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

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THE NIMANGKI AND NELEMEW 369
being repeated again and again, in increasingly rapid alternation,
and ï¬Ånishing with eight long-drawn blasts all together. These
signiï¬Åed that Filin Mal was about to give eight tusker pigs of
naamgh grade. Special new tethers were now put on to these
animals and they were led out from their owner's housel As each
pig was brought forward the conch signal for its grade was blown.‘
After these valuable creatures had been brought on to the dancing
ground and thus formally announced, Filin Mal's smaller pigs,
for which there was no conch signal, were also hauled out and all,
both those of high and low grade, were daubed on their heads and
along their backs with red pigment.‘
“The two sons of Filin Mal were now adorned for the ï¬Ånal»
ceremony. The chest and belly of one was painted a brick red;
the other had a crimson V on his chest and running round the neck
at the back. In their hair hibiscus flowers were stuck, one behind
and one at the right»hund side. Scented loaves, musing and
niscvung, were thrust into their arrnbands and, needless to say,
they wore their ï¬Ånest yellow tasselled penis wrappers.
“ The whole gathering, both guests and members of the ' home '
village, now formed a procession and, leading Filin Mal’s pigs,
passed by a drcuitous track to the dancing ground, Filin Mal and
his two sons bringing up the rear. On the way they cut branches
oi trees, and then singing, yelling, and bcaring these branches
aloft, again like Birnarn Wood, they burst out on to the dancing
ground as the visiting party had done the day before. On that
occasion the ‘ sellers’ had been paying pigs to the ‘buyer ‘ffor
debts, old accounts, mourning (nambung), pigs of the deceased
relatives of both parties, etc. On this day the ‘buyer’ was
purchasing the Nimangki from the ‘ sellers ‘, this being the principal
act and climax of the whole ceremonial, and the roles were there»
fore reversed. What the ‘sellers’ had done on the ï¬Årst day,
the ' buyers ’ did on the second.
" The gangs struck up mbelmbal; the procession appeared on
the far side of the ground. Suddenly the boughs were thrown
down ; the carlige divided in the middle, and out from it danced
Filin Mal and his two sons with lighted torches in their hands.
'l‘ hey began to circle rapidly round the gcngs, stamping and
holding the torches alott, while the principal sellers, Ronglili and
Siul, danced solemnly and sedately up and down on the mrlel side
of the ground. When the circling was ï¬Ånished, Filin Mal returned
to the far side and took the tethers of all his pigs of the grade
above naamgh in one hand, and at the same time held in it a torch
which had been ï¬Årmly planted in the ground. The men of his
village then arranged the tuskers (in so far as they would stay in
any one position) around him at approximately equal intervals,
1 " A slight interruption occurred at this point, 10: one of the tuskers tried
tn jump a fence and fell, breaking its left tusk—-a considerable loss to Filin Mall
The conch blowers stepped, not knowing whether to blow for halt a pig, so to
speak, or not. After some hiss, however, they again manned the couches and
blew alresh.â€ù-—A. B. n.
1 " This is and in a. bamboo tube. Only the pigs oi a. ' maker ' ola Nimanghi
are thus decorated/‘—A, ZB. n.
n b
‘;
.1