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

. 1
THE NALAWAN SOCIETY 403
goes to his house, fetches a nitavu pig, pulls it up to the gongs
and fastens it to a stick. The rhythm nam‘ ms is given out and
the irltroducer holding a feather of the nambal hawk, and the
candidate holding a conch, “circleâ€ù round the gongs. Once
more an old man of high rank is asked to pronounce the pig-
giving formula. He takes the conch which the candidate is
holding, says " Telmlm/ir, mbuas reveus nimew nambnl timmgk
etangk, nitavu nin mmgk km/avihi ", and hands the rope by which
the pig is fastened to the introducer, who gives it to his wife.
In this way the candidate purchases the nambal feather, a badge
of all Nalawzm grades, as it is of all Nimunghi. Having done
this he takes a spear (namas) and a conch (nitavu or [>u¢u) and
moves round among all his fellow candidates, holding out the
spcar to them in turn. Each one grasps the end of it and then
lets it go. When all have clone this the candidate carrying the
namns returns, plants it in the ground near the gongs (which
act is termed iwos mmms imbrus natan), and puts the conch
down beside it. Three men, who are already members of the
Nalailum Naainggol, are now called up; the ï¬Årst picks up the
conch, the second takes the spear, while the third remains empty-
lianded. Then to the beat of naai ms they dance round the
gongs (uhap delims mbu/1'lei), this performance being called
" nahap mzai nin mbuns ". When it is over they put back
the spear and conch whence they had taken them and
the candidate tells a man to go to his (the candidate's) house
and bring a pig. The pig is brought ; the gong rhythm changes
to mielndel mas, and once again the three men dance round
holding the conch and spear.‘ After this the leader breaks his
conch against the pig's forehead, and the second man spears the
animal in the back, calling out to'his friends from his village
to come and eat it. The friends of these men now step forward
and the pig is cut up and shared out ; one leg goes to the village
of the conch-breaker, one to the village of him who hcld the
spear, and the head is retained by this man himself.â€ù
Everything is now ready for the last rite, the conferring On
1 Ci. the " dance hi the trios " in the N1mMtgIri rites.
I This is apparently the meaning Df what Dent‘/on wrote, but it ‘ls possible
that this pig is shared out among the villages cl the lriunds of all rnlmbers of
the Nalawam who his present, the head alone being retained by the man who
speared the pig. The coniusinn mm from the tact chit the title nlmhiw is
used for all members of the lower Nhlawim grades as well BS for those who take
ill active pm in the cerernonies.—C_ 1-l. w.