ON THE BEACH OF SARUBWOYNA
I
When the Sinaketan fleet passes the two mythical rocks of Atu'a'ine
and Aturamo'a, the final goal of the expedition has been already
reached. For before them, there stretch in a wide expanse the
N.W. shores of Dawson Straits, where on the wide beach, there are
scattered the villages of Bwayowa, Tu'utauna and Deyde'i, at the foot
of Koyava'u. This latter, the Boyowans call Koyaviguna--the final
mountain. Immediately behind the two rocks, there stretches the beach
of Sarubwoyna, its clean, white sand edging the shallow curve of a
small bay. This is the place where the crews, nearing their final
destination, have to make a halt, to prepare themselves magically for
approaching their partners in Dobu. As, on their start from Sinaketa,
they stopped for some time on Muwa and there performed the last act
of their inaugurating rites and ceremonies, so in the same manner
this beach is the place where they once more muster their forces
after the journey has been accomplished.
This is the place which was already mentioned in Chapter II when, in
giving a description of the district, we imagined ourselves passing
near this beach and meeting there a large fleet of canoes, whose
crews were engaged in some mysterious activities. I said there that
up to a hundred canoes might have been seen anchored near the beach,
and indeed, on a big uvalaku expedition in olden days such a figure
could easily have been reached. For, on a rough estimate, Sinaketa
could have produced some twenty canoes; the Vakutans could have joined
them with about forty; the Amphlettans with another twenty; and twenty
more would have followed from Tewara, Siyawawa, and Sanaroa. Some of
them would indeed not have taken part in the Kula, but have followed
only out of sheer curiosity, just as in the big uvalaku expedition,
which I accompanied in 1918 from Dobu to Sinaketa, the sixty Dobuan
canoes were joined by some twelve canoes from the Amphletts and about
as many again from Vakuta.
The Sinaketans having arrived at this beach, now stop, moor the canoes
near the shore, adorn their persons, and perform a whole series of
magical rites. Within a short space of time they crowd in a great
number of short rites, accompanied by formulæ as a rule not very
long. In fact, from the moment they have arrived at Sarubwoyna up to
their entry into the village, they do not cease doing one magical act
or another, and the toliwaga never stop incessantly muttering their
spells. To the observer, a spectacle of feverish activity unfolds
itself, a spectacle which I witnessed in 1918 when I assisted at an
analogous performance of the Dobuan Kula fleet approaching Sinaketa.
The fleet halts; the sails are furled, the masts dismounted, the
canoes moored (see Plate XLVIII). In each canoe, the elder men begin
to undo their baskets and take out their personal belongings. The
younger ones run ashore and gather copious supplies of leaves which
they bring back into the canoes. Then the older men again murmur
magical formulæ over the leaves and over other substances. In this,
the toliwaga is assisted by others. Then, they all wash in sea-water,
and rub themselves with the medicated leaves. Coco-nuts are broken,
scraped, medicated, and the skin is rubbed with the mess, which
greases it and gives it a shining surface. A comb is chanted over,
and the hair teased out with it (see Plate XLIX). Then, with crushed
betel-nut mixed with lime, they draw red ornamental designs on their
faces, while others use the sayyaku, an aromatic resinous stuff, and
draw similar lines in black. The fine-smelling mint plant, which has
been chanted over at home before starting, is taken out of its little
receptacle where it was preserved in coco-nut oil. The herb is inserted
into the armlets, while the few drops of oil are smeared over the body,
and over the lilava, the magical bundle of pari (trade goods).
All the magic which is spoken over the native cosmetics is the mwasila
(Kula magic) of beauty. The main aim of these spells is the same
one which we found so clearly expressed in myth; to make the man
beautiful, attractive, and irresistible to his Kula partner. In the
myths we saw how an old, ugly and ungainly man becomes transformed by
his magic into a radiant and charming youth. Now this mythical episode
is nothing else but an exaggerated version of what happens every time,
when the mwasila of beauty is spoken on Sarubwoyna beach or on other
similar points of approach. As my informants over and over again told
me, when explaining the meaning of these rites:
"Here we are ugly; we eat bad fish, bad food; our faces remain
ugly. We want to sail to Dobu; we keep taboos, we don't eat
bad food. We go to Sarubwoyna; we wash; we charm the leaves of
silasila; we charm the coco-nut; we putuma (anoint ourselves); we
make our red paint and black paint; we put in our fine-smelling
vana (herb ornament in armlets); we arrive in Dobu beautiful
looking. Our partner looks at us, sees our faces are beautiful;
he throws the vaygu'a at us."
