619 



Ov'iu rxJirp of Canoes. — There are usually two owners to 

 a, canoe, called Oro'u. </uhin(( egi, and Larima giihina egi, 

 canoe boss man float boss man 



meaning the ''man controlling the canoe" and the ''man con- 

 trolling the LariwaJ' The first is the chief owner. Nowadays, 

 when there are at times as many as thirty to forty Oro'us in 

 Mailu (they are often traded and thus the number varies), a 

 man and his younger brother usually own a canoe jointly. In 

 olden days the Oro'iis were much fewer, and, as far as my 

 information goes, there was only one in each clan, or, if this 

 was big enough, one in each subclan. Each clan or subclan 

 had its own name for its Oro'ii. Thus there were two 

 Oro'iis in Laiijioni, of which Oradorom was owned by the 

 Gohodvh}i clan and Avaredsi by the Bo'ima/r/'i. In Mailu 

 I obtained the following names of canoes (though it is not a 

 complete list) : — 



Clan or subclan. Canoe name. 



Bode'rrho Kohv 



Boiladiihu Arti/ahji 



Banagadvhn, Kildpu 



Maradvhii Lohom 



Mofaodi'ihn Ve'agit'ia 



Mora 'u A ria'nm oga 

 In Laritora the following were the canoe names : — • 



Clan or subclan. Canoe name. 



Motsodnhu M oga' ana ve 



Dageduhn Orihegai 



Warafsadyhu Dundri 



Bo'iddhv T.deagdH 



Griharedvhu Had no canoe 



In this state of things, when each canoe belonged to a 

 ■clan or subclan, the headman of the clan or subclan was also 

 the chief master of the canoe, and his brother or uncle would 

 be the second owner. As a matter of fact, ownership was in 

 this case, as in many others, rather a question of a honorific 

 title than of exclusive usufruct. A big Oro'v could conveni- 

 ently hold some fifteen or twenty people, and that was as 

 many as were likely to set out on any expedition from one 

 Duhu. On the other hand, the sailing — as far as course, 

 dates of sailing, etc., were concerned — was a matter regulated 

 by custom, so that there was really very little scope to exercise 

 the rights and privileges of ownership in Mailu sailing, ^^i) 



fSi) If a man did not possess an Oro'ii he could borrow one 

 (Gdnadf ofsdufsa). The price for the journey from Mailu to 

 Aroma is: one Ahoma (long wooden dish), several coconuts, a 

 couple of spears, and some food. This would be shared by the 

 two OAvners. 



