THE RETURN VISIT OF THE DOBUANS TO SINAKETA
I
In the twelve preceding chapters, we have followed an expedition
from Sinaketa to Dobu. But branching off at almost every step from
its straight track, we studied the various associated institutions
and underlying beliefs; we quoted magical formulæ, and told
mythical stories, and thus we broke up the continuous thread of the
narrative. In this chapter, as we are already acquainted with the
customs, beliefs and institutions implied in the Kula, we are ready
to follow a straight and consecutive tale of an expedition in the
inverse direction, from Dobu to Sinaketa.
As I have seen, indeed followed, a big uvalaku expedition from
the South to the Trobriands, I shall be able to give some of the
scenes from direct impression, and not from reconstruction. Such
a reconstruction for one who has seen much of the natives' tribal
life and has a good grip over intelligent informants is neither very
difficult nor need it be fanciful at all. Indeed, towards the end
of my second visit, I had several times opportunities to check such
a reconstruction by witnessing the actual occurrence, for after my
first year's stay in the Trobriands I had written out already some
of my material. As a rule, even in minute details, my reconstructions
hardly differed from reality, as the tests have shown. None the less,
it is possible for an Ethnographer to enter into concrete details
with more conviction when he describes things actually seen.
In September, 1917, an uvalaku expedition was led by Kouta'uya
from Sinaketa to Dobu. The Vakutans joining them on the way, and the
canoes of the Amphletts following them also, some forty canoes finally
arrived at the western shore of Dawson Straits. It was arranged then
and there that a return expedition from that district should visit
Sinaketa in about six months' time. Kauyaporu, the esa'esa (headman)
of Kesora'i hamlet in the village of Bwayowa, had a pig with circular
tusks. He decided therefore to arrange an uvalaku expedition, at the
beginning of which the pig was to be killed and feasted upon and its
tusks turned into ornaments.
When, in November, 1917, I passed through the district, the preparing
of the canoes was already afoot. All of those, which still could be
repaired, had been taken to pieces and were being relashed, recaulked
and repainted. In some hamlets, new dug-outs were being scooped. After
a few months stay in the Trobriands, I went South again in March, 1918,
intending to spend some time in the Amphletts. Landing there is always
difficult, as there are no anchorages near the shore, and it is quite
impossible to disembark in rough weather at night. I arrived late in a
small cutter, and had to cruise between Gumasila and Domdom, intending
to wait till daybreak and then effect a landing. In the middle of
the night, however, a violent north-westerly squall came down, and
making a split in the main-sail, forced us to run before the wind,
southwards towards Dobu. It was on this night that the native boys
employed in the boat, saw the mulukwausi flaming up at the head of
the mast. The wind dropped before daybreak, and we entered the Lagoon
of Sanaroa, in order to repair the sail. During the three days we
stopped there, I roamed over the country, climbing its volcanic cones,
paddling up the creeks and visiting the villages scattered on the
coral plain. Everywhere I saw signs of the approaching departure for
Boyowa; the natives preparing their canoes on the beach to be loaded,
collecting food in the gardens and making sago in the jungle. At the
head of one of the creeks, in the midst of a sago swamp, there was a
long, low shelter which serves as a dwelling to Dobuan natives from
the main Island when they come to gather sago. This swamp was said
to be reserved to a certain community of Tu'utauna.
Another day I came upon a party of local natives from Sanaroa, who
were pounding sago pulp out of a palm, and sluicing it with water. A
big tree had been felled, its bark stripped in the middle of the trunk
in a large square, and the soft, fleshy interior laid open. There were
three men standing in a row before it and pounding away at it. A few
more men waited to relieve the tired ones. The pounding instruments,
half club, half adzes, had thick but not very broad blades of green
stone, of the same type as I have seen among the Mailu natives of
the South Coast. [79]
The pulp was then carried in baskets to a neighbouring stream. At
this spot there was a natural trough, one of the big, convex scales,
which form the basis of the sago leaf. In the middle of it, a sieve
was made of a piece of coco-nut spathing, a fibre which covers the
root of a coco-nut leaf, and looks at first sight exactly like a
piece of roughly woven material. Water was directed so that it flowed
into the trough at its broad end, coming out at the narrow one. The
sago pulp was put at the top, the water carried away with it the
powdered sago starch, while the wooden, husky fibres were retained
by the sieve. The starch was then carried with the water into a big
wooden canoe-shaped trough; there the heavier starch settled down,
while the water welled over the brim. When there is plenty of starch,
the water is drained off carefully and the starch is placed into
another of the trough-shaped, sago leaf bases, where it is allowed to
dry. In such receptacles it is then carried on a trading expedition,
and is thus counted as one unit of sago.
