CHAPTER XVI

THE RETURN VISIT OF THE DOBUANS TO SINAKETA
I
In the twelve preceding chapters, we have followed an expedi- tion from Sinaketa to Dobu. But branching off at almost every step from its straight track, we studied the various associated institutions and underlying beliefs; we quoted magical formule, and told mythical stories, and thus we broke up the continuous thread of the narrative. In this chapter, as we are already acquainted with the customs, beliefs and institutions implied in the Kula, we are ready to follow a straight and consecutive tale of an expedition in the inverse direction, from Dobu to Sinaketa.
As I have seen, indeed followed, a big uvalaku expedition from the South to the Trobriands, I shall be able to give some of the scenes from direct impression, and not from recon- struction. Such a reconstruction for one who has seen much of the natives’ tribal life and has a good grip over intelli- gent informants is neither very difficult nor need it be fanciful at all. Indeed, towards the end of my second visit, I had several times opportunities to check such a reconstruction by witnessing the actual occurrence, for after my first year’s stay in the Trobriands I had written out already some of my material. As a rule, even in minute details, my reconstructions hardly differed from reality, as the tests have shown. None the less, it is possible for an Ethnographer to enter into concrete details with more conviction when he describes things actually seen.
In September, 1917, an uvalakw expedition was led by Kouta’uya from Sinaketa to Dobu. The Vakutans joining them on the way, and the canoes of the Amphletts following them also, some forty canoes finally arrived at the western shore of Dawson Straits. It was arranged then and there that a return expedition from that district should visit Sinaketa in
376
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 377
about six months’ time. Kauyaporu, the esa’esa (headman) of Kesora’i hamlet in the village of Bwayowa, had a pig with circular tusks. He decided therefore to arrange an uvalaku expedition, at the beginning of which the pig was to be killed and feasted upon and its tusks turned into ornaments.
When, in November, 1917, I passed through the district, the preparing of the canoes was already afoot. All of those, which still could be repaired, had been taken to pieces and were being relashed, recaulked and repainted. In some hamlets, new dugouts were being scooped. After a few months stay in the Trobriands, I went South again in March, 1918, intending to spend some time in the Amphletts. Landing there is always difficult, as there are no anchorages near the shore, and it is quite impossible to disembark in rough weather at night. I arrived late in a small cutter, and had to cruise between Gumasila and Domdom, intending to wait till daybreak and then effect a landing. In the middle of the night, however, a violent north-westerly squall came down, and making a split in the main-sail, forced us to run before the wind, south- wards towards Dobu. It was on this night that the native boys employed in the boat, saw the mulukwausi flaming up at the head of the mast. The wind dropped before daybreak, and we entered the Lagoon of Sanaroa, in order to repair the sail. During the three days we stopped there, I roamed over the country, climbing its volcanic cones, paddling up the creeks and visiting the villages scattered on the coral plain. Everywhere I saw signs of the approaching departure for Boyowa; the natives preparing their canoes on the beach to be loaded, collecting food in the gardens and making sago in® thejungle. At the head of one of the creeks, in the midst of a sago swamp, there was a long, low shelter which serves as a dwelling to Dobuan natives from the main Island when they come to gather sago. This swamp was said to be reserved to a certain community of Tu’utauna.
Another day I came upon a party of local natives from Sanaroa, who were pounding sago pulp out of a palm, and sluicing it with water. A big tree had been felled, its bark stripped in the middle of the trunk in a large square, and the soft, fleshy interior laid open. There were three men standing in a row before it and pounding away at it. A few more men waited to relieve the tired ones. The pounding instruments,
378 THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
half club, half adzes, had thick but not very broad blades of green stone, of the same type as I have seen among the Mailu natives of the South Coast.*
The pulp was then carried in baskets to a neighbouring stream. At this spot there was a natural trough, one of the big, convex scales, which form the basis of the sago leaf. In the middle of it, a sieve was made of a piece of coco-nut spathing, a fibre which covers the root of a coco-nut leaf, and looks at ' first sight exactly like a piece of roughly woven material. Water was directed so that it flowed into the trough at its broad end, coming out at the narrow one. The sago pulp was put at the top, the water carried away with it the powdered sago starch, while the wooden, husky fibres were retained by the sieve. The starch was then carried with the water into a big wooden canoe-shaped trough; there the heavier starch settled down, while the water welled over the brim. When there is plenty of starch, the water is drained off carefully and the starch is placed into another of the trough-shaped, sago leaf bases, where it is allowed to dry. In such receptacles it is then carried on a trading expedition, and is thus counted as one unit of sago.
