. But the characteristic\nexpedition is one in which a considerable number of canoes take\npart, organised in a certain manner, and forming one body. Feasts,\ndistributions of food, and other public ceremonies are held, there\nis one leader and master of the expedition, and various rules are\nadhered to, in addition to the ordinary Kula taboos and observances.\n\nThe ceremonial nature of the Kula is strictly bound up with another of\nits aspects--magic. \"The belief in the efficiency of magic dominates\nthe Kula, as it does ever so many other tribal activities of the\nnatives. Magical rites must be performed over the sea-going canoe when\nit is built, in order to make it swift, steady and safe; also magic\nis done over a canoe to make it lucky in the Kula. Another system of\nmagical rites is done in order to avert the dangers of sailing. The\nthird system of magic connected with overseas expeditions is the\nmwasila or the Kula magic proper. This system consists in numerous\nrites and spells, all of which act directly on the mind (nanola)\nof one's partner, and make him soft, unsteady in mind, and eager to\ngive Kula gifts\" (loc. cit., p. 100).\n\nIt is clear that an institution so closely associated with magical\nand ceremonial elements, as is the Kula, not only rests on a firm,\ntraditional foundation, but also has its large store of legends. \"There\nis a rich mythology of the Kula, in which stories are told about\nfar-off times when mythical ancestors sailed on distant and daring\nexpeditions. Owing totheir magical knowledge they were able to escape\ndangers, to conquer their enemies, to surmount obstacles, and by their\nfeats they established many a precedent which is now closely followed\nby tribal custom. But their importance for their descendants lies\nmainly in the fact that they handed on their magic, and this made\nthe Kula possible for the following generations\" (loc. cit., p. 100).\n\nThe Kula is also associated in certain districts, to which the\nTrobriands do not belong, with the mortuary feasts, called so'i. The\nassociation is interesting and important, and in Chapter XX an account\nof it will be given.\n\nThe big Kula expeditions are carried on by a great number of natives,\na whole district together. But the geographical limits, from which the\nmembers of an expedition are recruited, are well defined. Glancing\nat Map V, \"we see a number of circles, each of which represents a\ncertain sociological unit which we shall call a Kula community. A\nKula community consists of a village or a number of villages, who go\nout together on big overseas expeditions, and who act as a body in the\nKula transactions, perform their magic in common, have common leaders,\nand have the same outer and inner social sphere, within which they\nexchange their valuables. The Kula consists, therefore, first of the\nsmall, internal transactions within a Kula community or contiguous\ncommunities, and secondly, of the big over-seas expeditions in which\nthe exchange of articles takes place between two communities divided\nby sea. In the first, there is a chronic, permanent trickling of\narticles from one village to another, and even within the village. In\nthe second, a whole lot of valuables, amounting to over a thousand\narticles at a time, are exchanged in one enormous transaction, or, more\ncorrectly, in ever so many transactions taking place simultaneously\"\n(loc. cit., p. 101). \"The Kula trade consists of a series of such\nperiodical overseas expeditions, which link together the various\nisland groups, and annually bring over big quantities of vaygu'a and\nof subsidiary trade from one district to another. The trade is used\nand used up, but the vaygu'a--the armshells and necklets--go round\nand round the ring\" (loc. cit., p. 105).\n\nIn this chapter, a short, summary definition of the Kula has been\ngiven. I enumerated one after the other its most salient features,\nthe most remarkable rules as they are laid down in native custom,\nbelief and behaviour. This was necessary in order to give a general\nidea of the institution before describing its working in detail. But no\nabridged definition can give to the reader the full understanding of\na human social institution. It is necessary for this, to explain its\nworking concretely, to bring the reader into contact with the people,\nshow how they proceed at each successive stage, and to describe all\nthe actual manifestations of the general rules laid down in abstract.\n\nAs has been said above, the Kula exchange is carried on by enterprises\nof two sorts; first there are the big overseas expeditions, in which\na more or less considerable amount of valuables are carried at one\ntime. Then there is the inland trade in which the articles are passed\nfrom hand to hand, often changing several owners before they move a\nfew miles.\n\nThe big overseas expeditions are by far the more spectacular part\nof the Kula. They also contain much more public ceremonial, magical\nritual, and customary usage. They require also, of course, more of\npreparation and preliminary activity. I shall therefore have a good\ndeal more to say about the overseas Kula expeditions than about the\ninternal exchange.\n\nAs the Kula customs and beliefs have been mainly studied in Boyowa,\nthat is, the Trobriand Islands, and from the Boyowan point of view,\nI shall describe, in the first place, the typical course of an\noverseas expedition, as it is prepared, organised, and carried out\nfrom the Trobriands. Beginning with the construction of the canoes,\nproceeding to the ceremonial launching and the visits of formal\npresentation of canoes, we shall choose then the community of Sinaketa,\nand follow the natives on one of their overseas trips, describing it\nin all details. This will serve us as a type of a Kula expedition to\ndistant lands. It will then be indicated in what particulars such\nexpeditions may differ in other branches of the Kula, and for this\npurpose I shall describe an expedition from Dobu, and one between\nKiriwina and Kitava. An account of inland Kula in the Trobriands,\nof some associated forms of trading and of Kula in the remaining\nbranches will complete the account.\n\nIn the next chapter I pass, therefore, to the preliminary stages of the\nKula, in the Trobriands, beginning with a description of the canoes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nCANOES AND SAILING\n\n\nI\n\nA canoe is an item of material culture, and as such it can\nbe described, photographed and even bodily transported into a\nmuseum. But--and this is a truth too often overlooked--the ethnographic\nreality of the canoe would not be brought much nearer to a student\nat home, even by placing a perfect specimen right before him.\n\nThe canoe is made for a certain use, and with a definite purpose;\nit is a means to an end, and we, who study native life, must not\nreverse this relation, and make a fetish of the object itself. In\nthe study of the economic purposes for which a canoe is made, of the\nvarious uses to which it is submitted, we find the first approach to\na deeper ethnographic treatment. Further sociological data, referring\nto its ownership, accounts of who sails in it, and how it is done;\ninformation regarding the ceremonies and customs of its construction,\na sort of typical life history of a native craft--all that brings us\nnearer still to the understanding of what his canoe truly means to\nthe native.\n\nEven this, however, does not touch the most vital reality of a native\ncanoe. For a craft, whether of bark or wood, iron or steel, lives in\nthe life of its sailors, and it is more to a sailor than a mere bit\nof shaped matter. To the native, not less than to the white seaman, a\ncraft is surrounded by an atmosphere of romance, built up of tradition\nand of personal experience. It is an object of cult and admiration,\na living thing, possessing its own individuality.\n\nWe Europeans--whether we know native craft by experience or through\ndescriptions--accustomed to our extraordinarily developed means of\nwater transport, are apt to look down on a native canoe and see it\nin a false perspective--regarding it almost as a child's plaything,\nan abortive, imperfect attempt to tackle the problem of sailing,\nwhich we ourselves have satisfactorily solved. [41] But to the native\nhis cumbersome, sprawling canoe is a marvellous, almost miraculous\nachievement, and a thing of beauty (see Plates XXI, XXIII, XL,\nXLVII, LV). He has spun a tradition around it, and he adorns it\nwith his best carvings, he colours and decorates it. It is to him\na powerful contrivance for the mastery of Nature, which allows him\nto cross perilous seas to distant places. It is associated with\njourneys by sail, full of threatening dangers, of living hopes and\ndesires to which he gives expression in song and story. In short, in\nthe tradition of the natives, in their customs, in their behaviour,\nand in their direct statements, there can be found the deep love,\nthe admiration, the specific attachment as to something alive and\npersonal, so characteristic of the sailors' attitude towards his craft.\n\nAnd it is in this emotional attitude of the natives towards their\ncanoes that I see the deepest ethnographic reality, which must\nguide us right through the study of other aspects--the customs and\ntechnicalities of construction and of use; the economic conditions\nand the associated beliefs and traditions. Ethnology or Anthropology,\nthe science of Man, must not shun him in his innermost self, in his\ninstinctive and emotional life.\n\nA look at the pictures (for instance Plates XXI, XXIV, XXXIX, or XLVII)\nwill give us some idea of the general structure of the native canoes:\nthe body is a long, deep well, connected with an outrigger float,\nwhich stretches parallel with the body for almost all its length\n(see Plates XXI and XXIII), and with a platform going across from\none side to the other. The lightness of the material permits it to\nbe much more deeply immersed than any sea-going European craft, and\ngives it greater buoyancy. It skims the surface, gliding up and down\nthe waves, now hidden by the crests, now riding on top of them. It\nis a precarious but delightful sensation to sit in the slender body,\nwhile the canoe darts on with the float raised, the platform steeply\nslanting, and water constantly breaking over; or else, still better, to\nperch on the platform or on the float--the latter only feasible in the\nbigger canoes--and be carried across on the sea on a sort of suspended\nraft, gliding over the waves in a manner almost uncanny. Occasionally\na wave leaps up and above the platform, and the canoe--unwieldy,\nsquare raft as it seems at first--heaves lengthways and crossways,\nmounting the furrows with graceful agility. When the sail is hoisted,\nits heavy, stiff folds of golden matting unroll with a characteristic\nswishing and crackling noise, and the canoe begins to make way; when\nthe water rushes away below with a hiss, and the yellow sail glows\nagainst the intense blue of sea and sky--then indeed the romance of\nsailing seems to open through a new vista.\n\nThe natural reflection on this description is that it presents the\nfeelings of the Ethnographer, not those of the native. Indeed there\nis a great difficulty in disentangling our own sensations from a\ncorrect reading of the innermost native mind. But if an investigator,\nspeaking the native's language and living among them for some time,\nwere to try to share and understand their feelings, he will find\nthat he can gauge them correctly. Soon he will learn to distinguish\nwhen the native's behaviour is in harmony with his own, and when,\nas it sometimes happens, the two are at variance.\n\nThus, in this case, there is no mistaking the natives' great admiration\nof a good canoe; of their quickness in appreciating differences in\nspeed, buoyancy and stability, and of their emotional reaction to\nsuch difference. When, on a calm day, suddenly a fresh breeze rises,\nthe sail is set, and fills, and the canoe lifts its lamina (outrigger\nfloat) out of the water, and races along, flinging the spray to right\nand left--there is no mistaking the keen enjoyment of the natives. All\nrush to their posts and keenly watch the movements of the boat; some\nbreak out into song, and the younger men lean over and play with the\nwater. They are never tired of discussing the good points of their\ncanoes, and analysing the various craft. In the coastal villages of\nthe Lagoon, boys and young men will often sail out in small canoes\non mere pleasure cruises, when they race each other, explore less\nfamiliar nooks of the Lagoon, and in general undoubtedly enjoy the\nouting, in just the same manner as we would do.\n\nSeen from outside, after you have grasped its construction and\nappreciated through personal experience its fitness for its purpose,\nthe canoe is no less attractive and full of character than from\nwithin. When, on a trading expedition or as a visiting party, a fleet\nof native canoes appears in the offing, with their triangular sails\nlike butterfly wings scattered over the water (see Plate XLVIII),\nwith the harmonious calls of conch shells blown in unison, the effect\nis unforgettable. [42] When the canoes then approach, and you see\nthem rocking in the blue water in all the splendour of their fresh\nwhite, red, and black paint, with their finely designed prow-boards,\nand clanking array of large, white cowrie shells (see Plates XLIX,\nLV)--you understand well the admiring love which results in all this\ncare bestowed by the native on the decoration of his canoe.\n\nEven when not in actual use, when lying idle beached on the sea front\nof a village, the canoe is a characteristic element in the scenery,\nnot without its share in the village life. The very big canoes are in\nsome cases housed in large sheds (see Plate XXII), which are by far\nthe largest buildings erected by the Trobrianders. In other villages,\nwhere sailing is always being done, a canoe is simply covered with\npalm leaves (see Plates I, LIII), as protection from the sun, and the\nnatives often sit on its platform, chatting, and chewing betel-nut, and\ngazing at the sea. The smaller canoes, beached near the sea-front in\nlong parallel rows, are ready to be launched at any moment. With their\ncurved outline and intricate framework of poles and sticks, they form\none of the most characteristic settings of a native coastal village.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nA few words must be said now about the technological essentials of\nthe canoe. Here again, a simple enumeration of the various parts\nof the canoe, and a description of them, a pulling to pieces of a\nlifeless object will not satisfy us. I shall instead try to show how,\ngiven its purpose on the one hand, and the limitations in technical\nmeans and in material on the other, the native ship-builders have\ncoped with the difficulties before them.\n\nA sailing craft requires a water-tight, immersible vessel of some\nconsiderable volume. This is supplied to our natives by a hollowed-out\nlog. Such a log might carry fairly heavy loads, for wood is light,\nand the hollowed space adds to its buoyancy. Yet it possesses no\nlateral stability, as can easily be seen. A look at the diagrammatic\nsection of a canoe Fig. I (1), shows that a weight with its centre of\ngravity in the middle, that is, distributed symmetrically, will not\nupset the equilibrium, but any load placed so as to produce a momentum\nof rotation (that is, a turning force) at the sides (as indicated by\narrows at A or B) will cause the canoe to turn round and capsize.\n\nIf, however, as shown in Fig. I (2), another smaller, solid log (C)\nbe attached to the dug-out, a greater stability is achieved, though\nnot a symmetrical one. If we press down the one side of the canoe\n(A) this will cause the canoe to turn round a longitudinal axis,\nso that its other side (B) is raised, Fig. I (3). The log (C) will\nbe lifted out of the water, and its weight will produce a momentum\n(turning force) proportional to the displacement, and the rest of the\ncanoe will come to equilibrium. This momentum is represented in the\ndiagram by the arrow R. Thus a great stability relative to any stress\nexercised upon A, will be achieved. A stress on B causes the log to\nbe immersed, to which its buoyancy opposes a slight resistance. But\nit can easily be seen that the stability on this side is much smaller\nthan on the other. This asymmetrical [43] stability plays a great\npart in the technique of sailing. Thus, as we shall see, the canoe\nis always so sailed that its outrigger float (C) remains in the wind\nside. The pressure of the sail then lifts the canoe, so that A is\npressed into the water, and B and C are lifted, a position in which\nthey are extremely stable, and can stand great force of wind. Whereas\nthe slightest breeze would cause the canoe to turn turtle, if it fell\non the other side, and thus pressed B--C into the water.\n\nAnother look at Fig. I (2) and (3) will help us to realise that the\nstability of the canoe will depend upon (i) the volume, and especially\nthe depth of the dug-out; (ii) the distance B--C between the dug-out\nand the log; (iii) the size of the log C. The greater all these three\nmagnitudes are, the greater the stability of the canoes. A shallow\ncanoe, without much freeboard, will be easily forced into the water;\nmoreover, if sailed in rough weather, waves will break over it,\nand fill it with water.\n\n(i) The volume of the dug-out log naturally depends upon the length,\nand thickness of the log. Fairly stable canoes are made of simply\nscooped-out logs. There are limits, however, to the capacity of these,\nwhich are very soon reached. But by building out the side, by adding\none or several planks to them, as shown in Figure I (4) the volume and\nthe depth can be greatly increased without much increase in weight. So\nthat such a canoe has a good deal of freeboard to prevent water from\nbreaking in. The longitudinal boards in Kiriwinian canoes are closed\nin at each end by transversal prow-boards, which are also carved with\nmore or less perfection (see Plates XXIV c, XLVII).\n\n(ii) The greater the distance B--C between dug-out and outrigger float,\nthe greater the stability of the canoe. Since the momentum of rotation\nis the product of B--C (Fig. I), and the weight of the log C, it is\nclear, therefore, that the greater the distance, the greater will be\nthe momentum. Too great a distance, however, would interfere with the\nwieldiness of the canoe. Any force acting on the log would easily\ntip the canoe, and as the natives, in order to manage the craft,\nhave to walk upon the outrigger, the distance B--C must not be too\ngreat. In the Trobriands the distance B--C is about one-quarter, or\nless, of the total length of the canoe. In the big, sea-going canoes,\nit is always covered with a platform. In certain other districts, the\ndistance is much bigger, and the canoes have another type of rigging.\n\n(iii) The size of the log (C) of which the float is formed. This,\nin sea-going canoes, is usually of considerable dimensions. But, as\na solid piece of wood becomes heavy if soaked by water, too thick a\nlog would not be good.\n\nThese are all the essentials of construction in their functional\naspect, which will make clear further descriptions of sailing,\nof building, and of using. For, indeed, though I have said that\ntechnicalities are of secondary importance, still without grasping\nthem, we cannot understand references to the managing and rigging of\nthe canoes.\n\nThe Trobrianders use their craft for three main purposes, and\nthese correspond to the three types of canoe. Coastal transport,\nespecially in the Lagoon, requires small, light, handy canoes called\nkewo'u (see Fig. II (1), and Plates XXIV, top foreground, and XXXVI,\nto the right); for fishing, bigger and more seaworthy canoes called\nkalipoulo (see Fig. II (2), and Plates XXIV, and XXXVI, to the left,\nalso XXXVII) are used; finally, for deep sea sailing, the biggest type\nis needed, with a considerable carrying capacity, greater displacement,\nand stronger construction. These are called masawa (see Fig. II (3)\nand Plates XXI, XXIII, etc.). The word waga is a general designation\nfor all kinds of sailing craft.\n\nOnly a few words need to be said about the first two types, so as to\nmake, by means of comparison, the third type clearer. The construction\nof the smallest canoes is sufficiently illustrated by the diagram (1)\nin Fig. II. From this it is clear that it is a simple dug-out log,\nconnected with a float. It never has any built-up planking, and no\ncarved boards, nor as a rule any platform. In its economic aspect, it\nis always owned by one individual, and serves his personal needs. No\nmythology or magic is attached to it.\n\nType (2), as can be seen in Fig. II (2), differs in construction from\n(1), in so far that it has its well enclosed by built-out planking and\ncarved prow-boards. A framework of six ribs helps to keep the planks\nfirmly attached to the dug-out and to hold them together. It is used in\nfishing villages. These villages are organised into several fishing\ndetachments, each with a headman. He is the owner of the canoe,\nhe performs the fish magic, and among other privileges, obtains\nthe main yield of fish. But all his crew de facto have the right to\nuse the canoe and share in the yield. Here we come across the fact\nthat native ownership is not a simple institution, since it implies\ndefinite rights of a number of men, combined with the paramount right\nand title of one. There is a good deal of fishing magic, taboos and\ncustoms connected with the construction of these canoes, and also\nwith their use, and they form the subject of a number of minor myths.\n\nBy far the most elaborate technically, the most seaworthy and\ncarefully built, are the sea-going canoes of the third type (see\nFig. II (3)). These are undoubtedly the greatest achievement of\ncraftsmanship of these natives. Technically, they differ from\nthe previously described kinds, in the amount of time spent over\ntheir construction and the care given to details, rather than in\nessentials. The well is formed by a planking built over a hollowed\nlog and closed up at both ends by carved, transversal prow-boards,\nkept in position by others, longitudinal and of oval form. The whole\nplanking remains in place by means of ribs, as in the second type\nof canoes, the kalipoulo, the fishing canoes, but all the parts are\nfinished and fitted much more perfectly, lashed with a better creeper,\nand more thoroughly caulked. The carving, which in the fishing canoes\nis often quite indifferent, here is perfect. Ownership of these canoes\nis even more complex, and its construction is permeated with tribal\ncustoms, ceremonial, and magic, the last based on mythology. The\nmagic is always performed in direct association with Kula expeditions.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nAfter having thus spoken about, first, the general impression made by\na canoe and its psychological import, and then about the fundamental\nfeatures of its technology, we have to turn to the social implications\nof a masawa (sea-going canoe).\n\nThe canoe is constructed by a group of people, it is owned, used and\nenjoyed communally, and this is done according to definite rules. There\nis therefore a social organisation underlying the building, the\nowning, and the sailing of a canoe. Under these three headings, we\nshall give an outline of the canoe's sociology, always bearing in mind\nthat these outlines have to be filled in in the subsequent account.\n\n(A) Social organisation of labour in constructing a Canoe.\n\nIn studying the construction of a canoe, we see the natives engaged\nin an economic enterprise on a big scale. Technical difficulties\nface them, which require knowledge, and can only be overcome by\na continuous, systematic effort, and at certain stages must be\nmet by means of communal labour. All this obviously implies some\nsocial organisation. All the stages of work, at which various people\nhave to co-operate, must be co-ordinated, there must be someone in\nauthority who takes the initiative and gives decisions; and there\nmust be also someone with a technical capacity, who directs the\nconstruction. Finally, in Kiriwina, communal labour, and the services\nof experts have to be paid for, and there must be someone who has\nthe means and is prepared to do it. [44] This economic organisation\nrests on two fundamental facts--(1) the sociological differentiation\nof functions, and (2) the magical regulation of work.\n\n(1) The sociological differentiation of functions.--First of all there\nis the owner of the canoe, that is, the chief, or the headman of a\nvillage or of a smaller sub-division, who takes the responsibility\nfor the undertaking. He pays for the work, engages the expert, gives\norders, and commands communal labour.\n\nBesides the owner, there is next another office of great sociological\nimportance, namely, that of the expert. He is the man who knows how\nto construct the canoe, how to do the carvings, and, last, not least,\nhow to perform the magic. All these functions of the expert may be,\nbut not necessarily are, united in one person. The owner is always\none individual, but there may be two or even three experts.\n\nFinally, the third sociological factor in canoe-building, consists\nof the workers. And here there is a further division. First there\nis a smaller group, consisting of the relations and close friends of\nthe owner or of the expert, who help throughout the whole process of\nconstruction; and, secondly, there is, besides them, the main body of\nvillagers, who take part in the work at those stages where communal\nlabour is necessary.\n\n(2) The magical regulation of work.--The belief in the efficiency of\nmagic is supreme among the natives of Boyowa, and they associate it\nwith all their vital concerns. In fact, we shall find magic interwoven\ninto all the many industrial and communal activities to be described\nlater on, as well as associated with every pursuit where either danger\nor chance conspicuously enter. We shall have to describe, besides the\nmagic of canoe-making, that of propitious sailing, of shipwreck and\nsalvage, of Kula and of trade, of fishing, of obtaining spondylus and\nConus shell, and of protection against attack in foreign parts. It\nis imperative that we should thoroughly grasp what magic means\nto the natives and the r\u00f4le it plays in all their vital pursuits,\nand a special chapter will be devoted to magical ideas and magical\npractices in Kiriwina. Here, however, it is necessary to sketch the\nmain outlines, at least as far as canoe magic is concerned.\n\nFirst of all, it must be realised that the natives firmly believe\nin the value of magic, and that this conviction, when put to the\ntest of their actions, is quite unwavering, even nowadays when so\nmuch of native belief and custom has been undermined. We may speak\nof the sociological weight of tradition, that is of the degree to\nwhich the behaviour of a community is affected by the traditional\ncommands of tribal law and customs. In the Trobriands, the general\ninjunction for always building canoes under the guidance of magic is\nobeyed without the slightest deviation, for the tradition here weighs\nvery heavily. Up to the present, not one single masawa canoe has been\nconstructed without magic, indeed without the full observance of all\nthe rites and ceremonial. The forces that keep the natives to their\ntraditional course of behaviour are, in the first place, the specific\nsocial inertia which obtains in all human societies and is the basis\nof all conservative tendencies, and then the strong conviction that\nif the traditional course were not taken, evil results would ensue. In\nthe case of canoes, the Trobrianders would be so firmly persuaded that\na canoe built without magic would be unseaworthy, slow in sailing,\nand unlucky in the Kula, that no one would dream of omitting the\nmagic rites.\n\nIn the myths related elsewhere (Chap. XII) we shall see plainly the\npower ascribed to magic in imparting speed and other qualities to a\ncanoe. According to native mythology, which is literally accepted,\nand strongly believed, canoes could be even made to fly, had not the\nnecessary magic fallen into oblivion.\n\nIt is also important to understand rightly the natives' ideas\nabout the relation between magical efficiency and the results\nof craftsmanship. Both are considered indispensable, but both\nare understood to act independently. That is, the natives will\nunderstand that magic, however efficient, will not make up for bad\nworkmanship. Each of these two has its own province: the builder\nby his skill and knowledge makes the canoe stable and swift, and\nmagic gives it an additional stability and swiftness. If a canoe\nis obviously badly built, the natives will know why it sails slowly\nand is unwieldy. But if one of two canoes, both apparently equally\nwell constructed surpasses the other in some respect, this will be\nattributed to magic.\n\nFinally, speaking from a sociological point of view, what is the\neconomic function of magic in the process of canoe making? Is it\nsimply an extraneous action, having nothing to do with the real work\nor its organisation? Is magic, from the economic point of view, a mere\nwaste of time? By no means. In reading the account which follows,\nit will be seen clearly that magic puts order and sequence into\nthe various activities, and that it and its associated ceremonial\nare instrumental in securing the co-operation of the community,\nand the organisation of communal labour. As has been said before, it\ninspires the builders with great confidence in the efficiency of their\nwork, a mental state essential in any enterprise of complicated and\ndifficult character. The belief that the magician is a man endowed\nwith special powers, controlling the canoe, makes him a natural\nleader whose command is obeyed, who can fix dates, apportion work,\nand keep the worker up to the mark.\n\nMagic, far from being a useless appendage, or even a burden on\nthe work, supplies the psychological influence, which keeps people\nconfident about the success of their labour, and provides them with\na sort of natural leader. [45] Thus the organisation of labour in\ncanoe-building rests on the one hand on the division of functions,\nthose of the owner, the expert and the helpers, and on the other on\nthe co-operation between labour and magic.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\n(B) Sociology of Canoe Ownership.\n\nOwnership, giving this word its broadest sense, is the relation,\noften very complex, between an object and the social community in\nwhich it is found. In ethnology it is extremely important not to\nuse this word in any narrower sense than that just defined, because\nthe types of ownership found in various parts of the world differ\nwidely. It is especially a grave error to use the word ownership with\nthe very definite connotation given to it in our own society. For\nit is obvious that this connotation presupposes the existence of\nvery highly developed economic and legal conditions, such as they\nare amongst ourselves, and therefore the term \"own\" as we use it is\nmeaningless, when applied to a native society. Or indeed, what is\nworse, such an application smuggles a number of preconceived ideas\ninto our description, and before we have begun to give an account of\nthe native conditions, we have distorted the reader's outlook.\n\nOwnership has naturally in every type of native society, a different\nspecific meaning, as in each type, custom and tradition attach a\ndifferent set of functions, rites and privileges to the word. Moreover,\nthe social range of those who enjoy these privileges varies. Between\npure individual ownership and collectivism, there is a whole scale\nof intermediate blendings and combinations.\n\nIn the Trobriands, there is a word which may be said approximately to\ndenote ownership, the prefix toli--followed by the name of the object\nowned. Thus the compound word (pronounced without hiatus) toli-waga,\nmeans \"owner\" or \"master\" of a canoe (waga); toli-bagula, the master of\nthe garden (bagula--garden); toli-bunukwa, owner of the pig; toli-megwa\n(owner, expert in magic, etc.) This word has to be used as a clue to\nthe understanding of native ideas, but here again such a clue must\nbe used with caution. For, in the first place, like all abstract\nnative words, it covers a wide range, and has different meanings\nin different contexts. And even with regard to one object, a number\nof people may lay claim to ownership, claim to be toli--with regard\nto it. In the second place, people having the full de facto right of\nusing an object, might not be allowed to call themselves toli--of this\nobject. This will be made clear in the concrete example of the canoe.\n\nThe word toli--in this example is restricted to one man only, who calls\nhimself toli-waga. Sometimes his nearest maternal relatives, such as\nhis brothers and maternal nephews, might call themselves collectively\ntoli-waga, but this would be an abuse of the term. Now, even the mere\nprivilege of using exclusively this title is very highly valued by\nthe natives. With this feature of the Trobriand social psychology,\nthat is with their characteristic ambition, vanity and desire to be\nrenowned and well spoken of, the reader of the following pages will\nbecome very familiar. The natives, to whom the Kula and the sailing\nexpeditions are so important, will associate the name of the canoe\nwith that of its toli; they will identify his magical powers and\nits good luck in sailing and in the Kula; they will often speak of\nSo-and-so's sailing here and there, of his being very fast in sailing,\netc., using in this the man's name for that of the canoe.\n\nTurning now to the detailed determination of this relationship, the\nmost important point about it is that it always rests in the person\nof the chief or headman. As we have seen in our short account of the\nTrobrianders' sociology, the village community is always subject to\nthe authority of one chief or headman. Each one of these, whether his\nauthority extends over a small sectional village, or over a whole\ndistrict, has the means of accumulating a certain amount of garden\nproduce, considerable in the case of a chief, relatively small in\nthat of a headman, but always sufficient to defray the extra expenses\nincidental to all communal enterprise. He also owns native wealth\ncondensed into the form of the objects of value called vaygu'a. Again,\na headman will have little, a big chief a large amount. But everyone\nwho is not a mere nobody, must possess at least a few stone blades,\na few kaloma belts, and some kuwa (small necklets). Thus in all types\nof tribal enterprises, the chief or headman is able to bear the burden\nof expense, and he also derives the main benefit from the affair. In\nthe case of the canoe, the chief, as we saw, acts as main organiser\nin the construction, and he also enjoys the title of toli.\n\nThis strong economic position runs side by side with his direct\npower, due to high rank, or traditional authority. In the case of\na small headman, it is due to the fact that he is at the head of a\nbig kinship group (the totemic sub-clan). Both combined, allow him\nto command labour and to reward for it.\n\nThis title of toliwaga, besides the general social distinction which\nit confers, implies further a definite series of social functions\nwith regard to its individual bearer.\n\n(1) There are first the formal and ceremonial privileges. Thus, the\ntoliwaga has the privilege of acting as spokesman of his community\nin all matters of sailing or construction. He assembles the council,\ninformal or formal as the case may be, and opens the question of\nwhen the sailing will take place. This right of initiative is purely\na nominal one, because both in construction and sailing, the date\nof enterprise is determined by outward causes, such as reciprocity\nto overseas tribes, seasons, customs, etc. Nevertheless, the formal\nprivilege is strictly confined to the toliwaga, and highly valued. The\nposition of master and leader of ceremonies, of general spokesman,\nlasts right through the successive stages of the building of the\ncanoe, and its subsequent use, and we shall meet with it in all the\nceremonial phases of the Kula.\n\n(2) The economic uses and advantages derived from a canoe are not\nlimited to the toliwaga. He, however, gets the lion's share. He has,\nof course, in all circumstances, the privilege of absolute priority\nin being included in the party. He also receives always by far the\ngreatest proportion of Kula valuables, and other articles on every\noccasion. This, however, is in virtue of his general position as chief\nor headman, and should perhaps not be included under this heading. But\na very definite and strictly individual advantage is that of being\nable to dispose of the canoe for hire, and of receiving the payment\nfor it. The canoe can be, and often is, hired out from a headman,\nwho at a given season has no intention of sailing, by another one,\nas a rule from a different district, who embarks on an expedition. The\nreason of this is, that the chief or headman who borrows, may at that\ntime not be able to have his own canoe repaired, or construct another\nnew one. The payment for hire is called toguna, and it consists of\na vaygu'a. Besides this, the best vaygu'a obtained on the expedition\nwould be kula'd to the man from whom the canoe was hired. [46]\n\n(3) The toliwaga has definite social privileges, and exercises definite\nfunctions, in the running of a canoe. Thus, he selects his companions,\nwho will sail in his canoe, and has the nominal right to choose or\nreject those who may go on the expedition with him. Here again the\nprivilege is much shorn of its value by many restrictions imposed on\nthe chief by the nature of things. Thus, on the one hand, his veyola\n(maternal kinsmen) have, according to all native ideas of right and\nlaw, a strong claim on the canoe. Again, a man of rank in a community\ncould be excluded from an expedition only with difficulty, if he\nwished to go and there were no special grievance against him. But if\nthere were such a cause, if the man had offended the chief, and were\non bad terms with him, he himself would not even try to embark. There\nare actual examples of this on record. Another class of people having\na de facto right to sail are the sailing experts. In the coastal\nvillages like Sinaketa there are many of these; in inland ones,\nlike Omarakana, there are few. So in one of these inland places,\nthere are men who always go in a canoe, whenever it is used; who\nhave even a good deal to say in all matters connected with sailing,\nyet who would never dare to use the title of toliwaga, and would\neven definitely disclaim it if it were given to them. To sum up:\nthe chief's privilege of choice is limited by two conditions, the\nrank and the seamanship of those he may select. As we have seen,\nhe fulfils definite functions in the construction of the canoe. We\nshall see later on that he has also definite functions in sailing.\n\n(4) A special feature, implied in the title of toliwaga, is the\nperformance of magical duties. It will be made clear that magic during\nthe process of construction is done by the expert, but magic done in\nconnection with sailing and Kula is done by the toliwaga. The latter\nmust, by definition, know canoe magic. The r\u00f4le of magic in this,\nand the taboos, ceremonial activities, and special customs associated\nwith it, will come out clearly in the consecutive account of a Kula\nexpedition.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\n(C) The Social Division of Functions in the Manning and Sailing of\nthe Canoe.\n\nVery little is to be said under this heading here, since to understand\nthis we must know more about the technicalities of sailing. We shall\ndeal with this subject later on (Chap. IX, Div. II), and there\nthe social organisation within the canoe--such as it is--will be\nindicated. Here it may be said that a number of men have definite\ntasks assigned to them, and they keep to these. As a rule a man will\nspecialise, let us say, as steersman, and will always have the rudder\ngiven to his care. Captainship, carrying with it definite duties,\npowers and responsibilities, as a position distinct from that of the\ntoliwaga, does not exist. The owner of the canoe will always take the\nlead and give orders, provided that he is a good sailor. Otherwise the\nbest sailor from the crew will say what is to be done when difficulties\nor dangers arise. As a rule, however, everyone knows his task, and\neveryone performs it in the normal course of events.\n\nA short outline of the concrete details referring to the distribution\nof canoes in the Trobriands must be given here. A glance at the map of\nBoyowa shows that various districts have not the same opportunities\nfor sailing, and not all of them direct access to the sea. Moreover,\nthe fishing villages on the Lagoon, where fishing and sailing have\nconstantly to be done, will naturally have more opportunities for\ncultivating the arts of sailing and ship-building. And indeed we find\nthat the villages of the two inland districts, Tilataula and Kuboma,\nknow nothing about ship-building and sailing, and possess no canoes;\nthe villages in Kiriwina and Luba, on the east coast, with indirect\naccess to the sea, have only one canoe each, and few building experts;\nwhile some villagers on the Lagoon are good sailors and excellent\nbuilders. The best centres for canoe-building are found in the islands\nof Vakuta and Kayleula and to a lesser degree this craft flourishes\nin the village of Sinaketa. The island of Kitava is the traditional\nbuilding centre, and at present the finest canoes as well as the best\ncanoe carvings come from there. In this description of canoes, this\nisland, which really belongs to the Eastern rather than to the Western\nbranch of the N. Massim, must be included in the account, since all\nBoyowan canoe mythology and canoe industry is associated with Kitava.\n\nThere are at present some sixty-four Masawa canoes in the Trobriands\nand Kitava. Out of these, some four belong to the Northern district,\nwhere Kula is not practised; all the rest are built and used for the\nKula. In the foregoing chapters I have spoken about \"Kula communities,\"\nthat is, such groups of villages as carry on the Kula as a whole,\nsail together on overseas expeditions, and do their internal Kula\nwith one another. We shall group the canoes according to the Kula\ncommunity to which they belong.\n\n\n            Kiriwina                         8 canoes.\n            Luba                             3   ,,\n            Sinaketa                         8   ,,\n            Vakuta                          22   ,,\n            Kayleula               about    20   ,,\n            Kitava                 about    12   ,,\n                                            ----------\n            Total for all Kula communities  60 canoes.\n\n\nTo this number, the canoes of the Northern district must be added,\nbut they are never used in the Kula. In olden days, this figure was,\non a rough estimate, more than double of what it is now, because,\nfirst of all, there are some villages which had canoes in the old\ndays and now have none, and then the number of villages which became\nextinct a few generations ago is considerable. About half a century\nago, there were in Vakuta alone about sixty canoes, in Sinaketa\nat least twenty, in Kitava thirty, in Kiriwina twenty, and in Luba\nten. When all the canoes from Sinaketa and Vakuta sailed south, and\nsome twenty to thirty more joined them from the Amphletts and Tewara,\nquite a stately fleet would approach Dobu.\n\nTurning now to the list of ownership in Kiriwina, the most important\ncanoe is, of course, that owned by the chief of Omarakana. This\ncanoe always leads the fleet; that is to say, on big ceremonial Kula\nsailings, called uvalaku, it has the privileged position. It lives\nin a big shed on the beach of Kaulukuba (see Plates XXII, XXX),\ndistant about one mile from the village, the beach on which also\neach new canoe is made. The present canoe (see Plates XXI and XLI)\nis called Nigada Bu'a--\"begging for an areca-nut.\" Every canoe has a\npersonal name of its own, sometimes just an appropriate expression,\nlike the one quoted, sometimes derived from some special incident. When\na new canoe is built, it often inherits the name of its predecessor,\nbut sometimes it gets a new name. The present Omarakana canoe was\nconstructed by a master-builder from Kitava, who also carved the\nornamental prow-board. There is no one now in Omarakana who can\nbuild or carve properly. The magic over the latter stages ought to\nhave been recited by the present chief, To'uluwa, but as he has very\nlittle capacity for remembering spells, the magic was performed by\none of his kinsmen.\n\nAll the other canoes of Kiriwina are also housed in hangars, each\non a beach of clean, white sand on the Eastern coast. The chief or\nheadman of each village is the toliwaga. In Kasana'i, the sub-village\nof Omarakana, the canoe, called in feigned modesty tokwabu (something\nlike \"landlubber\"), was built by Ibena, a chief of equal rank, but\nsmaller power than To'uluwa, and he is also the toliwaga. Some other\ncharacteristic names of the canoes are:--Kuyamataym'--\"Take care of\nyourself,\" that is, \"because I shall get ahead of you\"; the canoe\nof Liluta, called Siya'i, which is the name of a Government station,\nwhere some people from Liluta were once imprisoned; Topusa--a flying\nfish; Yagwa'u--a scarecrow; Akamta'u--\"I shall eat men,\" because the\ncanoe was a gift from the cannibals of Dobu.\n\nIn the district of Luba there are at present only three canoes; one\nbelongs to the chief of highest rank in the village of Olivilevi. This\nis the biggest canoe in all the Trobriands. Two are in the village\nof Wawela, and belong to two headmen, each ruling over a section of\nthe village; one of them is seen being relashed on Plate XXVII.\n\nThe big settlement of Sinaketa, consisting of sectional villages,\nhas also canoes. There are about four expert builders and carvers,\nand almost every man there knows a good deal about construction. In\nVakuta the experts are even more numerous, and this is also the case\nin Kayleula and Kitava.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nTHE CEREMONIAL BUILDING OF A WAGA\n\n\nI\n\nThe building of the sea-going canoe (masawa) is inextricably bound\nup with the general proceedings of the Kula. As we have said before,\nin all villages where Kula is practised the masawa canoes are built\nand repaired only in direct connection with it. That is, as soon as\na Kula expedition is decided upon, and its date fixed, all the canoes\nof the village must be overhauled, and those too old for repair must\nbe replaced by new ones. As the overhauling differs only slightly\nfrom building in the later, ceremonial stages of the procedure,\nthe account in this chapter covers both.\n\nTo the native, the construction of the canoe is the first link in\nthe chain of the Kula performances. From the moment that the tree is\nfelled till the return of the oversea party, there is one continuous\nflow of events, following in regular succession. Not only that:\nas we shall see, the technicalities of construction are interrupted\nand punctuated by magical rites. Some of these refer to the canoe,\nothers belong to the Kula. Thus, canoe-building and the first stage\nof Kula dovetail into one another. Again, the launching of the canoe,\nand especially the kabigidoya (the formal presentation visit) are\nin one respect the final acts of canoe-building, and in another\nthey belong to the Kula. In giving the account of canoe-building,\ntherefore, we start on the long sequence of events which form a Kula\nexpedition. No account of the Kula could be considered complete in\nwhich canoe-building had been omitted.\n\nIn this chapter, the incidents will be related one after the other\nas they happen in the normal routine of tribal life, obeying the\ncommands of custom, and the indications of belief, the latter acting\nmore rigidly and strongly even than the former. It will be necessary,\nin following this consecutive account, to keep in mind the definite,\nsociological mechanism underlying the activities, and the system of\nideas at work in regulating labour and magic. The social organisation\nhas been described in the previous chapter. We shall remember that\nthe owner, the expert or experts, a small group of helpers, and\nthe whole community are the social factors, each of which fulfils a\ndifferent function in the organisation and performance of work. As\nto the magical ideas which govern the various rites, they will be\nanalysed later on in the course of this and some of the following\nchapters, and also in Chapter XVII. Here it must suffice to say that\nthey belong to several different systems of ideas. The one based on\nthe myth of the flying canoe refers directly to the canoe; it aims\nat imparting a general excellence, and more especially the quality of\nspeed to the canoe. The rites of the other type are really exorcisms\ndirected against evil bewitchment (bulubwalata) of which the natives\nare much afraid. The third system of magic (performed during canoe\nconstruction) is the Kula magic, based on its own mythological cycle,\nand although performed on the canoe, yet aiming at the imparting of\nsuccess to the toliwaga in his Kula transactions. Finally, at the\nbeginnings of the proceedings there is some magic addressed to the\ntokway, the malignant wood-sprite.\n\nThe construction of the canoe is done in two main stages, differing\nfrom one another in the character of the work, in the accompanying\nmagic, and in the general sociological setting. In the first stage,\nthe component parts of the canoe are prepared. A big tree is cut,\ntrimmed into a log, then hollowed out and made into the basic dug-out;\nthe planks, boards, poles, and sticks are prepared. This is achieved\nby slow, leisurely work, and it is done by the canoe-builder with\nthe assistance of a few helpers, usually his relatives or friends\nor else those of the toliwaga. This stage generally takes a long\ntime, some two to six months, and is done in fits and starts, as\nother occupations allow, or the mood comes. The spells and rites\nwhich accompany it belong to the tokway magic, and to that of the\nflying canoe cycle. To this first stage also belongs the carving of\nthe decorative prow-boards. This is done sometimes by the builder,\nsometimes by another expert, if the builder cannot carve.\n\nThe second stage is done by means of intense communal labour. As a\nrule this stage is spread over a short time, only perhaps a week or\ntwo--including the pauses between work. The actual labour, in which\nthe whole community is energetically engaged, takes up only some three\nto five days. The work consists of the piecing together of the planks\nand prow-boards, and, in case these do not fit well, of trimming them\nappropriately, and then of the lashing them together. Next comes the\npiecing and lashing of the outrigger, caulking and painting of the\ncanoe. Sail-making is also done at this time, and belongs to this\nstage. As a rule, the main body of the canoe is constructed at one\nsitting, lasting about a day; that is, the prow-boards are put in,\nthe ribs and planks fitted together, trimmed and lashed. Another day\nis devoted to the attaching of the float and binding of the outrigger\nframe and the platform. Caulking and painting are done at another\nsitting, or perhaps at two more, while the sail is made on yet another\nday. These times are only approximate, since the size of the canoe,\nas well as the number of people participating in communal labour,\ngreatly varies. The second stage of canoe-building is accompanied\nby Kula magic, and by a series of exorcisms on the canoe, and the\nmagic is performed by the owner of the canoe, and not by the builder\nor expert. This latter, however, directs the technicalities of the\nproceedings, in which he is assisted and advised by builders from\nother villages; by sailing experts, and by the toliwaga and other\nnotables. The lashing of the canoe with a specially strong creeper,\ncalled wayugo, is accompanied by perhaps the most important of the\nrites and spells belonging to the flying canoe magic.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nAfter the decision to build a waga has been taken, a tree suitable\nfor the main log has to be chosen. This, in the Trobriands, is not a\nvery easy task. As the whole plain is taken up by garden land, only\nthe small patches of fertile soil in the coral ridge which runs all\nround the island, remain covered with jungle. There the tree must be\nfound, there felled, and thence transported to the village.\n\nOnce the tree is chosen, the toliwaga, the builder and a few helpers\nrepair to the spot, and a preliminary rite must be performed, before\nthey begin to cut it down. A small incision is made into the trunk,\nso that a particle of food, or a bit of areca-nut can be put into\nit. Giving this as an offering to the tokway (wood-sprite), the\nmagician utters an incantation:--\n\n\n                          VABUSI TOKWAY SPELL.\n\n    \"Come down, O wood-sprites, O Tokway, dwellers in branches, come\n    down! Come down, dwellers in branch forks, in branch shoots! Come\n    down, come, eat! Go to your coral outcrop over there; crowd there,\n    swarm there, be noisy there, scream there!\n\n    \"Step down from our tree, old men! This is a canoe ill spoken of;\n    this is a canoe out of which you have been shamed; this is a canoe\n    out of which you have been expelled! At sunrise and morning, you\n    help us in felling the canoe; this our tree, old men, let it go\n    and fall down!\"\n\n\nThis spell, given in free translation, which, however, follows the\noriginal very closely, word for word, is far clearer than the average\nsample of Trobriand magic. In the first part, the tokway is invoked\nunder various names, and invited to leave his abode, and to move to\nsome other place, and there to be at his ease. In the second part,\nthe canoe is mentioned with several epithets, all of which denote an\nact of discourtesy or ill-omen. This is obviously done to compel the\ntokway to leave the tree. In Boyowa, the yoba, the chasing away, is\nunder circumstances a great insult, and at times it commands immediate\ncompliance. This is always the case when the chaser belongs to the\nlocal sub-clan of a village, and the person expelled does not. But the\nyoba is always an act of considerable consequence, never used lightly,\nand in this spell, it carries these sociological associations with\nit. In the usual anticipatory way, characteristic of native speech,\nthe tree is called in the spell \"canoe\" (waga).\n\nThe object of this spell is written very plainly in every word of\nit, and the natives also confirm it by saying that it is absolutely\nnecessary to get rid of the tokway. What would happen, however, if\nthe tokway were not expelled, is not so unequivocally laid down by\ntradition, and it cannot be read out of the spell or the rite. Some\ninformants say that the canoe would be heavy; others that the wood\nwould be full of knots, and that there would be holes in the canoe,\nor that it would quickly rot.\n\nBut though the rationale of the expulsion is not so well defined, the\nbelief in the tokway's evil influence, and in the dangers associated\nwith his presence is positive. And this is in keeping with the general\nnature of the tokway, as we find him delineated by native belief. The\ntokway is on the whole a harmful being, though the harm he does is\nseldom more than an unpleasant trick, perhaps a sudden fright, an\nattack of shooting pains, or a theft. The tokway live in trees or in\ncoral rocks and boulders, usually in the raybwag, the primeval jungle,\ngrowing on the coastal ridge, full of outcrops and rocks. Some people\nhave seen a tokway, although he is invisible at will. His skin is\nbrown, like that of any Boyowan, but he has long, sleek hair, and\na long beard. He comes often at night, and frightens people. But,\nthough seldom seen, the tokway's wailing is often heard from the\nbranches of a big tree, and some trees evidently harbour more tokways\nthan others, since you can hear them very easily there. Sometimes,\nover such trees, where people often hear the tokway and get a fright,\nthe above quoted incantation and rite are performed.\n\nIn their contact with men, the tokway show their unpleasant side;\noften they come at night and steal food. Many cases can be quoted\nwhen a man, as it seemed, was surprised in the act of stealing yams\nout of a storehouse, but lo! when approached he disappeared--it was\na tokway. Then, sickness in some of its lighter forms is caused by\nthe tokway. Shooting pains, pricking and stabbing in one's inside,\nare often due to him, for he is in possession of magic by which\nhe can insert small, sharp-edged and sharp-pointed objects into\nthe body. Fortunately some men know magic by which to extract\nsuch objects. These men, of course, according to the general rule\nof sorcery, can also inflict the same ailments. In olden days,\nthe tokway gave both the harmful and beneficent magic to some men,\nand ever since, this form of sorcery and of concomitant healing have\nbeen handed on from one generation to another.\n\nLet us return to our canoe, however. After the rite has been performed,\nthe tree is felled. In olden days, when stone implements were used,\nthis must have been a laborious process, in which a number of men\nwere engaged in wielding the axe, and others in re-sharpening the\nblunted or broken blades. The old technique was more like nibbling\naway the wood in small chips, and it must have taken a long time to\ncut out a sufficiently deep incision to fell the tree. After the tree\nis on the ground, the preliminary trimming is done on the spot. The\nbranches are lopped off, and the log of appropriate length is made\nout of the tree. This log is cut into the rough shape of a canoe,\nso as to make it as light as possible, for now it has to be pulled\nto the village or to the beach.\n\nThe transporting of the log is not an easy task, as it has to be\ntaken out of the uneven, rocky raybwag, and then pulled along very\nbad roads. Pieces of wood are put on the ground every few metres,\nto serve as slips on which the log can more easily glide than on the\nrocks and uneven soil. In spite of that, and in spite of the fact that\nmany men are summoned to assist, the work of pulling the log is very\nheavy. The men receive food in payment for it. Pig flesh is cooked\nand distributed with baked yams; at intervals during the work they\nrefresh themselves with green coco-nut drinks and with sucking sugar\ncane. Gifts of such food, given during work in payment of communal\nlabour, are called puwaya. To describe how heavy the work sometimes\nis, the native will say, in a characteristically figurative manner:\n\n\n    \"The pig, the coco drinks, the yams are finished, and yet we\n    pull--very heavy!\"\n\n\nIn such cases the natives resort to a magical rite which makes\nthe canoe lighter. A piece of dry banana leaf is put on top of the\nlog. The owner or builder beats the log with a bunch of dry lalang\ngrass and utters the following spell:\n\n\n                           KAYMOMWA'U SPELL.\n\n    \"Come down, come down, defilement by contact with excrement! Come\n    down, defilement by contact with refuse! Come down, heaviness! Come\n    down, rot! Come down fungus! ...\" and soon, invoking a number of\n    deteriorations to leave the log, and then a number of defilements\n    and broken taboos. In other words, the heaviness and slowness,\n    due to all these magical causes, are thrown out of the log.\n\n\nThis bunch of grass is then ritually thrown away. It is called momwa'u,\nor the \"heavy bunch.\" Another handful of the long lalang grass,\nseared and dry, is taken, and this is the gagabile, the \"light bunch,\"\nand with this the canoe is again beaten. The meaning of the rite is\nquite plain: the first bunch takes into it the heaviness of the log,\nand the second imparts lightness to it. Both spells also express this\nmeaning in plain terms. The second spell, recited with the gagabile\nbunch, runs thus:\n\n\n                           KAYGAGABILE SPELL.\n\n    \"He fails to outrun me\" (repeated many times). \"The canoe trembles\n    with speed\" (many times). A few untranslatable words are uttered;\n    then a long chain of ancestral names is invoked. \"I lash you,\n    O tree; the tree flies; the tree becomes like a breath of wind;\n    the tree becomes like a butterfly; the tree becomes like a cotton\n    seed fluff. One sun\" (i.e., time) \"for my companions, midday\n    sun, setting sun; another sun for me----\" (here the reciter's\n    name is uttered)--\"the rising sun, the rays of the (rising) sun,\n    (the time of) opening the huts, (the time of the) rising of the\n    morning star!\" The last part means: \"My companions arrive at\n    sunset, while I arrive with the rising sun\"--(indicating how far\n    my canoe exceeds them in speed.) [47]\n\n\nThese formul\u00e6 are used both to make the log lighter for the present\npurpose of pulling it into the village, and in order to give it\ngreater speed in general, when it is made up into a waga.\n\nAfter the log has been finally brought into the village, and left\non the baku, the main central place, the creeper by means of which\nit has been pulled and which is called in this connection duku,\nis not cut away at once. This is done ceremonially on the morning\nof the following day, sometimes after even two or three days have\npassed. The men of the community assemble, and the one who will scoop\nout the canoe, the builder (tota'ila waga, \"the cutter of the canoe\")\nperforms a magical rite. He takes his adze (ligogu) and wraps some very\nlight and thin herbs round the blade with a piece of dried banana leaf,\nitself associated with the idea of lightness. This he wraps only half\nround, so that a broad opening is left, and the breath and voice have\nfree access to the herbs and blade of the adze. Into this opening,\nthe magician chants the following long spell:\n\n\n                         KAPITUNENA DUKU SPELL.\n\n    \"I shall wave them back, (i.e., prevent all other canoes from\n    overtaking me)!\" repeated many times. \"On the top of Si'a Hill;\n    women of Tokuna; my mother a sorceress, myself a sorcerer. It\n    dashes forward, it flies ahead. The canoe body is light; the\n    pandanus streamers are aflutter; the prow skims the waves;\n    the ornamental boards leap, like dolphins; the tabuyo (small\n    prow-board) breaks the waves; the lagim' (transversal prow-board)\n    breaks the waves. Thou sleepest in the mountain, thou sleepest\n    in Kuyawa Island. We shall kindle a small fire of lalang grass,\n    we shall burn aromatic herbs (i.e., at our destination in the\n    mountains)! Whether new or old, thou goest ahead.\"\n\n    This is the exordium of the formula. Then comes a very long middle\n    part, in a form very characteristic of Trobriand magic. This\n    form resembles a litany, in so far as a key word or expression\n    is repeated many times with a series of complementary words and\n    expressions. Then the first key word is replaced by another, which\n    in its turn, is repeated with the same series of expressions;\n    then comes another key word, and so on. We have thus two series\n    of words; each term of the first is repeated over and over again,\n    with all terms of the second, and in this manner, with a limited\n    number of words, a spell is very much lengthened out, since its\n    length is the product of the length of both series. In shorter\n    spells, there may be only one key word, and in fact, this is the\n    more usual type. In this spell, the first series consists of nouns\n    denoting different parts of the canoe; the second are verbs, such\n    as: to cut, to fly, to speed, to cleave a fleet of other canoes,\n    to disappear, to skim over the waves. Thus the litany runs in such\n    a fashion: \"The tip of my canoe starts, the tip of my canoe flies,\n    the tip of my canoe speeds, etc., etc.\" After the long litany has\n    been chanted, the magician repeats the exordium, and finishes it\n    off with the conventional onomatopoetic word saydididi--which is\n    meant to imitate the flying of the witches.\n\n\nAfter the recital of this long spell over the herbs and blade of his\nadze, the magician wraps up the dry banana leaf, thus imprisoning\nthe magical virtue of the spell round the blade, and with this, he\nstrikes and cuts through the duku (the creeper used for the pulling\nof the canoes.)\n\nWith this, the magic is not over yet, for on the same evening, when\nthe canoe is put on transversal logs (nigakulu), another rite has to\nbe carried out. Some herbs are placed on the transversals between them\nand the body of the big canoe log. Over these herbs, again, another\nspell has to be uttered. In order not to overload this account with\nmagical texts, I shall not adduce this spell in detail. Its wording\nalso plainly indicates that it is speed magic, and it is a short\nformula running on directly, without cross-repetitions.\n\nAfter that, for some days, the outside of the canoe body is worked. Its\ntwo ends must be cut into tapering shape, and the bottom evened and\nsmoothed. After that is done, the canoe has to be turned over, this\ntime into its natural position, bottom down, and what is to be the\nopening, upwards. Before the scooping out begins, another formula has\nto be recited over the kavilali, a special ligogu (adze), used for\nscooping out, which is inserted into a handle with a moveable part,\nwhich then allows the cutting to be done at varying angles to the\nplane of striking.\n\nThe rite stands in close connection to the myth of the flying\ncanoe, localised in Kudayuri, a place in the Island of Kitava, and\nmany allusions are made to this myth. [48] After a short exordium,\ncontaining untranslatable magical words, and geographical references,\nthe spell runs:\n\n\n                             LIGOGU SPELL.\n\n    \"I shall take hold of an adze, I shall strike! I shall enter my\n    canoe, I shall make thee fly, O canoe, I shall make thee jump! We\n    shall fly like butterflies, like wind; we shall disappear in\n    mist, we shall vanish. You will pierce the straits of Kadimwatu\n    (between the islands of Tewara and Uwama) you will break the\n    promontory of Saramwa (near Dobu), pierce the passage of Loma (in\n    Dawson Straits), die away in the distance, die away with the wind,\n    fade away with the mist, vanish away. Break through your seaweeds\n    (i.e., on coming against the shore). Put on your wreath (probably\n    an allusion to the seaweeds), make your bed in the sand. I turn\n    round, I see the Vakuta men, the Kitava men behind me; my sea,\n    the sea of Pilolu (i.e., the sea between the Trobriands and the\n    Amphletts); to-day the Kudayuri men will burn their fires (i.e.,\n    on the shores of Dobu). Bind your grass skirt together, O canoe\"\n    (here the personal name of the canoe is mentioned), \"fly!\" The\n    last phrase contains an implicit hint that the canoe partakes\n    of the nature of a flying witch, as it should, according to the\n    Kudayuri myth.\n\n\nAfter this, the canoe-builder proceeds to scoop out the log. This is\na long task, and a heavy one, and one which requires a good deal of\nskill, especially towards the end, when the walls of the dug-out have\nto be made sufficiently thin, and when the wood has to be taken off\nevenly over the whole surface. Thus, although at the beginning the\ncanoe carpenter is usually helped by a few men--his sons or brothers\nor nephews who in assisting him also learn the trade--towards the end\nhe has to do the work single-handed. It, therefore, always happens\nthat this stage takes a very long time. Often the canoe will lie\nfor weeks, untouched, covered with palm leaves against the sun,\nand filled with some water to prevent drying and cracking (see Plate\nXXV). Then the carpenter will set to work for a few days, and pause\nagain. In almost all villages, the canoe is put up in the central\nplace, or before the builder's hut. In some of the Eastern villages,\nthe scooping out is done on the sea beach, to avoid pulling the heavy\nlog to and from the village.\n\nParallel with the process of hollowing out, the other parts of the\ncanoe are made ready to be pieced together. Four broad and long\nplanks form the gunwale; L-shaped pieces of wood are cut into ribs;\nlong poles are prepared for longitudinal support of the ribs, and\nfor platform rafters; short poles are made ready as transversals of\nthe platform and main supports of the outrigging; small sticks to\nconnect the float with the transversals; finally, the float itself,\na long, bulky log. These are the main, constituent parts of a canoe,\nto be made by the builder. The four carved boards are also made by\nhim if he knows how to carve, otherwise another expert has to do this\npart of the work (see Plate XXVI).\n\nWhen all the parts are ready, another magical rite has to be\nperformed. It is called \"kapitunela nanola waga\": \"the cutting off\nof the canoe's mind,\" an expression which denotes a change of mind,\na final determination. In this case, the canoe makes up its mind to\nrun quickly. The formula is short, contains at the beginning a few\nobscure words, and then a few geographical references to some places\nin the d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago. It is recited over a few drops\nof coco-nut oil, which is then wrapped up in a small bundle. The same\nspell is then again spoken over the ligogu blade, round which a piece\nof dry banana has been wrapped in the manner described above. The\ncanoe is turned bottom up, the bundle with coco-nut oil placed on it\nand struck with the adze. With this the canoe is ready to be pieced\ntogether, and the first stage of its construction is over.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nAs has been said above, the two stages differ from one another in\nthe nature of work done and in their sociological and ceremonial\nsetting. So far, we have seen only a few men engaged in cutting the\ntree and scooping it out and then preparing the various parts of the\ncanoe. Industriously, but slowly and deliberately, with many pauses,\nthey toil over their work, sitting on the brown, trodden soil of the\nvillage in front of the huts, or scooping the canoe in the central\nplace. The first part of the task, the felling of the tree, took us\nto the tall jungle and intricate undergrowth, climbing and festooned\naround the fantastic shapes of coral rocks.\n\nNow, with the second stage, the scene shifts to the clean, snow-white\nsand of a coral beach, where hundreds of natives in festive array\ncrowd around the freshly scraped body of the canoe. The carved boards,\npainted in black, white and red, the green fringe of palms and jungle\ntrees, the blue of the sea--all lend colour to the vivid and lively\nscene. Thus I saw the building of a canoe done on the East shore\nof the Trobriands, and in this setting I remember it. In Sinaketa,\ninstead of the blue, open sea, breaking in a belt of white foam\noutside on the fringing reef and coming in limpid waves to the beach,\nthere are the dull, muddy browns and greens of the Lagoon, playing\ninto pure emerald tints where the clean sandy bottom begins.\n\nInto one of these two scenes, we must now imagine the dug-out\ntransported from the village, after all is ready, and after the summons\nof the chief or headman has gone round the neighbouring villages. In\nthe case of a big chief, several hundreds of natives will assemble\nto help, or to gaze on the performance. When a small community with\na second-rate headman construct their canoe, only a few dozen people\nwill come, the relatives-in-law of the headman and of other notables,\nand their close friends.\n\nAfter the body of the canoe and all the accessories have been placed\nin readiness, the proceedings are opened by a magical rite, called\nKatuliliva tabuyo. This rite belongs to the Kula magic, for which\nthe natives have a special expression; they call it mwasila. It is\nconnected with the inserting of the ornamental prow-boards into their\ngrooves at both ends of the canoe. These ornamental parts of the canoe\nare put in first of all, and this is done ceremonially. A few sprigs\nof the mint plant are inserted under the boards, as they are put in,\nand the toliwaga (owner of the canoe) hammers the boards in by means\nof a special stone imported from Dobu, and ritually repeats a formula\nof the mwasila magic. The mint plant (sulumwoya) plays an important\npart in the mwasila (Kula magic) as well as in love spells, and in\nthe magic of beauty. Whenever a substance is to be medicated for the\npurpose of charming, seducing, or persuading, as a rule sulumwoya\nis used. This plant figures also in several myths, where it plays a\nsimilar part, the mythical hero always conquering the foe or winning\na woman by the use of the sulumwoya.\n\nI shall not adduce the magical formul\u00e6 in this account, with the\nexception of the most important one. Even a short summary of each\nof them would obstruct the narrative, and it would blur completely\nthe outline of the consecutive account of the various activities. The\nvarious complexities of the magical ritual and of the formul\u00e6 will be\nset forth in Chapter XVII. It may be mentioned here, however, that not\nonly are there several types of magic performed during canoe building,\nsuch as the mwasila (Kula magic), the canoe speed magic, exorcisms\nagainst evil magic, and exorcism of the tokway, but within each of\nthese types, there are different systems of magic, each with its own\nmythological basis, each localised in a different district, and each\nhaving of course different formul\u00e6 and slightly different rites. [49]\n\nAfter the prow-boards are put in, and before the next bit of technical\nwork is done, another magical rite has to be performed. The body of\nthe canoe, now bright with the three-coloured boards, is pushed into\nthe water. A handful of leaves, of a shrub called bobi'u, is charmed\nby the owner or by the builder, and the body of the canoe is washed in\nsea water with the leaves. All the men participate in the washing, and\nthis rite is intended to make the canoe fast, by removing the traces of\nany evil influence, which might still have remained, in spite of the\nprevious magic, performed on the waga. After the waga has been rubbed\nand washed, it is pulled ashore again and placed on the skid logs.\n\nNow the natives proceed to the main and most important constructive\npart of their work; this consists of the erection of the gunwale\nplanks at the sides of the dug-out log, so as to form the deep and\nwide well of the built-up canoe. They are kept in position by an\ninternal framework of some twelve to twenty pairs of ribs, and all\nof this is lashed together with a special creeper called wayugo,\nand the holes and interstices are caulked with a resinous substance.\n\nI cannot enter here into details of building, though from the\ntechnological point of view, this is the most interesting phase,\nshowing us the native at grips with real problems of construction. He\nhas a whole array of component parts, and he must make them fit\ntogether with a considerable degree of precision, and that without\nhaving any exact means of measurement. By a rough appreciation based on\nlong experience and great skill, he estimates the relative shapes and\nsizes of the planks, the angles and dimensions of the ribs, and the\nlengths of the various poles. Then, in shaping them out, the builder\ntests and fits them in a preliminary manner as work goes on, and as a\nrule the result is good. But now, when all these component parts have\nto be pieced finally together, it nearly always happens that some bit\nor other fails to fit properly with the rest. These details have to\nbe adjusted, a bit taken off the body of the canoe, a plank or pole\nshortened, or even a piece added. The natives have a very efficient\nway of lashing on a whole bit of a plank, if this proves too short,\nor if, by some accident, it breaks at the end. After all has been\nfinally fitted, and made to tally, the framework of ribs is put into\nthe canoe (see Plate XXVII), and the natives proceed to lash them to\nthe body of the dug-out, and to the two longitudinal poles to which\nthe ribs are threaded.\n\nAnd now a few words must be said about the wayugo, the lashing\ncreeper. Only one species of creeper is used for the lashing of boats,\nand it is of the utmost importance that this creeper should be sound\nand strong. It is this alone that maintains the cohesion of the various\nparts, and in rough weather, very much depends on how the lashings\nwill stand the strain. The other parts of the canoe--the outrigger\npoles--can be more easily tested, and as they are made of strong,\nelastic wood, they usually stand any weather quite well. Thus the\nelement of danger and uncertainty in a canoe is due mainly to the\ncreeper. No wonder, therefore, that the magic of the creeper is\nconsidered as one of the most important ritual items in canoe-building.\n\nIn fact, wayugo, the name of that creeper species, is also used as\na general term for canoe magic. When a man has the reputation of\nbuilding or owning a good and fast canoe, the usual way of explaining\nit is to say that he has, or knows \"a good wayugo.\" For, as in all\nother magic, there are several types of wayugo spells. The ritual is\nalways practically the same: five coils of the creeper are, on the\nprevious day, placed on a large wooden dish and chanted over in the\nowner's hut by himself. Only exceptionally can this magic be done by\nthe builder. Next day they are brought to the beach ceremonially on\nthe wooden plate. In one of the wayugo systems, there is an additional\nrite, in which the toliwaga (canoe owner) takes a piece of the creeper,\ninserts it into one of the holes pierced in the rim of the dug-out for\nthe lashing, and pulling it to and fro, recites once more the spell.\n\nIn consideration of the importance of this magic, the formula will\nbe here adduced in full. It consists of an exordium (u'ula), a double\nmain part (tapwana), and a concluding period (dogina). [50]\n\n\n                             WAYUGO SPELL.\n\n    In the u'ula he first repeats \"Sacred (or ritual) eating of fish,\n    sacred inside,\" thus alluding to a belief that the toliwaga\n    has in connection with this magic to partake ritually of baked\n    fish. Then come the words--\"Flutter, betel plant, leaving behind,\"\n    all associated with leading ideas of canoe magic--the flutter of\n    pandanus streamers; the betel-nut, which the ancestral spirits\n    in other rites are invited to partake of; the speed by which all\n    comrades will be left behind!\n\n    A list of ancestral names follows. Two of them, probably\n    mythical personages, have significative names; \"Stormy sea\" and\n    \"Foaming.\" Then the baloma (spirits) of these ancestors are asked\n    to sit on the canoe slips and to chew betel, and they are invoked\n    to take the pandanus streamer of the Kudayuri--a place in Kitava,\n    where the flying canoe magic originated--and plant it on top of\n    Teula or Tewara, the small island off the East coast of Fergusson.\n\n    The magician after that chants: \"I shall turn, I shall turn\n    towards you, O men of Kitava, you remain behind on the To'uru\n    beach (in the Lagoon of Vakuta). Before you lies the sea arm of\n    Pilolu. To-day, they kindle the festive fire of the Kudayuri, thou,\n    O my boat\" (here the personal name of the boat is uttered), \"bind\n    thy skirts together and fly!\" In this passage--which is almost\n    identical with one in the previously quoted Ligogu spell--there\n    is a direct allusion to the Kudayuri myth, and to the custom of\n    festive fires. Again the canoe is addressed as a woman who has to\n    bind her grass petticoat together during her flight, a reference\n    to the belief that a flying witch binds her skirts when starting\n    into the air and to the tradition that this myth originates from\n    Na'ukuwakula, one of the flying Kudayuri sisters. The following\n    main part continues with this mythical allusion: Na'ukuwakula\n    flew from Kitava through Sinaketa and Kayleula to Simsim, where\n    she settled down and transmitted the magic to her progeny. In\n    this spell the three places: Kuyawa (a creek and hillock near\n    Sinaketa), Dikutuwa (a rock near Kayleula), and La'u (a cleft\n    rock in the sea near Simsim, in the Lousan\u00e7ay Islands) are the\n    leading words of the tapwana.\n\n    The last sentence of the first part, forming a transition into\n    the tapwana, runs as follows: \"I shall grasp the handle of the\n    adze, I shall grip all the component parts of the canoe\"--perhaps\n    another allusion to the mythical construction of the Kudayuri canoe\n    (comp. Chap. XII, Div. IV)--\"I shall fly on the top of Kuyawa,\n    I shall disappear; dissolve in mist, in smoke; become like a wind\n    eddy, become alone--on top of Kuyawa.\" The same words are then\n    repeated, substituting for Kuyawa the two other above-mentioned\n    spots, one after the other, and thus retracing the flight of\n    Na'ukuwakula.\n\n    Then the magician returns to the beginning and recites the\n    spell over again up to the phrase: \"bind thy skirt together and\n    fly,\" which is followed this time by a second tapwana: \"I shall\n    outdistance all my comrades with the bottom of my canoe; I shall\n    out-distance all my comrades with the prow-board of my canoe,\n    etc., etc.,\" repeating the prophetic boast with all the parts of\n    the canoe, as is usual in the middle part of magical spells.\n\n    In the dogina, the last part, the magician addresses the waga\n    in mythological terms, with allusions to the Kudayuri myth, and\n    adds: \"Canoe thou art a ghost, thou art like a wind eddy; vanish,\n    O my canoe, fly; break through your sea-passage of Kadimwatu,\n    cleave through the promontory of Saramwa, pass through Loma;\n    die away, disappear, vanish with an eddy, vanish with the mist;\n    make your imprint in the sand, cut through the seaweed, go,\n    put on your wreath of aromatic herbs.\" [51]\n\n\nAfter the wayugo has been ritually brought in, the lashing of the\ncanoe begins. First of all the ribs are lashed into position then\nthe planks, and with this the body of the canoe is ready. This\ntakes a varying time, according to the number of people at work,\nand to the amount of tallying and adjusting to be done at the final\nfitting. Sometimes one whole day's work is spent on this stage,\nand the next piece of work, the construction of the outrigger, has\nto be postponed to another day. This is the next stage, and there is\nno magic to punctuate the course of technical activities. The big,\nsolid log is put alongside the canoe, and a number of short, pointed\nsticks are driven into it. The sticks are put in crossways on the top\nof the float (lamina). Then the tops of these sticks are again attached\nto a number of horizontal poles, which have to be thrust through one\nside of the canoe-body, and attached to the other. All this naturally\nrequires again adjusting and fitting. When these sticks and poles are\nbound together, there results a strong yet elastic frame, in which\nthe canoe and the float are held together in parallel positions,\nand across them transversely there run the several horizontal poles\nwhich keep them together. Next, these poles are bridged over by many\nlongitudinal sticks lashed together, and thus a platform is made\nbetween the edge of the canoe and the tops of the float sticks.\n\nWhen that is done, the whole frame of the canoe is ready, and there\nremains only to caulk the holes and interstices. The caulking substance\nis prepared in the hut of the toliwaga, and a spell is recited over\nit on the evening before the work is begun. Then again, the whole\ncommunity turn out and do the work in one day's sitting.\n\nThe canoe is now ready for the sea, except for the painting, Which is\nonly for ornamentation. Three more magical rites have to be performed,\nhowever, before it is painted and then launched. All three refer\ndirectly to the canoe, and aim at giving it speed. At the same time all\nthree are exorcisms against evil influences, resulting from various\ndefilements or broken taboos, which possibly might have desecrated\nthe waga. The first is called Vakasulu, which means something like\n\"ritual cooking\" of the canoe. The toliwaga has to prepare a real\nwitches' cauldron of all sorts of things, which afterwards are burnt\nunder the bottom of the canoe, and the smoke is supposed to exercise a\nspeed-giving and cleansing influence. The ingredients are: the wings\nof a bat, the nest of a very small bird called posisiku, some dried\nbracken leaves, a bit of cotton fluff, and some lalang grass. All\nthe substances are associated with flying and lightness. The wood\nused for kindling the fire is that of the light-timbered mimosa tree\n(liga). The twigs have to be obtained by throwing at the tree a\npiece of wood (never a stone), and when the broken-off twig falls,\nit must be caught in the hand, and not allowed to touch the ground.\n\nThe second rite, called Vaguri, is an exorcism only, and it consists\nof charming a stick, and then knocking the body of the canoe all\nover with it. This expels the evil witchery (bulubwalata), which\nit is only wise to suspect has been cast by some envious rivals,\nor persons jealous of the toliwaga.\n\nFinally, the third of these rites, the Kaytapena waga, consists\nin medicating a torch of coco-leaf with the appropriate spell, and\nfumigating with it the inside of the canoe. This gives speed and once\nmore cleanses the canoe.\n\nAfter another sitting of a few days, the whole outside of the canoe\nis painted in three colours. Over each of them a special spell is\nchanted again, the most important one over the black colour. This\nis never omitted, while the red and white spells are optional. In\nthe rite of the black colour, again, a whole mixture of substances\nis used--a dry bracken leaf, grass, and a posisiku nest--all this\nis charred with some coco-nut husk, and the first strokes of the\nblack paint are made with the mixture. The rest is painted with a\nwatery mixture of charred coco-nut. For red colour, a sort of ochre,\nimported from the d'Entrecasteaux Islands, is used; the white one is\nmade of a chalky earth, found in certain parts of the sea shore.\n\nSail-making is done on another day, usually in the village, by\ncommunal labour, and, with a number of people helping, the tedious\nand complicated work is performed in a relatively short time. The\ntriangular outline of the sail is first pegged out on the ground,\nas a rule the old sail being used as a pattern. After this is done,\ntapes of dried pandanus leaf (see Plates XXVIII, XXIX) are stretched\non the ground and first fixed along the borders of the sail. Then,\nstarting at the apex of the triangle, the sail-makers put tapes\nradiating towards the base, sewing them together with awls of flying\nfox bone, and using as thread narrow strips of specially toughened\npandanus leaf. Two layers of tapes are sewn one on top of the other\nto make a solid fabric.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nThe canoe is now quite ready to be launched. But before we go on to an\naccount of the ceremonial launching and the associated festivities,\none or two general remarks must be made retrospectively about the\nproceedings just described.\n\nThe whole of the first stage of canoe-building, that is, the cutting\nof the tree, the scooping out of the log, and the preparation of the\nother component parts, with all their associated magic, is done only\nwhen a new canoe is built.\n\nBut the second stage has to be performed over all the canoes before\nevery great overseas Kula expedition. On such an occasion, all\nthe canoes have to be re-lashed, re-caulked, and re-painted. This\nobviously requires that they should all be taken to pieces and then\nlashed, caulked and painted exactly as is done with a new canoe. All\nthe magic incidental to these three processes is then performed, in\nits due order, over the renovated canoe. So that we can say about the\nsecond stage of canoe-building that not only is it always performed\nin association with the Kula, but that no big expedition ever takes\nplace without it.\n\nWe have had a description of the magical rites, and the ideas which are\nimplied in every one of them have been specified. But there are one or\ntwo more general characteristics which must be mentioned here. First,\nthere is what could be called the \"ceremonial dimension\" of magical\nrites. That is, how far is the performance of the rite attended by\nthe members of the community, if at all; and if so, do they actively\ntake part in it, or do they simply pay keen attention and behave as\nan interested audience; or, though being present, do they pay little\nheed and show only small interest?\n\nIn the first stage of canoe-building, the rites are performed by the\nmagician himself, with only a few helpers in attendance. The general\nvillage public do not feel sufficiently interested and attracted to\nassist, nor are they bound by custom to do so. The general character\nof these rites is more like the performance of a technicality of work\nthan of a ceremony. The preparing of herbs for the ligogu magic, for\ninstance, and the charming it over, is carried out in a matter-of-fact,\nbusinesslike manner, and nothing in the behaviour of the magician\nand those casually grouped around him would indicate that anything\nspecially interesting in the routine work is happening.\n\nThe rites of the second stage are ipso facto attended by all those who\nhelp in piecing together and lashing, but on the whole those present\nhave no special task assigned to them in the performance of these\nrites. As to the attention and behaviour during the performance of the\nmagic, much depends of course on whether the magician officiating is\na chief of great importance or someone of low rank. A certain decorum\nand even silence would be observed in any case. But many of those\npresent would turn aside and go away, if they wanted to do so. The\nmagician does not produce the impression of an officiating high priest\nperforming a solemn ceremony, but rather of a specialised workman\ndoing a particularly important piece of work. It must be remembered\nthat all the rites are simple, and the chanting of the spells in\npublic is done in a low voice, and quickly, without any specially\neffective vocal production. Again, the caulking and the wayugo rites\nare, in some types of magic at least, performed in the magician's hut,\nwithout any attendance whatever, and so is that of the black paint.\n\nAnother point of general importance is what could be called the\nstringency of magic rites. In canoe magic, for instance, the expulsion\nof the tokway, the ritual cutting of the pulling rope, the magic of the\nadze (ligogu), that of the lashing creeper (wayugo), of the caulking,\nand of the black paint can never be omitted. Whereas the other\nrites are optional, though as a rule some of them are performed. But\neven those which are considered indispensable do not all occupy the\nsame place of importance in native mythology and in native ideas,\nwhich is clearly expressed in the behaviour of the natives and their\nmanner of speaking of them. Thus, the general term for canoe magic is\neither wayugo or ligogu, from which we can see that these two spells\nare considered the most important. A man will speak about his wayugo\nbeing better than that of the other, or of having learnt his ligogu\nfrom his father. Again, as we shall see in the canoe myth, both these\nrites are explicitly mentioned there. Although the expulsion of the\ntokway is always done, it is definitely recognised by the natives as\nbeing of lesser importance. So are also the magic of caulking and of\nthe black paint.\n\nA less general point, of great interest, however, is that of evil\nmagic (bulubwalata) and of broken taboos. I had to mention several\nexorcisms against those influences, and something must be said about\nthem here. The term bulubwalata covers all forms of evil magic or\nwitchery. There is that which, directed against pigs, makes them\nrun away from their owners into the bush; there is bulubwalata for\nalienating the affections of a wife or sweetheart; there is evil magic\nagainst gardens, and--perhaps the most dreaded one--evil magic against\nrain, producing drought and famine. The evil magic against canoes,\nmaking them slow, heavy, and unseaworthy, is also much feared. Many\nmen profess to know it, but it is very difficult for the Ethnographer\nto obtain a formula, and I succeeded only in taking down one. It is\nalways supposed to be practised by canoe-owners upon the craft which\nthey regard as dangerous rivals of their own.\n\nThere are many taboos referring to an already constructed canoe, and we\nshall meet with them later when speaking about sailing and handling\nthe canoe. But before that stage is reached, any defilement with\nany unclean substance of the log out of which the canoe is scooped,\nwould make it slow and bad; or if anybody were to walk over a canoe\nlog or stand on it there would be the same evil result.\n\nOne more point must be mentioned here. As we have seen, the first\nmagical rite, of the second stage of construction, is performed\nover the prow-boards. The question obtrudes itself as to whether\nthe designs on these boards have any magical meaning. It must be\nclearly understood that any guesswork or speculations about origins\nmust be rigidly excluded from ethnographic field work like this. For\na sociologically empirical answer, the Ethnographer must look to two\nclasses of facts. First of all, he may directly question the natives as\nto whether the prow-boards themselves or any of the motives upon them\nare done for magical purposes. Whether he questions the average man, or\neven the specialist in canoe magic and carving, to this he will always\nreceive in Kiriwina a negative answer. He can then enquire whether\nin the magical ritual for formul\u00e6 there are no references to the\nprow-boards, or to any of the decorative motives on them. Here also,\nthe evidence on the whole is negative. In one spell perhaps, and that\nbelonging not to canoe but to the Kula magic (comp. below, Chap. XIII,\nDiv. II, the Kayikuna Tabuyo spell), there can be found an allusion\nto the prow-boards, but only to the term describing them in general,\nand not to any special decorative motive. Thus the only association\nbetween canoe decoration and canoe magic consists in the fact that\ntwo magical rites are performed over them, one mentioned already,\nand the other to be mentioned at the beginning of the next chapter.\n\nThe description of canoe-building, in fact, all the data given in\nthis chapter, refer only to one of the two types of sea-going canoe\nto be found in the Kula district. For the natives of the Eastern half\nof the ring use craft bigger, and in certain respects better, than\nthe masawa. The main difference between the Eastern and Western type\nconsists in the fact that the bigger canoes have a higher gunwale or\nside, and consequently a greater carrying capacity, and they can be\nimmersed deeper. The larger water board offers more resistance against\nmaking leeway, and this allows the canoes to be sailed closer to the\nwind. Consequently, the Eastern canoes can beat, and these natives\nare therefore much more independent of the direction of the wind\nin their sailings. With this is connected the position of the mast,\nwhich in this type is stepped in the middle, and it is also permanently\nfixed, and is not taken down every time after sailing. It obviously,\ntherefore, need not be changed in its position every time the canoe\ngoes on another tack.\n\nI have not seen the construction of a nagega, as these canoes are\ncalled, but I think that it is technically a much more difficult\ntask than the building of a masawa. I was told that both magic and\nceremonial of construction are very much the same in the building of\nboth canoes.\n\nThe nagega, that is the larger and more seaworthy type, is used on the\nsection of the Kula ring beginning in Gawa and ending in Tubetube. It\nis also used in certain parts of the Massim district, which lie outside\nthe Kula ring, such as the Island of Sud-Est, and surrounding smaller\nislands, and it is used among the Southern Massim of the mainland. But\nthough its use is very widely spread, its manufacture is confined to\nonly a few places. The most important centres of nagega building are\nGawa, a few villages on Woodlark Islands, the island of Panayati,\nand perhaps one or two places on Misima. From there, the canoes are\ntraded all over the district, and indeed this is one of the most\nimportant forms of trade in this part of the world. The masawa canoes\nare used and manufactured in the district of Dobu, in the Amphletts,\nin the Trobriands, in Kitava and Iwa.\n\nOne point of great importance in the relation of these two forms\nof canoe is that one of them has, within the last two generations,\nbeen expanding at the expense of the other. According to reliable\ninformation, gathered at several points in the Trobriands and the\nAmphletts, the nagega type, that is the heavier, more seaworthy and\nbetter-sailing canoe, was driven out some time ago from the Amphletts\nand Trobriands. The masawa, in many respects inferior, but less\ndifficult to build, and swifter, has supplanted the bigger type. In\nolden days, that is, about two or three generations ago, the nagega\nwas used exclusively in Iwa, Kitava, Kiriwina, Vakuta, and Sinaketa,\nwhile the Amphlettans and the natives of Kayleula would usually use\nthe nagega, though sometimes they would sail in masawa canoes. Dobu\nwas the real home and headquarters of the masawa. When the shifting\nbegan, and when it was completed, I could not ascertain. But the fact\nis that nowadays even the villages of Kitava and Iwa manufacture the\nsmaller masawa canoe. Thus, one of the most important cultural items\nis spreading from South to North. There is, however, one point on\nwhich I could not obtain definite information: that is, whether in\nthe Trobriands the nagega in olden days was imported from Kitava,\nor whether it was manufactured locally by imported craftsmen (as is\ndone even nowadays in Kiriwina at times), or whether the Trobrianders\nthemselves knew how to make the big canoes. There is no doubt, however,\nthat in olden days, the natives of Kitava and Iwa used themselves to\nmake the nagega canoes. The Kudayuri myth (see Chapter XII), and the\nconnected magic, refer to this type of canoe. Thus in this district\nat any rate, and probably in the Trobriands and Amphletts as well,\nnot only the use, but also the manufacture of the bigger canoe has\nbeen superseded by that of the smaller one, the masawa, now found in\nall these parts.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nLAUNCHING OF A CANOE AND CEREMONIAL VISITING--TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN\nTHE TROBRIANDS\n\n\nI\n\nThe canoe, painted and decorated, stands now ready to be launched,\na source of pride to the owners and to the makers, and an object of\nadmiration to the other beholders. A new sailing craft is not only\nanother utility created; it is more: it is a new entity sprung into\nbeing, something with which the future destinies of the sailors\nwill be bound up, and on which they will depend. There can be no\ndoubt that this sentiment is also felt by the natives and expressed\nin their customs and behaviour. The canoe receives a personal name,\nit becomes an object of intense interest to the whole district. Its\nqualities, points of beauty, and of probable perfection or faultiness\nare canvassed round the fires at night. The owner and his kinsmen\nand fellow villagers will speak of it with the usual boasting and\nexaggerations, and the others will all be very keen to see it, and to\nwatch its performances. Thus the institution of ceremonial launching\nis not a mere formality prescribed by custom; it corresponds to the\npsychological needs of the community, it rouses a great interest,\nand is very well attended even when the canoe belongs to a small\ncommunity. When a big chief's canoe is launched, whether that of\nKasana'i or Omarakana, Olivilevi or Sinaketa, up to a thousand natives\nwill assemble on the beach.\n\nThis festive and public display of a finished canoe, with its\nfull paint and ornament, is not only in harmony with the natives'\nsentiments towards a new sailing craft; it also agrees with the way\nthey treat in general the results of their economic activities. Whether\nin gardening or in fishing, in the building of houses or in industrial\nachievements, there is a tendency to display the products, to arrange\nthem, and even adorn at least certain classes of them, so as to\nproduce a big, \u00e6sthetic effect. In fishing, there are only traces of\nthis tendency, but in gardening, it assumes very great proportions,\nand the handling, arranging and display of garden produce is one of\nthe most characteristic features of their tribal life, and it takes\nup much time and work. [52]\n\nSoon after the painting and adorning of the canoe, a date is fixed for\nthe ceremonial launching and trial run, the tasasoria festivities,\nas they are called. Word is passed to the chiefs and headmen of the\nneighbouring villages. Those of them who own canoes and who belong\nto the same Kula community have always to come with their canoes\nand take part in a sort of regatta held on the occasion. As the new\ncanoe is always constructed in connection with a Kula expedition,\nand as the other canoes of the same Kula community have to be either\ndone up or replaced, it is the rule that on the tasasoria day a\nwhole fleet of brand new or renovated canoes assemble on the beach,\nall resplendent in fresh colours and decoration of cowrie shells and\nbleached pandanus streamers.\n\nThe launching itself is inaugurated with a rite of the mwasila\n(Kula magic), called Kaytalula wadola waga (\"staining red of the\nmouth of the canoe\"). After the natives have taken off the plaited\ncoco-nut leaves with which the canoe is protected against the sun,\nthe toliwaga chants a spell over some red ochre, and stains both\nbow and stern of the canoe. A special cowrie shell, attached to the\nprow-board (tabuyo) is stained at each end. After that the canoe is\nlaunched, the villagers pushing it into the water over pieces of wood\ntransversely placed which act as slips (see Plate XXX). This is done\namidst shouts and ululations, such as are made on all occasions when\nsome piece of work has to be done in a festive and ceremonial manner,\nwhen, for instance, the harvest is brought in and given ceremonially\nby a man to his brother-in-law, or when a gift of yams or taro is\nlaid down before a fisherman's house by an inland gardener, or the\nreturn gift of fish is made.\n\nThus the canoe is finally launched after the long series of mingled\nwork and ceremony, technical effort and magical rite.\n\nAfter the launching is done, there takes place a feast, or, more\ncorrectly, a distribution of food (sagali) under observation of\nall sorts of formalities and ritual. Such a distribution is always\nmade when the toliwaga has not built the canoe himself, and when he\ntherefore has to repay the cutter of the canoe and his helpers. It also\ntakes place whenever the canoe of a big chief is launched, in order\nto celebrate the occasion, to show off his wealth and generosity,\nand to give food to the many people who have been summoned to assist\nin the construction.\n\nAfter the sagali (ceremonial distribution of food) is over, as a rule,\nin the afternoon, the new canoe is rigged, the mast is put up, the sail\nattached, and this and all the other boats make a trial run. It is not\na competitive race in the strict sense of the word. The chief's canoe,\nwhich indeed would as a rule be best and fastest, in any case always\nwins the race. If it did not sail fastest, the others would probably\nkeep back. The trial run is rather a display of the new canoe, side\nby side with the others.\n\nIn order to give one concrete illustration of the ceremonial connected\nwith canoe building and launching, it may be well to relate an\nactual event. I shall therefore describe the tasasoria, seen on\nthe beach of Kaulukuba, in February, 1916, when the new canoe of\nKasana'i was launched. Eight canoes took part in the trial run, that\nis, all the canoes of Kiriwina, which forms what I have called the\n\"Kula community,\" the social group who make their Kula expeditions\nin a body, and who have the same limits within which they carry on\ntheir exchange of valuables.\n\nThe great event which was the cause of the building and renovating of\nthe canoes, was a Kula expedition planned by To'ulawa and his Kula\ncommunity. They were to go to the East, to Kitava, to Iwa or Gawa,\nperhaps even to Muruwa (Woodlark Island), though with this island the\nnatives do not carry on the Kula directly. As is usual in such cases,\nmonths before the approximate date of sailing, plans and forecasts\nwere made, stories of previous voyages were recounted, old men dwelt\non their own reminiscences and reported what they had been told by\ntheir elders of the days when iron was unknown and everyone had to\nsail to the East in order to get the green stone quarried in Suloga\non Woodlark Island. And so, as it always happens when future events\nare talked over round village fires, imagination outran all bounds of\nprobability; and the hopes and anticipations grew bigger and bigger. In\nthe end, everyone really believed his party would go at least to the\nEasternmost Marshall Bennetts (Gawa), whereas, as events turned out,\nthey did not sail beyond Kitava.\n\nFor this occasion a new canoe had to be constructed in Kasana'i, and\nthis was done by Ibena himself, the chief of that village, a man of\nrank equal to the highest chief (his kinsman, in fact) but of smaller\npower. Ibena is a skilled builder as well as a fair carver, and there\nis no class of magic in which he does not profess to be versed. The\ncanoe was built, under his guidance; he carved the boards himself,\nhe also performed the magic, and he was, of course, the toliwaga.\n\nIn Omarakana, the canoe had to be slightly altered in construction;\nit had to be re-lashed and re-painted. To do this To'uluwa, the chief,\nhad summoned a master builder and carver from the island of Kitava,\nthe same one who a couple of years before, had built this canoe. Also\na new sail had to be made for the Omarakana boat, as the old one\nwas too small. The ceremony of tasasoria (launching and regatta)\nought by rights to have been held on the beach of Kasana'i, but as\nits sister village, Omarakana, is so much more important, it took\nplace on Kaulukuba, the sea-shore of the latter.\n\nAs the date approached, the whole district was alive with preparations,\nsince the coastal villages had to put their canoes in order, while\nin the inland communities, new festive dresses and food had to be\nmade ready. The food was not to be eaten, but to be offered to the\nchief for his sagali (ceremonial distribution). Only in Omarakana,\nthe women had to cook for a big festive repast to be eaten on return\nfrom the tasasoria. In the Trobriands it is always a sign that a\nfestive event is pending when all the women go in the evening to the\nbush to collect plenty of firewood. Next morning, this will be used\nfor the kumkumuli, the baking of food in the ground, which is one of\nthe forms of cooking used on festive occasions. On the evening of\nthe tasasoria ceremony, people in Omarakana and Kasana'i were also\nbusy with the numerous other preparations, running to the shore and\nback, filling baskets with yams for the sagali, getting ready their\nfestive dress and decorations for the morrow. Festive dress means,\nfor a woman, a new grass skirt, resplendent in fresh red, white and\npurple, and for the man a newly bleached, snow-white pubic leaf,\nmade of the stalk of areca palm leaf.\n\nEarly in the morning of the appointed day, the food was packed into\nbaskets of plaited leaf, the personal apparel on top of it, all covered\nas usual with folded mats and conveyed to the beach. The women carried\non their heads the large baskets, shaped like big inverted bells,\nthe men shouldered a stick with two bag-shaped baskets at each\nend. Other men had to carry the oars, paddles, rigging and sail,\nas these paraphernalia are always kept in the village. From one of\nthe villages, one of the large, prismatic receptacles for food made\nof sticks was carried by several men right over the raybwag (coral\nridge) to be offered to the chief of Omarakana as a share in the\nsagali. The whole village was astir, and on its outskirts, through the\nsurrounding groves, parties from inland could be seen making their way\nrapidly to the shore. I left the village with a party of notables at\nabout eight o'clock in the morning. After leaving the grove of fruit\nand palm trees which grows especially densely around the village\nof Omarakana, we entered between the two walls of green, the usual\nmonotonous Trobriand road, which passes through the low scrub. Soon,\nemerging on a garden space, we could see, beyond a gentle declivity,\nthe rising slope of the raybwag, a mixture of rank vegetation with\nmonumental boulders of grey coral standing out here and there. Through\nthis, the path led on, following in an intricate course between small\nprecipices and towering outcrops, passing huge, ancient ficus trees,\nspreading around them their many trunks and aerial roots. At the top\nof the ridge, all of a sudden the blue sea shone through the foliage,\nand the roar of waves breaking on the reef struck our ears. Soon we\nfound ourselves among the crowd assembled on the beach, near to the\nbig boat-shed of Omarakana.\n\nBy about nine o'clock, everybody was ready on the beach. It was fully\nexposed to the Eastern sun, but this was not yet sufficiently high\nto drop its light right from above, and thus to produce that deadly\neffect of tropical mid-day, where the shadows instead of modelling\nout the details, blur every vertical surface and make everything dull\nand formless. The beach appeared bright and gaudy, and the lively\nbrown bodies looked well against the background of green foliage and\nwhite sand. The natives were anointed with coco-nut oil, and decorated\nwith flowers and facial paint. Large red hibiscus blossoms were stuck\ninto their hair, and wreaths of the white, wonderfully scented butia\nflowers crowned the dense black mops. There was a good display of ebony\ncarvings, sticks and lime spoons. There were decorated lime pots,\nand such objects of personal adornment as belts of red shell discs\nor of small cowrie shells, nose sticks (very rarely used nowadays),\nand other articles so well known to everybody from ethnological\ncollections in museums, and usually called \"ceremonial,\" though, as\nsaid above (Chapter III, Div. III) the description \"objects of parade\"\nwould be much more in agreement with the correct meaning of the words.\n\nSuch popular festivities as the one just being described are the\noccasions on which these objects of parade, some of which astonish\nus by their artistic perfection, appear in native life. Before I had\nopportunities to see savage art in actual display, in its proper,\n\"living\" setting, there seemed to me always to exist some incongruity\nbetween the artistic finish of such objects and the general crudity\nof savage life, a crudity marked precisely on the \u00e6sthetic side. One\nimagines greasy, dirty, naked bodies, moppy hair full of vermin, and\nother realistic features which make up one's idea of the \"savage,\" and\nin some respects reality bears out imagination. As a matter of fact\nthough, the incongruity does not exist when once one has seen native\nart actually displayed in its own setting. A festive mob of natives,\nwith the wonderful golden-brown colour of their skins brought out by\nwashing and anointing and set off by the gaudy white, red and black of\nfacial paint, feathers and ornaments, with their exquisitely carved\nand polished ebony objects, with their finely worked lime pots, has\na distinct elegance of its own, without striking one as grotesque\nor incongruous in any \u00e6sthetic detail. There is an evident harmony\nbetween their festive mood, the display of colours and forms, and\nthe manner in which they put on and bear their ornaments.\n\nThose who have come from a distance, and who would spoil their\ndecorations by the long march, wash with water and anoint themselves\nwith coco-nut grease immediately before arriving at the scene of\nfestivities. As a rule the best paint is put on later on, when\nthe climax of the proceedings approaches. On this occasion, after\nthe preliminaries (distribution of food, arrival of other canoes)\nwere over, and when the races were just going to be started, the\naristocracy of Omarakana--the wives and children of To'uluwa, his\nrelatives and himself--withdrew behind the shelters, near the boat\nshed, and proceeded to put on the red, white and black of full facial\npaint. They crushed young betel-nut, mixed it with lime, and put it\non with the pestles of betel mortars; then some of the aromatic black\nresin (sayaku) and white lime were applied. As the habit of mirrors\nis not quite well established yet in the Trobriands, the painting\nwas done by one person on the face of another, and great care and\npatience were displayed on both sides.\n\nThe numerous crowd spent the day without taking much refreshment--a\nfeature strongly differentiating Kiriwinian festivities from our ideal\nof an entertainment or picnic. No cooking was done, and only a few\nbananas were eaten here and there, and green coco-nuts were drunk and\neaten. But even these refreshments were consumed with great frugality.\n\nAs always on such occasions, the people collected together in sets, the\nvisitors from each village forming a group apart. The local natives\nkept to their own boat houses, those of Omarakana and Kurokaiwa\nhaving their natural centres on the beach of Kaulukuba. The other\nvisitors similarly kept together in their position on the beach,\naccording to their local distribution; thus, men from the Northern\nvillages would keep to the Northern section of the beach, those from\nthe South would stick to that point of the compass, so that villages\nwhich were neighbours in reality would also be side by side on the\nshore. There was no mingling in the crowd, and individuals would\nnot walk about from one group to another. The aristocrats, out of\npersonal dignity, humble folk because of a modesty imposed by custom,\nwould keep in their places. To'uluwa sat practically still during\nthe whole performance, on the platform erected for this purpose,\nexcept when he went over to his boat, to trim it for the race.\n\nThe boat shed of Omarakana, round which the chief, his family\nand the other villagers were grouped, was the centre of all the\nproceedings. Under one of the palms, a fairly high platform was put up\nto accommodate To'uluwa. In a row in front of the sheds and shelters,\nthere stood the prismatic food receptacles (pwata'i). They had been\nerected by the inhabitants of Omarakana and Kasana'i, on the previous\nday, and partially filled with yams. The rest had to be supplied by\npeople from the other villages, on the day of the boat races. As\nthe natives came to the beach on that day, village after village,\nthey brought their contribution, and before settling down on their\nparticular spot on the shore, they paid a visit to the chief and\noffered him their tributes. These would be put into one of the\npwata'i. All the villages did not contribute their share, but the\nmajority did, though some of them brought only a few baskets. One\nof the villages brought one complete pwata'i, filled with yams,\nand offered the whole to the chief.\n\nIn the meantime, the eight canoes arrived, including that of Kasana'i,\nwhich had been ceremonially launched that morning with the accompanying\nmagical rite, on its own beach about half a mile away. The canoe of\nOmarakana had also been launched on this morning (Plate XXX), and the\nsame rite performed over it. It ought to have been done by To'uluwa,\nthe chief. As he, however, is quite incapable of remembering magical\nspells--in fact, he never does any of the magic which his rank and\noffice impose on him--the rite was performed on this occasion by one\nof his kinsmen. This is a typical case of a rule very stringently\nformulated by all informants when you ask about it, yet in reality\noften observed with laxity. If you inquire directly, everyone will\ntell you that this rite, as all others of the mwasila (Kula magic)\nhas to be done by the toliwaga. But every time when he ought to\nperform it, To'uluwa will find some excuse, and delegate it to another.\n\nWhen all the canoes were present, as well as all the important\nvillages, at about eleven o'clock a.m., there took place the sagali\n(ceremonial distribution). The food was given to people from various\nvillages, especially such as took part in the races, or had assisted\nin the building of the new canoe. So we see that food contributed by\nall the villages before the sagali was simply redistributed among them,\na considerable quantity having been added first by the chief; and this\nindeed is the usual procedure at a sagali. In this case, of course,\nthe lion's share was taken by the Kitavans who helped at the building.\n\nAfter the sagali was over, the canoes were all brought up to one spot,\nand the natives began to prepare them for the race. The masts were\nstepped, the fastenings trimmed, the sails made ready (see Plate\nXXXI). After that the canoes all put off and gathered about half a\nmile off the shore, beyond the fringing reef; and at a sign given\nby some one on one of them, they all started. As said before, such a\nrun is not a race properly speaking, in which the canoes would start\nscrupulously at the same minute, have the same distance to cover,\nand which would clearly show which is the fastest. In this case, it\nwas merely, as always, a review of the boats sailing along as well\nas they were able, a review in which they all began to move, more\nor less at the same time, went in the same direction, and covered\npractically the same distance.\n\nAs to the time table of the events, the sagali was over before\nmid-day. There was a pause; and then, at about one p.m., the natives\nbegan rigging the canoes. Then all hands had a spell, and not before\nthree p.m. were the races started. The whole affair was over by about\nfour o'clock, and half an hour later, the boats from the other villages\nstarted to sail home, the people on the shore dispersed, so that by\nsunset, that is, about six o'clock, the beach was almost deserted.\n\nSuch was the tasasoria ceremony which I saw in February, 1916. It\nwas a fine sight from the spectacular point of view. A superficial\nonlooker could have hardly perceived any sign of white man's influence\nor interference. I was the only white man present, and besides myself\nonly some two or three native missionary teachers were dressed in white\ncotton. Amongst the rest of us there could be seen sparsely a coloured\nrag, tied round as a neckerchief or head-dress. But otherwise there\nwas only a swarm of naked brown bodies, shining with coco-nut oil,\nadorned in new festive dress, with here and there the three-coloured\ngrass skirt of a woman (see Plates XXX and XXXI).\n\nBut alas, for one who could look below the surface and read the\nvarious symptoms of decay, deep changes would be discernible\nfrom what must have been the original conditions of such a native\ngathering. In fact, some three generations ago, even its appearances\nwould have been different. The natives then would have been armed\nwith shields and spears; some would have borne decorative weapons,\nsuch as the big sword-clubs of hard wood, or massive ebony cudgels,\nor small throwing-sticks. A closer inspection would have shown many\nmore decorations and ornaments, such as nose-sticks, finely carved\nlime spatul\u00e6, gourds with burnt-in designs, some of which are now out\nof use, or those used of inferior workmanship or without decoration.\n\nBut other and much deeper changes have taken place in the social\nconditions. Three generations ago both the canoes in the water and the\npeople on the shore would have been more numerous. As mentioned above,\nin the olden days there would have been some twenty canoes in Kiriwina,\nas against eight at the present time. Again, the far stronger influence\nof the chief, and the much greater relative importance of the event\nwould have attracted a larger proportion out of the then more numerous\npopulation. Nowadays, other interests, such as diving for pearls,\nworking on white man's plantations, divert the native attention,\nwhile many events connected with Missions, Government and trading,\neclipse the importance of old customs.\n\nAgain, the people on the shore would have had to adhere in olden\ndays even more closely to the local distribution, men of the same\nvillage community keeping together still more strictly, and looking\nwith mistrust and perhaps even hostility, at other groups, especially\nthose with whom they had hereditary feuds. The general tension would\noften be broken by squabbles or even miniature fights, especially at\nthe moment of dispersing, and on the way home.\n\nOne of the important features of the performance, and the one of\nwhich the natives think perhaps most--the display of food--would\nalso have been quite different. The chief whom I saw sitting on a\nplatform surrounded by a few wives only, and with small attendance\nwould, under the old conditions, have been the owner of thrice as many\nwives and consequently relatives-in-law, and as it is these from whom\nhe derives most of his income, he would have provided a much bigger\nsagali than he is able to do nowadays.\n\nThree generations ago the whole event would have been much more solemn\nand dramatic to the natives. The very distance to the neighbouring\nisland of Kitava is nowadays dwarfed. In the past, it would not,\nas now, be quickly obliterated by a white man's steam-launch. Then,\nthe canoes on the beach were the only means of arriving there, and\ntheir value in the eyes of the natives must have, therefore, been\neven higher, although they think so much of them now. The outlines\nof the distant island and the small fleet of canoes on the beach\nformed for the natives the first act of a big over seas expedition,\nan event of far deeper significance to them then than now. A rich haul\nof arm-shells, the arrival of many much-coveted utilities, the bringing\nback of news from the far-off land, all this meant much more in older\ndays than it can mean at present. War, dancing, and the Kula supplied\ntribal life with its romantic and heroic elements. Nowadays, with war\nprohibited by the Government, with dancing discredited by missionary\ninfluence, the Kula alone remains, and even that is stripped of some\nof its glamour.