I watched the proceedings for a long time with great interest. There is
something fascinating about the big, antideluvian-looking sago palm,
so malignant and unapproachable in its unhealthy, prickly swamp,
being turned by man into food by such simple and direct methods. The
sago produced and eaten by the natives is a tough, starchy stuff, of
dirty white colour, very unpalatable. It has the consistency of rubber,
and the taste of very poor, unleavened bread. It is not clear, like
the article which is sold under the name of sago in our groceries, but
is mealy, tough, and almost elastic. The natives consider it a great
delicacy, and bake it into little cakes, or boil it into dumplings.
The main fleet of the Dobuans started some time in the second half of
March from their villages, and went first to the beach of Sarubwoyna,
where they held a ceremonial distribution of food, eguya'i, as it is
called in Dobu. Then, offering the pokala to Aturamo'a and Atu'a'ine,
they sailed by way of Sanaroa and Tewara, passing the tabooed rock
of Gurewaya to the Amphletts. The wind was light and changeable,
weak S.W. breezes prevailing. The progress of this stage of the
journey must have been very slow. The natives must have spent a
few nights on the intermediate islands and sandbanks, a few canoes'
crews camping at one spot.
At that time I had already succeeded in reaching the Amphletts, and
had been busy for two or three weeks doing ethnographic work, though
not very successfully; for, as I have already once or twice remarked,
the natives here are very bad informants. I knew of course that the
Dobuan fleet was soon to come, but as my experience had taught me to
mistrust native time-tables and fixtures of date, I did not expect
them to be punctual. In this, however, I was mistaken. On a Kula
expedition, when the dates are once fixed, the natives make real and
strenuous efforts to keep to them. In the Amphletts the people were
busy preparing for the expedition, because they had the intention of
joining the Dobuans and proceeding with them to the Trobriands. A few
canoes went to the mainland to fetch sago, pots were being mustered and
made ready for stowing away, canoes were overhauled. When the small
expedition returned from the mainland with sago, after a week or so,
a sagali (in Amphlettan: madare), that is, a ceremonial distribution
of food was held on the neighbouring island, Nabwageta.
My arrival was a very untoward event to the natives, and complicated
matters, causing great annoyance to Tovasana, the main headman. I had
landed in his own little village, Nu'agasi, on the island of Gumasila,
for it was impossible to anchor near the big village, nor would there
have been room for pitching a tent. Now, in the Amphletts, a white
man is an exceedingly rare occurrence, and to my knowledge, only once
before, a white trader remained there for a few weeks. To leave me
alone with the women and one or two old men was impossible, according
to their ideas and fears, and none of the younger men wanted to forgo
the privilege and pleasure of taking part in the expedition. At last,
I promised them to move to the neighbouring island of Nabwageta,
as soon as the men were gone, and with this they were satisfied.
As the date fixed for the arrival of the Dobuans approached, the
excitement grew. Little by little the news arrived, and was eagerly
received and conveyed to me: "Some sixty canoes of the Dobuans are
coming," "the fleet is anchored off Tewara," "each canoe is heavily
laden with food and gifts," "Kauyaporu sails in his canoe, he is
toli'uvalaku, and has a big pandanus streamer attached to the prow." A
string of other names followed which had very little meaning for me,
since I was not acquainted with the Dobuan natives. From another part
of the world, from the Trobriands, the goal of the whole expedition,
news reached us again: "To'uluwa, the chief of Kiriwina has gone
to Kitava--he will soon come back, bringing plenty of mwali." "The
Sinaketans are going there to fetch some of the mwali." "The Vakutans
have been in Kitava and brought back great numbers of mwali." It
was astonishing to hear all this news, arriving at a small island,
apparently completely isolated with its tiny population, within
these savage and little navigated seas; news only a few days old,
yet reporting events which had occurred at a travelling distance of
some hundred miles.
