October 7, 1922] 



NA TURE 



473 



exchange, known as Kula, with which this book is 

 almost solely concerned. 



The exchange takes place between partners who 

 may reside in the same island, but for the most part in 

 different islands. The Kula articles of value are shell- 

 necklaces of a special type and armlets made of Conus 

 shell. The former always travel N.-E.-S.-W., i.e. 

 clockwise, and the latter in the contrary direction, but 

 other'articles of value may be implicated in the trans- 

 actions in a subsidiary manner. The islands mainly 

 concerned in Kula are those between Nada and the 

 Trobriands, the Amphletts, part of the southern 

 d'Entrecasteaux and the Tubetube group. The real 

 Kula necklaces and the arm-shells have various worth, 

 and highly valued ones have individual names, and 

 their wanderings are followed with interest. The 

 ownership, or rather trusteeship, of each object is 

 temporary, and ranges from a few minutes to one year 

 or possibly two, but a man who retains an object beyond 

 a year is regarded as a mean person. The exchange 

 is by the natives sharply differentiated from barter, as 

 no haggling takes place. An equivalent gift is always 

 expected, but cannot be demanded or enforced, the 

 onlv punishment for failing in this being loss of esteem. 

 If at anv time an equivalent gift cannot be bestowed, 

 intermediate gifts will smooth the way till the real 

 repavment takes place. Meanness is the most despised 

 vice, and generosity the essence of goodness. Noblesse 

 oblige is in reality the social norm regulating their 

 conduct. This does not mean that people are always 

 satisfied and that there are no squabbles nor even 

 feuds about the transactions. It is obvious that how- 

 ever much a man may want to give a good equivalent 

 for the object received, he may not be able to do so ; 

 and then, as there is always a keen competition to be 

 the most generous giver, a man who has received less 

 than he gave will not keep his grievance to himself but 

 will brag about his own generosity and compare it with 

 his partner's meanness ; the other resents it, and the 

 quarrel is ready to break out. All the preparatory 

 activities, as well as those connected with the voyages 

 and the ceremonies of exchange, are permeated by 

 magic, as indeed is the whole economic life of the people. 



The most important character of Kula is the mental 

 attitude of the natives towards it. The objects of the 

 Kula are neither used nor regarded as currency, as they 

 are never used as a medium of exchange or as a measure 

 of wealth; they serve merely to be owned and displayed 

 and then exchanged. It is through being the means 

 of arousing envy and conferring social distinction and 

 renown that these objects attain their high value and 

 form one of the leading interests in native life. The 

 ceremonial attached to the act of giving and the manner 

 of carrying and handling shows distinctly that they are 

 NO. 2762, VOL. I IO] 



not mere merchandise, but something that confers 

 dignity on a man, that exalts him, and which he there- 

 fore treats with veneration and affection. Nothing of 

 the same kind has been described elsewhere, but some- 

 thing analogous may be discovered now that attention 

 has been directed to it. The potlatch of British 

 Columbia, for example, is worth reconsidering in the 

 light of this book. 



Dr. Malinowski has not confined himself to a mere 

 detailed description of Kula, but he has endeavoured, 

 apparently with great success, to explain its psycho- 

 logical significance. Kula so pervades the life, thought, 

 and emotion of the people concerned in it that it seems 

 in some respects to fulfil functions which are character- 

 istic of many religions, but with magic supplying the 

 place of spiritual powers. The system might almost 

 be termed the Kula cult, as Dr. Malinowski seems to 

 hint ; but he distinctly states that the natives worship 

 nothing. 



The inter-insular Kula requires seaworthy canoes, 

 and Dr. Malinowski describes how these are made, 

 and the series of magical rites which accompany every 

 stage in their manufacture, equipment, and sailing. 

 The smaller fishing canoes are owned by one man, 

 but the sea-going canoe is constructed by a group of 

 people ; it is owned, used, and enjoyed communally, 

 and this according to definite rules, all of which 

 are described with careful detail and psychological 

 insight. To the natives a canoe of this type is a 

 marvellous achievement, a thing of beauty, and an 

 object permeated by magic. " He has spun a tradition 

 around it, he adorns it with his best carvings, he colours 

 and decorates it. It is associated with journeys by 

 sail, full of threatening dangers, of living hopes and 

 desires to which he gives expression in song and story. 

 In short, in the tradition of the natives, in their customs, 

 in their behaviour, and in their direct statements, there 

 can be found the deep love, the admiration, the specific 

 attachment as to something alive and personal, so 

 characteristic of the sailor's attitude towards his 

 craft." 



An outstanding merit of this book is that it is 

 a well-considered study in ethnographical method; 

 indeed the author's remarks on field-work will prove 

 of great value for the guidance of future workers. A 

 large number of magical formulae and oral texts is 

 given in the native language and in translation, which 

 provides unusual documentary evidence of exceptional 

 value for the elucidation of native psychology. The 

 book is well illustrated and of reasonable cost, for which 

 the publishers are to be thanked. Mr. Robert Mond 

 and others, by their liberality, have enabled these 

 investigations to be made, and they have the satis- 

 faction of knowing that they have afforded an 



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