H.— ANTHROPOLOGY 167 



is an important member of the village society.''* The Naga system of 

 penna has already been mentioned and has very close parallels indeed in 

 the Fijian regulations observed in such festivals as that of the Ruku.''^ 

 One may also compare the sacramental offering of kava to the Fijian god 

 with the little share of drink that every Angami or Sema Naga sets aside 

 for the spirit of himself or of the place where he is. Similar beliefs are 

 to be found in both areas in the existence of jungle pixies ^® and in human 

 beings who can render themselves invulnerable.^^ Both areas possess 

 the story of a tower of Babel, '^^ and the Angami system of land tenure 

 is extraordinarily like that of Fiji.''^ Points of this kind may be un- 

 important in themselves but their cumulative effect must be taken into 

 account. 



In material culture again there are a number of close parallels. The 

 bachelors' dormitory (mbure) of course is very widespread, but it is 

 remarkable that the game played with the beans of the great sword bean 

 {Entada scandens), which is also widely distributed through the Assam 

 Indonesian area, should have practically the same name {walai : alau) in 

 Fiji and among the Sema Nagas.^° Both the Fijians and the Naga tribes 

 use panjis,^^ that is bamboo caltrops or spikes sharpened at both ends 

 and very effective against a bare-footed enemy in warfare, and both 

 indicate the road to be avoided by a following party by throwing down 

 a handful of leaves in the path.^^ 



The Nagas, in contra-distinction to all their neighbours, are adepts in 

 the art of wig making ; so too the Fijians.*^ But the most remarkable 

 parallel is perhaps to be found in the use of a certain group of Angami 

 villages of an unusual game which consists in throwing a reed dart on 

 to a prepared surface of ground in such a manner that it soars again into 

 the air and flies for a very considerable distance towards a mark at the far 

 end of an open space. ^* This game of the Dzunokeheno Angamis, called 

 by them cheda or phyelida, is identical with the national game of Fiji 

 known as veitingga,^^ a game which extends also to Samoa, where it is 

 called tayiga ti'a ^® ; while Ellis mentions it under the names of aperea in 

 Tahiti and pake in the Sandwich Islands. ^^ It is known in the plains of 

 Assam under the name of the s'ar game ; with what particular tribe there 

 it is to be associated I am not certain, but probably the Kachari. 



Psychological parallels must be used naturally only with the greatest 

 caution, but to anyone acquainted with the Naga hills accounts of the 



'* Brewster, 282 ; Hutton, II, 218 sq. 



'^ Brewster, 91, 93 ; Hutton, I, 192, 200 sq. ; II, 220 ; Mills, I, 26 ; II, 252. 



'» Brewster, 88 ; Hutton, II, 192 sq. 



" Brewster, 99 ; Hutton, I, 243. 



" Williams, II, 253 ; Hutton, I, 265. 



" Williams, I, 106. 



'" Seemann, 282 ; Deane, 16 ; Hutton, II, 106 ; Mills, II, 156. 



" Waterhouse, II, 316 ; Hutton, I, 44 ; II, 24, 171 ; MiUs, II, 53. 



*- Deane, 194 ; Hutton, I, 293 ; II, 265. 



«3 Williams, II, 78 ; Hutton, I, 22 ; II, 10, 16 ; Mills, I, 8, 13 ; II, 44. 



" Man, 1929, 112. 



'^ Brewster, 92 ; Deane, 16 ; Williams, I, 150 ; II, 162. 



'* Brown, Mclanesians and Polynesians, 340. 



*' Ellis, III, 1, 227 and 4. 



