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

664 MALEKULA _ _
community as a whole ; that it is social as opposed to individual
and is not speciï¬Åcally directed against persons ; that it is publicly
known to be performed; that it is generally beneï¬Åcial and is
more or less “ altruistic “. Further, only certain people can learn
it and it may never be sold or handed over to anyone other than
the clan-magicians successor.
The second type of magic is private, owned by any individual
and able to be taught to anyone who is willing to give pigs for
the knowledge. It is unlocalized and can be directed towards
any single person. It is, too, essentially " selï¬Åsh ", that is,
performed for the beneï¬Åt of one man, and furthermore it is often
maleï¬Åoent. Generally, it seems, each man performs this magic
for himself, but the following account of happenings at Liiwag,
in Lagalag district, shows that wealthy men could engage the
services of a powerful magician if they so wished.
During Deacon's stay in Lambumhu, there was a serious
drought which was attributed to magical causes. It appears that
there was a renowned sun-magician of Merviin called Sesai, who
was in the pay of Wulvanu, chief of Lowag. Some time
previously Wulvanu had paid pigs to Sesai asking him to “ make
sunshine " so that the weather might be ï¬Åne for a big feast that
Wulvanu was about to hold. The sun was duly forthcoming,
but it continued uninterruptedly for weeks afterwards in spite of
repeated perfonnances of rain magic by the rain-magicians.
Later, while the sun continued to blaze in the heavens, Wulvanu
became seriously ill, and, lying on what everybody believed
would prove his death-bed, he revealed that if he died the sun
would remain shining for ever—that there would be an unending
drought. This revelation raised a storm of discontent and anger
against him. It was not clear to the natives whether Wulvanu
had neglected or was unable to pay Sesai the necessary pigs for
terminating the period of sunshine, or whether he deliberately
did not do so out of general rnisanthropy. Most of them believed
that the latter was the true reason. In former days an event such
as this would have been sufficient occasion for a war against both
Wulvanu and Sesai.
It may be noted in connection with this drought that the
reason why the arts of the rain-makers were unavailing was
that sun-magic is intrinsically more powerful than rain-magic.
There are two principal stones for the making of sunshine in
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