I watched the proceedings for a long time with great interest. There is something fascinating about the big, anti- deluvian-looking sago palm, so malignant and unapproachable in its unhealthy, prickly swamp, being turned by man into food by such simple and direct methods. The sago produced and eaten by the natives is a tough, starchy stuff, of dirty white colour, very unpalatable. It has the consistency of rubber, and the taste of very poor, unleavened bread. It is not clear, like the article which is sold under the name of sago in our groceries but is mealy, tough, and almost elastic. The natives consider it a great delicacy, and bake it into little cakes, or boil it into dumplings.
The main fleet of the Dobuans started some time in the second half of March from their villages, and went first to the beach of Sarubwoyna, where they held a ceremonial distribution of food, eguya’t, as it is called in Dobu. Then, offering the pokala to Aturamo’a and Atu’a’ine, they sailed by way of _ Sanaroa and Tewara, passing the tabooed rock of Gurewaya to
* See the Author’s Memoir, ‘‘ The Natives of Mailu’”’ in Transactions of the R. Society of S. Australia for 1915, p. 598.
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 379
the Amphletts. The wind was light and changeable, weak S.W. breezes prevailing. The progress of this stage of the journey must have been very slow. The natives must have spent a few nights on the intermediate islands and sandbanks, a few canoes’ crews camping at one spot.
At that time I had already succeeded in reaching the Amphletts, and had been busy for two or three weeks doing ethnographic work, though not very successfully ; for, as I have already once or twice remarked, the natives here are very bad informants. I knew of course that the Dobuan fleet was soon to come, but as my experience had taught me to mistrust native time-tables and fixtures of date, I did not expect them to be punctual. In this, however, I was mistaken. On a Kula expedition, when the dates are once fixed, the natives make real and strenuous efforts to keep to them. In the Amphletts the people were busy preparing for the expedition, because they had the intention of joining the Dobuans and proceeding with them to the Trobriands. A few canoes went to the mainland to fetch sago, pots were being mustered and made ready for stowing away, canoes were overhauled. When the small expedition returned from the mainland with sago, after a week or so, a sagalt (in Amphlettan ; madare), that is, a ceremonial distribution of food was held on the neighbouring island, Nabwageta.
My arrival was a very untoward event to the natives, and complicated matters, causing great annoyance to Tovasana, the main headman. [had landed in his own little village, Nu’agasi, on the island of Gumasila, for it was impossible to anchor near the big village, nor would there have been room for pitching atent. Now,inthe Amphletts, a white man is an exceedingly rare occurrence, and to my knowledge, only once before, a white trader remained there for a few weeks. To leave me alone with the women and one or two old men was impossible, according to their ideas and fears, and none of the younger men wanted to forgo the privilege and pleasure of taking part in the expedition. At last, I promised them to move to the neighbour- ing island of Nabwageta, as soon as the men were gone, and with this they were satisfied.