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nBefore we proceed to the next stage, we must pause in following\nthe events of a Kula expedition, and consider one or two points\nof more general importance. I have touched in the narrative, but\nnot dwelt upon, certain problems of the sociology of work. At the\noutset of the preceding chapter it was mentioned that canoe-building\nrequires a definite organisation of work, and in fact we saw that in\nthe course of construction, various kinds of labour were employed,\nand more especially towards the end, much use was made of communal\nlabour. Again, we saw that during the launching ceremony payment\nwas given by the owner to the expert and his helpers. These two\npoints therefore, the organisation of labour and communal labour\nin particular, and the system of payment for experts' work must be\nhere developed.\n\nOrganisation of Labour.--First of all, it is important to realise\nthat a Kiriwinian is capable of working well, efficiently and in a\ncontinuous manner. But he must work under an effective incentive:\nhe must be prompted by some duty imposed by tribal standards, or\nhe must be lured by ambitions and values also dictated by custom\nand tradition. Gain, such as is often the stimulus for work in more\ncivilised communities, never acts as an impulse to work under the\noriginal native conditions. It succeeds very badly, therefore, when\na white man tries to use this incentive to make a native work.\n\nThis is the reason why the traditional view of the lazy and indolent\nnative is not only a constant refrain of the average white settler, but\nfinds its way into good books of travel, and even serious ethnographic\nrecords. With us, labour is, or was till fairly recently, a commodity\nsold as any other, in the open market. A man accustomed to think in\nterms of current economic theory will naturally apply the conceptions\nof supply and demand to labour, and he applies them therefore to\nnative labour. The untrained person does the same, though in less\nsophisticated terms, and as they see that the native will not work\nwell for the white man, even if tempted by considerable payment and\ntreated fairly well, they conclude that his capacity for labour is very\nsmall. This error is due to the same cause which lies at the bottom\nof all our misconceptions about people of different cultures. If you\nremove a man from his social milieu, you eo ipso deprive him of almost\nall his stimuli to moral steadfastness and economic efficiency and\neven of interest in life. If then you measure him by moral, legal or\neconomic standards, also essentially foreign to him, you cannot but\nobtain a caricature in your estimate.\n\nBut the natives are not only capable of energetic, continuous and\nskilful work; their social conditions also make it possible for\nthem to employ organised labour. At the beginning of Chapter IV, the\nsociology of canoe-building was given in outline, and now, after the\ndetails of its successive stages have been filled in, it is possible to\nconfirm what has been said there, and draw some conclusions as to this\norganisation of labour. And first, as we are using this expression so\noften, I must insist again on the fact that the natives are capable\nof it, and that this contention is not a truism, as the following\nconsiderations should show. The just mentioned view of the lazy,\nindividualistic and selfish savage, who lives on the bounties of\nnature as they fall ripe and ready for him, implicitly precludes the\npossibility of his doing effective work, integrated into an organised\neffort by social forces. Again, the view, almost universally accepted\nby specialists, is that the lowest savages are in the pre-economic\nstage of individualistic search for food, whereas the more developed\nones, such as the Trobrianders, for instance, live at the stage of\nisolated household economy. This view also ignores, when it does not\ndeny explicitly, the possibility of socially organised labour.\n\nThe view generally held is that, in native communities each individual\nworks for himself, or members of a household work so as to provide\neach family with the necessities of life. Of course, a canoe, even a\nmasawa, could obviously be made by the members of a household, though\nwith less efficiency and in a longer time. So that there is a priori\nnothing to foretell whether organised labour, or the unaided efforts\nof an individual or a small group of people should be used in the\nwork. As a matter of fact, we have seen in canoe-building a number\nof men engaged in performing each a definite and difficult task,\nthough united to one purpose. The tasks were differentiated in their\nsociological setting; some of the workers were actually to own the\ncanoe; others belonged to a different community, and did it only as\nan act of service to the chief. Some worked in order to derive direct\nbenefit from the use of the canoe, others were to be paid. We saw also\nthat the work of felling, of scooping, of decorating, would in some\ncases be performed by various men, or it might be performed by one\nonly. Certainly the minute tasks of lashing, caulking and painting,\nas well as sail-making, were done by communal labour as opposed to\nindividual. And all these different tasks were directed towards one\naim: the providing the chief or headman with the title of ownership\nof a canoe, and his whole community with its use.\n\nIt is clear that this differentiation of tasks, co-ordinated to\na general purpose, requires a well developed social apparatus to\nback it up, and that on the other hand, this social mechanism must\nbe associated and permeated with economic elements. There must be a\nchief, regarded as representative of a group; he must have certain\nformal rights and privileges, and a certain amount of authority, and\nalso he must dispose of part of the wealth of the community. There\nmust also be a man or men with knowledge sufficient to direct and\nco-ordinate the technical operations. All this is obvious. But it must\nbe clearly set forth that the real force which binds all the people\nand ties them down in their tasks is obedience to custom, to tradition.\n\nEvery man knows what is expected from him, in virtue of his position,\nand he does it, whether it means the obtaining of a privilege,\nthe performance of a task, or the acquiescence in a status quo. He\nknows that it always has been thus, and thus it is all around him,\nand thus it always must remain. The chief's authority, his privileges,\nthe customary give and take which exist between him and the community,\nall that is merely, so to speak, the mechanism through which the force\nof tradition acts. For there is no organised physical means by which\nthose in authority could enforce their will in a case like this. Order\nis kept by direct force of everybody's adhesion to custom, rules and\nlaws, by the same psychological influences which in our society prevent\na man of the world doing something which is not \"the right thing.\" The\nexpression \"might is right\" would certainly not apply to Trobriand\nsociety. \"Tradition is right, and what is right has might\"--this\nrather is the rule governing the social forces in Boyowa, and I dare\nsay in almost all native communities at this stage of culture.\n\nAll the details of custom, all the magical formul\u00e6, the whole fringe\nof ceremonial and rite which accompany canoe-building, all these\nthings add weight to the social scheme of duties. The importance of\nmagical ideas and rites as integrating forces has been indicated\nat the outset of this description. It is easy to see how all the\nappurtenances of ceremony, that is, magic, decoration, and public\nattendance welded together into one whole with labour, serve to put\norder and organisation into it.\n\nAnother point must be enlarged upon somewhat more. I have spoken\nof organised labour, and of communal labour. These two conceptions\nare not synonymous, and it is well to keep them apart. As already\ndefined, organised labour implies the co-operation of several\nsocially and economically different elements. It is quite another\nthing, however, when a number of people are engaged side by side,\nperforming the same work, without any technical division of labour,\nor social differentiation of function. Thus, the whole enterprise of\ncanoe-building is, in Kiriwina, the result of organised labour. But\nthe work of some twenty to thirty men, who side by side do the lashing\nor caulking of the canoe, is communal labour. This latter form of\nwork has a great psychological advantage. It is much more stimulating\nand more interesting, and it allows of emulation, and therefore of a\nbetter quality of work. For one or two men, it would require about a\nmonth to do the work which twenty to thirty men can do in a day. In\ncertain cases, as in the pulling of the heavy log from the jungle to\nthe village, the joining of forces is almost indispensable. True,\nthe canoe could be scooped out in the raybwag, and then a few men\nmight be able to pull it along, applying some skill. But it would\nentail great hardships. Thus, in some cases, communal labour is of\nextreme importance, and in all casesit furthers the course of work\nconsiderably. Sociologically, it is important, because it implies\nmutual help, exchange of services, and solidarity in work within a\nwide range.\n\nCommunal labour is an important factor in the tribal economy\nof the Trobriand natives. They resort to it in the building of\nliving-huts and storehouses, in certain forms of industrial work,\nand in the transport of things, especially at harvest time, when great\nquantities of produce have to be shifted from one village to another,\noften over a great distance. In fishing, when several canoes go out\ntogether and fish each for itself, then we cannot speak of communal\nlabour. When on the other hand, they fish in one band, each canoe\nhaving an appointed task, as is sometimes done, then we have to do\nwith organised labour. Communal labour is also based upon the duties\nof urigubu, or relatives-in-law. That is, a man's relatives-in-law\nhave to assist him, whenever he needs their co-operation. In the\ncase of a chief, there is an assistance on a grand scale, and whole\nvillages will turn out. In the case of a commoner, only a few people\nwill help. There is always a distribution of food after the work has\nbeen done, but this can hardly be considered as payment, for is is\nnot proportional to the work each individual does.\n\nBy far the most important part communal labour has to play, is in\ngardening. There are as many as five different forms of communal labour\nin the gardens, each called by a different name, and each distinct in\nits sociological nature. When a chief or headman summons the members\nof a village community, and they agree to do their gardens communally,\nit is called tamgogula. When this is decided upon, and the time grows\nnear for cutting the scrub for new gardens, a festive eating is held\non the central place, and there all men go, and takayva (cut down)\nthe scrub on the chief's plot. After that, they cut in turn the\ngarden plots of everyone, all men working on the one plot during a\nday, and getting on that day food from the owner. This procedure is\nreproduced at each successive stage of gardening; at the fencing,\nplanting of yams, bringing in supports, and finally, at the weeding,\nwhich is done by women. At certain stages, the gardening is often\ndone by each one working for himself, namely at the clearing of the\ngardens after they are burnt, at the cleaning of the roots of yams\nwhen they begin to produce tubers, and at harvesting.\n\nThere are, as a rule, several communal feasts during the progress,\nand one at the end of a tamgogula period. Gardens are generally worked\nin this fashion, in years when big ceremonial dancing or some other\ntribal festivity is held. This usually makes the work very late,\nand it has then to be done quickly and energetically, and communal\nlabour has evidently been found suitable for this purpose.\n\nWhen several villages agree to work their gardens by communal labour,\nthis is called lubalabisa. The two forms do not differ very much except\nby name, and also by the fact that, in the latter form, more than one\nchief or headman has to direct the process. The lubalabisa would only\nbe held when there are several small villages, clustered together,\nas is the case in the village compounds of Sinaketa, Kavataria,\nKabwaku or Yalaka.\n\nWhen a chief or headman, or man of wealth and influence summons his\ndependents or his relatives-in-law to work for him, the name kabutu\nis given to the proceedings. The owner has to give food to all those\nco-operating. A kabutu may be instituted for one bit of gardening,\nfor example, a headman may invite his villagers to do his cutting\nfor him, or his planting or his fencing. It is clear that whenever\ncommunal labour is required by one man in the construction of his\nhouse or yam store, the labour is of the kabutu type, and it is thus\ncalled by the natives.\n\nThe fourth form of communal labour is called ta'ula, and takes place\nwhenever a number of villagers agree to do one stage of gardening in\ncommon, on the basis of reciprocity. No great or special payments take\nplace. The same sort of communal labour extending over all stages of\ngardening, is called kari'ula, and it may be counted as the fifth form\nof communal labour in the gardens. Finally, a special word, tavile'i,\nis used when they wish to say that the gardens are done by individual\nlabour, and that everyone works on his own plot. It is a rule, however,\nthat the chief's plots, especially those of an influential chief of\nhigh rank, are always gardened by communal labour, and this latter\nis also used with regard to certain privileged plots, on which,\nin a given year, the garden magic is performed first, and with the\ngreatest display.\n\nThus there is a number of distinct forms of communal labour, and they\nshow many more interesting features which cannot be mentioned in this\nshort outline. The communal labour used in canoe-building is obviously\nof the kabutu type. In having a canoe made, the chief is able to summon\nbig numbers of the inhabitants of a whole district, the headman of\nan important village receives the assistance of his whole community,\nwhereas a man of small importance, such as one of the smaller headmen\nof Sinaketa or Vakuta, would have to rely on his fellow villagers and\nrelations-in-law. In all these cases, it would be the call of duty,\nlaid down by custom, which would make them work. The payment would be\nof secondary importance, though in certain circumstances, it would be\na considerable one. The distribution of food during launching forms\nsuch a payment, as we have seen in Division I of this chapter. In\nolden days, a meal of Pigs, an abundance of betel-nut and coco-nut\nand sugar cane would have made a veritable feast for the natives.\n\nAnother point of importance from the economic aspect is the payment\ngiven by the chief to the builder of the canoe. The canoe of Omarakana\nwas made, as we saw, for To'uluwa by a specialist from Kitava,\nwho was well paid with a quantity of food, pigs and vaygua (native\nvaluables). Nowadays, when the power of the chiefs is broken, when\nthey have much less wealth than formerly to back up their position,\nand cannot use even the little force they ever did and when the general\nbreaking up of custom has undermined the traditional deference and\nloyalty of their subjects, the production of canoes and other forms\nof wealth by the specialist for the chief is only a vestige of what\nit once was. In olden days it was, economically, one of the most\nimportant features of the Trobriand tribal life. In the construction\nof the canoe, Which a chief in olden days would never build himself,\nwe meet with an example of this.\n\nHere it will be enough to say that whenever a canoe is built for a\nchief or headman by a builder, this has to be paid for by an initial\ngift of food. Then, as long as the man is at work, provisional gifts\nof food are given him. If he lives away from home, like the Kitavan\nbuilder on the beach of Omarakana, he is fed by the toliwaga and\nsupplied with dainties such as coco-nut, betel-nut, pigs' flesh,\nfish and fruits. When he works in his own home, the toliwaga will\nbring him choice food at frequent intervals, inspecting, as he\ndoes so, the progress of the work. This feeding of the worker or\nbringing him extra choice food is called vakapula. After the canoe\nis finished, a substantial gift is given to the master-builder during\nthe ceremonial distribution of food. The proper amount would be a few\nhundred basketfuls of yams, a pig or two, bunches of betel-nut, and\na great number of coco-nuts; also, a large stone blade or a pig, or a\nbelt of red shell discs, and some smaller vaygua of the non-Kula type.\n\nIn Vakuta, where chieftainship is not very distinct, and the difference\nin wealth less great, a toliwaga also has to feed the workers during\nthe time of hollowing out, preparing, and building a canoe. Then, after\nthe caulking, some fifty basketfuls are given to the builder. After\nthe launching and trial run, this builder gives a rope, symbol of\nthe canoe, to his wife, who, blowing the conch shell, presents the\nrope to the toliwaga. He, on the spot, gives her a bunch of betel or\nbananas. Next day, a considerable present of food, known as yomelu,\nis given by the chief, and then at the next harvest, another fifty\nor sixty basketfuls of yams as karibudaboda or closing up gift.\n\nI have chosen the data from two concrete cases, one noted in\nKiriwina, the other in Vakuta--that is, in the district where the\nchief's power is greatest, and in that where there never has been\nmore than a rudimentary distance in rank and wealth between chief\nand commoner. In both cases there is a payment, but in Kiriwina the\npayment is greater. In Vakuta, it is obviously rather an exchange of\nservices, whereas in Kiriwina the chief maintains, as well as rewards\nhis builder. In both cases we have the exchange of skilled services\nagainst maintenance by supply of food.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nWe shall pass now to the next ceremonial and customary performance\nin the succession of Kula events, to the display of a new canoe to\nthe friends and relatives of the toliwaga. This custom is called\nkabigidoya. The tasasoria (launching and trial run) is obviously at\nthe same time the last act of ship-building, and by its associated\nmagical rite, by the foretaste of sailing, it is also one of the\nbeginning stages of the Kula. The kabigidoya being a presentation\nof the new canoe, belongs to the series of building ceremonials;\nbut in so far as it is a provisioning trip, it belongs to the Kula.\n\nThe canoe is manned with the usual crew, it is rigged and fitted out\nwith all its paraphernalia, such as paddles, baler, and conch shell,\nand it sets out on a short trip to the beaches of the neighbouring\nvillages. When the canoe belongs to a compound settlement like\nSinaketa, then it will stop at every beach of the sister villages. The\nconch shell is blown, and people in the village will know \"The\nkabigidoya men have arrived.\" The crew remains in the canoe, the\ntoliwaga goes ashore, taking one paddle with him. He goes to the house\nof his fellow-headman, and thrusts the paddle into the frame of the\nhouse, with the words: \"I offer thee thy bisila (pandanus streamer);\ntake a vaygua (valuable), catch a pig and break the head of my new\ncanoe.\" To which the local headman will answer--giving a present:\n\"This is the katuvisala dabala (the breaking of the head) of thy\nnew canoe!\" This is an example of the quaint, customary wording used\nin the exchange of gifts, and in other ceremonial transactions. The\nbisila (pandanus streamer) is often used as a symbol for the canoe,\nin magical spells, in customary expressions, and in idiomatic terms\nof speech. Bleached pandanus streamers are tied to the mast, rigging\nand sail; a specially medicated strip is often attached to the prow\nof the canoe to give it speed, and there is also other bisila magic\nto make a district partner inclined for Kula.\n\nThe gifts given are not always up to the standard of those mentioned\nin the above customary phrase. The kabigidoya, especially from the\nneighbouring villages, often brings only a few mats, a few dozen\ncoco-nuts, some betel-nut, a couple of paddles, and such articles of\nminor value. And even in these trifles there is not much gain from\nthe short kabigidoya. For as we know, at the beginning of the Kula\nall the canoes of, say, Sinaketa or Kiriwina are either rebuilt\nor renewed. What therefore one canoe receives on its kabigidoya\nround, from all the others, will have to be more or less returned to\nthem, when they in their turn kabigidoya one after the other. Soon\nafterwards, however, on an appointed day, all the canoes sail together\non a visit to the other districts, and on this kabigidoya, they\nreceive as a rule much more substantial presents, and these they will\nonly have to return much later, after a year or two, when the visited\ndistrict will come back to them on their own kabigidoya. Thus, when the\ncanoes of Kirwina are built and renovated for a big Kula expedition,\nthey will sail South along the coast, and stop first in Olivilevi,\nreceiving presents from the chief there, and walking on a round of\nthe inland villages of Luba. Then they will proceed to the next sea\nvillage, that of Wawela, leaving their canoes there, and going from\nthere across to Sinaketa. Thence they proceed still further South,\nto Vakuta. The villages on the Lagoon, such as Sinaketa and Vakuta,\nwill return these visits, sailing North along the Western shore on\nthe Lagoon side. Then they stop at Tukwaukwa or Kavataria, and from\nthere walk inland to Kiriwina, where they receive presents (see Map\nIV, p. 50).\n\nThe kabigidoya trips of the Vakutans and Sinaketans are more important\nthan those of the Northern or Eastern districts, because they are\ncombined with a preliminary trade, in which the visitors replenish\ntheir stock of goods, which they will need presently on their trip\nSouth to Dobu. The reader will remember that Kuboma is the industrial\ndistrict of the Trobriands, where are manufactured most of the\nuseful articles, for which these islands are renowned in the whole\nof Eastern New Guinea. It lies in the Northern half of the island,\nand from Kiriwina it is only a few miles walk, but to reach it from\nSinaketa or Vakuta it is necessary to sail North. The Southern villages\ntherefore go to Kavataria, and from there walk inland to Bwoytalu,\nLuya, Yalaka and Kadukwaykela, where they make their purchases. The\ninhabitants of these villages also when they hear that the Sinaketans\nare anchored in Kavataria, bring their wares to the canoes.\n\nA brisk trade is carried on during the day or two that the Sinaketans\nremain in Kavataria. The natives of Kuboma are always eager to buy\nyams, as they live in an unfertile district, and devote themselves\nmore to industrial productions than to gardening. And they are still\nmore eager to acquire coco-nuts and betel-nut, of which they have a\ngreat scarcity. They desire besides to receive in exchange for their\nproduce the red shell discs manufactured in Sinaketa and Vakuta, and\nthe turtle-shell rings. For objects of great value, the Sinaketans\nwould give the big clay pots which they receive directly from the\nAmphletts. For that they obtain different articles according to the\nvillages with which they are exchanging. From Bwoytalu, they get\nthe wonderfully fashioned and decorated wooden dishes of various\nsizes, depths and finish, made out of either hard or soft wood; from\nBwaytelu, Wabutuma and Buduwaylaka, armlets of plaited fern fibre,\nand wooden combs; from Buduwaylaka, Yalaka, and Kadukwaykela, lime\npots of different qualities and sizes. From the villages of Tilataula,\nthe district North-east of Kuboma, the polished axe blades used to\nbe acquired in olden days.\n\nI shall not enter into the technicalities of this exchange, nor shall I\ngive here the approximate list of prices which obtain. We shall have to\nfollow the traded goods further on to Dobu, and there we shall see how\nthey change hands again, and under what conditions. This will allow us\nto compare the prices and thus to gauge the nature of the transaction\nas a whole. It will be better therefore to defer all details till then.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nHere, however, its seems necessary to make another digression from\nthe straight narrative of the Kula, and give an outline of the various\nforms of trade and exchange as we find them in the Trobriands. Indeed,\nthe main theme of this volume is the Kula, a form of exchange, and\nI would be untrue to my chief principle of method, were I to give\nthe description of one form of exchange torn out of its most intimate\ncontext; that is, were I to give an account of the Kula without giving\nat least a general outline of the forms of Kiriwinian payments and\ngifts and barter.\n\nIn Chapter II, speaking of some features of Trobriand tribal life, I\nwas led to criticise the current views of primitive economic man. They\ndepict him as a being indolent, independent, happy-go-lucky, yet at\nthe same time governed exclusively by strictly rational and utilitarian\nmotives, and logical and consistent in his behaviour. In this chapter\nagain, in Division II, I pointed out another fallacy implied in this\nconception, a fallacy which declares that a savage is capable only\nof very simple, unorganised and unsystematic forms of labour. Another\nerror more or less explicitly expressed in all writings on primitive\neconomics, is that the natives possess only rudimentary forms of\ntrade and exchange; that these forms play no essential part in the\ntribal life, are carried on only spasmodically and at rare intervals,\nand as necessity dictates.\n\nWhether we have to deal with the wide-spread fallacy of the primitive\nGolden Age, characterised mainly by the absence of any distinction\nbetween mine and thine; or whether we take the more sophisticated\nview, which postulates stages of individual search for food, and of\nisolated household catering; or if we consider for the moment the\nnumerous theories which see nothing in primitive economics but simple\npursuits for the maintenance of existence--in none of these can we\nfind reflected even a hint of the real state of affairs as found in\nthe Trobriands; namely, that the whole tribal life is permeated by a\nconstant give and take; that every ceremony, every legal and customary\nact is done to the accompaniment of material gift and counter gift;\nthat wealth, given and taken, is one of the main instruments of social\norganisation, of the power of the chief, of the bonds of kinship,\nand of relationship in law. [53]\n\nThese views on primitive trade, prevalent though erroneous, appear\nno doubt quite consistent, that is, if we grant certain premises. Now\nthese premises seem plausible, and yet they are false, and it will be\ngood to have a careful look at them so that we can discard them once\nand for all. They are based on some sort of reasoning, such as the\nfollowing one: If, in tropical conditions, there is a plenty of all\nutilities, why trouble about exchanging them? Then, why attach any\nvalue to them? Is there any reason for striving after wealth, where\neveryone can have as much as he wants without much effort? Is there\nindeed any room for value, if this latter is the result of scarcity\nas well as utility, in a community, in which all the useful things\nare plentiful? On the other hand, in those savage communities where\nthe necessities of life are scarce, there is obviously no possibility\nof accumulating them, and thus creating wealth.\n\nAgain, since, in savage communities, whether bountifully or badly\nprovided for by nature, everyone has the same free access to all the\nnecessities, is there any need to exchange them? Why give a basketful\nof fruit or vegetables, if everybody has practically the same quantity\nand the same means of procuring it? Why make a present of it, if it\ncannot be returned except in the same form? [54]\n\nThere are two main sources of error at the bottom of this faulty\nreasoning. The first is that the relation of the savage to\nmaterial goods is a purely rational one, and that consequently,\nin his conditions, there is no room for wealth or value. The second\nerroneous assumption is that there can be no need for exchange if\nanyone and everyone can, by industry and skill, produce all that\nrepresents value through its quantity or its quality.\n\nAs regards the first proposition, it is not true either with regard\nto what may be called primary wealth, that is, food stuffs, nor\nwith regard to articles of luxury, which are by no means absent\nin Trobriand society. First as to food-stuffs, they are not merely\nregarded by the natives as nourishment, not merely valued because\nof their utility. They accumulate them not so much because they know\nthat yams can be stored and used for a future date, but also because\nthey like to display their possessions in food. Their yam houses\nare built so that the quantity of the food can be gauged, and its\nquality ascertained through the wide interstices between the beams\n(see Plates XXXII and XXXIII). The yams are so arranged that the best\nspecimens come to the outside and are well visible. Special varieties\nof yams, which grow up to two metres length, and weigh as much as\nseveral kilograms each, are framed in wood and decorated with paint,\nand hung on the outside of the yam houses. That the right to display\nfood is highly valued can be seen from the fact that in villages\nwhere a chief of high rank resides, the commoners' storehouses have\nto be closed up with coco-nut leaves, so as not to compete with his.\n\nAll this shows that the accumulation of food is not only the result\nof economic foresight, but also prompted by the desire of display\nand enhancement of social prestige through possession of wealth.\n\nWhen I speak about ideas underlying accumulation of food stuffs in\nthe Trobriands, I refer to the present, actual psychology of the\nnatives, and I must emphatically declare that I am not offering\nhere any conjectures about the \"origins\" or about the \"history\" of\nthe customs and their psychology, leaving this to theoretical and\ncomparative research.\n\nAnother institution which illuminates the native ideas about food\nstorage is the magic called vilamalya, performed over the crops after\nharvest, and at one or two other stages. This magic is intended to\nmake the food last long. Before the store-house is filled with yams,\nthe magician places a special kind of heavy stone on the floor, and\nrecites a long magical spell. On the evening of the same day, after\nthe food houses have been filled, he spits over them with medicated\nginger root, and he also performs a rite over all the roads entering\ninto the village, and over the central place. All this will make food\nplentiful in that village, and will make the supplies last long. But,\nand this is the important point for us, this magic is conceived\nto act, not on the food, but on the inhabitants of the village. It\nmakes their appetites poor, it makes them, as the natives put it,\ninclined to eat wild fruit of the bush, the mango and bread fruit of\nthe village grove, and refuse to eat yams, or at least be satisfied\nwith very little. They will boast that when this magic is performed\nwell, half of the yams will rot away in the storehouses, and be\nthrown on the wawa, the rubbish heap at the back of the houses, to\nmake room for the new harvest. Here again we meet the typical idea\nthat the main aim of accumulating food is to keep it exhibited in\nthe yam houses till it rots, and then can be replaced by a new \u00e9talage.\n\nThe filling of the storehouses involves a double display of food,\nand a good deal of ceremonial handling. When the tubers are taken\nout of the ground they are first displayed in the gardens. A shed\nof poles is erected, and covered with taitu vine, which is thrown\nthickly over it. In such arbours, a circle is pegged out on the ground,\nand within this the taitu (the ordinary small yams of the Trobriands\nwhich form the staple harvest) are carefully piled up into a conical\nheap. A great deal of care is lavished on this task, the biggest\nare selected, scrupulously cleaned, and put on the outside of the\nheap. After a fortnight or more of keeping the yams in the garden,\nwhere they are much admired by visiting parties, the owner of the\ngarden plot summons a party of friends or relatives-in-law, and these\ntransport them into a village. As we know already, from Chapter II,\nsuch yams will be offered to the owner's sister's husband. It is to\nhis village that they are brought, where again they are displayed in\nconical heaps, placed before his yam house. Only after they have thus\nremained for several days--sometimes up to a fortnight--are they put\ninto the storehouse (see Plate XXXIII).\n\nIndeed, it would be enough for anyone to see how the natives handle\nthe yams, how they admire big tubers, how they pick out freaks and\nsports and exhibit them, to realise that there is a deep, socially\nstandardised sentiment centring round this staple product of their\ngardens. In many phases of their ceremonial life, big displays of food\nform the central feature. Extensive mortuary distributions called\nsagali, are, in one of their aspects, enormous exhibitions of food,\nconnected with their re-apportionment (see Plate XXXIV). At harvest\nof the early yams (kuvi) there is an offering of first fruits to the\nmemory of the recently dead. At the later, main harvest of taitu\n(small yams), the first tubers are dug out ceremonially brought\ninto the village and admired by the whole community. Food contests\nbetween two villages at harvest, in olden days often followed by\nactual fighting, are also one of the characteristic features which\nthrow light on the natives' attitude towards edible wealth. In fact,\none could almost speak of a \"cult of food\" among these natives, in so\nfar as food is the central object of most of their public ceremonies.\n\nIn the preparation of food, it must be noted that many taboos are\nassociated with cooking, and especially with the cooking pots. The\nwooden dishes on which the natives serve their food are called kaboma,\nwhich means \"tabooed wood.\" The act of eating is as a rule strictly\nindividual. People eat within their family circles, and even when there\nis public ceremonial cooking of the taro pudding (mona) in the big clay\npots, especially tabooed for this purpose (see Plate XXXV), they do not\neat in one body, but in small groups. A clay pot is carried into the\ndifferent parts of the village, and men from that part squat round it\nand eat, followed afterwards by the women. Sometimes again the pudding\nis taken out, placed on wooden dishes, and eaten within the family.\n\nI cannot enter here into the many details of what could be called the\nsocial psychology of eating, but it is important to note that the\ncentre of gravity of the feast lies, not in the eating, but in the\ndisplay and ceremonial preparation of the food (see Plate XXXV). When\na pig is to be killed, which is a great culinary and festive event, it\nwill be first carried about, and shown perhaps in one or two villages;\nthen roasted alive, the whole village and neighbours enjoying the\nspectacle and the squeals of the animal. It is then ceremonially, and\nwith a definite ritual, cut into pieces and distributed. But the eating\nof it is a casual affair; it will take place either within a hut, or\nelse people will just cook a piece of flesh and eat it on the road,\nor walking about in the village. The relics of a feast such as pigs'\njaws and fish tails, however, are often collected and displayed in\nhouses or yam stores. [55]\n\nThe quantity of food eaten, whether in prospect or retrospect, is\nwhat matters most. \"We shall eat, and eat till we vomit,\" is a stock\nphrase, often heard at feasts, intended to express enjoyment of the\noccasion, a close parallel to the pleasure felt at the idea of stores\nrotting away in the yam house. All this shows that the social act of\neating and the associated conviviality are not present in the minds\nor customs of the Trobrianders, and what is socially enjoyed is the\ncommon admiration of fine and plentiful food, and the knowledge of its\nabundance. Naturally, like all animals, human or otherwise, civilised\nor savage, the Trobrianders enjoy their eating as one of the chief\npleasures of life, but this remains an individual act, and neither\nits performance nor the sentiments attached to it have been socialised.\n\nIt is this indirect sentiment, rooted of course in reality in the\npleasures of eating, which makes for the value of food in the eyes\nof the natives. This value again makes accumulated food a symbol,\nand a vehicle of power. Hence the need for storing and displaying\nit. Value is not the result of utility and rarity, intellectually\ncompounded, but is the result of a sentiment grown round things,\nwhich, through satisfying human needs, are capable of evoking emotions.\n\nThe value of manufactured objects of use must also be explained\nthrough man's emotional nature, and not by reference to his logical\nconstruction of utilitarian views. Here, however, I think that\nthe explanation must take into account, not so much the user of\nthese objects, as the workman who produces them. These natives are\nindustrious, and keen workers. They do not work under the spur of\nnecessity, or to gain their living, but on the impulse of talent and\nfancy, with a high sense and enjoyment of their art, which they often\nconceive as the result of magical inspiration. This refers especially\nto those who produce objects of high value, and who are always\ngood craftsmen and are fond of their workmanship. Now these native\nartists have a keen appreciation of good material, and of perfection\nin craft. When they find a specially good piece of material it lures\nthem on to lavish on it an excess of labour, and to produce things too\ngood to be used, but only so much the more desirable for possession.\n\nThe careful manner of working, the perfection of craftmanship, the\ndiscrimination in material, the inexhaustible patience in giving the\nfinal touches, have been often noted by those who have seen natives\nat work. These observations have also come under the notice of some\ntheoretical economists, but it is necessary to see these facts in\ntheir bearing upon the theory of value. That is, namely, that this\nloving attitude towards material and work must produce a sentiment of\nattachment to rare materials and well-worked objects, and that this\nmust result in their being valued. Value will be attached to rare\nforms of such materials as the craftsman generally uses: classes of\nshell which are scarce, lending themselves especially to fashioning\nand polishing; kinds of wood which are also rare, like ebony; and more\nparticularly, special varieties of that stone out of which implements\nare made. [56]\n\nWe can now compare our results with the fallacious views on Primitive\nEconomic Man, sketched out at the beginning of this Division. We see\nthat value and wealth exist, in spite of abundance of things, that\nindeed this abundance is valued for its own sake. Great quantities\nare produced beyond any possible utility they could possess, out of\nmere love of accumulation for its own sake; food is allowed to rot,\nand though they have all they could desire in necessities, yet the\nnatives want always more, to serve in its character of wealth. Again,\nin manufactured objects, and more especially in objects of the\nvaygu'a type (comp. Chapter III, Div. III), it is not rarity within\nutility which creates value, but a rarity sought out by human skill\nwithin the workable materials. In other words, not those things\nare valued, which being useful or even indispensable are hard to\nget, since all the necessities of life are within easy reach of the\nTrobriand Islander. But such an article is valued where the workman,\nhaving found specially fine or sportive material, has been induced\nto spend a disproportionate amount of labour on it. By doing so, he\ncreates an object which is a kind of economic monstrosity, too good,\ntoo big, too frail, or too overcharged with ornament to be used,\nyet just because of that, highly valued.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nThus the first assumption is exploded, \"that there is no room for\nwealth or value in native societies.\" What about the other assumption,\nnamely, \"That there is no need to exchange if anyone can by industry\nand skill, produce all that represents value through its quantity or\nits quality?\" This assumption is confuted by realising a fundamental\nfact of native usage and psychology: the love of give and take for\nits own sake; the active enjoyment in possession of wealth, through\nhanding it over.\n\nIn studying any sociological questions in the Trobriands, in\ndescribing the ceremonial side of tribal life, or religion and magic,\nwe constantly meet with this give and take, with exchange of gifts\nand payments. I had occasion several times to mention this general\nfeature, and in the short outline of the Trobriand sociology in\nChapter II, I gave some examples of it. Even a walk across the island,\nsuch as we imagined in that chapter, would reveal to an open-eyed\nEthnographer this economic truth. He would see visiting parties--women\ncarrying big food baskets on their head, men with loads on their\nshoulders--and on inquiring he would learn that these were gifts to\nbe presented under one of the many names they bear, in fulfilment\nof some social obligation. Offerings of first fruits are given to\nthe chief or to relatives-in-law, when the mango or bread fruit or\nsugar cane are ripe. Big quantities of sugar cane being borne to a\nchief, carried by some twenty to thirty men running along the road,\nproduce the impressions of a tropical Birnam Wood moving through the\njungle. At harvest time all the roads are full of big parties of men\ncarrying food, or returning with empty baskets. From the far North of\nKiriwina a party will have to run for some twelve miles to the creek of\nTukwa'ukwa, get into canoes, punt for miles along the shallow Lagoon,\nand have another good walk inland from Sinaketa; and all this is in\norder to fill the yam house of a man who could do it quite well for\nhimself, if it were not that he is under obligation to give all the\nharvest to his sister's husband! Displays of gifts associated with\nmarriage, with sagali (food distributions), with payments for magic,\nall these are some of the most picturesque characteristics of the\nTrobriand garden, road and village, and must impress themselves upon\neven a superficial observer.\n\nThe second fallacy, that man keeps all he needs and never spontaneously\ngives it away, must therefore be completely discarded. Not that the\nnatives do not possess a strongly retentive tendency. To imagine that\nthey differ from other human beings in this, would be to fall out\nof one fallacy into the opposite one also already mentioned, namely\nthat there is a sort of primitive communism among the natives. On the\ncontrary, just because they think so much of giving, the distinction\nbetween mine and thine is not obliterated but enhanced; for the\npresents are by no means given haphazardly, but practically always in\nfulfilment of definite obligations, and with a great deal of formal\npunctilio. The very fundamental motive of giving, the vanity of a\ndisplay of possession and power, a limine rules out any assumption\nof communistic tendencies or institutions. Not in all cases, but\nin many of them, the handing over of wealth is the expression\nof the superiority of the giver over the recipient. In others,\nit represents subordination to a chief, or a kinship relation or\nrelationship-in-law. And it is important to realise that in almost\nall forms of exchange in the Trobriands, there is not even a trace\nof gain, nor is there any reason for looking at it from the purely\nutilitarian and economic standpoint, since there is no enhancement\nof mutual utility through the exchange.\n\nThus, it is quite a usual thing in the Trobriands for a type of\ntransaction to take place in which A gives twenty baskets of yams to\nB, receiving for it a small polished blade, only to have the whole\ntransaction reversed in a few weeks' time. Again, at a certain stage of\nmortuary ritual, a present of valuables is given, and on the same day\nlater on, the identical articles are returned to the giver. Cases like\nthat described in the kabigidoya custom (Div. III of this chapter),\nwhere each owner of a new canoe made a round of all the others,\neach thus giving away again what he receives, are typical. In the\nwasi--exchange of fish for yams, to be described presently--through\na practically useless gift, a burdensome obligation is imposed, and\none might speak of an increase of burdens rather than an increase\nof utilities.\n\nThe view that the native can live in a state of individual search\nfor food, or catering for his own household only, in isolation from\nany interchange of goods, implies a calculating, cold egotism, the\npossibility of enjoyment by man of utilities for their sake. This view,\nand all the previously criticised assumptions, ignore the fundamental\nhuman impulse to display, to share, to bestow. They ignore the deep\ntendency to create social ties through exchange of gifts. Apart from\nany consideration as to whether the gifts are necessary or even useful,\ngiving for the sake of giving is one of the most important features of\nTrobriand sociology, and, from its very general and fundamental nature,\nI submit that it is a universal feature of all primitive societies.\n\nI have dwelt at length on economic facts which on the surface are not\ndirectly connected with the Kula. But if we realise that in these\nfacts we may be able to read the native's attitude towards wealth\nand value, their importance for the main theme becomes obvious. The\nKula is the highest and the most dramatic expression of the native's\nconception of value, and if we want to understand all the customs and\nactions of the Kula in their real bearings we must, first and foremost,\ngrasp the psychology that lies at its basis.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nI have on purpose spoken of forms of exchange, of gifts and\ncounter-gifts, rather than of barter or trade, because, although there\nexist forms of barter pure and simple, there are so many transitions\nand gradations between that and simple gift, that it is impossible\nto draw any fixed line between trade on the one hand, and exchange\nof gifts on the other. Indeed, the drawing of any lines to suit\nour own terminology and our own distinctions is contrary to sound\nmethod. In order to deal with these facts correctly it is necessary\nto give a complete survey of all forms of payment or present. In this\nsurvey there will be at one end the extreme case of pure gift, that\nis an offering for which nothing is given in return. Then, through\nmany customary forms of gift or payment, partially or conditionally\nreturned, which shade into each other, there come forms of exchange,\nwhere more or less strict equivalence is observed, arriving finally\nat real barter. In the following survey I shall roughly classify each\ntransaction according to the principle of its equivalence.\n\nSuch tabularised accounts cannot give the same clear vision of\nfacts as a concrete description might do, and they even produce\nthe impression of artificiality, but, and this must be emphatically\nstated, I shall not introduce here artificial categories, foreign to\nthe native mind. Nothing is so misleading in ethnographic accounts\nas the description of facts of native civilisations in terms of\nour own. This, however, shall not be done here. The principles of\narrangement, although quite beyond the comprehension of the natives,\nare nevertheless contained in their social organisation, customs,\nand even in their linguistic terminology. This latter always affords\nthe simplest and surest means of approach towards the understanding of\nnative distinctions and classifications. But it also must be remembered\nthat, though important as a clue to native ideas, the knowledge of\nterminology is not a miraculous short-cut into the native's mind. As\na matter of fact, there exist many salient and extremely important\nfeatures of Trobriand sociology and social psychology, which are not\ncovered by any term, whereas their language distinguishes sub-divisions\nand subtleties which are quite irrelevant with regard to actual\nconditions. Thus, a survey of terminology must always be supplemented\nby a direct analysis of ethnographic fact and inquiry into the native's\nideas, that is, by collecting a body of opinions, typical expressions,\nand customary phrases by direct cross-questioning. The most conclusive\nand deepest insight, however, must always be obtained by a study of\nbehaviour, by analysis of ethnographic custom and concrete cases of\ntraditional rules.\n\n\n\nLIST OF GIFTS, PAYMENTS, AND COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS.\n\n1. Pure Gifts.--By this, as just mentioned, we understand an act,\nin which an individual gives an object or renders a service without\nexpecting or getting any return. This is not a type of transaction\nvery frequently met in Trobriand tribal life. It must be remembered\nthat accidental or spontaneous gifts, such as alms or charities, do\nnot exist, since everybody in need would be maintained by his or her\nfamily. Again, there are so many well-defined economic obligations,\nconnected with kinship and relationship-in-law, that anyone wanting\na thing or a service would know where to go and ask for it. And then,\nof course, it would not be a free gift, but one imposed by some social\nobligation. Moreover, since gifts in the Trobriands are conceived\nas definite acts with a social meaning, rather than transmissions of\nobjects, it results that where social duties do not directly impose\nthem, gifts are very rare.\n\nThe most important type of free gift are the presents characteristic\nof relations between husband and wife, and parents and children. Among\nthe Trobrianders, husband and wife own their things separately. There\nare man's and woman's possessions, and each of the two partners\nhas a special part of the household goods under control. When one\nof them dies, his or her relations inherit the things. But though\nthe possessions are not joint, they very often give presents to one\nanother, more especially a husband to his wife.\n\nAs to the parents' gifts to the children, it is clear that in a\nmatrilineal society, where the mother is the nearest of kin to\nher children in a sense quite different to that in our society,\nthey share in and inherit from her all her possessions. It is more\nremarkable that the father, who, according to native belief and law,\nis only the mother's husband, and not the kinsman of the children, is\nthe only relation from whom free gifts are expected. [57] The father\nwill give freely of his valuables to a son, and he will transmit to\nhim his relationships in the Kula, according to the definite rules by\nwhich it is done (see Chapter XI, Division II). Also, one of the most\nvaluable and valued possessions, the knowledge of magic, is handed\nover willingly, and free of any counter-gift, from father to son. The\nownership of trees in the village grove and ownership in garden plots\nis ceded by the father to his son during the lifetime of the former. At\nhis death, it often has to be returned to the man's rightful heirs,\nthat is, his sister's children. All the objects of use embraced by\nthe term gugua will be shared with him as a matter of course by a\nman's children. Also, any special luxuries in food, or such things as\nbetel-nut or tobacco, he will share with his children as well as with\nhis wife. In all such small articles of indulgence, free distribution\nwill also obtain between the chief or the headman and his vassals,\nthough not in such a generous spirit, as within the family. In fact,\neveryone who possesses betel-nut or tobacco in excess of what he can\nactually consume on the spot, would be expected to give it away. This\nvery special rule, which also happens to apply to such articles as\nare generally used by white men for trade, has largely contributed to\nthe tenacity of the idea of the communistic native. In fact, many a\nman will carefully conceal any surplus so as to avoid the obligation\nof sharing it and yet escape the opprobrium attaching to meanness.\n\nThere is no comprehensive name for this class of free gifts in native\nterminology. The verb \"to give\" (sayki) would simply be used, and on\ninquiry as to whether there was repayment for such a gift, the natives\nwould directly answer that this was a gift without repayment; mapula\nbeing the general term for return gifts, and retributions, economic\nas well as otherwise. The natives undoubtedly would not think of\nfree gifts as forming one class, as being all of the same nature. The\nacts of liberality on the part of the chief, the sharing of tobacco\nand betel-nut by anybody who has some to spare, would be taken as a\nmatter of course. Gifts by a husband to a wife are considered also as\nrooted in the nature of this relationship. They have as a matter of\nfact a very coarse and direct way of formulating that such gifts are\nthe mapula (payment) for matrimonial relations, a conception in harmony\nwith the ideas underlying another type of gift, of which I shall speak\npresently, that given in return for sexual intercourse. Economically\nthe two are entirely different, since those of husband to wife are\ncasual gifts within a permanent relationship, whereas the others are\ndefinite payment for favours given on special occasions.\n\nThe most remarkable fact, however, is that the same explanation\nis given for the free gifts given by the father to his children;\nthat is to say, a gift given by a father to his son is said to be a\nrepayment for the man's relationship to the son's mother. According to\nthe matrilineal set of ideas about kinship, mother and son are one,\nbut the father is a stranger (tomakava) to his son, an expression\noften used when these matters are discussed. There is no doubt,\nhowever, that the state of affairs is much more complex, for there is\na very strong direct emotional attitude between father and child. The\nfather wants always to give things to his child, as I have said,\n(compare Chapter II, Division VI), and this is very well realised by\nthe natives themselves.\n\nAs a matter of fact, the psychology underlying these conditions is\nthis: normally a man is emotionally attached to his wife, and has a\nvery strong personal affection towards his children, and expresses\nthese feelings by gifts, and more especially by trying to endow his\nchildren with as much of his wealth and position as he can. This,\nhowever, runs counter to the matrilineal principle as well as to the\ngeneral rule that all gifts require repayment, and so these gifts\nare explained away by the natives in a manner that agrees with these\nrules. The above crude explanation of the natives by reference to sex\npayment is a document, which in a very illuminating manner shows up\nthe conflict between the matrilineal theory and the actual sentiments\nof the natives, and also how necessary it is to check the explicit\nstatements of natives, and the views contained in their terms and\nphraseology by direct observation of full-blooded life, in which we\nsee man not only laying down rules and theories, but behaving under\nthe impulse of instinct and emotion.\n\n2. Customary payments, re-paid irregularly, and without strict\nequivalence.--The most important of these are the annual payments\nreceived at harvest time by a man from his wife's brothers\n(cf. Chapter II, Divisions IV and V). These regular and unfailing\ngifts are so substantial, that they form the bulk of a man's income\nin food. Sociologically, they are perhaps the strongest strand\nin the fabric of the Trobriands tribal constitution. They entail a\nlife-long obligation of every man to work for his kinswomen and their\nfamilies. When a boy begins to garden, he does it for his mother. When\nhis sisters grow up and marry, he works for them. If he has neither\nmother nor sisters, his nearest female blood relation will claim the\nproceeds of his labour. [58]\n\nThe reciprocity in these gifts never amounts to their full value,\nbut the recipient is supposed to give a valuable (vaygu'a) or a pig\nto his wife's brother from time to time. Again if he summons his\nwife's kinsmen to do communal work for him, according to the kabutu\nsystem, he pays them in food. In this case also the payments are not\nthe full equivalent of the services rendered. Thus we see that the\nrelationship between a man and his wife's kinsmen is full of mutual\ngifts and services, in which repayment, however, by the husband, is\nnot equivalent and regular, but spasmodic and smaller in value than\nhis own share; and even if for some reason or other it ever fails,\nthis does not relieve the others from their obligations. In the\ncase of a chief, the duties of his numerous relatives-in-law have\nto be much more stringently observed; that is, they have to give him\nmuch bigger harvest gifts, and they also have to keep pigs, and grow\nbetel and coco-nut palms for him. For all this, they are rewarded by\ncorrespondingly large presents of valuables, which again, however,\ndo not fully repay them for their contributions.\n\nThe tributes given by vassal village communities to a chief\nand usually repaid by small counter-gifts, also belong to this\nclass. Besides these, there are the contributions given by one kinsman\nto another, when this latter has to carry out a mortuary distribution\n(sagali). Such contributions are sometimes, but irregularly and\nspasmodically, repaid by objects of small value.\n\nThe natives do not embrace this class under one term, but the\nword urigubu, which designates harvest gifts from the wife's\nbrothers, stands for one of the most important conceptions of native\nsociology and economics. They have quite a clear idea about the many\ncharacteristics of the urigubu duties, which have been described here,\nand about their far-reaching importance. The occasional counter gifts\ngiven by the husband to his wife's kinsmen are called youlo. The\nchief's tributes which we have put in this category are called\npokala. The placing of these two types of payment in one category is\njustified both by the similar mechanism, and by the close resemblance\nbetween the urigubu gifts, when given to a chief, and the pokala\nreceived by him. There are even resemblances in the actual ceremonial,\nwhich however, would require too much of a detailed description\nto be more than mentioned here. The word pokala is a general term\nfor the chief's tributes, and there are several other expressions\nwhich cover gifts of first fruit, gifts at the main harvest,\nand some other sub-divisions. There are also terms describing the\nvarious counter-gifts given by a chief to those who pay him tribute,\naccording to whether they consist of pig's flesh or yams or fruit. I\nam not mentioning all these native words, in order not to overload\nthe account with details, which would be irrelevant here.\n\n3. Payment for services rendered. This class differs from the foregoing\none in that here the payment is within limits defined by custom. It has\nto be given each time the service is performed, but we cannot speak\nhere of direct economic equivalence, since one of the terms of the\nequation consists of a service, the value of which cannot be assessed,\nexcept by conventional estimates. All services done by specialists\nfor individuals or for the community, belong here. The most important\nof these are undoubtedly the services of the magician. The garden\nmagician, for instance, receives definite gifts from the community and\nfrom certain individuals. The sorcerer is paid by the man who asks him\nto kill or who desires to be healed. The presents given for magic of\nrain and fair weather are very considerable. I have already described\nthe payments given to a canoe-builder. I shall have to speak later\non of those received by the specialists who make the various types\nof vaygu'a.\n\nHere also belong the payments, always associated with love\nintrigues. Disinterested love is quite unknown among these people\nof great sexual laxity. Every time a girl favours her lover, some\nsmall gift has to be given immediately. This is the case in the normal\nintrigues, going on every night in the village between unmarried girls\nand boys, and also in more ceremonial cases of indulgence, like the\nkatuyausi custom, or the mortuary consolations, mentioned in Chapter\nII, Division II. A few areca-nuts, some betel pepper, a bit of tobacco,\nsome turtle-shell rings, or spondylus discs, such are the small tokens\nof gratitude and appreciation never omitted by the youth. An attractive\ngirl need never go unprovided with the small luxuries of life.\n\nThe big mortuary distributions of food, sagali, have already been\nmentioned several times. On their economic side, these distributions\nare payments for funerary services. The deceased man's nearest maternal\nkinsman has to give food gifts to all the villagers for their assuming\nmourning, that is to say, for blackening their faces and cutting their\nhair. He pays some other special people for wailing and grave digging;\na still smaller group for cutting out the dead man's ulna and using\nit as a lime spoon; and the widow or widower for the prolonged and\nscrupulously to be observed period of strict mourning.\n\nAll these details show how universal and strict is the idea that\nevery social obligation or duty, though it may not on any account\nbe evaded, has yet to be re-paid by a ceremonial gift. The function\nof these ceremonial re-payments is, on the surface of it, to thicken\nthe social ties from which arise the obligations.\n\nThe similarity of the gifts and payments which we have put into\nthis category is expressed by the native use of the word mapula\n(repayment, equivalent) in connection with all these gifts. Thus\nin giving the reason why a certain present is made to a magician,\nor why a share is allotted to a man at the sagali (distribution),\nor why some valuable object is given to a specialist, they would\nsay: \"This is the mapula for what he has done.\" Another interesting\nidentification contained in linguistic usage is the calling of both\nmagical payments and payments to specialists: a 'restorative,' or,\nliterally, a  'poultice.' Certain extra fees given to a magician are\ndescribed as 'katuwarina kaykela' or 'poultice for his leg'; as the\nmagician, especially he of the garden or the sorcerer, has to take\nlong walks in connection with his magic. The expression 'poultice of\nmy back,' will be used by a canoe-builder who has been bending over\nhis work, or 'poultice of my hand' by a carver or stone-polisher. But\nthe identity of these gifts is not in any way expressed in the detailed\nterminology. In fact, there is a list of words describing the various\npayments for magic, the gifts given to specialists, love payments,\nand the numerous types of gifts distinguished at the sagali. Thus a\nmagical payment, of which a small part would be offered to ancestral\nspirits, is called ula'ula; a substantial magical gift is called\nsousula; a gift to a sorcerer is described by the verb ibudipeta,\nand there are many more special names. The gifts to the specialists\nare called vewoulo--the initial gift; yomelu--a gift of food given\nafter the object has been ceremonially handed over to the owner;\nkaribudaboda--a substantial gift of yams given at the next harvest. The\ngifts of food, made while the work is in progress are called vakapula;\nbut this latter term has much wider application, as it covers all the\npresents of cooked or raw food given to workers by the man, for whom\nthey work. The sexual gifts are called buwana or sebuwana. I shall\nnot enumerate the various terminological distinctions of sagali gifts,\nas this would be impossible to do, without entering upon the enormous\nsubject of mortuary duties and distributions.\n\nThe classification of love gifts and sagali gifts in the same category\nwith gifts to magicians and specialists, is a generalisation in which\nthe natives would not be able to follow us. For them, the gifts given\nat sagali form a class in themselves and so do the love gifts. We may\nsay that, from the economic point of view, we were correct in classing\nall these gifts together, because they all represent a definite type of\nequivalence; also they correspond to the native idea that every service\nhas to be paid for, an idea documented by the linguistic use of the\nword mapula. But within this class, the sub-divisions corresponding\nto native terminology represent important distinctions made by the\nnatives between the three sub-classes; love gifts, sagali gifts,\nand gifts for magical and professional services.\n\n4. Gifts returned in economically equivalent form.--We are enumerating\nthe various types of exchange, as they gradually assume the appearance\nof trade. In this fourth class have been put such gifts as must be\nre-paid with almost strict equivalence. But it must be stressed\nthat strict equivalence of two gifts does not assimilate them to\ntrade altogether. There can be no more perfect equivalence between\ngift and counter-gift, than when A gives to B an object, and B on\nthe same day returns the very same object to A. At a certain stage\nof the mortuary proceedings, such a gift is given and received back\nagain by a deceased man's kinsmen and his widow's brothers. Yet it\nis obvious at once that no transaction could be further removed from\ntrade. The above described gifts at the presentation of new canoes\n(kabigidoya) belong to this class. So do also numerous presents given\nto one community by another, on visits which are going to be returned\nsoon. Payments for the lease of a garden plot are at least in certain\ndistricts of the Trobriands returned by a gift of equivalent value.\n\nSociologically, this class of gifts is characteristic of the\nrelationship between friends (luba'i). Thus the kabigidoya takes\nplace between friends, the Kula takes place between overseas partners\nand inland friends, but of course relations-in-law also belong par\nexcellence to this category.\n\nOther types of equivalent gifts which have to be mentioned here\nshortly, are the presents given by one household to another, at\nthe milamala, the festive period associated with the return of the\nancestral spirits to their villages. Offerings of cooked food are\nceremonially exposed in houses for the use of the spirits, and after\nthese have consumed the spiritual substance, the material one is\ngiven to a neighbouring household. These gifts are always reciprocal.\n\nAgain, a series of mutual gifts exchanged immediately after marriage\nbetween a man and his wife's father (not matrilineal kinsman in this\ncase), have to be put into this category.\n\nThe economic similarity of these gifts is not expressed in terminology\nor even in linguistic use. All the gifts I have enumerated have\ntheir own special names, which I shall not adduce here, so as not\nto multiply irrelevant details of information. The natives have no\ncomprehensive idea that such a class as I have spoken of exists. My\ngeneralisation is based upon the very interesting fact, that all\nthrough the tribal life we find scattered cases of direct exchange\nof equivalent gifts. Nothing perhaps could show up so clearly, how\nmuch the natives value the give and take of presents for its own sake.\n\n5. Exchange of Material Goods against Privileges, Titles and\nnon-material Possessions. Under this heading, I class transactions\nwhich approach trade, in so far as two owners, each possessing\nsomething they value highly, exchange it for something they value\nstill more. The equivalence here is not so strict, at any rate\nnot so measurable, as in the previous class, because in this one,\none of the terms is usually a non-material possession, such as the\nknowledge of magic, the privilege to execute a dance, or the title\nto a garden plot, which latter very often is a mere title only. But\nin spite of this smaller measure of equivalence, their character of\ntrade is more marked, just because of the element of mutual desire\nto carry out the transaction and of the mutual advantage.\n\nTwo important types of transaction belong to this class. One of them\nis the acquisition by a man of the goods or privileges which are due\nto him by inheritance from his maternal uncle or elder brother, but\nwhich he wishes to acquire before the elder's death. If a maternal\nuncle is to give up in his life time a garden, or to teach and hand\nover a system of magic, he has to be paid for that. As a rule several\npayments, and very substantial ones, have to be given to him, and\nhe gradually relinquishes his rights, giving the garden land, bit\nby bit, teaching the magic in instalments. After the final payment,\nthe title of ownership is definitely handed over to the younger man.\n\nI have drawn attention already in the general description of the\nTrobriand Sociology (Chapter II, Division VI) to the remarkable\ncontrast between matrilineal inheritance and that between father\nand son. It is noteworthy that what is considered by the natives\nrightful inheritance has yet to be paid for, and that a man who\nknows that in any case he would obtain a privilege sooner or later,\nif he wants it at once, must pay for it, and that heavily. None the\nless, this transaction takes place only when it appears desirable to\nboth parties. There is no customary obligation on either of the two\nto enter on the exchange, and it has to be considered advantageous\nto both before it can be completed. The acquisition of magic is of\ncourse different, because that must naturally always be taught by\nthe elder man to the younger in his life time.\n\nThe other type of transaction belonging to this class, is the payment\nfor dances. Dances are \"owned\"; that is, the original inventor\nhas the right of \"producing\" his dance and song in his village\ncommunity. If another village takes a fancy to this song and dance,\nit has to purchase the right to perform it. This is done by handing\nceremonially to the original village a substantial payment of food\nand valuables, after which the dance is taught to the new possessors.\n\nIn some rare cases, the title to garden-lands would pass from one\ncommunity to another. For this again, the members and headman of the\nacquiring community would have to pay substantially to those who hand\nover their rights.\n\nAnother transaction which has to be mentioned here is the hire of\na canoe, where a temporary transference of ownership takes place in\nreturn for a payment.\n\nThe generalisation by which this class has been formed, although it\ndoes not run counter to native terminology and ideas, is beyond their\nown grasp, and contains several of their sub-divisions, differentiated\nby distinct native terms. The name for the ceremonial purchase of a\ntask or for the transfer of a garden plot is laga. This term denotes a\nvery big and important transaction. For example, when a small pig is\npurchased by food or minor objects of value, they call this barter\n(gimwali) but when a more valuable pig is exchanged for vaygu'a,\nthey call it laga.\n\nThe important conception of gradual acquisition in advance of\nmatrilineal inheritance, is designated by the term pokala, a word\nwhich we have already met as signifying the tributes to the chief. It\nis a homonym, because its two meanings are distinct, and are clearly\ndistinguished by the natives. There can be no doubt that these two\nmeanings have developed out of a common one by gradual differentiation,\nbut I have no data even to indicate this linguistic process. At\npresent, it would be incorrect to strain after any connection\nbetween them, and indeed this is an example how necessary it is to\nbe careful not to rely too much on native terminology for purposes\nof classification.\n\nThe term for the hire of a canoe is toguna waga.\n\n6. Ceremonial barter with deferred payment.--In this class we have to\ndescribe payments which are ceremonially offered, and must be received\nand re-paid later on. The exchange is based on a permanent partnership,\nand the articles have to be roughly equivalent in value. Remembering\nthe definition of the Kula in Chapter III, it is easy to see that\nthis big, ceremonial, circulating exchange belongs to this class. It\nis ceremonial barter based on permanent partnership, where a gift\noffered is always accepted, and after a time has to be re-paid by an\nequivalent counter-gift.\n\nThere is also a ceremonial form of exchange of vegetable food for fish,\nbased on a standing partnership, and on the obligation to accept and\nreturn an initial gift. This is called wasi. The members of an inland\nvillage, where yams and taro are plentiful have partners in a Lagoon\nvillage, where much fishing is done but garden produce is scarce. Each\nman has his partner, and at times, when new food is harvested and\nalso during the main harvest, he and his fellow villagers will bring\na big quantity of vegetable food into the Lagoon village (see Plate\nXXXVI), each man putting his share before his partner's house. This\nis an invitation, which never can be rejected, to return the gift by\nits fixed equivalent in fish.\n\nAs soon as weather and previous engagements allow, the fishermen go\nout to sea and notice is given to the inland village of the fact. The\ninlanders arrive on the beach, awaiting the fishermen, Who come back\nin a body, and their haul of fish is taken directly from the canoes\nand carried to the inland village. Such large quantities of fish\nare always acquired only in connection with big distributions of\nfood (sagali). It is remarkable that in the inland villages these\ndistributions must be carried out in fish, whereas in the Lagoon\nvillages, fish never can be used for ceremonial purposes, vegetables\nbeing the only article considered proper. Thus the motive for exchange\nhere is not to get food in order to satisfy the primary want of eating,\nbut in order to satisfy the social need of displaying large quantities\nof conventionally sanctioned eatables. Often when such a big fishing\ntakes place, great quantities of fish perish by becoming rotten\nbefore they reach the man for whom they are finally destined. But\nbeing rotten in no way detracts from the value of fish in a sagali.\n\nThe equivalence of fish, given in return for vegetable food, is\nmeasured only roughly. A standard sized bunch of taro, or one of the\nordinary baskets of taytu (small yams) will be repaid by a bundle of\nfish, some three to five kilograms in weight. The equivalence of the\ntwo payments, as well as the advantage obtained by one party at least,\nmake this exchange approach barter. [59] But the element of trust\nenters into it largely, in the fact that the equivalence is left to\nthe repayer; and again, the initial gift which as a rule is always\ngiven by the inlanders, cannot be refused. And all these features\ndistinguish this exchange from barter.\n\nSimilar to this ceremonial exchange are certain arrangements in which\nfood is brought by individuals to the industrial villages of Kuboma,\nand the natives of that place return it by manufactured objects when\nthese are made. In certain cases of production of vaygu'a (valuables)\nit is difficult to judge whether we have to do with the payment for\nservices rendered (Class 3), or with the type of ceremonial barter\nbelonging to this class. There is hardly any need to add that the two\ntypes of exchange contained in this class, the Kula and the wasi (fish\nbarter) are kept very distinct in the minds of the natives. Indeed,\nthe ceremonial exchange of valuables, the Kula, stands out as such a\nremarkable form of trade that in all respects, not only by the natives,\nbut also by ourselves, it must be put into a class by itself. There\nis no doubt, however, that the technique of the wasi must have\nbeen influenced by the ideas and usages of the Kula, which is by\nfar the more important and widespread of the two. The natives, when\nexplaining one of these trades, often draw parallels to the other. And\nthe existence of social partnership, of ceremonial sequence of gift,\nof the free yet unevadible equivalence, all these features appear\nin both forms. This shows that the natives have a definite mental\nattitude towards what they consider an honourable, ceremonial type of\nbarter. The rigid exclusion of haggling, the formalities observed in\nhanding over the gift, the obligation of accepting the initial gift\nand of returning it later on, all these express this attitude.\n\n7. Trade, Pure and Simple.--The main characteristic of this form\nof exchange is found in the element of mutual advantage: each side\nacquires what is needed, and gives away a less useful article. Also\nwe find here the equivalence between the articles adjusted during\nthe transaction by haggling or bargaining.\n\nThis bartering, pure and simple, takes place mainly between the\nindustrial communities of the interior, which manufacture on a large\nscale the wooden dishes, combs, lime pots, armlets and baskets and\nthe agricultural districts of Kiriwina, the fishing communities of\nthe West, and the sailing and trading communities of the South. The\nindustrials, who are regarded as pariahs and treated with contumely,\nare nevertheless allowed to hawk their goods throughout the other\ndistricts. When they have plenty of articles on hand, they go to\nthe other places, and ask for yams, coco-nuts, fish, and betel-nut,\nand for some ornaments, such as turtle shell, earrings and spondylus\nbeads. They sit in groups and display their wares, saying \"You have\nplenty of coco-nuts, and we have none. We have made fine wooden\ndishes. This one is worth forty nuts, and some betel-nut, and some\nbetel pepper.\" The others then may answer, \"Oh, no, I do not want\nit. You ask too much.\" \"What will you give us?\" An offer may be made,\nand rejected by the pedlars, and so on, till a bargain is struck.\n\nAgain, at certain times, people from other villages may need some of\nthe objects made in Kuboma, and will go there, and try to purchase\nsome manufactured goods. People of rank as a rule will do it in the\nmanner described in the previous paragraph, by giving an initial gift,\nand expecting a repayment. Others simply go and barter. As we saw\nin the description of the kabigidoya, the Sinaketans and Vakutans\ngo there and purchase goods before each Kula expedition to serve for\nthe subsidiary trade.\n\nThus the conception of pure barter (gimwali) stands out very clearly,\nand the natives make a definite distinction between this and other\nforms of exchange. Embodied in a word, this distinction is made more\npoignant still by the manner in which the word is used. When scornfully\ncriticising bad conduct in Kula, or an improper manner of giving gifts,\na native will say that \"it was done like a gimwali.\" When asked,\nabout a transaction, whether it belongs to one class or another,\nthey will reply with an accent of depreciation \"That was only a\ngimwali--(gimwali wala!)\" In the course of ethnographic investigation,\nthey give clear descriptions, almost definitions of gimwali, its lack\nof ceremony, the permissibility of haggling, the free manner in which\nit can be done between any two strangers. They state correctly and\nclearly its general conditions, and they tell readily which articles\nmay be exchanged by gimwali.\n\nOf course certain characteristics of pure barter, which we can\nperceive clearly as inherent in the facts, are quite beyond their\ntheoretical grasp. Thus for instance, that the element of mutual\nadvantage is prominent in gimwali; that it refers exclusively to\nnewly manufactured goods, because second-hand things are never\ngimwali, etc., etc. Such generalisations the ethnographer has to\nmake for himself. Other properties of the gimwali embodied in custom\nare: absence of ceremonial, absence of magic, absence of special\npartnership--all these already mentioned above. In carrying out the\ntransaction, the natives also behave quite differently here than in\nthe other transactions. In all ceremonial forms of give and take,\nit is considered very undignified and against all etiquette, for the\nreceiver to show any interest in the gift or any eagerness to take\nit. In ceremonial distributions as well as in the Kula, the present is\nthrown down by the giver, sometimes actually, sometimes only given in\nan abrupt manner, and often it is not even picked up by the receiver,\nbut by some insignificant person in his following. In the gimwali,\non the contrary, there is a pronounced interest shown in the exchange.\n\nThere is one instance of gimwali which deserves special attention. It\nis a barter of fish for vegetables, and stands out in sharp contrast\ntherefore to the wasi, the ceremonial fish and yam exchange. It is\ncalled vava, and takes place between villages which have no standing\nwasi partnership and therefore simply gimwali their produce when\nnecessary (see Plate XXXVII).\n\nThis ends the short survey of the different types of exchange. It was\nnecessary to give it, even though in a condensed form, in order to\nprovide a background for the Kula. It gives us an idea of the great\nrange and variety of the material give and take associated with the\nTrobriand tribal life. We see also that the rules of equivalence,\nas well as the formalities accompanying each transaction, are very\nwell defined.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nIt is easy to see that almost all the categories of gifts, which I\nhave classified according to economic principles, are also based\non some sociological relationship. Thus the first type of gifts,\nthat is, the free gifts, take place in the relationship between\nhusband and wife, and in that between parents and children. Again,\nthe second class of gifts, that is, the obligatory ones, given without\nsystematic repayment, are associated with relationship-in-law, mainly,\nthough the chief's tributes also belong to this class.\n\nIf we drew up a scheme of sociological relations, each type of them\nwould be defined by a special class of economic duties. There would\nbe some parallelism between such a sociological classification of\npayments and presents, and the one given above. But such parallelism\nis only approximate. It will be therefore interesting to draw up a\nscheme of exchanges, classified according to the social relationship,\nto which they correspond. This will give us good insight into the\neconomics of Trobriand sociology, as well as another view of the\nsubject of payments and presents.\n\nGoing over the sociological outline in Chapter II, Divisions V and VI,\nwe see that the family, the clan and sub-clan, the village community,\nthe district and the tribe are the main social divisions of the\nTrobriands. To these groupings correspond definite bonds of social\nrelationship. Thus, to the family, there correspond no less than three\ndistinct types of relationship, according to native ideas. First of\nall there is the matrilineal kinship (veyola) which embraces people,\nwho can trace common descent through their mothers. This is, to the\nnatives, the blood relationship, the identity of flesh, and the real\nkinship. The marriage relation comprises that between husband and wife,\nand father and children. Finally, the relationship between the husband\nand the wife's matrilineal kinsmen forms the third class of personal\nties corresponding to family. These three types of personal bonds are\nclearly distinguished in terminology, in the current linguistic usage,\nin custom, and in explicitly formulated ideas.\n\nTo the grouping into clans and sub-clans, there pertain the ties\nexisting between clansmen and more especially between members of\nthe same sub-clan, and on the other hand, the relationship between a\nman and members of different clans. Membership in the same sub-clan\nis a kind of extended kinship. The relationship to other clans is\nmost important, where it assumes the form of special friendship\ncalled luba'i. The grouping into village communities results in the\nvery important feature of fellow membership in the same village\ncommunity. The distinction of rank associated with clanship, the\ndivision into village communities and districts, result, in the\nmanner sketched out in Chapter II, in the subordination of commoners\nto chiefs. Finally, the general fact of membership in the tribe\ncreates the bonds which unite every tribesman with another and which\nin olden days allowed of a free though not unlimited intercourse, and\ntherefore of commercial relations. We have, therefore, eight types of\npersonal relationship to distinguish. In the following table we see\nthem enumerated with a short survey of their economic characteristics.\n\n1. Matrilineal kinship.--The underlying idea that this means identity\nof blood and of substance is by no means forcibly expressed on its\neconomic side. The right of inheritance, the common participation\nin certain titles of ownership, and a limited right to use one\nanother's implements and objects of daily use are often restricted\nin practice by private jealousies and animosities. In economic gifts\nmore especially, we find here the remarkable custom of purchasing\nduring lifetime, by instalments, the titles to garden plots and trees\nand the knowledge of magic, which by right ought to pass at death\nfrom the older to the younger generation of matrilineal kinsmen. The\neconomic identity of matrilineal kinsmen comes into prominence at the\ntribal distributions--sagali--where all of them have to share in the\nresponsibilities of providing food.\n\n2. Marriage ties.--(Husband and wife; and derived from that, father and\nchildren). It is enough to tabulate this type of relationship here,\nand to remind the reader that it is characterised by free gifts, as\nhas been minutely described in the foregoing classification of gifts,\nunder (1).\n\n3. Relationship-in-law.--These ties are in their economic aspect not\nreciprocal or symmetrical. That is, one side in it, the husband of\nthe woman, is the economically favoured recipient, while the wife's\nbrothers receive from him gifts of smaller value in the aggregate. As\nwe know, this relationship is economically defined by the regular\nand substantial harvest gifts, by which the husband's storehouse is\nfilled every year by his wife's brothers. They also have to perform\ncertain services for him. For all this, they receive a gift of vaygu'a\n(valuables) from time to time, and some food in payment for services\nrendered.\n\n4. Clanship.--The main economic identification of this group takes\nplace during the sagali, although the responsibility for the food\nrests only with those actually related by blood with the deceased\nman. All the members of the sub-clan, and to a smaller extent members\nof the same clan within a village community, have to contribute by\nsmall presents given to the organisers of the sagali.\n\n5. The Relationship of Personal Friendship.--Two men thus bound as\na rule will carry on Kula between themselves, and, if they belong to\nan inland and Lagoon village respectively, they will be partners in\nthe exchange of fish and vegetables (wasi).\n\n6. Fellow-citizenship in a Village Community.--There are many types\nof presents given by one community to another. And, economically, the\nbonds of fellow-citizenship mean the obligation to contribute one's\nshare to such a present. Again, at the mortuary divisions, sagali,\nthe fellow-villagers of clans, differing from the deceased man's,\nreceive a series of presents for the performance of mortuary duties.\n\n7. Relationship between Chiefs and Commoners.--The tributes and\nservices given to a chief by his vassals on the one hand, and\nthe small but frequent gifts which he gives them, and the big and\nimportant contribution which he makes to all tribal enterprises are\ncharacteristic of this relationship.\n\n8. Relationship between any two tribesmen.--This is characterised by\npayments and presents, by occasional trade between two individuals,\nand by the sporadic free gifts of tobacco or betel-nut which no man\nwould refuse to another unless they were on terms of hostility.\n\nWith this, the survey of gifts and presents is finished. The general\nimportance of give and take to the social fabric of Boyowan society,\nthe great amount of distinctions and sub-divisions of the various\ngifts can leave no doubt as to the paramount r\u00f4le which economic acts\nand motives play in the life of these natives.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE DEPARTURE OF AN OVERSEAS EXPEDITION\n\n\nWe have brought the Kula narrative to the point where all the\npreparations have been made, the canoe is ready, its ceremonial\nlaunching and presentation have taken place, and the goods for the\nsubsidiary trade have been collected. It remains only to load the\ncanoes and to set sail. So far, in describing the construction, the\ntasasoria and kabigidoya, we spoke of the Trobrianders in general. Now\nwe shall have to confine ourselves to one district, the southern part\nof the Island, and we shall follow a Kula expedition from Sinaketa to\nDobu. For there are some differences between the various districts and\neach one must be treated separately. What is said of Sinaketa, however,\nwill hold good so far as the other southern community, that of Vakuta,\nis concerned. The scene, therefore, of all that is described in the\nfollowing two chapters will be set in one spot, that is, the group of\nsome eight component villages lying on the flat, muddy shore of the\nTrobriand Lagoon, within about a stone's throw of one another. There\nis a short, sandy beach under a fringe of palm trees, and from there\nwe can take a comprehensive view of the Lagoon, the wide semi-circle\nof its shore edged with the bright green of mangroves, backed by the\nhigh jungle on the raised coral ridge of the Raybwag. A few small,\nflat islands on the horizon just faintly thicken its line, and on a\nclear day the mountains of the d'Entrecasteaux are visible as blue\nshadows in the far distance.\n\nFrom the beach, we step directly into one of the villages, a row of\nhouses faced by another of yam-stores. Through this, leaving on our\nright a circular village, and passing through some empty spaces with\ngroves of betel and coco-nut palms, we come to the main component\nvillage of Sinaketa, to Kasiyetana. There, overtopping the elegant\nnative huts, stands an enormous corrugated iron shed, built on piles,\nbut with the space between the floor and the ground filled up carefully\nwith white coral stones. This monument testifies both to native vanity\nand to the strength of their superstitions--vanity in aping the white\nman's habit of raising the house, and native belief in the fear of the\nbwaga'u (sorcerer), whose most powerful sorcery is applied by burning\nmagical herbs, and could not be warded off, were he able to creep\nunder the house. It may be added that even the missionary teachers,\nnatives of the Trobriands, always put a solid mass of stones to fill\nthe space beneath their houses. To'udawada, the chief of Kasiyetana,\nis, by the way, the only man in Boyowa who has a corrugated iron\nhouse, and in fact in the whole of the island there are not more\nthan a dozen houses which are not built exactly according to the\ntraditional pattern. To'udawada is also the only native whom I ever\nsaw wearing a sun-helmet; otherwise he is a decent fellow (physically\nquite pleasant looking), tall, with a broad, intelligent face. Opposite\nhis iron shanty are the fine native huts of his four wives.\n\nWalking towards the North, over the black soil here and there pierced\nby coral, among tall trees and bits of jungle, fields and gardens,\nwe come to Kanubayne, the village of Kouta'uya, the second most\nimportant chief in Sinaketa. Very likely we shall see him sitting on\nthe platform of his hut or yam-house, a shrivelled up, toothless old\nman, wearing a big native wig. He, as well as To'udawada, belongs\nto the highest ranks of chieftainship, and they both consider\nthemselves the equals of the chiefs of Kiriwina. But the power of\neach one is limited to his small, component village, and neither in\nceremonial nor in wealth did they, at least in olden days, approach\ntheir kinsmen in the North. There is still another chief of the same\nrank in Sinaketa, who governs the small village of Oraywota. This is\nSinakadi, a puffed up, unhealthy looking, bald and toothless old man,\nand a really contemptible and crooked character, despised by black and\nwhite alike. He has a well-established reputation of boarding white\nmen's boats as soon as they arrive, with one or two of his young wives\nin the canoe, and of returning soon after, alone, but with plenty of\ntobacco and good merchandise. Lax as is the Trobriander's sense of\nhonour and morality in such matters, this is too much even for them,\nand Sinakadi is accordingly not respected in his village.\n\nThe rest of the villages are ruled by headmen of inferior rank, but\nof not much less importance and power than the main chiefs. One of\nthem, a queer old man, spare and lame but with an extremely dignified\nand deliberate manner, called Layseta, is renowned for his extensive\nknowledge of all sorts of magic, and for his long sojourns in foreign\ncountries, such as the Amphletts and Dobu. We shall meet some of these\nchiefs later on in our wanderings. Having described the villages and\nheadmen of Sinaketa let us return to our narrative.\n\nA few days before the appointed date of the departure of the Kula\nexpedition there is a great stir in the villages. Visiting parties\narrive from the neighbourhood, bringing gifts mostly of food, to serve\nas provisions for the journey. They sit in front of the huts, talking\nand commenting, while the local people go about their business. In\nthe evenings, long conferences are held over the fires, and late hours\nare kept. The preparation of food is mainly woman's work, whereas the\nmen put the finishing touches to the canoes, and perform their magic.\n\nSociologically the group of the departing differentiates itself of\ncourse from those who remain. But even within that group a further\ndifferentiation takes place, brought about by their respective\nfunctions in the Kula. First of all there are the masters of the\ncanoe, the toliwaga, who will play quite a definite part for the next\nfew weeks. On each of them fall with greater stringency the taboos,\nwhether those that have to be kept in Sinaketa or in Dobu. Each has\nto perform the magic and act in ceremonies. Each will also enjoy the\nmain honours and privileges of the Kula. The members of the crew, the\nusagelu, some four to six men in each canoe, form another group. They\nsail the craft, perform certain magical rites, and as a rule do the\nKula each on his own account. A couple of younger men in each canoe,\nwho do not yet kula, but who help in the work of sailing, form another\nclass, and are called silasila. Here and there a small boy will go\nwith his father on a Kula expedition--such are called dodo'u--and\nmakes himself useful by blowing the conch shell. Thus the whole\nfleet consists of four classes, that of the toliwaga, the usagelu,\nthe helpers and the children. From Sinaketa, women, whether married or\nunmarried, never go on overseas expeditions, though a different custom\nprevails in the eastern part of the Trobriands. Each toliwaga has to\ngive a payment in food to his usagelu, and this is done in the form of\na small ceremony of distribution of food called mwalolo, and held after\nthe return from the expedition, in the central place of the village.\n\nA few days before the sailing, the toliwaga starts his series of\nmagical rites and begins to keep his taboos, the women busy themselves\nwith the final Preparation of the food, and the men trim the waga\n(canoe) for the imminent, long journey.\n\nThe taboo of the toliwaga refers to his sexual life. During the last\ntwo nights, he has in any case to be up late in connection with his\nmagical performances, and with the visits of his friends and relatives\nfrom other villages, who bring provisions for the voyage, presents\nin trade goods, and who chat about the forthcoming expedition. But he\nhas also to keep vigil far into the night as a customary injunction,\nand he has to sleep alone, though his wife may sleep in the same house.\n\nThe preparations of the canoe are begun by covering it with plaited\nmats called yawarapu. They are put on the platform, thus making\nit convenient for walking, sitting and spreading about of small\nobjects. This, the first act of canoe trimming, is associated with a\nmagical rite. The plaited leaves are chanted over by the toliwaga on\nthe shore as they are put on the canoe. Or, in a different system of\nKula magic the toliwaga medicates some ginger root and spits it on\nthe mats in his hut. This is a specimen of the magical formula which\nwould be used in such a rite:\n\n\n                            YAWARAPU SPELL.\n\n    \"Betel-nut, betel-nut, female betel-nut; betel-nut, betel-nut,\n    male betel-nut; betel-nut of the ceremonial spitting!\"\n\n    \"The chiefs' comrades; the chiefs and their followers; their\n    sun, the afternoon sun; their pig, a small pig. One only is\n    my day\"--here the reciter utters his own name--\"their dawn,\n    their morning.\"\n\n    This is the exordium of the spell. Then follows the main body. The\n    two words boraytupa and badederuma, coupled together, are repeated\n    with a string of other words. The first word of the couple means,\n    freely translated, 'quick sailing,' and the second one, 'abundant\n    haul.' The string of words which are in succession tacked on\n    to this couple describe various forms of Kula necklaces. The\n    necklaces of different length and of different finish have each\n    their own class names, of which there are about a dozen. After\n    that, a list of words, referring to the human head, are recited:\n\n    \"My head, my nose, my occiput, my tongue, my throat, my larynx,\n    etc., etc.\" Finally, the various objects carried on a Kula\n    expedition are mentioned. The goods to be given (pari); a ritually\n    wrapped up bundle (lilava); the personal basket; the sleeping mat;\n    big baskets; the lime stick; the lime pot and comb are uttered\n    one after the other.\n\n    Finally the magician recites the end part of the spell;\n    \"I shall kick the mountain, the mountain moves, the mountain\n    tumbles down, the mountain starts on its ceremonial activities,\n    the mountain acclaims, the mountain falls down, the mountain lies\n    prostrate! My spell shall go to the top of Dobu Mountain, my spell\n    will penetrate the inside of my canoe. The body of my canoe will\n    sink; the float of my canoe will get under water. My fame is like\n    thunder, my treading is like the roar of the flying witches.\"\n\n\nThe first part of this spell contains a reference to the betel-nut,\nthis being one of the things which the natives expect to receive in\nthe Kula. On the other hand, it is one of the substances which the\nnatives charm over and give to the partner to induce him to kula with\nthem. To which of these two acts the spell refers, it is impossible\nto decide, nor can the natives tell it. The part in which he extols\nhis speed and success are typical of the magic formul\u00e6, and can be\nfound in many others.\n\nThe main part of the spell is as usual much easier to interpret. It\nimplies, broadly speaking, the declaration: \"I shall speed and be\nsuccessful with regard to the various forms of vaygu'a; I shall speed\nand be successful with my head, with my speech, with my appearance;\nin all my trade goods and personal belongings.\" The final part of the\nspell describes the impression which is to be made by the man's magic\nupon 'the mountain,' which stands here for the district of Dobu and\nits inhabitants. In fact, the districts in the d'Entrecasteaux to which\nthey are sailing are always called koya (mountain). The exaggerations,\nthe metaphors, and the implicit insistence on the power of the spell\nare very characteristic of all magical spells.\n\nThe next day, or the day after, as there is often a delay in starting,\na pig or two are given by the master of the expedition to all the\nparticipants. In the evening of that day, the owner of each canoe goes\ninto the garden, and finds an aromatic mint plant (sulumwoya). Taking\na sprig of it into his hand, he moves it to and fro, uttering a spell,\nand then he plucks it. This is the spell:\n\n\n                         SULUMWOYA SPELL. [60]\n\n    \"Who cuts the sulumwoya of Laba'i? I, Kwoyregu, with my father,\n    we cut the sulumwoya of Laba'i! The roaring sulumwoya, it roars;\n    the quaking sulumwoya, it quakes; the soughing sulumwoya, it\n    soughs; the boiling sulumwoya, it boils.\"\n\n    \"My sulumwoya, it boils, my lime spoon, it boils, my lime pot, it\n    boils, my comb ... my basket ... my small basket ... my mat ... my\n    lilava bundle ... my presentation goods (pari) ...\" And with each\n    of these terms, the word 'boils' or 'foams up' is repeated often\n    several times. After that, the same verb 'it boils' is repeated\n    with all parts of the head, as in the previously quoted formula.\n\n    The last part runs thus: \"Recently deceased spirit of my\n    maternal uncle Mwoyalova, breathe thy spell over the head of\n    Monikiniki. Breathe the spell upon the head of my light canoe. I\n    shall kick the mountain; the mountain tilts over; the mountain\n    subsides; the mountain opens up; the mountain jubilates; it\n    topples over. I shall kula so as to make my canoe sink. I shall\n    kula so as to make my outrigger go under. My fame is like thunder,\n    my treading is like the roar of the flying witches.\"\n\n\nThe exordium of this spell contains some mythical references, of which,\nhowever, my informants could give me only confused explanations. But\nit is clear in so far as it refers directly to the magical mint,\nand describes its magical efficiency. In the second part, there is\nagain a list of words referring to objects used in the Kula, and to\nthe personal appearance and persuasiveness of the magician. The verb\nwith which they are repeated refers to the boiling of the mint and\ncoco-nut oil which I shall presently have to mention, and it indicates\nthat the magical properties of the mint are imparted to the toliwaga\nand his goods. In the last part, the magician invokes the spirit of\nhis real maternal kinsman, from whom he obtained this spell, and\nasks him to impart magical virtue to his canoe. The mythological\nname, Monikiniki, with which there is no myth connected, except\nthe tradition that he was the original owner of all these spells,\nstands here as synonym of the canoe. At the very end in the dogina,\nwhich contains several expressions identical with those in the end\npart of the Yawarapu spell, we have another example of the strongly\nexaggerated language so often used in magic.\n\nAfter having thus ritually plucked the mint plant, the magician\nbrings it home. There he finds one of his usagelu (members of crew)\nwho helps him by boiling some coco-nut oil (bulami) in a small native\nclay pot. Into the boiling oil the mint plant is put, and, while it\nboils, a magical formula is uttered over it.\n\n\n                           KAYMWALOYO SPELL.\n\n    \"No betel-nut, no doga (ornament of circular boar's tusk),\n    no betel-pod! My power to change his mind; my mwasila magic,\n    my mwase, mwasare, mwaserewai.\" This last sentence contains a\n    play on words very characteristic of Kiriwinian magic. It is\n    difficult to interpret the opening sentence. Probably it means\n    something like this: \"No betel-nut or pod, no gift of a doga,\n    can be as strong as my mwasila and its power of changing my\n    partner's mind in my favour!\"\n\n    Now comes the main part of the spell: \"There is one sulumwoya\n    (mint) of mine, a sulumwoya of Laba'i which I shall place on top\n    of Gumasila.\"\n\n    \"Thus shall I make a quick Kula on top of Gumasila; thus shall I\n    hide away my Kula on top of Gumasila; thus shall I rob my Kula on\n    top of Gumasila; thus shall I forage my Kula on top of Gumasila;\n    thus shall I steal my Kula on top of Gumasila.\"\n\n    These last paragraphs are repeated several times, inserting\n    instead of the name of the island of Gumasila the following\n    ones: Kuyawaywo, Domdom, Tewara, Siyawawa, Sanaroa, Tu'utauna,\n    Kamsareta, Gorebubu. All these are the successive names of places\n    in which Kula is made. In this long spell, the magician follows\n    the course of a Kula expedition, enumerating its most conspicuous\n    landmarks. The last part in this formula is identical with the\n    last part of the Yawarapu Spell, previously quoted: \"I shall kick\n    the mountain, etc.\"\n\n\nAfter the recital of this spell over the oil and mint, the magician\ntakes these substances, and places them in a receptacle made of banana\nleaf toughened by grilling. Nowadays a glass bottle is sometimes used\ninstead. The receptacle is then attached to a stick thrust through the\nprow boards of the canoe and protruding slantwise over the nose. As\nwe shall see later on, the aromatic oil will be used in anointing\nsome objects on arrival at Dobu.\n\nWith this, however, the series of magical rites is not finished. The\nnext day, early in the morning, the ritual bundle of representative\ntrade goods, called lilava, is made up with the recital of a magical\nspell. A few objects of trade, a plaited armlet, a comb, a lime pot,\na bundle of betel-nut are placed on a clean, new mat, and into the\nfolded mat the spell is recited. Then the mat is rolled up, and over\nit another mat is placed, and one or two may be wrapped round; thus it\ncontains, hermetically sealed, the magical virtue of the spell. This\nbundle is placed afterwards in a special spot in the centre of the\ncanoe, and is not opened till the expedition arrives in Dobu. There is\na belief that a magical portent (kariyala) is associated with it. A\ngentle rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, sets in whenever\nthe lilava is opened. A sceptical European might add, that in the\nmonsoon season it almost invariably rains on any afternoon, with the\naccompaniment of thunder, at the foot or on the slopes of such high\nhills as are found in the d'Entrecasteaux group. Of course when, in\nspite of that, a kariyala does not make its appearance, we all know\nsomething has been amiss in the performance of the magical rite over\nthe lilava! This is the spell recited over the tabooed lilava bundle.\n\n\n                             LILAVA SPELL.\n\n    \"I skirt the shore of the beach of Kaurakoma; the beach of Kayli,\n    the Kayli of Muyuwa.\" I cannot add any explanation which would\n    make this phrase clearer. It obviously contains some mythological\n    references to which I have no key. The spell runs on:\n\n    \"I shall act magically on my mountain... Where shall I lie? I\n    shall lie in Legumatabu; I shall dream, I shall have dream visions;\n    rain will come as my magical portent... his mind is on the alert;\n    he lies not, he sits not, he stands up and trembles, he stands\n    up and is agitated; the renown of Kewara is small, my own renown\n    flares up...\"\n\n    This whole period is repeated over and over again, each time\n    the name of another place being inserted instead of that of\n    Legumatabu. Legumatabu is a small coral island some two hundred\n    yards long and a hundred yards wide, with a few pandanus trees\n    growing on it, wild fowl and turtle laying their eggs in its\n    sand. In this island, half way between Sinaketa and the Amphletts,\n    the Sinaketan sailors often spend a night or two, if overtaken\n    by bad weather or contrary winds.\n\n    This period contains first a direct allusion to the magical\n    portent of the lilava. In its second half it describes the state\n    of agitation of the Dobuan partner under the influence of this\n    magic, a state of agitation which will prompt him to be generous\n    in the Kula. I do not know whether the word Kewara is a proper\n    name or what else it may mean, but the phrase contains a boast\n    of the magician's own renown, very typical of magical formul\u00e6.\n\n    The localities mentioned instead of Legumatabu in the successive\n    repetitions of the period are: Yakum, another small coral\n    island, Urasi, the Dobuan name for Gumasila, Tewara, Sanaro'a,\n    and Tu'utauna, all localities known to us already from our\n    description of Dobu.\n\n    This is a very long spell. After the recital, and a very lengthy\n    one, of the last period with its variants, yet another change\n    is introduced into it. Instead of the first phrase \"where shall\n    I lie? etc.\" the new form runs \"Where does the rainbow stand\n    up? It stands up on the top of Koyatabu,\" and after this the\n    rest of the period is repeated: \"I shall dream, I shall have\n    dream visions, etc.\" This new form is again varied by uttering\n    instead of Koyatabu, Kamsareta, Koyava'u, and Gorebubu. [61] This\n    again carries us through the landscape; but here, instead of the\n    sleeping places we follow the beacons of the sailing expedition\n    by mentioning the tops of the high mountains. The end part of\n    this spell is again identical with that of the Yawarapu Spell.\n\n\nThis magical rite takes place on the morning of the last\nday. Immediately after the recital of the spell, and the rolling up\nof the lilava, it is carried to the canoe, and put into its place of\nhonour. By that time the usagelu (members of the crew) have already\nmade the canoe ready for sailing.\n\nEach masawa canoe is divided into ten, eleven, or twelve compartments\nby the stout, horizontal poles called riu, which join the body of the\ncanoe with the outrigger. Such a compartment is called liku, and each\nliku has its name and its function. Starting from the end of the canoe,\nthe first liku, which, as is easily seen, is both narrow and shallow,\nis called ogugwau, 'in the mist,' and this is the proper place for\nthe conch-shell. Small boys will sit there and blow the conch-shell\non ceremonial occasions.\n\nThe next compartment is called likumakava, and there some of the food\nis stowed away. The third division is called kayliku and water-bottles\nmade of coco-nut shells have their traditional place in it. The fourth\nliku, called likuguya'u, is, as its name indicates, the place for\nthe guya'u or chief, which, it may be added, is unofficially used as\na courtesy title for any headman, or man of importance. The baler,\nyalumila, always remains in this compartment. Then follow the central\ncompartments, called gebobo, one, two or three, according to the\nsize of the canoe. This is the place where the lilava is put on the\nplatform, and where are placed the best food, not to be eaten till\nthe arrival in Dobu, and all valuable trade articles. After that\ncentral division, the same divisions, as in the first part are met\nin inverse order (see Plate XXXIX).\n\nWhen the canoe is going to carry much cargo, as is always the case on\nan expedition to Dobu, a square space is fenced round corresponding\nto the gebobo part of the canoe. A big sort of square hen-coop, or\ncage, is thus erected in the middle of the canoe, and this is full\nof bundles wrapped up in mats, and at times when the canoe is not\ntravelling, it is usually covered over with a sail. In the bottom of\nthe canoe a floor is made by a framework of sticks. On this, people\ncan walk and things can rest, while the bilgewater flows underneath,\nand is baled out from time to time. On this framework, in the gebobo,\nfour coco-nuts are placed, each in the corner of the square, while a\nspell is recited over them. It is after that, that the lilava and the\nchoice food, and the rest of the trade are stowed away. The following\nspell belongs to the class which is recited over the four coco-nuts.\n\n\n                             GEBOBO SPELL.\n\n    \"My father, my mother ... Kula, mwasila.\" This short exordium,\n    running in the compressed style proper to magical beginnings, is\n    rather enigmatic, except for the mention of the Kula and mwasila,\n    which explain themselves. The second part is less obscure:\n\n    \"I shall fill my canoe with bagido'u, I shall fill my canoe with\n    bagiriku, I shall fill my canoe with bagidudu, etc.\" All the\n    specific names of the necklaces are enumerated. The last part runs\n    as follows: \"I shall anchor in the open sea, and my renown will go\n    to the Lagoon, I shall anchor in the Lagoon, and my renown will go\n    to the open sea. My companions will be on the open sea and on the\n    Lagoon. My renown is like thunder, my treading is like earthquake.\"\n\n\nThis last part is similar to several of the other formul\u00e6. This rite\nis obviously a Kula rite, judging from the spell, but the natives\nmaintain that its special virtue is to make the food stuffs, loaded\ninto the canoe, last longer. After this rite is over, the loading is\ndone quickly, the lilava is put into its place of honour, and with it\nthe best food to be eaten in Dobu. Some other choice food to serve\nas pokala (offerings) is also put in the gebobo, to be offered to\noverseas partners; on it, the rest of the trade, called pari, is piled,\nand right on top of all are the personal belongings of the usagelu and\nthe toliwaga in their respective baskets, shaped like travelling bags.\n\nThe people from the inland villages, kulila'odila, as they are called,\nare assembled on the beach. With them stand the women, the children,\nthe old men, and the few people left to guard the village. The master\nof the fleet gets up and addresses the crowd on the shore, more or\nless in these words:\n\n\n    \"Women, we others sail; you remain in the village and look after\n    the gardens and the houses; you must keep chaste. When you get\n    into the bush to get wood, may not one of you lag behind. When\n    you go to the gardens to do work keep together. Return together\n    with your younger sisters.\"\n\n\nHe also admonishes the people from the other villages to keep away,\nnever to visit Sinaketa at night or in the evening, and never to come\nsingly into the village. On hearing that, the headman of an inland\nvillage will get up and speak in this fashion:\n\n\n    \"Not thus, oh, our chief; you go away, and your village will remain\n    here as it is. Look, when you are here we come to see you. You\n    sail away, we shall keep to our villages. When you return, we\n    come again. Perhaps you will give us some betel-nut, some sago,\n    some coco-nuts. Perhaps you will kula to us some necklace of\n    shell beads.\"\n\n\nAfter these harangues are over, the canoes sail away in a body. Some\nof the women on the beach may weep at the actual departure, but it\nis taboo to weep afterwards. The woman are also supposed to keep\nthe taboo, that is, not to walk alone out of the village, not to\nreceive male visitors, in fact, to remain chaste and true to their\nhusbands during their absence. Should a woman commit misconduct,\nher husband's canoe would be slow. As a rule there are recriminations\nbetween husbands and wives and consequent bad feeling on the return\nof the party; whether the canoe should be blamed or the wife it is\ndifficult to say.\n\nThe women now look out for the rain and thunder, for the sign that\nthe men have opened the lilava (special magical bundle). Then they\nknow that the party has arrived on the beach of Sarubwoyna, and\nperforms now its final magic, and prepares for its entrance into the\nvillages of Tu'utauna, and Bwayowa. The women are very anxious that\nthe men should succeed in arriving at Dobu, and that they should not\nbe compelled by bad weather to return from the Amphletts. They have\nbeen preparing special grass skirts to put on, when they meet the\nreturning canoes on the beach; they also hope to receive the sago,\nwhich is considered a dainty, and some of the ornaments, which their\nmen bring them back from Dobu. If for any reason the fleet returns\nprematurely, there is great disappointment throughout the village,\nbecause this means the expedition has been a failure, nothing has been\nbrought back to those left at home, and they have no opportunity of\nwearing their ceremonial dress.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE FIRST HALT OF THE FLEET ON MUWA\n\n\nI\n\nAfter so many preparations and preliminaries, we might expect that,\nonce embarked, the natives would make straight for the high mountains,\nwhich beckon them alluringly from the distant South. Quite on the\ncontrary, they are satisfied with a very short stage the first day,\nand after sailing a few miles, they stop on a big sand bank called\nMuwa, lying to the southwest of the village of Sinaketa. Here, near\nthe sandy shore, edged with old, gnarled trees, the canoes are moored\nby sticks, while the crews prepare for a ceremonial distribution of\nfood, and arrange their camp for the night on the beach.\n\nThis somewhat puzzling delay is less incomprehensible, if we reflect\nthat the natives, after having prepared for a distant expedition, now\nat last for the first time find themselves together, separated from the\nrest of the villagers. A sort of mustering and reviewing of forces,\nas a rule associated with a preliminary feast held by the party,\nis characteristic of all the expeditions or visits in the Trobriands.\n\nI have spoken already about big and small expeditions, but I have\nnot perhaps made quite clear that the natives themselves make a\ndefinite distinction between big, competitive Kula expeditions, called\nuvalaku, and sailings on a smaller scale, described as 'just Kula,'\n(\"Kula wala\"). The uvalaku are held every two or three years from\neach district, though nowadays, as in everything else, the natives\nare getting slack. One would be held, whenever there is a great\nagglomeration of vaygu'a, due to reasons which I shall describe\nlater on. Sometimes, a special event, such as the possession by\none of the head men of an exceptionally fine pig, or of an object\nof high value, might give rise to an uvalaku. Thus, in 1918, a big\ncompetitive expedition (uvalaku) from Dobu was held ostensibly for\nthe reason that Kauyaporu, one of the head men of Tu'utauna, owned a\nvery large boar with tusks almost curling over into a circle. Again,\nplenty of food, or in olden days the completion of a successful war\nexpedition, would form the raison d'\u00eatre of an uvalaku. Of course\nthese reasons, explicitly given by the natives, are, so to speak,\naccessory causes, for in reality an uvalaku would be held whenever\nits turn came, that is, barring great scarcity of food or the death\nof an important personage.\n\nThe uvalaku is a Kula expedition on an exceptionally big scale,\ncarried on with a definite social organisation under scrupulous\nobservance of all ceremonial and magical rites, and distinguished\nfrom the smaller expeditions by its size, by a competitive element,\nand by one or two additional features. On an uvalaku, all the canoes\nin the district will sail, and they will sail fully manned. Everybody\nwill be very eager to take part in it. Side by side with this natural\ndesire, however, there exists the idea that all the members of the\ncrews are under an obligation to go on the expedition. This duty they\nowe to the chief, or master of the uvalaku. The toli'uvalaku, as he\nis called, is always one of the sectional chiefs or headmen. He plays\nthe part of a master of ceremonies, on leaving the beach of Sinaketa,\nat the distributions of food, on arrival in the overseas villages,\nand on the ceremonial return home. A streamer of dried and bleached\npandanus leaf, attached to the prows of his canoe on a stick, is the\nostensible sign of the dignity. Such a streamer is called tarabauba'u\nin Kiriwinian, and doya in the Dobuan language. The headman, who\nis toli'uvalaku on an expedition, will as a rule receive more Kula\ngifts than the others. On him also will devolve the glory of this\nparticular expedition. Thus the title of toli, in this case, is one\nof honorary and nominal ownership, resulting mainly in renown (butura)\nfor its bearer, and as such highly valued by the natives.\n\nFrom the economic and legal point of view, however, the obligation\nbinding the members of the expedition to him is the most important\nsociological feature. He gives the distribution of food, in which the\nothers participate, and this imposes on them the duty of carrying out\nthe expedition, however hard this might be, however often they would\nhave to stop or even return owing to bad weather, contrary winds,\nor, in olden days, interference by hostile natives. As the natives say,\n\n\n    \"We cannot return on uvalaku, for we have eaten of the pig,\n    and we have chewed of the betel-nut given by the toli'uvalaku.\"\n\n\nOnly after the most distant community with whom the Sinaketans\nkula has been reached, and after due time has been allowed for the\ncollection of any vaygu'a within reach, will the party start on the\nreturn journey. Concrete cases are quoted in which expeditions had\nto start several times from Sinaketa, always returning within a few\ndays after all the provisions had been eaten on Muwa, from where a\ncontrary wind would not allow the canoes to move south. Or again,\na memorable expedition, some few decades ago, started once or twice,\nwas becalmed in Vakuta, had to give a heavy payment to a wind magician\nin the village of Okinai, to provide them with a propitious northerly\nwind, and then, sailing South at last, met with a vineylida, one of the\ndreadful perils of the sea, a live stone which jumps from the bottom\nof the sea at a canoe. But in spite of all this, they persevered,\nreached Dobu in safety, and made a successful return.\n\nThus we see that, from a sociological point of view, the uvalaku is\nan enterprise partially financed by the toli'uvalaku, and therefore\nredounding to his credit, and bringing him honour; while the obligation\nimposed on others by the food distributed to them, is to carry on\nthe expedition to a successful end.\n\nIt is rather puzzling to find that, although everyone is eager for\nthe expedition, although they all enjoy it equally and satisfy\ntheir ambition and increase their wealth by it, yet the element\nof compulsion and obligation is introduced into it; for we are not\naccustomed to the idea of pleasure having to be forced on people. None\nthe less, the uvalaku is not an isolated feature, for in almost\nall tribal enjoyments and festive entertainments on a big scale,\nthe same principle obtains. The master of the festivities, by an\ninitial distribution of food, imposes an obligation on the others,\nto carry through dancing, sports, or games of the season. And indeed,\nconsidering the ease with which native enthusiasms flag, with which\njealousies, envies and quarrels creep in, and destroy the unanimity\nof social amusements, the need for compulsion from without to amuse\noneself appears not so preposterous as at first sight.\n\nI have said that an uvalaku expedition is distinguished from an\nordinary one, in so far also as the full ceremonial of the Kula has to\nbe observed. Thus all the canoes must be either new or relashed, and\nwithout exception they must be also repainted and redecorated. The full\nceremonial launching, tasasoria, and the presentation, kabigodoya,\nare carried out with every detail only when the Kula takes the\nform of an uvalaku. The pig or pigs killed in the village before\ndeparture are also a special feature of the competitive Kula. So is\nthe kayguya'u ceremonial distribution held on Muwa, just at the point\nof the proceedings at which we have now arrived. The tanarere, a big\ndisplay of vaygu'a and comparison of the individual acquisitions at the\nend of an expedition, is another ceremonial feature of the uvalaku and\nsupplies some of the competitive element. There is also competition as\nto the speed, qualities and beauties of the canoes at the beginning of\nsuch an expedition. Some of the communities who present their vaygu'a\nto an uvalaku expedition vie with one another, as to who will give\nmost, and in fact the element of emulation or competition runs right\nthrough the proceedings. In the following chapters, I shall have,\nin several more points, occasion to distinguish an uvalaku from an\nordinary Kula sailing.