570 



said that a man transgressing the Liai unwittingly, for in- 

 tentionally nobody would dream of doing so, would expect 

 some kind or other of illness to befall him. 



It is to be noted that Lid'i taboo on relatives-in-law is 

 much more stringent than the Gora on th© names of parents. 

 Several of my friends did not mind mentioning in my pre- 

 sence the names of their fathers and grandfathers, acting on 

 the principle that "New Guinea custom has little bearing 

 upon one's behaviour towards a white man." But they would 

 not apply this principle to their father-in-law's name. Wish- 

 ing to ascertain the extent of their reluctance, I tried to 

 tempt Pihana, a particularly greedy and sophisticated middle- 

 aged Mailu — with the elder and more genuine gentlemen, 

 such as my friend Faj)dri, I would not have attempted the 

 experiment — by offering him successively increasing quanti- 

 ties of tobacco. It was onlv at five sticks that he beg^an to 

 waver, which means that his reluctance was very great 

 indeed. 



The parents-in-law belong to the circle of relatives who 

 receive the Veveni gift of food (comp. this chap., sec. 1). 



Essentials of Marriage Contract. — Besides its ceremonial 

 side and its conditions of validity, and besides the general 

 duties which are imposed upon a man towards his relatives- 

 in-law, marriage establishes a personal relationship between 

 husband and wife. And perhaps the most essential data 

 concerning marriage are those bearing upon the reciprocal 

 duties and privileges, the general character of their feelings 

 towards each other, and all the facts characteristic of their 

 respective status. In this place I shall state those details 

 very briefly, as several of them are described in other para- 

 graphs ("Domestic Duties," in sec. 1 of this chapter; "Divi- 

 sion of Labour," in chap. iv.). 



Marriage is in Mailu patrilocal ; the woman moves to 

 her husband's house, lives with his parents and with his 

 brothers and their families. In all her domestic duties she 

 has to co-operate with her mother-in-law and with her sisters- 

 in-law, and thus she becomes, in this respect, a member of 

 her husband's house, and becomes its co-proprietor, in so 

 far as she continues to live in it, even after his death, 

 especially if she has children and does not think of marrying 

 again. 



She works in her husband's garden, and becomes, in fact, 

 a co-proprietor of this also, since after her husband's death 

 she continues to use the garden for herself and her children. 

 She even shares her husband's economic magic, which is a 

 form of property that is greatly valued (comp. chap, v., 

 -see. 2). Whatever he acquires by hunting and fishing, and 



