574 



formed part of the initiation ceremony. On such, and only 

 on such, occasions would the ceremony take place in the Dnhu . 

 The boy spent about a fortnight in VaeDuhu previously to the 

 ceremony, and was not allowed to leave the place. He had 

 to keep the typical taboo — i.e., abstention from boiled food 

 and fish — and his food was handed to him by men. If 

 the boy wanted to leave the Duhu house for any necessity he^ 

 could do so by night, or if he did so in the daytime he had to 

 cover himself completely with mats ; neither was he allowed to> 

 comb his hair. 



The boys who were thus undergoing the initiation taboo 

 used to remove the skin and flesh of the enemy's head, which 

 was part of the process of preparing it for the collection in the 

 Duhu (described in sec. 6 of this chapter), and very likely boys 

 at the suitable age would wait until there w^ere a few heads 

 ready for the head-hunter's collection. On the other hand, if 

 such were at hand some boys might be invited to undergo the 

 initiation, so that the two performances might coincide. 



The ceremony itself was performed after the period of the 

 taboo in the Duhu itself. After that the boy was no more 

 called Tainaru, but U'du, which corresponds to ''young man.'^ 

 On the day of the ceremony there was a dance. 



At other times the adoption of the perineal band usually 

 took place on one of the Oro'u (big canoes). In such cases the 

 ceremony would be connected with the big feast (Maduna), 

 and take place just before, at the time when the canoes had 

 returned from Aroma laden with pigs and betel nut for the 

 feast. The ceremony is always accompanied by a small feast, 

 for which a pig was killed. The pig is previously given by 

 the boy's father to the maternal uncle. In the case of the 

 perineal band being given by the boy's elder brother the pig 

 is killed by the father. 



At the exchange of gifts which takes place between the 

 father and the maternal uncle it is the latter who profits. 



Games and Amusements. — As said above, the children's 

 life is fairly free. From the age of about five they play and 

 roam at will, and tlie bigger boys and girls may go some 

 distance away from the village. Even at that stage the 

 separation of the sexes is marked, for the boys and girls roam 

 in separate groups, hardly mix in their play, and very often 

 have altogether different ways of playing. 



Many of the children's games have a clear educational 

 value. They consist very often in the imitation of the 

 activities of their elders, and the children often use toys and 

 implem.ents made, ad, hoc, with a considerable amount of 

 labour. The elders, usually parents, take part in the play and 

 teach the children, with evident interest and care, how to sail 



