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

532 MALEKULA '
made, and bore it on his shoulder, ï¬Årst to the matunhal (the
place where the paths enter the village), and thence up to the
gongs where he set it down and attached it in an upright position
to the new Mai var. The ceremony for the conclusion of mourning
now took place. All the close kin of Apwil Naandu and also
his wives, but not their parents, smeared themselves with white
ashes. Then each mourner brought up a small pig, of lohonkdoram
grade, and Vinmewun Ailiit collected an equal number of pigs,
belonging to himself or his father. He and the mourners then
exchanged pigs; they presented theirs in turn, and received
back an animal of exactly the same value as that which had been
given. This is a sign for “ surei mu â€ù (" wiping away the ashes ") 2
all, except the wives, now washed oft the white ashes and their
mourning period was at an end, “ mbis new iar Once more
the gangs were beaten with the rhythm of naai malamir, the
rambarump was picked up by the man who had carried it before,
and was borne from the naai 1101 to the doorway of the dead
man's house. Then the widows, who all this time had remained
within doors, came out. They seated themselves at the foQt_ of
the mmbaramp, stroking it and weeping. When they had ï¬Ånished
the effigy was carried back again to the naai 1101/, and all the
guests quietly departed.
The brother of Apwil Naandu’s widow then took one or
two pigs, which he had brought with him for the purpose, and
gave them to his sister, who in turn handed them to Vinmewun
Ailï¬Åt. This act is to sever a woman from the community of
her dead husband, so that she may return home ; it is a paying
back of the bride-price whereby the woman ceases to be a wife
(or widow). The pigs which are given to the son of the deceased
are usually not equal in number to, or of the same value as, those
which constituted the bride-price, since it is recognized that as
a wife and probably mother she has already done much towards
fulï¬Ålling the marriage contract} After Vinmewun Ailiit had
received the pigs from his step-mother she washed oft her ashes
of mourning and went home to her father's village.
‘ Cf. above, Chapter VI. Apwil Naandu leit three widows ; in the account
of the above ceremony reference seems to be made to one widow only. This
may be because the phrase " the brother of the widow â€ù was intended in a
generalized sense, or perhaps this pig-payment was only made for the third
wife, who, judging from the genealogies, was probably considerably younger
than her dead husband and therefore likely to marry again, while the other
two seem to have been more nearly his contemporariu.-_-C. H. W.
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