THE FAMILY AMONG THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. London : University
of London Press (out of print), 1913.

PRIMITIVE RELIGION AND SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION. Cracow (in Polish,
out of print), 1915.

" THE NATIVES OF MAILU." Adelaide : Trans, of the R. Soc. of S.
Australia for 1915. pp. 494-706. 1915.

ARGONAUTS OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC. London : Geo. Routledge and
Sons ; New York : E. P. Dutton and Co. 1922.

" MAGIC, SCIENCE, AND RELIGION," in Essays collected by J. Needham,
under the title Science, Religion, and Reality. London : The Sheldon
Press ; New York and Toronto : The Macmillan Co. 1926.

MYTH IN PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY. London : Kegan Paul and Co. ;
New York : W. W. Norton and Co. 1926.

CRIME AND CUSTOM IN SAVAGE SOCIETY. London : Kegan Paul and
Co. ; New York : Harcourt Brace and Co. 1926.

THE FATHER IN PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY. London : Kegan Paul and Co. ;
New York : W. W. Norton and Co. 1927.

SEX AND REPRESSION IN SAVAGE SOCIETY. London : Kegan Paul and
Co. ; New York : Harcourt Brace and Co. 1927.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TO

MY FRIEND AND TEACHER
PROFESSOR C. G. SELIGMAN, F.R.S.



PREFACE
BY SIR JAMES G. FRAZER

MY esteemed friend, Dr. B. Malinowski has asked me to
write a preface to his book, and I willingly comply with
his request, though I can hardly think that any words
of mine will add to the value of the remarkable record
of anthropological research which he has given us in this
volume. My observations, such as they are, will deal
partly with the writer's method and partly with the
matter of his book.

In regard to method, Dr. Malinowski has done his
work, as it appears to me, under the best conditions and
in the manner calculated to secure the best possible
results. Both by theoretical training and by practical
experience he was well equipped for the task which he
undertook. Of his theoretical training he had given
proof in his learned and thoughtful treatise on the family
among the aborigines of Australia*; of his practical
experience he had produced no less satisfactory evidence
in his account of the natives of Mailu in New Guinea,
based on a residence of six months among them.f In
the Trobriand Islands, to the east of New Guinea, to
which he next turned his attention, Dr. Malinowski
lived as a native among the natives for many months
together, watching them daily at work and at play,
conversing with them in their own tongue, and deriving
all his information from the surest sources persona)
observation and statements made to him directly by the

* The Family among the Australian Aborigine*: A Sociological Studv.
London University of London Prcsb, ig 13.

t "The Natives of Mailu Prehmin.iry Results of the Robert Mond Research

Work in British New Guinea." Transactions of the Royal Society of South

Australia, vol. xxxix., 1915,



viii PREFACE

natives in their own language without the intervention
of an interpreter. In this way he has accumulated a large
mass of materials, of high scientific value, bearing on the
social, religious, and economic or industrial life of the
Trobriand Islanders, These he hopes and intends to
publish hereafter in full ; meantime he has given us in
the present volume a preliminary study of an interesting
and peculiar feature in Trobriand society, the remark-
able system of exchange, only in part economic or
commercial, which the islanders maintain among them-
selves and with the inhabitants of neighbouring islands.

Little reflection is needed to convince us of the funda-
mental importance of economic forces at all stages of
man's career from the humblest to the highest. After
all, the human species is part of the animal creation, and
as such, like the rest of the animals, it reposes on a
material foundation ; on which a higher life, intellectual,
moral, social, may be built, but without which no such
superstructure is possible. That material foundation,
consisting in the necessity of food and of a certain degree
of warmth and shelter from the elements, forms the
economic or industrial basis and prime condition of human
life. If anthropologists have hitherto unduly neglected
it, we may suppose that it was rather because they were
attracted to the higher side of man's nature than because
they deliberately ignored and undervalued the importance
and indeed necessity of the lower. In excuse for their
neglect we may also remember that anthropology is still
a young science, and that the multitude of problems
which await the student cannot all be attacked at once,
but .must be grappled with one by one. Be that as it
may, Dr. Malinowski has done well to emphasise the great
significance of primitive economics by singling out the
notable exchange system of the Trobriand Islanders for
special consideration.

Further, he has wisely refused to limit himself to a
mere description of the processes of the exchange, and
has set himself to penetrate the motives which underlie
it and the feelings which it excites in the minds of the



PREFACE ix

natives. It appears to be sometimes held that pure
sociology should confine itself to the description of acts
and should leave the problems of motives and feelings to
psychology. Doubtless it is true that the analysis of
motives and feelings is logically distinguishable from the
description of acts, and that it falls, strictly speaking,
within the sphere of psychology ; but in practice an act
has no meaning for an observer unless he knows or infers
the thoughts and emotions of the agent ; hence to
describe a series of acts, without any reference to the state
of mind of the agent, would not answer the purpose of
sociology, the aim of which is not merely to register but
to understand the actions of men in society. Thus
sociology cannot fulfil its task without calling in at
every turn the aid of psychology.

It is characteristic of Dr. Malinowski's method that
he takes full account of the complexity of human nature.
He sees man, so to say, in the round and not in the flat.
He remembers that man is a creature of emotion at least
as much as of reason, and he is constantly at pains to
discover the qjnotional as well as the rational basis of
human action. The man of science, like the man of
letters, is too apt to view mankind only in the abstract,
selecting for his consideration a single side of our com-
plex and many-sided being. Of this one-sided treatment
Moliere is a conspicuous example among great writers.
All his characters are seen only in the fiat : one of them
is a miser, another a hypocrite, another a coxcomb,
and so on ; but not one of them is a man. All are dummies
dressed up to look very like human beings ; but the
likeness is only on the surface, all within is hollow and
empty, because truth to nature has been sacrificed to
literary effect. Very different is the presentation of
human nature in the greater artists, such as Cervantes
and Shakespeare : their characters are solid, being
drawn not from one side only but from many. No doubt
in science a certain abstractness of treatment is not
merely legitimate, but necessary, since science is nothing
but knowledge raised to the highest power, and all



x PREFACE

knowledge implies a process of abstraction and general-
isation : even the recognition of an individual whom we
see every day is only possible as the result of an abstract
idea of him formed by generalisation from his appear-
ances in the past. Thus the science of man is forced to
abstract certain aspects of human nature and to con-
sider them apart from the concrete reality ; or ratter it
falls into a number of sciences, each of which considers
a single part of man's complex organism, it may be the
physical, the intellectual, the moral, or the social side
of his being ; and the general conclusions which it draws
will present a more or less incomplete picture of man as a
whole, because the lines which compose it are necessarily
but a few picked out of a multitude.

In the present treatise Dr. Malinowski is mainly
concerned with what at first sight might seem a purely
economic activity of the Trobriand Islanders ; but,
with his usual width of outlook and fineness of perception,
he is careful to point out that the curious circulation of
valuables, which takes place between the inhabitants of
the Trobriand and other islands, while it is accompanied
by ordinary trade, is by no means itself a purely com-
mercial transaction ; he shows that it is not based on a
simple calculation of utility, of profit and loss, but that it
satisfies emotional and aesthetic needs of a higher order
than the mere gratification of animal wants. This
leads Dr. Malinowski to pass some severe strictures
on the conception of the Primitive Economic Man as
a kind of bogey who, it appears, still haunts economic
text-books and even extends his blighting influence
to the minds of certain anthropologists. Rigged out in
cast-off garments of Mr. Jeremy Bentham and Mr.
Gradgrind, this horrible phantom is apparently actuated
by no other motive than that of filthy lucre, which he
pursues relentlessly, on Spencerian principles, along the
line of least resistance. If such a dismal fiction is really
regarded by serious inquirers as having any counterpart
in savage society, and not simply as a useful abstraction,
Dr. Malinowski 1 s account of the Kula in this book should



PREFACE xi

help to lay the phantom by the heels ; for he proves that
the trade in useful objects, which forms part of the Kula
system, is in the minds of the natives entirely sub-
ordinate in importance to the exchange of other objects,
which serve no utilitarian purpose whatever. In its
combination of commercial enterprise, social organi-
sation, mythical background, and magical ritual, to say
nothing of the wide geographical range of its operations,
this singular institution appears to have no exact parallel
in the existing anthropological record ; but its discoverer,
Dr. Malinowski, may very well be right in surmising
that it is probably a type of institution of which ana-
logous, if not precisely similar, instances will hereafter
be brought to light by further research among savage
and barbarous peoples.

Not the least interesting and instructive feature of
the Kula, as it is described for us by Dr. Malinowski, is the
extremely important part which magic is seen to play in
the institution. From his description it appears that in
the minds of the natives the performance of magical rites
and the utterance of magical words are indispensable for
the success of the enterprise in all its phases, from the
felling of the trees out of which the canoes are to be
hollowed, down to the moment when, the expedition
successfully accomplished, the argosy with its precious
cargo is about to start on its homeward voyage. And
incidentally we learn that magical ceremonies and spells
are deemed no less necessary for the cultivation of gardens
and foj success in fishing, the two forms of industrial
enterprise which furnish the islanders with their
principal means of support ; hence the garden magician,
whose business it is to promote the growth of the garden
produce by his hocus-pocus, is one of the most important
men in the village, ranking next after the chief and the
sorcerer. In short, magic is believed to be an absolutely
essential adjunct of every industrial undertaking, being
just as requisite for its success as the mechanical oper-
ations involved in it, such as the caulking, painting and
launching of a canoe, the planting of a garden, and the



xii PREFACE

setting of a fish-trap. u A belief in magic," says Dr.
Malinowski, " is one of the main psychological forces
which allow for organisation and systematisation of
economic effort in the Trobriands."

This valuable account of magic as a factor of
fundamental economic importance for the welfare and
indeed for the very existence of the community should
suffice to dispel the erroneous view that magic, as
opposed to religion, is in its nature essentially male-
ficent and anti-social, being always used by an
individual for the promotion of his own selfish ends
and the injury of his enemies, quite regardless of its
effect on the common weal. No doubt magic may be
so employed, and has in fact probably been so employed,
in every part of the world ; in the Trobriand Islands
themselves it is believed to be similarly practised for
nefarious purposes by sorcerers, who inspire the natives
with the deepest dread and the most constant concern.
But in itself magic is neither beneficent nor maleficent ;
it is simply an imaginary power of controlling the forces
of nature, and this control may be exercised by the
magician for good or evil, for the benefit or injury of
individuals and of the community. In this respect,
magic is exactly on the same footing with the sciences, of
which it is the bastard sister. They, too, in themselves,
are neither good nor evil, though they become the source
of one or other according to their application. It would
be absurd, for example, to stigmatise pharmacy as anti-
social, because a knowledge of the properties of drugs is
often employed to destroy men as well as to heal them. It
is equally absurd to neglect the beneficent application of
magic and to single out its maleficent use as the character-
istic property by which to define it. The processes of
nature, over which science exercises a real and magic an
imaginary control, are not affected by the moral dis-
position, the good or bad intention, of the individual who
uses his knowledge to set them in motion. The action of
drugs on the human body is precisely the same whether
they are administered by a physician or by a poisoner.



PREFACE xir

Nature and her handmaid Science are neither friendly
nor hostile to morality ; they are simply indifferent to it
and equally ready to do the bidding of the saint and of
the sinner, provided only that he gives them the proper
word of command. If the guns are well loaded and well
aimed, the fire of the battery will be equally destructive,
whether the gunners are patriots fighting in defence of
their country or invaders waging a war of unjust aggres-
sion. The fallacy of differentiating a science or an art
according to its application and the moral intention of the
agent is obvious enough with regard to pharmacy and
artillery ; it is equally real, though to many people
apparently it is less obvious, with regard to magic.

The immense influence wielded by magic over
the whole life and thought of the Trobriand Islanders
is perhaps the feature of Dr. Malinowski's book which
makes the most abiding impression on the mind of the
reader. He tells us that " magic, the attempt of man
to govern the forces of nature directly by means of a
special lore, is all-pervading and all-important in the
Trobriands '' ; it is " interwoven into all the many
industrial and communal activities " ; "all the data
which have been so far mustered disclose the extreme
importance of magic in the Kula. But if it were a
questions of treating of any other aspect of the tribal life
of these natives, it would also be found that, whenevei
they approach any concern of vital importance, 1hey
summon magic to their aid. It can be saiel without
exaggeration that magic, according to their ideas,
governs human destinies ; that it supplies man with the
power of mastering the forces of nature ; and that it is
his weapon and armour against the many dangers which
crowd in upon him on every side."

Thus in the view of the Trobriand Islanders, rtiagic is a
power of supreme importance either for good or evil ; it
can make or mar the life of man ; it can sustain and pro-
tect the individual and the community, or it can injure
and destroy them. Compared to this universal and deep-
rooted conviction, the belief in the existence oi the



xiv PREFACE

spirits of the dead would seem to exercise but little
influence on the life of these people. Contrary to the
general attitude of savages towards the souls of the
departed, they are reported to be almost completely
devoid of any fear of ghosts. They believe, indeed,
that the ghosts return to their villages once a year to
partake of the great annual feast ; but " in general the
spirits do not influence human beings very much, for
better or worse" ; "there is nothing of the mutual inter-
action, of the intimate collaboration between man and
spirit which are the essence of religious cult." This
conspicuous predominance of magic over religion,
at least over the worship of the dead, is a very notable
feature in the culture of a people so comparatively high
in the scale of savagery as the Trobriand Islanders. It
furnishes a fresh proof of the extraordinary strength and
tenacity of the hold which this world-wide delusion has
had, and still has, upon the human mind.

We shall doubtless learn much as to the relation of
magic and religion among the Trobrianders from the full
report of Dr. Malinowski's researches in the islands.
From the patient observation which he has devoted to a
single institution, and from the wealth of details with
which he has illustrated it, we may judge of the extent
and value of the larger work which he has in preparation.
It promises to be one of the completest and most
scientific accounts ever given of a savage people.



J. G. FRAZER.



The Temple, London,
jth March, 1922.



FOREWORD
BY THE AUTHOR

ETHNOLOGY is in the sadly ludicrous, not to say tragic,
position, that at the very moment when it begins to put
its workshop in order, to forge its proper tools, to start
ready for work on its appointed task, the material of its
stud}' melts away with hopeless rapidity. Just now,
when the methods and aims of scientific field ethnology
have taken shape, when men fully trained for the work
have begun to travel into savage countries and study
their inhabitants these die away under our very eyes.

The research which has been done on native races by
men of academic training has proved beyond doubt and
cavil that scientific, methodic inquiry can give us results
far more abundant and of better quality than those
of even the best amateur's work. Most, though not all,
of the modern scientific accounts have opened up quite
new and unexpected aspects of tribal life. They have
given us, in clear outline, the picture of social insti-
tutions often surprisingly vast and complex ; they have
brought before us the vision of the native as he is, in his
religious and magical beliefs and practices. They have
allowed us to penetrate into his mind far more deeply
than we have ever done before. From this new material,
scientifically hall-marked, students of comparative
Ethnology have already drawn some very important
conclusions on the origin of human customs, beliefs and
institutions ; on the history of cultures, and their spread
and contact ; on the laws of human behaviour in society,
and of the human mind.

The hope of gaining a new vision of savage humanity
through the labours of scientific specialists open; out
like a mirage, vanishing almost as soon as perceived.



xvi FOREWORD

For though at present, there is still a large number of
native communities available for scientific study, within
a generation or two, they or their cultures will have practi-
cally disappeared. The need for energetic work is urgent,
and the time is short. Nor, alas, up to the present, has
any adequate interest been taken by the pubUc in these
studies. The number of workers is small, the encourage-
ment they receive scanty. I feel therefore no need to
justify an ethnological contribution which is the result
of specialised research in the field.

In this volume I give an account of one phase of savage
life only, in describing certain forms of inter-tribal, trading
relations among the natives of New Guinea. This
account has been culled, as a preliminary monograph,
from Ethnographic material, covering the whole extent
of the tribal culture of one district. One of the first
conditions of acceptable Ethnographic work certainly is
that it should deal with the totality of all social, cultural
and psychological aspects of the community, for they are
so interwoven that not one can be understood without
taking into consideration all the others. The reader of
this monograph will clearly see that, though its main
theme is economic for it deals with commercial enter-
prise, exchange and trade constant reference has to be
made to social organisation, the power of magic, to
mythology and folklore, and indeed to all other aspects
as well as the main one.

The geographical area of which the book treats is
limited to the Archipelagoes lying off the eastern end of
New Guinea. Even within this, the main field of research
was in one district, that of the Trobriand Islands. This,
however, has been studied minutely. I have lived in that
one archipelago for about two years, in the course of three
expeditions to New Guinea, during which time I naturally
acquired a thorough knowledge of the language. I did
my work entirely alone, living for the greater part of the
time right in the villages. I therefore had constantly the
daily life of the natives before my eyes, while accidental,
dramatic occurrences, deaths, quarrels, village brawls,



FOREWORD xvii

public and ceremonial events, could not escape my
notice.

In the present state of Ethnography, when so much has
still to be done in paving the way for forthcoming research
and in fixing its scope, each new contribution ought to
justify its appearance in several points. It ought to show
some advance in method ; it ought to push research
beyond its previous limits in depth, in width, or in both ;
finally, it ought to endeavour to present its results in a
manner exact, but not dry. The specialist interested in
method, in reading this work, will find set out in the
Introduction, Divisions II-IX and in Chapter XVIII,
the exposition of my points of view and efforts in this
direction. The reader who is concerned with results,
rather than with the way of obtaining them, will find in
Chapters IV to XXI a consecutive narrative of the Kula
expeditions, and the various associated customs and
beliefs. The student who is interested, not only in the
narrative, but in the ethnographic background for it, and
a clear definition of the institution, will find the first in
Chapters I and II, and the latter in Chapter III.

To Mr. Robert Mond I tender my sincerest thanks.
It is to his generous endowment that I owe the possibility
of carrying on for several years the research of which the
present volume is a partial result. To Mr. Atlee Hunt,
C.M.G., Secretary of the Home and Territories Depart-
ment of the Commonwealth of Australia, I am indebted
for the financial assistance of the Department, and also
for much help given on the spot. In the Trobriands,
I was immensely helped in my work by Mr. B. Hancock,
pearl trader, to whom I am grateful not only for assis-
tance and services, but for many acts of friendship.

Much of the argument in this book has been greatly
improved by the criticism given me by my friend, Mr.
Paul Khuner, of Vienna, an expert in the practical
affairs of modern industry and a highly competent thinker
on economic matters. Professor L. T. Hobhouse has
kindly read the proofs and given me valuable advi :e on
several points.



xviii FOREWORD

Sir James Frazer, by writing his Preface, has enhanced
the value of this volume beyond its merit and it is not only
a great honour and advantage for me to be introduced
by him, but also a special pleasure, for my first love for
ethnology is associated with the reading of the " Golden
Bough," then in its second edition.

Last, not least, I wish to mention Professor C. G.
Seligman, to whom this book is dedicated. The initiative
of my expedition was given by him and I owe him more
than I can express for the encouragement and scientific
counsel which he has so generously given me during the
progress of my work in New Guinea.



B.M.



El Boquin,

Icod de los Viuos,

Tenerifc.
April, 1921.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

IT is in the nature of the research, that an Ethnographer has
to rely upon the assistance of others to an extent much greater
than is the case with other scientific workers. I have therefore
to express in this special place my obligations to the many who
have helped me. As said in the Preface, financially I owe mo^t
to Mr. Robert Mond. who made my work possible by bestowing
on me the Robert Mond Travelling Scholarship (University of
London) of 250 per annum for five years (for 1914 and for 1917
-1920). I was substantially helped by a grant of 250 from
the Home and Territories Department of Australia, obtained
by the good offices of Mr. Atlee Hunt, C.M.G. The London
School of Economics awarded me the Constance Hutchinson
Scholarship of 100 yearly for two years, 1915-1916. Professor
Scligman, to whom in this, as in other matters I owe so much,
besides helping me in obtaining all the other grants, gave himself
100 towards the cost of the expedition and equipped me with
a camera, a phonograph, anthropometric instruments and other
paraphernalia of ethnographic work. I went out to Australia
with the British Association for the Advancement of Science
in 1914, as a guest, and at the expense, of the Commonwealth
Government of Australia.

It may be interesting for intending field-workers to observe
that I carried out my ethnographic research for six years
1914 to 1920 making three expeditions to the field of my work,
and devoting the intervals between expeditions to the working
out of my material and to the study of special literature, on
little more than 250 a year. I defrayed out of this, not only ail
the expenses of travel and research, such as fares, wages to
native servants, payments of interpreters, but I was also able to
collect a fair amount of ethnographic specimens, of which part
has been presented to the Melbourne Museum as the Robert
Mond Collection. This would not have been possible for me,
had I not received much help from residents in New Guinea.
My friend, Mr. B. Hancock, of Gusaweta, Trobriand Islands,
allowed me to use his house and store as base for my gear and
provisions ; he lent me his cutter on various occasions and pro-
vided me with a home, where I could always repair in need or
sickness. He helped me in my photographic work, and gave me a
good number of his own photographic plates, of which several are
reproduced in this book (Plates XI, XXXVII, and L-LII).

Other pearl traders and buyers of the Trobriands were also
very kind to me, especially M. and Mme. Raphael Brudo, of



xx ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Paris, Messrs. C. and G. Auerbach, and the late Mr. Mick George,
all of whom helped me in various ways and extended to me their
kind hospitality.

In niy interim studies in Melbourne, I received much help
from the staff of the excellent Public Library of Victoria, for
which I have to thank the Librarian, Mr. E. La Touche Armstrong,
my friend Mr. E. Pitt, Mr. Cooke and others.

Two maps and two plates are reproduced by kind permission
of Professor Seligman from his " Melanesians of British New
Guinea/' I have to thank the Editor of Man (Captain T. A.
Joyce) for his permission to use here again the plates which
were previously published in that paper.

Mr. William Swan Stallybrass, Senior Managing Director of
Messrs. Geo. Routledge & Sons, Ltd., has spared no trouble in
meeting all my wishes as to scientific details in the publication
of this book, for which I wish to express my sincere thanks

PHONETIC NOTE.

The native names and words in this book are written according
to the simple rules, recommended by the Royal Geographical
Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute. That is,
the vowels are to be pronounced as in Italian and the consonants
as in English. This spelling suits the sounds of the Melanesian
languages of New Guinea sufficiently well. The apostrophe placed
between two vowels indicates that they should be pronounced
separately and not merged into a diphthong. The accent is almost
always on the penultimate, rarely on the anti-penultimate.
All the syllables must be pronounced clearly and distinctly.



TABLE OF CONTENTS



PAGI



PREFACE BY SIR JAMES FRAZER - - vii

FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR - - - - xv

INTRODUCTION : THE SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE OF
THIS ENQUIRY

I Sailing, and trading in the South Seas ; the
Kula. II Method in Ethnography. Ill-
Starting field work. Some perplexing difficul-
ties. Three conditions of success. IV Life
in a tent among the natives. Mechanism of
" getting in touch " with them. V Active
methods of research. Order and consistency in
savage cultures. Methodological consequences
of this truth. VI Formulating the principles
of tribal constitution and of the anatomy of culture.
Method ot inference from statistic accumulation
of concrete data. Uses of synoptic charts. VII
Presentation of the intimate touches of native
life ; of types of behaviour. Method of system-
atic fixing of impressions ; of detailed, consecu-
tive records. Importance of personal participa
tion in native life. VIII Recording of stereo-
typed manners of thinking and feeling. Corpus
inscriptionum Kiriwinensium IX Summary of
argument. The native's vision of his world - I

CHAPTER

I THE COUNTRY AND INHABITANTS OF THE KULA
DISTRICT

I Racial divisions in Eastern New Guinea.
Seligman's classification. The Kula natives.
II Sub-divisions of the Kula district. Ill
Scenery at the Eastern end of New Guinea.
Villages of the S. Massim ; their customs and
social institutions. IV The d'Entrecasteaux
Archipelago. The tribes of Dobu. The mytho-
logical associations of their country. Some of
their customs and institutions. Sorcery. A
vision on Sarubwoyna beach. V Sailing North.
The Amphlett Group. Savage monopolists - 27



xxii TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

II THE NATIVES OF THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

I Arrival in the coral Islands. First impression
of the native. Some significant appearances and
their deeper meaning. II Position of women ;
their life and conduct before and after marriage.
Ill Further exploration in the villages. A cross
country walk. Gardens and gardening. IV
The native's working power ; their motives and
incentives to work. Magic and work. A
digression on Primitive Economics. V Chief-
tainship ' power through wealth ; a plutocratic
community. List of the various provinces and
and political divisions in the Trobriands. VI
Totemism, the solidarity of clans and the bonds
of kinship. VII Spirits of the dead. The
overweening importance of magic. Black magic.
The prowling sorcerers and the flying witches.
The malevolent visitors from the South, and
epidemics. VIII The Eastern neighbours of
of the Trobrianders. The remaining districts of
the Kula ______ -49

III THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

I A concise definition of the Kula. II Its
economic character. Ill The articles exchanged ;
the conception of vaygu'a. IV The main rules
and aspects of the Kula : the sociological aspect
(partnership) ; direction of movement ; nature
of Kula ownership ; the differential and integral
effect of these rules. V The act of exchange ;
its regulations ; the light it throws on the acquisi-
tive and " communistic " tendencies of the
natives ; its concrete outlines ; the sollicitory
gifts. VI The associated activities and the
secondary aspects of the Kula : construction of
canoes ; subsidiary trade their true relation
to the Kula ; the ceremonial, mythology and
magic associated with the Kula ; the mortuary
taboos and distributions, in their relation to the
Kula _______ 81

IV CANOES AND SAILING

I The value and importance of a canoe to a
native. Its appearance, the impressions and
emotions it arouses in those who use or own it.
The atmosphere of romance which surrounds it



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxiii

HAPTFR P\CE

for the native. II Analysis of its construction,
in relation to its function. The three types of
canoes in the Trobriand Islands. Ill V
Sociology of a large canoe (masawa). Ill (A)
Social organisation of labour in constructing a
canoe ; the division of functions ; the magical
regulation of work. IV (B) Sociology of canoe
ownership ; the /o/^-relationship ; the toliwaga,
" master " or " owner " of a canoe ; the four
privileges and functions of a toliwaga. V
(C) The social division of functions in manning
and sailing a canoe. Statistical data about the
Trobriand shipping - - - - - 105

V THE CEREMONIAL BUILDING OF A WAGA

I Construction of canoes as part of the Kula
proceedings. Magic and mythology. The pre-
paratory and the ceremonial stage of construction
II The first stage : expelling the wood sprite
Tokway ; transport of the log ; the hollowing-
out of the log and the associated magic. Ill
The second stage : the inaugural rite of Kula magic ;
the native at grips with problems of construction ;
the wayugo creeper ; the magical spell uttered
over it ; caulking ; the three magical exorcisms.
IV Some general remarks about the two stages
of canoe-building and the concomitant magic.
Bulubwalata (evil magic) of canoes. The orna-
mental prowboards. The Dobuan and the Mur-
uwan types of overseas canoe - - - 124

VI LAUNCHING OF A CANOE AND CEREMONIAL VISITING
TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

I The procedure and magic at launching. The
trial run (tasasona). Account of the launching
and tasasoria seen on the beach of Kualukuba.
Reflections on the decay of customs under Euro-
pean influence. II Digression on the sociology of
work : organisation of labour ; forms of commumal
labour ; paymc nt for work. Ill The custom
of ceremonial visiting (kabigidoya) ; local trade,
done on such expeditions. IV VII Digression
on gifts, payments, and exchange. V Attitude
of the native towards wealth. Desire of display.
Enhancement of social prestige through wealth.
The motives of accumulating food stuffs. Tho



xxiv TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

vilamalya (magic of plenty). The handling of
yams. Psychology of eating. Value of manu-
factured goods, psychologically analysed. V
Motives for exchange. Giving, as satisfaction of
vanity and as display of power. Fallacy of the
" economically isolated individual " or " house-
hold." Absence of gain in exchange. VI
Exchange of gifts and barter. List of gifts, pay-
ments and commercial transactions : i. Pure
gifts ; 2. customary payments, repaid irregu-
larly and without strict equivalents ; 3. pay-
ments for services rendered ; 4. gifts returned
in strictly equivalent form ; 5. exchange of
material goods against privileges, titles and non-
material possessions ; 6. ceremonial barter with
deferred payment ; 7. trade pure and simple.
VI Economic duties corresponding to various
social ties ; table of eight classes of social relation-
ship, characterised by definite economic obliga-
tions ______ 146

VII THE DEPARTURE OF AN OVERSEAS EXPEDITION

Scene laid in Sinaketa. The local chiefs. Stir
in the village. The social differentiation of the
sailing party. Magical rites, associated with the
preparing and loading of a canoe. The sulu-
mwoya rite. The magical bundle (lilava). The
compartments of a canoe and the gebobo spell.
Farewells on the beach - - - - - 195

VIII THE FIRST HALT OF THE FLEET ON MUWA

I The definition of an uvalaku (ceremonial, com-
petitive expedition). II The sagali (ceremonial
distribution) on Muwa. Ill The magic of
saijing _ _ _ _ _ 207

IX SAILING ON THE SEA-ARM OF PILOLU

I The landscape. Mythological geography of the
regions beyond. II Sailing : the winds ;
navigation ; technique of sailing a canoe and its
dangers. Ill The customs and taboos of sailing.
Privileged position of certain sub-clans. IV
The beliefs in dreadful monsters lurking in the
sea _______ 219



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxv



X THE STORY OF SHIPWRECK

I The flying witches, mulukwausi or yoyova :
essentials of the belief ; initiation and education
of a yoyova (witch) ; secrecy surrounding this con-
dition ; manner of practising this witch-craft ;
actual cases. II The flying witches at sea
and in ship-wreck. Other dangerous agents.
The kayga'u magic ; its modes of operation.
Ill Account of the preparatory rites of kayga'u.
Some incantations quoted. IV The story of
ship-wreck and rescue. V The spell of the
rescuing giant fish. The myth and the magical
formula of Tokulubwaydoga. - - - - 237

XI IN THE AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY OF THE KULA

I Arrival in Gumasila. Example of a Kula
conversation. Trobrianders on long visits in the
Amphletts. II Sociology of the Kula : i. socio-
logical limitations to participation in the Kula;
2. relation of Partnership ; 3. entering the Kula
relationship ; 4. participation of women in the
Kula. Ill The Natives of the Amphletts : their
industries and trade ; pottery ; importing the
clay ; technology of pot-making ; commercial
relations with the surrounding districts. IV
Drift of migrations and cultural influences in this
province _______ 267

XII IN TEWARA AND SANAROA MYTHOLOGY OF THE
KULA

I Sailing under the lee of Koytabu. The canni-
bals of the unexplored jungle. Trobriand tradi-
tions and legends about them. The history and
song of Gumagabu. II Myths and reality :
significance imparted to landscape by myth ;
line of distinction between the mythical and the
actual occurrences ; magical power and mythical
atmosphere ; the three strata of Trobriand myths.
Ill V The myths of the Kula. Ill Survey of
Kula mythology and its geographical distribu-
tion. The story of Gere'u of Muyuwa (Wood-
lark Island). The two stories of Tokosikuna
of Digumenu and Gumasila. IV The Kudayuri
myth of the flying canoe. Commentary . and
analysis of this myth. Association between the



xxvi TABLE OF CONTENTS



canoe and the flying witches. Mythology and
the Lukuba clan. V The "myth of Kasabway-
bwayreta and the necklace Gumakarakedakeda.
Comparison of these stories. VI Sociological
analysis of the myths : influence of the Kula myths
upon native outlook ; myth and custom. VII
The relation between myth and actuality restated.
VIII The story, the natural monuments and
the religious ceremonial of the mythical per-
sonalities Atu'a'ine, Aturamo'a and their sister
Sinatemubadiye'i. Other rocks of similar tradi-
tional nature - - - - - - 290

XIII ON THE BEACH OF SARUBWOYNA

I The halt on the Beach. The beauty magic
Some incantations quoted. The spell of the
ta'uya (conch shell). II The magical onset on
the Koya. Psychological analysis of this magic.
Ill The Gwara (taboo) and the Ka'ubana'i
spell -------- 334

XIV THE KULA IN DOBU TECHNICALITIES OF THE
EXCHANGE

I Reception in Dobu. II The main transactions
of the Kula and the subsidiary gifts and exchanges :
some general reflections on the driving force of the
Kula ; regulations of the main transaction ;
vaga (opening gift) and yotile (return gift) ;
the sollicitory gifts (pokala, kwaypolu, kaributu,
korotomna) ; intermediary gifts (basi) and final
clinching gift (kudu) ; the other articles some-
times exchanged in the main transaction of
the Kula (doga, samakupa, beku) ; commercial
honour and ethics of the Kula. Ill The Kula
proceedings in Dobu : wooing the partner ;
kwoygapani magic ; the subsidiary trade ; roam-
ings of the Boy o wans in the Dobu district - - 350

XV THE JOURNEY HOME THE FISHING AND WORKING
OF THE KALOMA SHELL

I Visits made on the return trip. Some articles
acquired. II The spondylus shell fishing in
Sanaroa lagoon and in home waters : its general
character and magic ; the Kaloma myth ; con-
secutive account of the technicalities, ceremonial



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxvii



and magic of the diving for the shell. Ill
Technology, economics and sociology of the pro-
duction of the discs and necklaces from the shell.
IV Tanarere, display of the haul. Arrival
of the party home to Sinaketa - 366

XVI THE RETURN VISIT OF THE DOBUANS TO SINAKETA
I The uvalaku (ceremonial expedition) from Dobu
to Southern Boyowa : the preparations in Dobu and
Sanaroa ; preparations in Gumasila ; the excite-
ment, the spreading and convergence of news ;
arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Nabwageta. II
Preparations in Sinaketa for the reception of the
visiting party. The Dobuans arrive. The scene
at Kaykuyawa point. The ceremonial reception.
Speeches and gifts. The three days' sojurn
of the Dobuans in Sinaketa. Manner of living.
Exchange of gifts and barter. Ill Return
home. Results shown at the tanarere - - 376

XVII MAGIC AND THE KULA

I The subject matter of Boyowan magic.
Its association with all the vital activities and
with the unaccountable aspects of reality. II
V The native conception of magic. II The
methods of arriving at its knowledge. Ill
Native views about the original sources of magic.
Its primeval character. Inadmissability to the
native of spontaneous generation in magic.
Magic a power of man and not a force of nature.
Magic and myth and their super-normal atmo-
sphere. IV The magical acts : spell and rite ;
relation between these two factors ; spells
uttered directly without a concomitant rite ;
spells accompanied by simple rite of impregna-
tion ; spells accompanied by a rite of trans-
ference ; spells accompanied by offerings and
invocations ; summary of this survey. V
Place where magic is stored in the human anatomy.
VI Condition of the performer. Taboos and
observances. Sociological position. Actual
descent and magical filiation. VII Definition
of systematic magic. The " systems " of canoe
magic and Kula magic. VIII Supernormal or
supernatural character of magic; emotional
reaction of the natives to certain forms of magic ;



xxviii TABLE OF CONTENTS



the kariyala (magical portent) ; role of ancestral
spirits ; native terminplogy. IX Ceremonial
setting of magic. X Institution of taboo, sup-
ported by magic. Kaytubutabu and kaytapaku.
XI Purchase ol certain forms of magic. Pay-
ments for magical services. XII Brief
summary - - - - - - % - 392

XVIII THE POWER OF WORDS IN MAGIC SOME
LINGUISTIC DATA

I Study of linguistic data in magic to throw
light on native ideas about the power of words.
1 1 The text of the wayugo spell with literal trans-
lation. Ill Linguistic analysis of its u'ula (exor-
dium). IV Vocal technique of reciting a spell.
Analysis of the tapwana (main part) and dogina
(final part). V The text of the Sulumwoya
spell and its analysis. VI XII Linguistic
data referring to the other spells mentioned in this
volume and some general inferences. VI The
tokway spell and the opening phrases of the canoe
spells. VII The tapwana (main parts) of the
canoe spells. VIII The end parts (dogina) of
these spells. IX The u'ula of the mwasila
spells. X The tapwana and the dogina of these
spells. XI The kayga'u spells. XII Sum-
mary of the results of this linguistic survey.
XIII Substances used in these magical rites.
XIV XVIII Analysis of some non-magical
linguistic texts, to illustrate ethnographic
method and native way of thinking. XIV
General remarks about certain aspects of
method. XV Text No. i, its literal and free
translation. XVI Commentary. XVII Texts
No. 2 and 3 translated and commented upon - 428

XIX THE INLAND KULA

I To'uluwa, the chief of Kiriwina, on a visit
in Sinaketa. The decay of his power. Some
melancholy reflections about the folly of destroy-
ing the native order of things and of under-
mining native authority as now prevailing. II
The division into " Kula communities ; " the
three types of Kula, with respect to this division.
The overseas Kula. Ill The inland Kula



TABLE OF CONTENTS xxix

CHAPTER PACE

between two " Kula communities " and within
such a unit. IV The "Kula communities" in
Boyowa (Trobriand Islands) - - - 464

XX EXPEDITIONS BETWEEN KIRIWINA AND KITAVA

I, II Account of an expedition from Kinwina
to Kitava. I Fixing dates and preparing
districts. II Preliminaries of the journey.
Departure from Kaulukuba Beach. Sailing.
Analogies and differences between these expedi-
tions and those of the Sinaketans to Dobu.
Entering the village. The youlawada custom.
Sojourn in Kitava and return. Ill The So'i
(mortuary feast) in the Eastern district (Kitava
to Muyuwa) and its association with the Kula ~ 47^

XXI THE REMAINING BRANCHES AND OFFSHOOTS OF
THE KULA

I Rapid survey of the routes between Wood-
lark Island (Murua or Muyuwa) and the Engineer
group and between this latter and Dobu. II
The ordinary trade carried on between these
communities. Ill An offshoot of the Kula ;
trading expeditions between the Western Tro-
briand (Kavataria and Kayleula) and the
Western d'Entrecasteaux. IV Production of
mwali (armshells) V Some other offshoots and
leakages of the Kula ring. Entry of the Kula
vaygu'a into the Ring. - _ _ - - 40^

XXII THE MEANING OF THE KULA - - - ~ 5<>c
INDEX --------510



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



A CEREMONIAL ACT OF THE KULA -



Frontispiece



ON



FACING PAGE

THE BEACH OF

6



HUT) IN



I THE ETHNOGRAPHER'S TENT

NU'AGASI ------

II THE CHIEFS LISIGA (PERSONAL

OMARAKANA --------6

III STREET OF KASANA'I (IN KIRIWINA, TROBRIAND

ISLAND) -------- -7

IV SCENE IN YOURAWOTU (TROBRIANDS) 7
V SCENES ON THE BEACH OF SILOSILO (SOUTHERN

MASSIM DISTRICT) - - 36

VI VILLAGE SCENES DURING A SO'/ FEAST - 37

VII IN THE AMPHLETTS - - 46
VIII GROUP OF NATIVES IN THE VILLAGE OF TUKWA'-

UKWA - -------- 48

IX MEN OF RANK FROM KIRIWINA - 49

X FISHERMEN FROM TEYAVA - 49
XI A TYPICAL NAKUBUKWABUYA (UNMARRIED

WOMAN) --------- 52

XII BOYOWAN GIRLS -------33

XIII KAYDEBU DANCE _____-- 56

XIV DANCERS IN FULL DECORATION - 57
XV A FAMILY GROUP - - 72

XVI ARMSHELLS -_____-_ 80

XVII TWO MEN WEARING ARMSHELLS - - - - 81

XVIII TWO NECKLACES, MADE OF RED SPONDYLUS DISCS - 88

XIX TWO WOMEN ADORNED WITH NECKLACES - 89

XX A KULA GATHERING ON THE BEACH OF SINAKETA - 98

XXI A MAS AW A CANOE ------- 106

XXII PUTTING A CANOE INTO ITS HANGAR - - - 106

XXIII CANOE UNDER SAIL ------- 107

XXIV THE FISHING CANOE (KAL1POULO) ~ - - 112
XXV THE DUG-OUT IN THE VILLAGE - 124

XXVI CARVING A TABUYO ------- 125

XXVII CONSTRUCTION OF A WAG A - - - - - 138

XXVIII SAIL MAKING --------139

XXIX ROLLS OF DRIED PANDANUS LEAF - - - 139

XXX LAUNCHING OF A CANOE ------ 148

XXXI THE TASASORIA ON THE BEACH OF KAULUKUBA - 148

XXXII A CHIEF'S YAM-HOUSE IN KASANA'I - - - 149

XXXIII FILLING A YAM-HOUSE IN YALUMUGWA - - 149

XXIV DISPLAY OF PIGS AND YAMS AT A DISTRIBUTION

(SAGALI) __-_---_ 170

XXXV COMMUNAL COOKING OF MONA (TARO DUMPLINGS) - 170
XXXVI SCENE IN THE WASI (CEREMONIAL EXCHANGE OF

VEGETABLES FOR FISH) - - - - - 171

XXXVII VA VA, DIRECT BARTER OF VEGETABLES FOR FISH- 171

XXXVIII KOUTAU'YA, ONE OF THE CHIEFS OF SINAKETA - 196

XXXIX A LOADED CANOE - - - - - - -197



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



XXXI



PLATE PACING PAGP

XL A WAGA SAILING ON A KULA EXPEDITION - - 224

XLI THE RIGGING OF A CANOE - 225

XLII SCENERY IN THE AMPHLETTS - 268

XLIII LANDING IN THE MAIN VILLAGE OF GUMASILA - 269

XLIV TECHNOLOGY OF POT-MAKING (I) - 284

XLV TECHNOLOGY OF POT-MAKING (II) - - - - 285

XLVI FINE SPECIMENS OF AMPHLETT POTS - - - 288

XLVII A CANOE IN GUMASILA LOADING POTS - - - 289

XLVIII A KULA FLEET HALTING TO PERFORM THE FINAL

RITES OF MWASILA ------ 334

XLIX THE BEAUTY MAGIC OF THE MWASILA - - 335

L (A) WORKING THE KALOMA SHELL (I)--- 370

L (B) WORKING THE KALOMA SHELL (II) - - - 371

LI WORKING THE KALOMA SHELL (III) - - - 372

LII WORKING THE KALOMA SHELL (IV) - - - 373

LIII ON THE BEACH OF NABWAGETA - 376

LIV THE DOBUAN CANOES PULLED UP ON SINAKETA

BEACH ________ 388

LV SOME CANOES MOORED ON THE SHALLOW LAGOON

NEAR THE SHORE ------- 388

LVI DOBUAN VISITORS IN SINAKETA - 389

LVII A MAGICAL SPELL ASSOCIATED WITH PREGNANCY - 406

LVIII A RITE OF WAR MAGIC ------ 406

LIX A RITE OF GARDEN MAGIC - - - - - 407

LX ARMSHELLS BROUGHT FROM KITAVA - - -470

LXI BRINGING IN A SOU LAV A - - - - - 471

LXII OFFERING THE SO ULAVA - 471

LXIII CEREMONIAL DESTRUCTION DURING A SO 9 1 FEAST - 486

LXIV NAGEGA CANOE -------- 49 6

LXV A CORPSE COVERED WITH VALUABLES - - - 512

MAPS

I EASTERN NEW GUINEA ------ XX xn

II RACIAL DISTRIBUTION IN EASTERN NEW GUINEA - 26

III THE KULA DISTRICT - _ - 30

IV THE TROBRIAND ARCHIPELAGO - 50
V THE KULA RING ----- 82

TABLES

I CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF KULA EVENTS WITNESSED

BY THE WRITER ------ - 16

II TIME-TABLE OF THE UVALAKU EXPEDITION, DOBU

TO SINAKETA, 1918 - - - - - - -381

III TABLE OF KULA MAGIC AND OF THE CORRESPOND-

ING ACTIVITIES ___-_- 415-418

FIGURES IN TEXT

I DIAGRAM OF CANOE STABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION 109
II DIAGRAMATIC SECTIONS OF CANOES - - - nr




MAP I The native names and their spelling on this and the following map
conform to the

traditional nomenclature to be found on charts and old maps. Maps III-V
show the

native names as ascertained by myself and phonetically spelled.



INTRODUCTION

THE SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE OF THIS
INQUIRY



coastal populations of the South Sea Islands, with very
JL few exceptions, are, or were before their extinction, expert
navigators and traders. Several of them had evolved excellent
types of large sea-going canoes, and used to embark in them
on distant trade expeditions or raids of war and conquest.
The Papuo-Melanesians, who inhabit the coast and the out-
lying islands of New Guinea, are no exception to this rule. In
general they are daring sailors, industrious manufacturers,
and keen traders. The manufacturing centres of important
articles, such as pottery, stone implements, canoes, fine baskets,
valued ornaments, are localised in several places, according to
the .skill of the inhabitants, their inherited tribal tradition,
and special facilities offered by the district ; thence they are
traded over wide areas, sometimes travelling more than
hundreds of miles.

Definite forms of exchange along definite trade routes are
to be found established between the various tribes. A most
remarkable form of intertribal trade is that obtaining between
the Motu of Port Moresby and the tribes of the Papuan Gulf.
The Motu sail for hundreds of miles in heavy, unwieldy canoes,
called lakatoi, which are provided with the characteristic
ciab-claw sails. They bring pottery and shell ornaments, in
olden days, stone blades, to Gulf Papuans, from whom they
obtain in exchange sago and the heavy dug-outs, which are
used afterwards by the Motu for the construction of their
lakatoi canoes.*

* The Am, as these expeditions are called in Motuan, have been
described
with a great wealth of detail and clearness of outline by Captain F.
Barton,
in C. G. Seligman's "The Melanesians of British New Guinea," Cambridge,

1910, Chapter viii.



2 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

Further East, on the South coast, there lives the industrious,
sea-faring population of the Mailu, who link the East End of
New Guinea with the central coast tribes by means of annual
trading expeditions.* Finally, the natives of the islands
and archipelagoes, scattered around the East End, are in
constant trading relations with one another. We possess in
Professor Seligman's book an excellent description Qf the
subject, especially of the nearer trades routes between the
various islands inhabited by the Southern Massim.f There
exists, however, another, a very extensive and highly complex
trading system, embracing with its ramifications, not only the
islands near the East End, but also the Louisiades, Woodlark
Island, the Trobriand Archipelago, and the d'Entrecasteaux
group ; it penetrates into the mainland of New Guinea, and
exerts an indirect influence over several outlying districts,
such as Rossel Island, and some parts of the Northern and
Southern coast of New Guinea. This trading system, the Kula,
is the subject I am setting out to describe in this volume, and
it will be seen that it is an economic phenomenon of considera-
able theoretical importance. It looms paramount in the tribal
life of those natives who live within its circuit, and its impor-
tance is fully realised by the tribesmen themselves, whose ideas,
ambitions, desires and vanities are very much bound up with
the Kula.

II

Before proceeding to the account of the Kula, it will be well
to give a description of the methods used in the collecting of
the ethnographic material. The results of scientific research
in any branch of learning ought to be presented in a manner
absolutely candid and above board. No one would dream
of making an experimental contribution to physical or chemical
science, without giving a detailed account of all the arrange-
ments of the experiments ; an exact description of the apparatus
used ; of the manner in which the observations were conducted ;
of their number ; of the length of time devoted to them, and
of the degree of approximation with which each measurement
was made. In less exact sciences, as in biology or geology,

* Cf. " The Mailu/' by B. Malinowski, in Transactions of the R. Society

of S. Australia, 1915 ; Chapter iv. 4, pp. 612 to 629.

f Op. cit. Chapter xl.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 3

this cannot be done as rigorously, but every student will do
his best to bring home to the reader all the conditions in which
the experiment or the observations were made. In Ethno-
graphy, where a candid account of such data is perhaps even
more necessary, it has unfortunately in the past not always
been supplied with sufficient generosity, and many writers do
not ply the full searchlight of methodic sincerity, as they move
among their facts and produce them before us out of complete
obscurity.

It would be easy to quote works of high repute, and with a
scientific hall-mark on them, in which wholesale generalisations
are laid down before us, and we are not informed at all by what
actual experiences the writers have reached their conclusion.
No special chapter or paragraph is devoted to describing to us
the conditions under which observations were made and infor-
mation collected. I consider that only such ethnographic
sources are of unquestionable scientific value, in which we can
clearly draw the line between, on the one hand, the results of
direct observation and of native statements and interpretations,
and on the other, the inferences of the author, based on his
common sense and psycholgical insight.* Indeed, some such
survey, as that contained in the table, given below (Div. VI of
this chapter) ought to be forthcoming, so that at a glance the
reader could estimate with precision the degree of the writer's
personal acquaintance with the facts which he describes, and
form an idea under what conditions information had been
obtained from the natives.

Again, in historical science, no one could expect to be
seriously treated if he made any mystery of his sources and
spoke of the past as if he knew it by divination. In Ethno-
graphy, the writer is his own chronicler and the historian at
the same time, while his sources are no doubt easily accessible,
but also supremely elusive and complex ; they are not
embodied in fixed, material documents, but in the behaviour
and in the memory of living men. In Ethnography, the
distance is often enormous between the brute material of

* On this point of method again, we are indebted to the Cambridge
School
of Anthropology for having introduced the really scientific way of
dealing with
the question. More especially in the writings of Haddon, Rivers and
Seligman,
the distinction between inference and observation is always clearly
drawn, and
we can visualise with perfect precision the conditions under which the
work
was done.



4 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

information as it is presented to the student in his own obser-
vations, in native statement, in the kaleidoscope of tribal life
and the final authoritative presentation of the results. The
Ethnographer has to traverse this distance in the laborious
years between the moment when he sets foot upon a native
beach, and makes his first attempts to get into touch with the
natives, and the time when he writes down the final version of
his results. A brief outline of an Ethnographer's tribulations,
as lived through by myself, may throw more light on the
question, than any long abstract discussion could do,

III

Imagine yourself suddenly set down surrounded by all
your gear, alone on a tropical' beach close to a native village,
while the launch or dinghy which has brought you sails away
out of sight. Since you take up your abode in the compound of
some neighbouring white man, trader or missionary, you have
nothing to do, but to start at once on your ethnographic work.
Imagine further that you are a beginner, without previous
experience, with nothing to guide you and no one to help you.
For the white man is temporarily absent, or else unable or
unwilling to waste any of his time on you. This exactly
describes my first initiation into field work on the south coast
of New Guinea. I well remember the long visits I paid to the
villages during the first weeks ; the feeling of hopelessness and
despair after many obstinate but futile attempts had entirely
failed to bring me into real touch with the natives, or supply
me with any material. I had periods of despondency, when I
buried myself in the reading ot novels, as a man might take
to drink in a fit of tropical depression and boredom.

Imagine yourself then, making your first entry into the
village, alone or in company with your white cicerone. Some
natives flock round you, especially if they smell tobacco.
Others, the more dignified and elderly, remain seated where they
are. Your white companion has his routine way of treating the
natives, and he neither understands, nor is very much concerned
with the manner in which you, as an ethnographer, will have
to approach them. * The first visit leaves you with a hopeful
feeling that when you return alone, things will be easier. Such
was my hope at least.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 5

I came back duly, and soon gathered an audience around
me. A few compliments in pidgin-English on both sides, some
tobacco changing hands, induced an atmosphere of mutual
amiability. I tried then to proceed to business. First, to
begin with subjects which might arouse no suspicion, I started
to " do " technology, A few natives were engaged in manu-
facturing some object or other. It was easy to look at it and
obtain the names of the tools, and even some technical expres-
sions about the proceedings, but there the matter ended. It
must be borne in mind that pidgin-English is a very imperfect
instrument for expressing one's ideas, and that before one gets
a good training in framing questions and understanding answers
one has the uncomfortable feeling that free communication in
it with the natives will never be attained ; and I was quite
unable to enter into any more detailed or explicit conversation
with them at first. I knew well that the best remedy for this
was to collect concrete data, and accordingly I took a village
census, wrote down genealogies, drew up plans and collected
the terms of kinship. But all this remained dead material,
which led no further into the understanding of real native
mentality or behaviour, since I could neither procure a
good native interpretation of any of these items, nor get
what could be called the hang of tribal life. As to obtaining
their ideas about religion, and magic, their beliefs in sorcery
and spirits, nothing was forthcoming except a few superficial
items of folk-lore, mangled by being forced into pidgin English.

Information which I received from some white residents in
the district, valuable as it was in itself, was more discouraging
than anything else with regard to my own work. Here were
men who had lived for years in the place with constant oppor-
tunities of observing the natives and communicating with them,
and who yet hardly knew one thing about them really well.
How could I therefore in a few months or a year, hope to over-
take and go beyond them ? Moreover, the manner in which my
white informants spoke about the natives and put their views
was, naturally, that of untrained minds, unaccustomed to
formulate their thoughts with any degree of consistency and
precision. And they were for the most part, naturally enough,
full of the biassed and pre-judged opinions inevitable in the
average practical man, whether administrator, missionary, or
trader ; yet so strongly repulsive to a mind striving after the



6 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

objective, scientific view of things. The habit of treating with
a self-satisfied frivolity what is really serious to the ethno-
grapher ; the cheap rating of what to him is a scientific treasure,
that is to say, the native's cultural and mental peculiarities and
independence these features, so well known in the inferior
amateur's writing, I found in the tone of the majority of white
residents.*

Indeed, in my first piece of Ethnographic research on the
South coast, it was not until I was alone in the district that I
began to make some headway ; and, at any rate, I found out
where lay the secret of effective field-work. What is then this
ethnographer's magic, by which he is able to evoke the real
spirit of the natives, the true picture of tribal life ? As usual,
success can only be obtained by a patient and systematic
Application of a number of rules of common sense and well-
known scientific principles, and not by the discovery of any
marvellous short-cut leading to the desired results without
effort or trouble. The principles of method can be grouped
under three main headings ; first of all, naturally, the student
must possess real scientific aims, and know the values and
criteria of modern ethnography. Secondly, he ought to put
himself in good conditions of work, that is, in the main, to live
without other white men, right among the natives. Finally,
he has to apply a number of special methods of collecting,
manipulating and fixing his evidence. A few words must be
said about these three foundation stones of field work, beginning
with the second as the most elementary.

IV

Proper conditions for ethnographic work. These, as said,
consist mainly in cutting oneself off from the company of other
white men, and remaining in as close contact with the natives
as possible, which really can only be achieved by camping right
in their villages (see Plates I and II). It is very nice to have
a base in a white man's compound for the stores, and to know
there is a refuge there in times of sickness and surfeit of native.
But it must be far enough away not to become a permanent
milieu in which you live and from which you emerge at fixed

* I may note at once that there were a few delightful exceptions to
that,
to mention only my friends Billy Hancock in the Trobriands ; M. Raffael

Brudo, another pearl trader ; and the missionary, Mr. M. K. Gilmour.



PLATE I




Till- HTHNOOR API mil'S THNT ON THH UfiAOl Ob' NU'AC.ASi
This illustrates the manner of life among the natives, described in
l)iv. IV, Note (with
cfererice to <ihs. IV and \') the dug-out log of a large canoe
beside the tent, and the
canoe, beached under palm leaves to the left




THE CHIEFS LISIGA (PERSONAL HUT) IN OMARAKANA
To'uluwa, the present chief, is in front (cf, Oi, If, Div. V) ; to the
left, the-

is the Ethnographer's tent (see Div. IV), with a group of natives
squatting in f root of it,



PLATE III




STRFiKT (>!' KASANA'J (IN KIRIVC'INA, TROBRIAND ISUNDS)

An everyday scene, showing groups of people at their ordinary
occupations. (See Oivs IV

and VIJl,)



PI.ATF IV




IN YOURAWQTO

A complex, but well-deflncd, act of a distribution) is going on, There
is a

definite of sociological, economic and ceremonial at the of the

apparently confused proceedings. Divs. IV and V.)



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 7

hours only to " do the village/' It should not even be near
enough to fly to at any moment for recreation. For the native
is not the natural companion for a white man, and after you
have been working with him for several hours, seeing how he
does his garden's, or letting him tell you items of folk-lore,
or discussing his customs, you will naturally hanker after the
company of your own kind. But if you are alone in a village
beyond reach of this, you go for a solitary walk for an hour or
so, return again and then quite naturally seek out the natives'
society, this time as a relief from loneliness, just as you would
any other companionship. And by means of this natural
intercourse, you learn to know him, and you become familiar
with his customs and beliefs far better than when he is a paid,
and often bored, informant.

There is all the difference between a sporadic plunging into
the company of natives, and being really in contact with them.
What does this latter mean ? On the Ethnographer's side, it
means that his life in the village, which at first is a strange,
sometimes unpleasant, sometimes intensely interesting
adventure, soon adopts quite a natural course very much in
harmony with his surroundings.

Soon after I had established myself in Omarakana (Tro-
briand Islands), I began to take part, in a way, in the village
life, to look forward to the important or festive events, to
take personal interest in the gossip and the developments of the
small village occurrences ; to wake up every morning to a day,
presenting itself to me more or less as it does to the native. I
would get out from under my mosquito net, to find around me
the village life beginning to stir, or the people well advanced in
their working day according*to the hour and also to the season,
for they get up and begin their labours early or late, as work
presses. As I went on my morning walk through the village, I
could see intimate details of family life, of toilet, cooking,
taking of meals ; I could see the arrangements for the day's
work, people starting on their errands, or groups of men and
women busy at some manufacturing tasks (see Plate III).
Quarrels, jokes, family scenes, events usually trivial, some-
times dramatic but always significant, formed the atmosphere
of my daily life, as well as of theirs. It must be remembered
that as the natives saw me constantly every day, they ceased to
be interested or alarmed, or made self-conscious by my



8 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

presence, and I ceased to be a disturbing element in the tribal
life which I was to study, altering it by my very approach, as
always happens with a new-comer to every savage community.
In fact, as they knew that I would thrust my nose into every-
thing, even where a well-mannered native would not dream of
intruding, they finished by regarding me as part and parcel of
their life, a necessary evil or nuisance, mitigated by^donations
of tobacco.

Later on in the day, whatever happened was within easy
reach, and there was no possibility of its escaping my notice.
Alarms about the sorcerer's approach in the evening, one or two
big, really important quarrels and rifts within the community,
cases of illness, attempted cures and deaths, magical rites
which had to be performed, all these I had not to pursue, fearful
of missing them, but they took place under my very eyes, at
my own doorstep, so to speak (see Plate IV). And it must be
emphasised whenever anything dramatic or important occurs it
is essential to investigate it at the very moment of happen-
ing, because the natives cannot but talk about it, are too
excited to be reticent, and too interested to be mentally lazy
in supplying details. Also, over and over again, I committed
breaches of etiquette, which the natives, familiar enough with
me, were not slow in pointing out. I had to learn how to
behave, and to a certain extent, I acquired " the feeling " for
native good and bad manners. With this, and with the
capacity of enjoying their company and sharing some of their
games and amusements, I began to feel that I was indeed in
touch with the natives, and this is certainly the preliminary
condition of being able to carry on successful field work.

V

But the Ethnographer has not only to spread his nets in
the right place, and wait for what will fall into them. He must
be an active huntsman, and drive his quarry into them and
follow it up to its most inaccessible lairs. And that leads us
to the more active methods of pursuing ethnographic evidence.
It has been mentioned at the end of Division III that the
Ethnographer has to be inspired by the knowledge of the most
modern results of scientific study, by its principles and aims.
I shall not enlarge upon this subject, except by way of one
remark, to avoid the possibility of misunderstanding. Good



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 9

training in theory, and acquaintance with its latest results, is
not identical with being burdened with " preconceived ideas."
If a man sets out on an expedition, determined to prove certain
hypotheses, if he is incapable of changing his views constantly
and casting them off ungrudgingly under the pressure of
evidence, needless to say his work will be worthless. But the
more problems he brings with him into the field, the more he is
in the habit of moulding his theories according to facts, and of
seeing facts in their bearing upon theory, the better he is
equipped for the work. Preconceived ideas are pernicious
in any scientific work, but foreshadowed problems are the main
endowment of a scientific thinker, and these problems are first
revealed to the observer by his theoretical studies.

In Ethnology the early efforts of Bastian, Tylor, Morgan,
the German Volkerpsychologen have remoulded the older
crude information of travellers, missionaries, etc., and have
shown us the importance of applying deeper conceptions and
discarding crude and misleading ones.*

The concept of animism superseded that of " fetichism " or
"devil-worship," both meaningless terms. The understanding
of the classificatory systems of relationship paved the way for
the brilliant, modern researches on native sociology in the
field-work of the Cambridge school. The psychological
analysis of the German thinkers has brought forth an abundant
crop of most valuable information in the results obtained by
the recent German expeditions to Africa, South America and
the Pacific, while the theoretical works ol Frazer, Durkheim
and others have already, and will no doubt still for a long time
inspire field workers and lead them to new results. The field
worker relies entirely upon inspiration from theory. Of course
he may be also a theoretical thinker and worker, and there he
can draw on himself for stimulus. But the two functions are
separate, and in actual research they have to be separated
both in time and conditions of work.

As always happens when scientific interest turns towards
and begins to labour on a field so far only prospected by the
curiosity of amateurs, Ethnology has introduced law and order
into what seemed chaotic and freakish. It has transformed
for us the sensational, wild and unaccountable world of

* According to a useful habit of the terminology of science, I use the
word Ethnography for the empirical and descriptive results of the
cience
of Man, and the word Ethnology for speculative and comparative
theories.



io SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

" savages " into a number of well ordered communities,
governed by law, behaving and thinking according to consistent
principles. The word " savage," whatever association it might
have had originally, connotes ideas of boundless liberty, of
irregularity, of something extremely and extraordinarily quaint.
In popular thinking, we imagine that the natives live on the
bosom of Nature, more or less as they can and like, the prey of
irregular, phantasmagoric beliefs and apprehensions. Modern
science, on the contrary, shows that their social institutions have
a very definite organisation, that they are governed by author-
ity, law and order in their public and personal relations, while
the latter are, besides, under the control of extremely complex
ties of kinship and clanship. Indeed, we see them entangled
in a mesh of duties, functions and privileges which correspond
to an elaborate tribal, communal and kinship organisation
(see Plate IV). Their beliefs and practices do not by any
means lack consistency of a certain type, and their knowledge
of the outer world is sufficient to guide them in many of their
strenuous enterprises and activities. Their artistic pro-
ductions again lack neither meaning nor beauty.

It is a very far cry from the famous answer given long ago
by a representative authority who, asked, what are the manners
and customs of the natives, answered, " Customs none, manners
beastly/' to the position of the modern Ethnographer . This
latter, with his tables of kinship terms, genealogies, maps,
plans and diagrams, proves an extensive and big organisation,
shows the constitution of the tribe, of the clan, of the family ;
and he gives us a picture of the natives subjected to a strict
code of behaviour and good manners, to which in comparison
the life at the Court of Versailles or Escurial was free and easy.*

Thus the first and basic ideal of ethnographic field-work is
to give a clear and firm outline of the social constitution, and
disentangle the laws and regularities of all cultural phenomena

* The legendary " early authority " who found the natives only beastly
and without customs is left behind by a modem writer, who, speaking
about
the Southern Massim with whom he lived and worked ** in close contact
*' for
many years, says ** . . . We teach lawless men to become obedient,
inhuman men to love, and savage men to change." And again : " Guided
in his conduct by nothing but his instincts and propensities, and
governed by
his unchecked passions. . . ." " Lawless, inhuman and savage f " A
grosser misstatement of the real state of things could not be invented
by anyone
wishing to parody the Missionary point of view. Quoted from the Rev. C.
W.
Abel, of the London Missionary Society, " Savage Life in New Guinea,"
no
date.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE n

from the irrelevances. The firm skeleton of the tribal life has
to be first ascertained. This ideal imposes in the first place
the fundamental obligation of giving a complete survey of the
phenomena, and not of picking out the sensational, the singular,
still less the funny and quaint. The time when we could
tolerate accounts presenting us the native as a distorted, childish
caricature of a human being are gone. This picture is false >
and like many other falsehoods, it has been killed by Science.
The field Ethnographer has seriously and soberly to cover the
full extent of the phenomena in each aspect of tribal culture
studied, making no difference between what is commonplace,
or drab, or ordinary, and what strikes him as astonishing and
out-of-the-way. At the same time, the whole area of tribal
culture in all its aspects has to be gone over in research. The
consistency, the law and order which obtain within each
aspect make also for joining them into one coherent whole.

An Ethnographer who sets out to study only religion, or
only technology, or only social organisation cuts out an
artificial field for inquiry, and he will be seriously handicapped
in his work.

VI

Having settled this very general rule, let us descend to
more detailed consideration of method. The Ethnographer
has in the field, according to what has just been said, the duty
before him of drawing up all the rules and regularities of tribal
life ; all that is permanent and fixed ; of giving an anatomy
of their culture, of depicting the constitution of their society.
But these things, though crystallised and set, are nowhere
formulated. There is no written or explicitly expressed code
of laws, and their whole tribal tradition, the whole structure of
their society, are embodied in the most elusive of all materials ;
the human being. But not even in human mind or memory
are these laws to be found definitely formulated. The natives
obey the forces and commands of the tribal code, but they
do not comprehend them ; exactly as they obey their instincts
and their impulses, but could not lay down a single law of
psychology. The regularities in native institutions are an
automatic result of the interaction of the mental forces of
tradition, and of the material conditions of environment.
Exactly as a humble member of any modern institution,



12 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

whether it be the state, or the church, or the army, is of it and
in it, but has no vision of the resulting integral action of the
whole, still less could furnish any account of its organisation,
so it would be futile to attempt questioning a native in abstract,
sociological terms. The difference is that, in our society,
every institution has its intelligent members, its historians,
and its archives and documents, whereas in a native society
there are none of these. After this is realised an expedient has
to be found to overcome this difficulty. This expedient for an
Ethnographer consists in collecting concrete data of evidence,
and drawing the general inferences for himself. This seems
obvious on the face of it, but was not found out or at least
practised in Ethnography till field work was taken up by men
of science. Moreover, in giving it practical effect, it is neither
easy to devise the concrete applications of this method, nor to
carry them out systematically and consistently.

Though we cannot ask a native about abstract, general rules,
we can always enquire how a given case would be treated.
Thus for instance, in asking how they would treat crime,
or punish it, it would be vain to put to a native a sweeping
question such as, " How do you treat and punish a criminal ? "
for even words could not be found to express it in native, or
in pidgin. But an imaginary case, or still better, a real
occurrence, will stimulate a native to express his opinion and to
supply plentiful information. A real case indeed will start the
natives on a wave of discussion, evoke expressions of indigna-
tion, show them taking sides all of which talk will probably
contain a wealth of definite views, of moral censures, as well
as reveal the social mechanism set in motion by the crime
committed. From there, it will be easy to lead them on to
speak of other similar cases, to remember other actual occur-
rences or to discuss them in all their implications and aspects.
From this material, which ought to cover the widest possible
range of facts, the inference is obtained by simple induction.
The scientific treatment differs from that of good common sense,
first in that a student will extend the completeness and
minuteness of survey much further and in a pedantically
systematic and methodical manner ; and secondly, in that the
scientifically trained mind, will push the inquiry along really
relevant lines, and towards aims possessing real importance.
Indeed, the object of scientific training is to provide the



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 13

empirical investigator with a mental chart, in accordance with
which he can take his bearings and lay his course.

To return to our example, a number of definite cases
discussed will reveal to the Ethnographer the social machinery
for punishment. This is one part, one aspect of tribal
authority. Imagine further that by a similar method of
inference from definite data, he arrives at understanding leader-
ship in war, in economic enterprise, in tribal festivities there
he has at once all the data necessary to answer the questions
about tribal government and social authority. In actual
field work, the comparison of such data, the attempt to piece
them together, will 'often reveal rifts and gaps in the infor-
mation which lead on to further investigations.

From my own experience, I can say that, very often, a
problem seemed settled, everything fixed and clear, till I began
to write down a short preliminary sketch of my results. And
only then, did I see the enormous deficiencies, which would
show me where lay new problems, and lead me on to new work.
In fact, I spent a few months between my first and second
expeditions, and over a year between that and the subsequent
one, in going over all my material, and making parts of it almost
ready for publication each time, though each time I knew I
would have to re-write it. Such cross-fertilisation of con-
structive work and observation, I found most valuable, and I
do not think I could have made real headway without it. I give
this bit of my own history merely to show that what has been
said so far is not only an empty programme, but the result of
personal experience. In this volume, the description is given of
a big institution connected with ever so many associated
activities, and presenting many aspects. To anyone who
reflects on the subject, it will be clear that the information
about a phenomenon of such high complexity and of so many
ramifications, could not be obtained with any degree of
exactitude and completeness, without a constant interplay of
constructive attempts and empirical checking. In fact, I have
written up an outline of the Kula institution at least half a
dozen times while in the field and in the intervals between my
expeditions. Each time, new problems and difficulties
presented themselves.

The collecting of concrete data over a wide range of facts is
thus one of the main points of field method. The obligation



14 .SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

is not to enumerate a few examples only, but to exhaust as far
as possible all the cases within reach ; and, on this search for
cases, the investigator will score most whose mental chart is
clearest. But, whenever the material of the search allows it,
this mental chart ought to be transformed into a real one ;
it ought to materialise into a diagram, a plan, an exhaustive,
synoptic table of cases. Long since, in all tolerably good
modern books on natives, we expect to find a full list or table of
kinship terms, which includes all the data relative to it, and
does not just pick out a few strange and anomalous relation-
ships or expressions. In the investigation of kinship, the
following up of one relation after another in concrete cases
leads naturally to the construction of genealogical tables.
Practised already by the best early writers, such as Munzinger,
and, if I remember rightly, Kubary, this method has been
developed to its fullest extent in the works of Dr. Rivers.
Again, studying the concrete data of economic transactions,
in order to trace the history of a valuable object, and to gauge
the nature of its circulation, the principle of completeness and
thoroughness would lead to construct tables of transactions,
such as we find in the work of Professor Seligman.* It is in
following Professor Seligman's example in this matter that I
was able to settle certain of the more difficult and detailed
rules of the Kula. The method of reducing information, if
possible, into charts or synoptic tables ought to be extended to
the study of practically all aspects of native life. All types of
economic transactions may be studied by following up con-
nected, actual cases, and putting them into a synoptic chart ;
again, a table ought to be drawn up of all the gifts and presents
customary in a given society , a table including the sociological,
ceremonial, and economic definition of every item. Also, systems
of magic, connected series of ceremonies, types of legal acts, all
could be charted, allowing each entry to be synoptically defined
under a number of headings. Besides this, of course, the
genealogical census of every community, studied more in detail,
extensive maps, plans and diagrams, illustrating ownership in
garden land, hunting and fishing privileges, etc., serve as the
more fundamental documents of ethnographic research.

A genealogy is nothing else but a synoptic chart of a number

* For instance, the tables of circulation of the valuable axe blades,
op.
<*t., pp. 531, 532.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 15

of connected relations of kinship. Its value as an instrument
of research consists in that it allows the investigator to put
questions which he formulates to himself in abstraclo, but can
put concretely to the native informant. As a document, its
value consists in that it gives a number of authenticated data,
presented in their natural grouping. A synoptic chart of
magic fulfils the same function. As an instrument of research,
I have used it in order to ascertain, for instance, the ideas about
the nature of magical power. With a chart before me, I could
easily and conveniently go over one item after the other, and
note down the relevant practices and beliefs contained in each
of them. The answer to my abstract problem could then be
obtained by drawing a general inference from all the cases,
and the procedure is illustrated in Chapters XVII and XVIII.*
I cannot enter further into the discussion of this question,
which would need further distinctions, such as between a chart
of concrete, actual data, such as is a genealogy, and a chart
summarising the outlines of a custom or belief, as a chart of a
magical system would be.

Returning once more to the question of methodological
candour, discussed previously in Division 1 1, 1 wish to point
out here, that the procedure of concrete and tabularised
presentation of data ought to be applied first to the Ethno-
grapher's own credentials. That is, an Ethnographer, who
wishes to be trusted, must show clearly and concisely, in a
tabularised form, which are his own direct observations, and
which the indirect information that form the bases of his
account. The Table on the next page will serve as an example
of this procedure and help the reader of this book to form an
idea of the trustworthiness of any statement he is specially
anxious to check. With the help of this Table and the many
references scattered throughout the text, as to how, under
what circumstances, and with what degree of accuracy I arrived
at a given item of knowledge, there will, I hope remain no
obscurity whatever as to the sources of the book.

* In this book, besides the adjoining Table, which does not strictly
belong
to the class of document of which I speak here, the reader will find
only a few
samples of synoptic tables, such as the list of Kula partners mentioned
and
analysed in Chapter XIII, Division II, the list of gifts and presents
in Chapter
VI, Division VI, not tabularised, only described ; the synoptic data of
a Kula
expedition in Chapter XVI, and the table of Kula magic given in Chapter
XV II.
Here, I have not wanted to overload the account with charts, etc.,
preferring to
reserve them till the full publication of my material.



16 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF KULA EVENTS WITNESSED
BY THE WRITER

FIRST EXPEDITION, August, 1914 March, 1915.

March, 1915. In the village of Dikoyas (Woodlark Island) a
few ceremonial offerings seen. Preliminary information
obtained.

SECOND EXPEDITION, May, 1915 May, 1916.

June, 1915. A Kabigidoya visit arrives from Vakuta to
Kiriwina. Its anchoring at Kavataria witnessed and the
men seen at Omarakana, where information collected.

July, 1915. Several parties from Kitava land on the beach of
Kaulukuba. The men examined in Omarakana. Much
information collected in that period.

September, 1915. Unsuccessful attempt to sail to Kitava with
To'uluwa, the chief of Omarakana.

October-November, 1915. Departure noticed of three expeditions
from Kiriwina to Kitava. Each time To'uluwa brings home
a haul of mwali (armshells).

November, 1915 March, 1916. Preparations for a big overseas
expedition from Kiriwina to the Marshall Bennett Islands.
Construction of a canoe ; renovating of another ; sail making
in Omarakana ; launching ; tasasoria on the beach of
Kaulukuba. At the same time, information is being
obtained about these and the associated subjects. Some
magical texts of canoe building and Kula magic obtained.

THIRD EXPEDITION, October, 1917 October, 1918.

November, 1917 December, 1917. Inland Kula ; some data

obtained in Tukwaukwa.
December February, 1918. Parties from Kitava arrive in

Wawela. Collection of information about the yoyova.

Magic and spells of Kaygau obtained.
March, 1918. Preparations in Sanaroa; preparations in the

Amphletts ; the Dobuan fleet arrives in the Amphletts.

The uvalaku expedition from Dobu followed to Boyowa.
April, 1918. Their arrival ; their reception in Sinaketa ; the

Kula transactions ; the big intertribal gathering. Some

magical formulae obtained.
May, 1918. Party from Kitava seen in Vakuta,
June, July, 1918. Information about Kula magic and customs

checked and amplified in Omarakana, especially with regard

to its Eastern branches.

August, September, 1918. Magical texts obtained in Sinaketa.
October, 1918. Information obtained from a number of natives

in Dobu and Southern Massim district (examined in

Samarai).



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 17

To summarise the first, cardinal point of method, I may
say each phenomenon ought to be studied through the broadest
range possible of its concrete manifestations ; each studied by
an exhaustive survey of detailed examples. If possible, the
results ought to be embodied into some sort of synoptic chart,
both to be used as an instrument of study, and to be presented
as an ethnological document. With the help of such documents
and such study of actualities the clear outline of the frame-
work of the natives' culture in the widest sense of the word,
and the constitution of their society, can be presented. This
method could be called the method of statistic documentation by
concrete evidence.

VII

Needless to add, in this respect, the scientific field-work
is far above even the best amateur productions. There is,
however, one point in which the latter often excel. This is,
in the presentation of intimate touches of native life, in bringing
home to us these aspects of it with which one is made familiar
only through being in close contact with the natives, one way
or the other, for a long period of time. In certain results of
scientific work especially that which has been called " survey
work " we are given an excellent skeleton, so to speak, of the
tribal constitution, but it lacks flesh and blood. We learn
much about the framework of their society, but within it, we
cannot perceive or imagine the realities of human life, the even
flow of everyday events, the occasional ripples of excitement
over a feast, or ceremony, or some singular occurrence. In
working out the rules and regularities of native custom, and in
obtaining a precise formula for them from the collection of data
and native statements, we find that this very precision is
foreign to real life, which never adheres rigidly to any rules. It
must be supplemented by the observation of the manner in
which a given custom is carried out, of the behaviour of the
natives in obeying the rules so exactly formulated by the
ethnographer, of the very exceptions which in sociological
phenomena almost always occur.

If all the conclusions are solely based on the statements of
informants, or deduced from objective documents, it is of course
impossible to supplement them in actually observed data of
real behaviour. And that is the reason why certain works of



18 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

amateur residents of long standing, such as educated traders
and planters, medical men and officials, and last, not least, of
the few intelligent and unbiassed missionaries to whom
Ethnography owes so much, this is the reason why these works
surpass in plasticity and in vividness most of the purely
scientific accounts. But if the specialised field-worker can
adopt the conditions of living described above, he* is in a far
better position to be really in touch with the natives than any
other white resident. For none of them lives right in a native
village, except for very short periods, and everyone has his own
business, which takes up a considerable part of his time. More-
over, if, like a trader or a missionary or an official he enters into
active relations with the native, if he has to transform or
influence or make use of him, this makes a real, unbiassed,
impartial observation impossible, and precludes all-round
sincerity, at least in the case of the missionaries and officials.

Living in the village with no other business but to follow
native life, one sees the customs, ceremonies and transactions
over and over again, one has examples of their beliefs as they
are actually lived through, and the full body and blood of
actual native life fills out soon the skeleton of abstract con-
structions. That is the reason why, working under such con-
ditions as previously described, the Ethnographer is enabled to
add something essential to the bare outline of tribal con-
stitution, and to supplement it by all the details of behaviour,
setting and small incident. He is able in each case to state
whether an act is public or private ; how a public assembly
behaves, and what it looks like ; he can judge whether an event
is ordinary or an exciting and singular one ; whether natives
bring to it a great deal of sincere and earnest spirit, or perform
it in fun ; whether they do it in a perfunctory manner, or with
zeal and deliberation.

In other words, there is a series of phenomena of great
importance which cannot possibly be recorded by questioning
or computing documents, but have to be observed in their
full actuality. Let us call them the inponderabilia of actual life.
Here belong such things as the routine of a man's working day,
the details of his care of the body, of the manner of taking food
and preparing it ; the tone of conversational and social life
around the village fires, the existence of strong friendships or
hostilities, and of passing sympathies and dislikes between



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 19

people ; the subtle yet unmistakable manner in which personal
vanities and ambitions are reflected in the behaviour of the
individual and in the emotional reactions of those who surround
him. All these facts can and ought to be scientifically forma-
lated and recorded, but it is necessary that this be done, not by
a superficial registration of details, as is usually done by
untrained observers, but with an effort at penetrating the
mental attitude expressed in them. And that is the reason
why the work of scientifically trained observers, once seriously
applied to the study of this aspect, will, I believe, yield results
of surpassing value. So far, it has been done only by amateurs,
and therefore done, on the whole, indifferently.

Indeed, if we remember that these imponderable yet all
important facts of actual life are part of the reaPsubstance of
the social fabric, that in them are spun the innumerable threads
which keep together the family, the clan, the village community,
the tribe their significance becomes clear. The more crystal-
lised bonds of social grouping, such as the definite ritual,
the economic and legal duties, the obligations, the ceremonial
gifts and formal marks of regard, though equally important
for the student, are certainly felt less strongly by the individual
who has to fulfil them. Applying this to ourselves, we all
know that " family life " means for us, first and foremost, the
atmosphere of home, all the innumerable small acts and
attentions in which are expressed the affection, the mutual
interest, the little preferences, and the little antipathies which
constitute intimacy. That we may inherit from this person,
that we shall have to walk after the hearse of the other, though
sociologically these facts belong to the definition of " family "
and " family life," in personal perspective of what family truly
is to us, they normally stand very much in the background.

Exactly the same applies to a native community, and if the
Ethnographer wants to bring their real life home to his readers,
he must on no account neglect this. Neither aspect, the
intimate, as little as the legal, ought to be glossed over. Yet as
a rule in ethnographic accounts we have not both but either
the one or the other and, so far, the intimate one has hardly
ever been properly treated. In all social relations besides the
family ties, even those between mere tribesmen and, beyond
that, between hostile or friendly members of different tribes,
meeting on any sort of social business, there is this in -inflate



20 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

side, expressed by the typical details of intercourse, the tone of
their behaviour in the presence of one another. This side is
different from the definite, crystalised legal frame of the
relationship, and it has to be studied and stated in its own
right.

In the same way, in studying the conspicuous acts of
tribal life, such as ceremonies, rites, festivities, etc./the details
and tone of behaviour ought to be given, besides the bare out-
line of events. The importance of this may be exemplified by
one instance. Much has been said and written about survival.
Yet the survival character of an act is expressed in nothing as
well as in the concomitant behaviour, in the way in which
it is carried out. Take any example from our own culture,
whether it be the pomp and pageantry of a state ceremony, or a
picturesque custom kept up by street urchins, its " outline "
will not tell you whether the rite flourishes still with full vigour
in the hearts of those who perform it or assist at the performance
or whether they regard it as almost a dead thing, kept alive for
tradition's sake. But observe and fix the data of their
behaviour, and at once the degree of vitality of the act will
become clear. There is no doubt, from all points of socio-
logical, or psychological analysis, and in any question of theory,
the manner and type of behaviour observed in the performance
of an act is of the highest importance. Indeed behaviour is
a fact, a relevant fact, and one that can be recorded. And
foolish indeed and short-sighted would be the man of science
who would pass by a whole class of phenomena, ready to be
garnered, and leave them to waste, even though he did not see
at the moment to what theoretical use they might be put !

As to the actual method of observing and recording in field-
work these imponderabilia of actual life and of typical behaviour,
there is no doubt that the personal equation of the observer
comes in here more prominently, than in the collection of
crystalised, ethnographic data. But here also the main
endeavour must be to let facts speak for themselves. If in
making a daily round of the village, certain small incidents,
characteristic forms of taking food, of conversing, of doing
work (see for instance Plate III) are found occuring over and
over again, they should be noted down at once. It is also
important that this work of collecting and fixing impressions
should begin early in the course of working out a district.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 21

Because certain subtle peculiarities, which make an impression
as long as they are novel, cease to be noticed as soon as they
become familiar. Others again can only be perceived with a
better knowledge of the local conditions. An ethnographic
diary, carried on systematically throughout the course of one's
work in a district would be the ideal instrument for this sort
of study. And if, side by side with the normal and typical, the
ethnographer carefully notes the slight, or the more pronounced
deviations from it, he will be able to indicate the two extremes
within which the normal moves.

