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

Tl-XE ~ MAKING or MAN -' 643
pigs at a Seniang funeral, and it is clear that the attitude oi the
natives towards both is the same, having its foundation in the
Malekulan conception of friendship and of the signiï¬Åcance oi
eating together. Two friends while they are alive constantly
share food ; when one of them dies his clansmen will not give
yams to the survivor, for the very quarter from which the gift
comes brings the dead man forcibly to mind and causes the one
who is bereft to grieve deeply. If 2. man were unable to ï¬Ånd
anyone of equal Nimangke rank to the dead relative whom he
wished to commemorate, then this rule would be waived and
the yams could go to any stranger.
Theoretically all the dead whose names are remembered
should be commemorated in this way, but in practice it is
restricted to great men and to people who have died during the
past year.
When the visitors have received their yams they depart home
and proceed in their turn to make similar gifts, while the erstwhile
donors this time go to some village with whose inmates they
are not friendly to receive yams from them. Whether it is
the rule that the village which has given the yams should then
receive others from those to whom the gifts have just been
made is not clear, but Deacon was told that it was quite common
and approved for tho home party to accompany their visitors
back to the visitors’ village and there be the recipients of yams
from the very men to whom they had an hour or so bciore been
making gifts of yams themselves.
The morning having been spent in these visits and the giving
and receiving of commemorative gifts all return to their respective
villages and prepare for the feast. Puddings are made from
the new yams with pork, birds, shell-ï¬Åsh, and ï¬Åsh in them
according to taste.
Towards the end of the afternoon everyone begins to keep
a sharp look-out for the new moon. Men climb up to the top
of a hill or trees to watch for its first appearance. Specially
favoured for this are coastal villages or hills overlooking the sea
with a clear horizon. The ï¬Årst man to catch sight of the new
moon runs immediately to the gongs of his village, crying out:
‘f Neles neeill item's " (“ I have seen the moon appear ") and beats
the gongs to announce the news to the whole district. No one
who catches sight of the moon later may beat the gongs ; it is
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