The bad fish and bad food here mentioned are the articles which are
tabooed to those who know the mwasila, and a man may often unwittingly
break such a taboo.
There is no doubt that a deep belief in the efficacy of such magic
might almost make it effective. Although actual beauty cannot be
imparted by spells, yet the feeling of being beautiful through
magic may give assurance, and influence people in their behaviour
and deportment, and as in the transaction it is the manner of the
soliciting party which matters, this magic, no doubt, achieves its
aim by psychological means.
This branch of Kula magic has two counter-parts in the other magical
lore of the Trobrianders. One of them is the love magic, through
which people are rendered attractive and irresistible. Their belief
in these spells is such that a man would always attribute all his
success in love to their efficiency. Another type closely analogous
to the beauty magic of the Kula is the specific beauty magic practised
before big dances and festivities.
Let us now give one or two samples of the magic which is performed on
Sarubwoyna beach. The ritual in all of it is exceedingly simple. In
each case the formula is spoken over a certain substance, and then
this substance is applied to the body. The first rite to be performed
is that of ceremonial washing. The toliwaga brings his mouth close to
the big bundles of herbs, brought from the shore and utters the formula
called kaykakaya (the ablution formula) over them. After an ablution,
these leaves are rubbed over the skins of all those in the canoe who
practise Kula. Then, in the same succession as I mention them, the
coco-nut, the comb, the ordinary or the aromatic black paint or the
betel-nut are charmed over. [76] Only one, as a rule, of the paints
is used. In some cases the toliwaga does the spell for everybody. In
other cases, a man who knows, say, the betel-nut or the comb spell,
will do it for himself or even for all others. In some cases again,
out of all these rites, only the kaykakaya (ablution) and one of the
others will be performed.
KAYKAKAYA SPELL
"O katatuna fish, O marabwaga fish, yabwau fish, reregu fish!"
"Their red paint, with which they are painted; their red paint,
with which they are adorned."
"Alone they visit, together we visit; alone they visit, together
we visit a chief."
"They take me to their bosom; they hug me."
"The great woman befriends me, where the pots are boiling; the
good woman befriends me, on the sitting platform."
"Two pigeons stand and turn round; two parrots fly about."
"No more it is my mother, my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu! No
more it is my father, my father art thou, O man of Dobu! No
more it is the high platform, the high platform are his arms;
no more it is the sitting platform, the sitting platform are his
legs; no more it is my lime spoon, my lime spoon is his tongue;
no more it is my lime pot, my lime pot is his gullet."
This formula then passes into the same ending as the sulumwoya
spell, quoted previously, Chapter VII, which runs: "Recently
deceased spirit of my maternal uncle, etc."
At the beginning of this spell, we find enumerated a series of
fish names. These fishes all have red markings on their bodies, and
they are tabooed to the people, who recite the mwasila magic and do
the Kula. If eaten, they would give a man an ugly appearance. The
above quoted saying of one of my informants: "we eat bad fish, we
are ugly," refers to these fishes amongst others. In this formula,
the invocation is partly an appeal for assistance, and partly a sort
of exorcism, which is meant to undo the evil effects of breaking
the taboo of eating these fish. As this formula is associated with
the ritual washing, the whole proceeding possesses a sort of magical
consistency, which obtains within an exceedingly obscure and confused
concatenation of ideas: the redness of the fish, the red painting on
the human bodies for beauty, the invocation of the fishing magic, the
taboo on this fish. These ideas hang together somehow, but it would
be unwise and incorrect to attempt to put them into any logical order
or sequence. [77] The sentence about 'visiting,' in this spell could
not be made clear by any of my native informants. I venture to suggest
that the fish are invited to assist the adventurer on his Kula visit,
and to help him with their beauty.
