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

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ECONOMIC LIFE 199
societies of Seniang, one principal sacriï¬Åcial pig which is killed
at the close of the ceremonies. The way in which it is done to
death varies according to the status of the pig, which in turn
depends largely upon the importance of the grade which is being
entered. Animals of value up to and including mlnmg mews are,
it seems, always clubbed, while those of higher value are speared
with a ceremonial spear. In North Malekula the candidate
somctimcs shoots the animal with a bow and arrow. But when
a spear or bow and arrow are used, the pig is not really killed
by these weapons ; the death wrought by them is only a ritual
one, the beast is subsequently ï¬Ånished oft in a less ceremonial
and more eiiicient manner, probably by means of the usual wooden
pig-killing hammer.
GIFT EXCHANGE AND TRADE
A wealthy man is one who possesses many boars with ï¬Ånely
curved tusks and one or more yam houses ï¬Ålled with tubers.
It is not, however, the mere possession of wealth which gives
prestige ; it is rather its distribution. A man who has
impoverished himself by purchasing high rank in the Nimangki
or Nalau/an societies is held of more account than a wealthier
man of middle rank, and it would appear that the amassing of
wealth has as its sole aim the buying of high status, and a man
is deeply shamed if having begun to perform the entrance rites
to a high grade he ï¬Ånds himself bankrupt before all the necessary
payments have been made. The complicated distribution of
gifts and the formal manner in which they have to be made on
ceremonial occasions will be described in some detail in those
chapters which contain an account of the graded secret societies
and of the rites connected with birth, initiation, and death.
Generosity as we interpret this word—the idea of a free gift-—
i.s alien to Malekulan culture. Whenever anyone presents
another with any object it is always in the expectation of a
return gift at some future date. Thus, in the words of Deacon,
" a gift is at most a venture, a hopeful speculation, as when a
native brings you a yarn. He hopes to reap imm you in whatever
form it may be, an advantage at least equal to the value of his yam.
When he is told that a free gift is rewarded on moral grounds, he
expects this reward generally in addition to the simple return of