dogs. They ran about, playing and showing their teeth like real dogs, and when the people went to catch fish, made off for Sésere's place. Sésere saw through them because their eyes did not look like those of a dog, and as they lay down like dogs, threw them some of the intestines of a dugong, which they devoured. When he looked away, they leaped up, seized two large pieces of meat, and ran off before he had time to stop them. They ran and ran till they reached the shrine, where they resumed their human shape. They ate some of the meat and some they kept for future use, and when their wives complained that they did not bring any fish they alleged that they had been ill.

The next night Sésere speared six dugong, some of which he threw away, because they were too lean, and the rest he cut up in the morning. Again the two men in the shape of dogs came and stole meat. Sésere, uncertain as to what to do, dug up the skulls of his parents and slept close to them in order that the spirits should come once more and give him their advice, and the parents informed him that the two bad men were again coming to him the next day. Sésere provided himself with a heavy stick which he kept close to him, waiting for the dogs to come. The two thieves asked another man, a kukúra who was full of sores (the word is also used to designate a cripple), to join them, and all three transformed themselves into dogs and went to steal meat from Sésere. The two men lay down near Sésere, but their companion, who was afraid, kept at a distance. When the two dogs rushed up to snatch some meat, Sésere, ready for them, killed first one and then the other with his stick. The third man ran away, and Sésere shouted after him, "Suppose you dog all right; suppose you man inside that skin, you tell him people, ,Sésere been kill him two man, all time he come humbug. What man he want pay back, he come!'" Sésere ripped open the dogs with his bamboo knife and cut off the heads of the two men inside.

The fugitive, having resumed his human form, went and told the people, „Oh, Sésere been kill him two fellow, all time two fellew he come humbug." "All right," the friends of the two men answered, „Sésere he no big man, to-morrow me go, me kill him." They put on their war accoutrements, some painted their faces black, some red, and others grey with mud. Sésere's two sisters came to him carrying their babies, and asked him where their husbands were. „Him there," Sésere said, "head and body. Two fellow he think me no man, humbug all time — I kill him." The women wept over their husbands though they were sorry for their brother as well. "To-morrow," they said, "I think you no more life, too many people, he come kill you." But Sésere was not afraid. „Never mind he come kill me," he said, "I want that thing."

At sundown the people beat their drums. All their weapons were ready, their stone clubs and báidam-ibunúro (sticks with shark's teeth fixed on); "To-morrow," the men said, „I put him along face belong Sésere."

Sésere put back the harpoon-handle and rope where he had found them. He killed a white heron with his spear and throwing stick (kúbai) and made a head-dress (dóri) of the feathers, also adorning himself with fringed leaves and other ornaments. When the Gómu men came, he hid himself by the refuse heap, where he had thrown the two dead bodies and some of the dugong, the whole place being full of flies and worms. 48 The enemy attacked him from three sides, some from their canoes, others from the bush, and others again from the beach. Sésere was not afraid, for he had been taught by his dead parents how to fight and how to

make the enemy cranky" beforehand. By turning his head round he caused a strong wind with his dori, thereby breaking the masts of the canoes, 46 and the people in confusion hit each other every time they threw their spears. 50 Thus the crews of all the canoes perished. Then the next column came out, and the men incited each other to fight by shouting, "Eh, eh, come on, you me (we) kill him!" But Sésere moved his head and struck out with his hands and feet, and all the men fell down dead of themselves. The same happened with the last contingent. Sésere cut off the heads, arranging them in circles like coconuts.

The kukúra man, who had kept behind the others, ran away and told the rest, „All man he dead, nobody come back, me one man (alone) he come." He went to Bádu, summoning the people there to come and fight Sésere. How much man?" the Bádu people asked him, and he said, "He one man." „Oh, what name you fright?" the Bádu men said, "to-morrow I come kill him." 49 The Bádu warriors made themselves ready and the next day they sailed over to Mábuiag, where the women gave them food. "Oh, that gammon," the Bádu people said, ",to-morrow I go kill that man." Having slept during the night they proceeded to Sésere's place, some in their canoes and the others forming three columns on shore. Sésere, as before, lay in wait among the bones of his refuse heap. When they came near, he stood up and moved his head and limbs, and the canoes were wrecked and the people fell down dead; all three columns were annihilated in this way, and Sésere cut off the heads of the Bádu men.