The next few sentences refer to the reception he anticipates at Dobu,
in the forcible and exaggerated language of magic. The words which
have been here translated by 'take to his bosom,' 'hug,' 'befriend,'
are the terms used to describe the fondling and rocking and hugging of
small children. According to native custom, it would not be considered
effeminate or ridiculous for men to put their arms round each other
and walk or sit about thus. And it must be added, this is done without
any homo-sexual intention, at least of the grosser type. None the less,
no such fondling would really take place between the Dobuans and their
Kula partners. The mention of the 'great woman,' the 'great good woman'
refers to the wife and sister of the partner, who, as we have said
before, are considered to wield great influence in the transactions.
The two pigeons and the two parrots express metaphorically the
friendship between the reciter of this magic and his partner. The long
list that follows expresses the exchange of his ordinary relations for
his Dobuan friends. An exaggerated description follows of the intimacy
between him and his partner, on whose arms and legs he will sit,
and from whose mouth he will partake of the betel chewing materials.
I shall give a sample of another of these spells, associated with
adornment and personal beauty. This is the spell spoken over the
betel-nut with which the toliwaga and the members of his canoe draw
lines of vermilion red on their faces. Young betel-nut, when crushed
with lime in a small mortar, produces pigment of wonderful brightness
and intensity. Travellers in the countries of the Indian Ocean and
parts of the Pacific know it well, as the paint that colours the lips
and tongues of the natives.
TALO SPELL
"Red paint, red paint of the udawada fish! Red paint, red paint,
of the mwaylili fish! At the one end of the aromatic pandanus
flower-petal; at the other end of the Duwaku flower. There are
two red paints of mine, they flare up, they flash."
"My head, it flares up, it flashes; my red paint, it flares up,
it flashes,
My facial blacking, it flares up, it flashes;
My aromatic paint, it flares up, it flashes;
My little basket, it flares up, it flashes;
My lime spoon, it flares up, it flashes;
My lime pot, it flares up, it flashes;
My comb, it flares up, it flashes."
And so on, enumerating the various personal appurtenances, such
as the mat, the stock-in-trade, the big basket, the charmed bundle
(lilava) and then again the various parts of his head, that is his
nose, his occiput, his tongue, his throat, his larynx, his eyes,
and his mouth. The whole series of words is again repeated with
another leading word instead of "it flares up, it flashes." The
new word, 'mitapwaypwa'i' is a compound, expressing a desire,
a coveting, nascent in the eyes. The eyes are, according to
native psycho-physical theories, the seat of admiration, wish and
appetite in matters of sex, of greed for food, and for material
possessions. Here, this expression conveys that the Dobuan partner,
will, on beholding his visitor, desire to make Kula with him.
The spell ends: "My head is made bright, my face flashes. I have
acquired a beautiful shape, like that of a chief; I have acquired
a shape that is good. I am the only one; my renown stands alone."
At the beginning we have again the mention of two fishes; evidently
the redness of the fish is the right redness for the Kula! I am unable
to explain the meaning of the second sentence, except that the petals
of the pandanus flower are slightly coloured at one end, and that they
are considered as one of the finest and most attractive ornaments. The
middle part and the end of this spell need no commentary.
These two spells will be sufficient to indicate the general character
of the beauty magic of the Kula. One more spell must be adduced here,
that of the conch shell. This shell is as a rule medicated at this
stage of the Kula proceedings. Sometimes, however, the toliwaga would,
before departure from home, utter the formula into the opening of
the conch shell, and close this up carefully, so that the virtue
might not evaporate. The conch shell is made of a big specimen of the
Cassis cornuta shell, at the broad end of which the apex of the spiral
windings is knocked out, so as to form a mouth-piece. The spell is
not uttered into the mouthpiece, but into the broad opening between
the lips, both orifices being afterwards closed with coco-nut husk
fibre until the shell has actually to be blown.
THE SPELL OF THE TA'UYA (CONCH SHELL)
"Mwanita, Mwanita! Come there together; I will make you come
there together! Come here together; I will make you come here
together! The rainbow appears there; I will make the rainbow appear
there! The rainbow appears here; I will make the rainbow here."
