500 



The cultural reseaiblance of the Mailu to tlie Koita and 

 allied tribes is the reason why I am giving in the text frequent 

 footnotes referring the reader both to Prof. Seligman's descrip- 

 tion of the Ko'iid and to some data I was able to collect among 

 the Motu and Sinaugholo tribes, who live in close contact with 

 the former but differ from them in some respects. I had 

 specially good opportunities among the Sinaugholo, as I went 

 there (at the end of my stay in Papua) in company with my 

 friend Ahuia, by whom I was introduced to a number of well- 

 informed, intelligent, and outspoken natives. The Sinaugholo 

 customs and folklore closely resemble those of the Mailu, and 

 in many cases comparison is very useful. 



Besides the Mailu names of things, customs, etc., I am. 

 also giving as many Motuan terms as possible. This is partly 

 because the Motu is a universal language among the natives 

 in British New Guinea, or, at least, it is beginning to become 

 such. If it were adopted (as was partially done by Dr. Selig- 

 man, who has given the Motu equivalents of all Koita terms) 

 as an ethnological standard language for all the Papuasian 

 tribes it would greatly facilitate matters, since it would bring 

 into prominence identities and correspondences between the 

 customs, ideas, and material culture of various tribes. I have 

 been able to give the Motuan terms the more easily as I used 

 that language in my conversations with the natives, especially 

 towards the end of my work. I had been advised to acquire 

 as much as possible of Motu, and I studied the grammar and 

 vocabulary of the late Mr. Lawes before arriving in Papua. 



During my first weeks in Port Moresby I made the most 

 strenuous efforts to get a conversational smattering of the 

 language. I took with me to Mailu a Motuan cook-boy, Igua 

 Pi'pi, whom I used to employ as interpreter w^hen talking with 

 the natives. He translated my English into Motuan, and 

 then the natives' statements back again from Motuan to Eng- 

 lish. I was sufficiently advanced in Motuan by that time to 

 be able to check the conversation, and this was indeed 

 essential, as my interpreter often misunderstood my questions. 

 Gradually I began to ask questions in Motu myself, and 

 relegated Igua from the position of an interpreter to that of a 

 personified pocket dictiona^ry, v;hich was brought into requisi- 

 tion whenever a word was lacking or if the natives refused 

 to penetrate the somewhat barbarous Motuan I was using. It 

 must be added that it is much easier to speak and understand 

 Motu when conversing with a non-Motuan, since he speaks it 

 more slowly, less elaborately, and uses a much narrower range 

 of words. In fact, a kind of ''Pidgin-MoUi" is now in process 

 of formation. This "Pidgin-Motu^^ is, however, a form of 

 the pure Motuan which, though simplified, is by no means 