It was interesting to follow up the way it had come. The earlier news
about the Dobuans had been brought by the canoes, which had fetched
the sago to Gumasila from the main island. A few days later, a canoe
from one of the main island villages had arrived here, and on its
way had passed the Dobuans in Tewara. The news from the Trobriands
in the North had been brought by the Kuyawa canoe which had arrived a
couple of days before in Nabwageta (and whose visit to Nu'agasi I have
described in Chapter XI). All these movements were not accidental,
but connected with the uvalaku expedition. To show the complexity,
as well as the precise timing of the various movements and events,
so perfectly synchronised over a vast area, in connection with the
uvalaku, I have tabulated them in the Chart, facing this page, in
which almost all the dates are quite exact, being based on my own
observations. This Chart also gives a clear, synoptic picture of an
uvalaku, and it will be useful to refer to it, in reading this Chapter.
In olden days, not less than now, there must have been an ebullition
in the inter-tribal relations, and a great stirring from one place
to another, whenever an uvalaku Kula was afoot. Thus, news would
be carried rapidly over great distances, the movements of the vast
numbers of natives would be co-ordinated, and dates fixed. As has been
said already, a culminating event of an expedition, in this case the
arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Sinaketa, would be always so timed
as to happen on, or just before, a full moon, and this would serve
as a general orientation for the preliminary movements, such as in
this case, the visits of the single canoes.
THE PREVIOUS UVALAKU
Date
September, 1917 The expedition, led by Kouta'uya from
Sinaketa to Dobu.
PREPARATORY STAGE
Oct., 1917-Feb., 1918 Building of new canoes and repairing of old
ones, in the district of N.W. Dobu.
Feb.-March, 1918 Sago making, collecting of trade and food.
Middle of March Launching, fitting and loading of the canoes;
preliminary magic.
THE SAILING
About 25th March The Dobuan canoes start on their overseas
trip.
About same time [In Boyowa: the Vakutans return from Kitava
with a good haul of mwali].
Same time [In the Amphletts: preparations to sail;
collecting food; repairing canoes.]
About 28th March [In Boyowa: To'uluwa returns from Kitava
bringing mwali.]
Same time [In the Amphletts: news reach of the
approaching fleet from Dobu; of the doings in
Boyowa.]
29th March [In the Amphletts: part of the canoes sail
ahead to Vakuta.]
31st March The Dobuan fleet arrives in the Amphletts.
1st April They proceed on their journey to Boyowa.
2nd April [In the Amphletts: rest of local canoes sail
to Boyowa.]
Same day [In Boyowa: the Sinaketans go to Kiriwina.]
3rd April [In Boyowa: they return with the armshells.]
THE ARRIVAL OF THE DOBUANS IN BOYOWA
3rd April The Dobuan fleet appears in Vakuta.
3rd-5th April They receive Kula gifts, exchange presents
and trade in Vakuta.
6th April Arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Sinaketa,
magic at the beach of Kaykuyawa, ceremonial
reception.
6th-10th April The Dobuans (as well as the Amphlettans)
remain in Sinaketa, receiving Kula presents,
giving pari gifts and trading.
10th April They all leave Sinaketa, receiving talo'i
(farewell) gifts. The Dobuans sail south (and
the Amphlettans to Kayleula and the smaller
Western Trobriand Islands).
10th-14th April The Dobuans are engaged in fishing in the S.
Lagoon.
RETURN JOURNEY
14th April They reappear in Vakuta, and receive their
talo'i (farewell) gifts.
