4% Gunnar LandtmaN. 



This bird was made in the following way. Once a Såreéve man named Råguguramu, 

 who had no tame animais, thought to himself, „I got no dog, got no pig, I got no cassowary," 

 and therefore start d to mak; a bird to keep. He took a pièce of a pdi (mid-rib of a sago leaf), 

 covered it with feaihcrs and provided it vvitii a head and two lags made of sticks, and then he 

 said, „Suppose you pigjon, you make yourself pigeon." Råguguramu went away, and in his 

 absence thü thing b. came a boukôu. The man tried to give it food and offered it a banana, but 

 it did not take it, nor did it want a pièce of taro which he chewed for it. „I don't know what 

 name (what thing) try," thought the man and sent somebody to fetch a snake which he eut in 

 pièces. No sooner did the bôuk u see the snake than it devoured ail the pièces, beckoning with 

 its head to get more. Snakes were the only food it cared for. „More better you go stop along 

 bush, go look round snake self," said Râgugurâmu. He let the bird fly into the bush; there it 

 alighted in a tree, and turned round and looked at its master. The boukôu had been made by a 

 man, and therefore it h;is a quiet disposition, which is another reason why the people do not 

 want to eat it. Sometimes th^y eut otï the tongue of a böuköu and give it as „medicine" to a 

 boy, and thenceforth „he stop quiet ail time, no make noise, no rovv, he good man." (Nåmai, 

 Mawâta). 



HOW CRABS WERE BROUGHT TO THE ISLANDS. 



442. Begerédubu (cf. no. 109) of Wâboda brought the first crabs from Di'biri, and he 

 painted them before putting them in his canoei That was the first canoë in Wàboda and Ki'wai. 

 During the night while Begerédubu was sleeping on the shore the canoë went under water of 

 its own accord and began to travel about under the sea from place to place. At every Island it 

 left some crabs which went on shore and remained thcre. Since then there are crabs on all the 

 islands. It is from Begerédubu that the p;ople hâve learnt to tie up the legs of the crabs in 

 order to prevent them from escaping after they hâve been caught. (Kâku, Ipisi'a). 



THE ORIGIN OF ANTS'-NESTS IN COCONUT TREES. 



443. A man named Pi, who lived at Âberemûba, once wanted to get some coconuts, so 

 he placed his coconut-husker a shell (used for cutting) at the foot of the tree, tied a rope round 

 his ankles, and climbed up. When he was half way up the leaves of the tree called, out, „You 

 no corne, by-and-by two eye belong you I stick him out." The terrified man began to climb 

 down, but suddenly the coconut husker and shell on the ground cried, „You no come hère, by 

 and by me fellow stick nebâre (anus) belong you." The poor fellow did not know what to do, 

 as he could neither go up nor down. So he remained in the tree and was transformed into one 

 of the black ants' nests {pi) which are often seen on the trunks of coconut palms. (Samàri, 

 Mawâta). 



Tom. XLVII. 