\n\nIt must be added at once that, although all these ceremonial features\nare compulsory only on an uvalaku sailing, and although only then\nare they one and all of them unfailingly observed, some and even all\nmay also be kept during an ordinary Kula expedition, especially if it\nhappens to be a somewhat bigger one. The same refers to the various\nmagical rites--that is to say the most important ones--which although\nperformed on every Kula expedition, are carried out with more punctilio\non an uvalaku.\n\nFinally, a very important distinctive feature is the rule, that no\nvaygu'a can be carried on the outbound sailing of an uvalaku. It must\nnot be forgotten that a Kula overseas expedition sails, in order mainly\nto receive gifts and not to give them, and on an uvalaku this rule is\ncarried to its extreme, so that no Kula valuables whatever may be given\nby the visiting party. The natives sailing from Sinaketa to Dobu on\nordinary Kula may carry a few armshells with them, but when they sail\non a ceremonial competitive uvalaku, no armshell is ever taken. For\nit must be remembered that Kula exchanges, as has been explained in\nChapter III, never take place simultaneously. It is always a gift\nfollowed after a lapse of time by a counter-gift. Now on a uvalaku\nthe natives would receive in Dobu a certain amount of gifts, which,\nwithin a year or so, would be returned to the Dobuans, when these\npay a visit to Sinaketa. But there is always a considerable amount of\nvaluables which the Dobuans owe to the Sinaketans, so that when now the\nSinaketans go to Dobu, they will claim also these gifts due to them\nfrom previous occasions. All these technicalities of Kula exchange\nwill become clearer in one of the subsequent chapters (Chapter XIV).\n\nTo sum up, the uvalaku is a ceremonial and competitive\nexpedition. Ceremonial it is, in so far as it is connected with\nthe special initial distribution of food, given by the master of\nthe uvalaku. It is also ceremonial in that all the formalities of\nthe Kula are kept rigorously and without exception, for in a sense\nevery Kula sailing expedition is ceremonial. Competitive it is mainly\nin that at the end of it all the acquired articles are compared and\ncounted. With this also the prohibition to carry vaygu'a, is connected,\nso as to give everyone an even start.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nReturning now to the Sinaketan fleet assembled at Muwa, as soon as\nthey have arrived there, that is, some time about noon, they proceed\nto the ceremonial distribution. Although the toli'uvalaku is master\nof ceremonies, in this case he as a rule sits and watches the initial\nproceedings from a distance. A group of his relatives or friends of\nlesser rank busy themselves with the work. It might be better perhaps\nhere to give a more concrete account, since it is always difficult\nto visualise exactly how such things will proceed.\n\nThis was brought home to me when in March, 1918, I assisted at these\ninitial stages of the Kula in the Amphlett Islands. The natives had\nbeen preparing for days for departure, and on the final date, I spent\nthe whole morning observing and photographing the loading and trimming\nof the canoes, the farewells, and the setting out of the fleet. In the\nevening, after a busy day, as it was a full-moon night, I went for a\nlong pull in a dinghy. Although in the Trobriands I had had accounts\nof the custom of the first halt, yet it gave me a surprise when on\nrounding a rocky point I came upon the whole crowd of Gumasila natives,\nwho had departed on the Kula that morning, sitting in full-moon light\non a beach, only a few miles from the village which they had left\nwith so much to-do some ten hours before. With the fairly strong\nwind that day, I was thinking of them as camping at least half way\nto the Trobriands, on one of the small sand banks some twenty miles\nNorth. I went and sat for a moment among the morose and unfriendly\nAmphlett Islanders, who, unlike the Trobrianders, distinctly resented\nthe inquisitive and blighting presence of an Ethnographer.\n\nTo return to our Sinaketan party, we can imagine the chiefs sitting\nhigh up on the shore under the gnarled, broad-leafed branches of the\nshady trees. They might perhaps be resting in one group, each with a\nfew attendants, or else every headman and chief near his own canoe,\nTo'udawada silently chewing betel-nut, with a heavy and bovine dignity,\nthe excitable Koutauya chattering in a high pitched voice with some of\nhis grown-up sons, among whom there are two or three of the finest men\nin Sinaketa. Further on, with a smaller group of attendants, sits the\ninfamous Sinakadi, in conference with his successor to chieftainship,\nhis sister's son, Gomaya, also a notorious scoundrel. On such occasions\nit is good form for chiefs not to busy themselves among the groups,\nnor to survey the proceedings, but to keep an aloof and detached\nattitude. In company with other notables, they discuss in the short,\njerky sentences which make native languages so difficult to follow,\nthe arrangements and prospects of the Kula, making now and then a\nmythological reference, forecasting the weather, and discussing the\nmerits of the canoes.\n\nIn the meantime, the henchmen of the toli'uvalaku, his sons, his\nyounger brothers, his relatives-in-law, prepare the distribution. As\na rule, either To'udawada or Koutauya would be the toli'uvalaku. The\none who at the given time has more wealth on hand and prospects\nof receiving more vaygu'a, would take over the dignity and the\nburdens. Sinakadi is much less wealthy, and probably it would be an\nexception for him and his predecessors and successors to play the\npart. The minor headmen of the other compound villages of Sinaketa\nwould never fill the r\u00f4le.\n\nWhoever is the master of the expedition for the time being will have\nbrought over a couple of pigs, which will now be laid on the beach and\nadmired by the members of the expedition. Soon some fires are lit,\nand the pigs, with a long pole thrust through their tied feet, are\nhung upside down over the fires. A dreadful squealing fills the air\nand delights the hearers. After the pig has been singed to death, or\nrather, into insensibility, it is taken off and cut open. Specialists\ncut it into appropriate parts, ready for the distribution. Yams,\ntaro, coco-nuts and sugar cane have already been put into big heaps,\nas many as there are canoes--that is, nowadays, eight. On these heaps,\nsome hands of ripe bananas and some betel-nut bunches are placed. On\nthe ground, beside them, on trays of plaited coco-nut leaves,\nthe lumps of meat are displayed. All this food has been provided\nby the toli'uvalaku, who previously has received as contributions\ntowards it special presents, both from his own and from his wife's\nkinsmen. In fact, if we try to draw out all the strands of gifts and\ncontributions connected with such a distribution we would find that\nit is spun round into such an intricate web, that even the lengthy\naccount of the foregoing chapter does not quite do it justice.\n\nAfter the chief's helpers have arranged the heaps, they go over them,\nseeing that the apportionment is correct, shifting some of the food\nhere and there, and memorising to whom each heap will be given. Often\nin the final round, the toli'uvalaku inspects the heaps himself,\nand then returns to his former seat. Then comes the culminating act\nof the distribution. One of the chief's henchmen, always a man of\ninferior rank, accompanied by the chief's helpers, walks down the\nrow of heaps, and at each of them screams out in a very loud voice:\n\n\n    \"O, Siyagana, thy heap, there, O Siyagana, O!\" At the next one he\n    calls the name of another canoe: \"O Gumawora, thy heap, there! O\n    Gumawora O!\"\n\n\nHe goes thus over all the heaps, allotting each one to a canoe. After\nthat is finished, some of the younger boys of each canoe go and fetch\ntheir heap. This is brought to their fire, the meat is roasted, and\nthe yams, the sugar cane and betel-nut distributed among the crew, who\npresently sit down and eat, each group by itself. We see that, although\nthe toli'uvalaku is responsible for the feast, and receives from the\nnatives all the credit for it, his active part in the proceedings is a\nsmall one, and it is more nominal than real. On such occasions it would\nperhaps be incorrect to call him 'master of ceremonies,' although he\nassumes this r\u00f4le, as we shall see, on other occasions. Nevertheless,\nfor the natives, he is the centre of the proceedings. His people do\nall the work there is to be done, and in certain cases he would be\nreferred to for a decision, on some question of etiquette.\n\nAfter the meal is over, the natives rest, chew betel-nut and smoke,\nlooking across the water towards the setting sun--it is now probably\nlate in the afternoon--towards where, above the moored canoes, which\nrock and splash in the shallows, there float the faint silhouettes\nof the mountains. These are the distant Koya, the high hills in the\nd'Entrecasteaux and Amphletts, to which the elder natives have often\nalready sailed, and of which the younger have heard so many times in\nmyth, tales and magical spells. Kula conversations will predominate on\nsuch occasions, and names of distant partners, and personal names of\nspecially valuable vaygu'a will punctuate the conversation and make\nit very obscure to those not initiated into the technicalities and\nhistorical traditions of the Kula. Recollections how a certain big\nspondylus necklace passed a couple of years ago through Sinaketa,\nhow So-and-so handed it to So-and-so in Kiriwina, who again gave it\nto one of his partners in Kitava (all the personal names of course\nbeing mentioned) and how it went from there to Woodlark Island, where\nits traces become lost--such reminiscences lead to conjectures as\nto where the necklace might now be, and whether there is a chance\nof meeting it in Dobu. Famous exchanges are cited, quarrels over\nKula grievances, cases in which a man was killed by magic for his\ntoo successful dealings in the Kula, are told one after the other,\nand listened to with never failing interest. The younger men amuse\nthemselves perhaps with less serious discussions about the dangers\nawaiting them on the sea, about the fierceness of the witches and\ndreadful beings in the Koya, while many a young Trobriander would be\nwarned at this stage of the unaccommodating attitude of the women in\nDobu, and of the fierceness of their men folk.\n\nAfter nightfall a number of small fires are lit on the beach. The stiff\npandanus mats, folded in the middle, are put over each sleeper so as\nto form a small roof, and the whole crowd settle down for the night.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nNext morning, if there is a fair wind, or a hope of it, the natives\nare up very early, and all are feverishly active. Some fix up the\nmasts and rigging of the canoes, doing it much more thoroughly and\ncarefully than it was done on the previous morning, since there may\nbe a whole day's sailing ahead of them perhaps with a strong wind,\nand under dangerous conditions. After all is done, the sails ready\nto be hoisted, the various ropes put into good trim, all the members\nof the crew sit at their posts, and each canoe waits some few yards\nfrom the beach for its toliwaga (master of the canoe). He remains on\nshore, in order to perform one of the several magical rites which,\nat this stage of sailing, break through the purely matter-of-fact\nevents. All these rites of magic are directed towards the canoes,\nmaking them speedy, seaworthy and safe. In the first rite, some leaves\nare medicated by the toliwaga as he squats over them on the beach and\nrecites a formula. The wording of this indicates that it is a speed\nmagic, and this is also the explicit statement of the natives.\n\n\n                           KADUMIYALA SPELL.\n\n    In this spell, the flying fish and the jumping gar fish are\n    invoked at the beginning. Then the toliwaga urges his canoe\n    to fly at its bows and at its stern. Then, in a long tapwana,\n    he repeats a word signifying the magical imparting of speed,\n    and with the names of the various parts of the canoe. The last\n    part runs: \"The canoe flies, the canoe flies in the morning,\n    the canoe flies at sunrise, the canoe flies like a flying witch,\"\n    ending up with the onomatopoetic words \"Saydidi, tatata, numsa,\"\n    which represent the flapping of pandanus streamers in the wind,\n    or as others say, the noises made by the flying witches, as they\n    move through the air on a stormy night.\n\n\nAfter having uttered this spell into the leaves, the toliwaga gives\nthem to one of the usagelu (members of the crew), who, wading round\nthe waga, rubs with them first the dobwana, 'head' of the canoe, then\nthe middle of its body, and finally its u'ula (basis). Proceeding\nround on the side of the outrigger, he rubs the 'head' again. It\nmay be remembered here that, with the native canoes, fore and aft\nin the sailing sense are interchangeable, since the canoe must sail\nhaving always the wind on its outrigger side, and it often has to\nchange stern to bows. But standing on a canoe so that the outrigger\nis on the left hand, and the body of the canoe on the right, a native\nwill call the end of the canoe in front of him its head (dabwana),\nand that behind, its basis (u'ula).\n\nAfter this is over, the toliwaga enters the canoe, the sail is hoisted,\nand the canoe rushes ahead. Now two or three pandanus streamers which\nhad previously been medicated in the village by the toliwaga are tied\nto the rigging, and to the mast. The following is the spell which\nhad been said over them:\n\n\n                             BISILA SPELL.\n\n    \"Bora'i, Bora'i (a mythical name). Bora'i flies, it will fly;\n    Bora'i Bora'i, Bora'i stands up, it will stand up. In company\n    with Bora'i--sidididi. Break through your passage in Kadimwatu,\n    pierce through thy Promontory of Salamwa. Go and attach your\n    pandanus streamer in Salamwa, go and ascend the slope of Loma.\"\n\n    \"Lift up the body of my canoe; its body is like floating gossamer,\n    its body is like dry banana leaf, its body is like fluff.\"\n\n\nThere is a definite association in the minds of the natives between\nthe pandanus streamers, with which they usually decorate mast, rigging\nand sail, and the speed of the canoe. The decorative effect of the\nfloating strips of pale, glittering yellow is indeed wonderful,\nwhen the speed of the canoe makes them flutter in the wind. Like\nsmall banners of some stiff, golden fabric they envelope the sail\nand rigging with light, colour and movement.\n\nThe pandanus streamers, and especially their trembling, are a definite\ncharacteristic of Trobriand culture (see Plate XXIX). In some of their\ndances, the natives use long, bleached ribbons of pandanus, which the\nmen hold in both hands, and set a-flutter while they dance. To do this\nwell is one of the main achievements of a brilliant artist. On many\nfestive occasions the bisila (pandanus streamers) are tied to houses\non poles for decoration. They are thrust into armlets and belts as\npersonal ornaments. The vaygu'a (valuables) when prepared for the Kula,\nare decorated with strips of bisila. In the Kula a chief will send to\nsome distant partner a bisila streamer over which a special spell has\nbeen recited, and this will make the partner eager to bestow valuables\non the sender. As we saw, a broad bisila streamer is attached to the\ncanoe of a toli'uvalaku as his badge of honour. The flying witches\n(mulukwausi) are supposed to use pandanus streamers in order to\nacquire speed and levitation in their nightly flights through the air.\n\nAfter the magical pandanus strips have been tied to the rigging,\nbeside the non-magical, purely ornamental ones, the toliwaga sits at\nthe veva rope, the sheet by which the sail is extended to the wind,\nand moving it to and fro he recites a spell.\n\n\n                          KAYIKUNA VEVA SPELL.\n\n    Two verbs signifying magical influence are repeated with the\n    prefix bo---which implies the conception of 'ritual' or 'sacred'\n    or 'being tabooed.' [62] Then the toliwaga says: \"I shall treat\n    my canoe magically in its middle part, I shall treat it in its\n    body. I shall take my butia (flower wreath), of the sweet-scented\n    flowers. I shall put it on the head of my canoe.\"\n\n    Then a lengthy middle strophe is recited, in which all the parts\n    of a canoe are named with two verbs one after the other. The verbs\n    are: \"To wreathe the canoe in a ritual manner,\" and \"to paint\n    it red in a ritual manner.\" The prefix bo-, added to the verbs,\n    has been here translated, \"in a ritual manner.\"[62]\n\n    The spell ends by a conclusion similar to that of many other canoe\n    formul\u00e6, \"My canoe, thou art like a whirlwind, like a vanishing\n    shadow! Disappear in the distance, become like mist, avaunt!\"\n\n\nThese are the three usual rites for the sake of speed at the beginning\nof the journey. If the canoe remains slow, however, an auxiliary\nrite is performed; a piece of dried banana leaf is put between the\ngunwale and one of the inner frame sticks of the canoe, and a spell\nis recited over it. After that, they beat both ends of the canoe\nwith this banana leaf. If the canoe is still heavy, and lags behind\nthe others, a piece of kuleya (cooked and stale yam) is put on a\nmat, and the toliwaga medicates it with a spell which transfers the\nheaviness to the yam. The spell here recited is the same one which\nwe met when the heavy log was being pulled into the village. The log\nwas then beaten with a bunch of grass, accompanied by the recital of\nthe spell, and then this bunch was thrown away. [63] In this case\nthe piece of yam which has taken on the heaviness of the canoe is\nthrown overboard. Sometimes, however, even this is of no avail. The\ntoliwaga then seats himself on the platform next to the steersman,\nand utters a spell over a piece of coco-nut husk, which is thrown into\nthe water. This rite, called Bisiboda patile is a piece of evil-magic\n(bulubwalata), intended to keep all the other canoes back. If that\ndoes not help, the natives conclude that some taboos pertaining to\nthe canoe might have been broken, and perhaps the toliwaga may feel\nsome misgivings regarding the conduct of his wife or wives.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nSAILING ON THE SEA-ARM OF PILOLU\n\n\nI\n\nNow at last the Kula expedition is properly set going. The canoes are\nstarted on a long stage, before them the sea-arm of Pilolu, stretching\nbetween the Trobriands and the d'Entrecasteaux. On the North, this\nportion of the sea is bounded by the Archipelago of the Trobriands,\nthat is, by the islands of Vakuta, Boyowa and Kayleula, joining in\nthe west on to the scattered belt of the Lousan\u00e7ay Islands. On the\neast, a long submerged reef runs from the southern end of Vakuta to\nthe Amphletts, forming an extended barrier to sailing, but affording\nlittle protection from the eastern winds and seas. In the South,\nthis barrier links on to the Amphletts, which together with the\nNorthern coast of Fergusson and Goodenough, form the Southern shore\nof Pilolu. To the West, Pilolu opens up into the seas between the\nmainland of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. In fact, what\nthe natives designate by the name of Pilolu is nothing else but the\nenormous basin of the Lousan\u00e7ay Lagoon, the largest coral atoll in\nthe world. To the natives, the name of Pilolu is full of emotional\nassociations, drawn from magic and myth; it is connected with the\nexperiences of past generations, told by the old men round the village\nfires and with adventure personally lived through.\n\nAs the Kula adventurers speed along with filled sails, the shallow\nLagoon of the Trobriands soon falls away behind; the dull green waters,\nsprinkled with patches of brown where seaweed grows high and rank,\nand lit up here and there with spots of bright emerald where a shallow\nbottom of clean sand shines through, give place to a deeper sea of\nstrong green hue. The low strip of land, which surrounds the Trobriand\nLagoon in a wide sweep, thins away and dissolves in the haze, and\nbefore them the southern mountains rise higher and higher. On a clear\nday, these are visible even from the Trobriands. The neat outlines of\nthe Amphletts stand diminutive, yet firmer and more material, against\nthe blue silhouettes of the higher mountains behind. These, like a\nfar away cloud are draped in wreaths of cumuli, almost always clinging\nto their summits. The nearest of them, Koyatabu--the mountain of the\ntaboo-- [64] on the North end of Fergusson Island, a slim, somewhat\ntilted pyramid, forms a most alluring beacon, guiding the mariners due\nSouth. To the right of it, as we look towards the South-West, a broad,\nbulky mountain, the Koyabwaga'u--mountain of the sorcerers--marks the\nNorth-western corner of Fergusson Island. The mountains on Goodenough\nIsland are visible only in very clear weather, and then very faintly.\n\nWithin a day or two, these disembodied, misty forms are to assume what\nfor the Trobrianders seems marvellous shape and enormous bulk. They\nare to surround the Kula traders with their solid walls of precipitous\nrock and green jungle, furrowed with deep ravines and streaked with\nracing water-courses. The Trobrianders will sail deep, shaded bays,\nresounding with the, to them unknown, voice of waterfalls; with the\nweird cries of strange birds which never visit the Trobriands, such as\nthe laughing of the kookooburra (laughing jackass), and the melancholy\ncall of the South Sea crow. The sea will change its colour once more,\nbecome pure blue, and beneath its transparent waters, a marvellous\nworld of multi-coloured coral, fish and seaweed will unfold itself,\na world which, through a strange geographical irony, the inhabitants\nof a coral island hardly ever can see at home, and must come to this\nvolcanic region to discover.\n\nIn these surroundings, they will find also wonderful, heavy, compact\nstones of various colours and shapes, whereas at home the only stone is\nthe insipid, white, dead coral. Here they can see, besides many types\nof granite and basalt and volcanic tuff, specimens of black obsidian,\nwith its sharp edges and metallic ring, and sites full of red and\nyellow ochre. Besides big hills of volcanic ash, they will behold\nhot springs boiling up periodically. Of all these marvels the young\nTrobriander hears tales, and sees samples brought back to his country,\nand there is no doubt that it is for him a wonderful experience to\nfind himself amongst them for the first time, and that afterwards\nhe eagerly seizes every opportunity that offers to sail again to the\nKoya. Thus the landscape now before them is a sort of promised land,\na country spoken of in almost legendary tone.\n\nAnd indeed the scenery here, on the borderland of the two different\nworlds, is singularly impressive. Sailing away from the Trobriands\non my last expedition, I had to spend two days, weatherbound, on a\nsmall sandbank covered with a few pandanus trees, about midway between\nthe Trobriands and the Amphletts. A darkened sea lay to the North,\nbig thunderclouds hanging over where I knew there was the large flat\nisland of Boyowa--the Trobriands. To the South, against a clearer sky,\nwere the abrupt forms of the mountains, scattered over half of the\nhorizon. The scenery seemed saturated with myth and legendary tales,\nwith the strange adventures, hopes and fears of generations of native\nsailors. On this sandbank they had often camped, when becalmed or\nthreatened with bad weather. On such an island, the great mythical\nhero, Kasabwaybwayreta stopped, and was marooned by his companions,\nonly to escape through the sky. Here again a mythical canoe once\nhalted, in order to be re-caulked. As I sat there, looking towards\nthe Southern mountains, so clearly visible, yet so inaccessible,\nI realised what must be the feelings of the Trobrianders, desirous\nto reach the Koya, to meet the strange people, and to kula with them,\na desire made perhaps even more acute by a mixture of fear. For there,\nto the west of the Amphletts, they see the big bay of Gabu, where once\nthe crews of a whole fleet of Trobriand canoes were killed and eaten\nby the inhabitants of unknown villages, in attempting to kula with\nthem. And stories are also told of single canoes, drifted apart from\nthe fleet and cast against the northern shore of Fergusson Island,\nof which all the crew perished at the hands of the cannibals. There\nare also legends of some inexperienced natives, who, visiting the\nneighbourhood of Deyde'i and arriving at the crystal water in the\nbig stone basins there, plunged in, to meet a dreadful death in the\nalmost boiling pool.\n\nBut though the legendary dangers on the distant shores may appall\nthe native imagination, the perils of actual sailing are even\nmore real. The sea over which they travel is seamed with reefs,\nstudded with sandbanks and coral rocks awash. And though in fair\nweather these are not so dangerous to a canoe as to a European\nboat, yet they are bad enough. The main dangers of native sailing,\nhowever, lie in the helplessness of a canoe. As we have said before,\nit cannot sail close to the wind, and therefore cannot beat. If the\nwind comes round, the canoe has to turn and retrace its course. This\nis very unpleasant, but not necessarily dangerous. If, however, the\nwind drops, and the canoe just happens to be in one of the strong\ntides, which run anything between three and five knots, or if it\nbecomes disabled, and makes leeway at right angles to its course,\nthe situation becomes dangerous. To the West, there lies the open\nsea, and once far out there, the canoe would have slender chances\nof ever returning. To the East, there runs the reef, on which in\nheavy weather a native canoe would surely be smashed. In May, 1918,\na Dobuan canoe, returning home a few days after the rest of the fleet,\nwas caught by a strong South-Easterly wind, so strong that it had\nto give up its course, and make North-West to one of the Lousan\u00e7ay\nIslands. It had been given up as lost, when in August it came back\nwith a chance blow of the North-Westerly wind. It had had, however,\na narrow escape in making the small island. Had it been blown further\nWest, it would never have reached land at all.\n\nThere exist other tales of lost canoes, and it is a wonder that\naccidents are not more frequent, considering the conditions under\nwhich they have to sail. Sailing has to be done, so to speak, on\nstraight lines across the sea. Once they deviate from this course,\nall sorts of dangers crop up. Not only that, but they must sail\nbetween fixed points on the land. For, and this of course refers to\nthe olden days, if they had to go ashore, anywhere but in the district\nof a friendly tribe, the perils which met them were almost as bad as\nthose of reefs and sharks. If the sailors missed the friendly villages\nof the Amphletts and of Dobu, everywhere else they would meet with\nextermination. Even nowadays, though the danger of being killed would\nbe smaller--perhaps not absolutely non-existent--yet the natives would\nfeel very uncomfortable at the idea of landing in a strange district,\nfearing not only death by violence, but even more by evil magic. Thus,\nas the natives sail across Pilolu, only very small sectors of their\nhorizon present a safe goal for their journey.\n\nOn the East, indeed, beyond the dangerous barrier reef, there is a\nfriendly horizon, marked for them by the Marshall Bennett Islands,\nand Woodlark, the country known under the term Omuyuwa. To the South,\nthere is the Koya, also known as the land of the kinana, by which\nname the natives of the d'Entrecasteaux and the Amphletts are known\ngenerically. But to the South-West and West there is the deep open sea\n(bebega), and beyond that, lands inhabited by tailed people, and by\npeople with wings, of whom very little more is known. To the North,\nbeyond the reef of small coral islands, lying off the Trobriands,\nthere are two countries, Kokopawa and Kaytalugi. Kokopawa is peopled\nwith ordinary men and women, who walk about naked, and are great\ngardeners. Whether this country corresponds to the South coast of\nNew Britain, where people really are without any clothing, it would\nbe difficult to say.\n\nThe other country, Kaytalugi, is a land of women only, in which no man\ncan survive. The women who live there are beautiful, big and strong,\nand they walk about naked, and with their bodily hair unshaven (which\nis contrary to the Trobriand custom). They are extremely dangerous\nto any man through the unbounded violence of their passion. The\nnatives never tire of describing graphically how such women would\nsatisfy their sensuous lust, if they got hold of some luckless,\nshipwrecked man. No one could survive, even for a short time, the\namorous yet brutal attacks of these women. The natives compare this\ntreatment to that customary at the yousa, the orgiastic mishandling of\nany man, caught at certain stages of female communal labour in Boyowa\n(cf. Chapter II, Division II). Not even the boys born on this island of\nKaytalugi can survive a tender age. It must be remembered the natives\nsee no need for male co-operation in continuing the race. Thus the\nwomen propagate the race, although every male needs must come to an\nuntimely end before he can become a man.\n\nNone the less, there is a legend that some men from the village of\nKaulagu, in eastern Boyowa, were blown in their canoe far North from\nthe easterly course of a Kula expedition, and were stranded on the\ncoast of Kaytalugi. There, having survived the first reception, they\nwere apportioned individually and married. Having repaired their canoe,\nostensibly for the sake of bringing some fish to their wives, one night\nthey put food and water into it, and secretly sailed away. On their\nreturn to their own village, they found their women married to other\nmen. However, such things never end tragically in the Trobriands. As\nsoon as their rightful lords reappeared their women came back to\nthem. Among other things these men brought to Boyowa a variety of\nbanana called usikela, not known before.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nReturning again to our Kula party, we see that, in journeying across\nPilolu, they move within the narrow confines of familiar sailing\nground, surrounded on all sides both by real dangers and by lands of\nimaginary horrors. On their track, however, the natives never go out of\nsight of land, and in the event of mist or rain, they can always take\nsufficient bearings to enable them to make for the nearest sand-bank or\nisland. This is never more than some six miles off, a distance which,\nshould the wind have dropped, may even be reached by paddling.\n\nAnother thing that also makes their sailing not so dangerous as\none would imagine, is the regularity of the winds in this part of\nthe world. As a rule, in each of the two main seasons, there is one\nprevailing direction of wind, which does not shift more than within\nsome ninety degrees. Thus, in the dry season, from May to October,\nthe trade wind blows almost incessantly from the South-East or South,\nmoving sometimes to the North-East, but never beyond that. As a matter\nof fact, however, this season, just because of the constancy of the\nwind, does not lend itself very well to native sailing. For although\nwith this wind it is easy to sail from South to North, or East to West,\nit is impossible to retrace the course, and as the wind often blows\nfor months without veering, the natives prefer to do their sailings\nbetween the seasons, or in the time when the monsoon blows. Between\nthe seasons--November, December or March and April--the winds are not\nso constant, in fact they shift from one position on the compass to\nanother. On the other hand, there is very seldom a strong blow at this\ntime, and so this is the ideal season for sailing. In the hot summer\nmonths, December till March, the monsoon blows from the North-West or\nSouth-West, less regularly than a trade wind, but often culminating in\nviolent storms which almost always come from the North-West. Thus the\ntwo strong winds to be met in these seas come from definite directions,\nand this minimises the danger. The natives also as a rule are able to\nforetell a day or two beforehand the approach of a squall. Rightly\nor wrongly, they associate the strength of the North-Westerly gales\nwith the phases of the moon.\n\nThere is, of course, a good deal of magic to make wind blow or to\nput it down. Like many other forms of magic, wind magic is localised\nin villages. The inhabitants of Simsim, the biggest village in\nthe Lousan\u00e7ay Islands, and the furthest North-Westerly settlement\nof this district, are credited with the ability of controlling\nthe North-Westerly wind, perhaps through association with their\ngeographical position. Again, the control over the South-Easterly\nwind is granted to the inhabitants of Kitava, lying to the East of\nBoyowa. The Simsim people control all the winds which blow habitually\nduring the rainy season, that is the winds on the western side of\nthe compass, from North to South. The other half can be worked by\nthe Kitavan spells.\n\nMany men in Boyowa have learnt both spells and they practise the\nmagic. The spells are chanted broadcast into the wind, without\nany other ritual. It is an impressive spectacle to walk through a\nvillage, during one of the devastating gales, which always arise\nat night and during which people leave their huts and assemble in\ncleared spaces. They are afraid the wind may lift their dwellings\noff the ground, or uproot a tree which might injure them in falling,\nan accident which actually did happen a year or two ago in Wawela,\nkilling the chief's wife. Through the darkness from the doors of\nsome of the huts, and from among the huddled groups, there resound\nloud voices, chanting, in a penetrating sing-song, the spells for\nabating the force of the wind. On such occasions, feeling myself\nsomewhat nervous, I was deeply impressed by this persistent effort\nof frail, human voice, fraught with deep belief, pitting itself so\nfeebly against the monotonous, overpowering force of the wind.\n\nTaking the bearing by sight, and helped by the uniformity of winds,\nthe natives have no need of even the most elementary knowledge of\nnavigation. Barring accidents they never have to direct their course\nby the stars. Of these, they know certain Outstanding constellations,\nsufficient to indicate for them the direction, should they need\nit. They have names for the Pleiades, for Orion, for the Southern\nCross, and they also recognise a few constellations of their own\nconstruction. Their knowledge of the stars, as we have mentioned\nalready in Chapter II, Division V, is localised in the village of\nWawela, where it is handed over in the maternal line of the chiefs\nof the village.\n\nIn order to understand better the customs and problems of sailing,\na few words must be said about the technique of managing a canoe. As\nwe have said before, the wind must always strike the craft, on the\noutrigger side, so the sailing canoe is always tilted with its float\nraised, and the platform slanting towards the body of the canoe. This\nmakes it necessary for it to be able to change bows and stern at\nwill; for imagine that a canoe going due South, has to sail with\na North-Easterly wind, then the lamina (outrigger) must be on the\nleft hand, and the canoe sails with what the natives call its \"head\"\nforward. Now imagine that the wind turns to the North-West. Should\nthis happen in a violent squall, without warning, the canoe would be\nat once submerged. But, as such a change would be gradual, barring\naccidents, the natives could easily cope with it. The mast, which is\ntied at the fourth cross-pole (ri'u) from the temporary bows of the\ncanoe, would be unbound, the canoe would be turned 180 degrees around,\nso that its head would now form the stern, its u'ula (foundation)\nwould face South, and become its bows, and the platform would be\nto our right, facing West. The mast would be attached again to the\nfourth cross-pole (ri'u), from the u'ula end, the sail hoisted, and\nthe canoe would glide along with the wind striking it again on its\noutrigger side, but having changed bows to stern (see Plate XLI).\n\nThe natives have a set of nautical expressions to describe the various\noperations of changing mast, of trimming the sail, of paying out the\nsheet rope, of shifting the sail, so that it stands up with its bottom\nend high, and its tip touching the canoe, or else letting it lie with\nboth boom and gaff almost horizontal. And they have definite rules\nas to how the various manoeuvres should be carried out, according\nto the strength of the wind, and to the quarter on which it strikes\nthe canoe. They have four expressions denoting a following wind,\nwind striking the outrigger beam, wind striking the canoe from the\nkatala (built-out body), and wind striking the canoe on the outrigger\nside close to the direction of sailing. There is no point, however,\nin adducing this native terminology here, as we shall not any further\nrefer to it; it is enough to know that they have got definite rules,\nand means of expressing them, with regard to the handling of a canoe.\n\nIt has been often remarked here, that the Trobriand canoes cannot sail\nclose to the wind. They are very light, and shallow, and have very\nlittle water board, giving a small resistance against making lee-way. I\nthink that this is also the reason, why they need two men to do the\nsteering for the steering oars act as lee-boards. One of the men wields\na big, elongated steering oar, called kuriga. He sits at the stern,\nof course, in the body of the canoe. The other man handles a smaller\nsteering paddle, leaf-shaped, yet with a bigger blade than the paddling\noars; it is called viyoyu. He sits at the stern end of the platform,\nand does the steering through the sticks of the pitapatile (platform).\n\nThe other working members of the crew are the man at the sheet, the\ntokwabila veva, as he is called, who has to let out the veva or pull\nit in, according as the wind shifts and varies in strength.\n\nAnother man, as a rule, stands in the bows of the ship on the\nlook-out, and if necessary, has to climb the mast in order to trim the\nrigging. Or again, he would have to bale the water from time to time,\nas this always leaks through, or splashes into the canoe. Thus four\nmen are enough to man a canoe, though usually the functions of the\nbaler and the man on the look-out and at the mast are divided.\n\nWhen the wind drops, the men have to take to the small, leaf-shaped\npaddles, while one, as a rule, wields a pulling oar. But in order to\ngive speed to a heavy masawa canoe, at least ten men would have to\npaddle and pull. As we shall see, on certain ceremonial occasions,\nthe canoes have to be propelled by paddling, for instance when they\napproach their final destination, after having performed the great\nmwasila magic. When they arrive at a halting place, the canoes,\nif necessary, are beached. As a rule, however, the heavily loaded\ncanoes on a Kula expedition, would be secured by both mooring and\nanchoring, according to the bottom. On muddy bottoms, such as that\nof the Trobriand Lagoon, a long stick would be thrust into the slime,\nand one end of the canoe lashed to it. From the other, a heavy stone,\ntied with a rope, would be thrown down as an anchor. Over a hard,\nrocky bottom, the anchor stone alone is used.\n\nIt can be easily understood that with such craft, and with such\nlimitations in sailing, there are many real dangers which threaten the\nnatives. If the wind is too strong, and the sea becomes too rough,\na canoe may not be able to follow its course, and making lee-way,\nor even directly running before the wind, it may be driven into a\nquarter where there is no landfall to be made, or from where at best\nthere is no returning at that season. This is what happened to the\nDobuan boat mentioned before. Or else, a canoe becalmed and seized\nby the tide may not be able to make its way by means of paddling. Or\nin stormy weather, it may be smashed on rocks and sandbanks, or even\nunable to withstand the impact of waves. An open craft like a native\ncanoe easily fills with sea water, and, in a heavy rain-storm, with\nrain water. In a calm sea this is not very dangerous, for the wooden\ncanoe does not sink; even if swamped, the water can be baled out and\nthe canoe floats up. But in rough weather, a water-logged canoe loses\nits buoyancy and gets broken up. Last and not least, there is the\ndanger of the canoe being pressed into the water, outrigger first,\nshould the wind strike it on the opposite side. With so many real\ndangers around it, it is a marvellous thing, and to the credit of\nnative seamanship, that accidents are comparatively rare.\n\nWe now know about the crew of the canoe and the different functions\nwhich every man has to fulfil. Remembering what has been said in\nChapter IV, Division V, about the sociological division of functions in\nsailing, we can visualise concretely the craft with all its inmates,\nas it sails on the Pilolu; the toliwaga usually sits near the mast\nin the compartment called kayguya'u. With him perhaps is one of his\nsons or young relatives, while another boy remains in the bows, near\nthe conch-shell ready to sound it, whenever the occasion arises. Thus\nare employed the toliwaga and the dodo'u (small boys). The usagelu\nor members of the crew, some four or five strong, are each at his\npost, with perhaps one supernumerary to assist at any emergency,\nwhere the task would require it. On the platform are lounging some\nof the silasila, the youths not yet employed in any work, and not\nparticipating in the Kula, but there for their pleasure, and to learn\nhow to manage a boat (see Plate XL).\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nAll these people have not only special posts and modes of occupation\nassigned to them, but they have also to keep certain rules. The canoe\non a Kula expedition, is surrounded by taboos, and many observances\nhave to be strictly kept, else this or that might go wrong. Thus it\nis not allowed to 'point to objects with the hand' (yosala yamada),\nor those who do it will become sick. A new canoe has many prohibitions\nconnected with it, which are called bomala wayugo (the taboos of\nthe lashing creeper). Eating and drinking are not allowed in a new\ncanoe except after sunset. The breaking of this taboo would make\nthe canoe very slow. On a very quick waga this rule might perhaps\nbe disregarded, especially if one of the young boys were hungry or\nthirsty. The toliwaga would then bale in some sea-water, pour it over\none of the lashings of the creeper with the words:\n\n\n    \"I sprinkle thy eye, O kudayuri creeper, so that our crew might\n    eat.\"\n\n\nAfter that, he would give the boy something to eat and drink. Besides\nthis eating and drinking taboo, on a new waga the other physiological\nneeds must not be satisfied. In case of urgent necessity, a man jumps\ninto the water, holding to one of the cross sticks of the outrigger,\nor if it were a small boy, he is lowered into the water by one of the\nelders. This taboo, if broken, would also make the canoe slow. These\ntwo taboos, however, as was said, are kept only on a new waga, that\nis on such a one which either sails for the first time, or else has\nbeen relashed and repainted before this trip. The taboos are in all\ncases not operative on the return journey. Women are not allowed to\nenter a new waga before it sails. Certain types of yams may not be\ncarried on a canoe, which has been lashed with the rites of one of\nthe wayugo magical systems. There are several systems of this magic\n(compare Chapter XVII, Division VII) and each has got its specific\ntaboos. These last taboos are to be kept right through the sailing.\nOn account of a magic to be described in the next chapter, the magic\nof safety as it might be called, a canoe has to be kept free from\ncontact with earth, sand and stones. Hence the natives of Sinaketa\ndo not beach their canoes if they can possibly avoid it.\n\nAmong the specific taboos of the Kula, called bomala lilava (taboos of\nthe magical bundle) there is a strict rule referring to the entering\nof a canoe. This must not be entered from any other point but on the\nvitovaria, that is, the front side of the platform, facing the mast.\nA native has to scale the platform at this place, then, crouching low,\npass to the back or front, and there descend into the body of the\ncanoe, or sit down where he is. The compartment facing the lilava\n(magical bundle) is filled out with other trade goods. In front of\nit sits the chief, behind it the man who handles the sheets. The\nnatives have special expressions which denote the various manners\nof illicitly entering a canoe, and, in some of the canoe exorcisms,\nthese expressions are used to undo the evil effects of the breaking of\nthese taboos. Other prohibitions, which the natives call the taboo of\nthe mwasila, though not associated with the lilava, are those which\ndo not allow of using flower wreaths, red ornaments, or red flowers\nin decorating the canoe or the bodies of the crew. The red colour of\nsuch ornaments is, according to native belief, magically incompatible\nwith the aim of the expedition--the acquisition of the red spondylus\nnecklaces. Also, yams may not be roasted on the outward journey,\nwhile later on, in Dobu, no local food may be eaten, and the natives\nhave to subsist on their own provisions, until the first Kula gifts\nhave been received.\n\nThere are, besides, definite rules, referring to the behaviour of one\ncanoe towards another, but these vary considerably with the different\nvillages. In Sinaketa, such rules are very few; no fixed sequence is\nobserved in the sailing order of the canoes, anyone of them can start\nfirst, and if one of them is swifter it may pass any of the others,\neven that of a chief. This, however, has to be done so that the\nslower canoe is not passed on the outrigger side. Should this happen,\nthe transgressing canoe has to give the other one a peace offering\n(lula), because it has broken a bomala lilava, it has offended the\nmagical bundle.\n\nThere is one interesting point with regard to priorities in Sinaketa,\nand to describe this we must hark back to the subject of canoe-building\nand launching. One of the sub-clans of the Lukwasisiga clan, the\nTolabwaga sub-clan, have the right of priority in all the successive\noperations of piecing together, lashing, caulking, and painting of\ntheir canoes. All these stages of building and all the magic must first\nbe done on the Tolabwaga canoe, and this canoe is also the first to\nbe launched. Only afterwards, the chief's and the commoners' canoes\nmay follow. A correct observance of this rule 'keeps the sea clean'\n(imilakatile bwarita). If it were broken, and the chiefs had their\ncanoes built or launched before the Tolabwaga, the Kula would not\nbe successful.\n\n\n    \"We go to Dobu, no pig, no soulava necklace is given. We would\n    tell the chiefs: 'Why have you first made your canoes? The\n    ancestor spirits have turned against us, for we have broken the\n    old custom!'\"\n\n\nOnce at sea, however, the chiefs are first again, in theory at least,\nfor in practice the swiftest canoe may sail first.\n\nIn the sailing custom of Vakuta, the other South Boyowan community, who\nmake the Kula with the Dobu, a sub-clan of the Lukwasisiga clan, called\nTolawaga, have the privilege of priority in all the canoe-building\noperations. While at sea, they also retain one prerogative, denied to\nall the others: the man who steers with the smaller oar, the tokabina\nviyoyu, is allowed permanently to stand up on the platform. As the\nnatives put it,\n\n\n    \"This is the sign of the Tolawaga (sub-clan) of Vakuta: wherever\n    we see a man standing up at the viyoyu, we say: 'there sails the\n    canoe of the Tolawaga!'\"\n\n\nThe greatest privileges, however, granted to a sub-clan in sailing\nare those which are to be found in Kavataria. This fishing and\nsailing community from the North shore of the Lagoon makes distant and\ndangerous sailings to the North-Western end of Fergusson Island. These\nexpeditions for sago, betel-nut, and pigs will be described in Chapter\nXXI. Their sea customs, however, have to be mentioned here.\n\nThe Kulutula sub-clan of the Lukwasisiga clan enjoy all the same\nprivileges of priority in building, as the Tolabwaga and Tolawaga\nclans in the southern villages, only in a still higher degree. For\ntheir canoe has to pass each stage of construction on the first day,\nand only the day after can the others follow. This refers even to\nlaunching, the Kulutula canoe being launched one day, and on the next\nthose of the chiefs and commoners. When the moment of starting arrives,\nthe Kulutula canoe leaves the beach first, and during the sailing no\none is allowed to pass ahead of it. When they arrive at the sandbanks\nor at an intermediate place in the Amphletts, the Kulutula have to\nanchor first, and first go ashore and make their camp ready. Only after\nthat can the others follow. This priority expires at the final point\nof destination. When they arrive at the furthest Koya the Kulutula\ngo ashore first, and they are the first to be presented with the\nwelcoming gift of the 'foreigner' (tokinana). He receives them with\na bunch of betel-nut, which he beats against the head of the canoe,\ntill the nuts scatter. On the return journey, the Kulutula clan sink\nagain into their naturally inferior position.\n\nIt may be noted that all the three privileged sub-clans in the three\nvillages belong to the Lukwasisiga clan, and that the names of two\nof them, Tolawaga, Tolabwaga have a striking resemblance to the word\ntoliwaga, although these resemblances would have to be tested by some\nstricter methods of etymological comparison, than I have now at my\ndisposal. The fact that these clans, under special circumstances of\nsailing, resume what may be a lost superiority points to an interesting\nhistorical survival. The name Kulutula is undoubtedly identical with\nKulutalu, which is an independent totemic clan in the Eastern Marshall\nBennetts and in Woodlark. [65]\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nLet us return now to our Sinaketan fleet, moving southwards along\nthe barrier reef and sighting one small island after the other. If\nthey did not start very early from Muwa--and delay is one of the\ncharacteristics of native life--and if they were not favoured with\na very good wind, they would probably have to put in at one of the\nsmall sand islands, Legumatabu, Gabuwana or Yakum. Here, on the\nwestern side, sheltered from the prevalent trade winds, there is a\ndiminutive lagoon, bounded by two natural breakwaters of coral reef\nrunning from the Northern and Southern ends of the island. Fires are\nlit on the clean, white sand, under the scraggy pandanus trees, and\nthe natives boil their yam food and the eggs of the wild sea fowl,\ncollected on the spot. When darkness closes in and the fires draw\nthem all into a circle, the Kula talk begins again.\n\nLet us listen to some such conversations, and try to steep ourselves\nin the atmosphere surrounding this handful of natives, cast for a\nwhile on to the narrow sandbank, far away from their homes, having\nto trust only to their frail canoes on the long journey which faces\nthem. Darkness, the roar of surf breaking on the reef, the dry rattle\nof the pandanus leaves in the wind, all produce a frame of mind in\nwhich it is easy to believe in the dangers of witches and all the\nbeings usually hidden away, but ready to creep out at some special\nmoment of horror. The change of tone is unmistakable, when you get\nthe natives to talk about these things on such an occasion, from the\ncalm, often rationalistic way of treating them in broad daylight in\nan Ethnographer's tent. Some of the most striking revelations I have\nreceived of this side of native belief and psychology were made to me\non similar occasions. Sitting on a lonely beach in Sanaroa, surrounded\nby a crew of Trobrianders, Dobuans, and a few local natives, I first\nheard the story of the jumping stones. On a previous night, trying to\nanchor off Gumasila in the Amphletts, we had been caught by a violent\nsquall, which tore one of our sails, and forced us to run before the\nwind, on a dark night, in the pouring rain. Except for myself, all\nthe members of the crew saw clearly the flying witches in the form\nof a flame at the mast head. Whether this was St. Elmo's fire I could\nnot judge, as I was in the cabin, seasick and indifferent to dangers,\nwitches, and even ethnographic revelations. Inspired by this incident,\nmy crew told me how this is, as a rule, a sign of disaster, how such\na light appeared a few years ago in a boat, which was sunk almost on\nthe same spot where the squall had caught us; but fortunately all\nwere saved. Starting from this, all sorts of dangers were spoken\nabout, in a tone of deep conviction, rendered perfectly sincere by\nthe experiences of the previous night, the surrounding darkness,\nand the difficulties of the situation--for we had to repair our sail\nand again attempt the difficult landing in the Amphletts.\n\nI have always found that whenever natives are found under similar\ncircumstances, surrounded by the darkness and the imminent possibility\nof danger, they naturally drift into a conversation about the various\nthings and beings into which the fears and apprehensions of generations\nhave traditionally crystallised.\n\nThus if we imagine that we listen to an account of the perils and\nhorrors of the seas, sitting round the fire at Yakum or Legumatabu,\nwe do not stray from reality. One of those who are specially versed in\ntradition, and who love to tell a story, might refer to one of his own\nexperiences; or to a well-known case from the past, while others would\nchime in, and comment, telling their own stories. General statements\nof belief would be given, while the younger men would listen to the\ntales so familiar, but always heard with renewed interest.\n\nThey would hear about an enormous octopus (kwita) which lies in wait\nfor canoes, sailing over the open seas. It is not an ordinary kwita\nof exceptional size, but a special one, so gigantic that it would\ncover a whole village with its body; its arms are thick as coco-nut\npalms, stretching right across the sea. With typical exaggeration,\nthe natives will say: 'ikanubwadi Pilolu,' ... 'he covers up all the\nPilolu' (the sea-arm between the Trobriands and the Amphletts). Its\nproper home is in the East, 'o Muyuwa,' as the natives describe that\nregion of sea and islands, where also it is believed some magic is\nknown against the dreadful creature. Only seldom does it come to the\nwaters between the Trobriands and Amphletts, but there are people who\nhave seen it there. One of the old men of Sinaketa tells how, coming\nfrom Dobu, when he was quite young, he sailed in a canoe ahead of\nthe fleet, some canoes being to the right and some to the left behind\nhim. Suddenly from his canoe, they saw the giant kwita right in front\nof them. Paralysed with fear, they fell silent, and the man himself,\ngetting up on the platform, by signs warned the other canoes of the\ndanger. At once they turned round, and the fleet divided into two,\ntook big bends in their course, and thus gave the octopus a wide\nberth. For woe to the canoe caught by the giant kwita! It would be\nheld fast, unable to move for days, till the crew, dying of hunger\nand thirst, would decide to sacrifice one of the small boys of\ntheir number. Adorned with valuables, he would be thrown overboard,\nand then the kwita, satisfied, would let go its hold of the canoe,\nand set it free. Once a native, asked why a grown-up would not be\nsacrificed on such an occasion, gave me the answer:\n\n\n    \"A grown-up man would not like it; a boy has got no mind. We take\n    him by force and throw him to the kwita.\"\n\n\nAnother danger threatening a canoe on the high seas, is a big, special\nRain, or Water falling from above, called Sinamatanoginogi. When in\nrain and bad weather a canoe, in spite of all the efforts to bale it\nout, fills with water, Sinamatanoginogi strikes it from above and\nbreaks it up. Whether at the basis of this are the accidents with\nwaterspouts, or cloud-bursts or simply extremely big waves breaking\nup the canoe, it is difficult to judge. On the whole, this belief is\nmore easily accounted for than the previous one.\n\nThe most remarkable of these beliefs is that there are big, live\nstones, which lie in wait for sailing canoes, run after them, jump\nup and smash them to pieces. Whenever the natives have reasons to\nbe afraid of them, all the members of the crew will keep silence,\nas laughter and loud talk attracts them. Sometimes they can be seen,\nat a distance, jumping out of the sea or moving on the water. In fact\nI have had them pointed to me, sailing off Koyatabu, and although I\ncould see nothing, the natives, obviously, genuinely believed they\nsaw them. Of one thing I am certain, however, that there was no reef\nawash there for miles around. The natives also know quite well that\nthey are different from any reefs or shallows, for the live stones\nmove, and when they perceive a canoe will pursue it, break it up\non purpose and smash the men. Nor would these expert fishermen ever\nconfuse a jumping fish with anything else, though in speaking of the\nstones they may compare them to a leaping dolphin or stingaree.\n\nThere are two names given to such stones. One of them, nuwakekepaki,\napplies to the stones met in the Dobuan seas. The other, vineylida,\nto those who live 'o Muyuwa.' Thus, in the open seas, the two\nspheres of culture meet, for the stones not only differ in name but\nalso in nature. The nuwakekepaki are probably nothing but malevolent\nstones. The vineylida are inhabited by witches, or according to others,\nby evil male beings. [66] Sometimes a vineylida will spring to the\nsurface, and hold fast the canoe, very much in the same manner as\nthe giant octopus would do. And here again offerings would have to be\ngiven. A folded mat would first be thrown, in an attempt to deceive\nit; if this were of no avail, a little boy would be anointed with\ncoco-nut oil, adorned with arm-shells and bagi necklaces, and thrown\nover to the evil stones.\n\nIt is difficult to realise what natural phenomena or actual\noccurrences might be at the bottom of this belief, and the one of\nthe giant octopus. We shall presently meet with a cycle of beliefs\npresenting the same striking features. We shall find a story told\nabout human behaviour mixed up with supernatural elements, laying down\nthe rules of what would happen, and how human beings would behave,\nin the same matter of fact way, as if ordinary events of tribal life\nwere described. I shall have to comment on the psychology of these\nbeliefs in the next chapter, where also the story is told. Of all\nthe dangerous and frightful beings met with on a sailing expedition,\nthe most unpleasant, the best known and most dreaded are the flying\nwitches, the yoyova or mulukwausi. The former name means a woman\nendowed with such powers, whereas mulukwausi describes the second\nself of the woman, as it flies disembodied through the air. Thus,\nfor instance, they would say that such and such a woman in Wawela\nis a yoyova. But sailing at night, one would have to be on the look\nout for mulukwausi, among whom might possibly be the double of that\nwoman in Wawela. Very often, especially at moments when the speaker\nwould be under the influence of fear of these beings, the deprecating\neuphemism--'vivila' (women) would be used. And probably our Boyowan\nmariners would speak of them thus in their talk round the campfire,\nfor fear of attracting them by sounding their real name. Dangerous as\nthey always are, at sea they become infinitely more dreaded. For the\nbelief is deep that in case of shipwreck or mishap at sea, no real\nevil can befall the crows except by the agency of the dreaded women.\n\nAs through their connection with shipwreck, they enter inevitably into\nour narrative, it will be better to leave our Kula expedition on the\nbeach of Yakum in the midst of Pilolu, and to turn in the next chapter\nto Kiriwinian ethnography and give there an account of the natives'\nbelief in the flying witches and their legend of shipwreck.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nTHE STORY OF SHIPWRECK\n\n\nI\n\nIn this chapter an account will be given of the ideas and beliefs\nassociated with shipwreck, and of the various precautions which\nthe natives take to insure their own safety. We shall find here\na strange mixture of definite, matter of fact information, and of\nfantastic superstitions. Taking a critical, ethnographic side view,\nit may be said directly that the fanciful elements are intertwined\nwith the realities in such a manner, that it is difficult to make a\ndistinction between what is mere mytho-poetic fiction and what is\na customary rule of behaviour, drawn from actual experience. The\nbest way of presenting this material will be to give a consecutive\naccount of a shipwreck, as it is told in Kiriwinian villages by the\ntravelled old men to the younger generation. I shall adduce in it\nthe several magical formul\u00e6, the rules of behaviour, the part played\nby the miraculous fish, and the complex ritual of the saved party as\nthey flee from the pursuing mulukwausi.\n\nThese--the flying witches--will play such an important part in the\naccount, that I must begin with a detailed description of the various\nbeliefs referring to them, though the subject has been touched upon\nonce or twice before (Chapter II, Division VII, and other places). The\nsea and sailing upon it are intimately associated in the mind of a\nBoyowan with these women. They had to be mentioned in the description\nof canoe magic, and we shall see what an important part they play\nin the legends of canoe building. In his sailing, whether he goes to\nKitava or further East, or whether he travels South to the Amphletts\nand Dobu, they form one of the main preoccupations of a Boyowan\nsailor. For they are not only dangerous to him, but to a certain\nextent, foreign. Boyowa, with the exception of Wawela and one or two\nother villages on the Eastern coast, and in the South of the island,\nis an ethnographic district, where the flying witches do not exist,\nalthough they visit it from time to time. Whereas all the surrounding\ntribes are full of women who practice this form of sorcery. Thus\nsailing South, the Boyowan is travelling straight into the heart of\ntheir domain.\n\nThese women have the power of making themselves invisible, and flying\nat night through the air. The orthodox belief is that a woman who\nis a yoyova can send forth a double which is invisible at will,\nbut may appear in the form of a flying fox or of a night bird or a\nfirefly. There is also a belief that a yoyova develops within her a\nsomething, shaped like an egg, or like a young, unripe coco-nut. This\nsomething is called as a matter of fact kapuwana, which is the word\nfor a small coco-nut. [67] This idea remains in the native's mind in\na vague, indefinite, undifferentiated form, and any attempt to elicit\na more detailed definition by asking him such questions, as to whether\nthe kapuwana is a material object or not, would be to smuggle our own\ncategories into his belief, where they do not exist. The kapuwana is\nanyhow believed to be the something which in the nightly flights leaves\nthe body of the yoyova and assumes the various forms in which the\nmulukwausi appears. Another variant of the belief about the yoyova is,\nthat those who know their magic especially well, can fly themselves,\nbodily transporting themselves through the air.\n\nBut it can never be sufficiently emphasised that all these beliefs\ncannot be treated as consistent pieces of knowledge; they flow into\none another, and even the same native probably holds several views\nrationally inconsistent with one another. Even their terminology\n(compare the last Division of the foregoing chapter), cannot be\ntaken as implying a strict distinction or definition. Thus, the word\nyoyova is applied to the woman as we meet her in the village, and\nthe word mulukwausi will be used when we see something suspicious\nflying through the air. But it would be incorrect to systematise\nthis use into a sort of doctrine and to say: \"An individual woman\nis conceived as consisting of an actual living personality called\nyoyova, and of an immaterial, spiritual principle called mulukwausi,\nwhich in its potential form is the kapuwana.\" In doing this we would\ndo much what the Medi\u00e6val Scholastics did to the living faith of\nthe early ages. The native feels and fears his belief rather than\nformulates it clearly to himself. He uses terms and expressions, and\nthus, as used by him, we must collect them as documents of belief,\nbut abstain from working them out into a consistent theory; for this\nrepresents neither the native's mind nor any other form of reality.\n\nAs we remember from Chapter II, the flying witches are a nefarious\nagency, second in importance to the bwaga'u (male sorcerer), but in\nefficiency far more deadly even than he himself. In contrast to the\nbwaga'u, who is simply a man in possession of a special form of magic,\nthe yoyova have to be gradually initiated into their status. Only a\nsmall child, whose mother is a witch, can become a witch herself. When\na witch gives birth to a female child, she medicates a piece of\nobsidian, and cuts off the navel string. The navel string is then\nburied, with the recital of a magical formula, in the house, and not,\nas is done in all ordinary cases, in the garden. Soon after, the witch\nwill carry her daughter to the sea beach, utter a spell over some brine\nin a coco-nut cup, and give the child to drink. After that, the child\nis submerged in water and washed, a kind of witch's baptism! Then\nshe brings back the baby into the house, utters a spell over a mat,\nand folds her up in it. At night, she carries the baby through the\nair, and goes to a trysting place of other yoyova, where she presents\nher child ritually to them. In contrast to the usual custom of young\nmothers of sleeping over a small fire, a sorceress lies with her baby\nin the cold. As the child grows up, the mother will take it into her\narms and carry it through the air on her nightly rounds. Entering\ngirlhood at the age when the first grass skirt is put on a maiden,\nthe little prospective witch will begin to fly herself.\n\nAnother system of training, running side by side with flying, consists\nin accustoming the child to participation in human flesh. Even before\nthe growing witch will begin to fly on her own account, the mother\nwill take her to the ghoulish repasts, where she and other witches\nsit over a corpse, eating its eyes, tongue, lungs, and entrails. There\nthe little girl receives her first share of corpse flesh, and trains\nher taste to like this diet.\n\nThere are other forms of training ascribed to mothers solicitous that\ntheir daughters should grow up into efficient yoyova and mulukwausi. At\nnight the mother will stand on one side of the hut, with the child in\nher hands, and throw the little one over the roof. Then quickly, with\nthe speed only possible to a yoyova, she will move round, and catch the\nchild on the other side. This happens before the child begins to fly,\nand is meant to accustom it to passing rapidly through the air. Or\nagain, the child will be held by her feet, head down, and remain in\nthis position while the mother utters a spell. Thus gradually, by\nall these means, the child acquires the powers and tastes of a yoyova.\n\nIt is easy to pick out such girls from other children. They will\nbe recognisable by their crude tastes, and more especially by their\nhabit of eating raw flesh of pigs or uncooked fish. And here we come\nto a point, where mythical superstition plays over into something more\nreal, for I have been assured by reliable informants, and those not\nonly natives, that there are cases of girls who will show a craving\nfor raw meat, and when a pig is being quartered in the village will\ndrink its blood and tear up its flesh. These statements I never could\nverify by direct observations, and they may be only the result of\nvery strong belief projecting its own realities, as we see on every\nside in our own society in miraculous cures, spiritistic phenomena,\netc., etc. If, however, the eating of raw flesh by girl children\nreally occurs, this simply means that they play up to what they know\nis said and believed about them. This again is a phenomenon of social\npsychology met with in many phases of Trobriand society and in our own.\n\nThis does not mean that the character of a yoyova is publicly\ndonned. Indeed, though a man often owns up to the fact that he is\na bwaga'u, and treats his speciality quite openly in conversation,\na woman will never directly confess to being a yoyova, not even to\nher own husband. But she will certainly be marked by everyone as such\na one, and she will often play up to the r\u00f4le, for it is always an\nadvantage to be supposed to be endowed with supernatural powers. And\nmoreover, being a sorceress is also a good source of income. A\nwoman will often receive presents with the understanding that such\nand such a person has to be injured. She will openly take gifts,\navowedly in payment for healing someone who has been hurt by another\nwitch. Thus the character of a yoyova is, in a way, a public one,\nand the most important and powerful witches will be enumerated by\nname. But no woman will ever openly speak about being one. Of course\nto have such a character would in no way spoil matrimonial chances,\nor do anything but enhance the social status of a woman.\n\nSo deep is the belief in the efficacy of magic, and in magic being the\nonly means of acquiring extraordinary faculties, that all powers of a\nyoyova are attributed to magic. As we saw in the training of a young\nyoyova, magic has to be spoken at every stage in order to impart to\nher the character of a witch. A full blown yoyova has to utter special\nmagic each time she wishes to be invisible, or when she wants to fly,\nor acquire higher speed, or penetrate darkness and distance in order to\nfind out whether an accident is happening there. But like everything\nreferring to this form of witchcraft, these formul\u00e6 never come to\nlight. Although I was able to acquire a whole body of spells of the\nbwaga'u sorcery, I could not even lift the fringe of the impenetrable\nveil, surrounding the magic of the yoyova. As a matter of fact,\nthere is not the slightest doubt for me that not one single rite,\nnot one single word of this magic, have ever existed.\n\nOnce a mulukwausi is fully trained in her craft, she will often\ngo at night to feed on corpses or to destroy shipwrecked mariners,\nfor these are her two main pursuits. By a special sense, acquired\nthrough magic, she can 'hear,' as the natives say, that a man has\ndied at such and such a place, or that a canoe is in danger. Even\na young apprenticed yoyova will have her hearing so sharpened that\nshe will tell her mother: \"Mother, I hear, they cry!\" Which means\nthat a man is dead or dying at some place. Or she will say: \"Mother,\na waga is sinking!\" And then they both will fly to the spot.\n\nWhen she goes out on such an errand, the yoyova leaves her body\nbehind. Then she climbs a tree, and reciting some magic, she ties\na creeper to it. Then, she flies off, along this creeper, which\nsnaps behind her. This is the moment when we see the fire flying\nthrough the sky. Whenever the natives see a falling star, they know\nit is a mulukwausi on her flight. Another version is that, when a\nmulukwausi recites a certain spell, a tree which stands somewhere\nnear her destination bends down towards the other tree on which she\nis perched. She jumps from one top to the other, and it is then that\nwe see the fire. According to some versions, the mulukwausi, that is,\nthe witch in her flying state, moves about naked, leaving her skirt\nround the body, which remains asleep in the hut. Other versions depict\nher as tying her skirt tightly round her when flying, and beating her\nbuttocks with a magical pandanus streamer. These latter versions are\nembodied in the magic quoted above in Chapter V.\n\nArrived at the place where lies the corpse, the mulukwausi, with others\nwho have also flown to the spot, perches on some high object, the top\nof a tree or the gable of a hut. There they all wait till they can\nfeast on the corpse, and such is their greed and appetite that they\nare also very dangerous to living men. People who collect round the\ndead body to mourn and wake over it often have a special spell against\nthe mulukwausi recited over them, by the one who knows it. They are\ncareful not to stray away from the others, and, during burial of the\ndead and afterwards, they believe the air to be infested with these\ndangerous witches, who spread the smell of carrion around them.\n\nThe mulukwausi will eat out the eyes, the tongue, and the 'insides'\n(lopoula) of the corpse; when they attack a living man they may\nsimply hit him or kick him, and then he becomes more or less sick. But\nsometimes they get hold of an individual and treat him like a corpse\nand eat some of his organs, and then the man dies. It is possible\nto diagnose this, for such a person would quickly fail, losing his\nspeech, his vision, sometimes suddenly being bereft of all power of\nmovement. It is a less dangerous method to the living man when the\nmulukwausi instead of eating his 'insides' on the spot, simply remove\nthem. They hide them in a place only known to themselves, in order\nto have provision for a future feast. In that case there is some hope\nfor the victim. Another yoyova, summoned quickly by the relations of\nthe dying and well paid by them, will, in the form of a mulukwausi,\ngo forth, search for the missing organs, and, if she is fortunate\nenough to find and restore them, save the life of the victim.\n\nKenoriya, the favourite daughter of To'ulawa, the chief of Omarakana,\nwhile on a visit to another village, was deprived of her internal\norgans by the mulukwausi. When brought home, she could neither move\nnor speak, and lay down as if dead. Her mother and other relatives\nalready began their mortuary wailing over her, the chief himself\nbroke out into loud lamentations. But nevertheless, as a forlorn\nhope, they sent for a woman from Wawela, a well-known yoyova, who\nafter receiving valuables and food, flew out as a mulukwausi, and the\nvery next night found Kenoriya's insides somewhere in the raybwag,\nnear the beach of Kaulukuba, and restored her to health.\n\nAnother authentic story is that of the daughter of a Greek trader\nand a Kiriwinian woman from Oburaku. This story was told me by the\nlady herself, in perfectly correct English, learnt in one of the\nwhite settlements of New Guinea, where she had been brought up in\nthe house of a leading missionary. But the story was not spoilt by\nany scepticism; it was told with perfect simplicity and conviction.\n\nWhen she was a little girl, a woman called Sewawela, from the Island\nof Kitava, but married to a man of Wawela, came to her parents'\nhouse and wanted to sell a mat. They did not buy it, and gave her\nonly a little food, which, as she was a renowned yoyova and accustomed\ntherefore to deferential treatment, made her angry. When night came,\nthe little one was playing on the beach in front of the house, when\nthe parents saw a big firefly hovering about the child. The insect\nthen flew round the parents and went into the room. Seeing that\nthere was something strange about the firefly, they called the girl\nand put her to bed at once. But she fell ill immediately, could not\nsleep all night, and the parents, with many native attendants, had\nto keep watch over her. Next morning, added the Kiriwinian mother,\nwho was listening to her daughter telling me the tale, the girl\n\"boge ikarige; kukula wala ipipisi,\" \"she was dead already, but her\nheart was still beating.\" All the women present broke out into the\nceremonial lamentations. The father of the girl's mother, however,\nwent to Wawela, and got hold of another yoyova, called Bomrimwari. She\ntook some herbs and smeared her own body all over. Then she went\nout in the form of a mulukwausi in search of the girl's lopoulo\n(inside). She searched about and found it in the hut of Sewawela,\nwhere it lay on the shelf on which are kept the big clay-pots, in\nwhich the mona (taro pudding), is cooked ceremonially. There it lay\n\"red as calico.\" Sewawela had left it there, while she went into the\ngarden with her husband, meaning to eat it on her return. Had this\nhappened, the girl could not have been saved. As soon as Bomrimwari\nfound it, she made some magic over it then and there. Then she came\nback to the trader's compound, made some more magic over ginger-root,\nand water, and caused the lopoulo to return to its place. After that,\nthe little girl soon got better. A substantial payment was given by\nthe parents to the yoyova for saving their child.\n\nLiving in Oburaku, a village on the Southern half of Boyowa, I was\non the boundary between the district where the yoyova do not exist,\nand the other one, to the East, where they are plentiful. On the other\nside of the Island, which is very narrow at this part, is the village\nof Wawela, where almost every woman is reputed to be a witch, and some\nare quite notorious. Going over the raybwag at night, the natives\nof Oburaku would point out certain fireflies which would suddenly\ndisappear, not to relight again. These were the mulukwausi. Again,\nat night, swarms of flying foxes used to flap over the tall trees,\nmaking for the big, swampy Island of Boymapo'u which closes in the\nLagoon opposite the village. These too were mulukwausi, travelling\nfrom the East, their real home. They also used to perch on the tops\nof the trees growing on the water's edge, and this was therefore an\nespecially dangerous spot after sunset. I was often warned not to\nsit there on the platforms of the beached canoes, as I liked to do,\nwatching the play of colours on the smooth, muddy waters, and on the\nbright mangroves. When I fell ill soon after, everybody decided that\nI had been 'kicked' by the mulukwausi, and some magic was performed\nover me by my friend Molilakwa, the same who gave me some formul\u00e6 of\nkayga'u, the magic spoken at sea against witches. In this case his\nefforts were entirely successful, and my quick recovery was attributed\nby the natives solely to the spells.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nWhat interests us most about mulukwausi, is their association with\nthe sea and shipwreck. Very often they will roam over the sea, and\nmeet at a trysting place on a reef. There they will partake of a\nspecial kind of coral, broken off from a reef, a kind called by the\nnatives nada. This whets their appetite for human flesh, exactly as\nthe drinking of salt water does with the bwaga'u. They have also some\nindirect power over the elements in the sea. Although the natives\ndo not quite agree on the point, there is no doubt that a definite\nconnection exists between the mulukwausi and all the other dangers\nwhich may be met in the sea, such as sharks, the 'gaping depth'\n(ikapwagega wiwitu), many of the small sea animals, crabs, some of\nthe shells and the other things to be mentioned presently, all of\nwhich are considered to be the cause of death of drowning men. Thus\nthe belief is quite definite that, in being cast into the water\nby the shipwreck, men do not meet any real danger except by being\neaten by the mulukwausi, the sharks, and the other animals. If by the\nproper magic these influences can be obviated, the drowning men will\nescape unscathed. The belief in the omnipotence of man, or rather,\nwoman in this case, and of the equal power in antidoting by magic,\ngoverns all the ideas of these natives about shipwreck. The supreme\nremedy and insurance against any dangers lies in the magic of mist,\ncalled kayga'u, which, side by side with Kula magic, and the magic\nof the canoes, is the third of the indispensable magical equipments\nof a sailor.\n\nA man who knows well the kayga'u is considered to be able to travel\nsafely through the most dangerous seas. A renowned chief, Maniyuwa,\nwho was reputed as one of the greatest masters in kayga'u as well as\nin other magic, died in Dobu on an expedition about two generations\nago. His son, Maradiana, had learnt his father's kayga'u. Although\nthe mulukwausi are extremely dangerous in the presence of a corpse,\nand though the natives would never dream of putting a dead body on\na canoe, and thus multiplying the probabilities of an attack by the\nwitches, still, Maradiana, trusting to his kayga'u, brought the corpse\nback to Boyowa without mishap. This act, a testimony to the daring\nsailor's great prowess, and to the efficiency of the kayga'u magic,\nis kept alive in the memory and tradition of the natives. One of my\ninformants, boasting of his kayga'u, told me how once, on a return\nfrom Dobu, he performed his rites. Such a mist arose as a consequence\nof it that the rest of the canoes lost their way, and arrived in the\nisland of Kayleula. Indeed, if we can speak of a belief being alive,\nthat is, of having a strong hold over human imagination, the belief\nin the danger from mulukwausi at sea is emphatically such a one. In\ntimes of mental stress, in times of the slightest danger at sea,\nor when a dying or dead person is near, the natives at once respond\nemotionally in terms of this belief. No one could live among these\nnatives, speaking their language, and following their tribal life,\nwithout constantly coming up against the belief in mulukwausi, and\nin the efficiency of the kayga'u.\n\nAs in all other magic, also here, there are various systems of kayga'u,\nthat is, there are various formul\u00e6, slightly differing in their\nexpressions, though usually similar in their fundamental wordings\nand in certain 'key' expressions. In each system, there are two main\ntypes of spells, the giyotanawa, or the kayga'u of the Underneath,\nand the giyorokaywa, or the kayga'u of the Above. The first one usually\nconsists of a short formula or formul\u00e6 spoken over some stones and some\nlime in a lime pot and over some ginger root. This giyotanawa, as its\nname indicates, is magic directed against the evil agencies, awaiting\nthe drowning men from below. Its spells close up 'the gaping depth' and\nthey screen off the shipwrecked men from the eyes of the sharks. They\nalso protect them from the other evil things, which cause the death of\na man in drowning. The several little sea worms found on the beach,\nthe crabs, the poisonous fish, soka, and the spiky fish, baiba'i,\nas well as the jumping stones, whether vineylida or nu'akekepaki,\nare all warded off and blinded by the giyotanawa. Perhaps the most\nextraordinary belief in this connection is that the tokwalu, the\ncarved human figures on the prow boards, the guwaya, the semi-human\neffigy on the mast top, as well as the canoe ribs would 'eat' the\ndrowning men if not magically 'treated.'\n\nThe kayga'u of the 'Above,' the giyorokaywa, consists of long spells,\nrecited over some ginger root, on several occasions before sailing,\nand during bad weather or shipwreck. They are directed exclusively\nagainst the mulukwausi, and form therefore the more important\nclass of the two. These spells must never be recited at night, as\nthen the mulukwausi could see and hear the man, and make his magic\ninefficient. Again, the spell of the Above, when recited at sea,\nmust be spoken so that the magician is not covered with spray, for\nif his mouth were wet with sea water, the smell would attract rather\nthan disperse, the flying witches. The man who knows the kayga'u must\nalso be very careful at meal times. Children may not speak, play about,\nor make any noise while he eats, nor should anyone go round him behind\nhis back while he is thus engaged; normay they point out anything with\nthe finger. Should the man be thus disturbed during his food, he would\nhave to stop eating at once, and not resume it till the next meal time.\n\nNow the leading idea of kayga'u is that it produces some sort of\nmist. The mulukwausi who follow the canoe, the sharks and live stones\nwhich lie in wait for it, the depth with all its horror, and the d\u00e9bris\nof the canoe ready to harm the owner, all these are blinded by the mist\nthat arises in obedience to these spells. Thus the paralysing effect of\nthese two main forms of magic and the specialised sphere of influence\nof each of them, are definite and clear dogmas of native belief.\n\nBut here again we must not try to press the interpretation of these\ndogmas too far. Some sort of mist covers the eyes of all the evil\nagencies or blinds them; it makes the natives invisible from them. But\nto ask whether the kayga'u produces a real mist, visible also to\nman, or only a supernatural one, visible only to the mulukwausi; or\nwhether it simply blinds their eyes so that they see nothing, would\nbe asking too much. The same native who will boast of having produced\na real mist, so great that it led astray his companions, will next\nday perform the kayga'u in the village during a burial, and affirm\nthat the mulukwausi are in a mist, though obviously a perfectly clear\natmosphere surrounds the whole proceedings. The natives will tell how,\nsailing on a windy but clear day, after a kayga'u has been recited\ninto the eye of the wind, they hear the shrieks of the mulukwausi,\nwho, losing their companions and the scent of the trail, hail one\nanother in the dark. Again, some expressions seem to represent the view\nthat it is mainly an action on the eyes of the witches. 'Idudubila\nmatala mulukwausi,'--'It darkens the eyes of the mulukwausi,' or\n'iguyugwayu'--'It blinds,' the natives will say. And when asked:\n\n\n    \"What do the mulukwausi see, then?\" they will answer: \"They will\n    see mist only. They do not see the places, they do not see the men,\n    only mist.\"\n\n\nThus here, as in all cases of belief, there is a certain latitude,\nwithin which the opinions and views may vary, and only the broad\noutline, which surrounds them, is definitely fixed by tradition,\nembodied in ritual, and expressed by the phraseology of magical\nformul\u00e6 or by the statements of a myth.\n\nI have thus defined the manner in which the natives face the dangers\nof the sea; we have found, that the fundamental conceptions underlying\nthis attitude are, that in shipwreck, men are entirely in the hands\nof the witches, and that from this, only their own magical defence\ncan save them. This defence consists in the rites and formul\u00e6 of the\nkayga'u, of which we have also learnt the leading principles. Now, a\nconsecutive description must be given of how this magic is performed\nwhen a toliwaga sets out on an expedition. And following up this\nexpedition, it must be told how the natives imagine a shipwreck,\nand what they believe the behaviour of the shipwrecked party would be.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nI shall give this narrative in a consecutive manner, as it was told\nto me by some of the most experienced and renowned Trobriand sailors\nin Sinaketa, Oburaku, and Omarakana. We can imagine that exactly\nsuch a narrative would be told by a veteran toliwaga to his usagelu\non the beach of Yakum, as our Kula party sit round the camp fires\nat night. One of the old men, well-known for the excellence of his\nkayga'u, and boastful of it, would tell his story, entering minutely\ninto all the details, however often the others might have heard about\nthem before, or even assisted at the performance of his magic. He\nwould then proceed to describe, with extreme realism, and dwelling\ngraphically on every point, the story of a shipwreck, very much as if\nhe had gone through one himself. As a matter of fact, no one alive\nat present has had any personal experience of such a catastrophe,\nthough many have lived through frequent narrow escapes in stormy\nweather. Based on this, and on what they have heard themselves\nof the tradition of shipwrecks, natives will tell the story with\ncharacteristic vividness. Thus, the account given below is not only\na summary of native belief, it is an ethnographic document in itself,\nrepresenting the manner in which such type of narrative would be told\nover camp fires, the same subject being over and over again repeated\nby the same man, and listened to by the same audience, exactly as we,\nwhen children, or the peasants of Eastern Europe, will hearken to\nfamiliar fairy tales and M\u00e4rchen. The only deviation here from what\nwould actually take place in such a story-telling, is the insertion of\nmagical formul\u00e6 into the narrative. The speaker might indeed repeat\nhis magic, were he speaking in broad daylight, in his village, to a\ngroup of close kinsmen and friends. But being on a small island in\nthe middle of the ocean, and at night, the recital of spells would be\na taboo of the kayga'u; nor would a man ever recite his magic before\na numerous audience, except on certain occasions at mortuary vigils,\nwhere people are expected to chant their magic aloud before hundreds\nof listeners.\n\nReturning then again to our group of sailors, who sit under the stunted\npandanus trees of Yakum, let us listen to one of the companions of\nthe daring Maradiana, now dead, to one of the descendants of the\ngreat Maniyuwa. He will tell us how, early in the morning, on the\nday of departure from Sinaketa, or sometimes on the next morning,\nwhen they leave Muwa, he performs the first rite of kayga'u. Wrapping\nup a piece of leyya (wild ginger root) in a bit of dried banana leaf,\nhe chants over it the long spell of the giyorokaywa, the kayga'u of\nthe Above. He chants this spell into the leaf, holding it cup-shaped,\nwith the morsel of ginger root at the bottom, so that the spell\nmight enter into the substance to be medicated. After that, the leaf\nis immediately wrapped round, so as to imprison the magical virtue,\nand the magician ties the parcel round his left arm, with a piece of\nbast or string. Sometimes he will medicate two bits of ginger and make\ntwo parcels, of which the other will be placed in a string necklet,\nand carried on his breast. Our narrator, who is the master of one\nof the canoes, will probably not be the only one within the circle\nround the camp fire, who carries these bundles of medicated ginger;\nfor though a toliwaga must always perform this rite as well as know all\nthe other magic of shipwreck, as a rule several of the older members\nof his crew also know it, and have also prepared their magical bundles.\n\nThis is one of the spells of the giyorokaywa, such as the old man\nsaid over the ginger root:\n\n\n                   GIYOROKAYWA NO. 1 (LEYYA KAYGA'U).\n\n    \"I will befog Muyuwa!\" (repeated). \"I will befog\n    Misima!\" (repeated). \"The mist springs up; the mist makes them\n    tremble. I befog the front, I shut off the rear; I befog the\n    rear, I shut off the front. I fill with mist, mist springs up;\n    I fill with mist, the mist which makes them tremble.\"\n\n    This is the opening part of the formula, very clear, and easy to\n    be translated. The mist is magically invoked, the word for mist\n    being repeated with several verbal combinations, in a rhythmic and\n    alliterative manner. The expression tremble, maysisi, refers to\n    a peculiar belief, that when a sorcerer or sorceress approaches\n    the victim, and this man paralyses them with a counter spell,\n    they lose their bearings, and stand there trembling.\n\n    The main part of this spell opens up with the word 'aga'u,' 'I\n    befog,' which, like all such leading words of a spell is first of\n    all intoned in a long, drawn-out chant, and then quickly repeated\n    with a series of words. Then the word 'aga'u' is replaced by 'aga'u\n    sulu,' 'I befog, lead astray,' which in its turn makes way for,\n    'aga'u boda,' 'I befog, shut off.' The list of words repeated\n    in succession with each of these three expressions is a long\n    one. It is headed by the words 'the eyes of the witches.' Then,\n    'the eyes of the sea-crab.' Then, always with the word 'eyes,'\n    the animals, worms and insects which threaten drowning men in the\n    sea, are enumerated. After they are exhausted, the various parts\n    of the body are repeated; then finally, a long list of villages\n    is recited, preceded by the word aga'u, forming phrases such as:\n    \"I befog the eyes of the women of Wawela, etc.\"\n\n    Let us reconstruct a piece of this middle part in a consecutive\n    manner. \"I befog ...! I befog, I befog, the eyes of the witches! I\n    befog the eyes of the little crabs! I befog the eyes of the hermit\n    crab! I befog the eyes of the insects on the beach! ... etc.\"\n\n    \"I befog the hand, I befog the foot, I befog the head. I befog\n    the shoulders ... etc.\"\n\n    \"I befog the eyes of the women of Wawela; I befog the eyes of the\n    women of Kaulasi; I befog the eyes of the women of Kumilabwaga,\n    I befog the eyes of the women of Vakuta ... etc., etc.\"\n\n    \"I befog, lead astray, the eyes of the witches; I befog, lead\n    astray the eyes of the little crab! ... etc.\"\n\n    \"I befog, shut off the eyes of the witches, I befog, shut off\n    the eyes of the little crab ... etc., etc.\"\n\n    It can easily be seen how long drawn such a spell is, especially\n    as in this middle part, the magician will often come back to where\n    he has started, and repeat the leading word over and over again\n    with the others. Indeed, this can be taken as a typical tapwana,\n    or middle part, of a long spell, where the leading words are,\n    so to speak, well rubbed into the various other expressions. One\n    feature of this middle part is remarkable, namely, that the\n    beings from below, the crabs, the sea insects and worms are\n    invoked, although the spell is one of the giyorokaywa type,\n    the magic of the Above. This is an inconsistency frequently met\n    with; a contradiction between the ideas embodied in the spell,\n    and the theory of the magic, as explicitly formulated by the\n    informants. The parts of the body enumerated in the tapwana\n    refer to the magician's own person, and to his companions in the\n    canoe. By this part of the spell, he surrounds himself and all\n    his companions with mist, which makes them invisible to all the\n    evil influences.\n\n    After the long tapwana has been recited, there follows the last\n    part, which, however, is not chanted in this case, but spoken in\n    a low, persuasive, tender voice.\n\n    \"I hit thy flanks; I fold over thy mat, thy bleached mat of\n    pandanus; I shall make it into thy mantle. I take thy sleeping\n    doba (grass skirt), I cover thy loins; remain there, snore within\n    thy house! I alone myself\" (here the reciter's name is uttered)\n    \"I shall remain in the sea, I shall swim!\"\n\n\nThis last part throws some interesting sidelights on native belief\nin mulukwausi. We see here the expression of the idea that the body\nof the witch remains in the house, whilst she herself goes out on her\nnefarious errand. Molilakwa, the magician of Oburaku who gave me this\nspell, said in commentary to this last part:\n\n\n    \"The yoyova casts off her body (inini wowola--which really means\n    'peals off her skin'); she lies down and sleeps, we hear her\n    snoring. Her covering (kapwalela that is, her outward body,\n    her skin) remains in the house, and she herself flies (titolela\n    biyova). Her skirt remains in the house, she flies naked. When\n    she meets men, she eats us. In the morning, she puts on her body,\n    and lies down in her hut. When we cover her loins with the doba,\n    she cannot fly any more.\"\n\n\nThis last sentence refers to the magical act of covering, as expressed\nin the last part of the spell.\n\nHere we find another variant of belief as to the nature of the\nmulukwausi, to be added to those mentioned before. Previously we\nmet the belief of the disassociation of the woman into the part that\nremains, and the part that flies. But here the real personality is\nlocated in the flying part, whereas what remains is the 'covering.' To\nimagine the mulukwausi, the flying part, as a 'sending,' in the light\nof this belief, would not be correct. In general, such categories\nas 'agent,' and 'sending,' or as 'real self' and 'emanation' etc.,\netc., can be applied to native belief as rough approximations only,\nand the exact definition should be given in terms of native statement.\n\nThe final sentence of this spell, containing the wish to remain alone\nin the sea, to be allowed to swim and drift, is a testimony to the\nbelief that without mulukwausi, there is no danger to a man adrift\non a piece of wreckage among the foaming waves of a stormy sea.\n\nAfter reciting this lengthy spell, the toliwaga, as he tells us in\nhis narrative, has had to perform another rite, this time, over his\nlime-pot. Taking out the stopper of rolled palm leaf and plaited\nfibre from the baked and decorated gourd in which he keeps his lime,\nhe utters another spell of the giyorokaywa cycle:\n\n\n                   GIYOROKAYWA NO. 2 (PWAKA KAYGA'U).\n\n    \"There on Muruwa, I arise, I stand up! Iwa, Sewatupa, at\n    the head--I rumble, I disperse. Kasabwaybwayreta, Namedili,\n    Toburitolu, Tobwebweso, Tauva'u, Bo'abwa'u, Rasarasa. They are\n    lost, they disappear.\"\n\n    This beginning, full of archaic expressions, implicit meanings\n    and allusions and personal names, is very obscure. The first\n    words refer probably to the head-quarters of sorcery; Muruwa\n    (or Murua--Woodlark Island), Iwa, Sewatupa. The long list of\n    personal names following afterwards contains some mythical ones,\n    like Kasabwaybwayreta, and some others, which I cannot explain,\n    though the words Tobwebweso, Tauva'u, and Bo'abwa'u suggest that\n    this is a list in which some sorcerers' names figure. As a rule,\n    in such spells, a list of names signifies that all those who have\n    used and handed down this formula, are enumerated. In some cases\n    the people mentioned are frankly mythical heroes. Sometimes a\n    few mythical names are chanted, and then comes a string of actual\n    people, forming a sort of pedigree of the spell. If these in this\n    spell are ancestor names they all refer to mythical personalities,\n    and not to real ancestors. [68] The last words contained an\n    expression typical of the kayga'u. Then comes the middle part.\n\n    \"I arise, I escape from bara'u; I arise, I escape from yoyova. I\n    arise, I escape from mulukwausi. I arise, I escape from bowo'u,\n    etc.,\" repeating the leading words \"I arise, I escape from--\"\n    with the words used to describe the flying witches in the various\n    surrounding districts. Thus the word bara'u comes from Muyuwa\n    (Woodlark Island), where it describes the sorceress, and not,\n    as in other Massim districts, a male sorcerer. The words yoyova,\n    mulukwausi need no explanation. Bowo'u is an Amphlettan word. Words\n    from Dobu, Tubetube, etc., follow. Then the whole period is\n    repeated, adding 'eyes of' in the middle of each phrase, so that\n    it runs:\n\n    \"I arise, I escape from the eyes of the bara'u. I arise, I escape\n    from the eyes of the yoyova, etc.\" The leading words, 'I arise,\n    I escape from' are then replaced by: 'They wander astray,' which,\n    again, make way to 'the sea is cleared off.' This whole middle\n    part of the spell is clear, and needs no commentary. Then comes\n    the concluding period (dogina):\n\n    \"I am a manuderi (small bird), I am a kidikidi (small sea bird),\n    I am a floating log, I am a piece of sea-weed; I shall produce\n    mist till it encloses all, I shall befog, I shall shut off with\n    fog. Mist, enveloped in mist, dissolving in mist am I. Clear is\n    the sea, (the mulukwausi are) straying in mist.\" This part also\n    needs no special commentary.\n\n\nThis is again a long spell of the giyorokaywa type, that is, directed\nagainst the mulukwausi, and in this the spell is consistent, for the\nmulukwausi alone are invoked in the middle period.\n\nAfter the spell has been chanted into the lime pot, this is well\nstoppered, and not opened till the end of the journey. It must be noted\nthat these two giyorokaywa spells have been spoken by our toliwaga in\nthe village or on Muwa beach, and in day time. For, as said above,\nit is a taboo to utter them in the night or at sea. From the moment\nhe has spoken these two spells, both medicated substances, the ginger\nroot and the lime in the lime pot, remain near him. He has also in the\ncanoe some stones of those brought from the Koya, and called binabina,\nin distinction to the dead coral, which is called dakuna. Over these\nstones, at the moment of the occurrence of danger, a spell of the\nUnderneath, a giyotanawa will be recited. The following is a formula\nof this type, short as they always are.\n\n\n                   GIYOTANAWA NO. 1 (DAKUNA KAYGA'U).\n\n    \"Man, bachelor, woman, young girl; woman, young girl, man,\n    bachelor! Traces, traces obliterated by cobwebs; traces,\n    obliterated by turning up (the material in which they were\n    left); I press, I close down! Sharks of Dukutabuya, I press,\n    I close down; Sharks of Kaduwaga, I press, I close down,\" etc.,\n    the sharks of Muwa, Galeya, Bonari, and Kaulokoki being invoked\n    in turn. All these words are names of marked parts of the sea,\n    in and around the Trobriand Lagoon. The formula ends up with\n    the following peroration: \"I press down thy neck, I open up thy\n    passage of Kiyawa, I kick thee down, O shark. Duck down under\n    water, shark. Die, shark, die away.\"\n\n\nThe commentary to the opening sentences given by my informant,\nMolilakwa of Oburaku, was:\n\n\n    \"This magic is taught to people when they are quite young. Hence\n    the mention of young people.\"\n\n\nThe obliterating of traces will be made clearer by the account\nwhich follows, in which we shall see that to obliterate traces, to\nput off the scent the shark and mulukwausi are the main concerns of\nthe shipwrecked party. The middle part refers to sharks only, and so\ndoes the peroration. The passage of Kiyawa near Tuma is mentioned in\nseveral types of magical exorcisms, when the evil influence is being\nbanished. This passage lies between the main island and the island\nof Tuma, and leads into the unknown regions of the North-Western seas.\n\nIt will be best to quote here another formula of the giyotanawa type,\nand a very dramatic one. For this is the formula spoken at the critical\nmoment of shipwreck. At the moment when the sailors decide to abandon\nthe craft and to plunge into the sea, the toliwaga stands up in the\ncanoe, and slowly turning round so as to throw his words towards all\nfour winds, intones in a loud voice this spell:\n\n\n                           GIYOTANAWA NO. 2.\n\n    \"Foam, foam, breaking wave, wave! I shall enter into the breaking\n    wave, I shall come out from behind it. I shall enter from behind\n    into the wave, and I shall come out in its breaking foam!\"\n\n    \"Mist, gathering mist, encircling mist, surround, surround me!\"\n\n    \"Mist, gathering mist, encircling mist, surround, surround me,\n    my mast!\n\n    Mist, gathering mist, etc. ... surround me, the nose of my canoe.\n\n    Mist, etc. ... surround me, my sail,\n\n    Mist, etc. ... surround me, my steering oar,\n\n    Mist, etc. ... surround me, my rigging,\n\n    Mist, etc. ... surround me, my platform,\"\n\n    And so on, enumerating one after the other all the parts of the\n    canoe and its accessories. Then comes the final part of the spell:\n\n    \"I shut off the skies with mist; I make the sea tremble with mist;\n    I close up your mouth, sharks, bonubonu (small worms), ginukwadewo\n    (other worms). Go underneath and we shall swim on top.\"\n\n\nLittle is needed as a commentary to this magic. Its beginning is\nvery clear, and singularly well depicts the situation in which it\nis uttered. The end refers directly to the primary aim of the magic,\nto the warding off of the Underneath, of the dangerous animals in the\nsea. The only ambiguity refers to the middle part, where the magical\nleading words of 'enveloping by mist' are associated with a list of\nnames of the parts of the canoe. I am not certain whether this is to\nbe interpreted, in the sense that the toliwaga wants to surround his\nwhole canoe with mist so that it may not be seen by the sharks, etc.,\nor whether, on the contrary, just on the verge of abandoning his canoe,\nand anxious to cut himself off from its various parts which may turn\non him and 'eat him,' he therefore wants to surround each of them\nwith mist so that it may be blinded. The latter interpretation fits\nthe above-quoted belief that certain parts of the canoe, especially\nthe carved human figures on the prow-board and the mast, the ribs\nof the canoe, and certain other parts of its construction, 'eat' the\nshipwrecked men. But again, in this spell, there are enumerated not\ncertain parts, but every part, and that undoubtedly is not consistent\nwith this belief, so the question must remain open.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nI have anticipated some of the events of the consecutive narrative\nof shipwreck, in order to give the two last mentioned magical formul\u00e6\nfirst, and not to have to interrupt the tale of our toliwaga, to which\nwe now return. We left it at the point where, having said his first\ntwo kayga'u formul\u00e6 over the ginger and into the lime pot, he embarks,\nkeeping these two things handy, and putting some binabina stones\nwithin his reach. From here, his narrative becomes more dramatic. He\ndescribes the approaching storm:\n\n\n                  NARRATIVE OF SHIPWRECK AND SALVAGE.\n\n    \"The canoe sails fast; the wind rises; big waves come; the wind\n    booms, du-du-du-du.... The sails flutter; the lamina (outrigger)\n    rises high! All the usagelu crouch on the lamina. I speak magic to\n    calm the wind. The big spell of the Sim-sim. They know all about\n    yavata (North-Westerley Monsoon wind). They live in the eye of\n    the yavata. The wind abates not, not a little bit. It booms, it\n    gains strength, it booms loud du-du-du-du-du. All the usagelu are\n    afraid. The mulukwausi scream, u-\u00fa, u-\u00fa, u-\u00fa, u; their voices are\n    heard in the wind. With the wind they scream and come flying. The\n    veva (sheet rope) is torn from the hands of the tokabinaveva. The\n    sail flutters freely in the wind; it is torn away. It flies\n    far into the sea; it falls on the waters. The waves break over\n    the canoe. I stand up. I take the binabina stones; I recite the\n    kayga'u over them, the giyotanawa, the spell of the Underneath. The\n    short spell, the very strong spell. I throw the stones into the\n    deep. They weigh down the sharks, the vineylida; they close the\n    Gaping Depth. The fish cannot see us. I stand up, I take my lime\n    pot; I break it. The lime I throw into the wind. It wraps us up\n    in mist. Such a mist that no one can see us. The mulukwausi lose\n    sight of us. We hear them shout near by. They shout u-\u00fb, u-\u00fb, u-\u00fb,\n    u. The sharks, the bonubonu, the soka do not see us; the water\n    is turbid. The canoe is swamped, the water is in it. It drifts\n    heavily, the waves break over us. We break the vatotuwa, (the\n    sticks joining the float to the platform). The lamina (outrigger\n    float) is severed; we jump from the waga; we catch hold of the\n    lamina. On the lamina we drift. I utter the great Kaytaria spell;\n    the big fish iraviyaka comes. It lifts us. It takes the lamina\n    on its back, and carries us. We drift, we drift, we drift.\"\n\n    \"We approach a shore; the iraviyaka brings us there, the iraviyaka\n    puts us on the shallows. I take a stout pole, I lift it off;\n    I speak a spell. The iraviyaka turns back to the deep sea.\"\n\n    \"We are all on the dayaga (fringing reef). We stand inwater. The\n    water is cold, we all shiver with cold. We do not go ashore. We\n    are afraid of the mulukwausi. They follow us ashore. They wait for\n    us ashore. I take a dakuna (piece of coral stone), I say a spell\n    over it. I throw the stone on the beach; it makes a big thud;\n    good; the mulukwausi are not there. We go ashore. Another time,\n    I throw a stone, we hear nothing: mulukwausi are on the beach;\n    they catch it; we hear nothing. We remain on the dayaga. I take\n    some leyya (ginger). I spit it at the beach. I throw another\n    stone. The mulukwausi do not see it. It falls down; we hear it. We\n    go ashore; we sit on the sand in a row. We sit in one row, one man\n    near another, as on the lamina (in the same order as they drifted\n    on the lamina). I make a charm over the comb; all the usagelu comb\n    their hair; they tease their hair a long time. They are very cold;\n    we do not make the fire. First, I put order on the beach; I take\n    the piece of leyya, I spit it over the beach. One time, when the\n    leyya is finished, I take some kasita leaves (the beach is always\n    full of these). I put them on the shore, I put a stone on them,\n    uttering a spell--afterwards, we make fire. All sit round and\n    warm themselves at the fire.\"\n\n    \"At day time, we don't go to the village; the mulukwausi would\n    follow us. After dark, we go. Like on the lamina, we march in the\n    same order, one after the other. I go last; I chant a spell over\n    a libu plant. I efface our traces. I put the libu on our track;\n    I put the weeds together. I make the path confused. I say a charm\n    to the spider, that he might make a cobweb. I say a charm to the\n    bush-hen, that she might turn up the soil.\"\n\n    \"We go to the village. We enter the village, we pass the main\n    place. No one sees us; we are in mist, we are invisible. We enter\n    the house of my veyola (maternal kinsman), he medicates some\n    leyya; he spits (magically) on all of us. The mulukwausi smell us;\n    they smell the salt water on our skins. They come to the house,\n    the house trembles. A big wind shakes the house, we hear big thuds\n    against the house. The owner of the house medicates the leyya and\n    spits over us; they cannot see us. A big fire is made in the house;\n    plenty of smoke fills the house. The leyya and the smoke blind\n    their eyes. Five days we sit in smoke, our skin smells of smoke;\n    our hair smells of smoke; the mulukwausi cannot smell us. Then\n    I medicate some water and coco-nut, the usagelu wash and annoint\n    themselves. They leave the house, they sit on the kaukweda (spot\n    before the house). The owner of the house chases them away. 'Go,\n    go to your wife;' we all go, we return to our houses.\"\n\n\nI have given here a reconstruction of a native account, as I have often\nheard it told with characteristic vividness: spoken in short, jerky\nsentences, with onamatopoetic representations of sound, the narrative\nexaggerates certain features, and omits others. The excellency of\nthe narrator's own magic, the violence of the elements at critical\nmoments, he would always reiterate with monotonous insistence. He would\ndiverge into some correlated subject, jump ahead, missing out several\nstages, come back, and so on, so that the whole is quite incoherent\nand unintelligible to a white listener, though the native audience\nfollows its trend perfectly well. For it must be remembered that,\nwhen a native tells such a story, the events are already known to\nhis listeners, who have grown up gradually becoming familiar with\nthe narrow range of their tribal folklore. Our toliwaga, telling this\nstory over again on the sandbank of Yakum, would dwell on such points\nas allowed him to boast of his kayga'u, to describe the violence of\nthe storm, to bear witness to the traditional effects of the magic.\n\nIt is necessary for an Ethnographer to listen several times to such a\nnarrative, in order to have a fair chance of forming some coherent\nidea of its trend. Afterwards, by means of direct examination,\nhe can succeed in placing the facts in their proper sequence. By\nquestioning the informants about details of rite and magic, it is\npossible then to obtain interpretations and commentaries. Thus the\nwhole of a narrative can be constructed, the various fragments, with\nall their spontaneous freshness, can be put in their proper places,\nand this is what I have done in giving this account of shipwreck. [69]\n\nA few words of comment must now be given on the text of the above\nnarrative. In it, a number of magical rites were mentioned, besides\nthose which were described first with their spells. Something must\nbe said more in detail about the spells of the subsequent magical\nperformances. There are some eleven of them. First comes the ritual\ninvocation of the fish which helps the shipwrecked sailors. The\nspell corresponding to this, is called kaytaria, and it is an\nimportant formula, which every toliwaga is supposed to know. The\nquestion arises, has this rite ever been practised in reality? Some\nof the actions taken by the shipwrecked natives, such as the cutting\nof the the outrigger float when the boat is abandoned, are quite\nrational. It would be dangerous to float on the big, unwieldy canoe\nwhich might be constantly turned round and round by the waves, and if\nsmashed to pieces, might injure the sailors with its wreckage. In this\nfact, perhaps there is also the empirical basis for the belief that\nsome fragments of the canoe 'eat' the shipwrecked men. The round,\nsymmetrical log of the lamina, on the other hand, will serve as\nan excellent lifebuoy. Perhaps a toliwaga, arrived at such a pass,\nwould really utter the kaytaria spell. And if the party were saved,\nthey would probably all declare, and, no doubt believe, that the fish\nhad come to their summons, and somehow or other helped in the rescue.\n\nIt is less easy to imagine what elements in such an experience might\nhave given rise to the myth that the natives, landed on the shore,\nmagically lift the fish from the shallow waters by means of a charmed\npole. This indeed seems a purely imaginary incident, and my main\ninformant, Molilakwa of Oburaku, from whom I obtained the kaytaria\nspell, did not know the spell of the pole, and would have had to\nleave the iraviaka to its own fate in the shallows. Nor could I hear\nof anyone else professing to know this spell. The formula uttered\nover the stone to be thrown on the beach was equally unknown to the\ncircle of my informants. Of course, in all such cases, when a man\ncarrying on a system of magic would come to a gap in his knowledge, he\nwould perform the rite without the spell, or utter the most suitable\nspell of the system. Thus here, as the stone is thrown in order to\nreconnoitre whether the mulukwausi are waiting for them, a spell of\nthe giyorokaywa, the spell of the mulukwausi, might be uttered over\nthe stone. Over the combs, as well as over the herbs on the beach,\na giyorokaywa spell would be uttered, according to my informants,\nbut probably, a different spell from the one spoken originally over\nthe ginger root. Molilakwa, for instance, knows two spells of the\ngiyorokaywa, both of which are suitable to be spoken over the ginger\nand over the beach respectively. Then there comes another spell,\nto be uttered over the libu plant, and in addressing the spider and\nthe bush-hen. Molilakwa told me that the same spell would be said in\nthe three cases, but neither he, nor anyone else, among my informants\ncould give me this spell. The magic done in the village, while the\nshipwrecked men remained in the smoky hut, would be all accompanied\nby the leyya (ginger) spells.\n\nOne incident in the above narrative might have struck the reader as\ncontradictory of the general theory of the mulukwausi belief, that,\nnamely, where the narrator declares that the party on the beach have to\nwait till nightfall before they enter the village. The general belief\nexpressed in all the mulukwausi legends, as well as in the taboos of\nthe kayga'u, is that the witches are really dangerous only at night,\nwhen they can see and hear better. Such contradictions, as I have said,\nare often met in native belief, and in this, by the way, the savages do\nnot differ from ourselves. My informant, from whom I had this version,\nsimply said that such was the rule and the custom, and that they had\nto wait till night. In another account, on the other hand, I was told\nthat the party must proceed to the village immediately after having\nperformed the several rites on the beach, whether night or day.\n\nThere also arises the main question, regarding this narrative,\nto which allusion has been made already, namely, how far does it\nrepresent the normal behaviour in shipwreck, and how far is it a\nsort of standardised myth? There is no doubt that shipwreck in these\nseas, surrounded in many parts by islands, is not unlikely to end\nby the party's being saved. This again would result in some such\nexplanation as that contained in our narrative. Naturally, I tried\nto record all the actual cases of shipwreck within the natives'\nmemory. Some two generations ago, one of the chiefs of Omarakana,\nnamed Numakala, perished at sea, and with him all his crew. A canoe\nof another Eastern Trobriand village, Tilakaywa, was blown far North,\nand stranded in Kokopawa, from where it was sailed back by its crew,\nwhen the wind turned to the North-West. Although this canoe was not\nactually shipwrecked, its salvation is credited to kayga'u magic,\nand to the kind fish, iraviyaka. A very intelligent informant of\nmine explained this point of view in answer to some of my cavillings:\n\"If this canoe had been wrecked, it would have been saved also.\"\n\nA party from Muyuwa (Woodlark Island) were saved on the shore of\nBoyowa. In the South of the Island, several cases are on record where\ncanoes were wrecked and saved in the d'Entrecasteaux Islands or in the\nAmphletts. Once the whole crew were eaten by cannibals, getting ashore\nin a hostile district of Fergusson Island, and one man only escaped,\nand ran along the shore, south-eastwards towards Dobu. Thus there is\na certain amount of historical evidence for the saving power of the\nmagic, and the mixture of fanciful and real elements makes our story\na good example of what could be called standardised or universalised\nmyth--that is, a myth referring not to one historical event but to\na type of occurrence, happening universally.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nLet us now give the text of the remaining spells which belong to the\nabove narrative, but have not been adduced there, so as not to spoil\nits flow. First of all there is the kaytaria spell, that which the\ntoliwaga, drifting alongside his crew on the detached canoe float,\nintones in a loud, slow voice, in order to attract the iraviyaka.\n\n\n                            KAYTARIA SPELL.\n\n    \"I lie, I shall lie down in my house, a big house. I shall sharpen\n    my ear, I shall hear the roaring of the sea--it foams up, it makes\n    a noise. At the bottom of Kausubiyai, come, lift me, take me,\n    bring me to the top of Nabonabwana beach.\"\n\n    Then comes a sentence with mythological allusions which I could\n    not succeed in translating. After that follows the main part of\n    the spell:\n\n    \"The suyusayu fish shall lift me up; my child, the suyusayu shall\n    lift me up; my child's things, the suyusayu shall lift me up; my\n    basket, etc.; my lime pot, etc.; my lime spoon, etc.; my house,\n    etc.;\" repeating the words \"the suyusayu fish shall lift me up\"\n    with various expressions describing the toliwaga's equipment as\n    well as his child, presumably a member of the shipwrecked crew.\n\n\nThere is no end part to this spell, as it was given to me; only\nthe beginning is repeated after the main part. It is not impossible\nthat Molilakwa himself, my informant, did not know the spell to the\nend. Such magic, once learnt by a native, never used, and recited\nperhaps once a year during a mortuary ceremony, or occasionally, in\norder to show off, is easily forgotten. There is a marked difference\nbetween the vacillating and uncertain way in which such spells are\nproduced by informants, and the wonderful precision and the easy\nflow with which, for example, the spells, year after year performed\nin public, will trip off the tongue of the garden magician.\n\nI cannot give a correct commentary to the mythological names Kausubiyai\nand Nabonabwana, in the first part of the spell. What this part means,\nwhether the reclining individual who hears the noises of the sea is\nthe magician, or whether it represents the sensations of the fish who\nhears the calling for help, I could not make out. The meaning of the\nmiddle part is plain, however. Suyusayu is another name for iraviyaka,\nindeed, its magical name used only in spells, and not when speaking\nof it in ordinary conversations.\n\nThe other formula to be given here is the other giyorokaywa spell,\nwhich would be used in spitting the ginger on the beach after rescue,\nand also in medicating the herbs, which will be put on the beach\nand beaten with a stone. This spell is associated with the myth\nof the origin of kayga'u, which must be related here, to make the\nformula clear.\n\nNear the beginning of time, there lived in Kwayawata, one of the\nMarshall Bennetts, a family strange to our ideas of family life, but\nquite natural in the world of Kiriwinian mythology. It consisted of\na man, Kalaytaytu, his sister, Isenadoga, and the youngest brother,\na dog, Tokulubweydoga. Like other mythological personages, their\nnames suggest that originally they must have conveyed some sort of\ndescription. Doga means the curved, almost circular, boar's tusk used\nas ornament. The name of the canine member of the family might mean\nsomething like Man-with-circular-tusks-in-his-head, and his sister's\nname, Woman-ornamented-with-doga. The eldest brother has in his\nname the word taytu, which signifies the staple food (small yams) of\nnatives, and a verb, kalay, signifying 'to put on ornaments.' Not much\nprofit, however, can be deduced from this etymology, as far as I can\nsee, for the interpretation of this myth. I shall quote in a literal\ntranslation the short version of this myth, as I obtained it first,\nwhen the information was volunteered to me by Molilakwa in Oburaku.\n\n\n                        MYTH OF TOKULUBWAYDOGA.\n\n    \"They live in Kwayawata; one day Kalaytayta goes to fish, gets\n    into a small canoe (kewo'u). Behind him swims the dog. He comes to\n    Digumenu. They fish with the older brother. They catch fish! The\n    elder brother paddles; that one again goes behind; goes, returns\n    to Kwayawata. They died; came Modokei, he learned the kayga'u,\n    the inside of Tokulubwaydoga. The name of their mother, the mother\n    of Tokulubwaydoga, is Tobunaygu.