15th April They leave Vakuta.
About 20th or 21st Tanarere (competitive display and comparison)
on the beach of Sarubwoyna, and return to
Dobu.
Indeed, from that moment, the events on and about the Amphlett Islands
moved rapidly. The day after the visit from the Kuyawan canoes, the
canoes of the main village of Gumasila sailed off to the Trobriands,
starting therefore a few days ahead of the Dobuan uvalaku fleet. I
rowed over in a dinghy to the big village, and watched the loading and
departing of the canoes. There was a bustle in the village, and even a
few old women could be seen helping the men in their tasks. The large
canoes were being pushed into the water from their supports, on which
they were beached. They had been already prepared for the journey
there, their platforms covered with plaited palm leaves, frames put
in their bottoms to support the cargo, boards placed crossways within
the canoe to serve as seats for the crew, the mast, rigging and sail
laid handy. The loading, however, begins only after the canoe is in
water. The large, trough-shaped chunks of sago were put at the bottom,
while men and women carefully brought out the big clay pots, stowing
them away with many precautions in special places in the middle
(see Plate XLVII). Then, one after the other, the canoes went off,
paddling round the southern end of the island towards the West. At
about ten o'clock in the morning, the last canoe disappeared round the
promontory, and the village remained practically empty. There was no
saying of farewells, not a trace of any emotion on the part of those
leaving or those remaining. But it must be remembered that, owing to
my presence, no women except one or two old hags, were visible on the
shore. All my best informants gone, I intended to move to Nabwageta
next morning. At sunset, I made a long excursion in my dinghy round
the western shores of Gumasila, and it was on that occasion that I
discovered all those who had left that morning on the Kula sitting on
Giyasila beach, in accordance with the Kula custom of a preliminary
halt, such as the one on Muwa described in Chapter VII.
Next morning, I left for the neighbouring island and village of
Nabwageta, and only after he saw me safely off, Tovasana and his party
left in his canoe, following the others to Vakuta. In Nabwageta, the
whole community were in the midst of their final preparations for
departure, for they intended to wait for the Dobuans and sail with
them to Kiriwina. All their canoes were being painted and renovated,
a sail was being repaired on the beach (see Plate LIII). There were
some minor distributions of food taking place in the village, the stuff
being over and over again allotted and re-allotted, smaller pieces
carved out of the big chunks and put into special wrappings. This
constant handling of food is one of the most prominent features of
tribal life in that part of the world. As I arrived, a sail for one of
the canoes was just being finished by a group of men. In another canoe,
I saw them mending the outrigger by attaching the small log of light,
dry wood to make the old, waterlogged float more buoyant. I could
also watch in detail the final trimming of the canoes, the putting
up of the additional frames, of the coco-nut mats, the making of the
little cage in the central part for the pots and for the lilava (the
sacred bundle), I was, nevertheless, not on sufficiently intimate
terms with these Nabwageta natives to be allowed to witness any of
the magic. Their system of mwasila is identical with that of Boyowa,
in fact, it is borrowed from there.
Next day--in this village again I had difficulty in finding any good
informants, a difficulty increased by the feverish occupation of all
the men--I went for a long row in the afternoon with my two 'boys,'
hoping to reach the island of Domdom. A strong current, which in this
part is at places so pronounced that it breaks out into steep, tidal
waves, made it impossible to reach our goal. Returning in the dark,
my boys suddenly grew alert and excited, like hounds picking up a
scent. I could perceive nothing in the dark, but they had discerned
two canoes moving westwards. Within about half-an-hour, a fire became
visible, twinkling on the beach of a small, deserted island South
of Domdom; evidently some Dobuans were camping there. The excitement
and intense interest shown by my boys, one a Dobuan, the other from
Sariba (Southern Massim), gave me an inkling of the magnitude of
this event--the vanguard of a big Kula fleet slowly creeping up
towards one of its intermediate halting places. It also brought
home to me vividly the inter-tribal character of this institution,
which unites in one common and strongly emotional interest so many
scattered communities. That night, as we learnt afterwards, a good
number of canoes had anchored on the outlying deserted islands of the
Amphletts, waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive. When we came
that evening to Nabwageta, the news had already been received of the
important event, and the whole village was astir.
