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

458 MALEKULA
stay with his ward, "as if the novices were his wife" it was
explained. When the test oi physical endurance was over, each
mugh vel was invested with a kind of ï¬Ållet or head-band. This
was made from the supple twigs of a bush called mbat naghe,
and into the front of it a spray of a variety of croton called
nemlmmgg Lulu 1 was thrust. Whether any further ceremonies
were enacted over the novices we do not know, but when the
hundred days’ seclusion was ended they were thus far members
of the Nalan in that they were eligible for entrance into the
lowest rank at any subsequent celebration of Nelam rites.
In the same house in which the novices were secluded, members
of the different grades also resided and engaged in making the
structures called nelan. While doing this they remained aloof
from the novices and one of the rigid prohibitions which the
latter _had to observe was against taking any of the coco»nuts
belonging to those who were already members of the society.
The nehm structures were rigid screens some thirty feet across,
supported by and stretched between two vertical poles so that
they hung about thirty feet above the ground. On them were
executed in red and black, geometrical designs, of apparently
the same kind as those drawn on the mm" nah of the Nimangki
Tlel. The materials and paints used in the construction of these
nalan were one of the principal secrets of the society ' and the
screens themselves might never be seen by any woman save
the wife of the Mugh nan Nelan. When the mhm were completed,
the structure called naghatar was erected. This was a platform
of bamboo built on the lapped branches of a great tree with a
ladder of creepers leading up to it. Round the platform a reed
fence was put for safety, and it was covered by a rough horizontal
roof of coco-nut fronds to keep off the sun. One of these it seems
was erected for each grade that was being entered, and the height
above the ground varied according to the importance of the grade
for which it was to be used. The man who was celebrating his
entrance rites climbed on to the naghatar and the pigs which
he was to kill were hauled up to him by ropes. Then standing
on the platform he struck them with the pig-killing hammer,
I This is also the name oi Cm! of the Nslrw struetiiiesea. B. D.
I It is interesting to note unit the secret word mi the red paint used mi
the min» is 1»;/W10;/r, whinh is the name oi a certain variety of bird. The red
paint used mi the vmai ndh in the zwnnmgbi 11¢! of Llrnbflnlbll ii called loghold,
which is the name oi the same bird in that district. It seems probable, therefore.
that the same secret paint is used in both in!¢ituti0ru.—-A. B. D.