\"\n\n\nThis little fragment gives a good idea of what the first version\nis, even of so well fixed a piece of narrative as a myth. It has\nto be supplemented by inquiries as to the motives of the behaviour\nof the various personages, as to the relations of one event to the\nother. Thus, further questions revealed that the elder brother refused\nto take the dog with him on this fishing expedition. Tokulubwaydoga\nthen determined to go all the same, and swam to Digumenu, following\nthe canoe of his brother. This latter was astonished to see him, but\nnone the less they went to work together. In fishing, the dog was more\nsuccessful than his brother, and thus aroused his jealousy. The man\nthen refused to take him back. Tokulubwaydoga then jumped into the\nwater, and again swam and arrived safely in Kwayawata. The point of\nthe story lies in the fact that the dog was able to do the swimming,\nbecause he knew the kayga'u, otherwise the sharks, mulukwausi, or\nother evil things would have eaten him. He got it from his mother,\nthe lady Tobunaygu, who could teach him this magic because she\nwas a mulukwausi herself. Another important point about this myth,\nalso quite omitted from the first version volunteered to me, is its\nsociological aspect. First of all, there is the very interesting\nincident, unparalleled in Kiriwinian tradition: the mother of the\nthree belonged to the Lukwasisiga clan. It was a most incongruous\nthing for a dog, who is the animal of the Lukuba clan, to be born\ninto a Lukwasisiga family. However, there he was, and so he said:\n\n\n    \"Good, I shall be a Lukuba, this is my clan.\"\n\n\nNow the incident of the quarrel receives its significance in so far as\nthe dog, the only one to whom the mother gave the kayga'u, did not hand\nit over to his brother and sister who were of the Lukwasisiga clan,\nand so the magic went down only the dog's own clan, the Lukuba. It must\nbe assumed (though this was not known to my informant) that Madokei,\nwho learnt the magic from the dog, was also a Lukuba man.\n\nLike all mythological mother-ancestresses, Tobunaygu had no husband,\nnor does this circumstance call forth any surprise or comment on the\npart of the natives, since the physiological aspect of fatherhood is\nnot known among them, as I have repeatedly observed.\n\nAs can be seen, by comparing the original fragment, and the subsequent\namplification by inquiries, the volunteered version misses out the\nmost important points. The concatenation of events, the origin of the\nkayga'u, the important sociological details, have to be dragged out\nof the informant, or, to put it more correctly, he has to be made to\nenlarge on points, to roam over all the subjects covered by the myth,\nand from his statements then, one has to pick out and piece together\nthe other bits of the puzzle. On the other hand, the names of the\npeople, the unimportant statements of what they did and how they were\noccupied are unfailingly given.\n\nLet us adduce now the kayga'u, which is said to be derived from the\ndog, and ultimately from his mother:\n\n\n                       KAYGA'U OF TOKULUBWAYDOGA.\n\n    \"Tobunaygu (repeated), Manemanaygu (repeated), my mother a snake,\n    myself a snake; myself a snake, my mother a snake. Tokulubwaydoga,\n    Isenadoga, Matagagai, Kalaytaytu; bulumava'u tabugu Madokei. I\n    shall befog the front, I shall shut off the rear; I shall befog\n    the rear, I shall shut off the front.\"\n\n    This exordium contains at first the invocation of the name of\n    the mulukwausi, who was the source of the spell. Its pendant\n    Manemanaygu is, according to my informant, derived from an archaic\n    word nema, equivalent to the present day yama, hand. \"As the\n    right hand is to the left one, so is Tobunaygu to Manemanaygu,\"\n    which was expressed as a matter of fact in the less grammatically\n    worded form; \"this right hand, this left\" (clapped together)\n    \"so Tobunaygu, Manemanaygu.\"\n\n    Whether this analysis of my informant is correct must remain an\n    open question. It must be remembered that magic is not taken by the\n    natives as an ethnographic document, allowing of interpretations\n    and developments, but as an instrument of power. The words are\n    there to act, and not to teach. Questions as to the meaning of\n    magic, as a rule, puzzled the informants, and therefore it is\n    not easy to explain a formula or obtain a correct commentary upon\n    it. All the same there are some natives who obviously have tried\n    to get to the bottom of what the various words in magic represent.\n\n    To proceed with our commentary, the phrase \"My mother a snake,\n    etc.,\" was thus explained to me by Molilakwa: \"Supposing we strike\n    a snake, already it vanishes, it does not remain; thus also we\n    human beings, when mulukwausi catch us, we disappear.\" That\n    is, we disappear after having spoken this magical formula,\n    for in a formula the desired result is always expressed in\n    anticipation. Molilakwa's description of a snake's behaviour is,\n    according to my experience, not sound Natural History, but it\n    probably expresses the underlying idea, namely the elusiveness\n    of the snake, which would naturally be one of the metaphorical\n    figures used in the spell.\n\n    The string of words following the invocation of the snake are all\n    mythical names, four of which we found mentioned in the above\n    myth, while the rest remain obscure. The last-named, that of\n    Modokei, is preceded by the words bulumavau tabugu, which means,\n    'recent spirit of my ancestor,' which words are as a rule used\n    in spells with reference to real grandfathers of the reciters.\n\n    The middle part of the spell proceeds:--\n\n    \"I shall cover the eyes of the witches of Kitava; I shall cover\n    the eyes of the witches of Kumwageya; I shall cover the eyes of\n    the witches of Iwa; I shall cover the eyes of the witches of Gawa,\n    etc., etc.,\" enumerating all the villages and islands renowned\n    for their witches. This list is again recited, substituting for\n    the expression \"I shall cover,\" in succession, \"I shall befog,\"\n    and \"dew envelopes.\" This middle part needs no commentary.\n\n    The end of this formula runs as follows:\n\n    \"I shall kick thy body, I shall take thy spirit skirt, I shall\n    cover thy buttocks, I shall take thy mat, a pandanus mat, I\n    shall take thy mantle. I shall strike thee with my foot, go,\n    fly over Tuma, fly away. I myself in the sea (here the reciter's\n    name is mentioned), I shall drift away, well.\" This last part of\n    the spell is so much alike to the end of the spell first quoted\n    in this chapter, that no commentary is needed.\n\n\nThe mythological and magical data presented in this chapter all bear\nupon the native belief in flying witches and dangers at sea, a belief\nin which elements of reality are strangely blended with traditionally\nfixed fancies, in a way, however, not uncommon to human belief in\ngeneral. It is time now to return to our party on the beach at Yakum,\nwho, after having spent the night there, next morning rig up their\nmasts, and with a favourable wind, soon reach the waters of Gumasila\nand Domdom.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nIN THE AMPHLETTS--SOCIOLOGY OF THE KULA\n\n\nI\n\nOur party, sailing from the North, reach first the main island\nof Gumasila, a tall, steep mountain with arched lines and great\ncliffs, suggesting vaguely some huge Gothic monument. To the left,\na heavy pyramid, the island of Domdom, recedes behind the nearer\nmountain as the travellers approach. The fleet now sails along the\nwesterly shore of Gumasila, on which side the jungle, interspersed\nwith bald patches, ascends a steep slope, ribbed with rocky ridges,\nand creased by valleys which run at their foot into wide bays. Only\nhere and there can be seen triangular clearings, signs of cultivation\nmade by the natives from the other side of the island, where the two\nvillages are situated. At the South-West end of Gumasila, a narrow\npromontory runs into a flat, low point with a sandy beach on both\nsides. On the North side of the point, hidden from the villages,\nthe fleet comes to a halt, on the beach of Giyawana (called by the\nTrobrianders Giyasila). This is the place where all the fleets,\narriving from the North, stop before approaching the villages. Here\nalso the inhabitants of the Amphletts rest for a day, after the\nfirst false start they have made from the villages, and before they\nactually set off for the Trobriands. This beach, in short, is the\nAmphlettan counterpart of the sandbank Muwa. It was also here that I\nsurprised the Gumasilan canoes on a full moon night, in March, 1918,\nafter they had started to join the uvalaku expedition to Sinaketa.\n\nOn this beach, the Sinaketans perform the final stage of Kula magic,\nbefore approaching their partners in Gumasila. The same magic will\nbe repeated before arriving in Dobu, and as a matter of fact, when\nthe objective of the big uvalaku is Dobu, the full and ceremonial\nperformance of the magic might usually be deferred till then. It\nwill be better therefore to postpone the description of this magic\ntill we have brought our fleet to the beach of Sarubwoyna. Here it\nwill be enough to mention that on occasions when magic is performed,\nafter an hour's or half hour's pause on the beach of Giyawana, all\nthe men get into their canoes, take the paddles and oars, and the\nfleet sails round the point where, in a small, very picturesque bay,\nthere lies the smaller village of Gumasila, called Nu'agasi (see Plate\nI). This village in olden days was perched on a narrow ledge some one\nhundred metres above the sea level, a fastness difficult of access, and\noverlooking all its approaches. Now, after the white man's influence\nhas rendered unnecessary all precautions against raiding parties,\nthe village has come down to the narrow strip of foreshore, a bridge\nbetween the sea and a small swamp formed at the foot of the hill. Some\nof the canoes will come to this beach, the others will sail further,\nunder a precipitous black rock of some 150 metres high and 300 metres\nwide (see Plate XLII). Turning another corner, they arrive at the big\nvillage of Gumasila, built on artificial stone terraces, surrounded\nby dykes of small stones, forming square lagoons and diminutive\nharbours (compare the description given above in Chapter I, Division\nV). This is the old village which, practically inaccessible by sea,\nformed a fastness of a different kind from the other, high-perched\nvillages typical of this district. Exposed to the full onslaught of\nthe South-Easterly winds and seas, against which it was protected by\nits stone bulwarks and dykes, it was approachable only in all weathers\nby a small channel to the South, where a big rock and a reef shelter\nit from the rough waters.\n\nWithout any preliminary welcoming ceremony or formal reception,\nthe Sinaketan guests now leave their canoes and disperse among the\nvillagers, settle down in groups near the houses of their friends, and\nengage in betel chewing and conversations. They speak in Kiriwinian,\na language which is universally known in the Amphletts. Almost as\nsoon as they go ashore, they give to their partners presents of pari\n(opening gift), some small object, such as a comb, a lime pot, or\na lime stick. After that, they await some Kula gifts to be given\nthem. The most important headman will offer such a gift first to\nKouta'uya, or To'udawada, whichever of them is the toli'uvalaku of the\noccasion. The soft, penetrating sound of a conch-shell soon announces\nthat the first gift has been given. Other blasts of conch-shells\nfollow, and the Kula is in full swing. But here again, what happens in\nthe Amphletts, is only a minor interlude to the Sinaketan adventurers,\nbent on the bigger goal in Dobu. And in order for us to remain in\nharmony with the native perspective we shall also wait for the detailed\nand circumstantial description of the Kula proceedings till we arrive\non the beach of Tu'utauna, in Dobu. The concrete account of how such\na visiting fleet is received and behaves on arrival will be given,\nwhen I describe a scene I saw with my own eyes in the village of\nNabwageta, another Amphlett island, when sixty Dobuan canoes arrived\nthere on their uvalaku, en route for Boyowa.\n\nTo give a definite idea of the conversations which take place between\nthe visitors and the Amphlettans, I shall give a sample noted down,\nduring a visit of some Trobrianders to Nu'agasi, the smaller village\nof Gumasila. A few canoes had arrived a day or two before, in the\nneighbouring island, Nabwageta, coming from the small Western islands\nof the Trobriands on a Kula. One of them paddled across to Nu'agasi\nwith a crew of some six men, in order to offer pari gifts to their\npartners and see what was to be done in the way of Kula. The canoe\nwas sighted from a distance, and its purpose was guessed at once,\nas word had been brought before of the arrival in Nabwageta of this\nsmall expedition. The headman of Nu'agasi, Tovasana, hurried back to\nhis house from my tent, where I was taking great pains to obtain some\nethnographic information from him.\n\nTovasana is an outspoken character, and he is the most important\nheadman in the Amphletts. I am not using the word 'chief,' for in\nthe Amphletts, as I have said, the natives do not observe either\nthe court ceremonial with crouching and bending, nor do the headmen\nhave any power or economic influence, at all comparable with those\nof the Trobriands. Yet, although I came from the Trobriands, I was\nstruck by the authoritative tone used, and the amount of influence\nevidently wielded by Tovasana. This is partly due undoubtedly to\nthe lack of white man's interference, which has so undermined native\nauthority and morality in the Trobriands, whereas the Amphletts have\nso far escaped to a large extent Missionary teaching and Government\nlaw and order. On the other hand, however, the very narrow sphere\nof his powers, the authority over a small village, consolidates the\nheadman's influence. The oldest and the most aristocratic by descent\nof all the headmen, he is their acknowledged 'doyen.'\n\nIn order to receive his visitors he went to the beach in front\nof his house and sat there on a log, looking impassively over the\nsea. When the Trobrianders arrived each man took a gift and went\nto his partner's house. The chief did not rise to meet them, nor\ndid they come in a body to greet him. The toliwaga came towards the\nplace where Tovasana was sitting; he carried a bundle of taro and a\npiece of gugu'a (objects of small value, such as combs, lime pots,\netc.). These he laid down near the seated headman, who, however,\ntook no notice of it. A small boy, a grandchild of Tovasana, I think,\ntook up the gifts and put them into his house. Then, without having\nyet exchanged a word, the toliwaga sat down on the platform next to\nTovasana. Under a shady tree, which spread its branches like a canopy\nabove the bleached canoe, the men formed a picturesque group sitting\ncross-legged on the platform. Beside the slim, youthful figure of the\nKaduwaga man, the old Tovasana, with his big, roughly carved features,\nwith his large aquiline nose sticking out from under an enormous\nturban-like wig, looked like an old gnome. At first exchanging merely\na word or two, soon they dropped into more animated conversation,\nand when other villagers and the rest of the visitors joined them,\nthe talk became general. As they spoke in Kiriwinian, I was able to\njot down the beginning of their conversation.\n\n\n    Tovasana asked:\n\n    \"Where have you anchored?\"\n\n    \"In Nabwageta.\"\n\n    \"When did you come?\"\n\n    \"Yesterday.\"\n\n    \"From where did you start on the last day before arriving?\"\n\n    \"From Gabuwana.\"\n\n    \"When?\"\n\n    \"The day before yesterday.\"\n\n    \"What wind?\"\n\n    \"Started from home with yavata; wind changed. Arrived on sandbank\n    (Gabuwana); we slept; so-and-so made wind magic; wind changed\n    again; good wind.\"\n\n    Then Tovasana asked the visitors about one of the chiefs from\n    the island of Kayleula (to the West of Kiriwina), and when he\n    was going to give him a big pair of mwali. The man answered\n    they do not know; to their knowledge that chief has no big mwali\n    at present. Tovasana became very angry, and in a long harangue,\n    lapsing here and there into the Gumasila language, he declared that\n    he would never kula again with that chief, who is a topiki (mean\n    man), who has owed him for a long time a pair of mwali as yotile\n    (return gift), and who always is slow in making Kula. A string\n    of other accusations about some clay pots given by Tovasana to\n    the same chief, and some pigs promised and never given, were also\n    made by the angry headman. The visitors listened to it with polite\n    assent, uttering here and there some noncommital remark. They,\n    in their turn, complained about some sago, which they had hoped\n    to receive in Nabwageta, but which was churlishly refused for some\n    reason or other to all the men of Kaduwaga, Kaysiga and Kuyawa.\n\n    Tovasana then asked them, \"How long are you going to stay?\"\n\n    \"Till Dobu men come.\"\n\n    \"They will come,\" said Tovasana, \"not in two days, not in three\n    days, not in four days; they will come tomorrow, or at the very\n    last, the day after tomorrow.\"\n\n    \"You go with them to Boyowa?\"\n\n    \"I sail first to Vakuta, then to Sinaketa with the Dobu men. They\n    sail to Susuwa beach to fish, I go to your villages, to Kaduwaga,\n    to Kaysiga, to Kuyawa. Is there plenty of mwali in your villages?\"\n\n    \"Yes, there are. So-and-so has...\"\n\n    Here followed a long string of personal names of big armshells,\n    the approximate number of smaller, nameless ones, and the names\n    of the people in whose possession they were at the time.\n\n\nThe interest of both hearers and speakers was very obvious,\nand Tovasana gave the approximate dates of his movements to his\nvisitors. Full moon was approaching, and the natives have got names\nfor every day during the week before and after full moon, and the\nfollowing and preceding days can therefore be reckoned. Also, every\nseven-day period within a moon is named after the quarter which falls\nin it. This allows the natives to fix dates with a fair exactitude. The\npresent example shows the way in which, in olden times, the movements\nof the various expeditions were known over enormous areas; nowadays,\nwhen white men's boats with native crews often move from one island\nto the other, the news spreads even more easily. In former times,\nsmall preliminary expeditions such as the one we have just been\ndescribing, would fix the dates and make arrangements often for as\nmuch as a year ahead.\n\nThe Kaduwaga men next inquired as to whether any strangers from the\nTrobriands were then staying in Gumasila. The answer was that there\nwas in the village one man from Ba'u, and one from Sinaketa. Then\ninquiries were made as to how many Kula necklaces there were in\nGumasila, and the conversation drifted again into Kula technicalities.\n\nIt is quite customary for men from the Trobriands to remain\nfor a long time in the Amphletts, that is, from one expedition\nto another. For some weeks or even months, they live in the\nhouse of their partner, friend, or relative, careful to keep to\nthe customs of the country. They will sit about with the men of\nthe village and talk. They will help in the work and go out on\nfishing expeditions. These latter will be specially attractive to a\nTrobriander, a keen fisherman himself, who here finds an entirely\nnew type of this pursuit. Whether an expedition would be made on\none of the sandbanks, where the fishermen remain for a few days,\ncasting their big nets for dugong and turtle; or whether they would\ngo out in a small canoe, trying to catch the jumping gar fish with\na fishing kite; or throwing a fish trap into the deep sea--all these\nwould be a novelty to the Trobriander, accustomed only to the methods\nsuitable to the shallow waters of the Lagoon, swarming with fish.\n\nIn one point the Trobriander would probably find his sojourn in\nthe Amphletts uncongenial; he would be entirely debarred from any\nintercourse with women. Accustomed in his country to easy intrigues,\nhere he has completely to abstain, not only from sexual relations with\nwomen married or unmarried, but even from moving with them socially,\nin the free and happy manner characteristic of Boyowa. One of my main\ninformants, Layseta, a Sinaketa man, who spent several years in the\nAmphletts, confessed to me, not without shame and regret, that he\nnever succeeded in having any intrigues with the women there. To\nsave his face, he claimed that he had had several Amphlett belles\ndeclaring their love to him, and offering their favours, but he always\nrefused them:\n\n\n    \"I feared; I feared the bowo'u of Gumasila; they are very bad.\"\n\n\nThe bowo'u are the local sorcerers of the Amphletts. Whatever we might\nthink about Layseta's temptations--and his personal appearance and\ncharm do not make his boastings very credible--and whether he was\nafraid of sorcery or of a sound thrashing, the fact remains that a\nTrobriander would have to change his usual mode of behaviour when\nin the Amphletts, and keep away from the women entirely. When big\nparties arrive in Gumasila, or Nabwageta, the women run away, and\ncamp in the bush till the beach is clear.\n\nThe Amphlettans, on the contrary, were used to receive favours from\nunmarried women in Sinaketa. Nowadays, the male inhabitants of that\nvillage, always disapproving of the custom, though not to the extent\nof taking any action, tell the Amphlettans that the white man's\nGovernment has prohibited the men from Gumasila and Nabwageta to\nhave sexual relations in Sinaketa. One of the very few occasions,\nwhen the men from the Amphletts showed any interest in talking to me\nwas when they asked me whether this was true.\n\n\n    \"The Sinaketa men tell us that we will go to jail if we sleep\n    with girls in Sinaketa. Would the Government put us into jail,\n    in truth?\"\n\n\nAs usually, I simply disclaimed all knowledge of the white man's\narcana in such matters.\n\nThe small party of Kaduwaga men, whose visit to Tovasana I have just\nbeen describing, sat there for about two hours, smoked and chewed\nbetel-nut, the conversation flagging now and then, and the men looking\ninto the distance with the habitual self-important expression worn\non such occasions. After the final words about mutual plans were\nexchanged, and a few pots had been brought by small boys to the canoe\nas taio'i (farewell gift to the visitors), they embarked, and paddled\nback three or four miles across to Nabwageta.\n\nWe must imagine the big Kula party from Sinaketa, whom we just watched\nlanding in the two villages of Gumasila, behaving more or less in the\nsame manner; conducting similar conversations, offering the same type\nof pari gifts to their partners. Only everything happens of course on\na much bigger scale. There is a big group seated before each house,\nparties walk up and down the village, the sea in front of it is covered\nwith the gaudy, heavily laden canoes. In the little village, of which\nTovasana is headman, the two chiefs, To'udawada and Kouta'uya, will\nbe seated on the same platform, on which we saw the old man receiving\nhis other guests. The other headmen of the Sinaketans will have gone\nto the bigger village round the corner, and will encamp there under\nthe tall palms, looking across the straits towards the pyramidal forms\nof Domdom, and further South, to the main island fronting them with\nthe majestic form of Koyatabu. Here, among the small houses on piles,\nscattered picturesquely through the maze of little harbours, lagoons\nand dykes, large groups of people will be seated on mats of plaited\ncoco-nut, each man as a rule under the dwelling of his partner,\nchewing betel-nut stolidly, and watching stealthily the pots being\nbrought out to be presented to them, and still more eagerly awaiting\nthe giving of Kula gifts, although he remains to a superficial glance\nquite impassive.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nIn Chapter III I spoke about the sociology of Kula, and gave a concise\ndefinition of partnership with its functions and obligations. I said\nthere that people enter into this relationship in a definite manner,\nand remain in it for the rest of their life. I also said that the\nnumber of partners a man possesses, depends upon his social position\nand rank. The protective character of an overseas partner becomes\nnow clearer, after we have realised the nervous tension with which\neach Kula party in olden days would have approached a land full of\nmulukwausi, bowo'u and other forms of sorcery, a land from which\noriginate the very tauva'u themselves. [70] To have a friend there,\none who will not on the surface of it have bad intentions, is a\ngreat boon. What this really means to the natives can, however, only\nbe realised when we arrive at Dobu, learn the special safety magic\nperformed there and find how genuinely serious these apprehensions are.\n\nWe must now make another short digression from our consecutive account,\nand discuss the several aspects of the sociology of the Kula one\nafter the other.\n\n1. Sociological Limitations to the Participation in the Kula.--Not\neveryone who lives within the cultural sphere of the Kula does\nparticipate in it. More especially in the Trobriand Islands, there\nare whole districts which do not practise the Kula. Thus a series of\nvillages in the North of the main Island, the villages on the Island of\nTuma, as well as the industrial villages of Kuboma and the agricultural\nones of Tilataula do not practise Kula. In villages like Sinaketa,\nVakuta, Gumasila and Nabwageta, every man carries on the Kula. The\nsame applies to the small Islands which link up the big gaps of the\nKula chain, the Islands of Kitava, Iwa, Gawa and Kwayawata, strewn on\nthe seas between the Trobriands and Woodlark Island, to Tubetube and\nWari, etc., etc. In the Dobuan speaking district, on the other hand,\nI think that certain village complexes either do not practice Kula\nat all, or else practice it on a small scale, that is, their headmen\nhave only a few partners in the neighbouring villages.\n\nIn some of the big chiefs' villages in Kiriwina there are certain\npeople who never practice Kula. Thus, in a village where the\nheadman has the rank of guya'u (chief) or gumguya'u (minor chief)\nthe commoners of the lowest rank and unrelated to the headman are\nnot supposed to carry on the Kula. In olden days this rule would be\nvery strictly observed, and nowadays even, though somewhat relaxed,\nnot many commoners of this description practice the Kula. Limitations\nas to entry into the Kula, therefore, exist only in big Kula districts\nsuch as that of Dobu and of the Trobriands, and they are partly local,\nexcluding whole villages, and partly social, excluding certain people\nof low rank.\n\n2. The Relation of Partnership.--The name for an overseas partner\nis in the Trobriand language karayta'u; 'my partner' is styled ulo\nkarayta'u, ulo being the possessive pronoun of remote relation. In\nGumasila he is called ulo ta'u, which means simply 'my man'; in Dobuan,\nyegu gumagi. The inland partners are known in Kiriwinian by the term\ndenoting a friend, 'lubaygu,' the suffixed possessive pronoun gu\nbeing that of nearest possession.\n\nOnly after this relationship has been established between two men,\ncan the two make Kula with one another. An overseas visitor would\nas a rule go to his partner's house and offer him a small present\nas pari. This again would be returned by the local man by means of\na talo'i present. There would not be any great intimacy between two\noverseas partners. But, in sharp contrast to the essential hostility\nbetween two strange tribesmen, such a relationship of friendship would\nstand out as the most remarkable deviation from the general rule. In\ninland relations between two partners of neighbouring villages, the\ncloseness and intimacy would be relatively small as compared to other\nties. This relation was defined to me in these words:\n\n\n    \"My partner same as my clansman (kakaveyogu)--he might fight\n    me. My real kinsman (veyogu), same navelstring, would always side\n    with us.\"\n\n\nThe best way of obtaining detailed information, and of eliminating\nany errors which might have crept into ethnographic generalisations,\nis to collect concrete data. I have drawn up a complete list of the\npartners of Kouta'uya, who is one of the biggest Kula men in the\nwhole Ring; another list of a smaller Sinaketa headman, Toybayoba;\nand of course I know several complements of partners of smaller men,\nwho, as a rule, have about four to six partners each.\n\nThe full list of Kouta'uya includes fifty-five men in the Northern\nHalf of Boyowa, that is, in Luba, Kulumata and Kiriwina. From these\nthe chief receives armshells. To the South, his partners in the\nSouthern districts of Boyowa and Vakuta are twenty-three by number;\nin the Amphletts eleven, and twenty-seven in Dobu. Thus we see that the\nnumbers to the South and North almost balance, the Southern exceeding\nthe Northern by six. These numbers include his partners in Sinaketa,\nwhere he makes Kula with all his fellow chiefs, and with all the\nheadmen of the divisional villages, and in his own little village\nhe kulas with his sons. But even there, everyone of his partners is\neither South or North to him, that is, either gives him the necklaces\nor armshells.\n\nAll the clans are represented in the list. Often when asked with\nregard to the name of some man, why he is in partnership with him,\nthe answer would be--\"Because he is my kinsman,\" which means, in\nthis case, clansman of equal rank. Men of other clans are included,\nas 'friends' or relatives-in-law, or for some other reason more or\nless imaginary. I shall speak presently of the mechanism through\nwhich the man enters on this relation.\n\nThe list of Toybayoba's partners includes twelve men to the North,\nfour in Southern Boyowa, three in the Amphletts and eleven in Dobu,\nthe balance here also being on the Southern side. As said above,\nminor men might have anything between four to ten partners all told,\nwhereas there are men in northern Boyowa who have only two partners,\none on each side of the ring, so to speak, with whom they make Kula.\n\nIn drawing up these lists, which I shall not reproduce here in\nextenso, another striking feature comes to light: on both sides,\nthere is a definite geographical limit, beyond which a man cannot have\nany partners. For all men in the village of Sinaketa, for instance,\nthis limit, as regards the armshells, coincides with the furthest\nboundary of Kiriwina; that is, no man from Sinaketa has any partners\nin Kitava, which is the next Kula district beyond Kiriwina. South,\nin the direction from which the soulava are received, the villages\nat the South-East end of Fergusson Island are the last places where\npartners of Sinaketan men are still to be found. The small Island of\nDobu itself lies just beyond this boundary, and no man in this Island\nor in any of the villages on Normanby Island makes Kula with the\nSinaketans (compare the circles, indicating Kula Communities on Map V).\n\nBeyond these districts, the men still know the names of what could be\ncalled their partners-once-removed, that is, the partners of their\npartners. In the case of a man who has only a couple of partners on\neach side, who, again being modest men, have also only one or two,\nthis relationship is not devoid of importance. If I, in Sinaketa, have\none partner, say in Kiriwina, who again has one partner in Kitava, it\nis no small matter for me to learn that this Kitava man just obtained\na splendid pair of armshells. For this means that there is about a\nquarter of a chance of my receiving these armshells, on the supposition\nthat the Kitavan and Kiriwinian have two partners each between whom\nthey can choose in bestowing them. In the case of a big chief like\nKouta'uya, however, the number of once-removed partners becomes so\ngreat that they lose any personal significance for him. Kouta'uya has\nsome twenty-five partners in Kiriwina; among them To'uluwa, the big\nchief, makes Kula with more than half of all the men in Kitava. Some\nother of Kouta'uya's partners in Kiriwina, of lesser rank, yet quite\nimportant, also make Kula with a great number, so that probably\npractically everybody in Kitava is Kouta'uya's partner-once-removed.\n\nIf we were to imagine that on the Kula Ring there are many people who\nhave only one partner on each side, then the Ring would consist of a\nlarge number of closed circuits, on each of which the same articles\nwould constantly pass. Thus if A in Kiriwina always kulas with B in\nSinaketa who kulas with C in Tubetube, who kulas with D in Murua,\nwho kulas with E in Kitava, who kulas with A in Kiriwina, then A B\nC D E F would form such one strand in the big Kula circuit. If an\narmshell got into the hands of one of them, it could never leave this\nstrand. But the Kula Ring is nothing approaching this, because every\nsmall Kula partner has, as a rule, on one side or the other, a big one,\nthat is a chief. And every chief plays the part of a shunting-station\nfor Kula objects. Having so many partners on each side, he constantly\ntransfers an object from one strand to another. Thus, any article which\non its rounds has travelled through the hands of certain men, may on\nits second round come through an entirely different channel. This,\nof course, supplies a large part of the zest and excitement of the\nKula exchange.\n\nThe designation of such a partner-once-removed in the language of\nKiriwina is muri-muri. A man will say that such and such a one is 'my\npartner-once-removed,' 'ulo murimuri.' Another expression connected\nwith this relationship is to inquire 'whose hand' has passed on\nsuch and such a vaygu'a. When To'uluwa gives a pair of armshells to\nKouta'uya, this latter will ask: 'availe yamala' ('whose hand')? The\nanswer is 'yamala Pwata'i,' ('the hand of Pwata'i'). And, as a rule,\nmore or less the following conversation will ensue: \"who gave this\npair of armshells to Pwata'i?\" \"how long were they kept by a man in\nthe Island of Yeguma, and then distributed on the occasion of a so'i\n(feast)?\" \"when they had been the last time in Boyowa?\" etc., etc.\n\n3. Entering the Kula Relationship.--In order to become a practising\nmember of the Kula, a man must have passed the stage of adolescence; he\nmust have the status and rank required, that is in such villages where\nthis condition is demanded; he must know the magic of the Kula; and\nlast, not least, he must be in possession of a piece of vaygu'a. The\nmembership, with all its concomitant implications, may be received\nfrom the father, who teaches his son the magic, gives him a piece of\nvaygu'a, and provides him with a partner, very often in his own person.\n\nSupposing one of the sons of Kouta'uya has reached the stage where\na lad may begin to kula. The chief will have been teaching him the\nspells for some time already. Moreover the lad, who from childhood\nhas taken part in overseas expeditions, has many a time seen the\nrites performed and heard the spells uttered. When the time is ripe,\nKouta'uya, having the conch-shell blown, and with all due formalities,\npresents a soulava to his son. This latter, soon afterwards, goes\nsomewhere North. Perhaps he goes only to one of the neighbouring\nvillages within Sinaketa, perhaps he accompanies his father on a\nvisit as far North as Omarakana, and in any case he makes Kula,\neither with one of his father's friends and partners, or with a\nspecial friend of his own. Thus, at one stroke, the lad is equipped\nwith magic, vaygu'a, and two partners, one of whom is his father. His\nnorthern partner will give him in due course an armshell, and this\nhe will probably offer to his father. The transactions once started\ncontinue. His father soon gives him another vaygu'a, which he may kula\nwith the same northern partner, or he may try to establish another\npartnership. The next mwali (armshells) he receives from the North, he\nwill probably give to another partner in the South, and thus establish\na new relationship. A chief's son, who is always a commoner himself\n(since the chief cannot marry within his own sub-clan and the son has\nthe status of his mother), would not multiply his partners beyond the\nlimit numerically given by the above mentioned partners of Toybayoba.\n\nNot everyone, however, is as fortunate as to be the son of a chief,\nwhich in the Trobriands is, on the whole, one of the most enviable\npositions, since it confers many privileges, and entails no special\nresponsibilities. A young chief himself would have to pay substantially\nfor establishing his position in the Kula, for a chief is always\nthe son of a woman of high rank, and the nephew of a chief, though\nhis father may be a commoner of small influence only. In any case,\nhis maternal uncle will expect from him some pokala (offerings by\ninstalment), in payment for magic, vaygu'a, and finally for a leading\nposition in the Kula. The young chief would marry, and thus acquire\nwealth within limits, and with this he would have to give presents\nto his maternal uncle, who in turn would introduce him into the Kula,\nexactly as a chief does his son, only not disinterestedly.\n\nA commoner enters into the Kula like a chief, with the only exception\nthat everything is on a smaller scale, the amount of the pokala\nwhich he gives to his maternal uncle, the vaygu'a which he receives,\nand the number of partners with whom he kulas. When a man gives\nto another a piece of vaygu'a, of the Kula kind, but not as a Kula\nexchange but as a gift, let us say as youlo (gift in repayment for\nthe harvest supply offerings, see above, Chapter VI, Division VI),\nthis vaygu'a does not leave the Kula Ring. The receiver, if he had\nnot been in the Kula yet, enters into it by acquiring the vaygu'a,\nand can then choose his partner, and go on with the exchange.\n\nThere is one important qualification of the statement made at the\nbeginning of this section. I said there that a man entering the Kula\nRing, must learn the mwasila magic. This refers only to those who\npractise overseas Kula. For people who do only the inland exchange,\nmagic is not necessary, and in fact it is never learned by them.\n\n4. Participation of Women in the Kula.--As I have said in the\ngeneral descriptive chapter on the Kula tribes, the position of\nwomen among them is by no means characterised by oppression or social\ninsignificance. They have their own sphere of influence, which, in\ncertain cases and in certain tribes, is of great importance. The Kula,\nhowever, is essentially a man's type of activity. As mentioned above,\nin the section between Sinaketa and Dobu, women do not sail on the\nbig expeditions. From Kiriwina young, unmarried girls would sail East\nto Kitava, Iwa, and Gawa, and from these Islands even old, married\nwomen, indeed whole families, come to Kiriwina. But they do not carry\non overseas Kula exchange, neither among themselves, nor with men.\n\nIn Kiriwina, some women, notably the chief's wives, are admitted to\nthe honour and privilege of exchanging vaygu'a, though in such cases\nthe transactions are done en famille. To take a concrete case, in\nOctober or November, 1915, To'uluwa, the chief of Omarakana, brought\na fine haul of mwali from Kitava. The best pair of these he presented\nto his veteran wife, Bokuyoba, a wife whom he had inherited from his\nelder brother Numakala. Bokuyoba in turn gave the pair, without much\ndelay, to Kadamwasila, the favourite wife of the chief, the mother\nof five sons and one daughter. She again gave it to her son, Namwana\nGuyau, who kula'd it on to some of his southern partners. Next time\nhe receives a soulava necklace, he will give it, not to his father\ndirectly, but to his mother, who will hand it over to her senior\ncolleague, and this venerable lady will give it to To'uluwa. The\nwhole transaction is evidently a complimentary interpolation of the\ntwo giyovila (chief's wives) in between the simple transaction of\nthe chief giving the vaygu'a to his son. This interpolation gives the\nwomen much pleasure, and is highly valued by them. In fact, at that\ntime I heard more about that than about all the rest of the exchanges\nassociated with this overseas trip.\n\nIn Southern Boyowa, that is in Sinaketa and Vakuta, the r\u00f4le of women\nis similar, but they play besides another part. A man would sometimes\nsend his wife with a Kula gift to his partner in the neighbouring\nvillage. On some occasions, when he needs vaygu'a very badly, as for\ninstance when he is expecting some uvalaku visitors, his wife may help\nhim to obtain the vaygu'a from that partner. For, though this latter\nmight refuse to give it to his Sinaketan partner, he would not do so\nto his wife. It must be added that no sexual motives are associated\nwith it, and that it is only a sort of customary compliment paid to\nthe fair sex.\n\nIn Dobu, the wife, or the sister of a man, is always credited with a\ngreat influence over his Kula decisions. Therefore, there is a special\nform of magic, used by the Sinaketans, in order to act on the minds\nof the Dobuan women. Although, in matters of sex, a Trobriander would\nhave absolutely to keep aloof from Dobuan women, married or unmarried,\nhe would approach them with nice speeches and gifts in matters of\nKula. He would reproach an unmarried girl with her brother's conduct\ntowards him. She would then ask for a piece of betel-nut. This would\nbe given with some magic spoken over it, and the girl, it is believed,\nwould then influence her brother to kula with his partner. [71]\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nIn the short outline of the Amphlett tribe which was given in\nChapter II, Division IV, I called them 'typical monopolists,'\nboth with reference to their economic position and to their\ncharacter. Monopolists they are in two respects, namely as\nmanufacturers of the wonderful clay pots which form the only supply for\nthe surrounding districts; and in the second place, as a commercial\ncommunity, situated half-way between the populous country of Dobu,\nwith its rich gardens and coco-nut plantations, on the one hand, and\nthe Trobriands, the main industrial community in Eastern New Guinea\non the other.\n\nThe expression 'monopolists' must, however, be correctly\nunderstood. The Amphletts are not a centre of commercial middle-men,\nconstantly busy importing and exporting desirable utilities. Only\nabout once or twice a year, a big expedition comes to their Islands,\nand every few months they themselves will sail South-East or North\nand again receive visits from smaller expeditions from one of the\nneighbours or the other. It is through just such small expeditions\nthat they collect a relatively considerable amount of utilities\nfrom all surrounding districts, and these they can give to such\nvisitors as need and desire them. Nor would they impose high prices\non any such exchange, but they are certainly considered less liberal,\nless ready to give or to trade and always on the look out for higher\nreturn gifts and extras. In their bartering away of the clay pots,\nthey also cannot ask extortionate prices, such as, according to the\nlaws of supply and demand, they could impose on their neighbours. For,\nno more than any other natives, can they run counter to customary\nrules, which regulate this exchange as much as all others. Indeed,\nconsidering the great amount of trouble which they have in obtaining\nthe clay, and the high degree of skill necessary to produce the pots,\nthe prices for which they sell them are very low. But here again,\ntheir manners over this transaction are distinctly haughty, and they\nare well aware of their value as potters and distributors of pots to\nthe other natives.\n\nA few more words must be said about their pot making industry as well\nas about the trade in these islands.\n\nThe natives of the Amphletts are exclusive manufacturers of pottery,\nwithin a wide radius. They are the only purveyors to the Trobrianders,\nto the inhabitants of the Marshall Bennett Islands, and also, I\nbelieve, all the clay-pots in Woodlark come from the Amphletts. [72]\nTo the South, they export their pots to Dobu, Du'a'u, and further South\nas far as Milne Bay. This is not all, however, for although in some of\nthese farther districts the Amphlett pots are used side by side with\nother ones, they are infinitely superior to any earthenware found in\nthe whole of British New Guinea. Of a large size, yet extremely thin,\nthey possess great durability, and in form they are extremely well\nshaped and finished (see Plate XLVI).\n\nThe best Amphlett pots owe their high quality to the excellence\nof their material as well as their workmanship. The clay for them\nhas to be imported into the Islands from Yayawana, a quarry on the\nNorthern shore of Fergusson Island, about a day's journey from the\nAmphletts. Only a very inferior clay can be found in the islands of\nGumasila and Nabwageta, good enough to make small pots, but quite\nuseless for the big ones.\n\nThere is a legend, explaining why the good clay cannot be obtained\nnowadays in the Amphletts. In olden days, two brothers, Torosipupu\nand Tolikilaki, lived on one of the summits of Gumasila called\nTomonumonu. There was plenty of fine clay there at that time. One\nday Torosipupu went to fish with a trap. He caught a very fine giant\nclam-shell. When he came back, Tolikilaki said: \"O my shell! I shall\neat it!\" Torosipupu refused it and answered with a very obscene\nallusion to the bivalvular mollusc and to the uses he was going\nto make of it. Tolikilaki asked again; Torosipupu refused. They\nquarrelled. Tolikilaki then took part of the clay with him, and went\nto Yayawana on the main island. Torosipupu afterwards took the rest\nand followed him. What were their further destinies, the legend does\nnot say. But on Gumasila there remained only very poor clay, which\nis all that can be found there ever since.\n\nSince then, the men have to go about twice yearly to Yayawana in order\nto bring the clay from which the women afterwards will manufacture\nthe pots. It takes them about a day to reach Yayawana, to which, as\nit lies to the South-West, they can travel with any of the prevailing\nwinds and return equally well. They remain for a couple of days there,\ndigging the clay, drying it and filling a few vataga baskets with it. I\nestimate that each canoe carries about two ton weight on its return\njourney. This will last the women for half a year's production. The\npale, straw-coloured clay is kept under the houses in big troughs\nmade of sides of discarded canoes.\n\nIn olden days, before the white man's advent, the conditions were a\nlittle more complicated. Only one island, Kwatouto, being on friendly\nterms with the natives had the freedom of the Northern shore. Whether\nthe other islands used also to fetch the clay from there, doing so\narmed and ready for attack; or whether they used to acquire the clay by\nbarter from Kwatouto, I could not definitely establish. The information\none receives in the Amphletts is exceedingly unsatisfactory, and my\nseveral informants gave contradictory accounts on this point. The fact\nseems clear, in my case, that Kwatouto, then as now, was the source\nof the best pottery, but that both Gumasila and Nabwageta also always\nmanufactured pots, though perhaps inferior ones. The fourth island,\nDomdom, never participated in this trade, and up to the present there\nis not a single woman in Domdom who can shape a pot.\n\nThe manufacturing of this article, as said, is exclusively the work of\nwomen. They sit in groups of two or three under the houses, surrounded\nby big clumps of clay and the implements of their craft, and produce in\nthese very shabby and mean conditions, veritable masterpieces of their\nart. Personally I had only the opportunity of seeing groups of very\nold women at work, although I spent about a month in the Amphletts.\n\nWith regard to the technology of pot-making, the method is that\nof first roughly moulding the clay into its form and then beating\nwith a spatula and subsequently scraping the walls to the required\nthinness with a mussel-shell. To give the description in detail,\na woman starts first by kneading a certain amount of clay for a long\ntime. Of this material she makes two semi-circular clumps, or several\nclumps, if a big pot is to be made. These clumps are then placed in a\nring, touching one another upon a flat stone or board, so that they\nform a thick, circular roll (Plate XLIV, top). The woman now begins\nto work this roll with both hands, gradually pressing it together,\nand at the same time bringing it up all round into a slanting wall\n(see Plate XLIV, bottom). Her left hand works as a rule on the inside,\nand her right on the outside of this wall; gradually it begins to\nshape into a semi-spherical dome. On the top of the dome there is a\nhole, through which the woman thrusts her left hand, working with it\non the inside of the dome (see Plate XLV, top). At first the main\nmovements of her hands were from downward up, flattening out the\nrolls into thin walls. The traces of her fingers going up and down\non the outside leave longitudinal furrows (see details on Plate XLV,\ntop). Towards the end of this stage her hands move round and round,\nleaving concentric, horizontal marks on the dome. This is continued\nuntil the pot has assumed a good curvature all round.\n\nIt seems almost a miracle to see how, in a relatively short time, out\nof this after all brittle material, and with no implements whatever,\na woman will shape a practically faultless hemisphere, often up to\na metre in diameter.\n\nAfter the required shape has been obtained the woman takes a small\nspatula of light-wood into her right hand and she proceeds to tap\nthe clay gently (see Plate XLV, bottom). This stage lasts a fairly\nlong time, for big pots about an hour. After the dome has been\nsufficiently worked in this way small pieces of clay are gradually\nfitted in at the top, closing the orifice, and the top of the dome\nis beaten again. In the case of small pots the beating is done only\nafter the orifice has been closed. The pot is put with the mat into\nthe sun, where it remains for a day or two to harden. It is then\nturned round, so that its mouth is now uppermost, and its bottom is\ncarefully placed into a basket. Then, round the rim of the mouth, a\nflat strip of clay is placed horizontally, turned towards the inside,\nforming a graceful lip. Three small lumps of clay are put 120\u00b0 distance\nfrom each other near the lip as ornaments, and, with a pointed stick,\na design is scratched in round the lip and sometimes down the outside\nof the body. In this state the pot is again left in the sun for some\nlength of time.\n\nAfter it has sufficiently hardened to be handled with safety,\nthough it must be done with the utmost care, it is placed on some\ndried sticks, mouth downwards, supported by stones put between\nthe sticks. It is surrounded with twigs and pieces of wood on its\noutside, fire is kindled, the sticks below bake it from the inside,\nand those from above on the outside. The final result is a beautiful\npot, of a brick red colour when new, though after several uses it\nbecomes completely black. Its shape is not quite semi-spherical;\nit is rather half an ellipsoid, like the broader half of an egg,\ncut off in the middle. The whole gives the feeling of perfection in\nform and of elegance, unparalleled in any South Sea pottery I know\n(see Plate XLVI).\n\nThese pots in Kiriwinian language kuria, are called by the Amphlett\nnatives kuyana or va'ega. The biggest specimens are about a metre\nacross their mouth, and some sixty centimetres deep; they are used\nexclusively for the ceremonial cooking of mona (see Plate XXXV), and\nare called kwoylamona (in the Amphletts: nokunu). The second size\nkwoylakalagila (in the Amphletts, nopa'eva) are used for ordinary\nboiling of yams or taro. Kwoylugwawaga (Amphletts, nobadala), are\nused for the same purposes but are much smaller. An especial size,\nkwoylamegwa (Amphletts, nosipoma) are used in sorcery. The smallest\nones, which I do not remember ever having seen in the Trobriands\nthough there is a Trobriand word for them, kwoylakekila, are used\nfor everyday cooking in the Amphletts where they are called va'ega,\nin the narrower sense of the word.\n\nI have expatiated on this singular and artistic achievement of the\nnatives of the Amphletts, because from all points of view it is\nimportant to know the details of a craft so far in advance of any\nsimilar achievement within the Melanesian region.\n\nA few words must now be said about trade in the Amphletts. The central\nposition of this little archipelago situated between, on one side,\nthe big, flat, extremely fertile coral islands, which, however, are\ndeprived of many indispensable, natural resources; and on the other,\nthe rich jungle and varied mineral supplies of the volcanic regions in\nthe d'Entrecasteaux archipelago, indicates on which lines this trade\nwould be likely to develop. To this natural inequality between them\nand their neighbours are added social elements. The Trobrianders are\nskilful, industrious, and economically highly organised. In this\nrespect, even the Dobuans stand on a lower level, and the other\ninhabitants of the d'Entrecasteaux much more so.\n\nIf we imagine a commercial diagram drawn on the map, we would first\nof all notice the export in pottery, radiating from the Amphletts\nas its source. In the inverse direction, flowing towards them,\nwould be imports in food such as sago, pigs, coco-nut, betel-nut,\ntaro and yams. An article very important in olden days, which had\nto be imported into the Amphletts, was the stone for implements\ncoming via the Trobriands from Woodlark Island. These indeed would\nbe traded on by the Amphlettans, as all the d'Entrecasteaux relied,\nfor the most part at least, on the imports from Woodlark, according to\ninformation I obtained in the Amphletts. The Amphlett islands further\ndepended on the Trobriands for the following articles: wooden dishes,\nmanufactured in Bwoytalu; lime-pots manufactured in several villages\nof Kuboma; three-tiered baskets and folding baskets, made in Luya;\nebony lime pots and mussel shells, these latter fished mainly by the\nvillage of Kavataria in the lagoon. These articles were paid for, or\nmatched as presents by the following ones: first of all, of course the\npots; secondly, turtle-shell earrings, special nose sticks, red ochre,\npumice stone and obsidian, all of these obtainable locally. Further,\nthe natives of the Amphletts procured on Fergusson Island, for the\nTrobrianders, wild banana seeds used for necklaces, strips of rattan\nused as belts and for lashing, feathers of the cassowary and red\nparrot, used for dancing decorations, plaited fibre-belts, bamboo\nand barbed spears.\n\nIt may be added that in olden days, the natives in the Amphletts\nwould not sail freely to all the places on the main island. Each\nAmphlett village community had a district on the mainland, with\nwhich they were on friendly terms and with which they could trade\nwithout incurring any danger. Thus, as said above, only the village\nof Kwatouto, in the southernmost inhabited Amphlett island, was free\nto go unmolested to the district round Yayawana, from whence they\nobtained the pale yellow clay, so excellent for pottery. The natives\nof Nabwageta had a few villages eastwards from Yayawana to deal\nwith, and those of Gumasila went further East still. Domdom natives\nwere never great traders or sailors. The trading conditions in the\nislands were further complicated by the constant internal quarrels and\nwarfare between the districts. Kwatouto and Domdom on the one side,\nGumasila and Nabwageta on the other were allies, and between these\ntwo factions there was a constant, smouldering hostility, preventing\nany development of friendly commercial intercourse, and breaking out\nnow and then into open warfare. This was the reason why the villages\nwere all perched on high, inaccessible ledges, or like Gumasila,\nwere built so as to be protected by the sea and reefs from attack.\n\nThe influence of the surrounding great districts, that is, of the\nTrobriands and of Dobu upon the Amphletts neither was nor is merely\ncommercial. From the limited linguistic material collected in the\nAmphletts, I can only say that their language is related both to that\nof the Trobriands and of Dobu. Their social organisation resembles\nclosely that of the Trobrianders with the exception of chieftainship,\nwhich is lacking in the Amphletts. In their beliefs as to sorcery,\nspirits, etc., they seem to be more akin to the Dobuans than to the\nTrobrianders. Their canoe magic has come from the Trobriands, but the\nart of building their canoes is that of Dobu, which as we have seen\nbefore is also the one adopted by the Trobrianders. The magic of the\nKula, known in the Amphletts, is partly adopted from the Trobriands,\nand partly from Dobu. There is only one indigenous system of magic\nwhich originated in the islands. Long ago there lived a man of the\nMalasi clan, who had his abode in the rock of Selawaya, which stands\nout of the jungle, above the big village of Gumasila. This man knew\nthe magic of ayowa, which is the name given to mwasila (Kula magic)\nin the language of the Amphletts and of Dobu. Some people passed\nnear the stone while it was being recited within it; they learned it,\nand handed it over to their descendants.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nOne more point of importance must be mentioned here, a point\nbearing upon the intertribal relations in this district. As we saw,\nsome Trobriand people remain sometimes on prolonged visits in the\nAmphletts. This custom, however, is never reciprocated, and people\nfrom the Amphletts never visit for any length of time their Northern\nneighbours. The same refers to the relations between the Trobriands\nand the district of Dobu. In discussing the lists of Kula partners\nof Kouta'uya and Toybayoba, I was told about some of their Southern\npartners, that they were veyola (maternal kinsmen) of my informant. On\nfurther inquiry it appeared that these people were emigrants from\nthe Trobriands, who settled down in Tewara, Sanaroa or the big Dobuan\nsettlements on the North-West shores of Dawson Straits.\n\nWhen I asked whether, on the contrary, there were any cases of Dobuans\nsettling in Boyowa, it was emphatically denied that such a thing\ncould happen. And indeed, in the numerous genealogical data which\nI have collected from all over the district, there is no trace of\nmigration from the South, although frequent migrations occur within\nthe district and some from the Marshall Bennett Islands. In general,\nall these migrations within the Trobriands show also a marked tendency\nto move form North to South. Thus, the most aristocratic sub-clan,\nthe Tabalu, originated in the Northernmost village of Laba'i. But now\ntheir stronghold is further South in Omarakana, and the members of\nthe same sub-clan are ruling in Olivilevi, and Tukwa'ukwa, that is in\nthe middle of the island. Some of them even migrated as far South as\nVakuta, where they established a feeble imitation of chieftainship,\nnever being able to subdue the other natives to any extent. Several\nsub-clans, now firmly established in the Middle and Southern portions\nof the island, trace their descent from the North, and in the Amphletts\nthere are also a couple of cases of sub-clans immigrated from Boyowa.\n\nIn contrast to this migration of people from North to South, we have\nnoted the spread of one of the main cultural elements, of the canoe,\nfrom South to North. We saw how the nagega, the big, sea-worthy,\nbut heavy and slow canoe has been superseded by the masawa or tadobu,\nwhich spread a few generations ago, till it arrived at the island of\nKitava. It is more difficult to follow the movements of beliefs. But\nI have reason to assume that beliefs in sorcery, more especially in\nthe mulukwausi and tauva'u, move from South to North.\n\nIn the next Chapter, we shall return to our Sinaketan expedition,\nin order to move them for a short distance along their route into\nthe first settlements of the Dobu speaking people. These places will\nsuggest a new theme for a lengthy digression, this time into the\nmythological subjects and legends connected with the Kula.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nIN TEWARA AND SANAROA--MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA\n\n\nI\n\nAt daybreak the party leave the Amphletts. This is the stage when\nthe parting gifts, the talo'i are given. The clay pots, the several\nkinds of produce of the islands and of the Koya, which had been laid\naside the previous day, are now brought to the canoes (see Plate\nXLVII). Neither the giver nor the main receiver, the toliwaga, take\nmuch notice of the proceedings, great nonchalance about give and take\nbeing the correct attitude prescribed by good manners. Children bring\nthe objects, and the junior members of the crew stow them away. The\ngeneral behaviour of the crowds, ashore and in the canoes, is as\nunostentatious at this moment of parting as it was at the arrival. No\nmore farewells than greetings are spoken or shouted, nor are there\nany visible or formal signs of grief, or of hope of meeting again,\nor of any other emotions. The busy, self-absorbed crews push off\nstolidly, step the mast, set sail, and glide away.\n\nThey now approach the broad front of Koyatabu, which with a favourable\nwind, they might reach within two hours or so. They probably sail near\nenough to get a clear view of the big trees standing on the edge of\nthe jungle, and of the long waterfall dividing the mountain's flank\nright down the middle; of the triangular patches under cultivation,\ncovered with the vine of yams and big leaves of taro. They could also\nperceive here and there smoke curling out of the jungle where, hidden\nunder the trees, there lies a village, composed of a few miserable\nhuts. Nowadays these villages have come down to the water's edge,\nin order to supplement their garden yield with fish. In olden days\nthey were all high up on the slope, and their huts hardly ever visible\nfrom the sea.\n\nThe inhabitants of these small and ramshackle villages are shy and\ntimid, though in olden days they would have been dangerous to the\nTrobrianders. They speak a language which differs from that of Dobu\nand is usually called by the natives 'the Basima talk.' There seem to\nbe about four or five various languages on the island of Fergusson,\nbesides that of Dobu. My acquaintance with the Basima natives is\nvery small, due only to two forced landings in their district. They\nstruck me as being physically of a different type from the Dobuans,\nthough this is only an impression. They have got no boats, and do the\nlittle sailing they require on small rafts of three or five logs tied\ntogether. Their houses are smaller and less well-made than those in\nDobu. Further investigation of these natives would be very interesting,\nand probably also very difficult, as is always the case when studying\nvery small communities, living at the same time right out of touch\nwith any white man.\n\nThis land must remain, for the present anyhow, veiled for ourselves,\nas it also is for the Trobriand natives. For these, indeed, the few\nattempts which they occasionally made to come into contact with these\nnatives, and the few mishaps which brought them to their shores,\nwere all far from encouraging in results, and only strengthened the\ntraditional superstitious fear of them. Several generations ago, a\ncanoe or two from Burakwa, in the island of Kayeula, made an exploring\ntrip to the district of Gabu, lying in a wide bay under the North-West\nflank of Koyatabu. The natives of Gabu, receiving them at first with a\nshow of interest, and pretending to enter into commercial relations,\nafterwards fell on them treacherously and slew the chief Toraya and\nall his companions. This story has become famous, and indeed one of the\noutstanding historical events of the Trobriands, because Tomakam, the\nslain chief's younger brother, went to the Koya of Gabu, and killed the\nhead man of one of the villages, avenging thus his brother's death. He\nthen composed a song and a dance which is performed to this day in\nKiriwina, and has indeed one of the finest melodies in the islands.\n\nThis is the verbatim account of the story as it was told to me by\nTo'uluwa himself, the chief of Omarakana, who at present 'owns' this\nGumagabu dance, his ancestors having acquired it from the descendants\nof Tomakam by a laga payment. [73] It is a commentary to the song,\nand begins only with the avenging expedition of Tomakam, which is\nalso the theme of the song.\n\n\n                         THE STORY OF GUMAGABU\n\n    \"Tomakam got a new waga. He blew the conch shell and went to\n    the Koya. He spoke to his mother\" (that is, before leaving), \"'My\n    mother, you remain, I shall sail. One conch shell you hear, it will\n    be a conch shell of a necklace.'\" (That is, it will be a sign that\n    he has been successful in getting a good Kula necklace). \"'The\n    second conch shell will be the conch shell of the dead man; the\n    sign that I have already carried out my revenge. I shall sail, I\n    shall anchor, I shall sleep. The second day I shall sail, I shall\n    anchor, I shall sleep. The third day I shall anchor in a village,\n    having already arrived in the Mountain. The fourth day I shall give\n    pari, the Kinana (the Southern foreigner) will come, I shall hit\n    him. The fifth day I shall return. I shall sail fast, till night\n    grows on the sea. The next day I shall anchor at Burakwa. You\n    hear the conch shell, you sleep in the house, arise. One blow you\n    hear of the shell--the blow of the bagi (necklace). Two blows you\n    hear, the blow of the dead man! Then the men of Burakwa will say:\n    'Two conch shells, two necklaces,' then, you come out of the house,\n    you speak: 'Men of Burakwa, from one side of the village and from\n    the other; indeed you mocked my son, Tomakam. Your speech was--go,\n    carry out thy vendetta in Gabu. The first conch shell is that of\n    the necklace, the second conch shell is that of the dead man. I\n    have spoken!'\" (Here ends the speech of Tomakam to his mother.)\n\n    \"He anchored in the village in the Koya. He told his younger\n    brother: 'Go, tell the Kinana men these words: Your friend has\n    a sore leg, well, if we together go to the canoe he will give\n    the pari!' The younger brother went and spoke those words to the\n    headman of the Kinana: 'Some green coco-nuts, some betel-nut, some\n    pig, bring this to us and we shall give you pari. Your arm-shells,\n    your big stone blade, your boar's tusk, your whale-bone spatula\n    await you in the canoe. The message for you is that your friend\n    has a sore leg and cannot walk.' Says the Kinana man: 'Well,\n    let us go!'\"\n\n    \"He caught a pig, he collected betel-nut, sugar cane, bananas,\n    necklaces, betel-pod, he said: 'Well, let us go together to the\n    canoe.' Pu'u he gives the necklace; pu'u, the pig; then he gave\n    the coco-nut, the betel-nut, the sugar cane, the bananas. Tomakam\n    lay on one side; his leg he wrapped up in a white, soft pandanus\n    mat. Before he had spoken to his younger brother\": (i.e., he gave\n    him this instruction also, when he sent him to meet the people of\n    Gabu): \"'You all come with the Kinana man. Do not remain in the\n    village.' Then\" (after the first gifts were exchanged) \"the Kinana\n    man stood up in the canoe. His betel-pod fell down. Spoke Tomakam,\n    addressing the Kinana man: 'My friend, pick up the betel-pod. It\n    fell and went down into the canoe.' The Kinana man bent down,\n    he took the betel-pod. Tomakam saw that the Kinana bent down,\n    he took an axe, and sitting he made a stroke at him. He cut off\n    his neck. Then Tomakam took the head, threw the body into the\n    sea. The head he stuck on a stick of his canoe. They sailed, they\n    arrived in their village. He caught a pig, prepared a taro pudding,\n    cut sugar cane, they had a big feast, he invented this song.\"\n\n\nSuch was the story told me by the chief of Omarakana about the song\nand dance of Gumagabu, which at that time they were singing and\nperforming in his village. I have adduced it in full, in an almost\nliteral translation from the native text, in order to show it side by\nside with the song. The narrative thus reproduced shows characteristic\ngaps, and it does not cover even the incidents of the song.\n\nThe following is a free translation of the song, which, in its\noriginal native text, is very condensed and impressionistic. A word\nor two indicates rather than describes whole scenes and incidents,\nand the traditional commentary, handed on in a native community side\nby side with the song, is necessary for a full understanding.\n\n\n                           THE GUMAGABU SONG\n\n        I\n\n        The stranger of Gumagabu sits on the top of the mountain.\n        'Go on top of the mountain, the towering mountain....'\n        ----They cry for Toraya...----\n        The stranger of Gumagabu sits on the slope of the mountain.\n        ----The fringe of small clouds lifts above Boyowa;\n        The mother cries for Toraya----\n        'I shall take my revenge.'\n        The mother cries for Toraya.\n\n\n        II\n\n        Our mother, Dibwaruna, dreams on the mat.\n        She dreams about the killing.\n        'Revenge the wailing;\n        Anchor; hit the Gabu strangers!'\n        ----The stranger comes out;\n        The chief gives him the pari;\n        'I shall give you the doga;\n        Bring me things from the mountain to the canoe!'\n\n\n        III\n\n        We exchange our vaygu'a;\n        The rumour of my arrival spreads through the Koya\n        We talk and talk.\n        He bends and is killed.\n        His companions run away;\n        His body is thrown into the sea;\n        The companions of the Kinana run away,\n        We sail home.\n\n\n        IV\n\n        Next day, the sea foams up,\n        The chief's canoe stops on the reef;\n        The storm approaches;\n        The chief is afraid of drowning.\n        The conch shell is blown:\n        It sounds in the mountain.\n        They all weep on the reef.\n\n\n        V\n\n        They paddle in the chief's canoe;\n        They circle round the point of Bewara.\n        'I have hung my basket.\n        I have met him.'\n        So cries the chief,\n        So cries repeatedly the chief.\n\n\n        VI\n\n        Women in festive decoration\n        Walk on the beach.\n        Nawaruva puts on her turtle rings;\n        She puts on her luluga'u skirt.\n        In the village of my fathers, in Burakwa,\n        There is plenty of food;\n        Plenty is brought in for distribution.\n\n\nThe character of this song is extremely elliptic, one might even say\nfuturistic, since several scenes are crowded simultaneously into the\npicture. In the first strophe we see the Kinana, by which word all\nthe tribesmen from the d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago are designated in\nBoyowa, on the top of his Mountain in Gabu. Immediately afterwards, we\nare informed of the intentions of Tomakam to ascend the mountain, while\nthe women cry for Toraya, for the slain chief--probably his kinswomen\nand widows. The next picture again spans over the wide seas, and on\nthe one shore we see the Gabuan sitting on the slopes of his hill and\nfar away on the other, under the fringe of small clouds lifting above\nBoyowa, the mother cries for her son, the murdered chief. Tomakam\ntakes a resolve, 'I shall take my revenge,' hearing her cry.\n\nIn the second strophe, the mother dreams about the expedition; the\nwords about revenge to be taken on the Gabu men and the directions to\nanchor and hit him are probably taken from her dream. Then suddenly we\nare transported right across to the mountain, the expedition having\narrived there already. The strangers, the Kinana are coming down to\nthe canoe, and we assist at the words spoken between them and the\npeople of Buakwa.\n\nThen in the third strophe, we arrive at the culminating scene of\nthe drama; even here, however, the hero, who is also his own bard,\ncould not help introducing a few boastful words about his renown\nresounding in the Koya. In a few words the tragedy is described:\nthe Kinana bends down, is killed, and his body is thrown into the\nwater. About his head we hear nothing in this verse.\n\nIn the next one, a storm overtakes the returning party. Signals of\ndistress are re-echoed by the mountain, and like Homeric heroes, our\nparty are not ashamed to weep in fear and anguish. Somehow they escape,\nhowever, and in the next verse, they are already near their village and\nTomakam, their leader, bursts into a p\u00e6an of triumph. It is not quite\nclear what the allusion to the basket means, whether he keeps there his\nKula trophies or the slain enemy's head; this latter, in contradiction\nto what we heard in the prose story of its being impaled. The song ends\nwith a description of a feast. The woman mentioned there is Tomakam's\ndaughter, who puts on festive attire in order to welcome her father.\n\nComparing now the song with the story, we see that they do not\nquite tally. In the story, there is the dramatic interest of the\nmother's intervention. We gather from it that Tomakam, goaded by\nthe aspersions of his fellow-villagers, wishes to make his return\nas effective as possible. He arranges the signals of the two conch\nshell blasts with his mother, and asks her to harangue the people\nat the moment of his return. All this finds no expression in the\nsong. The ruse of the chief's sore leg is also omitted from there,\nwhich, however, does not mean that the hero was ashamed of it. On\nthe other hand, the storm described in the song is omitted from the\nstory, and there is a discrepancy about the head of the Gabu man,\nand we do not know whether it really is conveyed in a basket as the\nsong has it or impaled, as the story relates!\n\nI have adduced in detail the story and the song, because they are a\ngood illustration of the native's attitude towards the dangers, and\ntowards the heroic romance of the Koya. They are also interesting as\ndocuments, showing which salient points would strike the natives'\nimagination in such a dramatic occurrence. Both in the story\nand in the song, we find emphasised the motives of social duty,\nof satisfied self-regard and ambition; again, the dangers on the\nreef, the subterfuge in killing, finally the festivities on return\nhome. Much that would interest us in the whole story is omitted,\nas anyone can see for himself.\n\nOther stories, though not made illustrious through being set into a\nsong, are told about the Koya. I met myself an old man in the island\nof Vakuta, who, as a boy, had been captured with a whole party by a\nvillage community of Dobu-speaking people on Normanby Island. The men\nand another small boy of the party were killed and eaten, but some\nwomen took pity on him, and he was spared, to be brought up amongst\nthem. There is another man, either alive or recently dead in Kavataria,\nwho had a similar experience in Fergusson Island. Another man called\nKaypoyla, from the small island of Kuyawa in the Western Trobriands,\nwas stranded with his crew somewhere in the West of Fergusson Island,\nbut not in the district where they used to trade. His companions\nwere killed and eaten. He was taken alive and kept to fatten for a\nproximate feast. His host, or rather the host of the feast in which\nhe was going to furnish the pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistence, was away inland,\nto invite the guests, while the host's wife went for a moment\nbehind the house, sweeping the ground. Kaypoyla jumped up and ran\nto the shore. Being chased by some other men from the settlement,\nhe concealed himself in the branches of a big tree standing on the\nbeach, and was not found by his pursuers. At night he came down, took\na canoe or a raft, and paddled along the coast. He used to sleep on\nshore during the night, and paddle on in day time. One night he slept\namong some sago-palms, and, awakening in the morning, found himself,\nto his terror, surrounded by Kinana men. What was his joyful surprise\nafter all, when he recognised among them his friend and Kula partner,\nwith whom he always used to trade! After some time, he was sent back\nhome in his partner's canoe.\n\nMany such stories have a wide currency, and they supply one of\nthe heroic elements in tribal life, an element which now, with\nthe establishment of white man's influence, has vanished. Yet\neven now the gloomy shores which our party are leaving to the\nright, the tall jungle, the deep valleys, the hill-tops darkened\nwith trailing clouds, all this is a dim mysterious background,\nadding to the awe and solemnity of the Kula, though not entering\ninto it. The sphere of activities of our traders lies at the foot\nof the high mountains, there, where a chain of rocks and islands\nlies scattered along the coast. Some of them are passed immediately\nafter leaving Gumasila. Then, after a good distance, a small rock,\ncalled Gurewaya, is met, remarkable for the taboos associated with\nit. Close behind it, two islands, Tewara and Uwama, are separated\nby a narrow passage, the mythical straits of Kadimwatu. There is a\nvillage on the first-mentioned, and the natives of this make gardens\non both islands. The village is not very big; it may have some sixty\nto eighty inhabitants, as it can man three canoes for the Kula. It\nhas no commercial or industrial importance, but is notable because\nof its mythological associations. This island is the home of the\nmythological hero, Kasabwaybwayreta, whose story is one of the most\nimportant legends of the Kula. Here indeed, in Tewara, we are right\nwithin the mythological heart of the Kula. In fact, we entered its\nlegendary area with the moment the Sinaketan fleet sailed out of the\nLagoon into the deep waters of Pilolu.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nOnce more we must pause, this time in an attempt to grasp the\nnatives' mental attitude towards the mythological aspect of the\nKula. Right through this account it has been our constant endeavour\nto realise the vision of the world, as it is reflected in the minds\nof the natives. The frequent references to the scenery have not been\ngiven only to enliven the narrative, or even to enable the reader\nto visualise the setting of the native customs. I have attempted to\nshow how the scene of his actions appears actually to the native,\nto describe his impressions and feelings with regard to it, as I was\nable to read them in his folk-lore, in his conversations at home,\nand in his behaviour when passing through this scenery itself.\n\nHere we must try to reconstruct the influence of myth upon this\nvast landscape, as it colours it, gives it meaning, and transforms\nit into something live and familiar. What was a mere rock, now\nbecomes a personality; what was a speck on the horizon becomes a\nbeacon, hallowed by romantic associations with heroes; a meaningless\nconfiguration of landscape acquires a significance, obscure no doubt,\nbut full of intense emotion. Sailing with natives, especially with\nnovices to the Kula, I often observed how deep was their interest\nin sections of landscape impregnated with legendary meaning, how the\nelder ones would point and explain, the younger would gaze and wonder,\nwhile the talk was full of mythological names. It is the addition of\nthe human interest to the natural features, possessing in themselves\nless power of appealing to a native man than to us, which makes the\ndifference for him in looking at the scenery. A stone hurled by one of\nthe heroes into the sea after an escaping canoe; a sea passage broken\nbetween two islands by a magical canoe; here two people turned into\nrock; there a petrified waga--all this makes the landscape represent\na continuous story or else the culminating dramatic incident of\na familiar legend. This power of transforming the landscape, the\nvisible environment, is one only of the many influences which myth\nexercises upon the general outlook of the natives. Although here we\nare studying myth only in its connection with the Kula, even within\nthese narrow limits some of its broader connections will be apparent,\nnotably its influence upon sociology, magic and ceremonial.\n\nThe question which presents itself first, in trying to grasp the native\noutlook on the subject is: what is myth to the natives? How do they\nconceive and define it? Have they any line of demarcation between the\nmythical and the actual reality, and if so, how do they draw this line?\n\nTheir folk-lore, that is, the verbal tradition, the store of tales,\nlegends, and texts handed on by previous generations, is composed of\nthe following classes: first of all, there is what the natives call\nlibogwo, 'old talk,' but which we would call tradition; secondly,\nkukwanebu, fairy tales, recited for amusement, at definite seasons,\nand relating avowedly untrue events; thirdly, wosi, the various\nsongs, and vinavina, ditties, chanted at play or under other\nspecial circumstances; and last, not least, megwa or yopa, the\nmagical spells. All these classes are strictly distinguished from\none another by name, function, social setting, and by certain formal\ncharacteristics. This brief outline of the Boyowan folk-lore in general\nmust suffice here, as we cannot enter into more details, and the only\nclass which interests us in the present connection is the first one,\nthat called libogwo.\n\nThis, the 'old talk,' the body of ancient tradition, believed to be\ntrue, consists on the one hand of historical tales, such as the deeds\nof past chiefs, exploits in the Koya, stories of shipwreck, etc. On\nthe other hand, the libogwo class also contains what the natives call\nlili'u--myths, narratives, deeply believed by them, held by them in\nreverence, and exercising an active influence on their conduct and\ntribal life. Now the natives distinguish definitely between myth and\nhistoric account, but this distinction is difficult to formulate,\nand cannot be stated but in a somewhat deliberate manner.\n\nFirst of all, it must be borne in mind, that a native would not\ntrouble spontaneously to analyse such distinctions and to put them\ninto words. If an Ethnographer succeeded in making the problem clear\nto an intelligent informant (and I have tried and succeeded in doing\nthis) the native would simply state:\n\n\n    \"We all know that the stories about Tudava, about Kudayuri, about\n    Tokosikuna, are lili'u; our fathers, our kadada (our maternal\n    uncles) told us so; and we always hear these tales; we know them\n    well; we know that there are no other tales besides them, which\n    are lili'u. Thus, whenever we hear a story, we know whether it\n    is a lili'u or not.\"\n\n\nIndeed, whenever a story is told, any native, even a boy, would be\nable to say whether this is one of his tribal lili'u or not. For the\nother tales, that is the historical ones, they have no special word,\nbut they would describe the events as happening among 'humans like\nourselves.' Thus tradition, from which the store of tales is received,\nhands them on labelled as lili'u, and the definition of a lili'u,\nis that it is a story transmitted with such a label. And even this\ndefinition is contained by the facts themselves, and not explicitly\nstated by the natives in their current stock of expressions.\n\nFor us, however, even this is not sufficient, and we have to search\nfurther, in order to see whether we cannot find other indices, other\ncharacteristic features which differentiate the world of mythical\nevents from that of real ones. A reflection which would naturally\npresent itself would be this: \"Surely the natives place their myths\nin ancient, pre-historic times, while they put historical events\ninto recent ages?\" There is some truth in this, in so far as most of\nthe historical events related by the natives are quite recent, have\noccurred within the community where they are told and can be directly\nconnected with people and conditions existing at present, by memory\nof living man, by genealogies or other records. On the other hand,\nwhen historical events are told from other districts, and cannot be\ndirectly linked with the present, it would be erroneous to imagine that\nthe natives place them into a definite compartment of time different\nfrom that of the myth. For it must be realised that these natives do\nnot conceive of a past as of a lengthy duration, unrolling itself\nin successive stages of time. They have no idea of a long vista of\nhistorical occurrences, narrowing down and dimming as they recede\ntowards a distant background of legend and myth, which stands out\nas something entirely different from the nearer planes. This view,\nso characteristic of the naive, historical thinking among ourselves,\nis entirely foreign to the natives. Whenever they speak of some event\nof the past, they distinguish whether it happened within their own\nmemory or that of their fathers' or not. But, once beyond this line\nof demarcation, all the past events are placed by them on one plane,\nand there are no gradations of 'long ago' and 'very long ago.' Any\nidea of epochs in time is absent from their mind; the past is one\nvast storehouse of events, and the line of demarcation between myth\nand history does not coincide with any division into definite and\ndistinct periods of time. Indeed, I have found very often that when\nthey told me some story of the past, for me obviously mythological,\nthey would deem it necessary to emphasise that this did not happen\nin their fathers' time or in their grand-fathers' time, but long ago,\nand that it is a lili'u.\n\nAgain, they have no idea of what could be called the evolution of\nthe world or the evolution of society; that is, they do not look back\ntowards a series of successive changes, which happened in nature or\nin humanity, as we do. We, in our religious and scientific outlook\nalike, know that earth ages and that humanity ages, and we think of\nboth in these terms; for them, both are eternally the same, eternally\nyouthful. Thus, in judging the remoteness of traditional events, they\ncannot use the co-ordinates of a social setting constantly in change\nand divided into epochs. To give a concrete example, in the myths of\nTorosipupu and Tolikalaki, we saw them having the same interest and\nconcerns, engaged in the same type of fishing, using the same means\nof locomotion as the present natives do. The mythical personages of\nthe natives' legends, as we shall presently see, live in the same\nhouses, eat the same food, handle the same weapons and implements as\nthose in use at present. Whereas in any of our historical stories,\nlegends or myths, we have a whole set of changed cultural conditions,\nwhich allow us to co-ordinate any event with a certain epoch, and\nwhich make us feel that a distant historical event, and still more,\na mythological one, is happening in a setting of cultural conditions\nentirely different from those in which we are living now. In the\nvery telling of the stories of, let us say, Joan of Arc, Solomon,\nAchilles, King Arthur, we have to mention all sorts of things and\nconditions long since disappeared from among us, which make even a\nsuperficial and an uneducated listener realise that it is a story of\na remote and different past.\n\nI have said just now that the mythical personages in the Trobriand\ntradition are living the same type of life, under the same social\nand cultural conditions as the present natives. This needs one\nqualification, and in this we shall find a very remarkable criterion\nfor a distinction between what is legendary and what is historical:\nin the mythical world, although surrounding conditions were similar,\nall sorts of events happened which do not happen nowadays, and people\nwere endowed with powers such as present men and their historical\nancestors do not possess. In mythical times, human beings come out of\nthe ground, they change into animals, and these become people again;\nmen and women rejuvenate and slough their skins; flying canoes speed\nthrough the air, and things are transformed into stone.\n\nNow this line of demarcation between the world of myth and that of\nactual reality--the simple difference that in the former things happen\nwhich never occur nowadays--is undoubtedly felt and realised by the\nnatives, though they themselves could not put it into words. They know\nquite well that to-day no one emerges from underground; that people\ndo not change into animals, and vice versa; nor do they give birth to\nthem; that present-day canoes do not fly. I had the opportunity of\ngrasping their mental attitude towards such things by the following\noccurrence. The Fijian missionary teacher in Omarakana was telling them\nabout white man's flying machines. They inquired from me, whether this\nwas true, and when I corroborated the Fijian's report and showed them\npictures of aeroplanes in an illustrated paper, they asked me whether\nthis happened nowadays or whether it were a lili'u. This circumstance\nmade it clear to me then, that the natives would have a tendency,\nwhen meeting with an extraordinary and to them supernatural event,\neither to discard it as untrue, or relegate it into the regions of the\nlili'u. This does not mean, however, that the untrue and the mythical\nare the same or even similar to them. Certain stories told to them,\nthey insist on treating as sasopa (lies), and maintain that they\nare not lili'u. For instance, those opposed to missionary teaching\nwill not accept the view that Biblical stories told to them are a\nlili'u, but they reject them as sasopa. Many a time did I hear such\na conservative native arguing thus:--\n\n\n    \"Our stories about Tudava are true; this is a lili'u. If you go\n    to Laba'i you can see the cave in which Tudava was born, you can\n    see the beach where he played as a boy. You can see his footmark\n    in a stone at a place in the Raybwag. But where are the traces\n    of Yesu Keriso? Who ever saw any signs of the tales told by the\n    misinari? Indeed they are not lili'u.\"\n\n\nTo sum up, the distinction between the lili'u and actual or historical\nreality is drawn firmly, and there is a definite cleavage between the\ntwo. Prima facie, this distinction is based on the fact that all myth\nis labelled as such and known to be such to all natives. A further\ndistinctive mark of the world of lili'u lies in the super-normal,\nsupernatural character of certain events which happen in it. The\nsupernatural is believed to be true, and this truth is sanctioned\nby tradition, and by the various signs and traces left behind by\nmythical events, more especially by the magical powers handed on by the\nancestors who lived in times of lili'u. This magical inheritance is\nno doubt the most palpable link between the present and the mythical\npast. But this past must not be imagined to form a pre-historic,\nvery distant background, something which preceded a long evolution\nof mankind. It is rather the past, but extremely near reality, very\nmuch alive and true to the natives.\n\nAs I have just said, there is one point on which the cleavage between\nmyth and present reality, however deep, is bridged over in native\nideas. The extraordinary powers which men possess in myths are mostly\ndue to their knowledge of magic. This knowledge is, in many cases,\nlost, and therefore the powers of doing these marvellous things are\neither completely gone, or else considerably reduced. If the magic\ncould be recovered, men would fly again in their canoes, they could\nrejuvenate, defy ogres, and perform the many heroic deeds which they\ndid in ancient times. Thus, magic, and the powers conferred by it, are\nreally the link between mythical tradition and the present day. Myth\nhas crystallised into magical formul\u00e6, and magic in its turn bears\ntestimony to the authenticity of myth. Often the main function of\nmyth is to serve as a foundation for a system of magic, and, wherever\nmagic forms the backbone of an institution, a myth is also to be found\nat the base of it. In this perhaps, lies the greatest sociological\nimportance of myth, that is, in its action upon institutions through\nthe associated magic. The sociological point of view and the idea of\nthe natives coincide here in a remarkable manner. In this book we see\nthis exemplified in one concrete case, in that of the relation between\nthe mythology, the magic, and the social institution of the Kula.\n\nThus we can define myth as a narrative of events which are to the\nnative supernatural, in this sense, that he knows well that to-day\nthey do not happen. At the same time he believes deeply that they\ndid happen then. The socially sanctioned narratives of these events;\nthe traces which they left on the surface of the earth; the magic\nin which they left behind part of their supernatural powers, the\nsocial institutions which are associated with the practice of this\nmagic--all this brings about the fact that a myth is for the native\na living actuality, though it has happened long ago and in an order\nof things when people were endowed with supernatural powers.\n\nI have said before that the natives do not possess any historical\nperspective, that they do not range events--except of course,\nthose of the most recent decades--into any successive stages. They\nalso do not classify their myths into any divisions with regard\nto their antiquity. But in looking at their myths, it becomes at\nonce obvious that they represent events, some of which must have\nhappened prior to others. For there is a group of stories describing\nthe origin of humanity, the emerging of the various social units\nfrom underground. Another group of mythical tales gives accounts of\nhow certain important institutions were introduced and how certain\ncustoms crystallised. Again, there are myths referring to small\nchanges in culture, or to the introduction of new details and minor\ncustoms. Broadly speaking, the mythical folk-lore of the Trobrianders\ncan be divided into three groups referring to three different strata\nof events. In order to give a general idea of Trobriand mythology, it\nwill be good to give a short characterisation of each of these groups.\n\n1. The Oldest Myths, referring to the origin of human beings; to\nthe sociology of the sub-clans and villages; to the establishment\nof permanent relations between this world and the next. These myths\ndescribe events which took place just at the moment when the earth\nbegan to be peopled from underneath. Humanity existed, somewhere\nunderground, since people emerged from there on the surface of Boyowa,\nin full decoration, equipped with magic, belonging to social divisions,\nand obeying definite laws and customs. But beyond this we know nothing\nabout what they did underground. There is, however, a series of myths,\nof which one is attached to every one of the more important sub-clans,\nabout various ancestors coming out of the ground, and almost at once,\ndoing some important deed, which gives a definite character to the\nsub-clan. Certain mythological versions about the nether world belong\nalso to this series.\n\n2. Kultur-myths.--Here belong stories about ogres and their conquerors;\nabout human beings who established definite customs and cultural\nfeatures; about the origin of certain institutions. These myths are\ndifferent from the foregoing ones, in so far as they refer to a time\nwhen humanity was already established on the surface of the earth,\nand when all the social divisions had already assumed a definite\ncharacter. The main cycle of myths which belong here, are those of\na culture hero, Tudava, who slays an ogre and thus allows people\nto live in Boyowa again, whence they all had fled in fear of being\neaten. A story about the origins of cannibalism belongs here also,\nand about the origin of garden making.\n\n3. Myths in which figure only ordinary human beings, though endowed\nwith extraordinary magical powers. These myths are distinguished\nfrom the foregoing ones, by the fact that no ogres or non-human\npersons figure in them, and that they refer to the origin, not of\nwhole aspects of culture, such as cannibalism or garden-making,\nbut to definite institutions or definite forms of magic. Here comes\nthe myth about the origins of sorcery, the myth about the origins\nof love magic, the myth of the flying canoe, and finally the several\nKula myths. The line of division between these three categories is,\nof course, not a rigid one, and many a myth could be placed in two\nor even three of these classes, according to its several features\nor episodes. But each myth contains as a rule one main subject, and\nif we take only this, there is hardly ever the slightest doubt as to\nwhere it should be placed.\n\nA point which might appear contradictory in superficial reading is that\nbefore, we stressed the fact that the natives had no idea of change,\nyet here we spoke of myths about 'origins' of institutions. It is\nimportant to realise that, though natives do speak about times when\nhumanity was not upon the earth, of times when there were no gardens,\netc., yet all these things arrive ready-made; they do not change or\nevolve. The first people, who came from underground, came up adorned\nwith the same trinkets, carrying their lime-pot and chewing their\nbetel-nut. The event, the emergence from the earth was mythical,\nthat is, such as does not happen now; but the human beings and the\ncountry which received them were such as exist to-day.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nThe myths of the Kula are scattered along a section of the present\nKula circuit. Beginning with a place in Eastern Woodlark Island,\nthe village of Wamwara, the mythological centres are spread round\nalmost in a semi-circle, right down to the island of Tewara, Where\nwe have left for the present our party from Sinaketa.\n\nIn Wamwara there lived an individual called Gere'u, who, according to\none myth, was the originator of the Kula. In the island of Digumenu,\nWest of Woodlark Island, Tokosikuna, another hero of the Kula, had\nhis early home, though he finished his career in Gumasila, in the\nAmphletts. Kitava, the westernmost of the Marshall Bennetts, is the\ncentre of canoe magic associated with the Kula. It is also the home\nof Monikiniki, whose name figures in many formul\u00e6 of the Kula magic,\nthough there is no explicit myth about him, except that he was the\nfirst man to practice an important system of mwasila (Kula magic),\nprobably the most widespread system of the present day. Further West,\nin Wawela, we are at the other end of the Kasabwaybwayreta myth, which\nstarts in Tewara, and goes over to Wawela in its narrative of events,\nto return to Tewara again. This mythological narrative touches the\nisland of Boyowa at its southernmost point, the passage Giribwa,\nwhich divides it from Vakuta. Almost all myths have one of their\nincidents laid in a small island between Vakuta and the Amphletts,\ncalled Gabuwana. One of the myths leads us to the Amphletts, that of\nTokosikuna; another has its beginning and end in Tewara. Such is the\ngeography of the Kula myths on the big sector between Murua and Dobu.\n\nAlthough I do not know the other half through investigations made\non the spot, I have spoken with natives from those districts, and I\nthink that there are no myths localised anywhere on the sector Murua\n(Woodlark Island), Tubetube, and Dobu. What I am quite certain of,\nhowever, is that the whole of the Trobriands, except the two points\nmentioned before, lie outside the mythological area of the Kula. No\nKula stories, associated with any village in the Northern half of\nBoyowa exist, nor does any of the mythical heroes of the other stories\never come to the Northern or Western provinces of the Trobriands. Such\nextremely important centres as Sinaketa and Omarakana are never\nmentioned. This would point, on the surface of it, to the fact that\nin olden days, the island of Boyowa, except its Southern end and the\nEastern settlement of Wawela, either did not enter at all or did not\nplay an important part in the Kula.\n\nI shall give a somewhat abbreviated account of the various stories,\nand then adduce in extenso the one last mentioned, perhaps the most\nnoteworthy of all the Kula myths, that of Kasabwaybwayreta, as well\nas the very important canoe myth, that of the flying waga of Kudayuri.\n\nThe Muruan myth, which I obtained only in a very bald outline,\nis localised in the village of Wamwara, at the Eastern end of the\nisland. A man called Gere'u, of the Lukuba clan, knew very well the\nmwasila magic, and wherever he went, all the valuables were given to\nhim, so that all the others returned empty-handed. He went to Gawa\nand Iwa, and as Soon as he appeared, pu-pu went the conch shells,\nand everybody gave him the bagi necklaces. He returned to his village,\nfull of glory and of Kula spoils. Then he went to Du'a'u, and obtained\nagain an enormous amount of arm-shells. He settled the direction\nin which the Kula valuables have to move. Bagi necklaces have 'to\ngo,' and the arm-shells 'to come.' As this was spoken on Boyowa,\n'go' meant to travel from Boyowa to Woodlark, 'come' to travel from\nGere'u's village to Sinaketa. The culture hero Gere'u was finally\nkilled, through envy of his success in the Kula.\n\nI obtained two versions about the mythological hero, Tokosikuna\nof Digumenu. In the first of them, he is represented as a complete\ncripple, without hands and feet, who has to be carried by his two\ndaughters into the canoe. They sail on a Kula expedition through Iwa,\nGawa, through the Straits of Giribwa to Gumasila. Then they put him\non a platform, where he takes a meal and goes to sleep. They leave\nhim there and go into a garden which they see on a hill above, in\norder to gather some food. On coming back, they find him dead. On\nhearing their wailing, an ogre comes out, marries one of them and\nadopts the other. As he was very ugly, however, the girls killed him\nin an obscene manner, and then settled in the island. This obviously\nmutilated and superficial version does not give us many clues to the\nnative ideas about the Kula.\n\nThe other version is much more interesting. Tokosikuna, according to\nit, is also slightly crippled, lame, very ugly, and with a pitted skin;\nso ugly indeed that he could not marry. Far North, in the mythical\nland of Kokopawa, they play a flute so beautifully that the chief of\nDigumenu, the village of Tokosikuna, hears it. He wishes to obtain the\nflute. Many men set out, but all fail, and they have to return half\nway, because it is so far. Tokosikuna goes, and, through a mixture of\ncunning and daring, he succeeds in getting possession of the flute,\nand in returning safely to Digumenu. There, through magic which\none is led to infer he has acquired on his journey, he changes his\nappearance, becomes young, smooth-skinned and beautiful. The guya'u\n(chief) who is away in his garden, hears the flute played in his\nvillage, and returning there, he sees Tokosikuna sitting on a high\nplatform, playing the flute and looking beautiful. \"Well,\" he says,\n\"all my daughters, all my granddaughters, my nieces and my sisters,\nyou all marry Tokosikuna! Your husbands, you leave behind! You marry\nTokosikuna, for he has brought the flute from the distant land!\" So\nTokosikuna married all the women.\n\nThe other men did not take it very well, of course. They decided to get\nrid of Tokosikuna by stratagem. They said: \"The chief would like to\neat giant clam-shell, let us go and fish it.\" \"And how shall I catch\nit?\" asks Tokosikuna. \"You put your head, where the clam-shell gapes\nopen.\" (This of course would mean death, as the clam-shell would close,\nand, if a really big one, would easily cut off his head). Tokosikuna,\nhowever, dived and with his two hands, broke a clam-shell open, a deed\nof super-human strength. The others were angry, and planned another\nform of revenge. They arranged a shark-fishing, advising Tokosikuna to\ncatch the fish with his hands. But he simply strangled the big shark,\nand put it into the canoe. Then, he tears asunder a boar's mouth,\nbringing them thus to despair. Finally they decide to get rid of him at\nsea. They try to kill him first by letting the heavy tree, felled for\nthe waga, fall on him. But he supports it with his outstretched arms,\nand does no harm to himself. At the time of lashing, his companions\nwrap some wayaugo (lashing creeper) into a soft pandanus leaf; then\nthey persuade him to use pandanus only for the lashing of his canoe,\nwhich he does indeed, deceived by seeing them use what apparently is\nthe same. Then they sail, the other men in good, sea-worthy canoes,\nhe in an entirely unseaworthy one, lashed only with the soft, brittle\npandanus leaf.\n\nAnd here begins the real Kula part of the myth. The expedition\narrives at Gawa, where Tokosikuna remains with his canoe on the beach,\nwhile the other men go to the village to kula. They collect all the\nsmaller armshells of the soulava type, but the big ones, the bagi,\nremain in the village, for the local men are unwilling to give\nthem. Then Tokosikuna starts for the village after all the others\nhave returned. After a short while, he arrives from the village,\ncarrying all the bagido'u bagidudu, and bagiriku--that is, all the\nmost valuable types of spondylus necklaces. The same happens in Iwa\nand Kitava. His companions from the other canoes go first and succeed\nonly in collecting the inferior kinds of valuables. He afterwards\nenters the village, and easily obtains the high grades of necklace,\nwhich had been refused to the others. These become very angry; in\nKitava, they inspect the lashings of his canoe, and see that they\nare rotten. \"Oh well, to-morrow, Vakuta! The day after, Gumasila,--he\nwill drown in Pilolu.\" In Vakuta the same happens as before, and the\nwrath of his unsuccessful companions increases.\n\nThey sail and passing the sandbank of Gabula (this is the Trobriand\nname for Gabuwana, as the Amphlettans pronounce it) Tokosikuna eases\nhis helm; then, as he tries to bring the canoe up to the wind again,\nhis lashings snap, and the canoe sinks. He swims in the waves, carrying\nthe basket-full of valuables in one arm. He calls out to the other\ncanoes: \"Come and take your bagi! I shall get into your waga!\" \"You\nmarried all our women,\" they answer, \"now, sharks will eat you! We\nshall go to make Kula in Dobu!\" Tokosikuna, however, swims safely to\nthe point called Kamsareta, in the island of Domdom. From there he\nbeholds the rock of Selawaya standing out of the jungle on the eastern\nslope of Gumasila. \"This is a big rock, I shall go and live there,\"\nand turning towards the Digumenu canoes, he utters a curse:\n\n\"You will get nothing in Dobu but poor necklaces, soulava of the\ntype of tutumuyuwa and tutuyanabwa. The big bagido'u will stop with\nme.\" He remains in the Amphletts and does not return to Digumenu. And\nhere ends the myth.\n\nI have given an extensive summary of this myth, including its first\npart, which has nothing to do with the Kula, because it gives a full\ncharacter sketch of the hero as a daring sailor and adventurer. It\nshows, how Tokosikuna, after his Northern trip, acquired magic which\nallowed him to change his ugly and weak frame into a powerful body with\na beautiful appearance. The first part also contains the reference to\nhis great success with women, an association between Kula magic and\nlove magic, which as we shall see, is not without importance. In this\nfirst part, that is, up to the moment when they start on the Kula,\nTokosikuna appears as a hero, endowed with extraordinary powers,\ndue to his knowledge of magic.\n\nIn this myth, as we see, no events are related through which the\nnatural appearance of the landscape is changed. Therefore this\nmyth is typical of what I have called the most recent stratum of\nmythology. This is further confirmed by the circumstance that no\nallusion is made in it to any origins, not even to the origins of the\nmwasila magic. For, as the myth is at present told and commented upon,\nall the men who go on the Kula expedition with our hero, know a system\nof Kula magic, the mwasila of Monikiniki. Tokosikuna's superiority\nrests with his special beauty magic; with his capacity to display\nenormous strength, and to face with impunity great dangers; with his\nability to escape from drowning, finally, with his knowledge of the\nevil magic, bulubwalata, with which he prevents his companions from\ndoing successful Kula. This last point was contained in a commentary\nupon this myth, given to me by the man who narrated it. When I speak\nabout the Kula magic more explicitly further on, the reader will\nsee that the four points of superiority just mentioned correspond to\nthe categories into which we have to group the Kula magic, when it\nis classified according to its leading ideas, according to the goal\ntowards which it aims.\n\nOne magic Tokosikuna does not know. We see from the myth that he\nis ignorant of the nature of the wayugo, the lashing creeper. He\nis therefore obviously not a canoe-builder, nor acquainted with\ncanoe-building magic. This is the point on which his companions are\nable to catch him.\n\nGeographically, this myth links Digumenu with the Amphletts, as also\ndid the previous version of the Tokosikuna story. The hero, here\nas there, settles finally in Gumasila, and the element of migration\nis contained in both versions. Again, in the last story, Tokosikuna\ndecides to settle in the Amphletts, on seeing the Selawaya rock. If we\nremember the Gumasilan legend about the origin of Kula magic, it also\nrefers to the same rock. I did not obtain the name of the individual\nwho is believed to have lived on the Selawaya rock, but it obviously\nis the same myth, only very mutilated in the Gumasilan version.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nMoving Westwards from Digumenu, to which the Tokosikuna myth belongs,\nthe next important centre of Kula magic is the island of Kitava. With\nthis place, the magical system of Monikiniki is associated by\ntradition, though no special story is told about this individual. A\nvery important myth, on the other hand, localised in Kitava, is the\none which serves as foundation for canoe magic. I have obtained three\nindependent versions of this myth, and they agree substantially. I\nshall adduce at length the story as it was told to me by the best\ninformant, and written down in Kiriwinian, and after that, I shall\nshow on what points the other versions vary. I shall not omit from the\nfull account certain tedious repetitions and obviously inessential\ndetails, for they are indispensable for imparting to the narrative\nthe characteristic flavour of native folk-lore.\n\nTo understand the following account, it is necessary to realise that\nKitava is a raised coral island. Its inland part is elevated to a\nheight of about three hundred feet. Behind the flat beach, a steep\ncoral wall rises, and from its summit the land gently falls towards\nthe central declivity. It is in this central part that the villages\nare situated, and it would be quite impossible to transport a canoe\nfrom any village to the beach. Thus, in Kitava, unlike what happens\nwith some of the Lagoon villages of Boyowa, the canoes have to be\nalways dug out and lashed on the beach.\n\n\n               THE MYTH OF THE FLYING CANOE OF KUDAYURI.\n\n    \"Mokatuboda of the Lukuba clan and his younger brother Toweyre'i\n    lived in the village of Kudayuri. With them lived their three\n    sisters Kayguremwo, Na'ukuwakula and Murumweyri'a. They had\n    all come out from underground in the spot called Labikewo, in\n    Kitava. These people were the u'ula (foundation, basis, here:\n    first possessors) of the ligogu and wayugo magic.\"\n\n    \"All the men of Kitava decided on a great Kula expedition to\n    the Koya. The men of Kumwageya, Kaybutu, Kabululo and Lalela\n    made their canoes. They scooped out the inside of the waga, they\n    carved the tabuyo and lagim (decorated prow boards), they made\n    the budaka (lateral gunwale planks). They brought the component\n    parts to the beach, in order to make the yowaga (to put and lash\n    them together).\"\n\n    \"The Kudayuri people made their canoe in the village. Mokatuboda,\n    the head man of the Kudayuri village, ordered them to do\n    so. They were angry: 'Very heavy canoe. Who will carry it to\n    the beach?' He said: 'No, not so; it will be well. I shall just\n    lash my waga in the village.' He refused to move the canoe;\n    it remained in the village. The other people pieced their canoe\n    on the beach; he pieced it together in the village. They lashed\n    it with the wayugo creeper on the beach; he lashed his in the\n    village. They caulked their canoes on the sea-shore; he caulked\n    his in the village. They painted their canoes on the beach with\n    black; he blackened his in the village. They made the youlala\n    (painted red and white) on the beach; he made the youlala in\n    the village. They sewed their sail on the beach; he did it in\n    the village. They rigged up the mast and rigging on the beach;\n    he in the village. After that, the men of Kitava made tasasoria\n    (trial run) and kabigidoya (visit of ceremonial presentation),\n    but the Kudayuri canoe did not make either.\"\n\n    \"By and by, all the men of Kitava ordered their women to\n    prepare the food. The women one day put all the food, the gugu'a\n    (personal belongings), the pari (presents and trade goods) into the\n    canoe. The people of Kudayuri had all these things put into their\n    canoe in the village. The headman of the Kudayuri, Mokatuboda,\n    asked all his younger brothers, all the members of his crew,\n    to bring some of their pari, and he performed magic over it,\n    and made a lilava (magical bundle) of it.\"\n\n    \"The people of other villages went to the beach; each canoe was\n    manned by its usagelu (members of the crew). The man of Kudayuri\n    ordered his crew to man his canoe in the village. They of the other\n    villages stepped the mast on the shore; he stepped the mast in\n    the village. They prepared the rigging on the shore; he prepared\n    the rigging in the village. They hoisted the sail on the sea;\n    he spoke 'May our sail be hoisted,' and his companions hoisted\n    the sail. He spoke: 'Sit in your places, every man!' He went into\n    the house, he took his ligogu (adze), he took some coco-nut oil,\n    he took a staff. He spoke magic over the adze, over the coco-nut\n    oil. He came out of the house, he approached the canoe. A small\n    dog of his called Tokulubweydoga jumped into the canoe. [74] He\n    spoke to his crew: 'Pull up the sail higher.' They pulled at the\n    halyard. He rubbed the staff with the coco-nut oil. He knocked\n    the canoe's skids with the staff. Then he struck with his ligogu\n    the u'ula of his canoe and the dobwana (that is, both ends of the\n    canoe). He jumped into the canoe, sat down, and the canoe flew!\"\n\n    \"A rock stood before it. It pierced the rock in two, and flew\n    through it. He bent down, he looked; his companions (that is,\n    the other canoes of Kitava) sailed on the sea. He spoke to\n    his younger brothers, (that is to his relatives in the canoe):\n    'Bail out the water, pour it out!' Those who sailed on the earth\n    thought it was rain, this water which they poured out from above.\"\n\n    \"They (the other canoes) sailed to Giribwa, they saw a canoe\n    anchored there. They said: 'Is that the canoe from Dobu?' They\n    thought so, they wanted to lebu (take by force, but not necessarily\n    as a hostile act) the buna (big cowrie) shells of the Dobu\n    people. Then they saw the dog walking on the beach. They said:\n    'Wi-i-i! This is Tokulubweydoga, the dog of the Lukuba! This canoe\n    they lashed in the village, in the village of Kudayuri. Which way\n    did it come? It was anchored in the jungle!' They approached the\n    people of Kudayuri, they spoke: 'Which way did you come?' 'Oh,\n    I came together with you (the same way).' 'It rained. Did it rain\n    over you?' 'Oh yes, it has rained over me.'\"\n\n    \"Next day, they (the men of the other villages of Kitava), sailed\n    to Vakuta and went ashore. They made their Kula. The next day\n    they sailed, and he (Mokatuboda) remained in Vakuta. When they\n    disappeared on the sea, his canoe flew. He flew from Vakuta. When\n    they (the other crews) arrived in Gumasila, he was there on the\n    promontory of Lububuyama. They said: 'This canoe is like the\n    canoe of our companions,' and the dog came out. 'This is the dog\n    of the Lukuba clan of Kudayuri.' They asked him again which way he\n    came; he said he came the same way as they. They made the Kula in\n    Gumasila. He said: 'You sail first, I shall sail later on.' They\n    were astonished: 'Which way does he sail?' They slept in Gumasila.\"\n\n    \"Next day they sailed to Tewara, they arrived at the beach\n    of Kadimwatu. They saw his canoe anchored there, the dog came\n    out and ran along the beach. They spoke to the Kudayuri men,\n    'How did you come here?' 'We came with you, the same way we\n    came.' They made Kula in Tewara. Next day, they sailed to Bwayowa\n    (village in Dobu district). He flew, and anchored at the beach\n    Sarubwoyna. They arrived there, they saw: 'Oh, look at the canoe,\n    are these fishermen from Dobu?' The dog came out. They recognised\n    the dog. They asked him (Mokatuboda) which way he came: 'I came\n    with you, I anchored here.' They went to the village of Bwayowa,\n    they made Kula in the village, they loaded their canoes. They\n    received presents from the Dobu people at parting, and the Kitava\n    men sailed on the return journey. They sailed first, and he flew\n    through the air.\"\n\n    On the return journey, at every stage, they see him first, they\n    ask him which way he went, and he gives them some sort of answer\n    as the above ones.\n\n    \"From Giribwa they sailed to Kitava; he remained in Giribwa; he\n    flew from Giribwa; he went to Kitava, to the beach. His gugu'a\n    (personal belongings) were being carried to the village when his\n    companions came paddling along, and saw his canoe anchored and\n    the dog running on the beach. All the other men were very angry,\n    because his canoe flew.\"\n\n    \"They remained in Kitava. Next year, they made their gardens,\n    all the men of Kitava. The sun was very strong, there was no\n    rain at all. The sun burned their gardens. This man (the head\n    man of Kudayuri, Mokatuboda) went into the garden. He remained\n    there, he made a bulubwalata (evil magic) of the rain. A small\n    cloud came and rained on his garden only, and their gardens the\n    sun burned. They (the other men of Kitava) went and saw their\n    gardens. They arrived there, they saw all was dead, already the\n    sun had burned them. They went to his garden and it was all wet:\n    yams, taitu, taro, all was fine. They spoke: 'Let us kill him\n    so that he might die. We shall then speak magic over the clouds,\n    and it will rain over our gardens.'\"\n\n    \"The real, keen magic, the Kudayuri man (i.e. Mokatuboda) did not\n    give to them; he gave them not the magic of the ligogu (adze);\n    he gave them not the magic of kunisalili (rain magic); he gave\n    them not the magic of the wayugo (lashing creeper), of the coco-nut\n    oil and staff. Toweyre'i, his younger brother, thought that he had\n    already received the magic, but he was mistaken. His elder brother\n    gave him only part of the magic, the real one he kept back.\"\n\n    \"They came (to Mokatuboda, the head man of Kudayuri), he sat in\n    his village. His brothers and maternal nephews sharpened the spear,\n    they hit him, he died.\"\n\n    \"Next year, they decided to make a big Kula expedition, to\n    Dobu. The old waga, cut and lashed by Mokatuboda, was no more good,\n    the lashings had perished. Then Toweyre'i, the younger brother,\n    cut a new one to replace the old. The people of Kumwageya and\n    Lalela (the other villages in Kitava) heard that Toweyre'i cuts\n    his waga, and they also cut theirs. They pieced and lashed their\n    canoes on the beach. Toweyre'i did it in the village.\"\n\n    Here the native narrative enumerates every detail of canoe making,\n    drawing the contrast between the proceedings on the beach of\n    the other Kitavans, and of Toweyre'i building the canoe in the\n    village of Kudayuri. It is an exact repetition of what was said\n    at the beginning, when Mokatuboda was building his canoe, and I\n    shall not adduce it here. The narrative arrives at the critical\n    moment when all the members of the crew are seated in the canoe\n    ready for the flight.\n\n    \"Toweyre'i went into the house and made magic over the adze and\n    the coco-nut oil. He came out, smeared a staff with the oil,\n    knocked the skids of the canoe. He then did as his elder brother\n    did. He struck both ends of the canoe with the adze. He jumped\n    into the canoe and sat down; but the waga did not fly. Toweyre'i\n    went into the house and cried for his elder brother, whom he had\n    slain; he had killed him without knowing his magic. The people\n    of Kumwageya and Lalela went to Dobu and made their Kula. The\n    people of Kudayuri remained in the village.\"\n\n    \"The three sisters were very angry with Toweyre'i, for he killed\n    the elder brother and did not learn his magic. They themselves\n    had learnt the ligogu, the wayugo magic; they had it already in\n    their lopoula (belly). They could fly through the air, they were\n    yoyova. In Kitava they lived on the top of Botigale'a hill. They\n    said: 'Let us leave Kitava and fly away.' They flew through the\n    air. One of them, Na'ukuwakula, flew to the West, pierced through\n    the sea-passage Dikuwa'i (Somewhere in the Western Trobriands);\n    she arrived at Simsim (one of the Lousan\u00e7ay). There she turned\n    into a stone, she stands in the sea.\"\n\n    \"The two others flew first (due West) to the beach of Yalumugwa\n    (on the Eastern shore of Boyowa). There they tried to pierce the\n    coral rock named Yakayba--it was too hard. They went (further\n    South on the Eastern shore) through the sea-passage of Vilasasa\n    and tried to pierce the rock Kuyaluya--they couldn't. They went\n    (further South) and tried to pierce the rock of Kawakari--it\n    was too hard. They went (further South). They tried to pierce\n    the rocks at Giribwa. They succeeded. That is why there is now a\n    sea passage at Giribwa (the straits dividing the main island of\n    Boyowa from the island of Vakuta).\"\n\n    \"They flew (further South) towards Dobu. They came to the island of\n    Tewara. They came to the beach of Kadimwatu and pierced it. This\n    is where the straits of Kadimwatu are now between the islands of\n    Tewara and Uwama. They went to Dobu; they travelled further South,\n    to the promontory of Saramwa (near Dobu island). They spoke:\n    'Shall we go round the point or pierce right through?' They\n    went round the point. They met another obstacle and pierced\n    it through, making the Straits of Loma (at the Western end of\n    Dawson Straits). They came back, they returned and settled near\n    Tewara. They turned into stones; they stand in the sea. One of\n    them cast her eyes on Dobu, this is Murumweyri'a; she eats men,\n    and the Dobuans are cannibals. The other one, Kayguremwo, does\n    not eat men, and her face is turned towards Boyowa. The people\n    of Boyowa do not eat man.