Next day, the weather was particularly fine and clear, with the distant
mountains wreathed only in light cumuli, their alluring outlines
designed in transparent blue. Early in the afternoon, with a blast of
conch shell, a Dobuan waga, in full paint and decoration, and with the
rich pandanus mat of the sail glowing like gold against the blue sea,
came sailing round the promontory. One after the other, at intervals
of a few minutes each, other canoes came along, all sailing up to
some hundred yards from the beach, and then, after furling the sail,
paddling towards the shore (see Plate XL). This was not a ceremonial
approach, as the aim of the expedition this time did not embrace the
Amphletts, but was directed towards the Trobriands only, Vakuta,
and Sinaketa; these canoes had put in only for an intermediate
halt. Nevertheless, it was a great event, especially as the canoes
of Nabwageta were going to join with the fleet later on. Out of the
sixty or so Dobuan canoes, only about twenty-five with some 250 men in
them had come to Nabwageta, the others having gone to the big village
of Gumasila. In any case, there were about five times as many men
gathered in the village as one usually sees. There was no Kula done
at all, no conch-shells were blown on the shore, nor do I think were
any presents given or received by either party. The men sat in groups
round their friends' houses, the most distinguished visitors collected
about the dwelling of Tobwa'ina, the main headman of Nabwageta.
Many canoes were anchored along the coast beyond the village beach,
some tucked away into small coves, others moored in sheltered
shallows. The men sat on the shore round fires, preparing their food,
which they took out of the provisions carried on the canoes. Only the
water did they obtain from the island, filling their coco-nut-made
water vessels from the springs. About a dozen canoes were actually
moored at the village beach. Late at night, I walked along the shore
to observe their sleeping arrangements. In the clear, moonlit night,
the small fires burnt with a red, subdued glow; there was always one
of them between each two sleepers, consisting of three burning sticks,
gradually pushed in as they were consumed. The men slept with the big,
stiff pandanus mats over them; each mat is folded in the middle, and
when put on the ground, forms a kind of miniature prismatic tent. All
along the beach, it was almost a continuous row of man alternating with
fire, the dun-coloured mats being nearly invisible against the sand in
the full moonlight. It must have been a very light sleep for every now
and then, a man stirred, peeping up from under his shell, re-adjusting
the fire, and casting a searching glance over the surroundings. It
would be difficult to say whether mosquitoes or cold wind or fear of
sorcery disturbed their sleep most, but I should say the last.
The next morning, early, and without any warning, the whole fleet
sailed away. At about 8 o'clock the last canoe punted towards the
offing, where they stepped their mast and hoisted their sail. There
were no farewell gifts, no conch shell blowing, and the Dobuans this
time left their resting place as they had come, without ceremony or
display. The morning after, the Nabwagetans followed them. I was left
in the village with a few cripples, the women and one or two men who
had remained perhaps to look after the village, perhaps specially to
keep watch over me and see that I did no mischief. Not one of them was
a good informant. Through a mistake of mine, I had missed the cutter
which had come two days before to the island of Gumasila and left
without me. With bad luck and bad weather, I might have had to wait
a few weeks, if not months in Nabwageta. I could perhaps have sailed
in a native canoe, but this could only be done without bedding, tent,
or even writing outfit and photographic apparatus, and so my travelling
would have been quite useless. It was a piece of great good luck that
a day or two afterwards, a motor launch, whose owner had heard about
my staying in the Amphletts, anchored in front of Nabwageta village,
and within an hour I was speeding towards the Trobriands again,
following the tracks of the Kula fleet.
II
On the next morning, as we slowly made our way along the channels
in the opalescent, green lagoon, and as I watched a fleet of small,
local canoes fishing in their muddy waters, and could recognise on
the surrounding flat shores a dozen well-known villages, my spirits
rose, and I felt well pleased to have left the picturesque, but
ethnographically barren Amphletts for the Trobriands, with their
scores of excellent informants.
