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

424 MALEKULA
and shoots at the amel. The candidates then begin to blow on
instruments called niwim and netew mnlau, makzing a piping sound
in imitation of birds.‘ To this the temes mzainggol reply, blown
by members of the society from within the amel. When this is
ended, the candidates descend from the platform ; the master of
the ceremonies kills a. pig for the two dancers ; the seclusion is at
an end, and a day is appointed for the performance of the rites
of entrance to the grade, which follow along the usual lines.‘
It seems that at some stage in the proceedings, probably just
before the old men of high rank shoot at the Nalawan structure,
the candidates perform a dance round the gongs, one of them, or
each of them in turn, wearing the ninu hat, which is characteristic
of this grade. This is a tall conical structure, some eight or nine
feet high, painted, one half oi it red and the other half yellow,
with a composition of rubbed uinu leaf, and with vinu leaves tied
to it by means of a cord made from the cotton tree. It is supported
by two spears which are stuck into it near the top and held by
two men who walk in front of and behind the wearer. There
are also two strings fastened to the apex which the wearer holds
in his outstretched hands, thereby balancing the hat. The bodies
of the candidates are painted in red and black; ’r_he i'ight~hand
side from shoulder to waist and the left-hand side from the waist
downwards are red, the upper left-hand part and the lower right-
hand part being black. The face is blackened as usual, with a
red stripe down the nose and on either cheek. The man wearing
the hat dances round the gongs, but only two or three times, for
the ninu hat is too heavy for him to support it longer.
It is important to realize that, in general, a number of different
men are entering a number of different grades at the same time.
Thus on the one ground in front of the amel in any one village a
naainggol, a nisamp, a sesmandur, a niselev, a mmbuaimbamp,
a m'vir'a!, a numbou iimbamp, and a newt Mmbar may all be
I Then: ir no record 9.5 to what the viiwiru are like or how they are played.
The mlnw mnlau, which is used apparently in the entrance ceremonies oi ell
Nalawafl grades (though at what pflint we do not know), seems to ha made of
a 1/inu lent folded in hall, the two end! bound together, while between the Iolds
a tongue or ooxdyline wood or lea! is fixed. The instrument is held between the
ï¬Ångers, which are put in the position of prayer, and the player zir_er_i blows so
that the tongue of the instrument vibrates and produces a t Ill piping ruuna.
Nllsw malnu is primarily the name of the bush turkey.
K We are not told Wl'l2.£ the special structure connected with this Nnlniumi
is. There is a note to the effect that at some stage the introdueer cuts two tree-
letns in-.u plants them one un either ririu of the dour of the amel ; than also rnuy
perhaps be m'l¢ui's.—C. i-i. w.
nu
'1
r.
ifr
, hr?
. ;:r
x,
1
trim
km»
2

'5/i ,

1% 1
11 i
I :=.|.
f; Ii Z
5.