"Who comes ahead with the Kula? I" (here the name of the reciter
is uttered), "come ahead with the Kula, I shall be the only chief;
I shall be the only old man; I shall be the only one to meet my
partner on the road. My renown stands alone; my name is the only
one. Beautiful valuables are exchanged here with my partner;
Beautiful valuables are exchanged there with my partner; The
contents of my partner's basket are mustered."
After this exordium there comes a middle part, constructed on the
general principle of one word's being repeated with a series of
others. The keyword here is an expression denoting the state of
excitement which seizes a partner, and makes him give generous
Kula offerings. This word here is repeated first with a series of
words, describing the various personal belongings of the partner,
his dog, his belt; his tabooed coco-nut and betel-nut; and then,
with a new series of terms denoting the different classes of
Kula valuables which are expected to be given. This part could
therefore be translated thus:--
"A state of excitement seizes his dog, his belt, his gwara"
(taboo on coco-nuts and betel-nuts) "his bagido'u necklace,
his bagiriku necklace, his bagidudu necklace, etc." The spell
ends in a typical manner: "I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula;
I shall steal my Kula; I shall pilfer my Kula. 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 steps are like earthquake!"
The first word of this spell, mwanita, is the native name for a
long worm covered with rings of black armour. I was told that it
is mentioned here because of its similarity to the spondylus shell
necklaces, which also consist of many rings. I obtained this formula
in Sinaketa, hence this interpretation heeds only the necklaces, though
the simile might also obviously be extended to armshells, for a number
of armshells threaded on a string, as they can be seen on Plate LX,
presents also a likeness to the mwanita worm. It may be added here
that Sinaketa is one of these Kula communities in which the overseas
expeditions are done only in one direction, to the South, from where
only the spondylus necklaces are fetched. Its counterpart, Kiriwina,
to the North, carries on again only one-sided overseas Kula. The
formulæ which I obtained in Kiriwina differ from those of Sinaketa in
their main parts: whenever there is a list of spondylus necklaces in
a Sinaketan tapwana (main part) a list of the several varieties of
armshells would be used in a Kiriwinian tapwana. In Kitava, where,
as in several other Kula communities, the overseas expeditions are
carried out in both directions, the same formula would be used by the
same man with two different main parts, according as to whether he
was sailing East to fetch mwali, or West to fetch soulava. No changes,
however, would be made in the beginning of a spell.
The sentence 'come here together' refers to the collected
valuables. The play on 'there' and 'here,' represented in the native
language by the sounds 'm' and 'w,' which are used as interchangeable
formatives, is very frequent in magic; (see Chapter XVIII, Division
XII). The rainbow here invoked is a kariyala (magical portent) of this
formula. When the conch shell is blown, and the fleet approaches the
shore, a rainbow will appear in the skies.
The rest of the exordium is taken up by the usual boasts and
exaggerations typical of magic. The middle part needs no commentary. It
is clear that the sound of the conch shell is meant to arouse the
partner to do his duty eagerly. The magic spoken into the conch shell
heightens and strengthens this effect.
II
After the beauty magic and the spell over the conch shell are
finished--and the whole performance does not take more than half
an hour or so--every man, in full festive array, takes his place in
his canoe. The sails have been folded and the masts removed, and the
final stage is done by paddling. The canoes close in, not in any very
regular formation, but keeping near to one another, the canoe of the
toli'uvalaku as a rule moving in the van. In each canoe, the toliwaga
sits at his proper place in the middle of the canoe near the gebobo
(special erection made for cargo). One man sits in the front, right
against the prow-board, and another at the stern on the platform. All
the remaining members of the canoe wield the paddles, while the small
boy or the junior member of the crew, sits near the front, ready to
blow the conch shell. The oarsmen swing their leaf-shaped paddles
with long, energetic and swift strokes, letting the water spray off
them and the glistening blades flash in the sunlight--a ceremonial
stroke which they call kavikavila (lightening).