In observing ceremonies or other tribal events, such, for
instance as the scene depicted in Plate IV, it is necessary, not
only to note down those occurrences and details which are
prescribed by tradition and custom to be the essential course
of the act, but also the Ethnographer ought to record carefully
and precisely, one after the other, the actions of the actors and
of the spectators. Forgetting for a moment that he knows and
understands the structure of this ceremony, the main dogmatic
ideas underlying it, he might try to find himself only in the
midst of an assembly of human beings, who behave seriously or
jocularly, with earnest concentration or with bored frivolity,
who are either in the same mood as he finds them every day, or
else are screwed up to a high pitch of excitement, and so on
and so on. With his attention constantly directed to this
aspect of tribal life, with the constant endeavour to fix it, to
express it in terms of actual fact, a good deal of reliable and
expressive material finds its way into his notes. He will be
able to " set " the act into its proper place in tribal life, that is
to show whether it is exceptional or commonplace, one in which
the natives behave ordinarily, or one in which their whole
behaviour is transformed. And he will also be able to bring
all this home to his readers in a clear, convincing manner.

Again, in this type of work, it is good for the Ethnographer
sometimes to put aside camera, note book and pencil, and to
join in himself in what is going on. He can take part in the
natives' games, he can follow them on their visits and walks,
sit down and listen and share in their conversations. I am
not certain if this is equally easy for everyone perhaps the
Slavonic nature is more plastic and more naturally savage than
that of Western Europeans but though the degree of success
varies, the attempt is possible for everyone. Out of such



22 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

plunges into the life of the natives and I made them frequently
not only for study's sake but because everyone needs human
company I have carried away a distinct feeling that their
behaviour, their manner of being, in all sorts of tribal trans-
actions, became more transparent and easily understandable
than it had been before. All these methodological remarks,
the reader will find again illustrated in the following
chapters.

VIII

Finally, let us pass to the third and last aim of scientific
field-work, to the last type of phenomenon which ought to be
recorded in order to give a full and adequate picture of native
culture. Besides the firm outline of tribal constitution and
crystallised cultural items which form the skeleton, besides the
data of daily life and ordinary behaviour, which are, so to
speak, its flesh and blood, there is still to be recorded the
spirit the natives' views and opinions and utterances. For,
in every act of tribal life, there is, first, the routine prescribed
by custom and tradition, then there is the manner in which it
is carried out, and lastly there is the commentary to it, con-
tained in the natives' mind. A man who submits to various
customary obligations, who follows a traditional course of
action, does it impelled by certain motives, to the accompani-
ment of certain feelings, guided by certain ideas. These ideas,
feelings, and impulses are moulded and conditioned by the
culture in which we find them, and are therefore an ethnic
peculiarity of the given society. An attempt must be made
therefore, to study and record them.

But is this possible ? Are these subjective states not too
elusive and shapeless ? And, even granted that people
usually do feel or think or experience certain psychological
states in association with the performance of customary acts,
the majority of them surely are not able to formulate these
states, to put them into words. This latter point must certainly
be granted, and it is perhaps the real Gordian knot in the study
of the facts of social psychology. Without trying to cut or
untie this knot, that is to solve the problem theoretically, or to
enter further into the field of general methodology, I shall
make directly for the question of practical means to overcome
some of the difficulties involved.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 23

First of all, it has to be laid down that we have to study here
stereotyped manners of thinking and feeling. As sociologists,
we are not interested in what A or B may feel qua individuals,
in the accidental course of their own personal experiences we
are interested only in what they feel and think qua members
of a given community. Now in this capacity, their mental
states receive a certain stamp, become stereotyped by the
institutions in which they live, by the influence of tradition and
folk-lore, by the very vehicle of thought, that is by language.
The social and cultural environment in which they move forces
them to think and feel in a definite manner. Thus, a man
who lives in a polyandrous community cannot experience the
same feelings of jealousy, as a strict monogynist, though he
might have the elements of them. A man who lives within the
sphere of the Kula cannot become permanently and senti-
mentally attached to certain of his possessions, in spite of the
fact that he values them most of all. These examples are crude,
but better ones will be found in the text of this book.

So, the third commandment of field-work runs : Find out
the typical ways of thinking and feeling, corresponding to the
institutions and culture of a given community, and formulate
the results in the most convincing manner. What will be the
method of procedure ? The best ethnographical writers here
again the Cambridge school with Haddon, Rivers, and
Seligman rank first among English Ethnographers have
always tried to quote verbatim statements of crucial importance.
They also adduce terms of native classification ; sociological,
psychological and industrial termini technici, and have rendered
the verbal contour of native thought as precisely as possible.
One step further in this line can be made by the Ethnographer,
who acquires a knowledge of the native language and can use it
as an instrument of inquiry. In working in the Kiriwinian
language, I found still some difficulty in writing down the
statement directly in translation which at first I used to do
in the act of taking notes. The translation often robbed the
text of all its significant characteristics rubbed off all its
points so that gradually I was led to note down certain
important phrases just as they were spoken, in the native
tongue. As my knowledge of the language progressed, I put
down more and more in Iliriwinian, till at last I found myself
writing exclusively in that language, rapidly taking notes,



24 SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE

word for word, of each statement. No sooner had I arrived
at this point, than I recognised that I was thus acquiring at
the same time an abundant linguistic material, and a series of
ethnographic documents which ought to be reproduced as I
had fixed them, besides being utilised in the writing up of my
account.* This corpus inscriptionum Kiriwiniensium can be
utilised, not only by myself, but by all those who, through
their better penetration and ability of interpreting them, may
find points which escape my attention, very much as the other
corpora form the basis for the various interpretations of ancient
and prehistoric cultures ; only, these ethnographic inscriptions
are all decipherable and clear, have been almost all translated
fully and unambiguously, and have been provided with native
cross-commentaries or scholia obtained from living sources.

No more need be said on this subject here, as later on a
whole chapter (Chapter XVIII) is devoted to it, and to its
exemplification by several native texts. The Corpus will of
course be published separately at a later date.

IX

Our considerations thus indicate that the goal of
ethnographic field-work must be approached through three
avenues :

1. The organisation of the tribe, and the anatomy of its culture
must be recorded in firm, clear outline. The method of
concrete, statistical documentation is the means through which
such an outline has to be given.

2. Within this frame, the imponderabilia of actual life, and
the type of behaviour have to be filled in. They have to be
collected through minute, detailed observations, in the form
of some sort of ethnographic diary, made possible by close
contact with native life.

3. A collection of ethnographic statements, characteristic
narratives, typical utterances, items of folk-lore and magical
formulae has to be given as a corpus inscriptionum, as documents
of native mentality.

* It was soon after I had adopted this course that I received a letter
from
Dr. A. H. Gardiner, the well-known Egyptologist, urging me to do this
very
thing. From his point of view as archaeologist, he naturally saw the
enormous
possibilities for an Ethnographer of obtaining a similar body of
written sources
as have been preserved to us from ancient cultures, plus the
possibility of
illuminating them by personal knowledge of the full life of that
culture.



SUBJECT, METHOD AND SCOPE 25

These three lines of approach lead to the final goal, of which
an Ethnographer should never lose sight. This goal is, briefly,
to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realise
his vision of his world. We have to study man, and we must
study what concerns him most intimately, that is, the hold
which life has on him. In each culture, the values are slightly
different ; people aspire after different aims, follow different
impulses, yearn after a different form of happiness. In each
culture, we find different institutions in which man pursues
his life-interest, different customs by which he satisfies his
aspirations, different codes of law and morality which reward
his virtues or punish his defections. To study the institutions,
customs, and codes or to study the behaviour and mentality
without the subjective desire of feeling by what these people
live, of realising the substance of their happiness is, in my
opinion, to miss the greatest reward which we can hope to
obtain from the study of man.

These generalities the reader will find illustrated in the
following chapters. We shall see there the savage striving to
satisfy certain aspirations, to attain his type of value, to follow
his line of social ambition. We shall see him led on to perilous
and difficult enterprises by a tradition of magical and heroical
exploits, shall see him following the lure of his own romance.
Perhaps as we read the account of these remote customs there
may emerge a feeling of solidarity with the endeavours and
ambitions of these natives. Perhaps man's mentality will
be revealed to us, and brought near, along some lines which
we never have followed before. Perhaps through realising
human nature in a shape very distant and foreign to us, we
shall have some light shed on our own. In this, and in this
case only, we shall be justified in feeling that it has been worth
our while to understand these natives, their institutions and
customs, and that we have gathered some profit from the
Kula.




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CHAPTER I

THE COUNTRY AND INHABITANTS OF THE KULA

DISTRICT

I

THE tribes who live within the sphere of the Kula system of
trading belong, one and all with the exception perhaps, of
the Rossel Island natives, of whom we know next to nothing
to the same racial group. These tribes inhabit the eastern-
most end of the mainland of New Guinea and those islands,
scattered in the form of the long-drawn archipelago, which
continue in the same south-easternly trend as the mainland,
as if to bridge over the gap between New Guinea and the
Solomons.

New Guinea is a mountainous island-continent, very
difficult of access in its interior, and also at certain portions
of the coast, where barrier reefs, swamps and rocks practically
prevent landing or even approach for native craft. Such a
country would obviously not offer the same opportunities in
all its parts to the drifting migrations which in all probability
are responsible for the composition of the present population
of the South Seas. The easily accessible portions of the coast
and the outlying islands would certainly offer a hospitable
reception to immigrants of a higher stock ; but, on the other
hand, the high hills, the impregnable fastnesses in swampy
flats and shores where landing was difficult and dangerous,
would give easy protection to the aborigines, and discourage
the influx of migrators.

The actual distribution of races in New Guinea completely
justifies these hypotheses. Map II shows the Eastern part
of the main island and archipelagoes of New Guinea and the
racial distribution of the natives. The interior of the
continent, the low sago swamps and deltas of the Gulf of Papua
probably the greater part of the North Coast and of the
South- West Coast of New Guinea, are inhabited by a " relatively



28 THE KULA DISTRICT

tall, dark-skinned, frizzly-haired " race, called by Dr. Seligman
Papuan, and in the hills more especially by pygmy tribes.
We know little about these people, swamp tribes and hill
tribes alike, who probably are the autochtons in this part of
the world.* As we shall also not meet them in the following
account, it will be better to pass to the tribes who inhabit the
accessible parts of New Guinea. " The Eastern Papuasians,
that is, the generally smaller, lighter coloured* frizzly-haired
races of the eastern peninsula of New Guinea and its archi-
pelagoes now require a name, and since the true Melanesian
element is dominant in them, they may be called Papuo-
Melanesians. With regard to these Eastern Papuasians, Dr.
A. C. Haddon first recognised that they came into the country
as the result of a ' Melanesian migration into New Guinea/
and further, ' That a single wandering would not account for
certain puzzling facts/ "f The Papuo-Melanesians again can
be divided into two groups, a Western and an Eastern one,
which, following Dr. Seligman's terminology, we shall call the
Western Papuo-Melanesians and the Massim respectively. It
is with these latter we shall become acquainted in the
following pages.

If we glance at a map and follow the orographical features
of Eastern New Guinea and its coast line, we see at once that
the high main range of mountains drops off between the i4Qth
and isoth meridians, and again that the fringing reef disappears
at the same point, that is, at the west end of Orangerie Bay.
This means that the extreme East End of New Guinea, with
its archipelagoes, in other words, the Massim country, is the
most easily accessible area, and might be expected to be
inhabited by a homogeneous stock of people, consisting of

* The best accounts we possess of the inland tribes are those of W. H.
Williamson, "The Mafulu," 1912, and of C. Keysser, " Aus dem Leben der
Kaileute," in R. Neuhauss, '* Deutsch Neu Guinea," Vol. III. Berlin,
1911.
The preliminary publications of G. Landtmann on the Kiwai, ** Papuan
magic
in the Building of Houses/' " Acta Arboenses, Humanora." I. Abo, 1920,
and "The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans," Helsmgfors, 1917, promise
that
the full account will dispel some of the mysteries surrounding the Gulf
of
Papua. Meanwhile a good semi-popular account of these natives is to be
found
in W. N. Beaver's " Unexplored New Guinea," 1920. Personally I doubt
very much whether the hill tribes and the swamp tribes belong to the
same
stock or have the same culture. Compare also the most recent
contribution to
this problem " Migrations of Cultures in British New Guinea," by A. C.
Haddon, Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1921, published by the R. Anthrop
Institute.

f vSee C. G. Seligman, "The Melanesians of British New Guinea," Cam-
bridge, 1910.



THE KULA DISTRICT 29

immigrants almost unmixed with the autochtons (Cf. Map II).
" Indeed, while the condition actually existing in the Massim
area suggests that there was no slow mingling of the invaders
with a previous stock, the geographical features of the territory
of the Western Papuo-Melanesians with its hills, mountains
and swamps, are such that invaders could not have speedily
overrun the country, nor failed to have been influenced by the
original inhabitants. . . ."*

I shall assume that the reader is acquainted with the
quoted work of Dr. Seligman, where a thorough account is
given of all the main types of Papuo-Melanesian sociology and
culture one after the other. But the tribes of the Eastern
Papuo-Melanesian or Massim area, must be described here
somewhat more in detail, as it is within this fairly homogeneous
area that the Kula takes place. Indeed, the Kula sphere of
influence and the ethnographic area of the Massim tribes
almost completely overlap, and we can speak about the Kula
type of culture and the Massim culture almost synonymously.

II

The adjacent Map III shows the Kula district, that is, the
easternmost end of the main island and the archipelagoes lying
to its East and North-East. As Professor C. G. Seligman
says : " This area can be divided into two parts, a small
northern portion comprising the Trobriands, the Marshall
Rennets, the Woodlarks (Murua), as well as a number of
smaller islands such as the Laughlans (Nada), and a far larger
southern portion comprising the remainder of the Massim
domain" (op. cit., p. 7).

This division is represented on Map III by the thick line
isolating to the North the Amphletts, the Trobriands, the small
Marshall Bennet Group, Woodlark Island and the Laughlan
Group. The Southern portion, I found convenient to divide
further into two divisions by a vertical line, leaving to the
East Misima, Sud-Est Island and Rossel Island. As our
information about this district is extremely scanty, I have
preferred to exclude it from the area of the Southern Massim.
In this excluded area, only the natives of Misima enter into the
Kula, but their participation will play a very small part only
in the following account. The western segment, and this is
* Cf. C. G. Seligman, op. cit., p. 5.




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fi

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THE KULA DISTRICT 31

the part of which we shall speak as the district of the Southern
Massim, comprises first the East End of the mainland, the few
adjacent islands, Sariba, Roge'a, Side'a, and Basilaki; to the
South, the island of Wari, to the East the important, though
small archipelago of Tubetube (Engineer Group) ; and to the
North, the big archipelago of the d'Entrecasteaux Islands.
From this latter, only one district, that of Dobu, interests us
more specially. The culturally homogeneous tribes of the
Southern Massim have been marked off on our map as district
V, the Doubans as district IV.

Returning to the two main divisions into the Southern
and Northern portion, this latter is occupied by a very homo-
geneous population, homogeneous both in language and
culture, and in the clear recognition of their own ethnic unity.
To quote further Professor Seligman, it " is characterised by
the absence of cannibalism, which, until put down by the
Government, existed throughout the remaining portion of the
district ; another peculiarity of the Northern Massim is their
recognition " in certain districts, though not in all, of chief tans
who wield extensive powers (op. cit. p. 7). The natives of that
northern area used to practise I say used because wars are
a thing of the past a type of warfare open and chivalrous,
very different from the raids of the Southern Massim. Their
villages are built in big compact blocks, and they have store-
houses on piles for storing food, distinct from their rather
miserable dwellings, which stand directly on the ground and
are not raised on piles. As can be seen on the map, it has been
necessary to sub-divide this Northern Massim further into
three groups, first, that of the Trobriand Islanders, or the
Boyowans (the Western Branch) ; secondly that of the natives
of Woodlark Island and the Marshall Bennets (the Eastern
Branch) ; and, thirdly, the small group of the Amphlett natives.

The other big sub-division of the Kula tribes is composed
of the Southern Massim, of which, as just said, the western
branch mainly concerns us. These last natives are smaller
in stature, and with, broadly speaking, a much less attractive
appearance than those of the North.* They live in widely

* A number of good portraits of the S. Massim type are to be found in
the valuable book ot the Rev. H. Newton, " In Far New Guinea," 1914 and
in
the amusingly written though superficial and often unreliable booklet
of the
Rev. C. W. Abel (London Missionary Society), " Savage Life in New
Guinea "
(No date).



32 THE KULA DISTRICT

scattered communities, each house or group of houses standing
in its own little grove of palm and fruit trees, apart from the
others. Formerly they were cannibals and head-hunters,
and used to make unexpected raids on their adversaries. There
is no chieftainship, authority being exercised by the elders in
each community. They build very elaborately constructed
and beautifully decorated houses on piles.

I have found it necessary for the purpose of this study to
cut out of the western branch of the southern portion of the
Massim the two areas (marked IV and V on the Map III),
as they are of special importance to the Kula. It must, how-
ever, be borne in mind that our present knowledge does not
allow of any final classification of the Southern Massim.

Such are the general characteristics of the Northern and
Southern Massim respectively, given in a few words. But
before proceeding with our subject, it will be good to give a
short but more detailed sketch of each of these tribes. I shall
begin with the southernmost section, following the order in
which a visitor, travelling from Port Moresby with the Mail
boat, would come in contact with these districts, the way indeed
in which I received my first impressions of them. My personal
knowledge of the various tribes is, however, very uneven,
based on a long residence among the Trobriand Islanders
(District I), on a month's study of the Amphletts (District
III) ; on a few weeks spent in Woodlark Island or Murua
(District II), the neighbourhood of Samarai (District V), and
the South Coast of New Guinea (also V) ; and on three short
visits to Dobu (District IV). My knowledge of some of the
remaining localities which enter into the Kula is derived only
from a few conversations I had with natives of this district,
and on second-hand information derived from white residents.
The work of Professor C. G. Seligman, however, supplements
my personal acquaintance in so far as the districts of Tubetube,
Woodlark Island, the Marshall Bennets, and several others
are concerned.

The whole account of the Kula will therefore naturally be
given from the perspective, so to speak, of the Trobriand
district. This district is often called in this book by its native
name, Boyowa, and the language is spoken of as Kiriwinian,
Kiriwina being the main province of the district, and its
language considered by the natives as a standard speech. But



THE KULA DISTRICT 33

I may add at once that in studying the Kula in that part, I
ipso facto studied its adjacent branches between the Trobriands
and the Amphletts, between the Trobriands and Kitava, and
between the Trobriands and Dobu ; seeing not only the
preparations and departures in Boyowa, but also the arrival
of the natives from other districts, in fact, following one or
two of such expeditions in person.* Moreover, the Kula being
an international affair, the natives of one tribe know more
about Kula customs abroad than they would about any other
subject. And in all its essentials, the customs and tribal rules
of the exchange are identical throughout the whole Kula area.

Ill

Let us imagine that we are sailing along the South coast
of New Guinea towards its Eastern end. At about the middle
of Orangerie Bay we arrive at the boundary of the Massim,
which runs from this point north-westwards till it strikes the
northern coast near Cape Nelson (see Map II). As mentioned
before, the boundary of the district inhabited by this tribe
corresponds to definite geographical conditions, that is, to the
absence of natural, inland fastnesses, or of any obstacles to
landing. Indeed, it is here that the Great Barrier Reef becomes
finally submerged, while again the Main Range of mountains,
which follows up to this point, always separated from the
foreshore by minor ranges, comes to an end.

Orangerie Bay is closed, on its Eastern side, by a headland,
the first of a series of hills, rising directly out of the sea. As we
approach the land, we can see distinctly the steep, folded
slopes, covered with dense, rank jungle, brightened here and
there by bold patches of lalang grass. The coast is broken
first by a series of small, land-locked bays or lagoons ; then,
after Fife Bay, come one or two larger bays, with a flat, alluvial
foreshore, and then from South Cape the coast stretches in an
almost unbroken line, for several miles, to the end of the
mainland.

The East End of New Guinea is a tropical region, where
the distinction between the dry and wet season is not felt very
sharply. In fact, there is no pronounced dry season there,
and so the land is always clad in intense, shining green, which
forms a crude contrast with the blue sea. The summits of the

* See Table id the Introduction (p. 16), and also Chapters XVI and XX.



34 THE KULA DISTRICT

hills are often shrouded in trailing mist, whilst white clouds
brood or race over the sea, breaking up the monotony of
saturated, stiff blue and green. To someone not acquainted
with the South Sea landscape it is difficult to convey the
permanent impression of smiling festiveness, the alluring
clearness of the beach, fringed by jungle trees and palms,
skirted by white foam and blue sea, above it the slopes ascending
in rich, stiff folds of dark and light green, piebald and shaded
over towards the summit by steamy, tropical mists.

When I first sailed along this coast, it was after a few
months' residence and field work in the neighbouring district
of the Mailu. From Toulon Island, the main centre and most
important settlement of the Mailu, I used to look towards the
East end of Orangerie Bay, and on clear days I could see the
pyrajnidal hills of Bonabona, of Gadogado'a, as blue silhouettes
in the distance. Under the influence of my work, I came to
regard this country within the somewhat narrow native
horizon, as the distant land to which perilous, seasonal voyages
are made, from whence come certain objects baskets,
decorated carvings, weapons, ornaments particularly well
formed, and superior to the local ones ; the land to which the
natives point with awe and distrust, when speaking of specially
evil and virulent forms of sorcery ; the home of a folk mentioned
with horror as cannibals. Any really fine touch of artistic
taste, in Mailu carvings, would always be directly imported
or imitated from the East, and I also found that the softest
and most melodious songs and the finest dances came from the
Massim. Many of their customs and institutions would be
quoted to me as quaint and unusual, and thus, I, the ethno-
grapher working on the borderland of two cultures, naturally
had my interest and curiosity aroused. It seemed as if the
Eastern people must be much more complex, in one direction
towards the cruel, man-eating savage, in the other towards
the finely-gifted, poetical lord of primitive forest and seas,
when I compared them with the relatively coarse and dull
native of Mailu. No wonder, therefore, that on approaching
their coast travelling on that occasion in a small launch I
scanned the landscape with keen interest, anxious to catch my
first glimpse of natives, or of their traces.

The first distinctly visible signs of human existence in this
neighbourhood are the patches of garden land. These big



THE KULA DISTRICT 35

clearings, triangular in shape, with the apex pointing uphill,
look as if they were plastered on to the steep slopes. From
August to November, the season when the natives cut and
burn the bush, they can be seen, at night, alight with slowly-
blazing logs, and in daytime, their smoke clings over the
clearings, and slowly drifts along the hill side. Later on in the
year, when the plantation sprouts, they form a bright spot,
with the light green of their fresh leaves.

The villages in this district are to be found only on the
foreshore, at the foot of the hills, hidden in groves of trees,
with here and there a golden or purplish bit of thatch showing
through the dark green of the leaves. In calm weather a few
canoes are probably not far oft, fishing. If the visitor is
lucky enough to pass at the time of feasts, trading expeditions,
or any other big tribal gathering, many a fine sea-going canoe
may be seen approaching the village with the sound of conch
shells blowing melodiously.

In order to visit one of the typical, large settlements of
these natives, let us say near Fife Bay, on the South coast,
or on the island of Sariba, or Roge'a, it would be best to go
ashore in some big, sheltered bay, or on one of the extensive
beaches at the foot of a hilly island. We enter a clear, lofty
grove, composed of palms, bread fruit, mangoes, and other
fruit trees, often with a sandy subsoil, well weeded-out and
clean, where grow clumps of ornamental bushes, such as the
red-flowering hybiscus, croton or aromatic shrub. Here we
find the village. Fascinating as may be the Motuan habita-
tions standing on high piles in the middle of a lagoon, or the
neat streets of an Aroma or Mailu settlement, or the irregular
warren of small huts on the Trobriand coast, all these cannot
compete in picturesqueness or charm with the villages of the
Southern Massim. When, on a hot day, we enter the deep
shadow of fruit trees and palms, and find ourselves in the midst
of the wonderfully designed and ornamented houses hiding
here and there in irregular groups among the green, surrounded
by little decorative gardens of shells and flowers, with pebble-
bordered paths and stone-paved sitting circles, it seems as if
the visions of a primeval, happy, savage life were suddenly
realised, even if only in a fleeting impression. Big bodies of
canoes are drawn high up the beach and covered with palm
leaves ; here and there nets are drying, spread out on special



36 THE KULA DISTRICT

stands, and on the platforms in front of the houses sit groups of
men and women, busy at some domestic work, smoking
and chatting.

Walking along the paths which lead on for miles, we come
every few hundred yards on another hamlet of a few houses.
Some of these are evidently new and freshly decorated, while
others are abandoned, and a heap of broken household objects
is lying on the ground, showing that the death of one of the
village elders has caused it to be deserted. As the evening
approaches, the life becomes more active, fires are kindled, and
the natives busy themselves cooking and eating food. In the
dancing season, towards dusk, groups of men and women
foregather, singing, dancing, and beating drums.

When we approach the natives closer and scan their personal
appearance, we are struck if we compare them with their
Western neighbours by the extreme lightness of their skin,
their sturdy, even lumpy stature, and a sort of soft, almost
effete general impression which their physique produces. Their
fat, broad faces, their squashed noses, and frequently oblique
eyes, make them appear quaint and grotesque rather than
impressively savage. Their hair, not so woolly as that of the
pure Papuans, nor growing into the enormous halo of the
Motuans, is worn in big mops, which they often cut at the sides
so as to give the head an oblong, almost cylindrical shape.
Their manner is shy and diffident, but not unfriendly rather
smiling and almost servile, in very great contrast to the
morose Papuan, or the unfriendly, reserved South Coast Mailu
or Aroma. On the whole, they give at first approach not so
much the impression of wild savages as of smug and self-
satisfied bourgeois.

Their ornaments are much less elaborate and more toned
down than those of their Western neighbours. Belts and
armlets plaited of a dark brown fern vine, small red shell
disks and turtle shell rings as ear ornaments are the only
permanent, every-day decorations worn. Like all Melanesians
of Eastern New Guinea, they are quite cleanly in their persons,
and a personal approach to them does not offend any of our
senses. They are very fond of red hibiscus flowers stuck in
their hair, of scented flower wreaths on their head, of aromatic
leaves thrust into their belts and armlets. Their grand,
festive head-dress is extremely modest compared with the



PLATE V





SCFNBS ON THH BEACH OF SILOSILO (SOUTifKRN MASSIM
DISTRICT)

These represent phases of a big annual feast, the .<///. (Set Oiv.
Ill, and
compare also Ch, XXI.) Note the prominent part taken by women in the
proceedings ; the use of the " ceremonial ** uxc handles ; the manner
of



carrying pigs, and the canoes beached on the shore



(face p. 36



PLATE VI







VILLAGE. SCENES DURING A SO'l FEAST

These show types of Southern Massim and their decorations ; again note
the prominent part taken by women in the ceremonial actions. (See Div.
III.)



THE KULA DISTRICT 37

enormous erections of feathers used by the Western tribes,
and consists mainly of a round halo of white cockatoo feathers
stuck into their hair (see Plate V and VI).

In olden days, before the advent of white men, these
pleasant, apparently effete people were inveterate cannibals
and head-hunters, and in their large war-canoes they carried
on treacherous, cruel raids, falling upon sleeping villages,
killing man, woman and child, and feasting on their bodies.
The attractive stone circles in their villages were associated
with their cannibal feasts.*

The traveller, who could settle down in one of their villages
and remain there sufficiently long to study their habits and
enter into their tribal life, would soon be struck by the absence
of a well recognised general authority. In this, however,
the natives resemble not only the other Western Melanesians
of New Guinea, but also the natives of the Melanesian Archi-
pelago. The authority in the Southern Massim tribe, as in
many others, is vested in the village elders. In each hamlet
the eldest man has a position of personal influence and power,
and these collectively would in all cases represent the tribe and
carry out and enforce their decisions always arrived at in
strict accord with tribal tradition.

Deeper sociological study would reveal the characteristic
totemism of these natives, and also the matrilineal construction
of their society. Descent, inheritance, and social position
follow the female line a man always belongs to his mother's
totemic division and local group, and inherits from his mother's
brother. Women also enjoy a very independent position, and
are exceedingly well treated, and in tribal and festive affairs
they play a prominent part (see Plates V and VI). Some
women, even, owing to their magical powers, wield a consider-
able influence, f

The sexual life of these natives is extremely lax. Even
when we remember the very free standard of sex morals in the
Melanesian tribes of New Guinea, such as the Motu or the
Mailu, we still find these natives exceedingly loose in such
matters. Certain reserves and appearances which are usually
kept up in other tribes, are here completely abandoned. As is
probably the case in many communities where sex morals are

* Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit., Chapters XL and XLII.

| Professor C G. Seligman, op. cit., Chapters XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII.



38 THE KULA DISTRICT

lax, there is a complete absence of unnatural practices and
sex perversions. Marriage is concluded as the natural end of
a long and lasting liaison.*

These natives are efficient and industrious manufacturers,
and great traders. They own large sea-going canoes, which,
however, they do not manufacture themselves, but which they
import from the Northern Massim district, or from Panayati.
Another feature of their culture, which we shall meet again,
consists of their big feasts, called So'i (see Plates V and VI),
associated with mortuary celebrations and with a special
mortuary taboo called gwara. In the big inter-tribal trading
of the Kula, these feasts play a considerable role.

This general, and necessarily somewhat superficial descrip-
tion, is meant to give the reader a definite impression of these
tribes, provide them, so to speak, with a physiognomy, rather
than to give a full account of their tribal constitution. For
this the reader is referred to Professor C. G. Seligman's treatise,
our main source of knowledge on the Melanesians of New
Guinea. The above sketch refers to 'what Professor Seligman
calls the Southern Massim, or more exactly to the portion
marked off in the Ethnographic sketch Map No. Ill as
" V, the Southern Massim " the inhabitants of the Eastern-
most mainland and the adjacent archipelago.

IV

Let us now move North, towards the district marked " IV,
the Dobu," in our map, which forms one of the most important
links in the chain of Kula and a very influential centre of
cultural influence. As we sail North, passing East Cape, the
Easternmost point of the main island a long, flat promontory
covered with palms and fruit belts, and harbouring a very
dense population a new world, new both geographically and
ethnographically, opens up before us. At first it is only a
faint, bluish silhouette, like a shadow of a distant mountain
range, hovering far north over the horizon. As we approach,
the hills of Normanby, the nearest of three big islands of the
d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, become clearer and take more
definite shape and substance. A few high summits stand out
more distinctly through the usual tropical haze, among them
the characteristic double-peaked top of Bwebweso, the mountain
* Cf. Professor C. G. Seligman, Chapters XXXVII and XXXVIII.



THE KULA DISTRICT 39

where, according to native legend, the spirits of the dead in
these parts lead their latter existence. The South Coast of
Normanby, and the interior are inhabited by a tribe or tribes
of which we know nothing ethnographically, except that they
differ culturally from the rest of their neighbours. These
tribes also take no direct part in the Kula.

The Northern end of Normanby, both sides of the Dawson
Straits which separate the two islands of Normanby and
Fergusson, and the South-eastern tip of Fergusson, are
inhabited by a very important tribe, the Dobu. The heart
of their district is the small extinct volcano forming an
island at the Eastern entrance to Dawson Straits Dobu,
after which island they are named. To reach it, we have to
sail through this extremely picturesque channel. On either
side of the winding, narrow strait, green hills descend, and
close it in, till it is more like a mountain lake. Here and there
they recede, and a lagoon opens out. Or again they rise in
fairly steep slopes, on which there can be plainly seen triangular
gardens, native houses on piles, large tracts of unbroken jungle
and patches of grass land. As we proceed, the narrow straits
broaden, and we see on our right a wide flank of Mt. Sulomona'i
on Normanby Island. On our left, there is a shallow bay, and
behind it a large, flat plain, stretching far into the interior of
Fergusson Island, and over it, we look into wide valleys, and
on to several distant mountain ranges. After another turn,
We enter a big bay, on both sides bordered by a flat foreshore,
and in the middle of it rises out of a girdle of tropical vegetation,
the creased cone of an extinct volcano, the island of Dobu.

We are now in the centre of a densely populated and
ethnographically important district. From this island, in
olden days, fierce and daring cannibal and head-hunting
expeditions were periodically launched, to the dread of the
neighbouring tribes. The natives of the immediately surround-
ing districts, of the flat foreshore on both sides of the straits,
and of the big neighbouring islands were allies. But the more
distant districts, often over a hundred miles away by sail,
never felt safe from the Dobuans. Again, this was, and still
is, one of the main links in the Kula, a centre of trade,
industries and general cultural influence. It is characteristic
of the international position of the Dobuans that their language
is spoken as a lingua franca all over the d'Entrecasteaux



40 THE KULA DISTRICT

Archipelago, in the Amphletts, and as far north as the Tro-
briands. In the southern part of these latter islands, almost
everyone speaks Dobuan, although in Dobu the language of
the Trobriands or Kiriwinian is hardly spoken by anyone.
This is a remarkable fact,, which cannot be easily explained
in terms of the present conditions, as the Trobrianders, if
anything, are on a higher level of cultural development than
Dobuans, are more numerous, and enjoy the same general
prestige.*

Another remarkable fact about Dobu and its district is
that it is studded with spots of special, mythological interest.
Its charming scenery, of volcanic cones, of wide, calm bays,
and lagoons overhung by lofty, green mountains, with the
reef-riddled, island-strewn ocean on the North, has deep,
legendary meaning for the native. Here is the land and sea
where the magically inspired sailors and heroes of the dim past
performed feats of daring and power. As we sail from the
entrance into Dawson Straits, through Dobu and the Amphletts
to Boyowa, almost every new configuration of the land which
we pass is the scene of some legendary exploit. Here the
narrow gorge has been broken through by a magic canoe flying
in the air. There the two rocks standing in the sea are the
petrified bodies of two mythological heroes who were stranded
at this spot after a quarrel. Here again, a land-locked lagoon
has been a port of refuge to a mythical crew. Apart from its
legends, the scenery before us, fine as it is, derives still more
charm from the knowledge that it is, and has been a distant
Eldorado, a land of promise and hope to generation after
generation of really daring native sailors from the Northern
islands. And in the past these lands and seas must have been
the scene of migrations and fights, of tribal invasions, and of
gradual infiltrations of peoples and cultures.

In personal appearance, the Dobuans have a very distinct
physique, which differentiates them sharply from the Southern
Massim and from the Trobrianders ; very dark-skinned, small
of stature, with big heads and rounded shoulders, they give a

* My knowledge of the Dobuans is fragmentary, derived from three short
visits in their district, from conversation with several Dobu natives
whom I
had in my service, and from frequent parallels and allusions about
Dobuan
customs, which are met when doing field-work among the Southern
Trobrianders.
There is a short, sketchy account of certain of their customs and
beliefs by the
Rev. W. E. Bromilow, first missionary in Dobu, which I have also
consulted,
in the records of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of
Science.



THE KULA DISTRICT 41

strange, almost gnome-like impression on a first encounter.
In their manner, and their tribal character, there is something
definitely pleasant, honest and open an impression which
long acquaintance with them confirms and strengthens. They
are the general favourites of the whites, form the best and
most reliable servants, and traders who have resided long
among them compare them favourably with other natives.

Their villages, like those of the previously described Massim,
are scattered over wide areas. The fertile and flat foreshores
which they inhabit are studded with small, compact hamlets
of a dozen or so houses, hidden in the midst of one continuous
plantation of fruit trees, palms, bananas and yams. The
houses are built on piles, but are cruder architecturally than
those of the S. Massim, and almost without any decorations,
though in the olden days of head-hunting some of them were
ornamented with skulls.

In their social constitution, the people are totemic, being
divided into a number of exogamous clans with linked totems.
There is no institution of regular chieftainship, nor have they
any system of rank or caste such as we shall meet in the
Trobriands. Authority is vested in the elders of the tribe.
In each hamlet there is a man who wields the greatest influence
locally, and acts as its representative on such tribal councils
as may arise in connection with ceremonies and expeditions.

Their system of kinship is matrilineal, and women hold
a very good position, and wield great influence. They also
seem to take a much more permanent and prominent part
in tribal life than is the case among the neighbouring popula-
tions. There is notably one of the features of Dobuan society,
which seems to strike the Trobrianders as peculiar, and to
which they will direct attention while giving information, even
although in the Trobriands also women have a good enough
social position. In Dobu, women take an important part in
gardening, and have a share in performing garden magic, and
this in itself gives them a high status. Again, the main
instrument for wielding power and inflicting penalties in these
lands, sorcery, is to a great extent in the hands of women. The
flying witches, so characteristic of the Eastern New Guinea
type of culture, here have one of their strongholds. We shall
have to go into this subject more in detail when speaking
about shipwreck and the dangers of sailing. Besides thi;,



42 THE KULA DISTRICT

women practice ordinary sorcery, which in other tribes is only
man's prerogative.

As a rule, amongst natives, a high position of women is
associated with sex laxity. In this, Dobu is an exception.
Not only are married women expected to remain faithful,
and adultery considered a great crime, but, in sharp contrast
to all surrounding tribes, the unmarried girls of Dobu remain
strictly chaste. There are no ceremonial or customary forms
of licence, and an intrigue would be certainly regarded as an
offence.

A few more words must be said here about sorcery, as this
is a matter of great importance in all inter-tribal relations.
The dread of sorcery is enormous, and when the natives visit
distant parts, this dread is enhanced by the additional awe of
the unknown and foreign. Besides the flying witches, there
are, in Dobu, men and women who, by their knowledge of
magical spells and rites, can inflict disease and cause death.
The methods of these sorcerers, and all the beliefs clustering
round this subject are very much the same as those in the
Trobriands which we shall meet later on. These methods
are characterised by being very rational and direct, and
implying hardly any supernatural element. The sorcerer has
to utter a spell over some substance, and this must be adminis-
tered by mouth, or else burnt over the fire in the victim's
hut. The pointing stick is also used by the sorcerers in
certain rites.

If his methods are compared with those used by flying
witches, who eat the heart and lungs, drink the blood, snap
the bones of their enemies, and moreover possess the powers
of invisibility and of flying, the Dobuan sorcerer seems to have
but simple and clumsy means at his disposal. He is also very
much behind his Mailu or Motu namesakes I say namesakes,
because sorcerers throughout the Massim are called Bara'u,
and the same word is used in Mailu, while the Motu use the
reduplicated Babara'u. The magicians in these parts use
such powerful methods as those of killing the victim first,
opening up the body, removing, lacerating or charming the
inside, then bringing the victim to life again, only that he may
soon sicken and eventually die.*

* Professor C. G. Seligman, op. cit,, pp. 170 and 171 ; 187 and 188
about
the Koita and Motu ; and B. Malinowski, The Mailu, pp. 647-652.



THE KULA DISTRICT 43

According to Dobuan belief, the spirits of the dead go to
the top of Mt. Bwebweso on Normanby Island. This confined
space harbours the shades of practically all the natives of the
d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, except those of Northern
Goodenough Island, who, as I was told by some local informants,
go after death to the spirit land of the Trobrianders.* The
Dobuans have also the belief in a double soul one, shadowy
and impersonal, surviving the bodily death for a few days only,
and remaining in the vicinity of the grave, the other the real
spirit, who goes to Bwebweso.

It is interesting to note how natives, living on the boundary
between two cultures and between two types of belief, regard
the ensuing differences. A native of, say, Southern Boyowa,
confronted with the question : how it is that the Dobuans
place spirit-land on Bwebweso, whereas they, the Trobrianders,
place it in Turn a ? does not see any difficulty in solving the
problem. He does not regard the difference as due to a
dogmatic conflict in doctrine. Quite simply he answers :
" Their dead go to Bwebweso and ours to Tuma." The meta-
physical laws of existence are not yet considered subject to
one invariable truth. As human destinies in life change,
according to varieties in tribal custom, so also the doings of
the spirit ! An interesting theory is evolved to harmonise
the two beliefs in a mixed case. There is a belief that if a
Trobriander were to die in Dobu, when on a Kula expedition,
he would go for a time to Bwebweso. In due season, the spirits
of the Trobrianders would sail from Tuma, the spirit land, to
Bwebweso, on a spirit Kula, and the newly departed one
would join their party and sail with them back to Tuma.

On leaving Dobu, we sail the open sea, a sea studded with
coral patches and sand-banks, and seamed with long barrier
reefs where treacherous tides, running sometimes as much as
five knots, make sailing really dangerous, especially for helpless
native craft. This is the Kula sea, the scene of the inter-tribal
expeditions and adventures which will be the theme of our
future descriptions.

The Eastern shore of Ferguson Island, near Dobu, along
which we are sailing, consists first of a series of volcanic cones
and capes, giving the landscape the aspect of something

* Com p. D. Jenness and A. Ballantyne, ** The Northern
d'Entrecasteaux,*'
Oxford, 1920, Chapter XII.



44 THE KULA DISTRICT

unfinished and crudely put together. At the foot of the hills
there stretches for several miles beyond Dobu a broad alluvial
flat covered with villages Deide'i, Tu'utauna, Bwayowa, all
important centres of trade, and the homes of the direct Kula
partners of the Trobrianders. Heavy fumes can be seen
floating above the jungle, coming from the hot geysers of
Deide'i, which spurt up in high jets every few minutes*

Soon we come abreast of two characteristically shaped,
dark rocks, one half hidden in the vegetation of the shore, the
other standing in the sea at the end of a narrow sand-spit
dividing the two. These are Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, two
men turned into stone, as mythical tradition has it. Here
the big sailing expeditions, those starting northwards from
Dobu, as well as those arriving from the North, still make a
halt just as they have done for centuries, and, under
observation of many taboos, give sacrificial offerings to the
stones, with ritual invocations for propitious trade.

In the lee of these two rocks, runs a small bay with a clean,
sandy beach, called Sarubwoyna. Here a visitor, lucky enough
to pass at the right moment of the right season would see a
picturesque and interesting scene. There before him would
lie a huge fleet of some fifty to a hundred canoes, anchored
in the shallow water, with swarms of natives upon them, all
engaged in some strange and mysterious task. Some of these,
bent over heaps of herbs, would be mumbling incantations ;
others would be painting and adorning their bodies. An
onlooker of two generations ago coming upon the same scene
would no doubt have been led to suspect that he was watching
the preparations for some dramatic tribal contest, for one of
those big onslaughts in which the existence of whole villages
and tribes were wiped out. It would even have been difficult
for him to discern from the behaviour of the natives whether
they were moved more by fear or by the spirit of aggression,
as both these passions might have been read and correctly
so into their attitudes and movements. That the scene
contained no element of warfare ; that this fleet had come here
from about a hundred miles sailing distance on a well regulated
tribal visit ; that it had drawn up here for the final and most
important preparations this would not have been an easy
guess to make. Nowadays for this is carried out to this
da,y with undiminished pomp it would be an equally



THE KULA DISTRICT 45

picturesque, but of course, tamer affair, since the romance of
danger has gone from native life. As we learn in the course
of this study to know more about these natives, their general
ways and customs, and more especially about their Kula cycle
of beliefs, ideas and sentiments, we shall be able to look with
understanding eyes upon this scene, and comprehend this
mixture of awe with intense, almost aggressive eagerness
and this behaviour, which appears cowed and fierce at the
same time.



Immediately after leaving Sarubwoyna and rounding the
promontory of the two rocks, we come in sight of the island of
Sanaroa , a big, sprawling, coral flat, with a range of volcanic
hills on its western side. On the wide lagoon to the East of
this island are the fishing grounds, where year after year the
Trobrianders, returning from Dobu, look for the valuable
spondylus shell, which, after their arrival home, is worked into
the red discs, which form one of the main objects of native
wealth. In the North of Sanaroa there is a stone in one of the
tidal creeks called Sinatemubadiye'i, once a woman, the sister
of Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, who, with her brothers came in
here and was petrified before the last stage of the journey.
She also receives offerings from canoes, coming either way on
Kula expeditions.

Sailing further, some fine scenery unfolds itself on our left,
where the high mountain range comes nearer to the sea shore,
and where small bays, deep valleys and wooded slopes succeed
one another. By carefully scanning the slopes, we can see
small batches of some three to six miserable huts. These are
the dwellings of the inhabitants, who are of a distinctly lower
culture than the Dobuans, take no part in the Kula, and in
olden days were the cowed and unhappy victims of their
neighbours.

On our right there emerge behind Sanaroa the islands of
Uwama and Tewara, the latter inhabited by Dobuan natives.
Tewara is of interest to us, because one of the myths which we
shall get to know later on makes it the cradle of the Kula. As
we sail on, rounding one after the other the Eastern promon-
tories of Fergusson Island, a group of strongly marked monu-
mental profiles appears far on the horizon from behind the



46 THE KULA DISTRICT

receding headlands. These are the Amphlett Islands, the
link, both geographically and culturally, between the coastal
tribes of the volcanic region of Dobu and the inhabitants of the
flat coral archipelago of the Trobriands. This portion of the
sea is very picturesque, and has a charm of its own even in
this land of fine and varied scenery. On the main island of
Fergusson, overlooking the Amphletts from the South, and
ascending straight out of the sea in a slim and graceful pyramid,
lies the tall mountain of Koyatabu, the highest peak on the
island. Its big, green surface is cut in half by the white
ribbon of a watercourse, starting almost half-way up and
running down to the sea. Scattered under the lea of Koyatabu
are the numerous smaller and bigger islands of the Amphlett
Archipelago steep, rpcky hills, shaped into pyramids, sphynxes
and cupolas, the whole a strange and picturesque assemblage
of characteristic forms.

With a strong South-Easterly wind, which blows here for
three quarters of the year, we approach the islands very fast,
and the two most important ones, Gumawana and Ome'a,
almost seem to leap out of the mist. As we anchor in front of
Gumawana village at the S.E. end of the island, we cannot
but feel impressed. Built on a narrow strip of foreshore, open
to the breakers, and squeezed down to the water's edge by an
almost precipitously rising jungle at its back, the village has
been made sea-proof by walls of stone surrounding the houses
with several bulwarks, and by stone dykes forming small
artificial harbours along the sea front. The shabby and
unornamented huts, built on piles, look very picturesque in
these surroundings (see Plates VII and XLIII).

The inhabitants of this village, and of the four remaining
ones in the archipelago, are a queer people. They are a
numerically weak tribe, easily assailable from the sea, getting
hardly enough to eat from their rocky islands ; and yet, through
their unique skill in pottery, their great daring and efficiency
as sailors, and their central position half way between Dobu
and the Trobriands, they have succeeded in becoming in
several respects the monopolists of this part of the world.
They have also the main characteristics of monopolists :
grasping and mean, inhospitable and greedy, keen on keeping
the trade and exchange in their own hands, yet unprepared to
make any sacrifice towards improving it ; shy, yet arrogant



PLATE VII




IN THE AMPHLETTS
The sea-front of the main village on Gumasila (or Gumawana^



(See Div. V.)



[face p. 46



THE KULA DISTRICT 47

to anyone who has any dealings with them ; they contrast
unfavourably with their southern and northern neighbours
And this is not only the white man's impression.* The
Trobrianders, as well as the Dobuans, give the Amphlett natives
a very bad name, as being stingy and unfair in all Kula
transactions, and as having no real sense of generosity and
hospitality.

When our boat anchors there, the natives approach it in
their canoes, offering clay pots for sale. But if we want to go
ashore and have a look at their village, there is a great commo-
tion, and all the women disappear from the open places. The
younger ones run and hide in the jungle behind the village,
and even the old hags conceal themselves in the houses. So
that if we want to see the making of pottery, which is almost
exclusively women's work, we must first lure some old woman
out of her retreat with generous promises of tobacco and
assurances of honourable intentions.

This has been mentioned here, because it is of ethnographic
interest, as it is not only white men who inspire this shyness ;
if native strangers, coming from a distance for trade, put in
for a short time in the Amphletts, the women also disappear
in this fashion. This very ostentatious coyness is, however,
not a sham, because in the Amphletts, even more than in
Dobu, married and unmarried life is characterised by strict
chastity and fidelity. Women here have also a good deal of
influence, and take a great part in gardening and the perform-
ance of garden magic. In social institutions and customs, the
natives present a mixture of Northern and Southern Massim
elements. There are no chiefs, but influential elders wield
authority, and in each village there is a head man who takes
the lead in ceremonies and other big tribal affairs. Their
totemir clans are identical with those of Murua (District II).
Their somewhat precarious food supply comes partly from the
poor gardens, partly from fishing with kite and fish trap, which,
however, can only seldom be carried out, and does not yield
very much. They are not self-supporting, and receive, in
form of presents and by trade, a good deal of vegetable food
as well as pigs from the mainland, from Dobu and the

* I spent about a month in these islands, and found the natives
surpris-
ingly intractable and difficult to work with ethnographicaliy. The
Amphlett
" boys " are renowned as good boat-hands, but in general they are not
such
capable and willing workers as the Dobuans.



48 THE KULA DISTRICT

Trobriands. In personal appearance they are very much like
the Trobrianders, that is, taller than the Dobuans, lighter
skinned, and with finer features.

We must now leave the Amphletts and proceed to the
Trobriand Islands, the scene of most of the occurrences
described in this book, and the country concerning which
I possess by far the largest amount of ethnographic
information.



PLATE VIII




GROUP OF NATIVES IN THE VILLAGE OF TUKWA'UKWA

This shows the type of coastal village, with the natives squatting
round, to

illustrate Div. I



[face p. 48



PLATE IX




MKN OF RANK MiOM KIRIWINA
Tokulubakiki, a chiefs son ; Towcsc'i and YobukwaX of the highest and
somewhat inferior

rank respectively. All three show line features and intelligent
expressions; they were
among tny best informants. (Sec Divs. 1 and V.)



PLATE X



I*;




FISHERMEN FROM TBYAVA
Types of commoners from a Lagoon village, (Sec Div. I.)



CHAPTER II
THE NATIVES OF THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

I

LEAVING the bronzed rocks and the dark jungle of the
Amphletts for the present for we shall have to revisit them
in the course of our study, and then shall learn more about
their inhabitants we sail North into an entirely different
world of flat coral islands ; into an ethnographic district, which
stands out by ever so many peculiar manners and customs
from the rest of Papuo-Melanesia. So far, we have sailed over
intensely blue, clear seas, where in shallow places the coral
bottom, with its variety of colour and form, with its wonderful
plant and fish life, is a fascinating spectacle in itself a sea
framed in all the splendours of tropical jungle, of volcanic and
mountainous scenery, with lively watercourses and falls, with
steamy clouds trailing in the high valleys. From all this we
take a final farewell as we sail North. The outlines of the
Amphletts soon fade away in tropical haze, till only Koyatabu's
slender pyramid, lifted over them, remains on the horizon,
the graceful form, which follows us even as far as the Lagoon
of Kiriwina.

We now enter an opaque, greenish sea, whose monotony is
broken only by a few sandbanks, some bare and awash, others
with a few pandanus trees squatting on their air roots, high
in the sand. To these banks, the Amphlett natives come and
there they spend weeks on end, fishing for turtle and dugong.
Here is also laid the scene of several of the mythical incidents
of primeval Kula. Further ahead, through the misty spray,
the line of horizon thickens here and there, as if faint pencil
marks had been drawn upon it. These become more substan-
tial, one of them lengthens and broadens, the others spring
into the distinct shapes of small islands, and we find ourselves
in the big Lagoon of the Trobriands, with Boyowa, the largest
island, on our right, and with many others, inhabited and
uninhabited, to the North and North- West.



TROBRIAND LAGOON
(WADQM




SEA-ARM OF PILOLU



The Trobriand Archipelago, also called Boyowa or Kiriwina.



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 51

As we sail in the Lagoon, following the intricate passages
between the shallows, and as we approach the main island, the
thick, tangled matting of the low jungle breaks here and there
over a beach, and we can see into a palm grove, like an interior,
supported by pillars. This indicates the site of a village.
We step ashore on to the sea front, as a rule covered with mud
and refuse, with canoes drawn up high and dry, and passing
through the grove, we enter the village itself (see Plate VIII).

Soon we are seated on one of the platforms built in front
of a yam-house, shaded by its overhanging roof. The round,
grey logs, worn smooth by contact with naked feet and bodies ;
the trodden ground of the village-street ; the brown skins of
the natives, who immediately surround the visitor in large
groups all these form a colour scheme of bronze and grey,
unforgetable to anyone, who, like myself, has lived among
these people.

It is difficult to convey the feelings of intense interest and
suspense with which an Ethnographer enters for the first time
the district that is to be the future scene of his field-work.
Certain salient features, characteristic of the place, at once
rivet his attention, and fill him with hopes or apprehensions.
The appearance of the natives, their manners, their types of
behaviour, may augur well or ill for the possibilities of rapid
and easy research. One is on the lookout for symptoms of
deeper, sociological facts, one suspects many hidden and
mysterious ethnographic phenomena behind the commonplace
aspect of things. Perhaps that queer-looking, intelligent
native is a renowned sorcerer ; perhaps between those two
groups of men there exists some important rivalry or vendetta
which may throw much light on the customs and character of
the people if one can only lay hands upon it ? Such at least
were /ny thoughts and feelings as on the day of my arrival
in Boyowa I sat scanning a chatting group of Trobriand natives.

The great variety in their physical appearance is what
strikes one first in Boyowa.* There are men and women of
tall stature, fine bearing, and delicate features, with clear-cut
aquiline profile and high foreheads, well formed nose and chin,

* Already Dr. C. G. Seligman has noticed that there are people of an
outstanding fine physical type among the Northern Massim, of whom the
Trobrianders form the Western section, people who are " generally
taller (often
very notably so) than the individuals of the short-faced, broad-nosed
type,
in whom the bridge of the nose is very low." Op. cit., p. 8.



52 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

and an open, intelligent expression (see Plates IX, XV, XVII).
And besides these, there are others with prognatic, negroid
faces, broad, thick-lipped mouths, narrow foreheads, and a
coarse expression (see Plates X, XI, XII). The better
featured have also a markedly lighter skin. Even their hair
differs, varying from quite straight locks to the frizzly mop of
the typical Melanesian. They wear the same classes of
ornaments as the other Massim, consisting mainly of fibre
armlets and belts, earrings cf turtle shell and spondylus discs,
and they are very fond of using, for personal decoration, flowers
and aromatic herbs. In manner they are much freer, more
familiar and confident, than any of the natives we have so far
met. As soon as an interesting stranger arrives, half the
village assembles around him, talking loudly and making
remarks about him, frequently uncomplimentary, and alto-
gether assuming a tone of jocular familiarity.

One of the main sociological features at once strikes an
observant newcomer -the existence of rank and social differ-
entiation. Some of the natives very frequently those of the
finer looking type are treated with most marked deference by
others, and in return, these chiefs and persons of rank behave
in quite a different way towards the strangers. In fact, they
show excellent manners in the full meaning of this word.

When a chief is present, no commoner dares to remain in
a physically higher position ; he has to bend his body or squat.
Similarly, when the chief sits down, no one would dare to
stand. The institution of definite chieftainship, to which are
shown such extreme marks of deference, with a sort of rudi-
mentary Court ceremonial, with insignia of rank and authority,
is so entirely foreign to the whole spirit of Melanesian tribal
life, that at first sight it transports the Ethnographer into a
different world. In the course o f our inquiry, we shall con-
stantly meet with manifestation of the Kiriwinian chief's
authority, we shall notice the difference in this respect between
the Trobrianders and the other tribes, and the resulting
adjustments of tribal usage.

II

Another sociological feature, which forcibly obtrudes itself
on the visitor's notice is the social position of the women.
Their behaviour, after the cool aloofness of the Dobuan women,




A TYPICAL NAKUBUKWABUYA
(UNMARRIED WOMAN)

This shows the coarse, though fine-looking, type of a commoner woman.
(See Div. II.)



PLATE XII





BOYOWAN GIRLS

Such facial painting and decorations are used when they go on a
katuyausi
expedition. (See Div, II.)



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 53

and the very uninviting treatment which strangers receive
from those of the Amphletts, comes almost as a shock in its
friendly familiarity. Naturally, here also, the manners of
women of rank are quite different from those of low class
commoners. But, on the whole, high and low alike, though by
no means reserved, have a genial, pleasant approach, and many
of them are very fine-looking (see Plates XI, XII). Their
dress is also different from any so far observed. All the
Melanesian women in New Guinea wear a petticoat made of
fibre. Among the Southern Massim, this fibre skirt is long,
reaching to the knees or below, whereas in the Trobriands it
is much shorter and fuller, consisting of several layers standing
out round the body like a ruff (compare the S. Massim women
on Plates V and VI with the Trobrianders on Plate IV).
The highly ornamental effect of that dress is enhanced by the
elaborate decorations made in three colours on the several
layers forming the top skirt. On the whole, it is very becoming
to fine young women, and gives to small slender girls a graceful,
elfish appearance.

Chastity is an unknown virtue among these natives. At
an incredibly early age they become initiated into sexual life,
and many of the innocent looking plays of childhood are not
as innocuous as they appear. As they grow up, they live in
promiscuous free-love, which gradually develops into more
permanent attachments, one of which ends in marriage. But
before this is reached, unmarried girls are openly supposed to
be quite free to do what they like, and there are even cere-
monial arrangements by which the girls of a village repair in
a body to another place ; there they publicly range themselves
for inspection, and each is chosen by a local boy, with whom
she spends a night. This is called katuyausi (see Plate XII).
Again, when a visiting party arrives from another district,
food is brought to them by the unmarried girls, who are also
expected to satisfy their sexual wants. At the big mortuary
vigils round the corpse of a newly deceased person, people
from neighbouring villages come in large bodies to take part
in the wailing and singing. The girls of the visiting party are
expected by usage to comfort the boys of the bereaved village,
in a manner which gives much anguish to their official lovers.
There is another remarkable form of ceremonial licence, in
which indeed women are openly the initiators. During the



54 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

gardening season, at the time of weeding, the women do
communal work, and any strange man who ventures to pass
through the district runs a considerable risk, for the women
will run after him, seize him, tear off his pubic leaf, and ill-
treat him orgiastically in the most ignominous manner. Side
by side with these ceremonial forms of licence, there go, in the
normal course of events, constant private intrigues, more
intense during the festive seasons, becoming less prominent as
garden work, trading expeditions, or harvesting take up the
energies and attention of the tribe.

Marriage is associated with hardly any public or private
rite or ceremony. The woman simply joins her husband in his
house, and later on, there is a series of exchanges of gifts, which
in no way can be interpreted as purchase money for the wife.
As a matter of fact, the most important feature of the Trobriand
marriage is the fact that the wife's family have to -ontribute,
and that in a very substantial manner, to the economics of her
household, and also they have to perform all sorts of services
for the husband. In her married life, the woman is supposed
to remain faithful to her husband, but this rule is neither very
strictly kept nor enforced. In all other ways, she retains a
great measure of independence, and her husband has to treat
her well and with consideration. If he does not, the woman
simply leaves him and returns to her family, and as the husband
is as a rule economically the loser by her action, he has to exert
himself to get her back which he does by means of presents
and persuasions. If she chooses, she can leave him for good,
and she can always find someone else to marry.

In tribal life, the position of women is also very high. They
do not as a rule join the councils- of men, but in many matters
they have their own way, and control several aspects of tribal
life. Thus, some of the garden work is their business ; and
this is considered a privilege as well as a duty. They also look
after certain stages in the big, ceremonial divisions of food,
associated with the very complete and elaborate mortuary
ritual of the Boyowans (see Plate IV). Certain forms of
magic that performed over a first-born baby, beauty-magic
made at tribal ceremonies, some classes of sorcery are also
the monopoly of women. Women of rank share the
privileges incidental to it, and men of low caste will bend before
them and observe all the necessary formalities and taboos due



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 55

to a chief. A woman of chief's rank, married to commoner,
retains her status, even with regard to her husband, and has
to be treated accordingly.

The Trobrianders are matrilineal, that is, in tracing descent
and settling inheritance, they follow the maternal line. A
child belongs to the clan and village community of its mother,
and wealth, as well as social position, arc inherited, not from
father to son, but from maternal uncle to nephew. This rule
admits of certain important and interesting exceptions, which
we shall come across in the course of this study.

Ill

Returning to our imaginary first visit ashore, the next
interesting thing to do, after we have sufficiently taken in the
appearance and manners of the natives, is to walk round the
village. Li doing this, again we would come across much, which
to a trained eye, would reveal at once deeper sociological facts.
In the Trobriands however, it would be better to make our
first observations in one of the large, inland villages, situated
on even, flat ground with plenty of space, so that it has been
possible to build it in the typical pattern. In the coastal
villages, placed on marshy ground and coral outcrop, the
irregularity of the soil and cramped space have obliterated
the design, and they present quite a chaotic appearance. The
big villages of the central districts, on the other hands, are
built one and all with an almost geometrical regularity.

In the middle, a big circular space is surrounded by a ring
of yam houses. These latter are built on piles, and present a
fine, decorative front, with walls of big, round logs, laid cross-
wise on one another, so as to leave wide interstices through
which the stored yams can be seen (see Plates XV, XXXII,
XXXIII). Some of the store-houses strike us at once as
being better built, larger, and higher than the rest, and these
have also big, ornamented boards, running round the gable
and across it. These are the yam houses of the chief or of
persons of rank. Each yam house also has, as a rule, a small
platform in front of it, on which groups of men will sit and
chat in the evening, and where visitors can rest.

Concentrically with the circular row of yam houses, there
runs a ring of dwelling huts, and thus a street going all round
the village is formed between the two rows (see Plates III, IV,



56 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

VIII). The dwellings are lower than the yam houses, and
instead of being on piles, are built directly on the ground.
The interior is dark and very stuffy, and the only opening into
it is through the door, and that is usually closed. Each hut is
occupied by one family (see Plate XV), that is, husband, wife
and small children, while adolescent and grown-up boys and
girls live in separate small bachelor's houses, harbouring sgme
two to six inmates. Chiefs and people of rank have their
special, personal houses, besides those of their wives. The
Chief's house often stands in the central ring of the store-houses
facing the main place.

The broad inspection of the village would therefore reveal
to us the role of decoration as insignia of rank, the existence of
bachelors' and spinsters' houses, the great importance attached
to the yam-harvest all these small symptoms which, followed
up, would lead us deep into the problems of native sociology.
Moreover, such an inspection would have led us to inquire as
to the part played by the different divisions of the village in
tribal life. We should then learn that the baku, the central
circular space, is the scene of public ceremonies and festivities,
such as dancing (see Plates XIII, XIV), division of food,
tribal feasts, mortuary vigils, in short, of all doings that
represent the village as a whole. In the circular street between
the stores and living houses, everyday life goes on, that is, the
preparation of food, the eating of meals, and the usual exchange
of gossip and ordinary social amenities. The interior of the
houses is only used at night, or on wet days, and is more a
sleeping than a living room. The backs of the houses and the
contiguous groves are the scene of the children's play and the
women's occupations Further away, remote parts of the
grove are reserved for sanitary purposes, each sex having its
own retreat.

The baku (central place) is the most picturesque part, and
there the somewhat monotonous colour scheme of the brown
and grey is broken by the overhanging foliage of the grove,
seen above the neat fronts and gaudy ornamentation of the
yam-houses and by the decorations worn by the crowd when a
dance or ceremony is taking place (see Plates XIII, XXXIII).
Dancing is done only at one time in the year, in connection
with the harvest festivities, called milamala, at which season
also the spirits of the dead return from Tuma, the nether-world,




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THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 57

to the villages from which they hail. Sometimes the dancing
season lasts only for a few weeks or even days, sometimes it
is extended into a special dancing period called usigola. During
such a time of festivities, the inhabitants of a village will dance
day after day, for a month or longer, the period being inaugurated
by a feast, punctuated by several more, and ending in a big
culminating performance. At this many villages assist as
spectators, and distributions of food take place. During an
usigola, dancing is done in full dress, that is, with facial painting,
floral decorations, valuable ornaments, and a head-dress ot
white cockatoo feathers (see Plates XIII, XIV). A perform-
mance consists always of a dance executed in a ring to the
accompaniment of singing and drum-beating, both of which
are done by a group of people standing in the middle. Some
dances are done with the carved dancing shield.

Sociologically, the village is an important unit in the
Trobriands. Even the mightiest chief in the Trobriands
wields his authority primarily over his own village and only
secondarily over the district The village community exploit
jointly their garden lands, perform ceremonies, wage warfare,
undertake trading expeditions, and sail in the same canoe or
fleet of canoes as one group.

After the first inspection of the village, we would be
naturally interested to know more of the surrounding country,
and would take a walk through the bush. Here, however, if
we hoped for a picturesque and varied landscape, we should
receive a great disappointment. The extensive, flat island
consists only of one fertile plain, with a low coral ridge running
along portions of the coast. It is almost entirely under inter-
mittent cultivation, and the bush, regularly cleared away
every few years, has no time to grow high. A low, dense
jungle grows in a matted tangle, and practically wherever
we move-on the island we walk along between two green walls,
presenting no variety, allowing of no broader view. The
monotony is broken only by an occasional clump of old trees
left standing usually a tabooed place or by one of the
numerous villages which we meet with every mile or two in
this densely populated country. The main element, both of
picturesqueness and ethnographic interest, is afforded by the
native gardens. Each year about one quarter or one fifth of
the total area is under actual cultivation as gardens, and these



58 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

are well tended, and present a pleasant change from the
monotony of the scrub. In its early stages, the garden site
is simply a bare, cleared space, allowing of a wider outlook
upon the distant coral ridge in the East, and upon the tall
groves, scattered over the horizon, which indicate villages or
tabooed tree clumps. Later on, when the yam-vines, taro,
and sugar cane begin to grow and bud, the bare brown - soil
is covered with the fresh green of the tender plants. After
some more time still, tall, stout poles are planted over each
yam-plant ; the vine climbs round them, grows into a full,
shady garland of foliage, and the whole makes the impression
of a large, exuberant hop-yard.

IV

Half of the natives' working life is spent in the garden,
and around it centres perhaps more than half of his interests
and ambitions. And here we must pause and make an attempt
to understand his attitude in this matter, as it is typical of the
way in which he goes about all his work. If we remain under
the delusion that the native is a happy-go-lucky, lazy child of
nature, who shuns as far as possible all labour and effort, waiting
till the ripe fruits, so bountifully supplied by generous tropical
Nature, fall into his mouth, we shall not be able to understand
in the least his aims and motives in carrying out the Kula or
any other enterprise. On the contrary, the truth is that the
native can and, under circumstances, does work hard, and
work systematically, with endurance and purpose, nor does he
wait till he is pressed to work by his immediate needs.

In gardening, for instance, the natives produce much more
than they actually require, and in any average year they
harvest perhaps twice as much as they can eat. Nowadays,
this surplus is exported by Europeans to feed plantation hands
in other parts of New Guinea ; in olden days it was simply
allowed to rot. Again, they produce this surplus in a manner
which entails much more work than is strictly necessary for
obtaining the crops. Much time and labour is given up to
aesthetic purposes, to making the gardens tidy, clean, cleared of
all debris ; to building fine, solid, fences, to providing specially
strong and big yam-poles. All these things are to some
extent required for the growth of the plant ; but there can be
no doubt that the natives push their conscientiousness far



THE TROBRIAND^ ISLANDS 59

beyond the limit of the purely necessary. The non-utilitarian
element in their garden work is still more clearly perceptible
in the various tasks which they carry out entirely for the sake
of ornamentation, in connection with magical ceremonies, and
in obedience to tribal usage. Thus, after the ground has been
scrupulously cleared and is ready for planting, the natives
divide each garden plot into small squares, each a few yards
in length and width, and this is done only in obedience to usage,
in order to make the gardens look neat. No self-respecting man
would dream of omitting to do this. Again, in especially well
trimmed gardens, long horizontal poles are tied to the yam
supports in order to embellish them. Another, and perhaps
the most interesting example of non-utilitarian work is afforded
by the big, prismatic erections called kamkokola, which serve
ornamental and magical purposes, but have nothing to do with
the growth of plants (comp. Plate LIX).

Among the forces and beliefs which bear upon and regulate
garden work, perhaps magic is the most important. It is a
department of its own, and the garden magician, next to the
chief and the sorcerer, is the most important personage of the
village. The position is hereditary, and, in each village, a
special system of magic is handed on in the female line from
one generation to another. I have called it a system, because
the magician has to perform a series of rites and spells over the
garden, which run parallel with the labour, and which, in fact,
initiate each stage of the work and each new development of
the plant life\ Even before any gardening is begun at all,
the magician has to consecrate the site with a big ceremonial
performance in which all the men of the village take part.
This ceremony officially opens the season's gardening, and
only after it is performed do the villagers begin to cut the
scrub on their plots. Then, in a series of rites, the magician
inaugurates successively all the various stages which follow one
another the burning of the scrub, the clearing, the planting,
the weeding and the harvesting. Also, in another series of
rites and spells, he magically assists the plant in sprouting, in
budding, in bursting into leaf, in climbing, in forming the rich
garlands of foliage, and in producing the edible tubers.

The garden magician, according to native ideas, thus
controls both the work of man and the forces of Nature. He
also acts directly as supervisor of gardening, sees to it that



60 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

people do not skimp their work, or lag behind with it. Thus
magic is a systematising, regulating, and controlling influence
in garden work. The magician, in carrying out the rites, sets
the pace, compels people to apply themselves to certain tasks,
and to accomplish them properly and in time. Incidentally,
magic also imposes on the tribe a good deal of extra work, of
apparently unnecessary, hampering taboos and regulations.
In the long run, however, there is no doubt that by its influence
in ordering, systematising and regulating work, magic is
economically invaluable for the natives.*

Another notion which must be exploded, once and for ever,
is that of the Primitive Economic Man of some current economic
text books. This fanciful, dummy creature, who has been very
tenacious of existence in popular and semi-popular economic
literature, and whose shadow haunts even the minds of compe-
tent anthropologists, blighting their outlook with a pre-
conceived idea, is an imaginary, primitive man, or savage,
prompted in all his actions by a rationalistic conception of
self-interest, and achieving his aims directly and with the
minimum of effort. Even one well established instance should
show how preposterous is this assumption that man, and
especially man on a low level of culture, should be actuated
by pure economic motives of enlightened self-interest. The
primitive Trobriander furnishes us with such an instance,
contradicting this fallacious theory. He works prompted by
motives of a highly complex, social and traditional nature,
and towards aims which are certainly not directed towards
the satisfaction of present wants, or to the direct achievement
of utilitarian purposes. Thus, in the first place, as we have
seen, work is not carried out on the principle of the least
effort. On the contrary, much time and energy is spent on
wholly unnecessary effort, that is, from a utilitarian point of
view. Again, work and effort, instead of being merely a means
to an end, are, in a way an end in themselves. A good garden
worker in the Trobriands derives a direct prestige from the
amount of labour he can do, and the size of garden he can till.
The title tokwaybagula, which means " good " or " efficient
gardener," is bestowed with discrimination, and borne with
pride. Several of my friends, renowned as tokwaybagula ,

* I have dealt with the subject of garden work in the Trobriands and
with its economic importance more fully in an article entitled " The
Primitive
Economics of the Trobriand Islanders " in The Economic Journal, March,
1921.



THE TROBR1AND ISLANDS 61

would boast to me how long they worked, how much ground
they tilled, and would compare their efforts with those of less
efficient men. When the labour, some of which is done commun-
ally, is being actually carried out, a good deal of competition
goes on. Men vie with one another in their speed, in their
thoroughness, and in the weights they can lift, when bringing
big poles to the garden, or in carrying away the harvested yams.

The most important point about this is, however, that all,
or almost all the fruits of his work, and certainly any surplus
which he can achieve by extra effort, goes not to the man
hirnseli, but to his relatives-in-law. Without entering into
details of the system of the apportionment of the harvest, of
which the sociology is rather complex and would require a
preliminary account of the Trobriand kinship system and
kinship ideas, it may be said that about three quarters of a
man's crops go partly as tribute to the chief, partly as his due
to his sister's (or mother's) husband and family.

But although he thus derives practically no personal
benefit in the utilitarian sense from his harvest, the gardener
receives much praise and renown from its size and quality, and
that in a direct and circumstantial manner. For all the crops,
after being harvested, are displayed for some time afterwards
in the gardens, piled up in neat, conical heaps under small
shelters made of yam vine. Each man's harvest is thus
exhibited for criticism in his own plot, and parties of natives
walk about from garden to garden, admiring, comparing and
praising the best results. The importance of the food display
can be gauged by the fact that, in olden days, when the chief's
power was much more considerable than now, it was dangerous
for a man who was not either of high rank himself, or working
for such a one, to show crops which might compare too favour-
ably with those of the chief.

In years when the harvest promises to be plentiful, the
chief will proclaim a kayasa harvest, that is to say, ceremonial,
competitive display of food, and then the straining for good
results and the interest taken in them are still higher. We
shall meet later on with ceremonial enterprises of the kayasa
type, and find that they play a considerable part in the Kula.
All this shows how entirely the real native of flesh and bone
differs from the shadowy Primitive Economic Man, on whose
imaginary behaviour many of the scholastic deductions of



62 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

abstract economics are based.* The Trobriander works in a
roundabout way, to a large extent for the sake of the work
itself, and puts a great deal of aesthetic polish on the arrange-
ment and general appearance of his garden. He is not guided
primarily by the desire to satisfy his wants, but by a very
complex set of traditional forces, duties and obligations, beliefs
in magic, social ambitions and vanities. He wants, if he* is a
man, to achieve social distinction as a good gardener and a good
worker in general.

I have dwelt at this length upon these points concerning the
motives and aims of the Trobrianders in their garden work,
because, in the chapters that follow, we shall be studying
economic activities, and the reader will grasp the attitude of
the natives best if he has it illustrated to him by various
examples. All that has been said in this matter about the
Trobrianders applies also to the neighbouring tribes.



With the help of this new insight gained into the mind of
the native, and into their social scheme of harvest distribution,
it will be easier to describe the nature of the chief's authority.
Chieftainship in the Trobriands is the combination of two
institutions : first, that of headmanship, or village authority ;
secondly, that of totemic clanship, that is the division of the
community into classes or castes, each with a certain more or
less definite rank.

In every community in the Trobriands, there is one man
who wields the greatest authority, though often this does not
amount to very much. He is, in many cases, nothing more than
the primus inter pares in a group of village elders, who deliberate
on all important matters together, and arrive at a decision by
common consent. It must not be forgotten that there is hardly
ever much room for doubt or deliberation, as natives commun-
ally, as well as individually, never act except on traditional and
conventional lines. This village headman is, as a rule,

* This does not mean that the general economic conclusions are wrong.
The economic nature of Man is as a rule illustrated on imaginary
savages for
didactic purposes only, and the conclusions of the authors are in
reality based
on their study of the facts of developed economics. But, nevertheless,
quite
apart from the fact that pedagogically it is a wrong principle to make
matters
look more simple by introducing a falsehood, it is the Ethnographer's
duty
and right to protest against the introduction from outside of false
facts into
his own field of study.



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 63

therefore, not much more than a master of tribal ceremonies,
and the main speaker within and without the tribe, whenever
one is needed.

But the position of headman becomes much more than this,
when he is a person of high rank, which is by no means always
the case. In the Trobriands there exist four totemic clans,
and each of these is divided into a number of smaller sub-clans,
which could also be called families or castes, for the
members of each claim common descent from one ancestress,
and each of them holds a certain, specified rank. These sub-
clans have also a local character, because the original ancestress
emerged from a hole in the ground, as a rule somewhere in the
neighbourhood of their village community. There is not one
sub-clan in the Trobriands whose members cannot indicate its
original locality, where their group, in the form of the
ancestress, first saw the light of the sun. Coral outcrops,
water-holes, small caves or grottoes, are generally pointed
out as the original " holes " or " houses/' as they are called.
Often such a hole is surrounded by one of the tabooed clumps
of trees alluded to before. Many of them are situated in the
groves surrounding a village, and a few near the sea shore.
Not one is on the cultivable land.

The highest sub-clan is that of the Tabalu, belonging to
the Malasi totem clan. To this sub-clan belongs the main
chief of Kiriwina, To'uluwa, who resides in the village of
Omarakana (see Plate II and Frontispiece). He is in the first
place the headman of his own village, and in contrast to the
headmen of low rank, he has quite a considerable amount of
power. His high rank inspires everyone about him with the
greatest and most genuine respect and awe, arid the remnants
of his power are still surprisingly large, even now, when white
authorities, very foolishly and with fatal results, do their
utmost to undermine his prestige and influence.

Not only does the chief by which word I shall designate
a headman of rank possess a high degree of authority within
his own village, but his sphere of influence extends far beyond
it A number of villages are tributary to him, and in several
respects subject to his authority. In case of war, they are his
allies, and have to foregather in his village. When he needs
men to perform some task, he can send to his subject villages,
and they will supply him with workers. In all big festivities



64 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

the villages of his district will join, and the chief will act as
master of ceremonies. Nevertheless, for all these services
rendered to him he has to pay. He even has to pay for any
tributes received out of his stores of wealth. Wealth, in the
Trobriands, is the outward sign and the substance of power,
and the means also of exercising it. But how does he acquire
his wealth ? And here we come to the main duty of the vassal
villages to the chief. From each subject village, he takes a
wife, whose family, according to the Trobriand law, has to
supply him with large amounts of crops. This wife is always
the sister or some relation of the headman of the subject
village, and thus practically the whole community has to work
for him. In olden days, the chief of Omarakana had up to
as many as forty consorts, and received perhaps as much as
thirty to fifty per cent, of all the garden produce of Kiriwina.
Even now, when his wives number only sixteen, he has
enormous storehouses, and they are full to the roof with yams
every harvest time.

With this supply, he is able to pay for the many services he
requires, to furnish with food the participants in big feasts, in
tribal gatherings or distant expeditions. Part of the food he
uses to acquire objects of native wealth, or to pay for the making
of them. In brief, through his privilege of practising polygamy,
the chief is kept supplied with an abundance of wealth in food
stuffs and in valuables, which he uses to maintain his high
position ; to organise tribal festivities and enterprises, and to
pay, according to custom, for the many personal services to
which he is entitled.

One point in connection with the chief's authority deserves
special mention. Power implies not only the possibility of
rewarding, but also the means of punishing. This in the
Trobriands is as a rule done indirectly, by means of sorcery.
The chief has the best sorcerers of the district always at his
beck and call. Of course he also has to reward them when
they do him a service. If anyone offends him, or trespasses
upon his authority, the chief summons the sorcerer, and orders
that the culprit shall die by black magic. And here the chief
is powerfully helped in achieving his end by the fact that he
can do this openly, so that everybody, and the victim himself
knows that a sorcerer is after him. As the natives are very
deeply and genuinely afraid of sorcery, the feeling of being



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 65

hunted, of imagining themselves doomed, is in itself enough to
doom them in reality. Only in extreme cases, does a chief
inflict direct punishment on a culprit. He has one or two
hereditary henchmen, whose duty it is to kill the man who
has so deeply offended him, that actual death is the only
sufficient punishment. As a matter of fact, very few cases
of this are on record, and it is now, of course, entirely in
abeyance.

Thus the chief's position can be grasped only through the
realisation of the high importance of wealth, of the necessity
of paying for everything, even for services which are due to
him, and which could not be withheld. Again, this wealth
comes to the chief from his relations-in-law, and it is through
his right to practise polygamy that he actually achieves his
position, and exercises his power.

Side by side with this rather complex mechanism of
authority, the prestige of rank, the direct recognition of his
personal superiority, give the chief an immense power, even
outside his district. Except for the few of his own rank, no
native in the Trobriands will remain erect when the great chief
of Omarakana approaches, even in these days of tribal dis-
integration. Wherever he goes, he is considered as the most
important person, is seated on a high platform, and treated
with consideration. Of course the fact that he is accorded
marks of great deference, and approached in the manner as if
he were a supreme despot, does not mean that perfect good
fellowship and sociability do not reign in his personal
relations with his companions and vassals. There is no
difference in interests or outlook between him and his subjects.
They sit together and chat, they exchange village gossip, the
only difference being that the chief is always on his guard, and
much more reticent and diplomatic than the other, though he
is no less interested. The chief, unless he is too old, joins in
dances and even in games, and indeed he takes precedence
as a matter of course.

In trying to realise the social conditions among the
Trobrianders and their neighbours, it must not be forgotten
that their social organisation is in certain respects complex
and ill-defined. Besides very definite laws which are strictly
obeyed, there exist a number of quaint usages, of vague
graduations in rules, of others where the exceptions are so many,



66 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

that they rather obliterate the rule than confirm it. The narrow
social outlook of the native who does not see beyond his own
district, the prevalence of singularities and exceptional cases
is one of the leading characteristics of native sociology, one
which for many reasons has not been sufficiently recognised.
But the main outlines of chieftainship here presented,
will be enough to give a clear idea of it and of some of
the flavour of their institutions, as much, in fact, as is
necessary, in order to understand the chief's role in the
Kula. But it must to a certain extent be supplemented by
the concrete data, bearing upon the political divisions of the
Trobriands.

The most important chief is, as said, the one who resides
in Omarakana and rules Kiriwina, agriculturally the richest and
most important district. His family, or sub-clan, the Tabalu,
are acknowledged to have by far the highest rank in all the
Archipelago. Their fame is spread over the whole Kula
district ; the entire province of Kiriwina derives prestige from
its chief, and its inhabitants also keep all his personal taboos,
which is a duty but also a distinction. Next to the high
chief, there resides in a village some two miles distant, a
personage who, though in several respects his vassal, is also
his main foe and rival, the headman of Kabwaku, and ruler
of the province of Tilataula. The present holder of this title
is an old rogue named Moliasi. From time to time, in the old
days, war used to break out between the two provinces, each
of which could muster some twelve villages for the fight. These
wars were never very bloody or of long duration, and they were
in many ways fought in a competitive, sporting manner, since,
unlike with the Dobuans and Southern Massim, there were
neither head-hunting nor cannibalistic practices among the
Boyowans. Nevertheless, defeat was a serious matter. It
meant a temporary destruction of the loser's villages, and
exile for a year or two. After that, a ceremony of reconcilia-
tion took place, and friend and foe would help to rebuild the
villages.* The ruler of Tilataula has an intermediate rank,
and outside his district he does not enjoy much prestige ; but
within it, he has a considerable amount of power, and a good

* Compare Professor C. G. Seligxnan, op. cit., pp. 663-668 ; also the
Author,
article on War and Weapons among the Trobriand Islanders," in Man,
January, 1918.



