Chapter XVIII

, Division XII). The rainbow here invoked is a kariyala (magical portent) of this formula. When the conch shell is blown, and the fleet approaches the shore, a rainbow will appear in the skies.

The rest of the exordium is taken up by the usual boasts and exaggerations typical of magic. The middle part needs no commentary. It is clear that the sound of the conch shell is meant to arouse the partner to do his duty eagerly. The magic spoken into the conch shell heightens and strengthens this effect.

II

After the beauty magic and the spell over the conch shell are finished--and the whole performance does not take more than half an hour or so--every man, in full festive array, takes his place in his canoe. The sails have been folded and the masts removed, and the final stage is done by paddling. The canoes close in, not in any very regular formation, but keeping near to one another, the canoe of the toli'uvalaku as a rule moving in the van. In each canoe, the toliwaga sits at his proper place in the middle of the canoe near the gebobo (special erection made for cargo). One man sits in the front, right against the prow-board, and another at the stern on the platform. All the remaining members of the canoe wield the paddles, while the small boy or the junior member of the crew, sits near the front, ready to blow the conch shell. The oarsmen swing their leaf-shaped paddles with long, energetic and swift strokes, letting the water spray off them and the glistening blades flash in the sunlight--a ceremonial stroke which they call kavikavila (lightening).

As the canoes begin to move, the three men, so far idle, intone a chant, reciting a special magical formula, each a different one. The man in the front, holding his hand on the tabuyo (oval prow-board), recites a spell, called kayikuna tabuyo (the swaying of the prow-board). The toliwaga in the middle recites the powerful formula called kavalikuliku (the earthquake spell), a formula which makes "the mountain tremble and subside." The man at the stern recites what is called kaytavilena moynawaga, a name which I cannot very well explain, which literally means, "the changing of the canoe entrance." Thus, laden with magical force, which is poured forth irresistibly on to the mountain, the canoes advance towards the goal of their enterprise. With the voices of the reciters mingle the soft, penetrating sounds of the conch shell, blending their various pitches into a weird, disturbing harmony. Samples of the three spells must be given here.

KAYIKUNA TABUYO

"Moruborogu, Mosilava'u!"

"Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.

My prow-board, O fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.

This key expression, the invocation of the fish-hawk, is repeated with a string of words, denoting, first, the ornamental parts of the canoe; afterwards, certain of its constructive parts; and finally, the lime-pot, the lime stick, the comb, the paddles, the mats, the lilava (magical bundle), and the usagelu (members of the crew). The spell ends with the words:--

"I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula, etc.," as in the previously given formula of the conch shell.

The first two words of this spell are personal names of men, as the initial syllable Mo- indicates, but no information about them was available. The allusion to the fish-hawk in the main part suggests a connection between the action of the rite, that is, the moving of the tabuyo, with this part of the spell, for the ornamental prow-boards are called synonymously buribwari (fish-hawk). On the other hand, the expression: "Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey," is no doubt also a magical simile, expressing the idea: "As a fish-hawk falls on his prey and carries it off, so let this canoe fall on the Kula valuables and carry them off." The association of this simile with the act of shaking the prow-boards is very suggestive. It may be an attempt to assimilate the whole canoe and all its parts to a fish-hawk falling on its prey, through the special mediation of the ornamental prow-board.

The spell recited by the toliwaga in the middle of the canoe runs thus:--

KAVALIKULIKU

"I anchor at the open sea beach, my renown reaches the Lagoon; I anchor at the Lagoon, my renown reaches the open sea beach."

"I hit the mountain; the mountain shivers; the mountain subsides; the mountain trembles; the mountain falls down; the mountain falls asunder. I kick the ground on which the mountain stands. I bring together, I gather."

"The mountain is encountered in the Kula; we encounter the mountain in the Kula."

The expression, kubara, takuba, kubara, which we have here translated by "the mountain is met in the Kula, etc." is then repeated with a long string of words denoting the various classes of valuables to be received in the Kula. It ends with the conclusion already quoted: "My renown is like thunder, my steps are like earthquake."

The opening two sentences are clear; they contain a typical magical exaggeration, and equally typical permutation of words. Then comes the terrible verbal onslaught on "the mountain," in which the dreadful upheaval is carried on in words. "The mountain" (koya) stands here for the community of partners, for the partner, for his mind. It was very difficult to translate the expression kubara, takuba kubara. It is evidently an archaic word, and I have found it in several formulæ of the mwasila. It seems to mean something like an encounter between the approaching fleet and the koya. The word for sea battle is kubilia in the Trobriand language, and kubara in that of the Amphletts and Dobu, and as often the words of the partner's language are mixed up into these formulæ, this etymology and translation seem to be the correct ones.