As the date fixed for the arrival of the Dobuans approached, the excitement grew. Little by little the news arrived, and was eagerly received and conveyed to me: ‘‘ Some sixty canoes
380 THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
ao 66
of the Dobuans are coming, the fleet is anchored off Tewara,”’ ‘ each canoe is heavily laden with food and gifts,” “‘ Kauyaporu sails in his canoe, he is tolt’uvalaku, and has a big pandanus streamer attached to the prow.” A string of other names followed which had very little meaning for me, since I was not acquainted with the Dobuan natives. From another part of the world, from the Trobriands, the goal of the whole expe- dition, news reached us again: “ To’uluwa, the chief of Kiri- wina has gone to Kitava—he will soon come back, bringing plenty of mwali.’’ ‘‘ The Sinaketans are going there to fetch some of the mwali.”” ‘“‘ The Vakutans have been in Kitava and brought back great numbers of mwalt.’”’ It was astonishing to hear all this news, arriving at a small island, apparently com- pletely isolated with its tiny population, within these savage and little navigated seas; news only a few days old, yet reporting events which had occurred at a travelling distance of some hundred miles.
It was interesting to follow up the way it had come. The earlier news about the Dobuans had been brought by the canoes, which had fetched the sago to Gumasila from the main island. A few days later, a canoe from one of the main island villages had arrived here, and on its way had passed the Dobuans in Tewara. The news from the Trobriands in the North had been brought by the Kuyawa canoe which had arrived a couple of days before in Nabwageta (and whose visit to Nu’agasi I have described in Chapter XI). All these movements were not accidental, but connected with the uvalaku expedition. To show the complexity, as well as the precise timing of the various movements and events, so per- fectly synchronised over a vast area, in connection with the uvalaku, I have tabulated them in the Chart, facing this page, in which almost all the dates are quite exact, being based — on my own observations. This Chart also gives a clear, synoptic picture of an uvalaku, and it will be useful to refer to it, in reading this Chapter.
In olden days, not less than now, there must have been an ebulition in the inter-tribal relations, and a great stirring from one place to another, whenever an uvalaku Kula was afoot. Thus, news would be carried rapidly over great dis- tances, the movements of the vast numbers of natives would be co-ordinated, and dates fixed. As has been said already, a
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
381
_TIME-TABLE OF THE UVALAKU EXPEDITION,
DatTE September, 1917
DOBU TO SINAKETA, 1918 THE PREVIOUS UVALAKU
The expedition, led by Kouta’uya from Sinaketa to Dobu.
PREPARATORY STAGE
Oct., 1917—Feb., 1918 Building of new canoes and repairing of old ones, in
Feb.—March, 1918 ..
Middle of March
About 25th March About same time
Same time
About 28th March Same time
29th March
31st March
ist April
2nd April
Same day 3rd April
the district of N.W. Dobu. Sago making, collecting of trade and food. Launching, fitting and loading of the canoes ; prelimin- ary magic.
THE SAILING
The Dobuan canoes start on their overseas trip.
[In Boyowa: the Vakutans return from Kitava with a good haul of mwali].
[In the Amphletts : preparations to sail; collecting food; repairing canoes.]
[In Boyowa: To’uluwa returns from Kitava bringing mwali.]
[In the Amphletts : news reach of the approaching fleet from Dobu; of the doings in Boyowa.]
{In the Amphletts: part of the canoes sail ahead to Vakuta.]
The Dobuan fleet arrives in the Amphletts. They proceed on their journey to Boyowa. [In the Amphletts: rest of local canoes sail to Boyowa.] {In Boyowa: the Sinaketans go to Kiriwina.] [In Boyowa: they return with the armshells.]
THE ARRIVAL OF THE DOBUANS IN BOYOWA
3rd April 3rd-5th April
6th April
6th-roth April
roth April
1oth-14th April
14th April
15th April
?
About 20th or2ist .
The Dobuan fleet appears in Vakuta.
They receive Kula gifts, exchange presents and trade in Vakuta.
Arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Sinaketa, magic at the beach of Kaykuyawa, ceremonial reception.
The Dobuans (as well as the Amphlettans) remain in Sinaketa, receiving Kula presents, giving pari gifts and trading.
They all leave Sinaketa, receiving talo’i (farewell) gifts. The Dobuans sail south (and the Amphlettans to Kayleula and the smaller Wester Trobriand Islands).
The Dobuans are engaged in fishing in the S. Lagoon.
