[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

I48 MALEKULA
inside the circle of women, The bridegroom goes up to this
ring and passes through into the centre, the women turning
their backs upon him as he makes his way through. He comes
up to the bride, raises his bow and arrow and with them touches
the leaves which she is holding above her head. As he dom so,
he and his girl companion drop the mat which they are carrying,
and it is picked up by the bride's mother, who is standing near
by. The girl who is carrying the pig then deposits it on the
ground before the former who takes charge of it also. The two
girls who have helped to carry the mat and the pig now seize
hold of the bride by her wrists and lead her away to the bride-
groom’s side of the ground. Her mother then comes across to
this side and takes the food and the mat-skirts (niismbat) which
the bridegroom’s male and female relatives had piled up. The
women who had supplied these mat-skirts cross over to the
bride's side of the ground, remove the large basket of food, which
all the time has been hanging from the four posts, and carry it
away to their own group.
Now the bride's father comes up to his daughter and says
to her, "Li'vaat,â€ù " good-bye.â€ù After this all her friends come
up to her in tum and bid her livaat. When this has been done,
the bride's mother goes and takes the small basket of food,
specially prepared for the bride, which has been standing by the
four stakes from which the larger one was suspended, and gives
it to her daughter with a few parting words. During this ceremony
of farewell all the bride's relatives, both men and women, weep
at losing her. When everyone has said good-bye to her, the
bridegroom takes the food from out the big basket (which had
originally been ï¬Ålled by the bride's people and later brought over
to his side of the clearing], and distributes it, in retum for their
services, to his male and iernale relations, who had heaped up
the piles of food and mat-skirts. This ends the wedding ceremony.
The bride's friends and relatives depart on their way ; the
bridegroom, his bride, and his friends, return to his village. At
some point on this journey home one of the party will say to the
newly-married pair : “ You two ought to go and plant a pandanus
tree (mberep) in the bush.â€ù This is apparently a euphemism tor
sexual intercourse. The young couple, thereupon, laughingly
agree, and go off " to plant a pandanus tree â€ù.
In addition to the gifts of food which the bride’s father makes
ll‘

r-
1.
1.4
F.
>:;_.~._~ ‘,.»~_<,'_ ,_..,.,~_
is
‘i

-.~.~.-=e»,.-1».-
r
ii
!