32 Science Religion and Reality 



fractions of the length of the dug-out. They can also explain, 

 in rudimentary but clearly mechanical terms, how they have to 

 behave in a sudden gale, why the outrigger must be always on the 

 weather side, why the one type of canoe can and the other cannot 

 beat. They have, in fact, a whole system of principles of sailing, 

 embodied in a complex and rich terminology, traditionally handed 

 on and obeyed as rationally and consistently as is modern science 

 by modern sailors. How could they sail otherwise under eminently 

 dangerous conditions in their frail primitive craft ? 



But even with all their systematic knowledge, methodically 

 applied, they are still at the mercy of powerful and incalculable 

 tides, sudden gales during the monsoon season and unknown 

 reefs. And here comes in their magic, performed over the canoe 

 during its construction, carried out at the beginning and in the 

 course of expeditions and resorted to in moments of real danger. 

 If the modern seaman, entrenched in science and reason, provided 

 with all sorts of safety appliances, sailing on steel-built steamers, 

 if even he has a singular tendency to superstition — which does 

 not rob him of his knowledge or reason, nor make him altogether 

 pre-logical — can we wonder that his savage colleague, under much 

 more precarious conditions, holds fast to the safety and comfort 

 of magic ? 



An interesting and crucial test is provided by fishing in the 

 Trobriand Islands and its magic. While in the villages on the 

 inner Lagoon fishing is done in an easy and absolutely reliable 

 manner by the method of poisoning, yielding abundant results 

 without danger and uncertainty, there are on the shores of the open 

 sea dangerous modes of fishing and also certain types in which the 

 yield greatly varies according to whether shoals of fish appear 

 beforehand or not. It is most significant that in the Lagoon 

 fishing, where man can rely completely upon his knowledge and 

 skill, magic does not exist, while in the open-sea fishing, full of 

 danger and uncertainty, there is extensive magical ritual to secure 

 safety and good results. 



Again, in warfare the natives know that strength, courage, and 

 agility play a decisive part. Yet here also they practise magic to 

 master the elements of chance and luck. 



Nowhere is the duality of natural and supernatural causes 

 divided by a line so thin and intricate, yet, if carefully followed 

 up, so well marked, decisive, and instructive, as in the two most 