RETURN JOURNEY
They reappear in Vakuta, and receive their ¢alo’t (farewell) gifts.
They leave Vakuta.
Tanarere (competitive display and comparison) on tiie beach of Sarubwoyna, and return to Dobu.
382 THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
culminating event of an expedition, in this case the arrival of the Dobuan fleet in Sinaketa, would be always so timed as to happen on, or just before, a full moon, and this would serve as a general orientation for the preliminary movements, such as in this case, the visits of the single canoes.
Tndeed, from that moment, the events on and about the Amphlett Islands moved rapidly.. The day after the visit from the Kuyawan canoes, the canoes of the main village of Gumasila sailed off to the Trobriands, starting therefore a few days ahead of the Dobuan wvalaku fleet. I rowed over in a dinghy to the big village, and watched the loading and departing of the canoes. There was a bustle in the village, and even a few old women could be seen helping the men in their tasks. The large canoes were being pushed into the water from their supports, on which they were beached. They had been already prepared for the journey there, their platforms covered with plaited palm leaves, frames put in their bottoms to support the cargo, boards placed crossways within the canoe to serve as seats for the crew, the mast, rigging and sail laid handy. The loading, however, begins only after the canoe is in water. The large, trough-shaped chunks of sago were put at the bottom, while men and women carefully brought out the big clay pots, stowing them away with many precautions in special places in the middle (see Plate XLVII). Then, one after the other, the canoes went off, paddling round the southern end of the island towards the West. At about ten o’clock in the morning, the last canoe disappeared round the promontory, and the village remained practically empty. There was no saying of farewells, not a trace of any emotion on the part of those leaving or those remaining. But it must be remembered that, owing to my presence, no women except one or two old hags, were visible on the shore. All my best informants gone, I intended to move to Nabwageta next morning. At sunset, I made a long excursion in my dinghy round the western shores. of Gumasila, and it was on that occasion that I discovered all those who had left that morning on the Kula sitting on Giyasila beach, in accordance with the Kula custom of a preliminary halt, such as the one on Muwa described in Chapter VII.
Next morning, I left for the neighbouring island and village of Nabwageta, and only after he saw me safely off, Tovasana and his party left in his canoe, following the others to Vakuta.
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 383
In Nabwageta, the whole community were in the midst of their final preparations for departure, for they intended to wait for the Dobuans and sail with them to Kiriwina. All their canoes were being painted and renovated, a sail was being repaired on the beach (see Plate LIII). There were some minor distribu- tions of food taking place in the village, the stuff being over and over again allotted and re-allotted, smaller pieces carved out of the big chunks and put into special wrappings. This constant handling of food is one of the most prominent features of tribal life in that part of the world. As I arrived, a sail for one of the canoes was just being finished by a group of men. In another canoe, I saw them mending the outrigger by attach- ing the small log of light, dry wood to make the old, water- logged float more buoyant. I could also watch in detail the final trimming of the canoes, the putting up of the additional frames, of the coco-nut mats, the making of the little cage in the central part for the pots and for the dilava (the sacred bundle), I was, nevertheless, not on sufficiently intimate terms with these Nabwageta natives to be allowed to witness any of the magic. Their system of mwasila is identical with that of Boyowa, in fact, it is borrowed from there.
Next day—in this village again I had difficulty in finding any good informants, a difficulty increased by the feverish occupation of all the men—I went for a long row in the after- noon with my two ‘boys,’ hoping to reach the island of Domdom. A strong current, which in this part is at places so pronounced that it breaks out into steep, tidal waves, made it impossible to reach our goal. Returning in the dark, my boys suddenly grew alert and excited, like hounds picking up a scent. I could perceive nothing in the dark, but they had discerned two canoes moving westwards. Within about half-an-hour, a fire became visible twinkling on the beach of a small, deserted island South of Domdom; evidently some Dobuans were camping there. The excitement and intense interest shown by my boys, one a Dobuan, the other from Sariba (Southern Massim), gave me an inkling of the magnitude of this event —the vanguard of a big Kula fleet slowly creeping up towards one of its intermediate halting places. It also brought home to me vividly the inter-tribal character of this institution, which unites in one common and strongly emotional interest so many scattered communities. That night, as we learnt afterwards, a
384 THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
good number of canoes had anchored on the outlying deserted islands of the Amphletts, waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive. When we came that evening to Nabwageta, the news had already been received of the important event, and the whole village was astir.