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 67

deal of wealth, in the shape of stored food and ceremonial
articles. All the villages under his rule, have, of course, their
own independent headman, who, being of low rank, have only
a small degree of local authority.

In the West of the big, Northern half of Boyowa (that is
of the main island of the Trobriand Group) are again two
districts, in past times often at war with one another. One of
them, Kuboma, subject to the chief of Gumilababa, of high
rank, though inferior to the chief of Kiriwina, consists of some
ten inland villages, and is very important as a centre of
industry. Among these villages are included those of Yalaka,
Buduwaylaka, Kudukwaykela, where the quicklime is prepared
for betel chewing, and also the lime pots made. The highly
artistic designs, burnt in on the lime pots, are the speciality
of these villagers, but unfortunately the industry is fast
decaying. The inhabitabts of Luya are renowned for their
basket work, of which the finest specimens are their production.
But the most remarkable of all is the village of Bwoytalu, whose
inhabitants are at the same time the most despised pariahs, the
most dreaded sorcerers, and the most skilful and industrious
craftsmen in the island. They belong to several sub-clans, all
originating in the neighbourhood of the village, near which
also, according to tradition, the original sorcerer came out of
the soil in the form of a crab. They eat the flesh of bush-pigs,
and they catch and eat the stingaree, both objects of strict
taboos and of genuine loathing to the other inhabitants of
Northern Boyowa. ^ For this reason they are despised and
regarded as unclean by the others. In olden days they would
have to crouch lower and more abjectly than anyone else. No
man or woman would mate with anyone from Bwoytalu,
whether in marriage or in an intrigue. Yet in wood carving,
and especially in the working out of the wonderful, round
dishes, in the manufacture of plaited fibre work, and in the
production of combs, they are far more skilful than anyone
else, and acknowledged to be such ; they are the wholesale
manufacturers of these objects for export, and they can produce
work not to be rivalled by any other village.

The five villages lying on the western coast of the northern
half, on the shores of the Lagoon, form the district of Kulumata.
They are all fishing villages, but differ in their methods, and
each has its own fishing grounds and its own methods of



68 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

exploiting them.* The district is much less homogeneous
than any of those before mentioned. It posesses no paramount
chief, and even in war the villagers used not to fight on the
same side. But it is impossible to enter here into all these
shades and singularities of political organisation.

In the southern part of Boyowa, there is first the province
of Luba, occupying the waist of the island, the part where it
narrows down to a long isthmus. This part is ruled by a chief
of high rank, who resides in Olivilevi. He belongs to the same
family as the chief of Omarakana, and this southern dominion
is the result of a younger line's having branched off some three
generations ago. This happened after an unsuccessful war.
when the whole tribe of Kiriwina fled south to Luba, and lived
there for two years in a temporary village. The main body
returned afterwards, but a number remained behind with the
chief's brother, and thus the village of Olivilevi was founded.
Wawela, which was formerly a very big village, now consists
of hardly more than twenty huts. The only one on the Eastern
shore which lies right on the sea, it is very picturesquely
situated, overlooking a wide bay with a clean beach. It is of
importance as the traditional centre of astronomical knowledge.
From here, for generation after generation up to the present
day, the calendar of the natives has been regulated. This
means that some of the most important dates are fixed, especi-
ally that of the great annual festival, the Milamala, always held
at full moon. Again, Wawela is one of the villages where the
second form of sorcery, that of the flying witches, has its main
Trobriand home. In fact, according to native belief, this form
of sorcery has its seat only in the Southern half, and is unknown
to the women in the North, though the Southern witches extend
their field of operations all over Boyowa. Wawela, which lies
facing the East, and which is always in close touch with the
villages of Kitava and the rest of the Marshall Bennetts, shares
with these islands the reputation of harbouring many women
who can fly, kill by magic, who also feed on corpses, and are
especially dangerous to seamen in peril.

Further down to the South, on the Western shore of the
Lagoon, we come to the big settlement of Sinaketa, consisting
of some six villages lying within a few hundred yards from one

* Compare the Author's article on * 4 Fishing and Fishing Magic in the
Trobriands," Maw, June, 1918.



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 69

another, but each having its own headman and a certain amount
of local characteristics. These villages form, however, one
community for purposes of war and of the Kula. Some of the
local headmen of Sinaketa claim the highest rank, some are
commoners ; but on the whole, both the principle of rank and
the power of the chief break down more and more as we move
South. Beyond Sinaketa, we meet a few more villages, who
practice a local Kula, and with whom we shall have to deal
later on. Sinaketa itself will loom very largely in the descrip-
tions that follow. The Southern part of the island is sometimes
called Kaybwagina, but it does not constitute a definite political
unit, like the Northern districts.

Finally, south of the main island, divided from it by a
narrow channel, lies the half-moon-shaped island of Vakuta,
to which belong four small villages and one big one. Within
recent times, perhaps four to six generations ago, there came
down and settled in this last mentioned one a branch of the
real Tabalu, the chiefly family of highest rank. But their
power here never assumed the proportions even of the small
chiefs of Sinaketa. In Vakuta, the typical Papuo-Melanesian
system of government by tribal elders with one more
prominent than the others, but not paramount is in full
vigour.

The two big settlements of Sinaketa and Vakuta play a
great part in the Kula, and they also are the only two com-
munities in the whole Trobriands where the red shell discs are
made. This industry, as we shall see, is closely associated with
the Kula. Politically, Sinaketa and Vakuta are rivals, and in
olden days were periodically at war with one another.

Another district which forms a definite political and
cultural unit is the large island of Kayleula, in the West. The
inhabitants are fishermen, canoe-builders, and traders, and
undertake big expeditions to the western d'Entrecasteaux
islands, trading for betel nut, sago, pottery and turtle shell in
exchange for their own industrial produce.

It has been necessary to give a somewhat detailed descrip-
tion of chieftainship and political divisions, as a firm grasp of
the main, political institutions is essential to the understanding
of the Kula. All departments of tribal life, religion, magic,
economics are interwoven, but the social organisation of the
tribe lies at the foundation of everything else. Thus it is



70 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

essential to bear in mind that the Trobriands form one
cultural unit, speaking the same language, having the same
institutions, obeying the same laws and regulations, swayed
by the same beliefs and conventions. The districts just
enumerated, into which the Trobriands are subdivided, are
distinct politically and not culturally ; that is, each of them
comprises the same kind of natives, only obeying or at least
acknowledging their own chief, having their own interests and
pursuits, and in case of war each fighting their own fight.

Again, within each district, the several village communities
have each a great deal of independence. A village community
is represented by a headman, its members make their gardens
in one block and under the guidance of their own garden
magician ; they carry on their own feasts and ceremonial
arrangements, mourn their dead in common, and perform, in
remembrance of their departed ones, an endless series of food
distributions. In all big affairs, whether of the district or of
the tribe, members of a village community keep together, and
act in one group.

VI

Right across the political and local divisions cut the
totemic clans, each having a series of linked totems, with a
bird as principal one.* The members of these four clans are
scattered over the whole tribe of Boyowa, and in each village
community, members of all four are to be found, and even in
every house, there are at least two classes represented, since
a husband must be of a different clan from his wife and children.
There is a certain amount of solidarity within the clan, based
on the very vague feeling of communal affinity to the totem
birds and animals, but much more on the many social duties,
such as the performance of certain ceremonies, especially
the mortuary ones, which band the members of a clan together.
But real solidarity obtains only between members of a sub-clan.
A sub-clan is a local division of a clan, whose members claim
common ancestry, and hence real identity of bodily substance,
and also are attached to the locality where their ancestors
emerged. It is to these sub-clans that the idea of a definite

* The discovery of the existence of ** linked " totems, and the
introduc-
tion of this term and conception are due to Professor C. G. Seligman.
Op. tit.,
pp. 9, 1 1 ; see also Index.



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 71

rank attaches. One of the totemic clans, the Malasi, includes
the most aristocratic sub-clan, the Tabalu, as well as the lowest
one, the local division of the Malasi in Bwoytalu. A chief of
the Tabalu feels very insulted if it is ever hinted that he is
akin to one of the stingaree-eaters of the unclean village,
although they are Malasi like himself. The principle of rank
attached to totemic divisions is to be met only in Trobriand
sociology ; it is entirely foreign to all the other Papuo-
Melanesian tribes.

As regards kinship, the main thing to be remembered is
that the natives are matrilineal, and that the succession of
rank, membership in all the social groups, and the inheritance
of possessions descend in the maternal line. The mother's
brother is considered the real guardian of a boy, and there is a
series of mutual duties and obligations, which establish a very
close and important relation between the two. The real
kinship, the real identity of substance is considered to exist
only between a man and his mother's relations. In the first
rank of these, his brothers and sisters are specially near to him.
For his sister or sisters he has to work as soon as they are grown
up and married. But, in spite of that, a most rigorous taboo
exists between them, beginning quite early in life. No man
would joke and talk freely in the presence of his sister, or even
look at her. The slightest allusion to the sexual affairs, whether
illicit or matrimonial, of a brother or sister in the presence of
the other, is the deadliest insult and mortification. When a
man approaches a group of people where his sister is talking,
either she withdraws or he turns away.

The father's relation to his children is remarkable
Physiological fatherhood* is unknown, and no tie of kinship or
relationship is supposed to exist between father and child,
except that between a mother's husband and the wife's child.
Nevertheless, the father is by far the nearest and most affec-
tionate friend of his children. In ever so many cases, I
could observe that when a child, a young boy or girl, was in
trouble or sick ; when there was a question of some one exposing
himself to difficulties or danger for the child's sake, it was

* See the Author's article, "Baloma, Spirits of the Dead," Part VII,
J. R.A.I., 1917, where this statement has been substantiated with
abundant
evidence. Further information obtained during another expedition to the

Trobriands, established by an additional wealth of detail the complete
ignorance
of physiological fatherhood.



72 THE TROBRI4ND ISLANDS

always the father who worried, who would undergo all the
hardships needed, and never the maternal uncle. This state
of things is quite clearly recognised, and explicitly put into
words by the natives. In matters of inheritance and handing
over of possessions, a man always shows the tendency to do as
much for his children as he is able, considering his obligations
to his sister's family.

It is difficult, in one phrase or two, to epitomise the distinc-
tion between the two relations, that between a boy and his
maternal uncle, and that between a son and a father. The
best way to put it shortly might be by saying that the maternal
uncle's position of close relation is regarded as right by law and
usage, whereas the father's interest and affection for his children
are due to sentiment, and to the intimate personal relations
existing between them. He has watched the children grow
up, he has assisted the mother in many of the small and
tender cares given to an infant, he has carried the child about,
and given it such education as it gets from watching the elder
ones at work, and gradually joining in. In matters of inheri-
tance, the father gives the children all that he can, and gives
it freely and with pleasure ; the maternal uncle gives under
the compulsion of custom what he cannot withhold and keep
for his own children.

VII

A few more words must be said about some of the magico-
religious ideas of the Trobrianders. The main thing that
struck me in connection with their belief in the spirits of the
dead, was that they are almost completely devoid of any fear
of ghosts, of any of these uncanny feelings with which we face
the idea of a possible return of the dead. All the fears and
dreads of the natives are reserved for black magic, flying
witches, malevolent disease-bringing beings, but above all for
sorcerers and witches. The spirits migrate immediately after
death to the island of Tuma, lying in the North-West of Boyowa,
and there they exist for another span of time, underground,
say some, on the surface of the earth, though invisible, say
others. They return to visit their own villages once a* year,
and take part in the big annual feast, milamala, where they
receive offerings. Sometimes, at this season, they show
themselves to the living, who are, however, not alarmed by it,



i




THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 73

and in general the spirits do not influence human beings very
much, for better or worse.* In a number of magical formulae,
there is an invocation of ancestral spirits, and they receive
offerings in several rites. But there is nothing of the mutual
interaction, of the intimate collaboration between man and
spirit which are the essence of religious cult.

On the other hand, magic, the attempt of man to govern
the forces of nature directly, by means of a special lore, is
all-pervading, and all-important in the Trobriands.f Sorcery
and garden magic have already been mentioned. Here it must
suffice to add, that everything that vitally affects the native
is accompanied by magic. All economic activities have their
magic ; love, welfare of babies, talents and crafts, beauty and
agility all can be fostered or frustrated by magic. In
dealing with the Kula a pursuit of immense importance to
the natives, and playing on almost all their social passions and
ambitions we shall meet with another system of magic, and
we shall have then to go more into detail about the subject
in general.

Disease, health, or death are also the result of magic or
counter-magic. The Trobrianders have a very complex and
very definite set of theoretical views on these matters. Good
health is primarily of course the natural, normal state. Minor
ills may be contracted by exposure, over-eating, over-strain,
bad food, or other ordinary causes. Such ailments never
last, and have never any really bad effects, nor are they of
immediate danger. But, if a man sickens for any length of
time, and his strength seems to be really sapped, then the evil
forces are at work. By far the most prevalent form of black
magic, is that of the bwaga'u, that is the black sorcerer, of
whom there are a number in each district. Usually even in
each village there are one or two men more or less dreaded as
bwaga'u. To be one does not require any special initiation
except the knowledge of the spells. To learn these that is,
to learn them in such a manner as to become an acknowledged

* See the Author's article " Baloma, Spirits of the Dead," quoted
above.

f I am using the words religion and magic according to Sir James
Frazer's
distinction (see " Golden Bough," vol. I). Frazer's definition suits
the Kiri-
winian facts much better than any other one. In fact, although I
started my
field work convinced that the theories of religion and magic expounded
in the
" Golden Bough " are inadequate, I was forced by all my observations in
New
Guinea to come over to Frazer's position.



74 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

bwaga'u can only be done by means of high payment, or in
exceptional circumstances. Thus, a father will often " give ""
his sorcery to his son, always, however, without payment ;
or a commoner will teach it to a man of rank, or a man to his
sister's son. In these two latter cases a very high payment
would have to be given. It is important as a characteristic of
the kinship conditions of this people, that a man -receives
sorcery gratis from his father, who according to the traditional
kinship system is no blood-relation, whereas he has to pay for
it to his maternal uncle, whose natural heir he is.

When a man has acquired the black art, he applies it to
a first victim, and this has always to be some one of his own
family. It is a firm and definite belief among all the natives
that if a man's sorcery has to be any good, it must first be
practised on his mother or sister, or any of his maternal kindred.
Such a matricidal act makes him a genuine bwaga'u. His art
then can be practised on others, and becomes an established
source of income.

The beliefs about sorcery are complex ; they differ according
as to whether taken from a real sorcerer, or from an outsider ;
and there are also evidently strata of belief, due perhaps to
local variation, perhaps to superimposed versions. Here a
short summary must suffice.

When a sorcerer wants to attack someone, the first step is
to cast a light spell over his habitual haunts, a spell which will
affect him with a slight illness and compel him to keep to his
bed in his house, where he will try to cure himself by lying
over a small fire and warming his body. His first ailment,
called kaynagola, comprises pains in the body, such as (speaking
from our point of view) would be brought about by rheumatism,
general cold, influenza, or any incipient disease. When the
victim is in bed, with a fire burning under him, and also, as a
rule, one in the middle of the hut, the bwaga'u stealthily
approaches the house. He is accompanied by a few night-
birds, owls and night- jars, which keep guard over him, and he
is surrounded by a halo of legendary terrors which make all
natives shiver at the idea of meeting a sorcerer on such a
nocturnal visit. He then tries to insert through the thatch
wall a bunch of herbs impregnated with some deadly charm and
tied to a long stick, and these he attempts to thrust into the
fire over which the sick man is lying. If he succeeds, the fumes



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 75

of the burnt leaves will be inhaled by the victim, whose name
has been uttered in the charm, and he will be seized by one
or other of the deadly diseases of which the natives have a long
list, with a definite symptomatology, as well as a magical
etiology. Thus the preliminary sorcery was necessary, in
order to keep the victim to his house, in which spot only
can the mortal magic be performed.

Of course, the sick man is on the defensive as well. First
of all, his friends and relatives this is one of the main duties
of the wife's brothers will keep a close watch over him,
sitting with spears round the hut, and at all approaches to it.
Often have I come across such vigils, when walking late at
night through some village. Then, the services of some rival
bwaga'u are invoked (for the art of killing and curing is always
in the same hand), and he utters counter-spells, so that at times
the efforts of the first sorcerer, even should he succeed in
burning the herbs according to the dreaded toginivayu rite, are
fruitless.

Should this be so, he resorts to the final and most fatal rite,
that of the pointing-bone. Uttering powerful spells, the
bwaga'u and one or two accomplices, boil some coco-nut oil
in a small pot, far away in a dense patch of jungle. Leaves of
herbs are soaked in the oil, and then wrapped round a sharp
stingaree spine, or some similar pointed object, and the final
incantation, most deadly of all, is chanted over it. Then the
bwaga'u steals towards the village, catches sight of his victim,
and hiding himself behind a shrub or house, points the magical
dagger at him. In fact, he violently and viciously turns it
round in the air, as if to stab the victim, and to twist and
wrench the point in the wound. This, if carried out properly,
and not counteracted by a still more powerful magician, will
never fail to kill a man.

I have here summarised the bare outlines of the successive
application of black magic as it is believed by sorcerer and
outsider alike to be done, and to act in producing disease and
death. There can be no doubt that the acts of sorcery are
really carried out by those who believe themselves to possess
the black powers. It is equally certain that the nervous
strain of knowing one's life to be threatened by a bwaga'u
is very great, and probably it is much worse when a man
knows that behind the sorcerer stands the might of the chief



76 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

and this apprehension certainly contributes powerfully towards
the success of black magic. On the other hand, a chief, if
attacked, would have a good guard to protect him, and the
most powerful wizards to back him up, and also the authority
to deal directly with anyone suspected of plotting against him.
Thus sorcery, which is one of the means of carrying on the
established order, is in its turn strengthened by it.

If we remember that, as in all belief in the miraculous and
supernatural, so also here, there is the loophole of counter-
forces, and of the sorcery being incorrectly or inefficiently
applied, spoilt by broken taboos, mispronounced spells, or
what not ; again, that suggestion strongly influences the
victim, and undermines his natural resistance ; further that
all disease is invariably traced back to some sorcerer or other,
who, whether it is true or not, often frankly admits his responsi-
bility in order to enhance his reputation, there is then no
difficulty in understanding why the belief in black magic
flourishes, why no empirical evidence can ever dispel it, and
why the sorcerer no less than the victim, has confidence in
his own powers. At least, the difficulty is the same as in
explaining many contemporary examples of results achieved
by miracles and faith healing, such as Christian Science or
Lourdes, or in any cure by prayers and devotion.

Although by far the most important of them all, the
bwaga'u is only one among the beings who can cause disease
and death. The often-mentioned flying-witches, who come
always from the Southern half of the island, or from the East,
from the islands of Kitava, Iwa, Gava, or Murua, are even
more deadly. All very rapid and violent diseases, more
especially such as show no direct, perceptible symptoms, are
attributed to the mulukwami, as they are called. Invisible,
they fly through the air, and perch on trees, house-tops, and
other high places. From there, they pounce upon a man or
woman and remove and hide " the inside," that is, the lungs,
heart and guts, or the brains and tongue. Such a victim will
die within a day or two, unless another witch, called for the
purpose and well paid, goes in search and restores the missing
" inside." Of course, sometimes it is too late to do it, as the meal
has been eaten in the meantime ! Then the victim must die.

Another powerful agency of death consists of the tauva'u,
non-human though anthropomorphic beings, who cause all



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 77

epidemic disease. When, at the end of the rainy season the
new and unripe yams have come in, and dysentery rages,
decimating the villages ; or, when in hot and damp years an
infectious disease passes over the district, taking heavy toll,
this means that the tauva'u have come from the South, and
that, invisible, they march through the villages, rattling their
lime gourds, and with their sword-clubs or sticks hitting their
victims, who immediately sicken and die. The tauva'u can, at
will, assume the shape of man or reptile. He appears then as
a snake, or crab, or lizard, and you recognise him at once, for
he will not run away from you, and he has as a rule a patch
of some gaudy colour on his skin. It would be a fatal thing
to kill such a reptile. On the contrary, it has to be taken up
cautiously and treated as a chief ; that is to say, it is placed
on a high platform, and some of the valuable tokens of wealth
a polished green stone blade, or a pair of arm-shells, or a
necklace of spondylus shell beads must be put before it as an
offering.

It is very interesting to note that the tauva'u are believed
to come from the Northern coast of Normanby Island, from the
district of DuVu, and more especially from a place called
Sewatupa. This is the very place where, according to Dobuan
belief and myth, their sorcery originated. Thus, what to the
local tribes of the originating place is ordinary sorcery,
practised by men, becomes, when looked at from a great
distance, and from an alien tribe, a non-human agency,
endowed with such super-normal powers as changing of
shape, invisibility, and a direct, infallible method of
inflicting death.

The tauva'u have sometimes sexual intercourse with
women ; several present cases are on record, and such women
who have a familar tauva'u become dangerous witches, though
how they practise their witchcraft is not quite clear to the
natives.

A much less dangerous being is the tokway, a wood sprite,
living in trees and rocks, stealing crops from the field and from
the yam-houses, and inflicting slight ailments. Some men in
the past have acquired the knowledge of how to do this from
the tokway, and have handed it on to their descendants.

So we see that, except for the very light ailments which
pass quickly and easily, all disease is attributed to sorcery.



78 THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

Even accidents are not believed to happen without cause.
That this is the case also with drowning, we shall learn more
in detail, when we have to follow the Trobrianders in their
dangerous sea-trips. Natural death, caused by old age, is
admittedly possible, but when I asked in several concrete
cases, in which age was obviously the cause, why such and such
a man died, I was always told that a bwaga'u was at the back
of it. Only suicide and death in battle have a different place
in the mind of the natives, and this is also confirmed by the
belief that people killed in war, those that commit suicide,
and those who are frewitched to death have, each class, their
own way to the other world.

This sketch of Trobriand tribal life, belief and customs
must suffice, and we shah 1 still have opportunities of enlarging
upon these subjects that most matter to us for the present
study.

VIII

Two more districts remain to be mentioned, through which
the Kula trade passes on its circuit, before it returns to
the place from where we started. One of them is the Eastern
portion of the Northern Massim, comprising the Marshall
Bennett Islands (Kitava, Iwa, Gawa, Kwayawata), and Wood-
lark Island (Murua), with the small group of Nada Islands
The other district is that of St. Aignan Island, called by the
natives Masima, or Misima, with the smaller island Panayati.

Looking from the rocky shores of Boyowa, at its narrowest
point, we can see over the white breakers on the fringing reef
and over the sea, here always blue and limpid, the silhouette
of a flat-topped, low rock, almost due East, This is Kitava,
To the Trobrianders of the Eastern districts, this island and
those behind it are the promised land of the Kula, just as Dobu
is to the natives of Southern Boyowa. But here, unlike in
the South, they have to deal with tribesmen who speak their
own language, with dialectic differences only, and who have
very much the same institutions and customs. In fact, the
nearest island, Kitava, differs only very little from the Tro-
briands. Although the more distant islands, especially
Murua, have a slightly different form of totemism, with hardly
any idea of rank attached to the sub-clans, and consequently
no chieftainship in the Trobriand sense, yet their social



THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS 79

organisation is also much the same as in the Western province.*
I know the natives only from having seen them very frequently
and in great numbers in the Trobriands, where they come on
Kula expeditions. In Murua, however, I spent a short time
doing field work in the village of Dikoyas. In appearance,
dress, ornaments and manners, the natives are indistinguishable
from the Trobrianders. Their ideas and customs in matters of
sex, marriage, and kinship are, with variations in detail only,
the same as in Boyowa. In beliefs and mythology, they also
belong to the same culture.

To the Trobrianders, the Eastern islands are also the chief
home and stronghold of the dreaded mulukwausi (flying
witches); the land whence love magic came, originating in the
island of Iwa ; the distant shores towards which the mythical
hero Tudava sailed, performing many feats, till he finally
disappeared, no one knows where. The most recent version is
that he most likely finished his career in the white man's
country. To the Eastern islands, says native belief, the
spirits of the dead, killed by sorcery, go round on a short visit
not stopping there, only floating through the air like clouds,
before they turn round to the North- West to Tuma.

From these islands, many important products come to
Boyowa (the Trobriands), but none half as important as the
tough, homogeneous green-stone, from which all their imple-
ments were made in the past, and of which the ceremonial axes
are made up till now. Some of these places are renowned for
their yam gardens, especially Kitava, and it is recognised that
the best carving in black ebony comes from there. The most
important point of difference between the natives of this
district and the Trobrianders, lies in the method of mortuary
distributions, to which subject we shall have to return in a
later part of the book, as it is closely connected with Kula.

From Murua (Woodlark Island) the Kula track curves over
to the South in two different branches, one direct to Tubetube,
and the other to Misima, and thence to Tubetube and Wari.
The district of Misima is almost entirely unknown to me I
have only spoken once or twice with natives of this island,
and there is not, to my knowledge, any reliable published

* Compare Professor C. G. Sehgman, op. cit., the parallel description
of
the social institutions in the Trobriands, Marshall Bennetts, Woodlark
Island
and the Loughlands, Chapters XLIX LV.



8o THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

information about that district, so we shall have to pass it
over with a very few words. This is, however, not so alarming,
because it is certain, even from the little I know about them,
that the natives do not essentially differ from the other Massim.
They are totemic and matrilineal ; there is no chieftainship,
and the form of authority is the same as in the Southern
Massim. Their sorcerers and witches resemble thpse of the
Southern Massim and Dobuans. In industries, they specialise
in canoe-building, and in the small island of Panayati produce
the same type of craft as the natives of Gawa and Woodlark
Island, slightly different only from the Trobriand canoe. In
the island of Misima, a very big supply of areca (betel) nut is
produced, as there is a custom of planting a number of these
nuts after a man's death.

The small islands of Tubetube and Wari, which form the
final link of the Kula, lie already within the district of the
Southern Massim. In fact, the island of Tubetube is one of
the places studied in detail by Professor Seligman, and its
ethnographical description is one of three parallel monographs
which form the division of the Southern Massim in the treatise
so often quoted.

Finally, I want to point out again that the descriptions
of the various Kula districts given in this and in the
previous chapter, though accurate in every detail, are
not meant to be an exhaustive ethnographic sketch
of the tribes. They have been given with a few light
touches in order to produce a vivid and so-to-speak personal
impression of the various type of natives, and countries and
of cultures. If I have succeeded in giving a physiognomy to
each of the various tribes, to the Trobrianders, to the
Amphlettans, the Dobuans, and the Southern Massim, and in
arousing some interest in them, the main purpose has been
achieved, and the necessary ethnographic background for the
Kula has been supplied.




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CHAPTER III
THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

I

HAVING thus described the scene, and the actors, let us now
proceed to the performance. The Kula is a form of exchange,
of extensive, inter-tribal character ; it is carried on by com-
munities inhabiting a wide ring of islands, which form a
closed circuit. This circuit can be seen on Map V, where it
is represented by the lines joining a number of islands to the
North and East of the East end of New Guinea. Along this
route, articles of two kinds, and these two kinds only, are
constantly travelling in opposite directions. In the direction
of the hands of a clock, moves constantly one of these kinds
long necklaces of red shell, called soulava (Plates XVII I and
XIX). In the opposite direction moves the other kind
bracelets of white shell called mwali (Plates XVI and XVII).
Each of these articles, as it travels in its own direction on the
closed circuit, meets on its way articles of the other class, and
is constantly being exchanged for them. Every movement
of the Kula articles, every detail of the transactions is fixed
and regulated by a set of traditional rules and conventions,
and some acts of the Kula are accompanied by an elaborate
magical ritual and public ceremonies.

On every island and in every village, a more or less limited
number of men take part in the Kula that is to say, receive
the goods, hold them for a short time, and then pass them on.
Therefore every man who is in the Kula, periodically though
not regularly, receives one or several mwali (arm-shells), or a
soulava (necklace of red shell discs), and then has to hand it
on to one of his partners, from whom he receives the opposite
commodity in exchange. Thus no man ever keeps any of the
articles for any length of time in his possession. One trans-
action does not finish the Kula relationship, the rule being



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 83

" once in the Kula, always in the Kula," and a partnership
between two men is a permanent and lifelong affair. Again,
any given mwali or soulava may always be found travelling
and changing hands, and there is no question of its ever settling
down, so that the principle " once in the Kula, always in the
Kula " applies also to the valuables themselves.

The ceremonial exchange of the two articles is the main,
the fundamental aspect of the Kula. But associated with it,
and done under its cover, we find a great number of secondary
activities and features. Thus, side by side with the ritual
exchange of arm-shells and necklaces, the natives carry on
ordinary trade, bartering from one island to another a great
number of utilities, often unprocurable in the district to which
they are imported, and indispensable there. Further, there are
other activities, preliminary to the Kula, or associated with it,
such as the building of sea-going canoes for the expeditions, cer-
tain big forms of mortuary ceremonies, and preparatory taboos.

The Kula is thus an extremely big and complex institution,
both in its geographical extent, and in the manifoldness of its
component pursuits. It welds together a condiderable number
of tribes, and it embraces a vast complex of activities, inter-
connected, and playing into one another, so as to form one
organic whole.

Yet it must be remembered that what appears to us an
extensive, complicated, and yet well ordered institution is the
outcome of ever so many doings and pursuits, carried on by
savages, who have no laws or aims or charters definitely laid
down. They have no knowledge of the total outline of any of
their social structure. They know their own motives, know
the purpose of individual actions and the rules which apply
to them, but how, out of these, the whole collective institution
shapes, this is beyond their mental range. Not even the most
intelligent native has any clear idea of the Kula as a big,
organised social construction, still less of its sociological function
and implications. If you were to ask him what the Kula is,
he would answer by giving a few details, most likely by giving
his personal experiences and subjective views on the Kula,
but nothing approaching the definition just given here. Not
even a partial coherent account could be obtained. For the
integral picture does not exist in his mind ; he is in it, and
cannot see the whole from the outside.



84 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

The integration of all the details observed, the achievement
of a sociological synthesis of all the various, relevant symptoms,
is the task of the Ethnographer. First of all, he has to find
out that certain activities, which at first sight might appear
incoherent and not correlated, have a meaning. He then has
to find out what is constant and relevant in these activities,
and what accidental and inessential, that is, to find out the
laws and rules of all the transactions. Again, the Ethno-
grapher has to construct the picture of the big institution, very
much as the physicist constructs his theory from the experi-
mental data, which always have been within reach of everybody,
but which needed a consistent interpretation. I have touched
on this point of method in the Introduction (Divisions V and
VI), but I have repeated it here, as it is necessary to grasp it
clearly in order not to lose the right perspective of conditions
as they really exist among the natives.

II

In giving the above abstract and concise definition, I had
to reverse the order of research, as this is done in ethnographic
field-work, where the most generalised inferences are obtained
as the result of long inquiries and laborious inductions. The
general definition of the Kula will serve as a sort of plan or
diagram in our further concrete and detailed descriptions.
And this is the more necessary as the Kula is concerned with
the exchange of wealth and utilities, and therefore it is an
economic institution, and there is no other aspect of primitive
life where our knowledge is more scanty and our understanding
more superficial than in Economics. Hence misconception is
rampant, and it is necessary to clear the ground when
approaching any economic subject.

Thus in the Introduction we called the Kula a " form of
trade/' and we ranged it alongside other systems of barter.
This is quite correct, if we give the word " trade " a sufficiently
wide interpretation, and mean by it any exchange of goods.
But the word " trade " is used in current Ethnography and
economic literature with so many different implications that a
whole lot of misleading, preconceived ideas have to be brushed
aside in order to grasp the facts correctly. Thus the aprioric
current notion of primitive trade would be that of an exchange
of indispensable or useful articles, done without much ceremony



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 85

or regulation, under stress of dearth or need, in spasmodic,
irregular intervals and this done either by direct barter,
everyone looking out sharply not to be done out of his due, or,
if the savages were too timid and distrustful to face one another,
by some customary arrangement, securing by means of heavy
penalties compliance in the obligations incurred or imposed.*
Waiving for the present the question how far this conception
is valid or not in general in my opinion it is quite misleading
we have to realise clearly that the Kula contradicts in
almost every point the above definition of " savage trade,"
It shows to us primitive exchange in an entirely different
light.

The Kula is not a surreptitious and precarious form of
exchange. It is, quite on the contrary, rooted in myth,
backed by traditional law, and surrounded with magical
rites. All its main transactions are public and ceremonial,
and carried out according to definite rules. It is not done on
the spur of the moment, but happens periodically, at dates
settled in advance, and it is carried on along definite trade
routes, which must lead to fixed trysting places. Sociologically,
though transacted between tribes differing in language, culture,
and probably even in race, it is based on a fixed and permanent
status, on a partnership which binds into couples some thousands
of individuals. This partnership is a lifelong relationship, it
implies various mutual duties and privileges, and constitutes
a type of inter-tribal relationship on an enormous scale. As to
the economic mechanism of the transactions, this is based on a
specific form of credit, which implies a high degree of mutual

* By " current view," I mean such as is to be found in text-books and
in passing remarks, scattered through economic and ethnological
literature.
As a matter of fact, Economics is a subject very seldom touched upon
either
in theoretical works on Ethnology, or in accounts of field-work. I have
enlarged
on this deficiency in the article on " Primitive Economics," published
in the
Economic Journal, March, 1921.

The best analysis of the problem of savage economy is to be found, in
spite of its many shortcomings, in K. Biicher's " Industrial
Evolution," English
Translation, 1901. On primitive trade, however, his views are
inadequate.
In accordance with his general view that savages have no national
economy,
he maintains that any spread of goods among natives is achieved by
non-econo-
mic means, such as robbery, tributes and gifts. The information
contained
in the present volume is incompatible with Bucher's views, nor could he
have
maintained them had he been acquainted with Barton's description of the

Hin (contained in Seligman's '* Melanesians.")

A summary of the research done on Primitive Economics, showing
incidentally, how little real, sound work has been accomplished, will
be found
in Pater W. Kopper's " Die Ethnologische Wirtschaftsforschung " in
Anthropos,
X XI, 1915-16, pp. 611-651, and 971-1079. The article is very usefu',
where the author summarises the views of others.



86 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

trust and commercial honour and this refers also to the
subsidiary, minor trade, which accompanies the Kula proper.
Finally, the Kula is not done under stress of any need, since its
main aim is to exchange articles which are of no practical use.

From the concise definition of Kula given at the beginning
of this chapter, we see that in its final essence, divested of all
trappings and accessories, it is a very simple affair, which at
first sight might even appear tame and unromantic. After all,
it only consists of an exchange, interminably repeated, of two
articles intended for ornamentation, but not even used for
that to any extent. Yet this simple action this passing from
hand to hand of two meaningless and quite useless objects
has somehow succeeded in becoming the foundation of a big
inter-tribal institution, in being associated with ever so many
other activities, Myth, magic and tradition have built up
around it definite ritual and ceremonial forms, have given it
a halo of romance and value in the minds of the natives, have
indeed created a passion in their hearts for this simple exchange.

The definition of the Kula must now be amplified, and we
must describe one after the other its fundamental character-
istics and main rules, so that it may be clearly grasped by
what mechanism the mere exchange of two articles results in
an institution so vast, complex, and deeply rooted.

Ill

First of all, a few words must be said about the two
principal objects of exchange, the arm-shells (mwali) and the
necklaces (soulava). The arm-shells are obtained by breaking
off the top and the narrow end of a big, cone-shaped shell
(Conns millepunctatus), and then polishing up the remaining
ring. These bracelets are highly coveted by all the Papuo-
Melanesians of New Guinea, and they spread even into the pure
Papuan district of the Gulf.* The manner of wearing the
arm-shells is illustrated by Plate XVII, where the men have
put them on on purpose to be photographed.

The use of the small discs of red spondylus shell, out of
which the soulava are made, is also of a very wide diffusion.

* Professor C. G. Seligman, op. tit., p. 93, states that arm-shells,
toea, as
they are called by the Motu, are traded from the Port Moresby district
westward
to the Gulf of Papua. Among the Motu and Koita, near Port Moresby, they

are highly valued, and nowadays attain very high prices, up to 30, much
more
than is paid for the same article among the Massim.



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 87

There is a manufacturing centre of them in one of the villages
in Port Moresby, and also in several places in Eastern New
Guinea, notably in Rossell Island, and in the Trobriands. I
have said " use " on purpose here, because these small beads,
each of them a flat, round disc with a hole in the centre,
coloured anything from muddy brown to carmine red, are
employed in various ways for ornamentation They are most
generally used as part of earrings, made of rings of turtle shell,
which are attached to the ear lobe, and from which hang a
cluster of the shell discs. These earrings are very much worn,
and, especially among the Massim, you see them on the ears
of every second man or woman, while others are satisfied with
turtle shell alone, unornamented with the shell discs. Another
everyday ornament, frequently met with and worn, especially
by young girls and boys, consists of a short necklace, just
encircling the neck, made of the red spondylus discs, with one
or more cowrie shell pendants. These shell discs can be, and
often are, used in the make-up of the various classes of the
more elaborate ornaments, worn on festive occasions only.
Here, however, we are more especially concerned with the very
long necklaces, measuring from two to five metres, made of
spondylus discs, of which there are two main varieties, one,
much the finer, with a big shell pendant, the other made of
bigger discs, and with a few cowrie shells or black banana seeds
in the centre (see Plate XVIII).

The arm-shells on the one hand, and the long spondylus
shell strings on the other, the two main Kula articles, are
primarily ornaments. As such, they are used with the most
elaborate dancing dress only, and on very festive occasions
such as big ceremonial dances, great feasts, and big gatherings,
where several villages are represented, as can be seen in Plate VI.
Never could they be used as everyday ornaments, nor on
occasions of minor importance, such as a small dance in the
village, a harvest gathering, a love-making expedition, when
facial painting, floral decoration and smaller though not quite
everyday ornaments are worn (see Plates XII and XIII).
But even though usable and sometimes used, this is not the
main function of these articles. Thus, a chief may have
several shell strings in his possession, and a few arm-shells.
Supposing that a big dance is held in his or in a neighbouring
village, he will not put on his ornaments himself if he goes to



88 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

assist at it, unless he intends to dance and decorate himself,
but any of his relatives, his children or his friends and even
vassals, can have the use of them for the asking. If you go
to a feast or a dance where there are a number of men wearing
such ornaments, and ask anyone of them at random to whom it
belongs, the chances are that more than half of them will
answer that they themselves are not the owners, but that they
had the articles lent to them. These objects are not owned in
order to be used ; the privilege of decorating oneself with them
is not the real aim of possession.

Indeed and this is more significant by far the greater
number of the arm-shells, easily ninety per cent., are of too
small a size to be worn even by young boys and girls. A few
are so big and valuable that they would not be worn at all,
except once in a decade by a very important man on a very
festive day. Though all the shell-strings can be worn, some of
them are again considered too valuable, and are cumbersome
for frequent use, and would be worn on very exceptional
occasions only.

This negative description leaves us with the questions :
why, then, are these objects valued, what purpose do they
serve ? The full answer to this question will emerge out of the
whole story contained in the following chapters, but an
approximate idea must be given at once. As it is always
better to approach the unknown through the known, let us
consider for a moment whether among ourselves we have not
some type of objects which play a similar role and which are
used and possessed in the same manner. When, after a six
years 1 absence in the South Seas and Australia, I returned to
Europe and did my first bit of sight-seeing in Edinburgh Castle,
I was shown the Crown jewels. The keeper told many stories
of how they were worn by this or that king or queen on such
and such occasion, of how some of them had been taken over
to London, to the great and just indignation of the whole
Scottish nation, how they were restored, and how now everyone
can be pleased, since they are safe under lock and key, and no
one can touch them. As I was looking at them and thinking
how ugly, useless, ungainly, even tawdry they were, I had the
feeling that something similar had been told to me of late, and
that I had seen many other objects of this sort, which made a
similar impression on me.



PLATE XVIII




TWO NECKLACES, MADE OF RED SPONDYLUS
DISCS

On the left, the soulava, or bagl, the real Kula article. On
the right, the katudababile (or samakupa, as it is called among
the Southern Massim), made of bigger discs, manufactured
in the villages of Sinakcta and Vakuta (Trobriand Islands).
This latter article does not play any important part in the
Kula. (See Div. Ill : Ch. XIV, Div. II : Ch. XV, Divs.
II and III.)



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 89

And then arose before me the vision of a native village on
coral soil, ond a small, rickety platform temporarily erected
under a pandanus thatch, surrounded by a number of brown,
naked men, and one of them showing me long, thin red strings,
and big, white, worn-out objects, clumsy to sight and greasy
to touch. With reverence he also would name them, and tell
their history, and by whom and when they were worn, and how
they changed hands, and how their temporary possession was
a great sign of the importance and glory of the village. The
analogy between the European and the Trobriand vaygu'a
(valuables) must be delimited with more precision. The
Crown Jewels, in fact, any heirlooms too valuable and too
cumbersome to be worn, represent the same type as vaygu'a
in that they are merely possessed for the sake of possession
itself, and the ownership of them with the ensuing renown is
the main source of their value. Also both heirlooms and
vaygu'a are cherished because of the historical sentiment
which surrounds them. However ugly, useless, and according
to current standards valueless an object may be, if it has
figured in historical scenes and passed through the hands of
historic persons, and is therefore an unfailing vehicle of import-
ant sentimental associations, it cannot but be precious to us.
This historic sentimentalism, which indeed has a large share
in our general interest in studies of past events, exists also in
the South Seas. Every really good Kula article has its individual
name, round each there is a sort of history and romance in the
traditions of the natives. Crown jewels or heirlooms are
insignia of rank and symbols of wealth respectively, and in
olden days with us, and in New Guinea up till a few years
ago, both rank and wealth went together. The main point
of difference is that the Kula goods are only in possession for
a time, whereas the European treasure must be permanently
owned in order to have full value.

Taking a broader, ethnological view of the question, we
may class the Kula valuables among the many " ceremonial "
objects of wealth ; enormous, carved and decorated weapons,
stone implements, articles of domestic and industrial nature,
too well decorated and too clumsy for use. Such things are
usually called " ceremonial," but this word seems to cover a
great number of meanings and much that has no meaning at
all. In fact, very often, especially on museum labels, an article



90 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

is called " ceremonial " simply because nothing is .known about
its uses and general nature. Speaking only about museum
exhibits from New Guinea, I can say that many so-called
ceremonial objects are nothing but simply overgrown objects
of use, which preciousness of material and amount of labour
expended have transformed into reservoirs of condensed
economic value. Again, others are used on festive occasions,
but play no part whatever in rites and ceremonies, and serve
for decoration only, and these might be called objects of parade
(comp. Chap VI, Div. I). Finally, a number of these articles
function actually as instruments of a magical or religious rite,
and belong to the intrinsic apparatus of a ceremony. Such
and such only could be correctly called ceremonial. During
the So'i feasts among the Southern Massim, women carrying
polished axe blades in fine carved handles, accompany with
a rythmic step to the beat of drums, the entry of the pigs and
mango saplings into the village (see Plates V and VI). As
this is part of the ceremony and the axes are an indispensable
accessory, their use in this case can be legitimately called
" ceremonial.'* Again, in certain magical ceremonies in the
Trobriands, the towosi (garden magician) has to carry a mounted
axe blade on his shoulders, and with it he delivers a ritual blow
at a kamkokola structure (see Plate LIX; compare Chapter II,
Division IV).

The vaygu'a the Kula valuables in one of their
aspects are overgrown objects of use. They are also,
however, ceremonial objects in the narrow and correct
sense of the word. This will become clear after perusal
of the following pages, and to this point we shall return
in the last chapter.

It must be kept in mind that here we are trying to obtain a
clear and vivid idea of what the Kula valuables are to the
natives, and not to give a detailed and circumstantial descrip-
tion of them, nor to define them with precision. The comparison
with the European heirlooms or Crown jewels was given in
order to show that this type of ownership is not entirely a
fantastic South Sea custom, untranslatable into our ideas.
For and this is a point I want to stress the comparison I
have made is not based on purely external, superficial
similarity. The psychological and sociological forces at work
are the same, it is really the same mental attitude which



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 91

makes us value our heirlooms, and makes the natives in New
Guinea value their vaygu'a.

IV

The exchange of these two classes of vaygu'a, of the arm-
shells and the necklaces, constitutes the main act of the Kula.
This exchange is not done freely, right and left, as opportunity
offers, and where the whim leads. It is subject indeed to
strict limitations and regulations. One of these refers to the
sociology of the exchange, and entails that Kula transactions
can be done only between partners. A man who is in the Kula
for not everyone within its district is entitled to carry it on
has only a limited number of people with whom he does it.
This partnership is entered upon in a definite manner, under
fulfilment of certain formalities, and it constitutes a life-long
relationship. The number of partners a man has varies with
his rank and importance. A commoner in the Trobriands
would have a few partners only, whereas a chief would num-
ber hundreds of them. There is no special social mechanism
to limit the partnership of some people and extend that of the
others, but a man would naturally know to what number of
partners he was entitled by his rank and position. And there
would be always the example of his immediate ancestors to
guide him. In other tribes, where the distinction of rank is
not so pronounced, an old man of standing, or a headman
of a hamlet or village would also have hundreds of Kula
associates, whereas a man of minor importance would have
but few.

Two Kula partners have to kula with one another, and
exchange other gifts incidentally ; they behave as friends, and
have a number of mutual duties and obligations, which vary
with the distance between their villages and with their
reciprocal status. An average man has a few partners near by,
as a rule his relations-in-law or his friends, and with these
partners, he is generally on very friendly terms. The Kula
partnership is one of the special bonds which unite two men
into one of the standing relations of mutual exchange of gifts
and services so characteristic of these natives. Again, the
average man will have one or two chiefs in his or in the neigh-
bouring districts with whom he kulas. In such a case, he
would be bound to assist and serve them in various ways, an<i



92 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

to offer them the pick of his vaygu'a when he gets a fresh
supply. On the other hand he would expect them to be
specially liberal to htm.

The overseas partner is, on the other hand, a host, patron
and aUy in a land of danger and insecurity. Nowadays,
though the feeling of danger still persists, and natives never
feel safe and comfortable in a strange district, this 'danger is
rather felt as a magical one, and it is more the fear of foreign
sorcery that besets them. In olden days, more tangible dangers
were apprehended, and the partner was the main guarantee of
safety. He also provides with food, gives presents? and
his house, though never used to sleep in, is the place in which
to foregather while in the village. Thus the Kula partnership
provides every man within its ring with a few friends near at
hand, and with some friendly allies in the far-away, dangerous,
foreign districts. These are the only people with whom he
can kula, but, of course, amongst all his partners, he is free to
choose to which one he will offer which object.

Let us now try to cast a broad glance at the cumulative
effects of the rules of partnership. We see that all around the
ring of Kula there is a network of relationships, and that
naturally the whole forms one interwoven fabric. Men living
at hundreds of miles' sailing distance from one another are
bound together by direct or intermediate partnership, exchange
with each other, know of each other, and on certain occasions
meet in a large intertribal gathering (Plate XX). Objects
given by one, in time reach some very distant indirect partner
or other, and not only Kula objects, but various articles of
domestic use and minor gifts. It is easy to see that in the long
run, not only objects of material culture, but also customs,
songs, art motives and general cultural influences travel along
the Kula route. It is a vast, inter-tribal net of relationships,
a big institution, consisting of thousands of men, all bound
together by one common passion for Kula exchange, and
secondarily, by many minor ties and interests.

Returning again to the personal aspect of the Kula, let us
take a concrete example, that of an average man who lives, let
us assume, in the village of Sinaketa, an important Kula centre
in the Southern Trobriands. He has a few partners, near and
far, but they again fall into categories, those who give him
arm-shells, and those who give him necklaces. For it is



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 93

naturally an invariable rule of the Kula that arm-shells and
necklaces are never received from the same man, since they must
travel in different directions. If one partner gives the arm-
shells, and I return to him a necklace, all future operations
have to be of the same type. More than that, the nature of
the operation between me, the man of Sinaketa, and my
partner, is determined by our relative positions with regard to
the points of the compass. Thus I, in Sinaketa, would receive
from the North and East only arm-shells ; from the South and
West, necklaces are given to me. If I have a near partner
next door to me, if his abode is North or East of mine, he will
always be giving me arm-shells and receiving necklaces from
me. If, at a later time he were to shift his residence within the
village, the old relationship would obtain, but if he became a
member of another village community on the other side of me
the relationship would be reversed. The partners in villages
to the North of Sinaketa, in the district of Luba, Kulumata, or
Kiriwina all supply me with arm-shells. These I hand over to
my partners in the South, and receive from them necklaces.
The South in this case means the southern districts of Boyowa,
as well as the Amphletts and Dobu.

Thus every man has to obey definite rules as to the geo-
graphical direction of his transactions. At any point in the
Kula ring, if we imagine him turned towards the centre of the
circle, he receives the arm-shells with his left hand, and the
necklaces with his right, and then hands them both on. In
other words, he constantly passes the arm-shells from left to.
right, and the necklaces from right to left.

Applying this rule of personal conduct to the whole Kula
ring, we can see at once what the aggregate result is. The sum
total of exchanges will not result in an aimless shifting of the
two classes of article, in a fortuitous come and go of the arm-
shells and necklaces. Two continuous streams will constantly
flow on, the one of necklaces following the hands of a clock,
and the other, composed of the arm-shells, in the opposite
direction. We see thus that it is quite correct to speak of the
circular exchange of the Kula, of a ring or circuit of moving
articles (comp. Map V). On this ring, all the villages are
placed in a definitely fixed position with regard to one another,
so that one is always on either the arm-shell or on the necklace
side of the other.



94 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

Now we pass to another rule of the Kula, of the greatest
importance. As just explained " the armshells and shell-
strings always travel in their own respective directions on the
ring, and they are never, under any circumstances, traded back
in the wrong direction. Also, they never stop. It seems
almost incredible at first, but it is the fact, nevertheless, that
no one ever keeps any of the Kula valuables for any4ength of
time. Indeed, in the whole of the Trobriands there are
perhaps only one or two specially fine armshells and shell-
necklaces permanently owned as heirlooms, and these are set
apart as a special class, and are once and for all out of the
Kula. ' Ownership,' therefore, in Kula, is quite a special
economic relation. A man who is in the Kula never keeps any
article for longer than, say, a year or two. Even this exposes
him to the reproach of being niggardly, and certain districts
have the bad reputation of being ' slow ' and ' hard ' in the
Kula. On the other hand, each man has an enormous number
of articles passing through his hands during his life time, of
which he enjoys a temporary possession, and which he keeps in
trust for a time. This possession hardly ever makes him use
the articles, and he remains under the obligation soon again
to hand them on to one of his partners. But the temporary
ownership allows him to draw a great deal of renown, to
exhibit his article, to tell how he obtained it, and to plan to
whom he is going to give it. And all this forms one of the
favourite subjects of tribal conversation and gossip, in which
the feats and the glory in Kula of chiefs or commoners are
constantly discussed and re-discussed/'* Thus every article
moves in one direction only, never comes back, never per-
manently stops, and takes as a rule some two to ten years to
make the round.

This feature of the Kula is perhaps its most remarkable one,
since it creates a new type of ownership, and places the two
Kula articles in a class of their own. Here we can return to
the comparison drawn between the vaygu'a (Kiriwinian
valuables) and the European heirlooms. This comparison
broke down on one point : in the European objects of this class,
permanent ownership, lasting association with the hereditary
dignity or rank or with a family, is one of its main features.

* This and the following quotations are from the Author's preliminary
article on the Kula in Man, July, 1920. Article number 51, p. 100.



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 95

In this the Kula articles differ from heirlooms, but resemble
another type of valued object, that is, trophies, gauges of
superiority, sporting cups, objects which are kept for a time
only by the winning party, whether a group or an individual.
Though held only in trust, only for a period, though never used
in any utilitarian way, yet the holders get from them a special
type of pleasure by the mere fact of owning them, of being
entitled to them. Here again, it is not only a superficial,
external resemblance, but very much the same mental attitude,
favoured by similar social arrangements. The resemblance
goes so far that in the Kula there exists also the element of
pride in merit, an element which forms the main ingredient
in the pleasure felt by a man or group holding a trophy.
Success in Kula is ascribed to special, personal power, due
mainly to magic, and men are very proud of it. Again, the
whole community glories in a specially fine Kula trophy,
obtained by one of its members.

All the rules so far enumerated looking at them from the
individual point of view limit the social range and the
direction of the transactions as well as the duration of owner-
ship of the articles. Looking at them from the point of view
of their integral effect, they shape the general outline of the
Kula, give it the character of the double-closed circuit. Now
a few words must be said about the nature of each individual
transaction, in so far as its commercial technicalities are
concerned. Here very definite rules also obtain.



The main principle underlying the regulations of actual
exchange is that the Kula consists in the bestowing of a
ceremonial gift, which has to be repaid by an equivalent
counter-gift after a lapse of time, be it a few hours or even
minutes, though sometimes as much as a year or more may
elapse between payments.* But it can never be exchanged
from hand to hand, with the equivalence between the two
objects discussed, bargained about and computed. The
decorum of the Kula transaction is strictly kept, and highly

* In order not to be guilty of inconsistency in using loosely the word
" ceremonial " I shall define it briefly. I shall call an action
ceremonial, if it
is (i) public ; (2) carried on under observance of definite formalities
; (3) if
it has sociological, religious, or magical import, and carries with it
obligations.



96 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

valued. The natives sharply distinguish it from barter, which
they practise extensively, of which they have a clear idea, and
for which they have a settled term in Kiriwinian : gimwali.
Often, when criticising an incorrect, too hasty, or indecorous
procedure of Kula, they will say : " He conducts his Kula as
if it were gimwali."

The second very important principle is that the equivalence
of the counter-gift is left to the giver, and it cannot be enforced
by any kind of coercion. A partner who has received a Kula
gift is expected to give back fair and full value, that is, to
give as good an arm-shell as the necklace he receives, or vice
versa. Again, a very fine article must be replaced by one of
equivalent value, and not by several minor ones, though
intermediate gifts may be given to mark time before the real
repayment takes place.

If the article given as counter-gift is not equivalent, the
recipient will be disappointed and angry, but he has no direct
means of redress, no means of coercing his partner, or of
putting an end to the whole transaction. What then are the
forces at work which keep the partners to the terms of the
bargain ? Here we come up against a very important feature
of the native's mental attitude towards wealth and value.
The great misconception of attributing to the savage a pure
economic nature, might lead us to reason incorrectly thus :
" The passion of acquiring, the loathing to lose or give away,
is the fundamental and most primitive element in man's
attitude to wealth. In primitive man, this primitive
characteristic will appear in its simplest and purest form
Grab and never let go will be the guiding principle of his life."*
The fundamental error in this reasoning is that it assumes
that " primitive man," as represented by the present-day
savage, lives, at least in economic matters, untrammelled by
conventions and social restrictions. Quite the reverse is the
Wse Although, like every human being, the Kula native
loves to possess and therefore desires to acquire and dreads
to lose, the social code of rules, with regard to give and take
by far overrides his natural acquisitive tendency.

* This is not a fanciful construction of what an erroneous opinion
might
be, for I could give actual examples proving that such opinions have
jbeen
set forth, but as I am not giving here a criticism of existing theories
of Primitive
Economics, I do not want to overload this chapter with quotations.



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 97

This social code, such as we find it among the natives of
the Kula is, however, far from weakening the natural desir-
ability of possession ; on the contrary, it lays down that to
possess is to be great, and that wealth is the .indispensable
appanage of social rank and attribute of personal virtue.
But the important point is that with them to possess is to give
and here the natives differ from us notably. A man who
owns a thing is naturally expected to share it, to distribute
it, to be its trustee and dispenser. And the higher the rank
the greater the obligation. A chief will naturally be expected
to give food to any stranger, visitor, even loiterer from
another end of the village. He will be expected to share any
of the betel-nut or tobacco he has about him. So that a man of
rank will have to hide away any surplus of these articles which
he wants to preserve for his further use. In the Eastern end
of New Guinea a type of large basket, with three layers,
manufactured in the Trobriands, was specially popular among
people of consequence, because one could hide away one's
small treasures in the lower compartments. Thus the main
symptom of being powerful is to be wealthy, and of wealth is
to be generous. Meanness, indeed, is the most despised vice,
and the only thing about which the natives have strong moral
views, while generosity is the essence of goodness.

This moral injunction and ensuing habit of generosity,
superficially observed and misinterpreted, is responsible for
another wide-spread misconception, that of the primitive com-
munism of savages. This, quite as much as the diametrically
opposed figment of the acquisitive and ruthlessly tenacious
native, is definitely erroneous, and this will be seen with
sufficient clearness in the following chapters.

Thus the fundamental principle of the natives' moral code
in this matter makes a man do his fair share in Kula transaction
and the more important he is, the more will he desire to shine
by his generosity. Noblesse oblige is in reality the social norm
regulating their conduct This does not mean that people are
always satisfied, and that there are no squabbles about the
transactions, no resentments and even feuds. It is obvious
that, however much a man may want to give a good equivalent
for the object received, he may not be able to do so. And
then, as there is always a keen competition to be the most
generous giver, a man who has received less than he gave will



98 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

not Jceep his grievance to himself, but will brag about his own
generosity and compare it to his partners meanness ; the other
resents it, and the quarrel is ready to break out. But it is
very important to realise that there is no actual haggling, no
tendency to do a man out of his share. The giver is quite as
keen as the receiver that the gift should be generous, though
for different reasons. Then, of course, there is the important
consideration that a man who is fair and generous in the Kula
will attract a larger stream to himself than a mean one.

The two main principles, namely, first that the Kula is a
gift repaid after an interval of time by a counter-gift, and not
a bartering ; and second, that the equivalent rests with the
giver, and cannot be enforced, nor can there be any haggling
or going back on the exchange these underlie all the
transactions. A concrete outline of how they are carried on,
will give a sufficient preliminary idea,

" Let us suppose that I, a Sinaketa man, am in possession
of a pair of big armshells. An overseas expedition from Dobu
in the d'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, arrives at my village.
Blowing a conch shell, I take my armshell pair and I offer it
to my overseas partner, with some such words as ' This is a
vaga (opening gift) in due time, thou returnest to me a big
soulava (necklace) for it ! ' Next year, when I visit my
partner's village, he either is in possession of an equivalent
necklace, and this he gives to me as yotile (return gift), or he
has not a necklace good enough to repay my last gift. In this
case he will give me a small necklace avowedly not equivalent
to my gift and he will give it to me as basi (intermediary gift).
This means that the main gift has to be repaid on a future
occasion, and the basi is given in token of good faith but it,
in turn, must be repaid by me in the meantime by a gift of
small arm-shells. The final gift, which will be given to me to
clinch the whole transaction, would then be called kudu
(clinching gift) in contrast to basi " (loc. cit., p. 99).

Although haggling and bargaining are completely ruled out
of the Kula, there are customary and regulated ways of
bidding for a piece of vaygu'a known to be in the possession of
one's partner. This is done by the offer of what we shall
call solicitary gifts, of which there are several types. "HI, an
inhabitant of Sinaketa, happen to be in possession of a pair of
arm-shells more than usually good, the fame of it spreads, for



X
X




THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 99

it must be remembered that each one of the first-class arm-
shells and necklaces has a personal name and a history of its
own, and as they circulate around the big ring of the Kula,
they are all well known, and their appearance in a given
district always creates a sensation. Now, all my partners
whether from overseas or from within the district compete
for the favour of receiving this particular article of mine, and
those who are specially keen try to obtain it by giving me
pokala (offerings) and kaributu (solicit ary gifts). The former
(pokala) consist as a rule of pigs, especially fine bananas, and
yams or taro ; the latter (kaributu) are of greater value : the
valuable, large axe-blades (called beku), or lime spoons of whale
bone are given" (loc. cit, p. 100). The further complication
in the repayment of these solicitary gifts and a few more
technicalities and technical expressions connected herewith
will be given later on in Chapter IV.

VI

I have enumerated the main rules of the Kula in a manner
sufficient for a preliminary definition, and now a few words
must be said about the associated activities and secondary
aspects of the Kula. If we realise that at times the exchange
has to take place between districts divided by dangerous seas,
over which a great number of people have to travel by sail,
and do so keeping to appointed dates, it becomes clear at
once that considerable preparations are necessary to carry
out the expedition. Many preliminary activities are intimately
associated with the Kula. Such are, particularly, the building
of canoes, preparation of the outfit, the provisioning of the
expedition, the fixing of dates and social organisation of
the enterprise. All these are subsidiary to the Kula, and as
they are carried on in pursuit of it, and form one connected
series, a description of the Kula must embrace an account
of these preliminary activities. The detailed account of canoe
building, of the ceremonial attached to it, of the incidental
magical rites, of the launching and trial run, of the associated
customs which aim at preparing the outfit all this will be
described in detail in the next few chapters.

Another important pursuit inextricably bound up with
the Kula, is that of the secondary trade. Voyaging to far-off
countries, endowed with natural resources unknown in their



loo THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

own homes, the Kula sailors return each time richly laden with
these, the spoils of their enterprise. Again, in order to be able
to offer presents to his partner, every outward bound canoe
carries a cargo of such things as are known to be most desirable
in the overseas district. Some of this is given away in presents
to the partners, but a good deal is carried in order to pay for
the objects desired at home. In certain cases, the -visiting
natives exploit on their own account during the journey some
of the natural resources overseas. For example, the
Sinaketans dive for the spondylus in Sanaroa Lagoon, and the
Dobuans fish in the Trobriands on a beach on the southern
end of the island. The secondary trade is complicated still
more by the fact that such big Kula centres as, for instance,
Sinaketa, are not efficient in any of the industries of special
value to the Dobuans. Thus, Sinaketans have to procure the
necessary store of goods from the inland villages of Kuboma, and
this they do on minor trading expeditions preliminary to the
Kula. Like the canoe-building, the secondary trading will be
described in detail later on, and has only to be mentioned here.
Here, however, these subsidiary and associated activities
must be put in proper relation with regard to one another and
to the main transaction. Both the canoe-building and the
ordinary trade have been spoken of as secondary or subsidiary
to the Kula proper. This requires a comment. I do not, by
thus subordinating the two things in importance to the Kula,
mean to express a philosophical reflection or a personal
opinion as to the relative value of these pursuits from the point
of view of some social teleology. Indeed, it is clear that if we
look at the acts from the outside, as comparative sociologists,
and gauge their real utility, trade and canoe-building will
appear to us as the really important achievements, whereas we
shall regard the Kula only as an indirect stimulus, impelling
the natives to sail and to trade. Here, however, I am not
dealing in sociological, but in pure ethnographical description,
and any sociological analysis I have given is only what has
been absolutely indispensable to clear away misconceptions
and to define terms.*

* It is hardly necessary perhaps to make it quite clear that all
questions
of origins, of development or history of the institutions have been
rigorously
ruled out of this work. The mixing up of speculative or hypothetical
views
with an account of facts is, in my opinion an unpardonable sin against
ethno-
graphic method.



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 101

By ranging the Kula as the primary and chief activity,
and the rest as secondary ones, I mean that this precedence is
implied in the institutions themselves. By studying the
behaviour of the natives and all the customs in question, we
see that the Kula is in all respects the main aim : the dates
are fixed, the preliminaries settled, the expeditions arranged,
the social organisation determined, not with regard to trade,
but with regard to Kula. On an expedition, the big ceremonial
feast, held at the start, refers to the Kula ; the final ceremony
of reckoning and counting the spoil refers to Kula, not to the
objects of trade obtained. Finally, the magic, which is one of
the main factors of all the procedure, refers only to the Kula,
and this applies even to a part of the magic carried out over
the canoe. Some rites in the whole cycle are done for the sake
of the canoe itself, and others for the sake of Kula. The
construction of the canoes is always carried on directly in
connection with a Kula expedition. All this, of course, will
become really clear and convincing only after the detailed
account is given. But it was necessary at this point to set the
right perspective in the relation between the main Kula and the
trade.

Of course not only many of the surrounding tribes who
know nothing of the Kula do build canoes and sail far and
daringly on trading expeditions, but even within the Kula
ring, in the Trobriands for instance, there are several villages
who do not kula, yet have canoes and carry on energetic
overseas trade. But where the Kula is practised, it governs
all the other allied activities, and canoe building and trade are
made subsidiary to it. And this is expressed both by the
nature of the institutions and the working of all the arrange-
ments on the one hand, and by the behaviour and explicit
statements of the natives on the other.

The Kula it becomes, I hope, more and more clear is
a big, complicated institution, insignificant though its nucleus
might appear. To the natives, it represents one of the most
vital interests in life, and as such it has a ceremonial character
and is surrounded by magic. We can well imagine that
articles of wealth might pass from hand to hand without
ceremony or ritual, but in the Kula they never do. Even
when at times only small parties in one or two canoes sail
overseas and bring back vaygu'a, certain taboos are observed,



102 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

and a customary course is taken in departing, in sailing, and in
arriving ; even the smallest expedition in one canoe is a tribal
event of some importance, known and spoken of over the whole
district. But the characteristic expedition is one in which a
considerable number of canoes take part, organised in a certain
manner, and forming one body. Feasts, distributions of food,
and other public ceremonies are held, there is one leader and
master of the expedition, and various rules are adhered to, in
addition to the ordinary Kula taboos and observances.

The ceremonial nature of the Kula is strictly bound up
with another of its aspects magic. " The belief in the
efficiency of magic dominates the Kula, as it does ever so many
other tribal activities of the natives. Magical rites must be
performed over the sea-going canoe when it is built, in order
to make it swift, steady and safe ; also magic is done over a
canoe to make it lucky in the Kula. Another system of
magical rites is done in order to avert the dangers of sailing.
The third system of magic connected with overseas expeditions
is the mwasila or the Kula magic proper. This system consists
in numerous rites and spells, all of which act directly on the
mind (nanola) of one's partner, and make him soft, unsteady
in mind, and eager to give Kula gifts " (Joe. cit., p. 100).

It is clear than an institution so closely associated with
magical and ceremonial elements, as is the Kula, not only
rests on a firm, traditional foundation, but also has its large
store of legends. " There is a rich mythology of the Kula,
in which stories are told about far-off times when mythical
ancestors sailed on distant and daring expeditions. Owing to
their magical knowledge they were able to escape dangers,
to conquer their enemies, to surmount obstacles, and by their
feats they established many a precedent which is now closely
followed by tribal custom. But their importance for their
descendants lies mainly in the fact that they handed on their
magic, and this made the Kula possible for the following
generations 11 (loc. cit., p. 100).

The Kula is also associated in certain districts, to which
the Trobriands do not belong, with the mortuary feasts,
called so'i. The association is interesting and important,
and in Chapter XX an account of it will be given.

The big Kula expeditions are carried on by a great number
of natives, a whole district together. But the geographical



THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA 103

limits, from which the members of an expedition are recruited,
are well defined. Glancing at Map V, "we see a number of
circles, each of which represents a certain sociological unit
which we shall call a Kula community. A Kula community
consists of a village or a number of villages, who go out
together on big overseas expeditions, and who act as a body
in the Kula transactions, perform their magic in common,
have common leaders, and have the same outer and inner
social sphere, within which they exchange their valuables.
The Kula consists, therefore, first of the small, internal
transactions within a Kula community or contiguous com-
munities, and secondly, of the big over-seas expeditions in
which the exchange of articles takes place between two
communities divided by sea. In the first, there is a chronic,
permanent trickling of articles from one village to another,
and even within the village. In the second, a whole lot of
valuables, amounting to over a thousand articles at a time,
are exchanged in one enormous transaction, or, more correctly,
in ever so many transactions taking place simultaneously "
(loc. cit., p. 101). "The Kula trade consists of a series of
such periodical overseas expeditions, which link together the
various island groups, and annually bring over big quantities
of vaygu'a and of subsidiary trade from one district to another.
The trade is used and used up, but the vaygu'a the arm-
shells and necklets go round and round the ring' 1 (loc. cit.,
p. 105).

In this chapter, a short, summary definition of the Kula
has been given. I enumerated one after the other its most
salient features, the most remarkable rules as they are laid
down in native custom, belief and behaviour. This was
necessary in order to give a general idea of the institution
before describing its working in detail. But no abridged
definition can give to the reader the full understanding of a
human social institution. It is necessary for this, to explain
its working concretely, to bring the reader into contact with
the people, show how they proceed at each successive stage,
and to describe all the actual manifestations of the general
rules laid down in abstract.

As has been said above, the Kula exchange is carried on
by enterprises of two sorts ; first there are the big overseas
expeditions, in which a more or less considerable amount of



104 THE ESSENTIALS OF THE KULA

valuables are carried at one time. Then there is the inland
trade in which the articles are passed from hand to hand,
often changing several owners before they move a few miles.

The big overseas expeditions are by far the more spectacular
part of the Kula. They also contain much more public
ceremonial, magical ritual, and customary usage. They
require also, of course, more of preparation and preliminary
activity. I shall therefore have a good deal more to say
about the overseas Kula expeditions than about the internal
exchange.

As the Kula customs and beliefs have been mainly studied
in Boyowa, that is, the Trobriand Islands, and from the
Boyowan point of view, I shall describe, in the first place, the
typical course of an overseas expedition, as it is prepared,
organised, and carried out from the Trobriands. Beginning
with the construction of the canoes, proceeding to the
ceremonial launching and the visits of formal presentation of
canoes, we shall choose then the community of Sinaketa, and
follow the natives on one of their overseas trips, describing
it in all details. This will serve us as a type of a Kula expe-
dition to distant lands. It will then be indicated in what
particulars such expeditions may differ in other branches of
the Kula, and for this purpose I shall describe an expedition
from Dobu, and one between Kiriwina and Kitava. An
account of inland Kula in the Trobriands, of some associated
forms of trading and of Kula in the remaining branches will
complete the account.

In the next chapter I pass, therefore, to the preliminary
stages of the Kula, in the Trobriands, beginning with a
description of the canoes.



CHAPTER IV
CANOES AND SAILING

I

A CANOE is an item of material culture, and as such it can
be described, photographed and even bodily transported into
a museum. But and this is a truth too often overlooked
the ethnographic reality of the canoe would not be brought
much nearer to a student at home, even by placing a perfect
specimen right before him

The canoe is made for a certain use, and with a definite
purpose ; it is a means to an end, and we, who study native
life, must not reverse this relation, and make a fetish of the
object itself. In the study of the economic purposes for
which a canoe is made, of the various uses to which it is sub-
mitted, we find the first approach to a deeper ethnographic
treatment. Further sociological data, referring to its
ownership, accounts of who sails in it, and how it is done ;
information regarding the ceremonies and customs of its
construction, a sort of typical life history of a native craft
all that brings us nearer still to the understanding of what his
canoe truly means to the native.

Even this, however, does not touch the most vital reality of
a native canoe. For a craft, whether of bark or wood, iron
or steel, lives in the life of its sailors, and it is more to a sailor
than a mere bit of shaped matter. To the native, not less
than to the white seaman, a craft is surrounded by an atmosphere
of romance, built up of tradition and of personal experience.
It is an object of cult and admiration, a living thing, possessing
its own individuality.

We Europeans whether we know native craft by
experience or through descriptions accustomed to our
extraordinarily developed means of water transport, are apt
to look down on a native canoe and see it in a false perspective
regarding it almost as a child's plaything, an abortive,



106 CANOES AND SAILING

imperfect attempt to tackle the problem of sailing, which we
ourselves have satisfactorily solved.* But to the native his
cumbersome, sprawling canoe is a marvellous, almost
miraculous achievement, and a thing of beauty (see Plates
XXI, XXIII, XL, XLVII, LV). He has spun a tradition
around it, and he adorns it with his best carvings, he colours
and decorates it. It is to him a powerful contrivance for the
mastery of Nature, which allows him to cross perilous seas to
distant places. It is associated with journeys by sail, full of
threatening dangers, of living hopes and desires to which he
gives expression in song and story. In short, in the tradition
of the natives, in their customs, in their behaviour, and in their
direct statements, there can be found the deep love, the
admiration, the specific attachment as to something alive and
personal, so characteristic of the sailors' attitude towards his
craft.

And it is hi this emotional attitude of the natives towards
their canoes that I see the deepest ethnographic reality, which
must guide us right through the study of other aspects the
customs and technicalities of construction and of use ; the
economic conditions and the associated beliefs and traditions.
Ethnology or Anthropology, the science of Man, must not
shun him in his innermost self, in his instinctive and emotional
life.

A look at the ^pictures (for instance Plates XXI, XXIV,
XXXIX, or XLVII) will give us some idea of the general
structure of the native canoes : the body is a long, deep
well, connected with an outrigger float, which stretches parallel
with the body for almost all its length (see Plates XXI and
XXIII), and with a platform going across from one side to
the other. The lightness of the material permits it to be much
more deeply immersed than any sea-going European craft, and
gives it greater buoyancy. It skims the surface, gliding up and
down the waves, now hidden by the crests, now riding on top

* Comparing the frail yet clumsy native canoe with a fine European
yacht, we feel inclined to regard the former almost in the light of a
joke. This
is the pervading note in many amateur ethnographic accounts of sailing,

where cheap fun is made by speaking of roughly hewn dug-outs in terms
of
"dreadnoughts " or " Royal Yachts," just as simple, savage chiefs are
referred
to as " Kings " in a jocular vein. Such humour is doubtless natural and

refreshing, but when we approach these matters scientifically, on the
one
hand we must refrain from any distortion of facts, and on the other,
enter
into the finer shades of the natives' thought and feeling with regard
to his
own creations.



PLATE XXI




Ng;



A MAS AW A CANOH

itpda Bu'a, the seagoing canoe of Omawkrtna, showing general form
.mianuiitation o
rowhoards, the leaf-shaped padtlles and the form ot the out-n^T '"K- t^
Dlv * l llil ll
also next < h.ipter.)



FATE XXII




PUTTING A CANOE INTO ITS HANGAK

The canoes mi the East shores of Boyuwa arc seldom used, and whim idle
arc housed in shelter
built very much like ordinary huts, only much larger



[face p. 106



X
X

I




CANOES AND SAILING 107

of them. It is a precarious but delightful sensation to sit in
the slender body, while the canoe darts on with the float raised,
the platform steeply slanting, and water constantly breaking
over ; or else, still better, to perch on the platform or on the
float: the latter only feasible in the bigger canoes and be
carried across on the sea on a sort of suspended raft, gliding over
the waves in a manner almost uncanny. Occasionally a wave
leaps up and above the platform, and the canoe unwieldy,
square raft as it seems at first heaves lengthways and
crossways, mounting the furrows with graceful agility. When
the sail is hoisted, its heavy, stiff folds of golden matting
unroll with a characteristic swishing and crackling noise,
and the canoe begins to make way ; when the water rushes
away below with a hiss, and the yellow sail glows against the
intense blue of sea and sky then indeed the romance of
sailing seems to open through a new vista.

The natural reflection on this description is that it presents
the feelings of the Ethnographer, not those of the native.
Indeed there is a great difficulty in disentangling our own
sensations from a correct reading of the innermost native
mind. But if an investigator, speaking the native's language
and living among them for some time, were to try to share
and understand their feelings, he will find that he can gauge
them correctly. Soon he will learn to distinguish when the
native's behaviour is in harmony with his own, and when, as
it sometimes happens, the two are at variance.

Thus, in this case, there is no mistaking the natives' great
admiration of a good canoe ; of their quickness in appreciating
differences in speed, buoyancy and stability, and of their
emotional reaction to such difference. When, on a calm day,
suddenly a fresh breeze rises, the sail is set, and fills, and the
canoe lifts its lamina (outrigger float) out of the water, and
races along, flinging the spray to right and left there is no
mistaking the keen enjoyment of the natives. All rush to
their posts and keenly watch the movements of the boat ;
some break out into song, and the younger men lean over and
play with the water. They are never tired of discussing the
good points of their canoes, and analysing the various craft.
In the coastal villages of the Lagoon, boys and young men
will often sail out in small canoes on mere pleasure cruises,
when they race each other, explore less familiar nooks of the



io8 CANOES AND SAILING

Lagoon, and in general undoubtedly enjoy the outing, in just
the same manner as we would do.

Seen from outside, after you have grasped its construction
and appreciated through personal experience its fitness for
its purpose, the canoe is no less attractive and full of character
than from within. When, on a trading expedition or as a
visiting party, a fleet of native canoes appears in the offing,
with their triangular sails like butterfly wings scattered over
the water (see Plates XLVIII), with the harmonious calls of
conch shells blown in unison, the effect is unforgettable.*
When the canoes then approach, and you see them rocking in
the blue water in all the splendour of their fresh white, red,
and black paint, with their finely designed prowboards, and
clanking array of large, white cowrie shells (see Plates XLIX,
LV) you understand well the admiring love which results
in all this care bestowed by the native on the decoration of his
canoe.

Even when not in actual use, when lying idle beached
on the sea front of a village, the canoe is a characteristic
element in the scenery, not without its share in the village life.
The very big canoes are in some cases housed in large sheds
(see Plate XXII), which are by far the largest buildings
erected by the Trobrianders. In other villages, where sailing
is always being done, a canoe is simply covered with palm
leaves (see Plates I, LIII), as protection from the sun, and
the natives often sit on its platform, chatting, and chewing
betel-nut, and gazing at the sea. The smaller canoes, beached
near the sea-front in long parallel rows, are ready to be launched
at any moment. With their curved outline and intricate
framework of poles and sticks, they form one of the most
characteristic settings of a native coastal village

II

A few words must be said now abput the technological
essentials of the canoe. Here again, a simple enumeration
of the various parts of the canoe, and a description of them,

* The crab-claw sails, used on the South Coast, from Mailu where I used

to see them, to westwards where they are used with the double-masted
lakatoi
of Port Moresby, are still more picturesque. In fact, I can hardly
imagine
anything more strangely impressive than a fleet of crab-claw sailed
canoes.
They have been depicted in the British New Guinea stamp, as issued by
Captain
Francis Barton, the late Governor of the Colony. See also Plate XII of
Seligman's " Melanesians."



CANOES AND SAILING



109



a pulling to pieces of a lifeless object will not satisfy us. I
shall instead try to show how, given its purpose on the one
hand, and the limitations in technical means and in material
on the other, the native ship-builders have coped with the
difficulties before them.

A sailing craft requires a water-tight, immersible vessel
of some considerable volume. This is supplied to our natives
by a hollowed-out log. Such a log might carry fairly heavy
loads, for wood is light, and the hollowed space adds to its
buoyancy. Yet it possesses no lateral stability, as can easily
be seen. A look at the diagrammatic section of a canoe
Fig. I (i), shows that a weight with its centre of gravity in




FIGURE I Diagram showing in transversal section some principles of
canoe stability and construction.

the middle, that is, distributed symmetrically, will not upset
the equilibrium, but any load placed so as to produce a
momentum of rotation (that is, a turning force) at the sides
(as indicated by arrows at A or B) will cause the canoe to
turn round and capsize.

If, however, as shown in Fig. I (2), another smaller, solid
log (C) be attached to the dug-out, a greater stability is
achieved, though not a symmetrical one. If we press down
the one side of the canoe (A) this will cause the canoe to turn
round a longitudinal axis, so that its other side (B) is raised,
Fig. I (3). The log (C) will be lifted out of the water, and its
weight will produce a momentum (turning force) proportional
to the displacement, and the rest of the canoe will come to



no CANOES AND SAILING

equilibrium. This momentum is represented in the diagram
by the arrow R. Thus a great stability relative to any stress
exercised upon A, will be achieved. A stress on B causes the
log to be immersed, to which its buoyancy opposes a slight
resistance. But it can easily be seen that the stability on
this side is much smaller than on the other. This assymetrical*
stability plays a great part in the technique of sailing. Thus,
as we shall see, the canoe is always so sailed that its outrigger
float (C) remains in the wind side. The pressure of the sail
then lifts the canoe, so that A is pressed into the water, and
B and C are lifted, a position in which they are extremely
stable, and can stand great force of wind. Whereas the slightest
breeze would cause the canoe to turn turtle, if it fell on the
other side, and thus pressed B C into the water.

Another look at Fig. I (2) and (3) will help us to realise
that the stability of the canoe will depend upon (i) the volume,
and especially the depth of the dug-out ; (ii) the distance
B C between the dug-out and the log ; (iii) the size of the
log C. The greater all these three magnitudes are, the greater
the stability of the canoes. A shallow canoe, without much
freeboard, will be easily forced into the water ; moreover, if
sailed in rough weather, waves will break over it, and fill it
with water.

(i^ The volume of the dug-out log naturally depends upon
the length, and thickness of the log. Fairly stable canoes are
made of simply scooped-out logs. There are limits, however,
to the capacity of these, which are very soon reached. But
by building out the side, by adding one or several planks to
them, as shown in Figure I (4) the volume and the depth can
be greatly increased without much increase in weight. So
that such a canoe has a good deal of freeboard to prevent
water from breaking in. The longitudinal boards in
Kiriwinian canoes are closed in at each end by transversal
prow-boards, which are also carved with more or less
perfection (see Plates XXIV c, XLVII).

(ii) The greater the distance B C between dug-out and
outrigger float, the greater the stability of the canoe. Since

* A constructive expedient to achieve a symmetrical stability is exem-
plified by the Mailu system of canoe-building, where a platform bndges
two
parallel, hollowed-out logs. Cf. Author's article in the Transactions
of the
Royal Society of S. Australia, Vol. XXXIX, 1915, pp. 494-706. Chapter
IV,
612-599. Plates XXXV-XXXVII.



CANOES AND SAILING



in



the momentum of rotation is the product of B C (Fig. I), and
the weight of the log C, it is clear, therefore, that the greater
the distance, the greater will be the momentum, Too great
a distance, however, would interfere with the wieldiness of the
canoe. Any force acting on the log would easily tip the canoe,
and as the natives, in order to manage the craft, have to walk
upon the outrigger, the distance B C must not be too great.
In the Trobriands the distance B C is about one-quarter,
or less, of the total length of the canoe. In the big, sea-going
canoes, it is always covered with a platform. In certain other
districts, the distance is much bigger, and the canoes have
another type of rigging.