As the canoes begin to move, the three men, so far idle, intone a
chant, reciting a special magical formula, each a different one. The
man in the front, holding his hand on the tabuyo (oval prow-board),
recites a spell, called kayikuna tabuyo (the swaying of the
prow-board). The toliwaga in the middle recites the powerful formula
called kavalikuliku (the earthquake spell), a formula which makes "the
mountain tremble and subside." The man at the stern recites what is
called kaytavilena moynawaga, a name which I cannot very well explain,
which literally means, "the changing of the canoe entrance." Thus,
laden with magical force, which is poured forth irresistibly on to the
mountain, the canoes advance towards the goal of their enterprise. With
the voices of the reciters mingle the soft, penetrating sounds of the
conch shell, blending their various pitches into a weird, disturbing
harmony. Samples of the three spells must be given here.
KAYIKUNA TABUYO
"Moruborogu, Mosilava'u!"
"Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.
My prow-board, O fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.
This key expression, the invocation of the fish-hawk, is repeated
with a string of words, denoting, first, the ornamental parts of
the canoe; afterwards, certain of its constructive parts; and
finally, the lime-pot, the lime stick, the comb, the paddles,
the mats, the lilava (magical bundle), and the usagelu (members
of the crew). The spell ends with the words:--
"I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula, etc.," as in the previously
given formula of the conch shell.
The first two words of this spell are personal names of men, as the
initial syllable Mo- indicates, but no information about them was
available. The allusion to the fish-hawk in the main part suggests a
connection between the action of the rite, that is, the moving of the
tabuyo, with this part of the spell, for the ornamental prow-boards
are called synonymously buribwari (fish-hawk). On the other hand, the
expression: "Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey," is no doubt also a magical
simile, expressing the idea: "As a fish-hawk falls on his prey and
carries it off, so let this canoe fall on the Kula valuables and carry
them off." The association of this simile with the act of shaking the
prow-boards is very suggestive. It may be an attempt to assimilate
the whole canoe and all its parts to a fish-hawk falling on its prey,
through the special mediation of the ornamental prow-board.
The spell recited by the toliwaga in the middle of the canoe runs
thus:--
KAVALIKULIKU
"I anchor at the open sea beach, my renown reaches the Lagoon;
I anchor at the Lagoon, my renown reaches the open sea beach."
"I hit the mountain; the mountain shivers; the mountain subsides;
the mountain trembles; the mountain falls down; the mountain falls
asunder. I kick the ground on which the mountain stands. I bring
together, I gather."
"The mountain is encountered in the Kula; we encounter the mountain
in the Kula."
The expression, kubara, takuba, kubara, which we have here
translated by "the mountain is met in the Kula, etc." is
then repeated with a long string of words denoting the various
classes of valuables to be received in the Kula. It ends with the
conclusion already quoted: "My renown is like thunder, my steps
are like earthquake."
The opening two sentences are clear; they contain a typical magical
exaggeration, and equally typical permutation of words. Then comes the
terrible verbal onslaught on "the mountain," in which the dreadful
upheaval is carried on in words. "The mountain" (koya) stands here
for the community of partners, for the partner, for his mind. It was
very difficult to translate the expression kubara, takuba kubara. It
is evidently an archaic word, and I have found it in several formulæ
of the mwasila. It seems to mean something like an encounter between
the approaching fleet and the koya. The word for sea battle is kubilia
in the Trobriand language, and kubara in that of the Amphletts and
Dobu, and as often the words of the partner's language are mixed up
into these formulæ, this etymology and translation seem to be the
correct ones.
The third formula, that of the man in the stern, is as follows:--
KAYTAVILENA MWOYNAWAGA
"Crocodile, fall down, take thy man! push him down under the
gebobo! (part of the canoe where the cargo is stowed away)."
"Crocodile, bring me the necklace, bring me the bagido'u, etc."
The formula is ended by the usual phrase: "I shall kula, I
shall rob my Kula, etc.," as in the two previously quoted spells
(Ta'uyo and Kayikuna Tabuyo).
This formula is obviously a pendant to the first of these three
spells, and the crocodile is here invoked instead of the fish-hawk,
with the same significance. The rest of the spell is clear, the
crocodile being appealed to, to bring all the different classes of
the spondylus shell valuables.