Next day, the weather was particularly fine and clear, with the distant mountains wreathed only in light cumuli, their alluring outlines designed in transparent blue. Early in the afternoon, with a blast of conch shell, a Dobuan waga, in full paint and decoration, and with the rich pandanus mat of the sail glowing like gold against the blue sea, came sailing round the promontory. One after the other, at intervals of a few minutes each, other canoes came along, all sailing up to some hundred yards from the beach, and then, after furling the sail, paddling towards the shore (see Plate XL). This was not a ceremonial approach, as the aim of the expedition this time did not embrace the Amphletts, but was directed towards the Trobriands only, Vakuta, and Sinaketa ; these canoes had put in only for an intermediate halt. Nevertheless, it was a great event, especially as the canoes of Nabwageta were going to join with the fleet later on. Out of the sixty or so Dobuan canoes, only about twenty-five with some 250 men in them had come to Nabwageta, the others having gone to the big village of Gumasila. In any case, there were about five times as many men gathered in the village as one usually sees. There was no Kula done at all, no conch-shells were blown on the shore, nor do I think were any presents given or received by either party. The men sat in groups round their friends’ houses, the most distinguished visitors collected about the dwelling of Tobwa’ina, the main headman of Nabwageta.
Many canoes were anchored along the coast beyond the village beach, some tucked away into small coves, others moored in sheltered shallows. The men sat on the shore round fires, preparing their food, which they took out of the provisions carried on the canoes. Only the water did they obtain from the island, filling their coco-nut-made water vessels from the. springs. About a dozen canoes were actually moored at the village beach. Late at night, I walked along the shore to observe their sleeping arrangements. In the clear, moonlit night, the small fires burnt with a red, subdued glow ; there was always one of them between each two sleepers, consisting of
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THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 385
three burning sticks, gradually pushed in as they were con- sumed. The men slept with the big, stiff pandanus mats over them ; each mat is folded in the middle, and when put on the ground, forms a kind of miniature prismatic tent. All along the beach, it was almost a continuous row of man alternating with fire, the dun-coloured mats being nearly invisible against the sand in the full moonlight. It must have been a very light sleep for every now and then, a man stirred, peeping up from under his shell, re-adjusting the fire, and casting a searching glance over the surroundings. It would be difficult to say whether mosquitoes or cold wind or fear of sorcery disturbed their sleep most, but I should say the last.
The next morning, early, and without any warning, the whole fleet sailed away. At about 8 o’clock the last canoe punted towards the offing, where they stepped their mast and hoisted their sail. There were no farewell gifts, no conch shell blowing, and the Dobuans this time left their resting place as they had come, without ceremony or display. The morning after, the Nabwagetans followed them. I was left in the village with a few cripples, the women and one or two men who had remained perhaps to look after the village, perhaps specially to keep watch over me and see that I did no mischief. Not one of them was a good informant. Through a mistake of mine, I had missed the cutter which had come two days before to the island of Gumasila and left without me. With bad luck and bad weather, I might have had to wait a few weeks, if not months in Nabwageta. I could perhaps have sailed in a native canoe, but this could only be done without bedding, tent, or even writing outfit and photographic apparatus, and so my travelling would have been quite useless. It was a piece of great good luck that a day or two afterwards, a motor launch, whose owner had heard about my staying in the Amphletts, anchored in front of Nabwageta village, and within an hour I was speeding towards the Trobriands again, following the tracks of the Kula fleet.