The kukúra man, who had kept in the rear and escaped, went to fetch the Móa people to fight. When they heard that their enemy was one man single-handed, they said, "Oh, he no can kill people, he no big man. To-morrow I go put him stone club along head, smash him altogether." They came to Bádu and thence to Mábuiag. The enemy advanced in six lines towards Sésere, who hid himself in his refuse heap with flies and worms covering his body. The people all kept on throwing their spears at him, and at last he got up and destroyed them all in the same way as before, fighting with his head and limbs. On his throwing a single spear a whole column of the enemy would fall. Of all the people the kukúra man alone returned.

He did not give in but brought the İta people over to fight Sésere. They advanced in seven lines. After Sésere had killed the people in the canoes, the others closed with him. When he had finished all his spears he ran away into the bush, and in the shape of a small bird called kékesío (in Mábuiag sésere) took refuge in a trumpet-shell. All the people were looking for him, and the kukúra man saw that the bird had gone into the shell. They started to break the shell, and one man exclaimed, "Oh, he got feather here come out, I kill him." But the bird escaped and alighted on the head of a man. Another man calling out to him, "You no move, you stand

up good," directed a blow at the bird with his stone club, but it flew away and he hit the man, killing him. 50 Again the bird perched on someone, who was hit and killed in the same way, and this was repeated a great many times. When a large number of men were dead, Sésere flew up onto a dáni tree, took off the bird's skin, so that everybody recognized him, and said, 40 „Look here, people, you see me, you fellow listen. No my fault. Two fellow gammon all time, how much fish I spear him, two fellow take him; all time he fight me. I catch him dugong fellow come along dog (in the shape of dogs), steal him meat. Strong (rage) belong me he come out, that's why I kill two fellow, no fault belong me. That's my name, Sésere. You go back place belong you."

two

Then the survivors went home. In Mábuiag, Bádu, and Móa only old men, young boys, and women remained alive. Men came over from Íta and settled down in the three islands to take the place of those who had been killed, some of them marrying five women and others ten. Sésere's two sisters and all the Mábuiag women who had no husbands came to him, and the sisters said, "Sésere, all woman here he no got man, you take him, you man belong altogether woman." „All right," Sésere said, "I take him." He took the young girls, whose nipples had not yet turned black, and also those women who had only one or two children, but not the older women. 67 His house was full of dugong meat which he had roasted and kept, and he divided it among his wives. The old women said, „Me fellow no want go back, no got no people, me want stay here look out," and Sésere said, „All right, you stop." Since then the Mábuiag people live at Sésere's place Dábangái, not at Gómu as before. (Námai, Mawáta).

A. A boy named Sésere lived with his parents in Bóigu. He was once angry with his father and mother, because they scolded him for not listening to their warnings, and he speared them. The mother was transformed into a sting-ray and the father into a shark. 47 The fish which Sésere used to spear was taken from him by his two brothers-in-law who fought him, and when he harpooned dugong, they transformed themselves into dogs and came to steal the meat, but he killed them. When the people wanted to take revenge, he killed them too. After the fight all the women came to him, and he married the young girls, but not the older women. But afterwards he thought, „No good I marry altogether woman," so he threw himself down from a tall tree and was killed. On learning this his wives put on all their ornaments, shut themselves up in their house, to which they set fire, and perished in the flames. (Adjóbo, Mawáta).

B. Sésere of Mábuiag was the first man who used a dugong harpoon. The spirits of his father and mother, as in the first version, taught him in a dream how to spear dugong. His two brothers-in-law, who lived in Bádu, came in the shape of dogs and stole the dugong meat, but were killed on coming again. Sésere fought the Bádu people, who came to take revenge, but had to save his life by turning into a kékesía or sésere bird and hiding in a trumpet shell. The Bádu people fought and killed each other in their attempts to hit the bird. A certain man with a sore leg always went behind the others. Sésere has remained a bird ever since. It is since his time that the people have known how to make harpoons for spearing dugong. (Amúra, Mawáta).