FIGURE II Diagrammatic sections of the three types of Trobnand Canoe
(i) Kewcfu (2) Kalipoulo (3) Masawa

(iii) The size of the log (C) of which the float is formed.
This, in sea-going canoes, is usually of considerable dimensions.
But, as a solid piece of wood becomes heavy if soaked by
water, too thick a log would not be good.

These are all the essentials of construction in their
functional aspect, which will make clear further descriptions
of sailing, of building, and of using. For, indeed, though I
have said that technicalities are of secondary importance, still
without grasping them, we cannot understand references to
the managing and rigging of the canoes.



H2 CANOES AND SAILING

The Trobrianders use their craft for three main purposes,
and these correspond to the three types of canoe. Coastal
transport, especially in the Lagoon, requires small, light, handy
canoes called kewo'u (see Fig. II (i), and Plates XXIV, top
foreground, and XXXVI, to the right) ; for fishing, bigger
and more seaworthy canoes called kalipoulo (see Fig. II (2),
and Plates XXIV, and XXXVI, to the left, also XXXVII)
are used ; finally, for deep sea sailing, the biggest type is
needed, with a considerable carrying capacity, greater
displacement, and stronger construction. These are called
masawa (see Fig. II (3) and Plates XXI, XXIII, etc.). The
word waga is a general designation for ail kinds of sailing craft.

Only a few words need to be said about the first two types,
so as to make, by means of comparison, the third type clearer.
The construction of the smallest canoes is sufficiently illustrated
by the diagram (i) in Fig. II. From this it is clear that it
is a simple dug-out log, connected with a float. It never has
any built-up planking, and no carved boards, nor as a rule
any platform. In its economic aspect, it is always owned by
one individual, and serves his personal needs. No mythology
or magic is attached to it.

Type (2), as can be seen in Fig. II (2), differs in con-
struction from (i), in so far that it has its well enclosed by
built-out planking and carved prow-boards. A framework of
six ribs helps to keep the planks firmly attached to the dug-out
and to hold them together. It is used in fishing villages.
These villages are organised into several fishing detachments,
each with a headman. He is the owner of the canoe, he performs
the fish magic, and among other privileges, obtains the main
yield of fish. But all his crew de facto have the right to use
the canoe and share in the yield. Here we come across the
fact that native ownership is not a simple institution, since it
implies definite rights of a number of men, combined with the
paramount right and title of one. There is a good deal of
fishing magic, taboos and customs connected with the construc-
tion of these canoes, and also with their use, and they form the
subject of a number of minor myths.

By far the most elaborate technically, the most seaworthy
and carefully built, are the sea-going canoes of the third type
(see Fig. II (3)). These are undoubtedly the greatest
achievement of craftsmanship of these natives. Technically,



AA1V





FISHING CANOE (KALIPOULO)

Above the profile of a canoe, shows the outline of the duff-out, the
relative width
of the gunwale planks <md the hull, and the general of the canoe.
The bottom

picture shows the attachment of the outrigger to the hull, the prow,
the prow-hoards
and the platform. (Sec Div IL)



[face p. 1X2



CANOES AND SAILING 113

they differ from the previously described kinds, in the amount
of time spent over their construction and the care given to
details, rather than in essentials. The well is formed by a
planking built over a hollowed log and closed up at both ends
by carved, transversal prow-boards, kept in position by others,
longitudinal and of oval form. The whole planking remains
in place by means of ribs, as in the second type of canoes, the
kalipoulo, the fishing canoes, but all the parts are finished and
fitted much more perfectly, lashed with a better creeper, and
more thoroughly caulked. The carving, which in the fishing
canoes is often quite indifferent, here is perfect. Ownership
of these canoes is even more complex, and its construction is
permeated with tribal customs, ceremonial, and magic, the last
based on mythology. The magic is always performed in
direct association with Kula expeditions.

Ill

After having thus spoken about, first, the general impression
made by a canoe and its psychological import, and then about
the fundamental features of its technology, we have to turn
to the social implications of a masawa (sea-going canoe).

The canoe is constructed by a group of people, it is owned,
used and enjoyed communally, and this is done according to
definite rules. There is therefore a social organisation under-
lying the building, the owning, and the sailing of a canoe.
Under these three headings, we shall give an outline of the
canoe's sociology, always bearing in mind that these outlines
have to be filled in in the subsequent account.

(A) Social organisation of labour in constructing a Canoe.
In studying the construction of a canoe, we see the natives
engaged in an economic enterprise on a big scale. Technical
difficulties face them, which require knowledge, and can only
be overcome by a continuous, systematic effort, and at certain
stages must be met by means of communal labour. All this
obviously implies some social organisation. All the stages of
work, at which various people have to co-operate, must be
co-ordinated, there must be someone in authority who takes
the initiative and gives decisions ; and there must be also
someone with a technical capacity, who directs the construc-
tion. Finally, in Kiriwina, communal labour, and the services



114 CANOES AND SAILING

of experts have to be paid for, and there must be someone who
has the means and is prepared to do it.* This economic
organisation rests on two fundamental facts (i) the socio-
logical differentiation of functions, and (2) the magical regulation
of work,

(1) The sociological differentiation of functions. First of
all there is the owner of the canoe, that is, the chief, or the
headman of a village or of a smaller sub-division, who takes
the responsibility for the undertaking. He pays for the work,
engages the expert, gives orders, and commands communal
labour.

Besides the owner, there is next another office of great
sociological importance, namely, that of the expert. He is the
man who knows how to construct the canoe, how to do the
carvings, and, last, not least, how to perform the magic. All
these functions of the expert may be, but not necessarily are,
united in one person. The owner is always one individual,
but there may be two or even three experts.

Finally, the third sociological factor in canoe-building,
consists of the workers. And here there is a further division.
First there is a smaller group, consisting of the relations and
close friends of the owner or of the expert, who help throughout
the whole process of construction ; and, secondly, there is,
besides them, the main body of villagers, who take part in the
work at those stages where communal labour is necessary.

(2) The magical regulation of work. The belief in the
efficiency of magic is supreme among the natives of Boyowa,
and they associate it with all their vital concerns. In fact,
we shall find magic interwoven into all the many industrial
and communal activities to be described later on, as well as
associated with every pursuit where either danger or chance
conspicuously enter. We shall have to describe, besides the
magic of canoe-making, that of propitious sailing, of ship-
wreck and salvage, of Kula and of trade, of fishing, of obtaining
spondylus and Conus shell, and of protection against attack
in foreign parts. It is imperative that we should thoroughly
grasp what magic means to the natives and the rdle it plays
in all their vital pursuits, and a special chapter will be devoted

* The whole tribal life is based on a continuous material give and take
;
cf. the above mentioned article in the Economic Journal, March, 1921,
and
the disgression on this subject in Chapter VI, Division IV-VII.



CANOES AND SAILING 115

to magical ideas and magical practices in Kiriwina. Here,
however, it is necessary to sketch the main outlines, at least
as far as canoe magic is concerned.

First of all, it must be realised that the natives firmly
believe in the value of magic, and that this conviction, when
put to the test of their actions, is quite unwavering, even
nowadays when so much of native belief and custom has
been undermined. We may speak of the sociological weight
of tradition, that is of the degree to which the behaviour of
a community is affected by the traditional commands of
tribal law and customs. In the Trobriands, the general
injunction for always building canoes under the guidance of
magic is obeyed without the slightest deviation, for the
tradition here weighs very heavily. Up to the present, not one
single masawa canoe has been constructed without magic, indeed
without the full observance of all the rites and ceremonial.
The forces that keep the natives to their traditional course of
behaviour are, in the first place, the specific social inertia
which obtains in all human societies and is the basis of all
conservative tendencies, and then the strong conviction
that if the traditional course were not taken, evil results
would ensue. In the case of canoes, the Trobrianders would
be so firmly persuaded that a canoe built without magic would
be unseaworthy, slow in sailing, and unlucky in the Kula,
that no one would dream of omitting the magic rites.

In the myths related elsewhere (Chap. XII) we shall see
plainly the power ascribed to magic in imparting speed and
other qualities to a canoe. According to native mythology,
which is literally accepted, and strongly believed, canoes could
be even made to fly, had not the necessary magic fallen into
oblivion*

It is also important to understand rightly the natives' ideas
about the relation between magical efficiency and the results
of craftsmanship. Both are considered indispensable, but
both are understood to act independently. That is, the
natives will understand that magic, however efficient, will
not make up for bad workmanship. Each of these two has
its own province : the builder by his skill and knowledge makes
the canoe stable and swift, and magic gives it an additional
stability and swiftness. If a canoe is obviously badly built,
the natives will know why it sails slowly and is unwieldy.



n6 CANOES AND SAILING

But if one of two canoes, both apparently equally well con-
structed surpasses the other in some respect, this will be
attributed to magic.

Finally, speaking from a sociological point of view, what
is the economic function of magic in the process of canoe
making ? Is it simply an extraneous action, having nothing
to do with the real work or its organisation ? Is magic, from
the economic point of view, a mere waste of time ? By no
means. In reading the account which follows, it will be seen
clearly that magic puts order and sequence into the various
activities, and that it and its associated ceremonial are
instrumental in securing the co-operation of the community,
and the organisation of communal labour. As has been said
before, it inspires the builders with great confidence in the
efficiency of their work, a mental state essential in any enter-
prise of complicated and difficult character. The belief that
the magician is a man endowed with special powers, controling
the canoe, makes him a natural leader whose command is
obeyed, who can fix dates, apportion work, and keep the
worker up to the mark.

Magic, far from being a useless appendage, or even a burden
on the work, supplies the psychological influence, which keeps
people confident about the success of their labour, and provides
them with a sort of natural leader.* Thus the organisation of
labour in canoe-building rests on the one hand on the division
of functions, those of the owner, the expert and the helpers,
and on the other on the co-operation between labour and
magic.

IV
(B) Sociology of Canoe Ownership.

Ownership, giving this word its broadest sense, is the
relation, often very complex, between an object and the social
community in which it is found. In ethnology it is extremely
important not to use this word in any narrower sense than that
just defined, because the types of ownership found in various
parts of the world differ widely. It is especially a grave

* This view has been more fully elaborated in the article on "
Primitive
Economics " in the Economic Journal, March, 1921 ; compare also the
remarks
on systematic magic in Chapter XVII, Division VII.



CANOES AND SAILING 117

error to use the word ownership with the very definite
connotation given to it in our own society. For it is obvious
that this connotation presupposes the existence of very
highly developed economic and legal conditions, such as they
are amongst ourselves, and therefore the term " own " as we
use it is meaningless, when applied to a native society. Or
indeed, what is worse, such an application smuggles a number
of preconceived ideas into our description, and before we have
begun to give an account of the native conditions, we have
distorted the reader's outlook.

Ownership has naturally in every type of native society,
a different specific meaning, as in each type, custom and
tradition attach a different set of functions, rites and
privileges to the word. Moreover, the social range of those
who enjoy these privileges varies. Between pure individual
ownership and collectivism, there is a whole scale of intermediate
blendings and combinations.

In the Trobriands, there is a word which may be said
approximately to denote ownership, the prefix toll followed
by the name of the object owned. Thus the compound word
(pronounced without hiatus) toli-waga, means " owner " or
" master " of a canoe (waga) ; toli-bagula, the master of the
garden (bagula garden) ; toli-bunukwa, owner of the pig;
toli-megwa (owner, expert in magic, etc.) This word has to
be used as a clue to the understanding of native ideas, but
here again such a clue must be used with caution. For, in the
first place, like all abstract native words, it covers a wide
range, and has different meanings in different contexts. And
even with regard to one object, a number of people may lay
claim to ownership, claim to be toli with regard to it. In
the second place, people having the full de facto right of using
an object, might not be allowed to call themselves toli of
this object. This will be made clear in the concrete example
of the canoe.

The word toli in this example is restricted to one man
only, who calls himself toli-waga. Sometimes his nearest
maternal relatives, such as his brothers and maternal nephews,
might call themselves collectively toli-waga, but this would be
an abuse of the term. Now, even the mere privilege of using
exclusively this title is very highly valued by the natives.
With this feature of the Trobriand social psychology, that is



n8 CANOES AND SAILING

with their characteristic ambition, vanity and desire to be
renowned and well spoken of, the reader of the following pages
will become very familiar. The natives, to whom the Kula
and the sailing expeditions are so important, will associate the
name of the canoe with that of its toli ; they will identify his
magical powers and its good luck in sailing and in the Kula ;
they will often speak of So-and-so's sailing here and 'there, of
his being very fast in sailing, etc., using in this the man's
name for that of the canoe.

Turning now to the detailed determination of this relation-
ship, the most important point about it is that it always rests
in the person of the chief or headman. As we have seen in
our short account of the Trobrianders' sociology, the village
community is always subject to the authority of one chief or
headman. Each one of these, whether his authority extends
over a small sectional village, or over a whole district, has the
means of accumulating a certain amount of garden produce,
considerable in the case of a chief, relatively small in that of a
headman, but always sufficient to defray the extra expenses
incidental to all communal enterprise. He also owns native
wealth condensed into the form of the objects of value called
vaygu'a. Again, a headman will have little, a big chief a
large amount. But everyone who is not a mere nobody, must
possess at least a few stone blades, a few kaloma belts, and some
kuwa (small necklets). Thus in all types of tribal enterprises,
the chief or headman is able to bear the burden of expense,
and he also derives the main benefit from the affair. In the
case of the canoe, the chief, as we saw, acts as main
organiser in the construction, and he also enjoys the title
of toli.

This strong economic position runs side by side with his
direct power, due to high rank, or traditional authority. In
the case of a small headman, it is due to the fact that he
is at the head of a big kinship group (the totemic sub-
clan). Both combined, allow him to command labour and
to reward for it.

This title of toliwaga, besides the general social distinction
which it confers, implies further a definite series of social
functions with regard to its individual bearer.

(i) There are first the formal and ceremonial privileges.
Thus, the toliwaga has the privilege of acting as spokesman of



CANOES AND SAILING 119

his community in all matters of sailing or construction. He
assembles the council, informal or formal as the case may be,
and opens the question of when the sailing will take place.
This right of initiative is a purely a nominal one, because both
in construction and sailing, the date of enterprise is determined
by outward causes, such as reciprocity to overseas tribes,
seasons, customs, etc. Nevertheless, the formal privilege is
strictly confined to the toliwaga, and highly valued. The
position of master and leader of ceremonies, of general spokes-
man, lasts right through the successive stages of the building
of the canoe, and its subsequent use, and we shall meet with
it in all the ceremonial phases of the Kula.

(2) The economic uses and advantages derived from a canoe
are not limited to the toliwaga. He, however, gets the lion's
share. He has, of course, in all circumstances, the privilege
of absolute priority in being included in the party. He also
receives always by far the greatest proportion of Kula valuables,
and other articles on every occasion. This, however, is in
virtue of his general position as chief or headman, and should
perhaps not be included under this heading. But a very
definite and strictly individual advantage is that of being able
to dispose of the canoe for hire, and of receiving the payment
for it. The canoe can be, and often is, hired out from a
headman, who at a given season has no intention of sailing, by
another one, as a rule from a different district, who embarks
on an expedition. The reason of this is, that the chief or
headman who borrows, may at that time not be able to have
his own canoe repaired, or construct another new one. The
payment for hire is called toguna, and it consists of a vaygu'a.
Besides this, the best vaygu'a obtained on the expedition
would be kula'd to the man from whom the canoe was hired.*

(3) The toliwaga has definite social privileges, and exercises
definite functions, in the running of a canoe. Thus, he selects
his companions, who will sail in his canoe, and has the nominal
right to choose or reject those who may go on the expedition
with him. Here again the privilege is much shorn of its

* The way of hiring a masawa (sea-going) canoe is different from the
usual
transaction, when hiring a fishing canoe. In the latter case, the
payment
consists of giving part of the yield of fish, and this is called uwaga.
The same
term applies to all payments for objects hired. Thus, if fishing nets
or hunting
implements, or a small canoe for trading along the coast are hired out,
part
of the proceeds are given as uwaga.



120 CANOES AND SAILING

value by many restrictions imposed on the chief by the nature
of things. Thus, on the one hand, his veyola (maternal
kinsmen) have, according to all native ideas of right and law,
a strong claim on the canoe. Again, a man of rank in a
community could be excluded from an expedition only with
difficulty, if he wished to go and there were no special grievance
against him. But if there were such a cause, if the man had
offended the chief, and were on bad terms with him, he himself
would not even try to embark. There are actual examples
of this on record. Another class of people having a de facto
right to sail are the sailing experts. In the coastal villages
like Sinaketa there are many of these ; in inland ones, like
Omarakana, there are few. So in one of these inland places,
there are men who always go in a canoe, whenever it is used ;
who have even a good deal to say in all matters connected
with sailing, yet who would never dare to use the title of toli-
waga, and would even definitely disclaim it if it were given to
them. To sum up : the chief's privilege of choice is limited
by two conditions, the rank and the seamanship of those he
may select. As we have seen, he fulfils definite functions in
the construction of the canoe. We shall see later on that he
has also definite functions in sailing.

(4) A special feature, implied in the title of toliwaga, is
the performance of magical duties. It will be made clear that
magic during the process of construction is done by the expert,
but magic done in connection with sailing and Kula is done by
the toliwaga. The latter must, by definition, know canoe
magic. The role of magic in this, and the taboos, cere-
monial activities, and special customs associated with it,
will come out clearly in the consecutive account of a Kula
expedition.

V

(3) The Social Division of Functions in the Manning and Sailing
of the Canoe.

Very little is to be said under this heading here, since to
understand this we must know more about the technicalities
of sailing. We shall deal with this subject later on (Chap. IX,
Div. II), and there the social organisation within the canoe
such as it is will be indicated. Here it may be said that a



CANOES AND SAILING 121

number of men have definite tasks assigned to them, and they
keep to these. As a rule a man will specialise, let us say, as
steersman, and will always have the rudder given to his care.
Captainship, carrying with it definite duties, powers and
responsibilities, as a position distinct from that of the toliwaga.
does not exist. The owner of the canoe will always take the
lead and give orders, provided that he is a good sailor. Other-
wise the best sailor from the crew will say what is to be done
when difficulties or dangers arise. As a rule, however,
everyone knows his task, and everyone performs it in the normal
course of events.

A short outline of the concrete details referring to the
distribution of canoes in the Trobriands must be given here.
A glance at the map of Boyowa shows that various districts
have not the same opportunities for sailing, and not all of them
direct access to the sea. Moreover, the fishing villages on the
Lagoon, where fishing and sailing have constantly to be done,
will naturally have more opportunities for cultivating the arts
of sailing and ship-building. And indeed we find that the
villages of the two inland districts, Tilataula and Kuboma,
know nothing about shipbuilding and sailing, and possess no
canoes ; the villages in Kiriwina and Luba, on the east coast,
with indirect access to the sea, have only one canoe each, and
few building experts ; while some villagers on the Lagoon are
good sailors and excellent builders. The best centres for
canoe-building are found in the islands of Vakuta and Kayleula
and to a lesser degree this craft flourishes in the village of
Sinaketa. The island of Kitava is the traditional building
centre, and at present the finest canoes as well as the best
canoe carvings come from there. In this description of canoes,
this island, which really belongs to the Eastern rather than to
the Western branch of the N. Massim, must be included in the
account, since all Boyowan canoe mythology and canoe industry
is associated with Kitava.

There are at present some sixty-four Masawa canoes in
the Trobriands and Kitava. Out of these, some four belong
to the Northern district, where Kula is not practised ; all the
rest are built and used for the Kula. In the foregoing chapters
I have spoken about " Kula communities/ 1 that is, such groups
of villages as carry on the Kula as a whole, sail together
on overseas expeditions, and do their internal Kula with o le



122 CANOES AND SAILING

another. We shall group the canoes according to the Kula
community to which they belong.

Kiriwina . . . . . . 8 canoes.

Luba . . .. .. 3

Sinaketa . . . . . . 8

Vakuta . . . . . . 22 k

Kayleula . . . . about 20

Kitava . . . . about 12

Total for all Kula communities 60 canoes.

To this number, the canoes of the Northern district must
be added, but they are never used in the Kula. In olden days,,
this figure was, on a rough estimate, more than double of what
it is now, because, first of all, there are some villages which
had canoes in the old days and now have none, and then the
number of villages which became extinct a few generations
ago is considerable. About half a century ago, there were in
Vakuta alone about sixty canoes, in Sinaketa at least twenty,
in Kitava thirty, in Kiriwina twenty, and in Luba ten. When
all the canoes from Sinaketa and Vakuta sailed south, and
some twenty to thirty more joined them from the Amphletts
and Tewara, quite a stately fleet would approach Dobu.

Turning now to the list of ownership in Kiriwina, the most
important canoe is, of course, that owned by the chief of
Omarakana. This canoe always leads the fleet ; that is to
say, on big ceremonial Kula sailings, called uvalaktt, it has the
privileged position. It lives in a big shed on the beach of
Kaulukuba (see Plates XXII, XXX), distant about one mile
from the village, the beach on which also each new canoe is
made. The present canoe (see Plates XXI and XLI) is called
Nigada Bu'a " begging for an areca-nut." Every canoe
has a personal name of its own, sometimes just an appropriate
expression, like the one quoted, sometimes derived from some
special incident. When a new canoe is built, it often inherits
the name of its predecessor, but sometimes it gets a new name.
The present Omarakana canoe was constructed by a master-
builder from Kitava, who also carved the ornamental prow-
board. There is no one now in Omarakana who can build or
carve properly. The magic over the latter stages ought to
have been recited by the present chief, To'uluwa, but as he



CANOES AND SAILING 123

has very little capacity for remembering spells, the magic was
performed by one of his kinsmen.

All the other canoes of Kiriwina are also housed in hangars,
each on a beach of clean, white sand on the Eastern coast.
The chief or headman of "each village is the toliwaga. In
Kasana'i, the sub-village of Omarakana, the canoe, called in
feigned modesty tokwabu (something like ' 'landlubber"), was
built by Ibena, a chief of equal rank, but smaller power than
To'uluwa, and he is also the toliwaga. Some other characteristic
names of the canoes are: Kuyamataym 1 "Take care of
yourself," that is, " because I shall get ahead of you " ; the
canoe of Liluta, called Siya'i, which is the name of a Govern-
ment station, where some people from Liluta were once
imprisoned ; Topusa a flying fish ; Yagwa'u a scarecrow ;
Akamta'u " I shall eat men," because the canoe was a gift
from the cannibals of Dobu.

In the district of Luba there are at present only three
canoes ; one belongs to the chief of highest rank in the village
of Olivilevi. This is the biggest canoe in all the Trobriands.
Two are in the village of Wawela, and belong to two headmen,
each ruling over a section of the village ; one of them is seen
being relashed on Plate XXVII.

The big settlement of Sinaketa, consisting of sectional
villages, has also canoes. There are about four expert builders
and carvers, and almost every man there knows a good deal
about construction. In Vakuta the experts are even more
numerous, and this is also the case in Kayleula and Kitava,



CHAPTER V
THE CEREMONIAL BUILDING OF A WAGA

I

THE building of the sea-going canoe (masawa) is inextricably
bound up with the general proceedings of the Kula. As we
have said before, in all villages where Kula is practised the
masawa canoes are built and repaired only in direct
connection with it. That is, as soon as a Kula expedition is
decided upon, and its date fixad, all the canoes of the village
must be overhauled, and those too old for repair must be
replaced by new ones. As the overhauling differs only slightly
from building in the later, ceremonial stages of the procedure,
the account in this chapter .covers both.

To the native, the construction of the canoe is the first
link in the chain of the Kula performances. From the moment
that the tree is felled till the return of the oversea party, there
is one continuous flow of events, following in regular succession.
Not only that : as we shall see, the technicalities of construction
are interrupted and punctuated by magical rites. Some of
these refer to the canoe, others belong to the Kula. Thus,
canoe-building and the first stage of Kula dovetail into one
another. Again, the launching of the canoe, and especially the
kabigidoya (the formal presentation visit) are in one respect
the final acts of canoe-building, and in another they belong
to the Kula. In giving the account of canoe -building, therefore,
we start on the long sequence of events which form a Kula
expedition. No account of the Kula could be considered
complete in which canoe-building had been omitted.

In this chapter, the incidents will be related one after the
other as they happen in the normal routine of tribal life,
obeying the commands of custom, and the indications of
belief, the latter acting more rigidly and strongly even than
the former. It will be necessary, in following this consecutive
account, to keep in mind the definite, sociological mechanism



X

X




BUILDING OF WAGA 125

underlying the activities, and the system of ideas at work in
regulating labour and magic. The social organisation has
been described in the previous chapter. We shall remember
that the owner, the expert or experts, a small group of helpers,
and the whole community are the social factors, each of which
fulfils a different function in the organisation and performance
of work. As to the magical ideas which govern the various
rites, they will be analysed later on in the course of this and
some of the following chapters, and also in Chapter XVII.
Here it must suffice to say that they belong to several different
systems of ideas. The one based on the myth of the flying
canoe refers directly to the canoe; it aims at imparting a
general excellence, and more especially the quality of speed
to the canoe. The rites of the other type are really exorcisms
directed against evil bewitchment (bulubwalata) of which the
natives are much afraid. The third system of magic (performed
during canoe construction) is the Kula magic, based on its
own mythological cycle, and although performed on the canoe,
yet aiming at the imparting of success to the toliwaga in his
Kula transactions. Finally, at the beginnings of the pro-
ceedings there is some rnagic addressed to the tokway, the
malignant wood sprite.

The construction of the canoe is done in two main stages,
differing from one another in the character of the work, in the
accompanying magic, and in the general sociological setting.
In the first stage, the component parts of the canoe are prepared.
A big tree is cut, trimmed into a log, then hollowed out and
made into the basic dug-out ; the planks, boards, poles, and
sticks are prepared. This is achieved by slow, leisurely work,
and it is done by the canoe-builder with the assistance of a few
helpers, usually his relatives or friends or else those of the
toliwaga. This stage generally takes a long time, some two
to six months, and is done in fits and starts, as other occupations
allow, or the mood comes. The spells and rites which accom-
pany it belong to the tokway magic, and to that of the flying
canoe cycle. To this first stage also belongs the carving of the
decorative prow-boards. This is done sometimes by the builder,
sometimes by another expert, if the builder cannot carve.

The second stage is done by means of intense communal
labour. As a rule this stage is spread over a short time, only
perhaps a week or two including the pauses between work.



126 BUILDING OF WAGA

The actual labour, in which the whole community is ener-
getically engaged, takes up only some three to five days. The
work consists of the piecing together of the planks and prow-
boards, and, in case these do not fit well, of trimming them
appropriately, and then of the lashing them together. Next
comes the piecing and lashing of the outrigger, caulking and
painting of the canoe. Sail-making is also done at this time, and
belongs to this stage. As a rule, the main body of the canoe
is constructed at one sitting, lasting about a day ; that is, the
prow-boards are put in, the ribs and planks fitted together,
trimmed and lashed. Another day is devoted to the attaching
of the float and binding of the outrigger frame and the platform.
Caulking and painting are done at another sitting, or perhaps
at two more, while the sail is made on yet another day. These
times are only approximate, since the size of the canoe, as well
as the number of people participating in communal labour,
greatly varies. The second stage of canoe-building is accom-
panied by Kula magic, and by a series of exorcisms on the
canoe, and the magic is performed by the owner of the canoe,
and not by the builder or expert. This latter, however,
directs the technicalities of the proceedings, in which he is
assisted and advised by builders from other villages ; by
sailing experts, and by the toliwaga and other notables. The
lashing of the canoe with a specially strong creeper, called
wayugo, is accompanied by perhaps the most important of the
rites and spells belonging to the flying canoe magic.

II

After the decision to build a waga has been taken, a tree
suitable for the main log has to be chosen. This, in the Tro-
briands, is not a very easy task. As the whole plain is taken
up by garden land, only the small patches of fertile soil in the
coral ridge which runs all round the island, remain covered
with jungle. There the tree must be found, there felled, and
thence transported to the village.

Once the tree is chosen, the toliwaga, the builder and a few
helpers repair to the spot, and a preliminary rite must be
performed, before they begin to cut it down. A small incision
is made into the trunk, so that a particle of food, or a bit of
areca-nut can be put into it. Giving this as an offering to the
tokway (wood sprite), the magician utters an incantation :



BUILDING OF WAGA 127

VABUSI TOKWAY SPELL.

" Come down, wood sprites, O Tokway, dwellers in
branches, come down ! Come down, dwellers in branch
forks, in branch shoots ! Come down, come, eat ! Go to
your coral outcrop over there ; crowd there, swarm there,
be noisy there, scream there !

" Step down from our tree, old men ! This is a canoe
ill spoken of ; this is a canoe out of which you have been
shamed ; this is a canoe out of which you have been
expelled ! At sunrise and morning, you help us in felling
the canoe ; this our tree, old men, let it go and fall down ! "

This spell, given in free translation, whicK, however,
follows the original very closely, word for word, is far clearer
than the average sample of Trobriand magic. In the first
part, the tokway is invoked under various names, and invited
to leave his abode, and to move to some other place, and there
to be at his ease In the second part, the canoe is mentioned
with several epithets, all of which denote an act of discourtesy
or ill-omen. This is obviously done to compel the tokway to
leave the tree. In Boyowa, the yoba, the chasing away, is
under circumstances a great insult, and at times it commands
immediate compliance. This is always the case when the
chaser belongs to the local sub-clan of a village, and the
person expelled does not. But the yoba is always an act of
considerable consequence, never used lightly, and in this
spell, it carries these sociological associations with it. In the
usual anticipatory way, characteristic of native speech, the
tree is called in the spell " canoe " (waga).

The object of this spell is written very plainly in every
word of it, and the natives also confirm it by saying that it
is absolutely necessary to get rid of the tokway. What would
happen, however, if the tokway were not expelled, is not so
unequivocally laid down by tradition, and it cannot be read
out of the spell or the rite. Some informants say that the
canoe would be heavy ; others that the wood would be full
of knots, and that there would be holes in the canoe, or that
it would quickly rot.

But though the rationale of the expulsion is not so well
defined, the belief in the tokway's evil influence, and in the
dangers associated with his presence is positive. And this is
in keeping with the general nature of the tokway, as we find



128 BUILDING OF WAGA

him delineated by native belief. The tokway is on the whole a
harmful being, though the harm he does is seldom more than
an unpleasant trick, perhaps a sudden fright, an attack of
shooting pains, or a theft. The tokway live in trees or in coral
rocks and boulders, usually in the raybwag, the primeval
jungle, growing on the coastal ridge, full of outcrops and
rocks. Some people have seen a tokway, although heas invisible
at will. His skin is brown, like that of any Boyowan, but he
has long, sleek hair, and a long beard. He comes often at
night, and frightens people. But, though seldom seen, the
tokway's wailing is often heard from the branches of a big tree,
and some trees evidently harbour more tokways than others,
since you can hear them very easily there. Sometimes, over
such trees, where people often hear the tokway and get a fright,
the above quoted incantation and rite are performed.

In their contact with men, the tokway show their un-
pleasant side ; often they come at night and steal food. Many
cases can be quoted when a man, as it seemed, was surprised
in the act of stealing yams out of a storehouse, but lo ! when
approached he disappeared it was a tokway. Then, sickness
in some of its lighter forms is caused by the tokway. Shooting
pains, pricking and stabbing in one's inside, are often due to
him, for he is in possession of magic by which he can insert
small, sharp-edged and sharp-pointed objects into the body.
Fortunately some men know magic by which to extract such
objects. These men, of course, according to the general rule
of sorcery, can also inflict the same ailments. In olden days,
the tokway gave both the harmful and beneficent magic to some
men, and ever since, this form of sorcery and of concomitant
healing have been handed on from one generation to another.

Let us return to our canoe, however. After the rite has
been performed, the tree is felled. In olden days, when stone
implements were used, this must have been a laborious process,
in which a number of men were engaged in wielding the axe,
and others in re-sharpening the blunted or broken blades. The
old technique was more like nibbling away the wood in small
chips, and it must have taken a long time to cut out a sufficiently
deep incision to fell the tree. After the tree is on the ground,
the preliminary trimming is done on the spot. The branches
are lopped off, and the log of appropriate length is made out of
the tree. This log is cut into the rough shape of a canoe, so



BUILDING OF WAGA 129

as to make it as light as possible, for now it has to be pulled
to the village or to the beach.

The transporting of the log is not an easy task, as it has to
be taken out of the uneven, rocky raybwag, and then pulled
along very bad roads. Pieces of wood are put on the ground
every few metres, to serve as slips on which the log can more
easily glide than on the rocks and uneven soil. In spite of
that, and in spite of the fact that many men are summoned
to assist, the work of pulling the log is very heavy. The men
receive food in payment for it. Pig flesh is cooked and dis-
tributed with baked yams ; at intervals during the work they
refresh themselves with green coco-nut drinks and with
sucking sugar cane. Gifts of such food, given during work in
payment of communal labour, are called puwaya. To describe
how heavy the work sometimes is, the native will say, in a
characteristically figurative manner :

" The pig, the coco drinks, the yams are finished, and
yet we pull very heavy ! "

In such cases the natives resort to a magical rite which makes
the canoe lighter. A piece of dry banana leaf is put on top of
the log. The owner or builder beats the log with a bunch of
dry lalang grass and utters the following spell :

KAYMOMWA'U SPELL.

" Come down, come down, defilement by contact with
excrement ! Come down, defilement by contact with
refuse ! Come down, heaviness ! Come down, lot !
Come down fungus ! . . ." and so on, invoking a number
of deteriorations to leave the log, and then a number of
defilements and broken taboos. In other words, the
heaviness and slowness, due to all these magical causes,
are thrown out of the log.

This bunch of grass is then ritually thrown away. It is
called momwa'u, or the " heavy bunch." Another handful of
the long lalang grass, seared and dry, is taken, and this is the
gagabile, the " light bunch," and with this the canoe is again
beaten. The meaning of the rite is quite plain : the first
bunch takes into it the heaviness of the log, and the second
imparts lightness to it. Both spells also express this meaning
in plain terms. The second spell, recited with the gagabile
bunch, runs thus :



130 BUILDING OF WAGA

KAYGAGABILE SPELL

" He fails to outrun me " (repeated many times). " The
canoe trembles with speed " (many times). A few un-
translatable words are uttered ; then a long chain of
ancestral names is invoked. " I lash you, tree ; the
tree flies ; the tree becomes like a breath of wind ; the
tree becomes like a butterfly ; the tree becomes like a
cotton seed fluff. One sun " (i.e., time) " for my com-
panions, midday sun, setting sun ; another sun for me "

(here the reciter's name is uttered) " the rising sun, the
rays of the (rising) sun, (the time of) opening the huts,
(the time of the) rising of the morning star ! " The last
part means : " My companions arrive at sunset, while I
arrive with the rising sun " (indicating how far my canoe
exceeds them in speed.)*

These formulae are used both to make the log lighter for
the present purpose of pulling it into the village, and in order
to give it greater speed in general, when it is made up into a
waga.

After the log has been finally brought into the village, and
left on the baku, the main central place, the creeper by means
of which it has been pulled and which is called in this connection
duku, is not cut away at once. This is done ceremonially on
the morning of the following day, sometimes after even two or
three days have passed. The men of the community assemble,
and the one who will scoop out the canoe, the builder (tota'ila
waga, " the cutter of the canoe ") performs a magical rite.
He takes his adze (ligogu) and wraps some very light and thin
herbs round the blade with a piece of dried banana leaf, itself
associated with the idea of lightness. This he wraps only half
round, so that a broad opening is left, and the breath and voice
have free access to the herbs and blade of the adze. Into this
opening, the magician chants the following long spell :

KAPITUNENA DUKU SPELL.

" I shall wave them back, (i.e., prevent all other canoes
from overtaking me) ! " repeated many times. " On the
top of Si'a Hill ; women of Tokuna ; my mother a sorceress,
myself a sorcerer. It dashes forward, it flies ahead.
The canoe body is light ; the pandanus streamers are

* The words within brackets in this and m some of the following spells
arc free additions, necessary to make the meaning clear in the English
version.
They are implied by the context in the native original, though not
explicitly
contained.



BUILDING OF WAGA 131

aflutter ; the prow skims the waves ; the ornamental
boards leap, like dolphins ; the tabuyo (small prow-board)
breaks the waves ; the lagim' (transversal prow-board)
breaks the waves. Thou sleepest in the mountain, thou
sleepest in Kuyawa Island. We shall kindle a small
fire of lalang grass, we shall burn aromatic herbs (i.e., at
our destination in the mountains) ! Whether new or old
thou goest ahead/'

This is the exordium of the formula. Then comes a
very long middle part, in a form very characteristic of
Trobriand magic. This form resembles a litany, in so far
as a key word or expression is repeated many times with
a series of complementary words and expressions. Then
the first key word is replaced by another, which in its
turn, is repeated with the same series of expressions ;
then comes another key word, and so on. We have thus
two series of words ; each term of the first is repeated over
and over again, with all terms of the second, and in this
manner, with a limited number of words, a spell is very
much lengthened out, since its length is the product of
the length of both series. In shorter spells, there may be
only one key word, and in fact, this is the more usual
type. In this spell, the first series consists of nouns
denoting different parts of the canoe ; the second are
verbs, such as : to cut, to fly, to speed, to cleave a fleet
of other canoes, to disappear, to skim over the waves.
Thus the litany runs in such a fashion : " The tip of my
canoe starts, the tip of my canoe flies, the tip of my canoe
speeds, etc., etc." After the long litany has been chanted,
the magician repeats the exordium, and finishes it off
with the conventional onomatopoetic word saydididi
which is meant to imitate the flying of the witches.

After the recital of this long spell over the herbs and blade
of his adze, the magician wraps up the dry banana leaf, thus
imprisoning the magical virtue of the spell round the blade,
and with this, he strikes and cuts through the duku (the creeper
used for the pulling of the canoes.)

With this, the magic is not over yet, for on the same
evening, when the canoe is put on transversal logs (nigakulu),
another rite has to be carried o.ut. Some herbs are placed on
the transversals between them and the body of the big canoe
log. Over these herbs, again, another spell has to be uttered.
In order not to overload this account with magical texts, I
shall not adduce this spell in detail. Its wording also plainly



I 3 2 BUILDING OF WAGA

indicates that it is speed magic, and it is a short formula running
on directly, without cross-repetitions.

After that, for some days, the outside of the canoe body
is worked. Its two ends must be cut into tapering shape, and
the bottom evened and smoothed. After that is done, the canoe
has to be turned over, this time into its natural position, bottom
down, and what is to be the opening, upwards. "Before the
scooping out begins, another formula has to be recited over the
kavilali, a special ligogu (adze), used for scooping out, which is
inserted into a handle with a moveable part, which then allows
the cutting to be done at varying angles to the plane of striking.

The rite stands in close connection to the myth of the
flying canoe, localised in Kudayuri, a place in the Island of
Kitava, and many allusions are made to this myth.* After
a short exordium, containing untranslatable magical words,
and geographical references, the spell runs :

LIGOGU SPELL.

" I shall take hold of an adze, I shall strike ! I shall
enter my canoe, I shall make thee fly, O canoe, I shall
make thee jump ! We shall fly like butterflies, like wind ;
we shall disappear in mist, we shall vanish. You will
pierce the straits of Kadimwatu (between the islands of
Tewara and Uwama) you will break the promontory of
Saramwa (near Dobu), pierce the passage of Loma (in
Dawson Straits), die away in the distance, die away with
the wind, fade away with the mist, vanish away. Break
through your seaweeds (i.e., on coming against the shore).
Put on your wreath (probably an allusion to the sea-
weeds), make your bed in the sand. I turn round, I see
the Vakuta men, the Kitava men behind me ; my sea,
the sea of Pilolu (i.e., the sea between the Trobriands and
the Amphletts) ; to-day the Kudayuri men will burn
their fires (i.e., on the shores of Dobu). Bind your grass
skirt together, O canoe " (here the personal name of the
canoe is mentioned), " fly ! " The last phrase contains an
implicit hint that the canoe partakes of the nature of a
flying witch, as it should, according to the Kudayuri myth.

After this, the canoe-builder proceeds to scoop out the
log. This is a long task, and a heavy one, and one which
requires a good deal of skill, especially towards the end, when the
walls of the dug-out have to be made sufficiently thin, and when

* Compare therefore Chapter XII, Division IV.



BUILDING OF WAGA 133

the wood has to be taken off evenly over the whole surface.
Thus, although at the beginning the canoe carpenter is usually
helped by a few men his sons or brothers or nephews who in
assisting him also learn the trade towards the end he has to
do the work single-handed. It, therefore, always happens
that this stage takes a very long time. Often the canoe will
lie for weeks, untouched, covered with palm leaves against
the sun, and filled with some water to prevent drying and
cracking (see Plate XXV). Then the carpenter will set to
work for a few days, and pause again. In almost all villages,
the canoe is put up in the central place, or before the builder's
hut. In some of the Eastern villages, the scooping out is done
on the sea beach, to avoid pulling the heavy log to and from the
village.

Parallel with the process of hollowing out, the other parts
of the canoe are made ready to be pieced together. Four
broad and long planks form the gunwale ; L-shaped pieces of
wood are cut into ribs ; long poles are prepared for longi-
tudinal support of the ribs, and for platform rafters ; short
poles are made ready as transversals of the platform and main
supports of the outrigging ; small sticks to connect the float
with the transversals ; finally, the float itself, a long, bulky
log. These are the main, constituent parts of a canoe, to be
made by the builder. The four carved boards are also made
by him if he knows how to carve, otherwise another expert
has to do this part of the work (see Plate XXVI).

When all the parts are ready, another magical rite has to
be performed. It is called " kapitunela nanola waga " : " the
cutting off of the canoe's mind/' an expression which denotes
a change of mind, a final determination. In this case, the canoe
makes up its mind to run quickly. The formula is short,
contains at the beginning a few obscure words, and then a few
geographical references to some places in the d'Entrecasteaux
Archipelago. It is recited over a few drops of coco-nut oil,
which is then wrapped up in a small bundle. The same spell
is then again spoken over the ligogu blade, round which a piece
of dry banana has been wrapped in the manner described above.
The canoe is turned bottom up, the bundle with coco-nut oil
placed on it and struck with the adze. With this the canoe is
ready to be pieced together, and the first stage of its
construction is over.



134 BUILDING OF WAGA

III

As has been said above, the two stages differ from one
another in the nature of work done and in their sociological
and ceremonial setting. So far, we have seen only a few men
engaged in cutting the tree and scooping it out and then
preparing the various parts of the canoe. Industriously, but
slowly and deliberately, with many pauses, they toiPover their
work, sitting on the brown, trodden soil of the village in front
of the huts, or scooping the canoe in the central place. The
first part of the task, the felling of the tree, took us to the tall
jungle and intricate undergrowth, climbing and festooned
around the fantastic shapes of coral rocks.

Now, with the second stage, the scene shifts to the clean,
snow-white sand of a coral beach, where hundreds of natives
in festive array crowd around the freshly scraped body of the
canoe. The carved boards, painted in black, white and red,
the green fringe of palms and jungle trees, the blue of the sea
all lend colour to the vivid and lively scene. Thus I saw the
building of a canoe done on the East shore of the Trobriands,
and in this setting I remember it. In Sinaketa, instead of the
blue, open sea, breaking in a belt of white foam outside on the
fringing reef and coming in limpid waves to the beach, there
are the dull, muddy browns and greens of the Lagoon, playing
into pure emerald tints where the clean sandy bottom begins.

Into one of these two scenes, we must now imagine the
dug-out transported from the village, after all is ready, and
after the summons of the chief or headman has gone round the
neighbouring villages. In the case of a big chief, several
hundreds of natives will assemble to help, or to gaze on the
performance. When a small community with a second-rate
headman construct their canoe, only a few dozen people will
come, the relatives-in-law of the headman and of other notables,
and their close friends.

After the body of the canoe and all the accessories have been
placed in readiness, the proceedings are opened by a magical
rite, called Katuliliva tabuyo. This rite belongs to the Kula
magic, for which the natives have a special expression ; they
call it mwasila. It is connected with the inserting of the
ornamental prow-boards into their grooves at both ends of
the canoe. These ornamental parts of the canoe are put in
first of all, and this is done ceremonially. A few sprigs of the



BUILDING OF WAGA 135

mint plant are inserted under the boards, as they are put in,
and the toliwaga (owner of the canoe) hammers the boards in
by means of a special stone imported from Dobu, and ritually
repeats a formula of the mwasila magic. The mint plant
(sulumwoya) plays an important part in the mwasila (Kula
magic) as well as in love spells, and in the magic of beauty.
Whenever a substance is to be medicated for the purpose of
charming, seducing, or persuading, as a rule sulumwoya is
used. This plant figures also in several myths, where it plays
a similar part, the mythical hero always conquering the foe
or winning a woman by the use of the sulumwoya.

I shall not adduce the magical formulae in this account,
with the exception of the most important one. Even a short
summary of each of them would obstruct the narrative, and it
would blur completely the outline of the consecutive account
of the various activities. The various complexities of the
magical ritual and of the formulae will be set forth in Chapter
XVII. It may be mentioned here, however, that not only
are there several types of magic performed during canoe
building, such as the mwasila (Kula magic), the canoe speed
magic, exorcisms against evil magic, and exorcism of the tokway,
but within each of these types, there are different systems of
magic, each with its own mythological basis, each localised in
a different district, and each having of course different formulas
and slightly different rites.*

After the prow-boards are put in, and before the next bit
of technical work is done, another magical rite has to be
performed. The body of the canoe, now bright with the three-
coloured boards, is pushed into the water. A handful of leaves,
of a shrub called bobi'u, is charmed by the owner or by the
builder, and the body of the canoe is washed in sea water with
the leaves. All the men participate in the washing, and this
rite is intended to make the canoe fast, by removing the traces
of any evil influence, which might still have remained, in spite
of the previous magic, performed on the waga. After the waga
has been rubbed and washed, it is pulled ashore again and
placed on the skid logs.

Now the natives proceed to the main and most important
constructive part of their work ; this consists of the erection
of the gunwale planks at the sides of the dug-out log, so as to

* All this is discussed at length in Chapter XVII, Division IV.



136 BUILDING OF WAGA

form the deep and wide well of the built-up canoe. They are
kept in position by an internal framework of some twelve to
twenty pairs of ribs, and all of this is lashed together with a
special creeper called wayugo, and the holes and interstices
are caulked with a resinous substance.

I cannot enter here into details of building, though from
the technological point of view, this is the most interesting
phase, showing us the native at grips with real problems of
construction. He has a whole array of component parts, and
he must make them fit together with a considerable degree of
precision, and that without having any exact means of measure-
ment. By a rough appreciation based on long experience and
great skill, he estimates the relative shapes and sizes of the
planks, the angles and dimensions of the ribs, and the lengths
of the various poles. Then, in shaping them out, the builder
tests and fits them in a preliminary manner as work goes on,
and as a rule the result is good. But now, when all these
component parts have to be pieced finally together, it nearly
always happens that some bit or other fails to fit properly
with the rest. These details have to be adjusted, a bit taken
off the body of the canoe, a plank or pole shortened, or even a
piece added. The natives have a very efficient way of lashing
on a whole bit of a plank, if this proves too short, or if, by some
accident, it breaks at the end. After all has been finally fitted,
and made to tally, the framework of ribs is put into the canoe
(see Plate XXVII), and the natives proceed to lash them to
the body of the dug-out, and to the two longitudinal poles to
which the ribs are threaded.

And now a few words must be said about the wayugo, the
lashing creeper. Only one species of creeper is used for the
lashing of boats, and it is of the utmost importance that this
creeper should be sound and strong. It is this alone that
maintains the cohesion of the various parts, and in rough
weather, very much depends on how the lashings will stand the
strain. The other parts of the canoe the outrigger poles
can be more easily tested, and as they are made of strong,
elastic wood, they usually stand any weather quite well. Thus
the element of danger and uncertainty in a canoe is due mainly
to the creeper. No wonder, therefore, that the magic of the
creeper is considered as one of the most important ritual items
in canoe-building.



BUILDING OF WAGA 137

In fact, wayugo, the name of that creeper species, is also
used as a general term for canoe magic. When a man has the
reputation of building or owning a good and fast canoe, the
usual way of explaining it is to say that he has, or knows " a
good wayugo." For, as in all other magic, there are several
types of wayugo spells. The ritual is always practically the
same : five coils of the creeper are, on the previous day, placed
on a large wooden dish and chanted over in the ov/ner's hut by
himself. Only exceptionally can this magic be done by the
builder. Next day they are brought to the beach ceremonially
on the wooden plate. In one of the wayugo systems, there is
an additional rite, in which the toliwaga (canoe owner) takes
a piece of the creeper, inserts it into one of the holes pierced in
the rim of the dug-out for the lashing, and pulling it to and fro,
recites once more the spell.

In consideration of the importance of this magic, the
formula will be here adduced in full. It consists of an exordium
(u'ula), a double main part (tapwana], and a concluding period
{dogma} *

WAYUGO SPELL.

In the u'ula he first repeats " Sacred (or ritual) eating
of fish, sacred inside," thus alluding to a belief that' the
toliwaga has in connection with this magic to partake
ritually of baked fish. Then come the words " Flutter,
betel plant, leaving behind," all associated with leading
ideas of canoe magic the flutter of pandanus streamers ;
the betel nut, which the ancestral spirits in other rites are
invited to partake of ; the speed by which all comrades
will be left behind !

A list of ancestral names follows. Two of them,
probably mythical personages, have significative names ;
" Stormy sea " and " Foaming." Then the baloma
(spirits) of these ancestors are asked to sit on the canoe
slips and to chew betel, and they are invoked to take the
pandanus streamer of the Kudayuri a place in Kitava,
where the flying canoe magic originated and plant it on
top of Teula or Tewara, the small island off the East
coast of Fergusson.

The magician after that chants : " I shall turn, I shall
turn towards you, O men of Kitava, you remain behind

* It is necessary to be acquainted with the mythology of canoe-building

and of the Kula (Chapter XII) m order to understand thoroughly the
meaning
of this spell.



138 BUILDING OF WAGA

on the To'uru beach (in the Lagoon of Vakuta). Before
you lies the sea arm of Pilolu. To-day, they kindle the
festive fire of the Kudayuri, thou, O my boat " (here the
personal name of the boat is uttered), " bind thy skirts
together and fly ! " In this passage which is almost
identical with one in the previously quoted Ligogu spell
there is a direct allusion to the Kudayuri myth, and to
the custom of festive fires. Again the canoe is* addressed
as a woman who has to bind her grass petticoat together
during her flight, a reference to the belief that a flying
witch binds her skirts when starting into the air and to
the tradition that this myth originates from Na'ukuwakula,
one of the flying Kudayuri sisters. The following main
part continues with this mythical allusion : Na'ukuwakula
flew from Kitava through Sinaketa and Kayleula to
Simsim, where she settled down and transmitted the
magic to her progeny. In this spell the three places :
Kuyawa (a creek and hillock near Sinaketa), Dikutuwa (a
rock near Kayleula), and La'u (a cleft rock in the sea
near Simsim, in the Lousan^ay Islands) are the leading
words of the tapwana.

The last sentence of the first part, forming a transition
into the tapwana, runs as follows : "I shall grasp the
handle of the adze, I shall grip all the component parts
of the canoe " perhaps another allusion to the mythical
construction of the Kudayuri canoe (comp. Chap. XII,
Div. IV) " I shall fly on the top of Kuyawa, I shall
disappear ; dissolve in mist^ in smoke ; become like a
wind eddy, become alone on top of Kuyawa/' The same
words are then repeated, substituting for Kuyawa the
two other above-mentioned spots, one after the other,
and thus retracing the flight of Na'ukuwakula.

Then the magician returns to the beginning and recites
the spell over again up to the phrase : " bind thy skirt
together and fly," which is followed this time by a second
tapwana : "I shall outdistance all my comrades with the
bottom of my canoe ; I shall out-distance all my comrades
with the prow-board of my canoe, etc., etc.," repeating
the prophetic boast with all the parts of the canoe, as is
usual in the middle part of magical spells.

In the dogina, the last part, the magician addresses
the waga in mythological terms, with allusions to the
Kudayuri myth, and adds : " Canoe thou art a ghost,
thou art like a wind eddy ; vanish, my canoe, fly ;
break through your sea-passage of Kadimwatu, cleave
through the promontory of Saramwa, pass through Loma ;



I




PLATE XXVIII




SAIL MAKING

Within a couple of hours a number of men perform this enormous task of
sewing together

small bands of pandanus leaf (see Div. Ill and next Chapter Div. II)
till they form a sail.

Among the workers there is an albino



PLATE XXIX




ROLLS OF DRIED PANDANUS LEAF

This is the material of which the sail is made. The bisila (pandanus
streamer) is made of a
softer variety of pandanus leaf, bleached at a fire



BUILDING OF WAGA 139

die away, disappear, vanish with an eddy, vanish with
the mist ; make your imprint in the sand, cut through
the seaweed, go, put on your wreath of aromatic herbs/'*

After the wayugo has been ritually brought in, the lashing
of the canoe begins. First of all the ribs are lashed into position
then the planks, and with this the body of the canoe is ready.
This takes a varying time, according to the number of
people at work, and to the amount of tallying and adjusting
to be done at the final fitting. Sometimes one whole day's
work is spent on this stage, and the next piece of work, the
construction of the outrigger, has to be postponed to another
day. This is the next stage, and there is no magic to punctuate
the course of technical activities. The big, solid log is put
alongside the canoe, and a number of short, pointed sticks are
driven into it. The sticks are put in crossways on the top of
the float (lamina}. Then the tops of these sticks are again
attached to a number of horizontal poles, which have to be
thrust through one side of the canoe-body, and attached to
the other. All this naturally requires again adjusting and
fitting. When these sticks and poles are bound together,
there results a strong yet elastic frame, in which the canoe and
the float are held together in parallel positions, and across them
transversely there run the several horizontal poles which keep
them together. Next, these poles are bridged over by many
longitudinal sticks lashed together, and thus a platform is
made between the edge of the canoe and the tops of the float
sticks.

When that is done, the whole frame of the canoe is ready,
and there remains only to caulk the holes and interstices.
The caulking substance is prepared in the hut of the toliwaga,
and a spell is recited over it on the evening before the work is
begun. Then again, the whole community turn out and do
the work in one day's sitting.

The canoe is now ready for the sea, except for the painting,
which is only for ornamentation. Three more magical rites
have to be performed, however, before it is painted and then
launched. All three refer directly to the canoe, and aim at
giving it speed. At the same time all three are exorcisms
against evil influences, resulting from various defilements or
broken taboos, which possibly might have desecrated the waga.

* Compare the linguistic analysis of this spell in Chapter XVIII.



140 BUILDING OF WAGA

The first is called Vakasulu, which means something like " ritual
cooking " of the canoe. The toliwaga has tc prepare a real
witches' cauldron of all sorts of things, which afterwards are
burnt under the bottom of the canoe, and the smoke is supposed
to exercise a speed-giving and cleansing influence. The
ingredients are : the wings of a bat, the nest of a very small
bird called posisiku, some dried bracken leaves, a bit % of cotton
fluff, and some lalang grass. All the substances are associated
with flying and lightness. The wood used for kindling the fire
is that of the light-timbered mimosa tree (liga). The twigs
have to be obtained by throwing at the tree a piece of wood
(never a stone), and when the broken-off twig falls, it must be
caught in the hand, and not allowed to touch the ground.

The second rite, called Vaguri, is an exorcism only, and it
consists of charming a stick, and then knocking the body of the
canoe all over with it. This expells the evil witchery (bulub-
walata), which it is only wise to suspect has been cast by some
envious rivals, or persons jealous of the toliwaga.

Finally, the third of these rites, the Kaytapena wagi,
consists in medicating a torch of coco-leaf with the appropriate
spell, and fumigating with it the inside of the canoe. This
gives speed and once more cleanses the canoe.

After another sitting of a few days, the whole outside of
the canoe is painted in three colours. Over each of them a
special spell is chanted again, the most important one over the
black colour. This is never omitted, while the red and white
spells are optional. In the rite of the black colour, again, a
whole mixture of sunstances is used a dry bracken leaf, grass,
and a posisiku nest all this is charred with some coco-nut
husk, and the first strokes of the black paint are made with the
mixture. The rest is painted with a watery mixture of charred
coco-nut For red colour, a sort of ochre, imported from the
d'Entrecasteaux Islands, is used ; the white one is made of a
chalky earth, found in certain parts of the sea shore.

Sail-making is done on another day, usually in the village,
by communal labour, and, with a number of people helping,
the tedious and complicated work is performed in a relatively
short time. The triangular outline of the sail is first pegged
out on the ground, as a rule the old sail being used as a pattern.
After this is done, tapes of dried pandanus leaf (see Plates
XXVIII, XXIX) are stretched on the ground and first fixed



BUILDING OF WAGA 141

along the borders of the sail. Then, starting at the apex of
the triangle, the sail-makers put tapes radiating towards the
base, sewing them together with awls of flying fox bone, and
using as thread narrow strips of specially toughened pandanus
leaf. Two layers of tapes are sewn one on top of the other to
make a solid fabric.

IV

The canoe is now quite ready to be launched. But before
we go on to an account of the ceremonial launching and the
associated festivities, one or two general remarks must be
made retrospectively about the proceedings just described.

The whole of the first stage of canoe-building, that is, the
cutting of the tree, the scooping out of the log, and the pre-
paration of the other component parts, with all their associated
magic, is done only when a new canoe is built.

But the second stage has to be performed over all the canoes
before every great overseas Kula expedition. On such an
occasion, all the canoes have to be re-lashed, re-caulked, and
re-painted. This obviously requires that they should all be
taken to pieces and then lashed, caulked and painted exactly
as is done with a new canoe. All the magic incidental to these
three processes is then performed, in its due order, over the
renovated canoe. So that we can say about the second stage
of canoe-building that not only is it always performed in
association with the Kula, but that no big expedition ever
takes place without it.

We have had a description of the magical rites, and the
ideas which are implied in every one of them have been specified.
But there are one or two more general characteristics which
must be mentioned here. First, there is what could be called
the " ceremonial dimension " of magical rites. That is,
how far is the performance of the rite attended by the members
of the community, if at all ; and if so, do they actively take
part in it, or do they simply pay keen attention and behave
as an interested audience ; or, though being present, do they
pay little heed and show only small interest ?

In the first stage of canoe-building, the rites are performed
by the magician himself, with only a few helpers in attendance,
The general village public do not feel sufficiently interested
and attracted to assist, nor are they bound by custom to do so,



142 BUILDING OF WAGA

The general character of these rites is more like the perform-
ance of a technicality of work than of a ceremony. The
preparing of herbs for the ligogu magic, for instance, and the
charming it over, is carried out in a matter-of-fact, business-
like manner, and nothing in the behaviour of the magician and
those casually grouped around him would indicate that anything
specially interesting in the routine work is happening.

The rites of the second stage are ipso facto attended by all
those who help in piecing together and lashing, but on the whole
those present have no special task assigned to them in the per-
formance ol these rites. As to the attention and behaviour
during the performance of the magic, much depends of course on
whether the magician officiating is a chief of great importance
or someone of low rank. A certain decorum and even silence
would be observed in any case. But many of those present
would turn aside and go away, if they wanted to do so. The
magician does not produce the impression of an officiating
high priest performing a solemn ceremony, frut rather of a
specialised workman doing a particularly important piece of
work. It must be remembered that all the rites are simple,
and the chanting of the spells in public is done in a low voice,
and quickly, without any specially effective vocal production.
Again, the caulking and the wayugo rites are, in some types of
magic at least, performed in the magician's hut, without any
attendance whatever, and so is that of the black paint.

Another point of general importance is what could be
called the stringency of magic rites. In canoe magic, for
instance, the expulsion of the tokway, the ritual cutting of the
pulling rope, the magic of the adze (ligogu), that of the lashing
creeper (wayugo), of the caulking, and of the black paint can
never be omitted. Whereas the other rites are optional,
though as a rule some of them are performed. But even those
which are considered indispensable do not all occupy the same
place of importance in native mythology and in native ideas,
which is clearly expressed in the behaviour of the natives and
their manner of speaking of them. Thus, the general term
tor canoe magic is either wayugo or ligogu, from which we can
see that these two spells are considered the most important.
A man will speak about his wayugo being better than that of
the other, or of having learnt his ligogu from his father. Again,
as we shall see in the canoe myth, both these rites are explicitly



BUILDING OF WAGA 143

mentioned there. Although the expulsion of the tokway is
always done, it is definitely recognised by the natives as being
of lesser importance. So are also the magic of caulking and
of the black paint.

A less general point, of great interest, however, is that of
evil magic (bulubwalata) and of broken taboos. I had to
mention several exorcisms against those influences, and some-
thing must be said about them here. The term bulubwalata
covers all forms of evil magic or witchery. There is that
which, directed against pigs, makes them run away from their
owners into the bush ; there is bulubwalata for alienating the
affections of a wife or sweetheart ; there is evil magic against
gardens, and perhaps the most dreaded one evil magic
against rain, producing drought and famine. The evil magic
against canoes, making them slow, heavy, and unseaworthy,
is also much feared. Many men profess to know it, but it is
very difficult for the Ethnographer to obtain a formula, and I
succeeded only in taking down one. It is always supposed to
be practised by canoe-owners upon the craft which they regard
as dangerous rivals of their own.

There are many taboos referring to an already constructed
canoe, and we shall meet with them later when speaking about
sailing and handling the canoe. But before that stage is
reached, any defilement with any unclean substance of the log
out of which the canoe is scooped, would make it slow and
bad ; or if anybody were to walk over a canoe log or stand on
it there would be the same evil result.

One more point must be mentioned here. As we have
seen, the first magical rite, of the second stage of construction,
is performed over the prow-boards. The question obtrudes
itself as to whether the designs on these boards have any
magical meaning. It must be clearly understood that any
guesswork or speculations about origins must be rigidly excluded
from ethnographic field work like this. For a sociologically
empirical answer, the Ethnographer must look to two classes
of facts. First of all, he may directly question the natives as
to whether the prow-boards themselves or any of the motives
upon them are done for magical purposes. Whether he
questions the average man, or even the specialist in canoe magic
and carving, to this he will always receive in Kiriwina a
negative answer. He can then enquire whether in the magical



144 BUILDING OF WAGA

ritual for formulae there are no references to the prow-boards,
or to any of the decorative motives on them. Here also, the
evidence on the whole is negative. In one spell perhaps, and
that belonging not to canoe but to the Kula magic (comp
below, Chap. XIII, Div. II, the Kayikuna Tabuyo spell),
there can be found an allusion to the prow-boards, but only
to the term describing them in general, and not to ahy special
decorative motive. Thus the only association between canoe
decoration and canoe magic consists in the fact that two magical
rites are performed over them, one mentioned already, and the
other to be mentioned at the beginning of the next chapter.

The description of canoe-building, in fact, all the data
given in this chapter, refer only to one of the two types of
sea-going canoe to be found in the Kula district. For the
natives of the Eastern half of the ring use craft bigger, and in
certain respects better, than the masawa. The main difference
between the Eastern and Western type consists in the fact
that the bigger canoes have a higher gunwale or side, and
consequently a greater carrying capacity, and they can be
immersed deeper. The larger water board offers more
resistance against making leeway, and this allows the canoes
to be sailed closer to the wind. Consequently, the Eastern
canoes can beat, and these natives are therefore much more
independent of the direction of the wind in their sailings.
With this is connected the position of the mast, which in this
type is stepped in the middle, and it is also permanently fixed,
and is not taken down every time after sailing. It obviously,
therefore, need not be changed in its position every time the
canoe goes on another tack.

I have not seen the construction of a nagega, as these
canoes are called, but I think that it is technically a much
more difficult task than the building of a masawa. I was told
that both magic and ceremonial of construction are very much
the same in the building of both canoes.

The nagega, that is the larger and more seaworthy type,
is used on the section of the Kula ring beginning in Gawa and
ending in Tubetube. It is also used in certain parts of the
Massim district, which lie outside the Kula ring, such as the
Island of Sud-Est, and surrounding smaller islands, and it is
used among the Southern Massim of the mainland. But
though its use is very widely spread, its manufacture is confined



BUILDING OF WAGA 145

to only a few places. The most important centres of nagega
building are Gawa, a few villages on Woodlark Islands, the
Island of Panayati, and perhaps one or two places on Misima.
From there, the canoes are traded all over the district, and
indeed this is one of the most important forms of trade in this
part of the world. The masawa canoes are used and manu-
factured in the district of Dobu, in the Amphletts, in the
Trobriands, in Kitava and Iwa.

One point of great importance in the relation of these two
forms of canoe is that one of them has, within the last two
generations, been expanding at the expense of the other.
According to reliable information, gathered at several points
in the Trobriands and the Amphletts, the nagega type, that is
the heavier, more seaworthy and better-sailing canoe, was
driven out some time ago from the Amphletts and Trobriands.
The masawa, in many respects inferior, but less difficult to
build, and swifter, has supplanted the bigger type. In olden
days, that is, about two or three generations ago, the nagega
was used exclusively in Iwa, Kitava, Kiriwina, Vakuta, and
Sinaketa, while the Amphlettans and the natives of Kayleula
would usually use the nagega, though sometimes they would
sail in masawa canoes. Dobu was the real home and head-
quarters of the masawa. When the shifting began, and when
it was completed, I could not ascertain. But the fact is that
nowadays even the villages of Kitava and Iwa manufacture
the smaller masawa canoe. Thus, one of the most important
cultural items is spreading from South to North. There is,
however, one point on which I could not obtain definite in-
formation : that is, whether in the Trobriands the nagega in
olden days was imported from Kitava, or whether it was
manufactured locally by imported craftsmen (as is done even
nowadays in Kiriwina at times), or whether the Trobrianders
themselves knew how to make the big canoes. There is no
doubt, however, that in olden days, the natives of Kitava and
Iwa used themselves to make the nagega canoes. The Kudayuri
myth (see Chapter XII), and the connected magic, refer to
this type of canoe. Thus in this district at any rate, and
probably in the Trobriands and Amphletts as well, not only
the use, but also the manufacture of the bigger canoe has been
superseded by that of the smaller one, the masawa, now found
in all these parts.



CHAPTER VI

LAUNCHING OF A CANOE AND CEREMONIAL
VISITING TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS



THE canoe, painted and decorated, stands now ready to be
launched, a source of pride to the owners and to the makers,
and an object of admiration to the other beholders. A new
sailing craft is not only another utility created ; it is more :
if is a new entity sprung into being, something with which
the future destinies of the sailors will be bound up, and on
which they will depend. There can be no doubt that this
sentiment is also felt by the natives and expressed in their
customs and behaviour. The canoe receives a personal name,
it becomes an object of intense interest to the whole district.
Its qualities, points of beauty, and of probable perfection or
faultiness are canvassed round the fires at night. The owner
and his kinsmen and fellow villagers will speak of it with the
usual boasting and exaggerations, and the others will all be
very keen to see it, and to watch its performances. Thus the
institution of ceremonial launching is not a mere formality
prescribed by custom ; it corresponds to the psychological
needs of the community, it rouses a great interest, and is very
well attended even when the canoe belongs to a small com-
munity. When a big chief's canoe is launched, whether that
of Kasanai or Omarakana, Olivilevi or Sinaketa, up to a
thousand natives will assemble on the beach.

This festive and public display of a finished canoe, with its
full paint and ornament, is not only in harmony with the
natives' sentiments towards a new sailing craft ; it also agrees
with the way they treat in general the results of their economic
activities. Whether in gardening or in fishing, in the building
of houses or in industrial achievements, there is a tendency to
display the products, to arrange them, and even adorn at
least certain classes of them, so as to produce a big, aesthetic



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 147

effect. In fishing, there are only traces of this tendency,
but in gardening, it assumes very great proportions, and the
handling, arranging and display of garden produce is one of
the most characteristic features of their tribal life, and it takes
up much time and work.*

Soon after the painting and adorning of the canoe, a date
is fixed for the ceremonial launching and trial run, the tasasoria
festivities, as they are called. Word is passed to the chiefs
and headmen of the neighbouring villages. Those of them
who own canoes and who belong to the same Kula community
have always to come with their canoes and take part in a sort
of regatta held on the occasion. As the new canoe is always
constructed in connection with a Kula expedition, and as the
other canoes of the same Kula community have to be either
done up or replaced, it is the rule that on the tasasoria day a
whole fleet of brand new or renovated canoes assemble on the
beach, all resplendent in fresh colours and decoration of cowrie
shells and bleached pandanus streamers.

The launching itself is inaugurated with a rite of . the
mwasila (Kula magic), called Kaytalula wadola waga (" staining
red of the mouth of the canoe "). After the natives have taken
off the plaited coco-nut leaves with which the canoe is pro-
tected against the sun, the toli.waga chants a spell over some red
ochre, and stains both bow and stern of the canoe. A special
cowrie shell, attached to the prow-board (tabuyo) is stained at
each end. After that the canoe is launched, the villagers
pushing it into the water over pieces of wood transversely
placed which act as slips (see Plate XXX). This is done
amidst shouts and ululations, such as are made on all occasions
when some piece of work has to be done in a festive and
ceremonial manner, when, for instance, the harvest is brought
in and given ceremonially by a man to his brother-in-law, or
when a gift of yams or taro is laid down before a fisherman's
house by an inland gardener, or the return gift of fish is made.

Thus the canoe is finally launched after the long series of
mingled work and ceremony, technical effort and magical rite.

After the launching is done, there takes place a feast, or,
more correctly, a distribution of food (sagali) under observation
of all sorts of formalities and ritual. Such a distribution

* Cf. Chapter II, Divisions III and IV, and some of the following Divi-

sions of this Chapter.



I 4 8 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

is always made when the toliwaga has not built the canoe him-
self, and when he therefore has to repay the cutter of the
canoe and his helpers. It also takes place whenever the canoe
of a big chief is launched, in order to celebrate the occasion,
to show oft his wealth and generosity, and to give food to the
many people who have been summoned to assist in the
construction.

After the sagali (ceremonial distribution of food) is over,
as a rule, in the afternoon, the new canoe is rigged, the mast
is put up, the sail attached, and this and all the other boats
make a trial run. It is not a competitive race in the strict
sense of the word. The chief's canoe, which indeed would as
a rule be best and fastest, in any case always wins the race.
If it did not sail fastest, the others would probably keep back.
The trial run is rather a display of the new canoe, side by side
with the others.

In order to give one concrete illustration of the ceremonial
connected with canoe building and launching, it may be well
to relate an actual event. I shall therefore describe the
tasasoria, seen on the beach of Kaulukuba, in February, 1916,
when the new canoe of Kasana'i was launched. Eight canoes
took part in the trial run, that is, all the canoes of Kiriwina,
which forms what I have called the " Kula community/' the
social group who make their Kula expeditions in a body, and
who have the same limits within which they carry on their
exchange of valuables.

The great event which was the cause of the building and
renovating of the canoes, was a Kula expedition planned by
To'ulawa and his Kula community. They were to go to the
East, to Kitava, to Iwa or Gawa, perhaps even to Muruwa
(Woodlark Island), though with this island the natives do not
carry on the Kula directly. As is usual in such cases, months
before the approximate date of sailing, plans and forecasts were
made, stories of previous voyages were recounted, old men dwelt
on their own reminiscences and reported what they had been
told by their elders of the days when iron was unknown and
everyone had to sail to the East in order to get the green
stone quarried in Suloga on Woodlark Island. And so, as it
always happens when future events are talked over round
village fires, imagination outran all bounds of probability ;
and the hopes and anticipations grew bigger and bigger. In



PLATE XXX







LAUNCHING OF A CANOE
Nigada Bu'a, after its renovation, being pushed into the water. (Sec
Div. I.)



PLATE XXXI




THE TASASORIA ON THE BEACH OF KAULUKUBA

Stepping the masts and getting the sails ready for the run. In the
foreground To'uluwa,
the chief of Kiriwina, standing at the mast, supervises the rigging of
Nigada flu a



PLATE XXXII




A CHIEF'S YAM HOUSE IN KASANA'l

This illustrates the display of yarns in the interstices between the
logs of the wall, and the
decorations of cocoanuts, running round the gable, along the supports
and the walls. This
yam house was quite recently put up and its barge boards had not yet
been erected. (See

Div. IV.)



PLATE XXXIII




A FILLING A YAM HOUSE IN YALUMUGWA

The yams are taken from the conical heaps and put into the bwayma
(store houses) by the
brother-in-law (wife's brother) of the owner. Note the decorations on
the gable the owner
being a gumguya'u (chief of lower rank). (See Div. IV.)



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 149

the end, everyone really believed his party would go at least to
the Easternmost Marshall Bennetts (Gawa), whereas, as events
turned out, they did not sail beyond Kitava.

For this occasion a new canoe had to be constructed in
Kasana'i, and this was done by Ibena himself, the chief of that
village, a man of rank equal to the highest chief (his kinsman,
in fact) but of smaller power. Ibena is a skilled builder as
well as a fair carver, and there is no class of magic in which
he does not profess to be versed. The canoe was built, under
his guidance ; he carved the boards himself, he also performed
the magic, and he was, of course, the toliwaga.

In Omarakana, the canoe had to be slightly altered in
construction ; it had to be re-lashed and re-painted. To do
this IVuluwa, the chief, had summoned a master builder and
carver from the island of Kitava, the same one who a couple
of years before, had built this canoe. Also a new sail had to
be made for the Omarakana boat, as the old one was too small.
The ceremony of tasasoria (launching and regatta) ought by
rights to have been held on the beach of Kasana'i, but as its
sister village, Omarakana, is so much more important, it took
place on KauJukuba, the sea-shore of the latter.

As the date approached, the whole district was alive with
preparations, since the coastal villages had to put their canoes
in order, while in the inland communities, new festive dresses
and food had to be made ready. The food was not to be eaten,
but to be offered to the chief for his sagali (ceremonial distri-
bution). Only in Omarakana, the women had to cook for a
big festive repast to be eaten on return from the tasasoria. In
the Trobriands it is always a sign that a festive event is pending
when all the women go in the evening to the bush to collect
plenty of firewood. Next morning, this will be used for the
kumkumuli, the baking of food in the ground, which is one of
the forms of cooking used on festive occasions. On the
evening of the tasasoria ceremony, people in Omarakana and
Kasana'i were also busy with the numerous other preparations,
running to the shore and back, filling baskets with yams for
the sagali, getting ready their festive dress and decorations
for the morrow. Festive dress means, for a woman, a new
grass skirt, resplendent in fresh red, white and purple, and for
the man a newly bleached, snow-white pubic leaf, made of the
stalk of areca palm leaf.



150 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

Early in the morning of the appointed day, the food was
packed into baskets of plaited leaf, the personal apparel on top
of it, all covered as usual with folded mats and conveyed to
the beach. The women carried on their heads the large
baskets, shaped like big inverted bells, the men shouldered a
stick with two bag-shaped baskets at each end. Other men had
to carry the oars, paddles, rigging and sail, as these para-
phenalia are always kept in the village. From one of the
villages, one of the large, prismatic receptacles for food made
of sticks was carried by several men right over the raybwag
(coral ridge) to be offered to the chief of Omarakana as a share
in the sagali. The whole village was astir, and on its out-
skirts, through the surrounding groves, parties from inland
could be seen making their way rapidly to the shore. I left
the village with a party of notables at about eight o'clock in
the morning. After leaving the grove of fruit and palm trees
which grows especially densely around^the village of Omarakana,
we entered between the two walls of green, the usual monoton-
ous Trobriand road, which passes through the low scrub. Soon,
emerging on a garden space, we could see, beyond a gentle
declivity, the rising slope of the raybwag, a mixture of rank
vegetation with monumental boulders of grey coral standing
out here and there. Through this, the path led on, following
in an intricate course between small precipices and towering
outcrops, passing huge, ancient ficus trees, spreading around
them their many trunks and aerial roots. At the top of the
ridge, all of a sudden the blue sea shone through the foliage,
and the roar of waves breaking on the reef struck our ears.
Soon we found ourselves among the crowd assembled on the
beach, near to the big boat-shed of Omarakana.

By about nine o'clock, everybody was ready on the beach.
It was fully exposed to the Eastern sun, but this was not yet
sufficiently high to drop its light right from above, and thus to
produce that deadly effect of tropical mid-day, where the
shadows instead of modelling out the details, blur every
vertical surface and make everything dull and formless. The
beach appeared bright and gaudy, and the lively brown bodies
looked well against the background of green foliage and white
sand. The natives were anointed with coco-nut oil, and
decorated with flowers and facial paint. Large red hibiscus
blossoms were stuck into their hair, and wreaths of the white,



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 151

wonderfully scented butia flowers crowned the dense black
mops. There was a good display of ebony carvings, sticks
and lime spoons. There were decorated lime pots, and such
objects of personal adornment as belts of red shell discs or of
small cowrie shells, nose sticks (very rarely used nowadays),
and other articles so well known to everybody from ethnological
collections in museums, and usually called "ceremonial/'
though, as said above (Chapter III, Div. Ill) the description
" objects of parade " would be much more in agreement with
the correct meaning of the words.

Such popular festivities as the one just being described
are the occasions on which these objects of parade, some of
which astonish us by their artistic perfection, appear in native
life. Before I had opportunities to see savage art in actual
display, in its proper, " living " setting, there seemed to me
always to exist some incongruity between the artistic finish
of such objects and the general crudity of savage life, a crudity
marked precisely on the aesthetic side. One imagines greasy,
dirty, naked bodies, moppy hair full of vermin, and other
realistic features which make up one's idea of the " savage/'
and in some respects reality bears out imagination. As a
matter of fact though, the incongruity does not exist when
once one has seen native art actually displayed in its own
setting- A festive mob of natives, with the wonderful golden-
brown colour of their skins brought out by washing and
anointing and set off by the gaudy white, red and black of
facial paint, feathers and ornaments, with their exquisitely
carved and polished ebony objects, with their finely worked
lime pots, has a distinct elegance of its own, without striking
one as grotesque or incongruous in any aesthetic detail. There
is an evident harmony between their festive mood, the display
of colours and forms, and the manner in which they put on and
bear their ornaments.

Those who have come from a distance, and who would
spoil their decorations by the long march, wash with water
and anoint themselves with coco-nut grease immediately before
arriving at the scene of festivities. As a rule the best paint
is put on later on, when the climax of the proceedings approaches.
On this occasion, after the preliminaries (distribution of food,
arrival of other canoes) were over, and when the races were
just going to be started, the aristocracy of Omarakana the



152 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

wives and children of To'uluwa, his relatives and himself
withdrew behind the shelters, near the boat shed, and pro-
ceeded to put on the red, white and black of full facial paint.
They crushed young betel-nut, mixed it with lime, and put
it on with the pestles of betel mortars ; then some of the
aromatic black resin (sayaku) and white lime were applied.
As the habit of mirrors is not quite well established yet in the
Trobriands, the painting was done by one person on the face
of another, and great care and patience were displayed on
both sides.

The numerous crowd spent the day without taking much
refreshment a feature strongly differentiating Kiriwinian
festivities from our ideal of an entertainment or picnic. No
cooking was done, and only a few bananas were eaten here and
there, and green coco-nuts were drunk and eaten. But even
these refreshments were consumed with great frugality.

As always on such occasions, the people collected together
in sets, the visitors from each village forming a group apart.
The local natives kept to their own boat houses, those of
Omarakana and Kurokaiwa having their natural centres on
the beach of Kaulukuba. The other visitors similarly kept
together in their position on the beach, according to their local
distribution ; thus, men from the Northern villages would keep
to the Northern section of the beach, those from the South
would stick to that point of the compass, so that villages which
were neighbours in reality would also be side by side on the
shore. There was no mingling in the crowd, and individuals
would not walk about from one group to another. The
aristocrats, out of personal dignity, humble folk because of a
modesty imposed by custom, would keep in their places.
To'uluwa sat practically during the whole performance, on the
platform erected for this purpose, except when he went over to
his boat, to trim it for the race.

The boat shed of Omarakana, round which the chief, his
family and the other villagers were grouped, was the centre
of all the proceedings. Under one of the palms, a fairly high
platform was put up to accommodate To'uluwa. In a row
in front of the sheds and shelters, there stood the prismatic
food receptacles (pwata'i). They had been erected by the
inhabitants of Omarakana and Kasana'i, on the previous day,
and partially filled with yams. The rest had to be supplied



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 153

by people from the other villages, on the day of the boat races.
As the natives came to the beach on that day, village after
village, they brought their contribution, and before settling
down on their particular spot on the shore, they paid a visit
to the chief and offered him their tributes. These would be
put into one of the pwata'i. All the villages did not contribute
their share, but the majority did, though some of them brought
only a few baskets. One of the villages brought one
complete pwata'i, filled with yams, and offered the whole
to the chief.

In the meantime, the eight canoes arrived, including that
of Kasana'i, which had been ceremonially launched that
morning with the accompanying magical rite, on its own beach
about half a mile away. The canoe of Omarakana had also been
launched on this morning (Plate XXX), and the same rite
performed over it. It ought to have been done by To'uluwa,
the chief. As he, however, is quite incapable of remembering
magical spells in fact, he never does any of the magic which
his rank and office impose on him the rite was performed on
this occasion by one of his kinsmen. This is a typical case of
a rule very stringently formulated by all informants when you
ask about it, yet in reality often observed with laxity. If
you inquire directly, everyone will tell you that this rite, as all
others of the mwasila (Kula magic) has to be done by the
ioliwaga. But every time when he ought to perform it,
To'uluwa will find some excuse, and delegate it to another.

When all the canoes were present, as well as all the
important villages, at about eleven o'clock a.m., there took
place the sagali (ceremonial distribution). The food was
given to people from various villages, especially such as
took part in the races, or had assisted in the building of the
new canoe. So we see that food contributed by all the villages
before the sagali was simply redistributed among them, a
considerable quantity having been added first by the chief ;
and this indeed is the usual procedure at a sagali. In this
case, of course, the lion's share was taken by the Kitavans
who helped at the building.

After the sagali was over, the canoes were all brought up
to one spot, and the natives began to prepare them for the
race. The masts were stepped, the fastenings trimmed, the
sails made ready (see Plate XXXI). After that the canoes



154 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

all put off and gathered about half a mile off the shore, beyond
the fringing reef ; and at a sign given by some one on one of
them, they all started. As said before, such a run is not a
race properly speaking, in which the canoes would start
scrupulously at the same minute, have the same distance to
cover, and which would clearly show which is the fastest. In
this case, it was merely, as always, a review of the boats sailing
along as well as they were able, a review in which they all began
to move, more or less at the same time, went in the same
direction, and covered practically the same distance.

