655 



burn his hair clippings and throw the remains of his food 

 into the sea. (^^^ 



White Magic, apportioned to Individuals. — Though 

 there was no minor black magic, there was plenty of white 

 magic wrought among the Mailu tribe. There were two classes 

 of it, quite distinct from the ethnologist's point of view, 

 though I do not think the natives trouble in any way to classify 

 their magical store. The first class can be described as the 

 individual, private, and hereditary magic ; this being a form 

 of individual property of distinctly economic value in the eyes 

 of the natives (comp. sec. 6 of chap. iv.). The second class is 

 of public character, consisting of spells and practices known, 

 if not to everybody, at least to many, and practised more or 

 less publicly, and more or less for the general benefit. In 

 both classes I found that economic magic — i.e., magic done to 

 advance gardening, hunting, fishing, and trading — is by far 

 the most important, though healing ranks among the magic 

 of the first class, and some spells, not directly economic, con- 

 cerning wind and weather, are to be found among the second. 



Let us describe the magic of the first class — the individual 

 magic. This form is either entirely, or almost entirely ^ 

 universal, in the sense that every grown-up man has his own 

 monopoly in that line, one man knowing how to make bananas 

 grow well, the other how to make coconuts thrive, or another 

 how to make one or other kind of fishing successful, etc. Thus, 

 while this form of magic is, in a way, universal, it is at the 

 same time entirely specialistic. But it is not a speciality in 

 the usual sociological sense of the word, because, as a rule, a 

 man would not perform his magic for anybody but himself. 

 Thus it by no means represents a professional capacity. Being- 

 at the same time private property, it is inalienable, though 

 now the sophisticated natives would attempt to trade in magic, 

 as will be illustrated below. This magic is transmitted, 

 hereditarily, from father to son, and the husband always 

 initiates his wife into his own magic. On the other hand, 



(81) I know, though on this point my information is only- 

 superficial, that the inland natives practise the magic of remains. 

 Thus, in Abd^u jail T watched a number of prisioners from the 

 various inland tribes at a meal. After they had finished eating, 

 one of them took the food remains, peel, etc., mixed the whole 

 lot carefully, and threw it a\vay. My attention was directed to 

 this fact by the Resident Magistrate, Mr. Armit, who also informed 

 me that this act was a measure of precaution, for when the remains 

 were mixed no one was able to pick out those which belonged to 

 a hostile tribe, and perpetrate magic against him. Again, I was 

 informed by an Ex-Kesident Magistrate from the north-eastern 

 coast that there was a sharp line of demarcation between the 

 Papuans and Papuo-Melanesians, the latter not practising the 

 magic of remains, while the former were addicted to that habit. 



