576 



monsoon season, as at that time the Bay of Mailu is absolutely 

 calm. The models are fairly accurate, even in the ornamenta- 

 tion, with one exception : the big Oro' u consist of two boats 

 joined by a platform and lashed together (comp. chap, iv., 

 sec. 4), while in the model one of the dug-outs is replaced by 

 an outrigger float. In this way the boys get acquainted with 

 the construction of the Oro'u, though the models are made by 

 the elders. 



Another sport very much enjoyed by children is fishing with 

 a miniature of the Tdvita ortVi net (called T. o. kinovoi, which 

 means a small net of that name), the father showing the boy 

 how to use it. Small fish are caught this way, to the great 

 delight of the boys. Over and over again I saw boys playing 

 a-t fishing in this way for hours together. Miniature models 

 of the other small nets (Gehi ord'i) are also made. The fishing 

 corresponds, on a small scale, to the fishing done by the men 

 with these nets (comp. chap, iv., sec. 3). 



Small fish spears (Udi kino vol; lidi meaning fish spear) are 

 made for boys. They are taught how to use them, and they 

 often set out by themselves for fishing expeditions. Those 

 toy spears are about two-thirds the size of the real ones, and 

 they are used by boys eight to twelve years old. 



Some skill in throwing spears may also be possibly 

 acquired by a game (Motu name, Kiki) in which two boys try 

 to spear soft thick twigs planted in the sand with small-pointed 

 sticks (about 40 in. in length). 



During the dancing season groups of boys, using small 

 bamboos as drums, sometimes perform for hours in imitation 

 or caricature of the grown-up men's dance. The nearer thft 

 feast the more zealous grow the boys, who in this respect follow 

 the lead of the grown-up men. 



The children used also to play a kind of tug-of-war and 

 several other games, the details of which I failed to record, 

 though I saw them performed several times. In one a line of 

 girls "wind themelves up" into a sort of tangle, which is 

 afterwards unravelled ; in another two rows of girls face each 

 other and join their hands. A small girl is taken by the arms ; 

 she is balanced on the joined hands of two girls, and then h.m 

 to spring on to the next pair and so on. These games are 

 accompanied by songs. 



5. Regulation of Public Life; Legal Institutions; 



Gora (Taboo). ^^-;^ 



General Remarks. — When dealing with abstract concep-^ 

 ticns, referring to social life, such as law, religion, authority, 

 etc., it is necessary to be extremely careful not to project our 

 own ideas and associations into native life and thought. One 