C. A Mábuiag boy, Tíai, whose father was dead, lived with his mother, who speared fish for both of them. When Tíai had grown up he was sent by his mother to find a harpoon handle, which had been left in a swamp by his father, and a harpoon line. She also taught Tíai to make a harpoon-head. He erected a platform on the reef, and when his mother was sleeping in the night

harpooned two dugong. The next day his mother felt very proud of his feat, and they cooked and ate the meat. They then had an adventure with a mamagárena, evil being, which was attracted by the smell of cooking. (Menégi, Mawáta).

D. In Rep. Cambr. Anthrop. Exp. vol. v. pp. 40 sqq., Sesere the Dugong Hunter. Sesere lived by himself at a place on the island of Badu. He used to catch fish, but the people came and took them away from him. One day he rubbed the skulls of his parents with scented leaves and lay down to sleep close to them, and in the night the skulls spoke to him, instructing him how to catch dugong. They advised him to go to a certain place in the bush where he would find a harpoon and rope. Sesere caught many dugong, and the Badu men dressed up some of their number as dogs who stole his meat. Again Sesere consulted the skulls of his parents and was told who the dogs really were. Next day he killed four of them, and the Badu people came to avenge their dead friends. Sesere changed himself into a bird and perching on the heads of the enemy caused them to kill each other in their attempts to strike the bird. He remained a sesere bird for ever.

III. SPIRITS OF THE DEAD (no. 62-101).

A. TALES OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN TO ADIRI, THE LAND OF THE DEAD (no. 62-68; cf. Index, Spirits).

62. A Máo woman, Iárebúro by name, once became pregnant from inhaling the smell of a banana and gave birth to a boy who was called Wíobári, or Amírabári. She thought to herself, „My God, proper father no make you, that's all I smell banana, make egg (germ) inside.“ Iárebúro was not like an ordinary woman, for she could not speak, but only made signs to her boy by nodding her head to him. She used to sleep on the ashes of the fire-place, and once when Wíobári returned from the bush at night and saw her, he thought, "Oh, poor fellow," and lifted her to a better place. But she said, "Oh, that my place, proper place."

Iárebúro warned her boy against going far into the bush lest something ill should befall him there, "You no go long way," she said, „by and by devil-(spirit)-thing find you, devil-cassowary make you cranky." But Wíobari said, "Oh, gammon, I never been hear like that."

A spirit in Wóibu, or Adíri, sent a cassowary to Máo to fetch Wíobári. The bird came running all the way from Wóibu and finally arrived at Máo. Wíobári had killed a pig the previous night, and leaving his mother to bake the meat he went to the garden. Close to the house he encountered the cassowary sent from Wóibu. Wíobári seized his bow and an arrow and shot at the bird, but although it was not far away he missed it. The cassowary jumped, so that the arrow passed underneath, and then fled with Wíobári in pursuit. They ran on and on, till at last the bird halted at the Sépe point, near Súmai. Wíobári was ready for another shot and let fly, but the bird again jumped so that the arrow missed its mark. The cassowary took to the water and swam over to Dúdi, and the man plunged in after him and swam in pursuit. At Dúdi they waded ashore through the mud, both out of breath, and Wíobári shot at it once more and again the cassowary jumped, and the arrow missed. The chase was continued at a run until they arrived at Áimara-távatáta, and there the cassowary began to walk. Wíobári came straight for the bird and shot, but did not hit it. The run was resumed and went on as far as Wíraro where the man managed to come up with the bird. The cassowary was standing still, and he drew his bow, but once more the bird jumped and the arrow flew past. Again the two ran and after a while crossed the Wíraro-túri, the bird swimming in front and the man behind. At Augudomábu, the point near Kátatai village, Wíobári took aim again, but the cassowary bent down dodging the arrow. Amid similar attempts on Wíobári's part they passed many other places on their way westward to Adíri: Old Mawáta, Póhi, Óriómu river, Aberemúba, Úrahapúo, Máubo-érehe, Bínatúri