\"\n\n\nThis story is extremely clear in its general outline, and very\ndramatic, and all its incidents and developments have a high degree\nof consistency and psychological motivation. It is perhaps the most\ntelling of all myths from this part of the world which came under\nmy notice. It is also a good example of what has been said before in\nDivision II. Namely that the identical conditions, sociological and\ncultural, which obtain at the present time, are also reflected in\nmythical narratives. The only exception to this is the much higher\nefficiency of magic found in the world of myth. The tale of Kudayuri,\non the one hand, describes minutely the sociological conditions of the\nheroes, their occupations and concerns, and all these do not differ\nat all from the present ones. On the other hand, it shows the hero\nendowed with a truly super-normal power through his magic of canoe\nbuilding and of rain making. Nor could it be more convincingly stated\nthan is done in this narrative that the full knowledge of the right\nmagic was solely responsible for these supernatural powers.\n\nIn its enumeration of the various details of tribal life, this myth is\ntruly a fount of ethnographic information. Its statements, when made\ncomplete and explicit by native comment, contain a good deal of what\nis to be known about the sociology, technology and organisation of\ncanoe-making, sailing, and of the Kula. If followed up into detail,\nthe incidents of this narrative make us acquainted for instance,\nwith the division into clans; with the origin and local character of\nthese latter; with ownership of magic and its association with the\ntotemic group. In almost all mythological narratives of the Trobriands,\nthe clan, the sub-clan and the locality of the heroes are stated. In\nthe above version, we see that the heroes have emerged at a certain\nspot, and that they themselves came from underground; that is, that\nthey are the first representatives of their totemic sub-clan on the\nsurface of the earth. In the two other versions, this last point was\nnot explicitly stated, though I think it is implied in the incidents\nof this myth, for obviously the flying canoe is built for the first\ntime, as it is for the last. In other versions, I was told that the\nhole from which this sub-clan emerged is also called Kudayuri, and\nthat the name of their magical system is Viluvayaba.\n\nPassing to the following part of the tale, we find in it a description\nof canoe-building, and this was given to me in the same detailed\nmanner in all three versions. Here again, if we would substitute for\nthe short sentences a fuller account of what happens, such as could\nbe elicited from any intelligent native informant; if for each word\ndescribing the stages of canoe-building we insert a full description\nof the processes for which these words stand--we would have in this\nmyth an almost complete, ethnographic account of canoe-building. We\nwould see the canoe pieced together, lashed, caulked, painted, rigged\nout, provided with a sail till it lies ready to be launched. Besides\nthe successive enumeration of technical stages, we have in this\nmyth a clear picture of the r\u00f4le played by the headman, who is\nthe nominal owner of the canoe, and who speaks of it as his canoe\nand at the same time directs its building; overrides the wishes of\nothers, and is responsible for the magic. We have even the mention\nof the tasasoria and kabigidoya, and several allusions to the Kula\nexpedition of which the canoe-building in this myth is represented as a\npreliminary stage. The frequent, tedious repetitions and enumerations\nof customary sequences of events, interesting as data of folk-lore,\nare not less valuable as ethnographic documents, and as illustrations\nof the natives' attitude towards custom. Incidentally, this feature\nof native mythology shows that the task of serving as ethnographic\ninformant is not so foreign and difficult to a native as might at\nfirst appear. He is quite used to recite one after the other the\nvarious stages of customary proceedings in his own narratives, and\nhe does it with an almost pedantic accuracy and completeness, and it\nis an easy task for him to transfer these qualities to the accounts,\nwhich he is called upon to make in the service of ethnography.\n\nThe dramatic effect of the climax of the story, of the unexpected\nflight of the canoe is clearly brought out in the narrative, and it\nwas given to me in all its three versions. In all three, the members\nof the crew are made to pass through the numerous preparatory stages\nof sailing. And the parallel drawn between the reasonable proceedings\nof their fellows on the beach, and the absurd manner in which they\nare made to get ready in the middle of the village, some few hundred\nfeet above the sea, makes the tension more palpable and the sudden\ndenouement more effective. In all accounts of this myth, the magic\nis also performed just before the flight, and its performance is\nexplicitly mentioned and included as an important episode in the story.\n\nThe incident of bailing some water out of a canoe which never touched\nthe sea, seems to show some inconsistency. If we remember, however,\nthat water is poured into a canoe, while it is built, in order to\nprevent its drying and consequently its shrinking, cracking and\nwarping, the inconsistency and flaw in the narrative disappear. I\nmay add that the bailing and rain incident is contained in one of my\nthree versions only.\n\nThe episode of the dog is more significant and more important to\nthe natives, and is mentioned in all three versions. The dog is the\nanimal associated with the Lukuba clan; that is, the natives will say\nthat the dog is a Lukuba, as the pig is a Malasi, and the igwana a\nLukulabuta. In several stories about the origin and relative rank of\nthe clans, each of them is represented by its totemic animal. Thus the\nigwana is the first to emerge from underground. Hence the Lukulabuta\nare the oldest clan. The dog and the pig dispute with one another the\npriority of rank, the dog basing his claims on his earlier appearance\non the earth, for he followed immediately the igwana; the pig,\nasserting himself in virtue of not eating unclean things. The pig\nwon the day, and therefore the Malasi clan are considered to be the\nclan of the highest rank, though this is really reached only in one\nof its sub-clans, that of the Tabalu of Omarakana. The incident of\nthe lebu (taking by force) of some ornaments from the Dobuans refers\nto the custom of using friendly violence in certain Kula transactions\n(see chapter XIV, Division II).\n\nIn the second part of the story, we find the hero endowed again with\nmagical powers far superior to those of the present-day wizards. They\ncan make rain, or stay the clouds, it is true, but he is able to\ncreate a small cloud which pours copious rain over his own gardens,\nand leaves the others to be shrivelled up by the sun. This part of the\nnarrative does not touch the canoe problem, and it is of interest to\nus only in so far as it again shows what appears to the natives the\nreal source of their hero's supernatural powers.\n\nThe motives which lead to the killing of Mokatuboda are not stated\nexplicitly in the narrative. No myth as a rule enters very much\ninto the subjective side of its events. But, from the lengthy,\nindeed wearisome repetition of how the other Kitava men constantly\nfind the Kudayuri canoe outrunning them, how they are astonished\nand angry, it is clear that his success must have made many enemies\nto Mokatuboda. What is not so easily explained, is the fact that he\nis killed, not by the other Kitava men, but by his own kinsmen. One\nof the versions mentions his brothers and his sister's sons as the\nslayers. One of them states that the people of Kitava ask Toweyre'i,\nthe younger brother, whether he has already acquired the flying magic\nand the rain magic, and only after an affirmative is received, is\nMokatuboda killed by his younger brother, in connivance with the other\npeople. An interesting variant is added to this version, according\nto which Toweyre'i kills his elder brother in the garden. He then\ncomes back to the village and instructs and admonishes Mokatuboda's\nchildren to take the body, to give it the mortuary attentions, to\nprepare for the burial. Then he himself arranges the sagali, the big\nmortuary distribution of food. In this we find an interesting document\nof native custom and ideas. Toweyre'i, in spite of having killed his\nbrother, is still the man who has to arrange the mortuary proceedings,\nact as master of ceremonies, and pay for the functions performed in\nthem by others. He personally may neither touch the corpse, nor do\nany act of mourning or burial; nevertheless he, as the nearest of kin\nof the dead man, is the bereaved one, is the one from whom a limb\nhas been severed, so to speak. A man whose brother has died cannot\nmourn any more than he could mourn for himself. [75] To return to\nthe motives of killing, as this was done according to all accounts\nby Mokatuboda's own kinsmen, with the approval of the other men,\nenvy, ambition, the desire to succeed the headman in his dignity,\nmust have been mixed with spite against him. In fact, we see that\nToweyre'i proceeds confidently to perform the magic, and bursts out\ninto wailing only after he has discovered he has been duped.\n\nNow we come to one of the most remarkable incidents of the whole myth,\nthat namely which brings into connection the yoyova, or the flying\nwitches, with the flying canoe, and with such speed of a canoe,\nas is imparted to it by magic. In the spells of swiftness there are\nfrequent allusions to the yoyova or mulukwausi. This can be clearly\nseen in the spell of the wayugo, already adduced (Chapter V, Division\nIII), and which is still to be analysed linguistically (Chapter XVIII,\nDivisions II to IV). The kariyala (magical portent, cf. Chapter XVII,\nDivision VII) of the wayugo spell consists in shooting stars, that\nis, when a wayugo rite is performed at night over the creeper coils,\nthere will be stars falling in the sky. And again, when a magician,\nknowing this system of magic, dies, shooting stars will be seen. Now,\nas we have seen (Chapter X, Division I), falling stars are mulukwausi\nin their flight.\n\nIn this story of the Kudayuri we see the mythological ground for this\nassociation. The same magic which allowed the canoe to sail through\nthe air gives the three sisters of Kudayuri their power of being\nmulukwausi, and of flying. In this myth they are also endowed with the\npower of cleaving the rocks, a power which they share with the canoe,\nwhich cleft a rock immediately after leaving the village. The three\nsisters cleave rocks and pierce the land in several places. My native\ncommentators assured me that when the canoe first visited Giribwa and\nKadimwatu at the beginning of this myth, the land was still joined at\nthese places and there was a beach at each of them. The mulukwausi\ntried to pierce Boyowa at several spots along the Eastern coast,\nbut succeeded only at Giribwa. The myth thus has the archaic stamp\nof referring to deep changes in natural features. The two sisters,\nwho fly to the South return from the furthest point and settle near\nTewara, in which there is some analogy to several other myths in which\nheroes from the Marshall Bennett Islands settle down somewhere between\nthe Amphletts and Dobu. One of them turns her eyes northwards towards\nthe non-cannibal people of Boyowa and she is said to be averse to\ncannibalism. Probably this is a sort of mythological explanation of why\nthe Boyowan people do not eat men and the Dobuans do, an explanation\nto which there is an analogy in another myth shortly to be adduced,\nthat of Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, and a better one still in a myth\nabout the origins of cannibalism, which I cannot quote here.\n\nIn all these traditions, so far, the heroes belonged to the clan of\nLukuba. To it belong Gere'u, Tokosikuna, the Kudayuri family and\ntheir dog, and also the dog, Tokulubwaydoga of the myth told in\nChapter X, Division V. I may add that, in some legends told about\nthe origin of humanity, this clan emerges first from underground and\nin some it emerges second in time, but as the clan of highest rank,\nthough in this it has to yield afterwards to the Malasi. The main\nKultur-hero of Kiriwina, the ogre-slayer Tudava, belongs, also to the\nclan of Lukuba. There is even a historic fact, which agrees with this\nmythological primacy, and subsequent eclipse. The Lukuba were, some six\nor seven generations ago, the leading clan in Vakuta, and then they\nhad to surrender the chieftainship of this place to the Malasi clan,\nwhen the sub-clan of the Tabalu, the Malasi chiefs of the highest\nrank in Kiriwina, migrated South, and settled down in Vakuta. In the\nmyths quoted here, the Lukuba are leading canoe-builders, sailors,\nand adventurers, that is with one exception, that of Tokosikuna,\nwho, though excelling in all other respects, knows nothing of canoe\nconstruction.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nLet us now proceed to the last named mythological centre, and\ntaking a very big step from the Marshall Bennetts, return to Tewara,\nand to its myth of the origin of the Kula. I shall tell this myth\nin a translation, closely following the original account, obtained\nin Kiriwinian from an informant at Oburaku. I had an opportunity of\nchecking and amending his narrative, by the information obtained from\na native of Sanaro'a in pidgin English.\n\n\n           THE STORY OF KASABWAYBWAYRETA AND GUMAKARAKEDAKEDA\n\n    \"Kasabwaybwayreta lived in Tewara. He heard the renown of a soulava\n    (spondylus necklace) which was lying (kept) in Wawela. Its name\n    was Gumakarakedakeda. He said to his children: 'Let us go to\n    Wawela, make Kula to get this soulava.' He put into his canoe\n    unripe coco-nut, undeveloped betel-nut, green bananas.\"\n\n    \"They went to Wawela; they anchored in Wawela. His sons went\n    ashore, they went to obtain Gumakarakedakeda. He remained in the\n    canoe. His son made offering of food, they (the Wawela people)\n    refused. Kasabwaybwayreta spoke a charm over the betel-nut: it\n    yellowed (became ripe); he spoke the charm over the coco-nut:\n    its soft kernel swelled; he charmed the bananas they ripened. He\n    took off his hair, his gray hair; his wrinkled skin, it remained\n    in the canoe. He rose, he went he gave a pokala offering of food,\n    he received the valuable necklace as Kula gift, for he was already\n    a beautiful man. He went, he put it down, he thrust it into his\n    hair. He came to the canoe, he took his covering (the sloughed\n    skin); he donned the wrinkles, the gray hairs, he remained.\"\n\n    \"His sons arrived, they took their places in the canoe, they\n    sailed to Giribwa. They cooked their food. He called his grandson;\n    'Oh, my grandson, come here, look for my lice.' The grandson came\n    there, stepped near him. Kasabwaybwayreta spoke, telling him: 'My\n    grandson, catch my lice in the middle (of my hair).' His grandson\n    parted his hair; he saw the valuable necklace, Gumakarakedakeda\n    remaining there in the hair of Kasabwaybwayreta. 'Ee...' he spoke\n    to his father, telling him, 'My father, Kasabwaybwayreta already\n    obtained Gumakarakedakeda.' 'O, no, he did not obtain it! I am a\n    chief, I am beautiful, I have not obtained that valuable. Indeed,\n    would this wrinkled old man have obtained the necklace? No,\n    indeed!' 'Truly, my father, he has obtained it already. I have\n    seen it; already it remains in his hair!'\"\n\n    \"All the water-vessels are empty already; the son went into the\n    canoe, spilled the water so that it ran out, and only the empty\n    vessels (made of coco-nut shell) remained. Later on they sailed,\n    they went to an island, Gabula (Gabuwana in Amphlettan and in\n    Dobuan). This man, Kasabwaybwayreta wanted water, and spoke to\n    his son. This man picked up the water vessels--no, they were all\n    empty. They went on the beach of Gabula, the usagelu (members\n    of the crew) dug out their water-holes (in the beach). This man\n    remained in the canoe and called out: 'O my grandson, bring me here\n    my water, go there and dip out my water!' The grandson said: 'No,\n    come here and dip out (yourself)!' Later on, they dipped out water,\n    they finished, and Kasabwaybwayreta came. They muddied the water,\n    it was muddy. He sat down, he waited.\"\n\n    \"They went, they sailed in the canoe. Kasabwaybwayreta called out,\n    'O, my son, why do you cast me off?' Spoke the son: 'I think you\n    have obtained Gumakarakedakeda!' 'O, by and by, my son, when we\n    arrive in the village, I shall give it to you!' 'O, no!' 'Well,\n    you remain, I shall go!' He takes a stone, a binabina one, this\n    man Kasabwaybwayreta, he throws so that he might make a hole in\n    the canoe, and the men might go into the sea. No! they sped away,\n    they went, this stone stands up, it has made an island in the\n    sea. They went, they anchored in Tewara. They (the villagers)\n    asked: 'And where is Kasabwaybwayreta?' 'O, his son got angry\n    with him, already he had obtained Gumakarakedakeda!'\"\n\n    \"Well, then, this man Kasabwaybwayreta remained in the island\n    Gabula. He saw Tokom'mwawa (evening star) approach. He spoke:\n    'My friend, come here, let me just enter into your canoe!' 'O no,\n    I shall go to another place.' There came Kaylateku (Sirius). He\n    asked him: 'Let me go with you.' He refused. There came Kayyousi\n    (Southern Cross). Kasabwaybwayreta wanted to go with him. He\n    refused. There came Umnakayva'u, (Alpha and Beta Centauri). He\n    wanted a place in his canoe. He refused. There came Kibi\n    (three stars widely distant, forming no constellation in our\n    sky-chart). He also refused to take Kasabwaybwayreta. There came\n    Uluwa (the Pleiades). Kasabwaybwayreta asked him to take him. Uluwa\n    said: 'You wait, you look out, there will come Kaykiyadiga,\n    he will take you.' There came Kaykiyadiga (the three central\n    stars in Orion's belt). Kasabwaybwayreta asked him: 'My friend,\n    which way will you go?' 'I shall come down on top of Taryebutu\n    mountain. I shall go down, I shall go away.' 'Oh, my friend, come\n    here, let me just sit down (on you).' 'Oh come,--see on one side\n    there is a va'i (stingaree) on the other side, there is the lo'u\n    (a fish with poisonous spikes); you sit in the middle, it will\n    be well! Where is your village?' 'My village is Tewara.' 'What\n    stands in the site of your village?' 'In the site of my village,\n    there stands a busa tree!'\"\n\n    \"They went there. Already the village of Kasabwaybwayreta is\n    straight below them. He charmed this busa tree, it arose, it went\n    straight up into the skies. Kasabwaybwayreta changed place (from\n    Orion's belt on to the tree), he sat on the busa tree. He spoke:\n    'Oh, my friend, break asunder this necklace. Part of it, I shall\n    give you; part of it, I shall carry to Tewara.' He gave part of\n    it to his companion. This busa tree came down to the ground. He\n    was angry because his son left him behind. He went underground\n    inside. He there remained for a long time. The dogs came there,\n    and they dug and dug. They dug him out. He came out on top, he\n    became a tauva'u (evil spirit, see Chapter II, Division VII.) He\n    hits human beings. That is why in Tewara the village is that of\n    sorcerers and witches, because of Kasabwaybwayreta.\"\n\n\nTo make this somewhat obscure narrative clearer, a short commentary\nis necessary. The first part tells of a Kula expedition in which the\nhero, his son, his grandson, and some other members of the crew take\npart. His son takes with him good, fresh food, to give as solicitory\noffering and thus tempt his partners to present him with the famous\nnecklace. The son is a young man and also a chief of renown. The\nlater stages are clearer; by means of magic, the hero changes\nhimself into a young, attractive man, and makes his own unripe, bad\nfruit into splendid gifts to be offered to his partner. He obtains\nthe prize without difficulty, and hides it in his hair. Then, in a\nmoment of weakness, and for motives which it is impossible to find\nout from native commentators, he on purpose reveals the necklace\nto his grandson. Most likely, the motive was vanity. His son, and\nprobably also the other companions, become very angry and set a trap\nfor him. They arrange things so that he has to go for his own water\non the beach of Gabula. When they have already got theirs and while\nhe is dipping it out, they sail away, leaving him marooned on the\nsand-bank. Like Polyphemus after the escaping party of Odysseus,\nhe throws a stone at the treacherous canoe, but it misses its mark,\nand becomes an outstanding rock in the sea.\n\nThe episode of his release by the stars is quite clear. Arrived at\nthe village, he makes a tree rise by his magic, and after he has\ngiven the bigger part of his necklace to his rescuer, he descends,\nwith the smaller part. His going underground and subsequent turning\ninto a tauva'u shows how bitter he feels towards humanity. As usual,\nthe presence of such a powerful, evil personality in the village,\ngives its stamp to the whole community, and this latter produces\nsorcerers and witches. All these additions and comments I obtained\nin cross-questioning my original informant.\n\nThe Dobuan informant from Sanaro'a introduced one or two variants into\nthe second part of the narrative. According to him, Kasabwaybwayreta\nmarries while in the sky, and remains there long enough to beget\nthree male and two female children. After he has made up his mind to\ndescend to earth again, he Makes a hole in the heavens, looks down and\nsees a betel-nut tree in his village. Then he speaks to his child,\n'When I go down, you pull at one end of the necklace.' He climbs\ndown by means of the necklace on to the betel palm and pulls at\none end of Gumakarakedakeda. It breaks, a big piece remains in the\nskies, the small one goes with him below. Arrived in the village,\nhe arranges a feast, and invites all the villagers to it. He speaks\nsome magic over the food and after they have eaten it, the villagers\nare turned into birds. This last act is quite in harmony with his\nprofession of tauva'u, which he assumed in the previous version of\nthe myth. My Dobuan informant also added, by way of commentary, that\nthe companions of Kasabwaybwayreta were angry with him, because he\nobtained the necklace in Boyowa, which was not the right direction\nfor a necklace to travel in the Kula. This, however, is obviously a\nrationalisation of the events of the myth.\n\nComparing the previously related story of Tokosikuna with this\none, we see at once a clear resemblance between them in several\nfeatures. In both, the heroes start as old, decrepit, and very ugly\nmen. By their magical powers, they rejuvenate in the course of the\nstory, the one permanently, the other just sloughing off his skin\nfor the purpose of a Kula transaction. In both cases, the hero is\ndefinitely superior in the Kula, and by this arouses the envy and\nhatred of his companions. Again, in both stories, the companions\ndecide to punish the hero, and the island or sandbank of Gabuwana is\nthe scene of the punishment. In both, the hero finally settles in the\nSouth, only in one case it is his original home, while in the other\nhe has migrated there from one of the Marshall Bennett Islands. An\nanomaly in the Kasabwaybwayreta myth, namely, that he fetches his\nnecklace from the North, whereas the normal direction for necklaces\nto travel is from South to North in this region, makes us suspect\nthat perhaps this story is a transformation of a legend about a man\nwho made the Kula from the North. Ill-treated by his companions, he\nsettled in Tewara, and becoming a local Kultur-hero, was afterwards\ndescribed as belonging to the place. However this might be, and the\nhypothetical interpretation is mine, and not obtained from the natives,\nthe two stories are so similar that they must be regarded obviously\nas variants of the same myth, and not as independent traditions.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nSo much about the ethnographic analysis of these myths. Let us now\nreturn to the general, sociological considerations with which we opened\nthis digression into mythology. We are now better able to realise to\nwhat extent and in what manner Kula myths influence the native outlook.\n\nThe main social force governing all tribal life could be described\nas the inertia of custom, the love of uniformity of behaviour. The\ngreat moral philosopher was wrong when he formulated his categorical\nimperative, which was to serve human beings as a fundamental guiding\nprinciple of behaviour. In advising us to act so that our behaviour\nmight be taken as a norm of universal law, he reversed the natural\nstate of things. The real rule guiding human behaviour is this:\n\"what everyone else does, what appears as norm of general conduct,\nthis is right, moral and proper. Let me look over the fence and see\nwhat my neighbour does, and take it as a rule for my behaviour.\" So\nacts every 'man-in-the-street' in our own society, so has acted the\naverage member of any society through the past ages, and so acts the\npresent-day savage; and the lower his level of cultural development,\nthe greater stickler he will be for good manners, propriety and\nform, and the more incomprehensive and odious to him will be the\nnon-conforming point of view. Systems of social philosophy have\nbeen built to explain and interpret or misinterpret this general\nprinciple. Tarde's 'Imitation,' Giddings' 'Consciousness of Kind,'\nDurkheim's 'Collective Ideas,' and many such conceptions as 'social\nconsciousness,' 'the soul of a nation,' 'group mind' or now-a-days\nprevalent and highly fashionable ideas about 'suggestibility of the\ncrowd,' 'the instinct of herd,' etc., etc., try to cover this simple\nempirical truth. Most of these systems, especially those evoking\nthe Phantom of Collective Soul are futile, to my mind, in so far as\nthey try to explain in the terms of a hypothesis that which is most\nfundamental in sociology, and can therefore be reduced to nothing\nelse, but must be simply recognised and accepted as the basis of\nour science. To frame verbal definitions and quibble over terms does\nnot seem to bring us much more forward in a new branch of learning,\nwhere a knowledge of facts is above all needed.\n\nWhatever might be the case with any theoretical interpretations of\nthis principle, in this place, we must simply emphasise that a strict\nadherence to custom, to that which is done by everyone else, is the\nmain rule of conduct among our natives in the Trobriands. An important\ncorollary to this rule declares that the past is more important than\nthe present. What has been done by the father--or, as the Trobriander\nwould say, by the maternal uncle--is even more important as norm of\nbehaviour than what is done by the brother. It is to the behaviour\nof the past generations that the Trobriander instinctively looks for\nhis guidance. Thus the mythical events which relate what has been\ndone, not by the immediate ancestors but by mythical, illustrious\nforbears, must evidently carry an enormous social weight. The stories\nof important past events are hallowed because they belong to the\ngreat mythical generations and because they are generally accepted\nas truth, for everybody knows and tells them. They bear the sanction\nof righteousness and propriety in virtue of these two qualities of\npreterity and universality.\n\nThus, through the operation of what might be called the elementary law\nof sociology, myth possesses the normative power of fixing custom,\nof sanctioning modes of behaviour, of giving dignity and importance\nto an institution. The Kula receives from these ancient stories\nits stamp of extreme importance and value. The rules of commercial\nhonour, of generosity and punctiliousness in all its operations,\nacquire through this their binding force. This is what we could call\nthe normative influence of myth on custom.\n\nThe Kula myth, however, exercises another kind of appeal. In the Kula,\nwe have a type of enterprise where the vast possibilities of success\nare very much influenced by chance. A man, whether he be rich or poor\nin partners, may, according to his luck, return with a relatively\nbig or a small haul from an expedition. Thus the imagination of the\nadventurers, as in all forms of gambling, must be bent towards lucky\nhits and turns of extraordinarily good chance. The Kula myths feed\nthis imagination on stories of extreme good luck, and at the same time\nshow that it lies in the hands of man to bring this luck on himself,\nprovided he acquires the necessary magical lore.\n\nI have said before that the mythological events are distinct from\nthose happening nowadays, in so far as they are extraordinary and\nsuper-normal. This adds both to their authoritative character and to\ntheir desirability. It sets them before the native as a specially\nvaluable standard of conduct, and as an ideal towards which their\ndesires must go out.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nBut I also said before that, distinct as it is, the mythical world\nis not separated by an unbridgeable gulf from the present order of\nevents. Indeed, though an ideal must be always beyond what actually\nexists, yet it must appear just within reach of realisation if it\nis to be effective at all. Now, after we have become acquainted with\ntheir stories, we can see clearly what was meant when it was said, that\nmagic acts as a link between the mythical and the actual realities. In\nthe canoe myth, for instance, the flying, the super-normal achievement\nof the Kudayuri canoe, is conceived only as the highest degree of the\nvirtue of speed, which is still being imparted nowadays to canoes by\nmagic. The magical heritage of the Kudayuri clan is still there, making\nthe canoes sail fast. Had it been transmitted in its complete form,\nany present canoe, like the mythical one, could be seen flying. In\nthe Kula myths also, magic is found to give super-normal powers of\nbeauty, strength and immunity from danger. The mythological events\ndemonstrate the truth of the claims of magic. Their validity is\nestablished by a sort of retrospective, mythical empiry. But magic,\nas it is practised nowadays, accomplishes the same effects, only in a\nsmaller degree. Natives believe deeply that the formul\u00e6 and rites of\nmwasila magic make those who carry them out attractive, irresistible\nand safe from dangers (compare next chapter).\n\nAnother feature which brings the mythical events into direct\nconnection with the present state of affairs, is the sociology of\nmythical personages. They all are associated with certain localities,\nas are the present local groups. They belong to the same system of\ntotemic division into clans and sub-clans as obtains nowadays. Thus,\nmembers of a sub-clan, or a local unit, can claim a mythical hero\nas their direct ancestor, and members of a clan can boast of him\nas of a clansman. Indeed, myths, like songs and fairy stories, are\n'owned' by certain sub-clans. This does not mean that other people\nwould abstain from telling them, but members of the sub-clan are\nsupposed to possess the most intimate knowledge of the mythical\nevents, and to be an authority in interpreting them. And indeed,\nit is a rule that a myth will be best known in its own locality,\nthat is, known with all the details and free from any adulterations\nor not quite genuine additions and fusions.\n\nThis better knowledge can be easily understood, if we remember\nthat myth is very often connected with magic in the Trobriands, and\nthat this latter is a possession, kept by some members of the local\ngroup. Now, to know the magic, and to understand it properly, it is\nnecessary to be well acquainted with the myth. This is the reason\nwhy the myth must be better known in the local group with which it is\nconnected. In some cases, the local group has not only to practise the\nmagic associated with the myth, but it has to look after the observance\nof certain rites, ceremonies and taboos connected with it. In this\ncase, the sociology of the mythical events is intimately bound up with\nthe social divisions as they exist now. But even in such myths as those\nof the Kula, which have become the property of all clans and local\ngroups within the district, the explicit statement of the hero's clan,\nsub-clan and of his village gives the whole myth a stamp of actuality\nand reality. Side by side with magic, the sociological continuity\nbridges over the gap between the mythical and the actual. And indeed\nthe magical and the sociological bridges run side by side.\n\nI spoke above (beginning of Division II) of the enlivening influence\nof myth upon landscape. Here it must be noted also that the mythically\nchanged features of the landscape bear testimony in the native's mind\nto the truth of the myth. The mythical word receives its substance\nin rock and hill, in the changes in land and sea. The pierced\nsea-passages, the cleft boulders, the petrified human beings, all these\nbring the mythological world close to the natives, make it tangible and\npermanent. On the other hand, the story thus powerfully illustrated,\nre-acts on the landscape, fills it with dramatic happenings, which,\nfixed there for ever, give it a definite meaning. With this I shall\nclose these general remarks on mythology though with myth and mythical\nevents we shall constantly meet in further inquiries.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nAs we return to our party, who, sailing past the mythical centre of\nTewara, make for the island of Sanaro'a, the first thing to be related\nabout them, brings us straight to another mythological story. As\nthe natives enter the district of Siayawawa, they pass a stone or\nrock, called Sinatemubadiye'i. I have not seen it, but the natives\ntell me it lies among the mangroves in a tidal creek. Like the stone\nGurewaya, mentioned before, this one also enjoys certain privileges,\nand offerings are given to it.\n\nThe natives do not tarry in this unimportant district. Their final goal\nis now in sight. Beyond the sea, which is here land-locked like a lake,\nthe hills of Dobu, topped by Koyava'u loom before them. In the distance\nto their right as they sail South, the broad Easterly flank of Koyatabu\nruns down to the water, forming a deep valley; behind them spreads\nthe wide plain of Sanaro'a, with a few volcanic cones at its Northern\nend, and far to the left the mountains of Normanby unfold in a long\nchain. They sail straight South, making for the beach of Sarubwoyna,\nwhere they will have to pause for a ritual halt in order to carry\nout the final preparations and magic. They steer towards two black\nrocks, which mark the Northern end of Sarubwoyna beach as they stand,\none at the base, the other at the end of a narrow, sandy spit. These\nare the two rocks Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, the most important of\nthe tabooed places, at which natives lay offerings when starting or\narriving on Kula expeditions. The rock among the mangroves of Siyawawa\nis connected with these two by a mythical story. The three--two men\nwhom we see now before us in petrified form, and one woman--came to\nthis district from somewhere 'Omuyuwa,' that is, from Woodlark Island\nor the Marshall Bennetts. This is the story:\n\n\n           MYTH OF ATU'A'INE, ATURAMO'A AND SINATEMUBADIYE'I.\n\n    \"They were two brothers and a sister. They came first to the creek\n    called Kadawaga in Siyawawa. The woman lost her comb. She spoke\n    to her brethren: 'My brothers, my comb fell down.' They answered\n    her: 'Good, return, take your comb.' She found it and took it,\n    and next day she said: 'Well, I shall remain here already,\n    as Sinatemubadiye'i.'\"\n\n    \"The brothers went on. When they arrived at the shore of the main\n    island, Atu'a'ine said: 'Aturamo'a, how shall we go? Shall we look\n    towards the sea?' Said Aturamo'a; 'O, no, let us look towards the\n    jungle.' Aturamo'a went ahead, deceiving his brother, for he was\n    a cannibal. He wanted to look towards the jungle, so that he might\n    eat men. Thus Aturamo'a went ahead, and his eyes turned towards the\n    jungle. Atu'a'ine turned his eyes, looked over the sea, he spoke:\n    'Why did you deceive me, Aturamo'a? Whilst I am looking towards the\n    sea, you look towards the jungle.' Aturamo'a later on returned and\n    came towards the sea. He spoke, 'Good, you Atu'a'ine, look towards\n    the sea, I shall look to the jungle!' This man, who sits near\n    the jungle, is a cannibal, the one who sits near the sea is good.\"\n\n\nThis short version of the myth I obtained in Sinaketa. The story shows\nus three people migrating for unknown reasons from the North-East to\nthis district. The sister, after having lost her comb, decides to\nremain in Siyawawa, and turns into the rock Sinatemubadiye'i. The\nbrothers go only a few miles further, to undergo the same\ntransformation at the Northern end of Sarubwoyna beach. There\nis the characteristic distinction between the cannibal and the\nnon-cannibal. As the story was told to me in Boyowa, that is, in the\ndistrict where they were not man-eaters, the qualification of 'good'\nwas given to the non-cannibal hero, who became the rock further out\nto sea. The same distinction is to be found in the previously quoted\nmyth of the Kudayuri sisters who flew to Dobu, and it is to be found\nalso in a myth, told about the origins of cannibalism, which I shall\nnot quote here. The association between the jungle and cannibalism on\nthe one hand, and between the sea and abstention from human flesh on\nthe other, is the same as the one in the Kudayuri myth. In that myth,\nthe rock which looks towards the South is cannibal, while the Northern\none is not, and for the natives this is the reason why the Dobuans\ndo eat human flesh and the Boyowans do not. The designation of one\nof these rocks as a man-eater (tokamlata'u) has no further meaning,\nmore especially it is not associated with the belief that any special\ndangers surround the rock.\n\nThe importance of these two rocks, Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a lies,\nhowever, not so much in the truncated myth as in the ritual surrounding\nthem. Thus, all three stones receive an offering--pokala--consisting of\na bit of coco-nut, a stale yam, a piece of sugar cane and banana. As\nthe canoes go past, the offerings are placed on the stone, or thrown\ntowards it, with the words:\n\n\n    \"Old man (or in the case of Sinatemubadiye'i, 'old woman') here\n    comes your coco-nut, your sugar cane, your bananas, bring me good\n    luck so that I may go and make my Kula quickly in Tu'utauna.\"\n\n\nThis offering is given by the Boyowan canoes on their way to Dobu, and\nby the Dobuans as they start on the Kula Northwards, to Boyowa. Besides\nthe offerings, certain taboos and observances are kept at these\nrocks. Thus, any people passing close to the rock would have to bathe\nin the sea out of their canoes, and the children in the canoes would\nbe sprinkled with sea-water. This is done to prevent disease. A man\nwho would go for the first time to kula in Dobu would not be allowed\nto eat food in the vicinity of these rocks. A pig, or a green coco-nut\nwould not be placed on the soil in this neighbourhood, but would have\nto be put on a mat. A novice in the Kula would have to make a point\nof going and bathing at the foot of Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a.\n\nThe Dobuans pokala some other stones, to which the Boyowans do not\ngive any offerings. The previously mentioned Gurewaya rock receives\nits share from the Dobuans, who believe that if they passed it close\nby without making a pokala, they would become covered with sores\nand die. Passing Gurewaya, they would not stand up in their canoes,\nnor would they eat any food when camping on a beach within sight of\nGurewaya. If they did so, they would become seasick, fall asleep, and\ntheir canoe would drift away into the unknown. I do not know whether\nthere is any myth in Dobu about the Gurewaya stone. There is a belief\nthat a big snake is coiled on the top of this rock, which looks after\nthe observance of the taboos, and in case of breach of any of them\nwould send down sickness on them. Some of the taboos of Gurewaya are\nalso kept by the Boyowans, but I do not exactly know which.\n\nI obtained from a Dobuan informant a series of names of other,\nsimilar stones, lying to the East of Dobu, on the route between there\nand Tubetube. Thus, somewhere in the district of Du'a'u, there is\na rock called Kokorakakedakeda. Besides this, near a place called\nMakaydokodoko there is a stone, Tabudaya. Further East, near Bunama,\na small stone called Sinada enjoys some Kula prestige. In a spot\nSina'ena, which I cannot place on the map, there is a stone called\nTaryadabwoyro, with eye, nose, legs and hind-quarters shaped like\nthose of a pig. This stone is called 'the mother of all the pigs,'\nand the district of Sina'ena is renowned for the abundance of these\nanimals there.\n\nThe only mythical fragment about any of these stones which I obtained\nis the one quoted above. Like the two Kula myths previously adduced,\nit is a story of a migration from North to South. There is no allusion\nto the Kula in the narrative, but as the stones are pokala'd in the\nKula, there is evidently some association between it and them. To\nunderstand this association better, it must be realised that similar\nofferings are given in certain forms of magic to ancestral spirits and\nto spirits of Kultur-heroes, who have founded the institution in which\nthe magic is practised. This suggests the conclusion that Atu'a'ine and\nAturamo'a are heroes of the Kula like Tokosikuna and Kasabwaybwayreta;\nand that their story is another variant of the fundamental Kula myth.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nON THE BEACH OF SARUBWOYNA\n\n\nI\n\nWhen the Sinaketan fleet passes the two mythical rocks of Atu'a'ine\nand Aturamo'a, the final goal of the expedition has been already\nreached. For before them, there stretch in a wide expanse the\nN.W. shores of Dawson Straits, where on the wide beach, there are\nscattered the villages of Bwayowa, Tu'utauna and Deyde'i, at the foot\nof Koyava'u. This latter, the Boyowans call Koyaviguna--the final\nmountain. Immediately behind the two rocks, there stretches the beach\nof Sarubwoyna, its clean, white sand edging the shallow curve of a\nsmall bay. This is the place where the crews, nearing their final\ndestination, have to make a halt, to prepare themselves magically for\napproaching their partners in Dobu. As, on their start from Sinaketa,\nthey stopped for some time on Muwa and there performed the last act\nof their inaugurating rites and ceremonies, so in the same manner\nthis beach is the place where they once more muster their forces\nafter the journey has been accomplished.\n\nThis is the place which was already mentioned in Chapter II when, in\ngiving a description of the district, we imagined ourselves passing\nnear this beach and meeting there a large fleet of canoes, whose\ncrews were engaged in some mysterious activities. I said there that\nup to a hundred canoes might have been seen anchored near the beach,\nand indeed, on a big uvalaku expedition in olden days such a figure\ncould easily have been reached. For, on a rough estimate, Sinaketa\ncould have produced some twenty canoes; the Vakutans could have joined\nthem with about forty; the Amphlettans with another twenty; and twenty\nmore would have followed from Tewara, Siyawawa, and Sanaroa. Some of\nthem would indeed not have taken part in the Kula, but have followed\nonly out of sheer curiosity, just as in the big uvalaku expedition,\nwhich I accompanied in 1918 from Dobu to Sinaketa, the sixty Dobuan\ncanoes were joined by some twelve canoes from the Amphletts and about\nas many again from Vakuta.\n\nThe Sinaketans having arrived at this beach, now stop, moor the canoes\nnear the shore, adorn their persons, and perform a whole series of\nmagical rites. Within a short space of time they crowd in a great\nnumber of short rites, accompanied by formul\u00e6 as a rule not very\nlong. In fact, from the moment they have arrived at Sarubwoyna up to\ntheir entry into the village, they do not cease doing one magical act\nor another, and the toliwaga never stop incessantly muttering their\nspells. To the observer, a spectacle of feverish activity unfolds\nitself, a spectacle which I witnessed in 1918 when I assisted at an\nanalogous performance of the Dobuan Kula fleet approaching Sinaketa.\n\nThe fleet halts; the sails are furled, the masts dismounted, the\ncanoes moored (see Plate XLVIII). In each canoe, the elder men begin\nto undo their baskets and take out their personal belongings. The\nyounger ones run ashore and gather copious supplies of leaves which\nthey bring back into the canoes. Then the older men again murmur\nmagical formul\u00e6 over the leaves and over other substances. In this,\nthe toliwaga is assisted by others. Then, they all wash in sea-water,\nand rub themselves with the medicated leaves. Coco-nuts are broken,\nscraped, medicated, and the skin is rubbed with the mess, which\ngreases it and gives it a shining surface. A comb is chanted over,\nand the hair teased out with it (see Plate XLIX). Then, with crushed\nbetel-nut mixed with lime, they draw red ornamental designs on their\nfaces, while others use the sayyaku, an aromatic resinous stuff, and\ndraw similar lines in black. The fine-smelling mint plant, which has\nbeen chanted over at home before starting, is taken out of its little\nreceptacle where it was preserved in coco-nut oil. The herb is inserted\ninto the armlets, while the few drops of oil are smeared over the body,\nand over the lilava, the magical bundle of pari (trade goods).\n\nAll the magic which is spoken over the native cosmetics is the mwasila\n(Kula magic) of beauty. The main aim of these spells is the same\none which we found so clearly expressed in myth; to make the man\nbeautiful, attractive, and irresistible to his Kula partner. In the\nmyths we saw how an old, ugly and ungainly man becomes transformed by\nhis magic into a radiant and charming youth. Now this mythical episode\nis nothing else but an exaggerated version of what happens every time,\nwhen the mwasila of beauty is spoken on Sarubwoyna beach or on other\nsimilar points of approach. As my informants over and over again told\nme, when explaining the meaning of these rites:\n\n\n    \"Here we are ugly; we eat bad fish, bad food; our faces remain\n    ugly. We want to sail to Dobu; we keep taboos, we don't eat\n    bad food. We go to Sarubwoyna; we wash; we charm the leaves of\n    silasila; we charm the coco-nut; we putuma (anoint ourselves); we\n    make our red paint and black paint; we put in our fine-smelling\n    vana (herb ornament in armlets); we arrive in Dobu beautiful\n    looking. Our partner looks at us, sees our faces are beautiful;\n    he throws the vaygu'a at us.\"\n\n\nThe bad fish and bad food here mentioned are the articles which are\ntabooed to those who know the mwasila, and a man may often unwittingly\nbreak such a taboo.\n\nThere is no doubt that a deep belief in the efficacy of such magic\nmight almost make it effective. Although actual beauty cannot be\nimparted by spells, yet the feeling of being beautiful through\nmagic may give assurance, and influence people in their behaviour\nand deportment, and as in the transaction it is the manner of the\nsoliciting party which matters, this magic, no doubt, achieves its\naim by psychological means.\n\nThis branch of Kula magic has two counter-parts in the other magical\nlore of the Trobrianders. One of them is the love magic, through\nwhich people are rendered attractive and irresistible. Their belief\nin these spells is such that a man would always attribute all his\nsuccess in love to their efficiency. Another type closely analogous\nto the beauty magic of the Kula is the specific beauty magic practised\nbefore big dances and festivities.\n\nLet us now give one or two samples of the magic which is performed on\nSarubwoyna beach. The ritual in all of it is exceedingly simple. In\neach case the formula is spoken over a certain substance, and then\nthis substance is applied to the body. The first rite to be performed\nis that of ceremonial washing. The toliwaga brings his mouth close to\nthe big bundles of herbs, brought from the shore and utters the formula\ncalled kaykakaya (the ablution formula) over them. After an ablution,\nthese leaves are rubbed over the skins of all those in the canoe who\npractise Kula. Then, in the same succession as I mention them, the\ncoco-nut, the comb, the ordinary or the aromatic black paint or the\nbetel-nut are charmed over. [76] Only one, as a rule, of the paints\nis used. In some cases the toliwaga does the spell for everybody. In\nother cases, a man who knows, say, the betel-nut or the comb spell,\nwill do it for himself or even for all others. In some cases again,\nout of all these rites, only the kaykakaya (ablution) and one of the\nothers will be performed.\n\n\n                            KAYKAKAYA SPELL\n\n    \"O katatuna fish, O marabwaga fish, yabwau fish, reregu fish!\"\n\n    \"Their red paint, with which they are painted; their red paint,\n    with which they are adorned.\"\n\n    \"Alone they visit, together we visit; alone they visit, together\n    we visit a chief.\"\n\n    \"They take me to their bosom; they hug me.\"\n\n    \"The great woman befriends me, where the pots are boiling; the\n    good woman befriends me, on the sitting platform.\"\n\n    \"Two pigeons stand and turn round; two parrots fly about.\"\n\n    \"No more it is my mother, my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu! No\n    more it is my father, my father art thou, O man of Dobu! No\n    more it is the high platform, the high platform are his arms;\n    no more it is the sitting platform, the sitting platform are his\n    legs; no more it is my lime spoon, my lime spoon is his tongue;\n    no more it is my lime pot, my lime pot is his gullet.\"\n\n    This formula then passes into the same ending as the sulumwoya\n    spell, quoted previously, Chapter VII, which runs: \"Recently\n    deceased spirit of my maternal uncle, etc.\"\n\n\nAt the beginning of this spell, we find enumerated a series of\nfish names. These fishes all have red markings on their bodies, and\nthey are tabooed to the people, who recite the mwasila magic and do\nthe Kula. If eaten, they would give a man an ugly appearance. The\nabove quoted saying of one of my informants: \"we eat bad fish, we\nare ugly,\" refers to these fishes amongst others. In this formula,\nthe invocation is partly an appeal for assistance, and partly a sort\nof exorcism, which is meant to undo the evil effects of breaking\nthe taboo of eating these fish. As this formula is associated with\nthe ritual washing, the whole proceeding possesses a sort of magical\nconsistency, which obtains within an exceedingly obscure and confused\nconcatenation of ideas: the redness of the fish, the red painting on\nthe human bodies for beauty, the invocation of the fishing magic, the\ntaboo on this fish. These ideas hang together somehow, but it would\nbe unwise and incorrect to attempt to put them into any logical order\nor sequence. [77] The sentence about 'visiting,' in this spell could\nnot be made clear by any of my native informants. I venture to suggest\nthat the fish are invited to assist the adventurer on his Kula visit,\nand to help him with their beauty.\n\nThe next few sentences refer to the reception he anticipates at Dobu,\nin the forcible and exaggerated language of magic. The words which\nhave been here translated by 'take to his bosom,' 'hug,' 'befriend,'\nare the terms used to describe the fondling and rocking and hugging of\nsmall children. According to native custom, it would not be considered\neffeminate or ridiculous for men to put their arms round each other\nand walk or sit about thus. And it must be added, this is done without\nany homo-sexual intention, at least of the grosser type. None the less,\nno such fondling would really take place between the Dobuans and their\nKula partners. The mention of the 'great woman,' the 'great good woman'\nrefers to the wife and sister of the partner, who, as we have said\nbefore, are considered to wield great influence in the transactions.\n\nThe two pigeons and the two parrots express metaphorically the\nfriendship between the reciter of this magic and his partner. The long\nlist that follows expresses the exchange of his ordinary relations for\nhis Dobuan friends. An exaggerated description follows of the intimacy\nbetween him and his partner, on whose arms and legs he will sit,\nand from whose mouth he will partake of the betel chewing materials.\n\nI shall give a sample of another of these spells, associated with\nadornment and personal beauty. This is the spell spoken over the\nbetel-nut with which the toliwaga and the members of his canoe draw\nlines of vermilion red on their faces. Young betel-nut, when crushed\nwith lime in a small mortar, produces pigment of wonderful brightness\nand intensity. Travellers in the countries of the Indian Ocean and\nparts of the Pacific know it well, as the paint that colours the lips\nand tongues of the natives.\n\n\n                               TALO SPELL\n\n    \"Red paint, red paint of the udawada fish! Red paint, red paint,\n    of the mwaylili fish! At the one end of the aromatic pandanus\n    flower-petal; at the other end of the Duwaku flower. There are\n    two red paints of mine, they flare up, they flash.\"\n\n    \"My head, it flares up, it flashes; my red paint, it flares up,\n    it flashes,\n\n    My facial blacking, it flares up, it flashes;\n\n    My aromatic paint, it flares up, it flashes;\n\n    My little basket, it flares up, it flashes;\n\n    My lime spoon, it flares up, it flashes;\n\n    My lime pot, it flares up, it flashes;\n\n    My comb, it flares up, it flashes.\"\n\n    And so on, enumerating the various personal appurtenances, such\n    as the mat, the stock-in-trade, the big basket, the charmed bundle\n    (lilava) and then again the various parts of his head, that is his\n    nose, his occiput, his tongue, his throat, his larynx, his eyes,\n    and his mouth. The whole series of words is again repeated with\n    another leading word instead of \"it flares up, it flashes.\" The\n    new word, 'mitapwaypwa'i' is a compound, expressing a desire,\n    a coveting, nascent in the eyes. The eyes are, according to\n    native psycho-physical theories, the seat of admiration, wish and\n    appetite in matters of sex, of greed for food, and for material\n    possessions. Here, this expression conveys that the Dobuan partner,\n    will, on beholding his visitor, desire to make Kula with him.\n\n    The spell ends: \"My head is made bright, my face flashes. I have\n    acquired a beautiful shape, like that of a chief; I have acquired\n    a shape that is good. I am the only one; my renown stands alone.\"\n\n\nAt the beginning we have again the mention of two fishes; evidently\nthe redness of the fish is the right redness for the Kula! I am unable\nto explain the meaning of the second sentence, except that the petals\nof the pandanus flower are slightly coloured at one end, and that they\nare considered as one of the finest and most attractive ornaments. The\nmiddle part and the end of this spell need no commentary.\n\nThese two spells will be sufficient to indicate the general character\nof the beauty magic of the Kula. One more spell must be adduced here,\nthat of the conch shell. This shell is as a rule medicated at this\nstage of the Kula proceedings. Sometimes, however, the toliwaga would,\nbefore departure from home, utter the formula into the opening of\nthe conch shell, and close this up carefully, so that the virtue\nmight not evaporate. The conch shell is made of a big specimen of the\nCassis cornuta shell, at the broad end of which the apex of the spiral\nwindings is knocked out, so as to form a mouth-piece. The spell is\nnot uttered into the mouthpiece, but into the broad opening between\nthe lips, both orifices being afterwards closed with coco-nut husk\nfibre until the shell has actually to be blown.\n\n\n                 THE SPELL OF THE TA'UYA (CONCH SHELL)\n\n    \"Mwanita, Mwanita! Come there together; I will make you come\n    there together! Come here together; I will make you come here\n    together! The rainbow appears there; I will make the rainbow appear\n    there! The rainbow appears here; I will make the rainbow here.\"\n\n    \"Who comes ahead with the Kula? I\" (here the name of the reciter\n    is uttered), \"come ahead with the Kula, I shall be the only chief;\n    I shall be the only old man; I shall be the only one to meet my\n    partner on the road. My renown stands alone; my name is the only\n    one. Beautiful valuables are exchanged here with my partner;\n    Beautiful valuables are exchanged there with my partner; The\n    contents of my partner's basket are mustered.\"\n\n    After this exordium there comes a middle part, constructed on the\n    general principle of one word's being repeated with a series of\n    others. The keyword here is an expression denoting the state of\n    excitement which seizes a partner, and makes him give generous\n    Kula offerings. This word here is repeated first with a series of\n    words, describing the various personal belongings of the partner,\n    his dog, his belt; his tabooed coco-nut and betel-nut; and then,\n    with a new series of terms denoting the different classes of\n    Kula valuables which are expected to be given. This part could\n    therefore be translated thus:--\n\n    \"A state of excitement seizes his dog, his belt, his gwara\"\n    (taboo on coco-nuts and betel-nuts) \"his bagido'u necklace,\n    his bagiriku necklace, his bagidudu necklace, etc.\" The spell\n    ends in a typical manner: \"I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula;\n    I shall steal my Kula; I shall pilfer my Kula. I shall kula so\n    as to make my canoe sink; I shall kula so as to make my outrigger\n    go under. My fame is like thunder, my steps are like earthquake!\"\n\n\nThe first word of this spell, mwanita, is the native name for a\nlong worm covered with rings of black armour. I was told that it\nis mentioned here because of its similarity to the spondylus shell\nnecklaces, which also consist of many rings. I obtained this formula\nin Sinaketa, hence this interpretation heeds only the necklaces, though\nthe simile might also obviously be extended to armshells, for a number\nof armshells threaded on a string, as they can be seen on Plate LX,\npresents also a likeness to the mwanita worm. It may be added here\nthat Sinaketa is one of these Kula communities in which the overseas\nexpeditions are done only in one direction, to the South, from where\nonly the spondylus necklaces are fetched. Its counterpart, Kiriwina,\nto the North, carries on again only one-sided overseas Kula. The\nformul\u00e6 which I obtained in Kiriwina differ from those of Sinaketa in\ntheir main parts: whenever there is a list of spondylus necklaces in\na Sinaketan tapwana (main part) a list of the several varieties of\narmshells would be used in a Kiriwinian tapwana. In Kitava, where,\nas in several other Kula communities, the overseas expeditions are\ncarried out in both directions, the same formula would be used by the\nsame man with two different main parts, according as to whether he\nwas sailing East to fetch mwali, or West to fetch soulava. No changes,\nhowever, would be made in the beginning of a spell.\n\nThe sentence 'come here together' refers to the collected\nvaluables. The play on 'there' and 'here,' represented in the native\nlanguage by the sounds 'm' and 'w,' which are used as interchangeable\nformatives, is very frequent in magic; (see Chapter XVIII, Division\nXII). The rainbow here invoked is a kariyala (magical portent) of this\nformula. When the conch shell is blown, and the fleet approaches the\nshore, a rainbow will appear in the skies.\n\nThe rest of the exordium is taken up by the usual boasts and\nexaggerations typical of magic. The middle part needs no commentary. It\nis clear that the sound of the conch shell is meant to arouse the\npartner to do his duty eagerly. The magic spoken into the conch shell\nheightens and strengthens this effect.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nAfter the beauty magic and the spell over the conch shell are\nfinished--and the whole performance does not take more than half\nan hour or so--every man, in full festive array, takes his place in\nhis canoe. The sails have been folded and the masts removed, and the\nfinal stage is done by paddling. The canoes close in, not in any very\nregular formation, but keeping near to one another, the canoe of the\ntoli'uvalaku as a rule moving in the van. In each canoe, the toliwaga\nsits at his proper place in the middle of the canoe near the gebobo\n(special erection made for cargo). One man sits in the front, right\nagainst the prow-board, and another at the stern on the platform. All\nthe remaining members of the canoe wield the paddles, while the small\nboy or the junior member of the crew, sits near the front, ready to\nblow the conch shell. The oarsmen swing their leaf-shaped paddles\nwith long, energetic and swift strokes, letting the water spray off\nthem and the glistening blades flash in the sunlight--a ceremonial\nstroke which they call kavikavila (lightening).\n\nAs the canoes begin to move, the three men, so far idle, intone a\nchant, reciting a special magical formula, each a different one. The\nman in the front, holding his hand on the tabuyo (oval prow-board),\nrecites a spell, called kayikuna tabuyo (the swaying of the\nprow-board). The toliwaga in the middle recites the powerful formula\ncalled kavalikuliku (the earthquake spell), a formula which makes \"the\nmountain tremble and subside.\" The man at the stern recites what is\ncalled kaytavilena moynawaga, a name which I cannot very well explain,\nwhich literally means, \"the changing of the canoe entrance.\" Thus,\nladen with magical force, which is poured forth irresistibly on to the\nmountain, the canoes advance towards the goal of their enterprise. With\nthe voices of the reciters mingle the soft, penetrating sounds of the\nconch shell, blending their various pitches into a weird, disturbing\nharmony. Samples of the three spells must be given here.\n\n\n                            KAYIKUNA TABUYO\n\n    \"Moruborogu, Mosilava'u!\"\n\n    \"Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.\n\n    My prow-board, O fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.\n\n    This key expression, the invocation of the fish-hawk, is repeated\n    with a string of words, denoting, first, the ornamental parts of\n    the canoe; afterwards, certain of its constructive parts; and\n    finally, the lime-pot, the lime stick, the comb, the paddles,\n    the mats, the lilava (magical bundle), and the usagelu (members\n    of the crew). The spell ends with the words:--\n\n    \"I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula, etc.,\" as in the previously\n    given formula of the conch shell.\n\n\nThe first two words of this spell are personal names of men, as the\ninitial syllable Mo- indicates, but no information about them was\navailable. The allusion to the fish-hawk in the main part suggests a\nconnection between the action of the rite, that is, the moving of the\ntabuyo, with this part of the spell, for the ornamental prow-boards\nare called synonymously buribwari (fish-hawk). On the other hand, the\nexpression: \"Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey,\" is no doubt also a magical\nsimile, expressing the idea: \"As a fish-hawk falls on his prey and\ncarries it off, so let this canoe fall on the Kula valuables and carry\nthem off.\" The association of this simile with the act of shaking the\nprow-boards is very suggestive. It may be an attempt to assimilate\nthe whole canoe and all its parts to a fish-hawk falling on its prey,\nthrough the special mediation of the ornamental prow-board.\n\nThe spell recited by the toliwaga in the middle of the canoe runs\nthus:--\n\n\n                              KAVALIKULIKU\n\n    \"I anchor at the open sea beach, my renown reaches the Lagoon;\n    I anchor at the Lagoon, my renown reaches the open sea beach.\"\n\n    \"I hit the mountain; the mountain shivers; the mountain subsides;\n    the mountain trembles; the mountain falls down; the mountain falls\n    asunder. I kick the ground on which the mountain stands. I bring\n    together, I gather.\"\n\n    \"The mountain is encountered in the Kula; we encounter the mountain\n    in the Kula.\"\n\n    The expression, kubara, takuba, kubara, which we have here\n    translated by \"the mountain is met in the Kula, etc.\" is\n    then repeated with a long string of words denoting the various\n    classes of valuables to be received in the Kula. It ends with the\n    conclusion already quoted: \"My renown is like thunder, my steps\n    are like earthquake.\"\n\n\nThe opening two sentences are clear; they contain a typical magical\nexaggeration, and equally typical permutation of words. Then comes the\nterrible verbal onslaught on \"the mountain,\" in which the dreadful\nupheaval is carried on in words. \"The mountain\" (koya) stands here\nfor the community of partners, for the partner, for his mind. It was\nvery difficult to translate the expression kubara, takuba kubara. It\nis evidently an archaic word, and I have found it in several formul\u00e6\nof the mwasila. It seems to mean something like an encounter between\nthe approaching fleet and the koya. The word for sea battle is kubilia\nin the Trobriand language, and kubara in that of the Amphletts and\nDobu, and as often the words of the partner's language are mixed up\ninto these formul\u00e6, this etymology and translation seem to be the\ncorrect ones.\n\nThe third formula, that of the man in the stern, is as follows:--\n\n\n                         KAYTAVILENA MWOYNAWAGA\n\n    \"Crocodile, fall down, take thy man! push him down under the\n    gebobo! (part of the canoe where the cargo is stowed away).\"\n\n    \"Crocodile, bring me the necklace, bring me the bagido'u, etc.\"\n\n    The formula is ended by the usual phrase: \"I shall kula, I\n    shall rob my Kula, etc.,\" as in the two previously quoted spells\n    (Ta'uyo and Kayikuna Tabuyo).\n\n\nThis formula is obviously a pendant to the first of these three\nspells, and the crocodile is here invoked instead of the fish-hawk,\nwith the same significance. The rest of the spell is clear, the\ncrocodile being appealed to, to bring all the different classes of\nthe spondylus shell valuables.\n\nIt is interesting to reflect upon the psychological importance of this\nmagic. There is a deep belief in its efficiency, a belief cherished\nnot only by those who advance chanting it, but shared also by the men\nawaiting the visitors on the shore. The Dobuans know that powerful\nforces are at work upon them. They must feel the wave of magical\ninfluence slowly advancing, spreading over their villages. They\nhear the appeal of the conch-shell, wafting the magic to them in\nits irresistible note. They can guess the murmur of the many voices\naccompanying it. They know what is expected from them, and they rise\nto the occasion. On the part of the approaching party, this magic,\nthe chant of the many voices blended with the ta'uyo (conch shell),\nexpresses their hopes and desires and their rising excitement; their\nattempt to \"shake the mountain,\" to stir it to its very foundations.\n\nAt the same time, a new emotion arises in their minds, that of awe\nand apprehension; and another form of magic has to come to their\nassistance at this juncture, to give expression to this fear and\nto assuage it--the magic of safety. Spells of this magic have been\nspoken previously, perhaps on the beach of Sarubwoyna alongside with\nthe rest, perhaps even earlier, at one of the intermediate stages of\nthe journey. But the rite will be performed at the moment of setting\nfoot ashore, and as this is also the psychological moment to which\nthe magic corresponds, it must be described here.\n\nIt seems absurd, from the rational point of view, that the natives,\nwho know that they are expected, indeed, who have been invited to come,\nshould yet feel uncertain about the good will of their partners, with\nwhom they have so often traded, whom they have received in visit,\nand themselves visited and re-visited again and again. Coming on a\ncustomary and peaceful errand, why should they have any apprehensions\nof danger, and develop a special magical apparatus to meet the\nnatives of Dobu? This is a logical way of reasoning, but custom is\nnot logical, and the emotional attitude of man has a greater sway\nover custom than has reason. The main attitude of a native to other,\nalien groups is that of hostility and mistrust. The fact that to a\nnative every stranger is an enemy, is an ethnographic feature reported\nfrom all parts of the world. The Trobriander is not an exception in\nthis respect, and beyond his own, narrow social horizon, a wall of\nsuspicion, misunderstanding and latent enmity divides him from even\nnear neighbours. The Kula breaks it through at definite geographical\npoints, and by means of special customary transactions. But, like\neverything extraordinary and exceptional, this waiving of the general\ntaboo on strangers must be justified and bridged over by magic.\n\nIndeed, the customary behaviour of the Dobuans and of the visitors\nexpresses this state of affairs with singular accuracy. It is the\ncustomary rule that the Trobrianders should be received first with\na show of hostility and fierceness; treated almost as intruders. But\nthis attitude entirely subsides after the visitors have ritually spat\nover the village on their arrival. The natives express their ideas\non this subject very characteristically:\n\n\n    \"The Dobu man is not good as we are. He is fierce, he is\n    a man-eater! When we come to Dobu, we fear him, he might kill\n    us. But see! I spit the charmed ginger root, and their mind\n    turns. They lay down their spears, they receive us well.\"\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nThis show of hostility is fixed into a definite ceremonial attitude\nwhen the Dobuan village, which consists of a collection of hamlets,\nhas been laid under a taboo. On the death of a man of importance in\nany of the hamlets, the whole community undergoes the so called gwara\ntaboo. The coco-nut and betel-nut palms around and within the village\nare not allowed to be scaled, and the fruit must not be touched by\nthe Dobuans themselves, and still less by strangers. This state of\naffairs lasts a varying length of time, according to the importance\nof the dead man, and to other circumstances. Only after the gwara\nhas run out its course, and is ripe for expiring, do the Kiriwinians\ndare to come on a visit to Dobu, having been advised beforehand of\nthe circumstance. But then, when they arrive, the Dobuans put up a\nshow of real hostility, for the visitors will have to break the taboo,\nthey will have to scale the palms, and take the forbidden fruit. This\nis in accordance with a wide-spread Papuo-Melanesian type of custom\nof finishing tabooed periods: in all cases, someone else, who is not\nunder the taboo, has to put an end to it, or to force the imposer\nof the taboo to break it. And in all cases, there is some show of\nviolence and struggle on the part of the one who has to allow it to\nbe broken. In this case, as the Kiriwinian natives put it:\n\n\n    \"Supposing we do not perform the ka'ubana'i (safety magic),\n    we are afraid, when there is a gwara in Dobu. The Dobuans put\n    on war paint, take spear in hand, and a puluta (sword club);\n    they sit and look at us. We run into the village; we climb the\n    tree. He runs at us 'Don't climb,' he cries. Then we spit leyya\n    (ginger root) at him. He throws down his spear, he goes back and\n    smiles. The women take the spears away. We spit all around the\n    village. Then he is pleased. He speaks: 'You climb your coco-nut,\n    your betel-nut; cut your bananas.'\"\n\n\nThus the taboo is broken, the gwara is finished, and the customary\nand histrionic moment of tension is over, which must have been none\nthe less a strain on the nerves of both parties.\n\nThis is the lengthy formula which a toliwaga utters over several\nbits of ginger root, which are afterwards distributed among his crew,\neach of whom carries a piece when getting ashore.\n\n\n                               KA'UBANA'I\n\n    \"Floating spirit of Nikiniki!\n\n    Duduba, Kirakira.\" (These words are untranslatable).\n\n    \"It ebbs, it ebbs away!\n\n    Thy fury ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!\n\n    Thy war paint ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!\n\n    Thy sting ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!\n\n    Thy anger ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!\n\n    Thy chasing away ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!\"\n\n    A long string of various expressings denoting hostile passions,\n    disinclination to make Kula, and all the paraphernalia of\n    war are here enumerated. Thus, such words as \"Kula refusal,\"\n    \"growling,\" \"sulking,\" \"dislike\"; further: \"weapon,\" \"bamboo\n    knife,\" \"club-sword,\" \"large-barbed spear,\" \"small-barbed spear,\"\n    \"round club,\" \"war blackening,\" \"red war paint,\" are uttered one\n    after the other. Moreover, all of them are repeated in their Dobuan\n    equivalents after the list has been exhausted in Kiriwinian. When\n    this series has been exhausted with reference to the man of\n    Dobu, part of it is repeated with the addition \"Woman of Dobu,\"\n    the mention of weapons, however, being omitted. But this does not\n    end this extremely long formula. After the protracted litany has\n    been finished, the reciter chants:\n\n    \"Who emerges at the top of Kinana? I\" (here the name of the\n    reciter is mentioned) \"emerge on the top of Kinana.\"\n\n    Then the whole litany is again repeated, the key word, instead of,\n    \"it ebbs, it ebbs away\" being \"the dog sniffs.\"\n\n    In connection with all the other words, this would run, more or\n    less, in a free translation:--\n\n    \"Thy fury, O man of Dobu, is as when the dog sniffs,\" or, more\n    explicitly:--\n\n    \"Thy fury, O man of Dobu, should abate as the fury of a dog abates\n    when it comes and sniffs at a new-comer.\"\n\n    The simile of the dog must be very strongly ingrained in the\n    magical tradition, for in two more versions of this formula,\n    obtained from different informants, I received as key-words the\n    expressions: \"The dog plays about,\" and \"The dog is docile.\" The\n    final part of this formula is identical with that of the Kaykakaya\n    spell previously given in this chapter:--\n\n    \"No more it is my mother, my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu,\n    etc.,\" running into the ending \"Recently deceased, etc.\"\n\n\nIn comment on this formula, there is first of all the name mentioned\nin the first line, that of Nikiniki, or Monikiniki, as it is usually\npronounced, with the prefix of masculinity, mo-. He is described as \"A\nman, an ancient man; no myth about him; he spoke the magic.\" Indeed,\nthe main system of mwasila magic is named after him, but none of my\ninformants knew any legend about him.\n\nThe first key word of the middle part is quite clear. It describes the\nebbing away of the Dobuans' passions and of their outward trappings. It\nis noteworthy that the word for 'ebbing' here used, is in the Dobuan,\nand not in the Kiriwinian language. The reference to the dog already\nexplained may be still made clearer in terms of native comment. One\nexplanation is simple:--\n\n\n    \"They invoke the dog in the mwasila, because when master\n    of dog comes, the dog stands up and licks; in the same way,\n    the inclinations of the Dobu people.\" Another explanation is\n    more sophisticated: \"The reason is that dogs play about nose to\n    nose. Supposing we mentioned the word, as it was of old arranged,\n    the valuables do the same. Supposing we had given away armshells,\n    the necklace will come, they will meet.\"\n\n\nThis means, by invoking the dog in this magic, according to old\nmagical tradition, we also influence the Kula gifts. This explanation\nis undoubtedly far-fetched, and probably does not express the real\nmeaning of the spell. It would have no meaning in association with\nthe list of passions and weapons, but I have adduced it as an example\nof native scholasticism.\n\nThe dog is also a taboo associated with this magic. When a man, who\npractices the ka'ubana'i eats and a dog howls within his hearing,\nhe has to leave his food, else his magic would 'blunt.'\n\nSafe under the auspices of this magic, the Trobriand sailors land on\nthe beach of Tu'utauna, where we shall follow them in the next chapter.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nTHE KULA IN DOBU--TECHNICALITIES OF THE EXCHANGE\n\n\nI\n\nIn the last chapter, we spoke about the institution of gwara (mortuary\ntaboo) and of the threatening reception accorded to the visiting\nparty, at the time when it is laid upon the village, and when it has\nto be lifted. When there is no gwara, and the arriving fleet are on an\nuvalaku expedition, there will be a big and ceremonial welcome. The\ncanoes, as they approach, will range themselves in a long row facing\nthe shore. The point selected will be the beach, corresponding to a\nhamlet where the main partner of the toli'uvalaku lives. The canoe of\nthe toli'uvalaku, of the master of the uvalaku expedition, will range\nitself at the end of the row. The toli'uvalaku will get up on to the\nplatform and harangue the natives assembled on the beach. He will try\nto appeal to their ambition, so that they might give the visitors a\nlarge amount of valuables and surpass all other occasions. After that,\nhis partner on the shore will blow a conch-shell, and, wading through\nthe water, advance towards the canoe, and offer the first gift of\nvaluables to the master of the expedition. This may be followed by\nanother gift, again given to the toli'uvalaku. Other blasts then\nfollow, and men disengage themselves from the throng on the shore,\napproaching the canoes with necklaces for their partners. A certain\norder of seniority will be observed in this. The necklaces are always\ncarried ceremonially; as a rule they will be tied by both ends to\na stick, and carried hanging down, with the pendant at the bottom\n(see Plate LXI). Sometimes, when a vaygu'a (valuable) is carried to\nthe canoes by a woman (a headman's wife or sister) it will be put\ninto a basket and carried on her head.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nAfter this ceremonial reception, the fleet disperses. As we remember\nfrom Chapter II, the villages in Dobu are not built in compact blocks\nof houses, but scattered in hamlets, each of about a dozen huts. The\nfleet now sails along the shore, every canoe anchoring in front of\nthe hamlet in which its toliwaga has his main partner.\n\nWe have at last arrived at the point when the real Kula has begun. So\nfar, it was all preparations, and sailing with its concomitant\nadventure, and a little bit of preliminary Kula in the Amphletts. It\nwas all full of excitement and emotion, pointing always towards the\nfinal goal, the big Kula in Dobu. Now we have at last reached the\nclimax. The net result will be the acquisition of a few dirty, greasy,\nand insignificant looking native trinkets, each of them a string of\nflat, partly discoloured, partly raspberry-pink or brick-red discs,\nthreaded one behind the other into a long, cylindrical roll. In the\neyes of the natives, however, this result receives its meaning from\nthe social forces of tradition and custom, which give the imprint of\nvalue to these objects, and surround them with a halo of romance. It\nseems fit here to make these few reflections upon the native psychology\non this point, and to attempt to grasp its real significance.\n\nIt may help us towards this understanding to reflect, that not far\nfrom the scenes of the Kula, large numbers of white adventurers have\ntoiled and suffered, and many of them given their lives, in order to\nacquire what to the natives would appear as insignificant and filthy\nas their bagi are to us--a few nuggets of gold. Nearer, even, in\nthe very Trobriand Lagoon, there are found valuable pearls. In olden\ndays, when the natives on opening a shell to eat it, found a waytuna,\nas they called it, a 'seed' of the pearl shell, they would throw it\nto their children to play with. Now they see a number of white men\nstraining all their forces in competition to acquire as many of these\nworthless things as they can. The parallel is very close. In both\ncases, the conventionalised value attached to an object carries with\nit power, renown, and the pleasure of increasing them both. In the\ncase of the white man, this is infinitely more complex and indirect,\nbut not essentially different from that of the natives. If we would\nimagine that a great number of celebrated gems are let loose among us,\nand travel from hand to hand--that Koh-i-noor and Orloff and other\ncelebrated diamonds, emeralds and rubies--were on a continuous round\ntour, and to be obtained through luck, daring and enterprise, we would\nhave a still closer analogy. Even though the possession of them would\nbe a short and temporary one, the renown of having possessed them\nand the mania of 'collectioneering' would add its spur to the lust\nfor wealth.\n\nThis general, human, psychological foundation of the Kula must be\nkept constantly in mind. If we want, however, to understand its\nspecific forms, we have to look for the details and technicalities\nof the transaction. A short outline of these has been given before\nin Chapter III. Here, after we have acquired a better knowledge of\npreliminaries, and a more thorough grasp of native psychology and\ncustom, we shall be more ready to enter into a detailed description.\n\nThe main principle of the Kula exchange has been laid down in the\nbefore-mentioned chapter; the Kula exchange has always to be a gift,\nfollowed by a counter-gift; it can never be a barter, a direct exchange\nwith assessment of equivalents and with haggling. There must be always\nin the Kula two transactions, distinct in name, in nature and in\ntime. The exchange is opened by an initial or opening gift called vaga,\nand closed by a final or return present called yotile. They are both\nceremonial gifts, they have to be accompanied by the blow of a conch\nshell, and the present is given ostentatiously and in public. The\nnative term \"to throw\" a valuable describes well the nature of the\nact. For, though the valuable has to be handed over by the giver,\nthe receiver hardly takes any notice of it, and seldom receives it\nactually into his hands. The etiquette of the transaction requires\nthat the gift should be given in an off-hand, abrupt, almost angry\nmanner, and received with equivalent nonchalance and disdain. A slight\nmodification in this is introduced when, as it happens sometimes,\nin the Trobriands, and in the Trobriands only, the vaygu'a is given\nby a chief to a commoner, in which case the commoner would take it\ninto his hand, and show some appreciation of it. In all other cases,\nthe valuable would be placed within the reach of the receiver, and\nan insignificant member of his following would pick it up.\n\nIt is not very easy to unravel the various motives which combine\nto make up this customary behaviour on receiving and giving a\ngift. The part played by the receiver is perhaps not so difficult\nto interpret. Right through their ceremonial and commercial give\nand take, there runs the crude and fundamental human dissatisfaction\nwith the value received. A native will always, when speaking about a\ntransaction, insist on the magnitude and value of the gift he gave,\nand minimise those of the equivalent accepted. Side by side with this,\nthere is the essential native reluctance to appear in want of anything,\na reluctance which is most pronounced in the case of food, as we have\nsaid before (Chapter VI, Division IV). Both these motives combine\nto produce the, after all, very human and understandable attitude\nof disdain at the reception of a gift. In the case of the donor, the\nhistrionic anger with which he gives an object might be, in the first\nplace, a direct expression of the natural human dislike of parting\nwith a possession. Added to this, there is the attempt to enhance the\napparent value of the gift by showing what a wrench it is to give it\naway. This is the interpretation of the etiquette in giving and taking\nat which I have arrived after many observations of native behaviour,\nand through many conversations and casual remarks of the natives.\n\nThe two gifts of the Kula are also distinct in time. It is quite\nobvious this must be so in the case of an overseas expedition of an\nuvalaku type, on which no valuables whatever are taken with them\nby the visiting party, and so, any valuable received on such an\noccasion, whether as vaga or yotile, cannot therefore be exchanged\nat the same time. But even when the exchange takes place in the same\nvillage during an inland Kula, there must be an interval between the\ntwo gifts, of a few minutes at least.\n\nThere are also deep differences in the nature of the two\ngifts. The vaga, as the opening gift of the exchange, has to be\ngiven spontaneously, that is, there is no enforcement of any duty\nin giving it. There are means of soliciting it, (wawoyla), but no\npressure can be employed. The yotile, however, that is, the valuable\nwhich is given in return for the valuable previously received, is\ngiven under pressure of a certain obligation. If I have given a vaga\n(opening gift of valuable) to a partner of mine, let us say a year ago,\nand now, when on a visit, I find that he has an equivalent vaygu'a,\nI shall consider it his duty to give it to me. If he does not do so,\nI am angry with him, and justified in being so. Not only that, if I\ncan by any chance lay my hand on his vaygu'a and carry if off by force\n(lebu), I am entitled by custom to do this, although my partner in\nthat case may become very irate. The quarrel over that would again\nbe half histrionic, half real.\n\nAnother difference between a vaga and a yotile occurs in overseas\nexpeditions which are not uvalaku. On such expeditions, valuables\nsometimes are carried, but only such as are due already for a past\nvaga, and are to be given as yotile. Opening gifts, vaga, are never\ntaken overseas.\n\nAs mentioned above, the vaga, entails more wooing or soliciting than\nthe yotile. This process, called by the natives wawoyla, consists,\namong others of a series of solicitary gifts. One type of such\ngifts is called pokala, and consists of food. [78] In the myth of\nKasabwaybwayreta, narrated in Chapter XII, this type of gift was\nmentioned. As a rule, a considerable amount of food is taken on an\nexpedition, and when a good valuable is known to be in the possession\nof a man, some of this food will be presented to him, with the words:\n\"I pokala your valuable; give it to me.\" If the owner is not inclined\nto part with his Valuable, he will not accept the pokala. If accepted,\nit is an intimation that the vaygu'a will sooner or later be given to\nthe man who offers the pokala. The owner, however, may not be prepared\nto part with it at once, and may wish to receive more solicitary gifts.\n\nAnother type of such a gift is called kaributu, and consists of a\nvaluable which, as a rule, is not one of those which are regularly\nkulaed. Thus, a small polished axe blade, or a valuable belt is given\nwith the words: \"I kaributu your necklace (or armshells); I shall take\nit and carry it off.\" This gift again may only be accepted if there\nis an intention to satisfy the giver with the desired vaygu'a. A\nvery famous and great valuable will often be solicited by gift of\npokala and of kaributu, one following the other. If, after one or\ntwo of such solicitory gifts, the big vaygu'a is finally given, the\nsatisfied receiver will often give some more food to his partner,\nwhich gift is called kwaypolu.\n\nThe food gifts would be returned on a similar occasion if it\narises. But there would be no strict equivalence in the matter of\nfood. The kaributu gift of a valuable, however, would always have to\nbe returned later on, in an equivalent form. It may be added that the\npokala offerings of food would be most often given from a district,\nwhere food is more abundant than in the district to which it is\ncarried. Thus, the Sinaketans would bring pokala to the Amphletts,\nbut they would seldom or never pokala the Dobuans, who are very rich\nin food. Again, within the Trobriands, a pokala would be offered from\nthe Northern agricultural district of Kiriwina to men of Sinaketa,\nbut not inversely.\n\nAnother peculiar type of gift connected with the Kula is called\nkorotomna. After a Sinaketan has given a necklace to a man of Kiriwina,\nand this latter receives a minor valuable from his partner further\nEast, this minor valuable will be given to the Sinaketan as the\nkorotomna of his necklace. This gift usually consists of a lime spatula\nof whalebone ornamented with spondylus discs, and it has to be repaid.\n\nIt must be noted that all these expressions are given in the language\nof the Trobriands, and they refer to the gifts exchanged between the\nNorthern and Southern Trobriands on the one hand, and these latter and\nthe Amphletts on the other. In an overseas expedition from Sinaketa\nto Dobu, the solicitary gifts would be rather given wholesale, as\nthe visitors' gifts of pari, and the subtle distinctions in name\nand in technicality would not be observed. That this must be so\nbecomes clear, if we realise that, whereas, between the Northern and\nSouthern Trobriands the news about an exceptionally good valuable\nspreads easily and quickly, this is not the case between Dobu and\nBoyowa. Going over to Dobu, therefore, a man has to make up his mind,\nwhether he will give any solicitory presents to his partner, what\nand how much he will give him, without knowing whether he has any\nspecially fine valuables to expect from him or not. If, however,\nthere was any exceptionally valuable gift in the visitors' pari,\nit will have to be returned later on by the Dobuans.\n\nAnother important type of gift essential to the Kula is that of the\nintermediary gifts, called basi. Let us imagine that a Sinaketan man\nhas given a very fine pair of armshells to his Dobuan partner at their\nlast meeting in Sinaketa. Now, arriving in Dobu, he finds that his\npartner has not got any necklace equivalent in value to the armshells\ngiven. He none the less will expect his partner to give him meanwhile\na necklace, even though it be of inferior value. Such a gift is a basi,\nthat is, not a return of the highly valuable vaga, but a gift given to\nfill in the gap. This basi will have to be repaid by a small equivalent\npair of armshells at a later date. And the Dobuan on his side has\nstill to repay the big armshells he received, and for which he has as\nyet got no equivalent in his possession. As soon as this is obtained,\nit will be given, and will close the transaction as a clinching gift,\nor kudu. Both these names imply figures of speech. Kudu means 'tooth,'\nand is a good name for a gift which clinches or bites. Basi means to\npierce, or to stab, and this is the literal translation of a native\ncomment on this name:\n\n\n    \"We say basi, for it does not truly bite, like a kudu (tooth);\n    it just basi (pierces) the surface; makes it lighter.\"\n\n\nThe equivalence of the two gifts, vaga and yotile, is expressed by\nthe word kudu (tooth) and bigeda (it will bite). Another figure of\nspeech describing the equivalence is contained in the word va'i, to\nmarry. When two of the opposite valuables meet in the Kula and are\nexchanged, it is said that these two have married. The armshells are\nconceived as a female principle, and the necklaces as the male. An\ninteresting comment on these ideas was given to me by one of the\ninformants. As mentioned above, a gift of food is never given from\nSinaketa to Kiriwina, obviously because it would be a case of bringing\ncoals to Newcastle. When I asked why this is so, I received the answer:\n\n\n    \"We do not now kwaypolu or pokala the mwali, for they are women,\n    and there is no reason to kwaypolu or pokala them.\"\n\n\nThere is little logic in this comment, but it evidently includes\nsome idea about the smaller value of the female principle. Or else\nperhaps it refers to the fundamental idea of the married status,\nnamely that it is for the woman's family to provide the man with food.\n\nThe idea of equivalence in the Kula transaction is very strong and\ndefinite, and when the receiver is not satisfied with the yotile\n(return gift) he will violently complain that it is not a proper\n'tooth' (kudu) for his opening gift, that it is not a real 'marriage,'\nthat it is not properly 'bitten.'\n\nThese terms, given in the Kiriwinian language, cover about half of\nthe Kula ring from Woodlark Island and even further East, from Nada\n(Loughlan Islands) as far as the Southern Trobriands. In the language\nof Dobu, the same word is used for vaga and basi, while yotile is\npronounced yotura, and kudu is udu. The same terms are used in the\nAmphletts.\n\nSo much about the actual regulations of the Kula transactions. With\nregard to the further general rules, the definition of Kula partnership\nand sociology has been discussed in detail in Chapter XI. As to the\nrule that the valuables have always to travel and never to stop,\nnothing has to be added to what has been said about this in Chapter\nIII, for there are no exceptions to this rule. A few more words must\nbe said on the subject of the valuables used in the Kula. I said\nin Chapter III, stating the case briefly, that in one direction\ntravel the armshells, whilst in the opposite, following the hands\nof the clock, travel the necklaces. It must now be added that the\nmwali--armshells--are accompanied by another article, the doga, or\ncircular boar's tusks. In olden days, the doga were almost as important\nas the mwali in the stream of the Kula. Nowadays, hardly any at all are\nto be met as Kula articles. It is not easy to explain the reason for\nthis change. In an institution having the importance and traditional\ntenacity which we find in the Kula, there can be no question of the\ninterference of fashion to bring about changes. The only reason which\nI can suggest is that nowadays, with immensely increased intertribal\nintercourse, there is a great drainage on all Kula valuables by other\ndistricts lying outside the Kula. Now, on the one hand the doga are\nextremely valued on the main-land of New Guinea, much more, I assume,\nthan they are within the Kula district. The drainage therefore\nwould affect the doga much more strongly than any other articles,\none of which, the spondylus necklaces, are actually imported into\nthe Kula region from without, and even manufactured by white men in\nconsiderable quantities for native consumption. The armshells are\nproduced within the district in sufficient numbers to replace any\nleakage, but doga are extremely difficult to reproduce, as they are\nconnected with a rare freak of nature--a boar with a circular tusk.\n\nOne more article which travels in the same direction as the mwali,\nconsists of the bosu, the big lime spatul\u00e6 made of whale-bone and\ndecorated with spondylus shells. They are not strictly speaking Kula\narticles, but play a part as the korotomna gifts mentioned above and\nnowadays are hardly to be met with. With the necklaces, there travel\nonly as an unimportant subsidiary Kula article, belts made of the\nsame red spondylus shell. They would be given as return presents for\nsmall armshells, as basi, etc.\n\nThere is one important exception in the respective movements of\nnecklace and armshell. A certain type of spondylus shell strings,\nmuch bigger and coarser than the strings which are used in the Kula,\nare produced in Sinaketa, as we saw in the last Chapter. These strings,\ncalled katudababile in Kiriwinian, or sama'upa in Dobuan, are sometimes\nexported from Sinaketa to Dobu as Kula gifts, and function therefore as\narmshells. These katudababile, however, never complete the Kula ring,\nin the wrong direction, as they never return to the Trobriands from\nthe East. Part of them are absorbed into the districts outside the\nKula, part of them come back again to Sinaketa, and join the other\nnecklaces in their circular movement.\n\nAnother class of articles, which often take a subsidiary part in the\nKula exchange, consists of the large and thin polished axe blades,\ncalled in the Kiriwinian language beku. They are never used for any\npractical purposes, and fulfil only the function of tokens of wealth\nand objects of parade. In the Kula they would be given as kaributu\n(solicitary gifts), and would go both ways. As they are quarried\nin Woodlark Island and polished in Kiriwina, they would, however,\nmove in the direction from the Trobriands to Dobu more frequently\nthan in the opposite one.\n\nTo summarise this subject, it may be said that the proper Kula\narticles are on the one hand, the armshells (mwali), and the curved\ntusks (doga); and, on the other hand, the fine, long necklaces\n(soulava or bagi), of which there are many sub-classes. An index of\nthe special position of these three articles is that they are the\nonly ones, or at least, by far the most important ones, mentioned\nin the spells. Later on, I shall enumerate all the sub-classes and\nvarieties of these articles.\n\nAlthough, as we have seen, there is both a good deal of ceremony\nattached to the transaction and a good deal of decorum, one might even\nsay commercial honour, implied in the technicalities of the exchange,\nthere is much room left as well for quarrelling and friction. If\na man obtains a very fine valuable, which he is not already under\nan obligation to offer as yotile (return payment), there will be a\nnumber of his partners, who will compete to receive it. As only one\ncan be successful, all the others will be thwarted and more or less\noffended and full of malice. Still more room for bad blood is left\nin the matter of equivalence. As the valuables exchanged cannot be\nmeasured or even compared with one another by an exact standard; as\nthere are no definite correspondences or indices of correlation between\nthe various kinds of the valuables, it is not easy to satisfy a man who\nhas given a vaygu'a of high value. On receiving a repayment (yotile),\nwhich he does not consider equivalent, he will not actually make a\nscene about it, or even show his displeasure openly in the act. But\nhe will feel a deep resentment, which will express itself in frequent\nrecriminations and abuse. These, though not made to his partner's face,\nwill reach his ears sooner or later. Eventually, the universal method\nof settling differences may be resorted to--that of black magic, and a\nsorcerer will be paid to cast some evil spell over the offending party.\n\nWhen speaking about some celebrated vaygu'a, a native will praise\nits value in the words: \"Many men died because of it\"--which does\nnot mean that they died in battle or fight, but were killed by black\nmagic. Again, there is a system of signs by which one can recognise,\non inspecting the corpse the day after death, for what reasons it\nhas been bewitched. Among these signs there are one or two which\nmean that the man has been done away with, because of his success in\nKula, or because he has offended somebody in connection with it. The\nmixture of punctilio and decorum, on the one hand, with passionate\nresentment and greed on the other, must be realised as underlying all\nthe transactions, and giving the leading psychological tone to the\nnatives' interest. The obligation of fairness and decency is based\non the general rule, that it is highly improper and dishonourable\nto be mean. Thus, though a man will generally strive to belittle\nthe thing received, it must not be forgotten that the man who gave\nit was genuinely eager to do his best. And after all, in some cases\nwhen a man receives a really fine valuable, he will boast of it and\nbe frankly satisfied. Such a success is attributed of course not to\nhis partner's generosity, but to his own magic.\n\nA feature which is universally recognised as reprehensible and\ndiscreditable, is a tendency to retain a number of valuables and be\nslow in passing them on. A man who did this would be called \"hard in\nthe Kula.\" The following is a native description of this feature as\nexhibited by the natives of the Amphletts.\n\n\n    \"The Gumasila, their Kula is very hard; they are mean, they are\n    retentive. They would like to take hold of one soulava, of two,\n    of three big ones, of four perhaps. A man would pokala them, he\n    would pokapokala; if he is a kinsman he will get a soulava. The\n    Kayleula only, and the Gumasila are mean. The Dobu, the Du'a'u,\n    the Kitava are good. Coming to Muyuwa--they are like Gumasila.\"\n\n\nThis means that a man in Gumasila would let a number of necklaces\naccumulate in his possession; would require plenty of food as\npokala--a characteristic reduplication describes the insistence and\nperseverance in pokala--and even then he would give a necklace to a\nkinsman only. When I inquired from the same informant whether such a\nmean man would also run a risk of being killed by sorcery, he answered\n\n\n    \"A man who is very much ahead in the Kula--he will die--the mean\n    man not; he will sit in peace.\"\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nReturning now to the concrete proceedings of the Kula, let us follow\nthe movements of a Sinaketan toliwaga. He has presumably received a\nnecklace or two on his arrival; but he has more partners and he expects\nmore valuables. Before he receives his fill, he has to keep a taboo. He\nmay not partake of any local food, neither yams, nor coco-nuts, nor\nbetel pepper or nut. According to their belief, if he transgressed\nthis taboo he would not receive any more valuables. He tries also to\nsoften the heart of his partner by feigning disease. He will remain\nin his canoe and send word that he is ill. The Dobu man will know\nwhat such a conventional disease means. None the less, he may yield\nto this mode of persuasion. If this ruse does not succeed, the man\nmay have recourse to magic. There is a formula called kwoygapani or\n'enmeshing magic,' which seduces the mind of a man on whom it is\npractised, makes him silly, and thus amenable to persuasion. The\nformula is recited over a betel-nut or two, and these are given to\nthe partner and to his wife or sister.\n\n\n                            KWOYGAPANI SPELL\n\n    \"O kwega leaf; O friendly kwega leaf; O kwega leaf hither;\n    O kwega leaf thither!\"\n\n    \"I shall enter through the mouth of the woman of Dobu; I shall\n    come out through the mouth of the man of Dobu. I shall enter\n    through the mouth of the man of Dobu; I shall come out through\n    the mouth of the woman of Dobu.\"\n\n    \"Seducing kwega leaf; enmeshing kwega leaf; the mind of the\n    woman of Dobu is seduced by the kwega leaf, is enmeshed by the\n    kwega leaf.\"\n\n    The expression \"is seduced,\" \"is enmeshed \"by the kwega leaf,\n    is repeated with a string of words such as: \"Thy mind, O man of\n    Dobu,\" \"thy refusal, O woman of Dobu,\" \"Thy disinclination, O\n    woman of Dobu,\" \"Thy bowels, thy tongue, thy liver,\" going thus\n    over all the organs of understanding and feeling, and over the\n    words which describe these faculties. The last part is identical\n    with that of one or two formul\u00e6 previously quoted:\n\n    \"No more it is my mother; my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu,\n    etc.\" (Compare the Kaykakaya and Ka'ubana'i spells of the previous\n    chapter.)\n\n\nKwega is a plant, probably belonging to the same family as betel\npepper, and its leaves are chewed with areca-nut and lime, when\nreal betel-pods (mwayye) are not available. The kwega is, remarkably\nenough, invoked in more than one magical formula, instead of the real\nbetel-pod. The middle part is quite clear. In it, the seducing and\nenmeshing power of the kwega is cast over all the mental faculties\nof the Dobuan, and on the anatomical seats of these faculties. After\nthe application of this magic, all the resources of the soliciting\nman are exhausted. He has to give up hope, and take to eating the\nfruit of Dobu, as his taboo lapses.\n\nSide by side with the Kula, the subsidiary exchange of ordinary goods\ntakes place. In Chapter VI, Division VI, we have classified the various\ntypes of give and take, as they are to be found in the Trobriand\nIslands. The inter-tribal transactions which now take place in Dobu\nalso fit into that scheme. The Kula itself belongs to class (6),\n'Ceremonial Barter with deferred payment.' The offering of the pari,\nof landing gifts by the visitors, returned by the talo'i or farewell\ngifts from the hosts fall into the class (4) of presents more or less\nequivalent. Finally, between the visitors and the local people there\ntakes place, also, barter pure and simple (gimwali). Between partners,\nhowever, there is never a direct exchange of the gimwali type. The\nlocal man will as a rule contribute a bigger present, for the talo'i\nalways exceeds the pari in quantity and value, and small presents are\nalso given to the visitors during their stay. Of course, if in the pari\nthere were included gifts of high value, like a stone blade or a good\nlime spoon, such solicitary gifts would always be returned in strictly\nequivalent form. The rest would be liberally exceeded in value.\n\nThe trade takes place between the visitors and local natives, who\nare not their partners, but who must belong to the community with\nwhom the Kula is made. Thus, Numanuma, Tu'utauna and Bwayowa are the\nthree communities which form what we have called the 'Kula community'\nor 'Kula unit,' with whom the Sinaketans stand in the relation of\npartnership. And a Sinaketa man will gimwali (trade) only with a man\nfrom one of these villages who is not his personal partner. To use\na native statement:\n\n\n    \"Some of our goods we give in pari; some we keep back; later on,\n    we gimwali it. They bring their areca-nut, their sago, they put\n    it down. They want some article of ours, they say: 'I want this\n    stone blade.' We give it, we put the betel-nut, the sago into\n    our canoe. If they give us, however, a not sufficient quantity,\n    we rate them. Then they bring more.\"\n\n\nThis is a clear definition of the gimwali, with haggling and adjustment\nof equivalence in the act.\n\nWhen the visiting party from Sinaketa arrive, the natives from the\nneighbouring districts, that is, from the small island of Dobu proper,\nfrom the other side of Dawson Straits, from Deyde'i, the village to\nthe South, will assemble in the three Kula villages. These natives\nfrom other districts bring with them a certain amount of goods. But\nthey must not trade directly with the visitors from Boyowa. They\nmust exchange their goods with the local natives, and these again\nwill trade them with the Sinaketans. Thus the hosts from the Kula\ncommunity act as intermediaries in any trading relations between the\nSinaketans and the inhabitants of more remote districts.\n\nTo sum up the sociology of these transactions, we may say that\nthe visitor enters into a threefold relation with the Dobuan\nnatives. First, there is his partner, with whom he exchanges general\ngifts on the basis of free give and take, a type of transaction,\nrunning side by side with the Kula proper. Then there is the local\nresident, not his personal Kula partner, with whom he carries on\ngimwali. Finally there is the stranger with whom an indirect exchange\nis carried on through the intermediation of the local men. With\nall this, it must not be imagined that the commercial aspect of\nthe gathering is at all conspicuous. The concourse of the natives\nis great, mainly owing to their curiosity, to see the ceremonial\nreception of the uvalaku party. But if I say that every visitor from\nBoyowa, brings and carries away about half-a-dozen articles, I do\nnot under-state the case. Some of these articles the Sinaketan has\nacquired in the industrial districts of Boyowa during his preliminary\ntrading expedition (see Chapter VI, Division III). On these he scores\na definite gain. A few samples of the prices paid in Boyowa and those\nreceived in Dobu will indicate the amount of this gain.\n\n\n  Kuboma to Sinaketa.                Dobu to Sinaketa.\n\n  1 tanepopo basket = 12 coco-nuts = 12 coco-nuts + sago + 1 belt\n  1 comb            =  4 coco-nuts =  4 coco-nuts + 1 bunch of betel\n  1 armlet          =  8 coco-nuts =  8 coco-nuts + 2 bundles of betel\n  1 lime pot        = 12 coco-nuts = 12 coco-nuts + 2 pieces of sago\n\n\nThis table shows in its second column the prices paid by the\nSinaketans to the industrial villages of Kuboma, a district in the\nNorthern Trobriands. In the third column what they receive in Dobu\nis recorded. The table has been obtained from a Sinaketan informant,\nand it probably is far from accurate, and the transactions are sure\nto vary greatly in the gain which they afford. There is no doubt,\nhowever, that for each article, the Sinaketan would ask the price\nwhich he paid for them as well as some extra article.\n\nThus we see that there is in this transaction a definite gain obtained\nby the middlemen. The natives of Sinaketa act as intermediaries\nbetween the industrial centres of the Trobriands and Dobu, whereas\ntheir hosts play the same r\u00f4le between the Sinaketans and the men\nfrom the outlying districts.\n\nBesides trading and obtaining of Kula valuables, the natives of\nSinaketa visit their friends and their distant relatives, who, as we\nsaw before, are to be found in this district owing to migrations. The\nvisitors walk across the flat, fertile plain from one hamlet to the\nother, enjoying some of the marvellous and unknown sights of this\ndistrict. They are shown the hot springs of Numanuma and of Deyde'i,\nwhich are in constant eruption. Every few minutes, the water boils up\nin one spring after another of each group, throwing up jets of spray\na few metres high. The plain around these springs is barren, with\nnothing but here and there a stunted kind of eucalyptus tree. This\nis the only place in the whole of Eastern New Guinea where as far\nas I know, eucalyptus trees are to be found. This was at least the\ninformation of some intelligent natives, in whose company I visited\nthe springs, and who had travelled all over the Eastern islands and\nthe East end of the mainland.\n\nThe land-locked bays and lagoons, the Northern end of Dawson Strait,\nenclosed like a lake by mountains and volcanic cones, all this must\nalso appear strange and beautiful to the Trobrianders. In the villages,\nthey are entertained by their male friends, the language spoken by both\nparties being that of Dobu, which differs completely from Kiriwinian,\nbut which the Sinaketans learn in early youth. It is remarkable that\nno one in Dobu speaks Kiriwinian.\n\nAs said above, no sexual relations of any description take place\nbetween the visitors and the women of Dobu. As one of the informants\ntold me:\n\n\n    \"We do not sleep with women of Dobu, for Dobu is the final mountain\n    (Koyaviguna Dobu); it is a taboo of the mwasila magic.\"\n\n\nBut when I enquired, whether the results of breaking this taboo would\nbe baneful to their success in Kula only, the reply was that they were\nafraid of breaking it, and that it was ordained of old (tokunabogwo\nayguri) that no man should interfere with the women of Dobu. As a\nmatter of fact, the Sinaketans are altogether afraid of the Dobuans,\nand they would take good care not to offend them in any way.\n\nAfter some three or four days' sojourn in Dobu, the Sinaketan\nfleet starts on its return journey. There is no special ceremony of\nfarewell. In the early morning, they receive their talo'i (farewell\ngifts) of food, betel-nut, objects of use and sometimes also a Kula\nvaluable is enclosed amongst the the talo'i. Heavily laden as they\nare, they lighten their canoes by means of a magic called kaylupa,\nand sail away northwards once more.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE JOURNEY HOME--THE FISHING AND WORKING OF THE KALOMA SHELL\n\n\nI\n\nThe return journey of the Sinaketan fleet is made by following exactly\nthe same route as the one by which they came to Dobu. In each inhabited\nisland, in every village, where a halt had previously been made,\nthey stop again, for a day or a few hours. In the hamlets of Sanaroa,\nin Tewara and in the Amphletts, the partners are revisited. Some\nKula valuables are received on the way back, and all the talo'i\ngifts from those intermediate partners are also collected on the\nreturn journey. In each of these villages people are eager to hear\nabout the reception which the uvalaku party have received in Dobu;\nthe yield in valuables is discussed, and comparisons are drawn between\nthe present occasion and previous records.\n\nNo magic is performed now, no ceremonial takes place, and there\nwould be very little indeed to say about the return journey but for\ntwo important incidents; the fishing for spondylus shell (kaloma)\nin Sanaroa Lagoon, and the display and comparison of the yield of\nKula valuables on Muwa beach.\n\nThe natives of Sinaketa, as we have seen in the last chapter, acquire\na certain amount of the Koya produce by means of trade. There are,\nhowever, certain articles, useful yet unobtainable in the Trobriands,\nand freely accessible in the Koya, and to these the Trobrianders\nhelp themselves. The glassy forms of lava, known as obsidian, can be\nfound in great quantities over the slopes of the hills in Sanaroa\nand Dobu. This article, in olden days, served the Trobrianders\nas material for razors, scrapers, and sharp, delicate, cutting\ninstruments. Pumice-stone abounding in this district is collected\nand carried to the Trobriands, where it is used for polishing. Red\nochre is also procured there by the visitors, and so are the hard,\nbasaltic stones (binabina) used for hammering and pounding and for\nmagical purposes. Finally, very fine silica sand, called maya, is\ncollected on some of the beaches, and imported into the Trobriands,\nwhere it is used for polishing stone blades, of the kind which serve\nas tokens of value and which are manufactured up to the present day.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nBut by far the most important of the articles which the Trobrianders\ncollect for themselves are the spondylus shells. These are freely,\nthough by no means easily, accessible in the coral outcrops of Sanaroa\nLagoon. It is from this shell that the small circular perforated\ndiscs (kaloma) are made, out of which the necklaces of the Kula\nare composed, and which also serve for ornamenting almost all the\narticles of value or of artistic finish which are used within the\nKula district. But, only in two localities within the district are\nthese discs manufactured, in Sinaketa and in Vakuta, both villages in\nSouthern Boyowa. The shell can be found also in the Trobriand Lagoon,\nfacing these two villages. But the specimens found in Sanaroa are\nmuch better in colour, and I think more easily procured. The fishing\nin this latter locality, however, is done by the Sinaketans only.\n\nWhether the fishing is done in their own Lagoon, near an uninhabited\nisland called Nanoula, or in Sanaroa, it is always a big, ceremonial\naffair, in which the whole community takes part in a body. The\nmagic, or at least part of it, is done for the whole community by\nthe magician of the kaloma (towosina kaloma), who also fixes the\ndates, and conducts the ceremonial part of the proceedings. As the\nspondylus shell furnishes one of the essential episodes of a Kula\nexpedition, a detailed account both of fishing and of manufacturing\nmust be here given. The native name, kaloma (in the Southern Massim\ndistricts the word sapi-sapi is used) describes both the shell and\nthe manufactured discs. The shell is the large spondylus shell,\ncontaining a crystalline layer of a red colour, varying from dirty\nbrick-red to a soft, raspberry pink, the latter being by far the most\nprized. It lives in the cavities of coral outcrop, scattered among\nshallow mud-bottomed lagoons.\n\nThis shell is, according to tradition, associated with the village\nof Sinaketa. According to a Sinaketan legend, once upon a time, three\nguya'u (chief) women, belonging to the Tabalu sub-clan of the Malasi\nclan, wandered along, each choosing her place to settle in. The eldest\nselected the village of Omarakana; the second went to Gumilababa;\nthe youngest settled in Sinaketa. She had kaloma discs in her basket,\nand they were threaded on a long, thin stick, called viduna, such\nas is used in the final stage of manufacture. She remained first\nin a place called Kaybwa'u, but a dog howled, and she moved further\non. She heard again a dog howling, and she took a kaboma (wooden plate)\nand went on to the fringing reef to collect shells. She found there\nthe momoka (white spondylus), and she exclaimed: \"Oh, this is the\nkaloma!\" She looked closer, and said: \"Oh no, you are not red. Your\nname is momoka.\" She took then the stick with the kaloma discs and\nthrust it into a hole of the reef. It stood there, but when she looked\nat it, she said: \"Oh, the people from inland would come and see you\nand pluck you off.\" She went, she pulled out the stick; she went into\na canoe, and she paddled. She paddled out into the sea. She anchored\nthere, pulled the discs off the stick, and she threw them into the\nsea so that they might come into the coral outcrop. She said: \"It\nis forbidden that the inland natives should take the valuables. The\npeople of Sinaketa only must dive.\" Thus only the Sinaketa people\nknow the magic, and how to dive.\n\nThis myth presents certain remarkable characteristics. I shall not\nenter into its sociology, though it differs in that respect from\nthe Kiriwinian myths, in which the equality of the Sinaketan and the\nGumilababan chiefs with those of Omarakana is not acknowledged. It is\ncharacteristic that the Malasi woman in this myth shows an aversion to\nthe dog, the totem animal of the Lukuba clan, a clan which according\nto mythical and historical data had to recede before and yield its\npriority to the Malasi (compare Chapter XII, Division IV). Another\ndetail of interest is that she brings the kaloma on their sticks,\nas they appear in the final stage of manufacturing. In this form,\nalso, she tries to plant them on the reef. The finished kaloma,\nhowever, to use the words of one of my informants, \"looked at her,\nthe water swinging it to and fro; flashing its red eyes.\" And the\nwoman, seeing it, pulls out the too accessible and too inviting\nkaloma and scatters them over the deep sea. Thus she makes them\ninaccessible to the uninitiated inland villagers, and monopolises them\nfor Sinaketa. There can be no doubt that the villages of Vakuta have\nlearnt this industry from the Sinaketans. The myth is hardly known in\nVakuta, only a few are experts in diving and manufacturing; there is\na tradition about a late transference of this industry there; finally\nthe Vakutans have never fished for kaloma in the Sanaroa Lagoon.\n\nNow let us describe the technicalities and the ceremonial connected\nwith the fishing for kaloma. It will be better to give an account\nof how this is done in the Lagoon of Sinaketa, round the sandbank\nof Nanoula, as this is the normal and typical form of kaloma\nfishing. Moreover, when the Sinaketans do it in Sanaroa, the\nproceedings are very much the same, with just one or two phases\nmissed out.\n\nThe office of magician of the kaloma (towosina kaloma) is hereditary in\ntwo sub-clans, belonging to the Malasi clan, and one of them is that\nof the main chief of Kasi'etana. After the Monsoon season is over,\nthat is, some time in March or April, ogibukuvi (i.e., in the season\nof the new yams) the magician gives the order for preparations. The\ncommunity give him a gift called sousula, one or two bringing a\nvaygu'a, the rest supplying gugu'a (ordinary chattels), and some\nfood. Then they prepare the canoes, and get ready the binabina stones,\nwith which the spondylus shell will be knocked off the reef.\n\nNext day, in the morning, the magician performs a rite called\n'kaykwa'una la'i,' 'the attracting of the reef,' for, as in the\ncase of several other marine beings, the main seat of the kaloma is\nfar away. Its dwelling place is the reef Ketabu, somewhere between\nSanaroa and Dobu. In order to make it move and come towards Nanoula,\nit is necessary to recite the above-named spell. This is done by the\nmagician as he walks up and down on the Sinaketa beach and casts\nhis words into the open, over the sea, towards the distant seat\nof the kaloma. The kaloma then 'stand up' (itolise) that is start\nfrom their original coral outcrop (vatu) and come into the Lagoon of\nSinaketa. This spell, I obtained from To'udavada, the present chief\nof Kasi'etana, and descendant of the original giver of this shell,\nthe woman of the myth. It begins with a long list of ancestral names;\nthen follows a boastful picture of how the whole fleet admires the\nmagical success of the magician's spell. The key-word in the main part\nis the word 'itolo': 'it stands up,' i.e., 'it starts,' and with this,\nthere are enumerated all the various classes of the kaloma shell,\ndifferentiated according to size, colour and quality. It ends up with\nanother boast; \"My canoe is overloaded with shell so that it sinks,\"\nwhich is repeated with varying phraseology.\n\nThis spell the magician may utter once only, or he may repeat it\nseveral times on successive days. He fixes then the final date for the\nfishing expedition. On the evening before that date, the men perform\nsome private magic, every one in his own house. The hammering stone,\nthe gabila, which is always a binabina (it is a stone imported from\nthe Koya), is charmed over. As a rule it is put on a piece of dried\nbanana leaf with some red hibiscus blossoms and leaves or flowers\nof red colour. A formula is uttered over it, and the whole is then\nwrapped up in the banana leaf and kept there until it is used. This\nwill make the stone a lucky one in hitting off many shells, and it\nwill make the shells very red.\n\nAnother rite of private magic consists in charming a large mussel\nshell, with which, on the next morning, the body of the canoe will\nbe scraped. This makes the sea clear, so that the diver may easily\nsee and frequently find his spondylus shells.