The third formula, that of the man in the stern, is as follows:--

KAYTAVILENA MWOYNAWAGA

"Crocodile, fall down, take thy man! push him down under the gebobo! (part of the canoe where the cargo is stowed away)."

"Crocodile, bring me the necklace, bring me the bagido'u, etc."

The formula is ended by the usual phrase: "I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula, etc.," as in the two previously quoted spells (Ta'uyo and Kayikuna Tabuyo).

This formula is obviously a pendant to the first of these three spells, and the crocodile is here invoked instead of the fish-hawk, with the same significance. The rest of the spell is clear, the crocodile being appealed to, to bring all the different classes of the spondylus shell valuables.

It is interesting to reflect upon the psychological importance of this magic. There is a deep belief in its efficiency, a belief cherished not only by those who advance chanting it, but shared also by the men awaiting the visitors on the shore. The Dobuans know that powerful forces are at work upon them. They must feel the wave of magical influence slowly advancing, spreading over their villages. They hear the appeal of the conch-shell, wafting the magic to them in its irresistible note. They can guess the murmur of the many voices accompanying it. They know what is expected from them, and they rise to the occasion. On the part of the approaching party, this magic, the chant of the many voices blended with the ta'uyo (conch shell), expresses their hopes and desires and their rising excitement; their attempt to "shake the mountain," to stir it to its very foundations.

At the same time, a new emotion arises in their minds, that of awe and apprehension; and another form of magic has to come to their assistance at this juncture, to give expression to this fear and to assuage it--the magic of safety. Spells of this magic have been spoken previously, perhaps on the beach of Sarubwoyna alongside with the rest, perhaps even earlier, at one of the intermediate stages of the journey. But the rite will be performed at the moment of setting foot ashore, and as this is also the psychological moment to which the magic corresponds, it must be described here.

It seems absurd, from the rational point of view, that the natives, who know that they are expected, indeed, who have been invited to come, should yet feel uncertain about the good will of their partners, with whom they have so often traded, whom they have received in visit, and themselves visited and re-visited again and again. Coming on a customary and peaceful errand, why should they have any apprehensions of danger, and develop a special magical apparatus to meet the natives of Dobu? This is a logical way of reasoning, but custom is not logical, and the emotional attitude of man has a greater sway over custom than has reason. The main attitude of a native to other, alien groups is that of hostility and mistrust. The fact that to a native every stranger is an enemy, is an ethnographic feature reported from all parts of the world. The Trobriander is not an exception in this respect, and beyond his own, narrow social horizon, a wall of suspicion, misunderstanding and latent enmity divides him from even near neighbours. The Kula breaks it through at definite geographical points, and by means of special customary transactions. But, like everything extraordinary and exceptional, this waiving of the general taboo on strangers must be justified and bridged over by magic.

Indeed, the customary behaviour of the Dobuans and of the visitors expresses this state of affairs with singular accuracy. It is the customary rule that the Trobrianders should be received first with a show of hostility and fierceness; treated almost as intruders. But this attitude entirely subsides after the visitors have ritually spat over the village on their arrival. The natives express their ideas on this subject very characteristically:

"The Dobu man is not good as we are. He is fierce, he is a man-eater! When we come to Dobu, we fear him, he might kill us. But see! I spit the charmed ginger root, and their mind turns. They lay down their spears, they receive us well."

III

This show of hostility is fixed into a definite ceremonial attitude when the Dobuan village, which consists of a collection of hamlets, has been laid under a taboo. On the death of a man of importance in any of the hamlets, the whole community undergoes the so called gwara taboo. The coco-nut and betel-nut palms around and within the village are not allowed to be scaled, and the fruit must not be touched by the Dobuans themselves, and still less by strangers. This state of affairs lasts a varying length of time, according to the importance of the dead man, and to other circumstances. Only after the gwara has run out its course, and is ripe for expiring, do the Kiriwinians dare to come on a visit to Dobu, having been advised beforehand of the circumstance. But then, when they arrive, the Dobuans put up a show of real hostility, for the visitors will have to break the taboo, they will have to scale the palms, and take the forbidden fruit. This is in accordance with a wide-spread Papuo-Melanesian type of custom of finishing tabooed periods: in all cases, someone else, who is not under the taboo, has to put an end to it, or to force the imposer of the taboo to break it. And in all cases, there is some show of violence and struggle on the part of the one who has to allow it to be broken. In this case, as the Kiriwinian natives put it:

