722 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G, 



by a relative. Any one hearing the name of a child, male or 

 female, at once knows the tribe (nakainagn) of its father. 

 Thus let the child's 7iame be Turi tamate — tnmate means 

 peace, and Turi denotes that the father of the child is of the 

 Nalminaga noui (yam tribe). Tamate (a very common name) 

 may be given, and no doubt originally was given, because 

 peace was prevailing at the time of birth. Turi nam {nam, 

 " war," literally " arms ") is another example, the child 

 having been born in time of war. And so all children have 

 names given to them, of which the first part denotes the tribe 

 of their father. The native expression is " the yam tribe bisi 

 (begets) Turi," the naroa tribe bisi Mako," &c. 



The mother carries the child on her back, slung in a fine 

 mat made for the purpose ; the father carries it in his arms. 

 Suckling is continued two or three years. Nothing is applied 

 to the child's head to regulate its shape. The child is lovingly 

 cared for in infancy by its mother. Later, when a boy, 

 he does very much as he likes, and as he belongs to his 

 mother's tribe, and not to his father's, it is his mother's full 

 brother, his maternal uncle, who has to instruct him. Such 

 a boy going much with his father is often spoken to thus : — 

 What do you mean by going with another (meaning his 

 father)? Go with your lolo {aloana — his uncle) that you 

 may learn from him. 



Maturity. 



No certain age can be mentioned as that at which either 

 boys or girls reach maturity. As to circumcision it was not 

 much practised in Efate, but more in the Shepherd Islets. 

 It was performed with a bamboo knife by anyone who could 

 do it. So far as I can learn, the reason for the practice was, 

 that the boy might grow big and well proportioned. When 

 they saw a boy lanky and ill looking, they would say, " Let 

 us circumcise him that he may grow well and fill out." And 

 they say that pigs, when cut, grow fat and fill out in the same 

 way. On the fifth day the boy bathed in the sea, and on 

 returning to the house was smeared with the red intei {twvuevic) 

 powder, and a feast was held. Only in the case of the son 

 of a chief was there singing and dancing at the feast. 

 Connected with it were no mystic rites, no badge, new name, 

 marks, or hair-cutting, or freemasonry, or privileges. A 

 betrothed girl, on reaching maturity, was taken with ceremony 

 and feasting to the house of her betrothed husband, with 

 singing and dancing. 



