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THE GONGS 507
In Seniang, although the gongs are loosely spoken of as
belonging to the village, each one is in fact individually owned,
and the making of a new gong is accompanied by a ritual
resembling that attending a rise in rank in the Nimangki. The
man who wishes to make a new gong, and whom we may term
the " buyer ", approaches someone else who has already
" bought â€ù a gong, and says to him: " I desire you to make me
a gong" ("ner'ir0ng gunggur wimbwilei baram "). If the latter
is agreeable, he goes into the bush and selects an umou or a
bread~fruit tree. Round this he digs a trench, and at the base
of the trunk he kindles a ï¬Åre. The flame eats away the wood
until ï¬Ånally the tree crashes to the ground. It is left lying where
it falls, and the gong-maker now proceeds to hollow out the trunk
by means of a sharpened human bone. This appears to be the
only implement used; it is certain that the diiï¬Åcult task is
not hastened by burning or charring the wood. One end of the
gong, that which will be uppermost when it is erected, is then
carved in the semblance of a human face. When this is ï¬Ånished
the “ buyer " makes a payment of three pigs to the gong-maker,
who is in the position of the “ seller " in a Nmwmgki rite. One
of these is for the piece of ground on which the tree stood—si.nce
the owner of this ground must be compensated; one is for the
carving of the face on the gong; and the third is for a mask
which the gong-maker constructs and which is to be placed on
the gong during the ceremony of setting it up in the village.
This mask is composed of a piece of bamboo, two or three inter-
nodes in length ; the internode at one end is left intact, the other
two are split longitudinally into several strips the ends of which
are lashed at intervals to a hoop of cane or creeper, so that the
whole looks like a skeleton cone. A length of the creeper called
mzmbml is ‘now wound about the ribs of this cone from bottom
to top, and over this a paste, made from moistened shredded
nemlmil, is plastered. On this foundation the maker paints a
face in red, white, and black.
All preparations being ready, a day is appointed for setting
up the gong. On this day it is dragged from its resting-place
in the bush to the dancing ground of the village to which the
“ buyer " belongs. While this work is going forward, a number
of men are gathered in the amel singing. The “ buyer â€ù then
steps forth and pays a pig to the gong-maker (or "seller â€ù)