As to the time table of the events, the sagali was over before
mid-day. There was a pause ; and then, at about one p.m.,
the natives began rigging the canoes. Then all hands had a
spell, and not before three p.m. were the races started. The
whole affair was over by about four o'clock, and half an hour
later, the boats from the other villages started to sail home,
the people on the shore dispersed, so that by sunset, that
is, about six o'clock, the beach was almost deserted.

Such was the tasasoria ceremony which I saw in February,
1916. It was a fine sight from the spectacular point of view.
A superficial onlooker could have hardly perceived any sign
of white man's influence or interference. I was the only
white man present, and besides myself only some two or three
native missionary teachers were dressed in white cotton.
Amongst the rest of us there could be seen sparsely a coloured
rag, tied round as a neckerchief or head-dress. But otherwise
there was only a swarm of naked brown bodies, shining with
coco-nut oil, adorned in new festive dress, with here and there
the three-coloured grass skirt of a woman (see Plates XXX
and XXXI).

But alas, for one who could look below the surface and read
the various symptoms of decay, deep changes would be
discernible from what must have been the original conditions
of such a native gathering. In fact, some three generations
ago, even its appearances would have been different. The
natives then would have been armed with shields and spears ;
some would have borne decorative weapons, such as the big
sword-clubs of hard wood, or massive ebony cudgels, or small
thro wing-sticks. A closer inspection would have shown many
more decorations and ornaments, such as nose-sticks, finely
carved lime spatulae, gourds with burnt-in designs, some of



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 155

which are now out of use, or those used of inferior workmanship
or without decoration.

But other and much deeper changes have taken place in
the social conditions. Three generations ago both the canoes
in the water and the people on the shore would have been more
numerous. As mentioned above, in the olden days there would
have been some twenty canoes in Kiriwina, as against eight
at the present time. Again, the far stronger influence of
the chief, and the much greater relative importance of the
event would have attracted a larger proportion out of the
then more numerous population. Nowadays, other interests,
such as diving for pearls, working on white man's plantations,
divert the native attention, while many events connected
with Missions, Government and trading, eclipse the importance
of old customs.

Again, the people on the shore would have had to adhere
in olden days even more closely to the local distribution, men
of the same village community keeping together still more
strictly, and looking with mistrust and perhaps even hostility,
at other groups, especially those with whom they had hereditary
feuds. The general tension would often be broken by squabbles
or even miniature fights, especially at the moment of dispersing,
and on the way home.

One of the important features of the performance, and
the one of which the natives think perhaps most the display
of food would also have been quite different. The chief
whom I saw sitting on a platform surrounded by a few wives
only, and with small attendance would, under the old
conditions, have been the owner of thrice as many wives and
consequently relatives-in-law, and as it is these from whom he
derives most of his income, he would have provided a much
bigger sagali than he is able to do nowadays.

Three generations ago the whole event would have been
much more solemn and dramatic to the natives. The very
distance to the neighbouring island of Kitava is nowadays
dwarfed. In the past, it would not, as now, be quickly
obliterated by a white man's steam-launch. Then, the canoes
on the beach were the only means of arriving there, and their
value in the eyes of the natives must have, therefore, been
even higher, although they think so much of them now. The
outlines of the distant island and the small fleet of canoes on



156 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

the beach formed for the natives the first act of a big over seas
expedition, an event of far deeper significance to them then
than now. A rich haul of arm-shells, the arrival of many
much-coveted utilities, the bringing back of news from the
far-off land, all this meant much more in older days than it
can mean at present. War, dancing, and the Kula supplied
tribal life with its romantic and heroic elements. Nowadays,
with war prohibited by the Government, with dancing dis-
credited by missionary influence, the Kula alone remains,
and even that is stripped of some of its glamour.

II

Before we proceed to the next stage, we must pause in
following the events of a Kula expedition, and consider one
or two points of more general importance. I have touched in
the narrative, but not dwelt upon, certain problems of the
sociology of work. At the outset of the preceding chapter it
was mentioned that canoe-building requires a definite organisa-
tion of work, and in fact we saw that in the course of
construction, various kinds of labour were employed, and more
especially towards the end, much use was made of communal
labour. Again, we saw that during the launching ceremony
payment was given by the owner to the expert and his helpers.
These two points therefore, the organisation of labour and
communal labour in particular, and the system of payment for
experts' work must be here developed.

Organisation of Labour. First of all, it is important to
realise that a Kiriwinian is capable of working well, efficiently
and in a continuous manner. But he must work under an
effective incentive : he must be prompted by some duty
imposed by tribal standards, or he must be lured by ambitions
and values also dictated by custom and tradition. Gain,
such as is often the stimulus for work in more civilised com-
munities, never acts as an impulse to work under the original
native conditions. It succeeds very badly, therefore, when a
white man tries to use this incentive to make a native work.

This is the reason why the traditional view of the lazy and
indolent native is not only a constant refrain of the average
white settler, but finds its way into good books of travel, and
even serious ethnographic records. With us, labour is, or was
till fairly recently, a commodity sold as any other, in the



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 157

open market. A man accustomed to think in terms of current
economic theory will naturally apply the conceptions of supply
and demand to labour, and he applies them therefore to native
labour. The untrained person does the same, though in less
sophisticated terms, and as they see that the native will not
work well for the white man, even if tempted by considerable
payment and treated fairly well, they conclude that his
capacity for labour is very small. This error is due to the same
cause which lies at the bottom of all our misconceptions about
people of different cultures If you remove a man from his
social milieu, you eo ipso deprive him of almost all his stimuli
to moral steadfastness and economic efficiency and even of
interest in life. If then you measure him by moral, legal or
economic standards, also essentially foreign to him, you cannot
but obtain a caricature in your estimate.

But the natives are not only capable of energetic, continuous
and skilful work ; their social conditions also make it possible
for them to employ organised labour. At the beginning of
Chapter IV, the sociology of canoe-building was given in
outline, and now, after the details of its successive stages have
been filled in, it is possible to confirm what has been said
there, and draw some conclusions as to this organisation of
labour. And first, as we are using this expression so often,
I must insist again on the fact that the natives are capable
of it, and that this contention is not a truism, as the following
considerations should show. The just mentioned view of
the lazy, individualistic and selfish savage, who lives on the
bounties of nature as they fall ripe and ready for him, implicitly
precludes the possibility of his doing effective work, integrated
into an organised effort by social forces. Again, the view,
almost universally accepted by specialists, is that the lowest
savages are in the pre-economic stage of individualistic search
for food, whereas the more developed ones, such as the
Trobrianders, for instance, live at the stage of isolated house-
hold economy. This view also ignores, when it does not deny
explicitly, the possibility of socially organised labour.

The view generally held is that, in native communities
each individual works for himself, or members of a household
work so as to provide each family with the necessities of life.
Of course, a canoe, even a masawa, could obviously be made
by the members of a household, though with less efficiency



158 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

and in a longer time. So that there is a priori nothing to
foretell whether organised labour, or the unaided efforts of an
individual or a small group of people should be used in the
work. As a matter of fact, we have seen in canoe-building a
number of men engaged in performing each a definite and
difficult task, though united to one purpose. The tasks were
differentiated in their sociological setting ; some of the^workers
were actually to own the canoe ; others belonged to a different
community, and did it only as an act of service to the chief.
Some worked in order to derive direct benefit from the use of
the canoe, others were to be paid. We saw also that the work
of felling, of scooping, of decorating, would in some cases be
performed by various men, or it might be performed by one
only. Certainly the minute tasks of lashing, caulking and
painting, as well as sail-making, were done by communal
labour as opposed to individual. And all these different tasks
were directed towards one aim : the providing the chief or
headman with the title of ownership of a canoe, and his whole
community with its use.

It is clear that this differentiation of tasks, co-ordinated
to a general purpose, requires a well developed social
apparatus to back it up, and that on the other hand, this
social mechanism must be associated and permeated with
economic elements. There must be a chief, regarded as
representative of a group ; he must have certain formal rights
and privileges, and a certain amount of authority, and also
he must dispose of part of the wealth of the community. There
must also be a man or men with knowledge sufficient to direct
and co-ordinate the technical operations. All this is obvious.
But it must be clearly set forth that the real force which binds
all the people and ties them down in their tasks is obedience
to custom, to tradition.

Every man knows what is expected from him, in virtue of
his position, and he does it, whether it means the obtaining of
a privilege, the performance of a task, or the acquiescence in
a status quo. He knows that it always has been thus, and thus
it is all around him, and thus it always must remain. The
chief's authority, his privileges, the customary give and take
which exist between him and the community, all that is
merely, so to speak, the mechanism through which the force
of tradition acts. For there is no organised physical means



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 159

by which those in authority could enforce their will in a case
like this. Order is kept by direct force of everybody's
adhesion to custom, rules and laws, by the same psychological
influences which in our society prevent a man of the world
doing something which is not " the right thing," The
expression " might is right " would certainly not apply to
Trobriand society. " Tradition is right, and what is right
has might " this rather is the rule governing the social forces
in Boyowa, and I dare say in almost all native communities
at this stage of culture.

All the details of custom, all the magical formulae, the
whole fringe of ceremonial and rite which accompany canoe-
building, all these things add weight to the social scheme of
duties. The importance of magical ideas and rites as
integrating forces has been indicated at the outset of this
description. It is easy to see how all the appurtenances of
ceremony, that is, magic, decoration, and public attendance
welded together into one whole with labour, serve to put order
and organisation into it.

Another point must be enlarged upon somewhat more. I
have spoken of organised labour, and of communal labour.
These two conceptions are not synonymous, and it is well to
keep them apart. As already defined, organised labour
implies the co-operation of several socially and economi-
cally different elements. It is quite another thing, however,
when a number of people are engaged side by side, performing
the same work, without any technical division of labour, or
social differentiation of function. Thus, the whole enterprise
of canoe-building is, in Kiriwina, the result of organised labour.
But the work of some twenty to thirty men, who side by side
do the lashing or caulking of the canoe, is communal labour.
This latter form of work has a great psychological advantage.
It is much more stimulating and more interesting, and it
allows of emulation, and therefore of a better quality of work.
For one or two men, it would require about a month to do the
work which twenty to thirty men can do in a day. In certain
cases, as in the pulling of the heavy log from the jungle to the
village, the joining of forces is almost indispensable. True,
the canoe could be scooped out in the raybwag, and then a
few men might be able to pull it along, applying some skill.
But it would entail great hardships. Thus, in some cases,



160 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

communal labour is of extreme importance, and in all cases
it furthers the course of work considerably. Sociologically, it
is important, because it implies mutual help, exchange of
services, and solidarity in work within a wide range .

Communal labour is an important factor in the tribal
economy of the Trobriand natives. They resort to it in the
building of living-huts and storehouses, in certain ^forms of
industrial work, and in the transport of things, especially at
harvest time, when great quantities of produce have to be
shifted from one village to another, often over a great distance.
In fishing, when several canoes go out together and fish each
for itself, then we cannot speak of communal labour. When
on the other hand, they fish in one band, each canoe having
an appointed task, as is sometimes done, then we have to do
with organised labour. Communal labour is also based upon
the duties of urigubu, or relatives-in-law. That is, a man's
relatives-in-law have to assist him, whenever he needs their
co-operation. In the case of a chief, there is an assistance on
a grand scale, and whole villages will turn out. In the case
of a commoner, only a few people will help. There is always
a distribution of food after the work has been done, but this
can hardly be considered as payment, for is is not proportional
to the work each individual does.

By far the most important part communal labour has to
play, is in gardening. There are as many as five different
forms of communal labour in the gardens, each called by a
different name, and each distinct in its sociological nature.
When a chief or headman summons the members of a village
community, and they agree to do their gardens communally,
it is called tamgogula. When this is decided upon, and the
time grows near for cutting the scrub for new gardens, a festive
eating is. held on the central place, and there all men go, and
takayva (cut down) the scrub on the chief's plot. After that,
they cut in turn the garden plots of everyone, all men working
on the one plot during a day, and getting on that day food
from the owner. This procedure is reproduced at each
successive stage of gardening ; at the fencing, planting of
yams, bringing in supports, and finally, at the weeding, which
is done by women. At certain stages, the gardening is often
done by each one working for himself, namely at the clearing of
the gardens after they are burnt, at the cleaning of the roots



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 161

of yams when they begin to produce tubers, and at
harvesting.

There are, as a rule, several communal feasts during the
progress, and one at the end of a tamgogula period. Gardens
are generally worked in this fashion, in years when big
ceremonial dancing or some other tribal festivity is held. This
usually makes the work very late, and it has then to be done
quickly and energetically, and communal labour has evidently
been found suitable for this purpose.

When several villages agree to work their gardens by
communal labour, this is called lubalabisa. The two forms do
not differ very much except by name, and also by the fact
that, in the latter form, more than one chief or headman has
to direct the process. The lubalabisa would only be held when
there are several small villages, clustered together, as is the
case in the village compounds of Sinaketa, Kavataria, Kabwaku
or Yalaka.

When a chief or headman, or man of wealth and influence
summons his dependents or his relatives-in-law to work for
him, the name kabutu is given to the proceedings. The owner
has to give food to all those co-operating. A kabutu may be
instituted for one bit of gardening, for example, a headman
may invite his villagers to do his cutting for him, or his planting
or his fencing. It is clear that whenever communal labour
is required by one man in the construction of his house or yam
store, the labour is of the kabutu type, and it is thus called by
the natives.

The fourth form of communal labour is called ta'ula, and
takes place whenever a number of villagers agree to do one
stage of gardening in common, on the basis of reciprocity.
No great or special payments take place. The same sort of
communal labour extending over all stages of gardening, is
called kari'ula, and it may be counted as the fifth form of
communal labour in the gardens. Finally, a special word,
tavile'i, is used when they wish to say that the gardens are
done by individual labour, and that everyone works on his
own plot. It is a rule, however, that the chief's plots,
especially those of an influential chief of high rank, are always
gardened by communal labour, and this latter is also used with
regard to certain privileged plots, on which, in a given year, the
garden magic is performed first, and with the greatest display*



r62 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

Thus there is a number of distinct forms of communal
labour, and they show many more interesting features which
cannot be mentioned in this short outline. The communal
labour used in canoe-building is obviously of the kabutu type.
In having a canoe made, the chief is able to summon big
numbers of the inhabitants of a whole district, the headman of
an important village receives the assistance of his whole com-
munity, whereas a man of small importance, such as one of the
smaller headmen of Sinaketa or Vakuta, would have to rely on
his fellow villagers and relations-in-law. In all these cases,
it would be the call of duty, laid down by custom, which would
make them work. The payment would be of secondary
importance, though in certain circumstances, it would be a
considerable one. The distribution of food during launching
forms such a payment, as we have seen in Division I of this
chapter. In olden days, a meal of pigs, an abundance of
betel-nut and coco-nut and sugar cane would have made a
veritable feast for the natives.

Another point of importance from the economic aspect is
the payment given by the chief to the builder of the canoe.
The canoe of Omarakana was made, as we saw, for To'uluwa
by a specialist from Kitava, who was well paid with a quantity
of food, pigs and vaygua (native valuables). Nowadays, when
the power of the chiefs is broken, when they have much less
wealth than formerly to back up their position, and cannot
use even the little force they ever did and when the general
breaking up of custom has undermined the traditional defer-
ence and loyalty of their subjects, the production of canoes and
other forms of wealth by the specialist for the chief is only a
vestige of what it once was. In olden days it was, economi-
cally, one of the most important features of the Trobriand
tribal life. In the construction of the canoe, which a chief in
olden days would never build himself, we meet with an example
of this.

Here it will be enough to say that whenever a canoe is built
for a chief or headman by a builder, this has to be paid for
by an initial gift of food. Then, as long as the man is at work,
provisional gifts of food are given him. If he lives away from
home, like the Kitavan builder on the beach of Omarakana,
he is fed by the toliwaga and supplied with dainties such as
coco-nut, betel-nut, pigs' flesh, fish and fruits. When he works



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 163

in his own home, the toliwaga will bring him choice food at
frequent intervals, inspecting, as he does so, the progress of
the work. This feeding of the worker or bringing him extra
choice food is called vakapula. After the canoe is finished, a
substantial gift is given to the master-builder during the
ceremonial distribution of food. The proper amount would be
a few hundred basketfuls of yams, a pig or two, bunches of
betel-nut, and a great number of coco-nuts ; also, a large stone
blade or a pig, or a belt of red shell discs, and some smaller
vaygua of the non-Kula type.

In Vakuta, where chieftainship is not very distinct, and the
difference in wealth less great, a toliwaga also has to feed the
workers during the time of hollowing out, preparing, and
building a canoe. Then, after the caulking, some fifty baskets-
ful are given to the builder. After the launching and trial
run, this builder gives a rope, symbol of the canoe, to his wife,
who, blowing the conch shell, presents the rope to the toliwaga.
He, on the spot, gives her a bunch of betel or bananas. Next
day, a considerable present of food, known as yomelu, is given
by the chief, and then at the next harvest, another fifty or
sixty basketfuls of yams as karibudaboda or closing up gift.

I have chosen the data from two concrete cases, one noted
in Kiriwina, the other in Vakuta that is, in the district where
the chief's power is greatest, and in that where there never
has been more than a rudimentary distance in rank and wealth
between chief and commoner. In both cases there is a pay-
ment, but in Kiriwina the payment is greater. In Vakuta,
it is obviously rather an exchange of services, whereas in
Kiriwina the chief maintains, as well as rewards his builder.
In both cases we have the exchange of skilled services against
maintenance by supply of food.

Ill

We shall pass now to the next ceremonial and customary
performance in the succession of Kula events, to the display
of a new canoe to the friends and relatives of the toliwaga.
This custom is called kabigidoya. The tasasoria (launching
and trial run) is obviously at the same time the last act of ship-
building, and by its associated magical rite, by the foretaste of
sailing, it is also one of the beginning stages of the Kula.
The kabigidoya being a presentation of the new canoe, belongs



164 TRT 3AL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

to the series of building ceremonials ; but in so far as it is a
provisioning trip, it belongs to the Kula.

The canoe is manned with the usual crew, it is rigged and
fitted out with all its paraphernalia, such as paddles, baler, and
conch shell, and it sets out on a short trip to the beaches of the
neighbouring villages. When the canoe belongs to a compound
settlement like Sinaketa, then it will stop at every bea^ch of the
sister villages. The conch shell is blown, and people in the
village will know " The kabigidoya men have arrived." The
crew remains in the canoe, the tohwaga goes ashore, taking one
paddle with him. He goes to the house of his fellow-headman,
and thrusts the paddle into the frame of the house, with the
words : "I offer thee thy bisila (pandanus streamer) ; take a
vaygua (valuable), catch a pig and break the head of my new
canoe." To which the local headman will answer giving a
present : " This is the katuvisala dabala (the breaking of the
head) of thy new canoe ! " This is an example of the quaint,
customary wording used in the exchange of gifts, and in other
ceremonial transactions. The bisila (pandanus streamer) is
often used as a symbol for the canoe, in magical spells, in
customary expressions, and in idiomatic terms of speech.
Bleached pandanus streamers are tied to the mast, rigging
and sail ; a specially medicated strip is often attached to the
prow of the canoe to give it speed, and there is also other
bisila magic to make a district partner inclined for Kula.

The gifts given are not always up to the standard of those
mentioned in the above customary phrase. The kabigidoya,
especially from the neighbouring villages, often brings only a
few mats, a few dozen coco-nuts, some betel-nut, a couple of
paddles, and such articles of minor value. And even in these
trifles there is not much gain from the short kabigidoya. For as
we know, at the beginning of the Kula all the canoe^of, say,
Sinaketa or KiriwJna are either rebuilt or renewed. What
therefore one canoe receives on its kabigidoya round, from all
the others, will have to be more or less returned to them, when
they in their turn kabigidoya one after the other. Soon
afterwards, however, on an appointed day, all the canoes sail
together on a visit to the other districts, and on this kabigi-
doya, they receive as a rule much more substantial presents,
and these they will only have to return much later, after a year or
two, when the visited district will come back to them on their



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 165

own kabigidoya. Thus, when the canoes of Kirwina are built
and renovated for a big Kula expedition, they will sail South
along the coast, and stop first in Olivilevi, receiving presents
from the chief there, and walking on a round of the inland
villages of Luba. Then they will proceed to the^next sea
village, that of Wawela, leaving their canoes there, and going
from there across to Sinaketa. Thence they proceed still
further South, to Vakuta. The villages on the Lagoon, such as
Sinaketa and Vakuta, will return these visits, sailing North
along the Western shore on the Lagoon side. Then they stop at
Tukwaukwa or Kavataria, and from there walk inland to
Kiriwina, where they receive presents (see Map IV, p. 50).

The kabigidoya trips of the Vakutans and Sinaketans are
more important than those of the Northern or Eastern districts,
because they are combined with a preliminary trade, in which
the visitors replenish their stock of goods, which they will
need presently on their trip South to Dobu. The reader will
remember that Kuboma is the industrial district of the
Trobriands, where are manufactured most of the useful
articles, for which these islands are renowned in the whole of
Eastern New Guinea. It lies in the Northern half of the
island, and from Kiriwina it is only a few miles walk, but to
reach it from Sinaketa or Vakuta it is necessary to sail North.
The Southern villages therefore go to Kavataria, and from there
walk inland to Bwoytalu, Luya, Yalaka and Kadukwaykela,
where they make their purchases. The inhabitants of these
villages also when they hear that the Sinaketans are anchored
in Kavataria, bring their wares to the canoes.

A brisk trade is carried on during the day or two that the
Sinaketans remain in Kavataria. The natives of Kuboma
are always eager to buy yams, as they live in an unfertile
district, and devote themselves more to industrial productions
than to gardening. And they are still more eager to acquire
coco-nuts and betel-nut, of which they have a great scarcity.
They desire besides to receive in exchange for their produce
the red shell discs manufactured in Sinaketa and Vakuta, and
the turtle-shell rings. For objects of great value, the Sinake-
tans would give the big clay pots which they receive directly
from the Amphletts. For that they obtain different articles
according to the villages with which they are exchanging.
From Bwoytalu, they get the wonderfully fashioned and



166 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

decorated wooden dishes of various sizes, depths and finish,
made out of either hard or soft wood ; from Bwaytelu,
Wabutuma and Buduwaylaka, armlets of plaited fern fibre,
and wooden combs ; from Buduwaylaka, Yalaka, and Kaduk-
waykela, lime pots of different qualities and sizes. From the
villages of Tilataula, the district North-east of Kuboma, the
polished axe blades used to be acquired in olden days..

I shall not enter into the technicalities of this exchange, nor
shall I give here the approximate list of prices which obtain.
We shall have to follow the traded goods further on to Dobu,
and there we shall see how they change hands again, and under
what conditions. This will allow us to compare the prices
and thus to gauge the nature of the transaction as a whole.
It will be better therefore to defer all details till then.

IV

Here, however, its seems necessary to make another
digression from the straight narrative of the Kula, and give
an outline of the various forms of trade and exchange as we
find them in the Trobriands. Indeed, the main theme of this
volume is the Kula, a form of exchange, and I would be untrue
to my chief principle of method, were I to give the description
of one form of exchange torn out of its most intimate context ;
that is, were I to give an account of the Kula without giving at
least a general outline of the forms of Kiriwinian payments
and gifts and barter.

In Chapter II, speaking of some features of Trobriand
tribal life, I was led to criticise the current views of primitive
economic man. They depict him as a being indolent, inde-
pendent, happy-go-lucky, yet at the same time governed
exclusively by strictly rational and utilitarian motives, and
logical and consistent in his behaviour. In this chapter again,
in Division II, I pointed out another fallacy implied in this
conception, a fallacy which declares that a savage is capable
only of very simple, unorganised and unsystematic forms of
labour. Another error more or less explicitly expressed in all
writings on primitive economics, is that the natives possess
only rudimentary forms of trade and exchange ; that these
forms play no essential part in the tribal life, are carried on
only spasmodically and at rare intervals, and as necessity
dictates.



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 167

Whether we have to deal with the wide-spread fallacy of
the primitive Golden Age, characterised mainly by the absence
of any distinction between mine and thine ; or whether we take
the more sophisticated view, which postulates stages of
individual search for food, and of isolated household catering ;
or if we consider for the moment the numerous theories which
see nothing in primitive economics but simple pursuits for the
maintenance of existence in none of these can we find reflected
even a hint of the real state of affairs as found in the Trobriands ;
namely, that the whole tribal life is permeated by a constant
give and take ; that every ceremony, every legal and customary
act is done to the accompaniment of material gift and counter
gift ; that wealth, given and taken, is one of the main instru-
ments of social organisation, of the power of the chief, of the
bonds of kinship, and of relationship in law.*

These views on primitive trade, prevalent though erroneous,
appear no doubt quite consistent, that is, if we grant certain
premises. Now these premises seem plausible, and yet they
are false, and it will be good to have a careful look at them so
that we can discard them once and for all. They are based on
some sort of reasoning, such as the following one : If, in
tropical conditions, there is a plenty of all utilities, why
trouble about exchanging them ? Then, why attach any value
to them ? Is there any reason for striving after wealth, where
everyone can have as much as he wants without much effort ?
Is there indeed any room for value, if this latter is the result of

* I am adducing these views not for any controversial purposes, but to
justify and make clear why I stress certain general features of
Trobriand
Economic Sociology. My contentions might run the danger of appearing as

gratuitous truisms if not thus justified. The opinion that primitive
humanity
and savages have no individual property is an old prejudice shared by
many
modern writers, especially in support of communistic theories, and the
so-
called materialistic view of history. The " communism of savages" is a
phrase
very often read, and needs no special quotation. The views of
individual
search for food and household economy are those of Karl Biicher, and
ithey
have directly influenced all the best modern writings on Primitive
Economics.
Finally, the view that we have done with Primitive Economics if we have
described
the way in which the natives procure their food, is obviously a
fundamental
premise of all the naive, evolutionary theories which construct the
successive
stages of economic development. This view is summarised in the
following
sentence : " . . . . In many simple communities, the actual food quest,

and operations immediately arising from it, occupy by far the greater
part
of the people's time and energy, leaving little opportunity for the
satisfaction
of any lesser needs." This sentence, quoted out of " Notes and Queries
on
Anthropology," p. 160, article on the " Economics of the Social Group,"

represents what may be called the official view of contemporary
Ethnology
on the subject, and in perusing the rest of the article, it can be
easily seen
that all the manifold economic problems, with which we are dealing in
this
book, have been so far more or less neglected.



168 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

scarcity as well as utility, in a community, in which all the
useful things are plentiful ? On the other hand, in those savage
communities where the necessities of life are scarce, there is
obviously no possibility of accumulating them, and thus
creating wealth.

Again, since, in savage communities, whether bountifully
or badly provided for by nature, everyone has the same free
access to all the necessities, is there any need to exchange them ?
Why give a basketful of fruit or vegetables, if everybody has
practically the same quantity and the same means of pro-
curing it ? Why make a present of it, if it cannot be returned
except in the same form ?*

There are two main sources of error at the bottom of this
faulty reasoning. The first is that the relation of the savage
to material goods is a purely rational one, and that conse-
quently, in his conditions, there is no room for wealth or value.
The second erroneous assumption is that there can be no need
for exchange if anyone and everyone can, by industry and
skill, produce all that represents value through its quantity or
its quality.

As regards the first proposition, it is not true either with
regard to what may be called primary wealth, that is, food
stuffs, nor with regard to articles of luxury, which are by no
means absent in Trobriand society. First as to food-stuffs,
they are not merely regarded by the natives as nourishment,
not merely valued because of their utility. They accumulate
them not so much because they know that yams can be stored
and used for a future date, but also because they like to display
their possessions in food. Their yam houses are built so that the
quantity of the food can be gauged, and its quality ascertained
through the wide interstices between the beams (see Plates
XXXII and XXXIII). The yams are so arranged that the
best specimens come to the outside and are well visible. Special

* These views had to be adduced at length, although touched upon
already in Chapter II, Division IV, because they imply a serious error
with
regard to human nature in one of its most fundamental aspects. We can
show
up their fallacy on one example only, that of the Trobriand Society,
but even
this is enough to shatter their universal validity and show that the
problem
must be re-stated. The criticised views contain very general
propositions,
which, however, can be answered only empirically. And it is the duty of
the
field Ethnographer to answer and correct them. Because a statement is
very
general, it can none the less be a statement of empirical fact. General
views
must not be mixed up with hypothetical ones. The latter must be
banished
from field work ; the former cannot receive too much attention.



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 169

varieties of yams, which grow up to two metres length, and
weigh as much as several kilograms each, are framed in wood
and decorated with paint, and hung on the outside of the yam
houses. That the right to display food is highly valued can
be seen from the fact that in villages where a chief of high rank
resides, the commoners' storehouses have to be closed up with
coco-nut leaves, so as not to compete with his.

All this shows that the accumulation of food is not only the
result of economic foresight, but also prompted by the desire
of display and enhancement of social prestige through posses-
sion of wealth.

When I speak about ideas underlying accumulation of
food stuffs in the Trobriands, I refer to the present, actual
psychology of the natives, and I must emphatically declare
that I am not offering here any conjectures about the " origins "
or about the " history " of the customs and their psychology,
leaving this to theoretical and comparative research.

Another institution which illuminates the native ideas
about food storage is the magic called vilamalya, performed
over the crops after harvest, and at one or two other stages.
This magic is intended to make the food last long. Before
the store-house is filled with yams, the magician places a
special kind of heavy stone on the floor, and recites a long
magical spell. On the evening of the same day, after the food
houses have been filled, he spits over them with medicated
ginger root, and he also performs a rite over all the roads
entering into the village, and over the central place. All this
will make food plentiful in that village, and will make the
supplies last long. But, and this is the important point for
us, this magic is conceived to act, not on the food, but on the
inhabitants of the village. It makes their appetites poor,
it makes them, as the natives put it, inclined to eat wild fruit
of the bush, the mango and bread fruit of the village grove, and
refuse to eat yams, or at least be satisfied with very little.
They will boast that when this magic is performed well, half of
the yams will rot away in the storehouses, and be thrown on
the wawa t the rubbish heap at the back of the houses, to make
room for the new harvest. Here again we meet the typical
idea that the main aim of accumulating food is to keep it
exhibited in the yam houses till it rots, and then can be
replaced by a new etalage.



170 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

The filling of the storehouses involves a double display of
food, and a good deal of ceremonial handling. When the tubers
are taken out of the ground they are first displayed in the
gardens. A shed of poles is erected, and covered with taitu
vine, which is thrown thickly over it. In such arbours, a
circle is pegged out on the ground, and within this the taitu
(the ordinary small yams of the Trobriands which -form the
staple harvest) are carefully piled up into a conical heap. A
great deal of care is lavished on this task, the biggest are
selected, scrupulously cleaned, and put on the outside of the
heap. After a fortnight or more of keeping the yams in the
garden, where they are much admired by visiting parties, the
owner of the garden plot summons a party of friends or
relatives-in-law, and these transport them into a village. As
we know already, from Chapter II, such yams will be offered
to the owner's sister's tyusband. It is to his village that they
are brought, where again they are displayed in conical heaps,
placed before his yam house. Only after they have thus
remained for several days sometimes up to a fortnight are
they put into the storehouse (see Plate XXXIII).

Indeed, it would be enough for anyone to see how the
natives handle the yams, how they admire big tubers, how
they pick out freaks and sports and exhibit them, to realise
that there is a deep, socially standardised sentiment centring
round this staple product of their gardens. In many phases
of their ceremonial life, big displays of food form the central
feature. Extensive mortuary distributions called sagali, are,
in one of their aspects, enormous exhibitions of food, con-
nected with their re-apportionment (see Plate XXXIV). At
harvest of the early yams (kuvi) there is an offering of first
fruits to the memory of the recently dead. At the later, main
harvest of taitu (small yams), the first tubers are dug out
ceremonially brought into the village and admired by the whole
community. Food contests between two villages at harvest,
in olden days often followed by actual fighting, are also one of
the characteristic features which throw light on the natives'
attitude towards edible wealth. In fact, one could almost
speak of a " cult of food " among these natives, in so far as food
is the central object of most of their public ceremonies.

In the preparation of food, it must be noted that many taboos
are associated with cooking, and especially with the cooking



PLATE XXXIV




DISPLAY OF PIGS AND YAMS AT A DISTRIBUTION (SAGALI)
All food to be given away is several times displayed before, during,
and after the ceremony.
~ "" ' ' ' irge, prismatic receptacles (pwata'i) is one of the typical
features of



Exhibiting the food in large.



Trobriand custom. (See Di 1




COMMUNAL COOKING OF MONA (TARO DUMPLINGS)

Large claypots, imported from the Amphlctts, are used for the purpose ;
in these, coconut oil
is brought to a boil, pieces of pounded taro being thrown in
afterwards, while a man stirs the
contents with a long, decorated, wooden ladle



PLATE XXXVI




SCENE IN THE WAS1 (CEREMONIAL EXCHANGE OF VEGETABLES FOR FISH)

The inland party have brought their yams by boat to the village of
Oburaku, which is practically

inaccessible by land. They are putting up the vegetables into square,
wooden crates in order

to carry them ceremonially and to place each before the partner's
house. (Div. VI.)



PLATE XXXVil




VAVA, DIRECT BARTER OF VEGETABLES FOR FISH

In the picture, the inland natives exchange bundles of taro directly
for fish, without observing
the rites and ceremonies obligatory in a wasi. (See Div. VI.)



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 171

pots. The wooden dishes on which the natives serve their
food are called kabotna, which means " tabooed wood/' The
act of eating is as a rule strictly individual. People eat within
their family circles, and even when there is public ceremonial
cooking of the taro pudding (mono) in the big clay pots,
especially tabooed for this purpose (see Plate XXXV), they do
not eat in one body, but in small groups. A clay pot is carried
into the different parts of the village, and men from that part
squat round it and ejit, followed afterwards by the women.
Sometimes again the pudding is taken out, placed on wooden
dishes, and eaten within the family.

I cannot enter here into the many details of what could be
called the social psychology of eating, but it is important to
note that the centre of gravity of the feast lies, not in the eating,
but in the display and ceremonial preparation of the food (see
Plate XXXV). When a pig is to be killed, which is a great
culinary and festive event, it will be first carried about, and
shown perhaps in one or two villages ; then roasted alive,
the whole village and neighbours enjoying the spectacle and the
squeals of the animal. It is then ceremonially, and with a
definite ritual, cut into pieces and distributed. But the
eating of it is a casual affair ; it will take place either within a
hut, or else people will just cook a piece of flesh and eat it on
the road, or walking about in the village. The relics of a feast
such as pigs' jaws and fish tails, however, are often collected
and displayed in houses or yam stores.*

The quantity of food eaten, whether in prospect or retro-
spect, is what matters most. " We shall eat, and eat till we
vomit," is a stock phrase, often heard at feasts, intended to
express enjoyment of the occasion, a close parallel to the
pleasure felt at the idea of stores rotting away in the yam
house. All this shows that the social act of eating and the
associated conviviality are not present in the minds or customs
of the Trobrianders, and what is socially enjoyed is the common
admiration of fine and plentiful food, and the knowledge of its
abundance. Naturally, like all animals, human or otherwise,
civilised or savage, the Trobrianders enjoy their eating as one
of the chief pleasures of life, but this remains an individual

* As a matter of fact, this custom is not so prominent in the Trobnands

as in other Massim districts and all over the Papuo-Melanesian world,
cf. for
instance Seligman, op. cit. t p. 56 and Plate VI, Fig. 6.



172 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

act, and neither its performance nor the sentiments attached
to it have been socialised.

It is this indirect sentiment, rooted of course in reality in
the pleasures of eating, which makes for the value of food in
the eyes of the natives. This value again makes accumulated
food a symbol, and a vehicle of power. Hence the need for
storing and displaying it. Value is not the result of ^utility and
rarity, intellectually compounded, but is the result of a senti-
ment grown round things, which, throygh satisfying human
needs, are capable of evoking emotions.

The value of manufactured objects of use must also be
explained through man's emotional nature, and not by
reference to his logical construction of utilitarian views.
Here, however, I think that the explanation must take into
account, not so much the user of these objects, as the workman
who produces them. These natives are industrious, and keen
workers. They do not work under the spur of necessity, or to
gain their living, but on the impulse of talent and fancy, with
a high sense and enjoyment of their art, which they often
conceive as the result of magical inspiration. This refers
especially to those who produce objects of high value, and who
are always good craftsmen and are fond of their workmanship.
Now these native artists have a keen appreciation of good
material, and of perfection in craft. When they find a
specially good piece of material it lures them on to lavish
on it an excess of labour, and to produce things too
good to be used, but only so much the more desirable for
possession.

The careful manner of working, the perfection of craft-
manship, the discrimination in material, the inexhaustible
patience in giving the final touches, have been often noted
by those who have seen natives at work. These observations
have also come under the notice of some theoretical economists,
but it is necessary to see these facts in their bearing upon the
theory of value. That is, namely, that this loving attitude
towards material and work must produce a sentiment of attach-
ment to rare materials and well-worked objects, and that this
must result in their being valued. Value will be attached to
rare forms of such materials as the craftsman generally uses :
classes of shell which are scarce, lending themselves especially
to fashioning and polishing ; kinds of wood which are also



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 173

rare, like ebony ; and more particularly, special varieties of
that stone out of which implements are made.*

We can now compare our results with the fallacious views
on Primitive Economic Man, sketched out at the beginning of
this Division. We see that value and wealth exist, in spite of
abundance of things, that indeed this abundance is valued for
its own sake. Great quantities are produced beyond any
possible utility they could possess, out of mere love of accumu-
lation for its own sake ; food is allowed to rot, and though
they have all they could desire in necessities, yet the natives
want always more, to serve in its character of wealth. Again,
in manufactured objects, and more especially in objects of the
vaygu'a type (comp. Chapter III, Div. Ill), it is not rarity
within utility which creates value, but a rarity sought out by
human skill within the workable materials. In other words,
not those things are valued, which being useful or even indis-
pensable are hard to get, since all the necessities of life are within
easy reach of the Trobriand Islander. But such an article is
valued where the workman, having found specially fine or
sportive material, has been induced to spend a disproportionate
amount of labour on it. By doing so, he creates an object
\vhich is a kind of economic monstrosity, too good, too big,
too frail, or too overcharged with ornament to be used, yet just
because of that, highly valued.

V

Thus the first assumption is exploded, " that there is no
room for wealth or value in native societies." What about
the other assumption, namely, " That there is no need to
exchange if anyone can by industry and skill, produce all that
represents value through its quantity or its quality ? " This
assumption is confuted by realising a fundamental fact of
native usage and psychology : the love of give and take for its
own sake ; the active enjoyment in possession of wealth,
through handing it over.

In studying any sociological questions in the Trobriands, in
describing the ceremonial side of tribal life, or religion and
magic, we constantly meet with this give and take, with

* Again, in explaining value, I do not wish to trace its possible
origins,
but I try simply to show what are the actual and observable elements
into which
the natives' attitude towards the object valued can be analysed.



174 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

exchange of gifts and payments. I had occasion several times
to mention this general feature, and in the short outline of the
Trobriand sociology in Chapter II, I gave some examples of
it. Even a walk across the island, such as we imagined in that
chapter, would reveal to an open-eyed Ethnographer this
economic truth. He would see visiting parties women carry-
ing big food baskets on their head, men with loads on their
shoulders and on inquiring he would learn that these were
gifts to be presented under one of the many names they bear, in
fulfilment of some social obligation. Offerings of first fruits
are given to the chief or to relatives-in-law, when the mango or
bread fruit or sugar cane are ripe. Big quantities of sugar cane
being borne to a chief, carried by some twenty to thirty men
running along the road, produce the impressions of a tropical
Birnam Wood moving through the jungle. At harvest time all
the roads are full of big parties of men carrying food, or
returning with empty baskets. From the far North of Kiriwina
a party will have to run for some twelve miles to the creek
of Tukwa'ukwa, get into canoes, punt for miles along the
shallow Lagoon, and have another good walk inland from
Sinaketa ; and all this is in order to fill the yam house of a man
who could do it quite well for himself, if it were not that he is
under obligation to give all the harvest to his sister's husband !
Displays of gifts associated with marriage, with sagali (food
distributions), with payments for magic, all these are some
of the most picturesque characteristics of the Trobriand
garden, road and village, and must impress themselves upon
even a superficial observer.

The second fallacy, that man keeps all he needs and never
spontaneously gives it away, must therefore be completely
discarded. Not that the natives do not possess a strongly
retentive tendency. To imagine that they differ from
other human beings in this, would be to fall out of one fallacy
into the opposite one also already mentioned, namely that
there is a sort of primitive communism among the natives.
On the contrary, just because they think so much of giving,
the distinction between mine and thine is not obliterated but
enhanced ; for the presents are by no means given hap-
hazardly, but practically always in fulfilment of definite obliga-
tions, and with a great deal of formal punctilio. The very
fundamental motive of giving, the vanity of a display of



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 175

possession and power, a limine rules out any assumption of
communistic tendencies or institutions. Not in all cases, but
in many of them, the handing over of wealth is the expression
of the superiority of the giver over the recipient. In others,
it represents subordination to a chief, or a kinship relation or
relationship-in-law. And it is important to realise that in
almost all forms of exchange in the Trobriands, there is not
even a trace of gain, nor is there any reason for looking at it
from the purely utilitarian and economic standpoint, since
there is no enhancement of mutual utility through the exchange.

Thus, it is quite a usual thing in the Trobriands for a type of
transaction to take place in which A gives twenty baskets
of yams to B, receiving for it a small polished blade, only to
have the whole transaction reversed in a few weeks' time.
Again, at a certain stage of mortuary ritual, a present of
valuables is given, and on the same day later on, the identical
articles are returned to the giver. Cases like that described
in the kabigidoya custom (Div. Ill of this chapter), where each
owner of a new canoe made a round of all the others, each thus
giving away again what he receives, are typical. In the wast
exchange of fish for yams, to be described presently through
a practically useless gift, a burdensome obligation is imposed,
and one might speak of an increase of burdens rather than an
increase of utilities.

The view that the native can live in a state of individual
search for food, or catering for his own household only, in
isolation from any interchange of goods, implies a calculating,
cold egotism, the possibility of enjoyment by man of utilities
for their sake. This view, and all the previously criticised
assumptions, ignore the fundamental human impulse to display,
to share, to bestow. They ignore the deep tendency to create
social ties through exchange of gifts. Apart from any consider-
ation as to whether the gifts are necessary or even useful, giving
for the sake of giving is one of the most important features of
Trobriand sociology, and, from its very general and funda-
mental nature, I submit that it is a universal feature of all
primitive societies.

I have dwelt at length on economic facts which on the
surface are not directly connected with the Kula. But if we
realise that in these facts we may be able to read the native's
attitude towards wealth and value, their importance for the



176 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

main theme becomes obvious. The Kula is the highest and the
most dramatic expression of the native's conception of value/
and if we want to understand all the customs and actions of the
Kula in their real bearings we must, first and foremost, grasp
the psychology that lies at its basis.

VI

I have on purpose spoken of forms of exchange, of gifts
and counter-gifts, rather than of barter or trade, because,
although there exist forms of barter pure and simple, there
are so many transitions and gradations between that and
simple gift, that it is impossible to draw any fixed line between
trade on the one hand, and exchange of gifts on the other.
Indeed, the drawing of any lines to suit our own terminology
and our own distinctions is contrary to sound method. In
order to deal with these facts correctly it is necessary
to give a complete survey of all forms of payment or
present. In this survey there will be at one end the extreme
case of pure gift, that is an offering for which nothing is given
in return. Then, through many customary forms of gift or
payment, partially or conditionally returned, which shade into
each other, there come forms of exchange, where more or less
strict equivalence is observed, arriving finally at real barter.
In the following survey I shall roughly classify each trans-
action according to the principle of its equivalence.

Such tabularised accounts cannot give the same clear
vision of facts as a concrete description might do, and they even
produce the impression of artificiality, but, and this must be
emphatically stated, I shall not introduce here artificial
categories, foreign to the native mind. Nothing is so mis-
leading in ethnographic accounts as the description of facts of
native civilisations in terms of our own. This, however, shall
not be done here. The principles of arrangement, although
quite beyond the comprehension of the natives, are never-
theless contained in their social organisation, customs, and
even in their linguistic terminology. This latter always affords
the simplest and surest means of approach towards the under-
standing of native distinctions and classifications. But it also
must be remembered that, though important as a clue to
native ideas, the knowledge of terminology is not a miraculous
short-cut into the native's mind. As a matter of fact, there



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 177

exist many salient and extremely important features of
Trobriand sociology and social psychology, which are not
covered by any term, whereas their language distinguishes
sub-divisions and subtleties which are quite irrelevant with
regard to actual conditions. Thus, a survey of terminology
must always be supplemented by a direct analysis of ethno-
graphic fact and inquiry into the native's ideas, that is, by
collecting a body of opinions, typical expressions, and
customary phrases by direct cross-questioning. The most
conclusive and deepest insight, however, must always be
obtained by a study of behaviour, by analysis of ethnographic
custom and concrete cases of traditional rules.



LIST OF GIFTS, PAYMENTS, AND COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS.

i. Pure Gifts. By this, as just mentioned, we understand
an act, in which an individual gives an object or renders a
service without expecting or getting any return. This is not
a type of transaction very frequently met in Trobriand tribal
life. It must be remembered that accidental or spontaneous
gifts, such as alms or charities, do not exist, since everybody
in need would be maintained by his or her family. Again,
there are so many well-defined economic obligations, con-
nected with kinship and relationship-in-law, that anyone
wanting a thing or a service would know where to go and ask
for it. And then, of course, it would not be a free gift, but one
imposed by some social obligation. Moreover, since gifts in the
Trobriands are conceived as definite acts with a social meaning,
rather than transmissions of objects, it results that where
social duties do not directly impose them, gifts are very rare.

The most important type of free gift are the presents
characteristic of relations between husband and wife, and
parents and children. Among the Trobrianders, husband and
wife own their things separately. There are man's and
woman's possessions, and each of the two partners has a special
part of the household goods under control. When one of them
dies, his or her relations inherit the things. But though the
possessions are not joint, they very often give presents to one
another, more especially a husband to his wife.

As to the parents' gifts to the children, it is clear that in a
matrilineal society, where the mother is the nearest of km to



178 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

her children in a sense quite different to that in our society,
they share in and inherit from her all her possessions. It is
more remarkable that the father, who, according to native
belief and law, is only the mother's husband, and not the kins-
man of the children, is the only relation from whom free gifts
are expected.* The father will give freely of his valuables to a
son, and he will transmit to him his relationships ii> the Kula,
according to the definite rules by which it is done (see Chapter
XI, Division II). Also, one of the most valuable and valued
possessions, the knowledge of magic, is handed over willingly,
and free of any counter-gift, from father to son. The owner-
ship of trees in the village grove and ownership in garden plots
is ceded by the father to his son during the lifetime of the
former. At his death, it often has to be returned to the man's
rightful heirs, that is, his sister's children. All the objects of
use embraced by the term gugua will be shared with him as a
matter of course by a man's children. Also, any special
luxuries in food, or such things as betel-nut or tobacco, he will
share with his children as well as with his wife. In all such
small articles of indulgence, free distribution will also obtain
between the chief or the headman and his vassals, though not
in such a generous spirit, as within the family. In fact, every-
one who possesses betel-nut or tobacco in excess of what he can
actually consume on the spot, would be expected to give it
away. This very special rule, which also happens to apply to
such articles as are generally used by white men for trade, has
largely contributed to the tenacity of the idea of the com-
munistic native. In fact, many a man will carefully conceal
any surplus so as to avoid the obligation of sharing it and yet
escape the opprobrium attaching to meanness.

There is no comprehensive name for this class of free gifts
in native terminology. The verb " to give " (sayki) would
simply be used, and on inquiry as to whether there was repay-
ment for such a gift, the natives would directly answer that
this was a gift without repayment ; mapula being the general
term for return gifts, and retributions, economic as well as
otherwise. The natives undoubtedly would not think of free
gifts as forming one class, as being all of the same nature.
The acts of liberality on the part of the chief, the sharing of

* These natives have no idea of physiological fatherhood. See Chapter
II, Division VI.



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 179

tobacco and betel-nut by anybody who has some to spare,
would be taken as a matter of course. Gifts by a husband
to a wife are considered also as rooted in the nature of this
relationship. They have as a matter of fact a very coarse and
direct way of formulating that such gifts are the mapula
(payment) for matrimonial relations, a conception in harmony
with the ideas underlying another type of gift, of which I
shall speak presently, that given in return for sexual intercourse.
Economically the two are entirely different, since those of
husband to wife are casual gifts within a permanent relation-
ship, whereas the others are definite payment for favours given
on special occasions.

The most remarkable fact, however, is that the same
explanation is given for the free gifts given by the father to his
children ; that is to say, a gift given by a father to his son is
said to be a repayment for the man's relationship to the son's
mother. According to the matrilineal set of ideas about
kinship, mother and son are one, but the father is a stranger
(tomakava) to his son, an expression often used when these
matters are discussed. There is no doubt, however, that the
state of affairs is much more complex, for there is a very strong
direct emotional attitude between father and child. The
father wants always to give things to his child, as I have said,
(compare Chapter II, Division VI), and this is very well
realised by the natives themselves.

As a matter of fact, the psychology underlying these
conditions is this : normally a man is emotionally attached to
his wife, and has a very strong personal affection towards his
children, and expresses these feelings by gifts, and more
especially by trying to endow his children with as much of his
wealth and position as he can. This, however, runs counter to
the matrilineal principle as well as to the general rule that all
gifts require repayment, and so these gifts are explained away
by the natives in a manner that agrees with these rules. The
above crude explanation of the natives by reference to sex
payment is a document, which in a very illuminating manner
shows up the conflict between the matrilineal theory and
the actual sentiments of the natives, and also how necessary
it is to check the explicit statements of natives, and the views
contained in their terms and phraseology by direct observation
of full-blooded life, in which we see man not only laying down



i8o TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

rules and theories, but behaving under the impulse of instinct
and emotion.

2. Customary payments, re-paid irregularly, and without
strict equivalence. The most important of these are the annual
payments received at harvest time by a man from his wife's
brothers (cf. Chapter II, Divisions IV and V). These
regular and unfailing gifts are so substantial, that they form
the bulk of a man's income in food. Sociologically, they are
perhaps the strongest strand in the fabric of the Trobriands
tribal constitution. They entail a life-long obligation of every
man 'to work for his kinswomen and their families. When a
boy begins to garden, he does it for his mother. When his
sisters grow up and marry, he works for them. If he has neither
mother nor sisters, his nearest female blood relation will claim
the proceeds of his labour.*

The reciprocity in these gifts never amounts to their full
value, but the recipient is supposed to give a valuable (vaygu'a)
or a pig to his wife's brother from time to time. Again if he
summons his wife's kinsmen to do communal work for him,
according to the kabutu system, he pays them in food. In
this case also the payments are not the full equivalent of the
services rendered. Thus we see that the relationship between
a man and his wife's kinsmen is full of mutual gifts and
services, in which repayment, however, by the husband, is not
equivalent and regular, but spasmodic and smaller in value
than his own share ; and even if for some reason or other it
ever fails, this does not relieve the others from their obligations.
In the case of a chief, the duties of his numerous relatives-in-
law have to be much more stringently observed ; that is, they
have to give him much bigger harvest gifts, and they also have
to keep pigs, and grow betel and coco-nut palms for him. For
all this, they are rewarded by correspondingly large presents of
valuables, which again, however, do not fully repay them for
their contributions.

The tributes given by vassal village communities to a chief
and usually repaid by small counter-gifts, also belong to this
class. Besides these, there are the contributions given by one
kinsman to another, when this latter has to carry out a
mortuary distribution (sagali). Such contributions are some-

* Compare Plate XXXIII, where the yam houses of a headman arc filled
by his wife's brothers.



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 181

times, but irregularly and spasmodically, repaid by objects of
small value.

The natives do not embrace this class under one term, but
the word urigubu, which designates harvest gifts from the wife's
brothers, stands for one of the most important conceptions of
native sociology and economics. They have quite a clear idea
about the many characteristics of the urigubu duties, which have
have been described here, and about their far-reaching
importance. The occasional counter gifts given by the husband
to his wife's kinsmen are called youlo. The chief's tributes
which we have put in this category are called pokala. The
placing of these two types of payment in one category is
justified both by the similar mechanism, and by the close
resemblance between the urigubu gifts, when given to a chief,
and the pokala received by him. There are even resemblances
in the actual ceremonial, which however, would require too
much of a detailed description to be more than mentioned here.
The word pokala is a general term for the chief's tributes, and
there are several other expressions which cover gifts of first
fruit, gifts at the main harvest, and some other sub-divisions.
There are also terms describing the various counter-gifts
given by a chief to those who pay him tribute, according
to whether they consist of pig's flesh or yams or fruit. I
am not mentioning all these native words, in order not to
overload the account with details, which would be irrelevant
here.

3. Payment for services rendered. This class differs from
the foregoing one in that here the payment is within limits
defined by custom. It has to be given each time the service
is performed, but we cannot speak here of direct economic
equivalence, since one of the terms of the equation consists of a
service, the value of which cannot be assessed, except by con-
ventional estimates. All services done by specialists for
individuals or for the community, belong here. The most im-
portant of these are undoubtedly the services of the magician.
The garden magician, for instance, receives definite gifts from
the community and from certain individuals. The sorcerer
is paid by the man who asks him to kill or who desires to be
healed. The presents given for magic of rain and fair weather
are very considerable. I have already described the payments
given to a canoe-builder. I shall have to speak later on of



182 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

those received by the specialists who make the various types of
vaygu'a.

Here also belong the payments, always associated with
love intrigues. Disinterested love is quite unknown among
these people of great sexual laxity. Every time a girl favours
her lover, some small gift has to be given immediately. This
is the case in the normal intrigues, going on every" night in the
village between unmarried girls and boys, and also in more
ceremonial cases of indulgence, like the katuyausi custom, or
the mortuary consolations, mentioned in Chapter II, Division
II. A few areca-nuts, some betel pepper, a bit of tobacco,
some turtle-shell rings, or spondylus discs, such are the small
tokens of gratitude and appreciation never omitted by the
youth. An attractive girl need never go unprovided with the
small luxuries of life.

The big mortuary distributions of food, sagali, have already
been mentioned several times. On their economic side, these
distributions are payments for funerary services. The deceased
man's nearest maternal kinsman has to give food gifts to all the
villagers for their assuming mourning, that is to say, for
blackening their faces and cutting their hair. He pays some
other special people for wailing and grave digging ; a still
smaller group for cutting out the dead man's ulna and using it
as a lime spoon ; and the widow or widower for the pro-
longed and scrupulously to be observed period of Strict
mourning.

All these details show how universal and strict is the idea
that every social obligation or duty, though it may not on any
account be evaded, has yet to be re-paid by a ceremonial gift.
The function of these ceremonial re-payments is, on the surface
of it, to thicken the social ties from which arise the obligations.

The similarity of the gifts and payments which we have put
into this category is expressed by the native use of the word
mapula (repayment, equivalent) in connection with all these
gifts. Thus in giving the reason why a certain present is made
to a magician, or why a share is allotted to a man at the
sagali (distribution), or why some valuable object is given to a
specialist, they would say : " This is the mapula for what he
has done." Another interesting identification contained in
linguistic usage is the calling of both magical payments and
payments to specialists : a ' restorative/ or, literally, a



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 183

' poultice.' Certain extra fees given to a magician are
described as ' katuwarina kaykela ' or ' poultice for his leg * ;
as the magician, especially he of the garden or the sorcerer,
has to take long walks in connection with his magic. The
expression ' poultice of my back/ will be used by a canoe-
builder who has been bending over his work, or ' poultice of my
hand ' by a carver or stone-polisher. But the identity of these
gifts is not in any way expressed in the detailed terminology.
In fact, there is a list of words describing the various payments
for magic, the gifts given to specialists, love payments, and the
numerous types of gifts distinguished at the sagali. Thus
a magical payment, of which a small part would be offered to
ancestral spirits, is called ula'ula ; a substantial magical gift
is called sousula ; a gift to a sorcerer is described by the verb
ibudipeta, and there are many more special names. The gifts
to the specialists are called vewoulo the initial gift ; yomelu
a gift of food given after the object has been ceremonially
handed over to the owner ; karibudaboda a substantial gift of
yams given at the next harvest. The gifts of food, made while
the work is in progress are called vakapula ; but this latter
term has much wider application, as it covers all the presents
of cooked or raw food given to workers by the man, for whom
they work. The sexual gifts are called buwana or sebuwana.
I shall not enumerate the various terminological distinctions
of sagali gifts, as this would be impossible to do, without
entering upon the enormous subject of mortuary duties and
distributions.

The classification of love gifts and sagali gifts in the same
category with gifts to magicians and specialists, is a generalisa-
tion in which the natives would not be able to follow us. For
them, the gifts given at sagali form a class in themselves and
so do the love gifts. We may say that, from the economic
point of view, we were correct in classing all these gifts
together, because they all represent a definite type of equiva-
lence ; also they correspond to the native idea that every ser-
vice has to be paid for, an idea documented by the linguistic
use of the word mapula. But within this class, the sub-
divisions corresponding to native terminology represent impor-
tant distinctions made by the natives between the three
sub-classes ; love gifts, sagali gifts, and gifts for magical and
professional services.



i84 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

4. Gifts returned in economically equivalent form We are
enumerating the various types of exchange, as they gradually
assume the appearance of trade. In this fourth class have been
put such gifts as must be re-paid with almost strict equivalence.
But it must be stressed that strict equivalence of two gifts does
not assimilate them to trade altogether. There can be no more
perfect equivalence between gift and counter-gift, than when A
gives to B an object, and B on the same day returns the very
same object to A. At a certain stage of the mortuary pro-
ceedings, such a gift is given and received back again by a
deceased man's kinsmen and his widow's brothers. Yet it is
obvious at once that no transaction could be further removed
from trade. The above described gifts at the presentation of
new canoes (kabigidoya) belong to this class. So do also numer-
ous presents given to one community by another, on visits
which are going to be returned soon. Payments for the lease of
a garden plot are at least in certain districts of the Trobriands
returned by a gift of equivalent value.

Sociologically, this class of gifts is characteristic of the
relationship between friends (luba'i). Thus the kabigidoya
takes place between friends, the Kula takes place between
overseas partners and inland friends, but of course relations-
in-law also belong par excellence to this category.

Other types of equivalent gifts which have to be mentioned
here shortly, are the presents given by one household to another,
at the milamala, the festive period associated with the return
of the ancestral spirits to their villages. Offerings of cooked
food are ceremonially exposed in houses for the use of the
spirits, and after these have consumed the spiritual substance,
the material one is given to a neighbouring household. These
gifts are always reciprocal.

Again, a series of mutual gifts exchanged immediately after
marriage between a man and his wife's father (not matrilineal
kinsman in this case), have to be put into this category.

The economic similarity of these gifts is not expressed in
terminology or even in linguistic use. All the gifts I have
enumerated have their own special names, which I shall not
adduce here, so as not to multiply irrelevant details of infor-
mation. The natives have no comprehensive idea that such
a class as I have spoken of exists. My generalisation is based
upon the very interesting fact, that all through the tribal life



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 185

we find scattered cases of direct exchange of equivalent
gifts. Nothing perhaps could show up so clearly, how
much the natives value the give and take of presents for
its own sake.

5. Exchange of Material Goods against Privileges, Titles
and non- material Possessions. Under this heading, I class
transactions which approach trade, in so far as two owners,
each possessing something they value highly, exchange it for
something they value still more. The equivalence here is not
so strict, at any rate not so measurable, as in the previous
class, because in this one, one of the terms is usually a non-
material possession, such as the knowledge of magic, the
privilege to execute a dance, or the title to a garden plot, which
latter very often is a mere title only. But in spite of this
smaller measure of equivalence, their character of trade is
more marked, just because of the element of mutual desire to
carry out the transaction and of the mutual advantage.

Two important types of transaction belong to this class.
One of them is the acquisition by a man of the goods or
privileges which are due to him by inheritance from his maternal
uncle or elder brother, but which he wishes to acquire before
the elder's death. If a maternal uncle is to give up in his
life time a garden, or to teach and hand over a system ot
magic, he has to be paid for that. As a rule several payments,
and very substantial ones, have to be given to him, and he
gradually relinquishes his rights, giving the garden land, bit
by bit, teaching the magic in instalments. After the final
payment, the title of ownership is definitely handed over to
the younger man.

I have drawn attention already in the general description
of the Trobriand Sociology (Chapter II, Division VI) to the
remarkable contrast between matrilineal inheritance and that
between father and son. It is noteworthy that what is con-
sidered by the natives rightful inheritance has yet to be paid
for, and that a man who knows that in any case he would
obtain a privilege sooner or later, if he wants it at once, must
pay for it, and that heavily. None the less, this transaction
takes place only when it appears desirable to both parties.
There is no customary obligation on either of the two to enter
on the exchange, and it has to be considered advantageous to
both before it can be completed. The acquisition of magic is



186 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

of course different, because that must naturally always be
taught by the elder man to the younger in his life time.

The other type of transaction belonging to this class, is the
payment for dances. Dances are " owned " ; that is, the
original inventor has the right of " producing " his dance
and song in his village community. If another village takes a
fancy to this song and dance, it has to purchase the right to
perform it. This is done by handing ceremonially to the
original village a substantial payment of food and valuables,
after which the dance is taught to the new possessors.

In some rare cases, the title to garden-lands would pass
from one community to another. For this again, the
members and headman of the acquiring community would
have to pay substantially to those who hand over their
rights.

Another transaction which has to be mentioned here is the
hire of a canoe, where a temporary transference of ownership
takes place in return for a payment.

The generalisation by which this class has been formed,
although it does not run counter to native terminology and
ideas, is beyond their own grasp, and contains several of their
sub-divisions, differentiated by distinct native terms. The
name for the ceremonial purchase of a task or for the transfer
of a garden plot is laga. This term denotes a very big and
important transaction. For example, when a small pig is
purchased by food or minor objects of value, they call this
barter (gimwali) but when a more valuable pig is exchanged
for vaygu'a, they call it laga.

The important conception of gradual acquisition in advance
of matrilineal inheritance, is designated by the term pokala,
a word which we have already met as signifying the tributes
to the chief. It is a homonym, because its two meanings are
distinct, and are clearly distinguished by the natives. There
can be no doubt that these two meanings have developed out of
a common one by gradual differentiation, but I have no data
even to indicate this linguistic process. At present, it would be
incorrect to strain after any connection between them, and
indeed this is an example how necessary it is to be careful
not to rely too much on native terminology for purposes of
classification.

The term for the hire of a canoe is toguna waga.



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 187

6. Ceremonial barter with deferred payment. In this class
we have to describe payments which are ceremonially offered,
and must be received and re-paid later on. The exchange is
based on a permanent partnership, and the articles have to be
roughly equivalent in value. Remembering the definition of
the Kula in Chapter III, it is easy to see that this big, cere-
monial, circulating exchange belongs to this class. It is cere-
monial barter based on permanent partnership, where a gift
offered is always accepted, and after a time has to be re-paid
by an equivalent counter-gift.

There is also a ceremonial form of exchange of vegetable food
for fish, based on a standing partnership, and on the obligation
to accept and return an initial gift. This is called wasi. The
members of an inland village, where yams and taro are plentiful
have partners in a Lagoon village, where much fishing is done
but garden produce is scarce. Each man has his partner, and
at times, when new food is harvested and also during the main
harvest, he and his fellow villagers will bring a big quantity of
vegetable food into the Lagoon village (see Plate XXXVI),
each man putting his share before his partner's house. This is
an invitation, which never can be rejected, to return the gift
by its fixed equivalent in fish.

As soon as weather and previous engagements allow, the
fishermen go out to sea and notice is given to the inland village
of the fact. The inlanders arrive on the beach, awaiting the
fishermen, who come back in a body, and their haul of fish is
taken directly from the canoes and carried to the inland village.
Such large quantities of fish are always acquired only in con-
nection with big distributions of food (sagali). It is remarkable
that in the inland villages these distributions must be carried
out in fish, whereas in the Lagoon villages, fish never can be
used for ceremonial purposes, vegetables being the only
article considered proper. Thus the motive for exchange
here is not to get food in order to satisfy the primary
want of eating, but in order to satisfy the social need
of displaying large quantities of conventionally sanctioned
eatables. Often when such a big fishing takes place,
great quantities of fish perish by becoming rotten before
they reach the man for whom they are finally destined.
But being rotten in no way detracts from the value of fish
in a sagali.



i88 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

The equivalence of fish, given in return for vegetable food,
is measured only roughly. A standard sized bunch of taro, or
one of the ordinary baskets of taytu (small yams) will be repaid
by a bundle of fish, some thre to five kilograms in weight.
The equivalence of the two payments, as well as the advantage
obtained by one party at least, make this exchange approach
barter.* But the element of trust enters into it largely; in
the fact that the equivalence is left to the repayer ; and again,
the initial gift which as a rule is always given by the inlanders,
cannot be refused. And all these features distinguish this
exchange from barter.

Similar to this ceremonial exchange are certain arrange-
ments in which food is brought by individuals to the industrial
villages of Kuboma, and the natives of that place return it by
manufactured objects when these are made. In certain cases
of production of vaygu'a (valuables) it is difficult to judge
whether we have to do with the payment for services rendered
(Class 3), or with the type of ceremonial barter belonging to
this class. There is hardly any need to add that the two types
of exchange contained in this class, the Kula and the wasi (fish
barter) are kept very distinct in the minds of the natives.
Indeed, the ceremonial exchange of valuables, the Kula, stands
out as such a remarkable form of trade that in all respects,
not only by the natives, but also by ourselves, it must be put
into a class by itself. There is no doubt, however, that the
technique of the wasi must have been influenced by the ideas
and usages of the Kula, which is by far the more important
and widespread of the two. The natives, when explaining one
of these trades, often draw parallels to the other. And the
existence of social partnership, of ceremonial sequence of gift,
of the free yet unevadible equivalence, all these features appear
in both forms. This shows that the natives have a definite
mental attitude towards what they consider an honourable,
ceremonial type of barter. The rigid exclusion of haggling,
the formalities observed in handing over the gift, the obligation

* This advantage was probably in olden days a mutual one. Nowadays,
when the hshermen can earn about ten or twenty times more by diving for

pearls than by performing their share of the wast, the exchange is as a
rule a
great burden on them. It is one of the most conspicuous examples of the
ten-
acity of native custom that in spite of all the temptation which
pearling offers
them and in spite of the great pressure exercised upon them by the
white traders,
the fishermen never try to evade a wasi, and when they have received
the
inaugurating gift, the first calm day is always given to fishing, and
not to
pearling.



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 189

of accepting the initial gift and of returning it later on, all
these express this attitude.

7. Trade, Pure and Simple. The main characteristic of
this form of exchange is found in the element of mutual
advantage : each side acquires what is needed, and gives away
a less useful article. Also we find here the equivalence between
the articles adjusted during the transaction by haggling or
bargaining.

This bartering, pure and simple, takes place mainly between
the industrial communities of the interior, which manufacture
on a large scale the wooden dishes, combs, lime pots, armlets
and baskets and the agricultural districts of Kiriwina, the
fishing communities of the West, and the sailing and trading
communities of the South. The industrials, who are regarded
as pariahs and treated with contumely, are nevertheless allowed
to hawk their goods throughout the other districts. When
they have plenty of articles on hand, they go to the other
places, and ask for yams, coco-nuts, fish, and betel-nut, and for
some ornaments, such as turtle shell, earrings and spondylus
beads. They sit in groups and display their wares, saying
" You have plenty of coco-nuts, and we have none. We have
made fine wooden dishes. This one is worth forty nuts, and
some betel-nut, and some betel pepper.' 1 The others then may
answer, " Oh, no, I do not want it. You ask too much."
" What will you give us ? " An offer may be made, and
rejected by the pedlars, and so on, till a bargain is struck.

Again, at certain times, people from other villages may need
some of the objects made in Kuboma, and will go there, and try
to purchase some manufactured goods. People of rank as a
rule will do it in the manner described in the previous para-
graph, by giving an initial gift, and expecting a repayment.
Others simply go and barter. As we saw in the description of
the kabigidoya, the Sinaketans and Vakutans go there and
purchase goods before each Kula expedition to serve for the
subsidiary trade.

Thus the conception of pure barter (gimwali) stands out very
clearly, and the natives make a definite distinction between this
and other forms of exchange. Embodied in a word, this
distinction is made more poignant still by the manner in which
the word is used. When scornfully criticising bad conduct in
Kula, or an improper manner of giving gifts, a native will say



IQO TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

that " it was done like a gimwali/' When asked, about a
transaction, whether it belongs to one class or another, they will
reply with an accent of depreciation " That was only a
gimwali (gimwali wala !) " In the course of ethnographic
investigation, they give clear descriptions, almost definitions
of gimwali, its lack of ceremony, the permissibility of haggling,
the free manner in which it can be done between any two
strangers. They state correctly and clearly its general
conditions, and they tell readily which articles may be
exchanged by gimwali.

Of course certain characteristics of pure barter, which we
can perceive clearly as inherent in the facts, are quite beyond
their theoretical grasp. Thus for instance, that the element
of mutual advantage is prominent in gimwali ; that it refers
exclusively to newly manufactured goods, because second-
hand things are never gimwali, etc., etc. Such generalisations
the ethnographer has to make for himself. Other properties
of the gimwali embodied in custom are : absence of ceremonial,
absence of magic, absence of special partnership all these
already mentioned above. In carrying out the transaction,
the natives also behave quite differently here than in the other
transactions. In all ceremonial forms of give and take, it is
considered very undignified and against all etiquette, for the
receiver to show any interest in the gift or any eagerness to
take it. In ceremonial distributions as well as in the Kula, the
present is thrown down by the giver, sometimes actually,
sometimes only given in an abrupt manner, and often it is not
even picked up by the receiver, but by some insignificant person
in his following. In the gimwali, on the contrary, there is a
pronounced interest shown in the exchange.

There is one instance of gimwali which deserves special
attention. It is a barter of fish for vegetables, and stands out
in sharp contrast therefore to the wasi, the ceremonial fish and
yam exchange. It is called vava, and takes place between
villages which have no standing wasi partnership and there-
fore simply gimwali their produce when necessary (see
Plate XXXVII).

This ends the short survey of the different types of exchange.
It was necessary to give it, even though in a condensed form,
in order to provide a background for the Kula. It gives us
an idea of the great range and variety of the material give and



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 191

take associated with the Trobriand tribal life. We see also
that the rules of equivalence, as well as the formalities accom-
panying each transaction, are very well defined.

VII

It is easy to see that almost all the categories of gifts, which
I have classified according to economic principles, are also based
on some sociological relationship. Thus the first type of gifts,
that is, the free gifts, take place in the relationship between
husband and wife, and in that between parents and children.
Again, the second class of gifts, that is, the obligatory ones,
given without systematic repayment, are associated with
relationship-in-law, mainly, though the chief's tributes also
belong to this class.

If we drew up a scheme of sociological relations, each type
of them would be defined by a special class of economic duties.
There would be some parallelism between such a sociological
classification of payments and presents, and the one given above.
But such parallelism is only approximate. It will be therefore
interesting to draw up a scheme of exchanges, classified accord-
ing to the social relationship, to which they correspond. This
will give us good insight into the economics of Trobriand
sociology, as well as another view of the subject of payments
and presents.

Going over the sociological outline in Chapter II, Divisions
V and VI, we see that the family, the clan and sub-clan,
the village community, the district and the tribe are the main
social divisions of the Trobriands. To these groupings corres-
pond definite bonds of social relationship. Thus, to the
family, there correspond no less than three distinct types of
relationship, according to native ideas. First of ail there is the
matrilineai kinship (veyola) which embraces people, who can
trace common descent through their mothers. This is, to the
natives, the blood relationship, the identity of flesh, and the
real kinship. The marriage relation comprises that between
husband and wife, and father and children. Finally, the
relationship between the husband and the wife's matrilineai
kinsmen forms the third class of personal ties corresponding to
family. These three types of personal bonds are clearly dis-
tinguished in terminology, in the current linguistic usage, in
custom, and in explicitly formulated ideas.



192 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

To the grouping into clans and sub-clans, there pertain the
ties existing between clansmen and more especially between
members of the same sub-clan, and on the other hand, the
relationship between a man and members of different clans.
Membership in the same sub-clan is a kind of extended kinship.
The relationship to other clans is most important, where it
assumes the form of special friendship called luba'i. * The
grouping into village communities results in the very impor-
tant feature of fellow membership in the same village com-
munity. The distinction of rank associated with clanship, the
division into village communities and districts, result, in the
manner sketched out in Chapter II, in the subordination of
commoners to chiefs,. Finally, the general fact of membership
in the tribe creates the bonds which unite every tribesman
with another and which in olden days allowed of a free
though not unlimited intercourse, and therefore of com-
mercial relations. We have, therefore, eight types of
personal relationship to distinguish. In the following
table we see them enumerated with a short survey of their
economic characteristics.

1. Matrilineal kinship. The underlying idea that this
means identity of blood and of substance is by no means
forcibly expressed on its economic side. The right of inheri-
tance, the common participation in certain titles of ownership,
and a limited right to use one another's implements and
objects of daily use are often restricted in practice by private
jealousies and animosities. In economic gifts more especially,
we find here the remarkable custom of purchasing during life-
time, by instalments, the titles to garden plots and trees and
the knowledge of magic, which by right ought to pass at
death from the older to the younger generation of matri-
lineal kinsmen. The economic identity of matrilineal kins-
men comes into prominence at the tribal distributions
sagali where all of them have to share in the responsibilities
of providing food.

2. Marriage ties. (Husband and wife ; and derived from
that, father and children). It is enough to tabulate this type
of relationship here, and to remind the reader that it is
characterised by free gifts, as has been minutely described in
the foregoing classification of gifts, under (i).



TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS 193

3. Relationship -in-law. These ties are in their economic
aspect not reciprocal or symmetrical. That is, one side in it,
the husband of the woman, is the economically favoured
recipient, while the wife's brothers receive from him gifts of
smaller value in the aggregate. As we know, this relationship
is economically denned by the regular and substantial harvest
gifts, by which the husband's storehouse is filled every year by
his wife's brothers. They also have to perform certain services
for him. For all this, they receive a gift of vaygu'a (valuables)
from time to time, and some food in payment for services
rendered.

4. Clanship. The main economic identification of this
group takes place during the sagali, although the responsi-
bility for the food rests only with those actually related by
blood with the deceased man. All the members of the sub-
clan, and to a smaller extent members of the same clan within
a village community, have to contribute by small presents
given to the organisers of the sagali.

5 The Relationship of Personal Friendship. Two men thus
bound as a rule will carry on Kula between themselves, and, if
they belong to an inland and Lagoon village respectively, they
will be partners in the exchange of fish and vegetables (wasi).

6. Fellow-citizenship in a Village Community. There are
many types of presents given by one community to another.
And, economically, the bonds of fellow-citizenship mean the
obligation to contribute one's share to such a present. Again,
at the mortuary divisions, sagali, the fellow-villagers of clans,
differing from the deceased man's, receive a series of presents
for the performance of mortuary duties.

7. Relationship between Chiefs and Commoners. The
tributes and services given to a chief by his vassals on the one
hand, and the small but frequent gifts which he gives them,
and the big and important contribution which he makes to all
tribal enterprises are characteristic of this relationship.

8. Relationship between any two tribesmen. This is character-
ised by payments and presents, by occasional trade between
two individuals, and by the sporadic free gifts of tobacco or
betel-nut which no man would refuse to another unless they
were on terms of hostility.



194 TRIBAL ECONOMICS IN THE TROBRIANDS

With this, the survey of gifts and presents is finished. The
general importance of give and take to the social fabric of
Boy o wan society, the great amount of distinctions and sub-
divisions of the various gifts can leave no doubt as to the
paramount role which economic acts and motives play in the
life of these natives.



CHAPTER VII
THE DEPARTURE OF AN OVERSEAS EXPEDITION

We have brought the Kula narrative to the point where all
the preparations have been made, the canoe is ready, its
ceremonial launching and presentation have taken place, and
the goods for the subsidiary trade have been collected. It
remains only to load the canoes and to set sail. So far, in
describing the construction, the tasasoria and kabigidoya, we
spoke of the Trobrianders in general. Now we shall have to
confine ourselves to one district, the southern part of the Island,
and we shall follow a Kula expedition from Sinaketa to Dobu.
For there are some differences between the various districts
and each one must be treated separately. What is said of
Sinaketa, however, will hold good so far as the other southern
community, that of Vakuta, is concerned. The scene, there-
fore, of all that is described in the following two chapters will
be set in one spot, that is, the group of some eight component
villages lying on the flat, muddy shore of the Trobriand
Lagoon, within about a stone's throw of one another. There
is a short, sandy beach under a fringe of palm trees, and from
there we can take a comprehensive view of the Lagoon, the
wide semi-circle of its shore edged with the bright green of
mangroves, backed by the high jungle on the raised coral ridge
of the Raybwag. A few small, flat islands on the horizon just
faintly thicken its line, and on a clear day the mountains of the
d'Entrecasteaux are visible as blue shadows in the far distance.
From the beach, we step directly into one of the villages, a
row of houses faced by another of yam-stores. Through this,
leaving on our right a circular village, and passing through
some empty spaces with groves of betel and coco-nut palms, we
come to the main component village of Sinaketa, to Kasiyetana.
There, overtopping the elegant native huts, stands an enormous
corrugated iron shed, built on piles, but with the space between



196 DEPARTURE OVERSEAS

the floor and the ground filled up carefully with white coral
stones. This monument testifies both to native vanity and to
the strength of their superstitions vanity in aping the white
man's habit of raising the house, and native belief in the fear
of the bwaga'u (sorcerer), whose most powerful sorcery is
applied by burning magical herbs, and could not be warded off,
were he able to creep under the house. It may be added that
even the missionary teachers, natives of the Trobriands, always
put a solid mass of stones to fill the space beneath their houses.
To'udawada, the chief of Kasiyetana, is, by the way, the only
man in Boyowa who has a corrugated iron house, and in fact
in the whole of the island there are not more than a dozen
houses which are not built exactly according to the traditional
pattern. To'udawada is also the only native whom I ever saw
wearing a sun-helmet ; otherwise he is a decent fellow
(physically quite pleasant looking), tall, with a broad, intelli-
gent face. Opposite his iron shanty are the fine native huts of
his four wives.

Walking towards the North, over the black soil here and
there pierced by coral, among tall trees and bits of jungle,
fields and gardens, we come to Kanubayne, the village of
Kouta'uya, the second most important chief in Sinaketa.
Very likely we shall see him sitting on the platform of his hut
or yam-house, a shrivelled up, toothless old man, wearing a big
native wig. He, as well as To'udawada, belongs to the highest
ranks of chieftainship, and they both consider themselves
the equals of the chiefs of Kiriwina. But the power of each one
is limited to his small, component village, and neither in cere-
monial nor in wealth did they, at least in olden days, approach
their kinsmen in the North. There is still another chief of
the same rank in Sinaketa, who governs the small village of
Oraywota. This is Sinakadi, a puffed up, unhealthy looking,
bald and toothless old man, and a really contemptible and
crooked character, despised by black and white alike. He has
a well-established reputation of boarding white men's boats as
soon as they arrive, with one or two of his young wives in the
canoe, and of returning soon after, alone, but with plenty of
tobacco and good merchandise. Lax as is the Trobriander's
sense of honour and morality in such matters, this is too
much even for them, and Sinakadi is accordingly not respected
in his village.



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DEPARTURE OVERSEAS 197

The rest of the villages are ruled by headmen of inferior
rank, but of not much less importance and power than the
main chiefs. One of them, a queer old man, spare and lame
but with an extremely dignified and deliberate manner, called
Layseta, is renowned for his extensive knowledge of all sorts
of magic, and for his long sojourns in foreign countries, such
as the Amphletts and Dobu. We shall meet some of these
chiefs later on in our wanderings. Having described the
villages and headmen of Sinaketa let us return to our narrative.

A few days before the appointed date of the departure of the
Kula expedition there is a great stir in the villages. Visiting
parties arrive from the neighbourhood, bringing gifts mostly of
food, to serve as provisions for the journey. They sit in
front of the huts, talking and commenting, while the local
people go about their business. In the evenings, long con-
ferences are held over the fires, and late hours are kept. The
preparation of food is mainly woman's work, whereas the men
put the finishing touches to the canoes, and perform their
magic.

Sociologically the group of the departing differentiates
itself of course from those who remain. But even within that
group a further differentiation takes place, brought about by
their respective functions in the Kula. First of all there are
the masters of the canoe, the toliwaga, who will play quite a
definite part for the next few weeks. On each of them fall
with greater stringency the taboos, whether those that have
to be kept in Sinaketa or in Dobu. Each has to perform the
magic and act in ceremonies. Each will also enjoy the main
honours and privileges of the Kula. The members of the crew,
the usagelu, some four to six men in each canoe, form another
group. They sail the craft, perform certain magical rites, and
as a rule do the Kula each on his own account. A couple of
younger men in each canoe, who do not yet kula, but who
help in the work of sailing, form another class, and are called
silasila. Here and there a small boy will go with his father on
a Kula expedition such are called dodo'u and makes himself
useful by blowing the conch shell. Thus the whole fleet
consists of four classes, that of the toliwaga, the usagelu, the
helpers and the children. From Sinaketa, women, whether
married or unmarried, never go on overseas expeditions, though
a different custom prevails in the eastern part of the Trobriands.



198 DEPARTURE OVERSEAS

Each toliwaga has to give a payment in food to his usagelu, and
this is done in the form of a small ceremony of distribution of
food called mwalolo, and held after the return from the expe-
dition, in the central place of the village.

A few days before the sailing, the toliwaga starts his series
of magical rites and begins to keep his taboos, the women busy
themselves with the final preparation of the food, and the men
trim the waga (canoe) for the imminent, long journey.

The taboo of the toliwaga refers to his sexual life. During
the last two nights, he has in any case to be up late in con-
nection with his magical performances, and with the visits of
his friends and relatives from other villages, who bring pro-
visions for the voyage, presents in trade goods, and who chat
about the forthcoming expedition. But he has also to keep
vigil far into the night as a customary injunction, and he has to
sleep alone, though his wife may sleep in the same house.

