679 



3. Disfrihution of Food. — This takes place after the 

 dance, usually on another day. It is, as far as the interest of 

 the native goes, undoubtedly the most important part of the 

 feast. The food (sago and bananas), as already mentioned, 

 is displayed even at the preparatory stages of the feast, and 

 the pigs form the general topic of discussion, comparison, 

 admiration, and boasting. Groups of men and women sta,nd 

 for hours round the rows of these animals, which, living and 

 bound, with their feet lacerated by the cruel mode of transport, 

 and bleeding freely from the wounds, lie in a pitiful condition. 

 To prevent their untimely death, the owners sprinkle them 

 with water. I saw all this at the Soi feasts, and as Motu was 

 the language spoken between some of my boys and the villagers 

 I could follow parts of the conversation. The above broad 

 features are, of course, common to the tribes I observed as 

 well as to the Mailu. 



The display of food is further augmented by the piling 

 up of vegetable food in the street, in front of the houses of 

 the feast-giving clan, immediately before the distribution, 

 every man contributing his own share. The coconuts, sago, 

 taitu, yams, taro, and bananas are, in that order, piled in 

 heaps upon the ground. 



The pigs are killed on platforms, erected on the bush side 

 of the village, and both their flesh and the other food are 

 distributed amongst those present, the Maduna master calling 

 out the names of the clans which are to receive their respective 

 shares. 



These are, so far as I was able to ascertain, the principal 

 features of the main feast, and in spite of the imperfection 

 of my account I do not think that any matter of importance 

 has been omitted. There are, however, some general remarks 

 still to be made. As previously mentioned, the food aspect 

 of the feast is extremely important to the natives. Whenever 

 I discussed the subject with a new informant, and asked him 

 what the feast was and how it was conducted, I usually got the 

 long menus, in which marked enthusiasm was shown in respect 

 to the beauty of such a collection of fine, large fat pigs from 

 Aroma. The natives would also speak of all the toils that 

 must be undergone in order to procure the cherished pigs and 

 the sago. Again, when, with a number of Mailu boys and 

 with If/ 'I a, my Motuan valet, I was watching the Soi feasts in 

 Tsilofftdo and Isiiddu, my companions were indignantly con- 

 temptuous of their poverty and plainness, and when pressed 

 to justify their criticism, they pointed out that the quantity 

 of pigs and of other food killed and cooked and given away 

 was ridiculously small. "In Mailu," they said, 'the feast is 

 iDeautiful, lots of pigs are killed and distributed." 



