414 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 



SO much to condemn, that unless he is a man of tact and patience 

 he will meet insuperable obstacles when he attempts to penetrate 

 the inner life and thoughts of the tribe amongst whom he lives. 

 It is comparatively easy to think in the language of the natives, 

 but it is almost impossible to get at their innermost thoughts and 

 feelings. 



To convince an ignorant and barbarous race that in making 

 inquiries you are simply seeking information is an almost impossible 

 task. They always think you have an ulterior motive. Then, if 

 you put off your researches too long, there is a danger of variations 

 being introduced into the stories and legends to suit the new con- 

 ditions, which tend to suppress the natural expressions of a primitive 

 people. 



After a residence of four years on the island of Dobu, in south- 

 east Papua, I was able to gather some stories and legends from a 

 company of men, who were rewarded for their information by Dr. 

 Loria, of Italy, who was at the time visiting our island for anthropo- 

 logical purposes. These stories had never been told to a foreigner 

 before, for the simple reasons that the natives did not know English, 

 and I was the first outsider to learn their language. 



The telling of legends was restricted to the night time, under 

 the penalty of the narrators and hearers becoming fixtures to each 

 other and to the place where they were sitting. It would be dis- 

 respectful to listen standing. 



At the close of each story the whole company would cry out 

 " Neda bubune kalakea sopile " — having reference to nits in the 

 hair — at the same time drawing the hand quickly over the face, 

 from the forehead down ; then all would shout " Me Gilagila kami- 

 keiga kolokolo " (Inhabitants of Gilagila your cocoanutshell is 

 well scraped), and then all would spit. This ceremony performed, 

 no evil effects would follow. 



As they had never known me to break a promise, our team of 

 old and middle-aged men accepted my assurance that no evil results 

 would follow the telling of stories and legends in my study in the 

 daytime, and after moving about freely at the close of the first 

 narration, they said : " Of a truth these are different times." 



The stories and folklore contain very few references to the 

 Creator or gods. They deal mostly with the doings of men and 

 women. Women appear very prominently in many of the legends. 



Eahoaine I. — The Dobuans openly stated that all things were 

 not made, but came into being of themselves. There were two gods 

 in the Milky Way of the same name— Eaboaine. One formed 

 fingers and toes on human beings, also nose, eyes, mouth and ears. 

 He looked down upon the people as they fought their battles, or 

 made canoes, or carried out their feasts. They called up to him on 

 great occasions, but were not at all afraid of him, though when he 

 was angry he caused children to be born deformed. He is said to 

 have looked down upon the earth and to have seen a man walking 

 alone, so he made a woman out of the ground and threw her down 