It is interesting to reflect upon the psychological importance of this
magic. There is a deep belief in its efficiency, a belief cherished
not only by those who advance chanting it, but shared also by the men
awaiting the visitors on the shore. The Dobuans know that powerful
forces are at work upon them. They must feel the wave of magical
influence slowly advancing, spreading over their villages. They
hear the appeal of the conch-shell, wafting the magic to them in
its irresistible note. They can guess the murmur of the many voices
accompanying it. They know what is expected from them, and they rise
to the occasion. On the part of the approaching party, this magic,
the chant of the many voices blended with the ta'uyo (conch shell),
expresses their hopes and desires and their rising excitement; their
attempt to "shake the mountain," to stir it to its very foundations.
At the same time, a new emotion arises in their minds, that of awe
and apprehension; and another form of magic has to come to their
assistance at this juncture, to give expression to this fear and
to assuage it--the magic of safety. Spells of this magic have been
spoken previously, perhaps on the beach of Sarubwoyna alongside with
the rest, perhaps even earlier, at one of the intermediate stages of
the journey. But the rite will be performed at the moment of setting
foot ashore, and as this is also the psychological moment to which
the magic corresponds, it must be described here.
It seems absurd, from the rational point of view, that the natives,
who know that they are expected, indeed, who have been invited to come,
should yet feel uncertain about the good will of their partners, with
whom they have so often traded, whom they have received in visit,
and themselves visited and re-visited again and again. Coming on a
customary and peaceful errand, why should they have any apprehensions
of danger, and develop a special magical apparatus to meet the
natives of Dobu? This is a logical way of reasoning, but custom is
not logical, and the emotional attitude of man has a greater sway
over custom than has reason. The main attitude of a native to other,
alien groups is that of hostility and mistrust. The fact that to a
native every stranger is an enemy, is an ethnographic feature reported
from all parts of the world. The Trobriander is not an exception in
this respect, and beyond his own, narrow social horizon, a wall of
suspicion, misunderstanding and latent enmity divides him from even
near neighbours. The Kula breaks it through at definite geographical
points, and by means of special customary transactions. But, like
everything extraordinary and exceptional, this waiving of the general
taboo on strangers must be justified and bridged over by magic.
Indeed, the customary behaviour of the Dobuans and of the visitors
expresses this state of affairs with singular accuracy. It is the
customary rule that the Trobrianders should be received first with
a show of hostility and fierceness; treated almost as intruders. But
this attitude entirely subsides after the visitors have ritually spat
over the village on their arrival. The natives express their ideas
on this subject very characteristically:
"The Dobu man is not good as we are. He is fierce, he is
a man-eater! When we come to Dobu, we fear him, he might kill
us. But see! I spit the charmed ginger root, and their mind
turns. They lay down their spears, they receive us well."
III
This show of hostility is fixed into a definite ceremonial attitude
when the Dobuan village, which consists of a collection of hamlets,
has been laid under a taboo. On the death of a man of importance in
any of the hamlets, the whole community undergoes the so called gwara
taboo. The coco-nut and betel-nut palms around and within the village
are not allowed to be scaled, and the fruit must not be touched by
the Dobuans themselves, and still less by strangers. This state of
affairs lasts a varying length of time, according to the importance
of the dead man, and to other circumstances. Only after the gwara
has run out its course, and is ripe for expiring, do the Kiriwinians
dare to come on a visit to Dobu, having been advised beforehand of
the circumstance. But then, when they arrive, the Dobuans put up a
show of real hostility, for the visitors will have to break the taboo,
they will have to scale the palms, and take the forbidden fruit. This
is in accordance with a wide-spread Papuo-Melanesian type of custom
of finishing tabooed periods: in all cases, someone else, who is not
under the taboo, has to put an end to it, or to force the imposer
of the taboo to break it. And in all cases, there is some show of
violence and struggle on the part of the one who has to allow it to
be broken. In this case, as the Kiriwinian natives put it:
"Supposing we do not perform the ka'ubana'i (safety magic),
we are afraid, when there is a gwara in Dobu. The Dobuans put
on war paint, take spear in hand, and a puluta (sword club);
they sit and look at us. We run into the village; we climb the
tree. He runs at us 'Don't climb,' he cries. Then we spit leyya
(ginger root) at him. He throws down his spear, he goes back and
smiles. The women take the spears away. We spit all around the
village. Then he is pleased. He speaks: 'You climb your coco-nut,
your betel-nut; cut your bananas.'"