The preparations of the canoe are begun by covering it
with plaited mats called yawarapu. They are put on the
platform, thus making it convenient for walking, sitting and
spreading about of small objects. This, the first act of canoe
trimming, is associated with a magical rite. The plaited leaves
are chanted over by the toliwaga on the shore as they are put on
the canoe. Or, in a different system of Kula magic the
toliwaga medicates some ginger root and spits it on the mats in
his hut. This is a specimen of the magical formula which would
be used in such a rite :

YAWARAPU SPELL.

" Betel-nut, betel-nut, female betel-nut ; betel-nut,
betel-nut, male betel-nut ; betel-nut of the ceremonial
spitting ! "

" The chiefs' comrades ; the chiefs and their followers ;
their sun, the afternoon sun ; their pig, a small pig. One
only is my day " here the reciter utters his own name
" their dawn, their morning."

This is the exordium of the spell. Then follows the
main body. The two words boraytupa and badederuma,
coupled together, are repeated with a string of other words.
The first word of the couple means, freely translated,
' quick sailing,' and the second one, ' abundant haul/
The string of words which are in succession tacked on to
this couple describe various forms of Kula necklaces.



DEPARTURE OVERSEAS 199

The necklaces of different length and of different finish
have each their own class names, of which there are about
a dozen. After that, a list of words, referring to the
human head, are recited :

" My head, my nose, my occiput, my tongue, my
throat, my larynx, etc., etc." Finally, the various
objects carried on a Kula expedition are mentioned. The
goods to be given (pari) ; a ritually wrapped up bundle
(lilava) ; the personal basket ; the sleeping mat ; big
baskets ; the lime stick ; the lime pot and comb are uttered
one after the other.

Finally the magician recites the end part of the spell ;
" I shall kick the mountain, the mountain moves, the
mountain tumbles down, the mountain starts on its
ceremonial activities, the mountain acclaims, the mountain
falls down, the mountain lies prostrate ! My spell shall go
to the top of Dobu Mountain, my spell will penetrate the
inside of my canoe. The body of my canoe will sink ;
the float of my canoe will get under water. My fame is
like thunder, my treading is like the roar of the flying
witches."

The first part of this spell contains a reference to the
betel-nut, this being one of the things which the natives expect
to receive in the Kula. On the other hand, it is one of the
substances which the natives charm over and give to the
partner to induce him to kula with them. To which of these
two acts the spell refers, it is impossible to decide, nor can the
natives tell it. The part in which he extols his speed and
success are typical of the magic formulae, and can be found in
many others.

The main part of the spell is as usual much easier to inter-
pret. It implies, broadly speaking, the declaration : " I shall
speed and be successful with regard to the various forms of
vaygu'a ; I shall speed and be successful with my head, with my
speech, with my appearance ; in all my trade goods and
personal belongings." The final part of the spell describes the
impression which is to be made by the man's magic upon ' the
mountain/ which stands here for the district of Dobu -and its
inhabitants. In fact, the districts in the d'Entrecasteaux to
which they are sailing are always called koya (mountain). The
exaggerations, the metaphors, and the implicit insistence on the
power of the spell are very characteristic of all magical spells.



200 DEPARTURE OVERSEAS

The next day, or the day after, as there is often a delay in
starting, a pig or two are given by the master of the expedition
to all the participants. In the evening of that day, the owner
of each canoe goes into the garden, and finds an aromatic mint
plant (sulumwoya). Taking a sprig of it into his hand, he moves
it to and fro, uttering a spell, and then he plucks it. ^This is
the spell :

SULUMWOYA SPELL.*

" Who cuts the sulumwoya of Laba'i ? I, Kwoyregu,
with my father, we cut the sulumwoya of Laba'i ! The
roaring sulumwoya, it roars ; the quaking sulumwoya, it
quakes ; the soughing sulumwoya, it soughs ; the boiling
sulumwoya, it boils "

" My sulumwoya, it boils, my lime spoon, it boils, my
lime pot, it boils, my comb . . . my basket . . .
my small basket . . . my mat . . . my lilava
bundle . , . my presentation goods (pan] .
And with each of these terms, the word ' boils ' or ' foams
up ' is repeated often several times. After that, the same
verb ' it boils ' is repeated with all parts of the head, as
in the previously quoted formula.

The last part runs thus : " Recently deceased spirit of
my maternal uncle Mwoyalova, breathe thy spell over the
head of Monikiniki. Breathe the spell upon the head of
my light canoe. I shall kick the mountain ; the mountain
tilts over ; the mountain subsides ; the mountain opens
up ; the mountain jubilates ; it topples over. I shall
kula so as to make my canoe sink. I shall kula so as to
make my outrigger go under. My fame is like thunder,
my treading is like the roar of the flying witdies."

The exordium of this spell contains some mythical refer-
ences, of which, however, my informants could give me only
confused explanations. But it is clear in so far as it refers
directly to the magical mint, and describes its magical
efficiency. In the second part, there is again a list of words
referring to objects used in the Kula, and to the personal
appearance and persuasiveness of the magician. The verb
with which they are repeated refers to the boiling of the mint
and coco-nut oil which I shall presently have to mention,

* Compare the linguistic analysis of the original text of this spell,
given
in Chapter XVIH.



DEPARTURE OVERSEAS 201

and it indicates that the magical properties of the mint are
imparted to the toliwaga and his goods. In the last part,
the magician invokes the spirit of his real maternal kinsman,
from whom he obtained this spell, and asks him to impart
magical virtue to his canoe. The mythological name,
Monikiniki, with which there is no myth connected, except the
tradition that he was the original owner of all these spells, stands
here as synonym of the canoe. At the very end in the dogina,
which contains several expressions identical with those in the
end part of the Yawarapu spell, we have another example of
the strongly exaggerated language so often used in magic.

After having thus ritually plucked the mint plant, the
magician brings it home. There he finds one of his usagelu
(members of crew) who helps him by boiling some coco-nut oil
(bulami) in a small native clay pot. Into the boiling oil the mint
plant is put, and, while it boils, a magical formula is uttered
over it.

KAYMWALOYO SPELL.

" No betel-nut, no doga (ornament of circular boar's
tusk), no betel- pod ! My power to change his mind ;
my mwasila magic, my mwase, mwasare, mwaserewai."
This last sentence contains a play on words very character-
istic of Kiriwinian magic. It is difficult to interpret the
opening sentence. Probably it means something like
this : "No betel-nut or pod, no gift of a doga, can be as
strong as my mwasila and its power of changing my
partner's mind in my favour ! "

Now comes the main part of the spell : " There is one
sulumwoya (mint) of mine, a sulumwoya of Laba'i which I
shall place on top of Gumasila."

" Thus shall I make a quick Kula on top of Gumasila ;
thus shall I hide away my Kula on top of Gumasila ; thus
shall I rob my Kula on top of Gumasila ; thus shall I
forage my Kula on top of Gumasila ; thus shall I steal my
Kula on top of Gumasila."

These last paragraphs are repeated several times,
inserting instead of the name of the island of Gumasila
the following ones : Kuyawaywo, Domdom, Tewara,
Siyawawa, Sanaroa, Tu'utauna, Kamsareta, Gorebubu.
All these are the successive names of places in which Kula
is made. In this long spell, the magician follows the
course of a Kula expedition, enumerating its most



202 DEPARTURE OVERSEAS

conspicuous landmarks. The last part in this formula is
identical with the last part of the Yawarapu Spell,
previously quoted : " I shall kick the mountain, etc."

After the recital of this spell over the oil and mint, the
magician takes these substances, and places them in a receptacle
made of banana leaf toughened by grilling. Nowadays a glass
bottle is sometimes used instead. The receptacle is then
attached to a stick thrast through the prow boards of the
canoe and protruding slantwise over the nose. As we shall see
later on, the aromatic oil will be used in anointing some objects
on arrival at Dobu.

With this, however, the series of magical rites is not
finished. The next day, early in the morning, the ritual
bundle of representative trade goods, called lilava, is made up
with the recital of a magical spell. A few objects of trade, a
plaited armlet, a comb, a lime pot, a bundle of betel-nut are
placed on a clean, new mat, and into the folded mat the spell
is recited. Then the mat is rolled up, and over it another
mat is placed, and one or two may be wrapped round ; thus it
contains, hermetically sealed, the magical virtue of the spell.
This bundle is placed afterwards in a special spot in the centre
of the canoe, and is not opened till the expedition arrives in
Dobu. There is a belief that a magical portent (kariyala} is
associated with it. A gentle rain, accompanied by thunder
and lightning, sets in whenever the lilava is opened. A
sceptical European might add, that in the monsoon season it
almost invariably rains on any afternoon, with the accompani-
ment of thunder, at the foot or on the slopes of such high hills
as are found in the d'Entrecasteaux group. Of course when, in
spite of that, a kariyala does not make its appearance, we all
know something has been amiss in the performance of the
magical rite over the lilava ! This is the spell recited over the
tabooed lilava bundle.

LILAVA SPELL.

" I skirt the shore of the beach of Kaurakoma ; the
beach of Kayli, the Kayli of Muyuwa." I cannot add any
explanation which would make this phrase clearer. It
obviously contains some mythological references to which
I have no key. The spell runs on :



DEPARTURE OVERSEAS 203

" I shall act magically on my mountain. . . Where
shall I lie ? I shall lie in Legumatabu ; I shall dream,
I shall have dream visions ; rain will come as my magical
portent. . . his mind is on the alert ; he lies not, he
sits not, he stands up and trembles, he stands up and is
agitated ; the renown of Kewara is small, my own
renown flares up.

This whole period is repeated over and over again, each
time the name of another place being inserted instead of
that of Legumatabu. Legumatabu is a small coral island
some two hundred yards long and a hundred yards wide,
with a few pandanus trees growing on it, wild fowl and
turtle laying their eggs in its sand. In this island, half
way between Sinaketa and the Amphletts, the Sinaketan
sailors often spend a night or two, if overtaken by bad
weather or contrary winds.

This period contains first a direct allusion to the
magical portent of the lilava. In its second half it
describes the state of agitation of the Dobuan partner
under the influence of this magic, a state of agitation which
will prompt him to be generous in the Kula. I do not
know whether the word Kewara is a proper name or what
else it may mean, but the phrase contains a boast of the
magician's own renown, very typical of magical formulae.

The localities mentioned instead of Legumatabu in the
successive repetitions of the period are : Yakum, another
small coral island, Urasi, the Dobuan name for Gumasila,
Tewara, Sanaro'a, and Tu'utauna, all localities known
to us already from our description of Dobu.

This is a very long spell. After the recital, and a very
lengthy one, of the last period with its variants, yet
another change is introduced into it. Instead of the first
phrase " where shall I lie ? etc." the new form runs "Where
does the rainbow stand up ? It stands up on the top of
Koyatabu/' and after this the rest of the period is
repeated : " I shall dream, I shall have dream visions,
etc." This new form is again varied by uttering instead
of Koyatabu, Kamsareta, Koyava'u, and Gorebubu.*
This again carries us through the landscape ; but here,
instead of the sleeping places we follow the beacons of the
sailing expedition by mentioning the tops of the high
mountains. The end part of this spell is again identical
with that of the Yawarapu Spell.

* Koyatabu the mountain on the North shore of Fergusson , Kamsareta,
the highest hill on Domdom, in the Amphletts ; Koyava'u the moun-
tain opposite Dobu island, on the North shore of Dawson Straits ;
Gorebubu
the volcano on Dobu island.



204 DEPARTURE OVERSEAS

This magical rite takes place on the morning of the last day.
Immediately after the recital of the spell, and the rolling up of
the lilava, it is carried to the canoe, and put into its place of
honour. By that time the usagelu (members of the crew)
have already made the canoe ready for sailing.

Each masawa canoe is divided into ten, eleven, or twelve
compartments by the stout, horizontal poles called riu* which
join the body of the canoe with the outrigger. Such a com-
partment is called liku, and each liku has its name and its
function. Starting from the end of the canoe, the first liku,
which, as is easily seen, is both narrow and shallow, is called
ogugwau, ' in the mist/ and this is the proper place for the
conch-shell. Small boys will sit there and blow the conch-
shell on ceremonial occasions.

The next compartment is called likumakava, and there some
of the food is stowed away. The third division is called
kayliku and water-bottles made of coco-nut shells have their
traditional place in it. The fourth liku, called likuguya'u, is,
as its name indicates, the place for the guya'u or chief, which, it
may be added, is unofficially used as a courtesy title for any
headman, or man of importance. The baler, yalumila, always
remains in this compartment. Then follow the central com-
partments, called gebobo, one, two or three, according to the
size of the canoe. This is the place where the lilava is put on the
platform, and where are placed the best food, not to be eaten till
the arrival in Dobu, and all valuable trade articles. After that
central division, the same divisions, as in the first part are
met in inverse order (see Plate XXXIX).

When the canoe is going to carry much cargo, as is always
the case on an expedition to Dobu, a square space is fenced
round corresponding to the gebobo part of the canoe. A big sort
of square hen-coop, or cage, is thus erected in the middle of the
canoe, and this is full of bundles wrapped up in mats, and at
times when the canoe is not travelling, it is usually covered over
with a sail. In the bottom of the canoe a floor is made by a
framework of sticks. On this, people can walk and things
can rest, while the bilgewater flows underneath, and is baled
out from time to time. On this framework, in the gebobo, four
coco-nuts are placed, each in the corner of the square, while a
spell is recited over them. It is after that, that the lilava and
the choice food, and the rest of the trade are stowed away.



DEPARTURE OVERSEAS 205

The following spell belongs to the class which is recited over the
four coco-nuts.

GEBOBO SPELL.

" My father, my mother . . . Kula, mwasila."
This short exordium, running in the compressed style
proper to magical beginnings, is rather enigmatic, except
for the mention of the Kula and mwasila, which explain
themselves. The second part is less obscure :

" I shall fill my canoe with bagido'u, I shall fill my canoe
with bagiriku, I shall fill my canoe with bagidudu, etc."
All the specific names of the necklaces are enumerated.
The last part runs as follows : " I shall anchor in the open
sea, and my renown will go to the Lagoon, I shall anchor
in the Lagoon, and my renown will go to the open sea.
My companions will be on the open sea and on the Lagoon.
My renown is like thunder, my treading is like earthquake."

This last part is similar to several of the other formula*.
This rite is obviously a Kula rite, judging from the spell, but
the natives maintain that its special virtue is to make the
food stuffs, loaded into the canoe, last longer. After this rite
is over, the loading is done quickly, the lilava is put into its place
of honour, and with it the best food to be eaten in Dobu. Some
other choice food to serve as pokala (offerings) is also put in the
gebobo, to be offered to overseas partners ; on it, the rest of
the trade, called pari, is piled, and right on top of all are the
personal belongings of the usagelu and the toliwaga in their
respective baskets, shaped like travelling bags.

The people from the inland villages, kulila'odila, as they are
called, are assembled on the beach. With them stand the
women, the children, the old men, and the few people left to
guard the village. The master of the fleet gets up and addresses
the crowd on the shore, more or less in these words :

" Women, we others sail ; you remain in the village and
look after the gardens and the houses ; you must keep
chaste. When you get into the bush to get wood, may not
one of you lag behind. When you go to the gardens to do
work keep together. Return together with your younger
sisters."

He also admonishes the people from the other villages to
keep away, never to visit Sinaketa at night or in the evening,
and never to come singly into the village. On hearing that,



DEPARTURE OVERSEAS

the headman of an inland village will get up and speak in this
fashion :

" Not thus, oh, our chief ; you go away, and your
village will remain here as it is. Look, when you are here
we come to see you. You sail away, we shall keep to our
villages. When you return, we come again. Perhaps
you will give us some betel-nut, some sago, some coco-nuts.
Perhaps you will kula to us some necklace of shell beads."

After these harangues are over, the canoes sail away in a
body. Some of the women on the beach may weep at the
actual departure, but it is taboo to weep afterwards. The
woman are also supposed to keep the taboo, that is, not to
walk alone out of the village, not to receive male visitors, in
fact, to remain chaste and true to their husbands during their
absence. Should a woman commit misconduct, her husband's
canoe would be slow. As a rule there are recriminations
between husbands and wives and consequent bad feeling on the
return of the party ; whether the canoe should be blamed or
the wife it is difficult to say.

The women now look out for the rain and thunder, for the
sign that the men have opened the lilava (special magical
bundle). Then they know that the party has arrived on the
beach of Sarubwoyna, and performs now its final magic, and
prepares for its entrance into the villages of Tu'utauna, and
Bwayowa. The women are very anxious that the men should
succeed in arriving at Dobu, and that they should not be
compelled by bad weather to return from the Amphletts.
They have been preparing special grass skirts to put on, when
they meet the returning canoes on the beach ; they also hope
to receive the sago, which is considered a dainty, and some
of the ornaments, which their men bring them back from
Dobu. If for any reason the fleet returns prematurely, there
is great disappointment throughout the village, because this
means the expedition has been a failure, nothing has been
brought back to those left at home, and they have no oppor-
tunity of wearing their ceremonial dress.



CHAPTER VIII
THE FIRST HALT OF THE FLEET ON MUWA

I

AFTER so many preparations and preliminaries, we might
expect that, once embarked, the natives would make straight
for the high mountains, which beckon them alluringly from the
distant South. Quite on the contrary, they are satisfied with
a very short stage the first day, and after sailing a few miles,
they stop on a big sand bank called Muwa, lying to the south-
west of the village of Sinaketa. Here, near the sandy shore,
edged with old, gnarled trees, the canoes are moored by sticks,
while the crews prepare for a ceremonial distribution of food,
and arrange their camp for the night on the beach.

This somewhat puzzling delay is less incomprehensible, if
we reflect that the natives, after having prepared for a distant
expedition, now at last for the first time find themselves
together, separated from the rest of the villagers. A sort of
mustering and reviewing of forces, as a rule associated with a
preliminary feast held by the party, is characteristic of all the
expeditions or visits in the Trobriands.

I have spoken already about big and small expeditions, but
I have not perhaps made quite clear that the natives them-
selves make a definite distinction between big, competitive
Kula expeditions, called uvalaku, and sailings on a smaller
scale, described as ' just Kula/ (" Kula wala "). The uvalaku
are held every two or three years from each district, though
nowadays, as in everything else, the natives are getting slack.
One would be held, whenever there is a great agglomeration of
vaygu'a, due to reasons which I shall describe later on. Some-
times, a special event, such as the possession by one of the
head men of an exceptionally fine pig, or of an object of high
value, might give rise to an uvalaku. Thus, in 1918, a big
competitive expedition (uvalaku) from Dobu was held



208 HALT ON MUWA

ostensibly for the reason that Kauyaporu, one of the head men
of Tu'utauna, owned a very large boar with tusks almost
curling over into a circle. Again, plenty of food, or in olden
days the completion of a successful war expedition, would form
the raison d'etre of an uvalaku. Of course these reasons,
explicitly given by the natives, are, so to speak, accessory
causes, for in reality an uvalaku would be held whenever its
turn came, that is, barring great scarcity of food or the death
of an important personage.

The uvalaku is a Kula expedition on an exceptionally big
scale, carried on with a definite social organisation under
scrupulous observance of all ceremonial and magical rites, and
distinguished from the smaller expeditions by its size, by a
competitive element, and by one or two additional features.
On an uvalaku, all the canoes in the district will sail, and they
will sail fully manned. Everybody will be very eager to take
part in it. Side by side with this natural desire, however,
there exists the idea that all the members of the crews are under
an obligation to go on the expedition. This duty they owe to
the chief, or master of the uvalaku. The toli'uvalaku, as he is
called, is always one of the sectional chiefs or headmen. He
plays the part of a master of ceremonies, oi> leaving the beach
of Sinaketa, at the distributions of food, on arrival in the
overseas villages, and on the ceremonial return home. A
streamer of dried and bleached pandanus leaf, attached to the
prows of his canoe on a stick, is the ostensible sign of the
dignity. Such a streamer is called tarabauba'u in Kiriwinian,
and doya in the Dobuan language, The headman, who is
toli'uvalaku on an expedition, will as a rule receive more Kula
gifts than the others. On him also will devolve the glory of this
particular expedition. Thus the title of toll, in this case, is one
of honorary and nominal ownership, resulting mainly in renown
(butura) for its bearer, and as such highly valued by the natives.

From the economic and legal point of view, however, the
obligation binding the members of the expedition to him is the
most important sociological feature. He gives the distribution
of food, in which the others participate, and this imposes on
them the duty of carrying out the expedition, however hard this
might be, however often they would have to stop or even return
owing to bad weather, contrary winds, or, in olden, days, inter-
ference by hostile natives. As the natives say,



HALT ON MUWA 209

" We cannot return on uvalaku, for \\e have eaten of
the pig, and we have chewed of the betel-nut given by the
toli' uvalaku."

Only after the most distant community with whom the
Sinaketans kula has been reached, and after due time has been
allowed for the collection of any vaygua within reach, will the
party start on the return journey. Concrete cases are quoted
in which expeditions had to start several times from Sinaketa,
always returning within a few days after all the provisions had
been eaten on Muwa, from where a contrary wind would not
allow the canoes to move south. Or again, a memorable
expedition, some few decades ago, started once or twice, was
becalmed in Vakuta, had to give a heavy payment to a wind
magician in the village of Okinai, to provide them with a
propitious northerly wind, and then, sailing South at last, met
with a vineylida, one of the dreadful perils of the sea, a live stone
which jumps from the bottom of the sea at a canoe. But in
spite of all this, they persevered, reached Dobu in safety, and
made a successful return.

Thus we see that, from a sociological point of view, the
uvalaku is an enterprise partially financed by the toll uvalaku,
and therefore redounding to his credit, and bringing him
honour ; while the obligation imposed on others by the food
distributed to them, is to carry on the expedition to a
successful end.

It is rather puzzling to find that, although everyone is
eager for the expedition, although they all enjoy it equally
and satisfy their ambition and increase their wealth by it, yet
the element of compulsion and obligation is introduced into it ;
for we are not accustomed to the idea of pleasure having to be
forced on people. None the less, the uvalaku is not an isolated
feature, for in almost all tribal enjoyments and festive enter-
tainments on a big scale, the same principle obtains. The
master of the festivities, by an initial distribution of food,
imposes an obligation on the others, to carry through dancing,
sports, or games of the season. And indeed, considering the
ease with which native enthusiasms flag, with which jealousies,
envies and quarrels creep in, and destroy the unanimity of
social amusements, the need for compulsion from without to
amuse oneself appears not so preposterous as at first sight.

I have said that an uvalaku expedition is distinguished



2io HALT ON MUWA

from an ordinary one, in so far also as the full ceremonial of the
Kula has to be observed. Thus all the canoes must be either
new or relashed, and without exception they must be also re-
painted and redecorated. The full ceremonial launching, tasa-
soria, and the presentation, kabigodoya, are carried out with
every detail only when the Kula takes the form of an uvalaku.
The pig or pigs killed in the village before departure are also
a special feature of the competitive Kula. So is the kayguya'u
ceremonial distribution held on Muwa, just at the point of the
proceedings at which we have now arrived. The tanarere, a
big display of vaygu'a and comparison of the individual
acquisitions at the end of an expedition, is another ceremonial
feature of the uvalaku and supplies some of the competitive
element. There is also competition as to the speed, qualities
and beauties of the canoes at the beginning of such an expe-
dition. Some of the communities who present their vaygu'a to
an uvalaku expedition vie with one another, as to who will give
most, and in fact the element of emulation or competition runs
right through the proceedings. In the following chapters, I
shall have, in several more points, occasion to distinguish an
uvalaku from an ordinary Kula sailing.

It must be added at once that, although all these ceremonial
features are compulsory only on an uvalaku sailing, and although
only then are they one and all of them unfailingly observed,
some and even all may also be kept during an ordinary Kula
expedition, especially if it happens to be a somewhat bigger one.
The same refers to the various magical rites that is to say the
most important ones which although performed on every
Kula expedition, are carried out with more punctilio on an
uvalaku.

Finally, a very important distinctive feature is the rule,
that no vaygu'a can be carried on the outbound sailing of an
uvalaku. It must not be forgotten that a Kula overseas expe-
dition sails, in order mainly to receive gifts and not to give them,
and on an uvalaku this rule is carried to its extreme, so that no
Kula valuables whatever may be given by the visiting party.
The natives sailing from Sinaketa to Dobu on ordinary Kula
may carry a few armshells with them, but when they sail on a
.ceremonial competitive uvalaku, no armshell is ever taken.
For it must be remembered that Kula exchanges, as has been
explained in Chapter III, never take place simultaneously.



HALT ON MUWA 211

It is always a gift followed after a lapse of time by a counter-
gift. Now on a uvalaku the natives would receive in Dobu a
certain amount of gifts, which, within a year or so, would be
returned to the Dobuans, when these pay a visit to Sinaketa.
But there is always a considerable amount of valuables which
the Dobuans owe to the Sinaketans, so that when now the
Sinaketans go to Dobu, they will claim also these gifts due to
them from previous occasions. All these technicalities of Kula
exchange will become clearer in one of the subsequent chapters
(Chapter XIV).

To sum up, the uvalaku is a ceremonial and competitive
expedition. Ceremonial it is, in so far as it is connected with the
special initial distribution of food, given by the master of the
uvalaku. It is also ceremonial in that all the formalities of the
Kula are kept rigorously and without exception, for in a sense
every Kula sailing expedition is ceremonial. Competitive it is
mainly in that at the end of it all the acquired articles are
compared and counted. With this also the prohibition to
carry vaygu'a, is connected, so as to give everyone an even
start.

II

Returning now to the Sinaketan fleet assembled at Muwa,
as soon as they have arrived there, that is, some time about
noon, they proceed to the ceremonial distribution. Although
the toll uvalaku is master of ceremonies, in this case he as a
rule sits and watches the initial proceedings from a distance.
A group of his relatives or friends of lesser rank busy them-
selves with the work. It might be better perhaps here to give
a more concrete account, since it is always difficult to visualise
exactly how such things will proceed.

This was brought home to me when in March, 1918, 1 assisted
at these initial stages of the Kula in the Amphlett Islands.
The natives had been preparing for days for departure, and on
the final date, I spent the whole morning observing and
photographing the loading and trimming of the canoes, the
farewells, and the setting out of the fleet. In the evening,
after a busy day, as it was a full-moon night, I went for a long
pull in a dinghey. Although in the Trobriands I had had
accounts of the custom of the first halt, yet it gave me a sur-
prise when on rounding a rocky point I came upon the whole



212 HALT ON MUWA

crowd of Gumasila natives, who had departed on the Kula that
morning, sitting in full-moon light on a beach, only a few miles
from the village which they had left with so much to-do some
ten hours before. With the fairly strong wind that day, I was
thinking of them as camping at least half way to the Trobriands,
on one of the small sand banks some twenty miles North.
I went and sat for a moment among the morose and unfriendly
Amphlett Islanders, who, unlike the Trobrianders, distinctly
resented the inquisitive and blighting presence of an Ethno-
grapher.

To return to our Sinaketan party, we can imagine the chiefs
sitting high up on the shore under the gnarled, broad-leafed
branches of the shady trees. They might perhaps be resting in
one group, each with a few attendants, or else every headman
and chief near his own canoe, To'udawada silently chewing
betel-nut, with a heavy and bovine dignity, the excitable
Koutauya chattering in a high pitched voice with some of his
grown-up sons, among whom there are two or three of the finest
men in Sinaketa. Further on, with a smaller group of
attendants, sits the infamous Sinakadi, in conference with his
successor to chieftainship, his sister's son, Gomaya, also a
notorious scoundrel. On such occasions it is good form for
chiefs not to busy themselves among the groups, nor to survey
the proceedings, but to keep an aloof and detached attitude.
In company with other notables, they discuss in the short,
jerky sentences which make native languageb so difficult to
follow, the arrangements and prospects of the Kula, making
now and then a mythological reference, forecasting the
weather, and discussing the merits of the canoes.

In the meantime, the henchmen of the toli'uvalaku, his
sons, his younger brothers, his relatives-in-law, prepare the
distribution. As a rule, either To'udawada or Koutauya would
be the toli'uvalaku. The one who at the given time has more
wealth on hand and prospects of receiving more vaygu'a, would
take over the dignity and the burdens, Sinakadi is much less
wealthy, and probably it would be an exception for him and
his predecessors and successors to play the part. The minor
headmen of the other compound villages of Sinaketa would
never fill the role.

Whoever is the master of the expedition for the time being
will have brought over a couple of pigs, which will now be laid



HALT ON MUWA 213

on the beach and admired by the members of the expedition.
Soon some fires are lit, and the pigs, with a long pole thrust
through their tied feet, are hung upside down over the fires. A
dreadful squealing fills the air and delights the hearers. After
the pig has been singed to death, or rather, into insensibility,
it is taken off and cut open. Specialists cut it into appropriate
parts, ready for the distribution. Yams, taro, coco-nuts and
sugar cane have already been put into big heaps, as many as
there are canoes that is, nowadays, eight. On these heaps,
some hands of ripe bananas and some betel-nut bunches are
placed. On the ground, beside them, on trays of plaited
coco-nut leaves, the lumps of meat are displayed. All this
food has been provided by the toli'uvalaku, who previously has
received as contributions towards it special presents, both from
his own and from his wife's kinsmen. In fact, if we try to draw
out all the strands of gifts and contributions connected with
such a distribution we would find that it is spun round into
such an intricate web, that even the lengthy account of the
foregoing chapter does not quite do it justice.

After the chief's helpers have arranged the heaps, they go
over them, seeing that the apportionment is correct, shifting
some of the food here and there, and memorising to whom each
heap will be given. Often in the final round, the toli'uvalaku
inspects the heaps himself, and then returns to his former seat.
Then comes the culminating act of the distribution. One of
the chief's henchmen, always a man of inferior rank, accom-
panied by the chief's helpers, walks down the row of heaps, and
at each of them screams out in a very loud voice :

" 0, Siyagana, thy heap, there, O Siyagana, O ! " At
the next one he calls the name of another canoe : " O
Gumawora, thy heap, there ! O Gumawora ! "

He goes thus over all the heaps, allotting each one to a
canoe. After that is finished, some of the younger boys of each
canoe go and fetch their heap. This is brought to their fire, the
meat is roasted, and the yams, the sugar cane and betel-nut
distributed among the crew, who presently sit down and eat,
each group by itself. We see that, although the toli'uvalaku is
responsible for the feast, and receives from the natives all the
credit for it, his active part in the proceedings is a small one,
and it is more nominal than real. On such occasions it would



214 HALT ON MUWA

perhaps be incorrect to call him ' master of ceremonies/ although
he assumes this role, as we shall see, on other occasions.
Nevertheless, for the natives, he is the centre of the proceedings.
His people do all the work there is to be done, and in certain
cases he would be referred to for a decision, on some question of
etiquette.

After the meal is over, the natives rest, chew betel-nut
and smoke, looking across the water towards the setting sun
it is now probably late in the afternoon towards where,
above the moored canoes, which rock and splash in the shallows,
there float the faint silhouettes of the mountains. These are the
distant Koya, the high hills in the d'Entrecasteaux and
Amphletts, to which the elder natives have often already
sailed, and of which the younger have heard so many times in
myth, tales and magical spells. Kula conversations will
predominate on such occasions, and names of distant partners,
and personal names of specially valuable vaygu'a will punctuate
the conversation and make it very obscure to those not initiated
into the technicalities and historical traditions of the Kula.
Recollections how a certain big spondylus necklace passed a
couple of years ago through Sinaketa, how So-and-so handed it
to So-and-so in Kiriwina, who again gave it to one of his
partners in Kitava (all the personal names of course being
mentioned) and how it went from there to Woodlark Island,
where its traces become lost such reminiscences lead to
conjectures as to where the necklace might now be, and whether
there is a chance of meeting it in Dobu. Famous exchanges are
cited, quarrels over Kula grievances, cases in which a man was
killed by magic for his too successful dealings in the Kula,
are told one after the other, and listened to with never failing
interest. The younger men amuse themselves perhaps with
less serious discussions about the dangers awaiting them
on the sea, about the fierceness of the witches and dread-
ful beings in the Koya, while many a young Trobriander
would be warned at this stage of the unaccommodating
attitude of the women in Dobu, and of the fierceness of
their men folk.

After nightfall a number of small fires are lit on the beach.
The stiff pandanus mats, folded in the middle, are put over
each sleeper so as to form a small roof, and the whole crowd
settle down for the night.



HALT ON MUWA 215

III

Next morning, if there is a fair wind, or a hope of it, the
natives are up very early, and all are feverishly active. Some
fix up the masts and rigging of the canoes, doing it much more
thoroughly and carefully than it was done on the previous
morning, since there may be a whole day's sailing ahead of them
perhaps with a strong wind, and under dangerous conditions.
After all is done, the sails ready to be hoisted, the various ropqs
put into good trim, all the members of the crew sit at their
posts, and each canoe waits some few yards from the beach for
its toliwaga (master of the canoe). He remains on shore,
in order to perform one of the several magical rites which, at
this stage of sailing, break through the purely matter-of-fact
events. All these rites of magic are directed towards the
canoes, making them speedy, seaworthy and safe. In the
first rite, some leaves are medicated by the toliwaga as he squats
over them on the beach and recites a formula. The wording of
this indicates that it is a speed magic, and this is also the
explicit statement of the natives.

KADUMIYALA SPELL.

In this spell, the flying fish and the jumping gar fish
are invoked at the beginning. Then the toliwaga urges his
canoe to fly at its bows and at its stern. Then, in a long
tapwana, he repeats a word signifying the magical impart-
ing of speed, and with the names of the various parts of the
canoe. The last part runs : " The canoe flies, the canoe
flies in the morning, the canoe flies at sunrise, the canoe
flies like a flying witch/ 1 ending up with the onomatopoetic
words " Saydidi, tatata, numsa" which represent the
flapping of pandanus streamers in the wind, or as others
say, the noises made by the flying witches, as they move
through the air on a stormy night.

After having uttered this spell into the leaves, the toliwaga
gives them to one of the usagelu (members of the crew), who,
wading round the waga, rubs with them first the dobwana,
' head ' of the canoe, then the middle of its body, and finally its
u'ula (basis). Proceeding round on the side of the outrigger,
he rubs the ' head ' again. It may be remembered here that,
with the native canoes, fore and aft in the sailing sense are
interchangeable, since the canoe must sail having always the



2i6 HALT ON MUWA

wind on its outrigger side, and it often has to change stern to
bows. But standing on a canoe so that the outrigger is on the
left hand, and the body of the canoe on the right, a native will
call the end of the canoe in front of him its head (dabwana),
and that behind, its basis (u'ula).

After this is over, the toliwaga enters the canoe, the sail is
hoisted, and the canoe rushes ahead. Now two or three
pandanus streamers which had previously been medicated in
the village by the toliwaga are tied to the rigging, and to the
mast. The following is the spell which had been said over
them :

BISILA SPELL.

" Bora'i, Bora'i (a mythical name). Bora'i flies, it will
fly ; Bora'i Bora'i, Bora'i stands up, it will stand up.
In company with Bora'i sidididi. Break through your
passage in Kadimwatu, pierce through thy Promontory of
Salamwa. Go and attach your pandanus streamer in
Salamwa, go and ascend the slope of Loma."

" Lift up the body of my canoe ; its body is like floating
gossamer, its body is like dry banana leaf, its body is like
fluff."

There is a definite association in the minds of the natives
between the pandanus streamers, with which they usually
decorate mast, rigging and sail, and the speed of the canoe.
The decorative effect of the floating strips of pale, glittering,
yellow is indeed wonderful, when the speed of the canoe makes
them flutter in the wind. Like small banners of some stiff,
golden fabric they envelope the sail and rigging with light,
colour and movement.

The pandanus streamers, and especially their trembling, are
a definite characteristic of Trobriand culture (see Plate XXIX).
In some of their dances, the natives use long, bleached ribbons
of pandanus, which the men hold in both hands, and set
a-flutter while they dance. To do this well is one of the main
achievements of a brilliant artist On many festive occasions
the bisila (pandanus streamers) are tied to houses on poles for
decoration. They are thrust into armlets and belts as per-
sonal ornaments. The vaygua (valuables) when prepared for
the Kula, are decorated with strips of bisila. In the Kula a
chief will send to some distant partner a bisila streamer over
which a special spell has been recited, and this will make the



HALT ON MUWA 217

partner eager to bestow valuables on the sender. As we saw,
a broad bisila streamer is attached to the canoe oi&toli'uvalaku
as his badge of honour. The flying witches (mulukwausi) are
supposed to use pandanus streamers in order to acquire speed
and levitation in their nightly flights through the air.

After the magical pandanus strips have been tied to the
rigging, beside the non-magical, purely ornamental ones, the
toliwaga sits at the veva rope, the sheet by which the sail is
extended to the wind, and moving it to and fro he recites a
spell.

KAYIKUNA VEVA SPELL.

Two verbs signifying magical influence are repeated
with the prefix bo which implies the conception of

I ritual ' or ' sacred ' or ' being tabooed/* Then the
toliwaga says : "I shall treat my canoe magically in its
middle part, I shall treat it in its body. I shall take my
butia (flower wreath), of the sweet-scented flowers. I
shall put it on the head of my canoe."

Then a lengthy middle strophe is recited, in which all
the parts of a canoe are named with two verbs one after
the other. The verbs are : " To wreathe the canoe in a
ritual manner," and " to paint it red in a ritual manner."
The prefix bo-, added to the verbs, has been here translated,

II in a ritual manner."*

The spell ends by a conclusion similar to that of many
other canoe formulae, " My canoe, thou art like a whirl-
wind, like a vanishing shadow ! Disappear in the
distance, become like mist, avaunt ! "

These are the three usual rites for the sake of speed at the
beginning of the journey. If the canoe remains slow, however,
an auxiliary rite is performed ; a piece of dried banana leaf is
put between the gunwale and one of the inner frame sticks of
the canoe, and a spell is recited over it. After that, they beat
both ends of the canoe with this banana leaf. If the canoe is

* The prefix bo has three different etymological derivations, each
carry-
ing its own shade of meaning. First, it may be the first part of the
word
bomala, in which case, its meaning will be " ritual" or "sacred."
Secondly, it
may be denved from the word 6w'a, areca-nut, a substance very often
used and
mentioned in magic, both because it is a narcotic, and a beautiful,
vermilion
dye. Thirdly, the prefix may be a derivation from butia, the sweet
scented
flower made into wreaths, in which case it would usually be bway, but
sometimes
might become bo-, and would carry the meaning of "festive,"
"decorated."
To a native, who does not look upon a spell as an ethnological
document, but
as an instrument of magical power, the prefix probably conveys all
three mean-
ings at once, and the word " ritual " covers best all these three
meanings.



2i8 HALT ON MUWA

still heavy, and lags behind the others, a piece of kuleya (cooked
and stale yam) is put on a mat, and the toliwaga medicates it
with a spell which transfers the heaviness to the yam. The
spell here recited is the same one which we met when the
heavy log was being pulled into the village. The log was then
beaten with a bunch of grass, accompanied by the recital of the
spell, and then this bunch was thrown away.* In this'case the
piece of yam which has taken on the heaviness of the canoe is
thrown overboard. Sometimes, however, even this is of no
avail. The toliwaga then seats himself on the platform next to
the steersman, and utters a spell over a piece of coco-nut husk,
which is thrown into the water. This rite, called Bisiboda
patile is a piece of evil-magic (bulubwalata) , intended to keep
all the other canoes back. If that does not help, the natives
conclude that some taboos pertaining to the canoe might have
been broken, and perhaps the toliwaga may feel some misgivings
regarding the conduct of his wife or wives.



See Division II of Chapter V.



CHAPTER IX
SAILING ON THE SEA-ARM OF PILOLU

I

Now at last the Kula expedition is properly set going. The
canoes are started on a long stage, before them the sea-arm
of Pilolu, stretching between the Trobriands and the d'Entre-
casteaux. On the North, this portion of the sea is bounded
by the Archipelago of the Trobriands, that is, by the islands of
Vakuta, Boyowa and Kayleula, joining in the west on to the
scattered belt of the Lousan$ay Islands. On the east, a long
submerged reef runs from the southern end of Vakuta to the
Amphletts, forming an extended barrier to sailing, but affording
little protection from the eastern winds and seas. In the
South, this barrier links on to the Amphletts, which together
with the Northern coast of Fergusson and Goodenough, form
the Southern shore of Pilolu To the West, Pilolu opens up
into the seas between the mainland of New Guinea and the
Bismarck Archipelago. In fact, what the natives designate by
the name of Pilolu is nothing else but the enormous basin of the
Lousanay Lagoon, the largest coral atoll in the world. To the
natives, the name of Pilolu is full of emotional associations,
drawn from magic and myth ; it is connected with the experi-
ences of past generations, told by the old men round the village
fires and with adventure personally lived through,

As the Kula adventurers speed along with filled sails, the
shallow Lagoon of the Trobriands soon falls away behind ;
the dull green waters, sprinkled with patches of brown where
seaweed grows high and rank, and lit up here and there with
spots of bright emerald where a shallow bottom of clean sand
shines through, give place to a deeper sea of strong green hue.
The low strip of land, which surrounds the Trobriand Lagoon in
a wide sweep, thins away and dissolves in the haze, and before
them the southern mountains rise higher and higher. On a



220 SAILING ON PILOLU

clear day, these are visible even from the Trobriands. The
neat outlines of the Amphletts stand diminutive, yet firmer
and more material, against the blue silhouettes of the higher
mountains behind. These, like a far away cloud are draped
in wreaths of cumuli, almost always clinging to their summits.
The nearest of them, Koyatabu the mountain of the taboo *
on the North end of Fergusson Island, a slim, somewhat tilted
pyramid, forms a most alluring beacon, guiding the mariners
due South, To the right of it, as we look towards the South-
West, a broad, bulky mountain, the Koyabwaga'u mountain
of the sorcerers marks the North-western corner of Fergusson
Island. The mountains on Goodenough Island are visible only
in very clear weather, and then very faintly.

Within a day or two, these disembodied, misty forms are to
assume what for the Trobrianders seems marvellous shape and
enormous bulk. They are to surround the Kula traders with
their solid walls of precipitous rock and green jungle, furrowed
with deep ravines and streaked with racing water-courses.
The Trobrianders will sail deep, shaded bays, resounding with
the, to them unknown, voice of waterfalls ; with the weird
cries of strange birds which never visit the Trobriands, such as
the laughing of the kookooburra (laughing jackass), and the
melancholy call of the South Sea crow. The sea will change
its colour once more, become pure blue, and beneath its trans-
parent waters, a marvellous world of multi-coloured coral,
fish and seaweed will unfold itself, a world which, through a
strange geographical irony, the inhabitants of a coral island
hardly ever can see at home, and must come to this volcanic
region to discover.

In these surroundings, they will find also wonderful, heavy,
compact stones of various colours and shapes, whereas at home
the only stone is the insipid, white, dead coral Here they can
see, besides many types of granite and basalt and volcanic tuff,
specimens of black obsidian, with its sharp edges and metallic
ring, and sites full of red and yellow ochre. Besides big hills of
volcanic ash, they will behold hot springs boiling up periodi-
cally. Of all these marvels the young Trobriander hears tales,
and sees samples brought back to his country, and there is no

* The word tabu, in the meaning of taboo prohibition is used in its
verbal form in the language of the Trobriands, but not very often. Tho
noun
"prohibition," "sacred thing," is always bomala, used with suffixed
personal
pronouns.



SAILING ON PILOLU 221

doubt that it is for him a wonderful experience to find himself
amongst them for the first time, and that afterwards he eagerly
seizes every opportunity that offers to sail again to the Koya.
Thus the landscape now before them is a sort of promised land,
a country spoken of in almost legendary tone.

And indeed the scenery here, on the borderland of the two
different worlds, is singularly impressive. Sailing away from
the Trobriands on my last expedition, I had to spend two days,
weatherbound, on a small sandbank covered with a few pan-
danus trees, about midway between the Trobriands and the
Amphletts. A darkened sea lay to the North, big thunder-
clouds hanging over where I knew there was the large flat island
of Boyowa the Trobriands. To the South, against a clearer
sky, were the abrupt forms of the mountains, scattered over
half of the horizon. The scenery seemed saturated with myth
and legendary tales, with the strange adventures, hopes and
fears of generations of native sailors. On this sandbank they
had often camped, when becalmed or threatened with bad
weather. On such an island, the great mythical hero, Kasab-
waybwayreta stopped, and was marooned by his companions,
only to escape through the sky Here again a mythical canoe
once halted, in order to be re-caulked. As I sat there, looking
towards the Southern mountains, so clearly visible, yet so in-
accessible, I realised what must be the feelings of the
Trobrianders, desirous to reach the Koya, to meet the strange
people, and to kula with them, a desire made perhaps even more
acute by a mixture of fear. For there, to the west of the
Amphletts, they see the big bay of Gabu, where once the crews of
a whole fleet of Trobriand canoes were killed and eaten by the
inhabitants of unknown villages, in attempting to kula with them.
And stories are also told of single canoes, drifted apart from
the fleet and cast against the northern shore of Fergusson
Island, of which all the crew perished at the hands of the
cannibals. There are also legends of some inexperienced
natives, who, visiting the neighbourhood of Deyde'i and
arriving at the crystal water in the big stone basins there,
plunged in, to meet a dreadful death in the almost boiling pool.

But though the legendary dangers on the distant shores
may appall the native imagination, the perils of actual sailing
are even more real. The sea over which they travel is seamed
with reefs, studded with sandbanks and coral rocks awash.



222 SAILING ON PILOLU

And though in fair weather these are not so dangerous to a
canoe as to a European boat, yet they are bad enough. The
main dangers of native sailing, however, lie in the helplessness
of a canoe. As we have said before, it cannot sail close to the
wind, and therefore cannot beat. If the wind comes round, the
canoe has to turn and retrace its course. This is very un-
pleasant, but not necessarily dangerous. If, however, the
wind drops, and the canoe just happens to be in one of the
strong tides, which run anything between three and five knots,
or if it becomes disabled, and makes leeway at right angles to
its course, the situation becomes dangerous. To the West,
there lies the open sea, and once far out there, the canoe would
have slender chances of ever returning. To the East, there
runs the reef, on which in heavy weather a native canoe would
surely be smashed. In May, 1918, a Dobuan canoe, returning
home a few days after the rest of the fleet, was caught by a
strong South-Easterly wind, so strong that it had to give up
its course, and make North-West to one of the Lousangay
Islands. It had been given up as lost, when in August it came
back with a chance blow of the North-Westerly wind. It had
had, however, a narrow escape in making the small island.
Had it been blown further West, it would never have reached
land at all.

There exist other tales of lost canoes, and it is a wonder
that accidents are not more frequent, considering the con-
ditions under which they have to sail. Sailing has to be done,
so to speak, on straight lines across the sea. Once they
deviate from this course, all sorts of dangers crop up. Not
only that, but they must sail between fixed points on the land.
For, and this of course refers to the olden days, if they had to
go ashore, anywhere but in the district of a friendly tribe, the
perils which met them were almost as bad as those of reefs and
sharks. If the sailors missed the friendly villages of the
Amphletts and of Dobu, everywhere else they would meet with
extermination Even nowadays, though the danger of being
killed would be smaller perhaps not absolutely non-existent
yet the natives would feel very uncomfortable at the idea of
landing in a strange district, fearing not only death by violence,
but even more by evil magic. Thus, as the natives sail across
Pilolu, only very small sectors of their horizon present a safe
goal for their journey.



SAILING ON PILOLU 223

On the East, indeed, beyond the dangerous barrier reef,
there is a friendly horizon, marked for them by the Marshall
Bennett Islands, and Woodlark, the country known under the
term Omuyuwa. To the South, there is the Koya, also known
as the land of the kinana, by which name the natives of the
d'Entrecasteaux and the Amphletts are known generically.
But to the South- West and West there is the deep open sea
(bebega), and beyond that, lands inhabited by tailed people,
and by people with wings of whom very little more is known.
To the North, beyond the reef of small coral islands, lying off the
Trobriands, there are two countries, Kokopawa and
Kaytalugi. Kokopawa is peopled with ordinary men and
women, who walk about naked, and are great gardeners.
Whether this country corresponds to the South coast of New
Britain, where people really are without any clothing, it would
be difficult to say.

The other country, Kaytalugi, is a land of women only, in
which no man can survive. The women who live there are
beautiful, big and strong, and they walk about naked, and
with their bodily hair unshaven (which is contrary to the
Trobriand custom). They are extremely dangerous to any
man through the unbounded violence of their passion. The
natives never tire of describing graphically how such women
would satisfy their sensuous lust, if they got hold of some
luckless, shipwrecked man. No one could survive, even for a
short time, the amorous yet brutal attacks of these women.
The natives compare this treatment to that customary at the
yousa, the orgiastic mishandling of any man, caught at certain
stages of female communal labour in Boyowa (cf. Chapter II,
Division II). Not even the boys born on this island of
Kaytalugi can survive a tender age. It must be remembered
the natives see no need for male co-operation in continuing the
race. Thus the women propagate the race, although every
male needs must come to an untimely end before he can become
a man.

None the less, there is a legend that some men from the
village of Kaulagu, in eastern Boyowa, were blown in their
canoe far North from the easterly course of a Kula expedition,
and were stranded on the coast of Kaytalugi. There, having
survived the first reception, they were apportioned individually
and married. Having repaired their canoe, ostensibly for the



224 SAILING ON PILOLU

sake of bringing some fish to their wives, one night they put
food and water into it, and secretly sailed away. On their
return to their own village, they found their women married to
other men. However, such things never end tragically in the
Trobriands. As soon as their rightful lords reappeared their
women came back to them. Among other things these men
brought to Boyowa a variety of banana called usikela, not
known before.

II

Returning again to our Kula party, we see that, in journey-
ing across Pilolu, they move within the narrow confines of
familiar sailing ground, surrounded on all sides both by real
dangers and by lands of imaginary horrors. On their track,
however, the natives never go out of sight of land, and in the
event of mist or rain, they can always take sufficient bearings to
enable them to make for the nearest sand-bank or island.
This is never more than some six miles off, a distance which,
should the wind have dropped, may even be reached by
paddling.

Another thing that also makes their sailing not so dangerous
as one would imagine, is the regularity of the winds in this part
of the world. As a rule, in each of the two main seasons, there
is one prevailing direction of wind, which does not shift more
than within some ninety degrees. Thus, in the dry season,
from May to October, the trade wind blows almost incessantly
from the South-East or South, moving sometimes to the North-
East, but never beyond that As a matter of fact, however,
this season, just because of the constancy of the wind, does not
lend itself very well to native sailing. For although with this
wind it is easy to sail from South to North, or East to West,
it is impossible to retrace the course, and as the wind often
blows for months without veering, the natives prefer to do their
sailings between the seasons, or in the time when the monsoon
blows. Between the seasons November, December or
March and April the winds are not so constant, in fact they
shift from one position on the compass to another. On the
other hand, there is very seldom a strong blow at this time, and
so this is the ideal season for sailing In the hot summer
months, December till March, the monsoon blows from the
North- West or South- West, less regularly than a trade wind, but



1 If



I




6

?*



L] ' TJ



3^-H



,, 2



X

I




SAILING ON PILOLU 225

often culminating in violent storms which almost always come
from the North- West. Thus the two strong winds to be met in
these seas come from definite directions, and this minimises the
danger. The natives also as a rule are able to foretell a day or
two beforehand the approach of a squall. Rightly or wrongly,
they associate the strength of the North- Westerly gales with
the phases of the moon

There is, of course, a good deal of magic to make wind blow
or to put it down. Like many other forms of magic, wind
magic is localised in villages. The inhabitants of Simsim, the
biggest village in the Lousan^ay Islands, and the furthest North-
Westerly settlement of this district, are credited with the
ability of controlling the North-Westerly wind, perhaps
through association with their geographical position. Again,
the control over the South-Easterly wind is granted to the
inhabitants of Kitava, lying to the East of Boyowa. The
Simsim people control all the winds which blow habitually
during the rainy season, that is the winds on the western
side of the compass, from North to South. The other half
can be worked by the Kitavan spells.

Many men in Boyowa have learnt both spells and they
practise the magic. The spells are chanted broadcast into the
wind, without any other ritual. It is an impressive spectacle to
walk through a village, during one of the devastating gales,
which always arise at night and during which people leave their
huts and assemble in cleared spaces. They are afraid the
wind may lift their dwellings off the ground, or uproot a tree
which might injure them in falling, an accident which actually
did happen a year or two ago in Wawela, killing the chief's
wife. Through the darkness from the doors of some of the huts,
and from among the huddled groups, there resound loud voices,
chanting, in a penetrating sing-song, the spells for abating the
force of the wind. On such occasions, feeling myself somewhat
nervous, I was deeply impressed by this persistent effort of
frail, human voice, fraught with deep belief, pitting itself so
feebly against the monotonous, overpowering force of the wind.

Taking the bearing* by sight, and helped by the uniformity
of winds, the natives have no need of even the most elementary
knowledge of navigation. Barring accidents they never have
to direct their course by the stars. Of these, they know certain
outstanding constellations, sufficient to indicate for them the



226 SAILING ON PILOLU

direction, should they need it. They have names for the
Pleiades, for Orion, for the Southern Cross, and they also
recognise a few constellations of their own construction. Their
knowledge of the stars, as we have mentioned already in
Chapter II, Division V, is localised in the village of Wawela,
where it is handed over in the maternal line of the chiefs of the
village.

In order to understand better the customs and problems of
sailing, a few words must be said about the technique of
managing a canoe. As we have said before, the wind must
always strike the craft, on the outrigger side, so the sailing canoe
is always tilted with its float raised, and the platform slanting
towards the body of the canoe. This makes it necessary for
it to be able to change bows and stern at will ; for imagine
that a canoe going due South, has to sail with a North-Easterly
wind, then the lamina (outrigger) must be on the left hand, and
the canoe sails with what the natives call its " head " forward.
Now imagine that the wind turns to the North- West. Should
this happen in a violent squall, without warning, the canoe
would be at once submerged But, as such a change would be
gradual, barring accidents, the natives could easily cope with it.
The mast, which is tied at the fourth cross-pole (ri'u) from
the temporary bows of the canoe, would be unbound, the canoe
would be turned 180 degrees around, so that its head would now
form the stern, its u'ula (foundation) would face South, and
become its bows, and the platform would be to our right,
facing West. The mast would be attached again to the fourth
cross-pole (ri'u), from the u'ula end, the sail hoisted, and the
canoe would glide along with the wind striking it again on its
outrigger side, but having changed bows to stern (see Plate XLI).

The natives have a set of nautical expressions to describe
the various operations of changing mast, of trimming the sail,
of paying out the sheet rope, of shifting the sail, so that it stands
up with its bottom end high, and its tip touching the canoe, or
else letting it lie with both boom and gaff almost horizontal.
And they have definite rules as to how the various manoeuvres
should be carried out, according to the strength of the wind,
and to the quarter on which it strikes the canoe. They have
four expressions denoting a following wind, wind striking
the outrigger beam, wind striking the canoe from the katala
(built-out body), and wind striking the canoe on the



SAILING ON PILOLU 227

outrigger side close to the direction of sailing. There is no point,
however, in adducing this native terminology here, as we shall
not any further refer to it ; it is enough to know that they have
got definite rules, and means of expressing them, with regard
to the handling of a canoe.

It has been often remarked here, that the Trobriand canoes
cannot sail close to the wind. They are very light, and
shallow, and have very little water board, giving a small resist-
ance against making lee-way. I think that this is also the
reason, why they need two men to do the steering for the
steering oars act as lee-boards. One of the men wields a big,
elongated steering oar, called kuriga. He sits at the stern, of
course, in the body of the canoe. The other man handles a
smaller steering paddle, leaf-shaped, yet with a bigger blade
than the paddling oars ; it is called viyoyu. He sits at the
stern end of the platform, and does the steering through the
sticks of the pitapatile (platform).

The other working members of the crew are the man at the
sheet, the tokwabila veva, as he is called, who has to let out the
veva or pull it in, according as the wind shifts and varies in
strength.

Another man, as a rule, stands in the bows of the ship on
the look-out, and if necessary, has to climb the mast in order
to trim the rigging. Or again, he would have to bale the
water from time to time, as this always leaks through, or
splashes into the canoe. Thus four men are enough to man a
canoe, though usually the functions of the baler and the man
on the look-out and at the mast are divided.

When the wind drops, the men have to take to the small,
leaf-shaped paddles, while one, as a rule, wields a pulling oar.
But in order to give speed to a heavy masawa canoe, at least ten
men would have to paddle and pull. As we shall see, on
certain ceremonial occasions, the canoes have to be propelled
by paddling, for instance when they approach their final destina-
tion, after having performed the great mwasila magic. When
they arrive at a halting place, the canoes, if necessary, are
beached. As a rule, however, the heavily loaded canoes on a
Kula expedition, would be secured by both mooring and
anchoring, according to the bottom. On muddy bottoms, such
as that of the Trobriand Lagoon, a long stick would be thrust
into the slime, and one end of the canoe lashed to it. From the



228 SAILING ON PILOLU

other, a heavy stone, tied with a rope, would be thrown down
as an anchor. Over a hard, rocky bottom, the anchor stone
alone is used.

It can be easily understood that with such craft, and
with such limitations in sailing, there are many real dangers
which threaten the natives. If the wind is too strong, and the
sea becomes too rough, a canoe may not be able to* follow
its course, and making lee-way, or even directly running befor^
the wind, it may be driven into a quarter where there is no
landfall to be made, or from where at best there is no returning
at that season. This is what happened to the Dobuan boat men-
tioned before. Or else, a canoe becalmed and seized by the tide
may not be able to make its way by means of paddling. Or in
stormy weather, it may be smashed on rocks and sandbanks,
or even unable to withstand the impact of waves. An open
craft like a native canoe easily fills with sea water, and,
in a heavy rain-storm, with rain water. In a calm sea this is not
very dangerous, for the wooden canoe does not sink ; even if
swamped, the water can be baled out and the canoe floats up.
But in rough weather, a water-logged canoe loses its buoyancy
and gets broken up. Last and not least, there is the danger of
the canoe being pressed into the water, outrigger first, should
the wind strike it on the opposite side. With so many real
dangers around it, it is a marvellous thing, and to the credit of
native seamanship, that accidents are comparatively rare.

We now know about the crew of the canoe and the different
functions which every man has to fulfil. Remembering what
has been said in Chapter IV, Division V, about the sociological
division of functions in sailing, we can visualise concretely the
craft with all its inmates, as it sails on the Pilolu ; the toliwaga
usually sits near the mast in the compartment called kayguya'u.
With him perhaps is one of his sons or young relatives, while
another boy remains in the bows, near the conch-shell ready to
sound it, whenever the occasion arises. Thus are employed
the toliwaga and the dodo'u (small boys). The usagelu or
members of the crew, some four or five strong, are each at his
post, with perhaps one supernumerary to assist at any emer-
gency, where the task would require it. On the platform are
lounging some of the silasila, the youths not yet employed in
any work, and not participating in the Kula, but there for their
pleasure, and to learn how to manage a boat (see Plate XL).



SAILING ON PILOLU 229

III

All these people have not only special posts and modes of
occupation assigned to them, but they have also to keep certain
rules. The canoe on a Kula expedition, is surrounded by
taboos, and many observances have to be strictly kept, else
this or that might go wrong. Thus it is not allowed to ' point
to objects with the hand ' (yosala yamada), or those who do it
will become sick. A new canoe has many prohibitions can-
nected with it, which are called bomala wayugo (the taboos of
the lashing creeper). Eating and drinking are not allowed in a
new canoe except after sunset. The breaking of this taboo
would make the canoe very slow. On a very quick waga this
rule might perhaps be disregarded, especially if one of the
young boys were hungry or thirsty. The toliwaga would then
bale in some sea-water, pour it over one of the lashings of the
creeper with the words :

"I sprinkle thy eye, kudayuri creeper, so that our
crew might eat."

After that, he would give the boy something to eat and drink.
Besides this eating and drinking taboo, on a new waga the
other physiological needs must not be satisfied. In case of
urgent necessity, a man jumps into the water, holding to one
of the cross sticks of the outrigger, or if it were a small boy, he
is lowered into the water by one of the elders. This taboo, if
broken, would also make the canoe slow. These two taboos,
however, as was said, are kept only on a new waga, that is on
such a one which either sails for the first time, or else has been
relashed and repainted before this trip. The taboos are in all
cases not operative on the return journey. Women are not
allowed to enter a new waga before it sails. Certain types of
yams may not be carried on a canoe, which has been lashed
with the rites of one of the wayugo magical systems. There
are several systems of this magic (compare Chapter XVII,
Division VII) and each has got its specific taboos. These
last taboos are to be kept right through the sailing. On account
of a magic to be described in the next chapter, the magic of
safety as it might be called, a canoe has to be kept free from
contact with earth, sand and stones. Hence the natives of
Sinaketa do not beach their canoes if they can possibly
avoid it.



230 SAILING ON PILOLU

Among the specific taboos of the Kula, called bomala lilava
(taboos of the magical bundle) there is a strict rule referring to
the entering of a canoe. This must not be entered from any
other point but on the vitovaria, that is, the front side of the
platform, facing the mast. A native has to scale the platform
at this place, then, crouching low, pass to the back or front,
and there descend into the body of the canoe, or sit down* where
he is. The compartment facing the lilava (magical bundle) is
filled out with other trade goods. In front of it sits the chief,
behind it the man who handles the sheets. The natives have
special expressions which denote the various manners of illicitly
entering a canoe, and, in some of the canoe exorcisms, these
expressions are used to undo the evil effects of the breaking of
these taboos. Other prohibitions, which the natives call the
taboo of the mwasila, though not associated with the lilava,
are those which do not allow of using flower wreaths, red
ornaments, or red flowers in decorating the canoe or the bodies
of the crew. The red colour of such ornaments is, according to
native belief, magically incompatible with the aim of the
expedition the acquisition of the red spondylus necklaces.
Also, yams may not be roasted on the outward journey, while
later on, in Dobu, no local food may be eaten, and the natives
have to subsist on their own provisions, until the first Kula gifts
have been received.

There are, besides, definite rules, referring to the behaviour
of one canoe towards another, but these vary considerably with
the different villages. In Sinaketa, such rules are very few ;
no fixed sequence is observed in the sailing order of the canoes,
anyone of them can start first, and if one of them is swifter it
may pass any of the others, even that of a chief. This, however,
has to be done so that the slower canoe is not passed on the
outrigger side. Should this happen, the transgressing canoe
has to give the other one a peace offering (lula), because it has
broken a bomala lilava, it has offended the magical bundle.

There is one interesting point with regard to priorities in
Sinaketa, and to describe this we must hark back to the
subject of canoe-building and launching. One of the sub-clans
of the Lukwasisiga clan, the Tolabwaga sub-clan, have the
right of priority in all the successive operations of piecing
together, lashing, caulking, and painting of their canoes. All
these stages of building, and all the magic must first be done on



SAILING ON PILOLU 231

the Tolabwaga canoe, and this canoe is also the first to be
launched. Only afterwards, the chief's and the commoners'
canoes may follow. A correct observance of this rule ' keeps
the sea clean ' (imilakatile bwarita). If it were broken, and the
chiefs had their canoes built or launched before the Tolabwaga,
the Kula would not be successful.

" We go to Dobu, no pig, no soulava necklace is given.
We would tell the chiefs : ' Why have you first made your
canoes ? The ancestor spirits have turned against us,
for we have broken the old custom ! ' "

Once at sea, however, the chiefs are first again, in theory at
least, for in practice the swiftest canoe may sail first.

In the sailing custom of Vakuta, the other South Boyowan
community, who make the Kula with the Dobu, a sub-clan of
the Lukwasisiga clan, called Tolawaga, have the privilege of
priority in all the canoe-building operations. While at sea,
they also retain one prerogative, denied to all the others : the
man who steers with the smaller oar, the tokabina viyoyu, is
allowed permanently to stand up on the platform. As the
natives put it,

" This is the sign of the Tolawaga (sub-clan) of Vakuta :
wherever we see a man standing up at the viyoyu, we say :
' there sails the canoe of the Tolawaga !

The greatest privileges, however, granted to a sub-clan in
sailing are those which are to be found in Kavataria. This
fishing and sailing community from the North shore of the
Lagoon makes distant and dangerous sailings to the North-
Western end of Fergusson Island. These expeditions for sago,
betel-nut, and pigs will be described in Chapter XXI. Their
sea customs, however, have to be mentioned here.

The Kulutula sub-clan of the Lukwasisiga clan enjoy all the
same privileges of priority in building, as the Tolabwaga and
Tolawaga clans in the southern villages, only in a still higher
degree. For their canoe has to pass each stage of con-
struction on the first day, and only the day after can the others
follow. This refers even to launching, the Kulutula canoe being
launched one day, and on the next those of the chiefs and
commoners. When the moment of starting arrives, the
Kulutula canoe leaves the beach first, and during the sailing no
one is allowed to pass ahead of it. When they arrive at the



232 SAILING ON PILOLU

sandbanks or at an intermediate place in the Amphletts, the
Kulutula have to anchor first, and first go ashore and make
their camp ready. Only after that can the others follow.
This priority expires at the final point of destination. When
they arrive at the furthest Koya the Kulutula go ashore first,
and they are the first to be presented with the welcoming gift
of the ' foreigner ' (tokinana). He receives them with a-bunch
of betel-nut, which he beats against the head of the canoe,
till the nuts scatter. On the return journey, the Kulutula clan
sink again into their naturally inferior position.

It may be noted that all the three privileged sub-clans in
the three villages belong to the Lukwasisiga clan, and that
the names of two of them, Tolawaga, Tolabwaga have a striking
resemblance to the word toliwaga, although these resemblances
would have to be tested by some stricter methods of etymo-
logical comparison, than I have now at my disposal. The fact
that these clans, under special circumstances of sailing, resume
what may be a lost superiority points to an interesting historical
survival, The name Kulutula is undoubtedly identical with
Kulutalu, which is an independent totemic clan in the Eastern
Marshall Bennetts and in Woodlark.*



IV

Let us return now to our Sinaketan fleet, moving southwards
along the barrier reef and sighting one small island after the
other. If they did not start very early from Muwa and delay
is one of the characteristics of native life and if they were not
favoured with a very good wind, they would probably have
to put in at one of the small sand islands, Legumatabu,
Gabuwana or Yakum. Here, on the western side, sheltered
from the prevalent trade winds, there is a diminutive lagoon,
bounded by two natural breakwaters of coral reef running from
the Northern and Southern ends of the island. Fires are lit on
the clean, white sand, under the scraggy pandanus trees, and
the natives boil their yam food and the eggs of the wild sea fowl,
collected on the spot. When darkness closes in and the fires
draw them all into a circle, the Kula talk begins again.

* At a later date, I hope to work out certain historical hypotheses
with
regard to migrations and cultural strata in Eastern New Guinea. A
consider-
able number of independent indices seem to corroborate certain simple
hypotheses as to the stratification of the various cultural elements.



SAILING ON PILOLU 233

Let us listen to some such conversations, and try to steep
ourselves in the atmosphere surrounding this handful of natives,
cast for a while on to the narrow sandbank, far away from their
homes, having to trust only to their frail canoes on the long
journey which faces them. Darkness, the roar of surf breaking
on the reef, the dry rattle of the pandanus leaves in the wind,
all produce a frame of mind in which it is easy to believe in the
dangers of witches and all the beings usually hidden away, but
ready to creep out at some special moment of horror. The
change of tone is unmistakable, when you get the natives to
talk about these things on such an occasion, from the calm,
often rationalistic way of treating them in broad daylight in an
Ethnographer's tent. Some of the most striking revelations
I have received of this side of native belief and psychology
were made to me on similar occasions. Sitting on a lonely
beach in Sanaroa, surrounded by a crew of Trobrianders,
Dobuans, and a few local natives, I first heard the story of the
jumping stones. On a previous night, trying to anchor oft
Gumasila in the Amphletts, we had been caught by a violent
squall, which tore one of our sails, and forced us to run before
the wind, on a dark night, in the pouring rain Except for my-
self, all the members of the crew saw clearly the flying witches
in the form of a flame at the mast head. Whether this was St.
Elmo's fire I could not judge, as I was in the cabin, seasick and
indifferent to dangers, witches, and even ethnographic revela-
tions. Inspired by this incident, my crew told me how this is, as
a rule, a sign of disaster, how such a light appeared a few years
ago in a boat, which was sunk almost on the same spot where the
squall had caught us ; but fortunately all were saved. Starting
from this, all sorts of dangers were spoken about, in a
tone of deep conviction, rendered perfectly sincere by
the experiences of the previous night, the surrounding
darkness, and the difficulties of the situation for we had
to repair our sail and again attempt the difficult landing in
the Amphletts.

I have always found that whenever natives are found under
similar circumstances, surrounded by the darkness and the
imminent possibility of danger, they naturally drift into a con-
versation about the various things and beings into which the
fears and apprehensions of generations have traditionally
crystallised.



234 SAILING ON PILOLU

Thus if we imagine that we listen to an account of the perils
and horrors of the seas, sitting round the fire at Yakum or
Legumatabu, we do not stray from reality. One of those who
are specially versed in tradition, and who love to tell a story,
might refer to one of his own experiences ; or to a well-known
case from the past, while others would chime in, and comment,
telling their own stories. General statements of beliel would
be given, while the younger men would listen to the tales so
familiar, but always heard with renewed interest.

They would hear about an enormous octopus (kwita) which
lies in wait for canoes, sailing over the open seas. It is not an
ordinary kwita of exceptional size, but a special one, so gigantic
that it would cover a whole village with its body ; its arms are
thick as coco-nut palms, stretching right across the sea. With
typical exaggeration, the natives will say : ' ikanubwadi
Pilolu,' . . . ' he covers up all the Pilolu ' (the sea-arm
between the Trobriands and the Amphletts). Its proper home
is in the East, ' o Muyuwa,' as the natives describe that region
of sea and islands, where also it is believed some magic is known
against the dreadful creature. Only seldom does it come to the
waters between the Trobriands and Amphletts, but there are
people who have seen it there. One of the old men of Sinaketa
tells how, coming from Dobu, when he was quite young, he
sailed in a canoe ahead of the fleet, some canoes being to the
right and some to the left behind him. Suddenly from his
canoe, they saw the giant kwita right in front of them.
Paralysed with fear, they fell silent, and the man himself,
getting up on the platform, by signs warned the other canoes of
the danger. At once they turned round, and the fleet divided
into two, took big bends in their course, and thus gave the
octopus a wide berth. For woe to the canoe caught by the
giant kwita ! It would be held fast, unable to move for days,
till the crew, dying of hunger and thirst, would decide to
sacrifice one of the small boys of their number. Adorned with
valuables, he would be thrown overboard, and then the kwita,
satisfied, would let go its hold of the canoe, and set it free.
Once a native, asked why a grown-up would not be sacrificed
on such an occasion, gave me the answer :

" A grown-up man would not like it ; a boy has got no
mind. We take him by force and throw him to the
kwita."



SAILING ON PILOLU 235

Another danger threatening a canoe on the high seas, is a
big, special Rain, or Water falling from above, called
Sinamatanoginogi. When in rain and bad weather a canoe, in
spite of all the efforts to bale it out, fills with water, Sina-
matanoginogi strikes it from above and breaks it up. Whether
at the basis of this are the accidents with waterspouts, or cloud-
bursts or simply extremely big waves breaking up the canoe,
it is difficult to judge. On the whole, this belief is more easily
accounted for than the previous one.

The most remarkable of these beliefs is that there are big,
live stones, which lie in wait for sailing canoes, run after them,
jump up and smash them to pieces. Whenever the natives
have reasons to be afraid of them, all the members of the crew
will keep silence, as laughter and loud talk attracts them.
Sometimes they can be seen, at a distance, jumping out of the
sea or moving on the water. In fact I have had them pointed
to me, sailing off Koyatabu, and although I could see nothing,
the natives, obviously, genuinely believed they saw them. Of
one thing I am certain, however, that there was no reef awash
there for miles around. The natives also know quite well that
they are different from any reefs or shallows, for the live stones
move, and when they perceive a canoe will pursue it, break it
up on purpose and smash the men. Nor would these expert
fishermen ever confuse a jumping fish with anything else,
though in speaking of the stones they may compare them to
a leaping dolphin or stingaree.

There are two names given to such stones. One of them,
nuwakekepaki , applies to the stones met in the Dobuan seas.
The other, vineylida, to those who live ' o Muyuwa/ Thus, in
the open seas, the two spheres of culture meet, for the stones not
only differ in name but also in nature. The nuwakekepaki are
probably nothing but malevolent stones. The vineyhda are
inhabited by witches, or according to others, by evil male
beings.* Sometimes a vineylida will spring to the surface,
and hold fast the canoe, very much in the same manner as the
giant octopus would do, And here again offerings would have
to be given. A folded mat would first be thrown, in an attempt
to deceive it ; if this were of no avail, a little boy would be
anointed with coco-nut oil, adorned with arm-shells and bagt
necklaces, and thrown over to the evil stones.

The word vineylida suggests the former belief, as vine
fetnale,/t<tfa-coraJ stono.



236 SAILING ON PILOLU

It is difficult to realise what natural phenomena or actual
occurrences might be at the bottom of this belief, and the
one of the giant octopus. We shall presently meet with a
cycle of beliefs presenting the same striking features. We
shall find a story told about human behaviour mixed up with
supernatural elements, laying down the rules of what would
happen, and how human beings would behave, in the" same
matter of fact way, as if ordinary events of tribal life were
described. I shall have to comment on the psychology of these
beliefs in the next chapter, where also the story is told. Of
all the dangerous and frightful beings met with on a sailing
expedition, the most unpleasant, the best known and most
dreaded are the flying witches, the yoyova or mulukwausi.
The former name means a woman endowed with such powers,
whereas mulukwausi describes the second self of the woman,
as it flies disembodied through the air. Thus, for instance,
they would say that such and such a woman in Wawela is a
yoyova. But sailing at night, one would have to be on the look
out for mulukwausi, among whom might possibly be the double
of that woman in Wawela. Very often, especially at moments
when the speaker would be under the influence of fear of these
beings, the deprecating euphemism ' vivila ' (women) would
be used. And probably our Boyowan mariners would speak
of them thus in their talk round the campfire, for fear of
attracting them by sounding their real name. Dangerous
as they always are, at sea they become infinitely more dreaded,
For the belief is deep that in case of shipwreck or mishap at
sea, no real evil can befall the crows except by the agency of the
dreaded women.

As through their connection with shipwreck, they enter
inevitably into our narrative, it will be better to leave our
Kula expedition on the beach of Yakum in the midst of Pilolu,
and to turn in the next chapter to Kiriwinian ethnography and
give there an account of the natives 1 belief in the flying
witches and their legend of shipwreck,



CHAPTER X
THE STORY OF SHIPWRECK

I

IN this chapter an account will be given of the ideas and
beliefs associated with shipwreck, and of the various pre-
cautions which the natives take to insure their own safety.
We shall find here a strange mixture of definite, matter of fact
information, and of fantastic superstitions. Taking a critical,
ethnographic side view, it may be said directly that the fanciful
elements are intertwined with the realities in such a manner,
that it is difficult to make a distinction between what is mere
mytho-poetic fiction and what is a customary rule of behaviour,
drawn from actual experience. The best way of presenting
this material will be to give a consecutive account of a ship-
wreck, as it is told in Kiriwinian villages by the travelled old
men to the younger generation. I shall adduce in it the
several magical formulae, the rules of behaviour, the part played
by the miraculous fish, and the complex ritual of the saved
party as they flee from the pursuing mulukwausi.

These the flying witches will play such an important
part in the account, that I must begin with a detailed descrip-
tion of the various beliefs referring to them, though the subject
has been touched upon once or twice before (Chapter II,
Division VII, and other places). The sea and sailing upon it
are intimately associated in the mind of a Boyowan with these
women. They had to be mentioned in the description of canoe
magic, and we shall see what an important part they play in
the legends of canoe building. In his sailing, whether he goes
to Kitava or further East, or whether he travels South to the
Amphletts and Dobu, they form one of the main preoccupations
of a Boyowan sailor. For they are not only dangerous to him,
but to a certain extent, foreign. Boyowa, with the exception
of Wawela and one or two other villages on the Eastern coast,

as?



238 SHIPWRECK

and in the South of the island, is an ethnographic district,
where the flying witches do not exist, although they visit it
from time to time. Whereas all the surrounding tribes are full
of women who practice this form of sorcery. Thus sailing South,
the Boyowan is travelling straight into the heart of their domain.

These women have the power of making themselves invisible,
and flying at night through the air. The orthodox belief is
that a woman who is a yoyova can send forth a double which is
invisible at will, but may appear in the form of a flying fox or of a
night bird or a firefly. There is also a belief that a yoyova develops
within her a something, shaped like an egg, or like a young,
unripe coco-nut. This something is called as a matter of fact
kapuwana, which is the word for a small coco-nut.* This idea
remains in the native's mind in a vague, indefinite, undifferen-
tiated form, and any attempt to elicit a more detailed definition
by asking him such questions, as to whether the kapuwana is a
material object or not, would be to smuggle our own categories
into his belief, where they do not exist. The kapuwana is any-
how believed to be the something which in the nightly flights
leaves the body of the yoyova and assumes the various forms
in which the mulukwausi appears. Another variant of the
belief about the yoyova is, that those who know their magic
especially well, can fly themselves, bodily transporting them-
selves through the air.

But it can never be sufficiently emphasised that all these
beliefs cannot be treated as consistent pieces of knowledge ;
they flow into one another, and even the same native probably
holds several views rationally inconsistent with one another.
Even their terminology (compare the last Division of the fore-
going chapter), cannot be taken as implying a strict distinction
or definition. Thus, the word yoyova is applied to the woman
as we meet her in the village, and the word mulukwausi will be
used when we see something suspicious flying through the air.
But it would be incorrect to systematise this use into a sort of
doctrine and to say : "An individual woman is conceived as
consisting of an actual living personality called yoyova, and of

* Professor Sehgman has described the belief in similar beings on the
North-East Coast of New Guinea. At Gelaria, inland of Bartle Bay, the
flying
witches can produce a double, or " sending," which they call labum. *'
Labum
exists within women, and can be commanded by any woman who has had
children, ... It was said that the labum existed in, or was denved
from,
an organ called ipona, situated in the flank, and literally meaning egg
or eggs "
op. cU. t p. 640. The equivalence of beliefs here is evident.



SHIPWRECK 239

an immaterial, spiritual principle called mulukwausi, which in
its potential form is the kapuwana." In doing this we would
do much what the Mediaeval Scholastics did to the living faith
of the early ages. The native feels and fears his belief rather
than formulates it clearly to himself. He uses terms and
expressions, and thus, as used by him, we must collect them
as documents of belief, but abstain from working them out into
a consistent theory ; for this represents neither the native's
mind nor any other form of reality.

As we remember from Chapter II, the flying witches are a
nefarious agency, second in importance to the bwaga'u (male
sorcerer), but in efficiency far more deadly even than he himself.
In contrast to the bwaga'u, who is simply a man in possession of
a special form of magic, the yoyova have to be gradually initiated
into their status. Only a small child, whose mother is a witch,
can become a witch herself. When a witch gives birth to a
female child, she medicates a piece of obsidian, and cuts off the
navel string. The navel string is then buried, with the recital
of a magical formula, in the house, and not, as is done in all
ordinary cases, in the garden. Soon after, the witch will carry
her daughter to the sea beach, utter a spell over some brine in a
coco-nut cup, and give the child to drink. After that, the
child is submerged in water and washed, a kind of witch's
baptism ! Then she brings back the baby into the house,
utters a spell over a mat, and folds her up in it. At night, she
carries the baby through the air, and goes to a trysting place of
other yoyova, where she presents her child ritually to them.
In contrast to the usual custom of young mothers of sleeping
over a small fire, a sorceress lies with her baby in the cold.
As the child grows up, the mother will take it into her arms and
carry it through the air on her nightly rounds. Entering
girlhood at the age when the first grass skirt is put on a
maiden, the little prospective witch will begin to fly herself.

Another system of training, running side by side with
flying, consists in accustoming the child to participation in
human flesh. Even before the growing witch will begin to fly
on her own account, the mother will take her to the ghoulish
repasts, where she and other witches sit over a corpse, eating
its eyes, tongue, lungs, and entrails. There the little girl
receives her first share of corpse flesh, and trains her taste to
like this diet.



240 SHIPWRECK

There are other forms of training ascribed to mothers
solicitous that their daughters should grow up into efficient
yoyova and mulukwausi. At night the mother will stand on
one side of the hut, with the child in her hands, and throw
the little one over the roof. Then quickly, with the speed
only possible to a yoyova, she will move round, and catch the
child on the other side. This happens before the child begins to
fly, and is meant to accustom it to passing rapidly through the
air. Or again, the child will be held by her feet, head down,
and remain in this position while the mother utters a spell.
Thus gradually, by all these means, the child acquires the
powers and tastes of a yoyova.

It is easy to pick out such girls from other children. They
will be recognisable by their crude tastes, and more especially
by their habit of eating raw flesh of pigs or uncooked fish.
And here we come to a point, where mythical superstition plays
over into something more real, for I have been assured by reli-
able informants, and those not only natives, that there are cases
of girls who will show a craving for raw meat, and when a pig is
being quartered in the village will drink its blood and tear up
its flesh. These statements I never could verify by direct
observations, and they may be only the result of very strong
belief projecting its own realities, as we see on every side in our
own society in miraculous cures, spiritistic phenomena, etc.,
etc. If, however, the eating of raw flesh by girl children really
occurs, this simply means that they play up to what they know
is said and believed about them. This again is a phenomenon
of social pyschology met with in many phases of Trobriand
society and in our own.

This does not mean that the character of & yoyova is publicly
donned. Indeed, though a man often owns up to the fact that
he is a bwaga'u, and treats his speciality quite openly in con-
versation, a woman will never directly confess to being a
yoyova, not even to her own husband. But she will certainly
be marked by everyone as such a one, and she will often play
up to the role, for it is always an advantage to be supposed to
be endowed with supernatural powers. And moreover, being a
sorceress is also a good source of income. A woman will often
receive presents with the understanding that such and such
a person has to be injured. She will openly take gifts,
avowedly in payment for healing someone who has been hurt by



SHIPWRECK 241

another witch. Thus the character of a yoyova is, in a way, a
public one and the most important and powerful witches will
be enumerated by name. But no woman will ever openly
speak about being one. Of course to have such a character
would in no way spoil matrimonial chances, or do anything but
enhance the social status of a woman.