Moreover, the Amphletts, in the persons of their male inhabitants
were soon to join me here. I went ashore in Sinaketa, where everybody
was full of the great moment which was soon to arrive. For the Dobuan
fleet was known to be coming, though on that morning, so far, no news
had reached them of its whereabouts. As a matter of fact, the Dobuans,
who had left Nabwageta forty-eight hours ahead of me, had made a slow
journey with light winds, and sailing a course to the East of mine,
had arrived that morning only in Vakuta.
All the rumours which had been reported to me in the Amphletts about
the previous movements of the Trobriand natives had been correct. Thus
the natives of Vakuta had really been to the East, to Kitava, and
had brought with them a big haul of armshells. To'uluwa, the chief of
Kiriwina, had visited Kitava later, and about five or six days before
had returned from there, bringing with him 213 pairs of armshells. The
Sinaketans then had gone to Kiriwina, and out of the 213 pairs had
succeeded in securing 154. As there had been previously 150 pairs
in Sinaketa, a total of 304 was awaiting the Dobuans. On the morning
of my arrival, the Sinaketan party had just returned from Kiriwina,
hurrying home so as to have everything ready for the reception of the
Dobuans. Of these, we got the news that very afternoon--news which
travelled overland from one village to another, and reached us from
Vakuta with great rapidity. We were also told that the uvalaku fleet
would be at Sinaketa within two or three days.
This period I utilised in refurbishing my information about that phase
of the Kula, which I was going to witness, and trying to get a clear
outline of every detail of all that was going soon to happen. It is
extremely important in sociological work to know well beforehand
the underlying rules and the fundamental ideas of an occurrence,
especially if big masses of natives are concerned in it. Otherwise,
the really important events may be obliterated by quite irrelevant and
accidental movements of the crowd, and thus the significance of what
he sees may be lost to the observer. No doubt if one could repeat
one's observations on the same phenomenon over and over again, the
essential and relevant features would stand out by their regularity
and permanence. If, however, as it often happens in ethnographic
field-work, one gets the opportunity only once of witnessing a
public ceremony, it is necessary to have its anatomy well dissected
beforehand, and then concentrate upon observing how these outlines are
followed up concretely, gauge the tone of the general behaviour, the
touches of emotion or passion, many small yet significant details which
nothing but actual observation can reveal, and which throw much light
upon the real, inner relation of the native to his institution. So I
was busy going over my old entries and checking them and putting my
material into shape in a detailed and concrete manner.
On the third day, as I was sitting and taking notes in the afternoon,
word ran all round the villages that the Dobuan canoes had been
sighted. And indeed, as I hastened towards the shore, there could be
seen, far away, like small petals floating on the horizon, the sails
of the advancing fleet. I jumped at once into a canoe, and was punted
along towards the promontory of Kaykuyawa, about a mile to the South of
Sinaketa. There, one after the other, the Dobuan canoes were arriving,
dropping their sails and undoing the mast as they moored, until the
whole fleet, numbering now over eighty canoes, were assembled before
me (see Plate XLVIII). From each a few men waded ashore, returning
with big bunches of leaves. I saw them wash and smear themselves and
perform the successive stages of native, festive adornment (see Plate
XLIX). Each article was medicated by some man or another in the canoe
before it was used or put on. The most carefully handled articles
of ornamentation were the ineffective looking, dried up herbs, taken
out of their little receptacles, where they had remained since they
had been becharmed in Dobu, and now stuck into the armlets. The whole
thing went on quickly, almost feverishly, making more the impression
of a piece of technical business being expeditiously performed, than
of a solemn and elaborate ceremony taking place. But the ceremonial
element was soon to show itself.