Thus the taboo is broken, the gwara is finished, and the customary
and histrionic moment of tension is over, which must have been none
the less a strain on the nerves of both parties.
This is the lengthy formula which a toliwaga utters over several
bits of ginger root, which are afterwards distributed among his crew,
each of whom carries a piece when getting ashore.
KA'UBANA'I
"Floating spirit of Nikiniki!
Duduba, Kirakira." (These words are untranslatable).
"It ebbs, it ebbs away!
Thy fury ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy war paint ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy sting ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy anger ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy chasing away ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!"
A long string of various expressings denoting hostile passions,
disinclination to make Kula, and all the paraphernalia of
war are here enumerated. Thus, such words as "Kula refusal,"
"growling," "sulking," "dislike"; further: "weapon," "bamboo
knife," "club-sword," "large-barbed spear," "small-barbed spear,"
"round club," "war blackening," "red war paint," are uttered one
after the other. Moreover, all of them are repeated in their Dobuan
equivalents after the list has been exhausted in Kiriwinian. When
this series has been exhausted with reference to the man of
Dobu, part of it is repeated with the addition "Woman of Dobu,"
the mention of weapons, however, being omitted. But this does not
end this extremely long formula. After the protracted litany has
been finished, the reciter chants:
"Who emerges at the top of Kinana? I" (here the name of the
reciter is mentioned) "emerge on the top of Kinana."
Then the whole litany is again repeated, the key word, instead of,
"it ebbs, it ebbs away" being "the dog sniffs."
In connection with all the other words, this would run, more or
less, in a free translation:--
"Thy fury, O man of Dobu, is as when the dog sniffs," or, more
explicitly:--
"Thy fury, O man of Dobu, should abate as the fury of a dog abates
when it comes and sniffs at a new-comer."
The simile of the dog must be very strongly ingrained in the
magical tradition, for in two more versions of this formula,
obtained from different informants, I received as key-words the
expressions: "The dog plays about," and "The dog is docile." The
final part of this formula is identical with that of the Kaykakaya
spell previously given in this chapter:--
"No more it is my mother, my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu,
etc.," running into the ending "Recently deceased, etc."
In comment on this formula, there is first of all the name mentioned
in the first line, that of Nikiniki, or Monikiniki, as it is usually
pronounced, with the prefix of masculinity, mo-. He is described as "A
man, an ancient man; no myth about him; he spoke the magic." Indeed,
the main system of mwasila magic is named after him, but none of my
informants knew any legend about him.
The first key word of the middle part is quite clear. It describes the
ebbing away of the Dobuans' passions and of their outward trappings. It
is noteworthy that the word for 'ebbing' here used, is in the Dobuan,
and not in the Kiriwinian language. The reference to the dog already
explained may be still made clearer in terms of native comment. One
explanation is simple:--
"They invoke the dog in the mwasila, because when master
of dog comes, the dog stands up and licks; in the same way,
the inclinations of the Dobu people." Another explanation is
more sophisticated: "The reason is that dogs play about nose to
nose. Supposing we mentioned the word, as it was of old arranged,
the valuables do the same. Supposing we had given away armshells,
the necklace will come, they will meet."
This means, by invoking the dog in this magic, according to old
magical tradition, we also influence the Kula gifts. This explanation
is undoubtedly far-fetched, and probably does not express the real
meaning of the spell. It would have no meaning in association with
the list of passions and weapons, but I have adduced it as an example
of native scholasticism.
The dog is also a taboo associated with this magic. When a man, who
practices the ka'ubana'i eats and a dog howls within his hearing,
he has to leave his food, else his magic would 'blunt.'
Safe under the auspices of this magic, the Trobriand sailors land on
the beach of Tu'utauna, where we shall follow them in the next chapter.