\n\nNext morning the whole fleet starts on the expedition. Some food has\nbeen taken into the canoes, as the fishing usually lasts for a few\ndays, the nights being spent on the beach of Nanoula. When the canoes\narrive at a certain point, about half-way between Sinaketa and Nanoula,\nthey all range themselves in a row. The canoe of the magician is at the\nright flank, and he medicates a bunch of red hibiscus flowers, some\nred croton leaves, and the leaves of the red-blossomed mangrove--red\ncoloured substances being used to make the shell red, magically. Then,\npassing in front of all the other canoes, he rubs their prows with\nthe bundle of leaves. After that, the canoes at both ends of the\nrow begin to punt along, the row evolving into a circle, through\nwhich presently the canoe of the magician passes, punting along its\ndiameter. At this place in the Lagoon, there is a small vatu (coral\noutcrop) called Vitukwayla'i. This is called the vatu of the baloma\n(spirits). At this vatu the magician's canoe stops, and he orders some\nof its crew to dive down and here to begin the gathering of shells.\n\nSome more private magic is performed later on by each canoe on its own\naccount. The anchor stone is charmed with some red hibiscus flowers,\nin order to make the spondylus shell red. There is another private\nmagic called 'sweeping of the sea,' which, like the magic of the mussel\nshell, mentioned above, makes the sea clear and transparent. Finally,\nthere is an evil magic called 'besprinkling with salt water.' If a\nman does it over the others, he will annul the effects of their magic,\nand frustrate their efforts, while he himself would arouse astonishment\nand suspicion by the amount of shell collected. Such a man would dive\ndown into the water, take some brine into his mouth, and emerging,\nspray it towards the other canoes, while he utters the evil charm.\n\nSo much for the magic and the ceremonial associated with the\nspondylus fishing in the Trobriand Lagoon. In Sanaroa, exactly the\nsame proceedings take place, except that there is no attracting of\nthe reef, probably because they are already at the original seat\nof the kaloma. Again I was told that some of the private magic\nwould be performed in Sinaketa before the fleet sailed on the Kula\nexpedition. The objects medicated would be then kept, well wrapped\nin dried leaves.\n\nIt may be added that neither in the one Lagoon nor in the other are\nthere any private, proprietary rights to coral outcrops. The whole\ncommunity of Sinaketa have their fishing grounds in the Lagoon,\nwithin which every man may hunt for his spondylus shell, and catch\nhis fish at times. If the other spondylus fishing community, the\nVakutans, encroached upon their grounds, there would be trouble,\nand in olden days, fighting. Private ownership in coral outcrops\nexists in the Northern villages of the Lagoon, that is in Kavataria,\nand the villages on the island of Kayleula.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nWe must now follow the later stages of the kaloma industry. The\ntechnology of the proceedings is so mixed up with remarkable\nsociological and economic arrangements that it will be better to\nindicate it first in its main outlines. The spondylus consists of a\nshell, the size and shape of a hollowed out half of a pear, and of a\nflat, small lid. It is only the first part which is worked. First\nit has to be broken into pieces with a binabina or an utukema\n(green stone imported from Woodlark Island) as shown on Plate L\n(A). On each piece, then, can be seen the stratification of the\nshell: the outside layer of soft, chalky substance; under this, the\nlayer of red, hard, calcareous material, and then the inmost, white,\ncrystalline stratum. Both the outside and inside have to be rubbed\noff, but first each piece has to be roughly rounded up, so as to form\na thick circular lump. Such a lump (see foregrounds of Plates L (A),\nL (B)) is then put in the hole of a cylindrical piece of wood. This\nlatter serves as a handle with which the lumps are rubbed on a piece\nof flat sandstone (see Plate L (B)). The rubbing is carried on so far\ntill the outside and inside layers are gone, and there remains only a\nred, flat tablet, polished on both sides. In the middle of it, a hole\nis drilled through by means of a pump drill--gigi'u--(see Plate LI),\nand a number of such perforated discs are then threaded on a thin,\nbut tough stick (see Plate LII), with which we have already met in\nthe myth. Then the cylindrical roll is rubbed round and round on\nthe flat sandstone, until its form becomes perfectly symmetrical\n(see Plate LII). Thus a number of flat, circular discs, polished\nall round and perforated in the middle, are produced. The breaking\nand the drilling, like the diving are done exclusively by men. The\npolishing is as a rule woman's work.\n\nThis technology is associated with an interesting sociological relation\nbetween the maker and the man for whom the article is made. As has\nbeen stated in Chapter II, one of the main features of the Trobriand\norganisation consists of the mutual duties between a man and his\nwife's maternal kinsmen. They have to supply him regularly with yams\nat harvest time, while he gives them the present of a valuable now and\nthen. The manufacture of kaloma valuables in Sinaketa is very often\nassociated with this relationship. The Sinaketan manufacturer makes his\nkutadababile (necklace of large beads) for one of his relatives-in-law,\nwhile this latter pays him in food. In accordance with this custom, it\nhappens very frequently that a Sinaketan man marries a woman from one\nof the agricultural inland villages, or even a woman of Kiriwina. Of\ncourse, if he has no relatives-in-law in one of these villages, he\nwill have friends or distant relatives, and he will make the string\nfor one or the other of them. Or else he will produce one for himself,\nand launch it into the Kula. But the most typical and interesting\ncase is, when the necklace is produced to order for a man who repays\nit according to a remarkable economic system, a system similar to\nthe payments in instalments, which I have mentioned with regard to\ncanoe making. I shall give here, following closely the native text,\na translation of an account of the payments for kaloma making.\n\n\n                      ACCOUNT OF THE KALOMA MAKING\n\n    Supposing some man from inland lives in Kiriwina or in Luba\n    or in one of the villages nearby; he wants a katudababile. He\n    would request an expert fisherman who knows how to dive for\n    kaloma. This man agrees; he dives, he dives ... till it is\n    sufficient; his vataga (large folding basket) is already full,\n    this man (the inlander) hears the rumour; he, the master of the\n    kaloma (that is, the man for whom the necklace will be made) says:\n    \"Good! I shall just have a look!\" He would come, he would see,\n    he would not give any vakapula payment. He (here the Sinaketan\n    diver is meant) would say: \"Go, tomorrow, I shall break the shell,\n    come here, give me vakapula.\" Next day, he (the inlander) would\n    cook food, he would bring, he would give vakapula; he (the diver)\n    would break the shell. Next day, the same. He (the inlander) would\n    give the vakapula, he (the diver) would break the shell. Supposing\n    the breaking is already finished, he (the diver) would say:\n    \"Good! already the breaking is finished, I shall polish.\" Next\n    day, he (the inlander) would cook food, would bring bananas,\n    coco-nut, betel-nut, sugar cane, would give it as vakapula;\n    this man (the diver) polishes. The polishing already finished,\n    he would speak: \"Good! To-morrow I shall drill.\" This man (the\n    inlander) would bring food, bananas, coco-nuts, sugar cane,\n    he would give it as vakapula: it would be abundant, for soon\n    already the necklace will be finished. The same, he would give a\n    big vakapula on the occasion of the rounding up of the cylinder,\n    for soon everything will be finished. When finished, we thread it\n    on a string, we wash it. (Note the change from the third singular\n    into the first plural). We give it to our wife, we blow the conch\n    shell; she would go, she would carry his valuable to this man,\n    our relative-in-law. Next day, he would yomelu; he would catch\n    a pig, he would break off a bunch of betel-nut, he would cut\n    sugar cane, bananas, he would fill the baskets with food, and\n    spike the coco-nut on a multi-forked piece of wood. By-and-by\n    he would bring it. Our house would be filled up. Later on we\n    would make a distribution of the bananas, of the sugar cane, of\n    the betel-nut. We give it to our helpers. We sit, we sit (i.e.,\n    we wait); at harvest time he brings yams, he karibudaboda (he\n    gives the payment of that name), the necklace. He would bring\n    the food and fill out our yam house.\n\n\nThis narrative, like many pieces of native information, needs certain\ncorrections of perspective. In the first place, events here succeed one\nanother with a rapidity quite foreign to the extremely leisurely way in\nwhich natives usually accomplish such a lengthy process as the making\nof a katudababile. The amount of food which, in the usual manner,\nis enumerated over and over again in this narrative would probably\nnot be exaggerated, for--such is native economy--a man who makes a\nnecklace to order would get about twice as much or even more for it\nthan it would fetch in any other transaction. On the other hand,\nit must be remembered that what is represented here as the final\npayment, the karibudaboda, is nothing else but the normal filling up\nof the yam house, always done by a man's relations-in-law. None the\nless, in a year in which a katudababile would be made, the ordinary\nyearly harvest gift would be styled the 'karibudaboda payment for\nthe necklace.' The giving of the necklace to the wife, who afterwards\ncarries it to her brother or kinsman, is also characteristic of the\nrelation between relatives-in-law.\n\nIn Sinaketa and Vakuta only the necklaces made of bigger shell and\ntapering towards the end are made. The real Kula article, in which\nthe discs are much thinner, smaller in diameter and even in size from\none end of the necklace to the other, these were introduced into the\nKula at other points, and I shall speak about this subject in one\nof the following chapters (Chapter XXI), where the other branches of\nthe Kula are described.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nNow, having come to an end of this digression on kaloma, let us return\nfor another short while to our Sinaketan party, whom we have left\non the Lagoon of Sanaroa. Having obtained a sufficient amount of the\nshells, they set sail, and re-visiting Tewara and Gumasila, stopping\nperhaps for a night on one of the sandbanks of Pilolu, they arrive at\nlast in their home Lagoon. But before rejoining their people in their\nvillages, they stop for the last halt on Muwa. Here they make what is\ncalled tanarere, a comparison and display of the valuables obtained\non this trip. From each canoe, a mat or two are spread on the sand\nbeach, and the men put their necklaces on the mat. Thus a long row of\nvaluables lies on the beach, and the members of the expedition walk\nup and down, admire, and count them. The chiefs would, of course,\nhave always the greatest haul, more especially the one who has been\nthe toli'uvalaku on that expedition.\n\nAfter this is over, they return to the village. Each canoe blows its\nconch shell, a blast for each valuable that it contains. When a canoe\nhas obtained no vaygu'a at all, this means great shame and distress\nfor its members, and especially for the toliwaga. Such a canoe is\nsaid to bisikureya, which means literally 'to keep a fast.'\n\nOn the beach all the villagers are astir. The women, who have put on\ntheir new grass petticoats (sevata'i) specially made for this occasion,\nenter the water and approach the canoes to unload them. No special\ngreetings pass between them and their husbands. They are interested\nin the food brought from Dobu, more especially in the sago.\n\nPeople from other villages assemble also in great numbers to greet the\nincoming party. Those who have supplied their friends or relatives\nwith provisions for their journey, receive now sago, betel-nuts and\ncoco-nuts in repayment. Some of the welcoming crowd have come in order\nto make Kula. Even from the distant districts of Luba and Kiriwina\nnatives will travel to Sinaketa, having a fair idea of the date of\nthe arrival of the Kula party from Dobu. The expedition will be talked\nover, the yield counted, the recent history of the important valuables\ndescribed. But this stage leads us already into the subject of inland\nKula, which will form the subject of one of the following chapters.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nTHE RETURN VISIT OF THE DOBUANS TO SINAKETA\n\n\nI\n\nIn the twelve preceding chapters, we have followed an expedition\nfrom Sinaketa to Dobu. But branching off at almost every step from\nits straight track, we studied the various associated institutions\nand underlying beliefs; we quoted magical formul\u00e6, and told\nmythical stories, and thus we broke up the continuous thread of the\nnarrative. In this chapter, as we are already acquainted with the\ncustoms, beliefs and institutions implied in the Kula, we are ready\nto follow a straight and consecutive tale of an expedition in the\ninverse direction, from Dobu to Sinaketa.\n\nAs I have seen, indeed followed, a big uvalaku expedition from\nthe South to the Trobriands, I shall be able to give some of the\nscenes from direct impression, and not from reconstruction. Such\na reconstruction for one who has seen much of the natives' tribal\nlife and has a good grip over intelligent informants is neither very\ndifficult nor need it be fanciful at all. Indeed, towards the end\nof my second visit, I had several times opportunities to check such\na reconstruction by witnessing the actual occurrence, for after my\nfirst year's stay in the Trobriands I had written out already some\nof my material. As a rule, even in minute details, my reconstructions\nhardly differed from reality, as the tests have shown. None the less,\nit is possible for an Ethnographer to enter into concrete details\nwith more conviction when he describes things actually seen.\n\nIn September, 1917, an uvalaku expedition was led by Kouta'uya\nfrom Sinaketa to Dobu. The Vakutans joining them on the way, and the\ncanoes of the Amphletts following them also, some forty canoes finally\narrived at the western shore of Dawson Straits. It was arranged then\nand there that a return expedition from that district should visit\nSinaketa in about six months' time. Kauyaporu, the esa'esa (headman)\nof Kesora'i hamlet in the village of Bwayowa, had a pig with circular\ntusks. He decided therefore to arrange an uvalaku expedition, at the\nbeginning of which the pig was to be killed and feasted upon and its\ntusks turned into ornaments.\n\nWhen, in November, 1917, I passed through the district, the preparing\nof the canoes was already afoot. All of those, which still could be\nrepaired, had been taken to pieces and were being relashed, recaulked\nand repainted. In some hamlets, new dug-outs were being scooped. After\na few months stay in the Trobriands, I went South again in March, 1918,\nintending to spend some time in the Amphletts. Landing there is always\ndifficult, as there are no anchorages near the shore, and it is quite\nimpossible to disembark in rough weather at night. I arrived late in a\nsmall cutter, and had to cruise between Gumasila and Domdom, intending\nto wait till daybreak and then effect a landing. In the middle of\nthe night, however, a violent north-westerly squall came down, and\nmaking a split in the main-sail, forced us to run before the wind,\nsouthwards towards Dobu. It was on this night that the native boys\nemployed in the boat, saw the mulukwausi flaming up at the head of\nthe mast. The wind dropped before daybreak, and we entered the Lagoon\nof Sanaroa, in order to repair the sail. During the three days we\nstopped there, I roamed over the country, climbing its volcanic cones,\npaddling up the creeks and visiting the villages scattered on the\ncoral plain. Everywhere I saw signs of the approaching departure for\nBoyowa; the natives preparing their canoes on the beach to be loaded,\ncollecting food in the gardens and making sago in the jungle. At the\nhead of one of the creeks, in the midst of a sago swamp, there was a\nlong, low shelter which serves as a dwelling to Dobuan natives from\nthe main Island when they come to gather sago. This swamp was said\nto be reserved to a certain community of Tu'utauna.\n\nAnother day I came upon a party of local natives from Sanaroa, who\nwere pounding sago pulp out of a palm, and sluicing it with water. A\nbig tree had been felled, its bark stripped in the middle of the trunk\nin a large square, and the soft, fleshy interior laid open. There were\nthree men standing in a row before it and pounding away at it. A few\nmore men waited to relieve the tired ones. The pounding instruments,\nhalf club, half adzes, had thick but not very broad blades of green\nstone, of the same type as I have seen among the Mailu natives of\nthe South Coast. [79]\n\nThe pulp was then carried in baskets to a neighbouring stream. At\nthis spot there was a natural trough, one of the big, convex scales,\nwhich form the basis of the sago leaf. In the middle of it, a sieve\nwas made of a piece of coco-nut spathing, a fibre which covers the\nroot of a coco-nut leaf, and looks at first sight exactly like a\npiece of roughly woven material. Water was directed so that it flowed\ninto the trough at its broad end, coming out at the narrow one. The\nsago pulp was put at the top, the water carried away with it the\npowdered sago starch, while the wooden, husky fibres were retained\nby the sieve. The starch was then carried with the water into a big\nwooden canoe-shaped trough; there the heavier starch settled down,\nwhile the water welled over the brim. When there is plenty of starch,\nthe water is drained off carefully and the starch is placed into\nanother of the trough-shaped, sago leaf bases, where it is allowed to\ndry. In such receptacles it is then carried on a trading expedition,\nand is thus counted as one unit of sago.\n\nI watched the proceedings for a long time with great interest. There is\nsomething fascinating about the big, antideluvian-looking sago palm,\nso malignant and unapproachable in its unhealthy, prickly swamp,\nbeing turned by man into food by such simple and direct methods. The\nsago produced and eaten by the natives is a tough, starchy stuff, of\ndirty white colour, very unpalatable. It has the consistency of rubber,\nand the taste of very poor, unleavened bread. It is not clear, like\nthe article which is sold under the name of sago in our groceries, but\nis mealy, tough, and almost elastic. The natives consider it a great\ndelicacy, and bake it into little cakes, or boil it into dumplings.\n\nThe main fleet of the Dobuans started some time in the second half of\nMarch from their villages, and went first to the beach of Sarubwoyna,\nwhere they held a ceremonial distribution of food, eguya'i, as it is\ncalled in Dobu. Then, offering the pokala to Aturamo'a and Atu'a'ine,\nthey sailed by way of Sanaroa and Tewara, passing the tabooed rock\nof Gurewaya to the Amphletts. The wind was light and changeable,\nweak S.W. breezes prevailing. The progress of this stage of the\njourney must have been very slow. The natives must have spent a\nfew nights on the intermediate islands and sandbanks, a few canoes'\ncrews camping at one spot.\n\nAt that time I had already succeeded in reaching the Amphletts, and\nhad been busy for two or three weeks doing ethnographic work, though\nnot very successfully; for, as I have already once or twice remarked,\nthe natives here are very bad informants. I knew of course that the\nDobuan fleet was soon to come, but as my experience had taught me to\nmistrust native time-tables and fixtures of date, I did not expect\nthem to be punctual. In this, however, I was mistaken. On a Kula\nexpedition, when the dates are once fixed, the natives make real and\nstrenuous efforts to keep to them. In the Amphletts the people were\nbusy preparing for the expedition, because they had the intention of\njoining the Dobuans and proceeding with them to the Trobriands. A few\ncanoes went to the mainland to fetch sago, pots were being mustered and\nmade ready for stowing away, canoes were overhauled. When the small\nexpedition returned from the mainland with sago, after a week or so,\na sagali (in Amphlettan: madare), that is, a ceremonial distribution\nof food was held on the neighbouring island, Nabwageta.\n\nMy arrival was a very untoward event to the natives, and complicated\nmatters, causing great annoyance to Tovasana, the main headman. I had\nlanded in his own little village, Nu'agasi, on the island of Gumasila,\nfor it was impossible to anchor near the big village, nor would there\nhave been room for pitching a tent. Now, in the Amphletts, a white\nman is an exceedingly rare occurrence, and to my knowledge, only once\nbefore, a white trader remained there for a few weeks. To leave me\nalone with the women and one or two old men was impossible, according\nto their ideas and fears, and none of the younger men wanted to forgo\nthe privilege and pleasure of taking part in the expedition. At last,\nI promised them to move to the neighbouring island of Nabwageta,\nas soon as the men were gone, and with this they were satisfied.\n\nAs the date fixed for the arrival of the Dobuans approached, the\nexcitement grew. Little by little the news arrived, and was eagerly\nreceived and conveyed to me: \"Some sixty canoes of the Dobuans are\ncoming,\" \"the fleet is anchored off Tewara,\" \"each canoe is heavily\nladen with food and gifts,\" \"Kauyaporu sails in his canoe, he is\ntoli'uvalaku, and has a big pandanus streamer attached to the prow.\" A\nstring of other names followed which had very little meaning for me,\nsince I was not acquainted with the Dobuan natives. From another part\nof the world, from the Trobriands, the goal of the whole expedition,\nnews reached us again: \"To'uluwa, the chief of Kiriwina has gone\nto Kitava--he will soon come back, bringing plenty of mwali.\" \"The\nSinaketans are going there to fetch some of the mwali.\" \"The Vakutans\nhave been in Kitava and brought back great numbers of mwali.\" It\nwas astonishing to hear all this news, arriving at a small island,\napparently completely isolated with its tiny population, within\nthese savage and little navigated seas; news only a few days old,\nyet reporting events which had occurred at a travelling distance of\nsome hundred miles.\n\nIt was interesting to follow up the way it had come. The earlier news\nabout the Dobuans had been brought by the canoes, which had fetched\nthe sago to Gumasila from the main island. A few days later, a canoe\nfrom one of the main island villages had arrived here, and on its\nway had passed the Dobuans in Tewara. The news from the Trobriands\nin the North had been brought by the Kuyawa canoe which had arrived a\ncouple of days before in Nabwageta (and whose visit to Nu'agasi I have\ndescribed in Chapter XI). All these movements were not accidental,\nbut connected with the uvalaku expedition. To show the complexity,\nas well as the precise timing of the various movements and events,\nso perfectly synchronised over a vast area, in connection with the\nuvalaku, I have tabulated them in the Chart, facing this page, in\nwhich almost all the dates are quite exact, being based on my own\nobservations. This Chart also gives a clear, synoptic picture of an\nuvalaku, and it will be useful to refer to it, in reading this Chapter.\n\nIn olden days, not less than now, there must have been an ebullition\nin the inter-tribal relations, and a great stirring from one place\nto another, whenever an uvalaku Kula was afoot. Thus, news would\nbe carried rapidly over great distances, the movements of the vast\nnumbers of natives would be co-ordinated, and dates fixed. As has been\nsaid already, a culminating event of an expedition, in this case the\narrival of the Dobuan fleet in Sinaketa, would be always so timed\nas to happen on, or just before, a full moon, and this would serve\nas a general orientation for the preliminary movements, such as in\nthis case, the visits of the single canoes.\n\n\n                          THE PREVIOUS UVALAKU\n\nDate\n\nSeptember, 1917         The expedition, led by Kouta'uya from\n                        Sinaketa to Dobu.\n\n                           PREPARATORY STAGE\n\nOct., 1917-Feb., 1918   Building of new canoes and repairing of old\n                        ones, in the district of N.W. Dobu.\nFeb.-March, 1918        Sago making, collecting of trade and food.\nMiddle of March         Launching, fitting and loading of the canoes;\n                        preliminary magic.\n\n                              THE SAILING\n\nAbout 25th March        The Dobuan canoes start on their overseas\n                        trip.\nAbout same time         [In Boyowa: the Vakutans return from Kitava\n                        with a good haul of mwali].\nSame time               [In the Amphletts: preparations to sail;\n                        collecting food; repairing canoes.]\nAbout 28th March        [In Boyowa: To'uluwa returns from Kitava\n                        bringing mwali.]\nSame time               [In the Amphletts: news reach of the\n                        approaching fleet from Dobu; of the doings in\n                        Boyowa.]\n29th March              [In the Amphletts: part of the canoes sail\n                        ahead to Vakuta.]\n31st March              The Dobuan fleet arrives in the Amphletts.\n1st April               They proceed on their journey to Boyowa.\n2nd April               [In the Amphletts: rest of local canoes sail\n                        to Boyowa.]\nSame day                [In Boyowa: the Sinaketans go to Kiriwina.]\n3rd April               [In Boyowa: they return with the armshells.]\n\n                  THE ARRIVAL OF THE DOBUANS IN BOYOWA\n\n3rd April               The Dobuan fleet appears in Vakuta.\n3rd-5th April           They receive Kula gifts, exchange presents\n                        and trade in Vakuta.\n6th April               Arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Sinaketa,\n                        magic at the beach of Kaykuyawa, ceremonial\n                        reception.\n6th-10th April          The Dobuans (as well as the Amphlettans)\n                        remain in Sinaketa, receiving Kula presents,\n                        giving pari gifts and trading.\n10th April              They all leave Sinaketa, receiving talo'i\n                        (farewell) gifts. The Dobuans sail south (and\n                        the Amphlettans to Kayleula and the smaller\n                        Western Trobriand Islands).\n10th-14th April         The Dobuans are engaged in fishing in the S.\n                        Lagoon.\n\n                             RETURN JOURNEY\n\n14th April              They reappear in Vakuta, and receive their\n                        talo'i (farewell) gifts.\n15th April              They leave Vakuta.\nAbout 20th or 21st      Tanarere (competitive display and comparison)\n                        on the beach of Sarubwoyna, and return to\n                        Dobu.\n\n\nIndeed, from that moment, the events on and about the Amphlett Islands\nmoved rapidly. The day after the visit from the Kuyawan canoes, the\ncanoes of the main village of Gumasila sailed off to the Trobriands,\nstarting therefore a few days ahead of the Dobuan uvalaku fleet. I\nrowed over in a dinghy to the big village, and watched the loading and\ndeparting of the canoes. There was a bustle in the village, and even a\nfew old women could be seen helping the men in their tasks. The large\ncanoes were being pushed into the water from their supports, on which\nthey were beached. They had been already prepared for the journey\nthere, their platforms covered with plaited palm leaves, frames put\nin their bottoms to support the cargo, boards placed crossways within\nthe canoe to serve as seats for the crew, the mast, rigging and sail\nlaid handy. The loading, however, begins only after the canoe is in\nwater. The large, trough-shaped chunks of sago were put at the bottom,\nwhile men and women carefully brought out the big clay pots, stowing\nthem away with many precautions in special places in the middle\n(see Plate XLVII). Then, one after the other, the canoes went off,\npaddling round the southern end of the island towards the West. At\nabout ten o'clock in the morning, the last canoe disappeared round the\npromontory, and the village remained practically empty. There was no\nsaying of farewells, not a trace of any emotion on the part of those\nleaving or those remaining. But it must be remembered that, owing to\nmy presence, no women except one or two old hags, were visible on the\nshore. All my best informants gone, I intended to move to Nabwageta\nnext morning. At sunset, I made a long excursion in my dinghy round\nthe western shores of Gumasila, and it was on that occasion that I\ndiscovered all those who had left that morning on the Kula sitting on\nGiyasila beach, in accordance with the Kula custom of a preliminary\nhalt, such as the one on Muwa described in Chapter VII.\n\nNext morning, I left for the neighbouring island and village of\nNabwageta, and only after he saw me safely off, Tovasana and his party\nleft in his canoe, following the others to Vakuta. In Nabwageta, the\nwhole community were in the midst of their final preparations for\ndeparture, for they intended to wait for the Dobuans and sail with\nthem to Kiriwina. All their canoes were being painted and renovated,\na sail was being repaired on the beach (see Plate LIII). There were\nsome minor distributions of food taking place in the village, the stuff\nbeing over and over again allotted and re-allotted, smaller pieces\ncarved out of the big chunks and put into special wrappings. This\nconstant handling of food is one of the most prominent features of\ntribal life in that part of the world. As I arrived, a sail for one of\nthe canoes was just being finished by a group of men. In another canoe,\nI saw them mending the outrigger by attaching the small log of light,\ndry wood to make the old, waterlogged float more buoyant. I could\nalso watch in detail the final trimming of the canoes, the putting\nup of the additional frames, of the coco-nut mats, the making of the\nlittle cage in the central part for the pots and for the lilava (the\nsacred bundle), I was, nevertheless, not on sufficiently intimate\nterms with these Nabwageta natives to be allowed to witness any of\nthe magic. Their system of mwasila is identical with that of Boyowa,\nin fact, it is borrowed from there.\n\nNext day--in this village again I had difficulty in finding any good\ninformants, a difficulty increased by the feverish occupation of all\nthe men--I went for a long row in the afternoon with my two 'boys,'\nhoping to reach the island of Domdom. A strong current, which in this\npart is at places so pronounced that it breaks out into steep, tidal\nwaves, made it impossible to reach our goal. Returning in the dark,\nmy boys suddenly grew alert and excited, like hounds picking up a\nscent. I could perceive nothing in the dark, but they had discerned\ntwo canoes moving westwards. Within about half-an-hour, a fire became\nvisible, twinkling on the beach of a small, deserted island South\nof Domdom; evidently some Dobuans were camping there. The excitement\nand intense interest shown by my boys, one a Dobuan, the other from\nSariba (Southern Massim), gave me an inkling of the magnitude of\nthis event--the vanguard of a big Kula fleet slowly creeping up\ntowards one of its intermediate halting places. It also brought\nhome to me vividly the inter-tribal character of this institution,\nwhich unites in one common and strongly emotional interest so many\nscattered communities. That night, as we learnt afterwards, a good\nnumber of canoes had anchored on the outlying deserted islands of the\nAmphletts, waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive. When we came\nthat evening to Nabwageta, the news had already been received of the\nimportant event, and the whole village was astir.\n\nNext day, the weather was particularly fine and clear, with the distant\nmountains wreathed only in light cumuli, their alluring outlines\ndesigned in transparent blue. Early in the afternoon, with a blast of\nconch shell, a Dobuan waga, in full paint and decoration, and with the\nrich pandanus mat of the sail glowing like gold against the blue sea,\ncame sailing round the promontory. One after the other, at intervals\nof a few minutes each, other canoes came along, all sailing up to\nsome hundred yards from the beach, and then, after furling the sail,\npaddling towards the shore (see Plate XL). This was not a ceremonial\napproach, as the aim of the expedition this time did not embrace the\nAmphletts, but was directed towards the Trobriands only, Vakuta,\nand Sinaketa; these canoes had put in only for an intermediate\nhalt. Nevertheless, it was a great event, especially as the canoes\nof Nabwageta were going to join with the fleet later on. Out of the\nsixty or so Dobuan canoes, only about twenty-five with some 250 men in\nthem had come to Nabwageta, the others having gone to the big village\nof Gumasila. In any case, there were about five times as many men\ngathered in the village as one usually sees. There was no Kula done\nat all, no conch-shells were blown on the shore, nor do I think were\nany presents given or received by either party. The men sat in groups\nround their friends' houses, the most distinguished visitors collected\nabout the dwelling of Tobwa'ina, the main headman of Nabwageta.\n\nMany canoes were anchored along the coast beyond the village beach,\nsome tucked away into small coves, others moored in sheltered\nshallows. The men sat on the shore round fires, preparing their food,\nwhich they took out of the provisions carried on the canoes. Only the\nwater did they obtain from the island, filling their coco-nut-made\nwater vessels from the springs. About a dozen canoes were actually\nmoored at the village beach. Late at night, I walked along the shore\nto observe their sleeping arrangements. In the clear, moonlit night,\nthe small fires burnt with a red, subdued glow; there was always one\nof them between each two sleepers, consisting of three burning sticks,\ngradually pushed in as they were consumed. The men slept with the big,\nstiff pandanus mats over them; each mat is folded in the middle, and\nwhen put on the ground, forms a kind of miniature prismatic tent. All\nalong the beach, it was almost a continuous row of man alternating with\nfire, the dun-coloured mats being nearly invisible against the sand in\nthe full moonlight. It must have been a very light sleep for every now\nand then, a man stirred, peeping up from under his shell, re-adjusting\nthe fire, and casting a searching glance over the surroundings. It\nwould be difficult to say whether mosquitoes or cold wind or fear of\nsorcery disturbed their sleep most, but I should say the last.\n\nThe next morning, early, and without any warning, the whole fleet\nsailed away. At about 8 o'clock the last canoe punted towards the\noffing, where they stepped their mast and hoisted their sail. There\nwere no farewell gifts, no conch shell blowing, and the Dobuans this\ntime left their resting place as they had come, without ceremony or\ndisplay. The morning after, the Nabwagetans followed them. I was left\nin the village with a few cripples, the women and one or two men who\nhad remained perhaps to look after the village, perhaps specially to\nkeep watch over me and see that I did no mischief. Not one of them was\na good informant. Through a mistake of mine, I had missed the cutter\nwhich had come two days before to the island of Gumasila and left\nwithout me. With bad luck and bad weather, I might have had to wait\na few weeks, if not months in Nabwageta. I could perhaps have sailed\nin a native canoe, but this could only be done without bedding, tent,\nor even writing outfit and photographic apparatus, and so my travelling\nwould have been quite useless. It was a piece of great good luck that\na day or two afterwards, a motor launch, whose owner had heard about\nmy staying in the Amphletts, anchored in front of Nabwageta village,\nand within an hour I was speeding towards the Trobriands again,\nfollowing the tracks of the Kula fleet.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nOn the next morning, as we slowly made our way along the channels\nin the opalescent, green lagoon, and as I watched a fleet of small,\nlocal canoes fishing in their muddy waters, and could recognise on\nthe surrounding flat shores a dozen well-known villages, my spirits\nrose, and I felt well pleased to have left the picturesque, but\nethnographically barren Amphletts for the Trobriands, with their\nscores of excellent informants.\n\nMoreover, the Amphletts, in the persons of their male inhabitants\nwere soon to join me here. I went ashore in Sinaketa, where everybody\nwas full of the great moment which was soon to arrive. For the Dobuan\nfleet was known to be coming, though on that morning, so far, no news\nhad reached them of its whereabouts. As a matter of fact, the Dobuans,\nwho had left Nabwageta forty-eight hours ahead of me, had made a slow\njourney with light winds, and sailing a course to the East of mine,\nhad arrived that morning only in Vakuta.\n\nAll the rumours which had been reported to me in the Amphletts about\nthe previous movements of the Trobriand natives had been correct. Thus\nthe natives of Vakuta had really been to the East, to Kitava, and\nhad brought with them a big haul of armshells. To'uluwa, the chief of\nKiriwina, had visited Kitava later, and about five or six days before\nhad returned from there, bringing with him 213 pairs of armshells. The\nSinaketans then had gone to Kiriwina, and out of the 213 pairs had\nsucceeded in securing 154. As there had been previously 150 pairs\nin Sinaketa, a total of 304 was awaiting the Dobuans. On the morning\nof my arrival, the Sinaketan party had just returned from Kiriwina,\nhurrying home so as to have everything ready for the reception of the\nDobuans. Of these, we got the news that very afternoon--news which\ntravelled overland from one village to another, and reached us from\nVakuta with great rapidity. We were also told that the uvalaku fleet\nwould be at Sinaketa within two or three days.\n\nThis period I utilised in refurbishing my information about that phase\nof the Kula, which I was going to witness, and trying to get a clear\noutline of every detail of all that was going soon to happen. It is\nextremely important in sociological work to know well beforehand\nthe underlying rules and the fundamental ideas of an occurrence,\nespecially if big masses of natives are concerned in it. Otherwise,\nthe really important events may be obliterated by quite irrelevant and\naccidental movements of the crowd, and thus the significance of what\nhe sees may be lost to the observer. No doubt if one could repeat\none's observations on the same phenomenon over and over again, the\nessential and relevant features would stand out by their regularity\nand permanence. If, however, as it often happens in ethnographic\nfield-work, one gets the opportunity only once of witnessing a\npublic ceremony, it is necessary to have its anatomy well dissected\nbeforehand, and then concentrate upon observing how these outlines are\nfollowed up concretely, gauge the tone of the general behaviour, the\ntouches of emotion or passion, many small yet significant details which\nnothing but actual observation can reveal, and which throw much light\nupon the real, inner relation of the native to his institution. So I\nwas busy going over my old entries and checking them and putting my\nmaterial into shape in a detailed and concrete manner.\n\nOn the third day, as I was sitting and taking notes in the afternoon,\nword ran all round the villages that the Dobuan canoes had been\nsighted. And indeed, as I hastened towards the shore, there could be\nseen, far away, like small petals floating on the horizon, the sails\nof the advancing fleet. I jumped at once into a canoe, and was punted\nalong towards the promontory of Kaykuyawa, about a mile to the South of\nSinaketa. There, one after the other, the Dobuan canoes were arriving,\ndropping their sails and undoing the mast as they moored, until the\nwhole fleet, numbering now over eighty canoes, were assembled before\nme (see Plate XLVIII). From each a few men waded ashore, returning\nwith big bunches of leaves. I saw them wash and smear themselves and\nperform the successive stages of native, festive adornment (see Plate\nXLIX). Each article was medicated by some man or another in the canoe\nbefore it was used or put on. The most carefully handled articles\nof ornamentation were the ineffective looking, dried up herbs, taken\nout of their little receptacles, where they had remained since they\nhad been becharmed in Dobu, and now stuck into the armlets. The whole\nthing went on quickly, almost feverishly, making more the impression\nof a piece of technical business being expeditiously performed, than\nof a solemn and elaborate ceremony taking place. But the ceremonial\nelement was soon to show itself.\n\nAfter the preparations were finished, the whole fleet formed itself\ninto a compact body, not quite regular, but with a certain order, about\nfour or five canoes being in a row, and one row behind the other. In\nthis formation they punted along over the Lagoon, too shallow for\npaddling, towards the beach of Sinaketa. When they were within about\nten minutes of the shore, all the conch shells began to be sounded,\nand the murmur of recited magic rose from the canoes. I could not come\nsufficiently near the canoes, for reason of etiquette, to be able to\nsee the exact arrangement of the reciters, but I was told that it was\nthe same as that observed by the Trobrianders on their approach to\nDobu, described in Chapter XIII. The general effect was powerful, when\nthis wonderfully painted and fully decorated fleet was gliding swiftly\nover the green waters of the Lagoon towards the palm grove above the\nsand beach, at that moment thick with expectant natives. But I imagine\nthat the arrival of a Trobriand fleet in Dobu must be considerably\nmore effective even than that. The much more picturesque landscape,\nthe ceremonial paddling with the leaf-shaped oars over the deep water,\nthe higher sense of danger and tension, than that which the Dobuans\nfeel, when coming to visit the meek Trobrianders, all this must make it\neven more dramatic and impressive than the scene I have just described.\n\nWithin some twenty metres from the shore, the canoes formed themselves\ninto a double row, the canoe of the toli'uvalaku on the left flank of\nthe first row. Kauyaporu, as soon as all the craft were in position,\nrose in his canoe, and in a loud voice, addressed in Dobuan those\nstanding on the shore. His words, preserved in the memory of his\nhearers, were transmitted to me that same evening in their Kiriwinian\nequivalent. He spoke:\n\n\n    \"Who will be first in the Kula? The people of Vakuta or\n    yourselves? I deem you will have the lead! Bring armshells,\n    one basketful, two baskets; catch pigs; pluck coco-nuts; pluck\n    betel-nut! For this is my uvalaku. By and by, thou, Kouta'uya, wilt\n    make an uvalaku, and we shall give thee then plenty of vaygu'a!\"\n\n\nSo spoke Kauyaporu, addressing his main partner, Kouta'uya, the second\nchief of Sinaketa. He did not address To'udawada, the most important\nchief, because he was not his main partner.\n\nAs soon as the speech was finished, Kouta'uya waded through the water\nfrom the beach, carrying a pair of armshells in each hand. Behind him\ncame a small boy, the youngest son, blowing a conch shell. He was\nfollowed again by two men, who between them had a stick resting on\ntheir shoulders, on which several pairs of mwali (armshells) were\ndisplayed. This procession waded towards the canoe of Kauyaporu,\nwhom Kouta'uya addressed in these words, throwing the armshells on\nthe platform of the canoe:\n\n\n    \"This is a vaga (opening gift)! In due time, I shall make a\n    uvalaku to Dobu; thou shalt return to me a big soulava (necklace)\n    as kudu (equivalent gift) for this. Plenty more armshells thou\n    wilt receive now. There are plenty of armshells in Sinaketa. We\n    know there were plenty of armshells in Vakuta. By and by thou\n    and thy usagelu come ashore, I shall catch a pig. I shall give\n    you plenty of food, coco-nuts, betel-nut, sugar cane, bananas!\"\n\n\nAs soon as he was back on the shore, his wife, the eldest one, with\na peta basket on her head, containing a pair of armshells, went\ninto the water and carried it to Kauyaporu's canoe, the boy with\nthe conch shell following her also. After that, conch shells were\nblown on all sides on the shore, and single men or groups detached\nthemselves from the rest, and waded towards the canoes. The mwali\nwere carried with ceremony on sticks or in outstretched arm. But\nthe grossly exaggerated way of putting one pair of armshells into\na basket which was big enough to hold some four score, was only\ndone by the chief's wife. All this lasted for perhaps half-an-hour,\nwhile the setting sun poured down its glowing light on the painted\ncanoes, the yellow beach, and the lively bronze forms moving upon\nit. Then, in a few moments, the Dobuan canoes were partly beached,\npartly moored, whilst their crews spread over the seven villages of\nSinaketa. Large groups could be seen sitting on platforms chewing\nbetel-nut and conversing in Dobuan with their hosts (see Plate LVI).\n\nFor three days, the Dobuans remained in Sinaketa. Every now and then,\nblasts of conch shell announced that a Kula transaction had taken\nplace, that is, that a pair of armshells had been handed over to\none of the visitors. Swarms of people from the other districts had\nassembled in Sinaketa; every day, natives from the inland villages of\nSouthern Boyowa crowded into their capital, whilst people from Kuboma,\nLuba, and Kiriwina, that is, the Central and Northern districts,\nwere camping in their relatives' houses, in yam stores and under\nprovisional shelters. Reckoning that the number of the visitors,\nthat is, the Dobuans, the Amphlettans and the Vakutans, who had joined\nthem on their way, amounted to some eight hundred; that the Sinaketans\nnumbered about five hundred people, and that some twelve hundred had\ncome from the other villages, it will be seen that the crowd in and\nabout Sinaketa was considerable, numbering over two thousand.\n\nThe Trobriand natives, of course, looked after their own\nprovisions. The Dobuans had also brought a considerable amount of food\nwith them, and would receive some additional vegetables and pigs'\nflesh from their hosts, while they acquired fish from some of the\nother villages of Boyowa. As a matter of fact, stingaree, shark and\nsome other fish are the only articles for which the Dobuans barter\non their own account. The rest of the trade, in the same way as is\ndone in Dobu by the Sinaketans, must be done with the community who\nreceive visitors, that is, with Sinaketa. The Sinaketans buy from the\nmanufacturing districts of Boyowa the same industrial products that\nthey take with them to Dobu, that is baskets, lime pots, lime spatul\u00e6,\netc. Then they sell these to the Dobuans in just the same manner and\nwith the same profit as was described in Chapter XV. As has been said\nthere also, a man of Sinaketa would never trade with his partner,\nbut with some other Dobuan. Between the partners, only presents\nare exchanged. The gift offered by the Dobuans to the Sinaketans is\ncalled vata'i, and it differs only in name and not in its economic\nor sociological nature from the pari gift offered by the Boyowans to\ntheir overseas partners. The talo'i, or farewell gift offered to them\nis as a rule more substantial than the vata'i.\n\nThe Dobuans, during their stay in Sinaketa, lived on the beach or\nin their canoes (see Plates LIV and XX). Skilfully rigged up with\ncanopies of golden mats covering parts of the craft, their painted\nhulls glowing in the sun against the green water, some of the canoes\npresented the spectacle of some gorgeously fantastic pleasure boat\n(see Plate LV). The natives waded about amongst them, making the\nLagoon lively with movement, talk and laughter. Groups camped on the\nsea shore, boiling food in the large clay pots, smoking and chewing\nbetel-nut. Big parties of Trobrianders walked among them, discreetly\nbut curiously watching them. Women were not very conspicuous in\nthe whole proceedings, nor did I hear any scandal about intrigues,\nalthough such may have taken place.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nOn the fourth day, conch shells were blown again in the morning, though\non the last of the three days their sounds had almost died out. These\nwere the signs of the departure. Food and small presents were brought\nto the canoes as talo'i, and a few mwali were given at the last, for\nwhich the conch shells were blown. Without any ceremony or farewell\nspeeches, the Dobuan canoes sailed away, one after the other.\n\nTheir journey home was also interrupted by a customary halt for\nfishing, but this time for fish, not shell. Some of them stop on\nthe beach of Muwa, but the bulk camp on a beach called Susuwa, half\nway between Sinaketa and Vakuta, where they catch the fish by means\nof a poisonous root, which they have brought for this purpose from\nhome. This time, they remained three days in Susuwa and Muwa, and\nthen sailed to Vakuta to receive there talo'i. Their further journey\nI could not trace step by step, but afterwards I heard that quickly,\nand without any accident, they had reached their homes.\n\nTheir tanarere on Sarubwoyna beach--that is, the competitive display\nof the yield--gave more or less the following results:\n\nFrom Sinaketa they received 304 armshells.\n\nFrom Vakuta they received 344 armshells.\n\nThe total therefore was 648. As there were about sixty canoes making\nthe proper uvalaku from Dobu, that is, not counting those from the\nAmphletts and Vakuta which joined on the way and appeared before\nSinaketa, there were at the outside some five hundred Dobuan natives\non that expedition. Out of these, however, not more than half were\ngrown-up, Kula making men. So that, on the average, there were nearly\nthirteen armshells for every five men. Some would not get more than\none pair, some perhaps even none, whilst the headmen received large\nquantities.\n\nWe shall follow in a later chapter the movements of some at least\nof those who had collected in Sinaketa from the other districts, in\nconnection with the Kula. It did not take them more than a few days\nto disperse completely, and for the village to resume its ordinary\naspect and routine.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\nMAGIC AND THE KULA\n\n\nI\n\nIn treating of the various customs and practices of the Kula, I had\nat every step to enter into the description of magical rites and into\nthe analysis of spells. This had to be done, first of all, because\nmagic looms paramount in the natives' view of the Kula. Again, all\nmagical formul\u00e6 disclose essentials of belief and illustrate typical\nideas in a manner so thorough and telling that no other road could\nlead us as straight into the inner mind of the native. Finally, there\nis a direct, ethnographic interest in knowing the details of magical\nperformance, which has such an overweening influence over tribal life,\nand enters so deeply into the make-up of the natives' mentality.\n\nIt is now necessary to complete our knowledge of magic and to focus\nall the dispersed data into one coherent picture. So far, the many\nscattered references and numerous concrete details have not furnished\na general idea, of what magic means to the natives; how they imagine\nthe working of the magical forces; what are their implied and expressed\nviews on the nature of magical power. Collecting all the material which\nhas already been presented in the previous chapters, and supplementing\nit with native and ethnographic comments, we shall be able to arrive\nat a certain synthesis, respecting the Kiriwinian theory of magic.\n\nAll the data which have been so far mustered disclose the extreme\nimportance of magic in the Kula. But if it were a question of treating\nof any other aspect of the tribal life of these natives, it would also\nbe found that, whenever they approach any concern of vital importance,\nthey summon magic to their aid. It can be said without exaggeration\nthat magic, according to their ideas, governs human destinies; that\nit supplies man with the power of mastering the forces of nature; and\nthat it is his weapon and armour against the many dangers which crowd\nin upon him on every side. Thus, in what is most essential to man,\nthat is in his health and bodily welfare, he is but a plaything of the\npowers of sorcery, of evil spirits and of certain beings, controlled\nby black magic. Death in almost all its forms is the result of one of\nthese agencies. Permanent ill-health and all kinds of acute sickness,\nin fact everything, except such easily explainable ailments as physical\noverstrain or slight colds, are attributed to magic. I have spoken\n(Chapter II) of the several ways in which the evil powers bring\ndisease and death. The tauva'u, who bring epidemics and the tokway,\nwho inflict shooting pains and minor ailments, are the only examples\nof non-human beings' exerting any direct influence on human destinies,\nand even the members of this restricted pantheon of demonology only\noccasionally descend among the mortals to put into action their\npotential powers. By far the deepest dread and most constant concern\nof the natives are with the bwaga'u, the entirely human sorcerers, who\ncarry out their work exclusively by means of magic. Second to them in\nthe quantity of magical output and in the frequency of their exploits,\nare the mulukwausi, the flying witches, which have been described in\ndetail in Chapter XI. They are a good example of how every belief in\na superior power is at the bottom a belief in magic. Magic gives to\nthese beings the capacity to destroy human life and to command other\nagents of destruction. Magic also gives man the power and the means to\ndefend himself, and if properly applied, to frustrate all the nefarious\nattempts of the mulukwausi. Comparing the two agencies, it may be said\nthat in every-day life, the sorcerer is by far the most feared and is\nmost frequently believed to be at work; while the mulukwausi enter\nupon the scene at certain dramatic moments, such as the presence of\ndeath, a catastrophe on land, and more especially at sea; but then,\nthey enter with even deadlier weapons than the bwaga'u. Health,\nthe normal state of human beings can, if once lost, be regained by\nmagic and by magic only. There is no such thing as natural recovery,\nreturn to health being always due to the removal of the evil magic\nby means of magical counter-action.\n\nAll those crises of life, which are associated with fear of danger,\nwith the awakening of passions or of strong emotions, have also their\nmagical accompaniment. The birth of a child is always ushered in\nby magic, in order to make the child prosper, and to neutralise the\ndangers and evil influences. There is no rite or magic at puberty;\nbut then, with this people, puberty does not present any very definite\ncrisis in the life of the individual, as their sexual life starts\nlong before puberty arrives, and gradually shapes and develops\nas the organism matures. The passion of love, however, has a very\nelaborate magical counterpart, embodied in many rites and formul\u00e6,\nto which a great importance is attached, and all success in sexual\nlife is ascribed to it. The evil results of illicit love--that is love\nwithin the clan, which, by the way, is considered by these natives\nas the main class of sexual immorality--can also be counteracted by\na special type of magic.\n\nThe main social interests, ambition in gardening, ambition in\nsuccessful Kula, vanity and display of personal charms in dancing--all\nfind their expression in magic. There is a form of beauty magic,\nperformed ceremonially over the dancers, and there is also a kind of\nsafety magic at dances, whose object is to prevent the evil magic of\nenvious sorcerers. Particular garden magic, performed by an individual\nover his crops and seeds, as well as the evil magic which he casts on\nthe gardens of his rivals, express the private ambitions in gardening,\nas contrasted with the interests of the whole village, which are\ncatered for by communal garden magic.\n\nNatural forces of great importance to man, such as rain and sunshine,\nthe appropriate alternative operation of which makes his crops thrive;\nor wind, which must be controlled for purposes of sailing and fishing,\nare also governed by magic. The magic of rain and sunshine can be used\nfor good, as well as for nefarious purposes, and in this they have a\nspecial interest in the Trobriands, because the most powerful system\nof this magic is in the hands of the paramount chiefs of Kiriwina. By\nbringing about a prolonged drought, the chiefs of Omarakana have\nalways been able to express their general displeasure with their\nsubjects, and thus enhance their wholesale power, independently of\nany other mechanism, which they might have used for forcing their\nwill on private individuals or on whole communities.\n\nThe basic, food-providing economic activities, which in the Trobriands\nare mainly gardening and fishing, are also completely magic-ridden. The\nsuccess of these pursuits is of course largely due to luck, chance or\naccident, and to the natives they require supernatural assistance. We\nhad examples of economic magic in describing the construction of a\ncanoe, and the fishing for kaloma shell. The communal garden-magic\nand the fishing magic of certain village communities show to a higher\ndegree even than the cases described, the feature which we found so\ndistinct in canoe magic, namely: that the rites and formul\u00e6 are not\na mere appendage, running side by side with economic efforts, without\nexercising any influence over these. On the contrary, it may be said\nthat a belief in magic is one of the main, psychological forces which\nallow for organisation and systemisation of economic effort in the\nTrobriands. [80] The capacity for art, as well as the inspiration in\nit, is also ascribed to the influence of magic.\n\nThe passions of hatred, envy, and jealousy, besides finding their\nexpression in the all powerful sorcery of the bwaga'u and mulukwausi,\nare also responsible for many forms of witchery, known by the generic\nterm of bulubwalata. The classical forms of this magic have as their\nobject the estrangement of the affections of a wife or a sweetheart,\nor the destruction of the domestic attachment of a pig. The pig is\nsent away into the bush, having been made to take a dislike to its\nmaster and to its domestic habits; the wife, though the spells used\nto estrange her are slightly different, can be made also to take a\ndislike to her domestic life, abandon her husband and return to her\nparents. There is a bulubwalata of gardens, of canoes, of Kula, of\nkaloma, in fact of everything, and a good deal of beneficial magic\nis taken up with exorcising the results of bulubwalata.\n\nThe list of magic is not quite exhausted yet. There is the magic\nof conditional curses, performed in order to guard property from\npossible harm, inflicted by others; there is war-magic; there is\nmagic associated with taboos put on coco-nuts and betel-nuts, in order\nto make them grow and multiply; there is magic to avert thunder and\nresuscitate people who are struck by lightning; there is the magic\nof tooth-ache, and a magic to make food last a long time.\n\nAll this shows the wide diffusion of magic, its extreme importance and\nalso the fact that it is always strongest there, where vital interests\nare concerned; where violent passions or emotions are awakened; when\nmysterious forces are opposed to man's endeavours; and when he has\nto recognise that there is something which eludes his most careful\ncalculations, his most conscientious preparations and efforts.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nLet us now proceed to formulate some short statement of the essential\nconception of magic, as it is entertained by the natives. All statement\nof belief, found among human beings so widely different from us, is\nfull of difficulties and pitfalls, which perhaps beset us most there,\nwhere we try to arrive at the very foundation of the belief--that is,\nat the most general ideas which underlie a series of practices and a\nbody of traditions. In dealing with a native community at the stage\nof development which we find in the Trobriands, we cannot expect to\nobtain a definite, precise and abstract statement from a philosopher,\nbelonging to the community itself. The native takes his fundamental\nassumptions for granted, and if he reasons or inquires into matters\nof belief, it would be always only as regards details and concrete\napplications. Any attempts on the part of the Ethnographer to induce\nhis informant to formulate such a general statement would have to\nbe in the form of leading questions of the worst type because in\nthese leading questions he would have to introduce words and concepts\nessentially foreign to the native. Once the informant grasped their\nmeaning, his outlook would be warped by our own ideas having been\npoured into it. Thus the Ethnographer must draw the generalisation\nfor himself, must formulate the abstract statement without the direct\nhelp of a native informant.\n\nI am saying direct help because the generalisation must be entirely\nbased on indirect data supplied by the natives. In the course of\ncollecting information, of discussing formul\u00e6 and translating their\ntext, a considerable number of opinions on matters of detail will be\nset forth by the natives. Such spontaneous opinions, if placed in a\ncorrectly constructed mosaic, might almost of themselves give us a\ntrue picture, might almost cover the whole field of native belief. And\nthen our task would only be to summarise this picture in an abstract\nformula.\n\nThe Ethnographer, however, possesses an even better supply of evidence\nfrom which to draw his conclusions. The objective items of culture,\ninto which belief has crystallised in the form of tradition, myth,\nspell and rite are the most important source of knowledge. In them,\nwe can face the same realities of belief as the native faces in his\nintimate intercourse with the magical, the same realities which\nhe not only professes with his tongue, but lives through partly\nin imagination and partly in actual experience. An analysis of the\ncontents of the spells, the study of the manner in which they are\nuttered; in which the concomitant rites are performed; the study of\nthe natives' behaviour, of the actors as well as of the spectators;\nthe knowledge of the social position and social functions, of the\nmagical expert--all this reveals to us, not only the bare structure of\ntheir ideas on magic, but also the associated sentiments and emotions,\nand the nature of magic as a social force.\n\nAn Ethnographer who, from the study of such objective data, has\nbeen able to penetrate into the natives' attitude, to formulate a\ngeneral theory of magic, can then test his conclusions by direct\nquestionings. For he will be already in a position to use native\nterminology and to move along the lines of native thought, and\nin his questionings he will be able to accept the lead of his\ninformant instead of misleading the latter and himself by leading\nquestions. More especially in obtaining opinions of actual occurrences\nfrom the natives, he will not have to move in abstract generalities,\nbut will be able to translate them into concrete applications and\ninto the native modes of thought.\n\nIn arriving at such general conclusions about vast aspects of primitive\nhuman thought and custom, the Ethnographer's is a creative work,\nin so far as he brings to light phenomena of human nature which,\nin their entirety, had remained hidden even from those in whom they\nhappened. It is creative in the same sense as is the construction of\ngeneral principles of natural science, where objective laws of very\nwide application lie hidden till brought forth by the investigating\nhuman mind. In the same sense, however, as the principles of natural\nscience are empirical, so are also the final generalisations of\nethnographic sociology because, though expressly stated for the first\ntime by the investigator, they are none the less objective realities\nof human thinking, feeling and behaviour.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nWe can start from the question of how the natives imagine their\nmagic to have originated. If we would ask even the most intelligent\ninformant some such concretely framed questions as: \"Where has your\nmagic been made? How do you imagine its invention?\"--they would\nnecessarily remain unanswered. Not even a warped and half-suggested\nreply would be forthcoming. Yet there is an answer to this question,\nor rather to its generalised equivalent. Examining the mythology of\none form of magic after the other, we find that there are in every\none either explicitly stated or implied views about how magic has\nbecome known to man. As we register these views, compare them, and\narrive at a generalisation, we easily see, why our imaginary question,\nput to the natives, would have to remain unanswered. For, according to\nnative belief, embedded in all traditions and all institutions, magic\nis never conceived as having been made or invented. Magic has been\nhanded on as a thing which has always been there. It is conceived as an\nintrinsic ingredient of everything that vitally affects man. The words,\nby which a magician exercises his power over a thing or a process,\nare believed to be co-existent with them. The magical formula and\nits subject matter were born together.\n\nIn some cases, tradition represents them literally as being 'born'\nby the same woman. Thus, rain was brought forth by a woman of\nKasana'i, and the magic came with it, and has been handed on ever\nsince in this woman's sub-clan. Again, the mythical mother of the\nKultur-hero Tudava gave birth, among other plants and animals, also\nto the kalala fish. The magic of this fish is also due to her. In\nthe short myth about the origin of kayga'u magic--the one to protect\ndrowning sailors from witches and other dangers--we saw that the\nmother, who gave birth to the Tokulubweydoga dog, also handed the\nmagic over to him. In all these cases, however, the myth does not\npoint to these women's inventing or composing the magic; indeed, it\nis explicitly stated by some natives that the women had learned the\nmagic from their matrilineal ancestors. In the last case, the woman\nis said in the myth to have known the magic by tradition.\n\nOther myths are more rudimentary, yet, though less circumstantial\nabout the origin of the magic, show us just as unmistakably that\nmagic is a primeval thing, indeed, in the literal sense of the word,\nautochthonous. Thus, the Kula magic in Gumasila came out of the rock\nof Selawaya; the canoe magic out of the hole in the ground, brought\nby the men, who originally emerged with it; garden magic is always\nconceived as being carried from underground by the first ancestors,\nwho emerged out of the original hole of that locality. Several minor\nforms of magic of local currency, such as fish magic, practised\nin one village only, wind magic, etc., are also imagined to have\nbeen carried out of the ground. All the forms of sorcery have been\nhanded over to people by non-human beings, who passed them on but\ndid not create them. The bwaga'u sorcery is due to a crab, who gave\nit to a mythical personage, in whose dala (sub-clan) the magic was\ncarried on and from it distributed all over the islands. The tokway\n(wood-sprites) have taught man certain forms of evil magic. There are\nno myths in Kiriwina about the origin of flying witch magic. From other\ndistricts, however, I have obtained rudimentary information pointing\nto the fact that they were instructed in this magic by a mythical,\nmalevolent being called Taukuripokapoka, with whom even now some sort\nof relations are kept up, culminating in nocturnal meetings and sexual\norgies which remind one very strongly of the Walpurgisnacht.\n\nLove magic, the magic of thunder and lightning, are accounted for by\ndefinite events. But in neither of them are we led to imagine that the\nformula is invented, in fact, there is a sort of petitio principii in\nall these myths, for on the one hand they set out to account for how\nmagic came, and on the other, in all of them magic is represented as\nbeing there, ready made. But the petitio principii is due only to a\nfalse attitude of mind with which we approach these tales. Because,\nto the native mind, they set out to tell, not how magic originated,\nbut how magic was brought within the reach of one or other of the\nBoyowan local groups or sub-clans.\n\nThus it may be said, in formulating a generalisation from all these\ndata, that magic is never invented. In olden days, when mythical\nthings happened, magic came from underground, or was given to a\nman by some non-human being, or was handed on to descendants by the\noriginal ancestress, who also brought forth the phenomenon governed by\nthe magic. In actual cases of the present times and of the near-past\ngenerations whom the natives of to-day knew personally, the magic is\ngiven by one man to another, as a rule by the father to his son or by\nthe maternal kinsman. But its very essence is the impossibility of\nits being manufactured or invented by man, its complete resistance\nto any change or modification by him. It has existed ever since the\nbeginning of things; it creates, but is never created; it modifies,\nbut must never be modified.\n\nIt is now easy to see that no questions about the origins of magic,\nsuch as we formulated before, could have been asked of a native\ninformant without distorting the evidence in the very act of\nquestioning, while more general and quite abstract and colourless\ninquiries cannot be made intelligible to him. He has grown up into a\nworld where certain processes, certain activities have their magic,\nwhich is as much an attribute of theirs' as anything else. Some\npeople have been traditionally instructed how this magic runs, and\nthey know it; how men came by magic is told in numerous mythical\nnarratives. That is the correct statement of the native point of\nview. Once arrived at this conclusion inductively, we can of course,\ntest our conclusions by direct questions, or by a leading question,\nfor the matter of that. To the question: \"where human beings found\nmagic?\" I obtained the following answer:--\n\n\n    \"All magic, they found long ago in the nether world. We do not\n    find ever a spell in a dream; should we say so, this would be a\n    lie. The spirits never give us a spell. Songs and dances they do\n    give us, that is true, but no magic.\"\n\n\nThis statement, expressing the belief in a very clear and direct\nmanner, I had confirmed, reiterated with variations and amplifications,\nby ever so many informants. They all emphasise the fact that magic\nhas its roots in tradition, that it is the most immutable and most\nvaluable traditional item, that it cannot leak into human knowledge\nby any present human intercourse with spirits or with any non-human\nbeings such as the tokway or tauva'u. The property of having been\nreceived from previous generations is so marked that any breach of\ncontinuity in this succession cannot be imagined, and any addition\nby an actual human being would make the magic spurious.\n\nAt the same time, magic is conceived as something essentially human. It\nis not a force of nature, captured by man through some means and put\nto his service; it is essentially the assertion of man's intrinsic\npower over nature. In saying that, I, of course translate native\nbelief into abstract terms, which they would not use themselves for\nits expression. None the less it is embodied in all their items of\nfolk-lore and ways of using magic and thinking about it. In all the\ntraditions, we find that magic is always in possession of man, or at\nleast of anthropomorphic beings. It is carried out from underground\nby man. It is not conceived as having been there somewhere outside\nhis knowledge and then captured. On the contrary, as we saw, often\nthe very things which are governed by magic have been brought forth\nby man, as for instance rain, the kalala fish; or disease, created\nby the anthropomorphic crab.\n\nThe close sociological association of magic with a given sub-clan\nemphasises this anthropocentric conception of magic. In the majority\nof cases indeed, magic refers to human activities or to the response of\nnature to human activities, rather than to natural forces alone. Thus,\nin gardening and in fishing, it is the behaviour of plants and animals\ntended or pursued by man; in the canoe magic, in the carver's magic,\nthe object is a human-made thing; in the Kula, in love magic, in\nmany forms of food magic, it is human nature on to which the force\nis directed. Disease is not conceived as an extraneous force, coming\nfrom outside and settling on the man, it is directly a man-made,\nsorcerer-made something. We may, therefore, amplify the above given\ndefinition, and say that magic is a traditionally handed on power of\nman over his own creations, over things once brought forth by man,\nor over responses of nature to his activities.\n\nThere is one more important aspect of the question of which I have\nspoken already--the relation of magic to myth. It has been stated\nin Chapter XII, that myth moves in the realm of the supernatural, or\nbetter, super-normal, and that magic bridges over the gap between that\nand present-day reality. Now this statement acquires a new importance;\nmagic appears to us as the essence of traditional continuity with\nancestral times. Not only, as I have emphasised in this chapter,\nis it never conceived as a new invention, but it is identical in\nits nature with the supernatural power which forms the atmosphere\nof mythical events. Some of this power may have been lost on its\nway down to our times--mythical stories relate how it has been lost;\nbut never has anything been added to it. There is nothing in it now\nwhich has not been in it in the ancient, hoary times of myth. In\nthis the natives have a definitely regressive view of the relation\nbetween now and before; in this they have their counterpart to a\nGolden Age, and to a Garden of Eden of sorts. Thus we fall back upon\nthe recognition of the same truth, whether we approach the matter by\nlooking for beginnings of magic, or by studying the relations between\nthe present and the mythical reality. Magic is a thing never invented\nand never tampered with, by man or any other agency.\n\nThis, of course, means that it is so in native belief. It hardly needs\nexplicitly stating that in reality magic must constantly change. The\nmemory of men is not such, that it could hand over verbally exactly\nwhat it had received, and, like any other item of traditional lore, a\nmagical formula is in reality constantly being re-shaped as it passes\nfrom one generation to another, and even within the mind of the same\nman. As a matter of fact, even from the material collected by me in\nthe Trobriands, it can be unmistakably recognised that certain formul\u00e6\nare much older than others, and indeed, that some parts of spells,\nand even some whole spells, are of recent invention. Here I cannot\ndo more than refer to this interesting subject, which, for its full\ndevelopment, needs a good deal of linguistic analysis, as well as of\nother forms of \"higher criticism.\"\n\nAll these considerations have brought us very near to the essential\nproblem: what does magic really mean to the natives? So far, we have\nseen that it is an inherent power of man over those things which\nvitally affect him, a power always handed over through tradition. [81]\nAbout the beginnings of magic they know as little, and are occupied\nas little as about the beginnings of the world. Their myths describe\nthe origin of social institutions and the peopling of the world by\nmen. But the world is taken for granted, and so is the magic. They\nask no questions about magiogony any more than they do about cosmogony.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nSo far we have not gone beyond the examination of myths and of what\nwe can learn from them about the nature of magic. To gain a deeper\ninsight into this subject, we must study more closely the concrete\ndata about magical performance. Even in the foregoing chapters a\nsufficient material has been collected to allow of correct inferences,\nand I shall only here and there have to allude to other forms of magic,\nbesides that of canoe, Kula and sailing.\n\nI have spoken so far about \"magic\" in a wholesale manner, as if it\nwere all of one piece. As a matter of fact, magic all the world over,\nhowever rudimentary or developed it might be, presents three essential\naspects. In its performance there enter always some words spoken or\nchanted, some actions carried out, and there are always the minister\nor ministers of the ceremony. In analysing the concrete details of\nmagical performances, therefore, we have to distinguish the formula,\nthe rite, and the condition of the performer.\n\nThese three factors stand out quite clearly and definitely in the\nTrobriand magic, whether we examine the facts themselves or the\nnatives' way of looking at them. It may be said at once that in\nthis society the relative importance of the three factors is not\nquite the same. The spell is by far the most important constituent\nof magic. In their linguistic use, although these natives have a\nspecial word, yopa, they very often use the word magic, megwa, to\ndescribe a spell. The spell is the part of the magic which is kept\nsecret and known only to the esoteric circle of practitioners. When\na magic is handed over, whether by purchase, gift, or inheritance,\nonly the spell has to be taught to the new recipient, and as already\nonce said before, it is usually taught in instalments, while the\npayment is received in that manner. When one speaks about magical\nknowledge, or in inquiries whether an individual knows some magic,\nthis invariably refers to the formula, for the nature of the rite\nis always quite public property. Even from the examples given in\nthis book, it can be seen how simple are the rites and how elaborate\noften the formul\u00e6. To direct questions on the subject, the natives\nalways reply that the spell is the more important part. The question:\n\"where is the real strength of magic?\" would receive the reply:\n\"in the spell.\" The condition of the magician is, like the rite,\nessential to the performance of the magic, but it also is considered\nby the natives as subservient to the spell.\n\nAll this must be made clearer by the examination of actual facts. First\nof all, let us examine the relation between spell and rite; and to\nthis purpose it will be best to group the various magical performances\ninto several classes according to the complexity of the concomitant\nrite. We shall begin with the simplest rites.\n\nSpells uttered directly without concomitant rite.--We had one or two\nexamples of such magic where the performer simply utters a formula\ndirectly into space. For example, the communal magician of the kaloma\n(spondylus shell) fishing performs the first act by walking on the\nbeach and reciting his spell towards the sea. In the moment of actual\nshipwreck, before abandoning the canoe, the toliwaga launches his\nlast kayga'u directly into the elements. Again, he lets his voice\nfloat over the waters, when invoking the marvellous fish, who will\nbring the drowning party to some friendly shore. The final spell\nof the Kula, by which the approaching canoe 'shakes the mountain,'\nchanted by a trio of magical reciters, is thrown directly towards\nthe Koya. The clearing of the sea in the kaloma fishing is also done\nthis way, and many more examples could be adduced from garden magic,\nwind magic, and other classes not described in this book.\n\nThe natives have a special expression for such acts; they say that\nthe formula is recited 'by the mouth only,' 'o wadola wala.' This\nform of magic with such a rudimentary rite is, however, relatively\nuncommon. Although one could say that there is no rite at all in such\ncases, for the magician does not manipulate anything or perform any\naction beyond speaking, yet from another point of view, the whole\nperformance is ritual in so far as he has always to cast his voice\ntowards the element, or being, which he addresses. Indeed here, as in\nall other cases, the voice of the reciter has to be somehow or other\nconveyed to the object which he wishes to becharm. We see, moreover,\nthat in all these instances, the nature of this object is such that\nit can be directly reached by the voice, whilst on the other hand,\nthere would be some difficulty in applying any substance or performing\nany action over, let us say, wind, or a shell growing on a distant\nreef or the Koya (mountain).\n\nSpells accompanied by simple rites of impregnation.--A large number\nof the cases described in this book falls under this heading. We\nsaw quite at the beginning (Chapter V, Division II and III) how\nthe magician charms the blade of his adze, the ropes by which the\ncanoe had been pulled, the lashing creeper, the caulking, and the\npaint of the canoe. Among the Kula rites, the initial magic over\nthe aromatic mint, over the lilava (magical bundle) over the gebobo\n(central part of canoe); all the beauty magic on Sarubwoyna beach,\nover coco-nuts, over the facial paints as well as the conch shell\nmagic, belong here. In all these performances an object is put well\nwithin reach of the voice, and in an appropriate position. Often, the\nobject is placed within a receptacle or covering so that the voice\nenters an enclosed space and is concentrated upon the substance to\nbe charmed. Thus, when the lilava is chanted over, the voice is cast\ninto the mats, which are afterwards carefully wrapped up. The aromatic\nmint is charmed, lying at the bottom of a bag made of baked and thus\ntoughened banana leaf, which afterwards is carefully folded together\nand bound with string. Again, the adze blade is first of all half\nwrapped up in a banana leaf, and the voice enters the blade and the\ninside of the leaf, which subsequently is folded over and tied over\nthe blade. In the magic of the conch shell, I drew attention to the\nfact that immediately after the charm has been spoken, both holes of\nthe instrument are carefully stuffed up. In all cases where an object\nis going to be used immediately, not so many precautions are taken,\nbut always, without any exception, the mouth is put quite close to the\nobject medicated (see Plate LVII) and wherever possible, this latter\nis placed in some sort of cavity, such as a folded piece of leaf,\nor even the two palms of the hand put together. All this shows that\nit is essential to a correct performance of magic, that the voice\nshould be conveyed directly to the substance, if possible enclosed\nand condensed round it, and then, imprisoned permanently there by\nmeans of some wrapping. Thus, in this type of rite, the action serves\nmainly to convey carefully and to retain the spell round the object.\n\nIt may be noted that in almost all cases described, the substance\nharmed in the rite is not the final aim of the magic, but forms only a\nconstituent part of the object in view or is an accessory of it, or an\ninstrument used in its making. Thus the wayugo creeper, the kaybasi\n(caulking), the paint, the prow-boards, all these are constituent\nparts of the canoe, and the magic performed over them does not aim\nat giving them any qualities, but aims at imparting swiftness and\nlightness to the canoe of which they are parts only. Again, the herbs\nand the colours of the coco-nut ointment medicated in the Kula are\naccessories of the final end of this magic, that is, of the personal\nbeauty and attractiveness of the performer. The adze, the breaking\nstone in kaloma magic are implements used in obtaining the object,\ntowards which the magic is directed. There are only a few instances\nin which the simple rite of impregnation is directly performed on\nthe object in view. If we compare this type of rite with the one of\nthe previous category, we see that the difference lies mainly in the\nsize of the object. If you want to cast a charm over a mountain, over\na reef, or over the wind, you cannot put your object into a little\nbag made of banana leaf. Nor can you put there the human mind. And\nas a rule, the final objects of magical rites are not small things,\nwhich could be easily handled. In the magic described in this book,\nthere is, I think, not one single instance, in which the substance\nhandled in the rite and impregnated by condensing the charm upon it\nartificially, is the final object of the spell. In war magic the points\nof the spears are made effective and the shields are made spear-proof\n(see Plate LVIII) by magic uttered over them. In private garden magic,\nthe planted yams are made fruitful by a spell, and a few more examples\ncould be adduced from other types of magic.\n\nSpells accompanied by a rite of transference.--When we compare the\nrite of medicating the adze blade with the rite of medicating some\ndried grass, with which the canoe is afterwards beaten, we see that,\nin the second case, the magic is uttered over a something, which has\nno intrinsic connection with the final object of the magic, that is,\nwith the canoe. It is neither to become a part of it, nor to be used\nas an implement in its manufacture. We have here the introduction\nfor purposes of the rite, of a special medium, used to absorb the\nmagical force, and to transfer it to the final object. We can therefore\ncall rites where such mediums are used rites of transference. When a\nstick is charmed to be used afterwards for the magical knocking out\nof a canoe; or a mussel-shell, with which the canoe will be scraped;\nor a piece of coco-nut husk, which will be thrown into the water to\nremove the heaviness of the canoe; or a pandanus streamer, which will\ngive it swiftness, there is introduced into every one of these rites a\nsubstance which has to play a magical r\u00f4le only. The rite, therefore,\nis not the simple charming of a part or of a constructive implement,\nwhich will enter into the composition or be used in the making of\nan object. The rite here is more autonomous, possesses more of its\nown significance. The beating of a canoe with two bunches of grass,\none after the other, in order first to extract its heaviness and\nthen impart to it lightness, has a meaning parallel to the spell\nbut independent of it. So has also the throwing down of the coco-nut\nhusk. The flutter of the pandanus streamers has direct association\nwith speed, as the natives explicitly state. As the bisila streamers\nflutter in the wind, so should the canoe and the sail shake with the\nswiftness of their going. In the case of the ginger, which is spat over\nthe Dobuans feigning hostility, the inherent quality of the substance,\nwhich our pharmacop\u00e6as describe as a stimulant, makes the meaning of\nthe rite plain. We can easily see that some of the rites are rather\nmore creative than others. That is, the very act performed produces,\naccording to native ideas, a more definite effect than in others. So\nit is with the spitting of the ginger, and still more directly the\nspilling of the lime, in order to produce a mist, and shut the eyes\nof the mulukwausi. These two, for instance, are more creative than\nthe hanging up of the pandanus streamer.\n\nSpells accompanied by offerings and invocations.--In the very first\nrite described in this book, we saw an offering being laid before,\nand an invocation being addressed to the wood-sprite, tokway. There\nare a number of rites, accompanied by offerings given to ancestral\nspirits, whose participation in the offering is solicited. Such rites\nare performed in garden magic (see Plate LIX) in fishing magic, and\nin weather magic. It must, however, be said at once that there is no\nworship and no sacrificial offering involved in these rites, that is,\nnot of the usual description, because the spirits are not imagined\nto serve as agents of the magician, in carrying out the bidding of\nhis magic. We shall return to the subject presently. Here it will be\nenough to notice that the only instance of such a spell we have come\nacross--that is, the invocation of the tokway--has its concomitant\noffering made only as a sort of compensation for having chased him\nout, or as a means of persuading him to go. Probably it is the first\nrather than the second, because the tokway has no free choice left,\nafter he has been exorcised. He must obey the bidding of the magician.\n\nThis survey shows clearly that the virtue, the force, the effective\nprinciple of magic lies in the spell. We saw that in many cases,\nthe spell is quite sufficient, if directly breathed upon the\nobject. Again, in what may be called the prevalent type of ritual,\nthe action which accompanies the utterance of the formula serves\nonly to direct and condense the spell upon the object. In all such\ncases the rite lacks all independent significance, all autonomous\nfunction. In some cases, the rite introduces a substance which is used\nfor magical purposes only. As a rule, the substance then intensifies,\nthrough a parallel action, the meaning of the spell. On the whole,\nit may be said that the main creative power of magic resides in the\nformula; that the rite serves to convey, or transfer it to the object,\nin certain cases emphasising the meaning of the spell through the\nnature of the transferring medium, as well as through the manner in\nwhich it is finally applied. It is hardly necessary to state that in\nthe Trobriand magic, there are no rites performed without the spell.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nIt is also evident in studying the manner in which the force of\nthe spell is conveyed to the object, that the voice of the reciter\ntransfers the virtue. Indeed, as has been repeatedly pointed out,\nin quoting the formul\u00e6, and as we shall have to discuss later still,\nthe magical words are, so to speak, rubbed in by constant repetition\nto the substance. To understand this better we must inquire into the\nnatives' conceptions of psycho-physiology. The mind, nanola, by which\nterm intelligence, power of discrimination, capacity for learning\nmagical formul\u00e6, and all forms of non-manual skill are described,\nas well as moral qualities, resides somewhere in the larynx. The\nnatives will always point to the organs of speech, where the nanola\nresides. The man who cannot speak through any defect of his organs, is\nidentified in name (tonagowa) and in treatment with all those mentally\ndeficient. The memory, however, the store of formul\u00e6 and traditions\nlearned by heart, resides deeper, in the belly. A man will be said to\nhave a good nanola, when he can acquire many formul\u00e6, but though they\nenter through the larynx, naturally, as he learns them, repeating word\nfor word, he has to stow them away in a bigger and more commodious\nreceptacle; they sink down right to the bottom of his abdomen. I made\nthe discovery of this anatomical truth, while collecting war magic,\nfrom Kanukubusi, the last office holder of the long succession of\nwar magicians to the chiefs of Omarakana. Kanukubusi is an old man,\nwith a big head, a broad, high forehead, a stumpy nose, and no chin,\nthe meekest and most docile of my informants, with a permanently\npuzzled and frightened expression on his honest countenance (see Plate\nLVIII). I found this mild old man very trustworthy and accurate, an\nexcellent informant indeed, within the narrow sphere of his speciality,\nwhich he and his predecessors had used to make 'anger flare up in the\nnanola' of Omarakana men, to make the enemy fly in terror, pursued\nand slaughtered by the victorious warriors. I paid him well for the\nfew formul\u00e6 he gave me, and inquired at the end of our first session,\nwhether he had any more magic to produce. With pride, he struck his\nbelly several times, and answered: \"Plenty more lies there!\" I at\nonce checked his statement by an independent informant, and learned\nthat everybody carries his magic in his abdomen.\n\nThere exist also certain ideas about stratification of magic, namely,\nthat certain forms of magic have to be learnt first, so that they\nsink down, while others come on top. But these ideas are vague and\ncontradictory, whereas the main idea, that magic rests in the belly, is\nclear and definite. This fact gives us a new insight into native ideas\nabout magic. The force of magic, crystallised in the magical formul\u00e6,\nis carried by men of the present generation in their bodies. They\nare the depositories of this most valuable legacy of the past. The\nforce of magic does not reside in the things; it resides within man\nand can escape only through his voice.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nSo far, we only spoke of the relation between spell and rite. The\nlast point, however, brings us to the problem of the condition of\nthe performer. His belly is a tabernacle of magical force. Such a\nprivilege carries its dangers and obligations. It is clear that\nyou cannot stuff foreign matter indiscriminately into a place,\nwhere extremely valuable possessions are kept. Food restrictions,\ntherefore, become imperative. Many of them are directly determined\nby the contents of the spell. We saw some examples of this, as when\nred fish, invoked in magic, is tabooed to the performer; or the dog,\nspoken about in the Ka'ubanai spell, may not be heard howling while the\nman eats. In other cases, the object which is the aim of the magic,\ncannot be partaken by the magician. This is the rule in the case of\nshark fishing, kalala fishing, and other forms of fishing magic. The\ngarden magician is also debarred from partaking of new crops, up to a\ncertain period. There is hardly any clear doctrine, as to why things\nmentioned in magical formul\u00e6, whether they are the aims of the magic\nor only cooperating factors, should not be eaten. There is just the\ngeneral apprehension that the formula would be damaged by it. There\nare other taboos, binding the magician, some of them permanent, some\nof them temporary, during the season of his magical performance. We saw\nsome permanent ones, as in the case of the man who knows Kayga'u magic,\nand is not allowed to eat while children make noises. The temporary\nones, such as the sexual abstinence during the first rites of the\nKula, could be supplemented by numerous examples from other forms of\nmagic. Thus, in order to bring about rain, the magician paints himself\nblack and has to remain unwashed and unkempt for some time. The shark\nmagician has to keep his house open, to remove his pubic leaf and\nto sit with his legs apart, while the fishing and the magic last,\n\"so that the shark's mouth might remain gaping.\" But we cannot enter\ntoo much into enumeration of these taboos and observances, and have\nonly to make it clear that the proper behaviour of the magician is\none of the essentials of magic, and that in many cases this behaviour\nis dictated by the contents of the spell.\n\nThe taboos and observances are not the only conditions which a man must\nfulfil in order to carry out certain forms of magic. In many cases\nthe most important condition is his membership in a social group,\nfor many forms of magic are strictly local, and must be performed\nby one, who is the descendant of the mythical, original owner of\nthe magic. Thus in every case of garden magic, a magic which to the\nnatives ranks first among all the other types of beneficent magic,\nthe performer must be genealogically related to the first ancestor,\nwho locally emerged from the hole. Certain exceptions to this rule\nare to be found only in cases where a family of high rank has come\nand usurped the headmanship of the group, but these exceptions are\nrare. In the case of the several systems of local fishing magic,\nthe office of magician is hereditary, and associated with the\nlocality. The important rain and sun magic which have been 'born'\nin Kasana'i, can only be performed by the chiefs of that spot,\nwho have usurped this important privilege from the original local\nheadman. The succession, is of course, always matrilineal. A man\nmay make a gift of such a magic to his son, but this latter may be\nobliged to relinquish the privilege at his father's death, and he\nnever will be allowed to hand it over to his son, unless this latter\nbelongs again to the local group, through cross-cousin marriage. Even\nin transactions where magic is sold or given away from one clan to\nanother, the prestige of certain local groups as main specialists and\nexperts in a branch of magic still remain. For instance, the black\nmagic, though practised all over the place and no more localised, is\nstill believed to be best known in the villages of Ba'u and Bwoytalu,\nwhere the original crab fell down from the skies, and brought with\nhim the magic. The Kula magic is also spread over the whole district,\nyet it is still associated with definite localities.\n\nTo summarise these sociological observations, We may say that,\nwhere the local character of magic is still maintained, the magician\nhas to belong to the dala (sub-clan or local group) of the mythical\nancestor. In all other cases, the local character of magic is still\nrecognised, even though it does not influence the sociology of the\nmagician.\n\nThe traditional character of magic and the magical filiation of the\nperformer find their expression in another important feature of the\nspells. In some of them, as we have seen, references to mythical events\nare made, or names of mythical ancestors are uttered. Even more often,\nwe find a whole list of names, beginning with the mythical founder\nof the magic, and ending with the name of the immediate predecessor,\nthat is, of the man from whom the magic was obtained by the actual\nperformer. Such a list links up the present magician by a sort of\nmagical pedigree with all those, who had previously been using this\nformula. In other formul\u00e6 again, the magician identifies himself\nwith some mythical individual, and utters the latter's name in the\nfirst person. Thus, in the spell uttered whilst plucking the mint\nplant, we found the phrase: \"I, Kwoyregu, with my father, we cut\nthe sulumwoya of Laba'i.\" Both the actual genealogical descent of\nthe magician from the mythical ancestors, and the magical filiation\nexpressed in the formul\u00e6 show again the paramount importance of\ntradition, in this case acting on the sociological determination\nof the performer. He is placed in a definite social group of those,\nwho by birth, or what could be called 'magical adoption', have had the\nright of performing this magic. In the very act of uttering the spell,\nthe magician bears testimony to his indebtedness to the past by the\nenumeration of magical names, and by references to myth and mythical\nevents. Both the sociological restrictions, wherever they still exist,\nand the magical filiation confirm once more the dependence of magic\non tradition. On the other hand, both show, as also do the taboos,\nthat the obligations imposed on the magician and the conditions he\nhas to fulfil, are largely derived from the spell.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nClosely connected with the questions discussed in the preceding\ndivision, is the subject of the systems of magic and the distinction\nbetween 'systematic' and 'independent' magical rites and formul\u00e6. As\nwe saw in the beginning of this chapter, the whole body of magic\nnaturally falls into several big divisions, each of them corresponding\nto a department of nature, such as wind or weather; to some activity\nof man, such as gardening, fishing, hunting or warfare; or to some\nreal or imaginary force, such as artistic inspiration, witchcraft,\npersonal charm or prowess.\n\nThere is, however, an important distinction to be made within each\nsuch division of magic; some of the rites and spells are isolated\nand independent, they can be used by themselves, whenever the\nneed arises. Such are almost all the incantations of wind magic;\nsome spells of individual garden magic; formul\u00e6 against toothache,\nand minor ailments; some spells of hunting and food collecting; a\nfew rites of love magic and of the magic of carving. When a man, for\ninstance, paddles along the Lagoon in his canoe and an unfavourable\nwind sets in, he will utter a spell to make it abate and change. The\nsame spell would be recited in the village, when there arises a wind so\nstrong as to be dangerous. The incantation is a free, individual act,\nwhich may be performed and is performed in any of the circumstances\nwhich require it.\n\nIt is quite another matter with the spells belonging to what I have\ncalled here systematic magic. Such magic consists of a connected and\nconsecutive body of incantations and concomitant rites, no one of\nwhich can be torn out of its sequence and performed by itself. They\nhave to be carried out one after the other in a determined order, and\nthe more important of them, at least, can never be omitted, once the\nseries has been started. Such a series is always closely connected\nwith some activity, such as the building of a canoe or an overseas\nKula voyage, a fishing expedition or the making and harvesting of\na garden. It will not be difficult for us to realise the nature of\nsystematic magic, for in this book almost all the rites and spells\ndescribed belong to this class. In general, in the Trobriands, the\nindependent uncorrelated rites and formul\u00e6 are quite an insignificant\nminority, both in number and in importance.\n\nLet us consider one of the forms of systematic magic previously\ndescribed, whether canoe magic or that of the Kula, whether the\nkayga'u formul\u00e6, or the magical ritual of kaloma fishing. The first\ngeneral fact to be noted here is, that we are in the presence of a\ntype of enterprise or activity, which is never embarked upon without\nmagic. No canoe will be built, no uvalaku started, no kaloma fished,\nwithout its magic ceremonial. This ceremonial will be scrupulously\nobserved in its main features, that is, some of the most important\nformul\u00e6 will never be omitted, as some minor ones might be, a\nfact which has been previously noted. The association between the\npractical activity and its magical concomitant is very intimate. The\nstages and acts of the first, and the rites and spells of the latter,\ncorrespond to each other one by one. Certain rites have to be done in\norder to inaugurate certain activities; others have to be performed\nat the end of the practical work; others again are part and parcel\nof the activity. But each of the rites and spells is to the native\nmind, quite as indispensable for the success of the enterprise,\nas is the practical activity. Thus, the tokway has to be expelled,\nor the tree would be entirely unsuitable for a canoe; the adze,\nthe lashing creeper, the caulking and the paint have to be charmed,\nor else the canoe would be heavy and unwieldy, and such an omission\nmight even prove dangerous to life. Going mentally over the various\ncases quoted in the previous chapters, it can be easily seen, how\nthis intimate association between enterprise and magic imparts to\nsystematic magic its specific character. The consecutive progress\nof work and of magic are inseparable, just because, according to\nnative ideas, work needs magic, and magic has only meaning as an\nindispensable ingredient of work.\n\nBoth work and magic are directed towards the same aim; to construct\na swift and a stable canoe; to obtain a good Kula yield; to insure\nsafety from drowning and so on. Thus we see that systematic magic\nconsists in a body of rites and spells associated with one enterprise,\ndirected towards one aim, and progressing in a consecutive series of\nperformances which have to be carried out in their proper place. The\npoint--the proper understanding of what is meant by systematic\nmagic--is of the greatest theoretical importance because it reveals\nthe nature of the relation between magical and practical activities,\nand shows how deeply the two are connected with one another. It\nis one of these points, also, which cannot be properly explained\nand grasped without the help of a Chart. In the appended \"Table of\nKula Magic and of the Corresponding Activities,\" I have prepared\nsuch a Chart, in which has been summarised the substance of several\nof the foregoing Chapters. The Table allows of a rapid survey of\nthe consecutive activities of the Kula in their relation to magic,\nbeginning with the first act of canoe-building and finishing with\nthe return home. It shows the salient features of systematic magic in\ngeneral, and of the mwasila and canoe magic in particular. It shows\nthe relation between magical, ritual and practical activities, the\ncorrelated sequence of the two, their rolling off, stage after stage,\nand side by side, towards one central aim--a successful Kula. The Table\nthus serves to illustrate the meaning of the expression 'systematic\nmagic,' and it provides a firm outline of the essentials, magical,\nceremonial and practical, of the Kula.\n\n\nTABLE OF KULA MAGIC AND OF THE CORRESPONDING ACTIVITIES\n\nI--First Stage of Canoe-Building (Chapter V, Division II)\n\n\nSeason and      Place       Activity                     Magic\napproximate\nduration\n\nBeginning:      Raybwag.    Felling of     inaugurated   The Vabusi\nJune--August.               tree, (done    by            Tokway\n                            by the                       (offering and\n                            builder and                  spell) aiming\n                            helpers);                    at the\n                                                         expulsion of\n                                                         the\n                                                         wood-sprite\n                                                         from the tree\n                                                         (performed by\n                                                         owner or\n                                                         builder).\nImmediately     Same        Trimming of                  No magic.\nafterwards.     place.      the\n                            log-canoe\n                            (done by\n                            builder with\n                            helpers).\nA few days      Road.       Pulling the    Helped out    double rite of\nlater.                      log (done by   by            lightness\n                            all                          (Kaymomwa'u\n                            villagers);                  and\n                                                         Kaygagabile).\nOn morning      Main        The log is     until         The magical\nafter arrival   place in    left as it                   act\nat village.     the         is;                          (Kapitunena\n                village.                                 Duhu)\n                                                         ceremonially\n                                                         inaugurating\n                                                         the work over\n                                                         the canoe.\nEvening of      Main        Working out                  No magic\nthe same day.   place in    of the                       accompanying\n                the         outside of                   it.\n                village.    the log.\nSeveral days    Main        Scooping out   inaugurated   Ligogu spell,\nor weeks        place.      of the         by            over the\nfollowing.                  inside of                    havilali, the\n                            the canoe;                   adze with the\n                                                         moveable\n                                                         handle.\nTowards the     In the      Other parts                  No magic.\nend of the      village     of canoe\nforegoing       before      made ready\nperiod.         builder's   by builder\n                house.      and helpers.\nAfter all                                                Concluding\nwork is over.                                            rite:\n                                                         Kapitunena\n                                                         Nanola Waga.\n\n\nAll the magic of this stage is canoe magic. It is performed only when\na new canoe is built and not when an old one is renovated. The spells\nare uttered by the builder and not by the owner, except the first\none. Work at this stage is done by one man mainly, the builder and\ncarver, with the help of a few men; except for the pulling of the log,\nin which many men assist.\n\n\nII--The Second Stage of Canoe Building (Chapter V, Division III)\n\n\nTime          Place       Activity                     Magic\nFirst day     On the      Fixing the     inaugurated   Katuliliva\nof work.      sea-front   prow-boards;   by            Tabuyo rite,\n              of a                                     performed over\n              Lagoon                                   the ornamental\n              village,                                 prow-boards by\n              or on a                                  the toliwaga. It\n              beach of                                 belongs to the\n              one of                                   mwasila (Kula\n              the                                      magic).\n              Eastern\n              villages.\n                          The            inaugurated   Vakakaya rite. A\n                          following      by            magical,\n                          activities                   ceremonial\n                          are                          cleansing of the\n                                                       canoe, performed\n                                                       by the owner or\n                                                       builder to\n                                                       remove all evil\n                                                       influence and\n                                                       thus to make the\n                                                       canoe fast.\n(At times,                Lashing of     associated    The Wayugo spell\nthe lashing               the canoe;     with          (lashing\ncannot be                                              creeper) rite;\ndone in one                                            the most\nday and has                                            important of the\nto be                                                  magical\ncontinued                                              performances in\ninto                                                   the second\nanother                                                stage. Done by\nsession.)                                              builder or owner\n                                                       to make canoe\n                                                       swifter and\n                                                       stronger.\nSecond        On the      Caulking of    associated    Kaybasi\nsitting:      sea-front   the canoe;     with          (caulking)\nduring this   of a                                     magic; spell\nthe           Lagoon                                   uttered over\ncaulking is   village                                  caulking by\ndone and      or on a                                  builder or owner\nthe three     beach of                                 to make canoe\nexorcisms     one of                                   safe.\nperformed     the                                      Vakasulu, an\nafterwards.   Eastern                                  exorcism.\n              villages.                                Vaguri, an\n                                                       exorcism.\n                                                       Kaytapena waga,\n                                                       an exorcism.\n                          Painting of    associated    Magic of;\n                          the canoe;     with          Kayhoulo (black\n                                                       paint)\n                                                       Malakava (red\n                                                       paint).\n                                                       Pwaka (white\n                                                       paint).\n\n\nIII--The Ceremonial Launching of a Canoe (Chapter VI, Division I)\n\n\n  Activity                             Magic\n  The launching and   inaugurated by   Kaytalula wadola waga rite,\n  trial run                            belonging to the mwasila cycle\n                                       of magic.\n\n\nAfter this, there comes the interval, filled out by the Kabigidoya\n(ceremonial visiting,) by the preliminary trade and other preparations\nfor the expedition overseas.\n\n\nIV--The Magic During, and Preparations before the Departure (Chapter\nVII)\n\n\nTime: some three to seven days before setting sail.\n\nActivity                             Magic\n\nPreparing the canoe    inaugurated   Yawarapu rite over the coco-palm\nfor sailing (placing   by            leaves, done by the toliwaga to\nof the mats on the                   ensure success in the Kula.\nplatform, and of the\nframes in the body);                 Kayikuna sulumwoya rite over the\n                                     aromatic mint.\n\n                                     Kaymwaloyo rite over the mint\n                                     boiled in coco-nut oil, performed\n                                     by the toliwaga.\nPacking of the trade   associated    Gebobo rite (called also: Kipwo'i\ngoods;                 with          sikwabu), made over four coco-nuts\n                                     by a friend or relative in law of\n                                     the toliwaga, to make all the food\n                                     last (the spell expresses only the\n                                     desire for a good Kula.)\n\n\nAll this magic belongs to the mwasila, and it has to be performed by\nthe toliwaga, with the exception of the last spell.\n\n\nV--Canoe Magic, Performed at the Final Start on Overseas Voyage\n(Chapter VIII, Division III)\n\nThe series of rites starts at the moment when the canoes are ready\nto set sail on the long voyage on Pilolu. They are not associated\nwith a progressive series of acts; they all refer to one aim: canoe\nspeed and reliability. They are all performed by the toliwaga.\n\n\nActivity: overseas sailing,    Kadumiyala, ritual rubbing or cleansing\ninaugurated by a Series of     of the canoe with leaves charmed over.\nMagical Rites.\nTime: morning of the second    Bisila magic; pandanus streamers,\nday of the expedition.         previously chanted over are tied to the\n                               mast and rigging.\n\n                               Kayikunaveva; swaying the sheet rope\n                               uttering an incantation.\n\n                               Vabusi momwa'u; \"expelling the\n                               heaviness\" out of a canoe by means of a\nPlace: the beach of Muwa.      stale potato.\nAim of Magic: imparting of\nspeed to canoe.                Bisiboda patile; a rite of evil magic\nPerformer of the Rites: the    to make other canoes slow and thus\ntoliwaga.                      achieve relative speed.\n\n\nVI--The Mwasila, Performed on Arrival at the Final Destination\n\n(A) Beauty Magic (Chapter XIII, Division I)\n\n\nActivity: washing, anointing and      Kaykakaya--ritual washing and\npainting.                             rubbing with charmed leaves.\n\n                                      Luya (coco-nut) spell--over the\n                                      scraped coco-nut used for\n                                      anointing.\n\n                                      Sinata (comb) spell--over the\nPlace: the beach, on or near which    comb.\nthe party rest before starting on\nthe last stage (on the way to Dobu;   Sayyaku--aromatic black paint.\nSarubwoyna beach. On the way to\nSinaketa: Kaykuyawa).                 Bowa--ordinary charcoal blacking.\nPerformers: the spells are uttered\nusually by the toliwaga, sometimes    Talo--red paint of crushed\nby an elder member of the crew.       areca-nut.\n\n\n(B) Magic of the Final Approach (Chapter XIII, Division II)\n\n\n  Activity: the fleet are paddling   Ta'uya--the ritual blowing of the\n  (on the approach to Dobu) or       conch shell, which has been\n  punting (to Sinaketa) in a body.   charmed over before.\n\n                                     Kayihuna-tabuyo--the swaying of\n                                     the front prow-board while the\n                                     spell is being uttered.\n\n  Performers: in each canoe,         Kavalikuliku--the spell by the\n  simultaneously, the toliwaga and   toliwaga.\n  two members of the crew.\n  Aim: to \"shake the mountain,\" to   Kaytavilena mwoynawaga--the\n  produce an impression on the       incantation uttered at the stern\n  partners awaiting on the beach.    towards the Koya.\n\n\n(C) Magic of Safety (Chapter XIII, Division III)\n\n  Activity                        Magic\n\n  Entering the Dobuan village     Ka'ubana'i, charm uttered over\n  (This magic is performed only   ginger, which is then ritually spat\n  when Boyowans come to the       over the Dobuan village and the\n  Koya).                          partners, and makes their hearts\n                                  soft.\n\n\n(D) Magic of Persuasion (Chapter XIV, Division III)\n\n\n  Activity                          Magic\n\n  The wooing in Kula (wawoyla) of   Kwoygapani--a spell uttered over a\n  the of the overseas partner by    piece of areca-nut, given\n  the visitor.                      subsequently to the partner.\n\n\nVII--A Canoe Spell, Uttered on the Departure Home (Chapter XIV,\nDivision III)\n\n\nActivity                                  Magic\n\nLoading of the canoe with the its gifts   Kaylupa--a spell to make the\nreceived from overseas partners, with     canoe lighter, to \"lift\" it\nthe trade gain, and with the provisions   out of the water.\nfor the home journey.\n\n\nWithin each department of systematic magic, there are again various\nsystems of magic. Thus we saw that, although the type of rite and\nformula is the same in all villages, the actual details, let us say,\nof the wayugo magic, are not identical, but vary according to the\nsystem with which a given reciter is acquainted. The differences are,\nas a rule, less pronounced in the rites, which are generally very\nsimple in the Trobriand magic, and are identical in all the systems,\nbut the formul\u00e6 differ completely in their wording. Thus, in the wayugo\nmagic (Chapter V, Division III) we found only a slight difference in\nthe rite, but one or two wayugo spells, which I have also recorded,\ndiffer essentially from the one given in the text.\n\nEach system of magic has a more or less developed mythological\npedigree, and in connection with it a local character, a point which\nhas been elaborated in the previous Division. The wayugo spell given\nin Chapter V, and all the spells of canoe-building quoted in this\nbook belong to the Kaykudayuri system of canoe magic. This system is\nbelieved to have been known and recited by the mythical builder of\nthe flying canoe, and to have been handed down to his descendants,\nthat is, as we know, in an incomplete form. As has been said in the\nprevious Division, the knowledge and the use of this magic and of\nother systems does not abide strictly within the original clan, but\nit spreads outside of it, and it becomes known to many people who\nare connected with the original owner by a sort of magical filiation.\n\nAccording to native belief, all these people know identical formul\u00e6. In\nfact, in the course of years and of repeated transmission, considerable\ndifferences have been introduced, and nowadays many of the 'real\nKudayuri' spells differ from one another completely.\n\nA system of magic is therefore a number of magical formul\u00e6,\nforming one consecutive series. The main system of canoe magic\nis that of the Kaykudayuri, which is associated with the place of\nthe same name in Kitava. This system comprises the whole series of\ncanoe-building spells, from the expelling of the tokway to the final\nexorcisms. Another comprehensive system is called Kaykapayouko, and\nis localised in the island of Kayleula. An important system called\nIlumte'ulo is nowadays claimed by Sinaketa, but probably hails from\nDobu. The mythological data of some of these systems are not known to\nme, and some of them seem to be exceedingly rudimentary, not going\nbeyond the assertion that such and such a system originated at such\nand such a place, and was originally the property of such and such\na clan. Of the systems of mwasila, the best known in South Boyowa is\nthat called Monikiniki, to which belong the majority of the formul\u00e6\nhere quoted. This system is sometimes loosely associated with the myth\nof Tokosikuna, who is sometimes said to have been the original owner\nof the system. According to another version, Monikiniki is the name\nof the original owner. The Dobuan mwasila is called Kasabwaybwayreta,\nand is ascribed to that hero. From Muyuwa, hails the Momroveta system\nof Kula magic, while in Kiriwina the system of Monikiniki is usually\nrecited, and only a few formul\u00e6 are inserted into it, belonging to\na local magic, called Kwoygapani (a name not to be confused with\nthe name in a formula quoted in Chapter XIV). In the light of these\nremarks, the many references to 'magical systems' given in the text,\nwill become clear, so there is no need to add more here.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nWe saw before in the chapter on mythology that magic bridges\nover the cleavage between the super-normal world of myth and the\nnormal, ordinary happenings of to-day. But then, this bridge itself\nmust necessarily touch the super-normal, it must lead into that\ndomain. Magic surely, therefore, must partake of the supernatural\ncharacter? There is no doubt that it is so. The effects of magic,\nalthough constantly witnessed, and although considered as a fundamental\nfact, are regarded as something distinctly different from the effects\nof other human activities. The natives realise quite well that the\nspeed and buoyancy of a canoe are due to the knowledge and work of\nthe constructor; they are well acquainted with the properties of good\nmaterial and of good craftsmanship. Yet the magic of swiftness adds\nsomething more to even the best constructed canoe. This superadded\nquality is regarded very much like the properties of the mythical\ncanoe which made it fly through the air, though in the present day\ncanoes these properties have dwindled down to mere surpassing speed.