Man on a harpooning platform spearing a dugong. Drawn by Námai of Mawáta.

at the same time throwing himself into the water to increase the force of the thrust. Then the canoe is brought along the rope which has run out, and a man with another rope dives down and secures a knot round the dugong's tail.

women.

Fishing is practised in various different ways, and shell-fish are collected by the

War. In former times all kinds of feuds took up the native's time to a great extent. War was preceded by magical and other preparations. The fight itself usually took the form of a sudden attack, and the hour as a rule chosen was just before

daybreak, when the enemy were thought to be asleep. Neither age nor sex was spared in the wars, and all the enemy's property was destroyed excepting what was carried away. The heads of the slain were cut off with a bamboo knife and strung on to a head-carrier of rattan. Such trophies were kept in the men's house". On returning home a victorious party was received with great festivities, at which pipi, nékede, and other dances were performed.

Man spearing fish.

Life.

Observances of Individual

Before the birth of a child the mother is isolated from other people. In Kiwai she awaits her delivery within an enclosure of mats in the communal house, while in Mawáta a birth may not take place within a dwelling house, a little temporary hut being erected for the woman. A woman in childbed is regarded as unclean.

Every noteworthy occasion is celebrated with a feast or dance. The boys especially, and also the

girls, undergo a long series of rites on attaining the age of puberty.

Burial. In former times the dead were placed on a platform, and there the body moulded away, until only the bones were left. The bones were then washed and buried in a garden; in some cases the relatives kept the skull with them for a time. Nowadays the dead are buried in the ground, and on the grave a little hut is erected for the departed person. The spirits go to Adíri, the land of the dead, which is situated far in the west where the sun and moon go down. Immediately after a death a great wailing takes place in the village.

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monious dance-march round and round in the house. The participants sing over and over again certain songs in unison. The fragmentary texts put together build a sort of narrative. Some verses" of such songs come in among the tales.

Religion and Magic. The Kiwais do not believe in the existence of any Supreme Being. They have no systematic belief in gods, offer no public sacrifices or prayers, and have no priests, each one as a rule performing for himself the rites connected with the supernatural matters. As long as an appeal to some being seems to be successful it is continued, but if the contrary is proved

the person in question soon prefers to try

something fresh. What the natives believe in is a world of supernatural beings, most of which are mentioned in the legends. Very marked ideas are entertained concerning the soul life after death, and although the departed as a rule do not enter into any connection with the living such is however sometimes the case. In dreams especially all kinds of beings appear to different people to give advice and instruction; in fact dreams play a very important part in the mental life of the natives, awakening all kinds of ideas in them.

At the mimía ceremony (cf. the tale numbered 286) human figures made of wood or stone are a chief feature, and similar effigies are carved out on the posts which support the roof of the men's house" inside (cf. no. 256). Both are made for ceremonial use, yet they can not properly be called idols. They do not represent any special beings or personalities, and the natives themselves have only a very vague conception of them. The effigies are, however, regarded with the greatest veneration.

Magical ideas and practices, on the other hand, abound in the lives of the Papuans, viz., the utilising of supernatural mechanical power without appealing to the aid of any personal being. Magical rites purporting to bring about success in hunting and fishing, in gardening and weather-making, etc., vary, however, to a very great extent in different groups of the people even within one and the same village. One person has been taught or has discovered one procedure, another something else, and the instructions each one receives from his special dream-givers play hereby a great part.

"Gámoda" and "Karéa“. The natives cultivate a plant called by them gámoda, which apparently is the Piper methysticum, the kava of the Polynesians. The root and stem are chewed and then strained through a coconut leaf into a half coconut-shell. This liquor produces a narcotic effect. It is drunk very much and has besides a ceremonial use. In order to ensure success in some enterprise an old man will dip a twig into the bowl of gámoda and sprinkle the beverage in certain directions or over the men participating in the undertaking. At the same time he may utter some appeal to a supernatural being. Sometimes the people simply take a little water in the mouth and squirt it out for the same purpose. This rite is called karéa and is generally performed by each individual for himself.

PLOTS OF THE FOLKTALES.

I. LEGENDARY HISTORY (1-20).

THE ORIGIN OF KIWAI ISLAND AND PEOPLE.

1. Kíwai was at first a sandbank, gradually forming from the refuse which the people living on the shores threw into the Fly river. A hawk carried a fish over to the sandbank, and Méuri, the first man, developed out of the decaying fish. Later on some other people came and settled down there. Kapía, the black cockatoo, brought fire to the island.

THE ORIGIN OF THE KUBIRA PEOPLE IN KIWAI.

2. While Kíwai was a sandbank an éterari (fierce mythical lizard) was carried to Kubíra on a floating tree. A little baby in Díbiri was killed accidentally, and the distressed parents abandoned the place and went to live elsewhere. They came to Kubíra where they saw the éterari. The monster made friendly signs to them and spoke to the man in a dream. The three stayed together, and the élarari caught fish for the people. Later on some more people came to live there. The éterari is the guardian being of Kubíra. ‚— The monster wanted to populate Kubíra and caught some people in another place, bringing them over there.

THE KIWAI PEOPLE MOVE FROM THE BUSH TO THE COAST.

3. The Kíwai people lived in the bush ignorant of the sea. Once a certain man went and saw what the sea was and induced the people to settle down on the coast. The totems of the different groups of people were appointed, and certain other things were given names.

THE FIGHT ABOUT GAGAMA, THE COCONUT-PALM, AND THE PARTING
OF THE PEOPLE.

4. In the absence of the owner of Gágama, the famous coconut tree, his brother-in-law took a few nuts. A general fight ensued on the return of the owner, and when it ended the combatants parted and formed separate villages. Ío of Máo and ĺkúri of Iása had been killed