"Supposing we do not perform the ka'ubana'i (safety magic), we are afraid, when there is a gwara in Dobu. The Dobuans put on war paint, take spear in hand, and a puluta (sword club); they sit and look at us. We run into the village; we climb the tree. He runs at us 'Don't climb,' he cries. Then we spit leyya (ginger root) at him. He throws down his spear, he goes back and smiles. The women take the spears away. We spit all around the village. Then he is pleased. He speaks: 'You climb your coco-nut, your betel-nut; cut your bananas.'"

Thus the taboo is broken, the gwara is finished, and the customary and histrionic moment of tension is over, which must have been none the less a strain on the nerves of both parties.

This is the lengthy formula which a toliwaga utters over several bits of ginger root, which are afterwards distributed among his crew, each of whom carries a piece when getting ashore.

KA'UBANA'I

"Floating spirit of Nikiniki!

Duduba, Kirakira." (These words are untranslatable).

"It ebbs, it ebbs away!

Thy fury ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!

Thy war paint ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!

Thy sting ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!

Thy anger ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!

Thy chasing away ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!"

A long string of various expressings denoting hostile passions, disinclination to make Kula, and all the paraphernalia of war are here enumerated. Thus, such words as "Kula refusal," "growling," "sulking," "dislike"; further: "weapon," "bamboo knife," "club-sword," "large-barbed spear," "small-barbed spear," "round club," "war blackening," "red war paint," are uttered one after the other. Moreover, all of them are repeated in their Dobuan equivalents after the list has been exhausted in Kiriwinian. When this series has been exhausted with reference to the man of Dobu, part of it is repeated with the addition "Woman of Dobu," the mention of weapons, however, being omitted. But this does not end this extremely long formula. After the protracted litany has been finished, the reciter chants:

"Who emerges at the top of Kinana? I" (here the name of the reciter is mentioned) "emerge on the top of Kinana."

Then the whole litany is again repeated, the key word, instead of, "it ebbs, it ebbs away" being "the dog sniffs."

In connection with all the other words, this would run, more or less, in a free translation:--

"Thy fury, O man of Dobu, is as when the dog sniffs," or, more explicitly:--

"Thy fury, O man of Dobu, should abate as the fury of a dog abates when it comes and sniffs at a new-comer."

The simile of the dog must be very strongly ingrained in the magical tradition, for in two more versions of this formula, obtained from different informants, I received as key-words the expressions: "The dog plays about," and "The dog is docile." The final part of this formula is identical with that of the Kaykakaya spell previously given in this chapter:--

"No more it is my mother, my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu, etc.," running into the ending "Recently deceased, etc."

In comment on this formula, there is first of all the name mentioned in the first line, that of Nikiniki, or Monikiniki, as it is usually pronounced, with the prefix of masculinity, mo-. He is described as "A man, an ancient man; no myth about him; he spoke the magic." Indeed, the main system of mwasila magic is named after him, but none of my informants knew any legend about him.

The first key word of the middle part is quite clear. It describes the ebbing away of the Dobuans' passions and of their outward trappings. It is noteworthy that the word for 'ebbing' here used, is in the Dobuan, and not in the Kiriwinian language. The reference to the dog already explained may be still made clearer in terms of native comment. One explanation is simple:--

"They invoke the dog in the mwasila, because when master of dog comes, the dog stands up and licks; in the same way, the inclinations of the Dobu people." Another explanation is more sophisticated: "The reason is that dogs play about nose to nose. Supposing we mentioned the word, as it was of old arranged, the valuables do the same. Supposing we had given away armshells, the necklace will come, they will meet."

This means, by invoking the dog in this magic, according to old magical tradition, we also influence the Kula gifts. This explanation is undoubtedly far-fetched, and probably does not express the real meaning of the spell. It would have no meaning in association with the list of passions and weapons, but I have adduced it as an example of native scholasticism.

The dog is also a taboo associated with this magic. When a man, who practices the ka'ubana'i eats and a dog howls within his hearing, he has to leave his food, else his magic would 'blunt.'

Safe under the auspices of this magic, the Trobriand sailors land on the beach of Tu'utauna, where we shall follow them in the next chapter.

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