670 



Is ara onima ayncCi 

 a kind of shellfish bite 



Dai onima apua'i 



another kind of shellfish bite 



Boia onima apua'i 



mother of pearl shell bite 



A'i'a onima apua'i 

 shell bite 



Apu gdru riia^ 

 bite then shake 



Apu gora e'a'i 



Tf e ! ! Tf e ! ! Tfe ! ! 



It was stated that the object of this spell was to make 

 people from other villages bring much food and many pigs to 

 the feast. The significance of the individual words was 

 obtained by making the natives translate them into Motu and 

 so into English. It is impossible, however, to interpret them 

 into any meaning, and especially into that given by the natives. 

 As this, however, is the normal state of things with reference 

 to customary spells, incantations, and songs, there is no reason 

 to dismiss any part of the information as spurious. At any 

 rate, several natives were, independently, quite emphatic that 

 the ultimate aim of the incantation is to increase the pig 

 supply. Possibly the incantation invokes some calamities on 

 those who would not keep their pledges. 



After this comes the Oiloho feast, apparently the most 

 important preliminary one, which certainly contains the 

 greatest amount of magico-religious element, and probably 

 even more than the main feast. It marks the beginning of the 

 fasting or Uclini period, and is held some two months before 

 the main feast. The Oiloho I saw at Kurere was held just 

 before Christmas — ^.e., at the very end of the Lioro, or the 

 beginning of the A vara Mvona'i season — and the main feast 

 was, both according to the natives and to my own calculations, 

 to be held at the end of February or the beginning of March. 

 This feast also is called Boroa evaure , Boroa meaning mango. 

 In the morning of the feast-day a dance called Laige is per- 

 formed in the village, both men and women taking part in it. 

 The women hold the previously mentioned El din in their 

 hands, the men beat the drums and blow the conch shells while 

 dancing. The ceremonial part of the feast takes place in the 

 afternoon, during Valavitsa hours; the men dress ceremonially 

 and go out into the bush. Their decoration includes, in the 

 first place, the ceremonial blackening incidental to all strict 

 taboos, as well as to mourning. This blackening is done hj 



