782 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 
necessary for him to have a wife, he found himself at once involved 
in a maze of long-established customs and usages, amid which it 
was impossible for him to find his way alone, and so he had to 
‘submit to the guidance of those who knew better than he did how 
to act. He knew, of course, that he must select the lady from the 
opposite class to his own. In his land, men and women, boys and 
girls, cocoa-nuts, fishing stones, food-bearing trees, &c., are all 
divided into two classes, one called Pikalaba, and the other 
Maramara. No Pikalaba can marry one of the same class, and 
Tepang being Pikalaba, could only marry a girl who was 
Maramara. Marriage with a girl of his own class, though no 
blood relative, would be considered incestuous, and would have 
brought speedy punishment; in fact, the whole of the people 
would have been horrified at such an event. When he fixed his 
affections upon the girl he wanted for a wife, the first thing to do 
was to find out whether the girl liked him or not, and this was 
the first difficulty, for young men and young women do not mix 
together as they do in other lands. When I asked him how he 
found out whether the girl liked him or not without his having 
asked her, he said very innocently, ‘‘Oh, I saw it in her eye.” 
He then told his relatives, and they agreed to buy the girl, for a 
man never buys his own wife, though he has ultimately to pay for 
her. When all was arranged, Tepang and his wife became 
“‘ webat”—sweethearts or engaged. He then gave his betrothed 
what is called a Ka-na-ongrat or betrothal basket, answering to our 
engagement ring. In this basket he put some diwara, native money, 
beads, tobacco, armlets, shells, cuscus, teeth, with other property. 
He gave her this very quietly, or if too modest to do it himself 
he got some girl friend to give it. The girl could not, however, 
make use of any of the property in the basket until after their 
marriage, as she had to take it all with her on her wedding day, 
and show that she had taken all proper care of it. When it was 
known that the girl had received Tepang’s ka-na-ongrat, no other 
young man could seek her without causing a great quarrel. After 
this, Tepang’s friends borrowed “ pupulu” money from some chief 
or “ pet-palig ” man of wealth, and on a certain day they divided 
this out amongst the girl’s friends and relatives, whilst the friends 
of the girl brought food. During this time Tepang was invisible. 
He had cleared out of the village and hidden somewhere in the 
bush, as he was not supposed to know what was being done. The 
girl’s relatives who had got the money were not allowed, however, 
to use it until all the ceremonies were complete. On a given day 
all the friends of each party made a display of their diwara and 
other property amid a great blowing of conch shells and shouting. 
This was to show the young couple what wealthy relatives they 
had. On another day all the diwara which had been given to the 
girl’s relatives was brought back again, and each man who had 
