DOBUAN BELIEFS AND FOLK-LORE. 423 



K.'s leaf-flag, which was fastened to his arm, was seen on the ground. 

 So the mother looked up, and saw him, and was much rejoiced, 

 saying, " Who brought my child there ? " So K. climbed down. 

 When he was seated on the platform, he saw a pig pass by. "Whose 

 pig is that ? " said he ; and he knew it was for the mourning-feast 

 in his own memory. So were all the pigs and the dogs and the bush- 

 rats, and the wallaby, and the lizards. The yams also were for the 

 mourning ceremonies. 



So he commanded all the people to gather together, and he 

 made them build a very large house with not an interstice in the walls 

 or the roof. It was very dark inside. K. said, " Let us get the 

 wood ready, and to-morrow we will have the feast." He killed all 

 the dogs and the pigs and the other animals, and made a great 

 heap. All the food from the gardens was brought also, and put 

 into the large house with the people who had left him on the island 

 and their friends and relations. His true mother and himself were 

 the only ones outside. 



He gave them sulilicient food to eat, but shut the door ; so 

 those who had treated him so badly could do nothing but bow in 

 shame. 



After a time he went round the house and struck it with a 

 stone-axe, saying, " Children ! look out for your eyes ! I am 

 driving flies away ! " He then went to the side, and struck that, 

 and all inside the house were changed into unfledged birds. He 

 then struck the doors and the feathers grew. The birds now tried 

 to get out, and beat against the walls, but could not find an outlet, 

 so they sat on the floor. Suddenly the Bedinegw^a (small honeybird) 

 saw a small hole and flew out ; the Binama (hornbill) with its big 

 beak now forced its way out, and made a hole big enough for all the 

 rest to get through. 



K. saw them, and said : " Children ! Come back ! " And they 

 came back and lighted on a tree, which was so crowded with them 

 that the branches and leaves could not be seen. K. said : " Who 

 will go up to Heaven and see my place there ? " Beginning with 

 the cockatoo they all tried their best, except the manucodia and 

 the brush-turkey. These two were punished for their laziness, and 

 now cannot fly very much. The others tried in turn, but failed. 

 The honeybird then put on a leaf-flag and started. The others 

 laughed at this small bird flying up, but it flew out of sight itself first 

 and then afterwards its flag went out of sight also. They all said, 

 " It is gone." 



When the honeybird arrived it saw house-building going on. 

 It took some paint which was being used to adorn the houses, and 

 put it on its forehead, and taking a bit of thatch flew down to its 

 friends. It was so tired that the other birds said : " Let us perform 

 charms over it ; it is dying." When it came to itself, they asked 

 it to tell what it had seen. It showed its forehead first, and said 

 that all the houses were so painted. But while it told them all the 

 parts of a house, it said nothing about the door, and the result is the 

 honeybird is the only bird which has a perfect nest. 



