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304 MALEKULA
When this structure is ï¬Ånished the gongs are beaten with
the rhythm mzai lemllemi followed by that of aisumpmiew which
invites guests to the festivities of the following day.1 In the
morning aisunqbndew is again sounded ; the visitors arrive and
the Nimangki song-dance teur begins. About three o'clock in
the afternoon the introducer arrives carrying in one hand a
conch and in the other a sprouting coco—nut, the length of whose
shoot indicates the status of the pig which he intends to give
to his candidate. He calls out “Ei ! E1’ ! E1‘ ! â€ù and the men
who are manning the gongs give an answering cry. Then the
candidate and his introducer begin to dance naai vihoian round
the gongs. (If there are several candidates to this grade entering
at the same time they and their introducers all dance together.)
The introducer now gives his coco-nut to the candidate who
places it against the malandr bush inside the nonggvb. The
gong~rhythm then changes to Mai tamap (the signal for a pig
of a tamap status), the introducer fetches one of his animals,â€ù
and with a waddling motion, associated always with mm’ tamap,
leads it up to the gongs. Leaving it there he steps across to
the amel nitemes, breaks a twig from off the malandr bushjralnd
places it against the conch which he is still carrying in his right
hand. One of the seniors now comes up, takes both these objects
from the introducer, and, holding them in one hand and the rope
by which the pig is fastened in the other, he pronounces the
pig-giving formula: “Nimbuas muluwun iomp lmr nevelvel
bmggen mmgk slang/e ,~ mbimbi ail â€ù (“ The pig muluwun throws
for Nevelvel unto you; hold him! â€ù). The candidate then
takes the conch, malandr tWig,‘and pig’s rope from the senior,
puts the conch on the ground, and leads the animal off to his
own house. s
The introducer now takes a turtle-shell armlet, a pig's tusk
bracelet (tilevar), a small round stone called nemztim nevet (meaning
I" the child’s stone ", or perhaps as Layard renders it, " the
circle in the home village ". Deacon makes no reference whatsoever to any
such ismes and, considering how lull are his notes on the rites of this grade, it
seems very improbable that he could have overlooked it. We-must conclude,
rather, that Layard misunderstood his informants. (1928, p. l69.)—C. H. W.
1 Nam‘ Iemilemi is only beaten for grades above the status of Nimweil ; for
lower ones aisumpndew only is given.—A. B. D. -
2 Presumably if naaz‘ lama4> is beaten, this will be a tamap pig. Should the
introducer be giving an animal of another status, it is probable that the gong
rhythm would be changed accordingly. Probably, however, a lamap pig is
considered to be correct on such an occasion.—Q. H. W. _
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