680 



case, I learned that the original owner of the pig sent it direct 

 to the master of the feast, whilst the other party maintained 

 that it ought to have been given to him. 



On a second occasion the quarrel broke out over a curious^ 

 custom. When the men bring the pig, carrying it on a long 

 pole, to present it to the master of the feast or to one of the 

 submasters (in the Massim area, where this occurred, there are 

 secondary masters at each feast, though in the Mailu district 

 there are no such persons), they run at a great speed and bump 

 the post against the trunk of a young tree, in preference a 

 coconut palm. They do this as often as they can, to the 

 great annoyance of the owner of the tree (and, judging by its 

 squeals, no doubt to that of the pig). Their object is to 

 uproot the tree and knock it down, and though this is an 

 acknowledged custom fights over the performance seem to have 

 been the rule in olden days. I adduce this Massim custom 

 as it adds to the general characteristics of the feast, and 

 indicates channels through which fighting might enter into the- 

 apparently well-regulated course of the feast. 



It must be added that all the participants in the feast, 

 and especially the master and his assistants, are in an 

 extremely high pitch of nervous excitement. To this contri- 

 bute the long fasting, the great consumption of betelnut, and, 

 primarily, the very atmosphere of the feast and the strong- 

 feeling of responsibility, to which the master is undoubtedly 

 subject. All the ceremonial speeches I heard at the two Sois 

 were spoken with great frenzy, with a quivering voice, foaming 

 mouth, the muscles of the face twitching, and the whole frame 

 shaking. It looked as if the man wanted to goad the appar- 

 ently amazed crowd to some wild and desperate act. The 

 effect, especially at night time, was so strong that I felt 

 distinctly impressed, in spite of my complete sense of safety 

 and of my good personal relations with all the performers. 



I must say that I did not see any sign of quickening sexual' 

 life at the two Soi feasts, and it should be noted that the 

 Southern Massim are distinctly more lax in sexual matters 

 than the Mailu. In the light of w4iat has been said in par. 3, 

 chap, iii., this means only that, in public, decorum is main- 

 tained right throughout the excitement of the feast. 



Parts [ilayed hy Different Social Divisions in the Feast. 

 Finally, it seems necessary to sum up in a few words the 

 sociological aspect of the feast — i.e.^ to show what social 

 groups come into contact on such occasions, and how they 

 interact among one another. 



The feast is, in some communities of the Mailu district at 

 least, an intertribal event. Thus at the big Mad una >i of Mailu 