II
On the next morning, as we slowly made our way along the channels in the opalescent, green lagoon, and as I watched a fleet of small, local canoes fishing in their muddy waters, and could recognise on the surrounding flat shores a dozen
386 | THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
well-known villages, my spirits rose, and I felt well pleased to have left the picturesque, but ethnographically barren Amphletts for the Trobriands, with their scores of excellent informants.
Moreover, the Amphletts, in the persons of their male inhabitants were soon to join me here. I went ashore in Sinaketa, where everybody was full of the great moment which was soon to arrive. For the Dobuan fleet was known to be coming, though on that morning, so far, no news had reached them of its whereabouts. As a matter of fact, the Dobuans, who had left Nabwageta forty-eight hours ahead of me, had made a slow journey with light winds, and sailing a course to the East of mine, had arrived that morning only in Vakuta.
All the rumours which had been reported to me in the Amphletts about the previous movements of the Trobriand natives had been correct. Thus the natives of Vakuta had really been to the East, to Kitava, and had brought with them a big haul of armshells. To’uluwa, the chief of Kiriwina, had visited Kitava later, and about five or six days before had returned from there, bringing with him 213 pairs of armshells. The Sinaketans then had gone to Kiriwina, and out of the 213 pairs had succeeded in securing 154. As there had been previously 150 pairs in Sinaketa, a total of 304 was awaiting the Dobuans. On the morning of my arrival, the Sinaketan party had just returned from Kiriwina, hurrying home so as to have everything ready for the reception of the Dobuans. Of these, we got the news that very afternoon—news which travelled overland from one village to another, and reached us from Vakuta with great rapidity. We were also told that the uvalaku fleet would be at Sinaketa within two or three days.
This period I utilised in refurbishing my information about that phase of the Kula, which I was going to witness, and trying to get a clear outline of every detail of all that was going soon to happen. It is extremely important in sociological work to know well beforehand the underlying rules and the fundamental ideas of an occurrence, especially if big masses of natives are concerned in it. Otherwise, the really important events may be obliterated by quite irrelevant and accidental movements of the crowd, and thus the significance of what he ' sees may be lost to the observer. No doubt if one could repeat “one’s observations on the same phenomenon over and over
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 387
again, the essential and relevant features would stand out by their regularity and permanence. If, however, as it often happens in ethnographic field-work, one gets the opportunity only once of witnessing a public ceremony, it is necessary to have its anatomy well dissected beforehand, and then con- centrate upon observing how these outlines are followed up concretely, gauge the tone of the general behaviour, the touches of emotion or passion, many small yet significant details which nothing but actual observation can reveal, and which throw much light upon the real, inner relation of the native to his institution. So I was busy going over my old entries and checking them and putting my material into shape in a detailed and concrete manner.
On the third day, as I was sitting and taking notes in the afternoon, word ran all round the villages that the Dobuan canoes had been sighted. And indeed, as I hastened towards the shore, there could be seen, far away, like small petals float- ing on the horizon, the sails of the advancing fleet. I jumped at once into a canoe, and was punted along towards the pro- montory of Kaykuyawa, about a mile to the South of Sinaketa. There, one after the other, the Dobuan canoes were arriving, dropping their sails and undoing the mast as they moored, until the whole fleet, numbering now over eighty canoes, were assembled before me (see Plate XLVIII). From each a few men waded ashore, returning with big bunches of leaves. I saw them wash and smear themselves and perform the suc- cessive stages of native, festive adornment (see Plate XLIX). Each article was medicated by some man or another in the canoe before it was used or puton. The most carefully handled articles of ornamentation were the ineffective looking, dried up herbs, taken out of their little receptacles, where they had remained since they had been becharmed in Dobu, and now stuck into the armlets. The whole thing went on quickly, almost feverishly, making more the impression of a piece of — technical business being expeditiously performed, than of a solemn and elaborate ceremony taking place. But the ceremonial element was soon to show itself.