\n\nThe language of spells expresses this belief through the constant\nallusions to myth, similes in which the present canoe is invited to\nimitate the mythical one. In the explicit comments on the Kudayuri\nmyth, the natives also state definitely that the prodigious speed\nwhich well-charmed canoes develop is the legacy and counterpart of the\nold flying speed. Thus the effects of magic are something superadded\nto all the other effects produced by human effort and by natural\nqualities. The same is to be found in love magic. The importance of\na fine face and figure, of ornaments, decorations and nice scents,\nis well recognised as being of attractive value, yet almost every man\nascribes his success to the perfection of his love magic. The force of\nmagic is considered as something independent of, and surpassing even,\nthe power of all other personal charms. A statement very often met\nwith expresses this quite well:\n\n\n    \"Look, I am not good looking, yet so many girls want me. The\n    reason of that is that I have good magic.\"\n\n\nIn garden magic, soil, rain, proper work, are given their full\ndue. None the less, no one would dream of making a garden without the\nfull magical performance being done over it. Garden magic is thought\nto make just this difference, which a man hopes for from 'chance,'\nor 'good luck,' when he sees everybody round him working as hard\nas he can, and in all other respects under similar conditions to\nhimself. So we see that, in all these cases, magical influence runs\nparallel to and independently of the effects of human work and natural\nconditions. It produces these differences and those unexpected results,\nwhich cannot be explained by any of the other factors.\n\nSo far, we see that magic represents, so to speak, a different\nsort of reality. When I call this different sort 'super-natural'\nor 'super-normal,' one of the criteria which I use here lies in the\nemotional reaction of the natives. This, of course, is most pronounced\nin the case of evil magic. The sorcerer is not only feared because\nof his bad intentions. He is also feared as ghosts are feared by\nus, as an uncanny manifestation. One is afraid of meeting him in\nthe dark, not so much because he might do any harm, but because his\nappearance is dreadful and because he has at his bidding all sorts\nof powers and faculties which are denied to those not versed in\nblack magic. His sweat glows, night birds run with him to give him\nwarning; he can become invisible at will and produce paralysing fear\nin those he meets. In short, the same hysterical dread, associated\namongst ourselves with the idea of haunted places, is produced by\nthe sorcerers in the minds of the natives. And it must be added that\nthe natives have no such emotion of dread at all with regard to the\nspirits of the departed. The horror which they have of the bwaga'u is\neven stronger in the case of the mulukwausi, to whom all sorts of most\nuncanny properties are attributed. Their ghoulish feasting on corpses,\ntheir capacity of flying, of making themselves invisible, of changing\ninto night birds, all this inspires the natives with extreme terror.\n\nThe other magicians and their art do not inspire such strong emotions\nin the natives, and of course in any case the emotion would not be\nthat of dread. There is a very great value and attachment to systems\nof local magic, and their effects are distinctly considered as an\nasset for a community.\n\nEach form of magic also has its associated magical portent,\nkariyala. When a magic formula is spoken, a violent natural upheaval\nwill take place. For example, when garden magic is performed, there\nwill be thunder and lightning; with certain forms of Kula magic,\na rainbow will appear in the skies. Others will produce shower\nclouds. The portent of a mild storm, accompanying the opening of\nthe magical bundle (lilava) has already been quoted. The kayga'u\nmay produce a tidal wave, whereas an earthquake will be the result\nof other forms of magic. War magic, in an unexpectedly bucolic way,\naffects only some plants and birds. In certain forms of magic, a\nportent would take place whenever the formula is uttered, in others,\nthis will not be so regular, but a kariyala will invariably occur\nwhen a magician dies. When asked, what is the real cause of any of\nthese natural phenomena enumerated, they will say:\n\n\n    \"Magic is the real cause (u'ula); they are a kariyala of magic.\"\n\n\nAnother point, where magic touches the super-normal or supernatural,\nis in the association of spirits with certain magical performances. A\nspecial type of magical payment, the ula'ula, is at the same time an\noffering to the baloma (spirits). The magician will detach a small\nbit of the large quantity of food brought to him, and put it down on\nsome special place, with the words:\n\n\n    \"Partake, O spirits, of your ula'ula, and make my magic thrive.\"\n\n\nAt certain ceremonies, the spirits are supposed to be present (see\nPlate LIX). When something goes wrong with magic, or it is badly\nperformed, 'the spirits will become angry,' as it is often expressed by\nthe natives. In some cases the baloma will appear in dreams and advise\nthe magician what to do. As this is the most active interference of\nthe spirits in human affairs, as far as magic is concerned, I shall\nquote in free translation some statements obtained on the matter.\n\n\n    \"The owners of fish magic will often dream that there is plentiful\n    fish. The cause of it is the magician's ancestor spirit. Such a\n    magician would then say: 'The ancestral spirit has instructed\n    me in the night, that we should go to catch fish! And indeed,\n    when we get there, we find plenty of fish, and we cast the nets.'\"\n\n    \"Mokudeya, the maternal uncle of Narugo,\" who is, the main fishing\n    magician of Oburaku \"comes to his nephew in a dream and instructs\n    him: 'Tomorrow, cast the nets for fish in Kwabwawa!' Narugo then\n    says: 'Let us come, the old man instructed me last night.'\"\n\n    \"The kaloma (spondylus shell) magician of Sinaketa dreams about\n    a plentiful patch of kaloma shell. Next morning, he would dive\n    and knock it off on the reef. Or he dreams of a canoe, and he\n    then paddles and casts the anchor at that place. To'udawada,\n    Luvayam, Sinakadi dream that they knock it off in plenty. When\n    next morning we go there, it is plentiful.\"\n\n\nIn all these examples (except the last) we see that the spirits act as\nadvisors and helpers. They fill the r\u00f4le of guardian of the traditions\nwhen they get angry because of a bad performance, or as associates\nand sympathisers when they share the magician's ula'ula. But they are\nnot agencies which get to work directly. In the Trobriand demonology,\nthe magician does not command the spirits to go and set to work. The\nwork is done by the agency of the spell, assisted by the accompanying\nritual, and performed by the proper magician. The spirits stand\nin the same relation, as the performer does, to the magical force,\nwhich alone is active. They can help him to wield it properly, but\nthey can never become his instruments.\n\nTo summarise the results of what we have learned about the super-normal\nnature of magic, it may be said that it has a definite character\nof its own, which differentiates it from the non-magical actions\nof man. The manner in which the magical force is conceived to act,\nparallel to the ordinary efforts but independent of them; the emotional\nreaction to certain types of magic and magician; the kariyala; the\nintercourse with spirits during the performances, all these properties\ndifferentiate magic from the ordinary activities of man.\n\nIn native terminology, the realm of the magical is called by the word\nmegwa, which describes the 'magical performance,' the 'spell,' the\n'force' or 'virtue' of magic, and can be used as adjective to describe\nin general everything which presents a magical character. Used as a\nverb, the words megwa, miga-megwa, miga, all of which are variations\nof the same root, mean: 'to perform magic,' 'to utter a spell,'\n'to carry out a rite.' If the natives want to express that certain\nactions are done in connection with magic, and not with work, and that\ncertain effects are due to magical forces, and not to other efforts,\nthey used the word megwa as a substantive or adjective. It is never\nused to describe any virtue residing in a man or a thing, nor for\nany action which is independent of a spell.\n\nThe associated concept of taboo is covered by the Kiriwinian word\nbomala (with suffixed possessive pronouns). It means a 'prohibition,'\nsomething which a man is not allowed to do under any circumstances. It\nis used for magical taboos, for prohibitions associated with rank,\nfor restrictions in regard to food generally considered as unclean,\nas, for example, the flesh of lizards, snakes, dogs and man. There\nis hardly any trace of the meaning of 'sacred' attached to the word\nbomala. If anywhere, it can be found in the use of the word boma,\nfor a tabooed grove where men usually are not allowed to enter, and\nwhere traditional spots, often original holes where men came out and\nwhence magic issued, are to be found. The expression toboma (to-,\nprefix denoting personal noun) means a man of high rank, but hardly\na sacred man.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nFinally, a few words must be said about the sociological or ceremonial\nsetting of magic. Reference has often been made to the simplicity of\nrites, and to their matter-of-fact character. This has been mentioned\nwith reference to canoe-building, and in garden magic we would have\nfound equally simple and purely businesslike performances. In calling\na magical action 'ceremonial' we imply that it was done with a big\npublic attendance; under the observance of definite rules of behaviour\nby the spectators as well as by the performer, such as general silence,\nreverent attention to what is being done, with at least a show of some\ninterest. Now if, in the middle of some work, a man quickly performs\nan action whilst others talk and laugh and leave him entirely on\none side, this gives a definite sociological stamp to the magical\nactions, and does not allow us to use the term 'ceremonial,' as the\ndistinguishing mark of the magical acts. Some of them, it is true,\ndo have this character. For instance, the initial rite with which the\nkaloma fishing begins, requires the assistance of the whole fleet,\nand a definite type of behaviour on the part of the crews, while the\nmagician officiates for all of them, but with their assistance, in the\ncomplex evolutions of the fleet. Similar rites are to be found in two\nor three systems of fishing magic, and in several rites of the garden\nmagic of certain villages. In fact, the initial rite of garden magic\nis everywhere connected with a ceremonial performance. The garden\nrite, associated with the ceremonial offering of food to spirits,\nand attended by a body of villagers, a scene of which is shown on\nPlate LIX, has been elsewhere described. [82] One or two rites in\nwar magic imply the active assistance of large numbers of men, and\ntake the form of big ceremonies. Thus we see that magical rites may\nor may not be ceremonial, but that the ceremonial is by no means an\noutstanding or universal feature of Trobriand magic.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nWe found that taboos are associated with magic, in so far as it is\nthe magician who has to observe them. There are, however, certain\nforms of restrictions or prohibitions, set up for special purposes,\nand associated with magic in a somewhat different form. Thus, in an\ninstitution called kaytubutabu we find a ban made on the consumption\nof coco-nuts and betel-nuts, associated with a specific magic to\nmake them grow. There is also a protective taboo, used to prevent\nthe theft of ripening fruits or nuts, too far away from the village\nto be watched. In these cases a small parcel of medicated substance\nis placed on the tree or near it, on a small stick. The magic spoken\nover such a substance is a 'conditional curse,' to use the excellent\nterm introduced by Professor Westermarck. The conditional curse\nwould fall upon anyone who would touch the fruits of that tree, and\nwould bring upon him one form of disease or another. This is the only\nform of magic, in which the personal agency is invoked, for in some\nof these spells, the tokway (wood-sprite) is invited to take up his\nabode on the kaytapaku, that is the stick, with the substance on it,\nand to guard the fruit. Some such small divergencies from the general\ntrend of native belief are always to be found. Sometimes they contain\nimportant clues, and a deeper insight into the facts, sometimes they\nmean nothing, and only emphasise the fact, that it is not possible to\nfind absolute consistency in human belief. Only a deeper analysis, and\na comparative study of similar phenomena can decide which is the case.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nIn order to complete the survey of all the characteristics of magic,\nI shall rapidly mention here the economic aspect of the position\nof magician, although the data referring to it have already been\ngiven, scattered through the previous chapters. I have spoken of the\nmatrilineal inheritance of magic, and of the deviations from it which\nconsist in inheritance from father to son, and in the transmission\nof magic by purchase (Chapter II, Division VI, and Chapter VI,\nDivision VI under (5)). This latter transaction may take place under\ntwo names, which really cover two essentially different operations;\nthe pokala or payment to a maternal kinsman from whom one is going\nto obtain the magic, and the laga, which is the purchase of magic\nfrom a stranger. Only certain forms of magic can freely pass from\none clan or sub-clan to another, and are purchasable by the laga\nsystem. The majority of magical systems are local, and can descend\nonly in the same sub-clan with an occasional deviation to the son of\na member, from whom, however, the magic must return to the sub-clan\nagain. A further economic feature of magic is the payment, which the\nmagician receives for his services. There are many types of payment;\nsome given occasionally by an individual for a definite act of magic,\nas in the case of sorcery or healing magic; others, paid at regular\nintervals by the whole community, as in the case of garden and fishing\nmagic. In some cases the payments are considerable, as in sorcery,\nin rain and fine weather magic, and in garden magic. In others,\nthey amount to little more than a mere formal offering.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nIn all this, we have been dealing with general characteristics of\nBoyowan (Trobriand) magic. This has been done mainly on the basis of\nthe material presented in this volume, with only a few examples from\nother branches of magic. The result so far can be set down thus: magic\nto the natives represents a special department; it is a specific power,\nessentially human, autonomous and independent in its action. This power\nis an inherent property of certain words, uttered with the performance\nof certain actions by the man entitled to do it through his social\ntraditions and through certain observances which he has to keep. The\nwords and acts have this power in their own right, and their action is\ndirect and not mediated by any other agency. Their power is not derived\nfrom the authority of spirits or demons or supernatural beings. It is\nnot conceived as having been wrested from nature. The belief in the\npower of words and rites as a fundamental and irreducible force is the\nultimate, basic dogma of their magical creed. Hence we find established\nthe ideas that one never can tamper with, change or improve spells;\nthat tradition is the only source from which they can be derived;\nthat it has brought them down from times lying beyond the speculation\nof man, that there can be no spontaneous generation of magic.\n\nWe are naturally led now to inquire one stage further into the manner\nin which the magical words and rites act. Obviously the only way to\nobtain correct information on this point is to analyse and compare\na great number of well authenticated formul\u00e6, and minutely recorded\nrites. Even the collection of Kula magic here partially given in\nfree translation, would allow us to arrive at certain interesting\nconclusions. But we can go deeper still with the help of linguistic\nanalysis, and we shall proceed to this inquiry in the next chapter.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\nTHE POWER OF WORDS IN MAGIC--SOME LINGUISTIC DATA\n\n\nI\n\nThe aim of this Chapter is to show by a linguistic analysis of\ntwo magical texts, and by a general survey of a greater number,\nwhat sort of words are believed to exercise magical power. This,\nof course, does not mean that we are under the delusion that the\ncomposers or inventors of magic had a theory about the efficiency\nof words, and carried this theory into practice by inventing the\nformula. But, as the moral ideas and rules prevalent in society,\nthough not codified, can be found out by analysing human behaviour;\nas we reach the underlying principles of law and social propriety\nby examining customs and manners; as in the study of rites, we see\nsome definite tenets of belief and dogmas--so, in analysing the direct\nverbal expressions of certain modes of thinking in the magical formul\u00e6,\nwe are justified in assuming that these modes of thinking must have\nsomehow guided those who shaped them. The exact manner in which we\nmust imagine the relation between a typical way of thinking in a\nsociety on the one hand, and the fixed, crystallised results of this\nthinking on the other, is a problem of Social Psychology. For this\nbranch of science we are, in ethnography, under the obligation of\ngathering material, but we need not encroach upon its field of study.\n\nThus much may, however, be put down, that, in whatever manner we might\nimagine a spell to have come into existence, it cannot be considered as\nthe creation of one man; for as has been said before, if we examine any\none of them, not with the eyes of the natives, but as outside critics,\neach spell shows unmistakable signs of being a collection of linguistic\nadditions from different epochs. There is in practically every one\nof them a good deal of archaic material, but not a single one bears\nthe stamp of having come down to us in the same form in which it must\nhave presented itself a few generations ago. So that it may be said\nthat a spell is constantly being remoulded as it passes through the\nchain of magicians, each probably leaving his mark, however small,\nupon it. It is the general attitude in matters of magical belief\ncommon to all of the successive holders which will be at the bottom\nof all the regularities, all the typical features found in the spells.\n\nI shall adduce a formula of canoe magic and one of the spells\nbelonging to the mwasila, choosing two texts of which a translation\nand a commentary of average quality have been obtained, and which show\nclearly the several characteristic features of verbal magic. Those\nwho are not interested in linguistic technicalities and details of\nmethod, may omit the following division, and take up the trend of\nour argument at division XII.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nThe following text is the wayugo spell, obtained from Layseta, the\nheadman of Kopila, one of the sub-villages of Sinaketa. The commentary\nwas obtained from himself, and from another informant, Motago'i,\na man of exceptional intelligence, and a very straightforward and\na reliable informant. This spell has been given in free translation\nbefore in Chapter V, and, as has been said there, the rite consists\nsimply in chanting the words over five coils of the wayugo creeper\nput on a wooden platter between two mats.\n\n\n\n                              WAYUGO SPELL\n\n    A. U'ULA (INITIAL PART)\n\n     1  Kala      bosisi'ula,       kala    bomwalela.\n     1  His  ritual eating of fish, his  tabooed inside.\n\n     2  Papapa,   siliubida,   monagakalava.\n     2  Flutter, betel plant, leaving behind.\n\n     3     Tubugu Kalabotawosi,      Tubugu Kwaysa'i,\n     3  Grandfather Kalabotawosi, grandfather Kwaysa'i,\n\n           Tubugu Pulupolu,     Tubugu Semkuku,\n        grandfather Pulupolu, grandfather Semkuku,\n\n           Tubugu Kabatuwayaga,      Tubugu Ugwaboda,\n        grandfather Kabatuwayaga, grandfather Ugwaboda,\n\n           Tubugu Kitava,   Bulumava'u Nawabudoga,\n        grandfather Kitava, new spirit Nawabudoga,\n\n              kaykapwapu       Mogilawota.\n        immediate predecessor  Mogilawota.\n\n     4  Kusilase     onikola,       bukwa'u'i kambu'a.\n     4  You sit  on canoe slips, you chew your areca-nut.\n\n     5  Kwawoyse        bisalena         Kaykudayuri\n     5  You take his pandanus streamer (of) Kaykudayuri\n\n          Kusaylase    odabana    Teula\n        you place (it) on top (of) Teula.\n\n     6    Basivila,     basivitake'i   Kitava miTo'uru,\n     6  I might turn, I might turn on Kitava your Touru,\n\n         mimilaveta   Pilolu.\n        your sea-arm  Pilolu.\n\n     7  Nagayne  isipukayse    girina       Kaykudayuri.\n     7  To-day  they kindle festive fire (of) Kaykudayuri.\n\n     8        Kumwam         dabem   Siyaygana, bukuyova.\n     8  Thou bind together thy skirt Siyaygana, thou fly.\n\n     9     Bakabima       kaykabila,     bakipatuma\n     9  I might clutch the adze handle, I might grip\n\n             yogwayogula\n        the component sticks.\n\n    10    Baterera    odabana   Kuyawa.\n    10  I might fly on top (of) Kuyawa.\n\n\n    B. TAPWANA (MAIN PART)\n\n    11    Odabana Kuyawa,     odabana Kuyawa   ...\n    11  On top (of) Kuyawa, on top (of) Kuyawa ...\n\n                                            (repeated several times)\n\n                bayokokoba          odabana Kuyawa;\n        I might become like smoke on top (of) Kuyawa;\n\n              bayowaysulu          odabana Kuyawa;\n        I might become invisible on top (of) Kuyawa;\n\n                bayovivilu'a, etc.;              bayomwaleta, etc.;\n        I might become as a wind eddy, etc. I might become alone, etc.;\n\n             bayokarige, etc.;           bayotamwa'u, etc;\n        I might become as dead, etc.  I might disappear, etc.;\n\n              bayogugwa'u, etc.;\n        I might become like mist, etc.\n\n    12  The verses 9, 10 and 11 are repeated, substituting Dikutuva\n        for Kuyawa.\n\n    13  The verses 9, 10 and 11 are repeated, substituting La'u for\n        Kuyawa. After this, the u'ula is repeated, and then a\n        secondary tapwana follows.\n\n    14    Bakalatatava,       bakalatatava   ...\n    14  I might heel over, I might heel over ...\n\n                                            (repeated several times)\n\n        ula sibu    bakalatatava      ulo koumwali\n        my keel  I might heel over; my canoe gunwale\n\n           bakalatatava      uli sirota, etc.\n        I might heel over my canoe bottom, etc.\n\n        ulo katukulu, etc.; ulo gelu, etc.     ulo kaysuya, etc.\n           my prow, etc.;    my rib, etc.  my threading stick, etc.;\n\n         uli tabuyo, etc.;        uli lagim, etc.;      ulo kawaydala, etc.\n        my prow-board, etc.; my transverse board, etc.; my canoe side, etc.\n\n\nThe u'ula is repeated again and the spell is closed by the dogina\n(concluding part).\n\n\n    C. DOGINA (CONCLUSION)\n\n    16       Wagam,      kousi,       wagam,      vivilu'a,\n    16  Canoe (thou art) ghost, canoe, (thou art) wind eddy,\n\n        kuyokarige  Siyaygana, bukuyova.\n        thou vanish Siyaygana, thou fly.\n\n    17   Kwarisasa    kamkarikeda   Kadimwatu;      kwaripwo\n    17  Thou pierce thy sea-passage Kadimwatu; thou break through\n\n        kabaluna Saramwa; kwabadibadi Loma.\n        nose his Saramwa;  thou meet  Loma.\n\n    18      Kuyokarige,        kuyotamwa'u,          kuyovivilu'a\n    18  Thou become as dead, thou disappear, thou become as a wind eddy,\n\n             kuyogugwa'u.\n        thou become like mist.\n\n    19    Kusola    kammayamaya,  kwotutine kamgulupeya;  kuna,\n    19  Thou mould the fine sand,  thou cut thy seaweed; thou go,\n\n          kugoguna    kambwoymatala.\n        thou put on thy butia wreath.\n\n\nWe have here the native text, translated word for word, each expression\nand formative affix being rendered by its English equivalent. In\nobtaining such a verbatim translation and subsequently putting it into\na free, intelligible English rendering, there are two main difficulties\nto be overcome. A considerable proportion of the words found in magic\ndo not belong to ordinary speech, but are archaisms, mythical names and\nstrange compounds, formed according to unusual linguistic rules. Thus\nthe first task is to elucidate the obsolete expressions, the mythical\nreferences, and to find the present day equivalents of any archaic\nwords. Even if we obtain a series of meanings corresponding to each\nterm of the original text, there is often considerable difficulty\nin linking these meanings together. Magic is not built up in the\nnarrative style; it does not serve to communicate ideas from one\nperson to another; it does not purport to contain a consecutive,\nconsistent meaning. It is an instrument serving special purposes,\nintended for the exercise of man's specific power over things, and\nits meaning, giving this word a wider sense, can be understood only\nin correlation to this aim. It will not be therefore a meaning of\nlogically or topically concatenated ideas, but of expressions fitting\ninto one another and into the whole, according to what could be called\na magical order of thinking, or perhaps more correctly, a magical order\nof expressing, of launching words towards their aim. It is clear that\nthis magical order of verbal concatenations--I am purposely avoiding\nthe expression 'magical logic' for there is no logic in the case--must\nbe known and familiar to anyone who wishes really to understand the\nspells. There is therefore a great initial difficulty in 'reading'\nsuch documents, and only an acquaintance with a great number makes\none more confident and more competent.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nIn the ordinary routine of working out such texts, I tried to obtain\nfrom the magician the equivalents, word for word, of the more cryptic\nexpressions. As a rule the magician himself knows a good deal more than\nanyone else about the mythical references, and about certain esoteric\nexpressions contained in the spell. There are some unintelligent old\nmen, unfortunately, who rattle off a formula, and who evidently never\nwere interested about its significance or else forgot all about it,\nand are no good as commentators. Often a fairly good informant, quite\ncapable of reciting a spell slowly and intelligibly, without losing his\nthread, will be of no use as linguistic informant, that is in helping\nto obtain a definition of a word, in assisting to break it up into its\nformative parts; in explaining which words belong to ordinary speech,\nwhich are dialectic, which are archaic, and which are purely magical\ncompounds. I had only a few informants who could help me in this way,\nand among them the previously mentioned Motago'i was one of the best.\n\nThe analysis to which I now proceed can be given only in an approximate\nmanner, for in a full one, a long disquisition on grammar would have\nto be given first. It will be enough, however, to show in broad\noutline the main linguistic features of a spell, as well as the\nmethods which have been used in constructing the free translation\ngiven in the previous chapters.\n\nThe formula here quoted, shows the typical tripartition of the\nlonger spells. The first part is called u'ula. This word means the\n'bottom part' of a tree or post, the 'foundation' of any structure,\nand in more figurative uses, it means 'reason,' 'cause,' or, again,\n'beginning.' It is in this last sense that the natives apply it\nto the first strophe of a song, and to the exordium of a magical\nformula. The second part of the spell is called tapwana, literally:\n'surface,' 'skin,' 'body,' 'trunk,' 'middle part' of a tree, 'main\npart' of a road, and thus 'main part' of a spell or song. The word\ndogina, literally the 'tip' or 'end,' used for the 'tip' of a tree\nor the 'end' of a tail, is used to designate the 'final part' or the\n'conclusion' of a spell. Sometimes the word dabwana, 'top,' or 'head,'\n(not human head) is substituted for dogina. Thus the spell must be\nimagined turned upside down, its beginning put at the basis, the u'ula,\nits main part where the middle trunk would be, and its end at the tip,\nthe dogina.\n\nThe opening words of the u'ula in this spell are short, cutting,\npithy expressions, each standing for its own cycle of ideas, for\na sentence or even a whole story. In this they are typical of the\nbeginnings of Kiriwinian spells. They are also typical, in the great\ndifficulty which they present to the interpreter. Out of the seven\nwords contained in phrases 1 and 2, four do not belong to ordinary\nspeech, and are obscure compounds. Thus the words bosisi'ula and\nbomwalela are made up first of the prefix bo-, which carries with it\nthe meaning of 'tabooed,' 'belonging to magic,' and of the two roots\nsisiula and mwalela, neither of which is a complete word. The first\nis the root part of the word visisi'ula, which designates a custom\nassociated with this magic. At certain times, in connection with the\nperformance of the wayugo rite, the magician has fits of trembling\nand then he has to be given some baked fish, and after partaking of\nit his trembling fit passes. The natives say that he trembles like a\nbisila (pandanus streamer) and that this shows that his magic is good,\nsince the trembling of the pandanus is a symbol of speed. Mwalela\nis derived from olumwalela which means 'inside.' With the prefix bo-\nthe word can be translated 'the tabooed inside.'\n\nIt is even more difficult to interpret the general meaning of these\ntwo expressions, than to find out their literal equivalents. We have\nan allusion to a ritual eating of fish, associated with a trembling\nwhich symbolises speed, and we have an expression 'tabooed inside.' The\ncustom of eating fish after trembling has a magical importance. It adds\nto the efficiency of magic, as all such observances do. The force or\nmerit of this observance, which, dissociated from the spell and the\nrite can have no direct effect, is made available by being mentioned\nin the formula; it is so to speak, magically discounted. This is the\nbest way in which I can interpret the two words of ritual eating and\nof tabooed interior of the magician.\n\nThe three words of sentence 2 have each to tell its own story. The\nword papapa, 'flutter,' stands for a phrase: \"let the canoe speed so\nthat the pandanus leaves flutter.\" Of course the word expresses much\nmore than this sentence, because it is intelligible only to those\nwho are acquainted with the part played by the pandanus leaves\nin the decoration of canoes, with the native ideas about magical\nassociation between flutter and speed, and with the ritual use of\npandanus streamers. Therefore the word has a meaning only if taken\nwith the context of this formula, in connection with its aim, with the\nvarious associated ideas and customs. To the native, who knows all this\nand in whose mind the whole context rises, when he hears or repeats\n'papapa' the word quivers with magical force. The word silubida,\nan especial magical transformation of lilobida, stands for a certain\nvariety of the betel pepper plant. The word monagakalava is again an\nelaborate compound carrying the meaning 'to leave behind.' The betel\nplant is a common magical ingredient, and in this spell, the ancestral\nspirits will presently be invited to chew betel-nut. 'Leaving behind'\nundoubtedly refers to the other canoes which will be outrun by that\nof the reciter. Both these words, therefore, can be placed without\nmuch difficulty into the context of this spell. It is quite clear,\nas has been said, that each of these expressions stands alone and\nrepresents a self-contained cycle of ideas. The two expressions of\nsentence 1 probably do belong to one another, but even they represent\neach one-half of a complex story.\n\nThen, in 3, there comes a long list of names of ancestors, all of\nwhom are said to be real men who had lived in Kitava, the home of this\nmagic. The words kwaysa'i, 'stormy sea,' and pulupolu, 'boiling up,'\n'foaming up,' suggest that the names are significant and therefore\nmythical. Nawabudoga, a Kitavan man, was father of the last-mentioned\none, Mogilawota, a maternal relative of the present owner. We see here,\ntherefore, a good case of 'magical filiation,' by which the present\nowner, a man of Sinaketa, is connected with the mythical district\nof Kitava.\n\nThe following two sentences, 4 and 5, are linguistically much clearer\nand simpler, and they present connected sequences of words. They\nare an invocation to ancestral spirits, asking them to join the\nmagician at the canoe, which is called here Kaykudayuri, 'the craft\nof the Kudayuri,' and to place the pandanus streamers on the top of\nTeulo. This, in an exaggerated and figurative speech, expresses an\ninvitation to the spirits to follow the man on his trip. It must be\nnoted that, according to the present belief at least, the spirits are\nnot conceived as agents or forces which carry the canoe at the behest\nof the magician, but as passive companions only. Sentence 6 contains\na scornful address to his companions; the magician in prospect sees\nhimself sailing ahead towards the mountains; as he turns round, the\nKitava men, that is his companions, are far behind on the beach of\nTo'uru, and the whole sea-arm of Pilolu still lies before them.\n\nIn 7, the same trend of ideas is followed; the custom of kindling the\nfire by the first canoe is alluded to, and the magician sees himself\ncarrying out this privilege. It is to be noted that he speaks always of\nhis canoe under the name of Kudayuri, that is of the mythical flying\ncanoe of ancient times. In 8, the canoe is addressed as a flying\nwitch, who is asked to bind her skirt together and to fly. In 9,\nthe magician verbally retraces an incident from the original myth\nof Kudayuri. He takes the adze handle, gets hold of the canoe, and\nstrikes it, whereupon the canoe flies.\n\nThus the u'ula begins with archaic, condensed compounds each carrying\na self-contained cycle of magical meaning. Then follows a list of\nforbears; then more explicit and, at the same time more dramatic\nsentences; an invocation to ancestral spirits, the anticipated victory\nin speed, the reconstructed mythical incident.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nLet us pass now to the tapwana. This is always the longest part of a\nspell, since we have a whole list of words which have to be repeated\nwith several key expressions, of which in the present case there are\nthree. Moreover, the magician can ad libitum repeat the same words over\nand over again with a key word. He will not go in any fixed order over\nall the words of the list, but is allowed, in this part of the formula,\nto return and repeat with one key-word the various items of the list.\n\nIt will be best to say here a few words about the manner in which the\nmagical formul\u00e6 are actually recited. The opening words are always\nintoned with a strong, melodious cadence which is not permanently\nfixed, but varies with the magician. The first words are repeated\nsome several times. Thus here, kala bosisi'ula would be reiterated\nthree or four times, and so would be the following two words (kala\nbomwalela). The words of No. 2 are recited slowly and ponderously\nbut not repeated. The list of ancestors is run over quickly and\nperfunctorily. The rest of the u'ula, its dramatic part so to speak,\nis spoken with less melody, more with the ordinary speaking voice\nand more rapidly.\n\nThen comes the last sentence of the u'ula, which in almost all\nspells links it up with the main part. This is always intoned slowly,\nsolemnly and distinctly; the voice drops at the end by the interval of\na tone. In the tapwana, the key word, or key expression, which forms\nalways the concluding part of the u'ula, is taken up again. It is\nrepeated several times, as if to fix or rub it well in. Then, dropping\ninto a quick, continuous stream of utterance, the magician runs over\none word of the list after the other. The key-word is inserted between\neach of them, said sometimes once, sometimes two or three times. It\ngives an effect as if the key-word were being rubbed in into every\none of the other expressions. They as a rule spoken more slowly, mark\nthe rhythm of this part. The reciting of the last part of a spell,\nthe dogina or dabwana, is more perfunctory, usually it is rather\nspoken than chanted.\n\nAfter this digression, let us return to the analysis of our spell. It\nis a rule that the tapwana, the main part of a formula, is easier\nto translate, expressed in less archaic and less condensed terms,\nthan the u'ula. The tapwana of this spell has quite easy key-words,\nboth in its first and in its second part. In the first one (phrase\n11) the key-words are of mythical nature, referring to localities\nassociated with the flying of one of the Kudayuri sisters. In the\nsecond tapwana, the key-word means: 'I might heel over' or 'I shall\nheel over,' that is with speed. And this expression stands here for:\n'I shall overtake,' and the list of words pronounced with this verb\ndenotes the various parts of a canoe. The second part of the tapwana\n(phrase 14) is much more typical than the first, because the key word\nis a verb, whilst the list words are nouns. It is typical also, in\nthat the verb expresses, in a simple and direct manner, the magical\neffect of the spell (the overtaking of the other canoes) whereas the\nsum of the words of the list gives the object of the spell, that is,\nthe canoe. Such tapwana, in which the magical action is expressed as\na verb, while in the list of words we have mentioned the various parts\nof a garden or of fishing nets, or weapons or parts of the human body,\nare to be found in all classes of magic.\n\nThe first part of the tapwana (phrases 11, 12, and 13) is less\ntypical, in so far that the verbs depicting various magical actions are\nrelegated into the list, while the key-words are adverbial expressions\nof locality. The verbal links of the long chain express all and one\nin a metaphoric manner the speed of the canoe. 'I shall fly, I shall\nbecome like smoke, I shall become invisible, I shall become as a\nwind eddy, etc,' are all rather picturesque, concrete descriptions\nof surpassing speed. They present also a linguistic symmetry and\nsingularity. The prefix ba- is the form of the future or potential\ntense, which I have literally translated 'might,' but which stands here\nfor 'shall.' The formative prefix yo- is a causative, and stands for\n'become as' or 'become like.' Then follows the root: kokoba- 'smoke\nwhich trails in clouds above a burning garden.' Hence the expression\nbayokokoba, in its full concrete meaning, could be translated:\n'I shall become like clouds of trailing smoke.' Again, boyowaysula\nin its full meaning could be translated: 'I shall become invisible\nas distant spray.' The only abstract word in this list is tamwa'u,\nwhich literally means, 'to disappear.' So, in this tapwana, the list\nconsists of a number of formally similar words, each expressing the\nsame general meaning in a concrete metaphorical manner. The length\nof the whole tapwana (main body) of the spell can be imagined, since\nin the middle between its two sections the u'ula is recited once more.\n\nThe last part of this spell, the dogina, contains an explicit\nallusion to the Kudayuri myth and to several geographic localities,\nwhich are mentioned in that myth. It also shows the usual crescendo,\ncharacteristic of the conclusions of a spell. The final results are\nanticipated in exaggerated, forceful language.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nSo much about the wayugo spell. I shall adduce now another spell of\na somewhat different type, belonging to the mwasila (Kula magic). It\nis distinctly a more modern formula; there are hardly any archaic\nexpressions; words are not used, as independent sentences each;\non the whole it is easily understandable and has a consecutive meaning.\n\n\n\n              RAYIKUNA SULUMWOYA (ALSO CALLED SUMGEYYATA)\n\n    A. U'ULA (INITIAL PART)\n\n     1  Avayta'u netata'i    sulumwoyala    Laba'i? Yaygu, Kwoyregu,\n     1    Who      cuts   the mint plant of Laba'i?   I,   Kwoyregu,\n\n             sogu      tamagu,   katata'i    sulumwoyala    Laba'i.\n        together with my father,  we cut  the mint plant of Laba'i.\n\n     2     Silimwaynunuva,      inunuva;     silimwayniku,\n     2  The roaring sulumwoya, it roars; the quaking sulumwoya\n\n          iniku;        silimwayyega,        iyega;\n        it quakes; the soughing sulumwoya, it soughs;\n\n            silimwaypolu,        ipolu.\n        the boiling sulumwoya, it boils.\n\n\n    B.--TAPWANA (MAIN PART)\n\n     3    Ipolu,    ipolu    ipolu   ...  agu  sulumwoya    ipolu;\n     3  It boils, it boils, it boils ...   my  mint plant it boils;\n\n        agu      vana,       ipolu;  agu     kena       ipolu;  agu\n         my herb ornaments, it boils  my lime spatula it boils;  my\n\n         yaguma    ipolu;  agu sinata   ipolu;  agu mo'i   ipolu;\n        lime pot it boils;  my  comb  it boils;  my mat  it boils;\n\n        agu        pari          ipolu;  agu   vataga     ipolu;\n         my presentation goods it boils;  my big basket it boils;\n\n        agu      kauyo        ipolu;  agu     lilava       ipolu.\n         my personal basket it boils;  my magical bundle it boils.\n\n         Dabagu   ipolu;  kabulugu   ipolu;  kaygadugu    ipolu;\n        my head it boils; my nose  it boils; my occiput it boils;\n\n         mayyegu    ipolu;    tabagu    ipolu;        kawagu\n        my tongue it boils; my larynx it boils; my speaking organ\n\n          ipolu;   wadogu    ipolu;  ula     woyla       ipolu.\n        it boils; my mouth it boils;  my Kula courting it boils.\n\n\n    C.--DOGINA (CONCLUSION)\n\n     5  Avaliwo     koya--       isikila         koya;\n     5   I kick the mountain--it tilts over, the mountain;\n\n          imwaliku       koya;       ikaywa'u       koya;\n        it subsides, the mountain; it opens up, the mountain;\n\n           isabwani      koya;        itakubile         koya;\n        it jubilates, the mountain it topples over, the mountain;\n\n         itakubilatala       koya.\n        it topples down, the mountain.\n\n     6  Avapwoyma                 dabana       Koyava'u; avapokayma\n     6  I breathe (a spell over) the head (of) Koyava'u;  I charm\n\n          lopoum        Siyaygana;          akulubeku  wagana\n        thy inside (of) Siyaygana  (canoe);  I drown  the waga\n\n        akulisonu   lumanena.\n        I submerge the lamina.\n\n     7  Gala  butugu,    butugu  pilapala; gala   valigu,\n     7  Not  my renown my renown  thunder; not  my treading,\n\n           valigu              lumwadudu            tudududu.\n        my treading noise made by flying witches(?) tudududu.\n\n\nThe opening sentences of the formula are so clear that the translation\nword for word explains itself without any closer commentary, except of\ncourse as far as the names are concerned. Laba'i is a village in the\nNorth of Kiriwina, and it plays a considerable part in the mythology of\nthe origin of man, since several of the principal sub-clans emerged\nthere from underground. Laba'i is also the home of the mythical\nculture-hero Tudava. The mythology of the Kula, however, does not\ninclude Laba'i amongst the places, on which it touches. Perhaps this\nsomewhat anomalous features of the formula may be connected with its\nobvious linguistic modernity? The other personal name mentioned in\nthis spell is Kwoyregu, on which Layseta, who gave me this magic,\ncommented in the following manner:\n\n\n    \"A man, he lived in Laba'i, the master of the magic. It was not\n    this man who first knew the magic of Monikiniki. That magic was\n    partly found by Tokosikuna, partly in olden days in Sinaketa.\"\n\n\nIn explaining this commentary it must be noted that the informant\nwas a Sinaketan man, hence his local patriotism, for there is no\ndefinite, mythological version connecting the early practice of the\nmwasila with the village of Sinaketa. As we saw, Tokosikuna is indeed\none of the mythical heroes with whose story the magic of mwasila\nis associated. Monikiniki is the name of one of the systems of the\nmwasila magic, which usually is said to come from a man of that name.\n\nPhrase 2 of this spell contains four couples, each consisting\nof a compound and a verb. The substantival compounds have all,\naccording to the alliterative symmetry so dear to Kiriwinian magic,\nthe prefix silimway-, derived from sulumwoya, the mint plant. Such\nplay on words, especially on what is the leading word in a spell,\nas sulumwoya is here, shows that the purely phonetic handling of\nwords must be associated with the idea or feeling of their inherent\npower. The keyword of the tapwana (phrase 3), has been translated,\nliterally 'it boils.' Perhaps it might have been translated in its\nother slightly different meaning 'it foams.' Probably it has both\nmeanings to the mind of the native reciter. I think that the use\nof a word fraught with two meanings at the same time is one of the\ncharacteristics of native language. In this spell, for instance, the\nword polu appears as one in a series of such verbs as 'to roar,' 'to\nquake,' 'to sough,' all carrying the meaning of 'noise,' 'commotion,'\n'stir,' a meaning which is in harmony with the magical effects to be\nproduced by the mwasila magic. In this context the obvious translation\nof the word would be: 'to foam.' On the other hand, this spell is said\nover a piece of mint, which will be preserved in boiled coco-nut oil,\nand the double meaning here contained might be paraphrased in this\nmanner: \"as the oil of the sulumwoya boils, so may my renown (or the\neagerness of my partner?) foam up.\" Thus the word polu would link up\nthe meaning of the rite of boiling with the context of this spell. This\nexplanation, however, has not been obtained from a native informant,\nthough it is undoubtedly in keeping with the general type of current\nexplanations. What I have called before the magical concatenation\nof magical ideas consists in just such connections of words and\ntheir meanings.\n\nThe dogina (final part) contains one or two typical features. For\ninstance, in phrase 4, the maternal uncle of the present reciter is\nasked to breathe the spell over the head of Monikiniki. In this,\nthe present owner of the spell identifies his canoe with that of\nthe mythical hero. In 5, 6 and 7, we have several grandiloquent\nexpressions such as that referring to the commotion on the mountain;\nthat comparing his renown to thunder, and his treading to the noise\nmade by mulukwausi; and that describing how the waga will sink, through\nbeing overfilled with valuables. The last part would, as usual, be\nrecited in a much more perfunctory and quick manner, giving it the\neffect of piling up words, one forceful phrase following another It\nends with the onomatopoetic sound tudududu ... which stands for the\nroll of the thunder.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nThe two specimens of magic here given in the original with a verbal\ntranslation, show how the linguistic analysis allows us a much\ndeeper insight into the magical value of words, as it is felt by the\nnatives. On the one hand, the various phonetic characteristics show\nthe handling of words when these have to convey magical force. On the\nother hand, only an analysis word for word of the spells could give us\na good insight into the frequently mentioned magical concatenation of\nideas and verbal expressions. It is, however, impossible to adduce here\nall the spells in their full original version with linguistic comments,\nas this would lead us into a treatise on the language of magic. We may,\nhowever, quickly pass over some of the other spells and point out in\nthem the salient features of magical expression, and thus amplify the\nresults so far obtained by the detailed analysis of these two spells.\n\nOf course these two examples belong to the longer type consisting of\nthree parts. Many of the spells previously quoted in free translation\ncontain no main part, though it is possible to distinguish their u'ula\n(exordium) from their dogina (finale). The very first spell quoted\nin Chapter V, the formula of the Vabusi Tokway (the expulsion of\nthe wood-sprite) is an anomalous one. It is an invocation, and it is\nnot even chanted but has to be spoken in a low persuasive voice. It\nconsists of two parts: in the first one the word kubusi ('thou comest\ndown') used as an imperative, 'come down!' is repeated with all sorts\nof descriptions and circumscriptions of the woodsprites. In the second\npart, several sentences are repeated to make the wood-sprite feel\nthat he has been chased away. Both the keyword of the first part,\nkubusi, and the sentences of the second part have a direct force of\ntheir own. It must be realised that, for the natives, it is a great\ninsult to be told to go away. Yoba, the 'expulsion,' the 'command to\ngo,' stands in a category of its own. People are yoba'd, expelled from\ncommunities in certain circumstances, and a man would never dream of\nremaining, when thus treated. Therefore the words in this spell possess\na force due to social sanctions of native custom. The next spell,\ngiven in Chapter VI, the Kaymomwa'u, is also anomalous for it consists\nof one part only. The word kubusi, 'come down' is also repeated here,\nwith various words designating defilements and broken taboos. These\nqualities are, however, not thought of as personified beings. The force\nof the word is probably also derived from the ideas about the yoba.\n\nThe second spell, which is a pendant to the Kaymomwa'u, the\nKaygagabile, or spell of lightness, begins with a typical u'ula:--\n\n\n        Susuwayliguwa (repeated);     Titavaguwa (repeated);\n          He fails to outrun me;  the canoe trembles with speed;\n\n         mabuguwa (repeated) mabugu,   mabugamugwa;  mabugu,\n            magical word;    mabugu, mabugu-ancient; mabugu,\n\n        mabuguva'u.\n        mabugu-new.\n\n\nThe first two words are compounds with prefixes and suffixes added for\nmagical purposes, as a sort of magical trimming. The untranslatable\nword, said by the natives to be megwa wala ('just magic') is repeated\nseveral times in symmetry with the previous two words and then with\nthe two suffixes; ancient and new. Such repetitions with prefixes\nor suffixes of antithetic meaning are a frequent feature of magical\ntrimming of words. This exordium affords a clear example of the magical\nplay on words, of transformations for the sake of rhythm and symmetry;\nof repetitions of the same words with antithetic affixes. In the\nfollowing part of the spell, the word ka'i (tree) is repeated with\nverbs:--'the tree flies' etc., and it functions as a key-word. It is\ndifficult to decide whether this part is a true tapwana or only one\nof the not infrequent examples of an u'ula with a keyword.\n\nLet us survey a few more of the u'ula (first parts) of the canoe\nspells, and then proceed to the examination of the middle parts and\nends. In the next spell of Chapter VI, the Kapitunena Duku spell,\nthe word bavisivisi, 'I shall wave them back,' (that is; the other\ncanoes), is repeated ponderously several times. The opening of a\nspell with one word, which summarises in a metaphorical manner the\naim of the spell is often found in Kiriwinian magic. In this spell\nthere follow the words:--\n\n\n       S\u00eey\u00e1        d\u00e1ban\u00e2 T\u00f3kun\u00e2   \u00ednen\u00e2.     Sinegu   bwaga'u,\n    Siya hill (on) top of Takuna the women. My mother sorcerer,\n\n    tatogu  bwaga'u.\n    myself sorcerer.\n\n\nThese words are pronounced with a heavy, thumping rhythm, as indicated\nby the sharp and circumflex accents. The second line shows a rhythmic\nand symmetrical arrangement of words. The remainder of the u'ula of\nthis spell is similar to the same part in the wayugo spell, which has\nbeen given here in full native text (compare the free translations\nof both spells in previous Chapters).\n\nIn the ligogu spell of the same Chapter, the u'ula opens with another\njuggling of words:--\n\n\n    virayra'i (repeated); morayra'i (repeated);     basilabusi\n       female rayra'i;        male rayra'i;     I shall penetrate\n\n         Wayayla,  basilalaguwa       Oyanaki;  basilalaguwa\n    (at) Wayayla, I shall emerge (at) Oyanaki; I shall emerge\n\n         Wayayla,     basilabusi    Oyanaki;\n    (at) Wayayla, I shall penetrate Oyanaki;\n\n\nThis part of the u'ula has not been translated in the text, as its\nmeaning is 'magical' and can be better grasped in connection with the\nnative text. The word rayra'i is a magical word only. It is first given\nwith the antithetic opposition of the male and female prefixes vi-\nand mo-. The following phrase is a typical example of a geographical\nantithesis. The two names refer to the promontories facing one other\nacross the sea passage Kaulokoki, between Boyowa and Kayleula. Why\nthose two points are mentioned I could not find out.\n\nIn the kadumiyala spell, given in Chapter IX, we have the following\nopening:--\n\n\n    Vinapega, pega; vinamwana, mwana;\n    nam mayouyai, makariyouya'i, odabwana;\n    nam mayouya'i, makariyouya'i, o'u'ula.\n\n\nIn the first line, we have the symmetrically uttered and prefixed names\nof the two flying or jumping fishes, pega and mwana. The prefix vina-\nis probably the female prefix and may convey the meaning of flying's\nbeing associated with women, that is with the flying witches. The\nsecond and third verse contain a play on the root yova or yo'u\n'to fly,' reduplicated and with several affixes added. These two\nverses are brought into a sort of antithesis by the last two words,\nodabwana and o'u'ula, or 'at the top,' and 'at the bottom,' or here,\nprobably, at the one end of the canoe and at the other.\n\nIn the Bisila spell, given in the same chapter, we have the\nbeginning:--\n\n\n    Bora'i, bora'i, borayyova, biyova;\n    Bora'i, bora'i, borayteta, biteta.\n\n\nThe word bora'i seems to be again a purely magical one. The prefix bo-\ncarries the meaning of tabooed, or ritual; the root ra'i suggests\nsimilarity with the above quoted magical word rayra'i, which is\nobviously merely a reduplicated form of ra'i. This is therefore a\nrhythmically constructed play on the magical root ra'i, and the words\nyova, 'to fly,' and teta, 'to be poised,' 'to soar.'\n\nThe Kayikuna veva spell presents the following rhythmic and symmetrical\nexordium:--\n\n\n    Bosuyasuya (repeated); boraguragu (repeated).\n    Bosuya olumwalela; boyragu akatalena.\n\n\nThe exact meaning of the two words is not quite clear, except that they\nrepresent magical influences. Their arrangement and the antithesis\nof olumwalela ('middle part,' 'inside'), and katalena ('body' or\n'outside') is in keeping with the features observed in the other\nbeginnings here quoted.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nThe tapwana (main parts) of the spells, though they take a much\nlonger time in reciting, are simpler in construction. Many spells,\nmoreover have no middle part at all. The first regular tapwana we find\nin our spells is that in the Kapitunena Duku. There, we have a series\nof key-words recited with a list of complimentary expressions. The\nkey-words are verbs, spoken in the form:--\n\n\n                  mata'i, matake'i, meyova, etc.\n                    cut,   cut at,   fly, etc.\n\n\nThese verbs are used in this spell with the prefix ma- or me-, which\nrepresents the tense of indefinite duration. This prefix, although, as\nfar as I know, found in several Melanesian languages in full vigour,\nhas in Kiriwina a distinctly archaic flavour, and is only used in\ncertain locutions and in magic. Some of the verbs used in this spell\nare metaphorical in their meaning, describing the speed of the canoe\nin a figurative manner. The list of the complimentary words repeated\nwith the key-words contains the enumeration of the different parts of\nthe canoe. It is typical that the key-words are in their form archaic\nand in their meaning figurative while the complimentary terms are\njust ordinary words of everyday speech.\n\nAnother regular tapwana has been given in the Kadumiyala spell in\nChapter IX, where the only key-word, napuwoye, has been translated:\n'I impart speed magically.' The prefix na- is that of the definite\ntense. The formative pu- I was unable to translate, while the root\nwoye means literally 'to beat' and in a somewhat more remote sense,\n'to impart magic.' In the Kayikuna veva spell, the pair bwoytalo'i,\nbosuyare, meaning 'paint red in a ritual manner,' and 'wreathe in\na ritual manner,' are given formal resemblance by the alliterative\nprefix bo-, which carries with it the meaning of 'ritual.'\n\nWe see that the number of the tapwana is smaller, since only three\nspells out of seven have got it. In form, the tapwana are simpler\nthan the u'ula, and an examination of a greater number of key-words\nwould show that they also express directly or figuratively the\nmagical action or its effect. Thus, here we had a verb denoting the\nimparting of magic, that is the direct expression of the action;\nthen two words figuratively expressing it, and the series of verbal\nkey-words enumerating the effects of the magic, such as flying,\nspeed, etc. In other canoe spells, not given in this book, there\ncould be found similar types of key-words such as: 'the canoe flies';\n'the buriwada fish is poised on a wave'; 'the reef-heron wades';\n'the reef-heron skirts the beach...' all of them expressing the aim\nof the spell in accordance with the magical trend of thought.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nFrom the linguistic point of view, the final parts of the spells, the\ndogina, present, as a rule, fewer remarkable features. Phonetically\nthe most outstanding trait is the purely onomatopoetic sound complexes,\nsuch as sididi or saidididi, or the three words sididi, tatata, numsa,\nfound in the Kadumiyala spell. From the point of view of meaning,\nthere are in some of the dogina interesting metaphorical turns of\nspeech, such as the descriptions of time in the Kaygagabile spell,\nwhere the difference in speed between the magician and his companions\nis expressed by allusions to the morning and evening sun, couched in\nfigurative speech. Some mythical allusions also find their way into the\ndogina. These parts of a spell are undoubtedly the least important in\nthe natives' eyes; very often the same dogina is used with a number\nof formul\u00e6 belonging to the one cycle, as we have noticed. Other\nspells have no dogina at all, for instance, that of Kapitunena Duku,\nwhere the onomatopoetic sound sidididi stands for the whole dogina. As\nsaid above, the manner of reciting these parts is more perfunctory,\nwith fewer melodic modulations and phonetic peculiarities.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nI have given so far a short linguistic survey of the canoe spells,\ndealing first with their initial parts, u'ula, then with their main\nparts, tapwana, and lastly saying a few words about the dogina. In a\nstill more summary manner, I shall give a short survey of the mwasila\n(Kula magic) spells, quoted or mentioned in this book, beginning with\nthe u'ula.\n\nIn the Yawarapu spell (Chapter VII) we have the beginning:--\n\n\n    Bu'a, bu'a, bovinaygau, vinaygu;\n    bu'a, bu'a, bomwanaygu, mwanaygu ...\n\n\nHere the word bu'a (areca-nut) is repeated and used as a prefix bo-,\nwith the antithetic roots -vinay- (female), and -mwanay- (male)\nand with the suffix -gu (first possessive pronoun).\n\nThe Kaymwaloyo (Chapter VII) begins:--\n\n\n    Gala bu'a, gala doga, gala mwayye ...\n\n\nThis is spoken in a solemn manner, and then follows the play on the\nroot mwase, described above in the free translation of this spell.\n\nAnother rhythmic beginning, spoken with regular, strongly marked\naccent is to be found in the Kaykakaya spell (Chapter XIII):\n\n\n    Ka\u00fdtut\u00fana \u00edyan\u00e2, m\u00e1rabw\u00e1ga iyan\u00e2 ...\n\n\nSymmetrical arrangements of words, with alliterative prefixing of a\nparticle and with antithetic uses of word couples are to be found in\nseveral other spells.\n\nThe Talo formula (Chapter XIII):\n\n\n    Talo, talo'udawada, udawada\n    Talo, talomwaylili, mwaylili ...\n\n\nThe Ta'uya spell (Chapter XIII):\n\n\n    Mwanita, monimwanita;\n    Deriwa, baderideriwa;\n    Derima, baderiderima ...\n\n\nThe Ka'ubana'i spell (Chapter XIII):\n\n\n    Mose'una Nikiniki,\n    Moga'ina Nikiniki ...\n\n\nThe Kwoygapani spell (Chapter XIV):\n\n\n    Kwega, kweganubwa'i, nubwa'i;\n    Kwega, kweganuwa'i, nuwa'i;\n    Kwega, kweganuma'i, numa'i ...\n\n\nI have written them down here without full comment, to show their\nformal phonetic characteristics, which are indeed in all essentials\nquite similar to the samples previously quoted and analysed.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nThe main parts of the spells in the magic of the Kula do not\nessentially differ in their characteristics from the tapwana of the\ncanoe magic. In their form, some key-words are simply verbs used\nwithout any transformation in their narrative tense. Thus in the\nTalo (red paint) formula, the pair of verbs ikata ('it flares up'),\ninamila ('it flashes') is used with various nouns describing parts\nof the human head. The key-words of the Kayikuna Tabuyo (Chapter\nXIII) are also grammatically simple: buribwari, kuvakaku kuvakipusa\n('fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it')--the verbs being in the\nsecond person of the narrative tense.\n\nIn other cases we find the key-word transformed by reduplication,\ncomposition or by affixes. In the Yawarapu spell (Chapter VII)\nthe pair boraytupa, badederuma repeated as key expressions is a\ncompound which I did not succeed in analysing completely, though the\nconsensus of my informants makes me satisfied with the approximate\ntranslation:--'Quick sailing, abundant haul.' In the Gebobo spell\n(Chapter VII) the expression tutube tubeyama is a play on the root\ntubwo used as a rule verbally and meaning 'to be full in the face,'\n'to be fine looking.' In the Ta'uya spell (Chapter XIII) there is the\nreduplication munumweynise of the root mwana or mwayna expressing\nthe 'itching' or 'state of excitement.' In the ka'ubanai the first\nkey-expression ida dabara is an archaic or dialectical couple (the root\nis dabara, and ida is only a phonetic addition), which signifies 'to\nebb.' The other key-expressions 'ka'ukwa yaruyaru,' 'ka'ukwa mwasara,'\n'ka'ukwa mwasara baremwasemwasara' have all the verbal part irregularly\nreduplicated and in the last expression repeated and transformed. The\nlast formula of the mwasila (Kula magic) given in Chapter XIV, has a\npair of expressions used as key-phrase: 'kwoygapani, pani; kwoyga'ulu,\nulu.' The word kwega, a variety of betel plant, is used in a modified\nform as a prefix and compounded with the verbal roots pani (seduce)\nand ulu (enmesh).\n\nAs to the final parts of this class of spell, I have said before\nthat it is much less variable than the initial and main parts of a\nformula. Within the same cycle or system, the dogina often varies\nlittle and a man will often use the same one with all his spells. The\nsample given with the sulumwoya text will therefore be sufficient to\nshow the various characteristics of this part of the mwasila spell,\nand there is no need to say anything more about it.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nA very rapid survey of the phonetic characters of the kayga'u spells\n(Chapter XI) must be sufficient and we shall confine ourselves to\ntheir tapwana. The word gwa'u or ga'u means 'mist' or 'fog'; verbally\nused with the meaning 'to make mist' 'to befog,' it has always the\nform ga'u. In the main parts of some of the formul\u00e6 of this class,\nthis phonetically very expressive word is used with very great sound\neffect. For example in the giyorokaywa spell No. 1, the key-words\nare aga'u ('I befog'), aga'usulu ('I befog, lead astray'); aga'uboda\n('I befog, shut off'). Spoken, at the beginning of the tapwana slowly\nand sonorously, and then quickly and insistently these words produce\na really 'magical' effect--that is as far as the hearers' subjective\nimpressions are concerned. Even more impressive and onomatopoetic is\nthe phrase used as key-expression in the Giyotanawa No. 2:\n\n\n    Ga'u, yaga'u, yagaga'u, yaga'u, bode, bodegu!\n\n\nThis sentence, giving the vowels a full Italian value, such as\nthey receive in the Melanesian pronunciation, does certainly have an\nimpressive ring; fittingly enough, because this is the dramatic spell,\nuttered into the wind in the sinking waga, the final effort of magic\nto blind and mislead the mulukwausi. The causative prefix ya- is\nused here with a nominal expression yaga'u which has been translated\n'gathering mist'; the reduplicated one yagaga'u I have rendered by\n'encircling mist.' It can be seen from this example how feebly the\nequivalents can be given of the magical phrases in which so much is\nexpressed by phonetic or onomatopoetic means.\n\nThe other spells have much less inspired key-words. Giyotanawa No. 1\nuses the word atumboda, translated 'I press,' 'I close down,' which\nliterally renders the meanings of the verbs tum, 'to press,' and boda,\n'to close.' The Giyorokaywa No. 2 has the somewhat archaic key-words\nspoken in a couple: 'apeyra yauredi,' 'I arise,' 'I escape' and the\ngrammatically irregular expression suluya, 'to lead astray.'\n\nThe main part of the Kaytaria spell, by which the benevolent fish\nis summoned to the rescue of the drowning party has the key-phrase\n'bigabaygu suyusayu: the suyusayu fish shall lift me up.' This\nexpression is noteworthy: even in this spell, which might be regarded\nas an invocation of the helpful animal, it is not addressed in the\nsecond person. The result is verbally anticipated, proving that the\nspell is to act through the direct force of the words and not as an\nappeal to the animal.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nWith this, the survey of linguistic samples from various spells is\nclosed, and we can briefly summarise our results. The belief in\nthe efficiency of a formula results in various peculiarities of\nthe language in which it is couched, both as regards meaning and\nsound. The native is deeply convinced of this mysterious, intrinsic\npower of certain words; words which are believed to have their virtue\nin their own right, so to speak; having come into existence from\nprimeval times and exercising their influence directly.\n\nTo start first with the meaning of the magical expressions, we have\nseen that in this respect they are plain and direct enough. Most of\nthe key-words simply state the magical action, for example when in\none of the spells the key-word napuwoye, 'I impart magical virtue (of\nspeed),' or in another the key-words 'to paint red in a festive manner,\nto wreathe in a festive manner,' simply describe what the magician is\ndoing. Much more often the principal expressions, that is the initial\nwords and the key-words, of a spell refer to its aim, as for instance,\nwhen we find words and phrases denoting 'speed' in canoe magic; or, in\nKula magic, designations for 'success' 'abundant haul,' 'excitement,'\n'beauty.' Still more often the aim of magic is stated in a metaphorical\nmanner, by similes and double meanings. In other parts of the spell,\nwhere the magical meaning is imprisoned not so much in single words and\nexpressions, as in explicit phraseology and long periods, we found that\nthe predominant features are: lists of ancestral names; invocations of\nancestral spirits; mythological allusions; similes and exaggerations;\ndepreciating contrasts between the companions and the reciter--most\nof them expressing an anticipation of the favourable results aimed at\nin the spell. Again, certain parts of the spell contain systematic,\nmeticulous enumerations, the reciter going over the parts of a canoe\none by one; the successive stages of a journey; the various Kula goods\nand valuables; the parts of the human head; the numerous places from\nwhich the flying witches are believed to come. Such enumerations as\na rule strive at an almost pedantic completeness.\n\nPassing to the phonetic characteristics, we saw that a word will often\nbe used in a shape quite different from those in which it is used\nin ordinary speech; that it will show notable changes in form and\nsound. Such phonetic peculiarities are most conspicuous in the main\nwords, that is in the key-words and initial words. They are sometimes\ntruncated, more often provided with additions, such as symmetrical or\nantithetic affixes; formatives added for the sake of sound. By these\nmeans there are produced effects of rhythm, alliteration and rhyme,\noften heightened and accentuated by actual vocal accent. We found play\non words by symmetrical couples of sounds, with antithetic meaning\nlike mo- and vi-, or mwana- and vina-, both couples signifying 'male'\nand 'female' respectively; or -mugwa (ancient) and -va'u (new); or ma-\n(hither) and wa- (thither), etc., etc. Especially we found the prefix\nbo-, carrying the meaning of ritual or tabooed, with derivation from\nbomala; or with the meaning 'red,' 'festive' in its derivation from\nbu'a (areca-nut); onomatopoetic sounds such as sididi or saydidi,\ntatata, numsa, in imitation of speed noises, of the wailing of wind,\nrustling of sail, swish of pandanus leaves; tududu, in imitation of\nthe thunder claps; and the rhythmical, expressive, though perhaps\nnot directly onomatopoetic, sentence:\n\n\n    Ga'u, yaga'u, yagaga'u, yaga'u, bode, bodegu.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nIf we now turn to the substances used in the magical rites, as means\nof ritual transference of the spell, we find in canoe magic, dried\nlalang grass, dried banana leaf, dried pandanus leaf, all used in\nthe magic of lightness. A stale potato is employed to carry away\nthe heaviness of the canoe; although on another occasion heaviness\nis thrown away with a bunch of lalang grass. The leaves of two or\nthree shrubs and weeds, which as a rule the natives take to dry their\nskin after bathing, are used for magical cleansing of a canoe body,\nand a stick and a torch serve in other rites of exorcism. In the\nrite associated with the blackening of a canoe, charred remains of\nseveral light substances such as lalang grass, the nest of a small,\nswift bird, the wings of a bat, coco-nut husk and the twigs of an\nextremely light mimosa tree are employed.\n\nIt is easy to see that, not less than the words, the substances here\nused are associated with the aim of the magic, that is, with lightness,\nwith swiftness and with flying.\n\nIn the magic of the Kula we find betel-nut, crushed with lime in\na mortar, used to redden the tip of the canoe. Betel-nut is also\ngiven to a partner, after it has been charmed over with a seducing\nspell. Aromatic mint, boiled in coco-nut oil and ginger root are also\nused in the mwasila. The conch-shell, and the cosmetic ingredients,\ncharmed over on Sarubwoyna beach are really part of the outfit,\nand so is the lilava bundle. All the substances used in this magic\nare associated either with beauty and attractiveness (betel-nut,\ncosmetics, the mint plant) or with excitement (conch-shell, chewed\nbetel-nut). Here therefore, it is not with the final aim--which is\nthe obtaining of valuables--that the magic is concerned, but with the\nintermediate one, that is that of being agreeable to one's partner,\nof putting him into a state of excitement about the Kula.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nI wish to close this chapter by adducing a few texts of native\ninformation. In the previous chapters, several statements and\nnarratives have been put into the natives' mouths and given in\nquotations. I wish now to show some of the actual linguistic data\nfrom which such quotations have been derived. Numerous utterances\nof the natives were taken down by me as they were spoken. Whenever\nthere was a native expression covering a point of crucial importance,\nor a characteristic thought, or one neatly formulated, or else one\nespecially hazy and opalescent in meaning--I noted them down in quick\nhandwriting as they were spoken. A number of such texts, apart from\ntheir linguistic importance, will serve as documents embodying the\nnative ideas without any foreign admixture, and it will also show\nthe long way which lies between the crude native statement and its\nexplicit, ethnographic presentation. For what strikes us at first\nsight most forcibly in these texts is their extreme bareness, the\nscantiness of information which they appear to contain. Couched in\na condensed, disjointed, one might say telegraphic style, they seem\nto lack almost everything which could throw light on the subject of\nour study. For they lack concatenation of ideas, and they contain\nfew concrete details, and few really apt generalisations. It must be\nremembered, however, that, whatever might be the importance of such\ntexts, they are not the only source of ethnographic information,\nnot even the most important one. The observer has to read them\nin the context of tribal life. Many of the customs of behaviour,\nof the sociological data, which are barely mentioned in the texts,\nhave become familiar to the Ethnographer through personal observation\nand the direct study of the objective manifestations and of data\nreferring to their social constitution (compare the observations on\nMethod in the Introduction). On the other hand, a better knowledge of\nand acquaintance with the means of linguistic expression makes the\nlanguage itself much more significant to one who not only knows how\nit is used but uses it himself. After all, if natives could furnish\nus with correct, explicit and consistent accounts of their tribal\norganisation, customs and ideas, there would be no difficulty in\nethnographic work. Unfortunately, the native can neither get outside\nhis tribal atmospheres and see it objectively, nor if he could, would\nhe have intellectual and linguistic means sufficient to express it. And\nso the Ethnographer has to collect objective data, such as maps,\nplans, genealogies, lists of possessions, accounts of inheritance,\ncensuses of village communities. He has to study the behaviour of the\nnative, to talk with him under all sorts of conditions, and to write\ndown his words. And then, from all these diverse data, to construct\nhis synthesis, the picture of a community and of the individuals\nin it. But I have dwelt on these aspects of method already in the\nIntroduction and here I want only to exemplify them with regard to\nthe linguistic material directly representing some of the natives'\nthoughts on ethnographic subjects.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nI shall give here first a text on the subject of the priority in\nsailing, which as described in Chapter IX, is the privilege of\na certain sub-clan in Sinaketa. I was discussing with a very good\ninformant, Toybayoba of Sinaketa, the customs of launching the canoes,\nand I tried, as usually, to keep my interlocutor as much as possible to\nconcrete details and to the stating of the full sequence of events. In\nhis account he uttered this sentence:\n\n\n    \"The Tolabwaga launch their canoe first; by this the face of the\n    sea is cleared.\"\n\n\nI thereupon perceived that a new subject had been brought within my\nnotice, and I headed my informant on to it, and obtained the following\ntext, sentence after sentence:--\n\n\n\n         THE TOLABWAGA SUB-CLAN AND THEIR SEA-FARING PRIVILEGES\n\n     1       Bikugwo,                ikapusi               siwaga\n     1  He might be first he fall down (it is launched) their canoe\n\n        Tolabwaga,   boge     bimilakatile   bwarita.\n        Tolabwaga, already he might be clear   sea.\n\n     2    Igau   kumaydona gweguya,  tokay      siwaga\n     2  Later on    all    chiefs,  commoner their canoe\n\n                  ikapusisi           oluvyeki.\n        they fall down (are launched)  behind.\n\n     3    Kidama     takapusi     takugwo          bitavilidasi\n     3  Supposing we fall down, we are first they might turn (on) us\n\n        baloma;     bitana   Dobu, gala  tabani bunukwa  soulava.\n        spirits; we might go Dobu,  no  we find   pig   necklace.\n\n     4  Makawala     yuwayoulo:           bikugwo          isipusi\n     4   Alike   (lashing creeper) he (it) might be first they bind\n\n              siwayugo,        iga'u   yakidasi.\n        their wayugo lashing, later on ourselves.\n\n     5  Takeulo Dobu, gala      bikugwasi      Tolabwaga;\n     5  We sail Dobu,  no  they might be first Tolabwaga;\n\n         okovalawa     boge    aywokwo.\n        on sea front already he was over.\n\n     6  Obwarita  tananamse   kayne  isakauli     taytala\n     6   In sea  we consider whether  he run  one (masculine)\n\n         lawaga,     ikugwo.\n        his canoe, he is first.\n\n     7  Gala   bikaraywagasi      patile.\n     7   No  they might command canoe fleet.\n\n     8  Dobu, gweguya      bikugwasi,             biwayse\n     8  Dobu,  chiefs they might be first, they might come there\n\n         kaypatile  gweguya.\n        canoe fleet chiefs.\n\n     9  M'tage Tolabwaga   boge      aywokwo       sikaraywaga\n     9  Indeed Tolabwaga already he (it) was over their command\n\n           ovalu.\n        in village.\n\n\nThe Tolabwaga sub-clan belong to the Lukwasisiga clan, and live at\npresent in Kasi'etana. Only one man and two women are surviving.\n\n\n    10     Simwasila        siwaga   migavala,  vivila   boge\n    10  Their Kula magic their canoe magic his, woman  already\n\n         iyousayse.\n        they grasp.\n\n    11        \"Datukwasi        boge   kasakaymi  megwa kwaraywagasi\n    11  \"Our magical property already we give you magic you command\n\n        agayle!\"\n        to-day!\"\n\n\nThus would they say on handing their magic to their male descendants.\n\n\n\n                        INFORMANT'S COMMENTARY.\n\nCommenting on verse 3, the expression, 'bitalividasi baloma,' my\ninformant said:\n\n\n              'Bitavilida':          bilivalasi   baloma \"Avaka\n        'They might turn (on) us': they might say spirit \"What\n\n        pela gala    ikugwo   Tolabwaga,   kukugwasi   gumgweguya;\n        for   no  he is first Tolabwaga, you are first sub-chiefs;\n\n            kayuviyuvisa    Tolabwaga!\"\n        sweepers of the sea Tolabwaga!\"\n\n    13  Tavagi gaga igiburuwasi,    ninasi    igaga, pela\n    13  We do  bad   they angry  mind theirs' he bad for\n\n            magisi      balayamata   tokunabogwo     aygura.\n        desire theirs we might watch   long ago  he has decreed.\n\n\nThe verbal translation renders word for word the individual meaning\nof every particle and root, according to a definite grammatical and\nlexicographical scheme which has been adopted for this text in common\nwith a few hundred more. In this place, I cannot give the commentary\nand justification of the linguistic details, which will be fairly\nobvious to a Melanesian scholar, who might, however, find some new\nand even controversial features in my translation. To other readers,\nthese details are of small interest. I have not included in this\ntranslation any distinction between the inclusive and exclusive first\nperson, dual and plural. Of the two tenses which are to be found in\nthis text, the narrative one is translated by the English verb in\ninfinitive, the potential, by the addition of the word 'might.' In\nbrackets underneath, the special meaning of a word in its context is\nindicated, or some comments are added.\n\nThe free translation of the text must now be given:--\n\n\n                           FREE TRANSLATION.\n\n1 The Tolabwaga canoe would be launched first; by this the face of\nthe sea is cleared.\n\n2 Afterwards, all the chiefs', the commoners' canoes are launched.\n\n3 If we would launch our canoes first, the spirits (of ancestors)\nwould be angry with us; we would go to Dobu and we would receive no\npigs, no necklaces.\n\n4 It is likewise with the lashing of the canoe: first, the Tolabwaga\nwould bind the lashing creeper and afterwards ourselves.\n\n5 On our journey to Dobu, the Tolabwaga would not sail ahead, for\ntheir priority ends on the beach of Sinaketa.\n\n6 On the sea it is according to our wish, and if one man's canoe runs\nfast, he would be first.\n\n7 They (the Tolabwaga) do not wield the command of the canoe fleet.\n\n8 In Dobu, the chiefs would be first; the chiefs would arrive there\nat the head of the fleet.\n\n9 But the supremacy of the Tolabwaga ends here already, in the village.\n\n10 The Kula magic, the magic of the canoe, belonging to the Tolabwaga\nclan has passed already into the hands of their womenfolk.\n\n11 (These would say speaking to their male children): -- \"We shall\ngive you the magic, the magical inheritance, you rule henceforward.\"\n\n12 When the spirits become angry, they would tell us:-- \"Why are\nthe Tolabwaga not first and you minor chiefs are ahead? Are not the\nTolabwaga cleaners of the sea?\"\n\n13 When we do wrong, they (the spirits) are angry, their minds are\nmalevolent, for they desire that we should keep to the old customs.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nComparing the free translation with the literal one, it is easy\nto see that certain additions have been made, sentences have been\nsubordinated and co-ordinated by various English conjunctions which are\neither completely absent from the native text, or else represented by\nsuch very vague particles as boge (already), and m'tage (indeed). On\nthese linguistic questions I cannot enlarge here, but it will be\ngood to go over each sentence in succession, and to show how much\nit was necessary to add from the general store of sociological and\nethnographic knowledge, in order to make it intelligible.\n\n1. The meaning of the word 'fall down' is specialised here by the\ncontext, and I translated it by 'launch.' The particle boge had to\nbe translated here by 'by this.' The words about the 'clearing of the\nsea' suggested at once to me that there was a special ancient custom\nin question. Then there is the name of the sub-clan Tolabwaga. In\norder to understand the full meaning of this phrase, it is necessary\nto realise that this name stands for a sub-clan; and then one has\nto be well acquainted with native sociology, in order to grasp what\nsuch a privilege, vested in a sub-clan, might mean. Thus, a word like\nthis can in the first place be understood only in the context of its\nphrase, and on the basis of a certain linguistic knowledge. But its\nfuller meaning becomes intelligible only in the context of the native\nlife and of native sociology. Again the expression referring to the\nclearing of the sea required a further comment, for which I asked my\ninformant, and was answered by Phrase 3.\n\n2. In this phrase the expressions 'chiefs,' 'commoners' etc., are\nfully intelligible only to one, who has a definition of these words\nin terms of native sociology. Indeed, only the knowledge of the\nusual supremacy of the chiefs allows one to gauge their importance\nand the survival character of this custom, by which this importance\nis diminished for a time.\n\n3. Here, we have the explanation of the obscure clause in phrase 1,\n'A clear sea' means the good temper of the spirits which again means\ngood luck. The question as to whether the spirits are to be imagined\nas actively interfering or helping still remained open. I asked for\na further elucidation, which was given to me in the text of Phrases\n12 and 13.\n\n4. This contains a condensed reference to the stages of ship-building,\nprevious to launching. This, of course, to be understood, pre-supposes\na knowledge of these various activities.\n\n5 to 9. The limitations of the powers of the Tolabwaga sub-clan are\noutlined, giving interesting side-lights on the r\u00f4le played by females\nas repositories of family (sub-clan) traditions. Needless to say, this\nstatement would be entirely meaningless without the knowledge of the\nnatives' matrilineal institutions, of their customs of inheritance\nand of property in magic. The correct knowledge of these facts can\nonly be gathered by a collection of objective, ethnographic documents,\nsuch as concrete data about cases of actual inheritance, etc.\n\n12 and 13. Here it is explained how far the baloma would become angry\nand how they would act if a custom were broken. It can be distinctly\nseen from it that the anger of the spirits is only a phrase, covering\nall these forces which keep the natives to the observance of old\ncustoms. The baloma would go no further than to reproach them for\nbreaking the old rules, and there are no definite ideas among these\nnatives about actual punishment being meted out by offended spirits.\n\nThese considerations show convincingly that no linguistic analysis can\ndisclose the full meaning of a text without the help of an adequate\nknowledge of the sociology, of the customs and of the beliefs,\ncurrent in a given society.\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nAnother sample of a native text may be given here, as it is of especial\ninterest, in that it throws light upon the previously given magical\nformula of the wayugo. It is the text I obtained trying to find the\nmeaning of the word bosisi'ula, which figures at the beginning of\nthe above-mentioned spell. According to two informants of Sinaketa,\nthe word visisi'una refers to the belief already described, that\nthe owner of a wayugo charm is liable to fits of trembling, during\nwhich he trembles as a bisila (pandanus) streamer trembles in the\nwind. He then should ritually eat some baked fish, and this is called\nvisisi'una. Such a man would then ask somebody of his household:--\n\n\n    \"Kugabu, kumaye, avisisi'una.\"\n    \"Thou bake, thou bring, I ritually eat.\"\n\n\nOr someone else would urge his wife or daughter:--\n\n\n    \"Kugabu, kumaye, ivisisi'una.\"\n    \"Thou bake, thou bring, he eats ritually.\"\n\n\nAgain, asked for a direct equation, my informant said:--\n\n\n    \"Ivisisi'una -- bigabu, tomwaya ikam.\"\n    \"Ivisisi'una -- he bake, old man he eat.\"\n\n\nThe following text contains a more explicit definition of the term,\nwhich I was trying at that time to make clear and to translate by an\nappropriate English expression.\n\n\n                     EXPLANATION OF WORD VISISI'UNA\n\n    A.--FIRST INFORMANT.\n\n     1  Pela  isewo             wayugo,              itatatuva\n     1  For  he learn wayugo, (the creeper magic) he (it) tremble\n\n         wowola    matauna,        isa'u (or isewo) wayugo.\n        body his this (man), (who)     he learn     wayugo.\n\n     2  \"Nanakwa,   kugabu   kusayki,      tomwaya\n     2   \"Quick,  thou bake thou give old man (magician)\n\n           ivisisi'una      boge  itatatuva  kana      bisila,\n        he ritually eats, already he tremble his  pandanus streamer,\n\n        kana     wayugo.\"\n        his  wayugo creeper.\"\n\n\n    B.--SECOND INFORMANT.\n\n     3   Tayta          isewo   bisila, gala    bikam\n     3  (If) one (man) he learn bisila, not  he might eat\n\n        yena,   boge   itatuva    wowola.\n        fish, already he tremble body his.\n\n\n                           FREE TRANSLATION.\n\n(A.) 1. The body of a man who has learned the wayuga spell, trembles,\nbecause he learned the spell. (Someone seeing him tremble, would tell\nsomeone of his household:)\n\n2 \"Quick, bake fish, give to the old man that he might ritually eat,\nhis pandanus streamer trembles, his wayugo.\"\n\n(B.) 3 A man who learns the bisila magic and does not eat fish will\ntremble.\n\nThis text, with its foregoing short comments and with its two versions\nwill give an inkling of how I was able to obtain from my native\ninformants the definition of unknown and sometimes very involved\nexpressions and how, in the act of doing it, I was given additional\nenlightenment on obscure details of belief and custom.\n\nIt will also be interesting to give another text referring to the\ngwara custom. I have given in Chapter XIV a native definition of\nthis custom, and of the reception accorded to the Trobrianders in\nDobu when there is a taboo on palms there. The statement was based\non the following text, and on certain other additional notes.\n\n\n                 GWARA IN DOBU AND THE KA'UBANA'I MAGIC\n\n     1      Tama     Dobu  ikarigava'u--gwara:  bu'a    bilalava\n     1  We come (to) Dobu, he die anew--gwara: areca he might ripen\n\n         usi      bimwanogu,     nuya      bibabayse      ka'i\n        banana he might ripen, coco-nut they might spike stick\n\n         kayketoki.\n        small stick.\n\n     2  Gala ka'ubana'i, takokola:       ikawoyse         bowa\n     2   No  ka'ubana'i, we fright: they take (put on) war paints\n\n        kayyala, kema; isisuse        biginayda\n         spear,   axe; they sit they might look at us.\n\n     3  Batana   ovalu    tasakaulo, gala tanouno       batawa\n     3  We go  in village  we run,    no  we walk. we might arrive\n\n            tamwoyne    bu'a.\n        we (i.d.) climb areca.\n\n     4   Idou:   \"E! Gala     bukumwoyne      bu'a.\"\n     4  He cries \"E!  No  thou mightst climb areca.\"\n\n     5   Bogwe   ika'u  kayyala, mwada      biwoyda.\n     5  Already he take  spear,  mayhap he might hit us.\n\n     6       Tapula           nayya       ka'ubana'i:  ika'ita\n     6  We ritually spit wild ginger root ka'ubana'i: he return\n\n          ima,   igigila  iluwaymo kayyala, kema.\n        he come he laugh, he throw  spear,   axe.\n\n     7       Tapula        Valu  kumaydona,   boge   itamwa'u\n     7  We ritually spit village    all,    already he vanish\n\n            ninasi     ilukwaydasi:\n        mind theirs', they tell us:\n\n     8  \"Bweyna, kumwoynasi kami bu'a,       nuya,       kami\n     8   \"Good,  you climb  your areca, coco-nut (palms) your\n\n         usi   kuta'isi.\"\n        banana you cut.\"\n\n\nIn comment added:\n\n\n     9  Gala ikarige    veyola      ninasi   bweyna.\n     9   No   he die kinsman his, mind their  well.\n\n    10  Vivila  kayyala   ikawo,  pela tokamsita'u.\n    10  Woman  spear her she take for   cannibals.\n\n\n                            FREE TRANSLATION\n\n1 We come to Dobu, (there) someone has recently died--there is a gwala:\nthe areca nut will ripen, the bananas will ripen, they will stick up\ncoco-nuts on small spikes.\n\n2 If there is no ka'ubana'i charm made--we are afraid: they (sc. the\nDobuans) put on war paint, take up spear and axe, they sit (waiting)\nand look at us.\n\n3 We go into the village running, not walking; we arrive and climb\nthe areca palm.\n\n4 He (the Dobuan) shouts: \"Don't climb the areca palm!\"\n\n5 Already he takes the spear, so as to hit us.\n\n6 We ritually spit about wild ginger root charmed with the ka'ubana'i\nspell--he returns, comes to us, laughs, he throws away spear and axe.\n\n7 We ritually bespit the whole village, already their intention\nvanishes, they tell us:\n\n8 \"Well, climb your areca palm and your coco-nut, cut your banana.\"\n\n9 If no kinsman had died, their intentions are good.\n\n10 A woman would also take up a spear, as they (the Dobuans) are\ncannibals.\n\nThese three texts will be quite sufficient to give an idea of the\nmethod of dealing with linguistic evidence, and of the documentary\nvalue of immediately recorded native opinions. They will also make\nclear what I have said before, that only a good, working knowledge of\na native language on the one hand, and a familiarity with their social\norganisation and tribal life on the other, would make it possible to\nread all the full significance into these texts.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX\n\nTHE INLAND KULA\n\n\nI\n\nAfter the somewhat long digression on magic, we can now return once\nmore to the description of the Kula. So far, we have been treating only\none incident in it, the overseas expedition between Sinaketa and Dobu,\nand the return visit. But in dealing with this one typical stage we\nhave received a picture of the whole Kula, and we have incidentally\nlearnt all about the fundamentals of the exchange, the magic, the\nmythology, and the other associated aspects. Now it remains to put the\nfinishing touches to the general picture, that is, to say a few words,\nfirst about the manner in which it is conducted within a district, and\nthen to follow the exchange on the remaining part of the ring. The\nexchange within each Kula community has been called the 'inland\nKula.' This part of the subject I know from personal experience in\nthe Trobriands only. All that will be said therefore in this chapter\nwill apply primarily to that part of the ring. As Boyowa, however,\nis by far the biggest and most densely populated piece of land within\nthe Kula, it is clear that in treating the inland exchange in that\nisland, we treat it in its most developed and typical form.\n\nIt has been mentioned before, in Chapter XVI that in April, 1918,\nTo'uluwa had come to Sinaketa in connection with the uvalaku visit\nof the Dobuans. To'uluwa is the present chief of Omarakana, indeed,\nthe last chief of Kiriwina, for after his death no one will succeed\nhim. His power has been broken by the interference of Government\nofficials and the influence of Mission work. The power of the Trobriand\nchief lay mainly in his wealth, and this he was able to keep constantly\nat a high level through the institution of polygamy. Now that he is\nforbidden to acquire more wives, though he may keep his old ones; and\nnow that his successor will not be allowed to follow this immemorial\ncustom of polygamy practised by their dynasty, the power of the chief\nhas no basis, and has to a great extent collapsed.\n\nI may add that this interference, inflicted for no comprehensible\npurposes, except if it be an exceedingly parochial and narrow-minded\napplication of our sense of morality and propriety, has no legal basis\nwhatever in the regulations of that Colony, and could not be justified\neither formally or on account of any results it may produce. Indeed,\nthe undermining of old-established authority, of tribal morals and\ncustoms tends on the one hand completely to demoralise the natives\nand to make them unamenable to any law or rule, while on the other\nhand, by destroying the whole fabric of tribal life, it deprives them\nof many of their most cherished diversions, ways of enjoying life,\nand social pleasures. Now once you make life unattractive for a man,\nwhether savage or civilised, you cut the taproot of his vitality. The\nrapid dying out of native races is, I am deeply convinced, due more\nto wanton interference with their pleasures and normal occupations,\nto the marring of their joy of life as they conceive it, than to\nany other cause. In the Trobriands, for instance, the chief has\nalways been the organiser of all the big, tribal festivities. He\nreceived large contributions from the commoners under various\nlegal obligations (see Chap. VI, Division VI) but he gave away all\nhis wealth again in the form of big, ceremonial distributions, of\npresents at festivities, of food gifts to the partakers in dances,\ntribal sports and diversions. These were the pleasures in which\nthe natives found real zest, which largely gave meaning to their\nlives. Nowadays all these pursuits have greatly slackened, because\nof the lack of concentration of wealth and power in the chief's\nhands. He can neither afford to finance the big pastimes of yore,\nnor has he influence enough to give the same energetic initiative to\nstart them going. After his death, things will be worse still. There\nare reasons to fear, and even natives express their misgivings,\nthat in a generation or two the Kula will become entirely disorganised.\n\nIt is a well-known fact that the resistance and health of a native\ndepend on auto-suggestion more even than is the case with ourselves,\nthough new developments in psychotherapy seem to indicate that medicine\nhas up till now largely underrated the general influence of this\nfactor. Even the old ethnographic observers, more in Polynesia perhaps\nthan anywhere else, have reported clear, unmistakable instances in\nwhich the loss of interest in life and the determination to die\nbrought about death without any other cause. My own experience,\nthough I have no one very striking case to cite, bears this out fully\nfrom all sorts of corroborating types of evidence. It is therefore\nnot going beyond what is fully granted by facts, to maintain that a\ngeneral loss of interest in life, of the joie de vivre, the cutting\nof all the bonds of intense interest, which bind members of a human\ncommunity to existence, will result in their giving up the desire to\nlive altogether, and that therefore they will fall an easy prey to\nany disease, as well as fail to multiply.\n\nA wise administration of natives would, on the one hand, try to govern\nthrough the chief, using his authority along the lines of old law,\nusage, and custom; on the other hand it would try to maintain all\nwhich really makes life worth living for the natives, for it is the\nmost precious inheritance, which they have from the past ages, and it\nis no good to try to substitute other interests for those lost. It\nis easy to hand over one's vices to a man racially and culturally\ndifferent; but nothing is as difficult to impart as a keen interest\nin the sports and amusements of other people. Even from one European\nnation to another, the last stronghold of national peculiarity\ncan be found in its traditional diversions, and without diversion\nand amusement a culture and a race cannot survive. The application\nof a heavy, indeed, crushing machinery of European law and moral\nregulations, with their various sanctions, simply destroys the whole\ndelicate fabric of tribal authority, eradicating good and bad alike,\nand leaves nothing but anarchy, bewilderment and ill will. [83]\n\nWith a mere show of his former authority, therefore, poor old To'uluwa\narrived with a handful of followers at Sinaketa. He still keeps to\nall the strict observances and onerous duties with which his exalted\nposition was weighted in olden days. Thus, he may not partake of ever\nso many kinds of food, considered to be unclean for the members of\nthe sub-clan of Tabalu. He may not even touch any defiled objects,\nthat have been in contact with unclean food; he may not eat from\ndishes or drink out of vessels which have been used previously by other\npeople. When he goes to Sinaketa, for instance, where even the highest\nchiefs do not keep the taboos, he remains almost on starvation diet;\nhe can only eat the food which has been brought from his own village,\nor drink and eat green coco-nut. Of the honours attaching to his\nposition, not many are observed. In olden days, on his approach to\na village, a runner would enter first, and in a loud voice cry out\n\"O Guya'u,\" whereupon all the people would stand in readiness, and\nat the chief's approach the commoners would throw themselves on the\nground, the headman would squat down, and men of rank would bend their\nheads. Even now, no commoner in the Trobriands would stand erect in\nthe presence of To'uluwa. But he no more announces his arrival in\nsuch a loud and proud manner, and he takes his dues as they are given,\nnot demanding them with any show of authority.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nOn that occasion in Sinaketa, I met him again after about two years\ninterval since the time when I lived as his neighbour in Omarakana\nfor some eight months, my tent pitched side by side with his lisiga\n(chief's man's abode). I found him changed and aged, his tall figure\nmore bent, his large face, with its expression half of benevolence and\nhalf of cunning, wrinkled and clouded over. He had some grievances\nto tell about the offhand treatment which had been given to him\nin Sinaketa, where he had received no necklaces at all, although a\nfew days before the Sinaketans had carried from Kiriwina over 150\npairs of armshells. Indeed, the relative change of position between\nthe chiefs of Sinaketa and himself is a permanent sore point with\nthe old chief. All coastal natives, and especially the headman of\nSinaketa, have become very rich owing to the introduced industry\nof pearling, where their services are paid for by the white men in\ntobacco, betel-nut, and vaygu'a. But To'uluwa, ruined through white\nman's influence, receives nothing from pearling, and compared to his\nSinaketan inferiors, is a pauper. So after a day or two in Sinaketa,\nhighly displeased, and vowing never to return again, he went back to\nOmarakana, his residence, and thither we shall follow him.\n\nFor Omarakana is still the centre of the Trobriand inland Kula,\nand, in certain respects, still one of the most important places\non the ring. It is probably the only locality where the Kula is\nor ever was to some extent concentrated in the hands of one man,\nand it is also the capital of the important district of Kiriwina,\nwhich dominates all the inland Kula of the Northern Trobriands, and\nlinks up the island of Kitava with the western islands of Kuyleula\nand Kuyawa. It is also an important link between Kitava and Sinaketa,\nthough between these two last mentioned places there are some minor\nmeans of communication, as we shall presently see.\n\nPreviously, in Chapter III, in the definition of the fundamentals of\nthe Kula, we saw that the population of the Ring can be divided into\nwhat we called Kula communities. These divisions, as we remember, were\ndistinguished by the fact that each one makes overseas expeditions\nof its own. For example, the Sinaketans, as we saw, make their trips\nto Dobu in a body, and although the Vakutans may go with them at the\nsame time, the two fleets sail and act as independent units. Again,\nthe whole district of Kiriwina sails to the East, to Kitava, as one\nfleet. But no Sinaketan canoe could ever form part of it. Another\ndistinguishing characteristic of a Kula community is that the furthest\nlimits of partnership are the same for all its members. Thus for\ninstance, a man from any village in Kiriwina, provided he is in the\nKula, may have a partner anywhere up to the furthest limits of the\nSinaketa district in the South, and in any of the villages of the\nisland of Kitava to the East. But beyond that, no Kiriwinian, not even\nTo'uluwa himself, can enter into Kula partnership. There are again\ncertain differences between the manner of conducting transactions\nwithin a Kula community on the one hand, and between members of two\ncommunities on the other.\n\nKiriwina is one of such Kula communities, and Sinaketa is another. Yet\nthe two are not divided by sea, and the style of exchange, when this is\ncarried on between two Kula communities which lie in the same district,\ndiffers also from that of overseas Kula. Our first task here will be\ntherefore to mark out clearly the lines of distinction between:\n\n1. The transactions of Kula carried on overseas, from one district\nto another.\n\n2. Kula between two distinct but contiguous 'Kula communities.'\n\n3. Transactions within a 'Kula community.'\n\nThe facts belonging to the first heading have been described at length,\nand it will be enough to point out in what the second type differs from\nthe first. Obviously, when two districts on the same island, such as\nKiriwina and Sinaketa, make the exchange there is no overseas sailing,\nno preparation of canoes, no launching, no kabigidoya. Sometimes\nbig joint expeditions are made by the one community to the other\nand a great haul of vaygu'a is carried home. As an example of that,\nwe may mention the visit made by the Sinaketans to Kiriwina in the\nlast days of March, 1918, when a great number of mwali were brought,\nin readiness for the Dobuan uvalaku visit. When such an important\nvisit is made from one Trobriand district to another, some of the\nKula magic will be performed, but obviously not all, for there is no\nlilava bundle to be medicated, since no trade is carried; no dangerous\ncannibals have to be tamed by the ka'ubana'i rite, for the hosts are,\nand always have been, friendly neighbours. But some of the beauty\nmagic, and the enticing formula over betel-nut would be recited to\nobtain as many valuables as possible. There is nothing corresponding\nto uvalaku in such big visits between neighbouring districts, though\nI think that they would be held only in connection with some uvalaku\nvisit from another part of the ring to one of the two districts,\nas was the case in the example quoted, that is the Sinaketan visit\nto Kiriwina (Chapter XVI). Of course there is no associated trade\non such expeditions, for there is very little to exchange between\nSinaketa and Kiriwina, and what there is, is done independently,\nin a regular manner all the year round. Partnership between people\nof such two Kula communities is very much the same as within one of\nthem. It obtains between people speaking the same language, having\nthe same customs and institutions, many of whom are united by bonds\nof actual kinship or relationship-in-law. For, as has been mentioned\nalready, marriages between Sinaketa and Kiriwina take place frequently,\nespecially between natives of high rank. The rule is, in such cases,\nthat a man of Sinaketa marries a woman of Kiriwina.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nLet us pass now to the relation between categories 2 and 3, that\nis between Kula of two contiguous 'Kula communities,' and the Kula\nwithin one of them. First of all, in the inland Kula within the same\ncommunity, there never take place big, wholesale transactions. The\ncirculation of vaygu'a consists of individual exchanges, sometimes\nmore frequent, that is, whenever an overseas expedition has come\nhome laden with many valuables, sometimes done at long intervals. No\nmagic is performed in this type of Kula, and though there is a certain\namount of ceremony accompanying each gift, there are no big, public\ngatherings. A concrete description of an actual case may serve best\nto illustrate these general statements.\n\nDuring the eight months I stayed in Omarakana in 1915-1916, I had\nthe opportunity of watching many cases of inland Kula, as there was\na constant come and go between Kiriwina and Kitava, and subsequent\nto each influx of armshells from the East, a series of exchanges\ntook place. In the month of November, To'uluwa went with his canoe\non a small expedition across the sea to Kitava, and brought back a\ngood haul of mwali (armshells). He arrived on an evening on the beach\nof Kaulukuba, and word was sent over to the village that next day he\nwould come up with his trophies. In the morning, blows of conch-shell,\nheard from the distance, announced the approach of the returning party,\nand soon, preceded by one of his small sons carrying the conch-shell,\nTo'uluwa made his appearance followed by his companions. Each man\ncarried a few pairs which he had obtained, whilst the chief's share\nwas brought in on a stick, hanging down in a chaplet (see Plate LX).\n\nThe people in the village sat before their huts, and according to\nnative custom, there was no special concourse to meet the chief, nor\nany outward signs of excitement. The chief went straight to one of his\nbulaviyaka, that is, one of his wives' houses, and sat on the platform\nbefore it, waiting for some food to come. That would be the place\nwhere he would seat himself, if he wanted just to have a domestic chat\nwith some of his wives and children. Had any strangers been there, he\nwould have received them at his place of official reception, in front\nof his lisiga, the extremely large and high chief's house, standing\nin the inner row of yam houses, and facing the main place, the baku\n(see Plate II). On that occasion he went to the hut of Kadamwasila,\nhis favourite wife, the mother of four sons and one daughter. She is\nquite old now, but she was the first wife married by To'uluwa himself,\nthat is, not inherited, and there is an unmistakable attachment and\naffection between the two, even now. Though the chief has several\nmuch younger and one or two really fine looking wives, he is usually\nto be found talking and taking his food with Kadamwasila. He has also\na few older wives, whom, according to the custom, he inherited from\nhis predecessor, in that case, his elder brother. The eldest of them,\nBokuyoba, the Dean of the Body of the chief's wives, has been twice\ninherited; she is now a source of income--for her male kinsmen have\nto supply yams to the chief--and an object of veneration, and is now\neven relieved of the duty of cooking the chief's food.\n\nTo'uluwa sat, ate, and talked about his journey to myself and some of\nthe village elders assembled there. He spoke of the amount of mwali\nat present in Kitava, told us from whom and how he obtained those\nat which we were then looking, naming the most important ones, and\ngiving bits of their histories. He commented on the state of gardens\nin Kitava, which in one respect, in the production of the big yams\n(kuvi) are the admiration of all the surrounding districts. He spoke\nalso about future Kula arrangements, expeditions to arrive from the\nEast in Kiriwina, and of his own planned movements.\n\nOn the afternoon of the same day, people from other villages began to\nassemble, partly to hear the news of the chief's expedition, partly in\norder to find out what they could obtain themselves from him. Headmen\nfrom all the dependent villages sat in one group round the chief,\nwho now had moved to the official reception ground, in front of his\nlisiga. Their followers, in company with the chief's henchmen, and\nother inhabitants of Omarakana, squatted all over the baku (central\nplace), engaged in conversation. The talk in each group was of the same\nsubjects, and did not differ much from the conversation, I had heard\nfrom the chief on his arrival. The newly acquired armshells were handed\nround, admired, named, and the manner of their acquisition described.\n\nNext day, several soulava (spondylus shell necklaces) were brought\nto Omarakana by the various men from neighbouring villages to the\nWest, and ceremonially offered to To'uluwa (see Plates LXI, LXII,\nand Frontispiece). This was, in each case a vaga (opening gift),\nfor which the giver expected to receive his yotile (clinching gift)\nat once from the store of mwali. In this case we see the influence of\nchieftainship in the relation between Kula partners. In the inland\nKula of Kiriwina, all gifts would be brought to To'uluwa, and he\nwould never have to fetch or carry his presents. Moreover, he would\nalways be given and never give the opening gift (vaga); while his gift\nwould invariably be a yotile. So that the chief sometimes owes a Kula\ngift to a commoner, but a commoner never owes a gift to a chief. The\ndifference between the rules of procedure here and those of an uvalaku\noverseas expedition is clear: in a competitive overseas expedition,\nvaluables for exchange are never carried by the visiting party, who\nonly receive gifts and bring them back home; in the inland Kula,\nthe determining factor is the relative social position of the two\npartners. Gifts are brought to the man of superior by the man of\ninferior rank, and the latter has also to initiate the exchange.\n\nThe following entry is quoted literally from my notes, made in\nOmarakana, on November the 13th, 1915. \"This morning, the headman of\nWagaluma brought a bagido'u (fine necklace). At the entrance to the\nvillage (it is Omarakana), they (the party) halted, blew the conch\nshell, put themselves in order. Then, the conch shell blower went\nahead, the men of highest rank took the stick with the bagido'u,\na boy carrying the heavy wooden bell pendant on a kaboma (wooden\ndish).\" This requires a commentary. The ceremonial way of carrying\nthe spondylus shell necklaces is by attaching each end to a stick,\nso that the necklace hangs down with the pendant at its lowest point\n(see Frontispiece and Pl. LXI and LXII). In the case of very long and\nfine necklaces, in which the pendant is accordingly big and heavy,\nwhile the actual necklace is thin and fragile, the pendant has to be\ntaken off and carried apart. Resuming the narrative:--\"The headman\napproached To'uluwa and said: 'Agukuleya, ikanawo; lagayla lamaye;\nyoku kayne gala mwali.' This he said in thrusting the stick into the\nthatch of the chief's house.\" The words literally mean: 'My kuleya\n(food left over), take it; I brought it to-day; have you perhaps no\narmshells?' The expression 'food left over,' applied to the gift\nwas a depreciating term, meaning something which is an overflow\nor unwanted scrap. Thus he was ironically depreciating his gift,\nand at the same time implying that much wealth still remained in\nhis possession. By this, in an oblique manner, he bragged about his\nown riches, and with the last phrase, expressing doubt as to whether\nTo'uluwa had any armshells, he threw a taunt at the chief. This time\nthe gift was returned immediately by a fine pair of armshells.\n\nIt was in connection with the same expedition that the little\nexchange between two of the chief's wives took place, mentioned\nbefore (in Chapter XI, Division II, under 4) and one or two more\ndomestic Kula acts were performed, a son of To'uluwa offering him a\nnecklace (see Plates LXI and LXII) and receiving a pair of armshells\nafterwards. Many more transactions took place in those two days or so;\nsounds of conch shells were heard on all sides as they were blown first\nin the village from which the men started, then on the way, then at\nthe entrance to Omarakana, and finally at the moment of giving. Again,\nafter some time another blast announced the return gift by To'uluwa,\nand the receding sounds of the conch marked the stages of the going\nhome of the party. To'uluwa himself never receives a gift with his\nown hands; it is always hung up in his house or platform, and then\nsomebody of his household takes charge of it; but the commoner receives\nthe armshell himself from the hands of the chief. There was much life\nand movement in the village during this time of concentrated exchange;\nparties came and went with vaygu'a, others arrived as mere spectators,\nand the place was always full of a gazing crowd. The soft sounds of\nthe conch shell, so characteristic of all South Sea experiences, gave a\nspecial flavour to the festive and ceremonial atmosphere of those days.\n\nNot all the armshells brought from Kitava were thus at once given\naway. Some of them were kept for the purposes of more distant Kula;\nor to be given on some future, special occasion when a present had to\nbe handed over in association with some ceremony. In the inland Kula,\nthere is always an outbreak of transactions whenever a big quantity\nof valuables is imported into the district. And afterwards, sporadic\ntransactions happen now and then. For the minor partners who had\nreceived armshells from To'uluwa would not all of them keep them for\nany length of time, but part of them would be sooner or later passed\non in inland transactions. But, however these valuables might spread\nover the district, they would be always available when an expedition\nfrom another Kula community would come and claim them. When the\nparty from Sinaketa came in March, 1918, to Omarakana, all those who\nowned armshells would either come to the capital or else be visited\nin their villages by their Sinaketan partners. Of the 154 or so\narmshells obtained in Kiriwina on that occasion, only thirty came\nfrom To'uluwa himself, and fifty from Omarakana altogether, while\nthe rest were given from other villages, in the following proportions:\n\n\n                      Liluta                   14\n                      Osapola                  14\n                      Mtawa                     6\n                      Kurokaywa                15\n                      Omarakana (To'uluwa)     30\n                      Omarakana (other men)    20\n                      Yalumugwa                14\n                      Kasana'i                 16\n                      Other villages           25\n                                              ---\n                                              154\n\n\nThus the inner Kula does not affect the flow of the main stream, and,\nhowever, the valuables might change hands within the 'Kula community,'\nit matters little for the outside flow.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nIt will be necessary to give a more detailed account of the actual\nconditions obtaining in Boyowa with regard to the limits of the\nvarious Kula communities in that district. Looking at Map IV, p. 50,\nwe see there the boundaries of Kiriwina, which is the easternmost\nKula community in the Northern part of the islands. To the west of it\nthe provinces of Tilataula, Kuboma, and Kulumata form another Kula\ncommunity, or, it would be more correct to say, some of the men in\nthese districts make the inland Kula with members of neighbouring\ncommunities. But these three provinces do not form as a whole a Kula\ncommunity. In the first place, many villages are quite outside the\nKula, that is, not even their headmen belong to the inter-tribal\nexchange. Remarkably enough, all the big industrial centres, such\nas Bwoytalu, Luya, Yalaka, Kadukwaykela, Buduwaylaka, do not take\npart in the Kula. An interesting myth localised in Yalaka tells how\nthe inhabitants of that village, prevented by custom from seeing\nthe world on Kula expeditions, attempted to erect a high pillar\nreaching to heaven, so as to find a field for their adventures in the\nskies. Unfortunately, it fell down, and only one man remained above,\nwho is now responsible for thunder and lightning.\n\nAnother important omission in the Kula is that of the Northern villages\nof Laba'i, Kaybola, Lu'ebila, Idaleaka, Kapwani and Yuwada. If we\nremember that Laba'i is the very centre of Kiriwinian mythology,\nthat there lies the very hole out of which the original ancestors of\nthe four clans emerged from underground, that the highest chiefs of\nKiriwina trace their descent from Laba'i, this omission appears all\nthe more remarkable and mysterious.\n\nThus the whole Western half of the Northern Trobriands forms a unit of\nsorts in the chain of Kula communities, but it cannot be considered\nas a fully fledged one, for only sporadic individuals belong to it,\nand again, that district as a whole, or even individual canoes from\nit, never take part in any overseas Kula expedition. The village of\nKavataria makes big overseas sailings to the Western d'Entrecasteaux\nIslands. Though these expeditions really have nothing to do with the\nKula we shall say a few words about this in the next chapter but one.\n\nPassing now to the West, we find the island of Kayleula, which,\ntogether with two or three smaller islands, to its South, Kuyawa,\nManuwata, and Nubiyam, form a 'Kula community' of its own. This\ncommunity is again slightly anomalous, for they make Kula only on a\nsmall scale, on the one hand with the chiefs and headmen of Kiriwina,\nand of the North-Western district of Boyowa, and on the other hand\nwith the Amphletts, but never with Dobu. They also used to make long\nand perilous trips to the Western d'Entrecasteaux, sailing further\nWest and for longer distances than the natives of Kavataria.\n\nThe main Kula communities in the South of Boyowa, Sinaketa and Vakuta,\nhave been described already, and sufficiently defined in the previous\nchapters. Sinaketa is the centre for inland Kula of the South,\nwhich, though on a smaller scale than the inland Kula of the North,\nstill unites half-a-dozen villages round Sinaketa. That village also\ncarries on Kula with three coastal villages in the East, Okayaulo,\nBwaga, and Kumilabwaga, who link it up with Kitava, to where they\nmake journeys from time to time. These villages form again the sort\nof imperfect 'Kula community,' or perhaps one on a very small scale,\nfor they would never have an uvalaku of their own, and the amount\nof transactions which pass through them is very small. Another such\nsmall community, independent as regards Kula, is the village of\nWawela. The district of Luba, which sometimes joins with Kiriwina\nin carrying on a big expedition, also sometimes joins with Wawela\non small expeditions. Such nondescript or intermediate phenomena\nof transition are always to be found in studying the life of native\nraces, where most social rules have not got the same precision as with\nus. There is among them neither any strong, psychological tendency to\nconsistent thinking, nor are the local peculiarities and exceptions\nrubbed off by the influence of example or competition.\n\nI cannot say very much about the inland Kula in other regions besides\nthe Trobriands. I have seen it done in Woodlark Island, at the very\nbeginning of my work among the Northern Massim, and that was the\nfirst time that I came across any of the symptoms of the Kula. Early\nin 1915, in the village of Dikoyas, I heard conch shells blown, there\nwas a general commotion in the village, and I saw the presentation\nof a large bagido'u. I, of course, inquired about the meaning of the\ncustom, and was told that this is one of the exchanges of presents\nmade when visiting friends. At that time I had no inkling that I had\nbeen a witness of a detailed manifestation, of what I subsequently\nfound out was Kula. On the whole, however, I have been told by natives\nfrom Kitava and Gawa, later on whilst working in the Trobriands, that\nthe customs of Kula exchange there are identical with those obtaining\nin Kiriwina. And the same I was told is the case in Dobu. It must be\nrealised, however, that the inland Kula must be somewhat different\nin a community where, as in Kitava, for instance, the strands of the\nKula all come together in a small space, and the stream of valuables,\nwhich has been flowing through the broad area of the Trobriands, there\nconcentrates into three small villages. If we estimate the inhabitants\nof the Trobriands with Vakuta at up to ten thousand, while those of\nKitava at no more than five hundred, there will be about twenty times\nas many valuables per head of inhabitants in Kitava as compared to\nthe Trobriands.\n\nAnother such place of concentration is the island of Tubetube, and\nI think one or two places in Woodlark Island, where the village of\nYanabwa is said to be an independent link in the chain, through which\nevery article has to pass. But this brings us already to the Eastern\nKula, which will form the subject of the next chapter.