Chapter VI

was the one I saw on the beach of Omarakana.

On the actual expeditions, much of the ceremonial and all the rules of the Kula gifts, as well as of the pari and talo'i, the initial and farewell presents, are the same as in the South-Western branch of the Kula. The best plan will be to tell the story of a typical uvalaku expedition from Kiriwina to Kitava, noting the similarities and emphasising the differences, while one or two points of divergence will claim our special attention. There is a small, but interesting incident called youlawada, a custom which allows a visiting party to attack and damage the house ornaments of a man, to whom they bring a gift. Another important speciality of this Eastern Kula is the association of a mortuary feast called so'i with particularly abundant distributions of vaygu'a.

I had opportunities of collecting notes about the North-Eastern Kula and of making observations during my residence in Omarakana, in 1915-1916. I saw several expeditions from Kitava arrive on the beach, and camp for a few days. To'uluwa went twice to Kitava, and his return from one of these visits has been described in the last chapter. He also once started for an expedition there, of which I was a member. There was a change of wind, some time in September, and with the North wind which we hoped would last for a few hours, it would have been possible to cross to Kitava and to return at our pleasure with the prevailing South-Easterly. Half-way to our goal, the wind changed and we had to return, to my great disappointment, though this gave me a good example of the entire dependence of the natives on the weather. Unfortunately, To'uluwa got it into his head that I had brought him bad luck, and so when he planned his next trip, I was not taken into his confidence or allowed to form one of the party. Two years later, when I lived in Oburaka, about half-way between the Northern and Southernmost end of Boyowa, several expeditions from Kitava visited Wawela, a village lying across on the other side of the island, which here is no more than a mile and a half wide; and one or two expeditions left from Wawela for Kitava. The only big expedition which came under my notice was the uvalaku which was to leave some time in April or May, 1916, from Kiriwina to the East. I saw only the preparatory stages, of which the launching was described in