So deep is the belief in the efficacy of magic, and in magic
being the only means of acquiring extraordinary faculties, that
all powers of a yoyova are attributed to magic. As we saw in
the training of a young yoyova, magic has to be spoken at every
stage in order to impart to her the character of a witch. A full
blown yoyova has to utter special magic each time she wishes to
be invisible, or when she wants to fly, or acquire higher speed,
or penetrate darkness and distance in order to find out whether
an accident is happening there. But like everything referring
to this form of witchcraft, these formulae never come to light.
Although I was able to acquire a whole body of spells of the
bwaga'u sorcery, I could not even lift the fringe of the impene-
trable veil, surrounding the magic of the yoyova. As a matter
of fact, there is not the slightest doubt for me that not one single
rite, not one single word of this magic, have ever existed.

Once a mulukwausi is fully trained in her craft, she will
often go at night to feed on corpses or to destroy shipwrecked
mariners, for these are her two main pursuits. By a special
sense, acquired through magic, she can ' hear,' as the natives
say, that a man has died at such and such a place, or that a
canoe is in danger. Even a young apprenticed yoyova will
have her hearing so sharpened that she will tell her mother :
" Mother, I hear, they cry ! " Which means that a man is
dead or dying at some place. Or she will say : " Mother, a
waga is sinking ! " And then they both will fly to the spot.

When she goes out on such an errand, the yoyova leaves her
body behind. Then she climbs a tree, and reciting some magic,
she ties a creeper to it. Then, she flies off, along this creeper,
which snaps behind her. This is the moment when we see the
fire flying through the sky. Whenever the natives see a falling
star, they know it is a mulukwausi on her flight. Another
version is that, when a mulukwausi recites a certain spell, a
tree which stands somewhere near her destination bends down
towards the other tree on which she is perched. She jumps from
one top to the other, and it is then that we see the fire. According



242 SHIPWRECK

to some versions, the mulukwausi, that is, the witch in her
flying state, moves about naked, leaving her skirt round the
body, which remains asleep in the hut. Other versions depict
her as tying her skirt tightly round her when flying, and beating
her buttocks with a magical pandanus streamer. These latter
versions are embodied in the magic quoted above in Chapter V.

Arrived at the place where lies the corpse, the mulukwausi,
with others who have also flown to the spot, perches on some
high object, the top of a tree or the gable of a hut. There
they all wait till they can feast on the corpse, and such is their
greed and appetite that they are also very dangerous to living
men. People who collect round the dead body to mourn and
wake over it often have a special spell against the mulukwausi
recited over them, by the one who knows it. They are careful
not to stray away from the others, and, during burial of the
dead and afterwards, they believe the air to be infested with
these dangerous witches, who spread the smell of carrion around
them.

The mulukwausi will eat out the eyes, the tongue, and
the ' insides ' (lopoula) of the corpse ; when they attack a
living man they may simply hit him or kick him, and then he
becomes more or less sick. But sometimes they get hold of an
individual and treat him like a corpse and eat some of his organs,
and then the man dies. It is possible to diagnose this, for such
a person would quickly fail, losing his speech, his vision,
sometimes suddenly being bereft of all power of movement.
It is a less dangerous method to the living man when the
mulukwausi instead of eating his ' insides ' on the spot, simply
remove them. They hide them in a place only known to them-
selves, in order to have provision for a future feast. In that
case there is some hope for the victim. Another yoyova,
summoned quickly by the relations of the dying and well paid
by them, will, in the form of a mulukwausi, go forth, search for
.the missing organs, and, if she is fortunate enough to find and
restore them, save the life of the victim.

Kenoriya, the favourite daughter of To'ulawa, the chief of
Omarakana, while on a visit to another village, was deprived of
her internal organs by the mulukwausi. When brought home,
she could neither move nor speak, and lay down as if dead. Her
mother and other relatives already began their mortuary wailing
over her, the chief himself broke out into loud lamentations.



SHIPWRECK 243

But nevertheless, as a forlorn hope, they sent for a woman
from Wawela, a well-known, yoyova, who after receiving
valuables and food, flew out as a mulukwausi, and the very next
night found Kenoriya's insides somewhere in the raybwag,
near the beach of Kaulukuba, and restored her to health.

Another authentic story is that of the daughter of a Greek
trader and a Kiriwinian woman from Oburaku. This story
was told me by the lady herself, in perfectly correct English,
learnt in one of the white settlements of New Guinea, where she
had been brought up in the house of a leading missionary.
But the story was not spoilt by any scepticism ; it was told
with perfect simplicity and conviction.

When she was a little girl, a woman called Sewawela, from
the Island of Kitava, but married to a man of Wawela, came to
her parents' house and wanted to sell a mat. They did not buy
it, and gave her only a little food, which, as she was a renowned
yoyova and accustomed therefore to deferential treatment,
made her angry. When night came, the little one was playing
on the beach in front of the house, when the parents saw a big
firefly hovering about the child. The insect then flew round
the parents and went into the room. Seeing that there was
something strange about the firefly, they called the girl and put
her to bed at once. But she fell ill immediately, could not sleep
all night, and the parents, with many native attendants, had to
keep watch over her. Next morning, added the Kiriwinian
mother, who was listening to her daughter telling me the tale,
the girl " boge ikarige ; kukula wala ipipisi," " she was dead
already, but her heart was still beating." All the women
present broke out into the ceremonial lamentations. The
father of .the girl's mother, however, went to Wawela, and got
hold of another yoyova, called Bomrimwari. She took some
herbs and smeared her own body all over. Then she went out
in the form of a mulukwausi in search of the girl's lopoulo
(inside). She searched about and found it in the hut of
Sewawela, where it lay on the shelf on which are kept the big
clay-pots, in which the mona (taro pudding), is cooked cere-
monially. There it lay " red as calico." Sewawela had left
it there, while she went into the garden with her husband,
meaning to eat it on her return. Had this happened, the girl
could not have been saved. As soon as Bomrimwari found it,
she made some magic over it then and there. Then she came



244 SHIPWRECK

back to the trader's compound, made some more magic over
ginger-root, and water, and caused the lopoulo to return to its
place. After that, the little girl soon got better. A substantial
payment was given by the parents to the yoyova for saving their
child.

Living in Oburaku, a village on the Southern half of Boyowa,
I was on the boundary between the district where the yoyova do
not exist, and the other one, to the East, where they are
plentiful. On the other side of the Island, which is very narrow
at this part, is the village of Wawela, where almost every
woman is reputed to be a witch, and some are quite notorious.
Going over the raybwag at night, the natives of Oburaku would
point out certain fireflies which would suddenly disappear, not
to relight again. These were the mulukwausi. Again, at
night, swarms of flying foxes used to flap over the tall trees,
making for the big, swampy Island of Boymapo'u which closes
in the Lagoon opposite the village. These too were muluk-
wausi, travelling from the East, their real home. They also
used to perch on the tops of the trees growing on the water's
edge, and this was therefore an especially dangerous spot after
sunset. I was often warned not to sit there on the platforms
of the beached canoes, as I liked to do, watching the play of
colours on the smooth, muddy waters, and on the bright
mangroves. When I fell ill soon after, everybody decided that
I had been ' kicked ' by the mulukwausi, and some magic was
performed over rne by my friend Molilakwa, the same who gave
me some formulae of kayga'u, the magic spoken at sea against
witches. In this case his efforts were entirely successful, and
my quick recovery was attributed by the natives solely to the
spells.

II

What interests us most about mulukwausi, is their associa-
tion with the sea and shipwreck. Very often they will roam
over the sea, and meet at a trysting place on a reef. There
they will partake of a special kind of coral, broken off from a
reef, a kind called by the natives nada. This whets their appe-
tite for human flesh, exactly as the drinking of salt water does
with the bwaga'u. They have also some indirect power over
the elements in the sea. Although the natives do not quite
agree on the point, there is no doubt that a definite connection



SHIPWRECK 245

exists between the mulukwausi and all the other dangers which
may be met in the sea, such as sharks, the ' gaping depth '
(ikapwagega wiwitu), many of the small sea animals, crabs,
some of the shells and the other things to be mentioned
presently, all of which are considered to be the cause of death
of drowning men. Thus the belief is quite definite that, in
being cast into the water by the shipwreck, men do not meet
any real danger except by being eaten by the mulukwausi,
the sharks, and the other animals. If by the proper magic
these influences can be obviated, the drowning men will escape
unscathed. The belief in the omnipotence of man, or rather,
woman in this case, and of the equal power in antidoting by
magic, governs all the ideas of these natives about shipwreck.
The supreme remedy and insurance against any dangers lies
in the magic of mist, called kayga'u, which, side by side with
Kula magic, and the magic of the canoes, is the third of the
indispensable magical equipments of a sailor.

A man who knows well the kayga'u is considered to be able
to travel safely through the most dangerous seas. A renowned
chief, Maniyuwa, who was reputed as one of the greatest masters
in kayga'u as well as in other magic, died in Dobu on an expe-
dition about two generations ago. His son, Maradiana, had
learnt his father's kayga'u. Although the mulukwausi are
extremely dangerous in the presence of a corpse, and though
the natives would never dream of putting a dead body on a
canoe, and thus multiplying the probabilities of an attack by
the witches, still, Maradiana, trusting to his kayga'u, brought
the corpse back to Boyowa without mishap. This act, a testi-
mony to the daring sailor's great prowess, and to the efficiency
of the kayga'u magic, is kept alive in the memory and tradition
of the natives. One of my informants, boasting of his kayga'u,
told me how once, on a return from Dobu, he performed his
rites. Such a mist arose as a consequence of it that the rest of
the canoes lost their way, and arrived in the island of Kayleula.
Indeed, if we can speak of a belief being alive, that is, of having
a strong hold over human imagination, the belief in the danger
from mulukwausi at sea is emphatically such a one. In times
of mental stress, in times of the slightest danger at sea, or when
a dying or dead person is near, the natives at once respond
emotionally in terms of this belief. No one could live among
these natives, speaking their language, and following their



246 SHIPWRECK

tribal life, without constantly coming up against the belief in
mulukwausi, and in the efficiency of the kayga'u.

As in all other magic, also here, there are various systems of
kayga'u, that is, there are various formulae, slightly differing
in their expressions, though usually similar in their fundamental
wordings and in certain ' key ' expressions. In each ystem,
there are two main types of spells, the giyotanawa, or the kayga'u
of the Underneath, and the giyorokaywa, or the kayga'u of the
Above. The first one usually consists of a short formula or
formulae spoken over some stones and some lime in a lime pot
and over some ginger root. This giyotanawa, as its name
indicates, is magic directed against the evil agencies, awaiting
the drowning men from below. Its spells close up ' the gaping
depth ' and they screen off the shipwrecked men from the eyes
of the sharks. They also protect them from the other evil
things, which cause the death of a man in drowning. The
several little sea worms found on the beach, the crabs, the
poisonous fish, soka, and the spiky fish, baiba'i, as well as the
jumping stones, whether vineylida or nu'akekepaki, are all
warded off and blinded by the giyotanawa. Perhaps the most
extraordinary belief in this connection is that the tokwalu, the
carved human figures on the prow boards, the guwaya, the semi-
human effigy on the mast top, as well as the canoe ribs would
' eat ' the drowning men if not magically ' treated.'

The kayga'u of the ' Above/ the giyorokaywa, consists of
long spells, recited over some ginger root, on several occasions
before sailing, and during bad weather or shipwreck. They are
directed exclusively against the mulukwausi, and form therefore
the more important class of the two. These spells must never
be recited at night, as then the mulukwausi could see and hear
the man, and make his magic inefficient. Again, the spell of
the Above, when recited at sea, must be spoken so that the
magician is not covered with spray, for if his mouth were wet
with sea water, the smell would attract rather than disperse,
the flying witches. The man who knows the kayga'u must also
be very careful at meal times. Children may not speak, play
about, or make any noise while he eats, nor should anyone go
round him behind his back while he is thus engaged ; nor
may they point out anything with the finger. Should the
man be thus disturbed during his food, he would have to stop
eating at once, and not resume it till the next meal time.



SHIPWRECK 247

Now the leading idea of kayga'u is that it produces some
sort of mist. The mulukwausi who follow the canoe, the sharks
and live stones which lie in wait for it, the depth with all its
horror, and the debris of the canoe ready to harm the owner,
all these are blinded by the mist that arises in obedience to these
spells. Thus the paralysing effect of these two main forms of
magic and the specialised sphere of influence of each of them,
are definite and clear dogmas of native belief.

But here again we must not try to press the interpretation
of these dogmas too far. Some sort of mist covers the eyes of
all the evil agencies or blinds them ; it makes the natives
invisible from them. But to ask whether the kayga'u produces
a real mist, visible also to man, or only a supernatural one,
visible only to the mulukwausi ; or whether it simply blinds
their eyes so that they see nothing, would be asking too much.
The same native who will boast of having produced a real mist,
so great that it led astray his companions, will next day perform
the kayga'u in the village during a burial, and affirm that the
mulukwausi are in a mist, though obviously a perfectly clear
atmosphere surrounds the whole proceedings. The natives
will tell how, sailing on a windy but clear day, after a kayga'u
has been recited into the eye of the wind, they hear the shrieks
of the mulukwausi, who, losing their companions and the scent
of the trail, hail one another in the dark. Again, some expres-
sions seem to represent the view that it is mainly an action on
the eyes of the witches. ' Idudubila matala mulukwausi,'
' It darkens the eyes of the mulukwausi/ or ' Iguyugwayu '
' It blinds,' the natives will say. And when asked :

" What do the mulukwausi see, then ? " they will
answer : " They will see mist only. They do not see
the places, they do not see the men, only mist/'

Thus here, as in all cases of belief, there is a certain latitude,
within which the opinions and views may vary, and only the
broad outline, which surrounds them, is definitely fixed by
tradition, embodied in ritual, and expressed by the phraseology
of magical formulae or by the statements of a myth.

I have thus defined the manner in which the natives face
the dangers of the sea ; we have found, that the fundamental
conceptions underlying this attitude are, that in shipwreck,
men are entirely in the hands of the witches, and that from



248 SHIPWRECK

this, only their own magical defence can save them. This
defence consists in the rites and formulae of the kayga'u, of
which we have also learnt the leading principles. Now, a
consecutive description must be given of how this magic is
performed when a toliwaga sets out on an expedition. And
following up this expedition, it must be told how the natives
imagine a shipwreck, and what they believe the behaviour of
the shipwrecked party would be.

Ill

I shall give this narrative in a consecutive manner, as it was
told to me by some of the most experienced and renowned
Trobriand sailors in Sinaketa, Oburaku, and Omarakana. We
can imagine that exactly such a narrative would be told by a
veteran toliwaga to his usagelu on the beach of Yakum, as our
Kula party sit round the camp fires at night. One of the old
men, well-known for the excellence of his kayga'u, and boastful
of it, would tell his story, entering minutely into all the details,
however often the others might have heard about them before,
or even assisted at the performance of his magic. He would
then proceed to describe, with extreme realism, and dwelling
graphically on every point, the story of a shipwreck, very
much as if he had gone through one himself. As a matter of
fact, no one alive at present has had any personal experience
of such a catastrophe, though many have lived through fre-
quent narrow escapes in stormy weather. Based on this, and
on what they have heard themselves of the tradition of ship-
wrecks, natives will tell the story with characteristic vividness.
Thus, the account given below is not only a summary of native
belief, it is an ethnographic document in itself, representing
the manner in which such type of narrative would be told
over camp fires, the same subject being over and over again
repeated by the same man, and listened to by the same
audience, exactly as we, when children, or the peasants of
Eastern Europe, will hearken to familiar fairy tales and
Marchen The only deviation here from what would actually
take place in such a story-telling, is the insertion of magical
formulae into the narrative. The speaker might indeed repeat
his magic, were he speaking in broad daylight, in his village, to a
group of close kinsmen and friends. But being on a small
island in the middle of the ocean, and at night, the recital of



SHIPWRECK 249

spells would be a taboo of the kayga'u ; nor would a man ever
recite his magic before a numerous audience, except on certain
occasions at mortuary vigils, where people are expected to chant
their magic aloud before hundreds of listeners.

Returning then again to our group of sailors, who sit under
the stunted pandanus trees of Yakum, let us listen to one of the
companions of the daring Maradiana, now dead, to one of the
descendants of the great Maniyuwa. He will tell us how, early
in the morning, on the day of departure from Sinaketa, or
sometimes on the next morning, when they leave Muwa, he
performs the first rite of kayga'u. Wrapping up a piece of
leyya (wild ginger root) in a bit of dried banana leaf, he chants
over it the long spell of the giyorokaywa, the kayga'u of the
Above. He chants this spell into the leaf, holding it cup-
shaped, with the morsel of ginger root at the bottom, so that
the spell might enter into the substance to be medicated.
After that, the leaf is immediately wrapped round, so as to
imprison the magical virtue, and the magician ties the parcel
round his left arm, with a piece of bast or string. Sometimes
he will medicate two bits of ginger and make two parcels, of
which the other will be placed in a string necklet, and
carried on his breast. Our narrator, who is the master of one of
the canoes, will probably not be the only one within the circle
round the camp fire, who carries these bundles of medicated
ginger ; for though a toliwaga must always perform this rite as
well as know all the other magic of shipwreck, as a rule several
of the older members of his crew also know it, and have also
prepared their magical bundles.

This is one of the spells of the giyorokaywa, such as the old
man said over the ginger root :

GIYOROKAYWA No. i (LEYYA KAYGA'U).

" I will befog Muyuwa ! " (repeated). " I will befog
Misima ! " (repeated). " The mist springs up ; the mist
makes them tremble. I befog the front, I shut off the
rear ; I befog the rear, I shut off the front. I fill with mist,
mist springs up ; I fill with mist, the mist which makes
them tremble."

This is the opening part of the formula, very clear,
and easy to be translated. The mist is magically invoked,
the word for mist being repeated with several verbal com-
binations, in a rhythmic and alliterative manner. The



250 SHIPWRECK

expression tremble, maysisi, refers to a peculiar belief, that
when a sorcerer or sorceress approaches the victim, and
this man paralyses them with a counter spell, they lose
their bearings, and stand there trembling.

The main part of this spell opens up with the word
' aga'u,' ' I befog/ which, like all such leading words of a
spell is first of all intoned in a long, drawn-out % chant,
and then quickly repeated with a series of words. Then
the word ' aga'u ' is replaced by ' aga'u sulu,' ' I befog,
lead astray/ which in its turn makes way for, ' aga'u
boda,' ' I befog, shut off.' The list of words repeated in
succession with each of these three expressions is a long one.
It is headed by the words ' the eyes of the witches/ Then,
' the eyes of the sea-crab/ Then, always with the word
1 eyes/ the animals, worms and insects which threaten
drowning men in the sea, are enumerated. After they are
exhausted, the various parts of the body are repeated ;
then finally, a long list of villages is recited, preceded by
the word aga'u, forming phrases such as : "I befog the
eyes of the women of Wawela, etc."

Let us reconstruct a piece of this middle part in a con-
secutive manner. " I befog ....!! befog, I
befog, the eyes of the witches ! I befog the eyes of the
little crabs ! I befog the eyes of the hermit crab ! I
befog the eyes of the insects on the beach ! . . . etc/'

" I befog the hand, I befog the foot, I befog the head. I
befog the shoulders . . . . etc/'

" I befog the eyes of the women of Wawela ; I befog the
eyes of the women of Kaulasi ; I befog the eyes of the
women of Kumilabwaga, I befog the eyes of the women of
Vakuta. . . . etc., etc."

" I befog, lead astray, the eyes of the witches ; I befog,
lead astray the eyes of the little crab ! . . . etc."

" I befog, shut off the eyes of the witches, I befog, shut
off the eyes of the little crab . . . etc., etc."

It can easily be seen how long drawn such a spell is,
especially as in this middle part, the magician will often
come back to where he has started, and repeat the leading
word over and over again with the others. Indeed, this
can be taken as a typical tapwana, or middle part, of a
long spell, where the leading words are, so to speak, well
rubbed into the various other expressions. One feature of
this middle part is remarkable, namely, that the beings
from below, the crabs, the sea insects and worms are
invoked, although the spell is one of the giyorokaywa type,
the magic of the Above. This is an inconsistency



SHIPWRFXK 251

frequently met with ; a contradiction between the ideas
embodied in the spell, and the theory of the magic, as
explicitly formulated by the informants. The parts of
the body enumerated in the tapwana refer to the magician's
own person, and to his companions in the canoe. By
this part of the spell, he surrounds himself and all his
companions with mist, which makes them invisible to all
the evil influences.

After the long tapwana has been recited, there follows
the last part, which, however, is not chanted in this case,
but spoken in a low, persuasive, tender voice.

"I hit thy flanks ; I fold over thy mat, thy bleached
mat of pandanus ; I shall make it into thy mantle. I take
thy sleeping doba (grass skirt), I cover thy loins ; remain
there, snore within thy house ! I alone myself" (here the
reciter's name is uttered) " I shall remain in the sea, I
shall swim ! "

This last part throws some interesting sidelights on native
belief in mulukwausi. We see here the expression of the idea
that the body of the witch remains in the house, whilst she
herself goes out on her nefarious errand. Molilakwa, the
magician of Oburaku who gave me this spell, said in com-
mentary to this last part :

" The yoyova casts off her body (inini wowola which
really means ' peals off her skin ') ; she lies down and
sleeps, we hear her snoring. Her covering (kapwalela
that is, her outward body, her skin) remains in the house,
and she herself flies (titolela biyova). Her skirt remains in
the house, she flies naked. When she meets men, she eats
us. In the morning, she puts on her body, and lies down
in her hut. When we cover her loins with the doba, she
cannot fly any more."

This last sentence refers to the magical act of covering, as
expressed in the last part of the spell.

Here we find another variant of belief as to the nature of the
mulukwausi, to be added to those mentioned before. Previously
we met the belief of the disassociation of the woman into the
part that remains, and the part that flies. But here the real
personality is located in the flying part, whereas what remains
is the ' covering/ To imagine the mulukwausi, the flying part,
as a ' sending,' in the light of this belief, would not be correct.
In general, such categories as ' agent,' and ' sending,' or as



252 SHIPWRECK

' real self ' and ' emanation ' etc., etc., can be applied to native
belief as rough approximations only, and the exact definition
should be given in terms of native statement.

The final sentence of this spell, containing the wish to
remain alone in the sea, to be allowed to swim and drift, is a
testimony to the belief that without mulukwausi, there is no
danger to a man adrift on a piece of wreckage amdng the
foaming waves of a stormy sea.

After reciting this lengthy spell, the toliwaga, as he tells us
in his narrative, has had to perform another rite, this time,
over his lime-pot. Taking out the stopper of rolled palm leaf
and plaited fibre from the baked and decorated gourd in which
he keeps his lime, he utters another spell of the giyorokaywa
cycle :

GIYOROKAYWA No. 2 (PWAKA KAYGA'U).

" There on Muruwa, I arise, I stand up ! Iwa, Sewatupa,
at the head I rumble, I disperse. Kasabwaybwayreta,
Namedili, Toburitolu, Tobwebweso, Tauva'u, Bo'abwa'u,
Rasarasa. They are lost, they disappear."

This beginning, full of archaic expressions, implicit
meanings and allusions and personal names, is very obscure.
The first words refer probably to the head-quarters of
sorcery ; Muruwa (or Murua Woodlark Island), Iwa,
Sewatupa. The long list of personal names following
afterwards contains some mythical ones, like Kasabway-
bwayreta, and some others, which I cannot explain,
though the words Tobwebweso, Tauva'u, and Bo'abwa'u
suggest that this is a list in which some sorcerers' names
figure. As a rule, in such spells, a list of names signifies
that all those who have used and handed down this
formula, are enumerated. In some cases the people
mentioned are frankly mythical heroes. Sometimes a few
mythical names are chanted, and then comes a string of
actual people, forming a sort of pedigree of the spell. If
these in this spell are ancestor names they all refer to
mythical personalities, and not to real ancestors.* The
last words contained an expression typical of the kayga'u.
Then comes the middle part.

* Not all the spells which I have obtained have been equally well
trans-
lated and commented upon. This one, although very valuable, for it is
one of
the spells of the old chiei Maniyuwa, and one which had been recited
when his
corpse was brought over from Dobu by his son Maradiana, was obtained
early
in my ethnographic career, and Gomaya, Maradiana's son, from whom I got
it,
is a bad commentator. Nor could I find any other competent informant
later
on, who could completely elucidate it for me.



SHIPWRECK 253

" I arise, I escape from bara'u ; I arise, I escape from
yoyova. I arise, I escape from mulukwausi. I arise, I
escape from bowo'u, etc./' repeating the leading words
" I arise, I escape from " with the words used to describe
the flying witches in the various surrounding districts.
Thus the word bara'u comes from Muyuwa (Woodlark
Island), where it describes the sorceress, and not, as in
other Massim districts, a male sorcerer. The words
yoyova, mulukwausi need no explanation. Bowo'u is an
Amphlettan word. Words from Dobu, Tubetube, etc.,
follow. Then the whole period is repeated, adding ' eyes
of ' in the middle of each phrase, so that it runs :

" I arise, I escape from the eyes of the bara'u. I arise,
I escape from the eyes of the yoyova, etc." The leading
words, ' I arise, I escape from * are then replaced by *
' They wander astray/ which, again, make way to ' the
sea is cleared off ' This whole middle part of the spell
is clear, and needs no commentary. Then comes the
concluding period (dogina) :

" I am a manuderi (small bird), I am a kidikidi (small
sea bird), I am a floating log, I am a piece of sea- weed ;
I shall produce mist till it encloses all, I shall befog,
I shall shut off with fog. Mist, enveloped in mist, dissolv-
ing in mist am I. Clear is the sea, (the mulukwausi are)
straying in mist." This part also needs no special com-
mentary.

This is again a long spell of the giyorokaywa type, that is,
directed against the mulukwausi, and in this the spell is consis-
tent, for the mulukwausi alone are invoked in the middle
period.

After the spell has been chanted into the lime pot, this is
well stoppered, and not opened till the end of the journey. It
must be noted that these two giyorokaywa spells have been
spoken by our toliwaga in the village or on Muwa beach, and
in day time. For as said above, it is a taboo to utter them in
the night or at sea. From the moment he has spoken these
two spells, both medicated substances, the ginger root and the
lime in the lime pot, remain near him. He has also in the
canoe some stones of those brought from the Koya, and called
binabina, in distinction to the dead coral, which is called
dakuna. Over these stones, at the moment of the occurrence
of danger, a spell of the Underneath, a giyotanawa will be
recited. The following is a formula of this type, short as they
always are



254 SHIPWRECK

GlYOTANAWA No. I (DAKUNA KAYGA'u).

" Man, bachelor, woman, young girl ; woman, young
girl, man, bachelor ! Traces, traces obliterated by cob-
webs ; traces, obliterated by turning up (the material in
which they were left) ; I press, I close down ! Sharks of
Dukutabuya, I press, I close down ; Sharks of Kaduwaga,
I press, I close down/' etc., the sharks of Muwa, Galeya,
Bonari, and Kaulokoki being invoked in turn. All these
words are names of marked parts of the sea, in and around
the Trobriand Lagoon. The formula ends up with the
following peroration : "I press down thy neck, I open up
thy passage of Kiyawa, I kick thee down, O shark. Duck
down under water, shark. Die, shark, die away."

The commentary to the opening sentences given by my
informant, Molilakwa of Oburaku, was :

" This magic is taught to people when they are quite
young. Hence the mention of young people."

The obliterating of traces will be made clearer by the account
which follows, in which we shall see that to obliterate traces,
to put off the scent the shark and mulukwausi are the main
concerns of the shipwrecked party. The middle part refers to
sharks only, and so does the peroration. The passage of
Kiyawa near Tuma is mentioned in several types of magical
exorcisms, when the evil influence is being banished. This
passage lies between the main island and the island of Tuma,
and leads into the unknown regions of the North-Western seas.

It will be best to quote here another formula of the
giyotanawa type, and a very dramatic one. For this is the
formula spoken at the critical moment of shipwreck. At the
mofnent when the sailors decide to abandon the craft and to
plunge into the sea, the toliwaga stands up in the canoe, and
slowly turning round so as to throw his words towards all four
winds, intones in a loud voice this spell :

GlYOTANAWA No. 2.

" Foam, foam, breaking wave, wave ! I shall enter into
the breaking wave, I shall come out from behind it. I
shall enter from behind into the wave, and I shall come
out in its breaking foam I "

" Mist, gathering mist, encircling mist, surround,
surround me ! "



SHIPWRECK 255

" Mist, gathering mist, encircling mist, surround, surround

me, my mast !
Mist, gathering mist, etc. . . . surround me, the nose

of my canoe.

Mist, etc. . . . surround me, my sail,
Mist, etc. . . . surround me, my steering oar,
Mist, etc. . . . surround me, my rigging,
Mist, etc. . . . surround me, my platform,"

And so on, enumerating one after the other all the parts
of the canoe and its accessories. Then comes the final part
of the spell :

" I shut off the skies with mist ; I make the sea tremble
with mist ; I close up your mouth, sharks, bonubonu
(small worms), ginukwadewo (other worms). Go under-
neath and we shall swim on top."

Little is needed as a commentary to this magic. Its begin-
ning is very clear, and singularly well depicts the situation in
which it is uttered. The end refers directly to the primary
aim of the magic, to the warding off of the Underneath, of the
dangerous animals in the sea. The only ambiguity refers to
the middle part, where the magical leading words of ' envelop-
ing by mist ' are associated with a list of names of the parts of
the canoe. I am not certain whether this is to be interpreted,
in the sense that the toliwaga wants to surround his whole canoe
with mist so that it may not be seen by the sharks, etc., or
whether, on the contrary, just on the verge of abandoning his
canoe, and anxious to cut himself off from its various parts
which may turn on him and ' eat him/ he therefore wants to
surround each of them with mist so that it may be blinded.
The latter interpretation fits the above-quoted belief that
certain parts of the canoe, especially the carved human figures
on the prowboard and the mast, the ribs of the canoe, and
certain other parts of its construction, ' eat ' the shipwrecked
men. But again, in this spell, there are enumerated not certain
parts, but every part, and that undoubtedly is not consistent
with this belief, so the question must remain open

IV

I have anticipated some of the events of the consecutive
narrative of shipwreck, in order to give the two last mentioned
magical formulae first, and not to have to interrupt the tale of



256 SHIPWRECK

our tohwaga, to which we now return. We left it at the point
where, having said his first two kayga'u formulae over the ginger
and into the lime pot, he embarks, keeping these two things
handy, and putting some binabina stones within his reach.
From here, his narrative becomes more dramatic. He de-
scribes the approaching storm :

NARRATIVE OF SHIPWRECK AND SALVAGE.

The canoe sails fast ; the wind rises ; big waves come ;
the wind booms, du-du-du-du. . . The sails flutter ;
the lamina (outrigger) rises high ! All the usagelu crouch
on the lamina. I speak magic to calm the wind. The big
spell of the Sim-sim. They know all about yavata (North-
Westerley Monsoon wind). They live in the eye of the
yavata. The wind abates not, not a little bit. It booms,
it gains strength, it booms loud du-du-du-du-du. All the
usagelu are afraid. The mulukwausi scream, u-u, u-u,
u-u, u ; their voices are heard in the wind. With the wind
they scream and come flying. The veva (sheet rope) is
torn from the hands of the tokabinaveva. The sail flutters
freely in the wind ; it is torn away. It flies far into the
sea ; it falls on the waters. The waves break over the
canoe. I stand up. I take the binabina stones ; I recite
the kayga'u over them, the giyotanawa, the spell of the
Underneath. The short spell, the very strong spell. I
throw the stones into the deep. They weigh down the
sharks, the vineylida ; they close the Gaping Depth. The
fish cannot see us. I stand up, I take my lime pot ; I
break it. The lime I throw into the wind. It wraps us up
in mist. Such a mist that no one can see us. The
mulukwausi lose sight of us. We hear them shout near by.
They shout u-u, u-ti, u-u, u. The sharks, the bonubonu,
the soka do not see us ; the water is turbid. The canoe
is swamped, the water is in it. It drifts heavily, the
waves break over us. We break the vatotuwa, (the sticks
joining the float to the platform). The lamina (outrigger
float) is severed ; we jump from the waga ; we catch hold
of the lamina. On the lamina we drift. I utter the great
Kaytaria spell ; the big fish iraviyaka comes. It lifts us.
It takes the lamina on its back, and carries us. We drift,
we drift, we drift/'

" We approach a shore ; the iraviyaka brings us there,
the iraviyaka puts us on the shallows. I take a stout pole,
I lift it off ; I speak a spell. The iraviyaka turns back
to the deep sea."



SHIPWRECK 257

" We are all on the dayaga (fringing reef). We stand in
water. The water is cold, we all shiver with cold. We
do not go ashore. We are afraid of the mulukwausi. They
follow us ashore. They wait for us ashore. I take a
dakuna (piece of coral stone), I say a spell over it. I
throw the stone on the beach ; it makes a big thud ;
good ; the mulukwausi are not there. We go ashore.
Another time, I throw a stone, we hear nothing : muluk-
wausi are on the beach ; they catch it ; we hear nothing.
We remain on the dayaga. I take some leyya (ginger). I
spit it at the beach. I throw another stone. The
mulukwausi do not. see it. It falls down ; we hear it. We
go ashore ; we sit on the sand in a row. We sit in one row,
one man near another, as on the lamina (in the same order
as they drifted on the lamina). I make a charm over the
comb ; all the usagelu comb their hair ; they tease their
hair a long time. They are very cold ; we do not make
the fire. First, I put order on the beach ; I take the piece
of leyya, I spit it over the beach. One time, when the
leyya is finished, I take some kasita leaves (the beach is
always full of these). I put them on the shore, I put a
stone on them, uttering a spell afterwards, we make
fire. All sit round and warm themselves at the fire."

" At day time, we don't go to the village ; the muluk-
wausi would follow us. After dark, we go. Like on the
lamina, we march in the same order, one after the other.
I go last ; I chant a spell over a libu plant. I efface our
traces. I put the libu on our track ; I put the weeds
together. I make the path confused. I say a charm to
the spider, that he might make a cobweb. I say a charm
to the bush-hen, that she might turn up the soil."

" We go to the village. We enter the village, we pass
the main place. No one sees us ; we are in mist, we are
invisible. We enter the house of my veyola (maternal
kinsman), he medicates some leyya ; he spits (magically)
on all of us. The mulukwausi smell us ; they smell the
salt water on our skins. They come to the house, the house
trembles. A big wind shakes the house, we hear big thuds
against the house. The owner of the house medicates the
leyya and spits over us ; they cannot see us. A big fire
is made in the house ; plenty of smoke fills the house.
The leyya and the smoke blind their eyes. Five days we
sit in smoke, our skin smells of smoke ; our hair smells of
smoke ; the mulukwausi cannot smell us. Then I medicate
some water and coco-nut, the usagelu wash and annoint
themselves. They leave the house, they sit on the



258 SHIPWRECK

kaukweda (spot before the house). The owner of the house
chases them away. ' Go, go to your wife ; ' we all go,
we return to our houses."

I have given here a reconstruction of a native account, as I
have often heard it told with characteristic vividness : spoken
in short, jerky sentences, with onamatopoetic representations
of sound, the narrative exaggerates certain features, and omits
others. The excellency of the narrator's own magic, the
violence of the elements at critical moments, he would
always reiterate with monotonous insistence. He would
diverge into some correlated subject, jump ahead, missing
out several stages, come back, and so on, so that the whole is
quite incoherent and unintelligible to a white listener, though
the native audience follows its trend perfectly well. For it
must be remembered that, when a native tells such a story, the
events are already known to his listeners, who have grown up
gradually becoming familiar with the narrow range of their
tribal folklore. Our toliwaga, telling this story over again on
the sandbank of Yakum, would dwell on such points as allowed
him to boast of his kayga'u, to describe the violence of the
storm, to bear witness to the traditional effects of the magic.

It is necessary for an Ethnographer to listen several times
to such a narrative, in order to have a fair chance of forming
some coherent idea of its trend. Afterwards, by means of direct
examination, he can succeed in placing the facts in their proper
sequence. By questioning the informants about details of rite
and magic, it is possible then to obtain interpretations and
commentaries. Thus the whole of a narrative can be con-
structed, the various fragments, with all their spontaneous
freshness, can be put in their proper places, and this is what I
have done in giving this account of shipwreck.*

A few words of comment must now be given on the text of
the above narrative. In it, a number of magical rites were
mentioned, besides those which were described first with their
spells. Something must be said more in detail about the spells
of the subsequent magical performances. There are some
eleven of them. First comes the ritual invocation of the fish

* Such reconstructions are legitimate for an Ethnographer, as well as
for a historian. But it is a duty of the former as well as of the
latter to show
his sources as well as to explain how he has manipulated them. In one
of the
next chapters, Chapter XVIII, Divisions XIV-XV1I, a sample of this
method-
ological aspect of the work will be given, although the full
elaboration of sources
and methods must be postponed to another publication.



SHIPWRECK 259

which helps the shipwrecked sailors. The spell corresponding
to this, is called kaytaria, and it is an important formula, which
every toliwaga is supposed to know. The question arises, has
this rite ever been practised in reality ? Some of the actions
taken by the shipwrecked natives, such as the cutting ot the
the outrigger float when the boat is abandoned, are quite
rational. It would be dangerous to float on the big, unwieldy
canoe which might be constantly turned round and round by
the waves, and if smashed to pieces, might injure the sailors
with its wreckage. In this fact, perhaps there is also the
empirical basis for the belief that some fragments of the canoe
' eat ' the shipwrecked men. The round, symmetrical log of
the lamina, on the other hand, will serve as an excellent
lifebuoy. Perhaps a toliwaga, arrived at such a pass, would
really utter the kaytaria spell. And if the party were saved,
they would probably all declare, and, no doubt believe, that
the fish had come to their summons, and somehow or other
helped in the rescue.

It is less easy to imagine what elements in such an experi-
ence might have given rise to the myth that the natives, landed
on the shore, magically lift the fish from the shallow waters
by means of a charmed pole. This indeed seems a purely
imaginary incident, and my main informant, Molilakwa of
Oburaku, from whom I obtained the kaytaria spell, did not
know the spell of the pole, and would have had to leave the
iraviaka to its own fate in the shallows. Nor could I hear of
anyone else professing to know this spell. The formula uttered
over the stone to be thrown on the beach was equally unknown
to the circle of my informants. Of course, in all such cases,
when a man carrying on a system of magic would come to a gap
in his knowledge, he would perform the rite without the spell,
or utter the most suitable spell of the system. Thus here, as the
stone is thrown in order to reconnoitre whether the mulukwausi
are waiting for them, a spell of the giyorokaywa, the spell of the
mulukwausi, might be uttered over the stone. Over the combs,
as well as over the herbs on the beach, a giyorokaywa spell
would be uttered, according to my informants, but probably, a
different spell from the one spoken originally over the ginger
root. Molilakwa, for instance, knows two spells of the giyoro-
kaywa, both of which are suitable to be spoken over the ginger
and over the beach respectively. Then there comes another



2 6o SHIPWRECK

spell, to be uttered over the libu plant, and in addressing the
spider and the bush-hen. Molilakwa told me that the same spell
would be said in the three cases, but neither he, nor anyone
else, among my informants could give me this spell. The magic
done in the village, while the shipwrecked men remained in the
smoky hut, would be all accompanied by the leyya (ginger)
spells.

One incident in the above narrative might have struck the
reader as contradictory of the general theory of the mulukwausi
belief, that, namely, where the narrator declares that the party
on the beach have to wait till nightfall before they enter the
village. The general belief expressed in all the mulukwausi
legends, as well as in the taboos of the kayga'u, is that the
witches are really dangerous only at night, when they can
see and hear better. Such contradictions, as I have said, are
often met in native belief, and in this, by the way, the savages
do not differ from ourselves. My informant, from whom I had
this version, simply said that such was the rule and the custom,
and that they had to wait till night. In another account, on
the other hand, I was told that the party must proceed to the
village immediately after having performed the several rites on
the beach, whether night or day.

There also arises the main question, regarding this narrative,
to which allusion has been made already, namely, how far does
it represent the normal behaviour in shipwreck, and how far
is it a sort of standardised myth ? There is no doubt that
shipwreck in these seas, surrounded in many parts by islands, is
not unlikely to end by the party's being saved. This again would
result in some such explanation as that contained in our narra-
tive. Naturally, I tried to record all the actual cases of ship-
wreck within the natives' memory. Some two generations ago,
one of the chiefs of Omarakana, named Numakala, perished at
sea, and with him' all his crew. A canoe of another Eastern
Trobriand village, Tilakaywa, was blown far North, and
stranded in Kokopawa, from where it was sailed back by its
crew, when the wind turned to the North- West. Although
this canoe was not actually shipwrecked, its salvation is
credited to kayga'u magic, and to the kind fish, iraviyaka. A
very intelligent informant of mine explained this point of
view in answer to some of my cavillings : "If this canoe
had been wrecked, it would have been saved also."



SHIPWRECK 261

A party from Muyuwa ( Woodlark Island) were saved on the
shore of Boyowa, In the South of the Island, several cases are
on record where canoes were wrecked and saved in the
d'Entrecasteaux Islands or in the Amphletts. Once the whole
crew were eaten by cannibals, getting ashore .in a hostile
district of Fergusson Island, and one man only escaped, and
ran along the shore, south-eastwards towards Dobu. Thus
there is a certain amount of historical evidence for the saving
power of the magic, and the mixture of fanciful -and real
elements makes our story a good example of what could be
called standardised or universalized myth that is, a myth
referring not to one historical event but to a type of occurrence,
happening universally



Let us now give the text of the remaining spells which belong
to the above narrative, but have not been adduced there, so
as not to spoil its flow. First of all there is the kaytaria spell,
that which the toliwaga. drifting alongside his crew on the
detached canoe float, intones in a loud, slow voice, in order to
attract the iraviyaka.

KAYTARIA SPELL.

" I lie, I shall lie down in my house, a big house. I
shall sharpen my ear, I shall hear the roaring of the sea
it foams up, it makes a noise. At the bottom of
Kausubiyai, come, lift me, take me, bring me to the top of
Nabonabwana beach."

Then comes a sentence with mythological allusions
which I could not succeed in translating. After that
follows the main part of the spell :

" The suyusayu fish shall lift me up ; my child, the
suyusayu shall lift me up ; my child's things, the suyusayu
shall lift me up ; my basket, etc. ; my lime pot, etc. ; my
lime spoon, etc. ; my house, etc. ; " repeating the words
" the suyusayu fish shall lift me up " with various expres-
sions describing the toliwaga 1 s equipment as well as his
child, presumably a member of the shipwrecked crew.

There is no end part to this spell, as it was given to me ;
only the beginning is repeated after the main part. It is not
impossible that Molilakwa himself, my informant, did not



262 SHIPWRECK

know the spell to the end. Such magic, once learnt by a native,
never used, and recited perhaps once a year during a mortuary
ceremony, or occasionally, in order to show off, is easily for-
gotten. There is a marked difference between the vacillating
and uncertain way in which such spells are produced by infor-
mants, and the wonderful precision and the easy flow with
which, for example, the spells, year after year performed in
public, will trip off the tongue of the garden magician.

I cannot give a correct commentary to the mythological
names Kausubiyai and Nabonabwana, in the first part of the
spell. What this part means, whether the reclining individual
who hears the noises of the sea is the magician, or whether it
represents the sensations of the fish who hears the calling for
help, I could not make out. The meaning of the middle part is
plain, however Suyusayu is another name for iraviyaka,
indeed, its magical n^me used only in spells, and not when
speaking of it in ordinary conversations.

The other formula to be given here is the other giyorokaywa
spell, which would be used in spitting the ginger on the beach
after rescue, and also in medicating the herbs, which will be put
on the beach and beaten with a stone This spell is associated
with the myth of the origin of kayga'u, which must be related
here, to make the formula clear.

Near the beginning of time, there lived in Kwayawata, one of
the Marshall Bennetts, a family strange to our ideas of family
life, but quite natural in the world of Kiriwinian mythology. It
consisted of a man, Kalaytaytu, his sister, Isenadoga, and the
youngest brother, a dog, Tokulubweydoga. Like other mytho-
logical personages, their names suggest that originally they
must have conveyed some sort of description. Doga means the
curved, almost circular, boar's tusk used as ornament. The
name of the canine member of the family might mean some-
thing like Man-with-circular-tusks-in-his-head, and his sister's
name, Woman-ornamented- with-doga. The eldest brother has
in his name the word taytu, which signifies the staple food
(small yams) of natives, and a verb, kalay, signifying ' to put on
ornaments.' Not much profit, however, can be deduced from
this etymology, as far as I can see, for the interpretation of
this myth. I shall quote in a literal translation the short
version of this myth, as I obtained it first, when the information
was volunteered to me by Molilakwa in Oburaku



SHIPWRECK 263

MYTH OF TOKULUBWAYDOGA.

" They live in Kwayawata ; one day Kalaytayta goes
to fish, gets into a small canoe (kewo'u). Behind him
swims the dog. He comes to Digumenu. They fish with
the older brother. They catch fish ! The elder brother
paddles ; that one again goes behind ; goes, returns to
Kwayawata. They died ; came Modokei, he learned the
kayga'u, the inside of Tokulubwaydoga. The name of
their mother, the mother of Tokulubwaydoga, is
Tobunaygu."

This little fragment gives a good idea of what the first
version is, even of so well fixed a piece of narrative as a myth.
It has to be supplemented by inquiries as to the motives of the
behaviour of the various personages, as to the relations of one
event to the other. Thus, further questions revealed that the
elder brother refused to take the dog with him on this fishing
expedition. Tokulubwaydoga then determined to go all the
same, and swam to Digumenu, following the canoe of his
brother. This latter was astonished to see him, but none the
less they went to work together. In fishing, the dog was more
successful than his brother, and thus aroused his jealousy.
The man then refused to take him back. Tokulubwaydoga
then jumped into the water, and again swam and arrived
safely in Kwayawata. The point of the story lies in the fact
that the dog was able to do the swimming, because he knew
the kayga'u, otherwise the sharks, mulukwausi, or other evil
things would have eaten him. He got it from his mother, the
lady Tobunaygu, who could teach him this magic because she
was a mulukwausi herself. Another important point about
this myth, also quite omitted from the first version volunteered
to me, is its sociological aspect. First of all, there is the very
interesting incident, unparalleled in Kiriwinian tradition : the
mother of the three belonged to the Lukwasisiga clan. It was a
most incongruous thing for a dog, who is the animal of the
Lukuba clan, to be born into a Lukwasisiga family. However,
there he was, and so he said :

" Good, I shall be a Lukuba, this is my clan."

Now the incident of the quarrel receives its significance in so
far as the dog, the only one to whom the mother gave the
kayga'u, did not hand it over to his brother and sister who were



264 SHIPWRECK

of the Lukwasisiga clan, and so the magic went down only the
dog's own clan ; the Lukuba. It must be assumed (though this
was not known to my informant) that Madokei, who learnt the
magic from the dog, was also a Lukuba man.

Like all mythological mother-ancestresses, Tobunaygu had
no husband, nor does this circumstance call forth any surprise
or comment on the part of the natives, since the physiological
aspect of fatherhood is not known among them, as I have
repeatedly observed.

As can be seen, by comparing the original fragment, and the
subsequent amplification by inquiries, the volunteered version
misses out the most important points. The concatenation of
events, the origin of the kayga'u, the important sociological
details, have to be dragged out of the informant, or, to put it
more correctly, he has to be made to enlarge on points, to roam
over all the subjects covered by the myth, and from his state-
ments then, one has to pick out and piece together the other
bits of the puzzle. On the other hand, the names of the people,
the unimportant statements of what they did and how they
were occupied are unfailingly given.

Let us adduce now the kayga'u, which is said to be derived
from the dog, and ultimately from his mother :

KAYGA'U OF TOKULUBWAYDOGA.

" Tobunaygu (repeated), Manemanaygu (repeated), my
mother a snake, myself a snake ; myself a snake, my
mother a snake. Tokulubwaydoga, Isenadoga, Matagagai,
Kalaytaytu ; bulumava'u tabugu Madokei. I shall befog
the front, I shall shut off the rear ; I shall befog the rear, I
shall shut off the front."

This exordium contains at first the invocation of the name
of the mulukivausi, who was the source of the spell. Its
pendant Manemanaygu is, according to my informant,
derived from an archaic word nema, equivalent to the
present dayjyawa, hand. " As the right hand is to the left
one, so is Tobunaygu to Manemanaygu," which was
expressed as a matter of fact in the less grammatically
worded form ; " this right hand, this left " (clapped
together) " so Tobunaygu, Manemanaygu."

Whether this analysis of my informant is correct must
remain an open question. It must be remembered that
magic is not taken by the natives as an ethnographic



SHIPWRECK 265

document, allowing of interpretations and developments,
but as an instrument of power. The words are there to
act, and not to teach. Questions as to the meaning of
magic, as a rule, puzzled the informants, and therefore it
is not easy to explain a formula or obtain a correct com-
mentary upon it. All the same there are some natives
who obviously have tried to get to the bottom of what the
various words in magic represent.

To proceed with our commentary, the phrase " My
mother a snake, etc.," was thus explained to me by
Molilakwa : " Supposing we strike a snake, already it
vanishes, it does not remain ; thus also we human beings,
when mulukwaiisi catch us, we disappear/' That is, we
disappear after having spoken this magical formula, for in a
formula the desired result is always expressed in antici-
pation. Molilakwa's description of a snake's behaviour is,
according to my experience, not sound Natural History,
but it probably expresses the underlying idea, namely the
elusiveness of the snake, which would naturally be one of
the metaphorical figures used in the spell.

The string of words following the invocation of the snake
are all mythical names, four of which we found mentioned
in the above myth, while the rest remain obscure. The
last-named, that of Modokei, is preceded by the words
bulumavau tabugit, which means, ' recent spirit of my
ancestor,' which words are as a rule used in spells with
reference to real grandfathers of the reciters.

The middle part of the spell proceeds :

" I shall cover the eyes of the witches of Kitava ; I
shall cover the eyes of the witches of Kumwageya ; I shall
cover the eyes of the witches of Iwa ; I shall cover the
eyes of the witches of Gawa, etc., etc.," enumerating all the
villages and islands renowned for their witches. This
list is again recited, substituting for the expression " I
shall cover," in succession, " I shall befog," and " dew
envelopes." This middle part needs no commentary.

The end of this formula runs as follows :

" I shall kick thy body, I shall take thy spirit skirt, I
shall cover thy buttocks, I shall take thy mat, a pandanus
mat, I shall take thy mantle. I shall strike thee with my
foot, go, fly over Tuma, fly away. I myself in the sea
(here the reciter's name is mentioned), I shall drift away,
well." This last part of the spell is so much alike to the
end of the spell first quoted in this chapter, that no com-
mentary is needed.



266 SHIPWRECK

The mythological and magical data presented in this
chapter all bear upon the native belief in flying witches and
dangers at sea, a belief in which elements of reality are strangely
blended with traditionally fixed fancies, in a way, however, not
uncommon to human belief in general. It is time now to
return to our party on the beach at Yakum, who, after having
spent the night there, next morning rig up their masts, and with
a favourable wind, soon reach the waters of Gumasila and
Domdom.



CHAPTER XI
IN THE AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY OF THE KULA

I

OUR party, sailing from the North, reach first the main island
of Gumasila, a tall, steep mountain with arched lines and
great cliffs, suggesting vaguely some huge Gothic monument.
To the left, a heavy pyramid, the island of Domdom, recedes
behind the nearer mountain as the travellers approach. The
fleet now sails along the westerly shore of Gumasila, on which
side the jungle, interspersed with bald patches, ascends a
steep slope, ribbed with rocky ridges, and creased by valleys
which run at their foot into wide bays. Only here and there
can be seen triangular clearings, signs of cultivation made by
the natives from the other side of the island, where the two
villages are situated. At the South-West end of Gumasila,
a narrow promontory runs into a flat, low point with a sandy
beach on both sides. On the North side of the point, hidden
from the villages, the fleet comes to a halt, on the beach of
Giyawana (called by the Trobrianders Giyasila). This is the
place where all the fleets, arriving from the North, stop before
approaching the villages. Here also the inhabitants of the
Amphletts rest for a day, after the first false start they have
made from the villages, and before they actually set off for the
Trobriands. This beach, in short, is the Amphlettan counter-
part of the sandbank Muwa. It was also here that I surprised
the Gumasilan canoes on a full moon night, in March, 1918,
after they had started to join the uvalaku expedition to
Sinaketa.

On this beach, the Sinaketans perform the final stage of
Kula magic, before approaching their partners in Gumasila.
The same magic will be repeated before arriving in Dobu, and
as a matter of fact, when the objective of the big uvalaku is
Dobu, the full and ceremonial performance of the magic might



268 AMPHLETTSSOCIOLOGY

usually be deferred till then. It will be better therefore to
postpone the description of this magic till we have brought our
fleet to the beach of Sarubwoyna. Here it will be enough to
mention that on occasions when magic is performed, after an
hour's or half hour's pause on the beach of Giyawana, all the
men get into their canoes, take the paddles and oars, and the
fleet sails round the point where, in a small, very picturesque
bay, there lies the smaller village of Gumasila, called Nu'agasi
(see Plate I). This village in olden days was perched on a
narrow ledge some one hundred metres above the sea level, a
fastness difficult of access, and overlooking all its approaches.
Now, after the white man's influence has rendered unnecessary
all precautions against raiding parties, the village has come
down to the narrow strip of foreshore, a bridge between the sea
and a small swamp formed at the foot of the hill. Some of the
canoes will come to this beach, the others will sail further,
under a precipitous black rock of some 150 metres high and
300 metres wide (see Plate XLII). Turning another corner,
they arrive at the big village of Gumasila, built on artificial
stone terraces, surrounded by dykes of small stones^ forming
square lagoons and diminutive harbours (compare the descrip-
tion given above in Chapter I, Division V). This is the old
village which, practically inaccessible by sea, formed a fastness
of a different kind from the other, high-perched villages
typical of this district. Exposed to the full onslaught of the
South-Easterly winds and seas, against which it was protected
by its stone bulwarks and dykes, it was approachable only in all
weathers by a small channel to the South, where a big rock and a
reef shelter it from the rough waters.

Without any preliminary welcoming ceremony or formal
reception, the Sinaketan guests now leave their canoes and
disperse among the villagers, settle down in groups near the
houses of their friends, and engage in betel chewing and
conversations. They speak in Kiriwinian, a language which
is universally known in the Amphletts. Almost as soon as they
go ashore, they give to their partners presents of pari (opening
gift), some small object, such as a comb, a lime pot, or a lime
stick. After that, they await some Kula gifts to be given
them. The most important headman will offer such a gift
first to Kouta'uya, or To'udawada, whichever of them is the
toli'uvalaku of the occasion. The soft, penetrating sound of a




w
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2



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o






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s






AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 269

conch-shell soon announces that the first gift has been given.
Other blasts of conch-shells follow, and the Knla is in full
swing. But here again, what happens in the Amphletts, is
only a minor interlude to the Sinaketan adventurers, bent on
the bigger goal in Dobu. And in order for us to remain in
harmony with the native perspective we shall also wait for the
detailed and circumstantial description of the Kula pro-
ceedings till we arrive on the beach of Tu'utauna, in Dobu.
The concrete account of how such a visiting fleet is received and
behaves on arrival will be given, when I describe a scene
I saw with my own eyes in the village of Nabwageta, another
Amphlett island, when sixty Dobuan canoes arrived there on
their uvalaku, en route for Boyowa.

To give a definite idea of the conversations which take
place between the visitors and the Amphlettans, I shall give a
sample noted down, during a visit of some Trobrianders to
Nu'agasi, the smaller village of Gumasila, A few canoes had
arrived a day or two before, in the neighbouring island,
Nabwageta, coming from the small Western islands of the
Trobriands on a Kula. One of them paddled across to Nu'agasi
with a crew of some six men, in order to offer pari gifts to their
partners and see what was to be done in the way of Kula. The
canoe was sighted from a distance, and its purpose was guessed
at once, as word had been brought before of the arrival in
Nabwageta of this small expedition. The headman of
Nu'agasi, Tovasana, hurried back to his house from my tent,
where I was taking great pains to obtain some ethnographic
information from him.

Tovasana is an outspoken character, and he is the most
important headman in the Amphletts. I am not using the
word ' chief/ for in the Amphletts, as I have said, the natives
do not observe either the court ceremonial with crouching and
bending, nor do the headmen have any power or economic
influence, at all comparable with those of the Trobriands.
Yet, although I came from the Trobriands, I was struck by the
authoritative tone used, and the amount of influence evidently
wielded by Tovasana. This is partly due undoubtedly to the
lack of white man's interference, which has so undermined
native authority and morality in the Trobriands, whereas the
Amphletts have so far escaped to a large extent Missionary
teaching and Government law and order. On the other hand,



270 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

however, the very narrow sphere of his powers, the authority
over a small village, consolidates the headman's influence. The
oldest and the most aristocratic by descent of all the headmen,
he is their acknowledged ' doyen/

In order to receive his visitors he went to the beach in front
of his house and sat there on a log, looking impassively over
the sea. When the Trobrianders arrived each man took a
gift and went to his partner's house. The chief did not rise to
meet them, nor did they come in a body to greet him. The
toliwaga came towards the place where Tovasana was sitting ;
he carried a bundle of taro and a piece of gugu'a (objects of
small value, such as combs, lime pots, etc.) These he laid
down near the seated headman, who, however, took no notice
of it. A small boy, a grandchild of Tovasana, I think, took
up the gifts and put them into his house. Then, without
having yet exchanged a word, the toliwaga sat down on the
platform next to Tovasana. Under a shady tree, which
spread its branches like a canopy above the bleached canoe,
the men formed a picturesque group sitting cross-legged on the
platform. Beside the slim, youthful figure of the Kaduwaga
man, the old Tovasana, with his big, roughly carved features,
with his large aquiline nose sticking out from under an enormous
turban-like wig, looked like an old gnome. At first exchanging
merely a word or two, soon they dropped into more animated
conversation, and when other villagers and the rest of the
visitors joined them, the talk became general. As they spoke
in Kiriwinian, I was able to jot down the beginning of their
conversation.

Tovasana asked :

" Where have you anchored ? "

" In Nabwageta."

" When did you come ? "

" Yesterday."

" From where did you start on the last day before
arriving ? "

" From Gabuwana."

" When ? "

" The day before yesterday."

" What wind ? "

" Started from home with yavata ; wind changed.
Arrived on sandbank (Gabuwana) ; we slept ; so-and-so
made wind magic ; wind changed again ; good wind."



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 271

Then Tovasana asked the visitors about one of the chiefs
from the island of Kayleula (to the West of Kiriwina),
and when he was going to give him a big pair of mwali.
The man answered they do not know ; to their knowledge
that chief has no big mwali at present. Tovasana became
very angry, and in a long harangue, lapsing here and there
into the Gumasila language, he declared that he would
never hula again with that chief, who' is a topiki (mean
man), who has owed him for a long time a pair of mwali
as yotile (return gift), and who always is slow in making
Kula. A string of other accusations about some day pots
given by Tovasana to the same chief, and some pigs
promised and never given, were also made by the angry
headman. The visitors listened to it with polite assent,
uttering here and there some noncommital remark. They,
in their turn, complained about some sago, which they had
hoped to receive in Nabwageta, but which was churlishly
refused for some reason or other to all the men of
Kaduwaga, Kaysiga and Kuyawa.

Tovasana then asked them, " How long are you going to
stay ? "

" Till Dobu men come."

" They will come," said Tovasana, " not in two days,
not in three days, not in four days ; they will come
tomorrow, or at the very last, the day after tomorrow."

" You go with them to Boyowa ? "

" I sail first to Vakuta, then to Sinaketa with the Dobu
men. They sail to Susuwa beach to fish, I go to your
villages, to Kaduwaga, to Kaysiga, to Kuyawa. Is there
plenty of mwali in your villages ? "

" Yes, there are. So-and-so has . . ."

Here followed a long string of personal names of big
armshells, the approximate number of smaller, nameless
ones, and the names of the people in whose possession they
were at the time.

The interest of both hearers and speakers was very obvious,
and Tovasana gave the approximate dates of his movements to
his visitors. Full moon was approaching, and the natives have
got names for every day during the week before and after full
moon, and the following and preceding days can therefore be
reckoned. Also, every seven-day period within a moon is
named after the quarter which falls in it. This allows the
natives to fix dates with a fair exactitude. The present example
shows the way in which, in olden times, the movements of the



272 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

various expeditions were known over enormous areas ; nowa-
days, when white men's boats with native crews often move
from one island to the other, the news spreads even more
easily. In former tknes, small preliminary expeditions such as
the one we have just been describing, would fix the dates and
make arrangements often for as much as a year ahead.

The Kaduwaga men next inquired as to whether any
strangers from the Trobriands were then staying in Gumasila.
The answer was that there was in the village one man from
Ba'u, and one from Sinaketa Then inquiries were made as to
how many Kula necklaces there were in Gumasila, and the
conversation drifted again into Kula technicalities.

It is quite customary for men from the Trobriands to remain
for a long time in the Amphletts, that is, from one expedition
to another. For some weeks or even months, they live in the
house of their partner, friend, or relative, careful to keep to the
customs of the country. They will sit about with the men of
the village and talk. They will help in the work and go out on
fishing expeditions. These latter will be specially attractive
to a Trobriander, a keen fisherman himself, who here finds an
entirely new type of this pursuit. Whether an expedition
would be made on one of the sandbanks, where the fishermen
remain for a few days, casting their big nets for dugong and
turtle ; or whether they would go out in a small canoe, trying
to catch the jumping gar fish with a fishing kite ; or throwing
a fish trap into the deep sea all these would be a novelty to the
Trobriander, accustomed only to the methods suitable to the
shallow waters of the Lagoon, swarming with fish.

In one point the Trobriander would probably find his
sojourn in the Amphletts uncongenial ; he would be entirely
debarred from any intercourse with women. Accustomed in
his country to easy intrigues, here he has completely to abstain,
not only from sexual relations with women married or un-
married, but even from moving with them socially, in the free
and happy manner characteristic of Boyowa. One of my main
informants, Layseta, a Sinaketa man, who spent several years
in the Amphletts, confessed to me, not without shame and
regret, that he never succeeded in having any intrigues with
the women there. To save his face, he claimed that he had
had several Amphlett belles declaring their love to him, and
offering their favours, but he always refused them :



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 273

" I feared ; I feared the bowo'u of Gumasila ; they are
very bad."

The bowo'u are the local sorcerers of the Amphletts.
Whatever we might think about Layseta's temptations and
his personal appearance and charm do not make his boastings
very credible and whether he was afraid of sorcery or of a
sound thrashing, the fact remains that a Trobriander would have
to change his usual mode of behaviour when in the Amphletts,
and keep away from the women entirely. When big parties
arrive in Gumasila, or Nabwageta, the women run away, and
camp in the bush till the beach is clear.

The Amphlettans, on the contrary, were used to receive
favours from unmarried women in Sinaketa. Nowadays, the
male inhabitants of that village, always disapproving of the
custom, though not to the extent of taking any action,
tell the Amphlettans that the white man's Government has
prohibited the men from Gumasila and Nabwageta to have
sexual relations in Sinaketa. One of the very few occasions,
when the men from the Amphletts showed any interest in
talking to me was when they asked me whether this was true.

" The Sinaketa men tell us that we will go to jail if we
sleep with girls in Sinaketa. Would the Government put
us into jail, in truth ? "

As usually, I simply disclaimed all knowledge of the white
man's arcana in such matters.

The small party of Kaduwaga men, whose visit to Tovasana
I have just been describing, sat there for about two hours,
smoked and chewed betel-nut, the conversation flagging now
and then, and the men looking into the distance with the
habitual self-important expression worn on such occasions.
After the final words about mutual plans were exchanged, and
a few pots had been brought by small boys to the canoe as
talo'i (farewell gift to the visitors), they embarked, and paddled
back three or four miles across to Nabwageta.

We must imagine the big Kula party from Sinaketa, whom
we just watched landing in the two villages of Gumasila,
behaving more or less in the same manner ; conducting similar
conversations, offering the same type of pari 'gifts to their
partners. Only everything happens of course on a much
bigger scale. There is a big group seated before each house,



274 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

parties walk up and down the village, the sea in front of it
is covered with the gaudy, heavily laden canoes. In the little
village, of which Tovasana is headman, the two chiefs, To'uda-
wada and Kouta'uya, will be seated on the same platform, on
which we saw the old man receiving his other guests. The
other headmen of the Sinaketans will have gone to the bigger
village round the corner, and will encamp there under the tall
palms, looking across the straits towards the pyramidal forms of
Domdom, and further South, to the main island fronting them
with the majestic form of Koyatabu. Here, among the small
houses on piles, scattered picturesquely through the maze of
little harbours, lagoons and dykes, large groups of people will
be seated on mats of plaited coco-nut, each man as a rule under
the dwelling of his partner, chewing betel-nut stolidly, and
watching stealthily the pots being brought out to be presented
to them, and still more eagerly awaiting the giving of Kula
gifts, although he remains to a superficial glance quite
impassive.

II

In Chapter III I spoke about the sociology of Kula, and
gave a concise definition of partnership with its functions and
obligations. I said there that people enter into this relation-
ship in a definite manner, and remain in it for the rest of their
life. I also said that the number of partners a man possesses,
depends upon his social position and rank. The protective
character of an overseas partner becomes now clearer, after we
have realised the nervous tension with which each Kula party
in olden days would have approached a land full of mulukwausi,
bowo'u and other forms of sorcery, a land from which originate
the very tauva'u themselves.* To have a friend there, one
who will not on the surface of it have bad intentions, is a great
boon. What this really means to the natives can, however,
only be realised when we arrive at Dobu, learn the special
safety magic performed there and find how genuinely serious
these apprehensions are.

We must now make another short digression from our con-
secutive account, and discuss the several aspects of the sociology
of the Kula one after the other.

* See Chapter II, Division VII.



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 275

1. Sociological Limitations to the Participation in the Kula.
Not everyone who lives within the cultural sphere of the Kula
does participate in it. More especially in the Trobriand Islands,
there are whole districts which do not practise the Kula. Thus
a series of villages in the North of the main Island, the villages
on the Island of Tuma, as well as the industrial villages of
Kuboma and the agricultural ones of Tilataula do not practise
Kula. In villages like Sinaketa, Vakuta, Gumasila and
Nabwageta, every man carries on the Kula.. The same applies
to the small Islands which link up the big gaps of the Kula
chain, the Islands of Kitava, Iwa, Gawa and Kwayawata,
strewn on the seas between the Trobriands and Woodlark
Island, to Tubetube and Wari, etc., etc. In the Dobuan
speaking district, on the other hand, I think that certain village
complexes either do not practice Kula at all, or else practice
it on a small scale, that is, their headmen have only a few
partners in the neighbouring villages.

In some of the big chiefs' villages in Kinwina there
are certain people who never practice Kula. Thus in
a village where the headman has the rank of guya'u
(chief) or gumguya'u (minor chief) the commoners of the
lowest rank and unrelated to the headman are not sup-
posed to carry on the Kula. In olden days this rule would
be very strictly observed, and nowadays even, though some-
what relaxed, not many commoners of this description practice
the Kula. Limitations as to entry into the Kula, therefore,
exist only in big Kula districts such as that of Dobn and of the
Trobriands, and they are partly local, excluding whole
villages, and partly social, excluding certain people of low
rank.

2. The Relation of Partnership. The name for an overseas
partner is in the Trobriand language karayta'u ; ' my partner '
is styled ulo karayta'u, ulo being the possessive pronoun of
remote relation. In Gumasila he is called ulo ta'u, which means
simply ' my man ' ; in Dobuan, yegu gumagi The inland
partners are known in Kiriwinian by the term denoting a friend,
' lubaygu,' the suffixed possessive pronoun gu being that of
nearest possession.

Only after this relationship has been established between
two men, can the two make Kula with one another. An
overseas visitor would as a rule go to his partner's house and



276 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

offer him a small present as pari. This again would be returned
by the local man by means of a talo'i present There would
not be any great intimacy between two overseas partners. But,
in sharp contrast to the essential hostility between two strange
tribesmen, such a relationship of friendship would stand out as
the most remarkable deviation from the general rule. In inland
relations between two partners of neighbouring villages, the
closeness and intimacy would be relatively small as com-
pared to other ties. This relation was denned to me in
these words :

" My partner same as my clansman (kakaveyogu) he
might fight me. My real kinsman (veyogu), same navel-
string, would always side with us."

The best way of obtaining detailed information, and of
eliminating any errors which might have crept into ethno-
graphic generalisations, is to collect concrete data. I have
drawn up a complete list of the partners of Kouta'uya, who is
one of the biggest Kula men in the whole Ring ; another list
of a smaller Sinaketa headman, Toybayoba ; and of course I
know several complements of partners of smaller men, who, as
as rule, have about four to six partners each.

The full list of Kouta'uya includes fifty-five men in the
Northern Half of Boyowa, that is, in Luba, Kulumata and
Kiriwina. From these the chief receives armshells. To the
South, his partners in the Southern districts of Boyowa and
Vakuta are twenty-three by number ; in the Amphletts eleven,
and twenty-seven in Dobu. Thus we see that the numbers to
the South and North almost balance, the Southern exceeding
the Northern by six. These numbers include his partners in
Sinaketa, where he makes Kula with all his fellow chiefs, and
with all the headmen of the divisional villages, and in his own
little village he kulas with his sons. But even there, everyone
of his partners is either South or North to him, that is, either
gives him the necklaces or armshells.

All the clans are represented in the list. Often when asked
with regard to the name of some man, why he is in partnership
with him, the answer would be " Because he is my kinsman,"
which means, in this case, clansman of equal rank. Men of
other clans are included, as ' friends/ or relatives-m-law, or
for some other reason more or less imaginary. I shall speak



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 277

presently of the mechanism through which the man enters on
this relation.

The list of Toybayoba's partners includes twelve men to the
North, four in Southern Boyowa, three in the Amphletts and
eleven in Dobu, the balance here also being on the Southern side.
As said above, minor men might have anything between four to
ten partners all told, whereas there are men in northern Boyowa
who have only two partners, one on each side of the ring, so
to speak, with whom they make Kula.

In drawing up these lists, which I shall not reproduce here
in extenso, another striking feature comes to light : on both
sides, there is a definite geographical limit, beyond which a
man cannot have any partners. For all men in the village of
Sinaketa, for instance, this limit, as regards the armshells,
coincides with the furthest boundary of Kiriwina ; that is, no
man from Sinaketa has any partners in Kitava, which is the
next Kula district beyond Kiriwina. South, in the direction
from which the soulava are received, the villages at the South-
East end of Fergusson Island are the last places where partners
of Sinaketan men are still to be found. The small Island of
Dobu itself lies just beyond this boundary, and no man in this
Island or in any of the villages on Normanby Island makes
Kula with the Sinaketans (compare the circles, indicating Kula
Communities on Map V).

Beyond these districts, the men still know the names of
what could be called their partners-once-removed, that is,
the partners of their partners. In the case of a man who has
only a couple of partners on each side, who, again being modest
men, have also only one or two, this relationship is not devoid of
importance. If I, in Sinaketa, have one partner, say in
Kiriwina, who again has one partner in Kitava, it is no small
matter for me to learn that this Kitava man just obtained
a splendid pair of armshells. For this means that there is about
a quarter of a chance of my receiving these armshells, on the
supposition that the Kitavan and Kiriwinian have two partners
each between whom they can choose in bestowing them. In
the case of a big chief like Kouta'uya, however, the number of
once-removed partners becomes so great that they lose any
personal significance for him. Kouta'uya has some twenty-five
partners in Kiriwina ; among them To'uluwa, the big chief,
makes Kula with more than half of all the men in Kitava



278 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

Some other of Kouta'uya's partners in Kiriwina, of lesser rank,
yet quite important, also make Kula with a great number, so
that probably practically everybody in Kitava is Kouta'uya's
partner-once-removed.

If we were to imagine that on the Kula Ring there are many
people who have only one partner on each side, then the Ring
would consist of a large number of closed circuits, on each of
which the same articles would constantly pass. Thus if A in
Kiriwina always kulas with B in Sinaketa who kulas with C
in Tubetube, who kulas with D in Murua, who kulas with E
in Kitava, who kulas with A in Kiriwina, then A B C D E F
would form such one strand in the big Kula circuit. If an
armshell got into the hands of one of them, it could never leave
this strand. But the Kula Ring is nothing approaching this,
because every small Kula partner has, as a rule, on one side or
the other, a big one, that is a chief. And every chief plays the
part of a shunting-station for Kula objects. Having so many
partners on each side, he constantly transfers an object from
one strand to another. Thus, any article which on its rounds
has travelled through the hands of certain men, may on its
second round come through an entirely different channel.
This, of course, supplies a large part of the zest and excitement
of the Kula exchange.

The designation of such a partner-once-removed in the
language of Kiriwina is muri-muri. A man will say that such
and such a one is ' my partner-once-removed/ ' ulo murimuri.'
Another expression connected with this relationship is to inquire
' whose hand ' has passed on such and such a vaygu'a. When
To'uluwa gives a pair of armshells to Kouta'uya, this latter
will ask : ' availe yamala (whose hand) ' ? The answer is
' yamala Pwata'i,' (' the hand of Pwatai '). And, as a rule,
more or less the following conversation will ensue : " who
gave this pair of armshells to Pwata'i ? " "how long were they
kept by a man in the Island of Yeguma, and then distributed
on the occasion of a so'i (feast) ? " " when they had been
the last time in Boyowa ? " etc., etc.

3. Entering the Kula Relationship. In order to become a
practising member of the Kula, a man must have passed the
stage of adolescence ; he must have the status and rank required,
that is in such villages where this condition is demanded ;
he must know the magic of the Kula ; and last, not least, he



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 279

must be in possession of a piece of vaygu'a The membership,
with all its concomitant implications, may be received from the
father, who teaches his son the magic, gives him a piece of
vaygu'a, and provides him with a partner, very often in his
own person.

Supposing one of the sons of Kouta'uya has reached the
stage where a lad may begin to hula. The chief will have been
teaching him the spells for some time already. Moreover the
lad, who from childhood has taken part in overseas expeditions,
has many a time seen the rites performed and heard the spells
uttered. When the time is ripe, Kouta'uya, having the conch-
shell blown, and with all due formalities, presents a soulava to
his son. This latter, soon afterwards, goes somewhere North.
Perhaps he goes only to one of the neighbouring villages within
Sinaketa, perhaps he accompanies his father on a visit as far
North as Omarakana, and in any case he makes Kula, either
with one of his father's friends and partners, or with a special
friend of his own. Thus, at one stroke, the lad is equipped with
magic, vaygu'a, and two partners, one of whom is his father.
His northern partner will give him in due course an armshell,
and this he will probably offer to his father. The transactions
once started continue. His father soon gives him another
vaygua, which he may hula with the same northern partner, or
he may try to establish another partnership. The next
mwali (armshells) he receives from the North, he will probably
give to another partner in the South, and thus establish a new
relationship. A chief's son, who is always a commoner
himself (since the chief cannot marry within his own sub-clan
and the son has the status of his mother), would not multiply his
partners beyond the limit numerically given by the above
mentioned partners of Toybayoba.

Not everyone, however, is as fortunate as to be the son of a
chief, which in the Trobriands is, on the whole, one of the
most enviable positions, since it confers many privileges, and
entails no special responsibilities. A young chief himself
would have to pay substantially for establishing his position in
the Kula, for a chief is always the son of a woman of high rank,
and the nephew of a chief, though his father may be a commoner
of small influence only. In any case, his maternal uncle will
expect from him some pokala (offerings by instalment), in pay-
ment for magic, vaygu'a, and finally for a leading position in



280 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

the Kula. The young chief would marry, and thus acquire
wealth within limits, and with this he would have to give
presents to his maternal uncle, who in turn would introduce
him into the Kula, exactly as a chief does his son, only not dis-
interestedly.

A commoner enters into the Kula like a chief, with the only
exception that everything is on a smaller scale, the amount of
the pokala which he gives to his maternal uncle, the vaygu'a
which he receives, and the number of partners with whom he
kulas. When a man gives to another a piece of vaygu'a, of the
Kula kind, but not as a Kula exchange but as a gift, let us say as
youlo (gift in repayment for the harvest supply offerings, see
above, Chapter VI, Division VI), this vaygu'a does not leave
the Kula Ring. The receiver, if he had not been in the Kula
yet, enters into it by acquiring the vaygu'a, and can then choose
his partner, and go on with the exchange.

There is one important qualification of the statement
made at the beginning of this section. I said there that a man
entering the Kula Ring, must learn the mwasila magic. This
refers only to those who practise overseas Kula. For people
who do only the inland exchange, magic is not necessary, and in
fact it is never learned by them.

4. Participation of Women in the Kula. As I have said in
the general descriptive chapter on the Kula tribes, the position
of women among them is by no means characterised by oppres-
sion or social insignificance. They have their own sphere of
influence, which, in certain cases and in certain tribes, is of great
importance. The Kula, however, is essentially a man's type of
activity. As mentioned above, in the section between
Sinaketa and Dobu, women do not sail on the big expeditions.
From Kiriwina young, unmarried girls would sail East to
Kitava, Iwa, and Gawa, and from these Islands even old,
married women, indeed whole families, come to Kiriwina.
But they do not carry on overseas Kula exchange, neither
among themselves, nor with men.

In Kiriwina, some women, notably the chief's wives, are
admitted to the honour and privilege of exchanging vaygu'a,
though in such cases the transactions are done en famille. To
take a concrete case, in October or November, 1915, To'uluwa,
the chief of Omarakana, brought a fine haul of mwali from
Kitava. The best pair of these he presented to his veteran wife,



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 281

Bokuyoba, a wife whom he had inherited from his elder brother
Numakala. Bokuyoba in turn gave the pair, without much
delay, to Kadamwasila, the favourite wife of the chief, the
mother of five sons and one daughter. She again gave it to her
son, Namwana Guyau, who kula'd it on to some of his southern
partners. Next time he receives a soulava necklace, he will
give it, not to his father directly, but to his mother, who will
hand it over to her senior colleague, and this venerable lady will
give it to To'uluwa. The whole transaction is evidently a
complimentary interpolation of the two giyovila (chief's wives)
in between the simple transaction of the chief giving the
vaygu'a to his son. This interpolation gives the women much
pleasure, and is highly valued by them. In fact, at that time
I heard more about that than about all the rest of the exchanges
associated with this overseas trip.

In Southern Boyowa, that is in Sinaketa and Vakuta, the
role of women is similar, but they play besides another part.
A man would sometimes send his wife with a Kula gift to his
partner in the neighbouring village On some occasions, when
he needs vaygu'a very badly, as for instance when he is expecting
some uvalaku visitors, his wife may help him to obtain the
vaygu'a from that partner. For, though this latter might
refuse to give it to his Sinaketan partner, he would not do so to
his wife. It must be added that no sexual motives are associ-
ated with it, and that it is only a sort of customary compliment
paid to the fair sex.

In Dobu, the wife, or the sister of a man, is always credited
with a great influence over his Kula decisions. Therefore,
there is a special form of magic, used by the Sinaketans, in
order to act on the minds of the Dobuan women. Although,
in matters of sex, a Trobriander would have absolutely to keep
aloof from Dobuan women, married or unmarried, he would
approach them with nice speeches and gifts in matters of Kula.
He would reproach an unmarried girl with her brother's
conduct towards him. She would then ask for a piece of betel
nut. This would be given with some magic spoken over it, and
the girl, it is believed, would then influence her brother to kula
with his partner.*

* I cannot tell what sort of influence this would be, exercised by a
sister
over her brother in Dobu. I do not even know whether, in that district,
there
obtains the same taboo between brother and sister as in the Trobriands.




282 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

III

In the short outline of the Amphlett tribe which was given
in Chapter II, Division IV, I called them ' typical monopolists/
both with reference to their economic position and to their
character. Monopolists they are in two respects, namely as
manufacturers of the wonderful clay pots which form the only
supply for the surrounding districts ; and in the second place,
as a commercial community, situated half-way between the
populous country of Dobu, with its rich gardens and coco-nut
plantations, on the one hand, and the Trobriands, the main
industrial community in Eastern New Guinea on the other.

The expression ' monopolists ' must, however, be correctly
understood. The Amphletts are not a centre of commercial
middle-men, constantly busy importing and exporting desirable
utilities. Only about once or twice a year, a big expedition
comes to their Islands, and every few months they themselves
will sail South-East or North and again receive visits from
smaller expeditions from one of the neighbours or the other. It
is through just such small expeditions that they collect a relat-
tively considerable amount of utilities from all surrounding
districts, and these they can give to such visitors as need and
desire them. Nor would they impose high prices on any such
exchange, but they are certainly considered less liberal, less
ready to give or to trade and always on the look out for higher
return gifts and extras. In their bartering away of the clay
pots, they also cannot ask extortionate prices, such as, according
to the laws of supply and demand, they could impose on their
neighbours. For, no more than any other natives, can they run
counter to customary rules, which regulate this exchange as
much as all others. Indeed, considering the great amount
of trouble which they have in obtaining the clay, and the high
degree of skill necessary to produce the pots, the prices for
which they sell them are very low. But here again, their
manners over this transaction are distinctly haughty, and they
are well aware of their value as potters and distributors of pots
to the other natives.

A few more words must be said about their pot making
industry as well as about the trade in these islands.

The natives of the Amphletts are exclusive manufacturers
of pottery, within a wide radius. They are the only purveyors



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 283

to the Trobrianders, to the inhabitants of the Marshall Bennett
Islands, and also, I believe, all the claypots in Woodlark come
from the Amphletts.* To the South, they export their pots to
Dobu, Du'a'u, and further South as far as Milne Bay. This
is not all, however, for although in some of these farther
districts the Amphlett pots are used side by side with other
ones, they are infinitely superior to any earthenware found in
the whole of British New Guinea. Of a large size, yet extremely
thin, they possess great durability, and in form they are
extremely well shaped and finished (see Plate XLVI).

The best Amphlett pots owe their high quality to the
excellence oi their material as well as their workmanship.
The clay for them has to be imported into the Islands from
Yayawana, a quarry on the Northern shore of Fergusson
Island, about a day's journey from the Amphletts. Only a
very inferior clay can be found in the islands of Gumasila and
Nabwageta, good enough to make small pots, but quite useless
for the big ones.