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX\n\nEXPEDITIONS BETWEEN KIRIWINA AND KITAVA\n\n\nI\n\nThe subject of which this book treats and the material at our disposal\nare nearly exhausted. In describing the Southern branch of the Kula\n(between Sinaketa and Dobu) I entered into the details of its rules\nand associated aspects, and almost all that was said there refers\nto the Kula as a whole. In speaking of the N.E. branch of the Kula,\nwhich I am now about to describe, there will not therefore be very\nmuch new to tell. All the general rules of exchange and types of\nbehaviour are the same as those previously defined. Here we have also\nbig uvalaku expeditions and small, non-ceremonial sailings. The type\nof partnership between Kiriwinians and Kitavans is the same here,\nas the one obtaining within the Trobriands, and described in the\nlast chapter. For the natives of the Eastern islands, from Kitava to\nWoodlark, have the same social organisation and the same culture as the\nTrobrianders, and speak the same language with dialectical differences\nonly. Never any but friendly relations have obtained between them\nand many people are united by bonds of real kinship across the seas,\nfor there have been migrations between the districts, and marriages\nare also not infrequent. Thus the general relations between overseas\npartners are different here from those between Sinaketa and Dobu. The\nvisiting is not associated with any deep apprehensions, there is no\nka'ubana'i (danger magic), and the relations between the visitors and\nhosts are much more free and easy and intimate. The rest of the Kula\nmagic (except the ka'ubana'i) is identical With that in the South,\nand indeed much of it, as used all over Boyowa, has been received\nfrom the Kitavans. Many of the preliminary customs and arrangements\nof the Kula, the preparation of the canoes, ceremonial launching and\nkabigidoya are the same here. In fact, the launching described in\nChapter VI was the one I saw on the beach of Omarakana.\n\nOn the actual expeditions, much of the ceremonial and all the rules\nof the Kula gifts, as well as of the pari and talo'i, the initial\nand farewell presents, are the same as in the South-Western branch\nof the Kula. The best plan will be to tell the story of a typical\nuvalaku expedition from Kiriwina to Kitava, noting the similarities\nand emphasising the differences, while one or two points of divergence\nwill claim our special attention. There is a small, but interesting\nincident called youlawada, a custom which allows a visiting party\nto attack and damage the house ornaments of a man, to whom they\nbring a gift. Another important speciality of this Eastern Kula is\nthe association of a mortuary feast called so'i with particularly\nabundant distributions of vaygu'a.\n\nI had opportunities of collecting notes about the North-Eastern\nKula and of making observations during my residence in Omarakana,\nin 1915-1916. I saw several expeditions from Kitava arrive on the\nbeach, and camp for a few days. To'uluwa went twice to Kitava, and\nhis return from one of these visits has been described in the last\nchapter. He also once started for an expedition there, of which I\nwas a member. There was a change of wind, some time in September,\nand with the North wind which we hoped would last for a few hours,\nit would have been possible to cross to Kitava and to return at our\npleasure with the prevailing South-Easterly. Half-way to our goal,\nthe wind changed and we had to return, to my great disappointment,\nthough this gave me a good example of the entire dependence of\nthe natives on the weather. Unfortunately, To'uluwa got it into\nhis head that I had brought him bad luck, and so when he planned\nhis next trip, I was not taken into his confidence or allowed to\nform one of the party. Two years later, when I lived in Oburaka,\nabout half-way between the Northern and Southernmost end of Boyowa,\nseveral expeditions from Kitava visited Wawela, a village lying\nacross on the other side of the island, which here is no more than\na mile and a half wide; and one or two expeditions left from Wawela\nfor Kitava. The only big expedition which came under my notice was\nthe uvalaku which was to leave some time in April or May, 1916,\nfrom Kiriwina to the East. I saw only the preparatory stages, of\nwhich the launching was described in Chapter VII.\n\nLet us imagine that we follow the course of this Kiriwinian\nuvalaku. The first general intimation that it would take place, came\nafter one of the visits which To'ulawa made to Kitava. He had heard\nthere that a considerable quantity of armshells was soon to come to\nthe island, for, as we shall see by the end of this Chapter, such big,\nconcerted movements of valuables along the ring take place from time to\ntime. To'ulawa then and there made arrangements with his chief partner,\nKwaywaya, to make an uvalaku, which was to be the means of carrying on\nthe big movement of the mwali. On his return to Omarakana, when the\nheadmen of the other Kiriwinian villages assembled, the plans of the\nuvalaku were talked over and details arranged. Even in olden days,\nbefore the chief's power was undermined, though he used to take the\ninitiative, and give decisions in important matters, he had to put\nthe case before the other headmen, and listen to what they had to\nsay. Their opinions on the occasion of which we are speaking, would\nhardly ever be in contradiction to his wishes, and it was decided\nwithout much discussion to make the uvalaku in about six months'\ntime. Soon after, the rebuilding or refitting of the canoes began,\nin the manner previously described. The only slight difference in the\npreparations between Kiriwina and Sinaketa lies in the preliminary\ntrade. The Kiriwinians have to go inland to the industrial districts\nof Kuboma, and they go there every man on his own account, to acquire\nthe articles needed.\n\nIt will be best to say here at once all that is necessary about\nthe trade between Kiriwina and Kitava. As these two districts\nare geologically and in other respects much more similar to one\nanother than Sinaketa and Dobu are, the trade is not of such vital\nimportance, with one notable exception, as we shall see. The articles\nof subsidiary trade, which a Kiriwinian expedition would carry with\nthem to Kitava, are the following:--wooden combs; various classes\nof lime pots; armlets, plaited of fern fibre; turtle-shell earrings;\nmussel shell; coils of lashing creeper (wayugo); plaited fern belts,\nmade originally in the d'Entrecasteaux. Of these articles, the most\nimportant are probably the mussel shells, used for scraping and as\nknives, the various kinds of lime pots, which are a speciality of\nKuboma, and last, but not least, the wayugo. I am not quite certain as\nto whether this creeper is not to be found in Kitava, but as it grows\nonly on marshy soil, it is hardly probable that it would thrive on\na high, raised, coral island. In that case, the creeper is certainly\nthe most indispensable of all the trade articles imported into Kitava\nfrom the Trobriands.\n\nThe Trobrianders import from the smaller islands a class of grass\nskirt made of coco-nut leaves; exceptionally well finished urn-shaped\nbaskets; small hand-baskets; specially bleached pandanus mats;\nornaments made of fragments of conus shell; certain classes of cowrie\nshell, used for ornamenting belts; ebony lime spatul\u00e6; ebony walking\nstaves; sword-clubs carved in ebony; and an aromatic black paint, made\nof charred sandal wood. None of these articles is of vital importance,\nas all of them, though perhaps in slightly different or even inferior\nquality, are manufactured or found in the Trobriands.\n\nThere was one article, however, which, in the olden days, was of\nsurpassing utility to the Trobriand natives, and which they could\nobtain only from Kitava, though it came originally from further\nEast, from Murua (Woodlark Island). These were the kukumali, or\nroughly shaped pieces of green-stone, which were then polished in\nthe Trobriands, and in this state used as stone implements, while\nthe biggest of them, very large and thin and well polished all over,\nbecame a specially important class of vaygu'a (articles of high\nvalue). Although the practical use of stone implements has naturally\nbeen done away with by the introduction of steel and iron, the beku\n(valuable axe blades) have still an undiminished, indeed, an increased\nvalue, as the white traders have to use them for purchasing pearls\nfrom the natives. It is important to note that although all the raw\nmaterial for these stone implements and valuables had to be imported\nfrom Kitava, the finished valuables were and are re-exported again,\nas Kiriwina is still the main polishing district.\n\nAs to the manner in which the trade was done between the Kiriwinians\nand Kitavans, all that has been said previously on the subject of\ninter-tribal trade holds good; part of the goods carried were given\nas presents, part of them were exchanged with non-partners, some were\ngifts received from the partners on leaving.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nReturning to To'ulawa and his companions, as time went on there was\nmore and more stir in the villages. As usually, all sorts of ambitious\nplans were framed, and the youthful members of the party hoped that\nthey would reach Muyuwa (or Murua, Woodlark Island) where Kula was\nnot done, but where Kiriwinian parties sometimes went in order to\nwitness certain festivities. On the subject of Muyuwa, Bagido'u,\nthe elderly heir apparent of Omarakana, who however, as said in the\nprevious chapter, will never succeed his uncle, had to tell his own\nexperiences. As a small boy, he sailed there with one of the big\nchiefs of Omarakana, his maternal grandfather. They went to Suloga,\nthe place where the green stone was quarried.\n\n\n    \"There,\" spoke Bagido'u, \"there was a big dubwadebula (grotto or\n    rock shelf). The members of the Lukulabuta clan (this clan is\n    called Kulutalu in Muyuwa) of Suloga, were the toli (masters,\n    owners) of this dubwadebula, and could quarry the stone. They\n    knew some megwa (magic); they charmed their axe-blades, and hit\n    the walls of the dubwadebula. The kukumali (pieces of stone)\n    fell down. When the men of Boyowa came to Suloga, they gave pari\n    (presents) to the Lukulabuta men of Suloga. They gave them paya\n    (turtle shell), kwasi (armlets), sinata (combs). Then, the Suloga\n    men would show us the kukumali, and tell us: 'Take them with you,\n    take plenty.' Good kukumali, which could be made into a beku\n    (big wealth-blades) we would pay for; we would give our vaygu'a\n    (valuables) in exchange. At parting, they would give us more\n    kukumali as talo'i (farewell gift).\"\n\n\nIt must be remembered, in comment on this narrative, that when Bagido'u\nwent to Suloga, some thirty or forty years ago, the iron and steel\nhad already long before rendered the small kukumali quite useless\nand worthless to the natives, while the big kukumali had still their\nfull value, as material for the large blades which serve as tokens\nof wealth. Hence, the big ones had still to be paid for, and hence\nalso the generous invitation to take as many of the small ones, as\nthey liked, an invitation of which the visitors, with corresponding\ndelicacy, refused to avail themselves. [84]\n\nAnother hero of the occasion was old Ibena, one of the Tabalu (members\nof the highest rank) of Kasana'i, the sister village of Omarakana. He\nhas spent a long time on the island of Iwa, and knew the myths and\nmagic of the Eastern archipelago very well. He would sit down and tell\nfor hours various stories of famous Kula expeditions, of mythological\nincidents, and of the peculiar customs of the Eastern islands. It was\nfrom him that I first obtained my information about the mulukwausi\nand their customs, about shipwreck and the means of saving the party,\nabout the love magic of Iwa, and many other facts, which only a man\nof cosmopolitan experience and culture, like Ibena, would know and\nunderstand thoroughly. He was a good informant, eager to instruct and\nto display his wisdom and knowledge, and not devoid of imagination;\nof the licentious and libidinous women of Kaytalugi (see Chapter X)\nand of what a man has to suffer there, he would speak as if he had\nbeen there himself. At this time, he was specially loquacious about\nthe Kula, and associated customs, inspired as he was by the hope of\nre-visiting his old haunts, and by the admiration and reverence shown\nto him by his listeners, myself included.\n\nThe other members of the audience were most interested in his accounts\nof how they make gardens in Kitava, Iwa and Gawa; of the special\ndances performed there, of the technicalities of Kula, and of the\ngreat efficiency of the Iwan love magic.\n\nAt that time, I was able to obtain more information about the Kula,\nand that more easily and in a shorter while, than I had, with strenuous\nefforts, for months before. It is by taking advantage of such epochs,\nwhen the interest of the natives is centred round a certain subject,\nthat ethnographic evidence can be collected in the easiest and most\nreliable manner. Natives will willingly state customs and rules,\nand they will also accurately and with interest follow up concrete\ncases. Here, for instance, they would trace the way in which a given\npair of armshells had passed through the hands of several individuals,\nand was now supposed to have come round again to Kitava--and in such\na way one receives from the natives definite ethnographic documents,\nrealities of thought, and details of belief, instead of forced\nartificial verbiage.\n\nI saw the proceedings as far as the ceremonial launching of the\nchiefs' canoes in Kasana'i and Omarakana (cf. Chapter VI), when\nthe natives assembled in big numbers, and various festivities took\nplace. Afterwards when everything was ready for sailing, a similar\ncrowd gathered on the beach, though less numerous than the previous\none, for only the neighbouring villages were there instead of the whole\ndistrict. The chief addressed the crowd, enjoining strict taboos on\nstrangers entering the village while the men were away. Such taboos, on\nthe surface at least, are very carefully kept, as I had opportunities\nto observe during the two previous absences of To'uluwa. Early in\nthe evening, everybody retired into his or her house, the outside\nfires were extinguished and when I walked through the village, it was\nquite deserted and except for a few old men specially keeping watch,\nno one was to be seen. Strangers would be careful not to pass even\nthrough the outskirts of the village after sunset, and would take\nanother road to avoid the grove of Omarakana.\n\nEven men from the sister-village of Kasana'i were excluded from\nentering the capital, and on one occasion when two or three of them\nwanted to visit their friends, they were stopped from doing it by\nsome of the old men, with a considerable display of indignation and\nauthority. As it happened, a day or two afterwards, but still while\nthe Kula party were away, one of the favourite sons of To'uluwa, called\nNabwasu'a, who had not gone on the expedition, was caught in flagrante\ndelicto of adultery with the youngest wife of the very old chief of\nKasana'i. The people of the latter village were highly incensed,\nnot without an admixture of malicious amusement. One of these who\nhad been expelled two nights before from Omarakana took a conch shell\nand with its blast announced to the wide world the shame and scandal\nof Omarakana. As a conch shell is blown only on very important and\nceremonial occasion, this was a slap in the face of the supposedly\nvirtuous community, and a reproach of its hypocrisy. A man of Kasana'i,\nspeaking in a loud voice, addressed the people of Omarakana:--\n\n\n    \"You don't allow us to enter your village; you call us adulterous\n    (tokaylasi); but we wanted only to go and visit our friends. And\n    look here, Nabwasu'a committed adultery in our village!\"\n\n\nThe uvalaku party, to whom we now return, would cross the sea in\na few hours and arrive in Kitava. Their manner of sailing, the\narrangement of men in the canoe, the taboos of sailing are the same\nas in Sinaketa. My knowledge of their canoe magic is much smaller\nthan of that in Southern Boyowa, but I think they have got far fewer\nrites. The sailing on these seas is on the whole easier, for there\nare fewer reefs, and the two prevailing winds would either bring them\ntowards the Eastern islands, or push them back towards the long coast\nof Boyowa. The natives of Kiriwina are on the other hand far less\nexpert sailors than the Sinaketans.\n\nThey have the same beliefs about the dangers at sea, especially about\nthe participation of the flying witches in shipwreck. The history of\nsuch a calamity and the means of escape from it, given in one of the\nforegoing chapters (Chapter X), refers to these seas, as well as to\nthe sea-arm of Pilolu.\n\nThese natives, as well as the Southern Boyowans, feel and appreciate\nthe romance of sailing; they are visibly excited at the idea of an\nexpedition, they enjoy even the sight of the open sea on the Eastern\ncoast beyond the raybwag (coral ridge), and often walk there on mere\npleasure parties. The Eastern coast is much finer than the beach of the\nLagoon; steep, dark rocks alternate there with fine, sandy beaches, the\ntall jungle spreading over the higher and lower parts of the shore. The\nsailing to Kitava does not present, however, the same contrasts as an\nexpedition to the d'Entrecasteaux Islands from Southern Boyowa. The\nnatives remain still in the world of raised coral islands, which\nthey know from their own home. Even the island of Muyuwa (or Murua,\nWoodlark Island) where I spent a short time, does not present such\na definite contrast in landscape as that between the Trobriands and\nthe Koya. I do not know from personal experience the Marshall Bennett\nIslands, but from an excellent description given by Professor Seligman,\nthey seem to be good specimens of small raised atolls. [85]\n\nWith regard to magic, the most important initial rites over the lilava\nand sulumwoya are done in the village by the toliwaga (compare above,\nChapter VII). The magic over the four coco-nuts in the canoe is not\nperformed in Kiriwina. On arrival at the beach in Kitava, all the\nrites of beauty magic, as well as the magic over the conch shell\nare recited in a manner identical to that in Sarubwoyna (Chapter\nXIII). Here, however, the natives have to make the last stage of the\njourney on foot.\n\nThe party, headed by a small boy, probably a youngest son of the\ntoliwaga, after whom the chief and the others follow, would march\ntowards the village which is situated beyond the elevated ridge. When\nsoulava (necklaces) are brought by the party--which, it must be\nremembered is never the case on an uvalaku--they would be carried\nceremonially on sticks by some men following the chief. In that\ncase, that is when the party are bringing Kula gifts--the youlawada\nceremony is performed. On entering the village, the party march on\nbriskly without looking to right or left, and, whilst the boy blows\nfrantically the conch shell, and all the men in the party emit the\nintermittent ceremonial scream called tilaykiki, others throw stones\nand spears at the kavalapu, the ornamental carved and painted boards\nrunning in a Gothic arch round the eaves of a chief's house or yam\nhouse. Almost all the kavalapu in the Eastern villages are slightly\ninjured, that of To'uluwa having one of its ends knocked off. The\ndamage is not repaired, as it is a mark of distinction.\n\nThis custom is not known in the Kula between Sinaketa and Dobu\nor Sinaketa and Kiriwina. It begins on the Eastern shore of the\nTrobriands, and is carried on as far as Tubetube where it stops again,\nfor it is not practised in Wari (Teste Island) or on the portion of\nthe Kula between Tubetube and Dobu. I myself never saw it practised\nin the Trobriands, but I saw a similar custom among the Massim of the\nSouth Coast of New Guinea. At a so'i feast which I witnessed in three\ndifferent villages as it progressed from one to the other, the party\nwho brought in gifts of pigs to a man attempted to do some damage to\nhis trees or his house. A pig is always slung by its legs on a long,\nstout pole, dangling head downwards (see Plates V and LXIII): with\nthis pole the natives would ram a young coco-nut or betel-nut palm or\na fruit tree and if not stopped by the owners would break or uproot\nit, the pig squealing and the women of the damaged party screaming in\nunison. Again, a party entering a village with gifts to one of the\ninhabitants, would throw miniature spears at his house. A distinct\nshow of fierceness and hostility is displayed on both sides by the\nnatives on such occasions. Although the somewhat histrionic attack,\nand the slight but real damage to property were sanctioned by tribal\nusage, not infrequently among the Southern Massim serious quarrels\nand scrimmages were started by it. This custom has been observed by\nProfessor Seligman among the natives of Bartle Bay. \"As a man passed\nthe house, they speared the wall with the branches they had been\nwaving, and left them stuck in the walls.\" And again: \"... the people\nbringing them (the pigs) in, carried branches of trees or pieces of\nstick with a wisp of grass tied to the end, and with these speared\nthe house of the man to whom the pigs were given.\" [86]\n\nWhen we remember what has been said about the style in which all\ngifts are given; that is, so to speak, thrown down fiercely and almost\ncontemptuously by the giver; when we remember the taunts with which\ngifts are often accompanied, as well as the manner in which they\nare received, the youlawada custom appears only as an exaggerated\nform of this manner of giving, fixed into a definite ceremonial. It\nis interesting from this point of view to note that the youlawada is\nonly done in association with vaga (initial gifts) and not with the\nyotile (return gifts).\n\nThe Kiriwinian party, after having paid their preliminary ceremonial\nvisit in the village, given their gifts, both of the Kula and\nof the pari type, and had a long chat with their partners and\nfriends, return in the evening to the beach, where they camp near\ntheir canoes. Sometimes temporary huts are erected, sometimes in\nfine weather the natives sleep under mats on the sand beach. Food is\nbrought to them from the village by young, unmarried girls, who very\noften on that occasion arrange their intrigues with the visitors. The\nparty will remain for a few days paying calls to the other villages\nof the island, talking, inspecting the gardens and hoping for more\nKula presents. The food of Kitava is not tabooed to the chiefs, as the\nKitavans abstain from the worst abominations. At parting the visitors\nreceive their talo'i gifts which are brought down to their canoes.\n\nThe visits are returned by the Kitavans in very much the same\nmanner. They camp on the sand beaches of the Eastern Coast. When\nweather-bound they erect temporary habitations, and I have seen whole\nfamilies, men, women, and children living for days on some of the\nEastern shores. For it is the custom of the men of Kitava to carry\ntheir women and small children on their trips. The Kiriwinians take\nsometimes unmarried girls, but they would never take their wives and\nsmall children, whilst in the South no Sinaketan women at all go on\na Kula voyage however small and unimportant a one it may be. From\nbig uvalaku expeditions, women are excluded in all the districts.\n\nIt has been mentioned in the last chapter that Kitava enjoys a\nprivileged position in the Ring, for every single piece of valuables\nhas to pass through it. The island of Kitava is a 'Kula community'\nin itself. All its neighbours to the West, the Kula communities of\nKiriwina, Luba, Wawela, Southern Boyowa (that is, the villages of\nOkayyaulo, Bwaga and Kumilabwaga) cannot skip Kitava when they are\nexchanging, and the same refers to the Kitavan neighbours in the\nEast. In other words, a man from the Eastern islands beyond Kitava,\nif he wants to pass an armshell westwards, has to give it to a Kitava\nman, and may not give it directly to some one beyond. The islands\nEast of Kitava, Iwa, Gawa, and Kwayawata form one community. This\nis shown on Map V, where each 'Kula community' is represented by one\ncircle. The Kula stream, after having concentrated in Kitava, spreads\nout again, but by no means as broadly as when it runs to the Westward,\nand overflows over the broad area of the Trobriands. Another point,\nin which the Kula of Kitava differs from that of Sinaketa or Kiriwina,\na point on which I have touched already once before (in Chapter XIII,\nDivision I) is that the small island has to make overseas exchanges\non both sides. As we saw, the Sinaketans carry on big expeditions and\nmake uvalaku only to their Southern partners, so that they receive\nonly the one Kula article, the necklaces in this manner, while their\narmshells come to them by inland Kula, from their Northern and Eastern\nneighbours. The same mutatis mutandis refers to the Kiriwinians, who\nreceive all their necklaces overland and make overseas Kula for their\narmshells only. The two islands of Kitava and Vakuta, as well as the\nother Marshall Bennetts are, so to speak, ambidextrous in the Kula\nand have to fetch and carry both articles overseas. This, of course,\nresults primarily from the geographical position in a district and\na glance at Map V will easily show which Kula communities have to\ncarry all their transactions overseas and which of them have to do one\nhalf of them overland. These latter are only the Trobriand districts\nmentioned in the previous Chapter and the districts in Dobu.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nThis exhausts all the peculiarities of the Kula in Kitava except one,\nand that a very important one. It has been mentioned before, in fact it\nis obvious from the account of the uvalaku custom that the Kula does\nnot run with an even flow, but in violent gushes. Thus the uvalaku\nexpedition from Dobu described in Chapter XVI carried about 800 pairs\nof armshells from Boyowa. Such sudden rushes of the Kula articles\nare associated with an important institution, which is not known in\nthe Trobriands or in Dobu, but which we find in Kitava and further\nalong the Ring, as far as Tubetube (see Map V). When a man dies,\ncustom imposes a taboo upon the inhabitants of that village. This\nmeans that no one on a visit is received in the village, and no Kula\narticles are given away from there. The community lying under the\ntaboo, however, expect to receive as many Kula gifts as possible, and\nbusy themselves in that matter. After a certain time, a big ceremony\nand distribution of goods, called so'i is held, and invitations are\nsent out to all the Kula partners, and, in the case of a big affair,\neven to people from districts beyond the boundary of partnership. A\nbig distribution of food takes place in which all the guests receive\ntheir share, and then the Kula valuables are given in great quantities\nto the partners of that community.\n\nThe association of taboo on economic goods with mourning is a\nwide-spread feature of the Melanesian customs in New Guinea. I found it\namong the Mailu on the South Coast of New Guinea, where a taboo, called\ngora, is put on coco-nuts as one of the features of mourning. [87]\nThe same institution, as we saw, obtains in Dobu. Similar taboos are\nto be found among the Southern Massim. [88]\n\nThe importance of such economic taboos at times of mourning is due\nto another wide-spread association, that namely which obtains between\nmourning and feasts, or, more correctly, distributions of food, which\nare made at intervals during a more or less prolonged period after a\nperson's death. An especially big feast, or rather distribution, is\nmade at the end of the period, and on this occasion the accumulated\ngoods, usually coco-nut, betel-nut and pigs, are distributed. Death\namong all the coastal natives of Eastern New Guinea causes a great\nand permanent disturbance in the equilibrium of tribal life. On\nthe one hand, there is the stemming of the normal flow of economic\nconsumption. On the other hand, an innumerable series of rites,\nceremonies and festive distributions, which one and all create all\nsorts of reciprocal obligations, take up the best part of the energy,\nattention and time of the natives for a period of a few months,\nor a couple of years according to the importance of the dead. The\nimmense social and economic upheaval which occurs after each death\nis one of the most salient features of the culture of these natives,\nand one also which on its surface strikes us as enigmatic and which\nentices into all sorts of speculations and reflections. What makes\nthe problem still more obscure and complex is the fact that all these\ntaboos, feasts, and rites have nothing whatever to do, in the belief\nof the natives, with the spirit of the deceased. This latter has gone\nat once and settled definitely in another world, entirely oblivious\nof what happens in the villages and especially of what is done in\nmemory of his former existence.\n\nThe so'i (distribution of food) as found in Kitava is the final act in\na long series of minor distributions. What distinguishes it from its\nBoyowan counterparts and the similar ceremonies among the other Massim,\nis the accumulation of Kula goods. In this case, as we have said,\nthe taboo extends also to the valuables. Immediately after death has\noccurred in a village, a large stick is placed on the reef in front of\nits landing beach, and a conch shell is tied to it. This is a sign that\nno visitors will be received who come to ask for Kula goods. Besides\nthis, a taboo is also imposed on coco-nut, betel-nut and pigs.\n\nThese details, as well as the following ones, I received from an\nintelligent and reliable Kitavan informant, who has settled in\nSinaketa. He told me that according to the importance of the death,\nand the speed with which the goods were accumulating after a year\nor so, word would be sent round to all the partners and muri-muri\n(partners once removed).\n\n\n    \"When all are assembled,\" my informant told me, \"the sagali\n    (distribution) begins. They sagali first kaulo (yam food),\n    then bulukwa (pig). When pig is plentiful it would be given in\n    halves; when not, it will be quartered. A big heap of yam food,\n    of coco-nut, betel-nut, and banana would be placed for each\n    canoe. Side by side with this row, a row of pig meat would be\n    placed. One man calls out for the yam heaps, another for the\n    pig-meat; the name of each canoe is called out. If it were a\n    whole pig, they would say, 'To'uluwa kam visibala!' (To'uluwa,\n    your whole pig)! Otherwise they would call out, 'Mililuta, kami\n    bulukwa!' (Men of Liluta, your pig). And again, 'Mililuta, kami\n    gogula!' (Men of Liluta, your heap). They take it, take their\n    heap to their canoe. There, the toliwaga (master of the canoe)\n    would make another small sagali. Those, who live near by, singe\n    their meat, and carry it home in their canoes. Those who live\n    far away, roast the pig, and eat it on the beach.\"\n\n\nIt will be noted that the supreme chief's name would be uttered when\nhis and his companion's share is allotted. With the shares of men\nof less importance, the name of the village is called out. As on\nall such occasions, the strangers do not eat their food in public,\nand even its re-distribution is done in the privacy of their camping\nplace near the canoe.\n\nAfter the distribution of the food, and of course before this is taken\naway by the parties, the master of the so'i goes into his house and\ntakes out a specially good piece of valuable. With a blast of the\nconch shell, he gives it to the most distinguished of his partners\npresent. Others follow his example, and soon the village is filled\nwith conch shell blasts, and all the members of the community are busy\npresenting gifts to their partners. First, the initial gifts (vaga)\nare given, and only after this is over, such valuables as have been\ndue of old to their partners, and which have to be given as clinching\ngifts (yotile) are handed over.\n\nAfter the whole public distribution is finished and the guests have\ngone, the members of the sub-clan who organised it, at sunset make a\nsmall distribution of their own, called kaymelu. With that the so'i\nand the whole period of mourning and of consecutive distributions,\nis over. I have said before that this account of the so'i has been\nobtained only through the statements of several informants, one\nespecially very clear and reliable. But it has not been checked by\npersonal observation, and as is always the case with such material,\nthere is no guarantee of its being complete.\n\nFrom the point of view in which it interests us, however, that is, in\nconnection with the Kula, the outstanding fact is well established;\na mortuary taboo temporarily holds up the flow of Kula goods, and a\nbig quantity of valuables thus dammed up, is suddenly let loose by\nthe so'i and spreads in a big wave along the circuit. The big wave\nof armshells, for instance, which travelled along and was taken up\nby the uvalaku expedition of the Dobuans, was the ripple of a so'i\nfeast, held one or two months previously at full moon in Yanabwa, a\nvillage of Woodlark Island. When I was leaving Boyowa, in September,\n1918, a mortuary taboo was in force in the Island of Yeguma, or\nEgum, as it is pronounced in the Eastern district (the Alcester\nIslands of the map). Kwaywaya, the chief of Kitava whom I met on his\nvisit in Sinaketa, told me that the people of Yeguma had sent him\na sprouting coco-nut, with the message: \"When its leaves develop,\nwe shall sagali (make the distribution).\" They had kept a coco-nut\nat the same stage of development in their village, and sent others to\nto all the neighbouring communities. This would give a first approach\nin fixing the date, which would be appointed more precisely when the\nfeast was close at hand.\n\nThe custom of associating the so'i with Kula is practised as far\nas Tubetube. In Dobu, there is no distribution of valuables at\nthe mortuary feast. They have there another custom, however; at\nthe final mortuary distribution, they like to adorn themselves with\narmshells and necklaces of the Kula--a custom entirely foreign to the\nTrobrianders. In Dobu therefore, an approaching mortuary feast also\ntends to dam up the valuables, which, after its performance will ebb\naway in two waves of mwali and so'ulava along both branches of the\nKula. But they have no custom of distributing these valuables during\nthe final mortuary feast, and therefore the release of the vaygu'a\nwould not be as sudden as in a so'i.\n\nThe same word--so'i--is used to denote the mortuary festivities\nover a wide area in the country of the Massim. Thus, the natives\nof Bonabona and Su'a'u, on the South Coast of New Guinea celebrate\nannually in November to January festivities, associated with dancing,\ngifts of pigs, the building of new houses, the erection of a platform\nand several other features. These feasts, which are held in an\ninter-connected series each year in several different localities,\nI had opportunities, as mentioned before, to see in three places, but\nnot to study. Whether they are associated with some form of exchange\nof valuables I do not know. Mortuary feasts in other districts of\nthe Massim are also called so'i. [89] What is the relation between\nthese feasts and those of the Northern Massim I am unable to say. [90]\n\nThese considerations bring us more and more to the point, where the\ntwo branches of the Kula which we have been following up from the\nTrobriands Southwards and Eastwards bend back again and meet. On\nthis remaining part of the Kula, on which my information, however,\nis scanty, a few words will be said in the next Chapter.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI\n\nTHE REMAINING BRANCHES AND OFFSHOOTS OF THE KULA\n\n\nI\n\nIn this chapter the ring of the Kula has to be closed by a description\nof its remaining portions. It will also be found indispensable to speak\nabout its offshoots, that is, the trade and the expeditions, regularly\ncarried on from certain points of the ring to outlying places. We have\ncome across such offshoots already, when we realised that the Western\nTrobriands, especially the village of Kavataria, and the settlements on\nthe island of Kayleula make non-Kula trading expeditions to the islands\nof Fergusson and Goodenough. Such expeditions would naturally belong\nto a full picture of the Kula, with its various associations. This\nis even more the case, as this lateral trade is associated with the\nimport and export of some of the Kula valuables in and out of the ring.\n\nWe have brought the description of our Southern expedition as far as\nDawson Straits, and on the Eastern route, we reached Woodlark Island\nin the last chapter. We have to link up these two points. The saying,\nthat a chain is not stronger than its weakest link does not, let us\nhope, apply to Ethnology. For indeed my knowledge of the remaining\nlinks of the Kula chain is far less complete than that contained in\nthe previous chapters. Fortunately, what has been said there, remains\ntrue and valid, whatever might happen in the South-Eastern portion of\nthe Kula. And again, there is no doubt that the fundamentals of the\ntransaction are identical all over the ring, though some variations in\ndetail probably occur. I had the opportunity of questioning informants\nfrom almost every place in the Kula, and the similarity of the main\noutlines is established beyond a doubt. Moreover, the information\nabout some aspect of trade in the Southern Massim district contained in\nProfessor Seligman's book, entirely, though indirectly, corroborates\nmy results. But it is necessary to state emphatically and explicitly\nthat the data given in this chapter are not in the same category\nas the rest of the information contained in this book. The latter\nwas obtained from natives among whom I lived, and the bulk of it has\nbeen controlled and verified by personal experiences and observations\n(compare Table I in the Introduction). The material referring to the\nSouth Eastern branch was obtained by cursory examination of natives\nfrom that district, whom I met abroad, not in their own country, whilst\nI have not been in any of the places between Woodlark Island and Dobu.\n\nStarting at Woodlark Island, and keeping Map V before our eyes--we\ncome at once on to an interesting ramification of the Kula. To the\nEast of Woodlark, lies the coral group of the Loughlans, inhabited\nby natives speaking the same language as in Woodlark. They are in\nthe ring, but it seems to be a cul-de-sac Kula, for as I was told,\nthe valuables, which go there, return again to Woodlark. This is quite\nan unusual complication, a kind of eddy in the otherwise progressive\ncurrent. I could not ascertain whether the difficulty is solved by\nthe districts being sub-divided, a small ring being formed within it,\nand each class of articles moving on it in an opposite direction;\nor whether some other arrangement has been adopted. Again, one of my\ninformants told me that some of the vaygu'a went directly from the\nLoughlans South to Misima, but I was unable to verify this statement\nand this whole part of the Kula must remain with a sketchy outline.\n\nWhatever might be the routes on which the Kula articles travel\nSouth from Woodlark Island, there is no doubt whatever that they\nall, or almost all, converge in the important commercial centre of\nTubetube. This small island, according to Professor Seligman, is\nnot even self-supporting as far as food goes; nor are they a greatly\nindustrial community. They are to a great extent engaged in trade,\nand probably gain part of their support from this activity. \"Tubetube\nhas become a trading community, whose inhabitants are recognised\nas traders and middlemen over a very considerable area, extending\nwestwards ... to Rogea and eastward to Murua.\" [91] Tubetube is known\neven in the Trobriands as one of the crucial points of the Kula,\nand it is well known that, whatever happens in the small island in\nthe way of mortuary taboos and big feasts will affect the flow of\nvaluables in Boyowa.\n\nThere is no doubt whatever that Tubetube had direct relations with\nMurua (to use the Tubetube pronunciation of the native name for\nWoodlark Island) to the North-East, and with Dobu to the North-West. I\nsaw a canoe from the small island beached at Dobu, and in Woodlark\nI was told that men from Tubetube used to come there from time to\ntime. Professor Seligman also describes in detail the manner and the\nstages of their sailings to Woodlark Island:\n\n\"Their trade route to Murua ... was, as they made it, about 120-135\nmiles. They would usually go during the monsoon, and come back on\nthe trade, as those winds served their itinerary best. Presuming that\nwind and weather served them throughout the passage, they slept the\nfirst night on an island called Ore, a couple of miles or so from\nDawson Island. The next night they made Panamoti, the third night\nthey slept at Tokunu (the Alcesters), and by the fourth night, they\nmight reach Murua.\" [92] This description reminds us very much of the\nroute on which we previously had followed the Sinaketans to Dobu--the\nsame short stages with intermediate camping on sandbanks or islands,\nthe same taking advantage of favourable following winds.\n\nFrom Kitava Eastward as far as Tubetube, a different type of canoe was\nused, the nagega, mentioned already in Chapter V, Division IV. As we\nsaw there, it was very much the same in principles of construction\nas the Trobriand canoe, but it was bigger, of a greater carrying\ncapacity, and more seaworthy. It was at the same time slower, but\nhad one great advantage over the swifter counterpart; having more\nwaterboard, it made less leeway in its sailing, and could be sailed\nagainst the wind. It would thus allow the natives to cross distances\nand to face changes in the weather, either of which would compel the\nfrailer and swifter canoe of Dobu and Kiriwina to turn back.\n\nTo the Northern shores of Normanby Island (Du'a'u) and to Dobu,\nthe men of Tubetube would sail with the S.E. trade wind and return\nwith the blow of the monsoon. According to Professor Seligman, such\na trip to Dobu would take them also about four days, under the most\nfavourable conditions. [93]\n\nThus, one fundamental fact can be regarded as definitely established;\nthe main centre of the Kula in its South-Eastern branch, was the small\nisland of Tubetube. And this island was in direct communication with\ntwo points to which we have followed the Kula in two directions,\nstarting from the Trobriands; that is, with Dobu and with Woodlark\nIsland.\n\nOn points of detail, some queries must be left unsolved. Were\nthe visits returned by the Dobuans and Muruans? According to all\nprobability, yes, but I possess no definite certainty on this point.\n\nAnother question is whether the natives of Tubetube were direct\npartners of Murua or Dobu. We have seen that natives of Kiriwina sail\nnot infrequently to Iwa, Gawa, Kwayawata and even to Woodlark; yet\nthey are not partners (karayta'u) of these natives, but partners once\nremoved (murimuri). I have definite information that the natives of\nDobu Island proper and of Du'a'u, who, as we remember are not partners\nof the Southern Boyowans, stood in direct relation of partnership to\nthe Tubetube. I believe also that the natives of Woodlark made direct\nKula exchange with those of Tubetube.\n\nThe fact, however, that there is a direct line of communication between\nMurua-Tubetube-Dobu does not preclude the possibility of other and\nmore complex routes running parallel with the direct one. Indeed,\nI know that the island of Wari, (Teste Island) lying almost due\nSouth of Tubetube is also in the Kula. The big island of Misima\n(St. Aignan Island) about a hundred miles East of Tubetube forms\nalso part of the ring. Thus a much wider circle runs from Woodlark\nIsland, perhaps from the Loughlans through Misima, the neighbouring\nsmall island of Panayati, Wari, and further West, through the group\nof islands quite close to the East end of New Guinea, that is, the\nislands of Sariba, Roge'a, and Basilaki, and then northwards again\ntowards Normanby Island. This duplicated circuit in the South-East\nhas its North-Western counterpart in the double ramification which\nunites Kitava with Dobu. The short route runs direct from Kitava\nto Vakuta and from Vakuta to Dobu. Besides this, however, there are\nseveral longer ones. In one of them the stages are as follows: Kitava,\nOkayaulo, or Kitava, Wawela, thence Sinaketa, then Dobu direct; or via\nthe Amphletts. Another and still wider ramification would run thus:\nKitava, to Kiriwina, Kiriwina to Sinaketa, etc.; or, the widest,\nKiriwina to western Boyowa, then Kayleula, thence Amphletts, and from\nthere to Dobu. This last route was not only longest in distance, but\nowing to the notorious 'hardness' of both the natives of Kayleula and\nof the Amphletts, would take up much more time. A glance at Map V,\nand also at the more detailed map of the Trobriands (Map IV) will\nmake all this clear.\n\nA more detailed knowledge of the North-Western routes allowed us to\nsee the complications and irregularities obtaining there; that the\ndistrict of Western Boyowa carried on exclusively the inland Kula,\nand that merely in the person of a few headmen of a few villages;\nthat Kayleula made Kula on a small scale with the communities in the\nAmphletts, and that all these, as well as the villages on the Eastern\nshore of Southern Boyowa, were what we described as semi-independent\nKula communities. Such details and peculiarities no doubt also exist\nwith regard to the South-Eastern ramifications of the Kula, but must\nbe taken here for granted.\n\nFollowing the various threads further on, I have no doubt that\nthe islands lying near the East end of New Guinea--Roge'a, Sariba,\nBasilaki--are and were in olden days in the Kula ring, communicating\nin the East with Tubetube and Wari, while to the North they were in\ncontact with the natives of Normanby Island. Whether the large village\ncomplex lying at East Cape was also in the Kula I cannot definitely\nsay. In any case all the strands led to the Eastern shores of Dawson\nStraits, by way of the North-Eastern shores of Normanby Island. From\nhere, from the district of Dobu, we have traced the further lines\nwith complete exactness and detail.\n\nOf the various details of these expeditions and technicalities of the\nKula observed in them, I have not much material available. The rules of\nactual exchange, the ceremonial of conch blowing, the code of honour\nor morality or vanity, perhaps, compelling people to give equivalent\narticles for what they have received, all these are the same all\nalong the ring. So is also the Kula magic, with variations in details.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nOne subject on which more must be said is that of the associated\ntrade. A new and important article of exchange accompanies the\ntransaction in the South-Eastern branch of the Kula: the big,\nsea-going canoes. The main centres of manufacture, and to a\ngreat extent manufacture for export, were the islands of Gawa and\nPanayati. In these places, canoes were constructed for export to the\nsouthern districts where the natives did not know how to build such\ncanoes (compare Chapter I, Division III). In olden days the natives\nof Woodlark Island, before its present depopulation, also probably\nmade some canoes for exchange in external trade. I have seen these\ncanoes owned by natives in the Southern Massim district as far as\nOrangerie Bay, over two hundred miles from the place where they were\nmanufactured. The trading of this article ran along with the Kula lines\nof communication as there is no doubt that the natives of Tubetube\nand Wari were the main distributors and middlemen in this trade.\n\nHow far canoe exchange was associated directly with Kula transactions,\nI cannot say definitely. Judging from the data given by Professor\nSeligman, [94] armshells were paid by natives of Tubetube for\ncanoes purchased from Panamoti in the North. Thus, the mwali in\nthis commercial transaction, travelled in a direction opposite to\nthat in which they must move in the Kula ring. This, again, suggests\ncomplete independence of the two transactions. Besides the canoes,\nanother important article of trade in the southern portion are the\nclay pots manufactured both in Tubetube and Wari. Besides this, the\ntwo islands of \"merchant venturers,\" as they are called by Professor\nSeligman, carry on their Kula expeditions, and most likely independent\nof them also, they trade almost all the various articles of industry\nmanufactured in the neighbouring districts and distributed by the\ntwo communities. This subject has been treated so fully by Professor\nSeligman in Chapter XL of his \"Melanesians\" that a reference here\nwill suffice. [95]\n\nHaving now before us the whole ring of the Kula, we may inquire how far\nis this ring in contact commercially with other outlying districts,\nand, more especially, how far are certain articles of trade imported\ninto it and others drawn out of it? What will interest us most in\nthis connection is the entry into the ring and the exit out of it of\nthe articles of Kula proper, the mwali (armshells) and the soulava\n(necklaces).\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nOne such offshoot of the Kula ring we met in the Trobriands, to wit,\nthe expeditions from the Western village of Kavataria, and from the\nisland of Kayleula, to the Koya of Fergusson and Goodenough. We\nshall begin with a brief account of these expeditions. [96] The\npreparations are very much the same, as in Sinaketa. The canoes\nare built with more or less the same magic (cf. Chapter V), they\nare launched ceremonially and the trial run, the tasasoria, also\ntakes place (Chapter VI). The island of Kayleula is by far the more\nimportant centre of canoe building. Whether some of the Kavataria\ncanoes were not actually made in Kayleula and purchased by the\nKavatarians in olden days, I do not definitely know, though I think\nthis was the case. Nowadays, the community of Kavataria are completely\nabsorbed by the pearling industry, and since about a generation ago\nhave given up the expeditions, and even do not own any canoes. The\ncollecting of trade articles, the magic performed over the lilava,\nthe yawarapu, and the sulumwoya are the same as those described before\n(Chapter VII) except, that is, that there exists a different system of\nmwasila in the island of Kayleula, a system which was used also by the\nKavatarians. It must be remembered in this connection that the natives\nof Kayleula did make Kula on a small scale with the Amphlettans, and\nthat their mwasila was connected with the Kula. [97] But the main\nobject of the Kavatarian and Kayleulan mwasila was their non-Kula\ntrade with the natives of Fergusson and Goodenough. This is quite\nclear from Mr. Gilmour's account, and it was also corroborated by\nmy informants. They told me that the mwasila is done because of the\nkavaylu'a (fine food) that is, of the sago and betel-nut and pigs,\nthe main objects of their expedition:\n\n\n    \"If they (the Western Boyowans) would not make mwasila, they\n    (the Western d'Entrecasteaux natives) would fight them. They are\n    foolish men, the people of the Koya, not like people of Dobu,\n    who are human beings. Those in the Koya are wild, eaters of\n    man. If they (Kavataria and Kayleula) would make no mwasila,\n    they would refuse them betel-nut, refuse them sago.\"\n\n\nThe sailing is characterised by the priority enjoyed by the Kulutula\nclan, who, as we have seen in a previous chapter (Chapter IX, Division\nIII) sail ahead and have the privilege of landing first on any beach,\non which they stop. On arrival, they perform the beauty magic,\nand sailing towards the beach, the magic of \"shaking the mountain\"\nis also recited. In the Koya, the transactions resemble to a certain\nextent those of the Kula. As my informant said:\n\n\n    \"When they anchor, first of all they give the pari; they give\n    combs, lime pots, wooden dishes, lime spatul\u00e6, plenty of gugu'a\n    (objects of use). At the talo'i (farewell gifts) this will\n    be repaid.\"\n\n\nThe following transaction, the main trade, is carried on as\ngimwali. The natives of the Koya would bring the sago, or the\nbetel-nut, put it on the beach near the canoes and say:\n\n\n    \"I want a beku (ceremonial axe blade).\" And here my informants were\n    positive that real bargaining would take place. \"If they give us\n    an insufficient quantity, we expostulate, then they bring another\n    portion. They would go to the village, fetch some more goods,\n    return and give it to us. If it is enough, we give him the beku.\"\n\n\nThus the barter would be carried on till the visitors had exhausted\ntheir stock in trade and received as much from the local natives as\nthey could.\n\nThese expeditions are interesting in that we see the same type of\nmagic and a number of similar customs, as in the Kula, associated with\nordinary trading expeditions. I am not certain about the nature of\npartnership obtaining in these trading relations, except that Kavataria\nand Kayleula have their own districts each with whom they trade.\n\nAs said already, the main objects for which they make these distant\ntrips are sago, betel-nut, pig; also the various feathers, especially\nthose of the cassowary and the red parrot; rattan-cane belts; plaited\nfibre belts; obsidian; fine sand for polishing axe blades; red ochre;\npumice stone; and other products of the jungle and of the volcanic\nmountains. For that, they exported to the Koya, to mention the most\nvaluable first, armshells, the valuable axe blades, boars' tusks and\nimitations; and, of lesser value, wooden dishes, combs, lime pots,\narmlets, baskets, wayugo creeper, mussel shells and lime spatul\u00e6 of\nebony. Spondylus shell necklaces were not exported to the Koya.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nAnother important activity of the two districts of Kavataria and\nKayleula is their production of armshells. As Sinaketa and Vakuta are\nthe only two places in the Trobriands where spondylus discs are made,\nso Kavataria and Kayleula are the only localities where the natives\nfished for the large Conus millepunctatus shell, and made out of it\nthe ornaments so highly valued yet so seldom used. The main reason for\nthe exclusive monopoly, held by these two places in the manufacture\nof mwali, is the inertia of custom and usage which traditionally\nassigns to them this sort of fishing and manufacture. For the shells\nare scattered all over the Lagoon, nor is the fishing and diving for\nthem more difficult than any of the pursuits practised by all the\nLagoon villages. Only the communities mentioned, however, carry it\non, and they only are in possession of a system of elaborate magic,\nat least as complex as that of the kaloma.\n\nThe actual manufacturing of the armshells presents also no\ndifficulties. The ornament is made out of a belt of the shell cut out\nnearest to its base. With a stone, the natives knock out the circular\nbase along the rim, and they also knock a circle at some distance\nfrom the base and parallel to it, by which the broad band of shell\nis severed, from which the ornament is to be made. It has then to\nbe polished, and this is done on the outside by rubbing off the soft\ncalcareous surface on a flat sandstone. The interior is polished off\nwith a long, cylindrical stone. [98]\n\nIt was the custom in Kavataria that when a man found a fine Conus\nshell, he would give it to his wife's brother as a youlo present,\nwho in turn would send the finder a return present of food, such\nas specially fine yams, bananas, betel-nut, and also a pig if it\nwere an especially fine shell. He then would work out the shell for\nhimself. This arrangement is a pendant to the one described with\nreference to Sinaketa, where a man would fish as well as work out a\nnecklace for one of his wife's kinsmen.\n\nAn even more interesting custom obtains in Kayleula. A pair of shells\nwould be fished and broken in one of the villages of that island,\nor in one of its small sister islands, Kuyawa and Manuwata. In this\nunfinished state, as a band of coarse shell, called as such makavayna,\nit is then brought to the Amphletts, and there given as a Kula\ngift. The Gumasila man, who receives the shells, will then polish them\nup, and in that state again kula them to Dobu. The Dobuan who receives\nthem then bores holes in the side, where one rim overlaps the other\n(clearly to be seen on Plate XVI) and attaches there the ornaments\nof black, wild banana seeds, and spondylus discs. Thus, only after\nit has travelled some one hundred miles and passed through two stages\nof the Kula, has the mwali received its proper shape and final outfit.\n\nIn this manner does a new-born Kula article enter into the ring,\ntaking shape as it goes through its first few stages, and at the\nsame time, if it is a specially fine specimen, it is christened by\nits maker. Some of the names express simply local associations. Thus,\na celebrated pair of mwali, of which the shell was found not long ago\nby a Kavataria man near the island of Nanoula, is named after that\nplace. It may be added that, in each pair there is always a 'right'\nand a 'left' one, the first the bigger and more important of the two,\nand it is after that the name is given. Of course, they never are found\nat the same time, but if a man has succeeded in obtaining a specially\nfine specimen, he will be busy trying to find its slightly inferior\ncompanion, or some of his relatives-in-law, friends or kinsmen will\ngive him one. 'Nanoula' is one of the most celebrated pairs, and it\nwas known all over the Trobriands, at that moment, that it was soon to\ncome to Kitava, and the general interest hung round the question who\nwas going to get it in Boyowa. A pair called 'Sopimanuwata,' which\nmeans, 'water of Manuwata' was found in olden days by a man of that\nisland close to its shores. Another famous pair, made in Kayleula,\nwas called 'Bulivada,' after a fish of this name. The larger shell\nof this pair was found, according to tradition, broken, with a hole\nnear its apex. When they brought it to the surface they found a small\nbulivada fish which had taken up its abode in the shell. Another pair\nwas called 'Gomane ikola,' which means 'it is entangled in a net,'\nas, according to the story, it was brought up in a net. There are\nmany other celebrated mwali, the names of which are so familiar that\nboys and girls are named after them. But the majority of the names\ncannot be traced as to their origins.\n\nAnother point at which the armshells enter into the ring is Woodlark\nIsland. I do not know for certain, but I believe that the industry is\nquite or almost extinct now in that island. In the olden days, Murua\nprobably was quite as productive a centre of this manufacture as the\nTrobriands, and in these latter though Kayleula and the Western islands\nfish and work the mwali as much as ever, the natives of Kavataria are\nalmost entirely out of it, busy all the time diving for pearls. Both\nthe main places of origin of the armshells, therefore, are within\nthe Kula ring. After they are made, or, as we saw in Kayleula, in\nthe process of making, they enter the circulation. Their entry into\nthe ring is not accompanied by any special rite or custom, and indeed\nit does not differ from an ordinary act of exchange. If the man who\nfound the shell and made the mwali were not in the Kula himself,\nas might happen in Kavataria or Kayleula, he would have a relative,\na brother-in-law, or a head man to whom he would give it in the form of\none or other of the many gifts and payments obligatory in this society.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nLet us follow the ring of the Kula, noticing its commercial side\ntracks, of which so far we only described the trading routes of\nKavataria and Kayleula. To the Eastward, the section from Kitava\nto Woodlark Island is the one big portion of the Kula from which\nno lateral offshoots issue, and on which all the trade follows\nthe same routes as the Kula. The other branch, of which I have\ngot a good knowledge, that from the Trobriands to Dobu, has the\ncommercial relations of which I have just spoken. The Amphletts,\nas described in Chapter XI trade with the natives of Fergusson\nIsland. The Dobuan-speaking natives from Tewara, Sanaroa, and the\nDawson Straits make exchange, though perhaps not on a very big scale,\nwith the inland natives of Fergusson. The Dobuan-speaking communities\non Normanby Island, and the natives of Du'a'u, on the Northern coast of\nNormanby, all of whom are in the Kula, trade with the other natives of\nNormanby Island who are not in the ring, and with the natives of the\nmainland of New Guinea from East Cape Westwards. But, all this trade\naffects little the main current of the Kula. From its main stream,\npossibly some of the less valuable articles ebb away into the jungle,\nwhich, in its turn, gives its produce to the coast.\n\nThe most important leakage out and into the main stream takes place\non the Southern section, mainly at Tubetube and Wari, and at some\npoints of lesser importance around these two main centres. The North\ncoast of New Guinea was connected with this district through the\nseafaring community at East Cape. But this side branch is of very\nsmall importance as regards the main articles of the Kula. It is\nthe two connections to East and West, at the extreme southern point\nof the Kula ring, which matter most. One of them links up the South\nCoast of New Guinea with the Kula ring, the other joins the ring to\nthe big islands of Sud-Est (Tagula) and Rossel with several adjacent\nsmall islands.\n\nThe South Coast, going from East to West, is at first inhabited\nby natives of the Massim stock, speaking the Su'a'u and Bonabona\ndialects. These are in constant intercourse with the Southern section\nof the Kula district, that is with the natives of Rogea, Sariba,\nBasilaki, Tubetube and Wari. The Massim of the Southern coast are again\nin commercial relations with the Mailu, and from this point, a chain\nof trading relations unites the Eastern districts with the Central\nones, inhabited by the Motu. The Motu again as we know from Captain\nBarton's contribution to Professor Seligman's work, are in annual\ntrading relations with the Gulf of Papua, so that an article could\ntravel from the delta of any of the Papuan rivers to Woodlark in the\nTrobriands, and many things were in fact traded over all this distance.\n\nThere is, however, one movement which specially interests us from the\nKula point of view, namely that of the two types of Kula valuables. One\nof these articles, the armshells, travels on the South Coast from East\nto West. There is no doubt that this article leaks out from the Kula\ncurrent at its Southernmost point, and is carried away towards Port\nMoresby, where the value of armshells is, and was, in olden days much\nhigher than in the Eastern district. I found in Mailu that the local\nnative traders purchased, for pigs, armshells in the Su'a'u district,\nand carried them West towards Aroma, Hula, and Kerepunu. Professor\nSeligman, from his notes taken at Port Moresby, informs us that Hula,\nAroma, and Kerepunu import armshells into Port Moresby. Some of these\narmshells, according to the same authority, travel further West as\nfar as the Gulf of Papua. [99]\n\nIt was much more difficult to ascertain what was the direction in which\nthe spondylus shell necklaces moved on the Southern Coast. Nowadays,\nthe industry of making these articles, which was once very highly\ndeveloped among the Port Moresby natives is partially, though not\ncompletely in decay. I have myself still had the opportunity of\nwatching the natives of Bo'era at work on the ageva, the very small and\nfine shell discs, such as the very finest bagi would consist of. They\nwere using in their manufacture a native pump-drill with a quartz\npoint, in a place within a few miles of a large white settlement, in a\ndistrict where white man's influence on a big scale has been exercised\nfor the last fifty years. Yet, this is only a vestige of the once\nextremely developed industry. My inquiries into this subject could\nnot be exhaustive, for when I worked on the South Coast, I did not\nhave the problem before me, and on my second and third expeditions\nto New Guinea I only passed through Port Moresby. But I think it\nmay be considered certain that in olden days the shell strings moved\nfrom Port Moresby Eastwards and were introduced into the Kula ring,\nat the East end of New Guinea.\n\nHowever this might be, unquestionable sources of this Kula article are\nthe islands of Sud-Est, Rossel, and the surrounding small islands. The\nbest spondylus shell, with the reddest colours is fished in these\nseas, and the natives are expert workers of the discs, and export the\nfinished article to the island of Wari, and, I believe, to the islands\nof Misima and Panayati. The most important articles for which the\nnecklaces are traded are the canoes, and the large polished axe blades.\n\nCasting now a glance at the Kula ring we see that one class of Kula\narticle, the mwali or armshells, are produced within the ring at two\npoints, that is, in Woodlark Island and in Western Boyowa. The other\narticle, that is the soulava or bagi (necklaces) are poured into the\nring at its southernmost point. One of these sources (Rossel Island)\nis still active, the other (Port Moresby) most probably furnished\na good supply in olden days, but is now disconnected with the Kula\nring. The necklaces produced in Sinaketa are not the real Kula article,\nand though they are sometimes exchanged they sooner or later disappear\nfrom the ring according to a sort of Gresham's Law, which operates here\non an article which is not money, and therefore acts in the opposite\nsense! The third type of valuable which sometimes flows in the Kula\nstream but is not really of it, the large green stone axe blades,\nfinely polished all over, are, as we know, or more correctly were,\nquarried in Woodlark Island, and polished in the district of Kiriwina\nin the Trobriands. Another polishing centre is, or was, I believe,\nthe island of Misima.\n\nWe see that the two sources of the mwali and soulava are at\nthe Northern and Southern ends of the ring; the armshells being\nmanufactured in the extreme North, the necklaces entering at the\nSouthern end. It is noteworthy that on the Eastern portion of the ring,\non the section Woodlark-Boyowa-Dobu-Tubetube, the two articles travel\nin the natural direction, that is, each is exported from the districts\nof its origin towards one, where it is not made or procured. On the\nother branch, Woodlark-Yeguma-Tubetube, the current of the Kula is\ninverse to a natural, commercial movement of the articles, for here,\nthe Tubetube people import armshells into Murua, thus bringing coals to\nNewcastle, while the Muruans bring necklaces to Tubetube and Wari, that\nis, to the points at which the necklaces flow into the ring from the\noutside. These considerations are important for anyone who would like\nto reflect on the origins, or history of the Kula, since the natural\nmovement of valuables was no doubt the original one, and the Western\nhalf of the Kula from this point of view appears to be the older.\n\nBut here we have come to an end of all the descriptive data referring\nto the Kula, and some general remarks which I have to make upon it,\nwill be reserved for the next and last chapter.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII\n\nTHE MEANING OF THE KULA\n\n\nWe have been following the various routes and ramifications of the\nKula, entering minutely and meticulously into its rules and customs.,\nits beliefs and practices, and the mythological tradition spun round\nit, till, arriving at the end of our information, we have made its two\nends meet. We shall now put aside the magnifying glass of detailed\nexamination and look from a distance at the subject of our inquiry,\ntake in the whole institution with one glance, let it assume a definite\nshape before us. This shape will perhaps strike us as being something\nunusual, something not met before in ethnological studies. It will be\nwell to make an attempt at finding its place among the other subjects\nof systematic ethnology, at gauging its significance, at assessing\nhow much we have learned by becoming acquainted with it.\n\nAfter all there is no value in isolated facts for science, however\nstriking and novel they might seem in themselves. Genuine scientific\nresearch differs from mere curio-hunting in that the latter runs after\nthe quaint, singular and freakish--the craving for the sensational\nand the mania of collecting providing its twofold stimulus. Science\non the other hand has to analyse and classify facts in order to place\nthem in an organic whole, to incorporate them in one of the systems\nin which it tries to group the various aspects of reality.\n\nI shall not, of course enter upon any speculations or add any\nhypothetical assumptions to the empirical data contained in the\nforegoing chapters. I shall confine myself to some reflections on the\nmost general aspect of the institution, and try to express somewhat\nmore clearly what to me appears the mental attitude at the bottom\nof the various Kula customs. These general points of view ought,\nI think, to be considered and tested in further field-work done\non subjects akin to the Kula as well as in theoretical research,\nand might thus prove fertile for future scientific work. In this\nform it may be granted that it is the privilege of the chronicler\nof a novel phenomenon to pass it over to the consideration of\nfellow-workers; but it is his duty as well as his privilege. For,\napart from his first-hand acquaintance with the facts--and indeed,\nif his account is good, he ought to have succeeded in transferring\nthe best part of his knowledge to the reader--the fundamental aspects\nand characteristics of an ethnographic phenomenon for being general\nare none the less empirical. It is therefore the Chronicler's task\nto finish his account by a comprehensive, synthetic coup d'oeil upon\nthe institution described.\n\nAs said the Kula seems to be, to a certain extent, a novel type\nof ethnological fact. Its novelty lies partly in the size of its\nsociological and geographical extent. A big, inter-tribal relationship,\nuniting with definite social bonds a vast area and great numbers of\npeople, binding them with definite ties of reciprocal obligations,\nmaking them follow minute rules and observations in a concerted\nmanner--the Kula is a sociological mechanism of surpassing size and\ncomplexity, considering the level of culture on which we find it. Nor\ncan this wide network of social co-relations and cultural influences\nbe considered for a moment as ephemeral, new or precarious. For its\nhighly developed mythology and its magical ritual show how deeply it\nhas taken root in the tradition of these natives and of what ancient\ngrowth it must be.\n\nAnother unusual feature is the character of the transaction itself,\nwhich is the proper substance of the Kula. A half commercial, half\nceremonial exchange, it is carried out for its own sake, in fulfilment\nof a deep desire to possess. But here again, it is not ordinary\npossession, but a special type, in which a man owns for a short time,\nand in an alternating manner, individual specimens of two classes of\nobjects. Though the ownership is incomplete in point of permanency,\nit is in turn enhanced in point of numbers successively possessed,\nand may be called a cumulative possession.\n\nAnother aspect of great, perhaps the greatest, importance and\nwhich perhaps reveals best the unusual character of the Kula is\nthe natives' mental attitude towards the tokens of wealth. These\nlatter are neither used nor regarded as money or currency, and they\nresemble these economic instruments very little, if indeed there is\nany resemblance at all, except that both money and vaygu'a represent\ncondensed wealth. Vaygu'a is never used as medium of exchange or\nas measure of value, which are the two most important functions of\ncurrency or money. Each piece of vaygu'a of the Kula type has one\nmain object throughout its existence--to be possessed and exchanged;\nhas one main function and serves one main purpose--to circulate\nround the Kula ring, to be owned and displayed in a certain manner,\nof which we shall speak presently. And the exchange which each piece\nof vaygu'a constantly undergoes is of a very special kind; limited\nin the geographical direction in which it can take place, narrowly\ncircumscribed in the social circle of men between whom it may be\ndone, it is subject to all sorts of strict rules and regulations;\nit can neither be described as barter, nor as simply giving and\nreceiving of presents, nor in any sense is it a play at exchange. In\nfact it is Kula, an exchange of an entirely novel type. And it is\njust through this exchange, through their being constantly within\nreach and the object of competitive desire, through being the means\nof arousing envy and conferring social distinction and renown, that\nthese objects attain their high value. Indeed, they form one of the\nleading interests in native life, and are one of the main items in\nthe inventory of their culture. Thus, one of the most important and\nunusual features of the Kula is the existence of the Kula vaygu'a,\nthe incessantly circulating and ever exchangeable valuables, owing\ntheir value to this very circulation and its character.\n\nThe acts of exchange of the valuables have to conform to a definite\ncode. The main tenet of this declares that the transaction is not a\nbargain. The equivalence of the values exchanged is essential, but it\nmust be the result of the repayer's own sense of what is due to custom\nand to his own dignity. The ceremonial attached to the act of giving,\nthe manner of carrying and handling the vaygu'a shows distinctly that\nthis is regarded as something else than mere merchandise. Indeed it\nis to the native something that confers dignity, that exalts him,\nand which he therefore treats with veneration and affection. Their\nbehaviour at the transaction, makes it clear that the vaygu'a is\nregarded, not only as possessing high value, but that it is treated\nalso in a ritual manner, and arouses emotional reaction. This\nrecognition is confirmed and deepened by the consideration of some\nother uses of vaygu'a, in which uses other valuables, such as kaloma\nbelts and large stone blades also function, besides the Kula articles.\n\nThus, when a malignant spirit, tauva'u (see Chapter II, Division VII)\nis found in or near the village in the shape of a snake or a land\ncrab, some vaygu'a is put before it ceremonially and this is not\ndone so much in order to bribe the spirit sacrificially by a gift\nas rather to exercise a direct action on his mind, and to make it\nbenevolent. In the annual festive and dancing period, the milamala,\nthe spirits return to their villages. The Kula valuables at that\ntime in the hands of the community, as well as the permanent vaygu'a,\nsuch as stone blades, kaloma belts, and doga pendants, are exhibited\nsacrificially to the spirits on a platform, an arrangement and custom\ncalled yolova (compare Chapter II, Division VII). Thus the vaygu'a\nrepresent the most effective offering to be given to the spirits,\nthrough which they can be put into a pleasant state of mind; \"to\nmake their minds good,\" as the stereotyped phrase of the natives\nruns. In the yolova an offering is made to the spirits of what is\nmost valued by the living. The shadowy visitors are supposed to take\nthe spirit or shadow part of the vaygu'a home, and make a tanarere\nof it on the beach of Tuma, just as a Kula party make a tanarere of\nthe acquired valuables on their home beach (cf. Chapter XV, Division\nIV). In all this there is a clear expression of the mental attitude of\nthe natives, who regard the vaygu'a as supremely good in themselves,\nand not as convertible wealth, or as potential ornaments, or even as\ninstruments of power. To possess vaygu'a is exhilarating, comforting,\nsoothing in itself. They will look at vaygu'a and handle it for hours;\neven a touch of it imparts under circumstances its virtue.\n\nThis is most clearly expressed by a custom observed at death. A dying\nman is surrounded and overlaid with valuables which all his relatives\nand relatives-in-law bring in loan for the occasion, to take it back\nwhen all is over while the man's own vaygu'a are left on the corpse for\nsome time after death (see Plate LXV). Various rationalised versions\nand justifications of this custom are given. Thus it is said to be a\ngift to Topileta, the keeper of the nether world; or, again, that it\nhas to be taken in its spiritual form to procure a high social standing\nin Tuma, or simply, that it is laid to adorn and make happier the last\nmoments of the dying. All these beliefs no doubt exist side by side,\nand they are all compatible with, and indeed express, the underlying\nemotional attitude; the comforting action of the valuables. It is\napplied to the dying as something full of good, as something exercising\na pleasant action, soothing and fortifying at the same time. They put\nit on his forehead, they put it on his chest, they rub his belly and\nhis ribs with it, they dangle some of the vaygu'a before his nose. I\nhave often seen them do that, in fact, observed them do it for hours,\nand I believe there is a complex, emotional and intellectual attitude\nat the bottom of it; the desire to inspire with life; and at the same\ntime to prepare for death; to hold him fast to this one, and to equip\nfor the other world; but above all, the deep feeling that the vaygu'a\nare the supreme comfort, that to surround a man with them, even in\nhis most evil moment, makes this moment less evil. The same mental\nattitude is probably at the bottom of the custom which prescribes\nthat the widow's brothers should give a vaygu'a to the brothers of\nthe dead man, the same vaygu'a being given back on the same day. But\nit is kept just long enough to be of comfort to those, who, according\nto native kinship ideas, are most directly hit by the death.\n\nIn all this we find the expression of the same mental attitude, the\nextreme value attached to condensed wealth, the serious, respectful way\nof treating it, the idea and the feeling that it is the reservoir of\nhighest good. The vaygu'a are valued in quite a different manner from\nthat in which we value our wealth. The Biblical symbol of the golden\ncalf might even be better applied to their attitude than to ours,\nalthough it would be not quite correct to say that they 'worship' the\nvaygu'a, for they worship nothing. The vaygu'a might perhaps be called\n\"objects of cult\" in the sense expressed by the facts of the Kula,\nand the data just adduced; that is, in so far as they are handled\nritually in some of the most important acts of native life.\n\nThus, in several aspects, the Kula presents to us a new type of\nphenomenon, lying on the borderland between the commercial and\nthe ceremonial and expressing a complex and interesting attitude\nof mind. But though it is novel, it can hardly be unique. For we\ncan scarcely imagine that a social phenomenon on such a scale,\nand obviously so deeply connected with fundamental layers of human\nnature, should only be a sport and a freak, found in one spot of the\nearth alone. Once we have found this new type of ethnographic fact,\nwe may hope that similar or kindred ones will be found elsewhere. For\nthe history of our science shows many cases in which a new type of\nphenomena having been discovered, taken up by theory, discussed and\nanalysed, was found subsequently all the world over. The tabu, the\nPolynesian word and the Polynesian custom, has served as prototype and\neponym to similar regulations found among all the savage and barbarous\nas well as civilised races. Totemism, found first among one tribe of\nNorth American Indians and brought to light by the work of Frazer,\nhas later on been documented so widely and fully from everywhere,\nthat in re-writing his early small book, its historian could fill out\nfour volumes. The conception of mana, discovered in a small Melanesian\ncommunity has, by the work of Hubert and Mauss, Marett and others,\nbeen proved of fundamental importance, and there is no doubt that mana,\nwhether named or unnamed, figures and figures largely in the magical\nbeliefs and practices of all natives. These are the most classical\nand best known examples, and they could be multiplied by others were\nit necessary. Phenomena of the 'totemic type' or of the 'mana type'\nor of the 'tabu type' are to be found in all ethnographic provinces,\nsince each of these concepts stands for a fundamental attitude of\nthe savage towards reality.\n\nSo with the Kula, if it represents a novel, but not freakish, indeed,\na fundamental type of human activity and of the mental attitude of man,\nwe may expect to find allied and kindred phenomena in various other\nethnographic provinces. And we may be on the lookout for economic\ntransactions, expressing a reverential, almost worshipping attitude\ntowards the valuables exchanged or handled; implying a novel type of\nownership, temporary, intermittent, and cumulative; involving a vast\nand complex social mechanism and systems of economic enterprises,\nby means of which it is carried out. Such is the Kula type of\nsemi-economic, semi-ceremonial activities. It would be futile, no\ndoubt, to expect that exact replicas of this institution should be\nfound anywhere and with the same details, such as the circular path on\nwhich the valuables move, the fixed direction in which each class has\nto travel, and existence of solicitory and intermediate gifts. All\nthese technicalities are important and interesting, but they are\nprobably connected in one way or another with the special local\nconditions of the Kula. What we can expect to find in other parts\nof the world are the fundamental ideas of the Kula, and its social\narrangements in their main outline, and for these the field-worker\nmight be on the look-out.\n\nFor the theoretical student, mainly interested in problems of\nevolution, the Kula might supply some reflections about the origins\nof wealth and value, of trade and economic relations in general. It\nmight also shed some light upon the development of ceremonial life, and\nupon the influence of economic aims and ambitions upon the evolution\nof intertribal intercourse and of primitive international law. For\nthe student mainly viewing the problems of Ethnology from the point\nof view of the contact of cultures, and interested in the spread of\ninstitutions, beliefs and objects by transmission, the Kula is no less\nimportant. Here is a new type of inter-tribal contact, of relations\nbetween several communities slightly but definitely differing in\nculture, and a relation not spasmodic or accidental but regulated\nand permanent. Quite apart from the fact that in trying to explain\nhow the Kula relationship between the various tribes originated,\nwe are confronted with a definite problem of culture contact.\n\nThese few remarks must suffice, as I cannot enter into any theoretical\nspeculations myself. There is one aspect of the Kula, however, to\nwhich attention must be drawn from the point of view of its theoretical\nimportance. We have seen that this institution presents several aspects\nclosely intertwined and influencing one another. To take only two,\neconomic enterprise and magical ritual form one inseparable whole,\nthe forces of the magical belief and the efforts of man moulding and\ninfluencing one another. How this is happening has been described\nbefore in detail in the previous chapters. [100]\n\nBut it seems to me that a deeper analysis and comparison of the\nmanner in which two aspects of culture functionally depend on one\nanother might afford some interesting material for theoretical\nreflection. Indeed, it seems to me that there is room for a new\ntype of theory. The succession in time, and the influence of\nthe previous stage upon the subsequent, is the main subject of\nevolutional studies, such as are practised by the classical school\nof British Anthropology (Tylor, Frazer, Westermarck, Sydney Hartland,\nCrawley). The ethnological school (Ratzel, Foy, Gr\u00e4bner, W. Schmidt,\nRivers, and Eliott-Smith) studies the influence of cultures by contact,\ninfiltration and transmission. The influence of environment on cultural\ninstitutions and race is studied by anthropo-geography (Ratzel and\nothers). The influence on one another of the various aspects of an\ninstitution, the study of the social and psychological mechanism on\nwhich the institution is based, are a type of theoretical studies which\nhas been practised up till now in a tentative way only, but I venture\nto foretell will come into their own sooner or later. This kind of\nresearch will pave the way and provide the material for the others.\n\nAt one or two places in the previous chapters, a somewhat detailed\ndigression was made in order to criticise the view about the economic\nnature of primitive man, as it survives in our mental habits as well\nas in some text books--the conception of a rational being who wants\nnothing but to satisfy his simplest needs and does it according to\nthe economic principle of least effort. This economic man always\nknows exactly where his material interests lie, and makes for them\nin a straight line. At the bottom of the so-called materialistic\nconception of history lies a somewhat analogous idea of a human\nbeing, who, in everything he devises and pursues, has nothing but\nhis material advantage of a purely utilitarian type at heart. Now I\nhope that whatever the meaning of the Kula might be for Ethnology,\nfor the general science of culture, the meaning of the Kula will\nconsist in being instrumental to dispel such crude, rationalistic\nconceptions of primitive mankind, and to induce both the speculator\nand the observer to deepen the analysis of economic facts. Indeed, the\nKula shows us that the whole conception of primitive value; the very\nincorrect habit of calling all objects of value 'money' or 'currency';\nthe current ideas of primitive trade and primitive ownership--all\nthese have to be revised in the light of our institution.\n\nAt the beginning of this book, in the Introduction, I, in a way,\npromised the reader that he should receive a vivid impression of the\nevents enabling him to see them in their native perspective, at the\nsame time without for one moment losing sight of the method by which\nI have obtained my data. I have tried to present everything as far\nas possible in terms of concrete fact, letting the natives speak for\nthemselves, perform their transactions, pursue their activities before\nthe reader's mental vision. I have tried to pave my account with fact\nand details, equip it with documents, with figures, with instances of\nactual occurrence. But at the same time, my conviction, as expressed\nover and over again, is that what matters really is not the detail,\nnot the fact, but the scientific use we make of it. Thus the details\nand technicalities of the Kula acquire their meaning in so far only\nas they express some central attitude of mind of the natives, and\nthus broaden our knowledge, widen our outlook and deepen our grasp\nof human nature.\n\nWhat interests me really in the study of the native is his outlook\non things, his Weltanschauung, the breath of life and reality which\nhe breathes and by which he lives. Every human culture gives its\nmembers a definite vision of the world, a definite zest of life. In\nthe roamings over human history, and over the surface of the earth,\nit is the possibility of seeing life and the world from the various\nangles, peculiar to each culture, that has always charmed me most,\nand inspired me with real desire to penetrate other cultures, to\nunderstand other types of life.\n\nTo pause for a moment before a quaint and singular fact; to be\namused at it, and see its outward strangeness; to look at it as a\ncurio and collect it into the museum of one's memory or into one's\nstore of anecdotes--this attitude of mind has always been foreign and\nrepugnant to me. Some people are unable to grasp the inner meaning and\nthe psychological reality of all that is outwardly strange, at first\nsight incomprehensible, in a different culture. These people are not\nborn to be ethnologists. It is in the love of the final synthesis,\nachieved by the assimilation and comprehension of all the items of\na culture and still more in the love of the variety and independence\nof the various cultures that lies the test of the real worker in the\ntrue Science of Man.\n\nThere is, however, one point of view deeper yet and more important than\nthe love of tasting of the variety of human modes of life, and that is\nthe desire to turn such knowledge into wisdom. Though it may be given\nto us for a moment to enter into the soul of a savage and through his\neyes to look at the outer world and feel ourselves what it must feel\nto him to be himself--yet our final goal is to enrich and deepen our\nown world's vision, to understand our own nature and to make it finer,\nintellectually and artistically. In grasping the essential outlook of\nothers, with the reverence and real understanding, due even to savages,\nwe cannot but help widening our own. We cannot possibly reach the final\nSocratic wisdom of knowing ourselves if we never leave the narrow\nconfinement of the customs, beliefs and prejudices into which every\nman is born. Nothing can teach us a better lesson in this matter of\nultimate importance than the habit of mind which allows us to treat\nthe beliefs and values of another man from his point of view. Nor\nhas civilised humanity ever needed such tolerance more than now,\nwhen prejudice, ill will and vindictiveness are dividing each European\nnation from another, when all the ideals, cherished and proclaimed as\nthe highest achievements of civilisation, science and religion, have\nbeen thrown to the winds. The Science of Man, in its most refined and\ndeepest version should lead us to such knowledge and to tolerance and\ngenerosity, based on the understanding of other men's point of view.\n\nThe study of Ethnology--so often mistaken by its very votaries for an\nidle hunting after curios, for a ramble among the savage and fantastic\nshapes of \"barbarous customs and crude superstitions\"--might become one\nof the most deeply philosophic, enlightening and elevating disciplines\nof scientific research. Alas! the time is short for Ethnology, and\nwill this truth of its real meaning and importance dawn before it is\ntoo late?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] The Family among the Australian Aborigines: A Sociological\nStudy. London: University of London Press, 1913.\n\n[2] \"The Natives of Mailu: Preliminary Results of the Robert Mond\nResearch Work in British New Guinea.\" Transactions of the Royal\nSociety of South Australia, vol. xxxix., 1915.\n\n[3] The hiri, as these expeditions are called in Motuan, have been\ndescribed with a great wealth of detail and clearness of outline by\nCaptain F. Barton, in C. G. Seligman's \"The Melanesians of British\nNew Guinea,\" Cambridge, 1910, Chapter viii.\n\n[4] Cf: \"The Mailu,\" by B. Malinowski, in Transactions of the\nR. Society of S. Australia, 1915; Chapter iv. 4, pp. 612 to 629.\n\n[5] Op. cit. Chapter xl.\n\n[6] On this point of method again, we are indebted to the Cambridge\nSchool of Anthropology for having introduced the really scientific\nway of dealing with the question. More especially in the writings\nof Haddon, Rivers and Seligman, the distinction between inference\nand observation is always clearly drawn, and we can visualise with\nperfect precision the conditions under which the work was done.\n\n[7] I may note at once that there were a few delightful exceptions to\nthat, to mention only my friends Billy Hancock in the Trobriands;\nM. Raffael Brudo, another pearl trader; and the missionary,\nMr. M. K. Gilmour.\n\n[8] According to a useful habit of the terminology of science, I\nuse the word Ethnography for the empirical and descriptive results\nof the science of Man, and the word Ethnology for speculative and\ncomparative theories.\n\n[9] The legendary \"early authority\" who found the natives only\nbeastly and without customs is left behind by a modern writer, who,\nspeaking about the Southern Massim with whom he lived and worked\n\"in close contact\" for many years, says:--\"...We teach lawless men to\nbecome obedient, inhuman men to love, and savage men to change.\" And\nagain:--\"Guided in his conduct by nothing but his instincts and\npropensities, and governed by his unchecked passions....\" \"Lawless,\ninhuman and savage!\" A grosser misstatement of the real state of things\ncould not be invented by anyone wishing to parody the Missionary point\nof view. Quoted from the Rev. C. W. Abel, of the London Missionary\nSociety, \"Savage Life in New Guinea,\" no date.\n\n[10] For instance, the tables of circulation of the valuable axe\nblades, op. cit., pp. 531, 532.\n\n[11] In this book, besides the adjoining Table, which does not strictly\nbelong to the class of document of which I speak here, the reader will\nfind only a few samples of synoptic tables, such as the list of Kula\npartners mentioned and analysed in Chapter XIII, Division II, the list\nof gifts and presents in Chapter VI, Division VI, not tabularised,\nonly described; the synoptic data of a Kula expedition in Chapter\nXVI, and the table of Kula magic given in Chapter XVII. Here, I have\nnot wanted to overload the account with charts, etc., preferring to\nreserve them till the full publication of my material.\n\n[12] It was soon after I had adopted this course that I received a\nletter from Dr. A. H. Gardiner, the well-known Egyptologist, urging\nme to do this very thing. From his point of view as arch\u00e6ologist,\nhe naturally saw the enormous possibilities for an Ethnographer of\nobtaining a similar body of written sources as have been preserved\nto us from ancient cultures, plus the possibility of illuminating\nthem by personal knowledge of the full life of that culture.\n\n[13] The best accounts we possess of the inland tribes are\nthose of W. H. Williamson, \"The Mafulu,\" 1912, and of C. Keysser,\n\"Aus dem Leben der Kaileute,\" in R. Neuhauss, \"Deutsch Neu Guinea,\"\nVol. III. Berlin, 1911. The preliminary publications of G. Landtmann on\nthe Kiwai, \"Papuan magic in the Building of Houses,\" \"Acta Arboenses,\nHumanora.\" I. Abo, 1920, and \"The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans,\"\nHelsingfors, 1917, promise that the full account will dispel some\nof the mysteries surrounding the Gulf of Papua. Meanwhile a good\nsemi-popular account of these natives is to be found in W. N. Beaver's\n\"Unexplored New Guinea,\" 1920. Personally I doubt very much whether\nthe hill tribes and the swamp tribes belong to the same stock or\nhave the same culture. Compare also the most recent contribution\nto this problem: \"Migrations of Cultures in British New Guinea,\"\nby A. C. Haddon, Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1921, published by the\nR. Anthrop. Institute.\n\n[14] See C. G. Seligman, \"The Melanesians of British New Guinea,\"\nCambridge, 1910.\n\n[15] Cf. C. G. Seligman, op. cit., p. 5.\n\n[16] A number of good portraits of the S. Massim type are to be found\nin the valuable book of the Rev. H. Newton, \"In Far New Guinea,\" 1914,\nand in the amusingly written though superficial and often unreliable\nbooklet of the Rev. C. W. Abel (London Missionary Society), \"Savage\nLife in New Guinea\" (No date).\n\n[17] See Table in the Introduction (p. 16), and also Chapters XVI\nand XX.\n\n[18] Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., Chapters XL and XLII.\n\n[19] Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., Chapters XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII.\n\n[20] Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman, Chapters XXXVII and XXXVIII.\n\n[21] My knowledge of the Dobuans is fragmentary, derived from three\nshort visits in their district, from conversation with several Dobu\nnatives whom I had in my service, and from frequent parallels and\nallusions about Dobuan customs, which are met when doing field-work\namong the Southern Trobrianders. There is a short, sketchy account\nof certain of their customs and beliefs by the Rev. W. E. Bromilow,\nfirst missionary in Dobu, which I have also consulted, in the records\nof the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science.\n\n[22] Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., pp. 170 and 171; 187 and 188\nabout the Koita and Motu; and B. Malinowski, The Mailu, pp. 647-652.\n\n[23] Comp. D. Jenness and A. Ballantyne, \"The Northern\nd'Entrecasteaux,\" Oxford, 1920, Chapter XII.\n\n[24] I spent about a month in these islands, and found the\nnatives surprisingly intractable and difficult to work with\nethnographically. The Amphlett \"boys\" are renowned as good boat-hands,\nbut in general they are not such capable and willing workers as\nthe Dobuans.\n\n[25] Already Dr. C. G. Seligman has noticed that there are people\nof an outstanding fine physical type among the Northern Massim,\nof whom the Trobrianders form the Western section, people who are\n\"generally taller (often very notably so) than the individuals of the\nshort-faced, broad-nosed type, in whom the bridge of the nose is very\nlow.\" Op. cit., p. 8.\n\n[26] I have dealt with the subject of garden work in the Trobriands\nand with its economic importance more fully in an article entitled\n\"The Primitive Economics of the Trobriand Islanders\" in The Economic\nJournal, March, 1921.\n\n[27] This does not mean that the general economic conclusions\nare wrong. The economic nature of Man is as a rule illustrated on\nimaginary savages for didactic purposes only, and the conclusions\nof the authors are in reality based on their study of the facts of\ndeveloped economics. But, nevertheless, quite apart from the fact\nthat pedagogically it is a wrong principle to make matters look more\nsimple by introducing a falsehood, it is the Ethnographer's duty and\nright to protest against the introduction from outside of false facts\ninto his own field of study.\n\n[28] Compare Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., pp. 663-668; also the\nAuthor, article on \"War and Weapons among the Trobriand Islanders,\"\nin Man, January, 1918.\n\n[29] Compare the Author's article on \"Fishing and Fishing Magic in\nthe Trobriands,\" Man, June, 1918.\n\n[30] The discovery of the existence of \"linked\" totems, and the\nintroduction of this term and conception are due to Professor\nC. G. Seligman. op. cit., pp. 9, 11; see also Index.\n\n[31] See the Author's article, \"Baloma, Spirits of the Dead,\" Part\nVII, J.R.A.I., 1917, where this statement has been substantiated\nwith abundant evidence. Further information obtained during another\nexpedition to the Trobriands, established by an additional wealth of\ndetail the complete ignorance of physiological fatherhood.\n\n[32] See the Author's article \"Baloma, Spirits of the Dead,\" quoted\nabove.\n\n[33] I am using the words religion and magic according to Sir James\nFrazer's distinction (see \"Golden Bough,\" vol. I). Frazer's definition\nsuits the Kiriwinian facts much better than any other one. In fact,\nalthough I started my field work convinced that the theories of\nreligion and magic expounded in the \"Golden Bough\" are inadequate,\nI was forced by all my observations in New Guinea to come over to\nFrazer's position.\n\n[34] Compare Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., the parallel\ndescription of the social institutions in the Trobriands, Marshall\nBennetts, Woodlark Island and the Loughlans, Chapters XLIX-LV.\n\n[35] By \"current view,\" I mean such as is to be found in text-books\nand in passing remarks, scattered through economic and ethnological\nliterature. As a matter of fact, Economics is a subject very seldom\ntouched upon either in theoretical works on Ethnology, or in accounts\nof field-work. I have enlarged on this deficiency in the article on\n\"Primitive Economics,\" published in the Economic Journal, March, 1921.\n\nThe best analysis of the problem of savage economy is to be found, in\nspite of its many shortcomings, in K. B\u00fccher's \"Industrial Evolution,\"\nEnglish Translation, 1901. on primitive trade, however, his views\nare inadequate. In accordance with his general view that savages\nhave no national economy, he maintains that any spread of goods\namong natives is achieved by non-economic means, such as robbery,\ntributes and gifts. The information contained in the present volume\nis incompatible with B\u00fccher's views, nor could he have maintained\nthem had he been acquainted with Barton's description of the Hiri\n(contained in Seligman's \"Melanesians.\")\n\nA summary of the research done on Primitive Economics, showing\nincidentally, how little real, sound work has been accomplished, will\nbe found in Pater W. Kopper's \"Die Ethnologische Wirtschaftsforschung\"\nin Anthropos, X--XI, 1915-16, pp. 611-651, and 971-1079. The article\nis very useful, where the author summarises the views of others.\n\n[36] Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., p. 93, states that arm-shells\ntoea, as they are called by the Motu, are traded from the Port Moresby\ndistrict westward to the Gulf of Papua. Among the Motu and Koita,\nnear Port Moresby, they are highly valued, and nowadays attain very\nhigh prices, up to \u00a330, much more than is paid for the same article\namong the Massim.\n\n[37] This and the following quotations are from the Author's\npreliminary article on the Kula in Man, July, 1920. Article number 51,\np. 100.\n\n[38] In order not to be guilty of inconsistency in using loosely the\nword \"ceremonial\" I shall define it briefly. I shall call an action\nceremonial, if it is (1) public; (2) carried on under observance\nof definite formalities; (3) if it has sociological, religious,\nor magical import, and carries with it obligations.\n\n[39] This is not a fanciful construction of what an erroneous opinion\nmight be, for I could give actual examples proving that such opinions\nhave been set forth, but as I am not giving here a criticism of\nexisting theories of Primitive Economics, I do not want to overload\nthis chapter with quotations.\n\n[40] It is hardly necessary perhaps to make it quite clear that all\nquestions of origins, of development or history of the institutions\nhave been rigorously ruled out of this work. The mixing up of\nspeculative or hypothetical views with an account of facts is, in my\nopinion an unpardonable sin against ethnographic method.\n\n[41] Comparing the frail yet clumsy native canoe with a fine European\nyacht, we feel inclined to regard the former almost in the light of a\njoke. This is the pervading note in many amateur ethnographic accounts\nof sailing, where cheap fun is made by speaking of roughly hewn\ndug-outs in terms of \"dreadnoughts\" or \"Royal Yachts,\" just as simple,\nsavage chiefs are referred to as \"Kings\" in a jocular vein. Such humour\nis doubtless natural and refreshing, but when we approach these matters\nscientifically, on the one hand we must refrain from any distortion of\nfacts, and on the other, enter into the finer shades of the natives'\nthought and feeling with regard to his own, creations.\n\n[42] The crab-claw sails, used on the South Coast, from Mailu\nwhere I used to see them, to westwards where they are used with the\ndouble-masted lakatoi of Port Moresby, are still more picturesque. In\nfact, I can hardly imagine anything more strangely impressive than\na fleet of crab-claw sailed canoes. They have been depicted in the\nBritish New Guinea stamp, as issued by Captain Francis Barton, the late\nGovernor of the Colony. See also Plate XII of Seligman's \"Melanesians.\"\n\n[43] A constructive expedient to achieve a symmetrical stability is\nexemplified by the Mailu system of canoe-building, where a platform\nbridges two parallel, hollowed-out logs. Cf. Author's article in the\nTransactions of the Royal Society of S. Australia, Vol. XXXIX, 1915,\npp. 494-706. Chapter IV, 612-599. Plates XXXV-XXXVII.\n\n[44] The whole tribal life is based on a continuous material give\nand take; cf. the above mentioned article in the Economic Journal,\nMarch, 1921, and the digression on this subject in Chapter VI,\nDivision IV-VII.\n\n[45] This view has been more fully elaborated in the article on\n\"Primitive Economics\" in the Economic Journal, March, 1921; compare\nalso the remarks on systematic magic in Chapter XVII, Division VII.\n\n[46] The way of hiring a masawa (sea-going) canoe is different from the\nusual transaction, when hiring a fishing canoe. In the latter case,\nthe payment consists of giving part of the yield of fish, and this\nis called uwaga. The same term applies to all payments for objects\nhired. Thus, if fishing nets or hunting implements, or a small canoe\nfor trading along the coast are hired out, part of the proceeds are\ngiven as uwaga.\n\n[47] The words within brackets in this and in some of the following\nspells are free additions, necessary to make the meaning clear in\nthe English version. They are implied by the context in the native\noriginal, though not explicitly contained.\n\n[48] Compare therefore Chapter XII, Division IV.\n\n[49] All this is discussed at length in Chapter XVII, Division IV.\n\n[50] It is necessary to be acquainted with the mythology of\ncanoe-building and of the Kula (Chapter XII) in order to understand\nthoroughly the meaning of this spell.\n\n[51] Compare the linguistic analysis of this spell in Chapter XVIII.\n\n[52] Cf. Chapter II, Divisions III and IV, and some of the following\nDivisions of this Chapter.\n\n[53] I am adducing these views not for any controversial purposes,\nbut to justify and make clear why I stress certain general features of\nTrobriand Economic Sociology. My contentions might run the danger of\nappearing as gratuitous truisms if not thus justified. The opinion\nthat primitive humanity and savages have no individual property\nis an old prejudice shared by many modern writers, especially in\nsupport of communistic theories, and the so-called materialistic\nview of history. The \"communism of savages\" is a phrase very often\nread, and needs no special quotation. The views of individual\nsearch for food and household economy are those of Karl B\u00fccher,\nand they have directly influenced all the best modern writings\non Primitive Economics. Finally, the view that we have done with\nPrimitive Economics if we have described the way in which the natives\nprocure their food, is obviously a fundamental premise of all the\nna\u00efve, evolutionary theories which construct the successive stages\nof economic development. This view is summarised in the following\nsentence: \"...In many simple communities, the actual food quest,\nand operations immediately arising from it, occupy by far the greater\npart of the people's time and energy, leaving little opportunity for\nthe satisfaction of any lesser needs.\" This sentence, quoted out of\n\"Notes and Queries on Anthropology,\" p. 160, article on the \"Economics\nof the Social Group,\" represents what may be called the official view\nof contemporary Ethnology on the subject, and in perusing the rest\nof the article, it can be easily seen that all the manifold economic\nproblems, with which we are dealing in this book, have been so far\nmore or less neglected.\n\n[54] These views had to be adduced at length, although touched upon\nalready in Chapter II, Division IV, because they imply a serious error\nwith regard to human nature in one of its most fundamental aspects. We\ncan show up their fallacy on one example only, that of the Trobriand\nSociety, but even this is enough to shatter their universal validity\nand show that the problem must be re-stated. The criticised views\ncontain very general propositions, which, however, can be answered\nonly empirically. And it is the duty of the field Ethnographer to\nanswer and correct them. Because a statement is very general, it can\nnone the less be a statement of empirical fact. General views must\nnot be mixed up with hypothetical ones. The latter must be banished\nfrom field work; the former cannot receive too much attention.\n\n[55] As a matter of fact, this custom is not so prominent in\nthe Trobriands as in other Massim districts and all over the\nPapuo-Melanesian world, cf. for instance Seligman, op. cit., p. 56\nand Plate VI, Fig. 6.\n\n[56] Again, in explaining value, I do not wish to trace its possible\norigins, but I try simply to show what are the actual and observable\nelements into which the natives' attitude towards the object valued\ncan be analysed.\n\n[57] These natives have no idea of physiological fatherhood. See\nChapter II, Division VI.\n\n[58] Compare Plate XXXIII, where the yam houses of a headman are\nfilled by his wife's brothers.\n\n[59] This advantage was probably in olden days a mutual one. Nowadays,\nwhen the fishermen can earn about ten or twenty times more by diving\nfor pearls than by performing their share of the wasi, the exchange is\nas a rule a great burden on them. It is one of the most conspicuous\nexamples of the tenacity of native custom that in spite of all\nthe temptation which pearling offers them and in spite of the great\npressure exercised upon them by the white traders, the fishermen never\ntry to evade a wasi, and when they have received the inaugurating gift,\nthe first calm day is always given to fishing, and not to pearling.\n\n[60] Compare the linguistic analysis of the original text of this\nspell, given in Chapter XVIII.\n\n[61] Koyatabu--the mountain on the North shore of Fergusson;\nKamsareta,--the highest hill on Domdom,--in the Amphletts;\nKoyava'u--the mountain opposite Dobu island, on the North shore of\nDawson Straits; Gorebubu--the volcano on Dobu island.\n\n[62] The prefix bo- has three different etymological derivations, each\ncarrying its own shade of meaning. First, it may be the first part\nof the word bomala, in which case, its meaning will be \"ritual\" or\n\"sacred.\" Secondly, it may be derived from the word bu'a, areca-nut,\na substance very often used and mentioned in magic, both because it\nis a narcotic, and a beautiful, vermilion dye. Thirdly, the prefix\nmay be a derivation from butia, the sweet scented flower made into\nwreaths, in which case it would usually be bway, but sometimes might\nbecome bo-, and would carry the meaning of \"festive,\" \"decorated.\" To\na native, who does not look upon a spell as an ethnological document,\nbut as an instrument of magical power, the prefix probably conveys\nall three meanings at once, and the word \"ritual\" covers best all\nthese three meanings.\n\n[63] See Division II of Chapter V.\n\n[64] The word tabu, in the meaning of taboo--prohibition--is used\nin its verbal form in the language of the Trobriands, but not very\noften. The noun \"prohibition,\" \"sacred thing,\" is always bomala,\nused with suffixed personal pronouns.\n\n[65] At a later date, I hope to work out certain historical hypotheses\nwith regard to migrations and cultural strata in Eastern New Guinea. A\nconsiderable number of independent indices seem to corroborate\ncertain simple hypotheses as to the stratification of the various\ncultural elements.\n\n[66] The word vineylida suggests the former belief, as vine--female,\nlida--coral stone.\n\n[67] Professor Seligman has described the belief in similar beings on\nthe North-East Coast of New Guinea. At Gelaria, inland of Bartle Bay,\nthe flying witches can produce a double, or \"sending,\" which they\ncall labuni. \"Labuni exists within women, and can be commanded by any\nwoman who has had children.... It was said that the labuni existed in,\nor was derived from, an organ called ipona, situated in the flank,\nand literally meaning egg or eggs.\" op. cit., p. 640. The equivalence\nof beliefs here is evident.\n\n[68] Not all the spells which I have obtained have been equally well\ntranslated and commented upon. This one, although very valuable, for\nit is one of the spells of the old chief Maniyuwa, and one which had\nbeen recited when his corpse was brought over from Dobu by his son\nMaradiana, was obtained early in my ethnographic career, and Gomaya,\nMaradiana's son, from whom I got it, is a bad commentator. Nor could\nI find any other competent informant later on, who could completely\nelucidate it for me.\n\n[69] Such reconstructions are legitimate for an Ethnographer, as\nwell as for a historian. But it is a duty of the former as well\nas of the latter to show his sources as well as to explain how he\nhas manipulated them. In one of the next chapters, Chapter XVIII,\nDivisions XIV-XVII, a sample of this methodological aspect of the\nwork will be given, although the full elaboration of sources and\nmethods must be postponed to another publication.\n\n[70] See Chapter II, Division VII.\n\n[71] I cannot tell what sort of influence this would be, exercised\nby a sister over her brother in Dobu. I do not even know whether,\nin that district, there obtains the same taboo between brother and\nsister as in the Trobriands.\n\n[72] This is the information which I obtained during my short visit\nto Murua (Woodlark Island), and which was confirmed by the Trobriand\nIslanders. Professor Seligman states, also, that the sepulchral pots,\nfound in this island come from the Amphletts. op. cit., p. 731. Compare\nalso pp. 15 and 535.\n\n[73] See Chapter VI, Division VI.\n\n[74] The reader will note that this is the same name, which another\nmythical dog bore, also of the Lukuba clan as all dogs are, the\none namely from whom the kayga'u magic is traced. Cf. Chapter X,\nDivision V.\n\n[75] Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman, \"The Melanesians,\" Chapter LIV,\n\"Burial and Mourning Ceremonies\" (among the natives of the Trobriand\nIslands, of Woodlark and the Marshall Bennetts).\n\n[76] Compare also No. VI (A), in the Synoptic Table of Kula magic,\nin Chapter XVII, p. 418.\n\n[77] There can be no better expression to denote the mutual relation of\nall these ideas than that used by Frazer to describe one of the typical\nforms of magic thought, the 'contagion of ideas.' The subjective,\npsychological process leads the natives to the belief in magical\ncontagion of things.\n\n[78] It will be noted, that this is the third meaning in which the\nterm pokala is used by the natives. (Cf. Chapter VI, Division VI.)\n\n[79] See the Author's Memoir, \"The Natives of Mailu\" in Transactions\nof the R. Society of S. Australia for 1915, p. 598.\n\n[80] These views have been elaborated in the previously quoted article\non \"Primitive Economics\" in the Economic Journal, March, 1921.\n\n[81] The association of magic with any vital interest is demonstrated\nby the case of pearling. Here, through the advent of white men,\na new and very lucrative and absorbing pursuit has opened up for\nthe natives. A form of magic is now in existence, associated with\nthis fishing. This of course apparently contradicts the native\ndogma that magic cannot be invented. The natives, if faced with\nthis contradiction, explain that it is really an old magic of shell\nfishing which refers to all the shells found at the bottom of the\nLagoon, but which so far had only been used with regard to fishing\nfor the Conus. In fact, this magic is nothing but the adaptation of\nthe mwali (armshell) magic to the pearls. I doubt, none the less,\nwhether even such a transference or adaptation would have taken place\nbefore the foundations of native belief and custom had been shaken\nby the well-intentioned but not always wise and beneficent teachings\nand rulings of the white man and by the introduction of trade.\n\n[82] See article by the Author on the \"Baloma, spirits of the dead\nin the Trobriand islands.\" J. A. I., 1917.\n\n[83] An example of this ill-judged attitude of interference is to be\nfound even in a book written by an exceptionally well-informed and\nenlightened missionary, \"In Far New Guinea,\" by Henry Newton. In\ndescribing the feasts and dancing of the natives, he admits these\nto be a necessity of tribal life: \"On the whole the feasting and\ndancing are good; they give excitement and relaxation to the young\nmen, and tone the drab colours of life.\" He himself tells us that,\n\"the time comes when the old men stop the dancing. They begin to growl\nbecause the gardens are neglected, and they want to know if dancing\nwill give the people food, so the order is given that the drums are\nto be hung up, and the people settle down to work.\" But in spite\nof Mr. Newton's recognition of this natural, tribal authority, in\nspite of the fact that he really admits the views given in our  text,\nhe cannot refrain from saying: \"Seriously, however, for the benefit\nof the people themselves, it would be a good thing if there could\nbe some regulations--if dancing were not allowed after midnight,\nfor while it lasts nothing else is done.--The gardens suffer and\nit would help the people to learn self-restraint and so strengthen\ntheir characters if the dancing could be regulated.\" He goes on to\nadmit quite candidly that it would be difficult to enforce such a\nregulation because \"to the native mind, it would seem that it was\nthe comfort of the white man, not the benefit of the native which\nwas the reason for the regulation.\" And to my mind also, I am afraid!\n\nThe following quotations from a recent scientific work published by\nthe Oxford Press--\"The Northern d'Entrecasteaux,\" by D. Jenness, and\nthe Rev. A. Ballantyne, 1920--are also examples of the dangerous and\nheedless tampering with the one authority that now binds the natives,\nthe one discipline they can be relied upon to observe--that of their\nown tribal tradition. The relations of a church member who died, were\n\"counselled to drop the harsher elements in their mourning,\" and\ninstead of the people being bidden \"to observe each jot and tittle\nof their old, time-honoured rites,\" they were advised from that day\nforth to leave off \"those which had no meaning.\" It is strange to find\na trained ethnologist, confessing that old, time-honoured rites have\nno meaning! And one might feel tempted to ask: for whom it is that\nthese customs have no meaning, for the natives or for the writers of\nthe passage quoted?\n\nThe following incident is even more telling. A native headman of an\ninland village was supposed to keep concealed in his hut a magic pot,\nthe \"greatest ruler of winds, rain, and sunshine,\" a pot which had\n\"come down from times immemorial,\" which according to some of the\nnatives \"in the beginning simply was.\" According to the Authors,\nthe owner of the pot used to descend on the coastal natives and \"levy\ntribute,\" threatening them with the magical powers of the pot if they\nrefused. Some of the coastal natives went to the Missionary and asked\nhim to interfere or get the magistrate to do so. It was arranged they\nshould all go with the Missionary and seize the pot. But on the day\n\"only one man turned up.\" When the Missionary went, however, the\nnatives blocked his path, and only through threats of punishments by\nthe magistrate, were they induced to temporarily leave the village and\nthus to allow him to seize the pot! A few days later the Missionary\naccordingly took possession of the pot, which he broke. The Authors go\non to say that after this incident \"everyone was contented and happy;\"\nexcept, one might add, the natives and those who would see in such\noccurrences the speedy destruction of native culture, and the final\ndisintegration of the race.\n\n[84] I have not seen the site of Suloga myself. Interesting details\nare to be found in \"The Melanesians\" of Professor Seligman, who\nvisited the spot himself, and who has collected a number of specimens\nin the locality, as well as many data about the production of the\nblades. Op. cit., pp. 530-533.\n\n[85] Cf. Op. cit., pp. 670-672.\n\n[86] Op. cit., description of the Walaga feast, pp. 594-603.\n\n[87] See the Author's Memoir in the Transactions of the Royal Society\nof S. Australia. \"The Natives of Mailu,\" pp. 580-588.\n\n[88] Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman. Op. cit., Chapter XLIV.\n\n[89] Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman. Op. cit., p. 584.\n\n[90] The ethnographic researches at present carried on in Su'a'u\nby Mr. W. E. Armstrong, of Cambridge, will no doubt throw light on\nthis subject.\n\n[91] Seligman. Op. cit., p. 524.\n\n[92] Op. cit., p. 538.\n\n[93]  Ibid.\n\n[94] Cf. Op. cit., pp. 536-537.\n\n[95] I cannot follow Professor Seligman in his use of the word\ncurrency, which is not very clearly defined by him. This word can\nbe correctly applied to the armshells, spondylus discs, big polished\nblades of green stones, etc., only if we give it simply the meaning of\n\"objects\" or \"tokens of wealth.\" Currency as a rule means a medium\nof exchange and standard of value, and none of the Massim valuables\nfulfil these functions.\n\n[96]  A short article on this subject has been published by\nthe Rev. M. Gilmour, now head of the Methodist Mission in New\nGuinea. (Annual Report of British New Guinea, 1904-5, p. 71.) I\nused this article in the field, going over it with several\nnatives of Kavataria, and I found it substantially correct,\nand on the whole formulated with precision. The need for extreme\ncompression of statement has, however, led the Author into one or two\nambiguities. Thus, the constant mention of \"feasting\" might give a\nwrong impression, for it is always the matter of a public distribution\nof food, which is then eaten apart, or in small groups, while the\nword \"feast\" suggests eating in common. Again, the data about the\n\"sea-chief,\" as Mr. Gilmour calls the leader of the privileged clan in\nKavataria (cf. Chapter IX, Division III), seemed to me over-stated,\nwhen he is said to be \"supreme,\" to have \"the right of determining\nan expedition,\" and especially when it is said that he \"had the\nright of first choice of a canoe.\" This latter phrase must involve a\nmisunderstanding; as we saw, each sub-clan (that is, each sub-division\nof the village) build their own canoe, and a subsequent swapping and\nfree choice are out of the question. Mr. Gilmour was fully acquainted\nwith the facts of the Kula, as I learnt from personal conversation. In\nthis article, he mentions it only in one phrase, saying that some of\nthe expeditions \"were principally concerned in the exchange of the\ncirculated articles of native wealth ... in which trade was only a\nsecondary consideration.\"\n\n[97] Mr. Gilmour's statement to the contrary namely that \"the trips\nfrom the West--Kavataria and Kaileuna--were pure trading expeditions\"\n(loc. cit.)--is incorrect. First, I am inclined to think that some\nof the Kavataria men did make the Kula in the Amphletts, where they\nalways stopped on their way South, but this might have been only on a\nvery small scale, and entirely overshadowed by the main object of the\nexpedition, which was the trade with the Southern Koya. Secondly, as\nto the natives of Kayleula, I am certain that they made the Kula, from\nconclusive data collected both in the Trobriands and in the Amphletts.\n\n[98] I have given a more detailed description of this process which\nI had often opportunities to observe among the Mailu on the South\ncoast. I never saw the making of an armshell in the Trobriands, but\nthe two processes are identical according to detailed information\nwhich I obtained. (Compare the monograph on \"The Natives of Mailu\" by\nthe Author, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of S. Australia,\n1915, pp. 643-644.)\n\n[99] Both statements of Professor Seligman in the \"Melanesians\"\n(p. 89) are in entire agreement with the information I obtained among\nthe Mailu. See Transactions of the Royal Society of S. Australia,\n1915, pp. 620-629.\n\n[100] Also in the before quoted article in the Economic Journal,\nMarch, 1921.","title":"Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":211689}