The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans. 475 



cried out, „he finish now! How much time I teil you, you stop, never mind pickaninny. Who 

 make my kaikai now?" The crocodile dragged the woman under water, and the sea-horse came 

 and smelled at her: „What name (what is) that thing? That no fish. Oh, that woman!" The 

 crocodile ate the woman, but the sea-horse did not touch her. 



The sea-horse was the crocodile's „brother", and the latter looked after him all the time. 

 (Käiku, Mawåta). 



THE CASSOWARY AND CROCODILE WHO QUARRELLED ABOUT A SAGO TREE. 



440. At Sagéro a sago tree grew close to the creek, it had been planted by a cassowary. 

 Once a crocodile came out of the water, cleared the spot from grass and said, „My sago now;" 

 and it went back into the creek. „Eh, I say!" exclaimed the cassowary on returning to the 

 place. „Who been make him my sago? that's my sago." The cassowary put a mark on the 

 tree to show his ownership, and he felt very angry and said, „Oh, that alligator he make him. 

 More better you stop along water, no come up." Then the cassowary returned to the bush. 

 The next day the crocodile came back and said, „Oh, what's the matter you been put mark on 

 sago? That my tree, no belong you." He lay in wait for the cassowary, but as the latter did 

 not turn up, he retired into the water. 



When the sago palm was maturing the cassowarj' came one day and looked at it, „Oh, 

 to-morrow I eut that tree on top, I want kaikai." *) But the crocodile came first, propped a tall 

 post up against the sago tree, climbed up, and eut off the top. At the same time the cassowary 

 chanced to come, and on seeing the crocodile in the tree it exclaimed, „Oh, you bad fellow! 

 what's the matter you eut that sago? You no been plant him, me plant him!" He pitched away 

 the post, so that the crocodile couid not get down, and in vain the latter asked him, „You put 

 that wood back, me want come down." The cassowary went away leaving him in the tree. 

 The crocodile remained there a long time, eating his way down inside the tree. *' After three 

 months he reached the ground and by cutting a hole in the side of the tree he managed to get 

 out. „Oh, that cassowary he bad fellow," said he, „humbug me ail time." The crocodile wanted 

 to go into the water, but he was very light after his long stay in the tree and remained floating 

 on the surface. When the cassowary came Walking along close to the creek, the crocodile caught 

 him and dragged him under water. The cassowary was not dead, but the crocodile kept him 

 there three months in revenge for the time which he had been confined in the tree. Finally the 

 cassowary was allowed to return to his home in the bush. (Ibi'a, Ipisi'a). 



THE ORIGIN OF THE BOUKOU BIRD. 



441. There is a bird which is called boukou because of its cry, „boukou", and it 

 measures the size of a small pigeon. It is very quiet by nature, and when anybody comes near 

 it, it does not fly away, and for this reason the people do not want to kill it. The boukou will 

 Sit a very long time in the same tree watching the people, and this is why they like it. 



^) Some time before a sago palni is felled the people eut off the top of it, and thereby the sago in 

 the trunk is said to increase in quantity. 



N:o 1. 



