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2. Village Life. 



The Seasons and their Influence upon the Social Life 

 of the Natives. — The village life varies with the seasons. 

 There is a season for dancing and feasting ; much thought is 

 then given to these activities, and on their advent the whole 

 character of the village changes. There are times when there 

 is much fishing and times when hardly a native takes out a 

 net, though women go out by night and search the reef with 

 torches for frutti di mare. The trading expeditions are 

 carried out at fixed times in the year, and the gardening 

 activities are, of course, periodical, and regulated by the 

 seasons. Thus it is necessary to give an outline of a native's 

 year and the way in which it is divided. The special activi- 

 ties (feasts, economic activities, dancing) will be treated in 

 subsequent chapters; in this paragraph I shall speak of what 

 may be called the normal village life, that is of the aspect of 

 the village, as it is when there is nothing special going on. 



Seasons; Native Division of the Year. — The Papuan year 

 is naturally divided into two halves ; the time when the south- 

 east trade wind is blowing (May till November), and the 

 summer, during which the north-west monsoon is pre- 

 valent (January till March), there being about a month's 

 interval, during which the wind changes and there is very 

 little breeze. The trade wind blows steadily, commencing 

 every day before noon, reaching its climax at about four in 

 the afternoon, and dying away at night. Any other wind 

 at that season is exceptional, there being even very little land 

 breeze at night. The monsoon does not blow steadily, but 

 it occasionally comes down in violent gusts (called Guha in 

 Motu). There blows sometimes the southerly wind during 

 the north-western season, and, as a rule, the land breeze is 

 fairly strong at night. 



All the coastal natives naturally regulate their social life 

 with reference to this seasonal bipartition and divide the year 

 into two halves, viz., in Mailu, Bodea; in Motu, Laurahdda 

 (the south-east trade season); and, correspondingly, Avdra 

 and Lahdra (north-west monsoon time, or summer). 

 Besides these main divisions the Mailu natives have further 

 subdivisions, distinguishing several seasons or times (Wdna) 

 in the year. These are named after natural phenomena. The 

 names of the two main divisions are also derived from the 

 same source : Bodea meaning, in the first place, the south- 

 east trade wind, from which both the south-eastern direc- 

 tion and the winter season have been named. Avdra was 

 originally the name of the north-west monsoon, and alsa 

 means the north-western direction and north-western season. 

 As wind names the two words are substantives; in direction 



