Tlie Folk-Tales of llic Kiwai Paptians. 139 



come look." Tliey all went, headed by Side; „Oh, all same house — big alligator he stop!" 

 Ndga said to them, „Suppose you want go fight, you come eut you (your) bamboo (bow) this 

 place, eut him rope too belong bamboo. That bamboo he kill him man proper." Since then the 

 Mâsingâra people eut bamboo for their bows and bow-trings at Yömusa, and this is vvhy they 

 are now such dreaded marksmen, („no matter arrow he fast along small place, that man he dead"). 



Naga said to the Mâsingâra people, „That time you fellow kill bushman, you no eut him 

 head, leave him," and for this reason the Mâsingâra people and the other bushmen uniike the 

 Kiwais refrain from cutting off the heads of their slain enemies, they follovv Nâga's directions. 



Nâga travelled inside the crocodile to many places. He went to Kura and eut a creek 

 there, and to Mabudaväne and eut another creek. He thought to himself, „No good all time I 

 stop outside along sea, more better I make creek, go inside fight people." Wherever he scented 

 people, he made a creek inland. He eut the Mâgai, Tamâni, Pöspos, Tcjgi-türi, Wâsi-kàsa, Ktidi- 

 kâsa, and Kôbuâra-gôvvo (Bensbach river) creeks. On his way back he went up all the creeks 

 again and caught the people who came to fetch water. A last he returned to Yömusa where he 

 threw up the heads he had taken. He left his crocodile shape and arranged the heads in circles with 

 split coconut-leaves around thcm, and since his time the people have done the same with the heads 

 they bring home from a fi,ij;ht. N'.iga and KQiamo (cf. no. 60) were the first men to fight, and 

 the Saibai side belongs to Küiamo. while the inland peoples follow Nâga. Mawâta is on the border 

 between the two sphères and belongs partly to both. VVhen the Mawâta, Yam, and Tûdu people 

 come to Yömusa, they offer dugong bones and méat, mentioning Nâga"sname: „Nâga, hère méat 

 belong you. Every time me fellow go spear dugong, you give me. ail time." There are great 

 quantities of dugong bones at Yiimuso. If people from other Islands do not give Nâga any méat 

 when they come to Mawâta, some disaster will befall them when spearing dugong. The people 

 also ask Nâga for success in war, saying, „By and by me go fight — ail same before you been 

 kill him Tddu man, me kill him people ail same. Nâga lives still at Yömusa, and when he wants 

 to go anywhere eise, he assumes the shape of a crocodile. He made all the other crocodiles, and 

 they kill people, because Nâga did so when he assumed their form. 



Nâga's wife was married to a man named* Sido in Tûdu (not the Kiwai Si'do). He was 

 possessed of extraordinary powers, and used to li\e in the heap of dugong bones which the 

 people had thrown away. Sido and the woman called their first child Tûdu, and the others 

 Wârabere, Dâmudo, and Purüma, which are now names of Islands. Before that the Islands were 

 uninhabited and had no names, but Sido named them and sent his chiidren to live each in the 

 Island of the same name. (Gaméa, Mawâta). 



A. Nâga and his people in Tûdu made fréquent irips to spear dugong, and meanwhile the 

 läira ceremony (cf. introduction to n:o 287) was being performed in the Island. While his wife was 

 being outraged by the Iwo men, as in the previous version, Nâga failed to spear any dugong. His 

 revenge and the happenings in New Guinea are related as above. (Dàida, Mawâta). 



B. There are two more similar versions ot the outrage upon the wife of Nâga (or „Mâga" as 

 he is called in the one taie) and his revenge. (Epére and Kâku, Ipisia). 



C. The outrage was done upon the wife of Kîba, the leader of the Boigu people, and the 

 circumslances were the same as in the previous versions. Kiba was out on the reef but did net spear 



N:o 1. 



