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CHAPTER XVII
TI-IE GONGS
In the accounts already given of the ceremonial connected
with such societies as the N1'm4mgk|', Nalawan, and Nevinbur,
mention has been rnade of what, for lack of a better term, we
may call the ritual instruments of the Malekulans. Particularly
roarers, the wooden gongs, and the conches. Of these the temes
nzainggol are apparently restricted in Malekula to the region
lying south of a line running from South~Wat Bay to Port Sand-
wich, where they are associated with the Nalau/an. In this
southern area, too, the bull-roarer is only used during the
Nnlinbur rites, but in the other coastal districts of Malekula
it appears in connection with the incision ceremonies and often
with those societies which correspond to the Nnlawam of Seniang.
Wherever found, however, both the trmes Mainggal and the bull~
roarer are essentially sacred instruments ; that is, they are always
hedged about with a number of tabus, are always treated with
reverence by those who handle them, are always hidden from
the sight of women and unitiated persons, and, most signiï¬Åcant
of all, the sound which is produced by their moans is always
regarded as the voice of some supernatural beings, most commonly
of certain ghosts.
The conch (see Pl. XIIA) and the slit wooden gong, on the other
hand, although they are instruments having a deï¬Ånitely ritual
signiï¬Åcance, are not truly sacred, but are used for both religious
and secular purposes. As a ritual object the conch occurs in the
ceremonies of the secret societies: it is held in the hand when
" circling " for pigs ; it is broken on the forehead of the sacriï¬Åcial
pig and as a trumpet it is sometimes blovm to announce that a
pig of certain status is about to be killed. But, as we have seen,
the blowing of a conch is also a means of conveying information
in every-day life.
. The gangs (P1s,VI, XVIII) havea greater ritual importance than
the conch, for, as their position in the dancing ground suggests,
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