638 



receive their share later on. The iiouse is inherited in the 

 male line, as stated above, so that if a man dies his eldest son 

 becomes the "master" or "owner" (Guhiua) of the house. If 

 he is a small child at his father's death the title is latent (the 

 father's younger brother being considered "owner" or 

 "master" for the time being), but as soon as the boy is grown 

 he comes into his rights. The right to the gardens, as 

 frequently stated, is hereditary in the male line— being on 

 the mainland implicitly included in the clan membership, or 

 on Mailu Island referring explicitly to the paternal garden 

 land. 



A few concrete examples, accompanied by pedigrees, will 

 illustrate these general rules. The following is the account, 

 given me by Omaya, one of the Mailu village constables, of 

 what happened after the death of his father, Oudf/a, and the 

 pedigree shows the relationship of the persons concerned : — 



Onaga 



Meria 









j 



1 

 1 



\ 



( 



\jO 



o 



e 



o 



^ 







Bo 



Use 



Bania 



Mado 



Tsm-a 



Kdvaiiai 



Omdga 

 =o 



A wdri 



(— O Wonal 



Mardi 



o 

 Digit 



o 

 Dagdea 



OmdgcCs father, Ondga, died, leaving two younger 

 brothers, Bania and Tsdra, and two younger sisters, Boitse 

 and Mddo ; as well as five children : the boys Kdvanai, Omdga, 

 and Wond'i, and the girls Digu and Dagdea. At the time 

 of Ondga's death all his children were young, and his brother 

 Bania was regarded as "master" of the house, this being then 

 tenanted by Bania, his wife and child (not mentioned in the 

 pedigree), Tsdra, and Ondga' s widow and children. 



All the coconut trees left by Ondga were also taken over 

 by Bania, who subsequently gave some of them to his younger 

 brother Tsdra. Bania also took charge of the garden land for 

 as long as the boys remained young. When Kdvanai married 

 and thus became a grown man, Bania gave him over the whole 

 land left by his father and all the coconut palms, except 

 Tsdra' s share. When Omdga, Kdvanai' s younger brother, 



