678 



the sea are answered from the bush, and the sound of parties 

 coming from a distance, with the weird O-o-o ! of the shell and 



the shrill lii ! lii... ! lii ! of the excited men, growing more 



and more distinct as tliey approach, is singularly impressive. 

 When they arrive the various parties camp in groups, 

 usually associating fairly well according to their geographical 

 distribution. Notwithstanding the ceremonial peace which 

 should prevail during a feast, the natives seem in olden days 

 to have been always on the alert and very apprehensive of 

 possible contingencies, and I believe with good reasons. After 

 all were assembled the feast began. If I may conjecture from 

 what I saw during a Sot feast and from what I was told by the- 

 natives, the first proceeding would be some dance not of a 

 ceremonial character, such as the Damorea of the women and 

 the Tselo or Dauge of the men. After that the great cere- 

 monial dance — which in a solemn Mad una is always the Govi — 

 would take place, and on the next day the slaughtering of the 

 pigs and distribution of the food. But as I never witnessed 

 a feast it will be safer for me not to attempt a detailed account,, 

 but to confine myself to the enumeration of its essential 

 elements. 



1. V ercinonial J'Jletnents. — The feast is the climax and the^ 

 object of the fast and of the magical practices embraced by the 

 native term U d'mi. The Ud'mi is formally brought to a close' 

 at the feast by the Udini men w^ashing in the sea and partaking 

 of food. The Govt dance is also a ceremony in itself, but 

 unfortunatelv I was not able to obtain anv details on this; 

 point. (95) 



2. Dancing — Besides the ceremonial dance, others are 

 performed ; T am inclined also, to think that, whatever it be, 

 the principal ceremonial dance may, after it has been danced 

 for a short time, degenerate into a mere pleasure dance. The 

 distinction between the two is based upon the fact that the 

 former is performed by men specially prepared, who would 

 have been subject to some taboos. As far as I was able to 

 ascertain, the Govi is not danced by the master or by any of 

 the Udini men. The non-ceremonial dances would be per- 

 formed by both sexes, while the ceremonial Govi would, in 

 Mailu, be danced by men only. (^^^ At the dances in which 

 both sexes take part there is undoubtedly a strongly erotic 

 element, as mentioned above in sec. 3 of chap. iii. 



(95) In Mailu the Govi is an introduced dance. I hope to be 

 able to obtain some more precise information concerning it by the 

 study of the natives inland of MuUins Harbour. 



(96) Though, according to Prof. Seligman's and the Rev. H. 

 Newton's descriptions, the same dance is, in the Massim district,, 

 performed by men and women. 