After the preparations were finished, the whole fleet formed itself
into a compact body, not quite regular, but with a certain order, about
four or five canoes being in a row, and one row behind the other. In
this formation they punted along over the Lagoon, too shallow for
paddling, towards the beach of Sinaketa. When they were within about
ten minutes of the shore, all the conch shells began to be sounded,
and the murmur of recited magic rose from the canoes. I could not come
sufficiently near the canoes, for reason of etiquette, to be able to
see the exact arrangement of the reciters, but I was told that it was
the same as that observed by the Trobrianders on their approach to
Dobu, described in Chapter XIII. The general effect was powerful, when
this wonderfully painted and fully decorated fleet was gliding swiftly
over the green waters of the Lagoon towards the palm grove above the
sand beach, at that moment thick with expectant natives. But I imagine
that the arrival of a Trobriand fleet in Dobu must be considerably
more effective even than that. The much more picturesque landscape,
the ceremonial paddling with the leaf-shaped oars over the deep water,
the higher sense of danger and tension, than that which the Dobuans
feel, when coming to visit the meek Trobrianders, all this must make it
even more dramatic and impressive than the scene I have just described.
Within some twenty metres from the shore, the canoes formed themselves
into a double row, the canoe of the toli'uvalaku on the left flank of
the first row. Kauyaporu, as soon as all the craft were in position,
rose in his canoe, and in a loud voice, addressed in Dobuan those
standing on the shore. His words, preserved in the memory of his
hearers, were transmitted to me that same evening in their Kiriwinian
equivalent. He spoke:
"Who will be first in the Kula? The people of Vakuta or
yourselves? I deem you will have the lead! Bring armshells,
one basketful, two baskets; catch pigs; pluck coco-nuts; pluck
betel-nut! For this is my uvalaku. By and by, thou, Kouta'uya, wilt
make an uvalaku, and we shall give thee then plenty of vaygu'a!"
So spoke Kauyaporu, addressing his main partner, Kouta'uya, the second
chief of Sinaketa. He did not address To'udawada, the most important
chief, because he was not his main partner.
As soon as the speech was finished, Kouta'uya waded through the water
from the beach, carrying a pair of armshells in each hand. Behind him
came a small boy, the youngest son, blowing a conch shell. He was
followed again by two men, who between them had a stick resting on
their shoulders, on which several pairs of mwali (armshells) were
displayed. This procession waded towards the canoe of Kauyaporu,
whom Kouta'uya addressed in these words, throwing the armshells on
the platform of the canoe:
"This is a vaga (opening gift)! In due time, I shall make a
uvalaku to Dobu; thou shalt return to me a big soulava (necklace)
as kudu (equivalent gift) for this. Plenty more armshells thou
wilt receive now. There are plenty of armshells in Sinaketa. We
know there were plenty of armshells in Vakuta. By and by thou
and thy usagelu come ashore, I shall catch a pig. I shall give
you plenty of food, coco-nuts, betel-nut, sugar cane, bananas!"
As soon as he was back on the shore, his wife, the eldest one, with
a peta basket on her head, containing a pair of armshells, went
into the water and carried it to Kauyaporu's canoe, the boy with
the conch shell following her also. After that, conch shells were
blown on all sides on the shore, and single men or groups detached
themselves from the rest, and waded towards the canoes. The mwali
were carried with ceremony on sticks or in outstretched arm. But
the grossly exaggerated way of putting one pair of armshells into
a basket which was big enough to hold some four score, was only
done by the chief's wife. All this lasted for perhaps half-an-hour,
while the setting sun poured down its glowing light on the painted
canoes, the yellow beach, and the lively bronze forms moving upon
it. Then, in a few moments, the Dobuan canoes were partly beached,
partly moored, whilst their crews spread over the seven villages of
Sinaketa. Large groups could be seen sitting on platforms chewing
betel-nut and conversing in Dobuan with their hosts (see Plate LVI).