After the preparations were finished, the whole fleet formed itself into a compact body, not quite regular, but with a certain _ order, about four or five canoes being in a row, and one row behind the other. In this formation they punted along over
388 THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
the Lagoon, too shallow for paddling, towards the beach of Sinaketa. When they were within about ten minutes of the shore, all the conch shells began to be sounded, and the murmur of recited magic rose from the canoes. I could not come sufficiently near the canoes, for reason of etiquette, to be able to see the exact arrangement of the reciters, but I was told that it was the same as that observed by the Trobrianders on their approach to Dobu, described in Chapter XIII. The general effect was powerful, when this wonderfully painted and fully decorated fleet was gliding swiftly over the green waters of the Lagoon towards the palm grove above the sand beach, at that moment thick with expectant natives. But I imagine that the arrival of a Trobriand fleet in Dobu must be considerably more effective even than that. The much more picturesque landscape, the ceremonial paddling with the leaf-shaped oars over the deep water, the higher sense of danger and tension, than that which the Dobuans feel, when coming to visit the meek Trobrianders, all this must make it even more dramatic and impressive than the scene I have just described.
Within some twenty metres from the shore, the canoes formed themselves into a double row, the canoe of the toli’uvalaku on the left flank of the first row. Kauyaporu, as soon as all the craft were in position, rose in his canoe, and ina loud voice, addressed in Dobuan those standing on the shore. His words, preserved in the memory of his hearers, were trans- mitted to me that same evening in their Kiriwinian Sis! wie He spoke :
““ Who will be first in the Kula? The people of Vakuta or yourselves ? I deem you will have the lead! Bring armshells, one basketful, two baskets; catch pigs ; pluck coco-nuts; pluck betel-nut! For this is my uvalaku. By and by, thou, Kouta’uya, wilt make an uvalaku, and we shall give thee then plenty of vaygu’a !”’
So spoke Kauyaporu, addressing his main partner, Kouta’uya, the second chief of Sinaketa. He did not address - To’udawada, the most important chief, because he was not his main partner.
As soon as the speech was finished, Kouta’uya waded through the water from the beach, carrying a pair of armshells ineach hand. Behind him came a small boy, the youngest son, blowing aconch shell. He was followed again by two men, who
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 389
between them had a stick resting on their shoulders, on which several pairs of mwali (armshells) were displayed. This pro- cession waded towards the canoe of Kauyaporu, whom Kouta’uya addressed in these words, throwing the armshells on the platform of the canoe:
“This is a vaga (opening gift)! In due time, I shall make a uvalaku to Dobu; thou shalt return to me a big soulava (necklace) as kudu (equivalent gift) for this. Plenty more armshells thou wilt receive now. There are plenty of armshells in Sinaketa. We know there were plenty of armshells in Vakuta. By and by thou and thy usagelu come ashore, I shall catch a pig. I shall give you plenty of food, coco-nuts, betel-nut, sugar cane, bananas !”’
As soon as he was back on the shore, his wife, the eldest one, with a peta basket on her head, containing a pair of armshells, went into the water and carried it to Kauyaporu’s canoe, the boy with the conch shell following her also. After that, conch ‘shells were blown on all sides on the shore, and single men or groups detached themselves from the rest, and waded towards the canoes. The mwali were carried with ceremony on sticks or in outstretched arm. But the grossly exaggerated way of putting one pair of armshells into a basket which was big enough to hold some four score, was only done by the chief’s wife. All this lasted for perhaps half-an-hour, while the setting sun poured down its glowing light on the painted canoes, the yellow beach, and the lively bronze forms moving upon it. Then, in a few moments the Dobuan canoes were partly beached, partly moored, whilst their crews spread over the seven villages of Sinaketa. Large groups could be seen sitting on platforms chewing betel nut and conversing in Dobuan with their hosts (see Plate LVI).