There is a legend, explaining why the good clay cannot be
obtained nowadays in the Amphletts. In olden days, two
brothers, Torosipupu and Tolikilaki, lived on one of the
summits of Gumasila called Tomonumonu. There was plenty
of fine clay there at that time. One day Torosipupu went to
fish with a trap. He caught a very fine giant clam-shell.
When he came back, Tolikilaki said : " O my shell ! I shall eat
it ! " Torosipupu refused it and answered with a very obscene
allusion to the bivalvular mollusc and to the uses he was going
to make of it. Tolikilaki asked again ; Torosipupu refused.
They quarrelled. Tolikilaki then took part of the clay with
him, and went to Yayawana on the main island. Torosipupu
afterwards took the rest and followed him. What were their
further destinies, the legend does not say. But on Gumasila
there remained only very poor clay, which is all that can be
found there ever since.

Since then, the men have to go about twice yearly to
Yayawana in order to bring the clay from which the women
afterwards will manufacture the pots. It takes them aboiit a
day to reach Yayawana, to which, as it lies to the South West,

* This is the information which I obtained during my short visit to
Murua
(Woodlark Island), and which was confirmed by the Trobriand islanders.
Professor Seligmann states, also, that the sepulchral pots, found in
this island
come from the Amphletts. Op, cit., p. 731. Compare also pp. 15 and 535.




284 AMPH LETTSSOCIOLOGY

they can travel with any of the prevailing winds and return
equally well. They remain for a couple of days there, digging
the clay, drying it and filling a few vataga baskets with it.
I estimate that each canoe carries about two ton weight on its
return journey. This will last the women for half a year's
production. The pale, straw-coloured clay is kept under the
houses in big troughs made of sides of discarded canoes.

In olden days, before the white man's advent, the con-
ditions were a little more complicated. Only one island,
Kwatouto, being on friendly terms with the natives had the
freedom of the Northern shore. Whether the other islands
used also to fetch the clay from there, doing so armed and
ready for attack ; or whether they used to acquire the clay by
barter from Kwatouto, I could not definitely establish. The
information one receives in the Amphletts is exceedingly
unsatisfactory, and my several informants gave contradictory
accounts on this point. The fact seems clear, in my case, that
Kwatouto, then as now, was the source of the best pottery, but
that both Gumasila and Nabwageta also always manufactured
pots, though perhaps inferior ones. The fourth island,
Domdom, never participated in this trade, and up to the present
there is not a single woman in Domdom who can shape a pot.

The manufucturing of this article, as said, is exclusively
the work of women. They sit in groups of two or three under
the houses, surrounded by big clumps of clay and the imple-
ments of their craft, and produce in these very shabby and
mean conditions, veritable masterpieces of their art. Person-
ally I had only the opportunity of seeing groups of very old
women at work, although I spent about a month in the
Amphletts.

With regard to the technology of pot-making, the method
is that of fiist roughly moulding the clay into its form and then
beating with a spatula and subsequently scraping the walls
to the required thinness with a mussel-shell. To give the
description in detail, a woman starts first by kneading a certain
amount of clay for a long time. Of this material she makes
two semi-circular clumps, or several clumps, if a big pot is to
be made. These clumps are then placed m a ring, touching one
another upon a fiat stone or board, so that they form a thick,
circular roll (Plate XLIV, top). The woman now begins to
work this roll with both hands, gradually pressing it together,



PLATE XLIV





Top



TECHNOLOGY OF POT MAKING (T)
icture : the clumps of clay have been put in a circle and joined up,
forming a thick,



op pic

ircular roll Bottom picture : the roll is being worked upwards, caving
in all round. (Sec

Div. III.)



PLATE XLV





TECHNOLOGY OF POT MAKING (II)

Top picture : the dome-shaped mass of clay is worked near the hole in
the top ; presently the

latter will be closed, and, as this is a small pot, only after that is
the pot beaten, as shown in the

picture below. (See Div. III.)



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 285

and at the same time bringing it up all round into a slanting wall
(see Plate XLIV, bottom). Her left hand works as a rule on the
inside, and her right on the outside of this wall ; gradually
it begins to shape into a semi-spherical dome. On the top of
the dome there is a hole, through which the woman thrusts
her left hand, working with it on the inside, of the dome (see
Plate XLV, top). At first the main movements of her hands
were from downward up, flattening out the rolls into thin walls.
The traces of her fingers going up and down on the outside leave
longitudinal furrows (see details on Plate XLV, top).
Towards the end of this stage her hands move round and round,
leaving concentric, horizontal marks on the dome. This is
continued until the pot has assumed a good curvature all round.

It seems almost a miracle to see how, in a relatively short
time, out of this after all brittle material, and with no imple-
ments whatever, a woman will shape a practically faultless
hemisphere, often up to a metre in diameter.

After the required shape has been obtained the woman
takes a small spatula of light-wood into her right hand and she
proceeds to tap the clay gently (see Plate XLV, bottom). This
stage lasts a fairly long time, for big pots about an hour. After
the dome has been sufficiently worked in this way small
pieces of clay are gradually fitted in at the top, closing the
orifice, and the top of the dome is beaten again. In the case
of small pots the beating is done only after the orifice has been
closed. The pot is put with the mat into the sun, where it
remains for a day or two to harden. It is then turned round,
so that its mouth is now uppermost, and its bottom is carefully
placed into a basket. Then, round the rim of the mouth, a
flat strip of clay is placed horizontally, turned towards the
inside, forming a graceful lip Three small lumps of clay are
put 120 distance from each other near the lip as ornaments,
and, with a pointed stick, a design is scratched in round the lip
and sometimes down the outside of the body. In this state
the pot is again left in the sun for some length of time.

After it has sufficiently hardened to be handled with safety,
though it must be done with the utmost care, it is placed on
some dried sticks, mouth downwards, supported by stones put
between the sticks. It is surrounded with twigs and pieces of
wood on its outside, fire is kindled, the sticks below bake it
from the inside, and those from above on the outside. The



286 AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY

final result is a beautiful pot, of a brick red colour when new,
though after several uses it becomes completely black. Its
shape is not quite semi-spherical ; it is rather half an elipsoid,
like the broader half of an egg, cut off in the middle. The
whole gives the feeling of perfection in form and of elegance,
unparalleled in any South Sea pottery, I know (see Plate XL VI)

These pots in Kiriwinian language kuria, are called^by the
Amphlett natives kuyana or va'ega. The biggest specimens are
about a metre across their mouth, and some sixty centimetres
deep ; they are used exclusively for the ceremonial cooking of
mona (see Plate XXXV), and are called kwoylamona (in the
Amphletts : nokunu). The second size kwoylakalagila (in the
Amphletts, nopa'eva) are used for ordinary boiling of yams or
taro. Kwoylugwawaga (Amphletts, nobadala), are used for the
same purposes but are much smaller. An especial size,
kwoylamegwa (Amphletts, nosipoma) are used in sorcery. The
smallest ones, which I do not remember ever having seen in
the Trobriands though there is a Trobriand word for them,
kwoylakekita, are used for everyday cooking in the Amphletts
where they are called va'ega, in the narrower sense of the
word.

I have expatiated on this singular and artistic achievement
of the natives of the Amphletts, because from all points of
view it is important to know the details of a craft so far in
advance of any similar achievement within the Melanesian
region

A few words must now be said about trade in the Amphletts.
The central position of this little archipelago situated between,
on one side, the big, flat, extremely fertile coral islands, which,
however, are deprived of many indispensable, natural
resources ; and on the other, the rich jungle and varied mineral
supplies of the volcanic regions in the d'Entrecasteaux archi-
pelago, indicates on which lines this trade would be likely to
develop. To this natural inequality between them and their
neighbours are added social elements. The Trobrianders are
skilful, industrious, and economically highly organised. In this
respect, even the Dobuans stand on a lower level, and the other
inhabitants of the d'Entrecasteaux much more so.

If we imagine a commercial diagram drawn on the map, we
would first of all notice the export in pottery, radiating from
the Amphletts as its source. In the inverse direction, flowing



AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 287

towards them, would be imports in food such as sago, pigs,
coco-nut, betel-nut, taro and yams. An article very important
in olden days, which had to be imported into the Amphletts,
was the stone for implements coming via the Trobriands from
Woodlark Island. These indeed would be traded on by the
Amphlettans, as all the d'Entrecasteaux relied, for the most
part at least, on the imports from Woodlark, according to
information I obtained in the Amphletts. The Amphlett
islands further depended on the Trobriands for the following
articles : wooden dishes, manufactured in Bwoytalu ; lime-pots
manufactured in several villages of Kuboma ; three-tiered
baskets and folding baskets, made in Luya ; ebony lime
pots and mussel shells, these latter fished mainly by the village
of Kavataria in the lagoon. These articles were paid for, or
matched as presents by the following ones : first of all, of course
the pots ; secondly, turtle-shell earrings, special nose sticks,
red ochre, pummice stone and obsidian, all of these obtainable
locally. Further, the natives of the Amphletts procured on
Fergusson Island, for the Trobrianders, wild banana seeds used
for necklaces, strips of rattan used as belts and for lashing,
feathers of the cassowary and red parrot, used for dancing
decorations, plaited fibre-belts, bamboo and barbed spears.

It may be added that in olden days, the natives in the
Amphletts would not sail freely to all the places on the main
island. Each Amphlett village community had a district on
the mainland, with which they were on friendly terms and with
which they could trade without incurring any danger. Thus,
as said above, only the village of Kwatouto, in the southern-
most inhabited Amphlett island, was free to go unmolested to
the district round Yayawana, from whence they obtained
the pale yellow clay, so excellent for pottery. The natives of
Nabwageta had a few villages eastwards from Yayawana to
deal with, and those of Gumasiia went further East still.
Domdom natives were never great traders or sailors. The
trading conditions in the islands were further complicated by
the constant internal quarrels and warfare between the
districts. Kwatouto and Domdom on the one side, Gumasiia
and Nabwageta on the other were allies, and between these
two factions there was a constant, smouldering hostility,
preventing any development of friendly commercial intercourse,
and breaking out now and then into open warfare. This was



288 AMPHLETTS--SOCIOLOGY

the reason why the villages were all perched on high, inacces-
sible ledges, or like Gumasila, were built so as to be protected
by the sea and reefs from attack.

The influence of the surrounding great districts, that is,
of the Trobriands and of Dobu upon the Amphletts neither was
nor is merely commercial. From the limited linguistic
material collected in the Amphletts, I can only say th^t their
language is related both to that of the Trobriands and of Dobu.
Their social organisation resembles closely that of the Trobri-
anders with the exception of chieftainship, which is lacking in
the Amphletts. In their beliefs as to sorcery, spirits, etc.,
they seem to be more akin to the Dobuans than to the Trobri-
anders. Their canoe magic has come form the Trobriands,
but the art of building their canoes is that of Dobu, which as
we have seen before is also the one adopted by the Trobnanders.
The magic of the Kula, known in the Amphletts, is partly
adopted from the Trobriands, and partly from Dobu. There
is only one indigenous system of magic which originated in the
islands. Long ago there lived a man of the Malasi clan, who
had his abode in the rock of Selawaya, which stands out of the
jungle, above the big village of Gumasila. This man knew the
magic of ayowa, which is the name given to mwasila (Kula
magic) in the language of the Amphletts and of Dobu. Some
people passed near the stone while it was being recited within
it ; they learned it, and handed it over to their descendants.

IV

One more point of importance must be mentioned here, a
point bearing upon the intertribal relations in this district. As
we saw, some Trobriand people remain sometimes on prolonged
visits in the Amphletts. This custom, however, is never
reciprocated, and people from the Amphletts never visit for
any length of time their Northern neighbours. The same
refers to the relations between the Trobriands and the district
of Dobu. In discussing the lists of Kula partners of Kouta'uya
and Toybayoba, I was told about some of their Southern
partners, that they were veyola (maternal kinsmen) of my
informant. On further inquiry it appeared that these people
were emigrants from the Trobriands, who settled down in
Tewara, Sanaroa or the big Dobuan settlements on the North-
West shores of Dawson Straits.



1

i




I




AMPHLETTS SOCIOLOGY 289

When I asked whether, on the contrary, there were any cases
of Dobuans settling in Boyowa, it was emphatically denied that
such a thing could happen. And indeed, in the numerous
genealogical data which I have collected from all over the
district, there is no trace of migration from the South, although
frequent migrations occur within the district and some from
the Marshall Bennett Islands. In general, all these migrations
within the Trobriands show also a marked tendency to move
form North to South. Thus, the most aristocratic sub-clan,
the Tabalu, originated in the Northernmost village of Laba'i.
But now their stronghold is further South in Omarakana, and
the members of the same sub-clan are ruling in Olivilevi, and
Tukwa'ukwa, that is in the middle of the island. Some of
them even migrated as far South as Vakuta, where they
established a feeble imitation of chieftainship, never being able
to subdue the other natives to any extent. Several sub-clans,
now firmly established in the Middle and Southern portions of
the island, trace their descent from the North, and in the
Amphletts there are also a couple of cases of sub-clans immi-
grated from Boyowa.

In contrast to this migration of people from North to
South, we have noted the spread of one of the main cultural
elements, of the canoe, from South to North. We saw how the
nagega, the big, sea-worthy, but heavy and slow canoe has been
superseded by the masawa or tadobu, which spread a few genera-
tions ago, till it arrived at the island of Kitava. It is more
difficult to follow the movements of beliefs But I have reason
to assume that beliefs in sorcery, more especially in the
mulukwausi and tauva'u, move from South to North.

In the next Chapter, we shall return to our Sinaketan
expedition, in order to move them for a short distance along
their route into the first settlements of the Dobu speaking
people These places will suggest a new theme for a lengthy
digression, this time into the mythological subjects and legends
connected with the Kula.



CHAPTER XII

IN TEWARA AND SANAROA MYTHOLOGY OF THE

KULA

I

AT daybreak the party leave the Amphletts. This is the
stage when the parting gifts, the talo'i are given. The clay pots,
the several kinds of produce of the islands and of the Koya,
which had been laid aside the previous day, are now brought
to the canoes (see Plate XLVII). Neither the giver nor the
main receiver, the toliwaga, take much notice of the pro-
ceedings, great nonchalance about give and take being the
correct attitude prescribed by good manners. Children bring
the objects, and the junior members of the crew stow
them away. The general behaviour of the crowds, ashore
and in the canoes, is as unostentatious at this moment of
parting as it was at the arrival. No more farewells than
greetings are spoken or shouted, nor are there any visible or
formal signs of grief, or of hope of meeting again, or of any other
emotions. The busy, self-absorbed crews push off stolidly, step
the mast, set sail, and glide away.

They now approach the broad front of Koyatabu, which
with a favourable wind, they might reach within two hours
or so. They probably sail near enough to get a clear view of the
big trees standing on the edge of the jungle, and of the long
waterfall dividing the mountain's flank right down the middle ;
of the triangular patches under cultivation, covered with the
vine of yams and big leaves of taro. They could also perceive
here and there smoke curling out of the jungle where,
hidden under the trees, there lies a village, composed of a few
miserable huts. Nowadays these villages have come down to
the water's edge, in order to supplement their garden yield with
fish. In olden days they were all high up on the slope, and
their huts hardly ever visible from the sea.



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 291

The inhabitants of these small and ramshackle villages are
shy and timid, though in olden days they would have been
dangerous to the Trobrianders. They speak a language which
differs from that of Dobu and is usually called by the natives
' the Basima talk.' There seem to be about four or five various
languages on the island of Fergusson, besides that of Dobu.
My acquaintance with the Basima natives is very small, due
only to two forced landings in their district. They struck
me as being physically of a different type from the Dobuans,
though this is only an impression. They have got no boats, and
do the little sailing they require on small rafts of three or five
logs tied together. Their houses are smaller and less well-
made than those in Dobu. Further investigation of these
natives would be very interesting, and probably also very
difficult, as is always the case when studying very small com-
munities, living at the same time right out of touch with any
white man.

This land must remain, for the present anyhow, veiled for
ourselves, as it also is for the Trobriand natives. For these,
indeed, the few attempts which they occasionally made to
come into contact with these natives, and the few mishaps
which brought them to their shores, were all far from encourag-
ing in results, and only strengthened the traditional super-
stitious fear of them. Several generations ago, a canoe or two
from Burakwa, in the island of Kayeula, made an exploring trip
to the district of Gabu, lying in a wide bay under the North-
West flank of Koyatabu. The natives of Gabu, receiving them
at first with a show of interest, and pretending to enter into
commercial relations, afterwards fell on them treacherously and
slew the chief Toraya and all his companions. This story has
become famous, and indeed one of the outstanding historical
events of the Trobriands, because Tomakam, the slain chief's
younger brother, went to the Koya of Gabu, and killed the head
man of one of the villages, avenging thus his brother's death.
He then composed a song and a dance which is performed to
this day in Kiriwina, and has indeed one of the finest melodies
in the islands.

This is the verbatim account of the story as it was told to
me by To'uluwa himself, the chief of Omarakana, who at
present ' owns ' this Gumagabu dance, his ancestors having
acquired it from the descendants of Tomakam by a laga



292 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

payment.* It is a commentary to the song, and begins only with
the avenging expedition of Tomakam, which is also the theme
of the song.

THE STORY OF GUMAGABU

" Tomakam got a new waga. He blew the conch shell
and went to the Koya. He spoke to his mother " (that
is, before leaving), " ' My mother, you remain, I shall
sail. One conch shell you hear, it will be a conch shell of a
necklace/ " (That is, it will be a sign that he has been
successful in getting a good Kula necklace). " ' The
second conch shell will be the conch shell of the dead man ;
the sign that I have already carried out my revenge. I
shall sail, I shall anchor, I shall sleep. The second day I
shall sail, I shall anchor, I shall sleep. The third day I
shall anchor in a village, having already arrived in the
Mountain. The fourth day I shall give pari, the Kinana
(the Southern foreigner) will come, I shall hit him. The
fifth day I shall return. I shall sail fast, till night grows
on the sea. The next day I shall anchor at Burakwa.
You hear the conch shell, you sleep in the house, arise.
One blow you hear of the shell the blow of the bagi
(necklace). Two blows you hear, the blow of the dead
man ! Then the men of Burakwa will say : ' Two conch
shells, two necklaces/ then, you come out of the house,
you speak : ' Men of Burakwa, from one side of the village
and from the other ; indeed you mocked my son,
Tomakam. Your speech was go, carry out thy
vendetta in Gabu. The first conch shell is that of the
necklace, the second conch shell is that of the dead man.
I have spoken ! ' " (Here ends the speech of Tomakam to
his mother.)

" He anchored in the village in the Koya. He told
his younger brother : ' Go, tell the Kinana men these
words : Your friend has a sore leg, well, if we together go
to the canoe he will give the part I ' The younger brother
went and spoke those words to the head-man of the
Kinana : ' Some green coco-nuts, some betel-nut, some
pig, bring this to us and we shall give you pari. Your
arm-shells, your big stone blade, your boar's tusk, your
whale-bone spatula await you in the canoe. The message
for you is that your friend has a sore leg and cannot walk/
Says the Kinana man : ' Well, let us go ! ' "

" He caught a pig, he collected betel-nut, sugar cane,
bananas, necklaces, betel-pod, he said : ' Well, let us go

* See Chapter VI, Division VI.



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 293

together to the canoe/ Pu'u he gives the necklace ; pu'u,
the pig; then he gave the coco-nut, the betel-nut, the sugar
cane, the bananas. Tomakam lay on one side ; his leg
he wrapped up in a white, soft pandanus mat. Before he
had spoken to his younger brother " : (i.e., he gave him this
instruction also, when he sent him to meet the people of
Gabu) : " ' You all come with the Kinana man. Do not
remain in the village/ Then " (after the first gifts were
exchanged) " the Kinana man stood up in the canoe. His
betel-pod fell down. Spoke Tomakam, addressing the
Kinana man : ' My friend, pick up the betel-pod. It
fell and went down into the canoe/ The Kinana man
bent down, he took the betel-pod. Tomakam saw that the
Kinana bent down, he took an axe, and sitting he made
a stroke at him. He cut off his neck. Then Tomakam
took the head, threw the body into the sea. The head he
stuck on a stick of his canoe. They sailed, they arrived in
their village. He caught a pig, prepared a taro pudding,
cut sugar cane, they had a big feast, he invented this
song."

Such was the story told me by the chief of Omarakana about
the song and dance of Gumagabu, which at that time they were
singing and performing in his village. I have adduced it in
full, in an almost literal translation from the native text, in order
to show it side by side with the song. The narrative thus
reproduced shows characteristic gaps, and it does not cover
even the incidents of the song.

The following is a free translation of the song, which, in its
original native text, is very condensed and impressionistic.
A word or two indicates rather than describes whole scenes and
incidents, and the traditional commentary, handed on in a
native community side by side with the song, is necessary for a
full understanding.

THE GUMAGABU SONG

I
The stranger of Gumagabu sits on the top of the

mountain.

' Go on top of the mountain, the towering mountain. . . /
They cry for Toraya

The stranger of Gumagabu sits on the slope of the

mountain.
-The fringe of small clouds lifts above Boyowa ;



The mother cries for Toraya-



294 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

' I shall take my revenge.'
The mother cries for Toraya.

II

Our mother, Dibwaruna, dreams on the mat.
She dreams about the killing.
' Revenge the wailing ;
Anchor ; hit the Gabu strangers ! '

The stranger comes out ;

The chief gives him the pari ;

1 I shall give you the doga ;

Bring me things from the mountain to the canoe ! '

III

We exchange our vaygu'a ;

The rumour of my arrival spreads through the Koya
We talk and talk.
He bends and is killed.
His companions run away ;
His body is thrown into the sea ;
The companions of the Kinana run away,
We sail home.

IV

Next day, the sea foams up,
The chief's canoe stops on the reef ;
The storm approaches ;
The chief is afraid of drowning.
The conch shell is blown :
It sounds in the mountain.
They all weep on the reef.

V

They paddle in the chief's canoe ;
They circle round the point of Bewara.
' I have hung my basket.
I have met him.'
So cries the chief,
So cries repeatedly the chief.

VI

Women in festive decoration
Walk on the beach.
Nawaruva puts on her turtle rings ;
She puts on her lulugau skirt.
In the village of my fathers, in Burakwa
There is plenty of food ;
Plenty is brought in for distribution.



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 295

The character of this song is extremely elliptic, one might
even say futuristic, since several scenes are crowded simul-
taneously into the picture. In the first strophe we see the
Kinana, by which word all the tribesmen from the d'Entrecas-
teaux Archipelago are designated in Boyowa, on the top of his
Mountain in Gabu. Immediately afterwards, we are informed
of the intentions of Tomakam to ascend the mountain, while
the women cry for Toraya, for the slain chief probably his
kinswomen and widows. The next picture again spans over
the wide seas, and on the one shore we see the Gabuan sitting on
the slopes of his hill and far away on the other, under the
fringe of small clouds lifting above Boyowa, the mother cries
for her son, the murdered chief. Tomakam takes a resolve,
' I shall take my revenge/ hearing her cry.

In the second strophe, the mother dreams about the
expedition ; the words about revenge to be taken on the Gabu
men and the directions to anchor and hit him are probably
taken from her dream. Then suddenly we are transported
right across to the mountain, the expedition having arrived
there already. The strangers, the Kinana are coming down to
the canoe, and we assist at the words spoken between them
and the people of Buakwa.

Then in the third strophe, we arrive at the culminating
scene of the drama ; even here, however, the hero, who is also
his own bard, could not help introducing a few boastful words
about his renown resounding in the Koya. In a few words the
tragedy is described : the Kinana bends down, is killed, and
his body is thrown into the water. About his head -we hear
nothing in this verse.

In the next one, a storm overtakes the returning party.
Signals of distress are re-echoed by the mountain, and like
Homeric heroes, our party are not ashamed to weep in fear and
anguish. Somehow they escape, however, and in the next
verse, they are already near their village and Tomakam, their
leader, bursts into a paean of triumph. It is not quite clear
what the allusion to the basket means, whether he keeps there
his Kula trophies or the slain enemy's head ; this latter, in
contradiction to what we heard in the prose story of its being
impaled. The song ends with a description of a feast. The
woman mentioned there is Tomakam's daughter, who puts on
festive attire in order to welcome her father.



296 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

Comparing now the song with the story, we see that they
do not quite tally. In the story, there is the dramatic interest
of the mother's intervention. We gather from it that
Tomakam, goaded by the aspersions of his fellow-villagers,
wishes to make his return as effective as possible. He arranges
the signals of the two conch shell blasts with his mother, and
asks her to harangue the people at the moment of his reinirn.
All this finds no expression in the song. The ruse of the chief's
sore leg is also omitted from there, which, however, does not
mean that the hero was ashamed of it. On the other hand,
the storm described in the song is omitted from the story, and
there is a discrepancy about the head of the Gabu man, and
we do not know whether it really is conveyed in a basket as the
song has it or impaled, as the story relates !

I have adduced in detail the story and the song, because
they are a good illustration of the native's attitude towards
the dangers, and towards the heroic romance of the Koya.
They are also interesting as documents, showing which salient
points would strike the natives' imagination in such a dramatic
occurrence. Both in the story and in the song, we find empha-
sised the motives of social duty, of satisfied self-regard and
ambition ; again, the dangers on the reef, the subterfuge in
killing, finally the festivities on return home. Much that
would interest us in the whole story is omitted, as anyone can
see for himself.

Other stories, though not made illustrious through being set
into a song, are told about the Koya. I met myself an old man
in the island of Vakuta, who, as a boy, had been captured
with a whole partv by a village community of Dobu-speaking
people on Normanby Island. The men and another small boy
of the party were killed and eaten, but some women took pity
on him, and he was spared, to be brought up amongst them.
There is another man, either alive or , recently dead in
Kavataria, who had a similar experience in Fergusson Island.
Another man called Kaypoyla, from the small island of Kuyawa
in the Western Trobriands, was stranded with his crew some-
where in the West of Fergusson Island, but not in the district
where they used to trade. His companions were killed and eaten.
He was taken alive and kept to fatten for a proximate feast.
His host, or rather the host of the feast in which he was going
to furnish the piece de resistence, was away inland, to invite the



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KUI A 297

guests, while the host's wife went for a moment behind the
house, sweeping the ground. Kaypoyla jumped up and ran to
the shore. Being chased by some other men from the settle-
ment, he concealed himself in the branches of a big tree standing
on the beach, and was not found by his pursuers. At night he
came down, took a canoe or a raft, and paddled along the coast.
He used to sleep on shore during the night, and paddle on in
day time. One night he slept among some sago-palms, and,
awakening in the morning, found himself, to his terror, sur-
rounded by Kinana men. What was his joyful surprise after
all, when he recognised among them his friend and Kula
partner, with whom he always used to trade ! After some time,
he was sent back home in his partner's canoe.

Many such stories have a wide currency, and they supply
one of the heroic elements in tribal life, an element which now,
with the establishment of white man's influence, has vanished.
Yet even now the gloomy shores which our party are leaving to
the right, the tall jungle, the deep valleys, the hill-tops darkened
with trailing clouds, all this is a dim mysterious background,
adding to the awe and solemnity of the Kula, though not
entering into it. The sphere of activities of our traders lies at
the foot of the high mountains, there, where a chain of rocks
and islands lies scattered along the coast. Some of them are
passed immediately after leaving Gumasila. Then, after a good
distance, a small rock, called Gurewaya, is met, remarkable for
the taboos associated with it. Close behind it, two islands,
Tewara and Uwama, are separated by a narrow passage, the
mythical straits of Kadimwatu. There* is a village on the
first-mentioned, and the natives of this make gardens on both
islands. The village is not very big ; it may have some sixty to
eighty inhabitants, as it can man three canoes for the Kula. It
has no commercial or industrial importance, but is notable
because of its mythological associations. This island is the
home of the mythological hero, Kasabwaybwayreta, whose
story is one of the most important legends of the Kula. Here
indeed, in Tewara, we are right within the mythological heart
of the Kula. In fact, we entered its legendary area with the
moment the Sinaketan fleet sailed out of the Lagoon into the
deep waters of Pilolu.



298 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

II

Once more we must pause, this time in an attempt to grasp
the natives' mental attitude towards the mythological aspect
of the Kula. Right through this account it has been our
constant endeavour to realise the vision of the world, as it is
reflected in the minds of the natives. The frequent references
to the scenery have not been given only to enliven the narrative,
or even to enable the reader to visualise the setting of the native
customs, I have attempted to show how the scene of his
actions appears actually to the native, to describe his impres-
sions and feelings with regard to it, as I was able to read them
in his folk-lore, in his conversations at home, and in his
behaviour when passing through this scenery itself.

Here we must try to reconstruct the influence of myth upon
this vast landscape, as it colours it, gives it meaning, and
transforms it into something live and familiar. What was a
mere rock, now becomes a personality ; what was a speck on
the horizon becomes a beacon, hallowed by romantic associa-
tions with heroes ; a meaningless configuration of landscape
acquires a significance, obscure no doubt, but full of intense
emotion. Sailing with natives, especially with novices to the
Kula, I often observed how deep was their interest in sections
of landscape impregnated with legendary meaning, how the
elder ones would point and explain, the younger would gaze and
wonder, while the talk was full of mythological names. It is
the addition of the human interest to the natural features,
possessing in themselves less power of appealing to a native
man than to us, which makes the difference for him in looking at
the scenery. A stone hurled by one of the heroes into the sea
after an escaping canoe ; a sea passage broken between two
islands by a magical canoe ; here two people turned into rock ;
there a petrified waga all this makes the landscape represent a
continuous story or else the culminating dramatic incident
of a familiar legend. This power of transforming the land-
scape, the visible environment, is one only of the many influ-
ences which myth exercises upon the general outlook of the
natives. Although here we are studying myth only in its con-
nection with the Kula, even within these narrow limits some of
its broader connections will be apparent, notably its influence
upon sociology, magic and ceremonial.

The question which presents itself first, in trying to grasp



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 299

the native outlook on the subject is : what is myth to the
natives ? How do they conceive and define it ? Have they
any line of demarcation between the mythical and the actual
reality, and if so, how do they draw this line ?

Their folk-lore, that is, the verbal tradition, the store of tales,
legends, and texts handed on by previous generations, is com-
posed of the following classes ; first of all, there is what
the natives call libogwo, ' old talk/ but which we would call
tradition ; secondly, kukwanebu, fairy tales, recited for amuse-
ment, at definite seasons, and relating avowedly untrue events ;
thirdly, wosi, the various songs, and vinavina, ditties, chanted at
play or under other special circumstances ; and last, not least,
megwa or yopa, the magical spells. All these classes are strictly
distinguished from one another by name, function, social
setting, and by certain formal characteristics. This brief
outline of the Boyowan folk-lore in general must suffice here,
as we cannot enter into more details, and the only class which
interests us in the present connection is the first one, that
called libogwo.

This, the ' old talk,' the body of ancient tradition, believed
to be true, consists on the one hand of historical tales, such
as the deeds of past chiefs, exploits in the Koya, stories of
shipwreck, etc. On the other hand, the 'ibogwo class also
contains what the natives call lili'u myths, narratives,
deeply believed by them, held by them in reverence, and
exercising an active influence on their conduct and tribal life.
Now the natives distinguish definitely between myth and
historic account, but this distinction is difficult to formulate,
and cannot be stated but in a somewhat deliberate manner.

First of all, it must be borne in mind, that a native would
not trouble spontaneously to analyse such distinctions and to
put them into words. If an Ethnographer succeeded in making
the problem clear to an intelligent informant (and I have tried
and succeeded in doing this) the native would simply state :

" We all know that the stories about Tudava, about
Kudayuri, about Tokosikuna, are lili'u ; our fathers, our
kadada (our maternal uncles) told us so ; and we always
hear these tales ; we know them well ; we know that there
are no other tales besides them, which are lili'u. Thus,
whenever we hear a story, we know whether it is a
lili'u or not."



300 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

Indeed, whenever a story is told, any native, even a boy,
would be able to say whether this is one of his tribal lili'u or
not. For the other tales, that is the historical ones, they have
no special word, but they would describe the events as happen-
ing among ' humans like ourselves.' Thus tradition, from
which the store of tales is received, hands them on labelled as
lili'u, and the definition of a lili'u, is that it is a story "trans-
mitted with such a label. And even this definition is con-
tained by the facts themselves, and not explicitly stated by the
natives in their current stock of expressions.

For us, however, even this is not sufficient, and we have to
search further, in order to see whether we cannot find other
indices, other characteristic features which differentiate the
world of mythical events from that of real ones. A reflection
which would naturally present itself would be this : " Surely
the natives place their myths in ancient, pre-historic times,
while they put historical events into recent ages ? " There is
some truth in this, in so far as most of the historical events
related by the natives are quite recent, have occurred within
the community where they are told and can be directly con-
nected with people and conditions existing at present, by
memory of living man, by genealogies or other records. On
the other hand, when historical events are told from other
districts, and cannot be directly linked with the present, it
would be erroneous to imagine that the natives place them into
a definite compartment of time different from that of the myth.
For it must be realised that these natives do not conceive of a
past as of a lengthy duration, unrolling itself in successive
stages of time. They have no idea of a long vista of histori-
cal occurrences, narrowing down and dimming as they recede
towards a distant background of legend and myth, which stands
out as something entirely different from the nearer planes.
This view, so characteristic of the naive, historical thinking
among ourselves, is entirely foreign to the natives. Whenever
they speak of some event of the past, they distinguish whether
it happened within their own memory or that of their fathers'
or not. But, once beyond this line of demarcation, all the past
events are placed by them on one plane, and there are no
gradations of ' long ago ' and ' very long ago. 1 Any idea of
epochs in time is absent from their mind ; the past is one vast
storehouse of events, and the line of demarcation between myth



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 301

and history does not coincide with any division into definite
and distinct periods of time. Indeed, I have found very
often that when they told me some story of the past, for
me obviously mythological, they would deem it necessary
to emphasise that this did not happen in their fathers' time
or in their grand-fathers' time, but long ago, and that it is
a lili'u.

Again, they have no idea of what could be called the
evolution of the world or the evolution of society ; that is,
they do not look back towards a series of successive changes,
which happened in nature or in humanity, as we do. We,
in our religious and scientific outlook alike, know that earth
ages and that humanity ages, and we think of both in these
terms ; for them, both are eternally the same, eternally youth-
ful. Thus, in judging the remoteness of traditional events,
they cannot use the co-ordinates of a social setting constantly
in change and divided into epochs. To give a concrete example,
in the myths of Torosipupu and Tolikalaki, we saw them having
the same interest and concerns, engaged in the same type of
fishing, using the same means of locomotion as the present
natives do. The mythical personages of the natives'
legends, as we shall presently see, live in the same houses, eat
the same food, handle the same weapons and implements as
those in use at present. Whereas in any of our historical
stories, legends or myths, we have a whole set of changed
cultural conditions, which allow us to co-ordinate any event
with a certain epoch, and which make us feel that a distant
historical event, and still more, a mythological one, is happening
in a setting of cultural conditions entirely different from those
in which we are living now. In the very telling of the stories
of, let us say, Joan of Arc, Solomon, Achilles, King Arthur, we
have to mention all sorts of things and conditions long since
disappeared from among us, which make even a superficial
and an uneducated listener realise that it is a story of a remote
and different pasL

I have said just now that the mythical personages in the
Trobriand tradition are living the same type of life, under the
same social and cultural conditions as the present natives.
This needs one qualification, and in this we shall find a very
remarkable criterion for a distinction between what is legendary
and what is historical : in the mythical world, although



302 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

surrounding conditions were similar, all sorts of events happened
which do not happen nowadays, and people were endowed with
powers such as present men and their historical ancestors do not
possess. In mythical times, human beings come out of the
ground, they change into animals, and these become people
again ; men and women rejuvenate and slough their skins ;
flying canoes speed through the air, and things are transformed
into stone.

Now this line of demarcation between the world of myth and
that of actual reality the simple difference that in the former
things happen which never occur nowadays is undoubtedly
felt and realised by the natives, though they themselves could
not put it into words. They know quite well that to-day no
one emerges from underground ; that people do not change
into animals, and vice versa ; nor do they give birth to them ;
that present-day canoes do not fly. I had the opportunity of
grasping their mental attitude towards such things by the
following occurrence. The Fijian missionary teacher in
Omarakana was telling them about white man's flying
machines. They inquired from me, whether this was true,
and when I corroborated the Fijian's report and showed them
pictures of aeroplanes in an illustrated paper, they asked me
whether this happened nowadays or whether it were a lili'u. This
circumstance made it clear to me then, that the natives would
have a tendency, when meeting with an extraordinary and to
them supernatural event, either to discard it as untrue, or
relegate it into the regions of the lili'u. This does not mean,
however, that the untrue and the mythical are the same or even
similar to them. Certain stories told to them, they insist on
treating as sasopa (lies), and maintain that they are not lili'u.
For instance, those opposed to missionary teaching will not
accept the view that Biblical stories told to them are a lili'u,
but they reject them as sasopa. Many a time did I hear such a
conservative native arguing thus :

" Our stories about Tudava are true ; this is a lili'u.
If you go to Laba'i you can see the cave in which Tudava
was born, you can see the beach where he played as a boy.
You can see his footmark in a stone at a place in the
Raybwag. But where are the traces of Yesu Keriso ?
Who ever saw any signs of the tales told by the misinari ?
Indeed they are not lili'u."



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 303

To sum up, the distinction between the lili'u and actual
or historical reality is drawn firmly, and there is a definite
cleavage between the two. Prima facie, this distinction is
based on the fact that all myth is labelled as such and known
to be such to all natives. A further distinctive mark of the
world of lili'u lies in the super-normal, supernatural character
of certain events which happen in it. The supernatural is
believed to be true, and this truth is sanctioned by tradition,
and by the various signs and traces left behind by mythical
events, more especially by the magical powers handed on by
the ancestors who lived in times of lili'u. This magical inheri-
tance is no doubt the most palpable link between the present
and the mythical past. But this past must not be imagined to
form a pre-historic, very distant background, something which
preceded a long evolution of mankind. It is rather the past, but
extremely near reality, very much alive and true to the natives.

As I have just said, there is one point on which the cleavage
between myth and present reality, however deep, is bridged
over in native ideas. The extraordinary powers which men
possess in myths are mostly due to their knowledge of magic.
This knowledge is, in many cases, lost, and therefore the powers
of doing these marvellous things are either completely gone,
or else considerably reduced. If the magic could be recovered,
men would fly again in their canoes, they could rejuvenate,
defy ogres, and perform the many heroic deeds which they did
in ancient times. Thus, magic, and the powers conferred by
it, are really the link between mythical tradition and the present
day. Myth has crystallised into magical formulae, and magic in
its turn bears testimony to the authenticity of myth. Often
the main function of myth is to serve as a foundation for a
system of magic, and, wherever magic forms the backbone of an
institution, a myth is also to be found at the base of it. In
this perhaps, lies the greatest sociological importance of myth,
that is, in its action upon institutions through the associated
magic. The sociological point of view and the idea of the
natives coincide here in a remarkable manner. In this book
we see this exemplified in one concrete case, in that of the
relation between the mythology, the magic, and the social
institution of the Kula.

Thus we can define myth as a narrative of events which are
to the native supernatural, in this sense, that he knows well



304 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

that to-day they do not happen. At the same time he believes
deeply that they did happen then. The socially sanctioned
narratives of these events ; the traces which they left on the
surface of the earth ; the magic in which they left behind part
of their supernatural powers, the social institutions which are
associated with the practice of this magic all this brings about
the fact that a myth is for the native a living actuality, though
it has happened long ago and in an order of things when people
were endowed with supernatural powers.

I have said before that the natives do not possess any
historical perspective, that they do not range events except
of course, those of the most recent decades into any successive
stages. They also do not classify their myths into any divisions
with regard to their antiquity. But in looking at their myths,
it becomes at once obvious that they represent events, some of
which must have happened prior to others. For there is a
group of stories describing the origin of humanity, the emerging
of the various social units from underground. Another group
of mythical tales gives accounts of how certain important
institutions were introduced and how certain customs crystal-
lised, Again, there are myths referring to small changes in
culture, or to the introduction of new details and minor custom?.
Broadly speaking, the mythical folk-lore of the Trobrianders
can be divided into three groups referring to three different
strata of events. In order to give a general idea of Trobriand
mythology, it will be good to give a short characterisation of
each of these groups.

i. The Oldest Myths, referring to the origin of human
beings ; to the sociology of the sub-clans and villages ; to the
establishment of permanent relations between this world and
the next. These myths describe events which took place just
at the moment when the earth began to be peopled from
underneath. Humanity existed, somewhere underground, since
people emerged from there on the surface of Boyowa, in full
decoration, equipped with magic, belonging to social divisions,
and obeying definite laws and customs. But beyond this we
know nothing about what they did underground. There is,
however, a series of myths, of which one is attached to every one
of the more important sub-clans, about various ancestors
coming out of the ground, and almost at once, doing some
important deed, which gives a definite character to the sub-clan.



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 305

Certain mythological versions about the nether world belong
also to this series.

2. Kultur myths. Here belong stories about ogres and
their conquerors ; about human beings who established definite
customs and cultural features ; about the origin of certain
institutions. These myths are different from the foregoing
ones, in so far as they refer to a time when humanity was already
established on the surface of the earth, and when all the social
divisions had already assumed a definite character. The main
cycle of myths which belong here, are those of a culture hero,
Tudava, who slays an ogre and thus allows people to live in
Boyowa again, whence they all had fled in fear of being eaten
A story about the origins of cannibalism belongs here also, and
about the origin of garden making.

3. Myths in which figure only ordinary human beings, though
endowed with extraordinary magical powers. These myths
are distinguished from the foregoing ones, by the fact that no
ogres or non-human persons figure in them, and that they
refer to the origin, not of whole aspects of culture, such as
cannibalism or garden-making, but to definite institutions or
definite forms of magic. Here comes the myth about the
origins of sorcery, the myth about the origins of love magic, the
myth of the flying canoe, and finally the several Kula myths.
The line of division between these three categories is, of course,
not a rigid one, and many a myth could be placed in two or
even three of these classes, according to its several features or
episodes. But each myth contains as a rule one main subject,
and if we take only this, there is hardly ever the slightest doubt
as to where it should be placed.

A point which might appear contradictory in superficial
reading is that before, we stressed the fact that the natives had
no idea of change, yet here we spoke of myths about ' origins '
of institutions. It is important to realise that, though natives
do speak about times when humanity was not upon the earth,
of times when there were no gardens, etc., yet all these things
arrive ready-made ; they do not change or evolve. The first
people, who came from underground, came up adorned with the
same trinkets, carrying their lime-pot aoid chewing their betel-
nut. The event, the emergence from the earth was mythical,
that is, such as does not happen now ; but the human beings
and the country which received them were such as exist to-day.



306 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

III

The myths of the Kula are scattered along a section of the
present Kula circuit. Beginning with a place in Eastern
Woodlark Island, the village of Wamwara, the mythological
centres are spread round almost in a semi-circle, right down
to the island of Tewara, where we have left for the present
our party from Sinaketa.

In Wamwara there lived an individual called Gere'u, who,
according to one myth, was the originator of the Kula. In the
island of Digumenu, West of Woodlark Island, Tokosikuna,
another hero of the Kula, had his early home, though he
finished his career in Gumasila, in the Amphletts. Kitava,
the westernmost of the Marshall Bennetts, is the centre of canoe
magic associated with the Kula. It is also the home of
Monikiniki, whose name figures in many formulae of the Kula
magic, though there is no explicit myth about him, except that
he was the first man to practice an important system of
mwasila (Kula magic), probably the most widespread system
of the present day. Further West, in Wawela, we are at the
other end of the Kasabwaybwayreta myth, which starts in
Tewara, and goes over to Wawela in its narrative of events, to
return to Tewara again. This mythological narrative touches
the island of Boyowa at its southernmost point, the passage
Giribwa, which divides it from Vakuta. Almost all myths
have one of their incidents laid in a small island between
Vakuta and the Amphletts, called Gabuwana. One of the
myths leads us to the Amphletts, that of Tokosikuna ; another
has its beginning and end in Tewara. Such is the geography
of the Kula myths on the big sector between Murua and Dobu.

Although I do not know the other half through investi-
gations made on the spot, I have spoken with natives from
those districts, and I think that there are no myths localised
anywhere on the sector Murua (Woodlark Island), Tubetube,
and Dobu. What I am quite certain of, however, is that the
whole of the Trobriands, except the two points mentioned
before, lie outside the mythological area of the Kula. No
Kula stories, associated with any village in the Northern half
of Boyowa exist, nor does any of the mythical heroes of the
other stories ever come to the Northern or Western provinces of
the Trobriands. Such extremely important centres as Sinaketa



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 307

and Oinarakana are never mentioned. This would point, on
the surface of it, to the fact that in olden days, the island of
Boyowa, except its Southern end and the Eastern settlement of
Wawela, either did not enter at all or did not play an important
part in the Kula.

I shall give a somewhat abbreviated account of the various
stories, and then adduce in extenso the one last mentioned,
perhaps the most noteworthy of all the Kula myths, that of
Kasabwaybwayreta, as well as the very important canoe myth,
that of the flying waga of Kudayuri.

The Muruan myth, which I obtained only in a very bald
outline, is localised in the village of Wamwara, at the Eastern
end of the island. A man called Gere'u, of the Lukuba clan,
knew very well the mwasila magic, and wherever he went, all
the valuables were given to him, so that all the others returned
empty-handed. He went to Gawa and Iwa, and as soon as he
appeared, pu-pu went the conch shells, and everybody gave
him the bagi necklaces. He returned to his village, full of
glory and of Kula spoils. Then he went to Du'a'u, and
obtained again an enormous amount of arm-shells. He
settled the direction in which the Kula valuables have to move.
Bagi necklaces have ' to go/ and the am-shells ' to come.'
As this was spoken on Boyowa, ' go ' meant to travel from
Boyowa to Woodlark, ' come ' to travel from Gere'u's village
to Sinaketa. The culture hero Gere'u was finally killed,
through envy of his success in the Kula.

I obtained two versions about the mythological hero,
Tokosikuna of Digumenu. In the first of them, he is repre-
sented as a complete cripple, without hands and feet, who has
to be carried by his two daughters into the canoe. They
sail on a Kula expedition through Iwa, Gawa, through the
Straits of Giribwa to Gumasila. Then they put him on a
platform, where he takes a meal and goes to sleep. They leave
him there and go into a garden which they see on a hill above,
in order to gather some food. On coming back, they find him
dead. On hearing their wailing, an ogre comes out, marries
one of them and adopts the other. As he was very ugly,
however, the girls killed him in an obscene manner, and then
settled in the island. This obviously mutilated and superficial
version does not give us many clues to the native ideas about
the Kula.



308 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

The other version is much more interesting. Tokosikuna,
according to it, is also slightly crippled, lame, very ugly, and
with a pitted skin ; so ugly indeed that he could not marry.
Far North, in the mythical land of Kokopawa, they play a
flute so beautifully that the chief of Digumenu, the village of
Tokosikuna, hears it. He wishes to obtain the flute. Many
men set out, but all fail, and they have to return half* way,
because it is so far. Tokosikuna goes, and, through a mixture
of cunning and daring, he succeeds in getting possession of the
flute, and in returning safely to Digumenu. There, through
magic which one is led to infer he has acquired on his journey,
he changes his appearance, becomes young, smooth-skinned and
beautiful. The guya'u (chief) who is away in his garden, hears
the flute played in his village, and returning there, he sees
Tokosikuna sitting on a high platform, playing the flute and
looking beautiful. " Well," he says, " all my daughters, all
my granddaughters, my nieces and my sisters, you all marry
Tokosikuna ! Your husbands, you leave behind ! You marry
Tokosikuna, for he has brought the flute from the distant
land ! " So Tokosikuna married all the women.

The other men did not take it very well, of course. They
decided to get rid of Tokosikuna by stratagem. They said
" The chief would like to eat giant clam-shell, let us go and
fish it." " And how shall I catch it ? " asks Tokosikuna.
" You put your head, where the clam-shell gapes open." (This
of course would mean death, as the clam-shell would close, and,
if a really big one, would easily cut off his head). Tokosikuna,
however, dived and with his two hands, broke a clam-shell
open, a deed of super-human strength. The others were angry,
and planned another form of revenge. They arranged a shark-
fishing, advising Tokosikuna to catch the fish with his hands.
But he simply strangled the big shark, and put it into the
canoe. Then, he tears asunder a boar's mouth, bringing them
thus to despair. Finally they decide to get rid of him at sea.
They try to kill him first by letting the heavy tree, felled for the
waga, fall on him. But he supports it with his outstretched
arms, and does no harm to himself. At the time of lashing,
his companions wrap some wayaugo (lashing creeper) into a soft
pandanus leaf ; then they persuade him to use pandanus only
for the lashing of his canoe, which he does indeed, deceived by
seeing them use what apparently is the same Then they



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 309

sail, the other men in good, sea-worthy canoes, he in an entirely
unseaworthy one, lashed only with the soft, brittle pandanus leaf.

And here begins the real Kula part of the myth The
expedition arrives at Gawa, where Tokosikuna remains with
his canoe on the beach, while the other men go to the village to
kula. They collect all the smaller armshells of the soulava
type, but the big ones, the bagi, remain in the village, for the
local men are unwilling to give them. Then Tokosikuna starts
for the village after all the others have returned. After a short
while, he arrives from the village, carrying all the bagido'u
bagidudu, and bagiriku that is, all the most valuable types of
spondylus necklaces. The same happens in Iwa and Kitava.
His companions from the other canoes go first and succeed
only in collecting the inferior kinds of valuables. He after-
wards enters the village, and easily obtains the high grades of
necklace, which had been refused to the others. These become
very angry ; in Kitava, they inspect the lashings of his canoe,
and see that they are rotten. " Oh well, to-morrow, Vakuta !
The day after, Gumasila, he will drown in Pilolu." In
Vakuta the same happens as before, and the wrath of his un-
^uccessful companions increases.

They sail and passing the sandbank of Gabula (this is the
Trobriand name for Gabuwana, as the Amphlettans pronounce
it) Tokosikuna eases his helm ; then, as he tries to bring the
canoe up to the wind again, his lashings snap, and the canoe
sinks. He swims in the waves, carrying the basket-full of
valuables in one arm. He calls out to the other canoes :
" Come and take your bagi! I shall get into your waga f "
" You married all our women," they answer, " now, sharks will
cat you ! We shall go to make Kula in Dobu ! " Tokosikuna,
however, swims safely to the point called Kamsareta, in the
island of Domdom. From there he beholds the rock of
Selawaya standing out of the jungle on the eastern slope of
Gumasila. " This is a big rock, I shall go and live there/' and
turning towards the Digumenu canoes, he utters a curse .

" You will get nothing in Dobu but poor necklaces, soulava
of the type of tutumuyuwa and tutuyanabwa. The big bagido'u
will stop with me." He remains in the Amphletts and does not
return to Digumenu. And here ends the myth.

I have given an extensive summary of this myth, including
its first part, which has nothing to do with the Kula, because



310 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

it gives a full character sketch of the hero as a daring sailor and
adventurer. It shows, how Tokosikuna, after his Northern
trip, acquired magic which allowed him to change his ugly and
weak frame into a powerful body with a beautiful appearance.
The first part also contains the reference to his great success
with women, an association between Kula magic and love magic,
which as we shall see, is not without importance. In thi first
part, that is, up to the moment when they start on the Kula,
Tokosikuna appears as a hero, endowed with extraordinary
powers, due to his knowledge of magic.

In this myth, as we see, no events are related through
which the natural appearance of the landscape is changed.
Therefore this myth is typical of what I have called the most
recent stratum of mythology. This is further confirmed by
the circumstance that no allusion is made in it to any origins,
not even to the origins of the mwasila magic. For, as the myth
is at present told and commented upon, all the men who go on
the Kula expedition with our hero, know a system of Kula
magic, the mwasila of Monikiniki. Tokosikuna's superiority
rests with his special beauty magic ; with his capacity to
display enormous strength, and to face with impunity great
dangers ; with his ability to escape from drowning, finally, with
his knowledge of the evil magic, bulubwalata, with which he
prevents his companions from doing successful Kula. This last
point was contained in a commentary upon this myth, given to
me by the man who narrated it. When I speak about the Kula
magic more explicitly further on, the reader will see that the
four points of superiority just mentioned correspond to the
categories into which we have to group the Kula magic, when it
is classified according to its leading ideas, according to the goal
towards which it aims.

One magic Tokosikuna does not know. We see from the
myth that he is ignorant of the nature of the wayugo, the lashing
creeper. He is therefore obviously not a canoe-builder, nor
acquainted with canoe-building magic. This is the point on
which his companions are able to catch him.

Geographically, this myth links Digumenu with the
Amphletts, as also did the previous version of the Tokosikuna
story. The hero, here as there, settles finally in Gumasila, and
the element of migration is contained in both versions. Again,
in the last story, Tokosikuna decides to settle in the Amphletts,



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 311

on seeing the Selawaya rock. If we remember the Gumasilan
legend about the origin of Kula magic, it also refers to the same
rock. I did not obtain the name of the individual who is
believed to have lived on the Selawaya rock, but it obviously is
the same myth, only very mutilated in the Gumasilan version.

IV

Moving Westwards from Digumenu, to which the Tokosi-
kuna myth belongs, the next important centre of Kula magic
is the island of Kitava. With this place, the magical system of
Monikiniki is associated by tradition, though no special story
is told about this individual. A very important myth, on the
other hand, localised in Kitava, is the one which serves as
foundation for canoe magic. I have obtained three indepen-
dent versions of this myth, and they agree substantially. I
shall adduce at length the story as it was told to me by the best
informant, and written down in Kiriwinian, and after that, I
shall show on what points the other versions vary. I shall not
omit from the full account certain tedious repetitions and
obviously inessential details, for they are indispensable for
imparting to the narrative the characteristic flavour of native
folk-lore.

To understand the following account, it is necessary to
realise that Kitava is a raised coral island. Its inland part is
elevated to a height of about three hundred feet. Behind the
flat beach, a steep coral wall rises, and from its summit the land
gently falls towards the central declivity. It is in this central
part that the villages are situated, and it would be quite impossi-
ble to transport a canoe from any village to the beach. Thus,
in Kitava, unlike what happens with some of the Lagoon
villages of Boyowa, the canoes have to be always dug out and
lashed on the beach.

THE MYTH OF THE FLYING CANOE OF KUDAYURI.

" Mokatuboda of the Lukuba clan and his younger
brother Toweyre'i lived in the village of Kudayuri. With
them lived their three sisters Kayguremwo, Na'ukuwakula
and Murumweyri'a. They had all come out from under-
ground in the spot called Labikewo, in Kitava. These
people were the u'ula (foundation, basis, here : first
possessors) of the ligogu and wayugo magic. 1 '



3 i2 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

" All the men of Kitava decided on a great Kula expe-
dition to the Koya. The men of Kumwageya, Kaybutu,
Kabululo and Lalela made their canoes. They scooped out
the inside of the waga, they carved the tabuyo and lagim
(decorated prow boards), they made the budaka (lateral
gunwale planks). They brought the component parts to
the beach, in order to make the yowaga (to put and lash
them together)/'

" The Kudayuri people made their canoe in the village.
Mokatuboda, the head man of the Kudayuri village, ordered
them to do so. They were angry : ' Very heavy canoe.
Who will carry it to the beach ? ' He said : ' No, not so ;
it will be well. I shall just lash my waga in the village/
He refused to move the canoe ; it remained in the village.
The other people pieced their canoe on the beach ; he
pieced it together in the village. They lashed it with the
wayugo creeper on the beach ; he lashed his in the village.
They caulked their canoes on the sea-shore ; he caulked
his in the village. They painted their canoes on the beach
with black ; he blackened his in the village. They made
the youlala (painted red and white) on the beach ; he
made the youlala in the village. They sewed their sail on
the beach ; he did it in the village. They rigged up the
mast and rigging on the beach ; he in the village. After
that, the men of Kitava made tasasoria (trial run) and kabi-
gidoya (visit of ceremonial presentation), but the Kudayuri
canoe did not make either/'

" By and by, all the men of Kitava ordered their women
to prepare the food. The women one day put all the
food, the gugu'a (personal belongings), the pari (presents
and trade goods) into the canoe. The people of Kudayuri
had all these things put into their canoe in the village.
The h&idman of the Kudayuri, Mokatuboda, asked all his
younger brothers, all the members of his crew, to bring
some of their pari, and he performed magic over it, and
made a lilava (magical bundle) of it."

" The people of other villages went to the beach ; each
canoe was manned by its usagelu (members of the crew).
The man of Kudayuri ordered his crew to man his canoe
in the village. They of the other villages stepped the mast
on the shore ; he stepped the mast in the village. They
prepared the rigging on the shore ; he prepared the
rigging in the village. They hoisted the sail on the sea ;
he spoke ' May our sail be hoisted/ and his companions
hoisted th$ sail. He spoke : ' Sit in your places, every
man ! ' He went into the house, he took his ligogu (adze),



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 313

he took some coco-nut oil, he took a staff. He spoke magic
over the adze, over the coco-nut oil. He came out of the
house, he approached the canoe. A small dog of his called
Tokulubweydoga jumped into the canoe.* He spoke
to his crew : ' Pull up the sail higher/ They pulled at
the halyard. He rubbed the staff with the coco-nut oil.
He knocked the canoe's skids with the staff. Then he
struck with his ligogu the u'ula of his canoe and the
dobwana (that is, both ends of the canoe). He jumped into
the canoe, sat down, and the canoe flew ! "

" A rock stood before it. It pierced the rock in two, and
flew through it. He bent down, he looked ; his com-
panions (that is, the other canoes of Kitava) sailed on the
sea. He spoke to his younger brothers, (that is to his
relatives in the canoe) : ' Bail out the water, pour it out ! '
Those who sailed on the earth thought it was rain, this
water which they poured out from above."

" They (the other canoes) sailed to Giribwa, they saw
a canoe anchored there. They said : ' Is that the canoe
from Dobu ? ' They thought so, they wanted to lebu
(take by force, but not necessarily as a hostile act) the
buna (big cowrie) shells of the Dobu people. Then they
saw the dog walking on the beach. They said : ' Wi-i-i !
This is Tokulubweydoga, the dog of the Lukuba ! This
canoe they lashed in the village, in the village of Kudayuri.
Which way did it come ? It was anchored in the jungle ! '
They approached the people of Kudayuri, they spoke :
' Which way did you come ? ' ' Oh, I came together with
you (the same way).' ' It rained. Did it rain over you ? '
' Oh yes, it has rained over me/ "

" Next day, they (the men of the other villages of
Kitava), sailed to Vakuta and went ashore. They made
their Kula. The next day they sailed, and he (Mokatu-
boda) remained in Vakuta. When they disappeared on the
sea, his canoe flew. He flew from Vakuta. When they
(the other crews) arrived in Gumasila, he was there on the
promontory of Lububuyama. They said : ' This canoe
is like the canoe of our companions/ and the dog came out.
' This is the dog of the Lukuba clan of Kudayuri/ They
asked him again which way he came ; he said he came
the same way as they. They made the Kula in Gumasila.
He said : ' You sail first, I shall sail later on/ They were
astonished * ' Which way does he sail ? ' They slept
in Gumasila."

* The reader will note that this is the same name, which another
mythical
log bore, also of the Lukuba clan as all dogs are, the one namely from
whom
he kayga'u magic is traced. Cf. Chapter X, Division V.



3 i4 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

" Next day they sailed to Tewara, they arrived at the
beach of Kadimwatu. They saw his canoe anchored
there, the dog came out and ran along the beach. They
spoke to the Kudayuri men, ' How did you come here ? *
' We came with you, the same way we came/ They made
Kula in Tewara. Next day, they sailed to Bwayowa
(village in Dobu district) He flew, and anchored at the
beach Sarubwoyna. They arrived there, they saw : k ' Oh,
look at the canoe, are these fishermen from Dobu ? ' The
dog came out. They recognised the dog. They asked
him (Mokatuboda) which way he came : ' I came with
you, I anchored here/ They went to the village of
Bwayowa, they made Kula in the village, they loaded their
canoes. They received presents from the Dobu people
at parting, and the Kitava men sailed on the return
journey. They sailed first, and he flew through the air/ "

On the return journey, at every stage, they see him
first, they ask him which way he went, and he gives them
some sort of answer as the above ones.

" From Giribwa they sailed to Kitava ; he remained in
Giribwa ; he flew from Giribwa ; he went to Kitava, to
the beach. His gugu'a (personal belongings) were being
carried to the village when his companions came paddling
along, and saw his canoe anchored and the dog running on
the beach. All the other men were very angry, because
his canoe flew/'

" They remained in Kitava. Next year, they made their
gardens, all the men of Kitava. The sun was very strong,
there was no rain at all. The sun burned their gardens.
This man (the head man of Kudayuri, Mokatuboda) went
into the garden. He remained there, he made a
bulubwalata (evil magic) of the rain. A small cloud came
and rained on his garden only, and their gardens the sun
burned. They (the other men of Kitava) went and saw
their gardens. They arrived there, they saw all was
dead, already the sun had burned them. They went to
his garden and it was all wet : yams, taitu, taro, all was fine.
They spoke : ' Let us kill him so that he might die. We
shall then speak magic over the clouds, and it will rain
over our gardens/ "

" The real, keen magic, the Kudayuri man (i.e.
Mokatuboda) did not give to them ; he gave them not
the magic of the ligogu (adze) ; he gave them not the magic
of kunisalili (rain magic) ; he gave them not the magic
of the wayugo (lashing creeper), of the coco-nut oil and
staff. Toweyre'i, his younger brother, thought that he



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 315

had already received the magic, but he was mistaken.
His elder brother gave him only part of the magic, the real
one he kept back/'

" They came (to Mokatuboda, the head man of
Kudayuri), he sat in his village. His brothers and maternal
nephews sharpened the spear, they hit him, he died."

" Next year, they decided to make a big Kula expe-
dition, to Dobu. The old waga, cut and lashed by
Mokatuboda, was no more good, the lashings had perished.
Then Toweyre'i, the younger brother, cut a new one to
replace the old. The people of Kumwageya and Lalela
(the other villages in Kitava) heard that Toweyre'i cuts
his waga, and they also cut theirs. They pieced and lashed
their canoes on the beach. Toweyre'i did it in the village."

Here the native narrative enumerates every detail of
canoe making, drawing the contrast between the pro-
ceedings on the beach of the other Kitavans, and of
Toweyre'i building the canoe in the village of Kudayuri.
It is an exact repetition of what was said at the beginning,
when Mokatuboda was building his canoe, and I shall not
adduce it here. The narrative arrives at the critical
moment when all the members of the crew are seated in
the canoe ready for the flight.

" Toweyre'i went into the house and made magic over
the adze and the coco-nut oil. He came out, smeared a
staff with the oil, knocked the skids of the canoe. He
then did as his elder brother did. He struck both ends
of the canoe with the adze. He jumped into the canoe
and sat down ; but the waga did not fly. Toweyre'i went
into the house and cried for his elder brother, whom he
had slain ; he had killed him without knowing his magic.
The people of Kumwageya and Lalela went to Dobu and
made their Kula. The people of Kudayuri remained in
the village."

" The three sisters were very angry with Toweyre'i, for
he killed the elder brother and did not learn his magic.
They themselves had learnt the ligogu, the wayugo magic ;
they had it already in their lopoula (belly). They could
fly through the air, they were yoyova. In Kitava they
lived on the top of Botigale'a hill. They said : ' Let us
leave Kitava and fly away.' They flew through the air.
One of them, Na'ukuwakula, flew to the West, pierced
through the sea-passage Dikuwa'i (somewhere in the
Western Trobriands) ; she arrived at Simsim (one of the
Lousan^ay). There she turned into a stone, she stands
in the sea."



3i6 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

" The two others flew first (due West) to the beach of
Yalumugwa (on the Eastern shore of Boyowa). There
they tried to pierce the coral rock named Yakayba it
was too hard. They went (further South on the Eastern
shore) through the sea-passage of Vilasasa and tried to
pierce the rock Kuyaluya they couldn't. They went
(further South) and tried to pierce the rock of Kawakari
it was too hard. They went (further South). They tried
to pierce the rocks at Giribwa. They succeeded. That
is why there is now a sea passage at Giribwa (the straits
dividing the main island of Boyowa from the island of
Vakuta)."

" They flew (further South) towards Dobu. They
came to the island of Tewara. They came to the beach of
Kadimwatu and pierced it. This is where the straits of
Kadimwatu are now between the islands of Tewara and
Uwania. They went to Dobu ; they travelled further
South, to the promontory of Saramwa (near Dobu island).
They spoke : ' Shall we go round the point or pierce right
through ? ' They went round the point. They met
another obstacle and pierced it through, making the
Straits of Loma (at the Western end of Dawson Straits).
They came back, they returned and settled near Tewara.
They turned into stones ; they stand in the sea. One
of them cast her eyes on Dobu, this is Murumweyri'a ;
she eats men, and the Dobuans are cannibals. The other
one, Kayguremwo, does not eat men, and her face is
turned towards Boyowa. The people of Boyowa do not
eat man."

This story is extremely clear in its general outline, and
very dramatic, and all its incidents and developments have a
high degree of consistency and psychological motivation. It
is perhaps the most telling of all myths from this part of the
world which came under my notice. It is also a good example
of what has been said before in Division II. Namely that the
identical conditions, sociological and cultural, which obtain at
the present time, are also reflected in mythical narratives.
The only exception to this is the much higher efficiency of magic
found in the world of myth. The tale of Kudayuri, on the one
hand, describes minutely the sociological conditions of the
heroes, their occupations and concerns, and all these do not
differ at all from the present ones. On the other hand, it shows
the hero endowed with a truly super-normal power through his
magic of canoe building and of rain making. Nor could it be



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 317

more convincingly stated than is done in this narrative that the
full knowledge of the right magic was solely responsible for these
supernatural powers.

In its enumeration of the various details of tribal life, this
myth is truly a fount of ethnographic information. Its state-
ments, when made complete and explicit by native comment,
contain a good deal of what is to be known about the sociology,
technology and organisation of canoe-making, sailing, and of
the Kula. If followed up into detail, the incidents of this
narrative make us acquainted for instance, with the division
into clans ; with the origin and local character of these latter ;
with ownership of magic and its association with the totemic
group. In almost all mythological narratives of the Trobri-
ands, the clan, the sub-clan and the locality of the heroes are
stated. In the above version, we see that the heroes have
emerged at a certain spot, and that they themselves came
from underground ; that is, that they are the first representa-
tives of their totemic sub-clan on the surface of the earth. In
the two other versions, this last point was not explicitly stated,
though I think it is implied in the incidents of this myth, for
obviously the flying canoe is built for the first time, as it is for
the last. In other versions, I was told that the hole from which
this sub-clan emerged is also called Kudayuri, and that the
name of their magical system is Viluvayaba.

Passing to the following part of the tale, we find in it a
description of canoe-building, and this was given to me in the
same detailed manner in all three versions. Here again, if we
would substitute for the short sentences a fuller account of
what happens, such as could be elicited from any intelligent
native informant ; if for each word describing the stages of
canoe-building we insert a full description of the processes for
which these words stand we would have in this myth an
almost complete, ethnographic account of canoe-building.
We would see the canoe pieced together, lashed, caulked,
painted, rigged out, provided with a sail till it lies ready to be
launched. Besides the successive enumeration of technical
stages, we have in this myth a clear picture of the role played
by the headman, who is the nominal owner of the canoe, and
who speaks of it as his canoe and at the same time directs its
building ; overrides the wishes of others, and is responsible
for the magic. We have even the mention of the tasasoria and



3i8 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

kabigidoya, and several allusions to the Kula expedition of
which the canoe-building in this myth is represented as a
preliminary stage. The frequent, tedious repetitions and
enumerations of customary sequences of events, interesting as
data of folk-lore, are not less valuable as ethnographic docu-
ments, and as illustrations of the natives' attitude towards
custom. Incidentally, this feature of native mythology
shows that the task of serving as ethnographic informant is
not so foreign and difficult to a native as might at first appear.
He is quite used to recite one after the other the various stages
of customary proceedings in his own narratives, and he does
it with an almost pedantic accuracy and completeness, and it
is an easy task for him to transfer these qualities to the accounts,
which he is called upon to make in the service of ethnography.

The dramatic effect of the climax of the story, of the unex-
pected flight of the canoe is clearly brought out in the narrative,
and it was given to me in all its three versions. In all three,
the members of the crew are made to pass through the numerous
preparatory stages of sailing. And the parallel drawn between
the reasonable proceedings of their fellows on the beach, and the
absurd manner in which they are made to get ready in the
middle of the village, some few hundred feet above the sea,
makes the tension more palpable and the sudden denouement
more effective. In all accounts of this myth, the magic is also
performed just before the flight, and its performance is explicitly
mentioned and included as an important episode in the story.

The incident of bailing some water out of a canoe which
never touched the sea, seems to show some inconsistency. If
we remember, however, that water is poured into a canoe,
while it is built, in order to prevent its drying and consequently
its shrinking, cracking and warping, the inconsistency and flaw
in the narrative disappear. I may add that the bailing and
rain incident is contained in one of my three versions only.

The episode of the dog is more significant and more impor-
tant to the natives, and is mentioned in all three versions. The
dog is the animal associated with the Lukuba clan ; that is, the
natives will say that the dog is a Lukuba, as the pig is a
Malasi, and the igwana a Lukulabuta. In several stories about
the origin and relative rank of the clans, each of them is repre-
sented by its totemic animal. Thus the igwana is the first to
emerge from underground. Hence the Lukulabuta are the



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 319

oldest clan. The dog and the pig dispute with one another the
priority of rank, the dog basing his claims on his earlier appear-
ance on the earth, for he followed immediately the igwana ,
the pig, asserting himself in virtue of not eating unclean things.
The pig won the day, and therefore the Malasi clan are con-
sidered to be the clan of the highest rank, though this is really
reached only in one of its sub-clans, that of the Tabalu of
Omarakana. The incident of the lebu (taking by force) of some
ornaments from the Dobuans refers to the custom of using
friendly violence in certain Kula transactions (see chapter XIV,
Division II).

In the second part of the story, we find the hero endowed
again with magical powers far superior to those of the present-
day wizards. They can make rain, or stay the clouds, it is
true, but he is able to create a small cloud which pours copious
rain over his own gardens, and leaves the others to be shrivelled
up by the sun. This part of the narrative does not touch the
canoe problem, and it is of interest to us only in so far as it
again shows what appears to the natives the real source of their
hero's supernatural powers.

The motives which lead to the killing of Mokatuboda are not
stated explicitly in the narrative. No myth as a rule enters
very much into the subjective side of its events. But, from the
lengthy, indeed wearisome repetition of how the other Kitava
men constantly find the Kudayuri canoe outrunning them, how
they are astonished and angry, it is clear that his success must
have made many enemies to Mokatuboda. What is not so
easily explained, is the fact that he is killed, not by the other
Kitava men, but by his own kinsmen. One of the versions
mentions his brothers and his sister's sons as the slayers.
One of them states that the people of Kitava ask Toweyre'i, the
younger brother, whether he has already acquired the flying
magic and the rain magic, and only after an affirmative is
received, is Mokatuboda killed by his younger brother, in
connivance with the other people. An interesting variant is
added to this version, according to which Toweyre'i kills his
elder brother in the garden. He then comes back to the village
and instructs and admonishes Mokatuboda's children to take
the body, to give it the mortuary attentions, to prepare for the
burial. Then he himself arranges the sagali, the big mortuary
distribution of food. In this we find an interesting document



320 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

of native custom and ideas. Toweyre'i, in spite of having
killed his brother, is still the man who has to arrange the
mortuary proceedings, act as master of ceremonies, and pay
for the functions performed in them by others. He personally
may neither touch the corpse, nor do any act of mourning or
burial ; nevertheless he, as the nearest of kin of the dead man,
is the bereaved one, is the one from whom a limb has been
severed, so to speak. A man whose brother has died cannot
mourn any more than he could mourn for himself.* To return
to the motives of killing, as this was done according to all
accounts by Mokatuboda's own kinsmen, with the approval of
the other men, envy, ambition, the desire to succeed the head-
man in his dignity, must have been mixed with spite against
him. In fact, we see that Toweyre'i proceeds confidently to
perform the magic, and bursts out into wailing only after he has
discovered he has been duped.

Now we come to one of the most remarkable incidents of the
whole myth, that namely which brings into connection the
yoyova, or the flying witches, with the flying canoe, and with
such speed of a canoe, as is imparted to it by magic. In
the spells of swiftness there are frequent allusions to the yoyova
or mulukwausi. This can be clearly seen in the spell of the
wayugo, already adduced (Chapter V, Division III), and
which is still to be analysed linguistically (Chapter XVIII,
Divisions II to IV). The kariyala (magical portent, cf.
Chapter XVII, Division VII) of the wayugo spell consists in
shooting stars, that is, when a wayugo rite is performed at night
over the creeper coils, there will be stars falling in the sky.
And again, when a magician, knowing this system of magic,
dies, shooting stars will be seen. Now, as we have seen
(Chapter X, Division I), falling stars are mulukwausi in their
flight.

In this story of the Kudayuri we see the mythological
ground for this association. The same magic which allowed
the canoe to sail through the air gives the three sisters of
Kudayuri their power of being mulukwausi, and of flying. In
this myth they are also endowed with the power of cleaving
the rocks, a power which they share with the canoe, which

* Cf . Professor C. G. Seligman, " The Melanesians," Chapter LIV, "
Burial
and Mourning Ceremonies " (among the natives of the Trobriand Islands,
of Woodlark and the Marshall Bennetts).



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 321

cleft a rock immediately after leaving the village. The three
sisters cleave rocks and pierce the land in several places. My
native commentators assured me that when the canoe first
visited Giribwa and Kadimwatu at the beginning of this myth,
the land was still joined at these places and there was a beach
at each of them. The mulukwausi tried to pierce Boyowa at
several spots along the Eastern coast, but succeeded only at
Giribwa. The myth thus has the archaic stamp of referring
to deep changes in natural features. The two sisters, who fly
to the South return from the furthest point and settle near
Tewara, in which there is some analogy to several other myths
in which heroes from the Marshall Bennett Islands settle down
somewhere between the Amphletts and Dobu. One of them
turns her eyes northwards towards the non-cannibal people of
Boyowa and she is said to be averse to cannibalism. Probably
this is a sort of mythological explanation of why the Boyowan
people do not eat men and the Dobuans do, an explanation to
which there is an analogy in another myth shortly to be
adduced, that of Atu'a'ine and Aturamo'a, and a better one still
in a myth about the origins of cannibalism, which I cannot
quote here.

In all these traditions, so far, the heroes belonged to the
clan of Lukuba. To it belong Gere'u, Tokosikuna, the
Kudayuri family and their dog, and also the dog, Tokulubway-
doga of the myth told in Chapter X, Division V. I may add
that, in some legends told about the origin of humanity, this
clan emerges first from underground and in some it
emerges second in time, but as the clan of highest rank,
though in this it has to yield afterwards to the Malasi. The
main Kultur-hero of Kiriwina, the ogre-slayer Tudava, belongs,
also to the clan of Lukuba, There is even a historic fact, which
agrees with this mythological primacy, and subsequent eclipse.
The Lukuba were, some six or seven generations ago, the
leading clan in Vakuta, and then they had to surrender the
chieftainship of this place to the Malasi clan, when the sub-clan
of the Tabalu, the Malasi chiefs of the highest rank in Kiriwina,
migrated South, and settled down in Vakuta. In the myths
quoted here, the Lukuba are leading canoe-builders, sailors,
and adventurers, that is with one exception, that of Tokosikuna,
who, though excelling in all other respects, knows nothing of
canoe construction.



322 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA



Let us now proceed to the last named mythological centre,
and taking a very big step from the Marshall Bennetts, return
to Tewara, and to its myth of the origin of the Kula. I shall
tell this myth in a translation, closely following the original
account, obtained in Kiriwinian from an informant at Obu^aku.
I had an opportunity of checking and amending his narrative,
by the information obtained from a native of Sanaro'a in
pidgin English.

THE STORY OF KASABWAYBWAYRETA AND
GUMAKARAKEDAKEDA

" Kasabwaybwayreta lived in Tewara. He heard the
renown of a soulava (spondylus necklace) which was lying
(kept) in Wawela. Its name was Gumakarakedakeda.
He said to his children : ' Let us go to Wawela, make Kula
to get this soulava.' He put into his canoe unripe coco-nut,
undeveloped betel-nut, green bananas."

" They went to Wawela ; they anchored in Wawela.
His sons went ashore, they went to obtain Gumakara-
kedakeda. He remained in the canoe. His son made
offering of food, they (the Wawela people) refused.
Kasabwaybwayreta spoke a charm over the betel-nut :
it yellowed (became ripe) ; he spoke the charm over the
coco-nut : its soft kernel swelled ; he charmed the
bananas : they ripened. He took off his hajr, his gray
hair ; his wrinkled skin, it remained in the canoe. He rose,
he went, he gave a pokala offering of food, he received the
valuable necklace as Kula gift, for he was already a
beautiful man. He went, he put it down, he thrust it into
his hair. He came to the canoe, he took his covering
(the sloughed skin) ; he donned the wrinkles, the gray hairs,
he remained."

" His sons arrived, they took their places in the canoe,
they sailed to Giribwa. They cooked their food. He
called his grandson ; ' Oh, my grandson, come here, look
for my lice. 1 The grandson came there, stepped near
him. Kasabwaybwayreta spoke, telling him : ' My
grandson, catch my lice in the middle (of my hair)/ His
grandson parted his hair ; he saw the valuable necklace,
Gumakarakedakeda remaining there in the hair of
Kasabwaybwayreta. ' Ee. . .'he spoke to his father,
telling him, ' My father, Kasabwaybwayreta already
obtained Gumakarakedakeda/ ' O, no, he did not



MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA 323

obtain it ! I am a chief, I am beautiful, I have not
obtained that valuable. Indeed, would this wrinkled old
man have obtained the necklace ? No, indeed ! '
* Truly, my father, he has obtained it already. I have
seen it ; already it remains in his hair ! ' "

" All the water- vessels are empty already ; the son
went into the canoe, spilled the water so that it ran out,
and only the empty vessels (made of coco-nut shell)
remained. Later on they sailed, they went to an island,
Gabula (Gabuwana in Amphlettan and in Dobuan). This
man, Kasabwaybwayreta wanted water, and spoke to his
son. This man picked up the water vessels no, they were
all empty. They went on the beach of Gabula, the
usagelu (members of the crew) dug out their water-holes
(in the beach). This man remained in the canoe and
called out : ' O my grandson, bring me here my water, go
there and dip out my water ! ' The grandson said : ' No,
come here and dip out (yourself) ! ' Later on, they dipped
out water, they finished, and Kasabwaybwayreta came.
They muddied the water, it was muddy. He sat down, he
waited/'

" They went, they sailed in the canoe. Kasabwaybway-
reta called out, ' O, my son, why do you cast me off ? '
Spoke the son : ' I think you have obtained Gumakara-
kedakeda ! ' ' O, by and by, my son, when we arrive in
the village, I shall give it to you ! ' ' O, no ! Well, you
remain, I shall go ! " He takes a stone, a binabina one,
this man Kasabwaybwayreta, he throws so that he might
make a hole in the canoe, and the men might go into the
sea. No ! they sped away, they went, this stone stands
up, it has made an island in the sea. They went, they
anchored in Tewara. They (the villagers) asked : ' And
where is Kasabwaybwayreta ? ' ' O, his son got angry
with him, already he had obtained Gumakarakedakeda ! "

' 'Well, then, this man Kasabwaybwayreta remained
in the island Gabula. He saw Tokom'mwawa (evening
star) approach. He spoke : ' My friend, come here, let
me just enter into your canoe ! ' O no, I shall go to
another place/ There came Kaylateku (Sirius). He
asked him : ' Let me go with you/ He refused. There
came Kayyousi (Southern Cross). Kasabwaybwayreta
wanted to go with him. He refused. There came
Umnakayva'u, (Alpha and Beta Centauri). He wanted a
place in his canoe. He refused. There came Kibi (three
stars widely distant, forming no constellation in our
sky-chart). He also refused to take Kasabwaybwayreta.



324 MYTHOLOGY OF THE KULA

There came Uluwa (the Pleiades). Kasabwaybwayreta
asked him to take him. Uluwa said : ' You wait, you
look out, there will come Kaykiyadiga, he will take
you. 1 There came Kaykiyadiga (the three central stars
in Orion's belt). Kasabwaybwayreta asked him : ' My
friend, which way will you go ? ' 'I shall come down on
top of Taryebutu mountain. I shall go down, I shall go
away/ ' Oh, my friend, come here, let me just sit down
(on you).' ' Oh come, see on one side there is a va'i
(stingaree) on the other side, there is the lo'u (a fish with
poisonous spikes) ; you sit in the middle, it will be well !
Where is your village ? ' ' My village is Tewara.' ' What
stands in the site of your village ? ' 'In the site of my
village, there stands a busa tree ! "

" They went there. Already the village of Kasabway-
bwayreta is straight below them. He charmed this busa
tree, it arose, it went straight up into the skies.
Kasabwaybwayreta changed place (from Orion's belt on to
the tree), he sat on the busa tree. He spoke : ' Oh, my
friend, break asunder this necklace. Part of it, I shall
give you ; part of it, I shall carry to Tewara. 1 He gave
part of it to his companion. This busa tree came down
to the ground. He was angry because his son left him
behind. He went underground inside. He there remained
for a long time. The dogs came there, and they dug and
dug. They dug him out. He came out on top, he became
a tauv'a'u (evil spirit, see Chapter II, Division VII.) He
hits human beings. That is why in Tewara the village is
that of sorcerers and witches, because of Kasabwaybway-
reta."

To make this somewhat obscure narrative clearer, a short
commentary is necessary. The first part tells of a Kula expe-
dition in which the hero, his son, his grandson, and some
other members of the crew take part. His son takes with him
good, fresh food, to give as solicitory offering and thus tempt
his partners to present him with the famous necklace. The son
is a young man and also a chief of renown. The later stages are
clearer ; by means of magic, the hero changes himself into a
young, attractive man, and makes his own unripe, bad fruit
into splendid gifts to be offered to his partner. He obtains
the prize without difficulty, and hides it in his hair. Then, in
a moment of weakness, and for motives which it is impossible