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

628 r MALEKULA ‘
- ' Arguing from the myths which he collected, Layard not
unnaturally regarded‘ Vin-bumba-au as, a being intimately
connected with the mythology of the Ambat brothers, but in
viewroi what Deacon has sh'0wn to be her manifold associations,
and the great variety of stories which he has recorded about her,
it seems questionable whether we can any longer agree with
this opinion. Further, it must be noted that she is noticeably
absent in the myths concerning the Kabat of Mewun, whom,
as will be seen,'the natives themselves regard as being identical
with the Ambat of Seniang; nor so far as we know does she
appear in any guise in the legends told of these beings in the
north-west, where they are called H ambat or H ambut.1 ‘
The K abut
In Mewun the Kabat take the place of the Ambat and the
mythology concerning the two is similar. The natives themselves
regard the Kabat and Ambat as identical, and indeed, since ka-
is the personal preï¬Åx in Mewun as 11- is in Seniang, and since
mb in Seniang is frequently represented as b in Mewun, the
appearance of Ambat as Kabat falls intoiline with the phonetic
structure of these two languages, and it seems certain that they
represent different forms of the same word. H The essential
Ambat mythology may therefore be considered} to be common
to both districts. . .
Nevertheless there are certain notable differences. In Seniang,
as has been seen, the Ambat are primarily ï¬Åve brothers, though
there are also one or two legends concerning one single Ambat,
Ito—sombon “ He who exists alone ", who is in one passage spoken
of as the Ambat of Iumoran. In Mewun the ï¬Åve brothers are
still known, but there are no tales recorded of them and their
doings. _ Their names in age order are Baghalapweï¬Å Kruog,
was using it for making his pudding, is unfortunately not clear. Among the
geometrical ï¬Ågures collected in Seniang there is one called Nevst nin Neuinbumbauu
which presumably represents the stone covering the pit in which she imprisoned
the Arnbat brothers according to this story. There are also other ï¬Ågures which
represent objects connected with these mythological beings, as {or instance
“ the Stone of the Ambat " which may represent the stone which Nevinbumbaau _
stole from him, or may be that called " The Penis of the Ambat ".—C. H. W.
‘1 If, however, Nevinbumbaau is the same being as Qasavara. in the Mote.
version of the Qat myths, then it is possible that she is an integral ï¬Ågure in the
Ambat mythology.—C. H. W.
“ Note that lapwa appears to mean " elder " ; e.g. papaplugï¬Åwe =_iather‘s
elder brother or " elder father ".—C. H. W.‘ -

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