For three days, the Dobuans remained in Sinaketa. Every now and then, blasts of conch shell announced that a Kula transaction had taken place, that is, that a pair of armshells had been handed over to one of the visitors. Swarms of people from the other districts had assembled in Sinaketa; every day, natives from the inland villages of Southern Boyowa crowded into their capital, whilst people from Kuboma, Luba,
and Kiriwina, that is, the Central and Northern districts, were camping in their relatives’ houses, in yam stores and under
390 THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA
provisional shelters. Reckoning that the number of the visitors, that is, the Dobuans, the Amphlettans and the Vakutans, who had joined them on their way, amounted to some eight hundred ; that the Sinaketans numbered about five hundred people, and that some twelve hundred had come from the other villages, it will be seen that the crowd in and about Sinaketa was considerable, numbering over two thousand.
The Trobriand natives, of course, looked after their own provisions. The Dobuans had also brought a considerable amount of food with them, and would receive some additional vegetables and pigs’ flesh from their hosts, while they acquired fish from some of the other villages of Boyowa. As a matter of fact, stingaree, shark and some other fish are the only articles for which the Dobuans barter on their own account. The rest of the trade, in the same way as is done in Dobu by the Sinaketans, must be done with the community who receive visitors, that is, with Sinaketa. The Sinaketans buy from the manufacturing districts of Boyowa the same industrial products that they take with them to Dobu, that is baskets, lime pots, lime spatulz, etc. Then they sell these to the Dobuans in just the same manner and with the same profit as was described in Chapter XV. As has been said there also, a man of Sinaketa would never trade with his partner, but with some other Dobuan. Between the partners, only presents are exchanged. The gift offered by the Dobuans to the Sinaketans is called vata’i, and it differs only in name and not in its economic or sociological nature from the pari gift offered by the Boyowans to their overseas partners. The talo’t, or farewell gift offered to them is as a rule more substantial than the vata’s.
The Dobuans, during their stay in Sinaketa, lived on the beach or in their canoes (see Plates LIV and XX). Skilfully rigged up with canopies of golden mats covering parts of the craft, their painted hulls glowing in the sun against the green water, some of the canoes presented the spectacle of some gorgeously fantastic pleasure boat (see Plate LV). The natives waded about amongst them, making the Lagoon lively with movement, talk and laughter. Groups camped on the sea shore, boiling food in the large clay pots, smoking and chewing betel-nut. Big parties of Trobrianders walked among them, discreetly but curiously watching them. Women were not very conspicuous in the whole proceedings, nor did I hear
THE DOBUANS IN SINAKETA 391
any scandal about intrigues, although such may have taken place.
III On the fourth day, conch shells were blown again in the
- morning, though on the last of the three days their sounds had
almost died out. These were the signs of the departure. Food and small presents were brought to the canoes as #alo’1, and a few mwalt were given at the last, for which the conch shells were blown. Without any ceremony or farewell speeches, the Dobuan canoes sailed away, one after the other.
Their journey home was also interrupted by a customary halt for fishing, but this time for fish, not shell. Some of them stop on the beach of Muwa, but the bulk camp on a beach called Susuwa, half way between Sinaketa and Vakuta, where they catch the fish by means of a poisonous root, which they have brought for this purpose from home. This time, they remained three days in Susuwa and Muwa, and then sailed to Vakuta to receive there talo’1. Their further journey I could not trace step by step, but afterwards I heard that quickly, and without any accident, they had reached their homes.
Their tanarere on Sarubwoyna beach—that is, the com- petitive display of the yield—gave more or less the following results :
From Sinaketa they received 304 armshells.
From Vakuta they received 344 armshells.
The total therefore was 648. As there were about sixty canoes making the proper uvalaku from Dobu, that is, not counting those from the Amphletts and Vakuta which joined on the way and appeared before Sinaketa, there were at the outside some five hundred Dobuan natives on that expedition. Out of these, however, not more than half were grown-up, Kula making men. So that, on the average, there were nearly thirteen armshells for every five men. Some would not get more than one pair, some perhaps even none, whilst the head- men received large quantities.
We shall follow in a later chapter the movements of some at least of those who had collected in Sinaketa from the other districts, in connection with the Kula. It did not take them more than a few days to disperse completely, and for the village to resume its ordinary aspect and routine.