For three days, the Dobuans remained in Sinaketa. Every now and then,
blasts of conch shell announced that a Kula transaction had taken
place, that is, that a pair of armshells had been handed over to
one of the visitors. Swarms of people from the other districts had
assembled in Sinaketa; every day, natives from the inland villages of
Southern Boyowa crowded into their capital, whilst people from Kuboma,
Luba, and Kiriwina, that is, the Central and Northern districts,
were camping in their relatives' houses, in yam stores and under
provisional shelters. Reckoning that the number of the visitors,
that is, the Dobuans, the Amphlettans and the Vakutans, who had joined
them on their way, amounted to some eight hundred; that the Sinaketans
numbered about five hundred people, and that some twelve hundred had
come from the other villages, it will be seen that the crowd in and
about Sinaketa was considerable, numbering over two thousand.
The Trobriand natives, of course, looked after their own
provisions. The Dobuans had also brought a considerable amount of food
with them, and would receive some additional vegetables and pigs'
flesh from their hosts, while they acquired fish from some of the
other villages of Boyowa. As a matter of fact, stingaree, shark and
some other fish are the only articles for which the Dobuans barter
on their own account. The rest of the trade, in the same way as is
done in Dobu by the Sinaketans, must be done with the community who
receive visitors, that is, with Sinaketa. The Sinaketans buy from the
manufacturing districts of Boyowa the same industrial products that
they take with them to Dobu, that is baskets, lime pots, lime spatulæ,
etc. Then they sell these to the Dobuans in just the same manner and
with the same profit as was described in Chapter XV. As has been said
there also, a man of Sinaketa would never trade with his partner,
but with some other Dobuan. Between the partners, only presents
are exchanged. The gift offered by the Dobuans to the Sinaketans is
called vata'i, and it differs only in name and not in its economic
or sociological nature from the pari gift offered by the Boyowans to
their overseas partners. The talo'i, or farewell gift offered to them
is as a rule more substantial than the vata'i.
The Dobuans, during their stay in Sinaketa, lived on the beach or
in their canoes (see Plates LIV and XX). Skilfully rigged up with
canopies of golden mats covering parts of the craft, their painted
hulls glowing in the sun against the green water, some of the canoes
presented the spectacle of some gorgeously fantastic pleasure boat
(see Plate LV). The natives waded about amongst them, making the
Lagoon lively with movement, talk and laughter. Groups camped on the
sea shore, boiling food in the large clay pots, smoking and chewing
betel-nut. Big parties of Trobrianders walked among them, discreetly
but curiously watching them. Women were not very conspicuous in
the whole proceedings, nor did I hear any scandal about intrigues,
although such may have taken place.
III
On the fourth day, conch shells were blown again in the morning, though
on the last of the three days their sounds had almost died out. These
were the signs of the departure. Food and small presents were brought
to the canoes as talo'i, and a few mwali were given at the last, for
which the conch shells were blown. Without any ceremony or farewell
speeches, the Dobuan canoes sailed away, one after the other.
Their journey home was also interrupted by a customary halt for
fishing, but this time for fish, not shell. Some of them stop on
the beach of Muwa, but the bulk camp on a beach called Susuwa, half
way between Sinaketa and Vakuta, where they catch the fish by means
of a poisonous root, which they have brought for this purpose from
home. This time, they remained three days in Susuwa and Muwa, and
then sailed to Vakuta to receive there talo'i. Their further journey
I could not trace step by step, but afterwards I heard that quickly,
and without any accident, they had reached their homes.
Their tanarere on Sarubwoyna beach--that is, the competitive display
of the yield--gave more or less the following results:
From Sinaketa they received 304 armshells.
From Vakuta they received 344 armshells.
The total therefore was 648. As there were about sixty canoes making
the proper uvalaku from Dobu, that is, not counting those from the
Amphletts and Vakuta which joined on the way and appeared before
Sinaketa, there were at the outside some five hundred Dobuan natives
on that expedition. Out of these, however, not more than half were
grown-up, Kula making men. So that, on the average, there were nearly
thirteen armshells for every five men. Some would not get more than
one pair, some perhaps even none, whilst the headmen received large
quantities.
We shall follow in a later chapter the movements of some at least
of those who had collected in Sinaketa from the other districts, in
connection with the Kula. It did not take them more than a few days
to disperse completely, and for the village to resume its ordinary
aspect and routine.